The Wide Window

Snicket interrupts the story to explain that his publishers are concerned that readers will try to emulate the Baudelaires. He cautions the reader to never steal a sailboat during a hurricane in order to cross Lake Lachrymose to get to Curdled Cave, as it is very dangerous—particularly if, like the Baudelaire children, the reader has little idea of how sailboats work. The narrative action resumes, with Violet, Klaus, and Sunny inspecting their small craft and putting on three of the life jackets they find aboard. Klaus uses information from his reading to explain how the sailboat moves; Violet uses information from her experience inventing things to identify the tiller. She directs Sunny to sit in back and steer and asks Klaus to help them navigate using the atlas. Violet herself takes charge of working the sail. As they near the Lavender Lighthouse on the far shore, near Curdled Cave, the storm finally dies down. They make for the mouth of the cave and land the boat.

Curdled Cave looks very scary, and it emits a “high-pitched, wavering wail” (153). The children are terrified, but Sunny leads the way into the cave. Once they are inside, they can see that the frightening wailing noise is actually Aunt Josephine, who is sobbing in a corner of the cave. The children get her attention and have a happy reunion. Aunt Josephine is surprised that the children have not brought their belongings and some food with them—she had assumed that, once they figured out her note, they would understand that she intended for all of them to live in the cave, hidden from Count Olaf. She explains that during their phone conversation, Olaf revealed his real identity and said he would drown her in the lake if she did not write the note giving him custody of the children. As the children listen to her explain her thinking, they realize that she is “a terrible guardian” who is more concerned with her own fears than their safety (158). Josephine has no intention of leaving the cave, even though the children explain that, if she comes with them and testifies that Sham is actually Olaf, Olaf will be put in jail. Klaus points out that the cave is for sale and that this means that realtors might appear at any moment. Josephine immediately agrees to leave the cave with them.

As the Baudelaires sail across the now-calm lake, Josephine wears two life jackets and exclaims with worry over and over. As they near the area of the lake where the leeches live, she confesses that she recently ate a banana. Suddenly, hundreds of long, skinny leeches begin to churn the water and bump against the boat. Frustrated at their inability to breach the hull, the leeches turn away. They form a single mass and hit the boat all at once, rocking it precariously. The children see a small crack in the boat’s hull. Josephine begs them not to throw her overboard; Violet replies that they have no intention of doing so, but Snicket intrudes to comment that, in fact, someone will be throwing Josephine overboard. The children try everything they can to get the boat to move faster. The leeches hit the side again and again, and the crack in the hull begins to widen. Violet tells Sunny to grab a bucket and bail out any water that comes in.

The leeches continue their attack, and the children have to abandon their efforts to sail as the boat begins to sink. Violet realizes that they need to attract a rescuer’s attention. She takes the bucket from Sunny and climbs the boat’s mast. She places the bucket on top and then jumps down, ripping the sail as she does so. She takes the ripped sail, a fishing pole, and Josephine’s hairnet and fashions a torch, then tries to use an oar to make a spark and set the torch alight, intending to wave the torch overhead and hit the bucket with the oar to make noise. The wood is too wet to spark, however, and Violet feels defeated. She sobs, thinking of the promise she made to her parents to protect her younger siblings. Then, she thinks of using the boat’s spyglass to create fire. She removes its lens and uses it to set the sailcloth on fire. Violet succeeds in attracting someone’s attention, and a boat begins to sail in their direction. That person is Count Olaf.

Captain Sham welcomes the children and Josephine aboard his boat with a menacing speech. He crows that the children and their fortune belong to him, now. Klaus tells him they will tell Mr. Poe everything that has happened and Sham will end up in jail. Sham says that Mr. Poe will not believe the children; he is “more likely to believe the owner of a respectable sailboat rental place, who went out in the middle of a hurricane to rescue three ungrateful boat thieves” (186). When Violet points out that Josephine can corroborate their story, Sham says that no one will believe a dead woman. Klaus protests that Josephine is not dead, and Sham ominously says, “She’s not dead yet” (187). Josephine, understanding Sham’s intentions, begs him not to throw her overboard. As Sham steps toward their aunt, the children spring into action. Violet and Klaus try to get the boat to move more quickly to the shore, and Sunny interposes herself between Sham and Josephine, baring her teeth at Sham. Josephine horrifies the children by telling Sham that if he will spare her life, she will disappear and he can have the children. Sham appears to be entertaining the idea, but as he and Josephine discuss it, she corrects his grammar. Furious, Sham shoves her overboard. Klaus tries to reach over the side of the boat for her, but she is already too far away. Violet tries to take control of the boat and steer it back, but she is unable to overpower Sham. As the boat moves farther and farther away from Josephine, the children realize that she has been a terrible guardian to them, but they are still saddened that she may be about to die.

Sham sails back to the dock. Poe is waiting there with Olaf’s minion; Poe is relieved to see the children. Violet and Klaus try to tell Poe everything that has happened, but Sham insists they are simply confused and tired. As their father, he says, he thinks they need to go home and lie down. Poe agrees with this, but when the children keep arguing their case, he says he will take a look at Josephine’s note if it will make them feel better. Klaus tries to take the note from his pocket, but it is now just a soggy lump of paper. Violet begs Poe to send someone to try to rescue Josephine. Poe, thinking the children are just overwrought from the day, tells them that Sham will be an excellent guardian and that he will try to make time to have breakfast with them in the morning. As Klaus and Violet continue to protest, Sunny takes action. She crawls over to Sham and bites his wooden leg. It cracks in half, revealing Sham’s real leg underneath. On that leg is the eyeball tattoo of Count Olaf.

Olaf tries to persuade Poe that the false prosthetic leg and distinctive tattoo do not mean what Poe thinks they mean, but this time Poe is not fooled. Poe says that he will find a different guardian for the children and that Olaf will be going to jail. Olaf runs away. The children want to chase him, but Poe tells them to stay put, that this is not a job for children. The children want to take another sailboat and rescue Josephine, but Poe tells them that he cannot allow children to sail unaccompanied. He hurries after Olaf, but Olaf and his minion have already gone through the tall metal fence at Olaf’s business, and they have locked the gate behind them. Mr. Poe goes to call the police, but the Baudelaires know that by the time the police arrive, Olaf will be gone. The children sink to the dock, exhausted, in the same spot where, just a few days previously, they waited for the taxi to take them to Josephine’s for the first time.

Snicket intrudes into the narrative to explain that the children’s lives do not get any happier in the near future. The police do not succeed in capturing Olaf, and Josephine’s life jackets are found tattered and floating in the lake, and she is presumed deceased. He wishes that he could tell the reader the moral of the story, but he does not know what it might be. When the narrative resumes, however, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny realize how much they appreciate having one another to depend on. They thank each other for their contributions during their latest adventure and huddle together, smiling.