Chapter 6 The Terrible Letter

Willy Wonka scanned the letter quickly, his vision suddenly hazy as he imagined the girl sleeping beside him carefully penning every heart wrenching word.

"Dear Mr. Wonka,

He is going to kill me. My grandfather. You know him as Mr. Slugworth. He has me here in this little room, with no hope of ever getting free. It is dark here, and there are rats beyond the walls. I can hear them at night when it gets cold and they get restless. He wants me to spy on you, but I won't do it. I love Wonka Chocolates and would never do anything to hurt you. But he has tried in every human and unhuman way possible to get me to agree, even as far as to get my stepfather involved. He is Mr. Farnsworth. Another cheat. So you see I am stuck between two losers in a prison of a place. Please if you ever find this know that there are people out there that care. And if any suspicion is cast upon me, know that it is false and I would rather die than betray you.

Slugworth has vowed to force me into agreeing with him tonight. I fear for my life so I am writing this to let you know that I love you Mr Wonka. Please watch out for Mr. Farnsworth and Slugworth. They are losers.

Love,

Emily"

Willy slowly folded up the letter, and stuffed it back into the envelope, keeping his misty blue eyes turned from the closely watching oompa loompa. He didn't know what to do. This girl hadn't really been treated gently, so it was understandable that she was afraid of him, since she really hadn't realized who he was. Sighing deeply, Willy took the bottle of Wonkavite from the nightstand and unscrewed the top. His main concern was to get Emily well again, and then shield her from the evil out there beyond the massive gates. Slugworth would not think to look for her at the factory. She would probably be safe here, if she wanted to stay. Willy looked down at the sleeping girl and felt a flutter in his chest. There was something very attracting about her, and every time he glanced at her he felt an overwhelming protective desire to hold her close and never let her go. Carefully Willy Wonka dipped his gloved finger into the bottle, and withdrew it coated in a violet shimmery gel. Handing the bottle to Nellie, who still gazed strangely at him, the chocolatier leaned over and very gently slipped his finger between Emily's teeth.

"What are you going to do?" Nelly asked, breaking the silence.

Willy looked over at her. "I am giving her Wonkavite to speed up the healing process. If I give it to her as the tablet or the elixir then she will choke on it. I just invented the gel last night. Stayed up nearly till morning working on it. Lucky thing too. Can you imagine-"

Nellie interrupted his nervous chatter with, "No, what are you going to do about Emily?"

Willy gently withdrew his finger and gently turned Emily's head to the side so she wouldn't strangle as the gel in her mouth melted slowly on her tongue. He then turned a determined face toward the waiting oompa loompa and said, "I am going to let her stay here if she wants to. You may go now, Nellie. I shall tend to Emily."

The oompa loompa bowed and headed for the door. At the threshold she turned and looked back. Willy sat where she had left him, holding the horrifying letter in one hand, and gently running his other hand up and down the side of Emily's pale neck.

Nellie rolled her eyes and exited the room. She did not understand Willy Wonka sometimes. Keeping the girl here would not solve their problems. Slugworth would know that the only logical place that the Wonka-loyal girl would go would be the chocolate factory. She frowned. Their only hope would be that maybe Slugworth would be afraid that Emily would have told Willy and he would be afraid to come close to the factory. The only problem would be that legally Emily would have to go back to Farnsworth and it would take more than a letter to prove him unfit.

Willy gazed down at the closed eyes and gently brushed back her hair. It hurt him that this beautiful girl would go through pain for him. He wasn't sure why she cared so much about him. He certainly had never met her before. He sat there for a while, thinking hard. There had to be a way to make everything work out.

Emily sat by the road, a long dirt road, covered in mud puddles. The air was misty and dark. A crow flew by cawing his disgust at the world. She looked around and shuddered. The shadows were leering at her and the chilly breeze tugged at her jacket. A sharp pain ran through her ankles and she began to cry. The crow flashed past again, brushing her cheeks as he passed with his wings. She jumped back and threw an arm up to protect her face, and felt a firm hand grab it. Thoughts that her stepfather or grandfather had followed her flashed through her mind and she tried to wrench away. The crow flapped by again, shrieked in her face and instantly turned into Slugworth. He stood leering down at her. She gazed up at her tormentor in fear. He smirked, and put one boot on top of her ankles. A searing pain shot though them, and Emily closed her eyes and screamed.

Willy Wonka raised his head with a start. He must have dozed off. A whimpering sound had awakened him, and he looked over at Emily. Beads of perspiration stood on her forehead and she was crying in her sleep. Furrows of concern creased his forehead, as he left the comfort of his armchair and returned to Emily's bedside. As he sat down beside her, he brushed his handkerchief across her face, wiping away the dampness. In response to that move, she brought her arm up as if to thwart an attacker. Willy grabbed it gently.

"No dear child, you will hurt yourself!" He nearly shouted, as she tried to wrench away. A few more whimpers escaped her lips, and she collapsed into a deep sleep. Willy let out the breath he had been holding and shook his head.

If he ever got a hold of Slugworth that evil fiend was going to regret it.

Slowly, Emily opened her eyes, and looked up at the ceiling above her. For a moment she could not remember where she was. She turned her head sideways, and her eyes lit upon the armchair where Willy had fallen asleep again. She watched him for a moment, smiling at the way his top hat had slipped sideways over his ear. She was a fan of Willy Wonka through and through. She had a collection of candy wrappers from the very beginning of Wonka candy making career. It was her most prized possession, and Slugworth had it now. It was probably realistically worth quite a mint, but to her it was of indescribable value.

She raised her head a little, and called softly," Mr. Wonka?"

He nodded a little in his sleep and snored softly.

"Mr. Wonka!" She called a little louder, and this time Willy leaped to his feet, grabbing at his slipping top hat.

"Miss-oh, miss- You-you're awake. How wonderful! How perfectly-" He slowly sank down beside her, and slipped his hands under her shoulders, and cradled them there. "How perfectly delightful," he whispered, looking down into her eyes.

Emily looked up at him, unsure what to say. He was looking down at her with an expression of love and genuine caring, laced with tenderness, and sympathy. She gazed up into those blue eyes of kindness, and for a moment neither spoke. Finally Willy broke the silence.

"I read your letter."

Emily closed her eyes, a single tear escaping and running down to drip onto Willy's crisp white gloved hand.

"Forget about it all, dear one. They cannot hurt you here."