Molly stood in front of the doors to the Boxtroll Exterminator factory. It had been a few days since the one red hat, Mr. Pickles, had saved her from the Boxtroll in the alleyway. She couldn't stop thinking about him, she had to see him again. She had brought a small gift basket she had made for all the red hats, filled with expensive cheeses and a bottle of wine. It was for all of them, but it was obvious who she really made it for.
She knocked ten times on the big doors. She rocked back and forth on her feet anxiously, as she heard footsteps approach the door. As they got closer, she heard some nasty mumbling, and her heart sank as she knew exactly who was going to answer the door. Archibald Snatcher threw the doors open and as he saw the lady at the door, his eyes grew wide and he stood up to his full height. "Ah, Miss Monte Cristo! What a surprise!" A toothy grin crossed his face, but his eyes were like acid on Molly's skin as he stared at her.
She cleared her throat before speaking, "Good day, Mr. Snatcher. I just came by to give all of the exterminators this!" She held out the basket. "I just thought that since you all work so hard and for no reward whatsoever you deserved something nice!"
Caught off guard by the kind gesture, Snatcher examined the basket with his eyes before taking it from her hands. "Thank you, Miss. The gesture is appreciated, but I do get one reward for catching those filthy Boxtroll monsters…" he stared into the distance as if envisioning his prize.
Molly waited for him to finish, but he trailed off into nothing. "That is…?" she asked.
He focused his attention back onto the woman, "A white hat." he stated proudly, as if he already owned it.
Molly wrinkled her brow, what was so great about a stupid hat? "Why a white hat?" she voiced her thoughts aloud. He slumped a bit at her question, annoyed with her ignorance. He grew annoyed with her presence, and was ready to see her off. "Well, it was very nice of you to stop by and bring me this gift, but we here at the Boxtroll Exterminators are very busy and we must get back to work!" Ignoring her question, he began to close the door.
She put her foot in the door to block it from closing. "Wait!" she winced as the door closed on her foot. "Just one more thing!" Molly inched her way through the slit of the door and pushed it back open. She fixed her dress and asked, "Is Mr. Pickles here?"
That was the worst question of them all. What did this woman see in that man? Ever since they met, Mr. Pickles had done nothing but talk about her, and it was getting on everyone's last nerves, especially Mr. Snatcher's. "He's not here right now-" he tried closing the door again, but she pushed it back open. "Well then where is he?"
"Not here." Snatcher tried to close the door, but the lady wouldn't budge, she had a tight grip on the outside handle and was keeping it open with all her might.
"Well when will… he be… back?" She was using all her strength to keep the door open, and she was amazed she was doing such a good job, especially in a corset.
Snatcher gave a sinister smile, "You are a lot stronger than you seem, Miss Molly." He let go of his grip and as soon as he did, she pushed the door open and fell down flat onto her chest. "But not that bright!" With a single motion he shut the doors to the factory. He lifted the basket and eyed it suspiciously. Each cheese was wrapped in expensive packaging, this was the real stuff, not like what his men brought usually him back from the market place. Rather than eat it, he took it upstairs to familiarize himself with each one. He would need to know these things when he became a white hat anyway. As he walked up the stairs, he popped open the bottle of wine and took a big swig of it. "Thank you, Miss Molly…" he laughed eerily.