The girls at the gate shared anxious glances, but Amanda made up her mind first and scaled the gate. Andrea followed quickly after, and then Ginny...though she paused long enough to discreetly gobble down another cookie. Lily was the last one on the outside of the gate, and she clung tightly to the handle of the wagon while she watched the others.
"Come on, Lily," Amanda urged. "Don't be a scaredy cat."
"We should probably just leave her," Andrea said. "She's probably too afraid."
"I'm just worried about the cookies," Lily said meekly.
"She has a good point," Ginny said, brushing crumbs off her uniform. "Samantha would have a fit if someone stole them all."
"Here," Andrea said, reaching through the bars, "Pass the boxes through and then climb over. We can carry them with us to the door." When Lily hesitated, Amanda added, "If you come, then we can see if Willy Wonka is there or not."
Lily slowly nodded and started passing the boxes one by one through the gate. When the wagon was empty, she pushed it next to the brick wall, then she climbed over the gate.
The four girls carried the boxes of cookies up to the door, laying them on a dry patch of ground before joining Samantha to peer into the dimness that loomed beyond the opening. They couldn't make anything out, but there were marvelous smells - lemon peel and cinnamon and mint and vanilla and apple blossom and toasted marshmallow...and under all that, the wonderful aroma of rich, melted chocolate! Samantha reached out to push the door open wider, but before she could touch it, the door swung open of its own accord and a man stepped out! All of the girls gasped in astonishment. The man standing in front of them was dressed in the strangest clothes they had ever seen - a dark purple suit, a deep red overcoat, and shiny black loafers. A purple bowtie was knotted neatly at his neck, and on his head was perched a marvelous top hat.
"You're Willy Wonka!" Lily cried excitedly. The other girls said nothing. They seemed to be surprised speechless and frozen in shock. The man who was indeed Willy Wonka smiled brightly at Lily, then he looked at the other girls in concern.
"Yes, that's me. But I'm afraid I didn't order anything, and it seems your friends are stiff from the cold."
"We're not delivering anything," Lily explained shyly, "We're selling Girl Scout cookies."
"Oh!" Wonka brightened. "I don't suppose you have those lemonade cookies? I'd love to buy some. But here - why don't you bring your friends inside so you can warm up while I get my wallet?" He swung the door open all the way, and with a little pulling and nudging, Lily got the other girls to shuffle inside.
"Come over here and warm up for a bit while I get my wallet," Wonka said kindly. The five girls followed him down a short corridor that opened up into a much larger space. It was wide enough to drive two cars side by side, and the ceiling stretched high up above them. It was gloriously warm and the air was filled with those wonderful aromas that they had smelled from outside.
"Now, sit here, and I'll be back in a few minutes," Wonka said, showing them a sitting area that had comfortable-looking chairs and a short table stacked with various magazines. The girls went to sit on the chairs, but as soon as Wonka disappeared around the corner, Ginny seemed to shake off her stupor. She squealed excitedly. "We're actually in Willy Wonka's factory!"
"Maybe he'll let us have free candy!" Amanda whispered, grinning.
"Guess you were wrong after all, Samantha," Andrea said. "There might not be ghosts, but Mr. Wonka is still alive!"
"Shut up," Samantha snapped. "And it doesn't matter anyway. I have an idea that could get us free candy for the rest of our lives. Maybe even money so we won't have to sell anymore stupid cookies." She smiled mischievously, lowering her voice. "So Willy Wonka is alive - I will admit I was wrong about that. But why would he keep it a secret for so long? I think he has things here that he wants to keep hidden from the rest of the world...so why don't we look around a little bit and find out what it is? I bet other candymakers would pay lots of money to learn what we find out, and they could give us candy, too."
"But what if we get caught?" Ginny fretted. "Mr. Wonka would get mad."
"We'll just say that we got lost looking for the bathroom or something," Samantha said. "Besides, we're just kids. What could he possibly do to us?"
Administrative Offices, Surveillance Room
"I'd like to know where they came from," Willy Wonka was saying as he glanced at a monitor showing footage of the sitting area where he had left the Girl Scouts. A dozen tiny men, Oompa-Loompas, were busily typing and pressing buttons at their workstations. One Oompa-Loompa, a shiny badge on his shoulder indicating him as the chief of security, stood next to Wonka and gazed at the screen. "As far as we can tell from the security footage, sir, they climbed over the gate on a dare. But intelligence records show they're just local kids trying to meet their quota of cookie sales for this year's Jamboree. I imagine that they are usually accompanied by an adult, but it seems like these girls sneaked off to do some selling on their own. I have to admit it's a good strategy to beat the competition."
Willy Wonka frowned. "Sneaking off and trespassing don't seem like skills the Girl Scouts would want to promote. But now they're here, and I am curious about how well-behaved they are. Wait - it looks like they're discussing something. Let's see what they do."
Back in the sitting area, Samantha slid off her chair and led the other girls over to one of five coloured hallways. This one was painted orange and seemed to be filled with the smell of tangerine and lemon peel and peaches and licorice...but she stopped when she realized the whole troop was not following. She turned around to see Lily still sitting on her chair, looking uncomfortable but resistant. Samantha stomped back to her, while the other three girls watched.
"What are you doing, shrimp? You're supposed to follow me. We're a troop, right? A team."
"But Mr. Wonka said to wait here," Lily said quietly. "He wouldn't want us wandering off."
"What would you know?" Samantha sneered, reaching out to grab Lily by the shirt sleeve. She tried to drag her off the chair, but Lily clung to her seat.
"I'm older, so you have to do what I say," Samantha growled. "And I say you're coming with us!"
Lily clung to the chair as hard as she could, but Samantha was bigger and stronger...she fiercely tugged Lily off the chair and the smaller girl hit the tiled floor with a thud. She gasped in surprise and pain, but she did not cry, defiantly crossing her arms as she lay on the ground. Samantha reached down to grab her by the collar, but Amanda stopped her.
"Hey, just leave her. Mr. Wonka will be back any minute."
"Yeah," Andrea agreed, "She's just wasting our time."
Samantha looked like she was going to snap at them, but she nodded and glared at Lily instead.
"Stay here then, shrimp. But if anyone asks, we're just looking for the bathroom. Got it?"
Lily said nothing, but Samantha took that as an agreement. "Okay. Let's get going." She and the other girls went back to the orange hall and walked in, rounding the corner and vanishing from sight. Now alone, and still on the floor, Lily curled up and cried.
