Chapter 11: Got to Love Foxes

"Time travel, man! Why ya' gotta be so complicated!?" - Mabel Pines, Gravity Falls, Blendin's Game.

Each Judy wakes up being watched by foxes.

1925

Rubin Warren awoke to the scent of something more pleasant than the smoke and roasting vegetables which were tickling his nose, he froze when the buck realized that his paw was on the doe's hip and that she was pushed back against him for warmth. Sometime during the night, he had lain down next to her and covered them both with the tattered blanket, now they were spooning together for warmth in the cool morning dawn. She felt so soft, so feminine, and his nose twitched again as he smelled the fur along her neck. He tried not to groan as her tail slightly wiggled as it pressed against the wrong part of his body.

"Well lookie, old Romeo has woken up from his sweet lil old dreams!" a red fox sarcastically whispered to the other fox next to him as they sat by the flickering fire.

Zachariah Grey nudged his brother Ezekiel as he chuckled, "And all this time his poppa was up and worried that he just didn't like the girls." His laughter tapered off when he realized that their friend's brown eyes weren't the only ones looking at them, but there were two amethyst eyes also wide open and staring.

"I still have half a canister of the Fox Off," the doe quietly said as she looked up at the red fox with a thin smile. Both foxes burst out in laughter at her words.

"I reckon you should save shooten him until after we eat," Ezekiel chuckled while he turned over the stick full of carrots that he was roasting over the fire. His claw also flicked a couple of turnips, rotating them slightly in the hot ash. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes, so if you two are done a'snuggling under that thar blanket, ya might want ta clean up."

Rubin began to sit up, but Judy pulled his arm back down over her. "It's cold out there and I am warm, stay put rabbit."

"Yes ma'am," the buck happily sighed.

"Rabbits!" Zachariah laughed as he stood up and stretched before he rambled off towards the trees.

"Miss Judy…as comfortable as this is…it's still not appropriate for us to be like this," Rubin whispered, but did not try to pull his paw free.

"Sweetheart, I'm almost a hundred years older than you, so I'll tell you what is appropriate or not," Judy whispered. She smiled as she felt his paw relax back onto her hip.

The fox at the fire looked up at her and snickered. Before he could say something, his ears shot up as Zachariah ran back to the truck. "Coppers are a'headin this way!" the fox snapped. "They're a looking for the rabbit doe with a gun."

Rubin sat up and looked around, he saw two uniformed rams walking towards them. "Where's the gun?" he asked in a panicked whisper. "We can't get caught with two foxes and a gun!"

Ezekiel looked up and gave a small smirk, "Ah already hit it in the woods, did so last night." He ripped off a section of the nearby blanket and wadded it up. "Miss Judy go and stuff this up unner yur dress, congratulations ya is now wid babies. Put some ash on yur face too, ya gotta look like a downhome country girl."

Judy nodded as she turned around and shoved the blanket to make a budge in front of her stomach and then leaned back against the cold truck as she pulled the other blanket over her. "Mark her!" Ezekiel hissed over to Rubin. "Do it now!"

Judy felt the buck's chin against hers and smelled the male musk on her fur, his mark claiming her as a mate. "Sorry," he whispered.

"You two foxes, up against the truck!" an authoritative voice yelled. Ezekiel and Zachariah both looked over at Rubin, who pulled on his tie before he slipped his suit jacket over his shoulders as he stood up.

"These boys work for me!" he said in a brisk no-nonsense manner as he turned to face the two much larger police officers. "They've been here all night, so I know they haven't done anything wrong officers."

One of the rams frowned over at the black and white furred rabbit who was facing them with his arms crossed. "We're looking for a grey rabbit doe," he began to explain and then he notice Judy. "Just like you, stand up girl!"

"Officer, that is my wife and she is very pregnant," Rubin said in a now agitated manner as his right foot paw tapped the gravel, the universally known signal that a rabbit was now getting angry. "I can't have her hopping up and down, she's due to give birth to our first litter and we need to get home." The ram looked as if he was going to argue, until the buck added, "That is unless one of you two want to help me deliver some babies?"

The ram put his paw up and back away, "Never mind sir, she obviously isn't the doe we are looking for."

"Well, I hope you gentlemammals find who you are looking for," Rubin said as he turned his back to the two officers while he knelt and tenderly took Judy's paw. "Now you just rest darling," he added as he spoke to her. She wanted to bust out laughing because he gave her a wink.

The two officers did not even look back as they continued their search of the other makeshift camps nearby.

"That thar was close," Zachariah grunted as he sat back down by the fire and carefully removed the turnips from the ash. "I do reckon that breakfast is now a ready!"

"I don't even want to know where you two got these veggies," the buck sighed as he pulled out his handkerchief and carefully removed a roasted carrot from the stick to hand to Judy.

"Ya know you can't trust a fox!" Ezekiel snickered as he wiped off the turnips with the edge of his now torn blanket and pulled out a pocket knife. "Too bad we ain't got no salt."

"Or a nice plump trout," his brother added with a smile.

"Foxes!" Rubin mockingly huffed out as he rolled his eyes towards the sky and his overdramatic comments were awarded by Judy's giggle.

"So after breakfast, we're a gonna go find that Nick feller," Ezekiel mumbled through a mouthful of turnips. "That way ya kin do what ya came ta do and then come home wid us."

"I can't keep you here, what about returning home to your father?" Judy sighed as she looked at the handsome buck next to her. "Won't he worry?"

"Thars a Western Union office down yonder," Zachariah answered. "We kin send a tellygram ta let him know ya met a gal and ain't comin home just yet. He'd dance a jig a fur sure!"

"I could send you two back with the truck," Rubin said as he looked over at the two foxes. "That would make the most sense."

"Cept we've been buddies since we were all knee high to a grasshopper," Ezekiel said as he looked up at the buck and then the doe. "You ain't a goin nowhere wid out us a watching yer back."

"Foxes!" Rubin muttered again.

"Yeah foxes," Judy repeated. "You've got to love them."

Judy's eyes opened and she saw several brown, yellow, and green eyes looking back. "You sure those two aren't lovers?" one of the tods asked in an amused tone. "They sure do look mighty cozy together."

"Philistines!" she heard Honest John called out from behind one of the dressing screens. "Leave the two of them alone."

"At least old Nick didn't wake up with another tod in his arms!" one of the grey fox's snickered out towards the fox behind the screen. "Unlike someone we know!"

"He ain't the only one round here that's that way, boy!" an older grey muzzled silver fox chuckled. "Leave well enough alone. Now little miss, as pleasant your company is this morning, would you mind leaving so we can get dressed for breakfast?"

Judy slipped out of the bed and realized that she was only in her shift, the old silver fox tossed her a blanket so she could cover herself. Wrapping the blanket around herself, she turned back to Nick and put a paw upon his swollen cheek. "How are you feeling this morning?" she asked with concern.

"I think every strand of my fur has been bruised," he grunted a soft reply through busted lips. "But I think I'll live another day."

"We'll see he gets up and about," Honest John interjected. "We've all seen worse, he will be fine once he stands up and starts moving around." The tall handsome fox was already dressed in his tuxedo pants and a spotlessly white dress shirt with the collar open.

Judy looked over at the fox and gave him a nod, "Alright, I'll leave him in your capable paws while I get dressed." Without another word, the doe slipped out of the room.

"Just friends, my tail!" another fox huffed out to Nick. "That doe loves you Sport and last night, you proved that you love her too."

"We're just friends," Nick repeated as he grunted in pain while slowing pulling on his pants. "Best friends, but she needs to find herself a nice buck and settle down."

"Sure," Honest John sighed in disappointment. "Keep telling yourself that Nick. I saw Josephine slipping out of here last night and even I wouldn't turn a vixen like that down."

"I told you we are just friends," the fox huffed back. Nick wasn't looking at the other fox, but at the door through which Judy had just disappeared. "We..are…just friends," he said again, but in a manner which was more like a question.

"Hey, Nick some of the guys felt bad about what happened last night and that you're going to have to leave," Honest John changed the subject. "We took up a little collection to help you get through the rough times until you can get another job somewhere, it's not much but we hope it will help." The fox handed him a pawful of coins and small bills.

Across the hallway, several vixens giggled as Judy returned back to the rom. "We'll how was old Nicki last night?" one of them called out and she looked over at a slim grey fox, who was a dancer. "You gotta admit he is one handsome fox."

"He was in pain and I went to help him relax," Judy answered, but she realized how that sounded and her ears blushed. "You know what I mean?"

"Sure, baby…sure!" the vixen giggled as she pulled on her dress.

"Breakfast in half an hour!" Mabel called out as the kit fox entered the room. "Amos got his paws on some fresh eggs for the porridge. Judy, I saved a bowl of the collard greens from last night. I'm not sure what rabbits eat for breakfast, but I figured it wasn't eggs."

"The greens will be just fine," Judy replied with a smile as she pulled on the dress again. "Nick and I will be leaving right after breakfast. Does anyone know how to get to Happy Town from here?"

"Shoot honey, most of us live or work in Happy Town," another vixen called out. "It's the happening place to be! That's where all the clubs are and tons of dough. You can catch the Dog Car down at the western end of the grounds and it'll run you over there for a nickel each. That's a lot cheaper than a bus and besides, depending who is behind the wheel of the bus, they might not let Nick aboard."

"What's the Dog Car?" Judy asked, hesitating as she pulled her cap back over her ears.

"Darling, that's the nickname for the tram that runs from the city to Happy Town," the vixen laughed. "It's mostly used by us preds, since only a few hoity-toity prey folks will ride it, even when they come down to the clubs to watch us sing and dance...and sometimes do other things if they pay enough." Several of the other girls laughed along with her.

The rabbit still looked confused, "What's a dog?"

"Oh honey, don't you know anything?" Mabel sighed. "DOG means Damned Old Growlers, it's a word they call us foxes sometimes, along with the coyotes and the wolves."

"Hey Judy!" someone called out and she turned to face Josephine, the vixen looked very pretty as usual. "Look all us gals think you and Nick are the bee's knees and even though we don't know why the coppers are after you… like if any of us have never been arrested before!" she snickered out and the other vixens who had gathered around her laughed. "We saved up some of our tips from last night and we wanted you two to have them, it isn't much just a few bucks." The vixen shoved a wad of cash into her paw. "Come on girls and let's eat before those tods hog up everything again!"

Judy watched as the vixens streamed out of the room, leaving her alone. "Yeah foxes," Judy sighed to herself. "You've got to love them."

Streetcars and trolleys were a common mode of transportation inside most large cities during the 1920's. Interurban trams were similar, but connected nearby communities to the cities at a time when roadways were still unpaved and poorly maintained. Most ran using overhead electrical wires over tracks of varying degrees of safety.