Chapter Two

Instead of heading straight back to the bed and breakfast, Cameron made her way down the street towards the cluster of shops. Charlie would look forward to a gift and although she had brought a couple trinkets with her she still thought she should get him something more. It had seemed so long since she had last seem him, he would be 11 or 12 now.

As she neared one of the candy shops she accidently bumped into someone.
"Excuse me! I'm sorry!" She turned to apologize and found no one there. Then she looked down to see a small boy maybe a few inches shorter then herself. He had short dirty blonde hair; he looked up at her. Both of them froze starring at each other.

"Charlie?" Cameron whispered. A large smile came to the her face.

"How do you know my name?" He asked questioningly.

"It's me, Cammie." She laughed.

"Cammie!" Charlie said excitedly. "You came back." He said excitedly giving her a large hug.

"I've missed you Charlie." She said hugging him back.

"I've missed you too."

"What is this about you living in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory? I heard you found the last ticket. Congrats!" They both began walking as Cameron spoke.

"Come with me. I'll explain later." Charlie grabbed his cousin's hand leading her in the direction of the factory. The gates opened as Charlie neared and they quickly walked up to the front door. Charlie opened it allowing Cameron to come in. "You can drop your coat on the floor there." Charlie pointed to wear he had already dropped his own.

"On the floor?"

"Yeah!" Charlie said.

"Whatever you say, Char." Cameron quickly took off her jean jacket, gloves, and hat dropping them on the floor next to Charlie's. She repositioned her bag across her shoulder deciding to keep that with her. Charlie didn't object as he led her down the hallway that slowly started getting smaller. A red carpet was rolled all the way down to the opposite wall. Charlie made a sharp veer to the left opening the door which led into a another large hallway.

"We'll take the elevator. It's much faster this way." Charlie pressed the small clear button. The elevator soon arrived and they both climbed in; the clear glass doors closing behind them. Cameron yelped when the elevator took off at an alarming speed. She braced herself against the back glass.

"This elevator goes sideways?" Cameron looked down at him with a questioning look.

"This elevator can go anyways you would like it to go." Charlie laughed. "Though it does take some getting used to."

"Ahh." She once more ruffled his hair out of fondness as the elevator came to a sudden holt.

"We're here." Charlie said walking out of the elevator and into a large, spacious room. To Cameron it looked just as the name suggested, an invention room. She watched as small men ran around working. They were so small Cameron couldn't help but laugh as they ran this way and that.

"What are they?" She quickly asked Charlie.

"Oompa- loompas, of course! They are the workers in the factory. They help Mr. Wonka with his inventions and such." Charlie briefly explained. Before Cameron could ask him any more questions he shouted Mr. Wonka's name before running off, Cameron trailing behind him. Instead of paying attention to whom Charlie had run to she was too engulfed in her surroundings. The machines were nothing like she had ever seen before and she took her time as she studied them while walking by.

Willy Wonka turned when he heard Charlie call him. "Hello there, Charlie!" He greeted his 'heir'.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Wonka!" Charlie paused. "There's someone I would like you to meet." Charlie looked behind him only to see that Cameron was much further behind then he had thought. She was eyeing the machines interestingly.

"Cameron! Come here!" He called to her, only then did he get her attention. She smiled warmly before walking to his side.

Willy watched the women walk up to stand next to Charlie. She was moderately beautiful with long, wavy brown hair she had pulled back from her face and she wasn't much taller then Charlie. Her skin was a few shades darker then his own and her oval face showed her high cheek bones and small nose. She wore a long sleeved shirt with some sort of pocket on the front of it and jeans. A pair of blue tennis shoes adorned her feet and she had a duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

"Mr. Wonka, this is my cousin Cameron!" Charlie introduced them.

Cameron was entranced by the man standing in front of her. He wore a long red suede coat that fell past his waist, along with a multicolored shirt under a black buttoned vest and long black slacks. His shoes were somewhat dressy with a small heel on the back, along with a top hat He also wore purple gloves and held a cane in one hand which held what looked to be small candy inside of it.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Wonka!" Cameron held out her hand for him to shake. Willy hesitated a second before shaking her hand with his own, something he had rarely done in his past. She gave him a warm smile.

"Charlie seems as if he really enjoys being here with you."

"I feel the same way." Willy gave Charlie a small smile before looking back up at Cameron. She locked eyes with him for a split second before looking back to Charlie.

"I was hoping she could stay with us." Charlie said.

"Of course!" Willy agreed. "Your mom says she has some lunch waiting for you. You better hurry."

"Thank you, Mr. Wonka." Charlie smiled. "Come on, Cammie!"

"I'll be right there, Char." She turned back to Mr. Wonka. "I don't have to stay here. I can find a place in town."

"It's no problem at all. You may stay here as long as you like. You are Charlie's family after all." Willy gave her a small smile.

"Yes, well. Thank you, Mr. Wonka." She returned his smile before following Charlie.

Charlie led her back to the elevator and to a large room about as big as the invention room, if not bigger. Cameron heard the waterfall before she actually saw it and was very surprised that it was chocolate. Not only that, but there was a long river that was also chocolate. The place reminded her of the meadows at her home. Candy trees were scattered around the room along with colorful fruits and veggies, which were of course candy.

"This place is beautiful." Cameron commented as they made their way to Charlie's old house. "So that's where it went." They both laughed.

They quickly made their way inside to find the 4 'old people' including Grandpa Joe lying in bed. Mrs. Bucket was setting the table for lunch and Mr. Bucket had yet to finish reading the days newspaper. They all looked up when the door opened.

"Hello everyone!" Charlie smiled taking a seat at the table.

"Hello Aunt Helen, Uncle Noah!" Cameron smiled warmly at them as she came in shutting the door behind her.

"Cameron?" Mrs. Bucket questioned. "It's been too long." She gave Cameron a hug. "Would you like some lunch?" She smiled warmly.

"Yes please." Cameron sat her bag down on the floor beside the door and took a seat next to Charlie.

"How are you Cameron?" Mr. Bucket asked setting down the newspaper.

"I'm good. How about you?"

"Very well!"

"Good!" Cameron returned his smile before looking back at Mrs. Bucket. She had taken her seat at one end of the table.

"What brings you here?" Mrs. Bucket smiled at her.

"My mother...she past." Cameron said softly to her aunt. Her aunt looked up at her, her smile slowly fading.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She reached for Cameron's hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"It's alright. There's nothing to be sorry about." Cameron hesitated. "That's kind of why I'm here."

"You know you never have to have a reason to come. It's nice being able to see you." Mr. Bucket interrupted.

"And I love seeing all of you. You're the only ones who no longer speak to me as if I'm still five." Cameron sighed when she finished. "I enjoy my visits here with you more then I've ever enjoyed being at home." Mrs. Bucket gave Cameron a big smile.

"Well, I hope this time you'll be staying longer then a couple days." She said as they all started eating.

"I hope so too." Cameron smiled.

When they finished eating their chicken sandwiches Charlie offered to give Cameron a small tour of the factory; she agreed and they set off.

"We can take the ferry!" Charlie gave a loud whistle.

"He has a ferry?" Cameron looked down at Charlie.

They waited only a few seconds before Cameron saw it coming around the corner. It was pink and was in the shape of a seahorse. There were multiple rows of oompa-loompas that rowed and the other half were benches for riders to sit.

"Nice ride!" Cameron laughed as they climbed in the boat. She watched the oompa-loompas in curiosity for a moment before looking around at the rest of the room. It really was amazing how someone could build this. She admired Mr. Wonka for his creativity. Cameron looked questioningly at the tunnel they were about to enter.
"Charlie?"

"Oh don't worry. You know those roller-coasters you described to me one time?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah?"

"Well this is like one of those. It goes down this hill and you go really fast." Charlie said excitedly.

"Oh really!" She let out a small yelp when they were swept down the hill before laughing. When the ferry finally slowed she smiled at Charlie. "That was fun!"

"I usually take this instead to get around the factory." Charlie said matter-of-factly. "It's much easier to get used to then the elevator." He laughed

"I defiantly agree with you."

They visited the many rooms including the nut room, one of Cameron's favorite, the television room, the fudge room and fudge mountain.

"This place is amazing!"

"Isn't it!" Charlie replied with excitement.

They ended up back in the invention room and this time Charlie allowed Cameron to walk around on her own to explore.

"Mr. Wonka just wishes that you don't touch anything or try anything. It's for your own safety." Charlie explained before going off to explore himself. Mr. Wonka always had knew experiments being done and Charlie made it a point to make sure he knew everything that was going on.

"Thanks for the warning." Cam laughed.

"No problem." He said as he walked away.

Cameron took her time walking around the room. She watched as the oompa-loompas scurried around to complete their work. Cameron stuck her hands in the pocket on the front of her shirt. It looked a lot like a hoodie but wasn't a sweater. She starred at one of the experiments in deep thought. She was amazed that such a big machine was needed to make such small candy. 'Must be why it tastes so good; a lot goes into making it.' She thought to herself.