Chapter 7
Off To A New World
Edward was somewhat bewildered. He did not expect to be on the move so soon, nor
did he ever expect Sweeney to react so surprisingly quick. He had been so calm with everything
before, so this seemed a bit strange. Edward figured it was just the love for his daughter driving
him. "Faster, Edward! We 'ave to catch up!" Sweeney tugged, trying to rush Edward. Edward
stumbled a few times, unintentionally frustrating Sweeney, but Sweeney said nothing of it. He
only kept a tight grasp on Edward's wrist and pressed on. Edward was too out of breath to
speak as they darted several blocks in the opposite direction from the pie shop.
When they finally slowed down, huffing, Edward asked, "Shouldn't we… have told… Mrs.
Lovett?". "Hush, Edward! They'll 'ear you. Come. Follow me" Sweeney took Edward aside and
hid, backs against a brick wall. "Ah, there ye are, sah. Ah was wonderin' when you'd be back.
Ah've got yer ward all set for our little trip." Beadle grinned sickeningly, greeting Mr. Turpin,
who was himself heavily out of breath, still clutching a bottle full of liquid to his chest. A
muffled shout leaked out of Johanna's bound-up mouth. She was tied up with a rope, silenced
with sheets and tossed into a carriage that was parked nearby. "Thank you, sir. Now, then," he
began, holding the bottle out to get a better look at it, "I hope that what I was told about this
serum is true.".
"That's the serum s'pposed ta take people places, right, sir?" asked the Beadle, putting
his face closer to the bottle, looking as if he nearly wanted to drink the stuff. Turpin quickly
snapped it out of Beadle's reach. "So we hope." replied Turpin, almost menacing. "A serum…"
whispered Sweeney under his breath, his eyes not moving from the Judge, who was just around
the corner. Oh, how he wanted to let the crimson rivers erupt from that throat. But if he was
going to get Johanna back, he would have to wait. "What serum?" Edward spoke up, and he
was just as soon shushed again by Sweeney, who was trying everything not to blow their cover.
Well that was rude, thought Edward to himself, not fully aware of the level of solitude the
situation at hand had called for.
"If we have done everything correctly, this should allow us to travel to a different
dimension where no young brigands or uncivilized young men of any other sort will ever be
able to find my beautiful young ward." Turpin chuckled a bit as he finished speaking, feeling
victorious against the world. "Glad to 'ear that! 'Appy news, indeed, sah. But…" Beadle shuffled
a little, coming towards Turpin. "Where ah ye goin' ta cast the spell? We certainly can't cast it
out 'ere where we'll be seen." Beadle commented. He was right. They would have to find some
remote place where no one would see or hear what they were doing. Further inland, just out of
London's urban sprawl, there were swamps and marshes where awful things had always been
done and dealt- places where absolutely no one would ever discover their plans. "I've got a
plan, Mr. Beadle." growled the Judge. "An' what exactly does that plan entail, my lord?" the
Beadle grinned sickeningly. Turpin sort of chuckled again, proud of his so-called plan. "We are
taking our operations into the marshes behind the city, sir. No one will suspect a thing if we set
it off there." he grinned down at Beadle, who was, as always, half of his own height. "Oh! Great
plan, my lord. Wonderful! We should get moving, then." Beadle's grin spread ever wider as he
made his way up to the driver's seat of the carriage. Turpin followed suit by stepping into the
back seat. Johanna attempted another scream, but a short bump as they took off down the
street shut her up.
Edward wanted to try to catch up to the carriage to stop them then and there, but
Sweeney quickly took hold of him by the shoulder and stopped him from taking off. "Don't. If
you do they'll beat you senseless. Do you hear me, Edward?" he spoke gruffly, digging his
fingers into Edward a little. It was painful, but Edward understood and stayed in place. "What
should we do?" Edward asked meekly, shaking a little from the roughness a moment ago. "We
are going to hire a carriage to get us to the marshes, and from there we will search for them."
Sweeney grumbled, making sure he had his razors still on him. "Okay…" Edward sort of
squeaked- Sweeney could be so rough sometimes, even if Edward felt that maybe he could be
nicer inside. So Edward followed Sweeney to the carriage station, looking like a lost puppy.
Careful not to be seen with Edward having scissors for hands, Sweeney took them down a lot of
dark alleys. When they finally found the station not much later, Sweeney turned and put his
hand on Edward's shoulder again, but this time without the painful grip. "Edward", Sweeney
looked into his eyes with that intense expression he usually had, "I'm asking you to stay here
for a bit while I get us a carriage.".
Edward simply nodded yes, in a bit of shock, and Sweeney left him standing there in an
instant. He had no idea how long it normally took to get a carriage, but Edward hoped Sweeney
would be back soon. He hated being all alone in London's dark alleyways, and he had not
realized just how safe he felt with Sweeney around until now. Now, he felt like the walls were
closing in on him. He started hearing laughter drifting from somewhere and he was
immediately reminded of the first two individuals he met in this realm- the men who treated
him so unkindly. He was slowly becoming afraid that someone else like them would come
through the alleyway, capture him, and take him away to somewhere else far away. Don't run
he told himself, If you do, Mr. Todd will never find you again. He bit his lip. He was back to
snipping nervously.
Snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip….
But just as he could stand it no longer, a shadow fell across his face. "I've got a carriage
waiting for us, Edward. Follow me." Sweeney's voice automatically broke through Edward's
fear. A small smile formed on Edward's lips as he turned to find Sweeney standing there, but
Sweeney took no notice. He was too focused on their mission. Edward felt that strong grasp
around his wrist again as Sweeney led him quickly to the carriage and helped him up the steps.
He did not exactly know why, but to feel it again made him smile even more. The same thing he
felt when Kim had held him close- a feeling of safety. But he could not be quite sure of what it
was. Sweeney sat down next to him and ordered someone to take them to the marshes as fast
as possible. Edward kept thinking about the feeling until he was sound asleep, which was about
half way to the marshes. There was an unusual silence. Sweeney could no longer hear Edward's
blades snipping in a curious way, a scared way, a nervous way, or any way for that matter. He
turned his head to find that Edward had fallen asleep, apparently on his shoulder.
In the light coming through the carriage window, with some wisps of jet black hair
blowing here and there, Edward appeared so innocent and peaceful that Sweeney decided not
to wake him and tell him to get off. Sweeney simply leaned further back against the seat and
watched the flora and fauna coming towards the carriage before passing it. Soon. Soon we will
find them…" thought Sweeney, scanning the upcoming scenery for any sign of his target. There
seemed to be no sign, which worried Sweeney greatly. Eventually, he stopped the carriage and
gently pushed Edward until his eyes fluttered open. "Huh?" Edward said sleepily, stretching
himself and yawning. "Wake up, Edward. We're going to 'ave to continue on foot." Sweeney
whispered, fearing they may be somewhere nearby without him knowing. "We didn't find the
trail?" Edward asked, looking around as he followed Sweeney out of the carriage. "No, we did
not…" Sweeney said as he surveyed the general area. He turned to face Edward, cocked an
eyebrow and added, "You seem shocked that we didn't. Why?". Edward was certain that they
had. He supposed now that he had only dreamed it, but he could have sworn that he saw
Turpin, Beadle and Johanna going off south-west into the thicker trees and told Sweeney all
about it.
"I… I suppose I dreamed of finding where they were going…" Edward admitted somewhat
dejectedly. Suddenly, Sweeney's face was nose to nose with Edward's. "Where did your dream
say they went, Edward? Which direction? Do you remember?" his words almost felt like they
were choking Edward. However, he still managed to choke out an answer with a nervous look
on his face. He was not used to anyone being in such a close vicinity to himself. "They went
deeper into those trees over there…" he shakily pointed with one blade to a large thicket of tall,
tall trees clustered closely together. Sweeney frowned harshly, looking at it, because it seemed
it would be very difficult to find anything in there, but what other bright ideas did they have? So
Sweeney paid the coachman and was heading off with Edward in no time.
Hours later, they were reaching the center of the marsh, but not without some modicum
of difficulty. Edward was repeatedly tripping over stones and roots, Sweeney kept helping him
up, and both of them kept running into cobwebs and branches which Edward had to cut to get
them through safely. By the time they began to hear the voices of the Judge and his group,
Edward's hands were clogged up with leaves and branches, but that was the least of their
worries. Turpin could be heard spouting some kind of incantation, and then there was a large,
lasting flash of bright blue light. Then, silence. "Argh! We were too late!" Sweeney yelled out in
frustration. He leaned forward against a tree, trying to think of a way out of this. Edward,
meanwhile, felt his curiosity about the light source rising, and he gently moved a few tall plants
aside to get a good look. There before him was some sort of gigantic, floating, sky blue portal.
Try as he might, he could not see anything beyond that.
"Mr. Todd?"
"What?" came a rough, negative reply.
"Look."
When Sweeney opened his eyes and took a look at the thing Edward was so excitedly
pointing at, his jaw nearly dropped. All hope was not lost after all. The portal had remained
open, although neither of them knew for how much longer. "Well, Edward… It appears we have
to jump in. Are you ready?" Sweeney was making that intense look with his eyes again, but this
time it read something like 'Do you trust me?'. Edward nodded, a little astonished at the
internal question that Sweeney had just asked him, and not completely sure of that answer
consciously, but something in him also answered yes to the question anyway. Sweeney again
took Edward by the wrist. The two of them walked up to the portal and leapt inside. They could
not tell whether they were falling down at a high speed or being sucked down. Edward sort of
pursed his lips, closed his eyes, and tried to curl up a little, terrified of the coming impact.
Sweeney closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and tried putting himself between Edward and
whatever landing was coming.
In just a few more seconds, Sweeney and Edward nearly plowed into some dirt, and rolled
down a hill. The entire time, Sweeney tried his best not to let go of Edward, but it was a difficult
task, and only close to the end of their landing did Sweeney's grasp finally break, with Edward
rolling only a few feet away from him. He had been shaken up by the impact after the descent,
and had gotten a few new scars on his face during the landing from having sometimes rolled
over some of his own scissors. Otherwise, Edward was fine. Sweeney tried getting to his feet,
but he had lost the feeling in his arms for a moment due to hitting the ground so hard. He also
had a few scars and bruises, but he did not honestly care. Edward caught his breath, which had
been knocked out of him on impact, and found a way to get himself up on his own feet. "Ugh…"
Sweeney huffed, brushing off the pain and getting slowly to his own feet as well. "Where are
we?" Edward whispered, looking wide-eyed at the scenery all around them.
"'Ow should I know? Damn vortex nearly killed us…" grumbled Sweeney, still rubbing the
back of his neck. At the foot of the hill they had landed on after rolling, there was a sleepy little
village comprised of a church, some log cabins and what appeared to be a doctor's office.
Beyond it were large fields filled with scarecrows and pumpkins with hay, ripe for autumn.
Behind the fields was a thick forest, and just beyond that was a picturesque river with a
fairytale bridge made of cobblestone. A wooden sign somewhere nearby, Edward could read,
spelled out the town name: "Sleepy Hollow".