Willy brought everyone over to the edge of the river. A big pink boat that was in the shape of a seahorse was seen emerging. There were rows of Oompa-Loompas rowing the boat, humming a tune as they did so, and one Oompa-Loompa stood behind a drum, beating a rhythm to the humming. When the boat stopped in front of the group, the Oompa-Loompas began to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Violet questioned. She was still smacking on her gum.
Willy leaned towards her and answered, "I think it's from all those doggone cocoa beans. Hey by the way, did you guys know that chocolate contains a property that triggers the release of endorphins?" His gaze rested on Rose. A lovesick grin grew on his lips. "Gives one the feeling of being in love" Rose caught him staring at her, and blushed deeply. But, nonetheless, she returned the smile.
"You don't say" Mrs Beauregarde said in an overly-flirtatious tone, interrupting Rose and Willy's gaze.
The look on Willy's face quickly changed to an uneasy one as he averted his eyes to the woman. He looked at the boat again and said to everyone, "All aboard!" The Beauregarde's got on first, then the Teavee's, and then the Salt's. That left a row open in the back for Rose and Charlie to sit. Rose made sure to hold onto Charlie's hand as they got into the boat, so that neither of them would fall. Once the two Buckets were sitting, Willy finally climbed into the boat, sitting in the empty spot next to Rose. The two of them shared a gaze again, before Willy looked forward and shouted to the Oompa-Loompas. "Onward!"
The boat began moving. Rose kept an arm draped around Charlie, while her other hand was resting in her lap. Willy dipped a ladle into the river, filling it with the chocolate. He offered it to Rose. "Try some of this. It'll do you good. You look starved to death"
Rose took the ladle and took a sip of the chocolate. Her eyes fluttered closed as soon as the magical taste danced across her taste buds. "Oh, Willy, this is wonderful"
She handed the ladle off to Charlie. He took a sip from it and grinned from ear to ear when he tasted the chocolate. "It's great!"
"That's because it's mixed by waterfall" Willy explained. "The waterfall is most important!" His voice raised as he addressed everyone else. His hand waved around as he repeated his words from earlier. "Mixes the chocolate, churns it up, makes it light and frothy. And by the way, no other factory in the world--"
"You already said that" Veruca interrupted rather rudely.
Willy lowered his hand and slowly leaned back in his seat. Everyone continued to stare at him. "You're all quite short, aren't you?" He spoke at random, addressing the children.
"Well, yeah, we're children!" Violet responded with an attitude.
"Well that's no excuse. I was never as short as you"
"You were once" Mike said.
"Was not!" Came Willy's sassy reply. "Know why? Because I distinctly remember putting a hat on top of my head" He tapped the brim of his hat. "Look at your short little arms. You could never reach" He finished off with a giggle.
Everyone looked forward again. Charlie then asked Willy curiously. "Do you even remember what it was like being a kid?"
"Oh boy, do I" Willy looked off to the side. The smile on his face faded as he sunk deep into thought. "Do I?" Then he was out of it, just staring off into the distance as he remembered his childhood.
Rose and Charlie shared confused glances, both of them wondering if he was alright. Rose looked back to the spaced out man. "Willy?" She tried snapping her fingers in front of his eyes, but that didn't work. "Willy? Are you alright?" Rose looked forward and saw that they were heading for a tunnel. She looked back to the man, and tried to snap him out of his daze again. "We're headed for a tunnel" Without thinking, she placed her hand on top of his.
Willy finally snapped out of his daze, not yet noticing Rose's hand on top of his own. "Oh, yeah. Full speed ahead!" He then looked down to notice the dainty hand on top of his.
Rose followed his gaze, and blushed deeply once she realized. "Oh, I'm sorry" She muttered, retracting her hand. "I didn't even notice that I was..." She never even noticed the way Willy was smiling at her, as she was too embarrassed to meet his gaze.
"You don't need to feel embarrassed, my dear Rose" Willy whispered to her. He was tempted to reach over and touch her hand again, but he settled with resting his hand on top of his cane instead.
The Oompa-Loompas started rowing faster, and the one Oompa-Loompa started drumming faster as they entered the tunnel. "How can they see where they're going?" Violet referred to the Oompa-Loompas.
"They can't" Willy answered, his attention moving forward again. "There's no knowing where they're going" He then called out, "Switch on the lights!"
The lights flicked on and the boat descended down the tunnel at a rapid pace. Rose felt excitement coursing through her veins. She loved the way wind was blowing against her face, and she oddly enjoyed the way her stomach would drop whenever the boat did. The boat slowed down once they were in an area with vaulted doors. Willy decided to point out the rooms to his guests. "People! Keep an eye out. We're passing some very important rooms here"
There was a Clotted Cream Room, Coffee Cream Room, and oddly enough, a Hair Cream Room. That one made Mrs Beauregarde curious so he turned in her seat to ask Willy. "What do you use hair cream for?"
"To lock in moisture" He answered and then laughed as he primped his hair. Rose giggled along with him. Mrs Beauregarde's smile fell and she turned back around.
An open room caught Rose and Charlie's attention. A cow was suspended in the air, and some Oompa-Loompas were whipping it. The two siblings, sharing the same imaginative mind, said at the same time, "Whipped cream!"
Willy smiled fondly at them both. "Precisely!" He chirped proudly, followed by another laugh.
"That doesn't make sense" Veruca said obnoxiously.
Willy's grin quickly faded and then he sassed her. "For your information, little girl. Whipped cream isn't whipped cream at all unless it's been whipped with whips" He smiled fakely at her. "Everybody knows that!" Then that fake smile was quickly replaced with an annoyed expression.
The boat proceeded to take a sharp turn as it started picking up in speed again. They passed more rooms, but most of the names could barely be made out, as the speed of the boat made them a blur. However, Rose did manage to spot a room called Jelly Beans Room. They reached calm waters again. "Stop the boat!" Willy shouted excitedly. "I wanna show you guys something!" The boat pulled up to a room named Inventing Room.