Chapter 2:
Freak Show
Nellie was busying herself inside her pie shop at the counter, scrubbing the surface off with a wet rag. "Toby, come 'ere, love. Ah 'ave someth'n ta ask of ye." she spoke as she paused and looked at the hallway to the parlor where she could hear Tobias rummaging through the gin cabinet. Tobias peeked around the corner at her with such a guilty looking face that she almost laughed. "Yes, marm? What is it?" he asked, trying to sound cheery and cover up the sound of the shutting cabinet door. "Ah need ye ta come with me ta the market place, love. Ah was thinkin' a getting some lit'le things… Things like a vase a' daisies for this ol' kitchen, or maybe somethin' lovely ta go inta makin' some other kinds a' pies…" she smiled a small smile, still trying to hold back her laughter, and came out from behind the counter to place a hand on Tobias' shoulder.
"I s'pose ah should go let Mr. Todd know we're leaving for a bit, then." Tobias volunteered himself to go up to the barber shop. He never liked it when his new mom would go up there, because it seemed to him that Mr. Todd always made her depressed. Nellie gave him a reassuring pat on the back, saying, "Right. Tha's a good boy. Run along now, an' we'll be out in a tick!". Tobias started up the stairs cheerily enough, until he was sure he was out of Nellie's sight. Then, he just began to saunter up the last few steps.
Nellie took a seat at a corner table inside the shop, just to the right of the front entrance. On the table, there sat a half-empty bottle of gin and a small cup. Ah s'pose the boy decided 'e was goin' ta refill this bot'le wit' another one. Sneaky li'le thing. she mused as she waited for Tobias to return. Meanwhile, Tobias was reluctantly opening the door to Sweeney's shop. "Mr. Todd? Mrs. Lovett sent me up 'ere ta tell you we was gonna go ta the market for a bit…" he kept his gaze on his feet, unwilling to look up into the eyes of the killer. His information, however, was only met with dead silence, which caused him to ask, "Mr. Todd?" as he looked up again. The room was empty. "Strange," thought Tobias, "Usually, one a' us always notices when 'e leaves 'is shop…". Not wanting to risk the possibility that there could be a surprise attack waiting for him, Tobias quickly closed the door and stepped briskly down the steps again.
Nellie stood up with a cheerful smile on her face when she saw Tobias making his way back into the pie shop from the side entrance. "Ready ta 'ead out ta the market, love?" she asked with a certain bounciness in her voice as she placed a hand on Tobias' shoulder and drew him next to her. He looked up at her with a worried glance, and responded, "Yes, marm… Only…", his gaze faltered as he spoke, "Ah'm a lit'le bi' worried.". A look of mock surprise formed on Nellie's face. "Worried? Ah, love," she drew him in for a quick, motherly hug, "Ain't nothin' ta be worried about. Mr. T will always protect us, see?". Tobias, having no idea how he could possibly prove to her that he was right, only hugged her back in response and then pushed away. Something was wrong, he was sure of it.
At about the same time that Mrs. Lovett and Tobias were leaving the pie shop together, Mr. Todd was already nearly at the market place. He had grown anxious with always being pent up in that barber shop, waiting, just waiting for the day that he would have his revenge. He was desperate to find another customer or two before the week was out. "Apples! Juicy, red apples! Fresh Picked! Apples! Apples!" an elderly salesman with a whitened beard called out, holding up a delicious looking, bright red apple. Mr. Todd was by now running a hand through the white streak in his wild, black hair, just to keep it from reaching for the razor concealed under his jacket and causing a scene. But he stopped when he heard the man advertising the apples.
He quickly turned his shadowy gaze towards the man and made his approach, asking, "Juicy, red… Apples, you say, sir? How much?" in his low, sort of rumbling voice. The elderly man shrank back a bit, almost cowering, and replied, "O-Only a sixpence f-for a 'ole crate full, sah!", pointing with one finger to the crates stacked behind him. Sweeney had remembered that Mrs. Lovett had lately been talking about adding apple pies as a desert to her shop menu, and he saw this as a golden opportunity. "Done." he nearly barked in the man's frightened face. He padded himself over, pretending to search for a wallet from which to retrieve the money to pay the man. "Oh… Seems I've forgotten my wallet." said Sweeney, trying to suppress an awfully sinister smirk, "May I instead offer you a free shave, sir?". Sweeney's malicious intent seemed to make the air around him grow thicker, and the old apple seller seemed to notice it right away. "N-No, s-sah. Ye can jes' keep th' apples, o-on the 'ouse!" he trembled a bit as he handed a crate to Sweeney.
"Thank you, sir." Sweeney's smirk dissipated as he reluctantly took the crate from the shivering hands of the old man and turned to make his way back out into the market. "Oh, there ya are, love! We was wonderin' where ye went off to!" exclaimed Nellie with surprise when she happened to come across Mr. Todd. She immediately resumed her usual spot at his side and beckoned to Tobias, who was peering with amusement into a toy shop window, to rejoin them. "I was… Looking for customers." Todd sullenly responded, obviously not overjoyed with the fact that Mrs. Lovett had found him. "Right, like ye wa'n't lookin' at things for th' shop, too! Ah see that crate ye've got in ye'r arms, love. Lets see it, then!" she bubbled, looking up at Mr. Todd with her best I-Know-You-Like-Me stare.
Tobias, noticing that they had found Mr. Todd, was hesitant about rejoining Mrs. Lovett. He could see that, as Nellie prattled on about this and that, Mr. Todd was glaring at him through the crowd. But then, a loud, booming voice interrupted Tobias' fixation on Todd. A rather large crowd was gathering around a tall, dandy-looking blonde-haired man, who was waving around a cane and shouting, "Come one, come all! Dare ta explore ye'r dreams an' nightmares in ways ye 'ave never imagined! Today only at Sander's an' Barnum's Fabulous Freak Show!". Forgetting Mr. Todd's intense gaze, Tobias rushed up to Mrs. Lovett, took her by the hand, and began leading her into the crowd, exclaiming, "Look, marm! I's a side-show! I's a side-show!". "Now, love, we've found Mr. T, an' we got all a' our shoppin' done, so ah think it best we all go 'ome, now." Mrs. Lovett informed him gently, trying to coax him back to Mr. Todd, who was stalking just behind them.
"Let the boy 'ave 'is fun," Todd told her over her shoulder, "I must admit that I, myself am morbidly… curious.". Todd's left hand was now plunged under his jacket, running his thumb over the smooth covering of one of his razors. Tobias felt that he was himself in danger, but he hoped that this show would prove enough of a distraction for everyone, so that he could make an escape, preferably with his new mother. As the odd-looking little family made their way to the front of the crowd, the announcer of the show began to step aside, proudly exclaiming, "And now, without further ado, I give you your gracious host, Mr. Sanders!". Barnum jauntily made his way off of the stage with an oddly cruel smile on his lips, and Mr. Sanders, a short, stout, rather repulsive looking man in a bright red ringmaster outfit, took the center stage.
"Thank you! Thank you so much for that stirring introduction, Mr. Barnum!" a horrible, sickly looking grin twisted across his lips as he bowed to the crowd first and then to Mr. Barnum. Tobias shuddered; something about carnies who owned freak shows reminded him of the man who had adopted him from the child labor force. Mr. Sanders straightened himself out, looked out, and addressed the crowd, "Ah expect ye've all come ta witness ye'r wildest nightmares! 'Ere, ah'm sure we've all 'eard a' th' legends a' th' mermaids, or at leas' 'eard a' bein's 'alf wolf, 'alf man!". As he spoke, he made a whale-like tail with his hands and made a swimming motion, and then, at the mention of the werewolves, he twirled on one foot, hid half of his face with his cape, and then threw it to the side, making his hands like claws and a menacing face as he uttered an eerie howl.
"But," Sanders interrupted himself, " 'ave ye ever 'eard… Of this?!". He leapt out of the way, pulling back a curtain as he went, to reveal a figure concealed in shadow. The entire crowd went silent, and all anyone could hear was
Snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip
The figure had long, slender fingers, and seemed to be refusing to come out into the light. Whatever it was did not want to be seen. A few seconds passed, and the crowd slowly began to get antsy. Mr. Sanders frowned, deeply, and casting an evil glare into the shadows of the caravan, whispered roughly, "Come out.". Edward remained in the shadows, fearing what would happen should this crowd see him, and afraid that something awful would be dealt him by his captors, should he step out. The only reply he gave was a quickened
Snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip…
When his softer command elicited no real answer, the man raised his voice high above the now babbling crowd, and yelled, "COME OUT, NOW!". Edward only shrank back further into the shadows when the man frightened him, and Mr. Sanders called Mr. Barnum up to assist him in 'coaxing' Edward out. Tobias watched in shock and horror as Mr. Barnum came up from behind the man, punched him hard enough in the back to make him stumble forward and cough, and then kick him on the bottom hard enough to thrust him out, into the light and make him double over onto the floor of the stage.
"Thank ye, Mr. Barnum. That'll do." smirked Sanders as Mr. Barnum returned to his place. "This, ladies an' gents," Mr. Sanders grinned as he kicked Edward once more to make him roll over so that the audience could see his hands better, "Is a prime example a' a freak a' nature…". Tobias could plainly see that the man was crying from the treatment, and it reminded him of how Pirelli used to treat him before he was taken in by Mrs. Lovett. He felt terrible for this poor man, and wished that he could help him. Nellie seemed to be thinking the same thing, as the look on her face changed quickly from amused to shocked and appalled. "No one deserves ta be treated tha' way…" gasped Mrs. Lovett as they watched the man's tears stain the wood of the stage. As for Sweeney, he seemed to be able to care less about the man's predicament, and his gaze was intently focused on the man's deformity.
Against the black leather material on his backside, two hands were bound together by a tightened rope, which were both sporting an increasingly lovely set of blades, one for each finger. As those blades snipped away, they glimmered in the mid-day sun, and all Sweeney could think was that if he could somehow do away with those carnies, he could use this man as an apprentice in his shop. How many gorgeous rubies those hands could spill! But how would he be able to get his hands on them? Without thinking, he raised his voice and interrupted Mr. Sander's riveting yarn about how a man might be born with scissors for hands. "Excuse me, sir!" he beckoned, disrupting the tale so that Mr. Sanders would turn his attention to the barber. "… Yes?" there was a bit of annoyance in Mr. Sanders' voice as everything became silent again.
"I would like ta offer you a free shave, sir…" Sweeney began, again trying, with some modicum of difficulty, to refrain from revealing the razors on his person. He was itching; no, drooling for blood, but he knew that revealing his true intentions would frighten away his victims. "An' ta what, would ah owe this… Pleasure, Mr…?" Mr. Sanders eyed him suspiciously, weary that he might be about to be conned. "Todd.", Sweeney shifted a bit excitedly, "Mr. Sweeney Todd… Of Fleet Street.". "And," he added, "I ask only a single thing in return.". "What are ye doin'? 'Ave ye lost ye'r marbles, love?" Nellie whispered frantically in Todd's ear, "Ah mean, ah would love ta save th' man too, but-". She was interrupted by Mr. Sanders, who answered, "An' what, exac'ly, would tha' be, sah?".
Ignoring Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney allowed a slight smile to form on his lips as he replied, "That you may grace my humble shop with your wonderful countenance, sir.". That seemed to have hit the mark; Mr. Sanders grinned back, bowed in a friendly manner and said, "Why then, ah would greatly enjoy takin' ye up on tha' offer, Mr. Todd. Ah will be seein' ye before tomorro' afternoon!". The pain had subsided, so Edward made an attempt to get back on his feet, but his hands had gotten stuck in the cracks between the boards. He was trying his best to wrench himself free, and when it finally worked, he found he could focus on the conversation he was overhearing between the man in the audience and the sinister man who had captured him. Maybe, when this man left to get his free shave, Edward would be able to sneak away from the caravan… After all, the barber looked like a rather unsavory character as well, and Edward was no longer willing to deal with such terrifying personalities.