(AN: Hello Fellow readers. SirRedFox here posting a new installment of "The Good, The Bad, and The Wilde." First off, if you're reading this, YOU'RE AWESOME! And, thank you.
Secondly, my writing is not that good. Lets face facts it's actually pretty bad. If I was working on a real book, I'd be more efficient with my writing. But I have been speed writing to get this story done and finished. I'm going to try to put out as many chapters as I can as fast as I can.
In the Previous Installments: The Hopps family treat a wounded Nick. After a little digging, Judy comes to find out that Nick is a wanted criminal, with a high enough bounty to save the Hopps Ranch. Judy has decided to bring in this criminal to Zootopia and collect the bounty.
So enjoy this new chapter of "The Good, The Bad, and The Wilde." And please, fill free to leave a review or comment. Thank you.
- Sir_RedFox)
.
The Road to Zootopia:
"Courage is being scared to death
and saddling up anyway"
- John Wayne, 1960
.
Nick felt humiliated, standing there, obediently while Judy pointed her rifle at him, all while her teen siblings tied his hands together in front of him. An elderly rabbit, who Nick can only think of as the mother of this family, pointed a single-barrel shotgun at him. When the kits finished tying his hands together, Judy stepped in close to examine the knots and make sure they were tight. She pulled and tucked at the restraints, all seemed well done.
One of the kits brought out Luna and Argo, held them by the reins. Both horses had their saddles on and camping supplies hitched to the back. Most the supplies they put on Luna, not to trust Nick in the slightest with their food and water.
Next the kits brought out, both of Nick's gun belts that held his Army Colt and Peacemaker. They were able to wrap the Peacemaker around Judy's waist, but had trouble trying to put on the special designed gun belt with her dress. They started to flex the leather in different ways.
"That's not how you put it on," said Nick. "You are going to damage the leather if you continue to try putting it on like that. Here let me wear it." Nick only took a step when Judy raised the rifle to his eye level making him stop in his tracks. "Just hear me out. Take the gun and the bullets but let me wear the belt. Specially designed to put on in a certain way. I'll tell you again, keep the gun and bullets, you won you caught me, but let me wear the gun belt. It has certain sentimental value."
They all motion to Judy to give and make a decision. Judy gave a nod with her head and the kits knew exactly what to do. They upholstered the Army Colt and took out all the bullets the belt held and placed them all into Luna's saddle bag. They tossed the gun belt to Nick, who was able to catch the holster, even with his hands tied together. Though he found himself stuck at a new problem, with his hands tied he had difficultly to put on the belt. Took him a few minutes, but he was able to finally put the holster on. The last strap went around his thigh right above the knee.
"You see," Nick proclaimed. "The second strap goes around the thigh. Something you can't do while wearing a dress. Designed different."
"Everything is ready, Judy" one of the little kits said.
"Okay then, lets move out" she said. Directed Nick with the barrel of the rifle. She motioned him to climb onto Argo.
"Wait!" Judy said before Nick hopped onto to Argo. She stepped forward and motioned him to step back. She reached up to Argo's saddle and grabs a hold on to the Damascus knife tied to the saddle.
"I swear, I forgot it was there," Nick said, holden his hands out pleaded with the rabbit. Now with the knife removed, Judy motions for Nick to mount on Argo. Nick oblige and climbed up onto Argo's Saddle. Taking a lead of the rope tied to Nick's hands and tied off to the horn on the Saddle. This made Nick not able to raise his arms any higher than his chest. She took the rest of the lead of rope and tied to the back of Luna's saddle.
Everything seems to be in place. Judy lowered the Henry rifle and slung the rifle over her back. With one hop, she jumps onto Luna's saddle. She positioned her self and got comfortable on to the saddle. High on Luna's saddle, Judy stares down at her bunny kin and mother. She still had the single-barrel scatter gun pointed at Nick.
"I'll return as soon as I can, I promise," she said. She wanted to reassure her mother everything was going to be fine.
Bonnie finally lowered the shotgun and step over to Judy. Bonnie put her hand on her daughter's knee. "Please, please come back safe and unharmed" she pleaded with her daughter. Judy nodded yes and hid her tears. She didn't want to seem weak in front of Nick.
"Are you ready," she said.
"You mean am I ready for the trip where I end up swinging from the gallows? I'm thrilled." Nick said.
Judy gave a slight kick to Luna, and they were off. The rope tied between Luna and Argo's saddle tightened. Nudged Argo forward and soon Argo followed suit behind Luna. They were near the storage shed.
When they passed the storage shed, Nick saw a shovel leaning up against the shed. Reminding him of the promise he made to Walker, a promise he attended to keep. He pulled on Argo's reins trying to stop Judy. They came to a halt.
"Woah, there. Before we go any further, we are going to need something" said Nick.
"What would that be?"
"That shovel there. We need it."
"Why so you can attack me with it later?"
"To keep a promise to a departed friend."
"Yeah right. Let's go, we're burning daylight." Judy moved Luna forward. Nick grabs the rope and pulls as hard as he can, making her stop.
"Look, you might not think of me as a righteous mammal, but before I'm sent to swing at the gallows by my neck I'm going to do one righteous thing that I promised to do." Nick gives a stern stare. Judy stares blankly back not sure what to believe. "Only a small detour to Zootopia. Judy, still stared at him, gives out a loud sigh. She hops down and retrieves the shovel that leaned against the shed. She hitches the shovel to the back of Luna's saddle. "Thank you Carrots."
"Names Judy, Judy Hopps. Be wise of you to remember that."
"Of course, Mrs. Hopps. I'll try to remember next time."
They set off again to Zootopia. Judy and Luna in the lead, and Nick and Argo trudged behind them. An hour passed, and the blazing heat was doing damage on the fox and rabbit. Judy wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve. Nick used his hat as a way to fan the heat away. The two of them had been quite for the trip so far.
"You know it's pretty bold of you to take me to Zootopia all by your lonesome self" Nick said.
"Who said I was by myself?" Isn't that right Luna?" said Judy in a childish tone and patted Luna on the side. Luna gave a reassured horse whine. Nick gave a smile. Something he can relate to. Whatever trouble he'd find himself in, he had Argo there close by. He leaned down to pat Argo on the side.
"Still, the road to Zootopia can be a dangerous place for a cute little bunny."
Judy pulled on Luna's reins bring her to a halt. She took the rifle off her back. "Come here." she said. Nick rode up beside her. Judy rammed the butt of the rifle upward into Nick's snout. The blow caught him off guard, almost fell off Argo and knocked his hat off. "Don't call me cute," She said. Slinged the rifle across her back, and she motioned Luna forward.
Nick held his snout up, afraid he might be bleeding. "Messaged received Carrots." Nick checked his hand for blood, but there was none.
They rode in silence the rest of the day. Neither spoke to each other till they ran into a fork in the trail. "woah, woah woah woah." Nick said, he pulled hard on Argo's reins to make him stop. Luna halted as well. Judy turns around to tell him off.
"What is it now?"
"The sun is dropping in the horizon and getting dark. This trail leads to a stream with land to bed. We should head that way and camp for the night."
Judy knew what stream he referred to. Was a stream her father had taken her too once. But the trail goes more off the beaten path to Zootopia. She did not have the time to rest. She needed to make the trip to Zootopia as fast as possible.
"We stick to this route," Judy said. She pulled on the rope that connect them together to have Argo start moving. Nick held back on Argo's reins.
"We need to stop for the night"
"No, what we need is to have you in Zootopia as fast as possible. Since we're not taking the main road, it's going to be harder to travel there."
"I agree, which is why I think we should take precaution and set up camp for the night." Nick said in a struggle to hold Argo back. Looked like Nick and Judy that were in a game of tug-a-war. Nick yielded to talk sense into the dumb bunny. "What if I said I could make it worth your while."
Judy stopped pulling. "How?"
"Well first off, remember that righteous thing I told you about? Well, off in that direction, that rocky ridge in the distance. Here." Nick reached into his satchel. Judy with quick speed, spun the Henry around, cocked back the hammer, and pointed the barrel at Nick. "Easy, Carrots. Nothin' to be afraid of." Nick pulled his hands out slowly. In his hands was a spyglass and which he tosses to Judy. "Take a look for yourself."
Judy humored him and looked into the eyepiece. She looked towards the North where he had pointed. She could just make out the rocky ridge in the distance. "I see it, so what?"
Nick gave a sly smile, "What if I was to tell you there's a small fortunate below those ridges."
"I'd call you a liar"
"Ain't no lie. You heard what happened to the 3:10 to Zootopia don't you? Was robbed by a couple of well crafty train robbers. They got away with more than five hundred thousand in gold coins and papers. And twelve-thousand of the money is hidden along that ridge line. I'll tell you what, let me lead you to money and you take the whole twelve-thousand in exchange for my freedom. What was my worth again? Eight hundred? That's an extra four hundred you'll have for you. And you get to go back to your family and I can go my separate way. Sound good?"
Judy takes a second to thing about it. "You're lying to me. We head on."
"Okay," Nick said. "Shame, twelve-thousand dollars is just sitting there. Hopefully someone will come along and find the stash. I bet if you brought the money back to Zootopia, it will be sent back to all the mammals that were robbed."
Judy's ears perked up. Nick could tell he got her attention. "How far" she said.
Nick smiled. "If we leave before dawn and hurry at a fast pace, We can probably arrive there before high noon."
Judy took in a breath. "Then let's go then."
Luna and Argo faced north and where promoted to head forward up a faint path that would lead to the stream. By the time they got there the day's light was almost gone. Judy slides off Luna and lead her and Argo to a thin leafless tree near the stream. Luna and Argo already had their mouths into the cool stream to drink, even before Judy tied their reins to the tree. The stream was not massive by any means, and was very shallow. The water ran smoothly over a bed of rocks. Would be easy to cross, come morning.
On their side of the stream were a few boulders and enough dry twigs to build a fire. On the other side of the stream was heavy forestry they would have to burrow through. Judy unties the rope attached from his bond hands to the horn on the saddle. Now no longer bounded to Argo's saddle, Nick slowly slid down Argo till his foot reached solid ground.
"Find a place to sit and don't move." Judy said.
"Whatever you say Carrots."
Nick pick'd a spot next to a boulder and sat down. He tilted his hat and covered his eyes as though he was asleep. Judy left him be and got started on collection wood for a fire. She would stop now and then and watch over at where Nick sat. Making sure he was not up to something sinister. He seemed at peace, asleep at the base of the boulder he leaned on. Judy gathered the fire wood and built up a nice size fire.
They sat in silence with each other. Judy held tight to the Henry rifle in her hands and stared into the fire. She looks up at the fox that pretended to be asleep.
"Why do you do it?" said Judy.
"What's that Carrots?" said Nick.
"Rob," said Judy. "Why do you rob mammals? Or stagecoach's, or trains and what not. Why do you do it?"
"Because I'm good at it. Why do you spend your days on some ranch? I take it because you are good at it. Am I right?"
"No," said Judy. "Not because of that. I mean I am good at ranching, but only because it's expected of me. In truth, been never something I wanted. But, as the oldest, I'm expected to oversee everything on the ranch is taken care and so are the little ones. But in truth, I've always felt my purpose was to something else entirely."
Nick tilts his hat up to look at Judy. "And what would that be."
"I don't know? Somethin' other than working the ranch fields day in and day out. My father's dream, not mine." Judy leans the Henry up against a boulder. "I always loved going with him to Zootopia. Zootopia always seemed like this magical place where any mammal can be whatever they wanted."
Nick laughed.
"Sure Carrots. Whatever you want to be. But the rabbit in the room across from the one you had me in, lay'n in bed all sick like. That was your father?"
"Yes."
"What happened to him?"
"He was on his way back home when he was robbed by a couple of no good bandits like yourself. He nearly died. Now he's confined to his bed."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that Carrots. And I'm sorry to be one to tell ya, he ain't getting any better."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about his wounds. There not getting any better."
"You lie." Judy stood up, furious with what Nick was telling her. "How would you know."
"Easy Carrots, my senses is twenty times better than yours and I could smell the rot in your daddy's wounds."
"You shut up. You lie."
"Sure carrots, whatever you say. But I know what I smelled."
Judy approached him, with anger and fury in her voice. "Shut up. You lie. You-"
Before Judy knew it, she was swept off her feet and landed on the ground, hard on her back. She moaned in agony. She notices Nick racing to get up. She put the two together, the damn fox had kicked her feet out from under her. Looked over at where he was looking, she could tell he had his sights set on the Henry rifle. He took a giant step over Judy. Before he could make another step, Judy reached out and grabbed his foot. Nick fell hard on his stomach. Judy clawed at Nick's clothes, tried to get up and ahead of Nick for the rifle.
"Oh, no you don't Carrots" Nick said.
Nick grabbed Judy by the waist and tossed her back. He struggled to get up on his feet. Once up, he ran for the Henry rifle and grabbed it from it's rest spot. He held the rifle in his hands gave himself a big smile on his face.
"Now Carrots, here's what's going to happen." Nick turns around only to be met by Judy, who swung a large sturdy piece of lumber, which broke into two once collided with his face. Nick could swear spots and stars dance around his eyes. He took one tiny step before he collapsed on the ground unconscious. Judy clamped on the ground as well. Her breaths were rapid and heavy. She needed to calm herself down. She looks at Nick and then at the Henry rifle in his hands. That was too close of a call.
When Nick woke up, his whole forehead felt bruised and swollen. He raised his hands to feel his wound, but his hands stopped midway. Opened up his eyes to see he is back on the ground with not only his hands but his feet now bound together as well, and a piece of rope tied between his hands and his feet. The only thing he was capable of doing was scoot around on his butt. Judy had the rifle in hand and paced back and forth in anger.
"That was stupid" she said. "I almost allowed you to get the better of me. I should have known you were lying to me. You, foxes, are all the same."
"Well what's that suppose to mean?"
"That you are ungrateful and manipulative." Judy raised her hand to the very faint scar on her left cheek. "I should have left you to die and be dragged behind your horse."
"Well, why did you save me then?"
"Because!" Judy had to stop to think about the question. "Because it was the right thing to do at the time." She sat down and crossed her arms in irritation. "My Pa always told me to use the two weapons I have, the heart and mind. So when I found you being dragged behind your horse, you were a mammal in need. Not some two-timing thieving fox." She said as she spat out the words in a harsh tongue.
"Well, you'll have to excuse me for not wanting be dragged back to Zootopia where I'll be hanged, or worse tortured before I'm killed."
"Why would they torture you?" She turns her attention back to Nick, curiosity in her eyes.
"So I can tell them wear the money is buried. Or at least a fraction of the money buried." Judy stares at him, with no clue as what to make of this. "I wasn't lying about the twelve grand I hid along the rock ridge. And the offer still stands, the twelve-thousand in exchange for my freedom."
"No," Judy said. "I believe you when you say you hid money, and we are going to go and receive the money, but we are going to bring the money back to the mammals of Zootopia. The right thing to do." Judy fell silent and went back to stare into the fire. Nick gave out a big sighed and shook his head. He tipped his hat to cover his eyes and to fall asleep.
"Whatever you say. See you in the morning Carrots," he said.
Judy watches all night as the fire burned down. She were the first to wake early before the break of dawn. Nick still slept. Better he not be awake. Now he can't bother her with that wise crack of a mouth of his. She rolled up the blankets and filled their canteens from the fast moving stream. Once everything was packed she decided the time to wake her prisoner up, walking over to where Nick slept. Loud snores came from his slumber. Judy stood over him and kicked his feet.
"Wake up" she said.
Nick mumbled and grumbled. He tipped his hat up to look at Judy. She untied the slipknot that tied his hands and feet together. Done with the rope she worked on the slipknot that bound his feet together. Nick mumbled under his breath and got up from the ground and got up on Argo's back. Just like before, Judy took the length of rope and tied Nick's hands to the horn on Argo's saddle, then tied the horn to the back of Luna's saddle. She slung the Henry rifle across her back and mounted Luna. By the time they were ready, dawn's morning light started to pierce the sky off on the horizon.
They ride to the rocky ridge was quiet. Neither of them said a word to each other. Nick did speak up to give the occasional directions to where he hid the twelve grand.
Judy kept having to just the rifle on her back. Would slide down or bump hard against Judy's back. One time the slipknot came loose on the barrel end of the rifle and almost fell off, luckily Judy was able catch the rifle in time. She retied the slipknot on to the barrel and swung the rifle back on her back. Nick kept notice of this and finally spoke up.
"Why do you do that?" he asked.
"Do what?"
"You have one of the most finest Henry rifles I have ever seen. Yet, you carry the rifle around on your back using a thin strap of hide."
"How else do you suggest I carry it?"
"You don't have a holster for the weapon? One you can hitch to your horse and have easy access to? Or, if you like carrying the rifle on your back, a custom-made rifle holster you can strap to your back."
"Well I don't have the luxury of crafting suck a holster. Maybe after I turn you in might be able to afford such luxury." Judy said with a little chuckle in her voice and smiled.
Nick fell back to being quiet. He gave the last of the directions, and they made it to the abandon rattlesnake den. They both slid off their horses. Judy slung the rifle around and held it in her hands.
"I'll go get it. Just wait right here," Nick walked out. Watched every step he took on the sharp edged rocks. A little difficult with his hands tied together, but he managed.
"Why'd you chose here to hide the money."
"Think about it Carrots. Who'd want to check a rattlesnake den, even abandoned. Found the money" Nick said. Judy moved in a little closer to see. Nick was busy, pushed rocks out of the way until he found what he was after.
The sack contained the twelve grand. Nick looked up at Judy who was having a difficult time walking her footing and hold the rifle. He Grabbed the sack and threw the sack up and at Judy who saw the sack flying towards her, lowered the rifle, so she could catch. Even though she held the rifle, Judy managed to catch the sack with both hands. It partially opened and allowed her to see the stacks of bills in the sack.
"Okay Carrots," Nick said. "This is where things are going to change in my favor."
Judy looked up. Nick stood there with a Short Stroke SASS revolver in his bound hands. He had it pointed right at Judy. He cocked the hammer back on the revolver. Judy was a little stunned to see the gun in his hands.
Where out of the blue did he get it from? Judy put two and two together in her head. He hid it. The sly fox hid the gun with the money for this exact purpose. In case he was ever caught, he had an escape plan. Judy couldn't help but feel so foolish as to let him lead her into such a trap. She started to wonder if maybe she could raise the rifle fast enough before he had a chance to fire.
"Listen Carrots. I pride on myself to the fact that I have never harmed any kit or woman, please don't make me break that streak."
Judy thought before fully lowered her rifle. He had gotten the drop on her, and now he was in charge.
.
(AN: Thank you for reading, and Thank you for reading this. Again, YOU'RE AWESOME! I hope you enjoyed this new installment.
In the next installment we get to see what The Lady & The Swed are up to.
As I said before, please leave a commit on how you'd rather have future chapters come out. Thank you!
- Sir_RedFox)