28
Only Charlie Left
‘Which room shall it be next?’ said Mr Wonka as he turned away and
darted into the lift. ‘Come on! Hurry up! We must get going! And how
many children are there left now?’
Little Charlie looked at Grandpa Joe, and Grandpa Joe looked back at
little Charlie.
‘But Mr Wonka,’ Grandpa Joe called after him, ‘there’s... there’s only
Charlie left now.’
Mr Wonka swung round and stared at Charlie.
There was a silence. Charlie stood there holding tightly on to Grandpa
Joe’s hand.
‘You mean you’re the only one left?’ Mr Wonka said, pretending to be
surprised.
‘Why, yes,’ whispered Charlie. ‘Yes.’
Mr Wonka suddenly exploded with excitement. ‘But my dear boy,’ he
cried out, ‘that means you’ve won!’ He rushed out of the lift and started
shaking Charlie’s hand so furiously it nearly came off. ‘Oh, I do
congratulate you!’ he cried. ‘I really do! I’m absolutely delighted! It
couldn’t be better! How wonderful this is! I had a hunch, you knew,
right from the beginning, that it was going to be you! Well done, Charlie,
well done! This is terrific! Now the fun is really going to start! But we
mustn’t dilly! We mustn’t dally! There’s even less time to lose now than
there was before! We have an enormous number of things to do before
the day is out! Just think of the arrangements that have to be made! And
the people we have to fetch! But luckily for us,