For A Moment - A Wonka AU

Chapter 18: Six Silly Citizens

"Willy, that is not safe!" Charlotte exclaimed, staring down at the four long ladders Willy had recently roped together.

"How else are we going to get up there undetected?" he replied, gesturing toward the coop at the top floor of the Wash House..

"It's true," Abacus agreed and Charlotte let out a nervous sigh.

It was early in the morning, about 7 o'clock. Charlotte and Willy weren't able to do anything else last night since Mrs. Scrubitt was keeping an eye out at all times, so they managed to hide out in the city for the remaining few hours of the night, somehow managing to not freeze to death or get caught by the Chief of Police.

Nearly ten minutes ago, the two rounded up Abacus, Piper, Larry, and Lottie as Mrs. Scrubitt set them free from the Wash House. Noodle, as predicted, wasn't with them.

So they assumed that she had been locked up in the coop.

That's where the ladder came into play.

"You know, if you fall from that, you're not only going to be falling to your death, but also into a frozen river." Charlotte was still worried, glancing down at the frozen river in between them and the Wash House.

"Don't worry so much, Charlie," Willy said and tried positioning the ladder so it would rest at the edge of the coop. "I'll be fine."

"Hm..." she murmured, watching as he did that.

Piper held the bottom of the ladder in place and Willy began climbing it as if they were steps in an enclosed building.

"Jeez..." Charlotte sighed nervously and began climbing up after him, although she was more careful about it.

Once Willy reached the coop and stood safely on its edge, he held out a hand to help Charlotte the rest of the way.

She took his hand and climbed up there beside him, trying hard not to look down. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, with her fear of heights.

"Hello, Noodle!" Willy whisper-yelled, sticking his head through one of the pigeon-holes in the coop.

Noodle jumped up in surprise. "Willy!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening. "I...I thought you'd gone."

"He did," Charlotte said, sticking her head through a different pigeon-hole.

"I made a deal with Slugworth to free you guys and give you a better life," Willy explained. "But he didn't exactly keep to his side of the bargain, so I came back. We all did!"

Noodle looked out of one of the pigeon-holes to see the rest of the group standing at the bottom of the ladder, waving up at her.

She sighed and leaned back against the wall of the coop, hugging her knees to her chest. "He didn't...In fact, he wants me locked up forever, apparently..."

"Of course he does..." Willy murmured as he fiddled with the padlock to the coop.

"But why?" Noodle asked. "What's he got against me? I've never even met him!"

"I don't know, Noodle," Willy said, still occupied with the padlock. "Well, not for sure, at least. But I think it might have something to do with your family."

Charlotte shot a look at him.

"My family...?" Noodle echoed.

"W-Well, that's just a theory, of course-" Willy added at the look Charlotte shot him. "All I know for certain is that you won't be safe here until he's locked behind bars."

Abacus' face appeared in one of the other pigeon-holes, causing both Charlotte and Noodle to jump.

"Yes, and how exactly are you going to make that happen, Mr. Wonka?" he asked.

"Abacus! You said the Cartel keeps a record of all their dirty deeds in that green ledger of theirs, correct?" Willy asked, still going at the padlock.

Charlotte, seeing this, sighed and took the padlock in her own hands, fiddling with it herself.

Abacus nodded. "They do, yes."

Willy let go of the padlock and let Charlotte do her thing. "So," he continued, "if we could just get ahold of that, we could prove that they poisoned my chocolates. They'd all go to jail too and we'd all be free!"

"That sounds good to me," Piper said, her voice coming from the pigeon-hole next to Abacus.

"Now, if I may remind you, Mr. Wonka," Abacus continued, "they keep that green ledger in a vault."

Lottie's face appeared in a pigeon-hole on the other side of Charlotte. "Guarded by a corrupt cleric," she said.

"And five hundred chocoholic monks," Larry added, appearing next to Lottie.

Charlotte finally managed to undo the padlock.

"That's true," Willy admitted. "But I went for a cold swim a few hours ago. Cold water's good for the brain, you see- stimulates the neural pathways. And after just four miles-"

"You swam that far?!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"-I figured out how an ingenious orphan, a plumber, a telephone-exchange operator, an accountant, a comedian who can speak like he's underwater, and the intelligent daughter of my own rival can combine their skills with a magician who's also a chocolate maker to-" He leaned in closer, "-pull of the heist of the century."

"Mr. Wonka," Abacus grumbled pessimistically, "that would be exceedingly complicated. Have you forgotten about the security guard guarding the vault? Or perhaps the nine-digit code?"

"I can help with the code," Charlotte chimed in.

Willy looked at her. "How?"

She flashed him a playful smirk. "I'm the daughter of Felix Fickelgruber himself, Mr. Wonka. I know things that you can only-" She flicked his forehead, "-dream of."

His lips curled into a big smile. "Alright...and I think I have a way to get rid of that security guard..."

"But there's still one small problem," Abacus continued, still sounding doubtful. Why did he always have to be so stubborn? "Even if you did get your hands on that ledger, the Chocolate Cartel would simply just buy their way out of trouble. It's what they do."

Charlotte sighed. He had a point. What did six silly citizens like them and Felix Fickelgruber's daughter have against the three most powerful people in the city?

"The greedy beat the needy, Willy..." Noodle whispered, looking back down at her hands. "It's just the way of the world..."

Charlotte moved out of the way as Willy flung the door to the coop open. Some pigeons flew out.

"Right you are, Noodle," Willy said with a playful gleam in his eyes. "I really hate to admit it, but you are. And that's why there's only one thing we can do."

Charlotte and Willy exchanged glances filled with mischief as Noodle asked, "What's that?"

"Change the world," they both said.

Noodle's eyes lit up and she crawled out of the coop. "Where do we start?"