Pinocchio leaned against the workshop's big window, staring up at the stars, with a mournful expression on his face. He sighed.

Rosa had, again, failed to return home after school, and when Cella had come to tell them that Emilia had failed to meet up with the butcher and not shown up at the mayor's birthday party, Geppetto left to join in the search for the two children. He'd told Pinocchio to stay home, but hours had past, and now, Pinocchio was bored and, he had to admit, lonely. He wished his father and sister would come home.

The former puppet drummed his fingers against the window sill, wondering what he should do. Then an idea struck him. What if he could find Rosa and Emilia faster than the grown-ups? Then they could come home and they'd be a family again.

He glanced from the clock to the door and back again. What if he could find them and get home before the grown-ups got back? He couldn't get in trouble for that!

He headed toward the door, then stopped. He really didn't have a clue where to look, he realized, then sighed again, He began looking around the workshop, hoping for some inspiration as to where the two girls had gone, but no such luck. He sighed again, and walked back to the window sill.

His mind soon began to wander. First, he wondered where Rosa was and what she was doing. Then he wondered if Emilia was with her. Maybe, he thought, they'd been captured by pirates? Or perhaps they were at some grand ball and having the time of their lives? That had to be it, he though, girls love dressing up and dancing, didn't they?

Pinocchio was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the brightness that had been steadily growing behind him. He nearly jumped through the roof when the Blue Fairy's warm hand touched his arm.

"Pinocchio," she said, her voice soft and gentle, but firm, "You must be more aware of what's going on around you."

"I was just wondering where Rosa and Emilia are," he answered, turning to stare at her lovely face.

"No," she disagreed, "You were dreaming up all sorts of ideas about where you think they are, but I've come to tell you exactly where they are."

"You see," she went on, "they need your help with the very important mission they have ahead of them. But, you can't dream your way though this mission; it's very real and very dangerous. You must focus on your task and only on your task."

"Alright," he said, eyes gleaming at the chance to do something other than sit around waiting, "What is it? What is it?"

Her grip grew firmer until he grew silent, "Don't get excited, Pinocchio. Just listen. This isn't a game—many lives are at stake, some of your old friend's lives, in fact."

"My old friends?" Pinocchio repeated, startled.

"The ones who went with you to Pleasure Island."

"They weren't my friends," he disagreed.

"They weren't?" The Blue Fairy asked, "Why, I should think they were—they were the wrong friends, yes, but they were your friends, and now they need your help. You've recently learned something that will help them."

"I have?"

"Yes, but listen now, and I'll tell you about what you're going to do."

~*0*~

Emilia, Rosa, and Jiminy Cricket crowded in a circle around Enrico, in the midst of a darkened ally, with worried expressions on their faces.

"Are you sure you should go alone?" Emilia asked him.

"Yes, of course," Enrico replied easily, "You have to help Rosa get the boys out of the Prince Niccolò's barns."

"Boys are in his barns?" Rosa asked, confused, "I thought they were donkeys."

"Same difference," Enrico answered, before turning back to Emilia, "Besides, I, being a boy, stand a much better chance at getting on the Coachman's coach to Pleasure Island than you do."

"I still wish you didn't have to go by yourself," Emilia answered, frowning.

None of them noticed the twinkling of magical light behind them as Enrico patted Emilia's shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, I'll do a fantastic job!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice startled them. "I'm here, "I'm here," Pinocchio called, waving. The others whirled around, as he explained, "The Blue Fairy explained everything to me—I'm going to go with Enrico!"

"What a relief!" Emilia sighed.

"Welcome aboard, Pinoke!" Enrico gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder.

Just then, the town's clock struck eleven. The four children and the Cricket all looked toward it with startled expressions, having lost track of time.

"One hour to show time," Enrico mused, "Places everyone, I'm afraid there'll be no time for a dress rehearsal."


Enrico and Pinocchio peered from behind two large barrels as young hoodlums and thugs ran amuck around an enormous coach, driven by nearly twenty donkeys. The Coachman stood by, idly tapping his whip on his open palm, with an evilly pleased smile on his face.

"Those poor boys," Pinocchio whispered sadly, hardly able to tear his eyes away from the lowing animals. He wondered if some of them were the boys that he'd gone to Pleasure Island with.

"We'll try to help them once the other boys are offloaded onto Pleasure Island," Enrico said, following the former puppet's gaze, "There's no way to do anything now."

The Coachman dug into his pocket, pulling out a large gold watch, and stared at it for several seconds. Then he yelled in a loud gruff voice, "Alright! Who wants to go to Pleasure Island?"

The boys stopped running around and let out loud whoops and cheers. The Coachman leered at them, saying, "Then climb aboard, you blokes, climb aboard—everything you ever dreamed of is just a short ride away!"

The boys swarmed the coach, quickly finding spots. Pinocchio and Enrico slipped into the mix and settled in for the ride.

It was a very uncomfortable ride for Pinocchio, having to sit amongst all those boys and knowing what awaited them. He could only stare at the goings-on with a guarded eye. Finally, Enrico elbowed him in the ribs.

"Come on, Pinoke!" he said, "Loosen up! We've got to blend in, don't we?"

As he said this, Enrico reached over another boy's shoulder, took up the queen on a chessboard, and moved it. "Check mate!" he proclaimed.

"Heywhy you!" the boy turned as red as a cherry, "It was my turn!"

"And you won, pal," Enrico retorted, "Why don't you say thank-you?"

"Oh, I did?" the boy asked, "Say, I did!" He quickly forgot about Enrico's help, and began loudly proclaiming his victory. He held up the chessboard, waving it to and fro, calling out, "I won! I won!" Chessmen scattered in every dirction.

"See?" Enrico said, "Do stuff like that, then we'll fit in and nobody will suspect a thing."

Pinocchio, looking extremely nervous, only shook his head. "Why aren't we spending time trying to talk these boys out of going to Pleasure Island?" he asked, "We could save them from being turned into donkeys."

Enrico sobered up and shook his head sadly. "It wouldn't work," he answered, "Not with these boys."

"Why not?"

"Would it have worked on you, when you went? Would you have hopped off the coach because some boy you'd never met told you that Pleasure Island was dangerous?"

"Well, no, probably not."

Enrico snorted, "Probably, nothing."

He continued, "It's sad, but these boys have their hearts so set on the wrong thing that no amount of coaxing from us will change them—at this point, they'll just have to take their lumps. Once they've been turned into donkeys, then we can do something with them—they'll listen then."

Pinocchio looked glum, "That's sad—we could save them a lot of trouble if they'd listen."

"Sad, but true," Enrico acknowledged, then added, "Of course, there's the Coachman too, he wouldn't let a mass exodus happen—the best thing we can do is lay low and help the boys who are already donkeys and then help these boys after they get transformed."

Pinocchio sighed, wishing there was another way.

Enrico playfully punched his shoulder, "Hey, buck up, partner—at least we know how to help them become boys again! They won't stay donkeys forever—unless they don't listen to reason."

~*0*~

Emilia and Rosa crept toward the darken walls of Prince Niccolò's barns, with Jiminy perched on Rosa's shoulder. The night was still and silent. Only when they had come close could they hear the muffled sounds of animals moving restlessly in their stalls.

"I wonder if any boys are trapped in there," Rosa whispered, "Ones that turned back, but can't get out."

"Shh," Emilia warned, "We'll find out soon enough." She silently lifted the latch and they slipped noiselessly inside. Then they stood still to let their eyes adjust to the darkness.

"Let's check the stalls for boys first," Emilia suggested when they could see more properly, "If they're still donkeys, then they haven't learned their lesson yet, and rescuing them won't do any good. The boys, we can help right away. If there aren't any boys, then we can see if we could convince some donkeys to straighten up."

"Shall we split up?" Rosa asked.

Emilia nodded, "That would make the search go faster, wouldn't it? Great idea, Rosa! I'll take the left side; you and Jiminy take the right."

They got to work, moving quickly until, about halfway down the aisle, Rosa let out a cry of surprise.

"Shh," Emilia admonished, "What's wrong?"

"I found one!" Rosa whispered excitedly.

"A boy?" Emilia asked. She knew the answer, but it was still, somehow, a surprise.

"Yes, yes, come see!" Rosa voice rose in her excitement.

Emilia hesitated for a moment, wondering if she shouldn't finish checking her side of the barn first. She didn't want to let the excitement of finding one boy delay them in possibly finding others and she knew they couldn't stay in the barns for long. Then she let the happiness of finding just one overtake her practical side, and she scurried over to join her wooden friend.

The boy stared at them for a long time, fear etched on his face. Finally, he plucked up his courage and said, "Where's Balbina—did she send you out here with food?"

"Balbina?" the three rescuers replied in unison. "What's she got to do with this?" Jiminy added, accusingly.

The buy shrunk back into the shadows of the stall, afraid to speak.

"It's alright," Emilia coaxed gently, "Does she help you—does she help the boys?"

The boy nodded, still not speaking. After several moments, he whispered, "She saves us."

"I was under the impression that learning how to appreciate hard work is what saved you," Jiminy spat.

"Jiminy!" Emilia gave the Cricket a look, "Let him tell his story." She turned back to the boy, asking, "Please, tell us."

The boy hesitated again, then began his story.

"My name is Piero. My father is a banker and my mother is his wife and my mother. I hail from way up in the north—from Venice."

"Ohh, Venice!" Emilia interrupted, remembering how beautiful that city was from paintings she'd seen. Then, remembering herself, she added, "Please, go on."

"Well, I, like all the other boys caught up in this humiliating debacle, was a hoodlum and a cheat—I even stole from my father's bank so that I could throw secret parties. The Coachman's reach extends far north of here, perhaps even across our borders, and I joined him when he came to Venice to deposit gold in my father's bank—let's just say, he made an offer no sensible hoodlum could refuse—but, boy, I wish I had!"

"How long have you been a donkey?" Rosa asked.

"For several months."

~*0*~

The boys streamed from the coach as if someone had yelled that it was on fire and, under the Coachman's watchful eyes, they all made their way across the drawbridge to the horrors of Pleasure Island. Like sheep going to slaughter, Enrico thought, as he and Pinocchio crouched in a hole a little ways down the road. Enrico still wasn't quite sure how they'd managed to slip away unseen.

They waited while the Coachman unhitched the tired donkeys and herded them roughly though the entrance of a cave, He followed, disappearing from view. Enrico eyed the other men that roamed about, in the open, cleaning up.

"What do we do now?" Pinocchio asked, suddenly impatient to help the boys inside the cave.

"We wait," Enrico answered, leery of the men moving about.

"Wait for what?" Pinocchio asked. His own experience at Pleasure Island made him impatient to help.

Enrico only glared at him, then he gestured emphatically toward the clean-up crew.

Pinocchio shrugged, "But the boys?"

Enrico bit his lip, suddenly understanding. Then, suddenly, he whispered sharply, "Now!"

"What?" Pinocchio said, startled.

Enrico grabbed him by the arm without replying, jerking him forward. They sprinted across the open space as if running on hot coals, slipping into the cave. Then they stood in the dark, catching their breath and hoping that their panting wasn't loud enough to hear.

"Sorry, buddy," Enrico finally managed to gasp, patting Pinocchio's shoulder, "But all the men had their backs turned and those kinds of opportunities don't last long or come often."

"No, no," Pinocchio replied hoarsely, waving aside the apology, "I understand now."

"What now?" he added, when he could speak more normally, "Will we wait in here?"

"Certainly not," Enrico shook his head, "The Coachman never came out—let's try to find where the donkeys are."

"The boys," Pinocchio reminded him, disliking that they called the transformed boys "donkeys".

"Right." Enrico acknowledged.

~*0*~

Piero continued his story, "Well, I came to Pleasure Island, figuring that I'd never have as much fun again—in fact, I couldn't quite believe that I was reaching the pinnacle of fun so early in my life! That feeling lasted until my transformation started—that was awful."

"I was playing poker with several boys that I'd gotten to know aboard the coach—I'd even started cheating them and was thrilled that they hadn't wised up yet, then, oh, oh, the sound that suddenly came out of me—I'd never heard anything like it—the other boys started laughing their heads off and I realized that the sound had come from me!"

"Then—"

"Oh, please, stop—I don't think I can bare it." Emilia shuddered, covering her ears.

"Well, alright," Piero agreed, secretly glad that he didn't have to retell the story of his time on Pleasure Island.

"But, I want to hear the story," Rosa complained, not understanding the back story.

"No, you don't, Rosa," Jiminy replied.

"But, I thought—"

"Why don't you skip ahead to where Balbina enters the story," Emilia suggested, interrupting.

"Well, alright," Piero agreed, "I came here after working in the mines next to Pleasure Island for a few weeks—the deal is that the Coachman breaks our spirits and strengthens us while we work in the mines, then Prince Niccolò uses us to plow his fields. When I came here, I was so broken down that I couldn't see any way out, then Balbina was assigned to tend to us and she was like an angel to me."

"She'd seen several donkeys get returned to being boys and had helped them escape, so she knew the secret and told each of us as we were brought in. Well, as you can imagine, I wasn't about to believe her at first, but these last few weeks, I began to think that it was the only shot I had coming, so I took her advice to heart and began trying to do my best at my job. Man, none of the other boys were plowing their rows as straight as I was! And nobody hauled their loads of fruits and vegetables to market as fast as I was! Then, last night, I went to bed as a donkey and woke up this morning as—well, me again!"

"Balbina found me this morning when she fed us, and I've been waiting here all day because she's going to help me escape tonight—that's why I figured that you three were somehow helping her—you're wearing servant's uniforms too—or at least one of you is."

Just then, a sliver of moonlight shown down the hall, and all turned to see a small figure squeeze through the crack in the doorway, then stand still to let her eyes adjust to the darkness.

"What are you doing here?" Balbina's stunned voice asked.