Chapter Seven
Ella, Nick and Judy went to Tundratown, where the cold and snow covered practically everything and the darkness of night seemed to make it even more cold and add a hint of creepiness from the lights of the street lights above the road. Judy drove to the Tundratown Limo-Service and was distraught to learn that the place was locked down.
"Closed? Great." she groaned.
"And I will bet you don't have a warrant to get in." Nick said "Oh darn it, it was a bummer."
"Nick? Did you sabotage the case on purpose?" Ella asked "So that you'd see Judy fail and you'd get the carrot pen so she wouldn't turn you in with the tax evasion charges?"
"What? And ruin the chance to return you to your kind?" Nick asked Ella "Do I look like a heartless person to you?"
"You sure act like one." Judy said angrily "What is your problem, does seeing me fail somehow make you feel better about your own sad, miserable life?"
"It does, a hundred percent." Nick said "So... since you're sans warrant. I guess we're done?"
Judy took a deep breath and sighed in defeat before she said "Fine, we are done." she held the carrot shaped pen in her paws as she said "Here's the pen."
Nick grinned. However before he could grab it, Judy tossed it over the fence and it landed in the snow on the other side of the wired fence. Nick frowned and said "First off, you throw like a bunny, and second, you're a very sore loser." He began climbing the fence as he added "See you later Officer Fluff, so sad this is over. I wish I could've helped more."
When he landed on the other side of the fence, he was shocked to find Judy had already beaten him to it by digging under the snow and under the fence. "The thing is," she told the fox "You don't need a warrant if you have probable cause and I'm pretty sure I saw a shifty low life climbing the fence. So you're helping plenty! Come on."
Judy walked off with a smile while Nick frowned angrily. He turned to Ella and she giggled saying "I think she hustled you again. That makes it twice in one day!"
"Don't remind me." Nick growled angrily between his teeth "Just stay here and don't move."
Ella watched the fox fallow the rabbit as they looked for the limo that matched the plate Mr. Otterton was in. She sighed as she turned to sit on her scooter... and bumped into someone, causing her to fall backwards in the snow. She looked up and was shocked to find two polar bears wearing fancy suits looming over her with angry looks on their faces.
"Uh... would you believe I got lost looking for... an ice cream parlor?" Ella asked, trying to come up with a good story for why she was here. However the polar bears were not fooled and one of them grabbed Ella, dragging her into the back of a car and locking her inside. Ella tried to find a way to escape but her fingers couldn't get a good grip on the car lock, probably because of how numb her fingers were because of the snow.
Not long after the bears returned from the limo parking lot, now with Judy and Nick in their grasp and the next thing they knew they were sandwiched into the car with Nick and Judy sitting on Ella's lap and they were being taken to somewhere while Judy whispered to Ella "Are you okay Ella?"
"Fine, but where are we going?" Ella asked
"Back to my worst nightmare." Nick said "We're being taken to Mr. Big's place."
"Mr. Big is apparently the most feared crime boss in Tundratown and he doesn't like Nick." Judy whispered to Ella before returning to Nick saying "What did you do to make Mr. Big so mad at you?"
"I uh, I may have sold him a very expensive wool rug," Nick explained "That was made from the fur of a skunk's... butt."
"Really? How did you make one?" Ella asked
"Don't ask." Nick replied "Trust me kid, you do not want to know."
Uneasily Ella kept quiet as the polar bears took them into a compound and led them inside a fancy, creepy room that looked like something you'd see in a Gangster/Godfather movie. At first both Judy and Ella thought Mr. Big was a polar bear as three entered the room but when the biggest one revealed a little shrew, Judy and Ella were surprised to see that the crime boss was a small rodent.
Nick began to speak but Mr. Big silenced him by showing the fox his rings, which the fox kissed uneasily before he tried to explain that he didn't mean to intrude but the shrew didn't want to hear it. He noticed Ella and asked "Who is this?"
"Our friend Ella, who is helping us find Mr. Otterton." Judy explained before Nick had the chance to cover it up.
Mr. Big looked at Ella and said "Take the human away, I want this talk with me and my old friend Nicky private."
One of the polar bears grabbed Ella once more and led her out of the room. Nick was worried that Mr. Big was going to do something horrible to her but he was also scared for his life because he could already tell Mr. Big had a nasty plan for him. His fears were confirmed when the shrew ordered the pair to be iced. Before their fate was sealed Mr. Big's daughter Fru Fru entered and stopped him when she told him that Judy was the one who save her from being crushed by a giant doughnut prop.
Shortly after that was cleared up, Nick and Judy were led into another room, one that had Fru Fru's wedding taking place and among them was Ella, who was playfully playing with the guests by dancing with them with her hands. Nick felt a little better Ella turned out to be alright and he was even more relieved that he had been spared from being iced.
Later Nick, Ella and Judy had some wedding cake with Mr. Big, even if the cake was a tad too tiny to chew like a regular cake, more like lick and suck on like a gumdrop.
"Otterton is my florist." Mr. Big explained "He's like part of the family. He had something important he wanted to discuss. That's why I sent that car to pick him up. But he never arrived."
"Because he was attacked." Judy said
"No, he attacked." Mr. Big corrected.
"Otterton?" Judy asked
"Otterton," Mr. Big said "He went crazy, ripped up the car, scared my driver half to death and disappeared into the night."
"Maybe he had a bad day or something." Ella said "Maybe he had fleas."
"Fleas do not cause you to attack innocent animals and leave them traumatized." Mr. Big said "Nor do they cause you to lose your mind and vanish into the night."
"But he's a sweet little otter!" Judy exclaimed.
"My child, we may be evolved but deep down, we're still animals." the miniature crime boss said "You want to find Otterton, talk to the driver of the car. His name is Manchas, he lives in the Rainforest District. Only he can tell you more."
They bid the crime boss farewell and the polar bears took them back to the lot, leaving them in the snow before taking off, almost as if they had never been taken in the first place with only the tracks of the bears' car as proof of their time with Mr. Big.
"So... guess we can rule out sleep." Nick said "Because something tells me we're going to be in for a long night."
Ella began to yawn and said "But i'm getting sleepy."
"Don't worry kid, a couple of soda pop sugar in your system and you'll be as light as rain." Nick said before she turned to Judy and said "So Carrots, think we can make a quick stop at a soda vending machine or a convenient store for some refreshers before we head into the rainforest?"
"Sure, but no long distractions like back in the DMV." Judy said with a frown at Nick "I mean it."
"Promise, and this time I mean it." Nick said "I'm parched."
So after a quick trip to a store to buy snakes and drinks, Ella, Nick and Judy headed off, leaving the frosty world of Tundratown behind and heading for the lush and rainy Rainforest District, unaware of the nasty surprise that will await them when they spoke to Manchas about Otterton.
