Chapter 2: Troubling Winds
The weather had been a whirlwind of confusion over the past month. The temperatures swayed from extremely cold to humidly warm. Evelyn sighed as she dried another porcelain teacup with a fluffy, embroidered hand towel. Her Saturday regulars had all but dwindled since the season's change. Too much uncertainty brought on many illnesses. Mrs. Jones, one of her most popular guests, had not visited in over two weeks due to a rather nasty cold. Thankfully, some of Evelyn's customers requested orders to be mailed directly to their homes. But not enough to keep things afloat.
It was a sad state of affairs. When she first arrived in the city, Evelyn was ready to settle down and finally start her own business. So many years of travel and prior to that, two illustrious apprenticeships in China and Italy had given her all of the confidence in the world. In the beginning, everything was perfect. Business was soaring and everyday a new person was introduced to her brightly flavoured world of spices and herbs. But then the economy dropped out, and the banks began to fail. Her life savings, over 25 years of sweat and tears saved specifically for her dream, was lost. She had spent the last two years fighting with the state, but to no such luck. The money was gone, and she was left with too many bills and not enough capital to fix the things that needed her most immediate attention.
Walking over to the china cabinet etched into the wall, she pulled open the glass door ornately decorated with gold trim and placed the delicate, pink flower shaped teacup and saucer into the display case. A sad smile graced her lips as she affectionately touched the china one last time before closing the glass door.
Things would get better. They had to.
The front door suddenly burst open, slamming against the wall and frightening Evelyn. She jumped back with a hand over her heart and looked on in shock. Great gusts of wind blew into the shop and bits of snow were scurrying through the opening. Standing in the doorway with his arms outstretched and gasping for breath was Charlie.
"Good heavens, Charlie Bucket! You scared me half to death!"
Mumbling out a quick apology, he used all of his weight against the door to fight off the wind and close it. With a resounding slam, he succeeded and began to brush the excess snow off of his clothes.
She looked at him affectionately, but still a bit miffed. "Please refrain from overly grand entrances in the future, my dear. Most of my customers are no longer spring chicks. The last thing I want to deal with is a heart attack."
Her eyes squinted a bit when Charlie remained silent. The boy was usually so talkative.
It had been three months since the day Charlie stumbled upon The Floating Leaf. Every Saturday, he had made it a point to visit Evelyn for afternoon tea. He would spend hours upon hours talking about new flavour experiments, and her past adventures around the world. He was absolutely taken with her stories and the stories of her regulars too. So it was no surprise when Saturday rolled around, and Charlie appeared in front of The Floating Leaf once again. But something was off.
"Charlie, what's wrong?" She stepped forward and held his hand gently.
He did not look up as his words were muffled under his scarf. "It's my mother. She's very ill."
Concern lit her face as she tightened her hand over his. "Oh Sweetheart. Is it serious?"
"No." He looked down at the floor and yanked off his scarf and coat, a deep frown marring his face. "The doctor said it was just a cold, and she would be fine. But she looked so frail. I've never seen her that way, even Dad was worried."
Tutting, Evelyn enveloped him in a hug. "It's okay, Charlie. Your mum is going to be just fine."
He rubbed his face into her apron, tears brimming against his eyes. It was just as he did to his mother as a young boy. The tears deepened. "I wanted to stay and help her, but Dad insisted I go out."
He sounded choked up, and her heart wrenched. The poor boy. "Don't take it personally, Charlie. Your father just didn't want you sitting around doing nothing but worrying."
He looked up, eyes still misty. "But I am anyways, just not next to her."
She smiled and gave him one more tight squeeze before gripping his shoulders and pulling him back. "How about this? You go wash up, and I'll serve us some hot chocolate and cookies. And afterwards, I'll show you how to make a very special herbal tea. Just a little something to give her an extra pep in her step and send that cold packing sooner rather than later."
Charlie's eyes widened, a questioning look upon his face. "Would you?"
Relief filled her at his hopeful gaze. "Oh yes. And if you're lucky-." She held her hand to the side of her face and whispered conspiratorially. "I'll divulge some ancient secrets I learned on my travels."
The idea seemed to work because Charlie's face brightened, and he proceeded to run down the hall towards the powder room.
She shook her head as she watched him go, a smile playing on her lips. "To be young again."
It wasn't long before they were sitting next to each other at the large counter near the cash register. Piles of jars and medium burlap sacks were lined around them. The air was thick with heady scents from all of the open containers. Charlie turned his head to the side and sneezed. Evelyn handed him a handkerchief and laughed.
"Not the most pleasant of smells, eh?"
Charlie's face was scrunched up in disgust, and it only managed to make her laugh harder.
"I know it smells something fierce, but this herb works wonders. I use it quite a bit myself when I'm feeling under the weather."
Charlie pinched his nose and smiled despite the offensive odor. The substance was moist and lumpy. It looked like blackened tobacco chew. Evelyn had put some of it into a mortar and began to pound it with a pestle. The smell worsened, and Charlie had to keep from gagging.
Quickly, Evelyn took the substance and placed it in a glass beaker with a few other ingredients. She grabbed the container and held it over a candle. As the minutes passed, the horrid smell slowly started to change into something more bearable. Charlie released his nose and sighed in relief.
The room began to smell like mint and lavender. Charlie lifted up his nose and breathed deeply.
Evelyn was concentrating on pouring the contents of the beaker into a cheesecloth satchel. Hearing her young friend, she smiled and laughed. "Better?"
"Much."
Setting the satchel down, Evelyn grabbed more jars and handed a scoop to Charlie. "I need you to add one scoop of each of these herbs to the bag, please."
Taking the small tool in his hands, he nodded his head and looked at all of the jars. "What is all of this stuff? Holding one jar up to his face, he shook it and watched the many petals flutter. This looks like flowers."
"That's because it is. It's Chamomile. Great for helping one sleep and relieve stress. You're also going to add ingredients such as catnip, sage, hyssop, and red clover."
Charlie's nose wrinkled. "Isn't catnip for cats?"
She smiled knowingly and nodded her head. "Yes, but it works wonders for people too. Don't worry Charlie, your mother isn't going to jump around and twitch like a cat. It will help her sweat out the fever."
"Oh." Taking the scoop, Charlie began adding the ingredients with a new understanding.
She continued to explain the multiple ingredients, and he couldn't help but be awed by her knowledge. He never knew so many common, household herbs could be used to help with things like a cold.
"So that's why she always puts lemon and honey in my tea?"
"Exactly." Evelyn nodded as she used a dropper to place a soft scented oil onto some of the herbs in the mortar. "Every ingredient we add helps with some ailment. Hyssop will help with any cough. Red Clover will do the same, except it can also cleanse her blood. The mint is for her nausea." She smiled softly, never taking her eyes off working. "That and it tastes good."
He bit his lip at the information. A sense of relief flooded him at the knowledge of what the tea could do for his mother, and the worry began to wash away. By the time they finished mixing all of the ingredients, the bag was three quarters of the way full. Charlie held it up to his face in wonder. "Will this really help?"
Evelyn lifted an eyebrow and smirked. "Of course. I wouldn't bother pulling together so many ingredients if I didn't believe in it. Most of them are very fresh, and some of these are not so cheap, you know."
His eyes suddenly widened in realization, and the boy began to fumble through his pockets. Evelyn furrowed her brow in confusion, but it suddenly dawned on her what he was doing. Charlie pulled out a beaten, old leather wallet from his back pocket and began to pull out some money. Catching his hand, she pushed it away and shook her head vigorously. "Oh no, Charlie. I couldn't. I made this for you as a gift."
"But Evelyn, it's-."
She shook her head and smiled. "You can make it up to me next time. Maybe buy something special for your mum after she gets better!"
He beamed up at her, true gratitude in his face. "Thank you so much, Evelyn. You're an amazing friend."
Those words warmed her heart. A friend. Charlie really was a special boy. One she was lucky to have met. Silently, she thanked whatever cosmic power that allowed the two of them to meet.
"I'll definitely get her something special next week. Maybe one of those lovely, dainty tea sets. We can celebrate her recovery and everything!"
He was excited, and it was a refreshing change in attitude compared to before. She laughed. "See? That's the spirit, Charlie. You're already doing better yourself."
"You're right. Thank you, Evelyn." And then he hugged her hard, the sudden move knocking her back slightly and causing her glasses to fall unevenly down her nose. But she didn't mind and embraced him just as hard.
"You're very welcome, sweetheart. Now, I think it best you hurry along and take that special tea to your mum. The sooner she drinks it, the sooner she can get better, and we can celebrate it."
Charlie nodded into her stomach and then, released her. He ran around the counter and grabbed his coat and scarf off of the coat rack eagerly. He opened the door, and the cold air rushed in.
Evelyn stood behind the counter, twisting a jar on the surface. She continued to smile as Charlie waved back at her, the tea satchel clutched tightly in his hand. "Thanks, Evelyn! I'll see you next week!"
Smiling in return, she waved back at him. The door slammed and silence met her.
"Stupid girl." The smile was still on her face as she scolded herself. "You should have charged him. Now what are you going to do?"
The shop was empty and so were her pockets. Sighing in defeat, Evelyn picked up a hand towel and started cleaning up the mess they had made.
"Stupid girl, indeed."
Willy Wonka looked out the window and into the dimly lit city. Smoke stacks could be seen billowing against the last remnants of the setting sun. A rhythmic tapping sound filled the air as he thumped his cane against the marble floors in thought. Charlie had been gone all day. Just as he had over the last few Saturdays. Something was different. He just couldn't put his finger on it. And that bothered the chocolatier to no end.
Ever since Charlie and his family had entered Willy's life, parts of him had changed. Leaving the factory was still a rare occurrence, but his angry outbursts and awkward interactions had lessened. But change was still hard to deal with. His normal coping mechanisms still kicked in every time something new came along. And Charlie was always there to push him forward.
Willy continued to look out the window with a confused and worried expression.
"I cannot change the direction of the wind…," he whispered softly against the window pane, eyes glassed over and distant. "But can I adjust my sails to reach my destination?"
The wind blew harshly against the window in answer, and Willy frowned. Change was coming. He could feel it.
Well, I need to start with giving credit to the paraphrased quote above. It was originally credited to Jimmy Dean. :) (not Stewart, sorry about that! Thanks Turrislucidus for giving me the heads up!)
I know a lot of people are wondering which "Wonka" I will be using. But to be honest, I intend to meld bits and pieces of each character from both films. I felt Wonka's character was more personable in the 1971 movie; whereas the background and detail were more in depth for all characters in the 2005 film. I'm hoping to express my own perceptions of Willy Wonka in future chapters. :)
Anywho, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and thank you again for all of the lovely reviews and PMs. It's always a pleasure to hear from other readers/writers on the site.