Chapter 9 - Making a new friend

The next morning Annabelle was still sleeping in her bedroom exhausted from everything happened at the puppet show. Pinocchio decided it would be best if he kept her home until Stromboli, Honest, and Gideon were all arrested. The policemen from last night came to the shop and informed him that Stromboli was in jail, but Honest John and Gideon had escaped and left town to avoid being caught. Pinocchio was relieved knowing one of his enemies was in prison, but knowing Honest he and his partner would eventually come back. So he went to Annabelle s friend Alex's house to ask her mother to let Alex help him and Jiminy keep her safe. Shortly after he left, Annabelle finally woke up and came downstairs.

"Daddy? Jiminy where's daddy?" She asked looking around for him.

"Your dad left to go visit someone and said he'll be back later," Jiminy explained. "He also said that you're not allowed to leave the house until he returns."

"So I can't go to school today?"

"Not after what happened yesterday with Stromboli and those no-good swindlers."

"I'm sorry for not listening to you yesterday Jiminy. I should have gone to school like you told me." Annabelle frowned sadly.

"It's alright Annabelle, everyone makes mistakes. You just have to be careful of certain people. You can't always trust everyone."

"I will! I'm going to do better and make you and daddy proud of me!"

"Atta Girl! I'm glad to hear you say that."

Throughout the morning, Jiminy watched over Annabelle while she did a few chores Pinocchio had taught her and played with the cats. A few hours passed and Pinocchio finally came home.

"Hi, Annabelle! Someone's here to see you," He moved to one side and in walked her friend Alex.

"Alex!" Annabelle cheered with joy. She quickly ran on over and hugged her tightly.

"Hi, Annie! I'm glad to see you again!" said Alex happily.

"I missed you, Alex! I'm sorry I didn't come to school yesterday I got a little distracted."

"Your dad told my mom and me about what happened at the puppet show. That's why I'm here."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I spoke with Alex's mother and she agreed to let Alex accompany you when you go to school or walk around town," Pinocchio told her.

"But why daddy?"

"For your safety. Until I feel that I can trust you to be on your own, you are not to go anywhere without me, Jiminy, or Alex. Do you understand?"

"Yes, daddy. I understand " Annabelle felt a little disappointed that her father didn't trust her to be on her own.

"Don't worry Annie," Alex comforted her. "I'll make sure no one tries to take you to lure you away. Plus, we get to hang out more!"

"Okay, Alex. I like that." Annabelle smiled.

"I ll be with you as well," said Jiminy. "Someone has to keep an eye on you girls and make sure you both stay out of trouble. Not that I don't trust you, Alex."

"It's okay Jiminy. I make mistakes too sometimes. I'll do my best to help you guide Annie on the right path."

"Good to hear!"

Alex stayed at the house for the remainder of the day, and the girls played in Annabelle s room while she told her about how Honest and Gideon had tricked her into going to the puppet show and how her father, Jiminy, and little Figgy rescued her.

"I'm sorry what happened to you Annie," said Alex. "If I were with you yesterday those bad men wouldn't have lured you away."

"It's okay Alex," Annabelle replied. "I promised my daddy and Jiminy I'm going to do better and make them proud of me."

"Also I'll make sure your safe whenever you're walking around or going to school. That's what friends do!"

"Thanks, Alex." Annabelle leaned over and hugged her friend. She was so happy to have met such a kind-hearted and caring girl like her.

The next morning Annabelle was up and ready for her first proper day of school, and this time Jiminy woke up too and was ready to accompany her. After breakfast, there was a knock at the door, and Alex walked in, wearing a backpack and carrying a green book under her left arm.

"Good morning Annie! Ready for your first day of school?" She asked.

"Morning Alex! Sure am!" Annabelle greeted her friend with a hug which Alex realized that this might become the puppet s way of greeting her. "Ready when you are!"

"I'm coming too!" said Jiminy hopping onto Annabelle's shoulder.

"Now remember Annabelle," Pinocchio reminded her, "behave yourself and listen to Jiminy and the teacher. I'll come to get you after school is over, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy! I promise I'll do good and listen to Jiminy and the teacher!"

Annabelle hugged and kissed her father and started off to school with her friend. As the girls walked through the village together, Alex checked around making sure no one was following them. She then looked over at her friend who was skipping happily the way there.

"You sure are excited aren't about going school aren't you?" Alex said.

"I sure am, Alex," Annabelle replied.

"Are you nervous at all Annie?" Annabelle then stopped skipping.

"Nervous? Uh...no I'm not nervous." Annabelle replied trying to sound confident. But her nose sparkled and grew an inch making her shriek. She quickly threw up her hands trying to hide her nose hoping Alex hadn't seen what happened to it.

"Whoa, Annie! Your nose just grew!" She was bewildered by this strange situation.

"N-no it didn't! Nothing s wrong with my nose!" She blurted out nervously causing her nose to increase in length.

"Annabelle! Stop lying!" Jiminy shouted. "The more you lie, the more your nose will grow."

"Sorry, Jiminy I forgot." Annabelle calmed herself and turned to her friend. "Sorry Alex, I wasn't honest. I am a little nervous." Her nose returned to its normal size from telling the truth.

"Wow! So your nose grows whenever you tell a lie?" Alex giggled a little finding it rather silly. She knew her friend was a living puppet, but it seemed that it was the least strange thing about her.

"Yes. I m sorry about that." Annabelle replied patting the tip of her nose making sure it was back to normal.

"It's okay Annie," Alex put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Everyone gets nervous and fibs sometimes. Just try to be careful not to say the wrong thing when someone asks you something. Okay?"

"Okay," Annabelle replied with a smile.

"Good. Now come on we don't want to be late."

After a fun walk around the town and fields, the girls finally arrived at the school. It was a large brick building with windows and a bell tower. Inside were many wooden desks and chairs, bookshelves and a chalkboard at the front where the teacher sat. Annabelle and Alex watched as the other children entered the building. As they walked to the door, Jiminy stopped them.

"You girls better wait out here while I have a word with the teacher. I think they'd be a bit shocked to see that Annabelle's a living puppet."

"Okay, Jiminy. We'll wait here," said Alex holding Annabelle's hand.

The girls waited while Jiminy spoke to the school teacher. Annabelle felt a bit nervous about what Jiminy could be telling the teacher. She couldn t help but feel afraid the other students wouldn't like her because she wasn t a human like them.

"What if the other students don't like me, Alex?" Annabelle asked shivering with fear.

"Don't be silly! I'm sure they'll like you! Miss Lorraine is a very nice teacher and never judges people for being different."

The door opened, and Jiminy came out riding on the shoulder of Miss Lorraine. She was a lovely looking woman with green eyes and curly brown hair tied up in a bun and green eyes. She wore a black corset, a long gray skirt, and black pumps.

"Good morning Alex," she said then turned to Annabelle and smiled. "And you must be the puppet girl I've heard so much about! I'm Miss Lorraine. It s very nice to meet you! I m positive you will have a wonderful time here!" Annabelle was a bit shy at first, but the lady didn't seem bothered by her appearance.

"Y-yes ma'am," she answered nervously and curtseyed. "M-my name's A-Annabelle. This is for you." She opened her bag and gave her the apple Pinocchio gave her the day before.

"Aw, how thoughtful! Thank you," she said taking the apple from her. "Mr. Cricket here told me about you and I'm honored to have you as one of my new pupils."

"So you don't mind that I'm a wooden puppet?"

"Of course not dear! I would never judge anyone for being different whether they are an animal person or a puppet."

"See I told you she's nice," said Alex.

"Now come inside, and I'll introduce you to the class."

The girls followed her into the building. She asked Annabelle to wait until she was ready to present her to her classmates. Alex went into the classroom and sat down at her desk whilst Miss Lorraine took her place at the front desk.

"Alright, children please sit down!" She ordered tapping a wooden ruler on her desk. The children sat down and became silent. "Before we begin we have a new student joining us today. Now she's a bit different looking from you all, but I ask that you please be polite and treat her nicely. You may come in now dear!"

Annabelle walked into the classroom and stood beside the teacher's desk. The children were rather surprised to see that she was a living marionette that could move without strings. Annabelle felt even more nervous seeing everyone staring at her.

"Would you please introduce yourself to everyone?" asked Miss Lorraine.

"Um...hello everyone, my name is Annabelle," she said to the children. "I was built by my daddy and was brought to life by a Blue fairy lady. I hope we can all be friends." The children all stood up and greeted her.

"Welcome, Annabelle!" They replied and bowed then sat down again.

"Well, Annabelle we're happy to have you joining us! We also have another guest joining us."

"Hello children," said Jiminy jumping onto the teacher's desk and tipped his hat. "Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket. I'm small but knowledgeable, and I m also Annabelle s conscience. Now does anyone know what a conscience is?" A girl with brown hair raised her hand and stood up.

"A conscience is what tells you what is right and what is wrong." She answered.

"Correct young lady! It s my duty to help teach Annabelle and children like you the knowledge of right and wrong just as I taught her father and my good pal, Mr. Pinocchio, the toymaker."

"I had a feeling this puppet might be the creation of Mr. Pinocchio!" whispered a boy to his friend next to him. "That man makes amazing toys!"

"It's very nice to have you with us too, Mr. Cricket. If it's not too much trouble, could you assist me with teaching the class? But only if it s ok with you."

"Why I'd be honored ma'am." Said Jiminy proudly.

"Take your seat now Annabelle so we can begin."

"Okay Miss Lorraine." Annabelle found an empty seat that was right next to Alex and sat down. They were glad to be sitting next to each other.

"Alright children open your spelling books to page ten, and we shall begin today's lessons."

Annabelle, Alex, and the other kids opened their books as Miss Lorraine began teaching the basics of reading and counting. Though Annabelle was having trouble following along, Alex was given permission by the teacher to help her. Jiminy assisted the teacher by teaching them lessons he had learned while traveling the world instructing others and the children seemed to enjoy his stories of the places he had been. After a few hours, the bell rang, and the children gathered outside for a recess.

"Hey, Annabelle! You want to play ball with us?" Offered several of the younger children.

"Okay!"

"Can I play too?" asked Alex.

Sure!"

The girls took turns tossing a red ball back and forth with other students and were having a very good time. But then some of the older children came over and snatched the ball away.

"Alright you runts, clear out! It's our turn to play now!" said a scruffy-looking boy with dark hair accompanied by another boy with blond hair and a girl with pigtails.

"Hey, Andre! We were playing with that ball! Give it back!" cried Alex angrily. She attempted to take the ball back but to no avail.

"Sorry, four eyes it's ours now!" The boy stuck his foot out which caused Alex to trip over and her glasses fell off. Unable to see clearly she fumbled about feeling for them but the pigtailed girl snatched them up.

"Hey give me my glasses! I can't see without them!" The older kids just laughed and dangled them in front of her. Annabelle didn't like how these kids were treating her friend and walked up to them.

"Hey! Why are you so mean to Alex?" she asked them. "She can't see without her glasses so please give them back and our ball too!"

"Why should we listen to a wooden freak like you?"

"You shouldn't even be here! School is for real kids not walking talking puppets!"

Annabelle didn't understand why these children were treating her and her friend so awful. The things they said made her feel sad and a little angry too.

"Stop that right now, Andre!" shouted a voice. They all turned and saw a slender looking boy with buckteeth, pudgy cheeks, reddish-brown hair, and a pink button nose. He wore a big brown cap on his head, a red handkerchief around his neck, a white shirt, a black jacket, short brown trousers, and brown shoes. He appeared to be tall but not as tall as the bullies. "You jerks stop bullying these girls or I'm going to tell Miss Lorraine!"

To everyone's surprise, the bullies turned over the ball and Alex's glasses and ran away. This boy had made three older kids bigger than him back off without resorting to fighting them. He walked up to Annabelle and handed her the ball.

"Are you alright?" he asked politely with a smile.

"Yes, I'm alright thank you," Annabelle replied. He then turned to Alex and returned her glasses. When she put them on she recognized him.

"Oh Hi, Toby! I thought that was your voice!"

"No problem Alex," he said then turned to Annabelle again. "So you're Annabelle. My name's Tobias, but everyone calls me Toby."

"Nice to meet you, Toby," Annabelle replied shaking his hand. "Thank you for saving Alex and me from those mean students."

"No problem. Alex and I are close friends, and any friend of hers is a friend of mine." he smiled giving her wink. Annabelle felt a strange feeling in her wooden heart as the boy smiled at her. Alex could tell by the way she was staring at her friend that this was Annabelle's first time meeting a boy.

"Do you want to play with us, Toby?" Alex offered.

"Sure," Toby replied.

The three of them went back to the other children waiting patiently and continued their game. They played until the bell rang and the teacher called all back inside for lunch. Toby sat with Annabelle and Alex as they ate together and Jiminy hopped over to see what was going on.

"Hi, Jiminy! This is my new friend Toby," she introduced him to the boy.

When Jiminy looked at the young boy, he noticed that his face reminded him of someone, but he couldn t remember who it was.

"He saved us from some kids who were bullying us at recess," said Alex.

"Thanks, young man. I appreciate you looking out for Annabelle and her friends out there."

"You're welcome Mr. Cricket. I just can't stand seeing other kids get bullied by others. If Annabelle is Alex's friend, then she's my friend too."

"Hmm...I can't put my finger on it, but you remind of someone I met once a long time ago." Said Jiminy scratching his head trying to remember who this young boy looked like.

"Wait you say you met someone who looked like me! Was his name Lampwick?" Toby asked with surprise.

"Lampwick!" Jiminy cried out loud that everyone looked at him. "That's who you remind me of!"

"Who's Lampwick Jiminy?" Annabelle asked.

"He was a troublesome boy your father made friends with when Honest John and Gideon persuaded them to go to pleasure island. I told him that boy was no good and because of him your father nearly got turned into a donkey."

"You're saying my big brother got turned into a donkey?!"

"Wait! You're his brother!" Jiminy gasped.

"Yes. But I never met him. I was born five years after he ran away from home. My mama said he was a terrible kid always playing hooky from school and getting into trouble. But she still loved him despite how bad he was."

"Well, I certainly hope you're not a trouble maker like he was!"

"Toby's nothing like his brother Jiminy," Alex insisted.

"I'm a good son. I promised my mama I wouldn't get into any trouble like my no-good brother or play hooky from school."

"I believe your good Toby," said Annabelle.

"Gee thanks, Annabelle! That's very nice of you."

"Well alright. But we'll have to see what Mr. Pinocchio says first."

After lunch, Miss Lorraine continued teaching their final lessons for the day. Around three o clock, the bell rang, and the teacher dismissed the class. The children ran out of the building hurrying home to their parents who were waiting for them. Alex and Toby said goodbye to Annabelle and walked home together. Annabelle and Jiminy went outside to find Pinocchio waiting for them. Annabelle ran to her father and gave him a big hug.

"How was your first day of school Annabelle?" He asked.

"It was super fun daddy! I learned lots of new things, and I made a new friend too!"

"You did?"

"Uh-huh! He's a boy, and his name is Toby!"

"A boy!" When Pinocchio heard this, he looked at Jiminy.

"You won't believe this Pinoke. But the kid is the younger brother of your old pal Lampwick."

"Lampwick!" Pinocchio yelled remembering the boy he met on pleasure island who taught him how to be bad.

"But he's a good boy daddy! He saved Alex and me from some kids who were being mean to us!"

"Well, I'll have to meet him first and see if he's not like his brother. If he's good, then that s fine with me.

"Okay, daddy."

"Come on! Let's all go home and celebrate Annabelle's first successful day of school," Jiminy insisted.

With that Pinocchio started walking his family home. Though he was glad Annabelle enjoyed her first day of school, he was a bit concerned about her making friends with a boy who just so happened to be the brother of Lampwick. He hoped he truly wasn't like his older brother.