Chapter 21

Many thanks go out to my three wonderful Betas, who each pointed out numerous flaws and still managed not to repeat themselves... much to my embarrassment.

Charlie strained his eyes in the darkness, trying to spot someone moving around in it. They had been looking for Willy and Lauren for almost fifteen minutes and Charlie was almost positive they had teamed up in order to escape their rightful punishment for getting him and Grandpa George banished from the dinner table. A few fake cockroaches were nothing between friends, but the cranberry sauce was sacred!

"See anything?" George whispered from behind him, making Charlie jump slightly.

"Not yet. They must have found a good hiding place."

"Wait." There was a pause as he squinted into the dark. "Can you see that?" the man asked pointing. In the barely illuminated chocolate room, a dark shadow was sneaking tentatively through the trees, bent over to avoid being casually sighted. Grandpa George grinned, patting Charlie on the back. "You take the left and I'll take the right," he instructed, every inch the sergeant giving orders to the loyal soldier.

Nodding seriously, Charlie began to circle to the right in order to head the target off. He was careful to be quiet and keep to the shadows, muffling the occasional burp with one hand. The figure didn't seem to be aware of them because they stayed on target and did not increase their speed. Charlie followed Grandpa George with his eyes, waiting until George nodded to jump out from behind the apple-toffee tree and tackle the person.

"Gotcha!" His arms wrapped around the person, who immediately fell backwards. At least, the top half of them did, bending at an improbable angle and falling away from the bottom. Charlie and George stared at the Oompa Loompa who was revealed and at the one who was still squirming to escape from the bag it had been wearing. Apparently they had been standing on each other's shoulders with a bag over top the both of them to make it look like one person. Naturally they both grinned excitedly at the two would-be ambushers and then scurried off to work, humming under their breath. Willy had not been exaggerating when he'd mentioned how they enjoyed a good joke.

"Come on, Charlie. Let's head home," Grandpa George said, shaking his head with annoyance and a very, very small amount of amusement. Still, that there was any amusement at all had to be some kind of testament to how much Grandpa George liked Lauren, for he absolutely hated to lose.

"But what about Lauren and Mr. Wonka?" he asked, almost tripping over a round, jelly-filled rock.

"I'm sure they've beat us there by now," he assured him, wrapping on arm about his shoulders. The boy grew an inch every day it seemed, for he could now comfortably lean on him.

"I didn't know they were so good at this game," Charlie admitted, leading them towards the path.

George was silent for a moment, thinking. When he finally spoke, it was more to himself than his grandson. "They do make a formidable pair."

Charlie nodding, adding the word 'formidable' to the list of words he'd been meaning to look up in the dictionary for awhile now. "Can I eat dessert now?" he asked anxiously. George laughed.

When Charlie went to bed that night, he found sleep elusive for some reason. He replayed the events of the evening in his mind as he tried to force himself to rest. He remembered Grandpa George and himself returning from their fruitless search only to find Lauren and Willy sitting at the table with the others, happily chewing their dessert. Lauren had splashes of chocolate across her front and Willy's shoulder was coated in the stuff. No one felt it prudent to comment. When Charlie had shot them a curious, and to his credit, only slightly resentful, look they merely smiled at each other conspiratorially. Obviously they were very pleased with how their plan had worked out; Charlie couldn't help but agree that they made a good team.

Eventually Willy had said goodbye, giving everyone a cheerful smile, and the rest of the Buckets retired to bed. Lauren had told him the story of their convincing the Oompa Loompas to help them, but refused to say where they had hidden so successfully. When he had pleaded, she had only smiled enigmatically and distracted him by asking about the tour. This gave him an excellent opportunity to get back at her by promising a surprise for her tomorrow but refusing to tell her what it was. He hoped she would be pleased when she learned that Willy himself would be conducting said tour personally.

The small mystery hadn't prevented Lauren from falling deeply asleep with enviable ease. Meanwhile Charlie stared at the ceiling and counted cotton-candy sheep. It was no use, the ceiling was only contributing to his wakefulness as he automatically tried to find patterns in the knotholes and grain of the wood. He let his gaze wander, alighting without his planning it to on the books Lauren had stacked against the wall. All of them were placed with the bindings outward, the titles clearly visible… all but one, that was.

Charlie slid out of bed, careful not to disturb his cousin. He approached the pile and began to shift them three at a time until he came to the backwards one. His eyes immediately widened at the title and he glanced nervously at Lauren to see if she was awake. Satisfied, he opened the book to the table of contents and slid his finger down until he saw the chapter labeled 'Sex: what it is and why we do it.' That seemed to about sum up everything he'd been curious about, so he turned to chapter two and began to read.

An hour and thirteen minutes later he closed the book, placed it back wrong-side out in the stack, and replaced the others on top of it in the same order he'd taken them off. He climbed back into bed and tried to assimilate this new wisdom into his brain. Try as he might though, it was impossible for him to imagine anyone he knew ever even thinking about doing anything like that.

"At least I finally know," he thought, smiling a bit proudly. He felt like he'd grown up a little in the last hour, equipped as he was with the full knowledge of the facts of life. He was also feeling a pleasant sense of superiority, for finally he could explain to Mr. Wonka exactly what sex was and why anyone would ever bother with it. He imagined the look on Willy's face, confused and a little disgusted.

To his surprise, the idea no longer seemed to have the appeal it once possessed. Perhaps it was that when you learned of what sex was, you invariably achieved a little maturity as well. He recognized that if Lauren had told him exactly what sexual intercourse entailed he would have been horribly embarrassed. He doubted he'd ever have been able to look her in the eyes again, or at least for a very long time. He was pathetically grateful to her for withholding the information. With his mind made up, he turned his attention to other matters, namely the tour scheduled for ten o'clock the following morning. Unfortunately he fell deeply asleep before he could do more than imagine the reaction his cousin would have to the method of transportation he had arranged.

The dream that night was almost expected by this time. When Lauren woke up she could remember it all in vivid detail. Willy had pushed her up against the rock-like wall of the cave behind the chocolate waterfall. They had shredded each other's clothing in their frantic desire to be closer to one another, touching and tasting everything they could reach. She experienced anew the feeling of completeness and wild abandonment that had pervaded the dream encounter, knowing her face must be burning red at that point. She was so glad it would just be her and Charlie today, because after a dream like that she had no idea how she'd ever face any adult again, let alone that man.

"Lauren, hurry up! It's nine thirty and we leave at ten!" Charlie yelled up the stairs. His youthful voice dispelled any lustful thoughts which might have threatened to cling to her in the waking world as well. She pulled herself out of bed, grabbed a pair of jeans, and searched through her suitcase for a T-shirt. The only clean one she could find bore the risqué message: "Slippery when wet." She pulled it on anyway. Hopefully no one would get the joke. Jewelry was thrown on, followed by shoes and socks, all in less than ten minutes. She grabbed her bag, threw it over her shoulder, and descended from the loft to see Charlie eating a bowl of cereal.

"I didn't realize we were on a schedule," she said pointedly, grabbing an apple. "I don't even have time to pack us a lunch."

Charlie shrugged. "Don't worry, I've taken care of everything."

Raising an eyebrow, Lauren grabbed the cereal and poured herself a bowl.

"What does that mean?" she asked between bites.

"It's part of the secret," he said solemnly.

Sighing, Lauren finished her cereal quickly and stood up. The motion caused her bag to swing back and hit her hip. Something gouged into her side and she realized what it must be. "I need to remember to give this to Willy," she muttered, peering into the bag at the package.

"Lauren, these letters came for you," Aunt Emma said from where she was sweeping the floor.

"I'll have to read them when I get back," she said, watching Charlie frantically tie his shoes on. "I'm going to be late."

"I'll put them on Charlie's desk," Emma said, putting the two envelopes into her apron pocket for safekeeping.

Lauren nodded, catching the door frame in one hand as Charlie attempted to pull her from the house. "Thanks. If we aren't back in five hours, send a search party!" Aunt Emma nodded seriously as her niece disappeared from view.

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