Chapter 25: Railroad to Happiness

(Part 1: A Raccoon's Love)

Author's Notes:

A train ride leads to a problem which might derail the raccoon's marriage plans. A history lesson and a friend await Jake in Marie's hometown.

A few weeks later, two raccoons, a rabbit and a fox boarded the train south from Zootopia to the Lake Country. It was an overnight ride, leaving an hour before sunset and arriving in the early afternoon of the next day. Since Judy and Nick were traveling as official representatives of the ZPD, they wore their uniforms. Nick was proud of his wife's new sergeant strips and had started to call her "Sergeant Carrots", until Jake reminded him that was the name of a video game character. The ever so frugal ZPD had reserved both officers coach seats for them to sit and sleep in. Jake, being not so frugal, had reserved a two neighboring cabins. He did not want his friends to be inconvenienced by the overnight ride.

Marie giggled when Jake realized that the both cabins had bunk beds and reminded him that this would work out better, because they were supposed to abstain from sex ten days before the ceremony. She had even moved into the second bedroom at their suite and started wearing pajamas. After two days of sleeping alone, she discovered sometime during the third night, that Jake had slipped into her bedroom and slept at the bottom of the bed. When she confronted him about it the next morning, he just yawned and after giving her her a silly grin, complained that he was lonely. That night she moved back into their bedroom, although she insisted on wearing her pajamas. By the fourth night she abandoned her pajama tops, so she could feel his fur against hers. She was relieved that he never pressured her to remove her bottoms, although she could tell a certain part of his body wanted her to do so.

Jake insisted that they eat their dinner aboard the train, reminding them it was included in their fare, and the dining car was rather nice.. They sat in the upper section, which was for small and medium sized mammals. The views from the windows were spectacular, with the sun setting into the mountains to the west. After dinner, they went to the observation car and drank coffee, while nibbling on the desert fruit tray that Jake had ordered and talked late into the night. Nick was pleasantly surprised early in the evening when a young fox tod came up and told him that he wanted to be a policemammal when he grew up. He rewarded the young admirer with a Junior ZPD police badge sticker. As they retired to their bedrooms, Nick was thrilled that both he and Judy could fit together in the lower berth. They both quietly snuggled together and giggled as they listened to Jake in the room next door complaining about having to sleep alone on the upper berth. Marie hushed him by reminding him they could share the lower bunk on the ride home.

Around sunup the next morning, the cabin attendant arrived with fresh coffee from the dining car and slowly everyone began to clean up for the new day. The shower and bathroom faculties were down the hallway, so it took some time for everyone to bath and groom. Finally, the two couples made their way back to the dining car for breakfast. As they ate, Marie pointed out some of the sights along their route. She reminded them that the Lake Country was a much older than most of the small towns which became encompassed into modern Zootopia. When Jake asked why it was called the Lake Country, she told them the legend was that there was once a great kingdom that stretched throughout the land and was a shining example for all Mammal Kind. It was ruled by a great noble king, who brought justice to the kingdom. But within a few generations after his death, the kingdom had become corrupted and arrogant. They warred on their neighbors and fell into depravity, even enslaving and eating their own people. Finally the ancient gods had enough and sent the rains to punish the kingdom, drowning much of the land and leaving the area dotted with ponds and lakes.

The train station in Warrenton was a more modern structure then the much older buildings in the village. Like Bunnyburrow, a large section of the village was given over to agricultural purposes with storage buildings and gain silos. Across the river, on a hill overlooking the village were the ruins of an ancient castle. "We call it Caer Cwningen and it was the scene of several great battles, with the last being during the Great Rebellion. That revolt failed to reestablish the bear who some claimed was the last true king," said Marie.

Nick was staring at a huge bronze statue of a black bear in ancient armor and Judy read to him the plaque on the base, "Artorius Pen Draig of the House of Arth."

"He is also called Arthur the Dragon and was the warlord of the twelve houses," spoke an elderly but firm voice from behind them.

All four turned and looked up at a tall elderly red deer, who was impeccably dressed in a three piece brown tweed suit with a green tie. He was leaning on a cane and smiled at them as he asked, "So, these must be my two new charges, Sergeant Hopps-Wilde and Detective Wilde?"

Both Judy and Nick saluted the hart, who smiled and commented, "We will not have any more of that my friends, I am retired from the force and serving only as a consultant." Bowing to the police officers, he continued, "Robert Oakley at your service."

Judy looked him in awe as she said, "You were the department's last Detective Inspector before you retired and you're somewhat a legend."

"A legend who was forced into retirement perhaps," chucked the Inspector. "Now Mr. Runnel, where are your manners? You have not introduced me to your charming companion."

"Not that you don't already know me Mr. Oakley," Marie giggled as she stepped forward to hug the tall hart. He leaned over to take her in his arms.

"Welcome home my dear and thank you for your invitation to your Mating Ceremony," he replied. "It gave me an excuse to return to the Great Oak Woods to visit my family again, I have been too long absent."

Jake stepped forward and shook his paw, "I'm glad that you could join us Inspector and that you were able to convince Bogo to train these two for the next few days in the Lake Country."

The Robert Oakley looked at the raccoon and laughed, "Chief Adrian Bogo and I have a long professional relationship and it did not take too much convincing. As for the training schedule, we are going to work that around more important business, such as your ceremony."

Judy looked at him perplex and asked, "So we aren't really training?"

The Inspector sighed and replied, "Of course we are sergeant and your first lesson is learning patience. Now if you and Marie will take a couple of hours to look around the village and perhaps visit some of her other friends, I have need of Mr. Runnel and Detective Wilde. Gentlemammals, if you would please join me over at that picnic table we have some work to do."

As they sat down at the table, the inspector reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black notebook. Looking at Jake he sighed and spoke, "Mr. Runnel, your family is from the Northeast near Beaverdale. Your father and his only brother are both deceased. Therefore, you are the last male of your direct line and this is going to pose a problem with the ceremony."

He held is paw up before Jake could ask why and continued, "Tradition in these parts hold that the groom must be presented the oldest member of his family and your direct male family line ends with you. Therefore, we must find an alternative if the ceremony is allowed to continue."

"What kind of alternative?" Nick asked.

"Good question sir," continued the hart. "First Mr. Runnel, your friends with the House of Big, have you ever sworn loyalty to him officially? Perhaps kissed his ring?"

Jake looked alarmed, "No and he has never asked me to do so."

"Excellent," smiled the Inspector as he returned to reading from his notebook. "Detective Wilde you are the last male of your family line, correct?"

"My father is dead and as far as I know he had no brothers. My grandparents are also all deceased, it's just me, my mother and of course Judy," answered the fox.

"So as the sole male survivor of your branch of the House of Wilde, you are the head of that family," the hart continued. "As the head of your family, you can bond Mr. Runnel, his household, and his heirs to your House, abet as a junior Sept. You will serve as the head of his household during the ceremony."

Jake looked at Nick and shrugged.

Nick smiled at him and said, "Okay Junior, who's your daddy now? Carrots and I always wanted kits."

The Inspector held a hoof to his snout, "It does not work that way…of course, the Nick Wilde sense of humor that Adrian warned me about. Now let us go the magistrate and make this legal."

After the legal document was drawn up by the village's magistrate, an elderly grey rabbit who insisted on wearing his formal black judicial robes as he had Jake and Nick sign three copies of the formal Bond of Mammalrent between the House of Runnel and the House of Wilde. He then stamped both with a great big wax seal. Giving two copies of the bond to the Inspector and the other he filed in the village records. Finally satisfied he hopped off the bench and gave Jake a huge hug and congratulated him on his upcoming Mating Ceremony to "sweet little Marie."

As they were waiting in the village pub for Marie and Judy to return, Nick turned to the Inspector and asked him a question which was perplexing him since he arrived, "Inspector, this village is named Warrenton, so I thought it would be overrun with rabbits but the magistrate is one of the few rabbits I've see so far."

The elderly hart sipped his ale and smiled, "After the Great Rebellion, the local Houses were outlawed and their land was seized from them by the law. These lands were resold, mostly to sheep lords from outside of the region who wanted the land only to grow additional gazing crops and so they forced out most of the mammals that lived here. This was called the Great Clearances, because families were driven away and their homes burned. We still have songs and pipe tunes about those times. Finally the land played out and when the wool market financially collapsed, the land was abandoned. By then they were only a few native families, such as mine who are the Wardens of the Great Oak Forest, who remained. Later the abandoned land was resold by the government and resettled, that's when Marie's family obtained their farm. They've been farming their land for only a little over two hundred years.

Jake leaned back and replied, "I guess that would explain why so few of the mammals in the village have a bough in their voice. I have a friend, a wildcat named Meredith, who has a very pronounced accent. She says she is from the lands near Warrenton."

The Inspector laughed, "The wildcats are from the coast further south of Warrenton, its more inhospitable country. They were one of the few families who were never subdued by the government. There's an old saying in these parts that goes, 'Touch not the cat, but with a glove!"

After Marie and Judy joined them in the pub, the Inspector announced that the two police officers and the groom were going to stay at his family's home. Marie was picked up by her brother John in his old beat up pickup truck and the remainder of the party was driven by the hart to his family's ancestral home deep in the mysterious Great Oak Forest.

Chapter Notes:

My apologies to my Scottish, Irish and Welsh ancestors and readers for the abuse of their language. Clans Macpherson, MacBean , Mackintosh , MacGillivray of the famous Chattan Confederation, also called the Clan of the Cats, all have a wildcat on their crest and use some type of motto similar to "Touch not the cat but a glove". The Great Rebellion and the Clearances were all historical tragedies.