Posted in Posted by Lemony Snicket

Hello again! Snicket here! I have come to post some more of my story! To see the begining of it, click here.

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   Riley didn’t know what he was talking about, and wasn’t concerned, that could mean anything from baseball tickets to some blackberries at the store.

     A day arrived when, surprisingly, they didn’t see that man at all. All three of them were confused, but rather relieved that they had a day off from those watching eyes.

     They took an early break and walked over to the cafeteria and met up with Mom and Dad. They were enjoying themselves very much when the last person they wanted to see appeared; the mystery man. He walked up to the table they were sitting at.  The three kids didn’t look at him, hoping they could hide their faces from him so they wouldn’t recognize them.

     “Hello. The staff at the front told me I could find you here. My name is Mr. Johnson,” he said, and handed Dad a business card which he didn’t bother to look at. “If I’m not interrupting anything, do you think we might step out and talk?”

     Anya was so hoping Dad would say, “No, we’re eating. Come back some other time,” but instead he said, “Of course! We were just finishing up!”

     Mom asked all of them, “Do you want to come with us you three like to come with us?”

     Riley saw a scowl come across Mr. Johnson’s face which seemed to say, “Um, I don’t think so,” so he replied, “No, I think we all want to get some chips.”

     “All right,” Mom said, “We’ll be outside if you need us!”

     After he was sure the adults couldn’t hear him, Riley whispered, “Listen, you know this guy is probably up to no good. I think we should eavesdrop, see if we can put this mystery to rest.”

     Anya and Kayla agreed to this plan, walked out the back door, snuck around to the front, and hid behind a plant so the adults couldn’t see them.

     What they heard was this; “Mr. Potter, I’m just going to get straight to my point,” Mr. Johnson stated, “I would like to buy your penguins and transport them to my zoo.”

     Mom looked as if her face had frozen, and Dad replied, “I’m terribly sorry Mr. Johnson, but we have no interest in selling them. They have brought great popularity to this zoo.”

     “Yes, I can see that,” he said, looking over at the flock of people headed towards the penguins. “That’s exactly why I would like them.”

     Dad was certain Mr. Johnson was not going to give this up, and Anya saw it in his eyes that he wanted the conversation to be over. He told Mr. Johnson, “I’m afraid we just do not want to sell them under any circumstances.”

     Anya wanted to help her dad, so she quietly snuck from her hiding place and found Ben, the one of the people who helped with the tigers. She told him her dad wanted to talk with him and he headed that way.

     Anya walked behind him, and saw that Mr. Johnson was not happy. Ben said, “You wanted to see me, sir?”

     Dad saw Anya behind him and understood what was happening. “Oh yes, I did!” he said, “I’m sorry Mr. Johnson,” he sighed redirecting his attention to him, “I must go. Excuse me.”

     Mom was quite happy the conversation was over, but anyone could tell Mr. Johnson wasn’t. It seemed like there was steam coming out of his ears and he was turning red. He controlled his anger very well though, because all he did was turn around and march off.

     When Anya walked back over to Kayla and Riley, Kayla said, “I don’t like that man! He scares me!”

     Later that day, Dad had taken Kayla home and Mom was busy with some zoo employees, so Riley and Anya were all alone for a few minutes. They were both silent for a very long time, both deep in their own thoughts.

     Riley finally said, “Anya, you know Mr. Johnson is up to no good right?”

     “Yes, of course I know. I’ve thought that even before he said he wanted to buy the penguins.”

     “Well, I have a feeling he is going to do something bad. I mean really bad.”

     “What can he do? The worst thing possible he could do is pelt us with souvenirs at the gift shop,” she joked.

     “I don’t know. I just think he won’t stop at anything to get these penguins. He seemed pretty determined earlier today, and he assured that person on the phone that he would get them. I’m not guaranteeing you he will do anything, just keep your eyes opened. Oh, and I wouldn’t mention this to Kayla, you know she gets easily scared.”