Kate was well and truly stuck. She had tumbled helplessly down the smooth chrome innards of the narrow shoot before finally her fall had been broken by a thick web of sticky, stretchy string suspended across the tunnel, in which she had instantly become entangled. This webbing, judging by its sweet, sugary scent, was no doubt made from some form of candy.
Kate had not bothered to struggle, because quite frankly she was sick of falling. So she just lay there, ensnared in the hammock of candy-webbing, staring at the dark tunnel above her and wondering how long it would be until somebody found her.
As it turned out, she did not have long to wait. After a while – it was hard to say how much time had passed – the heavy silence was broken by the dull clunk of a metal hatch opening, and Kate saw bright light flooding up from whatever lay beneath her. Suddenly aware of eyes staring at her, Kate tried to twist round to see what was happening, but her bonds held her too tightly. Then something flashed in the corner of her vision, and she craned her neck to see several long sticks tipped with hooks rear up around her, tugging roughly at the webbing and snapping the thick strands that had been holding the snare in place…
Kate found herself falling again, but this time it was only for a split second before she hit the ground. With no time to nurse her aches and bruises, Kate sat up sharply to behold her captors, and found herself surrounded by a group of the tiniest little people she had ever seen. Each one – there were six of them, all uniformly dressed in plastic red jumpsuits – must have been no more than a foot and a half in height, and they were all staring at Kate solemnly, with facial features that were alarmingly alike.
Kate eyed these strange little men with the calm curiosity of one who had encountered many strange things her life, yet never failed to be intrigued by something new. After this pause of silent observation, Kate tried talking to them.
"I…I'm sorry for this. There's been a misunderstanding." She tried weakly, not wanting to reveal the presence of her unusual companion in the factory, but not wanting to be falsely blamed either.
She need not have bothered either way, for the little men just continued to stare at her silently. With a resigned sigh, Kate rose stiffly to her feet, while trying to free herself from the net of sticky candy-webbing still clinging to her clothes and hair. Amazingly, the little men immediately gathered around her to help, grabbing at the strands they could reach and tearing them away with strong little hands.
Once the majority of the stuff had been removed, the little men gathered in front of Kate, and one of them motioned with his hands for her to follow. Kate sedately obliged, allowing herself to be lead off into the depths of the increasingly mysterious chocolate factory.
Mr Willy Wonka had been up and about on his morning rounds of the factory when the security alarm had suddenly gone off, blaring down the corridors and bringing the chocolatier's stroll to an abrupt halt. Grimacing at the alarm's harsh wailing, Willy turned on his heels and headed straight to the administration office, where dozens of Oompa-loompas were running to and fro, frantically signalling and burbling to one another in their strange language. The only one standing still and silent in the room, Willy simply looked and listened, managing to catch a few comprehendible sentences amongst the constant chatter – something about a major security breach, and a trespasser caught in the tower…
By the time an Oompa-loompa had finally marched over to explain what was happening, Willy had already got the gist of what was going on.
"A trespasser!" Willy exclaimed, sounding more fascinated than anything else. "Gosh-darn it, I keep forgetting about that roof…" He then said, clicking his tongue regretfully, as if the gaping hole in the ceiling of his apparently top-secret factory was only a minor setback.
"Well, suppose I'd better go meet her… It's a girl, right? I heard someone say it's a girl…"
The Oompa-loompa slowly shook his head. The factory workers did tend to look stony-faced most of the time, but this one looked especially grim. A concerned frown beginning to creep into the chocolatier's pale features, he crouched down to address the Oompa-loompa more closely.
"…Not a girl?"
The Oompa-loompa made a quick hand signal.
"Two trespassers?" Willy considered this for a moment. "So…where's the other one?"
Remaining silent, the Oompa-loompa just raised an arm and pointed to the corridor that led to the heart of the factory – the Chocolate Room.