On the Wings of an Angel Chapter 5: Lost and Found, a disney fanfic

ON THE WINGS OF AN ANGEL

Can you believe it? Another update, and I only posted the last chapter the day before yesterday! It's funny, but I woke up this morning knowing exactly how I wanted this to go. And we have a special surprise at the end!

Characters (with exceptions) © Disney

Story © unicorn-skydancer08

Chapter 5: Lost and Found

When Terence realized what time it was, he gasped, "Good heavens, Pinocchio, we'd better get home! I didn't plan to stay out this long."

Pinocchio hadn't even been aware of the time until it was pointed out to him. Reluctant as the boy was to leave his old friends, he knew Jiminy would be very worried if he and Terence didn't come home soon. Duke and Figaro would wonder where their supper was, as would Cleo. When Terence told Armando and Arietta that they had to leave now, Armando pushed back his chair and jumped up, saying, "Well, then, we better be on our way at once."

"Would you mind if we accompanied you to your house?" asked Arietta as she stood herself. "After all, if we're going to be Pinocchio's tutors, we'll need to know where you live."

Terence smiled. "Of course," he said, "by all means."

Pinocchio liked the idea of spending at least a few more minutes in Armando and Arietta's company.

So, after bidding goodbye to Bernardo and Gahiji (Bernardo made sure to hug both Terence and Pinocchio twice, and Terence made a solemn promise they would visit again very soon), the foursome left the White Fish Inn together, with Terence leading the way this time. As it was quite late in the afternoon, there were many people hurrying to their homes, and there was a good deal of pushing and shoving. Armando and Arietta held hands to stay together, while Armando's other hand gripped Terence's shoulder, and Terence managed to slip through the horde with relative ease. Pinocchio, being the smallest, suffered the worst of it.

The boy tried to stay as close to his companions as possible, but there were simply too many people, and more than one person cut between him and Arietta. Once, someone quite rudely plowed into Pinocchio sideways, nearly knocking him off balance. Instead of apologizing, that same person snapped, "Watch where you're going, boy!"

By the time Pinocchio recovered his feet, neither Arietta nor Armando nor Terence were anywhere in sight. Trying hard to not panic, Pinocchio struggled to weave his way through the crazy chaos. "Terence!" he hollered out. "Terence! Armando! Arietta! Wait for me!" Unfortunately, the child's voice could hardly be heard over all the ruckus.

Although he tried to maintain a steady course, he was inadvertently driven from here to there, pushed around like a helpless bird caught in an unpredictable wind.

At one point, Pinocchio was sure he could see a glimpse of Terence's cloak. But when he caught up with that figure, he saw instead that it was an old, bent, ugly woman with flyaway gray hair and a hooked nose, who looked very much like the wicked witch from the storybook that Terence often read to him at bedtime—the one who captured unsuspecting children and ate them.

"Well, hello there, my little chicken," the wizened crone grinned when she saw him, revealing a number of uneven yellow teeth. "Lost your way, have ye?"

Pinocchio said nothing, but turned away from her at once and fled in a great fright, never daring to look back.

"My goodness, what a zoo!" said Arietta when they made it out of the village and were on the country road, where they could move around much more freely.

"I haven't seen a crowd like that since our last performance with Fabrizio," added Armando, shaking his head.

"Well, there it is, friends," Terence announced proudly, pointing to his cottage, which lay less than a quarter of a mile from where they stood. "Just by the hills."

"That white one, with the red brick chimney, with all those flowers in the front?" asked Arietta.

"That's the one."

Armando whistled through his teeth. "Nice," he commented. "Very nice, indeed. We could use a shack like that ourselves."

Arietta was just as impressed. "You and Pinocchio must love it there," she told Terence.

At the mention of Pinocchio, Terence glanced around for the boy, only to find—to his utmost astonishment—that he was not with them.

"Pinocchio?" the man called. "Pinocchio?" When there was no answer, and when Pinocchio was nowhere to be seen, Terence turned anxiously to the others. "Where is he?"

Surprised, Armando and Arietta looked about in every direction as well. "He was right behind me," said Arietta. "At least, I thought he was…"

"Oh, dear," said Armando in a low tone of dismay. "He must still be in the village."

At this, Terence felt his heart constrict and his gut twist into a sickening knot. "Oh, no!" the youth groaned, clapping a hand to his forehead. "Not again!"

It seemed to Pinocchio that he was going constantly in circles. The poor little lad had no idea where he was, and nothing looked familiar.

He wanted to go back to the White Fish Inn, where Bernardo and Gahiji could help him, or at least keep him safe until Terence found him. But he didn't even know where that was, either. Meanwhile, the sun was sinking lower and lower in the sky; Pinocchio knew from past experience the dangers of wandering the streets at night. He recalled hearing once that you were supposed to stay in one place when you were lost, but such counsel was difficult to heed, especially when he thought of who may come after him. Fabrizio was gone, but there were plenty of other people who could cause him harm. Pinocchio thought of that old hag he'd just run across, and an involuntary shiver raced down his spine.

He wished Jiminy were here. Jiminy might not have been able to do much more about the situation than he could, but it would have been a world of relief to have the little cricket at his side. By this time, Pinocchio was certain that Jiminy was very worried; he and Terence should have long since returned to the house. Figaro and Duke were probably wondering where they were, too, what could have happened to them. In his mind's eye, Pinocchio could see Duke clawing at the door and barking fretfully while Figaro meowed his little head off. If Duke were here, he might be able to sniff the way home; Terence was always saying the dog could smell a hunk of meat a mile away.

"Terence!" the boy wailed, for what must have been the millionth time. "Terence!" He could not help the crack in his voice, nor the few tears that slipped down his cheeks.

There was no reply, and Terence was nowhere to be found. A few people continued to roam the streets, but none of them seemed to notice Pinocchio, or care.

However, as Pinocchio fought to not break down, a voice addressed him—a woman's voice, and a remarkably kindly one at that, with the exceptional sort of sweetness and gentleness that Terence possessed:

"Are you lost, child? Might I be of any help?"