Connor looks at all the lovely food in front of him. He's never seen so much food! Claudia tells him to start with the sandwiches and then he can have a cake.
He picks up a sandwich and takes a bite. " Lovely " he mumbles round a mouthful of food.
" You should not speak with your mouth full " says Claudia kindly " I just have to go and check on something will you be all right here alone? "
Connor swallows quickly " Yes Thank you Claudia " he says nicely " I will be fine but don't forget me !"
Claudia smiles sweetly " I will be right back, I'll not forget " poor child she thinks as she hurries away , he's been so brave walking all this way to safety.
Once Claudia's left the room , the boy throws the sandwich on the floor and pulls the plate of cakes towards him.
Mm m he is so excited he does not know which one to eat first, he sings a rhythm " eeny meeny miney mo " he waves each doughnut after each word "catch a squirrel by it toe, if it holler's smack it head ! then stick it in two bits of bread!"
Soon the chocolate doughnut is gone and the lad looks at the other one " Hello delicious cake I'm going to eat you all up ! " he pretends to be the cake talking back " No No! Please I want to live !"
"Too bad!" says Connor " I'm going to bite you in half and swallow you all up into my tummy "
" No No please " he says in a begging voice " not your tummy !"
" Yes my tummy where you will be attacked by my tummy button and de solved into nothingness!"
he takes a big bite out of the cake humming to himself as he chews on the lovely taste.
Soon that cake's gone and he selects another. He's never ever had cake before! He's seen them and placed them in front of his last mother but she would have chopped off his hand if he'd even licked one never mind actually bitten into one!
He's feeling a tiny bit stuffed when Claudia returns from her errand .
" Goodness ! " exclaims Claudia " you've eaten all the cakes ! " she sees that Connor's about to start on the ice cream sundae " No Connor you cannot eat that, your'll be sick "
" Wont!" says Connor holding tight onto the sundae.
But Claudia is having none of this behaviour and wrestles it away from Connor and takes it back to the kitchen.
" NO!" yells Connor in temper " GIVE IT BACK "
Claudia is not there to see him tip up the plate in temper.
He storms from the room full of anger at Claudia for taking his treat , his tummy is hurting but that just makes him even more angry.
He comes across a room that's been cleared of it's furniture but still has some things by the fireplace.
The lovely gold draws him closer, they look worth a bob or two!
He decides he's going to take them into the village and buy himself a big big big! sundae where that nasty old Claudia cannot stop him from eating it !
He's almost got the clock in his grasp when a voice says from behind him " Connor? Connor is that really you? "
He freezes for a moment trying to think what to do.
" Connor why have you just sent me a card ? Then arrived ? are they the clothes of Lu.. ( she cannot bring herself to say the name ) that boys you were talking about ? "
Connor turns round and looks a Storm " Hello " he says softly " What clothes are you on about? and what card? "
Storm looks at him hard her face puzzled then she looks stunned .
She gives a little scream and throws up her arms " Your NOT Connor! oh no oh no oh no!" she starts panicking .
Connor puts his hands behind his back, so Storm cannot see that he is tightening his fists!
" I most certainly am Connor of the valleys! " he states calmly " Sweet Storm it's so nice to see you again.
What's this about a card and my clothes? "
But Storms not listening and she turns to rush away shouting over her shoulder as she leaves " YOU the DEVIL! I'm going to tell Mum that the DEVIL is HERE ! MUM MUM !" she rushes out
" I'm Connor you stupid idiot Storm come back here I want to talk to you I SAID COME BACK!"
That Storm is going to spoil everything mutters the boy angrily , he turns back to the fireplace.
A little while later Hattie arrives " Hello Lucas that's a good haul of treasure you have there!"
The boy turns his head " I not Lucas I Connor !" he says with a little whine.
He turns right round to confront Hattie while kicking the clock etc back behind him.
" I Connor " he says tearfully
" Nice try Lucas but those are crocodile tears and be careful you don't damage Mum's clock or she'll not be happy!"
" Clock ?" says Connor? Lucas? mystified
"Yes Clock " replies Hattie " The one you are trying to hide behind your feet "
"Lucas " says Hattie moving forward
" Connor " replies the lad.
Hattie pats his shoulder " Lucas stop lying ! You are safe now! No one's going to hurt you or make you do bad things "
The lad looks at his feet his body trembling slightly.
Finally he looks up at Hattie his voice just a whisper he says " When your Mum and Dad know who I am they will throw me out " he swallows trying not to show any weakness.
Hattie smiles and rubs his shoulder " Lucas ! Mum and Dad won't throw you out! Mum's always been saying she'd love to get her hands on you to show you the error of your ways! So now she's got the chance!"
The lad thinks about what Hattie's just said then says " Hello I'm Lucas "
" Nice to meet you Lucas I'm Harriet Bonham Carter Owen but everyone calls me Hattie "
" Come along Lets go introduce you to Mum, she's going to be so happy!" says Hattie turning Lucas towards the door.
" What about my..I mean the clock ? " says Lucas worriedly
" It's fine I'll pick it up later and put it back "
" I've heard of you " says Lucas " your the nutty one who dresses in all sorts of odd clothes like some strange woman "
Hattie laughs " Yep! that's me! and her names Helena Bonham Carter, the strange woman "
" I think you look nice in the shiny dress !are you going to a party? "
Hattie smiles " No I am going to watch the Oscar's later and so I have dressed up especially for that"
Lucas has no idea what Oscar's is but nods as if it's all perfectly clear.
Maybe he'll stay for a day or two and see what happens, they all appear to be nice which means it should be easy to escape if he needs to! along with a nice big bag of food and things to sell !So having made that decision he confesses " I don't feel well my tummy hurts !"
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