Honest John and Gideon led Annabelle out of the village and were heading to a big open field where Stromboli's puppet theater was set up. Annabelle was very excited to meet the gypsy whom she believed was a friend of her father and a poor struggling old man. But this was all a lie told by Honest to get her to come to the show hoping it would settle their debt to him. Honest led the way while Annabelle and Gideon followed behind.
"Are we almost there, mister Honest John?" Annabelle asked the fox.
"Just over the hill there, my dear!" Honest replied joyfully whilst humming to himself a song from years ago. Suddenly, Gideon tripped over a rock on the ground and fell over nearly knocking Honest over.
"Mister Gideon! Are you alright?" Annabelle shouted and quickly helped him up. Gideon appeared to be alright and brushed himself off. "You should be more careful. You could hurt yourself!" Gideon was surprised by Annabelle's concern for his wellbeing. Being unable to speak he didn't know how to say thank you to her. Honest, however, wasn't amused, so he scolded his partner for being so clumsy.
"He's fine my dear. He's not as intelligent as I am. Now then let us continue on our way." After walking a little farther on, they came upon a large caravan that was parked behind a big purple tent where the puppet show was to be held. Inside was a big wooden stage with a big red curtain.
"Is this Mister Stromboli's puppet theater?" Annabelle inquired.
"Yes, it is my dear. There will be lots of people showing up to see the show tonight with you as the main attraction." Honest explained.
"Oh, I don't care about being a star. I just want to help my daddy's friend." Annabelle stated.
"You have a very kind heart, Annabelle. Now you and Gideon wait here while I go have a word with the old man." Annabelle waited while Honest went backstage where he found Stromboli the puppet master instructing several puppeteers for his show. He looked older than he used too with his now gray hair and beard. He was wearing a dark green overcoat with silver buttons, a lime green sleeved shirt, and brown pants.
"Can't you incompetent amateurs do this right?" Stromboli yelled furiously swearing in his Italian language at the puppeteers. "The employees I hired fifteen years ago were better than you swine s!"
"We're sorry ," said one of the puppeteers worryingly. "But this is harder than it looks! How do you expect us to master it by this evening?"
"Ahem, pardon my interruption Stromboli, my friend," said Honest tapping his shoulder, "But might I have a word?" Stromboli turned around and growled at the fox.
"What do you want now Fowl fellow? Can't you see I'm busy! You and that cat should be in town advertising my return show!"
"Yes, but I have good news! Gideon and I found you a new addition that will surely make your show as big a success it was when Pinocchio performed for you."
"Pinocchio!" Hearing that name made Stromboli's temper rise, and he began to swear again. "That puppet lost me a fortune and made a fool of me! Because of him, my show hit rock bottom! If I ever see him again, I'll make him regret escaping me with my friend called fire!"
"Well, then I think you'll be pleased to hear what we brought you. We found another living puppet, and she is Pinocchio's daughter!"
"His daughter!?" Stromboli followed Honest and peeked out from the curtain. He looked astonished having not seen another living puppet in so long. "Incredible! She looks exactly like him! Pinocchio must have grown up somehow!"
"We told her you were an old friend of Pinocchio's and that you were sad because your show was failing. So we persuaded her to perform for you."
"Well done Fowl fellow! With Pinocchio's daughter as my new star performer, I'll finally have my revenge on that wooden brat!" Stromboli smiled viciously. But Honest suddenly realized something that could possibly ruin everything.
"But wait a minute! Suppose Pinocchio comes for his child?"
"Of course he will. If he has a living puppet daughter, then he must know how to bring puppets to life. So, we'll use the puppet show to lure Pinocchio here and capture him again. Once I have him back, I'll make him tell me how to bring my puppets to life. I'll no longer have to hire puppeteers to work for me! I'll be the richest man in the world!"
"Yes, yes, that's very good and all. Also if you Pinocchio and his child then, you'll no longer need us anymore. Right, old boy?"
"Hmm...Very well," Stromboli knew Honest was only trying to bribe him to release them from his services. "But first you help me capture Pinocchio. Then you re free to go."
"It's a deal." The two shook hands in agreement. As they came out from behind the stage, they found Annabelle dancing around with Gideon while he pretended to use his walking cane as an instrument. "What's going on here?" Honest shouted. Gideon and Annabelle stopped dancing the moment their eyes made contact. Gideon hid his cane hoping Honest wouldn t notice.
"Mister Gideon was helping me practice my dancing," Annabelle replied cheerfully.
"That's wonderful my dear! Now then I'd like to introduce you to Mister Stromboli!" Annabelle was a bit surprised at the puppet master's size.
"Hello, Hello, Mister Stromboli! I m Annabelle. It s very nice to meet you." She smiled and gave him a curtsy.
"It's nice to meet you too Miss Annabelle," Stromboli smiled and shook her hand. "So you're Pinocchio's little girl eh?"
"Yes, sir. Are you really my daddy's friend?"
"Of course I am! Your daddy used to perform for my show, but he told me he didn't want to be an actor and went home to his father. Sadly my puppet show just hasn't been the same since he left. Hardly anybody comes to see it anymore. I'm afraid I may have to retire and give up on the show entirely." Stromboli pretended to act sad and started sobbing.
"Aw please don't be sad, Mister Stromboli!" Annabelle fell for his act and pitied him. "Maybe if I performed for your show, then people would like it again, and you won't have to give it up!"
"Really? You'd do that for a poor old man like me?" he asked kneeling down to her.
"Sure I would! Daddy taught me that I should always help someone who needs help!"
"Your father has taught you very well little one," Stromboli smiled and patted her head. "If you can make my show a success I'll be eternally grateful."
"I'll do my best!" Annabelle stated.
"Well Miss Annabelle we wish you the best of luck," said Honest. "But I'm afraid Gideon and I have other matters to attend to, so we must be going."
"Okay, then Mister Honest John. It was nice meeting you both."
"If you see your father, then please give him our best regards and that we hope to meet him again soon. Come now Giddy!" He grabbed his partner's arm and dragged him away. Gideon waved to Annabelle, and for some reason, he couldn't explain, he felt a tiny bit guilty for misleading her. Once they were gone Stromboli led Annabelle backstage to prepare for the puppet show. He smiled devilishly for soon his plan would be set in motion.
Meanwhile, Jiminy was still making his way home to warn Pinocchio about what had happened to Annabelle. Soon he finally reached the house and hopped onto the windowsill. He looked in and saw Pinocchio inside working on a broken clock.
"Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Open up! It's Me!" He banged on the glass and yelled frantically. Pinocchio looked up to see Jiminy shouting and opened to the window to let him inside.
"Jiminy! What's the matter?" Pinocchio asked him.
"Annabelle s in trouble Pinoke! You gotta come quickly!" He replied hopping up and down.
"What?! What happened to her Jiminy?!"
"I hate to tell you this, but she ran into those swindlers, Honest John and Gideon! They convinced her to go to Stromboli's puppet theater just like they did you!"
"What! Oh no! I was afraid this would happen!" Pinocchio's worst fears had come true. His daughter was now in the clutches of the wicked Stromboli. "We have to rescue her! Come on, Jiminy!" The cricket hopped into Pinocchio's shirt pocket as he ran out the front door eager to save his daughter from the evil puppet master.
"See what I mean Figgy?" said Figaro to his little kitten as they watched Pinocchio from outside the window. "Puppets are but trouble! This the same thing that happened with Pinocchio and Geppetto when I was a kitten! That Annabelle is just as much trouble as he as Puppet used to be!"
"I don't care what you say about her daddy! I love Annabelle!" She shouted and hissed at him angrily. "She's sweet and kind and you re always mean to her! You're just mean grumpy old cat! I'm going to help them! Goodbye!" And with that, she ran out the door following after Pinocchio and Jiminy. As Figaro watched her runoff, he thought about what she said and felt ashamed of himself for saying those terrible things about Annabelle. He then climbed onto the sofa and waited for Pinocchio to return.
End of Chapter 6