Mandy leaned over the booth, nibbling on her thumbnail, while worrying over her older sister's strange fascination with this fox from Zootopia. It had taken some time earlier to get through the long line of customers that Shaylee had left her with, so she hadn't been able to think about her older sister's insane infatuation with this Nick character. But she had a break now and she couldn't stop her mind from dwelling on this unsettling matter of her sister's feelings for a city fox she hardly knew.
How could she fall for a fox? A predator? It went against every instinct a rabbit had. It would be bad enough if she fell for any other predator—but a fox!? Those conniving, untrustworthy, disloyal animals. Judy was just setting herself up for further heartbreak because that fox will trample all over her emotions. Had Judy forgotten what Gideon had done to her when they were kits? How he laughed at her dream and told her how much of a dumb bunny she was just before clawing her in the face? Never mind how many other mammals repeatedly told Judy the same thing, foxes weren't to be trusted with one's heart . . . or much of anything else, for that matter.
Yes, she knew her dad had partnered with Gideon and he seemed to have turned his life around, but they hadn't been partnered for very long, and they certainly weren't bosom buddies or anything. They were business partners, nothing more.
Dropping her face in her paws and running her blunt claws through her short black and white fur, Mandy was tempted to pull some of it out while thinking of Judy. Even if Nick had helped her out on her case, how could her sister fall for him? How could Judy find a fox attractive? Especially a red fox who was so much taller and bigger than she was. Red foxes had such an odd fur color, what with it being orangey-red and all. And their ears were so large and triangular, not the tall slender ears of a rabbit. And a fox's long, bushy tail—aptly referred to as a broom—was not to be compared with the soft, petite tail of a rabbit.
"Oh, Judy, Judy, Judy, what have you done?" Mandy moaned into her paws.
"Um, Mandy, can you get me 4 bushels of broccoli and 6 cabbages?" a black Hebridean sheep said, with his four horns—2 growing up from the top of his head and 2 more growing down towards his chin. His name was Mason, and his great-grandparents had immigrated here from Scotland.
"Oh, yes, sorry about that, Mason," Mandy said. Although Mason and his family were nice enough, she felt a little unsettled about Mason's four horns, as it wasn't something one normally saw on sheep. And it was even rumored that Mason's grandfather had six horns!
Taking a deep breath, Mandy brought her attention back to her job. Grabbing the veggies Mason had asked for, she filled the ram's reusable bags, then took his payment. Handing him his change, Mandy waved goodbye, then turned to the next customer. This was a young, tan and white rabbit mother with six little ones standing behind her holding paws so no one got lost or wandered off.
"Good afternoon, Cindy-Lou," Mandy said as the doe stepped up to the booth's counter.
"Hello, Mandy," Cindy-Lou replied. "How's life going for you?"
Mandy put on a smile and tried not to think about the startling revelation about Judy's feelings for her city fox. "Well, I'm doing great. Not much to complain about," she lied to her friend from high school. Mandy did not want it getting out that her older sister had gone against all her instincts and fallen for a predator, a shifty fox. The scandal would be the talk of the town if it got out that a Hopps' doe wanted to climb in bed with a fox.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Cindy-Lou answered back with a bright smile. Looking over the various fruits and vegetables, the young mother pointed out what she wanted and made sure she didn't forget the carrots.
Mandy was just finishing up wrapping the carrots when one of the young kits (a little, brown and cream doe named Molly) pointed to a basket of strawberries and said, "I want strawberries, Momma." This was quickly followed by a chorus of "Me, too," and "I want strawberries!" and ended with several large, cute pleading pairs of eyes as the kits begged, "Pwease! Can we, Momma?"
With a sigh and slight shake of her head, Cindy-Lou said, "Okay, okay, I'll get some strawberries."
"Yay!" the little kits cried as they threw their little paws up in the air, with a few jumping up and down.
Grinning at her young brood, Cindy-Lou turned back to Mandy and said, "I guess I'm getting some strawberries, too."
Mandy smiled back and added several baskets of strawberries, enough to keep the little buns happy. She and Cindy-Lou chatted a few more minutes, then Cindy-Lou decided it was time to get her little ones home.
Turning to her brood, Cindy-Lou said, "Okay, everyone, hold paws with your buddy partner." Watching as her kits grabbed someone's paw, she then asked, "Okay, does everyone have a paw? No one's been left out, right?"
"No, Mama," and "I got my paw," were sounded by the little buns as they held up their clasped paws to show everyone had a paw.
With a grin, Cindy-Lou said, "Okay, say goodbye to Mandy, and then back to the van." The little bunnies waved to the black and white doe manning the booth, thanked her for the strawberries, then piled back into their mother's mini-van. With a wave goodbye, Cindy-Lou followed her brood and climbed in behind the wheel, then headed for home.
Mandy watched them leave, then dropped her head back in her paws (there was no one else in line). "Why can't you find a nice buck and settle down like Cindy-Lou?" Mandy mumbled while thinking of her older sister and Judy's sudden fox-fetish. Scratching her blunt claws through her head fur, she still couldn't understand why her sister would choose a fox, of all predators, to fall for. If she had to fall for any predator, why couldn't it have been a playful little otter or something?
Shaking her head, Mandy, came back to the fact that a rabbit choosing a predator, any predator, went against their instincts, but one that anciently hunted and ate them—that kind of thinking would have gotten Judy thrown into the nuthouse fifty years ago. Most of the old timers might still want to throw her in a mental institution if they ever found out about Judy's taste in males.
Pulling out her phone, Mandy sent out several texts to her siblings stating they needed to have a meeting about Judy's state of mind, and that they needed to keep it hush-hush from mom and dad, as well as the rest of the town. Mandy immediately got several responses, a few asking what was up, while several others were simply '?'.
Replying back that some things had come up that were a bit alarming, Mandy then set a time for late that evening to meet. She didn't text all her siblings, as some of them were no longer living at the burrow, while there were quite a few others who would be even more against the idea of keeping Judy in the dark about the fox's presence in town than Shaylee was.
Once she responded to everyone she needed to, Mandy put her phone back in her pocket. Looking down the road, she saw a dusty, green farm truck driving down the paved road, but she knew right away it wouldn't stop at her family's booth. It belonged to the Woollsons, a family of Shropshire sheep who also had a roadside booth down the road several miles.
Watching the truck drive past and waving back at the black-faced ram behind the wheel, Mandy went back to nibbling on her blunt thumbnail. How could her sister want to climb in bed with a fox? Although Mandy knew Judy had just realized her feelings, and so probably wasn't thinking that far ahead in her attraction to the fox, it wouldn't be long before her thoughts moved to that point—especially if she actually met the fox while he was here in town.
Mandy figured the fox probably wouldn't even look at Judy in that light (Why would he? He was a fox and Judy was a rabbit!), but on the slim chance that he did—how could any doe accept having a predator's strong paws, sharp claws, and even sharper teeth all over her body (there were enough predators in town that Mandy knew predators didn't just kiss their mates, but also nipped them). And with Nick being a fox, an animal designed to take down and kill rabbits, what if he got too rough with Judy? What if he didn't listen to what she wanted? What if . . .
A horn honking distracted Mandy from her dismal thoughts and she glanced up to see one of her neighbors waving at her as he drove by. Mandy waved back, then took a deep breath while trying to push the negative thoughts down. She knew she was overreacting and thinking of all the worst-case scenarios, but she couldn't help it. Judy hadn't shown any interest in any male all these years and then she goes and falls for a fox!
Mandy just couldn't get her mind wrapped around her older sister's love-interest, but these were worries for another time. Looking up as a pastel orange jeep drove up, followed by a sky-blue SUV, followed by a light green mini-van, Mandy stood up straight and pasted a smile on her face. The late afternoon rush had just started.
...
Riding beside Patty-Mae, Judy was lost in thought, worrying about whether Ryan would get his heart crushed if she started hanging out with him. She hoped not. She really did want to be friends with Ryan. He was a good buck (at least, he was back in high school and it didn't seem like his personality had changed much since then), and Judy wondered why he wasn't married yet. He had been shy and quiet in high school, but it was obvious that he'd opened up since then and was more confident with himself. So why hadn't some lucky doe already snatched him up? It was something she wanted to ask him the first chance she got.
Judy's thoughts were interrupted by Patty-Mae as she looked at Judy and asked, "So, what was that about?" With a jerk of her head behind them, she indicated the scene she came upon after Alec had ridden out to fetch her.
Judy's ears drooped as she took a deep breath. Meeting Patty-Mae's curious gaze, she answered, "Jeremy informed me that Ryan had a crush on me in high school, but he didn't have the guts to ask me out back then." With a twitch of her nose as she turned to look at the road ahead, Judy continued, "He then informed Ryan that life had given him a second chance, and that he should just ask me out." With a wave of her paw, Judy said, "Jarod agreed with Jeremy and the two proceeded to embarrass us both in their efforts to convince Ryan to buck up and be a male."
Dropping her paw down on her saddle horn, Judy sighed again. In a quiet voice, she added, "I wish Ryan had asked me out in high school. He was a good buck and I wouldn't have turned him down."
Patty-Mae's ears immediately perked up as she said, "You do? I mean, you would have actually dated Ryan . . . if he had asked?" It was no secret in her family that during her brother's high school days, Ryan had a thing for the Hopps girl who wanted to be a cop. It was also no secret that Judy turned her nose up at most males, and when it came to dating—she didn't give them the time of day.
Judy gave a nod, saying, "Ryan was quiet, but I liked that about him. He was always nice to me, and the few times we had the chance to talk, I always enjoyed myself. He never made me feel like I was crazy or dumb for wanting to be a cop, nor did I ever feel like I had to prove myself to him." Glancing back at Patty-Mae, Judy added, "I was glad to see him again, but I'm actually surprised to hear he's still single. I was sure some nice doe was going to snatch him up a year or two out of high school."
Patty-Mae merely sat in the saddle staring at Judy, shocked at her high praise of her brother. Most does in high school complained he was too quiet—reclusive, even—and so never gave him a second glance. Being several years younger than both Judy and Ryan, Patty-Mae had never attended school with either of them. But she did remember her older siblings talking about it. She also heard enough of her older siblings talking about the Hopps' doe who aspired to be a big city cop. As Judy had pointed out, quite a few thought she was a bit crazy or expected her to fail. Some even thought she would give up the dream once she graduated high school.
But Ryan was never one of them. He only ever had good things to say about Judy and was always saying how Judy would make it one day. So, when the news on tv showed Judy receiving her badge 4 months ago and being assigned to the heart of Zootopia, it left everyone flabbergasted—everyone but Ryan. Besides Judy herself, Ryan was probably the proudest person here in Bunnyburrow of Judy's accomplishments. And he never missed an opportunity to rub it in their faces that she had made it.
At least, he did until her press conference on her fourth day on the job as he didn't know how to respond to it. There were a lot of mixed reactions here in Bunnyburrow over her speech about predators reverting back to their savage ways. A lot of the old-timers, of course, jumped on the bandwagon, saying they always knew predators couldn't be trusted and the savage attacks in Zootopia validated their arguments that predators should never have been allowed to move into Bunnyburrow in the first place.
But there was enough of the younger generation who were close friends, coworkers, and even business partners with many of the town's predators that the specist old-timers' cries remained nothing more than a loud noise in the background. There were a few cases of vandalism against a few of the predator's property, but the perpetrators were discovered quickly enough and the nonsense was put to rest.
With a twitch of her ear, Patty-Mae brought her mind back to the present and looked Judy over. She immediately noticed that the gray doe beside her didn't seem too excited about the prospects of Ryan asking her out now. Her ears were drooping and she was watching the breeze blowing through the leaves of the trees they rode beside. With a heavy sigh, Patty-Mae said, "You would have dated my brother in high school, but it doesn't seem like you're too thrilled about the idea now."
Judy glanced over sharply, then took a deep breath as her shoulders slumped slightly. "If we had met before I went to Zootopia, I would still have given Ryan a chance and would be looking forward to it, but now. . ." She waved her paw through the air but didn't elaborate.
Patty-Mae sat quietly in the saddle for a moment in thought, then said, "You met someone in Zootopia, didn't you?"
Judy nodded and said, "I did. And I informed your brothers of that, but Jarod and Jeremy didn't think it mattered as Nick isn't here with me now."
With a knowing smile, Patty-Mae perked up and said, "So his name is Nick?"
Judy's ears perked up and she glanced at Patty-Mae as she realized what slipped out. With a sigh as her eyes and voice softened, Judy replied, "Yeah, his name is Nick." Thinking of the handsome todd who was missing from her life, Judy's smile softened further while she considered everything Nick had done for her.
Seeing Judy's gentle smile, Patty-Mae knew right away that her brother didn't have much of a prayer at winning Judy over at this point, for it was obvious the doe's feelings ran deep for this Nick mammal. Too bad Ryan was so shy in high school and never bothered looking Judy up after graduation. The two of them might actually have been married by now. With a heavy sigh, Patty-Mae figured there was no point to dwelling on the 'what ifs' and 'might have been'.
Remembering where she was at, Judy sat straighter in the saddle and pushed the memories of Nick back down, then glanced at her companion, saying, "Jarod and Jeremy figure that Ryan just needs to prove he's more reliable than my complicated flame in Zootopia and I'll be jumping at the chance to date him."
Patty-Mae smacked her forehead and groaned. "My brothers are so stupid sometimes." Wiping a paw down her face, she met Judy's purple gaze and said, "I'm sorry you had to be subjected to their nonsense. I'll give them a good ear-twisting once I get home."
Judy chuckled and immediately felt a kinship with the tan and dark doe beside her. "It's okay," she replied. "I know they meant well, and Ryan really wasn't having any of it." With a grin while waving her paw towards Patty-Mae, she added, "As you saw when you rode up." With a chuckle, Judy said, "I think their efforts will backfire on them as I think Ryan's probably too embarrassed now to look me up."
Patty-Mae's ears perked up as she glanced at Judy. "What do you mean?"
"I told Ryan to look me up sometime and we'd have lunch. But the way Jarod and Jeremy were ragging on him, I'm sure Ryan will be too embarrassed to contact me." Nibbling on her thumb-claw, she added, "I forgot to give him my number, too. Jarod and Jeremy were being too noisy and obnoxious."
With her countenance brightening, Patty-Mae immediately offered, "I could give him your number if you want."
Judy returned the doe's smile and said, "Would you?" At Patty-Mae's nod, they exchanged phone numbers. Judy then said, "I told Ryan I only wanted to meet as friends." With a slight frown, she asked, "You don't think I'd be leading him on if we hung out, do you?"
Patty-Mae was silent for a moment, then said, "Well, if you told him you weren't wanting a relationship, then it should be fine. But I'll tell him again when I give him your number."
With a relieved smile, Judy replied, "Thanks. That's a huge relief. I don't want him to get his hopes up only to have them dashed later when he realizes I've 'friend-zoned' him."
Patty-Mae chuckled lightly at Judy's description, then after a moment, she said curiously, "So tell me about this Nick fella. What's he like and how did he steal your heart?"
Judy's smiled softened again and she happily told Patty-Mae all about the todd who saved her career, her life, and who now held her heart—minus the fact that he was, indeed, a todd.
Patty-Mae listened with avid fascination and had to agree with Judy—Nick was a keeper. This made her wonder why they weren't together now and why Judy never bothered telling her mother about Nick. If Bonnie knew that Judy liked someone, then she wouldn't have a cause to sell her off to some nameless buck, right? So why hadn't Judy told her?
Rubbing her emu's long, dark-brown neck, Patty-Mae asked, "So what happened? And why haven't you told your mom about Nick, so she'd stop setting you up on all those blind dates?"
Judy heaved a heavy sigh as her long ears drooped against her back. "After everything he did for me, I said some really specist things that hurt him and then reacted badly to a point he was making which hurt him even worse." With another heavy sigh, she added, "I haven't seen him since." Glancing down at her reins while thinking of Patty-Mae's second question, she said, "The reason I haven't told my mom about him is for the same reason that Nick took my words and actions so hard."
Patty-Mae was quiet for a moment, then said, "He's not a rabbit, is he?" This was the only reason Judy wouldn't want to tell her mom, which made her extremely glad that both her parents and her boyfriend's parents weren't bothered by their slightly inter-species relationship. It wasn't so long ago that Judy's parents were openly against a rabbit-hare relationship, let alone anything else. And Patty-Mae was getting the feeling that Judy's love-interest was in the 'anything else' category going by how down Judy was looking and sounding.
Judy shook her head and laughed bitterly, saying, "He's the farthest thing from a rabbit as you can get." With another heavy breath, she rubbed her forehead and explained, "And if my mother and other specist family members ever found out about my taste in males, they'll either disown me or want to check me into a nuthouse."
Patty-Mae was quiet for several moments as she thought over Judy's words, then her eyes lit up and a paw shot to her mouth. In a hushed whisper, she asked, "Nick's a predator, isn't he?" Judy didn't respond but sat tense in the saddle, and after a moment, Patty-Mae reached a paw out to rest on Judy's arm, saying, "I'm not judging you, Judy. If a predator had done for me what Nick did for you, I'd probably fall for him, too." Removing her paw from Judy's arm, Patty-Mae ran her paw down her ears and added, almost to herself, "I can see why you don't want to tell your mom about him."
Judy sighed in relief. She hadn't felt that Patty-Mae was the specist, gossipy-kind, but one could never know for sure. With a smile, Judy fished out her phone and opened the photo app. Scrolling down, she pulled up the only photo she had of the slick todd who had stolen her heart. Flipping the phone around, she handed it to her friend, saying, "I snapped this picture of him after we found all the missing mammals." As Patty-Mae took the phone from her, Judy smiled brightly while adding, "Like I said, he's the farthest thing from a rabbit as you can get."
Patty-Mae glanced over the handsome red todd with the bright green eyes smiling back at her from Judy's phone. Having heard the story of how Gideon had clawed Judy when they were kits, Patty-Mae was shocked to see that Judy had fallen for a red fox todd. Of course, the fact that Judy was willing to accept the help of a red fox was equally shocking.
But here he was, happily staring back at her from Judy's phone. "Wow," Patty-Mae said. "Compared to Gideon, he looks good." He was tall and slender, wearing a green Pawaiian shirt, and carried himself with confidence and a hint of humor in his expression that Gideon lacked.
With a grin, Judy responded, "Doesn't he?" After a moment, her grin slipped. "I compared him to Gideon when we first met and assumed Nick was as . . ." she paused to find the best way to word her impression, then ended with, "educationally challenged as Gideon." Pulling on one of her ears, Judy added with a groan, "I was so patronizing to him." Tugging on her ear again, she moaned, "Every time he showed me how smart he was, I was shocked and made some other dumb remark to show how surprised I was at his intelligence." Leaning over the saddle, Judy patted Pebbles fluffy side and moaned, "How could he stand to be around me?" Rubbing her face into the birds long, hair-like feathers, she mumbled, "No wonder Nick thought I was such a dumb bunny those first two days."
Patty-Mae watched Judy lament over her dealings with the handsome todd as her bird shook its head at a fly buzzing about its head. Shaking her own head at seeing first-hand the pain of hindsight, Patty-Mae then asked, "So what are you going to do?" Judy glanced up at her, and Patty-Mae explained, "Well, are you just going to let him go?"
Sitting up quickly, Judy exclaimed, "Of course, not!" Sitting back so she was sitting properly in the saddle again, she said, "That's why I'm buying an emu." Looking back down the road, Judy continued, "I'm never going to see Nick again if I just mope around my parents' burrow being all depressed all the time."
Patty-Mae nodded in understanding, then asked, "So you want to get an emu to get you out the house and have something to do?" She didn't understand why Judy would need to buy her own emu when her family had several already (including the one she was riding).
"Sort of," Judy replied. Seeing a black and white magpie fly by, she explained, "I want to train an emu and then sign up for the Search and Rescue Mounted Patrol. I want to spend a season or two there getting my life back together, then I want to search for Nick. I need to see him, to apologize, and then see if we can't at least be friends again." With a heavy sigh as she looked back down at the reins in her paws, Judy added, "Right now, I just want to fix our friendship, and if we can do that, then I'll see if we can't possibly be something more."
Patty-Mae watched the gray doe riding beside her for a moment. With as doggedly as Judy had pursued her dream of being a big city cop, Patty-Mae knew Judy would put the same amount of time and effort into finding Nick again. And until she found him and apologized, there was no way she'd be able to look at another male. If they fixed their friendship, but Nick didn't share her deeper feelings, Judy might be able to look other males, but that was a really big 'if'.
Twitching her ear to catch the sound of a woodpecker knocking on a tree trunk behind her, Patty-Mae asked, "Do you have any idea how to find him?" Glancing around at the open fields they were now traveling by, she looked back at Judy, asking, "Do you know if he's still in Zootopia?"
With a shake of her head, Judy looked up even as her ears dropped against her back. "I don't know. I looked for him before I left, but Zootopia is a really big place, and Nick's very good at not being found when he doesn't want to be." Running a paw dejected down her ears, she then waved the paw through the air while adding, "So I don't know if he's still in Zootopia, if he fled to one of the neighboring towns, or if, heaven forbid, he's at one of the predator refugee camps."
Patty-Mae's ears drooped herself. With Nick being not only a predator, but a fox as well, the persecution by prey mammals must be worse for him. And he might even be experiencing more problems from other predators. Not many mammals liked foxes, and other predators were just as specist against foxes as most prey. And if he was stuck in one of the refugee camps, then he was probably getting the scraps of the supplies that were brought in weekly.
Seeing Judy's dejection, Patty-Mae spoke up. "I know one of the predators that takes the supplies out to the refugee camp each week. If you text me that picture of Nick, I can print it off and give it to him and he can check out the camp to see if Nick is there." With a shrug, Patty-Mae added, "If he's there, then you don't have to worry about searching for him, and if not, then at least you'll know."
Judy immediately perked up. "Really? You'll do that for me?" At Patty-Mae's nod, Judy immediately pulled out her phone and texted her friend the picture.
She didn't like the idea of Nick being stuck in one of the refugee camps (she'd heard they were awful, with them being over-crowded, having a severe lack of privacy, and very questionable sanitation conditions), but at the same time, if he was there and she could get a hold of him now, she could properly apologize and bring him here to Bunnyburrow. She wasn't sure what she'd do with him once he was here, but she was sure she could make arrangements for him to stay with someone (she seriously doubted her parents would be okay with her bringing a fox into the burrow). Maybe Gideon would take him in? She would have to ask—provided they found Nick.
With at least a part of her search taken care of, a wide smile spread across her face as some of the weight she'd been feeling was lifted.
They rode in companionable silence after Judy sent the picture, as both does were lost in thought. While Judy was remembering Nick and hoping they found him (she didn't want to entertain the idea that he wasn't there), Patty-Mae was worrying about what would happen if they did find him. Would he accept Judy's apology? Would he want to live in a town full of specist rabbits? And if he did, would he return Judy's feelings? If not, then Judy might be able to give Ryan a chance, but if Nick did share Judy's feelings . . . what then? It's not like they could get married.
As this realization dawned on her, Patty-Mae's ears drooped, and she glanced quickly at her new friend—just from this short conversation, she felt a strong kinship with the gray doe riding beside her. Seeing her bright smile, Patty nibbled on her lower lip, not wanting to break Judy's hopeful mood. But she needed to think of all this before Nick showed up—whenever and however that might be.
"Um, Judy," Patty-Mae spoke softly. As Judy met her gaze, she asked, "Have you thought of what will happen when you find him?"
Tilting her head in question, she asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, say you find Nick and he accepts your apology, and then he also develops strong feelings for you—what then? How far do you see this relationship going? Dating? Lovers? What?"
With perked ears and a confident smile, Judy answered, "If he'll have me, then I'll take him as my mate."
With a nod, Patty-Mae said, "That's what I thought you'd say." With a heavy sigh, she pointed out, "But you know the chances of you two being able to marry is nigh impossible . . . right?"
Judy's ears, which had relaxed slightly, perked forward again, then dropped to her back. Looking forward over her bird's small head, she brought a paw up and nibbled on her thumbnail. Patty-Mae had a point. It wasn't so long ago that anyone trying to get their inter-species marriage approved (prey-prey or pred-pred) had months of paperwork and arguments (some taking years if the two species were too different from each other—say, a ram and a deer or a badger and a feline) before their marriage license was approved. But for her and Nick's marriage to be approved—she couldn't really see that happening. They might have been able to fight for it before, but now, with all the savage attacks happening in Zootopia, it would be impossible now.
With a worried expression, she muttered around her thumbnail, "I just realized my feelings for Nick yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to think that far ahead. I've been too busy worrying about how to get my life together so I could find him."
They both rode in silence again while trying to think of a way around this dilemma. George's orchards were just coming into view when Patty-Mae finally said, "If you had one of those marriage chokers from the olden days, you could always marry him in the old tradition."
Judy's ears perked up as she knew exactly what her tan friend was talking about. With a wide smile spreading across her face, she answered, "As a matter of fact, I do have one." At Patty-Mae's stunned look, she elaborated, "It belonged to my great-great-grandma Bernice, who passed it on to my great-grandma Cecilia. Great-grandma Cecilia passed it down to me when I was a teenager saying, that like her, I was different from other rabbits and so she wanted me to have it. She also left me her secluded mountain cabin my great-grandfather built for her when she needed to get away from everything."
Dropping her gaze back down to her paws and the reins she was guiding Pebbles with, Judy said softly, "She always said that I might need them both someday." Remembering her great-grandmother's own tragic love-story, and hoping history wasn't about to repeat itself, she whispered, "I guess she was right."
FYI: The Hebridean sheep is a small, black sheep from Scotland. Rams and ewes typically have one pair of horns, but sometimes have two pairs or more, with some have none at all. Its coat is coarse wool which fades to a reddish brown in the sun and often turns gray with age. They are considerably smaller than most other breeds of sheep, but are extremely hardy. They are able to thrive on rough grazing and are often used for conservation grazing to maintain natural grassland or heathland habitats. They are perfectly effective at scrub control.
The Shropshire sheep is a white, hornless sheep with a black face and black legs. They originated in England in the 1840's when breeders in the area used the local black-faced sheep and bred them with a few breeds of white-faced sheep. They are a medium sized sheep that are hardy, vigorous, and meaty.
WingedKatt here. Mandy is hatching a nefarious plan to get rid of Nick while Judy and Patty-Mae had a nice bonding experience. But what is this tragic love-story Judy mentioned? Find out in the next chapter. We'll also see how Nick and Shaylee's conversation plays out. So stay tuned.
Chapter 12: Unfairness, will post in 2 weeks. If you have any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear them. Have a great weekend and stay safe.