Nick sat back against the bench with his arms crossed over his chest and his ears folded back as Shaylee told him about her other sister. Mandy's 'stupid ideas' turned out to be just plain insane. Listening to Shaylee finish explaining her sister's ridiculous plan to keep him away from Judy, Nick glanced off towards the left and watched a large bumblebee buzzing about the place. As Judy's sister finished her little spiel, Nick turned back and studied the gray rabbit across from him.
Shaylee's ears were laying down her back and she was quietly sipping her drink, her little pink nose twitching slightly while she waited for his response. Taking a deep breath, Nick leaned forward and spread his paws across the table. "Let me get this straight," he began, then pointed to the gray doe across from him. "Your sister, Mandy, is convinced that Judy has romantic feelings for me." He pointed to himself, and at Shaylee's nod, Nick continued, "And because of this, she's hatched this crazy plan to drive me out of town before Judy even knows I'm here—all because Mandy's convinced that I'm going to take advantage of Judy's feelings, and once her emotions are hopelessly tangled up in me, that I'm going to ruthlessly crush her heart before running off like some cliched villain in a B-rated movie. Is that it?"
"Well," Shaylee started, "I don't know about the B-rated villain part, but yeah, that about sums it up."
Nick snorted as he leaned back against the bench and crossed his arms over his chest again. He knew the fact he was a fox would come back and bite him in the tail. There's no way a town run by bunnies would ever accept the friendship between a fox and a rabbit—especially if that friendship ran deeper than just friends. He still wasn't convinced Judy wanted more from him, nor did he know how he felt in return, but even if there was nothing between them, they were still going to run him out of town. So much for small town hospitality, he thought with a snort.
Shaylee sat across from the disgusted and angry red fox as he fumed about the unfairness of Mandy's crazy plan. Although she had agreed not to say anything to Judy for a week, she was beginning to regret it. Mandy's plan really was stupid, and it was obvious now that Nick had no intention of hurting Judy. And after the effort he put in to find her, Shaylee couldn't see the fox leaving Judy afterwards.
As Nick continued to stare off into the distance, the unfairness of it all written across his face, Shaylee's shoulders slumped. It really was unfair to both of them. Judy shouldn't have to wait another week to find out Nick came looking for her, and to try and run Nick out of town for no other reason than he was a fox—this was wrong in so many ways.
With a deep breath, Shaylee sat up straighter and pulled out her phone, saying, "You know what, Mandy is being foolish and specist. I'll just call Judy now and tell her you're here and wanting to talk to her. I know she'll come right away."
Nick looked sharply over at her, surprised that Shaylee would do this for him. He desperately wanted to see Judy again, but at the same time, he didn't want to get Shaylee in trouble, not after she went out of her way to tell him all this. Reaching over, he put a paw over the top of Shaylee's phone, stopping her from calling Judy. "Wait," he said, "I don't like it and it's certainly not fair, but Mandy only has a week, right?"
Shaylee nodded. "That's right. If you're not gone in a week, then I was going to tell Judy about you."
Nick took a deep breath and ran a paw between his ears and down the back of his neck. Releasing his breath as his tail flicked beside him, he finally said, "Look, I'll play Mandy's stupid little game, and," pounding the table with his clawed finger, he continued, "I'll prove to her and your family that I'm serious about your sister. I'm not playing any games when it comes to Judy or her feelings."
Shaylee's ears perked up, surprised that the fox was willing to put up with such nonsense and, if she wasn't lying—verbal abuse, which she knew would turn to something worse (and physical) if she hadn't threatened to tell both Judy and their parents should anyone harm a hair on his head. With her nose and tail both twitching, she asked, "Are you sure? Some of my brothers are pretty violent with their verbal abuse."
Nick scoffed while looking off down the path they had walked along earlier while muttering, "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before." He was thinking about an incident that happened several weeks ago. Although he hadn't mentioned anything to Gideon yet, he had a gash on his back that probably needed looked at. He received it after getting caught up in a 'argument' between a specist rodent and his unlucky predator victim at the grocery store.
While he was still back in Zootopia, Nick tried to avoid going out in public as much as possible, but he'd eaten his last pack of protein bars for breakfast that morning and knew he needed to buy more food before lunch. He didn't like living off the bars, but he'd already eaten all the good stuff he'd bought the last time he ventured to the store and was waiting till the very last moment before braving the unrest and turmoil of the city for another shopping spree. As it was, he was just paying for his purchases when a hostile argument started between the two mammals standing in line directly behind him and a knife was pulled out.
A smoky-gray jaguarundi had stepped in line behind a capybara moments before an unexpected sneeze caught the tall, slender cat by surprise. The large rodent didn't like the idea of a predator with his 'savage' germs sneezing on him and immediately started yelling at the poor feline. When the gray cat tried to apologize (to no avail), he then raised his own voice at the loud and overbearing rodent, to which the capybara pulled a knife out yelling that the cat was threatening him. Nick had grabbed his receipt and was making a beeline to the doors when the tall feline pushed the capybara backwards to get the knife out of her face.
The outraged rodent stumbled backwards into Nick, and upon realizing he'd fallen onto a 'filthy pelt' as he called the fox he'd knocked into, the rodent lashed out with the knife and caught Nick right under his ribcage. Nick didn't wait around for anymore abuse, but squirmed away from the smelly rodent (Nick swore the mammal hadn't bathed in over a week and was probably the cause of the feline's sneeze) with his bags in paw and was out the store door before several store employees could tackle the enraged capybara to the ground and wrest the knife from his hoof.
Upon reaching a spot where he could catch his breath (and moan at the stabbing pain in his back), Nick had called Finnick to come pick him up. There was no one else in the city he trusted to check out his injury as none of the clinics or hospitals would admit a fox at this point, not with all the savage attacks going on, coupled with all the injured coming through their doors from fights and mob beatings taking place. It had taken the small, desert fox half an hour to reach him, which meant there was a large pool of Nick's blood on the alley floor where he'd been waiting.
After getting loaded up, Finnick started the long process of cleaning him up (and complaining loudly about Nick bleeding all over his van), then gave his verdict on the damage done. The cut was deep and needed stitches, but Nick was lucky as the knife only cut muscle while missing his organs and arteries.
The downside—they had no one to stitch him up. There were a couple of street doctors they'd normally go to in case of an emergency, but they were all over-booked, so that avenue was closed to them. Finnick did the best he could to patch his friend up and changed the bandages and cleaned the wound the first few weeks, but Finnick had skipped town over a week ago, and so Nick had no one to look at it recently. It was mostly healed by now, anyway, so he wasn't too worried. But without it being stitched up, he knew that if he jerked too hard and in the wrong direction it could possibly reopen again—which was a strong possibility if a bunch of Judy's siblings decided to harass him and possibly get violent with him. He really wasn't looking forward to it, but he'd survived a lifetime of abuse and bullying already, so a week was nothing . . . right?
With a heavy sigh, he considered asking Gideon to look at his injury tonight. Bringing his attention back to the gray doe across from him, he watched Shaylee nod towards him before she said, "Okay, but give me your number so I can text you mine."
At Nick's surprise, Shaylee explained, "I told Mandy no one is to hurt you in their attempt to run you out of town. So if anyone gives you so much as a bruise, then the deal is off and I'm telling both Judy and my parents." At Nick's stunned but grateful nod as he pulled out his phone, Shaylee added, "Better yet, you can tell Judy yourself. I'll send you her number when I text you mine, that way you have a way to contact her if things get too bad or you start missing her too much."
Nick simply stared at Judy's sister, hardly believing what he was hearing. No one just gave information like this away, not without a lot of strings attached, and certainly not to a fox.
Seeing Nick's stunned expression, Shaylee smiled and asked, "So what's your number?"
Taking a deep breath, Nick said, "Um, it's ah . . ." Nick rattled off his number while sitting in a daze, completely unaware of what he was saying. Shaylee was just going to give him Judy's number? He would have that connection to her and could call her anytime he wanted? And Shaylee wasn't going to make him prove himself to her or make him wait to meet Judy before getting the number directly from her? Nick felt like he was in a surreal dream, but then the next moment his phone chimed letting him know he had a text message.
Still in a daze, he opened the message and found himself looking at a message from Shaylee, with Judy's number typed in at the end of the short message. Taking a deep breath as tears threatened to leak from his eyes, Nick read the number several times to memorize it, that way he'd still have it even if something were to happen to his phone. Judy had drowned his last phone after flushing them down that megafauna toilet, so he'd splurged on a waterproof phone this time. But still—anything can happen to a phone and he didn't want to take the chance of losing her number. Once he was sure he had Judy's number locked in his head, he quickly saved both Judy's and Shaylee's number.
Seeing Nick's watery expression, Shaylee's ears drooped as she realized that simple, little actions like this weren't something the fox was accustomed to. Wanting to do something else for the fox, and hoping to get the fox thinking more about Judy as a potential mate, she quickly pulled up her photo app, saying, "Here, I'll send these to you, too. I'm sure they'll help you get through the week better.
Nick looked up, then back down at his phone as another text message came in with a couple of photos attached. Opening the text, his eyes widened again as he saw two photos of Judy. The first one was of Judy stuffing her face with a large slice of veggie pizza while wearing the biggest grin on her face as her amethyst eyes sparkled with pride and happiness. The next one had his eyes popping as it was a picture of Judy in a brightly colored, flowery one-piece swimsuit that came with a little skirt hanging about her hips. The swimsuit had a black background that really made the brightly colored blue, purple, pink, and yellow flowers pop. She was holding onto a knotted rope while standing on the bank of a watering hole and had turned to look at the camera just before she was to jump off the bank and swing into the water. At least that was the impression he got from looking at Judy's grinning figure. And what a figure she had!
Nick had never looked at a female rabbit with any kind of interest before, but seeing Judy in that cute bathing suit that showed off her fit body and muscular legs, he couldn't deny how much he liked what he saw.
Shaylee watched the appreciation cross Nick's face and then explained, "I took these pictures after Judy graduated from the Police Academy a little over four months ago. We were having a pizza-slash-swim party to congratulate her on graduating and earning her badge." Nick nodded without looking up and Shaylee leaned over the table to see which picture Nick was ogling. Seeing Nick looking at Judy in her swimsuit, she settled back down on the bench and grabbed her drink. With a knowing grin, and feeling her work here was done—Nick was obviously looking at Judy as more than just a friend—Shaylee knew it wouldn't be long before the todd decided Judy was worth pursuing.
Taking a long sip of her shake that was mostly melted ice cream by now, she had a silly grin on her face. She couldn't wait for Judy to find out her love-interest was here in town looking for her. Mandy will be lucky if Judy doesn't bury her out behind the barn once she finds out Mandy was trying to drive Nick out of town while keeping knowledge of his arrival a secret. While trying to think of ways her siblings might try to accomplish their dumb plan of driving Nick from town, she suddenly sat up and asked, "Nick, did you ride the train to Bunnyburrow or did you drive?"
Nick glanced up and cocked his head slightly as his ears perked forward. "I drove. Why?"
The fact Nick drove peaked Shaylee's interest and she said, "Can I see your car?" Pausing, she then asked, "Is it a car?" Out here in Bunnyburrow, jeeps, trucks, and SUVs were the norm.
A wide grin spread across Nick's face and his tail began wagging. "A restored 1971 Triumph TR6 convertible."
Shaylee's jaw dropped, then she snapped her mouth shut and exclaimed, "Can I see it?"
With a grin, Nick replied, "I don't see why not." Motioning back down the road, he added, "It's parked behind the bakery." Slipping his phone back in his pocket as Shaylee did the same, Nick then grabbed his drink and stood up. Watching Shaylee skip ahead of him down the path, Nick took a long swig of his melted shake and grinned. If more of Judy's siblings were like Shaylee then he wouldn't have any problems here in Bunnyburrow. As it was—his smile slipped and his ears splayed back slightly—he would be lucky to survive the week without a bruise or two . . . or more. No matter what Shaylee said, he couldn't see her siblings trying to run him out of town without using force that would injure him to some degree.
With a heavy breath, Nick followed Shaylee back to Gideon's bakery, then around back to where she squealed in delight at seeing the classic black convertible. Hopping over to it, she ran her paws over the slick, shiny paint, looked through the glass windows at the restored faux leather seats and checked out the black tires with the reddish-orange stripe circling the chrome hubcaps—all while her tail was flicking a mile a minute in her excitement.
Nick grinned and wondered if Judy would have the same reaction. Would she want to take a drive down the country lane with the top down? He only knew her as a cop, so imagining her in any other compacity, especially in that eye-catching bathing suit Shaylee had sent him, left his mind wandering down strange—yet exciting—new paths.
As Shaylee continued to ogle the shiny black convertible, she said excitedly, "Nick, you have to take me for a ride."
Nick's grin widened and his tail began to wag as he replied, "Sure thing . . . right after I take Judy for a ride."
Shaylee's ears drooped for a moment as she glanced up from the restored antique vehicle, then her ears sprang back up as she met Nick's emerald gaze. "Right, Judy first." Taking a deep breath to rein in her excitement, she then said, "Okay, but I get the second ride."
Walking over to lean against the side of his car, Nick brought a paw up and scratched his chin, saying, "I don't know, Shaylee. I already promised Gideon a ride, too."
Shaylee's ears drooped again. "Third ride, then?" she asked with a slightly pleading look.
Nick watched her for a moment, then laughed. "If you don't mind riding with a couple of foxes, I'm sure Gideon won't mind you joining us for his turn."
Shaylee's ears popped back up as she clapped her paws together, saying, "No problems here. I'd love to share a ride with Gideon."
With a nod, Nick said, "Well then, you and Gideon can have the second ride—in the backseat because I'm sure Judy isn't going to be content with just one short ride."
Meeting Nick's grinning face, Shaylee laughed. "You're right about that one." Leaning towards the happily grinning fox while jabbing a finger at him, she added, "But you know what they say: The more the merrier."
There were many instances in Nick's past where more definitely wasn't merrier, but in this case, he had to agree with Shaylee. Chuckling as Shaylee turned back around to run her paws over the slick black paint again, Nick relaxed further against the side of his car as he watched the gray doe who reminded him so much of Judy, both in looks and personality.
Glancing back over at the grinning fox, Shaylee asked, "Can I get in?"
With a shrug, Nick replied, "Sure, why not?"
It didn't take Shaylee long to open the door and climb in behind the steering wheel, then roll down the window so she could rest her arm atop it. The car was sized for a fox, so she couldn't reach the pedals, but it didn't stop her from imagining herself flying down the highway in it. Shaylee knew where all the speed traps were, so she could easily avoid them. She'll tell Nick about them too, so he doesn't get a ticket for driving over the limit in those areas (a mile over will get you a ticket).
As she sat imagining the fun they'd have while driving around in this classic car—and thinking of the envious looks of those they pass by—a sickening realization hit her. Turning around to look out the window at her new fox friend, Shaylee said, "Nick, you have to hide your car."
With a start as this was the last thing Nick imagined Judy's sister saying, he asked, "What?" With his ears flicking back and his ruddy-colored tail-tip twitching with uncertainty, he asked, "What are you talking about?"
After repeating, "You have to hide your car," Shaylee climbed out and looked at Nick for a moment before turning back to the car. Waving at it, she explained, "Until you meet Judy and she beats the snot out of our siblings for harassing you and keeping it from her that you're here," she turned back to Nick, "you cannot let any of them know you have this car."
"Why?" Nick asked, even as several horrible ideas popped into his head that made his stomach twist at the unfairness of being a fox.
"Because if some of my specist siblings find out about it, and I won't name any names like Roger, or Jerry, or Deryll, they are going take your car joyriding through the hills and then probably crash it into some ditch or against a tree or something. And even if they don't crash it, they'll leave it vandalized in some other horrible way. It's making me sick just thinking about what they might do."
Nick's ears disappeared against his head and his tail slumped to the ground. Raising his paws, he rubbed his face. Having his car vandalized was a real fear he had in Zootopia, which is why he didn't take his car out very often when he was still there. He rode around in Finn's van, took public transport, or walked—more often than not, he walked. It was good exercise and kept him in shape. He had even set up an obstacle course in his grandfather's warehouse that he put himself through a few times a week just keep his reflexes sharp and open up his options to escape when things got bad.
Coming here to Bunnyburrow, he didn't think having his classic car vandalized would be a problem—crime rate was a lot lower out here in the sticks, wasn't it?
Dropping his paws, he looked at Shaylee and asked, "Seriously? They'd wreck my car?" At Shaylee's nod, he asked, "Aren't they worried about getting caught?"
"Well, there was some vandalism here right after Judy's speech four months ago, and the perpetrators were caught, so I'm pretty sure my brothers will make sure no one recognizes them and they'll probably block their scents. But even if they are caught, the damage will already be done, and they might consider it worth it if they thought if got you to leave."
Nick rubbed his face again then swiped his paws down through the air as he exclaimed, "And where am I supposed to hide a car!?" If they were still in Zootopia, he could think of a hundred different places to hide the car, but they were in Bunnyburrow, where most mammals (and thus buildings) are much smaller and anything out of place would be more noticeable.
Before Shaylee could answer, the back door to the bakery opened and Travis walked out with a bag of trash to put in the dumpster. Seeing Nick, he immediately smiled and said, "Hey, Nick—" Seeing the gray doe with the black-tipped ears standing with the red todd, Travis did a double-take and exclaimed, "Judy!"
Nick shook his head, saying, "This is Judy's sister, Shaylee."
Confusion crossed Travis's face and he repeated, "Shaylee?" If Nick was looking for Judy, why was her sister here instead? Judy didn't refuse to see him, did she? This didn't sound like Judy, but why else would her sister be here and not Judy herself?
With smile, Shaylee waved at the confused ferret, saying, "Hey, Travis. How's work going?"
"It's going great," Travis said slowly as he just couldn't get his head wrapped around the fact that Shaylee was here and not Judy. Since Judy's sister obviously knew about Nick, then Judy should be here too, right? Looking between the two and seeing Nick's splayed ears and irritably twitching tell, Travis asked carefully, "Um, is everything okay?"
"Oh, yeah, just peachy," Nick scoffed sarcastically, while running his claws through his head-fur.
In answer to Travis's confused and worried gaze, Shaylee explained, "Nick needs to hide his car before any of my specist brothers find out he has it."
Travis gave a start as he looked to Nick, even as his worry spiked. Travis had already been worried that Nick would run into problems in meeting Judy depending on which of her brothers or sisters he ran into first, but to have to hide his classic car!? It was a beautiful machine which Travis had spent several minutes ogling when he first saw it, and he couldn't understand how anyone would want to hurt such a stunning classic.
Expanding on Shaylee's words, Nick leaned against the side of his car, crossed one paw over his chest and waving the other through the air, while saying, "Shaylee's and Judy's sister Mandy is convinced that I'm going to toy with Judy's emotions before running off again and leaving her in a worst mental state than she is now." Crossing his arm over his other arm, Nick flicked his ears and added, "So she and several of their brothers and sisters are going to try and run me out of town before Judy knows I'm here."
The bag of trash in Travis's paw hit the ground, even as his jaw dropped. "They're going to run you out of town!?" This was worst than he had imagined. He knew a lot of Judy's siblings didn't like foxes, but this was a bit extreme, wasn't it? Why would it matter if Judy met with the fox? If she really didn't like him, then she could kick him out of town herself.
Crossing her own arms and looking up at Nick with a raised eyebrow, Shaylee stated, "Well, I did offer to call Judy and tell her a certain somebody was here, but some fox said he wanted to suffer through it to prove some macho point."
Travis's eyebrows climbed his forehead in surprise while Nick rolled his eyes. Meeting Shaylee's gaze again, Nick said, "Look, Mandy doesn't think I'm worthy of Judy and I'm going to prove her wrong." At Shaylee's knowing smile at his words, Nick wagged his clawed finger at the gray doe while saying, "Not like that."
"Well, that's the only reason Mandy has for wanting to run you out of town." Shaylee couldn't help but smile with glee at Nick's desire to prove that he was worthy of Judy's affection. No matter what he said, she knew deep down in his heart that Nick was at least considering a relationship with Judy. Now all Shaylee needed to do was to push him in that direction a few more times to get Nick to realize it for himself.
Nick rolled his eyes, then said, "Regardless of what Mandy or any of your siblings are thinking, I just want to prove that I'm serious about Judy and our relationship—," wagging his finger at her again, he added, "no matter what that relationship ends up being." At Shaylee's teasing smile and soft, "Hmm-mm," Nick changed the subject, saying, "And besides, I only have to deal with their bullying for a week at the most. I can handle a week." With a shrug, he added, "And who knows, I might run into Judy sooner."
As Nick reminded her of the abuse her family members might subject him to, Shaylee stepped closer to the tall red fox in front of her and jabbed him in the stomach while saying, "Yeah, well just remember, you have mine and Judy's number both, so don't you dare hesitate to call one of us if our siblings get too abusive. I told Mandy not a hair on your head is to be harmed, so you better tell me if they do."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Nick said while shooing her away. "I'll call."
"I mean it, Nick, not one hair." At Nick's nod, Shaylee turned to Travis and said, "You and Gideon have to keep an eye on him. Nick seems the macho type to suffer even when he doesn't have to."
Travis nodded, but wasn't sure what to say. Shaylee and Nick's conversation just now was a bit confusing. What did Nick mean by 'whatever their relationship might be'? Weren't they just friends? And it seemed to him, that Judy's family was reacting to the fox's presence a lot worse than they should. And the fact Shaylee was here to help Nick was just as confusing. Her family was against the fox spending time with Judy, and yet Shaylee was here to help Nick do just that. Was she going to go against her whole family to see Nick has a chance to talk to Judy? And Shaylee had actually given Nick her number? Realizing what else Shaylee had given him, Travis exclaimed, "Wait!? Shaylee gave you Judy's number?"
Nick nodded as a smile spread across his face. "Not just her number, but also a couple of photos of Judy." Although neither of the smaller mammals could see it, the inside of both of Nick's ears were slightly red while remembering the second photo Shaylee had sent him. Judy really did have a stunning body.
Travis's jaw dropped again, and then he pointed at Shaylee, then over at Nick, and then back at Shaylee. Tilting his head, with his small ears flicking in confusion, he asked, "You gave Nick pictures of Judy?"
With a nod, Shaylee answered, "Well, since some dumb fox wants to put up with my specist siblings, I figured he could use something tangible to keep him going when things got tough. And if they go overboard on trying to drive him out of town, he can call Judy directly." With a smirk at Nick, she added, "Or if he decides he's missing her too much and simply can't wait any longer, he can call and talk to her."
Nick flicked his tail while wondering how many days he could last before caving in and calling Judy. He figured it would largely depend on how bad the specism and bullying went with her family. Turning his attention back to Travis, Nick said, "Anyways, I need to hide my car before some her brothers decide to crash it into something after a romp through the hills."
Travis looked between the fox and rabbit for a moment and had to agree—Nick needed to hide his car. As much as it pained and confused him (pained him that someone would do that to Nick for no other reason than he was a fox, and confused him as he still couldn't see how anyone could destroy such a stunningly beautiful machine), Travis knew that having some of Judy's and Shaylee's siblings vandalize the car was a very real possibility.
Scratching his chin while still looking between the two, Travis said, "Well, I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but I have an old tractor shed on my property that's piled full of old straw right now. We could hide it there—just cover your car with some tarps, then throw the straw over it. No one will ever know it was there." At the shocked gaze of both mammals, Travis flicked his ears back while realizing they might not trust a ferret, especially one known for theft. Dropping his paw, he quickly said, "If, if you need a place, I have it."
Nick and Shaylee looked at each other again then grinned. "Well, Nick," Shaylee said, "It appears you have a place to hide your car."
With a wider grin, Nick answered back, "It appears I do." With Travis's ears relaxing and a hesitant smile starting to spread across his face, Nick stepped up to the black-footed ferret and put his paw out, saying, "Travis, I would very much appreciate it if I could store my car at your place."
Taking the fox's paw, Travis grinned, saying, "We can take it out there after work ends today." Travis was feeling good that a fox like Nick, whom he'd just met, and even Shaylee—a Hopps' girl—would trust him to hide such an expensive vehicle at his place. Since meeting Tiffany and turning his life around, he'd been having a really hard time turning his image around in town. Since Gideon hired him here at the bakery, things had finally started looking up, but when growing up in a small country town like Bunnyburrow, it seemed no one ever remembered the good things you do and never forgot the bad you did.
Nick started to nod, but then Shaylee spoke up, saying, "We should wait till after dark to move it, then no one sees it leaving and my brothers will be none the wiser on where it went, even if they do find out you have it."
Nick and Travis glanced at each other, then back at Shaylee with a nod. Neither of them wanted it to get back to any of Shaylee's and Judy's specist siblings that such a classic car was hiding out at Travis's place, especially since he already had a bad reputation in town for bullying others and a teenage rap sheet for theft. If someone knew the car was sitting at Travis's, they could just 'liberate' it from Travis's place, and then claim the ferret stole it and with his history of theft, most of the town would believe it.
After making plans to meet back up at 10, Shaylee turned and ran her paw back over Nick's classic black car and felt bad they had to bury it under a pile of old straw for a week. It was such a beautiful machine, and it should be out in the light driving down an open highway, so it was a real shame to hide it in the dark under moldy straw in an old tractor barn.
Turning back to the fox and ferret standing beside her, Shaylee said, "I'm going to head home and see what Judy's up to. I'll see you boys tonight at 10." After waving to the todd and ferret, she slipped back down the alley towards her jeep while wondering what her sister was up to and wondering how long it would actually be before Judy found out about Nick being in town. She hoped it would be sooner rather than later.
Nick watched Shaylee leave, then turned back to Travis, saying, "I really am grateful to you, Travis, that you're letting me stash my car at your place."
"Ah, it's nothing, Nick." With a flick of one of his short ears, he added, "It's the least I can do." Turning around and stepping up to Nick's classic black automobile, Travis ran his paw over the shiny paint job while murmuring, "It'd be a real shame if anything were to happen to it."
Nick grinned as he walked over and picked up the bag of trash Travis had dropped. As he carried it over to the dumpster, he said, "I'll tell you what, Travis, once I meet up with Judy and we're able to pull the TR6 out of hiding, I'll take you and your wife for a spin in it." Turning back around after tossing the trash in, Nick added, "How does that sound?"
Travis's eyes lit up as he turned to meet Nick's bright green gaze. "You mean that? You'll really take me and Tiffany for a ride?"
"Of course," Nick said with a wave of his paw as he reached the car and once more leaned against its slick black side. "Call it payment for letting me store my car at your place."
Travis's eyes lit up further and he turned back to Nick's classic convertible and ran his paws over it again while imagining himself and his wife riding in the backseat, the wind whistling through their fur as they sped down the road with the top down.
Just then, the back door of the bakery opened up and Gideon stuck his head out, saying, "Hey, Travis, we got customers waiting for ya." Seeing Nick outside with Travis, Gideon waved. "Oh, hey, Nick."
Nick waved back even as Travis said, "Oh, sorry, Gideon. I got sidetracked." Hurrying back inside, Travis waved to Nick and said, "I'll see you after work."
"See ya," Nick said. As Travis and Gideon slipped back inside the bakery, Nick locked his car. He didn't think he needed to before, not with this being a small country town, but if Judy's siblings were intending to run him out of town, he didn't want to make it easier on them to steal and crash his car.
Once he made sure both doors were locked, he then turned and made his way back down the alley. If a bunch of specist rabbits thought it would be easy to chase him away from Judy, they had another think coming. As he didn't think Mandy or her other siblings would be up to much the rest of today (she was working the afternoon shift at her family's booth), Nick intended to use this time and after dusk to familiarize himself with the ends and out of Bunnyburrow, so when trouble appeared he could disappear.
With a plan in mind, he vanished down the street as he set out to discover all the nooks and crannies of Judy's hometown.
...
As Judy and Patty-Mae rode past the Hoppersen's orchards, Judy gave Patty-Mae a rundown on her great-grandma's tragic love-story and why her grandma would give her, and her alone, her remote mountain cabin that very few even knew existed.
While watching the apple, peach, and pear trees passing on their left, and the various colored Australian fruit trees on their right, Judy explained how her great-grandmother Cecilia's best friend growing up was a male Animalian badger named Tyrel. Back during that time, prejudice against predators in Bunnyburrow was much worse as predators were largely segregated from the general population and were only allowed to work menial jobs.
This didn't matter to her great-grandmother as she enjoyed her time spent with Tyrel quite well, along with a few other predators (Tyrel's cousin, Tammy, 2 female bobcats, a female mink, and a male red wolf) and even preferred their company over that of prey species. Cecilia did have several rabbit friends, like Judy's great-grandfather, Stuart (whom Judy's father was named after), and a couple of does, but for the most part, Cecilia much preferred the company of predators. They were more open minded and didn't have the same stifling expectations of her that other rabbits did. (Rabbit does were expected to learn how to cook, sew, and clean as their only role in life was to have tons of kits and keep house for their husbands.)
Patty-Mae had given Judy a knowing look at hearing that Cecilia preferred the company of predators as she suddenly realized where Judy got her odd interest in predators from. Apparently, it ran in her family.
Judy merely shrugged at her friend's raised eyebrow and smirk while continuing on with her grandmother's tragic love story.
During her great-grandmother's time, most rabbit does were married off within a year of graduating high school, and so spent most of their spare time during high school making their wedding dresses, learning their domestic responsibilities, and adding items to their hope chests that they would need to furnish their home and start their own family with once they were married—items such as quilts, baby blankets, baby clothes, pots and pans, and other odds and ends.
At the same time, bucks would design and have a marriage choker made to present to his bride on their wedding day. The bucks from wealthier families made theirs in silver or gold, while those from poorer families had brass or copper marriage chokers. Many bucks had a high school sweetheart they planned to marry, while others, their parents arranged the marriage. But with so many more does reaching adulthood than bucks back then, many who weren't married to a high school sweetheart were married off as second wives to bucks already married.
Late summer-early fall was when a majority of the weddings took place, and with so many marriages taking place at once, there was always a shortage of priests to officiate all the ceremonies, in which case an elder buck from one of the families, usually the groom's, though occasionally the bride's, would stand in and preside. Besides the one to preside, there needed to be six witnesses—three for the bride and three for the groom. After the vows were exchanged, then the buck presented his marriage choker to his bride and slipped it around her neck, letting everyone who saw it know she was married. Once the ceremony was over, then their names, and the names of witnesses, were all written down in one of a dozen lapin marriage registration books, along with the names of the brides' and grooms' parents to keep track of the family lineage.
The marriage chokers had since been fazed out and wedding rings took their place, one for both the bride and the groom. But back then, it was marriage chokers for the wives to show they had a husband—that they were owned by a male.
Cecilia was no different than her sisters and other does in high school. She worked on her wedding dress and added to her hope chest, she hung out with her friends and especially Stuart and Tyrel. Everyone was sure Stuart would take Cecilia as his wife after high school, but unbeknownst to her family, she intended to elope with Tyrel on graduation night.
But their plans were forever destroyed on prom night their senior year, just a month shy of their graduation. Someone had spiked the punch with alcohol at the dance and so Cecilia and Tyrel became mildly intoxicated, which impaired their ability to think clearly enough to keep their taboo relationship hidden. Although they didn't do anything untoward at the dance, several mammals did see them sneak off together. And once they were alone, and with the alcohol flowing through their systems which neither of them were accustomed to, they had given in to their desire for one another and ended up falling asleep under the stars.
Cecilia's father was up waiting for her in the wee-hours of the early morning when she finally made it home—smelling nothing like a bunny and everything like a predator.
With a slump of her shoulders, Judy's ears drooped down her back as she whispered, "She never saw Tyrel or his family again. Once news got out of Cecilia's illicit relationship with the badger, especially after she vehemently denied being raped, Cecilia was locked up in her room while Tyrel and his family were driven from town—at least that's the official story of what happened to him and his family." Wiping at the tears that were starting to leak from her eyes at the unjust tragedy that befell her great-grandmother and Tyrel, Judy whispered faintly, "They were actually lynched and their bodies tossed in the marsh south of town."
With her own ears dropping down her back, Patty-Mae put a paw over her mouth while whispering sadly, "I'm so sorry, Judy."
Judy nodded sadly in return. "Yeah, so am I." Wiping at her eyes again, she added, "And so was my great-grandma."
"So what happened to Cecilia?" Patty-Mae asked softly as her own eyes misted over. "How did she wind up with your great-grandfather?" With a sniffle, she waited for Judy to finish her story.
Taking a deep breath, a hint of a smile tugged at her mouth as Judy murmured, "That was a huge blessing and quite the miracle." At Patty-Mae's questioning look, Judy continued her sad tale which could have turned out even more tragic for her grandmother if not her great-grandfather's huge heart.
Back in her great-grandmother's time, rabbit does were seen as property, first to their fathers and then to their husbands, and had very few rights as an individual. Even though the females' rights movement had already happened throughout much of the country, for an insular community like Bunnyburrow, they hadn't felt the full effects of it until Cecilia's kits were grown.
With a heavy sigh, Judy said, "Needless to say, her father was furious and couldn't stand the shame of having a doe living under his roof who had willingly sullied herself in the arms of a predator." With a heavy sigh as Patty-Mae listened in gloomy silence, Judy continued, saying, "My great-great-great grandfather was going to sell her off to the first buck who'd marry her—which happened to be one of the town's worst tyrants." Looking over at her friend, Judy asked, "Your family moved in just a couple of generations ago, right?"
At Patty-Mae's nod, Judy told her how, back in Cecilia's day, many bucks had more than one wife as more females were born and survived to adulthood than males, and although a large number of bucks still had only one wife, those who did have multiple wives usually had two or three. But the bucks with the greatest wealth and position in the community used the number of their wives as a badge of honor to boast about their wealth (only the wealthiest could afford a large number of wives). And after learning of Cecilia's tarnished reputation, ruined by a predator no less, the only buck willing to take her was Lester Moundigger, who only came into his wealth after oil was discovered on his property. His was a classic rags-to-riches story, and his sudden wealth went to his head as he became proud and greedy, making his already callous personality cruel.
He already had over a dozen wives, none of whom were treated well, when Cecilia was offered to him, and other than asking for a huge dowry to 'compensate' him on accepting 'sullied goods,' Lester agreed to take Cecilia off her dad's paws as Lester was always looking to add another wife to his harem for further bragging rights. And having another female in his bed, even a sullied one, was always a good thing in his opinion.
By this time in Judy's story, they had arrived at the Hoppersen's ranch house and both Judy and Patty-Mae waved to George as he still sat on the porch chewing on a long stock of grass. George waved back to them and then the two does turned from the long drive and toward the large bird barns to the right of the house. Patty-Mae's birds were kept in the second bird barn further back from the first barn, and Judy hoped to finish her tail by the time they arrived.
Meeting Patty-Mae's curious amber eyes, Judy said, "When my great-grandfather Stuart heard what her dad was planning, he immediately rushed over and offered to marry Cecilia himself. He even agreed to wave the whole dowry which immediately won Cecilia's dad over—he didn't want to pay a penny for such a shameless daughter." With a frown at her great-great grandfather's dealings with Cecilia, Judy shook her head and turned back to Patty-Mae, saying, "All Stuart wanted in the marriage was Cecilia's personal possessions, her hope chest, and her wedding dress. Cecilia hadn't finished it yet, so she wasn't able to wear it to hers and Stuart's wedding—they had a shotgun wedding the next day—but Stuart knew she had been making it in hopes of marrying Tyrel in it."
"He was willing to do that for her?" Patty-Mae asked in wonder. "Even after she'd slept with a predator?" Knowing how females were treated back then, she couldn't understand why a buck would take a female who, not only was known to have lain with another male, but who had the double stigma of being prey who had lain with a predator. That kind of shame would have had her stoned a few centuries earlier.
Judy nodded with a faint smile. "Stuart was best friends with Tyrel and they had both fallen for Cecilia. It was a friendly rivalry between them on who could win her love. So, when she gave her heart to Tyrel, Stuart wasn't about to get in the way of their happiness. He was even going to help them elope on graduation night, then take off himself while giving the impression that Cecilia had run off with him. Stuart wanted to give his two best friends the best chance of escaping the town by setting himself up as the target of any pursuit sent out to bring Cecilia back."
Patty-Mae sat gaping at the gray doe riding beside her. Talk about a love story of the ages, that a buck was willing to give up his own happiness to ensure the happiness of his best friend and the girl of his dreams. That just didn't happen—ever! "He was going to do that? For your grandmother and his best friend!? A best friend who happened to be a predator!?" This was sounding more and more like a fairy tale and less and less like reality.
Studying the two large barns they were riding towards, Judy continued, saying, "Stuart's plan was to marry Cecilia the next night as her father had stipulated, then leave Bunnyburrow with her after graduation and track down Tyrel. Once they found him, he wanted his marriage to Cecilia annulled so Tyrel could marry her." With her ears drooping and her eyes starting to smart with tears again, she added, "You can imagine their devastation when they found out what really happened to Tyrel and his family."
Patty-Mae could only nod sadly. This was truly a tragic love story. If Stuart's large heart and love for Cecilia was the love story of the century, then Cecilia's and Tyrel's story was the tragedy of the century.
"With Tyrel gone, Stuart remained with Cecilia. He protected her and supported her, even though the rest of the family was against their marriage. They claimed his marriage to her—a doe tainted by a predator—shamed the family name." With a shrug, Judy explained, "Stuart and Cecilia still planned to eventually leave Bunnyburrow, but they no longer felt rushed and Stuart wanted to save up more money and actually plan out where they were headed and how he could support Cecilia and any kits they had."
With a paw over her heart as she listened to Judy's tale, Patty-Mae then asked, "So why didn't they?" With a shake of her head as she dropped her paw back down to the saddle horn, she clarified, "I mean, your family is still here."
Judy shrugged. "An epidemic hit the area that wiped out over half the rabbit population. The kits and teens were hit the hardest, but quite a large number of the adults also lost their lives." Passing the first barn on their way to the second barn, Judy added, "My great-great grandfather was among the deceased, and with Stuart being the oldest surviving son, the farm fell to him."
Glancing over to Patty-Mae, Judy explained, "Since Cecilia was shunned for having lain with a predator, and Stuart by association, they were living off the land in a small cabin on his family's property and so neither of them contracted the disease." With another shrug and a small smile, Judy added, "It was the silver lining in their plight and a bit of poetic justice, if you ask me, as the majority of the rabbits who were giving them the hardest time about Cecilia falling for a predator, along with almost all the bucks responsible for Tyrel's death, died in the epidemic."
Patty-Mae's jaw dropped and then she gave a snort. "Yeah, I guess that would be poetic justice."
With a wider grin, Judy replied, "Yeah, it was. And with a large majority of the most specist rabbits killed, the town's policies began to change, giving predators a larger voice and allowing them to have better jobs. Females' rights also improved and they were no longer seen as just property."
Patty-Mae nodded, but as they approached the second barn, Judy hurriedly finished her tale, saying, "Anyways, my great-grandmother never did get over Tyrel's death and frequently suffered bouts of depression. To help her, and to give her a place to escape to when the memories got too bad, my great-grandpa bought some land in the mountains west of town and built her a secluded mountain cabin. Very few mammals knew about it and fewer still knew where it was."
Taking a deep breath as the bitter-sweet memories washed over her, Judy added, "My grandma Cecilia started taking me out there each summer after I announced my decision to become a police officer." With a bright grin, she glanced at Patty-Mae and said, "She was my staunchest supporter and encouraged me to go after my dreams." As they reached the barn and stopped at the hitching post at the right of the large open doors, Judy finished her tale by saying, "Grandma Cecilia took me up to the cabin on my 15th birthday and gave me the deed to the property, along with a marriage choker."
With a grin and flick of her tail, Judy continued, saying, "Cecilia said her mom, Bernice, caught her making googly eyes at Tyrel one day, and he to her, but instead of calling her up for it, Bernice gave Cecilia an expensive Marriage Choker that had been in her family for several generations. It was a family heirloom that was meant to be passed on to the oldest granddaughter, but Bernice made an exception and gave it to her daughter. Bernice figured if Cecilia decided to run off with the handsome badger, she'd need a marriage choker seeing as a badger having a lapin marriage choker made would be a dead giveaway of what they were up to."
Patty-Mae's jaw went slack, then she exclaimed, "Bernice did that!? She didn't care if her daughter ran off with a badger!? A predator?"
Judy shook her head. "Bernice was a third wife and didn't like how rabbit does were treated in the community. She'd seen firstpaw how well Tyrel's dad treated his mom, along with the freedom female predators were given by their mates. Bernice wanted that same kind of devotion and freedom for Cecilia that was shown to the female predators in town." With her voice dropping to a mere whisper, Judy's mind returned to the marriage choker Bernice had given Cecilia and added sadly, "Turns out, Tyrel and Cecilia didn't need the marriage choker after all."
Patty-Mae was quiet for a moment, then said, "And your grandma Cecilia gave it to you because she thought you might need it?"
Judy nodded. "She knew I had a lot of predator friends and assumed I'd follow in her footsteps and fall for one." A half smile touched her lips and she shrugged while saying, "I guess she was right."
Nodding, Patty-Mae said, "Even though specism has improved and inter-species relationships are gaining acceptance, a modern pred-prey marriage is still out of the question, so it's nice to know the old traditional wedding is still an option." At Judy's nod, Patty-Mae thought of the cabin Judy owned and added, "And I'm sure it's nice to know you have some place the two of you can disappear to for a while if things get rough. Or you just want some peace and quiet from your huge, loud, nosy family."
Judy chuckled while thinking about how a large number of her siblings thought they needed to put their nose in everyone else's business, nor did they believe in privacy (unless it was their own). "Yeah, we'll definitely need an escape from them if we want any peace and quiet." With a heavy sigh, her thoughts returned to her missing friend (hopefully still friend), and she added, "If I can even find Nick and if he'll even have me."
Patty-Mae gave Judy a sly smile. "Well, if he was willing enough to put his neck on the line for you when you were both attacked by a savage jaguar, and again when he willingly joined you in sneaking past a pack of gun-toting wolves, I'm sure he'll forgive you. He was probably speaking out of hurt and anger, but I'm sure he'll want to speak to you once his head cools down."
With another sigh, Judy said, "That's what Mandy said." With a shake of her head, Judy said, "Of course, Mandy thinks Nick's a hare and I don't even want to know how she'll react when she finds out he's a fox."
Patty-Mae's ears drooped. "Yeah, I can see that turning badly. Mandy is one of those rabbits that thinks we should only be dating our own species."
"Yeah. She thinks rabbits and hares are the most attractive creatures out there and can't see how a rabbit would look at anyone else." With a chuckle, she glanced at Patty-Mae, saying, "She's all about the long ears and small, cottony tail. She's always going on about this buck's ears or that buck's tail." With a giggle, Judy added, "Sometimes I wonder if she's dating a buck for himself or for his ears and tail."
Patty-chuckled in return, as she could see Judy's point. Looking up at the barn they'd stopped at, the tan and black doe turned back to Judy and said, "Well, we're here. Now, should we go look at those birds?"
With a wide grin as her nose and tail twitched in excitement at the prospect of finally getting to see the birds, Judy said excitedly, "Yes. Let's."
FYI: The Jaguarundi is a very unusual cat, with a long slender body, shorter legs and a small flattened head with short rounded ears. This wild cat of South America, Mexico, and the American southwest, is often described as having a weasel-like appearance and is sometimes referred to as the 'otter-cat'. The Jaguarundi is closely related to the puma and is about twice as big as a housecat. They have some of the most variable colorations of wildcats with two main groups: a dark morph which ranges from black, brownish and greys and a paler red morph ranging from tawny yellow to a bright chestnut red. The darker morph is more often found in the wet jungle areas, while the lighter red morph is more often found in the drier climates.
Badgers: There are several species of badgers, and I'm basing Tyrel off the American Badger, the only badger in the western hemisphere. They have a dark and white face with a white stripe that starts at their nose and flows back down their neck and stops about their shoulders. Like all badgers, they have strong jaws, short powerful legs, and long front claws and are excellent diggers.
Rabbit Epidemic: For those of you who were wondering, the epidemic that wiped out a large number of rabbits in my story has nothing to do with the current coronavirus that is hitting us worldwide. There are actually a lot of different diseases and parasites that hit wild and domestic rabbit populations. The one in my story is based off the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) which was first recorded in the 1980's and spread through much of Eurasia, before jumping to Australia and devastating rabbit populations there. A new strain (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2—RHDV2) emerged in France in 2010 and finally reached North America in 2018. Both the original strain and the new one are extremely infectious and remain in the environment up to 3 months. The new strain has decimated up to 60-70% of the wild population of rabbits in several areas.
WingedKatt here. I hope you enjoyed the long chapter. I'm going to hopefully finish up Tuesday (in story) in two more chapters so we can start on Wednesday. We'll see, though. In the next chapter, we'll see what Shaylee gets up to while waiting for Judy to arrive home. Expect more plotting to get Nick to realize his true feelings for Judy. In the meantime, Judy will finally get to look at Patty-Mae's emus and hopefully pick one out.
Chapter 12: Video Debut, will post in 2 weeks. I hope you all stay safe and if you have any thoughts or comments, l would love to hear them.