The Barbers Son

Four

"Mr. Todd, Mr. Todd! Mr. Todd!"
The boy chanted.

"How many times have I told you to call me Sweeney boy?!"
I said a little annoyed.

"Never...... Mr. Sweeney.

I sighed and got out of bed.

"Come boy, now!"
I shouted as the boy jumped.
The boy ran over to me and kneeled at my feet, pleading with me.

"Please Mr. Todd.... don't hit me. Please don't hurt me!"
The boy said shaking.

"Stand up."
I said helping the boy up.

"What makes you think that Mr. Todd or I would do such a thing?"
Mrs. Lovett said.

"Come here
I said sitting and holding the boys hands in mine.

The boy looked at me with his sad green eyes almost as if he'd start to cry.

"Max, as long as your in my care, neither Mrs. Lovett or I shall ever hit you. Understand?"

"Yes Mr. Um, Sweeney.... I understand."
Max tells me.

"Right then."
I say as the door opens and a man walks in.

"Judge Terpet, how do you do?"
I ask.

"Fine Mr. Todd, fine."
The judge says looking around.

"A shave shall it be? Ey?"

"I think very much so Mr. Todd."

"Sit sir, sit."

I start preparing my cream and sharpen my blade as it glistens in the sunlight. I start to sing and give the judge a nice, clean shave.

Sweeney whistles as he pampers the judge.

The next week the judge returned, and while I'm busy I don't see Max sneak downstairs and neither does Mrs. Lovett-she's out and about.

Max's POV
I look back a third time to make sure Sweeney isn't looking, and I sneak downstairs.

All of a sudden, a hatch drops open and as I go over to look, a body falls down the shaft and lands right in front of me!

"Ew!"
I scream.

I get a closer look and it's the same man that was upstairs. Wasn't Sweeney just giving that guy a shave upstairs?!

Then I hear a door creak open. It's Sweeney Todd!

"Max, weren't you just upstairs?!"
Sweeney asks me.

I stand there, frozen, speechless.

"Very well, go upstairs. And if you tell a soul about this, I will kill you."
Sweeney says.

Fearful, I just stand there breathing heavily looking Sweeney in the eye.
He walks up to me.

I back up, but only to run myself right into a wall.

"I thought I told you to go upstairs!"
Sweeney shouts scaring me.

I turn and run back upstairs in a hurry, and head to my room as I brushed past Mrs. Lovett.

"My son, what's the matter?"
She cooed.

"A-Sweeney, h-he killed someone!"
I say out of breath.

"Oh, well that's just lovely."

"What?"
I said lifting my head from her chest and sniffling at the same time.

"Ohh, nothing dear. I know what happened."
Mrs. Lovett says to me with her arm on my back.

"Yes of course. You were dreaming."
She says.

"No I wasn't."
I said running back up to my room.

Sweeney's POV
I come back upstairs from the basement.

"What the hell happened!?"
Mrs. Lovett boasted.

"Exscuse me?"
I say.

"I'll talk to him about It tomorrow.Okay?"
I tell Mrs. Lovett.

"Very well."
She says as she goes upstairs.🏴