Cherry walked with Katie near her house to the abandoned church across the street from where Forte stayed in ever since he found out where Cherry lived and she was 'different'. She knocked on the doors and waited for an answer, folding her arms for comfort in her standing position.
Forte opened the door and looked down, he always did, due to him being very tall and a lot of people looked small compared to him. "Cerise... Come in..."
Cherry gave a nod, then gestured for Katie to follow inside.
Katie looked around, it was very dimly lit with thousands of candles and there were portraits and pieces on Cherry's ancestors, it was though a bit more clean than it was before Forte moved in. "You've really brought the place together, Maestro."
"Thank you, my dear..." Forte gently told her as he sat in a seat. "Now then... How may I help you two ladies on an evening like this?"
Katie was very nervous about answering, but she decided to get it out of the way before it would plague her mind and ruin her good time with Willy and/or Cherry. "We just received a paper that said Reginald Boddy is dead... He's fooled us many times before. He tricked us both to coming to his mansion and he killed his own butler... He pretended to be a nice visitor who just wanted to get the factory and make us into his and his living wife's maids... He even told me about his daughter."
Cherry looked to her, a little curious. Mr. Boddy also had a daughter they knew nothing about?
"I see..." Forte leaned back into his seat to get more comfortable.
"So, Maestro... I-Is he alive?" Katie asked, a little fearful that it might have been false due to her past encounters with the monstrosity of a man.
Forte looked to the very frightened and scared expression on Katie's face. She looked like a true fate worse than death, but not in a complimentary way like he would tell Cherry. He wanted to tell her the truth, but should he? Besides, so far, he couldn't trace this man named Boddy. Maybe he could lie. After all, no one could call him a liar if he did anyhow.
After several moments playing with this concept in his mind with a mental argument, he finally spoke up. "Yes, Katie... He is dead..." he finally said after very much hesitation. "I suggest that you and Wilbur keep safe though and be sure to look after yourselves with great care and caution... Especially with your children."
Katie had a small, weary smile. "Thank you, Maestro..."
"Indeed." Forte gave a nod.
"Mind if I call Willy to tell him that things are okay?"
"Not at all, Katie... You know where the telephone is."
Katie nodded and went to the church office to dial up the chocolate factory to put her and Willy's worries to rest and shut the door behind her so she would have more privacy.
Forte looked to Cherry, a bit sharply.
"You lied about him being dead, didn't you?" Cherry had a gut feeling.
Forte gestured for her to keep her voice down. "Yes..." he nearly hissed, giving her a firm, but still gentle look. "I did it for her own protection... The poor girl looks like she had a nightmare come true. I mean, you remember the look on Belle's face when Gaston came back from the dead."
"That's true..." Cherry rubbed her arm. "But, what if he comes back and scares the living daylights out of Katie?"
"Don't worry, Cerise, I haven't found any contact of his whereabouts, he could be in a state penitentiary of sorts."
"And what if he comes back and scares the crap out of Katie and tries to kidnap her or me?"
Forte sent her a firmer look then. "Nobody is going to kidnap you... They would have to kill me first... Secondly, I'm sure Katie will be fine... I'll watch over her the very same I do with you..." he had always helped watch over Katie since she was a very good friend and Cherry's good near and dear friend, so he dedicated his life to looking after her just as well.
Katie came back, making the two look to her. "Willy says we should go on a vacation... Just the two of us... But, who will look after our little trio?" she then pouted.
"Cerise will do it." Forte volunteered her without even considering how she might feel about it.
Cherry gave him a glance and he merely glanced back to her.
"Do you think you can, Nee-Bear?" Katie asked in concern. "I don't want to make you if you don't want to."
Cherry gave a small shrug. "I guess I could try it... Besides, they like me like I'm really their aunt."
"You are their aunt," Katie smiled. "Don't you remember? You're family now."
"Yeah..." Cherry gave a small chuckle in response. "Well... Okay, I'll give it a try," she then firmly looked up to Forte. "But you're helping me."
"Of course, Cerise..." Forte agreed. "Well, you girls better go out and have some fun and Katie, please try to put your mind at ease."
"Of course I will, Maestro... Come on, Nee-bear..." Katie told her younger, but taller friend.
Cherry nodded and the two went out to have a good time. Forte smiled to them as they went off, but he took a deep breath and tried to relax himself from lying to Katie like that. He didn't want to tell her the truth to scare her, but he technically was safe with that notion since Mr. Boddy actually wasn't anywhere near their area and would very unlikely strike Katie or Cherry or both.
Forte would still look after the girls, he wasn't exactly being honest about the truth of Mr. Boddy. However, hopefully, with the thought that he was presumably dead, it would relax Katie's mind and the girls could go have some fun and relax until Katie would leave with Willy and Cherry would look after the little Wonka triplets.
The two stumbled into a bar that wasn't too flashy or expensive, just a quiet and dark one so they would have some privacy, but still be out and have fun with each other.
"How do you feel, Katie?" Cherry asked after they sat at the bar table together.
"A little better I guess..." Katie had a small half smile to her 'sister'.
"I hope you and Willy have fun."
"Thanks, I hope the kids will be okay while we're gone."
"They should be..." Cherry patted her hand. "I've been doing a lot better with kids lately."
"Yes, you would make an excellent mother." Katie gently hugged Cherry.
Little did they know that they were being stared down, but they did shake chills down their spines.
