Chapter 9
When they got back from the hospital, Candace told Walter there was only thing for her to do to make this right: go after the Grand High Witch herself. Walter was against the idea, but Candace reassured him that she would return one day. She left in the middle of the night and went out on her own to search the world for her daughter. Two years went by and Willy often wondered when his mother would return home. Then one morning, Walter received a visit from the police. They presented him with a blonde wig and told him the worst news he ever heard: Candace was dead. She never found their daughter. Young Willy Wonka never saw his mother again.
Walter was devastated by the loss of his wife, but he never stopped caring for his son. Mr. Wilkinson stayed with him after Candace's death and helped Walter to raise his son. Fifteen years later, Walter passed away.
Just as he predicted, Willy went on to make his dream come true and built himself a large chocolate factory like nobody in the world had ever seen before. Hundreds of people went to work for him when it first opened, but some years into his success, rival candy companies like Slugworth and Prodnose started to sneak in spies dressed up as workers to steal his candy recipes, most of which belonged to his mother. Willy was furious and decided to fire all of his workers, then closed the gates to his factory and disappeared from public eye, isolating himself. For years, nobody ever saw him come in or out of the factory. Nobody knew what became of him.
Then one day, a big announcement was made from Willy Wonka himself. He was holding a contest for five lucky children who found a golden ticket hidden inside one of his famous candy bars. The lucky few who found the golden tickets would receive a special prize and be invited to take a tour of his chocolate factory. Mr. Wilkinson went to each location to talk to the golden ticket winners and was given instructions by Willy to tell the children about a new candy he was working on called Everlasting Gobstoppers and to steal the secret recipe. The child who returned their Everlasting Gobstopper by the end of the tour would be the new owner of the chocolate factory.
Even though I never knew my mother or father, I eventually met my brother again when I grew older. I became a secretary for the Grand High Witch. She didn't treat me with much respect and, just like my mother, I hated the idea of being a bad witch like her and all the others. Luckily for me, and for children everywhere, a little boy who was turned into a mouse helped defeated the Grand High Witch, along with his ailing grandmother. After the mouse fiasco at the seaside hotel, I was able to locate the boy's grandmother's house and transformed him back into a human. Then I set off to do the same thing to his obese friend, who was also turned into a mouse. After accomplishing both missions, I then went off in search of my brother. I arrived to the gates of the factory on the day of the tour, where a large crowd was gathered outside, waiting to see the legendary candy man.
When Willy emerged, he looked just like I imagined he would. He had our father's twinkling blue eyes and sported a wild mess of caramel-golden curls on top of his head. He wore a purple velvet coat and floral vest, along with sand-colored trousers and brown shoes. He also wore a gold bowtie and a brown top hat, and he was carrying an ivory-handled cane. I noticed he walked with a limp, but this all turned out to be a trick, as he stuck his cane into a stone and fell forward and performed a somersault and bounced back up onto his feet in one swift motion. I must say, I was quite impressed. The applauding audience was, too.
Willy ushered the contest winners and their guardians to come forward to the gate and show him their golden tickets. Then he lead them inside and turned back to the crowd and tipped his hat to the audience. I waved to him, but I wasn't sure if he saw me. Soon as the tour was over, I would find a way to sneak inside and have a talk with my big brother. We would have a lot to talk about and catch up on.