The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13)

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS  make sure these life jackets I’ve designed will fit properly.” “She wanted to say good-bye to her mother,” Sunny said. “She’ll be along soon.” Sure enough, the tiny figure of Kit’s daugh- ter could be seen crawling over the brae, toward the children and their boat. The Baudelaires watched her approach, wondering what the next chapter in this infant’s life would be, and indeed that is difficult to say. There are some who say that the Baudelaires rejoined V.F.D. and are engaged in brave errands to this day, perhaps under different names to avoid being captured. There are others who say that they perished at sea, although rumors of one’s death crop up so often, and are so often revealed to be untrue. But in any case, as my investigation is over, we have indeed reached the last chapter of the Baudelaires’ story, even if the Baudelaires had not. The three children climbed into the boat, and waited for the baby to crawl to the water’s 10

CHAPTER FOURTEEN  edge, where she could pull herself into a stand- ing position by clinging to the back of the boat. Soon the coastal shelf would flood, and the Baudelaire orphans would be on their way, immersing themselves in the world and leaving this story forever. Even the baby clutching the boat, whose story had just begun, would soon vanish from this chronicle, after uttering just a few words. “Vi!” she cried, which was her way of greet- ing Violet. “Kla! Sun!” “We wouldn’t leave without you,” Violet said, smiling down at the baby. “Come aboard,” Klaus said, talking to her as if she were an adult. “You little thing,” Sunny said, using a term of endearment she had made up herself. The baby paused, and looked at the back of the boat, where the nameplate had been affixed. She had no way of knowing this, of course, but the nameplate had been nailed to the back of 11

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS  the boat by a person standing on the very spot she was standing—at least, as far as my research has shown. The infant was standing on a spot in someone else’s story, during a moment of her own, but she was thinking neither of the story far in the past nor of her own, which stretched into the future like the open sea. She was gaz- ing at the nameplate, and her forehead was wrinkled in concentration. Finally, she uttered a word. The Baudelaire orphans gasped when they heard it, but they could not say for sure whether she was reading the word out loud or merely stating her own name, and indeed they never learned this. Perhaps this last word was the baby’s first secret, joining the secrets the Baudelaires were keeping from the baby, and all the other secrets immersed in the world. Per- haps it is better not to know precisely what was meant by this word, as some things are better left in the great unknown. There are some words, of course, that are better left unsaid— 12

CHAPTER FOURTEEN  but not, I believe, the word uttered by my niece, a word which here means that the story is over. Beatrice. 13



© Meredith HeuerAbout the Author and the Illustrator L E M O N Y S N I C K E T is still at large. Find him on the Web at www.lemonysnicket.com. B R E T T H E L Q U I S T was born in Ganado, Arizona, grew up in Orem, Utah, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. Un- fortunately, he gets out rarely during the daytime, and sleeps very little at night. Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

A Series of Unfortunate Events  THE BAD BEGINNING  THE REPTILE ROOM  THE WIDE WINDOW  THE MISERABLE MILL  THE AUSTERE ACADEMY  THE ERSATZ ELEVATOR  THE VILE VILLAGE  THE HOSTILE HOSPITAL  THE CARNIVOROUS CARNIVAL  THE SLIPPERY SLOPE  THE GRIM GROT TO  THE PENULTIMATE PERIL  THE END

Credits Cover art © 2006 by Brett Helquist Cover design by Alison Donalty

Copyright The End Copyright © 2006 by Lemony Snicket Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Brett Helquist All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e- book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down- loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, with- out the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader August 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-128570-7 www.lemonysnicket.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. ISBN-10: 0-06-441016-1 (trade bdg.) ISBN-13: 978-0-06-441016-8 (trade bdg.) ISBN-10: 0-06-029644-5 (lib. bdg.) ISBN-13: 978-0-06-029644-5 (lib. bdg.) 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

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