The Coachman's stagecoach came to a stop on the edge of a village far from the one that was Pinocchio's. As before, the coach was pulled by ten donkeys -- two of whom were now poor Giovanna and the once unruly Candlewick.
Giovanna, Candlewick and the four other donkeys were tightly fitted to their reins and thus unable to escape, forced to do the Coachman's bidding by pulling the coach to and from the ferry to Pleasure Island.
Giovanna quickly snuck a glance around her and saw that the coach was once more packed to the brim with boys and girls of all ages that it practically was full. In addition to the boys and girls crammed into the interior of the coach, others were piled on top.
"All aboard for Pleasure Island!" the Coachman announced just like a carnival barker would.
On the road next to the coach were three boys, who all cheered at the prospect of traveling to place where they could do whatever they please. They excitedly climbed atop the coach and held on for dear life, ready to begin their journey -- which as Giovanna knew was one they would never forget and would deeply regret.
"All right, let's go!" the Coachman shouted to Giovanna and her fellow donkeys. He only had to crack his whip once for the frightened and tired donkeys to start pulling the stagecoach once more.
Giovanna and Candlewick groaned in both pain and exhaustion in having to pull the packed coach up and down the roads again. Their hooves hurt from having to run across the rough terrain and they had been standing on them all night long.
"How foolish I was" thought Giovanna. "We should of never got on that coach to begin with. We should have listened to what they tried to teach us in school. Nothing is ever free and now we will be paying for it for the rest of our miserable new lives."
And with that very thought, tears streamed down from Giovanna's eyes and down her muzzle as she continued to help her fellow donkeys in their grueling task of pulling the heavy stagecoach towards its destination -- the ferry to Pleasure Island.
Night had fallen on Pleasure Island once more and with it had come more boys and girls lured to the island with the promises of unlimited fun and no authority. And just like before, after they partied to their hearts' content, the Coachman's new prey had once more fell victim to the island's donkey curse.
Candlewick layed in a corner of the donkey pen that housed the stagecoach's donkey workforce.
All of the donkeys here, except for Candlewick, had retained their voices and could not be sold by the Coachman without risk of them talking about the reality of Pleasure Island.
So they were retained and used by the Coachman to pull his stagecoach through the various towns he would travel to in search of more "stupid boys and girls" to victimize.
Only hours earlier, there had been the sounds of newly turned donkeys braying in panic as they were processed and shipped off to a new life of donkey slavery. Now all was quiet and no more sounds echoed down the tunnel that lead from the donkey pen to the ferry's dock.
All the other donkeys were asleep in the pen, even Giovanna, but Candlewick was restless. He couldn't sleep, especially knowing what the next day would bring.
The next day would see them put to work helping the Coachman's Minions clean up the mess in the amusement park from the night before. Then they would go out once more to pull the stagecoach on the main land in search of more children.
Candlewick was amazed by the scope of the Coachman's operation. Every couple of nights were spent with another batch of bad boys and girls to be made into asses, which the Coachman would then sell for reasonable prices on the mainland.
"He must be a multi millionaire by now," Candlewick thought to himself. "How long exactly has he been doing this any way?"
Candlewick sighed sadly as he knew he would never get any answers to his numerous questions.
Through a small hole in the rock ceiling above him, Candlewick could faintly make out the stars in the night sky. One star in particular seemed to glow stronger than the others and had an elegant beauty about it. This star made Candlewick think of someone.
His friend Pinocchio.
Candlewick wished Pinocchio was well and safely away from Pleasure Island. He hadn't seen him since that fateful night they spent on the island and he had overheard the Coachman fuming over someone managing to escape from the island.
Candlewick hoped it was Pinocchio and wished he had never tried to lead Pinocchio down the path and promise of an easy life with no consequences. Candlewick had learned his lesson, but it was far too late for him to do anything about it.