After seeing that he has enough money to buy a strong mule, he headed to the livery stables, reassuring Carlo that he will be back to play with his toys together, leaving him with the ladies as they kept selling and bartering.
Upon finding a strong yet gentle mule, and after bartering with the old owner, he is now the owner of the mule, naming him Arnaldo, walking him on the way back to the house where they will leave in the morning, he overheard a small group of boys talking about Pleasure Island.
Jiminy made sure to keep himself hidden while also trying to keep himself positioned as not to seem suspicious if anyone got close to him; at least for a few moments as he continued to overhear the boys. The rumors of Pleasure Island back in town once more could only mean one thing... the Coachman might be visiting the area again soon.
Of course, his efforts might be a bit hampered in one way; Honest John and his punk Gideon had long since been out of the picture. Either they died in prison, died elsewhere, or were still alive far from the village to once more go back to their old tricks in a new location; they certainly weren't around to try and lure any boys this time around if Jiminy's fears were indeed true.
Jiminy heard that the stagecoach is going to be on the outskirts of town, at midnight, as usual, and of course, there were peer pressure to a younger boy in the group, and he eventually gave in as well.
He knew that midnight was several hours away, but if the Coachman is going to be on shore for the night, then it means Pleasure Island is near the mainland again.
Jiminy took a deep breath, and pretended to walk past the group, distracted by the mule at his side, "Come on, boy, I bet Carlo would like to ride you, Arnaldo.", as the mule snorted, having startled from his brief nap and feeding.
He made it to the house, tying Arnaldo to the front of the house, and hissed to Leila who is helping the other girls with the cart, "Inside the house, I got bad news to tell.", as he passed her into the house, seeing Carlo distracted by Figaro.
"What happened?", Leila asked as Jiminy motioned for them to get inside; obviously something that couldn't be told out in the open. Everyone followed in before sitting down in the living area.
"We can't leave yet...", Jiminy started off as the others looked at each other before him, "We... there's something we've been planning on doing for a while and now it's finally time...".
Perla frowned for a moment before she gasped in horror, her mind clicking things at once, "He's back, isn't he?", and Jiminy nodded, "He's doing a pickup tonight, midnight...".
Juliet narrowed her eyes in angry determination, "That means he's going to do his work again...Pleasure Island gotta be near!".
Leila replied, "But what about Carlo? We can't leave him here...", with a frown, seeing Carlo play strings with Figaro, and Perla bit her lip, "We can't take him either...I can't...I can't have him hurt my baby!", with a worried look.
Suddenly, the two compasses floated out of one of the satchels, and went to the table, and Evangeline's voice echoed, "Carlo can sleep in a spelled state, which is harmless to him, he will be extra active the next day thanks to the state, and he will wake once you return home, and I can put some of my magic to protect his room, with Figaro and Leila as the first line of defense, while you take the compasses, I may not be able to physically appear on Pleasure Island, but I can help find a cave for you all to sneak in, to find the source of why Pleasure Island is a moving island, and if the source's destroyed, that could destroy the dark magic behind the curses.".
Evangeline's voice stopped which left the group alone again in their thoughts. "Well, one thing's for certain... I want to get back there and put an end to the suffering... I've still never felt right in the stomach leaving all the other boys to what should have been our fates as well.", Juliet declared.
Jiminy nodded, "Me either...I felt horrified for those boys...", and Perla bit her lip, looking at Leila, "I know Miss Evangeline said that Carlo will sleep for a long while in a spelled state without asking questions and being worried about his mothers, but you would be double sure to watch over him, won't you?".
Leila nodded, "Of course... if it'll put you at ease.", with a warm smile. "That's something we could need if we're going. Last thing we want to worry about is our child being in danger... if... if things go bad...", Juliet glanced away, letting the worry of things going wrong eating away at her brain for a moment there.
Perla kissed her on the cheek, "We'll come back home to our child, Juliet. Nobody would stop me from getting rid of the Coachman for good, and he'll be safe, even with his gifted protection on his body thanks to Evangeline, for the sake of my mind.".
Juliet smiled softly, nodding, and Jiminy then replied, "Well, let's eat some food, we have a boat trip and a dangerous mission to do.", and the family nodded, going to eat some early dinner in the mid-afternoon, with Perla surprising Carlo in a blue moon chance, giving him the opportunity to suckle from her breast.
She knew Carlo had been weaned mostly, but she can't help breastfeeding her son rarely if every two months or so, and she has faith in her family, believing that they can stop the Coachman for good, but she still has worries, and if breastfeeding her son is the last thing she'd do next to tucking him in for bedtime, she'd rest at peace if Juliet is safe, to come home to their son.
Carlo yawned as he rubbed his eyes, "I sleepy, Mama...", as he used the bathroom to do his business, and Perla gently ruffled his hair, "Good boy...You need all the rest you can for the big adventure tomorrow, okay?".
"You think there be new papa on adventure?", Carlo asked curiously as Juliet picked him up, and she chuckled softly, "Your mama is very pretty, there will be a new papa in no time, and he will love you, kiddo.".
Carlo gave a sleepy smile, "Yeah?", and Juliet smiled, "No doubt about it.", as she settled him into bed, as Perla sat near her.
"Mama, Momma, can I have bedtime song and have milk again?", Carlo asked sleepily with a bit of blush, wondering if he's asking for a lot since he drank already as he thinks that his mothers looked very impatient for playtime in their bed, not knowing that the actual expressions of worry, fear, and determination were hidden behind those fake looks to put Carlo at ease, for routine.
"Sure.", Perla whispered as she leaned to kiss Carlo on the forehead. "Momma will make sure to give you the best bedtime song...". Part of her really wondered if she might be back in the morning to hold him once more... if things go wrong...
Carlo gave a wide sleepy smile as Perla held him, freeing her other breast as he had fed from the other one earlier, and Carlo suckled slowly and sleepily, listening to Juliet starting to sing nearby as she cuddled Carlo around Perla in bed.
10 minutes later, Carlo was deep asleep, loosening free of his mama's breast, and both mothers smile tenderly as they kissed Carlo on the forehead, murmuring softly, "We love you, darling...", tucking him in.
Perla adjusted her brasserie and shirt as she hesitantly left the bed with Juliet holding her hand, and as they closed the door, seeing their beautiful son deeply asleep, dreaming with a smile, and Perla gave a little sigh before they left, tears in her eyes.
"He's going to be okay, Perla...He's deeply asleep, and we'll be back to have him again in our arms.", Juliet whispered reassuringly, and Perla nodded shakily, "I know...but it's still frightening to leave him like this, even though we have your mother and Figaro staying here. I will keep worrying until the Coachman's arrested, or dead...".
"Then let's put those worries to rest.", Juliet kissed her lips as Perla nodded. Yes, if they take care of this, they'll never have to worry about it again. But the Coachman wouldn't be someone easy to deal with, even with the element of surprise no matter what.
The two women smiled at Leilana as she handed them warm coats and a doggie bag of some food, and Leila hugged them, kissing them on the cheek. Leila saw Perla as another daughter ever since Carlo's birth, next to Juliet, and she prays that the mission will be successful.
Figaro purred and licked Perla and Juliet's noses as they held him for a minute before he headed upstairs, to stand guard of Carlo's door, protecting his little master.
The two women then headed swiftly to the shore, with the compasses on their persons, and found Jiminy with a slightly bigger rowboat that was more robust than their previous one years ago when they went to rescue Geppetto.
With the compasses on each of the front and back bows of the rowboat, the magic hid the trio as they rowed and rowed in turns, starting to see a familiar sight within an hour, and Jiminy exhaled, "We can't go in the front...Those masked men would be there guarding. We have to head around the back.".
The girls agreed to that logic, and so, they rowed past the few rocks that littered around Pleasure Island's front, and stayed close in the shade, yet careful of the distance in case there's rockslides or guards, and Jiminy saw his umbrella handle glow, pulsing, as the compasses kept hiding the trio.
"Gotta have to thank her sometime.", Jiminy chuckled before Perla looked ahead, "There, up ahead, is that a small cave?".
Juliet and Jiminy looked, and Juliet muttered, "It looks like it barely could fit two persons side by side.", and Jiminy replied, "If we duck down into the rowboat, we might just fit through.".
The girls nodded, and as soon as they got close to row enough to drift the rowboat through the cave, they ducked just in time, staying low for a few moments, and they mentally thanked Leila immediately as it's surprising cold, considering that they must be in the depths of the mountain that made up Pleasure Island.
"Great, it's really dark in here!", Juliet grumbled, barely seeing two feet ahead of her, and Jiminy's umbrella handle glowed into a sort of bright light, but not too bright, and they saw that there's a ledge into a narrow opening as the rowboat stopped by the end of the cave.
"That looks to be our way in...", Jiminy said. He then took a deep breath. "Okay then... you girls know what's at stake... and know what's probably awaiting us... I know the temptation might be there... but you can't let yourselves be taken in by the cursed items...".
Perla replied, "We have a family including a son to think about, Jiminy. And besides, Evangeline made us into real women, and we would never forget how we came here the first time.", and Juliet said, "She's right.", grabbing the first compass as Perla grabbed the second compass, "Let's not keep waiting. It's already getting close to sunset out there, and the Coachman can be anywhere on the mainland, spreading the temptations of Pleasure Island to any clueless boy on the streets. You know how he works, and he gets a full load at midnight.", with a frown.
Jiminy nodded, and they climbed the ledge into the narrow opening which barely is enough to fit a crouching, walking person, like a low curved tunnel, and so, one by one, with Jiminy in the middle to lend light for the front and back, unknowing of the magical transparent sensor line when they entered the tunnel.
The Coachman froze as he felt a vibration of his pocket watch, having snagged a couple of stray boys along the forest road near an outer village from the main village, having told them of the directions of the stagecoach.
He pulled out his pocket watch and saw a ticking red flash on one of the etches of his clock, and he narrowed his eyes, figuring that some seals or birds must have come through to nest or nap, but nonetheless, he can't be too careless these days, especially when he lost two boys. A minor disappointment since they must have drowned or caught by Monstro just before he got killed by cliff rocks, probably because he could have caught the lingering curse off the boys and went suicidal.
Still... it was something off to him and he couldn't afford to truly ignore it. He glanced over to the shadows where one of his shadow men were, "Something's off back on the island... check it out now.".
The shadow man gave a low nod before almost gliding across the shadows, spreading the orders to each shadow man down the road, the villages, the docks, boats, rocks, and finally the island.
Perla shivered softly, and Juliet asked, "You okay? Are you warm enough?", and Perla nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel a bit creeped out that we're in the pits of this godforsaken island.".
"Don't have to tell me twice, Slats. This is even worse than being in Monstro's belly, and that's saying something!", Juliet muttered, as even in the tunnel, there are spiders and other creepy crawlies, and she can swear that there are webs here and there.
Jiminy replied, "At least it doesn't smell worse than Monstro's belly, you have to admit that.", and Juliet snorted, "True.", as they kept going before Jiminy replied, "Hey, hold up, I think the tunnel's widening up, yep, looks like we might be getting deeper or higher either way.".
To Jiminy's word, the tunnel is definitely widening up, and they found themselves in a large cavern room, and a chill ran down their spines as it was a catacomb, almost like the old catacombs of Paris, and Perla whispered only three words, "What happened here?".
Around them, in organized piles and walls, is half human, half animal skeletons, not just donkeys, but of any animal from Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, fused with humans.
"What in the hell is this...?", Juliet whispered as they all were shaken to their very core about what they were seeing. "And here I thought the Coachman couldn't be any worse...", Jiminy said as they kept looking. "Guessing it took him some time to perfect things... as well as experimenting with other animals...".
Perla exhaled softly, "God...Those people...they had mothers, fathers, siblings, cousins, families...From what the Coachman looked like...this must have been more than 30 years ago...", praying with her heart that the souls of those poor people are not suffering...
Juliet shook her head, "Come on, let's keep going...", squeezing Perla's shoulder gently, and Perla nodded lightly, half wondering if her mother and brother survived, would her brother have suffered being changed into a donkey or a woman?
No, she wouldn't wished that on her mother and father, yet if her brother escaped like she and Juliet did...Would he be here to help her, and the others destroy the dark magic in this terrible place?
She shook her head, taking a deep breath, as Jiminy lifted his umbrella handle higher, "There, I see something over there...Oh, great, more tunnels.", as they got closer, seeing three tunnels.
Perla frowned and glanced at her compass, "Can you help?", and the compass stayed dark, and Juliet replied, "Hold on.", as she moved her compass closer to Perla's compass, and the compasses flickered, the needle pointing north to the middle tunnel.
"Looks like her magic is getting through... barely...", Jiminy whispered. "Still, we can't fully rely on it... the deeper we got... the closer we get to probably the dark heart of magic... need I say more?".
Perla nodded before she froze lightly, realizing that something was off, hearing rustling sounds, "Is it just me, or is the room darker than before?", and Juliet blinked, "No, it ain't you...You're right, it's even darker than before.", before a loud stomp came behind them, with a huge shadow over them.
They widened their eyes, turning around to see a pitch-black form of a mish-mashed monster with all kinds of the skeletons in the catacomb room, unknowing that the shadow men were the trapped souls of those skeletons, and of course, force-ordered by the Coachman to handle any intruders with intention to kill them on sight.
The mish-mashed monster gave out a bellowing, roaring, and screaming sound as it glared all its many empty sockets of golden orbs and such at the trio, and Jiminy whispered, "Run?".
The girls echoed back, "Run.", and they ran into the middle tunnel, with the monster running after them on four huge legs, almost scraping the walls of the tunnel.
The trio moved fast as they could, trying to stay one step ahead of the horrific monster as it charged at them. Whatever that thing really was, it was a sign that they might have been in the right place... though at the moment, it was more important for them to lose it before trying to get back to where they were.