After the fiasco with Stromboli, Honest John, and Gideon, it was thought for sure things would get better for Pinocchio and Geppetto. But instead, it didn't seem that way. Pinocchio had been causing and getting himself into trouble for months ever since he learned about his mother. Geppetto was most afraid that it seems Pinocchio's trust was getting harder to earn. But the other thing that was concerning him was Pinocchio's rebellious attitude. There were times where Pinocchio was talking back, acting disrespectful, even not being grateful enough for things, but recalling the blue fairy's spell on him and remembering his past experiences he couldn't find any use in lying. Even so, Pinocchio's grades in school started slipping, which was concerning his teacher and Geppetto both. Sometimes, Pinocchio got into fights with other kids at the playground and such. Jiminy was very worried about his friend and that his relationship with his father was breaking. His apparent concern grew worse every day.
Pinocchio was trying to be good as the blue fairy warned him to be, but his emotions were clouding his judgment. Not to mention no matter how much he tried, trouble sometimes still managed to find him, or sometimes, the other way around. He remembered if he could learn to behave better and be a real good boy, he would get a special wish granted. This is what Pinocchio felt could be the key to his wish. He was certain even the blue fairy knew that the one thing, the very thing his heart desired that he was begging for was for a chance to see Francesca, maybe even for her to come home probably for could.
Even some of Pinocchio's friends and his teacher, no matter how hard they tried to comfort or even help him understand the impossibility of his wish found no luck in convincing him to believe otherwise or wish for something else.
One day, as Pinocchio was walking home from school, he and Jiminy talked.
"Pinoke, I'm really worried about you and your father," Jiminy said with a hint of concern. "You have not been yourself these last few months."
"What do you mean?" asked Pinocchio, not understand.
"Pinocchio, I care about you. I don't bear any ill will towards you as you were the one who brought me in and gave a home here, but ever since you started school, you've been changing since that day."
"I know what day you mean. The day I found out what my father had been hiding from me all my life."
Jiminy was at a loss for words. He knew Pinocchio did not take it well that he had been lied to, let alone the truth being that his mother was dead, but he was not willing to just sit by and watch his friend's mood swings and apparent aggressive behavior go this far.
"Pinocchio, I know you understand it was wrong what your father did, but it's how you're handling it that's troubling me. I might be small, but I am no fool. It's your mother to comes back you want. That's all you seem to care about now."
Pinocchio knew Jiminy was trying to make a point. But it seemed he couldn't see it straight enough. Though he didn't completely trust his father still, he knew that was part of what got him in trouble before with Stromboli and Honest John. But he felt it how his father had also struggled over it.
"You have no idea what my mother's death did to my father. What it's still doing to him. I don't even think you understand how it's affected me too."
"Pinocchio, I know you want to believe, but believing is not enough. You're still having trouble regarding what the blue fairy told you. Besides can't you wish for something else that might make you happier?"
Pinocchio sighed.
"No. I want to do this not just for myself, but for my father as well. I must believe, Jiminy. Maybe by helping him learn to believe like me, I can help him, Jiminy."
"Why, Pinocchio?" Jiminy asked. "Why do you continue to be so stubborn?"
"Because I have to, Jiminy," he responded. "I have to believe my mother can come back."
Jiminy shook his head. He didn't want to have to get harsh with Pinocchio to make him see, but it was about reaching that point. He tried to reason with him calmly.
"There's probably no way the blue fairy can do it. You can't bring your mother back from the dead, Pinocchio."
"What do YOU know about it?!" Pinocchio suddenly snapped in an angry voice. "NOTHING!"
Jiminy was shocked that the boy spoke to him like that. Pinocchio took a moment to regain his composure.
"I'm sorry, Jiminy. I don't know why I said that." Pinocchio apologized.
"I do, Pinocchio. I do," Jiminy spoke up and said. "I've seen you. You desire to see your mother. You can't take your mind off it. Sometimes you're not eating. At night, you barely sleep. It's getting to your head, Pinoke. You need to let it go."
"You don't know what I need to do, Jiminy," Pinocchio began snapping again. "I'm not giving up on this wish! I don't care how many stars I have to wish upon, I'm not quitting!"
Pinocchio's voice was rising every second.
All I want is to see my mother! She's MY mother! Mine! And to have her come back is what I want most! I won't rest until it happens!"
Pinocchio walked off in anger.
"Pinocchio, do you even hear yourself right now?! You don't know what you're thinking! Don't you even know who you sound like?"
Pinocchio didn't respond. Jiminy knew exactly what he was thinking. He worried Pinocchio was starting to act so much like Lampwick, knowing Geppetto would not like it at all. Jiminy couldn't even think about what he was feeling. He couldn't understand, "how such a sweet innocent boy like Pinocchio who befriended a small creature like him and gave him home become so angry and bitter?" He knew why, but he just couldn't believe it.
That night while Pinocchio was getting ready for bed, Geppetto walked into the room.
"Can we talk, Pinocchio?" He asked the boy.
"what about?" Pinocchio asked in response.
"Listen, son. Jiminy told me you two had a bit of a fight today. A heated argument. Is there something going on between you two?"
"I just haven't been myself these last few months. I kind of snapped at him over that."
"Because of your mother?"
Pinocchio silently nodded.
"I know you still dream about her. But you need to understand, the more you dwell on it, the harder it gets for you. That's why you need to let her go. I know what you've been wishing for all your life. But I'm afraid it's just not possible."
Pinocchio hung his head and his heart sank.
"I don't want to believe that. I just don't."
"I know," Geppetto said as he walked off sadly. He walked downstairs where Jiminy was waiting.
"I don't know what to do, Jiminy. Pinocchio seems to be getting emotionally worse. I'm scared. His behavior is starting to be like that of that Lampwick boy."
Geppetto sat in a chair and huffed as he planted his face in his hands.
"I always felt Pinocchio and I had an especially close bond, but I don't know where I went wrong aside from telling him what happened to his mother. It was since then that things started changing between us"
Geppetto picked up an old picture of him and Pinocchio when Pinocchio was around 4 years old at a circus on his birthday riding a pony. He looked at it with a tear in his eye.
"I feel like he's not the sweet little boy of mine I thought he was. The boy I raised him as."
Jiminy hopped on Geppetto's shoulder.
"You're not alone as far as family issues like this. There are plenty of kids who miss their mothers. Some don't even have any parents to go home to. Like you, huh?"
"Yes. Jiminy. I never had a family myself. I never knew who my parents were or even what they looked like. I don't even remember how old I was when I was taken to the old orphanage and left there. I'm told it was a dark and rainy night. The caretakers there said there was a man there who handed me over that night with nothing but a name and a stuffed bear. I can only assume he was my father. I may have been no more than just a toddler when I was brought there. As I grew older, I expressed a knack at such a young age for craftsmanship. Because I was so different and there weren't many others yet there, I barely had any friends as a child. I was alone for so long. Until I met…her."
Jiminy looked up at Geppetto.
"Met who?"
"Francesca. She was my first true friend there. I was about 6 years old when she came. She looked so afraid and sad. She turned away almost everyone else when they tried to comfort her. I was the first she took very kindly to. I remember it well like yesterday.
(Flashback)
A young boy around 6 sat on his bed at an orphanage. He was cuddling his teddy bear close by and looking at the night sky from a window with one single star shining bright. He moved to the window and looked out. He said to the star above, "I feel so lonely a lot of the time. People treat me different because I'm different. I wish I knew why my family gave me away. Or that I had someone to be my friend here."
Suddenly, he heard the door open. A little girl came into the room. She was crying. Holding a bunny doll close to her. She sat in front of the nearby dresser. She seemed to be around 4.
"Hey, are you alright?" the young boy walking over to her.
"Uh-huh," she responded tearfully. "I was brought here just this morning. And I don't know anybody here. I'm scared. My mommy and daddy were in a house fire accident. I survived, but they didn't."
"That's awful," the boy told her. "I never knew my parents. I was just left here with this teddy bear. I guess maybe they got it for me and then they left me here. I don't know why. Anyway, you can sleep in here if you want. There's a spare bed that's been empty for weeks. I'll be your friend if you want. I don't have many myself. Do you trust me?"
"What?"
"Do you trust me?" The boy asked putting his hand out to her asking to help her up.
"Yes," she replied giving him one hand as she stood up.
My name is Geppetto. Geppetto Jovanni Woodworth. What's yours?"
"I'm Francesca Eleonora Corleone. Nice to meet you Geppetto. Thank you for your kindness."
(Present Day)
Geppetto brought himself back to reality and present time.
"From that day on," Geppetto told Jiminy. "Francesca and I were just about always together. We were kind of like peas and carrots. She and I did just about everything together. I saw her sort like a little sister at first, but as we got older, well, that's when we realized our true feelings for each other. After I got adopted by a wood smith when I was about 10, Francesca was sad to see me go, but I promised her I would visit often. True to my word, the Woodsmith allowed to visit her every so often. He was practically like a father to me. He taught me the art of woodcarving. And I was ever so grateful he came to adopt me."
"What a sweet story," Jiminy added. "But what about Francesca? How did she end up with you again?"
"Francesca never got adopted, but she came to stay with me for a while because after she decided to leave the orphanage when she was about 18, she had nowhere to go. I was the one who allowed her to live with us. I was about 20 myself. It was not long after that the Woodsmith became ill. By then, he taught me everything I needed to know. He died soon afterward. We sold most of his creations and I started a shop here in town after we moved here. Even though we were just kids that first night, I knew I had loved her since we first met. After we settled in town for a while, we got married. We lived happily together for years. And as far as I was concerned, I could need nothing else to be happier.
Geppetto let out a smile as Jiminy blushed hearing this.
"How romantic," he muttered.
"But in all that time," Geppetto added. "there was one more thing I wanted to fill my still partly empty heart and finally have a family. I wanted to have a child. It was long enough eventually when I soon learned she was pregnant with Pinocchio. I was so happy."
Suddenly Geppetto started to look sad.
"But then, the illness came. It struck her," Geppetto cried shedding tears. "I was so worried. For both her and the baby. I was told Francesca would be dead, but there was a chance to save Pinocchio. If it hadn't been for Collodi's medicine. I would have lost him too. But she and I accepted Collodi's help, even knowing she herself was unable to be saved. She sacrificed herself for Pinocchio and he lived. In return, I struggled so hard to raise him on my own without her."
Geppetto's heart sank further. Jiminy grabbed a tissue shedding a few tears himself.
"That is the saddest thing I ever heard in my life," the small cricket wept. "I was very fortunate to have both my parents though. And extra lucky too. Well, I did have them for a while. I was one out of only two children they had and the youngest. They gave me a happy comfortable childhood, and my older sister was like my best friend. My mother always sang the sweetest songs whenever she would put me to bed, and my father, he worked hard to provide for us. We were a happy family. Then one night, when I was still young, it was raining and as I was sleeping, lightning struck and started a fire inside our tree.
(Flashback)
Young Jiminy was panicking as the sounds of his family running and screaming surrounded him.
Just then, his mother came in and picked him up.
"Mama, what's happening?" he cried.
"Shhh. Shh. It's alright, Jiminy," she said as she ran carrying him towards his sister. "Josephine, take your brother and go!"
Jiminy cried as Josephine took her brother from their mother's arms.
"What about papa?" Josephine asked.
"There's no time to wait. We'll be right behind you. But we won't follow. Take care of Jiminy. His life is in your hands now. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, mama," she said. Jiminy cried harder.
"No! I don't want to leave you! I don't want to go without you, mama."
Jiminy's mother kissed the child's head and told him, "Jiminy, I will always be with you."
Their mother looked back hearing that the fire was getting worse. She turned to the children.
"Now go! Quickly!"
Josephine ran up carrying her little brother out the window.
"Mama! Papa!" he screamed jumping out of his sister's arms running back to their mother.
"Goodbye, my dears."
"No!" Jiminy screamed.
Josephine grabbed him just as their father came into view holding their mother in his arms. Having made it just in time, Josephine and Jiminy looked back They both looked on as the flames consumed the tree and their parents both.
Jiminy cried in horror watching his parents' fate and his home destroyed as he buried his face into Josephine's shoulders.
(Present day)
"We were lost. Josephine didn't know what to do," Jiminy said. "She too grieved for our parents, but she handled it better than I could. She was always so confident and cheerful. But she took care of me the best she could. I learned from her how to always keep a smile on my face now and then."
Geppetto understood now why Jiminy was often so cheerful and rarely ever upset in a sad way.
"After she died, I went around looking for a place to call home. I traveled across the world looking for a place, but none of them were either comfortable or safe enough. Some people were even so terrified to see me because most people hate bugs. Especially crickets. But then one night, I came to your village. Yours was the only house that had any lights on. So, I came in and I was amazed by the quality of your craftsmanship. I saw you and Pinoke together and it made me smile. Reminded me of me and my father before he died along with my mother."
"Jiminy, that is so kind of you to say that. But knowing you had lost your whole family; how did you manage to try and stay so….so…?"
"So, what? Fun and Fancy-Free? I just remembered Josephine and her lessons. I learned a whole lot about being optimistic and cheerful from her. Anyway, I'm glad Pinocchio found me that night. He was so gentle and kind. I'm worried about him too given how much he's been changing."
Meanwhile, Pinocchio upstairs in his room looked at the night sky above and prayed to the stars above.
"I know I haven't quite proven myself capable of my wish. But I'm sure you know what it is. Please, I want nothing more than to see my mother. I know she's dead, but I still believe in the power of wishes. There's so much I want to tell her. If she can hear this too, "I love you, mama."
Pinocchio then made the sign of the cross and went to bed cuddling his teddy bear shedding some tears.
Geppetto came to check on him. As he did, Jiminy hopped up into his dollhouse, watching as Geppetto stroke Pinocchio's head and whispered good night to the boy. Geppetto went to his room and petted Figaro.
"I don't know what else to do, Figaro. Things have not been the same since I told Pinocchio what happened to Francesca. I can only hope things will be set right soon."
Geppetto went to bed too, not being able to help but fear the worst. But deep in his own heart, he had a feeling that things would soon be made right.
About a week or two later, Pinocchio was about to go to school as usual. Just before he left after he grabbed his favorite hat, Geppetto knelt to him and said, "Listen, son. I know things have been bad, but this weekend, we're going to start making everything better. Okay?"
"Okay," Pinocchio responded with a smile. "I know I haven't been being too good lately myself. I am trying though. You believe that, right?"
"Of course, I do, son. I know it's been hard for you not to have a mother, especially have never known her. You and I are alike, Pinocchio when it comes to no family, except you have me still. I never had anybody until I met your mother. But I'll save that story for later. Trust me, you'll be happy again someday. One day things will change for the better. For both of us."
"when?"
"Probably when you least expect it," Geppetto said before he kissed Pinocchio's forehead. "Now, run along. I'll see you later. I love you."
Geppetto watched as Pinocchio went off to school. He went back into the house and fed Figaro, then he went to get some work done on some new music boxes.
Later that afternoon, just as school got out, Pinocchio talked to his teacher.
"Signora, do you ever wish that you could have something you wanted no matter much someone else thought you couldn't?"
"What do you mean?" she asked him.
"Like if someone you loved could come back even if others say they can't."
"Someone I loved? I guess so."
"Like me. Like my mother."
"Is that what's been bothering you?"
"I know she died, but…. I want to see her more than anything. The blue fairy, she said she would grant me any special wish if I was good enough and I don't think I am being good enough. I don't know what to do," he confessed breaking down into tears as his teacher hugged him.
"I'm sorry, Pinocchio. But I'm afraid that might not be something even possible to happen. I'm sure your father wishes for it too, but it's not meant to be."
Pinocchio went off to walk home. He went off somewhere to think to himself. He sat in an alleyway with tears in his eyes.
"Maybe just wishing….isn't good enough," he said to himself. Then he looked up at the sky and said, "mom, I hope you can probably hear me in spirit. But I wish you hadn't died. I wish you were here for me. All the other kids in the village are so lucky. They have moms who love and care for them. But for me, I've never once experienced that feeling of a mother's love. Not once."
More tears began welling in his eyes.
"If ever I was to have a mother who loved me, it would have been you. It would have been you. I want you to come home so much. I want nothing more than to see you. More than anything in the world. But…nobody believes. Except me." He buried his head into himself, and as he shed his tears, he thought about how much different his childhood and life could have been if Francesca were around with him.
"I want a mom when I get lonely, to take the time to play", he sang to himself.
"A mom who can be a friend and find a rainbow when it gray
I want a mom to read me stories and sing a lullaby
And if I find a bad dream, to hold me when I cry"
"Oh, I want a mom that will last forever
I want a mom to make it all better
I want a mom that will last forever
I want a mom that will love me whatever, forever"
"I want a mom to take my hand
and make me feel like a holiday
A mom to tuck me in at night
And chase the monsters away
I want a mom to read me stories
and sing a lullaby
And if I have a bad dream, to hold me when I cry".
Pinocchio's mind flashed back to reality, the only thing he held in his heart, Hope for his wish.
As he sat crying, he muttered, "mommy, please. Mommy, come back. Come back!"
Hours had passed by, Geppetto was starting to worry.
"It's been two hours. Where could he be? I better go look for him."
He was just about to do so when the door suddenly opened.
"Pinocchio!" He shouted. "Are you alright? I was beginning to worry about you. What happened?"
"Well, I..I..I.I went to a friend's house for a bit to…do some homework with them."
Pinocchio's nose grew in response to his fib.
"Don't lie to me!" Geppetto yelled. "School got out two hours ago. And you wouldn't be going over to a friend's house without permission. So, tell me where you were."
Pinocchio hung his head knowing full well what to say.
"I went to hide by myself to think to myself. I was in an old alleyway by myself."
"Think about what? Your mother?"
Pinocchio was too upset to answer. He only nodded. Geppetto shook his head with a facepalm.
"Pinocchio, when are you going to get over this obsession with your mother? It has seriously been effecting your behavior these last few months."
"But you probably wish for it too!"
"Pinocchio, I did. But I already accepted that she's gone. As should you," Geppetto said to him calmly.
"Are you saying you still don't believe?" Pinocchio asked. "How could you say that?"
"Pinocchio, please. Listen to me. Death is a part of life," Geppetto tearfully explained. "One that nobody can avoid. Once someone is dead, they are gone and never can come back."
He walked off when Pinocchio stopped him.
"But you….you said yourself, you'd bring mom back if you could!"
Geppetto stopped and turned around to face him. " I don't know in what context you believe I said that, but yes I said that. However, whatever I think you think I meant it, it's different from what you probably think because I can't!"
"So then…," Pinocchio said. "You don't even care how much it matters to me that the one thing I always wanted that I never had, still hasn't been granted to me."
"Pinocchio, that not what I…."
"You didn't even care enough when she was sick to try and help her, did you? You just let her die."
"Pinocchio, no. That's not true."
"How can I believe that?" Pinocchio questioned with anger broiling in his blood. "After you told me she had just left. Knowing you knew she died and lied to me about it."
"Pinocchio, please. I…."
"You lied, and she died," Pinocchio growled. "You lied and she died!" His voice started raising with hate and rage. "You lied and SHE DIED! YOU LIED AND SHE DIED!"
Figaro, feeling terrified of Pinocchio's rage hid underneath the nearby chair and quivered.
"Pinocchio, please calm down!" Geppetto shouted. But it was no use, Pinocchio was screaming like a toddler. It brought back memories to Geppetto about the terrible twos. Geppetto watched as Pinocchio threw his schoolbook aside in anger and suddenly, the book hit a round table stand and the impact knocked off a music box standing on top of it. With a swift movie, the music box fell on to the floor and shattered.
"No!" Screamed Geppetto as he rushed over to the shattered box. "My best music box!"
"It was an accident! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just…" Pinocchio tried to speak, but Geppetto was angry now too.
"Your mother and built this together a long time ago!" He yelled. "Do you have an idea of how much this meant to her as much as it did me?"
"I'm sorry. please! No!" Pinocchio pleaded, but Geppetto picked up Pinocchio and placed him over his shoulder. "You are so lucky, I'm not willing to spank you again like I did when you were a toddler, But you are so going to your room now!"
As Geppetto carried him as he kicked and screamed even pounding his fists on Geppetto. Geppetto opened the bedroom door and plopped Pinocchio on the bed and said, "now, you are going to stay in this room for the rest of the day and I hear or see you come out, you are going to be in more trouble, is that clear?!"
"I HATE YOU!" Screamed Pinocchio in rage.
"Oh yeah?" Geppetto said toughly. "Well, tough tomatoes. Because life isn't fair!"
"I want my mommy!" Pinocchio screamed.
"Well, I'm all you've got!" Geppetto shouted back as he slammed the door leaving Pinocchio in his room crying. For Geppetto, this was just as embarrassing as both Pinocchio's terrible twos and his reaction to learning of Francesca combined. He went to the workshop to try and fix the music box.
"I don't know what to do with him anymore, Jiminy, Geppetto told Jiminy who was sitting nearby. "He goes to school, he wanders off, then he comes home, tells a lie and he cries and throws a fit. His behavior is unacceptable. I'm at my wits' end."
" I told you all those months ago, I'm sure even Frederico told you all those years ago, you should have just told him sooner. Why didn't you?!"
"You know why, Jiminy. I told you. Because I didn't want to ruin him. But I guess I did. What am I going to do now?"
"Perhaps I should give him a good talking to," reasoned Jiminy. "Leave it to me. We'd better leave him alone for a while though."
Hours later, around nighttime. Jiminy hobbled up the stairs to Pinocchio's bedroom. As he crawled under the door, he let out a whisper. "Psst. Hey, Pinoke. You alright?"
"No, Jiminy. I want to be left alone."
Jiminy tried to console the boy.
"Listen, Pinocchio. Your father, I'm sure you didn't mean to anger him, but you don't seem to understand. Everything your father did, he's been doing for you. And you don't seem to appreciate any of it."
"That's not true," Pinocchio blurted tearfully. "He doesn't understand how much I want my dream to come true. For my mother to come home."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, Pal," Jiminy said. "But I'm afraid you haven't been as good as the blue fairy said you needed to be to get that wish."
"How can you even say that?"
"Pinocchio, your behavior these last few months has been taking its toll on you and your father. Do you actually believe after that fiasco down there today, that the blue fairy would probably even consider letting you see your mother?"
"I don't know what else to say. I'm not what my father has tried to raise me as. But I just want my mom back more than anything!"
"You see, that's your problem!" Jiminy snapped pointing his umbrella at him. "You know you're a lucky boy to have a father who loves and cares about you, but you don't give a hoot. All you care about is your dead mommy. Well, you need to just let it go! Find something else to wish for. And all the hoping you do in the world won't change anything!"
Jiminy hopped over to his dollhouse but before he stepped through the door, he turned to Pinocchio.
"Your mother is dead, son! Accept it!" Jiminy slammed the door and went to his bedroom in it and sighed.
Pinocchio curled up in the bed and cried himself to sleep. Geppetto came later around close to bedtime to check on him, but he didn't say a word or do anything. He thought maybe Pinocchio could be left alone until morning. Little did he know, how much a mistake that was rather than immediately trying to wake him up and try and patch things up again.
It was around midnight when Pinocchio woke up. he figured if this is how things were to be, he was no longer welcome where he once belonged. So, he took a pen and paper. He grabbed his clothes and got dressed and left the note on his pillow. Then he quietly went downstairs and went out the door. As he did, he took one look at the house. Then he turned away and left town heading for the old forest. When he arrived, he went to the spot with his mother's grave. He looked down at it. And he said, "I'm sorry, mother. I feel like I've let father down. I tried to be everything he wanted me to be and do everything he told me to do. I just…. I can't. I don't believe it anymore!" He burst into tears and ran deeper into the forest.
Suddenly, Geppetto woke up with a feeling in his heart. A feeling of dread. He ran to Pinocchio's room to check on him. He found the room empty. He found Pinocchio's letter,
"Dear father, by the time you read this. I will be gone.
These last few months, I have been nothing but a big embarrassment.
One that I can't be sure even mom would have wanted. She's gone,
and I've given up hope of my wish ever coming true.
That's why I've decided to leave.
It's what I think is best for both of us.
Signed, Pinocchio"
Geppetto was horrified by what he had read. He grabbed his coat and ran outside.
"Pinocchio! Come home, son! Please! Can you hear me? Pinocchio! Pinocchio!"
But it was no use. He broke down in tears. He was outside Fredrico's house when he stopped and knelt down. It was Beatrice who had come outside to his side, Fredrico following suite.
"Geppetto, what happened?" Fredrico asked in concern.
"Pinocchio and I," Geppetto answered. "We fought. And he….he ran away from home. It's all my fault."
Geppetto told them everything.
"We need to go after him. He could be killed," said Martina.
"Beatrice, you and Martina go inside and get the police. I'm taking Geppetto home. Hopefully, we can get some help before anything happens to Pinocchio."
Jiminy having witnessed everything was shocked that Pinocchio had done this.
"I must have been what I said that caused this. This is just as much my fault too. I better go out and look for him."
He ran past Geppetto who didn't even notice Jiminy had gone. Geppetto went back inside the house and pulled out a picture of Pinocchio and after a brief look at it, he held it close to his heart.
Meanwhile, Jiminy was running as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. Pinocchio was nowhere in the village. But he figured only one other place.
"The first where his mother is buried. That's where he might have gone. I'm going to check there." Jiminy rushed off heading for the forest. At the same time, Pinocchio has found an old house in the forest. He decided to take shelter in it. In the old but sturdy unused bed, he curled up in the sheets and covered himself up. He thought to himself, "Guess if I can't have a mother, then even my father can't have me."
Meanwhile, in another part of town, honest John and Gideon were in a pub talking to a burly gray-haired gentleman, known only as the coachman.
"We heard Stromboli was furious when he found Pinocchio had escaped. And that he has been searching for him. Hahahaha. But why bother with it? He paid us. Plenty. So then, coachman, what's your proposition?" Honest John asked the gentleman.
"Well," the coachman said. perhaps I'll pay you well, plenty of gold. If you bring me plenty of stupid little boys. You know, the disobedient ones what play hooky from school and never listen to their parents. You see…." He cut himself off there and whispered into honest johns' ear. Gideon put his own ear close to listen in as well.
"And I takes them to pleasure Island," The coachman finished aloud.
"Ah yes. Pleasure Island," Honest John said in sinister glee.
"Wait?! Pleasure Island! Where are the bad boys go? But then…what about the law?" John panicked. "Suppose they…"
"No. No. No fear. They NEVER come back….as BOYS!" The coachman explained with a sinister grin like the face of the devil and let out a maniacal laugh. Then he instructed them, "I've got a new coach departing tomorrow at midnight. Send them to the crossroads. And NO double crossin'."
"No sir. And understood," said Honest John.
The next morning, in the village, Geppetto and Fredrico were at Geppetto's house talking to the policemen.
"When was the last time you saw your son?" The officer asked Geppetto.
"Last night when he went to bed. After that, I woke up in the middle of the night, found he was gone. I looked for him, but he was gone."
"I see," the policeman said. "Is there any place in town he might be known to frequently visit? Any friends or other family he might be with?"
"Friends, yes, but I doubt they know where he is, Geppetto explained. "As for family, he has no other relatives. I'm his only one. My wife passed away just shortly after he was born 7 years ago"
"Well then, it seems given the desperation of your situation, it seems we will have to keep an extra sharp eye out for him."
Please, find him. Find my little boy," Geppetto pleaded. "Bring him home. I'm begging you. I can't live without him!"
"Don't worry, sir. We'll do everything we can. We guarantee, Pinocchio will be found. If we find him, we'll bring him straight home."
"Thank you, Officer. Good luck," Geppetto said as they left.
"Fredrico, I hope Jiminy finds him too," Geppetto told his friend. "Maybe that's where he went. He must have gone to find Pinocchio."
"I don't doubt for a second that Jiminy will find him," Fredrico confided. And I'm sure he will."
Geppetto hugged Fredrico with as much kindness and hope as possible. He didn't care what it took, or what had to happen, all that Geppetto wanted was for Pinocchio to be brought back home. Even if it took a long time for Pinocchio to completely forgive him, he had hope in his poor fragile heart that he could be able to make things right.
"It'll be fine, Geppetto. It'll be okay," Fredrico assured him.
And so Geppetto went to sit by himself for a while and think.
Even Figaro and Cleo, being such small helpless little animals, they were very saddened that Pinocchio had run away. Figaro most of all. Especially considering he had such a special bond of his own with Pinocchio since the day Geppetto brought him in.
As the small kitten shed some tears of his own, Geppetto petted softly.
"It'll be alright, Figaro. I'm sure they'll find him."
Despite feeling certain, Geppetto couldn't do much though. For now, all he could do was pray that Pinocchio was safe and would soon come home.