A HELICOPTER AWAITS ALL EIGHT OF YOU OUTSIDE THE FACTORY GATES. I MYSELF AWAIT YOUR ARRIVAL AT THE WHITE HOUSE WITH THE VERY GREATEST PLEASURE AND IMPATIENCE.
I BEG TO REMAIN, SIR,
MOST SINCERELY YOURS
LANCELOT R. GILLIGRASS
President of the United States
P.S. COULD YOU PLEASE BRING ME A FEW WONKA FUDGEMALLOW DELIGHTS. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH BUT EVERYBODY AROUND HERE KEEPS STEALING MINE OUT OF THE DRAWER IN MY DESK. AND DON’T TELL NANNY.
Mr Wonka stopped reading. And in the stillness that followed Charlie could hear people breathing. He could hear them breathing in and out much faster than usual. And there were other things, too. There were so many feelings and passions and there was so much sudden happiness swirling around in the air it made his head spin. Grandpa Joe was the first to say something . . . ‘Yippeeeeeeeeeee!’ he yelled out, and he flew across the room and caught Charlie by the hands and the two of them started dancing away along the bank of the chocolate river. ‘We’re going, Charlie!’ sang Grandpa Joe. ‘We’re going to the White House after all!’ Mr and Mrs Bucket were also dancing and laughing and singing, and Mr Wonka ran all over the room proudly showing the President’s letter to the Oompa-Loompas. After a minute or so, Mr Wonka clapped his hands for attention. ‘Come along, come along!’ he called out. ‘We mustn’t dilly! We mustn’t dally! Come on, Charlie! And you, sir, Grandpa Joe! And Mr and Mrs Bucket! The helicopter is outside the gates! We can’t keep it waiting!’ He began hustling the four of them toward the door.
‘Hey!’ screamed Grandma Georgina from the bed. ‘What about us? We were invited too, don’t you forget that!’
‘It said all eight of us were invited!’ cried Grandma Josephine.
‘And that includes me!’ said Grandpa George.
Mr Wonka turned and looked at them. ‘Of course it includes you,’ he said. ‘But we can’t possibly get that bed into a helicopter. It won’t go through the door.’
‘You mean . . . you mean if we don’t get out of bed we can’t come?’ said Grandma Georgina.
‘That’s exactly what I mean,’ said Mr Wonka. ‘Keep going, Charlie,’ he whispered, giving Charlie a little nudge. ‘Keep walking toward the door.’
Suddenly, behind them, there was a great SWOOSH of blankets and sheets and a pinging of bedsprings as the three old people all exploded out of the bed together. They came sprinting after Mr Wonka, shouting, ‘Wait for us! Wait for us!’ It was amazing how fast they were running across the floor of the great Chocolate Room. Mr Wonka and Charlie and the others stood staring at them in wonder. They leaped across paths and over little bushes like gazelles in spring-time, with their bare legs flashing and their nightshirts flying out behind them.
Suddenly Grandma Josephine put the brakes on so hard she skidded five yards before coming to a stop. ‘Wait!’ she screamed. ‘We must be mad! We can’t go to a famous party in the White House in our nightshirts! We can’t stand there practically naked in front of all those people while the President pins medals all over us!’
‘Oh-h-h-h!’ wailed Grandma Georgina. ‘Oh, what are we going to do?’
‘Don’t you have any clothes with you at all?’ asked Mr Wonka.
‘Of course we don’t!’ said Grandma Josephine. ‘We haven’t been out of that bed for twenty years!’
‘We can’t go!’ wailed Grandma Georgina. ‘We’ll have to stay behind!’
‘Couldn’t we buy something from a store?’ said Grandpa George.
‘What with?’ said Grandma Josephine. ‘We don’t have any money!’
‘Money!’ cried Mr Wonka. ‘Good gracious me, don’t you go worrying about money! I’ve got plenty of that!’
‘Listen,’ said Charlie. ‘Why couldn’t we ask the helicopter to land on the roof of a big shop on the way over. Then you can all pop downstairs and buy exactly what you want!’
‘Charlie!’ cried Mr Wonka, grasping him by the hand. ‘What would we do without you? You’re brilliant! Come along everybody! We’re off to stay in the White House!’
They all linked arms and went dancing out of the Chocolate Room and along the corridors and out through the front door into the open where the big helicopter was waiting near the factory gates. A group of extremely important-looking gentlemen came toward them and bowed.