| “ | What's the right question? | ” |
— Ornette Lost, "Shouldn't You Be in School?"
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Ornette Lost is the daughter of Prosper Lost, and attends Wade Academy. She lives with her two uncles, the Talkie Brothers, who represent Stain'd-by-the-Sea's Offical Fire Department.
She previously attended Stain'd Secondary School, but was transferred, along with all the town's schoolchildren, to the Wade Academy when her school was burned down as part of Hangfire's scheme. She is an expert in origami, as a young Lemony Snicket described in Shouldn't You Be in School?. Ornette is tall, and sometimes wears a backwards cap.
All the Wrong Questions
Early Life
Ornette lived at The Lost Arms inn with her father, Prosper Lost, and her mother, Alice Lost; she gained her love of sculpture from her mother. Some time before the events of All the Wrong Questions, Ornette smelled smoke- another family trait- and managed to evacuate the hotel while a fire destroyed the Far West Wing. While the guests and staff were brought to safety, Alice perished in the fire. After this, Prosper sent her to live with her uncles, the Talkie Brothers, who were two firefighters, in hopes that she'd be safer. Ornette is briefly mentioned by her father after the fire at Stain'd Secondary; he'd been worried about her, but thankfully nobody had been in the building during the arson.
Shouldn't You Be in School?
Ornette was sent to Wade Academy after the fire at Stain'd Secondary with all of the other students. However, Wade Academy no longer functioned as a top-drawer school; all of the students were drugged with laudanum, no classes were held, and all the students were told to stay in their rooms. Ornette managed to avoid the effects of the drug once the rest of the Association of Asssociates arrived and Cleo Knight was able to find bark that fought the laudanum if the students chewed on it.
When Lemony Snicket arrives on campus, the Association meets in the Library and Ornette explains the situation to him, as well as the fact that the students had been forced to unload large fish tanks from a school bus that morning. Ellington Feint
explains that the students will be sent out on a field trip the next day, and also that Hangfire confiscated the Bombinating Beast statue from her, though Ornette doesn't know what it is. Snicket then reveals he is part of the Volunteer Fire Department, and recruits the others into helping him with his plans to stop Hangfire.
The next day, the bell rings in the clock tower, so Ornette dons a mask, as required, and meets up with the other Associates outside for the field trip. Snicket requests that they throw a wagon over the wall, though he doesn't explain why. Ornette volunteers herself as a distraction, and when Stew Mitchum makes the students line up, Ornette pretends that her mask is blinding her and stumbles away, keeping Stew from seeing the Associates. The students are driven to town and ordered to load honeydew melons into the school bus from the back of Partial's. Ornette sneaks away when she sees Snicket, informing him that it might take her longer to sneak away from the group and hide at Hungry's, as Stew was keeping a close eye on her. Snicket asks if she can trust her uncles, and then asks if they buy her popcorn at the movies or say it's too expensive. She replies that they taught her how to sneak it into the movies under her coat, and Snicket says then they're probably trustworthy and asks her to send them a message; she writes them a note, telling them that the fire hydrants had been messed with, and to take the day off instead of fighting fires with dangerous chemicals. Ornette manages to escape the school and meet up with the Associates at Handkerchief Heights, where they agree to communicate secretly and work on a fragmentary plot, before playing the Beethoven Game.
Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?
Both Moxie and Kellar ask Ornette to fold them fake statues of the Bombinating Beast in order to fool Hangfire; as they're all operating on a fragmentary plot, neither knows that the other has the same plan, and without knowing how to tell them, Ornette instead signals Snicket that he will need to be on the next train out of town, where both Moxie and Kellar are planning to meet Hangfire. She also gets onto the train when it makes an unexpected stop, though she was caught by Gifford and Ghede. She distracts them and leaves a folded coffee cup for Snicket on the ground, having seen a mysterious figure enter the Cafe Compartment.
When Snicket returns to Moxie's compartment, Ornette greets him, and he explains both the murder of Dashiell Qwerty, and that he agreed to trade Hangfire the statue for the freedom of S Theodora Markson. He asks Ornette what she made the steam of the coffee cup origami out of, and she says it was the bark from Wadfe Academy, though they're no longer sure it's actually bark. Stew Mitchum arrives to escort Snicket to Hangfire, and Ornette decides that they should talk to his so-called witnesses.
Ornette later joins the Associates when they find Snicket, Hangfire and Ellington, and Snicket steals the statue and summons the Bombinating Beast, feeding Hangfire to it. Outside the wreckage of the train, Snicket explains Hangfire's plan to the passengers, She waves goodbye to Snicket as he leaves and goes into the Clusterous Forest.
Appearances
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