Chapter 6
Close But No Shave
Edward dreamed the nightmare again. Only this time, it was somehow much more
frightening and real. The hands strongly gripped his shoulders, and try as he might, he failed at
wrenching himself free from their grasp. They seemed to be pulling him deeper and deeper into
a cavernous void of darkness that was below freezing temperatures. Send him up… Send him
up… Send… him… up… up… up… a menacing voice echoed and bounced through the darkness.
Edward flinched as the sound hit his ears. By now, he had given up much of the struggle, having
realized that this was another nightmare, and that he would definitely wake up soon anyway.
He did, however, continue to wonder where he was being taken in this dream.
Meanwhile, Sweeney stood smirking in the darkness of his shop upstairs. He held a razor
blade out into the moonlight and was slowly turning it over and over, watching it shine. My
dear, dear friend… he thought, soon you will have some friends of your own, each of you
dropping those precious rubies. He was plotting something dark and sinister. To exact his
revenge on that sexual demon the judge, he would keep Edward as his assistant, and when the
right time befell them, he would entice Edward into slashing the judge's throat. It sounded
delicious. But it would take time to formulate just how he would have to trick Edward. For now,
the only thing that could be done was to pretend to support and help Edward selflessly. A few
weeks, or maybe a month, he concluded, should be more than long enough to win over
Edward's trust. Then, Sweeney noticed that the moonlight seemed to be fading. It's late… he
realized, and he seated himself in his barbershop chair, as there really was not much of a bed in
the room otherwise. Sleep and Sweeney's racing mind eventually found each other.
Edward awoke abruptly that next morning, just before, in his dream, he could catch a
glimpse of what was really causing the hands to pull him into the darkness. Wha… Huh? He
shook his head, trying to clear his nightmare enough to focus. He sat up, legs crossed, arms
draped over his knees. But much as he tried, the image of the true owner of those hands still
did not come clearly. "Goo' mornin', Edward! 'Ow was yer sleep?" Tobias crawled to him and
peered up, beaming, hiding his constant fear of the man upstairs. Edward had trouble finding
words at first. "Good morning… Tobias. I… I dreamed of hands again." he was a bit reluctant to
be telling a child about his nightmares, but Tobias seemed to care genuinely. "'Ands? Edward,
why on earth would ye want 'ands?" Tobias blurted out childishly. "They're so BORING." he
quickly added, glancing at his own hands and at Edward's.
"Well…" Edward began. But, how on earth could he possibly make this child understand
all of his reasons for wanting hands? He was silent for a moment. "Well… These- these
scissors… They can do amazing things… But-" he began. "But what? Ye can cut 'air, right? An' ye
can shape bushes an' what not! 'Ow is that not coo'?" Tobias interjected, looking confused. A
classic case of wanting what you have never had. Tobias was excitedly picturing Edward cutting
dashing hairstyles on men, luscious hair on women, and turning simple, ordinary bushes into
gigantic menacing monsters of the nightmare world. Edward let out a tiny sigh. "These hands…
They can't feel things- they're always stone cold… and they can't touch others." he continued,
despondently. Tobias' eyes flickered back up to meet Edward's gaze again. "What 'appens
when ye touch others?" he wondered aloud. His dream quickly faded and gave way to a very
frightening image of his new friend causing deadly harms to others. "All they do… is hurt
people." Edward fell silent after this, and Tobias could sense that Edward no longer really
wanted to talk about it.
"Well…" Tobias broke the silence, "If it 'elps… Ah grew up without a marm, an' mos' kids
usually tend to 'ave marms, jes' like they 'ave 'ands an' all.". Edward never had a mother either,
but he had never seen that as an issue since his inventor had done such a wonderful job as both
mother and father to him. Seeing that Edward still remained quiet, Tobias stood up, placed a
hand on his shoulder, looked at him and said quite honestly, "Edward, ah don't care if ye've 'urt
anyone befo'. All that matters now is that i's all way be'ind ye, an' ye won't do it again, ah
know. Right now, yer my only friend in this place- the only one I can really talk to other than my
new marm. Yer my friend forever, an' ain't nothin' goin' ta 'arm ye. Ye can bet on that." with
that, Tobias left Edward to his own thoughts. How can a child seem to know so much about the
world around him? wondered Edward in silence.
'Ow can a child seem ta know so much about the world around 'im? Sweeney had been
up again already, and as he was polishing a razor, it occurred to him that Tobias was more of a
threat than he had realized. He had seen Tobias' expression the day they saw Edward in the
side show. The lad genuinely wanted to help him, and was probably talking to him often
downstairs. Talking him away from the position of trust that Sweeney needed Edward to be in
for his plan to work. However, he also knew that Mrs. Lovett would never allow him to lay a
finger on the boy, so something else had to be done. Every lad needs a proper schooling… an
idea was forming in his head. Maybe he would be able to talk Mrs. Lovett into sending the boy
off to school soon to get him off of their backs during the day. At night, he would be too tired to
discuss such things with the other boy. It sounded magnificent. Full-proof even. He resolved to
pitch the idea later on in the evening to Mrs. Lovett, when the lad would be in the bakehouse.
Edward eventually made his way out into the pie shop, and was intersected by Mrs.
Lovett. "Goo' mornin', luv! 'Ow did ye sleep? Did ye 'ave that nightmare again? Did ye still want
ta tell yer auntie Nellie about it?" she quickly sat Edward down at a table as Tobias left on his
first errand of the day. She then went about pouring some water from the sink into some cups,
sweeping up bits of a breakfast onto a tray, and sat everything down in front of Edward before
seating herself beside him as he opened his mouth to speak. "Well… It was… similar. I dreamed
of that same pair of hands again." the words still found difficulty coming out. He felt tense, as if
he were being judged or spied upon, but he had not the slightest idea why or how. "Hands? Ye
dreamed of 'ands?" Mrs. Lovett had to hold back a small giggle, remembering his scissors.
Edward squirmed a bit uncomfortably before he resumed. "Y-Yes… Hands… Cold hands. Pulling
me towards this darkness… And I heard a voice." his voice quivered ever so slightly. "Did ye
think ye could recognize this dream voice? 'Ow did it sound, luv?" she appeared completely
intrigued. "Rough… Like a growl. Sort of like Mr. Todd." he half-uttered, somehow frightening
that this information may be shared with Mr. Todd without his permission. It was safe to
assume that this could happen, since Mrs. Lovett was upstairs often, talking to Mr. Todd for
long hours at a time. Especially when there was no business to be had.
"Oh, well, that is interesting, luv. What was 'e saying?" her 'interested' face started to
falter a bit. Mrs. Lovett was beginning to fantasize about Edward helping her to cut dough and
fruit for the pies. But Edward began to think she was imagining divulging this info later to Mr.
Todd, and he became very afraid. "I… I don't remember." he said softly. At that moment, Mr.
Todd attempted to sneak his way into the pie shop. A tough feet to accomplish when Mrs.
Lovett is head over heels for you. "Ah! There ye are, luv! Did ye sleep well?" she immediately
brightened her face and leapt from her seat. What a miraculous change a person can go
through in one instant just because of love, thought Edward before turning his gaze to the
cooling breakfast before him.
"I slept fine." Sweeney replied tersely. In reality, he had had only five hours of sleep, if
that. However, he was not about to let Mrs. Lovett know he had not gotten a proper night's
sleep, lest she send him right back up to bed, and today, there was business to be done. He had
seen the Beadle and the judge enter a shop just across the street, no doubt to browse for a
while, so he had become rather hurried and frustrated. "The judge is here." he growled at Mrs.
Lovett as he wrenched himself away from her gaze and marched directly up to Edward. "I will
be needing your services, Edward. Follow me up to the shop." he grumbled, threateningly.
"But… But I don't know how to-" Edward was going to remind Sweeney that he had never been
taught how to shave, but Sweeney leaned in and growled out, "No excuses, Edward. I am to see
you in the shop in ten minutes. Is that clear?".
Edward shrank back into the cushions, pulled up his scissors to his chest in a frightened
position and slowly nodded yes. "Now, luv, no reason ta be so cross with the boy! He ain't done
nothin' wrong, jes' like Toby!" with this, Mrs. Lovett had hit a switch. Mr. Todd stood there, a
monster with death hidden in his pants pockets, teeth clenched. To be reminded that Tobias
almost foiled his plan at this moment was not a good move on her part. He would remember
this later. He turned to her, whipped out a razor, causing Edward to freeze, and used it like a
pointer, almost touching the bare skin of her neck, and briskly ran it up to her nose as he spoke.
"Mrs. Lovett, I 'ave waited years for this day. Think what you want of Tobias, but I'm warning
you… He's a snake among rats." he half-whispered as he placed the razor back into his pocket.
Mrs. Lovett's chest was heaving, Edward noticed. She must be afraid of him, as well, he
concluded. Mr. Todd left to go to his shop before she could catch her breath. "My, my…" Mrs.
Lovett was still attempting to catch her breath as she began cleaning up breakfast, not even
noticing that Edward had not touched his food. "Ye'd best get up there soon, luv. Mr. Todd is all
'ot an' bothered about somethin' or other, an' 'e needs ye." she puffed between breaths,
urging Edward to go before Mr. Todd became even more angry.
Edward realized it would be more frightening if he refused to listen, so he went on up,
feeling as if something awful awaited him. Carefully, he pushed open the door to the shop- Mr.
Todd had made sure to leave it slightly open so that Edward could come on in. He found Mr.
Todd, almost excitedly polishing a razor on a leather strap attached to his chair. "Come on in,
Edward. 'Ave a seat over there." he gestured to the seat by the door without taking his eyes
away from the strap and razor. Edward quietly shut the door behind himself and took a seat.
The seconds ticked by in a nervous silence. Sweeney was losing his cool. He kept peering
through the window, down to the streets below, watching the door of the shop he had seen the
judge enter like a hawk.
The silence was interrupted when Tobias burst through the door. Sweeney and Edward
both nearly jumped. "Mr. Todd! Ah jes' saw that fellow yer always goin' on about leave through
the back door of the shop across th' way! Ah was too far off to catch up to 'im in time, but 'e
left in a 'urry. Looked like 'e had bought somethin' 'e wasn't supposed ta, like arsenic." Tobias
spoke frantically before trying to leave. Mr. Todd stopped him. "'Old on, lad. Which way did 'e
run?" he snarled very faintly. In fear, Tobias spat out the remainder of the info, saying
something about the judge heading for home, before taking off down stairs and into the pie
shop to safety. "Arsenic… Arsenic…" Sweeney whispered in disbelief, pacing the wood floor.
"Arsenic, Mr. Todd?" asked Edward, wondering what was so wrong.
"Yes, Edward, arsenic. Poison. It makes a person sick." sighed Sweeney, clearly
frustrated. Sweeney slammed a fist down on the countertop that was his shop vanity. Edward
began to get up to go talk to him, but thought better of it and remained where he was. "I need
to… I mean we need to stop him, Edward." Sweeney grumbled, his back still facing Edward who
was now frightened twice as much as before. "He has something… Something very dear to
me." Sweeney added, taking the photo frame from the counter and proceeding back toward
Edward, looking at it's contents longingly. Edward looked up, frightened and curious at the
same time. Something really stunning must be in the possession of the judge for Sweeney to be
missing it so badly. Sweeney held out the frame for Edward to get a glimpse at the photos
inside. A sweet, smiling young blonde was glowing happily in one photo, holding a beautiful
child in a cheery little bonnet. In the adjacent photo, the woman and child were accompanied
by a youth with eyes as bright as his future was thought to be, sure to be a successful man in
whatever he pursued. Could this have been Sweeney? That almost seemed impossible. The
brooding creature before him hardly looked at all like his old, cheery self.
"That child there. That is my young daughter, Johanna. She is a fair young lady by now, I
am sure, and the judge has her in his hands. That arsenic he bought might very well be for her."
he explained, visibly struggling with not lashing out. Edward simply smiled slightly, gazing at the
photos. Glimpses of happiness. Memories. Edward always enjoyed photos. "Come." Sweeney
snapped up the photos and quickly placed them back on top of the vanity, "We will leave at
once.". Edward was startled again by this sudden action, but he understood the meaning of this
new operation to Mr. Todd somehow. He was sure the Inventor would have been just as upset
if someone was attempting harm on him, and poor Johanna! She must be so lonely and afraid.
Sweeney slipped on his coat, helped Edward to his feet, and the both of them were soon
starting across the street in a hurry.