Three weeks had passed since Annabelle started going to school and she was doing very well. She always paid attention to Miss Lorraine's lessons and the school teacher would often visit to help tutor her the puppet girl on how to read and spell. Annabelle also got along with her classmates and some days when after school, they would come to the workshop to see her dad make new toys for them to play with. Pinocchio and Jiminy were both glad that Annabelle was getting along with the other children and that they accepted her despite being different looking from them and were grateful to Miss Lorraine for tutoring her. On a Friday afternoon when Pinocchio walked Annabelle home through the town, she pointed to some signs on a few of the shops as they passed by.
"That sign says Barkery, Daddy," said Annabelle knowingly. "And those say, Butcher and Tailor."
"Excellent Annabelle! Your learning to read very well," said Pinocchio amazed by how well she had learned to read after only three weeks of school.
"Yes. Alex and Miss Lorraine have been teaching me how to read and spell. And if someone is mean to me, Toby makes them leave me alone. He's a nice boy."
"That's wonderful! My little wooden princess is getting smarter every day." Pinocchio was glad that Jiminy's plan of having Alex companying Annabelle was keeping her out of trouble and that Lampwick's brother was keeping her safe from bullies.
"Don't forget, Annabelle," Jiminy reminded her. "There's going to be a spelling test on Monday, so you'll have to study a little over the weekend."
"Yes, Jiminy," Annabelle nodded in reply. "I'll study hard so I can pass the test and show you and daddy how smart I am."
"I'm sure you'll do just fine princess," said Pinocchio smiling proudly. "I had to take spelling tests when I was a boy. And I always did pretty well. If you pass your test, I'll do something special for you."
"Oh boy! That sounds great, daddy!" Annabelle shouted with excitement and hugged her father. "I promise I'll do my very best!" When they got home, Annabelle imminently went upstairs to her room and started reading her spelling book. Figgy entered the room, jumped onto the bed, and leaned her head over trying to see what she was doing.
"What are you reading Annabelle?" asked the kitten curiously.
"I'm reading my spelling books, Figgy," Annabelle replied and showed her the book filled letters and words. But the kitten didn't know how to read.
"Can we go play outside?" Figgy asked.
"I'd love to, Figgy, but can't right now. I have to study so I can pass the spelling test at school on Monday."
"Oh. Okay..." The kitten frowned in disappointment and lowered her head.
"Aw, what's wrong Figgy? Why are you sad?" Annabelle picked up the kitten, laid her in her lap and petted her head trying to cheer her up.
"I've just been lonely since you started going to school every morning," said the kitten sadly."Every day I wait for you to come home so we can play, but you're either reading your books or playing with the kids who come to visit us." Annabelle felt sad hearing this. She had so busy trying to do good in school and playing with her classmates she didn't realize she hadn't been giving her kitten as much attention as she used to.
"I'm sorry, Figgy. I've been so busy learning and making friends I guess I forgot about you. I wish I knew how to make it up to you." Just then, the kitten thought of an idea.
"I know, Annabelle! How about I come to school with you? I've always wanted to see what this school place is like."
"I don't know, Figgy. Miss Lorraine said we're not allowed to bring pets to school! If she finds out I brought you I could get in trouble!"
"You won't get in trouble! I promise! Please, Annabelle! Pretty Please!" The kitten pleaded while standing on her hind legs and rested her front paws on the puppet girl's chest. Annabelle didn't want to get in trouble, but she hated seeing the kitten so sad.
"Well...Okay, I'll think of some way to bring you," she finally agreed and gave her a pat on the head. Just then, Figaro crept into the room.
"Figgy! Don't be bothering Annabelle! She's supposed to be studying!" Figaro said in a stern voice.
"I'm not bothering her, dad!" Figgy replied. "I was just...trying to help her study." Figaro was a bit suspicious but didn't think anything of it and went back downstairs. Both the puppet and the kitten sighed with relief.
"Hehe! Good thing your nose doesn't grow when you lie Figgy." Annabelle whispered with a giggle. Figgy curled up in her lap and waited for her to finish studying so they could play. When Alex came over to visit the next day, Annabelle told her Figgy wanted to go to school with her and that she planned to sneak her in on Monday.
"You crazy, Annie?!" Alex exclaimed. "You can't bring your kitten to school! You'll get in trouble!"
"But Figgy wants to comes with me, Alex!" Annabelle explained. "She misses me when I'm at school, and I didn't want to say no and make her sad."
"I understand, But what if you get caught? Miss Lorraine will be mad, and she might expel you from school!"
"What does expel mean?"
"It means you won't be allowed to come to school anymore!" Hearing this made Annabelle worried, but she noticed Figgy was listening and looked sad again and tried to think of a plan.
"I have an idea, Alex! I'll keep her hidden in my bag, then Miss Lorraine won't see her and I won't get in trouble! Just promise you won't tell anyone. Ok?"
"Well...Alright, Annie. I won't say anything. But I still think this a bad idea." Figgy then walked up to Alex, meowed happily and the girl gave the kitten a little pat on the head.
On Monday morning after breakfast, Figgy crawled into Annabelle s backpack as she was getting ready to leave. Once she was inside, Annabelle managed to sneak her out of the house without Pinocchio finding out. Luckily, Jiminy wouldn't be accompanying her because it was his day off to assist Pinocchio with running the shop. Outside, Alex was waiting for them and they started walked to school together. Along the way, Annabelle felt the kitten wiggling around in her bag and meowing loudly.
"Annabelle! I can hardly breathe in here! And it's very uncomfortable too!" The kitten complained.
"Be quiet, Figgy!" Annabelle told her. "We're almost there! But You have to keep still and quiet, or we'll get caught!"
"Maybe you shouldn't have brought her along, Annie," said Alex worryingly. "If Miss Lorraine finds out she'll get mad, and I don't want you to get in trouble."
"I won't get in trouble, Alex. I promise," Annabelle said confidently. As they approached the school building, they heard the teacher screaming and shouting and wondered what was going on. They ran over and saw Miss Lorraine holding a broomstick in her hand and looked angry and a bit frightened.
"What happened Miss Lorraine? What were you yelling about?" Alex asked.
"Sorry girls. There was a big disgusting rat in the classroom and I chased it out. That filthy rodent's been sneaking in here for the past two weeks looking for food. I can't stand animals at my school house! Especially rats! Oooh!" Annabelle got nervous when she said she didn't like having animals in school.
"Maybe you should consider getting yourself a cat to keep the rats out," Alex suggested. But then Figgy suddenly let out a tiny meow.
"What was that?" Miss Lorraine asked looking around. The girls froze with fear and looked at each other. Annabelle was about to say something until Alex quickly spoke up.
"Huh...It was probably just a stray cat wandering around!"
"Hmm...It probably was. Come inside now you two." Annabelle was glad Alex made an excuse for her. She knew if she had lied her nose would grow and the teacher would become suspicious and discover she brought the kitten. She walked into the classroom and laid her bag in the back room closet where all the other kids kept theirs, and the kitten poked her head out gasping for air.
"Do I have to stay in here the whole time?" The kitten asked.
"Yes you do," Annabelle whispered. "Now just keep quiet and don't make a sound. I'll bring you some food later, okay?"
"Alright. I'll be as quiet as a mouse." She winked her eye and ducked back inside the bag. Annabelle left her and sat at her desk relieved she had managed to sneak Figgy in without getting caught. The room fell silent as Miss Lorraine stood up from her desk and everyone focused on her.
"Alright, children. I would like to remind you that we will be having a spelling test today, so I hope you all studied carefully over the weekend. Now let us begin our morning lessons." Time passed and everything was silent in the classroom. Figgy laid sleeping in the closet not making a sound. The teacher then started handing out sheets of paper giving one to each child.
"It's time for the spelling test, Annie," Alex whispered. "You sure you're ready?"
"Sure I am!" Annabelle replied with a confident smile. "I studied all weekend preparing for it. I'll do my best." The test began and Annabelle started reading the questions on her paper and began writing her answers on it. Back in the closet, Figgy poked her head out from and watched Annabelle and other children sitting at their desks.
"So this is what school is like?" said the curiously little kitten. Suddenly her pointy ears picked up the sound of scurrying. She turned her head and spotted a large rat with big red eyes, sharp teeth, mangy black fur, and a long skinny tail under Miss Lorraine's desk. Figgy remembered Figaro had told her that rats were dirty and nasty rodents that sneak into houses and steal food and sometimes bite small children. It was probably the same one that the teacher chased out before and somehow it managed to sneak in again without her or the students noticing.
"Hehe! Perfect!" The kitten heard the rat speaking. "While the woman and the kids are busy, I'll steal all their food!" Figgy ran out of the closet and hid behind a shelf as the rat scurried across the floor unnoticed towards the closet. She couldn't let him take everyone's food. She laid still and remained quiet as the rat crept into the closet and sniffed around. It crawled over to Toby's backpack, climbed inside and found a bag of cookies Claudia packed for him. Figgy quietly crawled out from her hiding place and crept over to Toby's bag. She looked inside and saw the rat nibbling on a cookie.
"Hold it right there!" She growled and hissed at it. "That's not your food!" The rat looked up and saw the kitten looking at it with angry eyes, and growling viciously.
"A CAT!" It shouted letting out a loud squeaky shriek.
"What was that?" Said one of the children. Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened again. Suddenly, Figgy let out an angry meow and pounced on the rat. It jumped out of the closet and scurried across the floor squealing in fear. The kitten gave chase growling and hissing. She chased it all around the classroom and under the desks. Some of the children began to scream and jumped out of their seats as the animals scurried under them.
"Figgy! No! Stop!" Annabelle shouted. But the kitten was too focused on pursuing the rat to hear her. They both leaped onto the teacher's desk making her jump out of her chair.
"EEEEEKKKK! It's that rat again!" Miss Loraine shrieked loudly. Figgy continued chasing the rat when suddenly it turned around and scratched her with its claws. But this only made the kitten angrier as she sunk her fangs into its tail, lifted it up and tossed it across the room and into a corner. It squealed and scurried away. Figgy started chasing it again, but the rat managed to escape by slipping through a crack in the door and was gone.
"Darn! It got away!" Figgy groaned. "Maybe he'll think twice before coming back here again." When the chaos was over and everyone had calmed down, Annabelle ran over to the kitten and snatched her up.
"Figgy! What were you doing?" She asked angrily.
"Chasing that rat away Annabelle. It was going to steal your lunch and everyone else's." The kitten explained.
"Annabelle! Is that your cat?" Annabelle turned around and saw the teacher and the other children staring at her.
"Uh oh!" She said nervously realizing she had been found out.
"I asked you if that kitten is yours!" Miss Lorraine demanded in a stern voice.
"Y-yes ma'am," she replied.
"You know you re not supposed to bring pets to school! So explain why you brought it here!" Annabelle didn't know what to say. It was just like when her father asked her why she went to Stromboli's puppet show and she couldn't bring herself to tell the truth.
"Annie, please answer her," Alex pleaded.
"I...I...I had to bring her Miss Lorraine!" Annabelle replied anxiously. "Because...uh...there were these big scary monsters with big red eyes and big teeth!" Annabelle started to lie, and when did her nose sparkled and grew a few inches. The teacher and the other children gasped when they saw her nose grow.
"Oh no!" Alex said worryingly.
"Did you guys see that? Her nose grew!" A boy shouted. The teacher stared curiously at the puppet girl's nose and thought perhaps that she wasn't honest.
"Monsters, you say?" She asked suspiciously.
"Y-yes! And, uh...they said they wanted to eat her up!" Annabelle lied again, and her nose gained a few more inches with a little green leaf popping up. The other kids found this funny and giggled.
"You don't say!" Said Miss Lorraine acting as if she believed her even though she was sure she was lying.
"So I brought her here to keep her safe. But one of the monsters turned into a rat and followed us here!" Annabelle's nose grew more and more with every excuse she made, and it started sprouting small branches with leaves and flowers again like before.
"Look at her nose! It's turning into a tree!" Shouted Andre and all the other kids started laughing hysterically. Annabelle felt so embarrassed by her goofy-looking nose and everyone laughing at it. Even Toby was laughing with them. Seeing her friend's humiliation, Alex became furious and wanted to put a stop to this.
"STOP LAUGHING AT HER!" She shouted loudly, and everyone stopped laughing and stared at her. "You should be ashamed for making fun of her! How would you all feel if your noses grew when you lied?" She walked over to Annabelle who looked like she was about to cry. "Annie, please tell Miss Lorraine the truth."
"I can't Alex! Annabelle replied clutching the kitten tightly in her arms. "I'll get in trouble!"
"But you're already in trouble. And you'll be in more trouble if you don't come clean."
"Alex is right, Annabelle!" Said little Figgy. "You don't have to lie to protect me! I shouldn't have persuaded you to bring me here, and I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." Annabelle glanced her eyes down at the kitten and could see tears leaking from her eyes. She took a deep breath and looked at the teacher.
"Miss Lorraine! Everything I said was a lie! I brought Figgy to school because she missed me every day when I came here, and I didn't want her to be sad!" Annabelle started to cry as she told the truth. Her nose began to shrink, and the leaves and flowers fell off until it finally returned to its normal size. Annabelle turned and threw herself into Alex's arms. She knew would surely be punished for lying and bringing the kitten to school.
"Please don't expel her Miss Lorraine! I told her she shouldn't bring her kitty to school but I let her do it and I promised not to tell." Alex pleaded.
"Expel her! Why would I do that?" said the teacher. The girls were surprised that she wasn't angry anymore. She kneeled down and next to Annabelle and put her hand on her shoulder. "Annabelle, I completely understand. I had a kitten when I was little, and it was very attached to me too. And your little Figgy did a good job getting rid of that pesky rat. So I won't punish you. Instead, I'll let you bring her to school."
"Really?" Annabelle said happily.
"On the condition that she doesn't disrupt class again and she keeps the rats out of my school."
"Oh, Thank you, Miss Lorraine!" Miss Lorraine smiled kindly and patted the kitten's head.
"Also, no more fibbing understand?"
"Yes, ma'am." Lorraine then turned to the rest of the class and gave them a disappointing look.
"I'm very disappointed in all of you! I want you all to apologize to Annabelle for laughing at her!" Toby felt terribly guilty and walked over to the girls.
"I'm sorry for laughing at you Annabelle," he said bowing his head. "I hope you can forgive me."
"It's alright Toby I forgive you." Annabelle then gave him a friendly hug.
"We're all sorry Annabelle." One of the students stepped forward and spoke for the others.
"Let this be a lesson, children! Telling lies will only get you in more trouble! Now let's forget this incident happened and continue with our spelling test." Everyone returned to their desks and Figgy sat on Miss Lorraine's desk while the children finished writing their papers. She thanked her for chasing the rat away and patted her on her head. When school was over, Pinocchio came in and the teacher told him everything that happened. He gave both Annabelle and Figgy an angry look.
"Annabelle! I can't believe you sneaked Figgy out of the house and lied about why you brought her in the first place!" he scolded her.
"I'm sorry for bringing Figgy to school and lying again, daddy," Annabelle said bowing her head shamefully. Figgy let out a soft meow and bowed her head as well.
"Don't be too angry, Mister Pinocchio," said Miss Lorraine. "Your daughter's cat did help me with my rat problem. She is allowed to bring her kitty in as long as you re ok with it? It would do wonders for my rat problem." Pinocchio looked at his daughter and smiled.
"Alright. I'll forgive this time, young lady. But no more lying and doing stuff like this again or I'll have to punish you. Understand?"
"Yes, daddy." She walked over and hugged her father. Figgy meowed and rubbed herself against Pinocchio's legs.
"You're lucky your father and I are forgiving people Annabelle," Said Miss Lorraine. "I should give you detention, but since your kitten got rid of that rat, I'll let you off this time."
"Thank you, Miss Lorraine! You're an excellent teacher!" Annabelle smiled a the teacher. She was overjoyed that now she could bring Figgy to school and the kitten wouldn't have to wait at home anymore. Pinocchio was still a little upset with her though and hoped she learned she didn't try to be sneaky and get into any more trouble.
End of Chapter 11