Shaylee returned to her jeep and hopped in. After greeting her siblings and cousins, she pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the rodeo grounds. While driving, she sat mostly unaware of the chatter going on around her as her mind was on her missing sister and the fact Judy hadn't bothered to check her phone this morning. How long would it be before Judy figured out Nick had called? What would her response be when she found out?

This thought had her smiling, but then she remembered Mandy and several of her brothers who liked to cause trouble. Glancing over, she asked, "Have any of you seen Daryl, Roger, Billy, or Jerry this morning?" These four seemed to be the likeliest to get an early start on driving Nick from town so Shaylee wanted to keep tabs on them.

"I don't think Jerry has gotten up yet," her dark-gray brother Ben said with a twitch of one of his black ears. He had been looking up some things on his phone, but at Shaylee's question, he had glanced up to answer. He was curious about her question, seeing as Shaylee didn't get along really well with the brothers she had just mentioned. Shaylee disliked bullies, whether or not they were related to her.

With a nod, Aaron replied, "Yeah, Jerry likes to sleep in late, but I did see Daryl slip out earlier this morning. Roger and Billy were with him." Aaron was a brown and white buck and had been watching Ben's phone. But with a tilt of his head, he glanced up curiously at his sister sitting in front of him as she drove the jeep towards the rodeo grounds.

Melanie twitched her white nose, saying, "I didn't see them leave, but I certainly heard them leave. Daryl's truck is so loud! How does it not hurt his ears!" With a shudder, she slapped her white paws over her black ears.

Shaylee shook her head as she mumbled under her breath, "Figures they'd already be up to no good." With a soft snort, she added, "Good thing Nick hid his car."

Her siblings and cousins gave her an odd look, then Brandi waved one of her creamy paws through the air and asked, "What do you mean?" followed by Melanie's question, "Yeah, and who is Nick?"

Aaron was sitting behind Shaylee, and at Brandi and Melanie's questions, he reached forward and flicked Shaylee's gray ear. "Ooh," he teased, "did you get yourself a new boyfriend?"

Shaylee flicked her ear out of reach of her brother's teasing paw and said, "No." Studying her brothers in the rearview mirror, Shaylee knew Ben and Aaron weren't specist like Mandy, Daryl and the others. Aaron even had a pretty, little pica girlfriend. Glancing over at Melanie, she knew her cousin once dated a prairie dog. Although the relationship didn't go anywhere, the two were still friends. Her sister Brandi was engaged to a tall black-tailed jackrabbit. And as for Marty—Marty had decided long ago that Judy was his favorite cousin because of how bold and daring she was.

Since Nick was going to need more support in the family than just herself, Shaylee figured these five would be a good choice to bring over to the 'Get Judy and Nick Together Fan Club.' With a wide grin, she added, "Nick's already taken."

"Oh?" Brandi murmured. "Do we know the girl?"

Shaylee gave a nod and said smugly, "He belongs to Judy."

The silence in the jeep could be cut with a knife. Then Brandi reached around Melanie to grab Shaylee's arm and exclaimed, "Judy has a boyfriend!"

"No way!" Ben exclaimed immediately after. "There's no way Judy has a boyfriend."

"Yeah!" Aaron yelled. "Judy never has time for boys." Shaking his paws in denial, he added, "And besides, if she really had a boyfriend, do you think she'd let mom keep sending her out on all those stupid blind dates?"

Shaylee shrugged. "Well, it's not official. She met him in Zootopia, and he really helped Judy on her case to prove she was a real cop, but then they had a fight over the stupid press conference she did and he walked out on her." With a twitch of her nose, she added, "They haven't seen each other since."

"Why would he have a fight over her speech?" Brandi asked. "Is he like super pro-predator like Gazelle or something?" They had all seen the news coverage of Gazelle's rallies (she had several) to bring predator and prey back together.

Marty, who had been sitting quietly in the back, lost in thought, leaned forward between the seats. Pointing to his cousin Shaylee, he said, "Nick didn't fight with Judy because he's pro-predator—he fought with her because he is a predator . . . right?"

Glancing over her shoulder at her cousin, Shaylee nodded. Brandi and Melanie sat in shocked silence, even as Marty sat back and turned to slug Ben sitting next to him. "Ha!" he laughed, even as Ben grabbed his arm, yelling, "Ouch!"

Shaking his finger at both his cousins, Marty laughed again, saying, "Ha! I told you Judy would fall for a predator!" Punching Ben's shoulder again, he added, "I told you, didn't I?!" Hitting his cousin a third time, which brought another "Ouch" from Ben, Marty repeated, "I told you!" Pointing to Ben first, and then Aaron, he added, "You both owe me twenty bucks for losing the bet!"

Ben and Aaron both groaned. Marty had made this stupid bet with them years ago and they had long forgotten about it, but obviously, Marty hadn't. The bet started after Judy began college and Bonnie and a few of their sisters started hooking Judy up on blind dates in the hope some lucky buck might catch her eye and convince her to drop her criminal law courses in favor of getting married. Marty thought it was a pipe dream of Aunt Bonnie as he was convinced Judy wouldn't want anyone who didn't have sharp teeth and claws, seeing as all her best friends were predators (Sharla, with a few others, being an exception). Ben and Aaron had teased him mercilessly about his crazy idea—what rabbit would fall for a predator!? But now it was Marty doing all the laughing . . . at them.

Turning back to Shaylee, Marty excitedly asked, "So what species did she fall for? Was it a bobcat or an ocelot? Or maybe a black footed cat?" A family of black footed cats had moved into town a couple of years ago. Their species was native to Afurica and they were really small and cute for a feline. Looking at his dumbfounded cousins, he added, "Judy was always hanging out with one feline or another so I'm assuming she fell for a cat."

Shaylee met Marty's excited gaze in the rearview mirror, then chuckled. "Well, close, but no. Judy fell for a canid, specifically a red fox, if you can image that."

This did surprise Marty, along with everyone else in the jeep. "She's in love with a fox?" he asked. "Even after Gideon mauled her as a kit?"

Shaylee flicked her ear. "Judy never held it against foxes in general for what Gideon did to her. Furthermore, they were kits and he was a jerk. You don't have to look outside our family to find rabbits who are complete jerks as bad as Gideon ever was." She was thinking of Daryl and his group.

"Hey, is that why you were asking about Daryl and Jerry?" Ben asked. "Does that mean Nick has a nice car?" They knew Daryl, Jerry, Roger, and Billy were notorious for bullying predators, especially foxes, so they wouldn't hesitate to take one's car 'joy-riding' if they found out a fox had a nice one. And they were also pretty good at not getting caught for doing it.

These four had always been sneaky as kits, but Daryl had always been the leader and liked to plan out their 'raids,' whether it be stealing cookies from the cookie jar (and setting up one of their siblings to take the fall), borrowing something from someone without asking (siblings and neighbors alike), or pranking predators and prey from poorer families—Daryl saw it as a game to see how far he could go without getting caught.

The raids started simple enough but became more complicated as he got older and his character became more specist and mean-spirited. And with quite a few felines already living in town (with Judy being friends with a lot of them) and more canid's moving into town (all of which had good sniffers), Daryl had learned the art of using musk masking spray to hide his scent. He also like to strike in the early morning hours or after dark to further avoid detection.

Shaylee glanced at her brother in the rearview mirror again. Ben was a complete car buff and so cars of any kind interested him—but especially the classics. With a wide grin, she answered, "Nick has a beautiful, fully-restored, CLASSIC black convertible."

It wasn't just Ben's ears that perked up at Shaylee's statement, but he was the one who spoke first. "Really!? What kind of car is it?"

"Yeah!" Aaron agreed. Although not the classic car buff like his brother, he did have an eye and interest in muscle cars—past and present. "What year is it?" he asked excitedly.

Even Marty, who was more into birds and lizards, had his ears perked up in interest. Although he wasn't into cars like his cousins, he could appreciate a nice car as much as the next buck.

Melanie and Brandi had their interest piqued, as well. Even though they weren't into cars, they could always appreciate a beautiful convertible.

Tilting her head in thought, Shaylee tried to remember what Nick said about the car. "Let's see, Nick said the car was a 1970-something model and," she tapped her chin, "a Triumph something, I think." With a shrug, she added, "He told me at the park before I saw the car, so I can't remember exactly."

Ben leaned over the seat. "Did you say a 1970 Triumph—as in a Triumph TR6?"

Shaylee flicked her ear. "I think . . . maybe?" Shaking her head, she said, "I really can't remember. Once I saw the car, I started drooling over it, and Nick never said again what it was."

Ben sat back and immediately cleared his previous Zoogle search and started typing away. A moment later, he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned forward between the seats to show Shaylee his phone without her needing to take her eyes off the road for more than a second. "Is this what the car looks like?" There was a picture of a classic black convertible on his phone.

Shaylee glanced at it while keeping one eye on the road. With a flick of her ear, she said, "That's really close. I'm pretty sure that's the car, but maybe a different year."

Ben nodded, then sat back and changed the year of the car. Finding another black one from the images that popped up from his Zoogle search, he then showed it to Shaylee again.

Jabbing her finger at the phone in excitement, she yelled, "That's it! That's his car! He even has that reddish-orange stripe on his tires."

Ben sat back triumphantly at finding Nick's car. With a wide, bucktooth smile, he said, "A 1971 Triumph TR6. It's a British car and a true classic." Glancing up from the phone, he added, "You have to introduce me to Nick. I want to pick his brain about his car." Waving his paw in the air, he said, "Like I said, it's a British car, so just finding one here in Anamalia is nearly impossible, but then to be able to find parts to restore it—he has to have connections with mammals who have these old classic car parts. He might even know where I can get the parts to finish restoring my 1969 Ford Mustang Boss."

Reaching over the seat, Brandi held her paw out, saying, "Let me see. I want to know what Nick's car looks like." Ben pawed the phone over and watched as she and Melanie began ogling and drooling over the classic British convertible. Ben couldn't wait to see the car in person. The pictures were nice enough but didn't do the car just. You had to see the car in action (which he had after searching for it on YouTube). The British roadster was a two-seater, with a streamlined body and suspension to die for as it flew smoothly over the road at faster speeds, and yet seemed to glide effortlessly at lower speeds. It was a beautiful little sports car, one Ben couldn't wait to get behind the wheel of or under the hood.

Nudging his brother, Aaron said, "That's smart. If Nick's from Zootopia, he must know a lot of shops and parts places. Or know who to call to get the parts he needs." With his nose twitching in anticipation, he added, "He might even know a good mechanic that could show us what we're doing wrong. Having someone around who actually knows how to work on these old classics would be a big help."

Ben nodded, but then said, "I doubt he could convince a good mechanic to drive all the way down here just to help us rebuild my old clunker."

Aaron shrugged. "You never know. He might know a predator who needs some work, or, he might even be able to help us himself."

Ben frowned slightly about getting an unknown predator involved in the rebuild of his car, but then he perked up again at the idea Nick might be able to help. If he was able to catch Judy's attention and her heart, then he would give the todd the benefit of the doubt. His sister had sky-high standards, so any male she fell for had to be something special—and trustworthy.

Seeing Ben's interest at having Nick help, Aaron continued saying, "If Nick rebuilt his car, he might know how to get yours up and running." Aaron had been attempting to help his brother rebuild his mustang for almost two years now, but to no avail. There were several parts that still needed replaced and Ben was sure there was some tinkering that needed done on the parts they did get replaced. At any rate, another pair of eyes and paws would be nice.

While the girls were drooling over the pictures of the Triumph TR6 (they had even found a video of one in action), and Aaron and Ben were discussing the need to get another mammal involved, Marty leaned forward and asked an unsettling question that had popped into his mind. "How would Daryl or Roger know about Nick to even go looking for his car? I haven't heard anything about this fox showing up in Bunnyburrow, so how would the others know?"

Shaylee gave an irritated huff, then launched into a retelling of how she met the fox and Mandy's subsequent fit at finding out that Judy had fallen for a fox. She also told them about the pact she made with Mandy, one in which she was already regretting and had since recanted. At a few questions from her siblings and cousins, Shaylee explained about hiding Nick's car (she didn't tell them where they hid it), and how Nick had been trying to get a hold of Judy, but she wasn't answering her phone.

They all agreed to help Shaylee keep their siblings off Nick's back as much possible, then wondered when they could meet him. Brandi and Melanie were interested in meeting the male who finally caught Judy's attention and won her heart, Marty was excited to meet the predator who swept his daring cousin off her feet, and Ben and Aaron were excited about getting his help on Ben's car.

With a laugh, Shaylee explained that Nick would be by later to help with setting up the rodeo if Judy didn't call him first. This caught everyone's attention. Hearing how the fox wanted to help out increased their interest in him. They chatted a bit more about him as they neared the rodeo grounds, and then Shaylee got a ping on her phone notifying her about a text she received.

Shaylee pawed her phone over to Melanie, who was sitting in the seat between her and Brandi, "Will you check that for me? It might be Judy or Nick."

After Shaylee told her the code, Melanie unlocked the phone and pulled up her texting app. Seeing the name for the most recent text, Melanie's brow raised as she glanced at her cousin. "Hot Fox?" she asked.

Shaylee chuckled. "What? He is hot. And if Judy didn't already have dibs on him, I might think of pursuing him myself." With a shrug and twitch of her nose, she explained, "Nick's fun to be around and easy to talk to." Gripping the steering wheel excitedly, she added, "Oh, and can that fox sing! And he plays the guitar really well, too."

Brandi stared in disbelief at her sister for several heartbeats, then pointed at the grey bunny and exclaimed, "You want to date the fox now, too!?"

Shaylee shook her head. "I told you, he's Judy's, but after spending most of the afternoon with Nick yesterday and again last night, I think we have foxes all figured wrong. Nick is extremely loyal to Judy and risked his life to keep her alive three months ago, and now he's come back to fix what they both broke. I don't know a lot of bunnies who would be willing to do that, do you? Or many prey mammals for that matter." With another shrug and twitch of her ear while thinking how foxes were treated, she added, "Now it might be just Nick himself to do this sort of thing, but I'm inclined to think that more foxes would show this kind of loyalty if we gave them half a chance and a reason to."

Cocking her head and ignoring the looks her siblings and cousins gave each other (with the exception of Marty who was nodding in agreement), Shaylee then said, "Look how Gideon turned out. He's really nice and helpful now, and it's hard to believe what a specist bully he was for so many years, but I have to wonder if things would have been different if Daryl and Jerry and a bunch other rabbits and prey mammals hadn't bullied him so badly when he was little."

Brandi, Ben, and Aaron immediately felt guilty. Although they hadn't bullied the todd when they were younger (Gideon was a few years younger than they were), they had seen how some of their siblings and other prey mammals, and even a few of the predators, had ruthlessly bullied Gideon. At least, they did until he got big enough to bully back. Then he became a real terror to the smaller mammals around him. Melanie and Marty were quite a bit younger than the others, just a little older than Shaylee, so they hadn't seen Gideon being bullied himself, they only heard about the bullying he did to others. But hearing Shaylee's take on the situation, they readily agreed that it was a vicious cycle that was being perpetuated.

"Anyway," Shaylee said, "if more foxes are like Nick then I'm thinking I might want to get to know more of them."

This left her siblings with much to think about and Melanie finally thought to look down and read the text Nick, or, rather, Hot Fox, had sent her cousin. "Okay, so Nick says, 'Hey Shaylee, if your intention in making all these music videos of Judy was to get me to realize my feelings for her, then you succeeded. I'm now picturing Judy dressed in white as my bride and a couple of kits running about our feet. You have ruined me, rabbit. I hope you're happy.'"

Melanie's eyes widened and her nose began twitching incessantly at what she just read. Shaylee, on the other paw, just laughed and smacked the steering wheel with her palm. "Ha! I knew Nick had feelings for Judy! He wouldn't have done all the things he did for her if he didn't. He just needed a good nudge to figure it out for himself." Taking a deep breath, she added, "Now if Judy will just answer her stupid phone—or at least check her messages—she won't have to be depressed anymore. She can meet with Nick, she'll know for sure that he doesn't hate her, and they can both move on from the past and start living their future."

Melanie stared at the phone for a minute, then up at Shaylee, then back down at the phone, still trying to take in the crazy text message that Nick had sent her cousin. Brandi found her voice first, asking, "You think Nick is going to marry Judy? You think Judy wants to marry the fox?"

Shaylee met her sister's shocked gaze for a moment, then said, "Well, I can't say a hundred percent about Nick, he'll need to spend more time with Judy to fully get his mind wrapped around the idea of being with her, but I'm sure Judy has marriage in mind."

It was Marty who piped up next, "Judy never does anything halfway, so if she fell for Nick, marriage is the only thing on her mind, especially if Nick shares her feelings." Pointing to Shaylee's phone, he added, "Which he obviously does."

"But can they even get married?" Melanie asked, with a chorus of 'Yeahs' from Ben and Aaron, even as Shaylee raised her brow. "I mean, with them being predator and prey, do you think their marriage will even get approved?"

Shaylee took a deep breath and shrugged. "I did wonder about that, but I'm sure Judy will think of something—she always does."

"Well," Marty said, "with Nick being a fox, they have a tradition where they claim their mates, so there's always that." His sister and cousins perked their ears up and looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "What!?" he asked. "Predators are a lot of fun, so I made friends with some foxes." Pointing to his grey cousin, he added, "And Shaylee's right. Foxes are extremely loyal if you prove your worth and can gain their trust." Raising his finger, he added, "Which isn't easy, considering how despicably most mammals treat them."

Nodding, Shaylee rotated her ears towards her cousin and asked excitedly, "They have a tradition of claiming mates?! How does that work?"

Marty shook his head. "Foxes consider claiming a mate an almost sacred act, so I couldn't get any details about the ceremony, but I do know that once they claim or take a mate there's no going back. It's a done deal: you're stuck with that mammal till the end of time, so you better make it count."

"Wow," Shaylee murmured as her mind started thinking more strongly about finding her own foxy boyfriend. She hadn't been lying when she said she thought Nick was someone worth pursuing.

Brandi and Melanie looked at each other, and then Brandi said in a small voice. "So, I take it divorce isn't something a fox will ever consider." Brandi had been married once, but after being married four years and only producing three small litters (she only had five kits between the three), her husband decided to divorce her for a younger model who could give him the large family he was hoping for (at least that was his excuse). It had taken Brandi a long time before she could trust her heart to another male, and she was taking her time with her current boyfriend to make sure he'd actually stick around this time.

Ben and Aaron's interests were also piqued. Aaron had been left at the altar by his fiancé years ago, and it really messed him up, especially since his fiancé ran off with another buck. He was just now getting back into the whole dating scene, but he no longer trusted his heart to another rabbit. Instead, he decided to look outside their species, which is how he found his pretty, little pica girlfriend. Her name was Sasha and she was a true gem. Ben had been married once before, too, but his wife left him before their first anniversary. But she didn't leave of her own accord—she was taken from him by a drunk driver, along with their nine kits. He never had remarried. Instead, he'd thrown his time and energy into helping out on the farm and restoring old cars.

Answering his cousin's question, Marty said, "Marriage for foxes is more of a social institution for tax purposes, insurance, parental rights of kits, and whatnot. Claiming a mate is what they're most concerned with. And yeah, you can't divorce yourself from it or your chosen partner." With a wave of his paw, Marty continued, saying, "Needless to say, foxes are usually older and more mature when they finally take a mate."

With her full interest focused on her cousin as she pulled into the large, dirt field they were using as a parking lot for the rodeo, Shaylee asked, "So do foxes have long courtships or something?"

Marty held his paw up flat and wobbled it back and forth. "Eh, it depends on the species. Some foxes have longer ones, and some will play the field while they're looking, but once they've made a choice and performed the rite of claiming a mate—the Claiming Ceremony—it's final." Gripping the back of the seat while leaning forward, he added, "Now if we're talking about red foxes, though, I've heard they're really picky about who they even date. Some of my fox friends said that for red foxes, they won't claim a mate unless they imprint on them first."

"Imprint?" Melanie asked, flabbergasted. She'd never even heard of the word, and by the looks of her cousins, neither had they.

Marty nodded as his nose twitched. "Yeah, it's something unique to red foxes and has to do with forming some kind of instinctual, emotional, psychological bond or something. I was hearing it second-hand so I'm not a hundred percent sure what my friend was talking about, but I heard that it usually happens pretty fast. It might take them years of looking to find the right one, but once they do, they usually know within a month of meeting and spending time together, some even knowing within a week of meeting their mates." With a shrug, he repeated, "Like I said, for red foxes, finding and claiming a mate is mor of an instinctual thing."

Shaylee pulled into a parking spot and put the jeep in park but didn't kill the engine. Thinking back to when she was talking to Nick at the park yesterday, she muttered, "I wonder if that's why Nick said he needed to spend more time with Judy before he could decide on how he felt about her." Nick had known Judy a few days. Had he started imprinting on her and their fight after the press conference derailed it?

"What do you mean?" Melanie asked.

Shaylee shook her head. "It's nothing." Taking her phone back from her cousin, Shaylee looked again at the text Nick had sent her. Remembering how Nick reacted to watching that video of Judy last night, and then reading his text after he watched the music videos of Judy, it strengthened Shaylee's guess that Nick had started imprinting on Judy four months ago when he was helping her find all those missing mammals. He had been heartbroken when describing what it felt like to see Judy so scared of him. Maybe his coming here to Bunnyburrow was more of his instincts whispering to him to chase down his missing mate and less about needing to move on with his life.

Rereading the text again, Shaylee knew the videos wouldn't have had this strong of an impact on the red todd if he wasn't already feeling something for Judy. He just needed a bit more time spent with her for the process of imprinting to be complete. It was a thought anyways, a thought for another time. Pocketing her phone and turning her jeep off, she glanced at her cousins and siblings, saying, "Well, shall we get started? The rodeo isn't going to set itself up as dad would say."

A light chuckle traveled through the jeep and then the rabbits piled out of the vehicle and headed towards the grounds where a lot of their siblings and cousins were already busy at work.

-/-/-

Daryl and his brothers watched Gideon open his bakery up, but they didn't immediately cross the street and enter. They remained sitting across the street until the joint was nearly full with customers trying out the pelt's surgery treats. Since this was a reconnaissance mission, they didn't want to stand out, so they waited a bit before entering enemy territory.

Stepping through the door, a heavenly sweet smell hit their noses, even as a noisy din hit their ears as quite a few mammals had bought one surgery treat or another and were sitting around talking as they ate their high-calorie, naturally flavored breakfast treats. Daryl snorted. No matter how good the food smelled or possibly tasted, a filthy pelt had made it so there was no way he was going to touch the food. His brothers silently agreed with him as they followed him to an empty table in the back.

Sitting down, they looked around trying to blend in while waiting to get a glimpse of their sister's unnatural love interest. Daryl personally thought she'd lost her mind for having fallen for a fox, and not just any fox, but a city fox where predators were going savage left and right. Judy had always been a strange one, but this was just too much, even for her. Daryl couldn't save Judy from herself when she was pursuing her dream of being a big city cop which nearly got her killed (she had been hospitalized while trying to break up a protest), but he would sooner roll in cassowary droppings than sit back and let his little sister chase after a filthy pelt—a predator who could go savage and eat her at the drop of a hat.

As it was, the only mammal they saw besides the customers was the filthy ferret, Travis, who was taking everyone's orders. Daryl and his brothers didn't talk much while they waited, as they were mostly listening for any gossip they could catch about the new fox in town. After a while, their patience was rewarded as the fox in question came out of the kitchen carrying a tray full of pastries. He was dressed in blue jeans and a light-blue shirt with a slight V-neck. He was also wearing one of Gideon's striped, pink aprons.

Daryl scowled at seeing the red todd, Nick, while his brothers' jaws went slack at seeing the difference this city fox had from the country fox they were used to seeing. Other than their red coats and bushy tails, the two foxes couldn't be more different. Not only was the city fox taller and leaner than his country cousin, he carried himself with an air of confidence and charm that Gideon could never achieve.

As Nick began restocking the shelves with the fresh goods, Alan, a white tail deer with a nice rack, spoke up and, in a friendly manner, asked who the new help was.

Travis introduced the red todd as Nick Wilde, a friend who was staying with Gideon for a week or so. Nick waved and asked how the deer was enjoying his food, then glanced around the room. His deep emerald gaze landed on Daryl for a split second, then continued scanning the other customers before he retreated back through the swinging door into the kitchen.

As he watched the door swing shut behind the todd, Daryl's thoughts were interrupted as his brother Billy leaned over to mutter, "Well, I can kinda see why Judy fell for the filthy pelt. She's always had a weird thing for predators, and Nick is lean like her. I bet he's a good runner, too."

Jerry nodded while saying, "And did you see how tall he is!? Judy was never interested in someone she couldn't look up to."

Daryl rolled her eyes. "Judy was never into any males."

"Exactly!" Jerry said with a bob of his head. "Anyone who tried hitting on her was no taller than she was. The only time she seemed to enjoy a male's company was when she was hanging out with one of her tall cat friends."

Daryl had to concede the point, but it didn't make him feel any better about his sister's bizarre fascination with the red todd. If anything, it made him think even less of the city fox. Daryl was sure the pelt had somehow swindled their sister into liking him.

They didn't hang around much longer as they weren't planning on starting any trouble here, at least not with so many eyewitnesses. They wanted to learn more about the fox's habits before making a move. If not for Shaylee's threat, they could just wait for him to walk down some dark alley, but Shaylee made that impossible—at least in the daytime. Nighttime would be a better time to mug the pelt if it came to that—fewer chances of being seen, and therefore caught.

After leaving the bakery and its stench of fox musk mixed in with the sweet smell of pies and pastries (a scent that had him gagging), Daryl led Roger and Billy over to the Sheriff's office. With the stinking fox being from the city, he was sure to have a rap sheet. If the fox had a long enough one, or bad enough one, Daryl figured he could probably convince the Sheriff himself to run the pelt out of town. Save everyone a lot of trouble.

Walking into the Sheriff Station, Daryl looked around and nodded to the fallow deer and bobcat deputies on duty, even as Billy waved and said 'hi'. Stepping up to the counter, he looked up at Paul, the fallow deer deputy, and informed him he needed to see the Sheriff. After assuring the two deputies that nothing was wrong, that he merely had a quick question, Paul waved him back to the Sheriff's office, even as he hit a button on his desk phone to let the sheriff know he had company.

Daryl left Roger and Billy chatting with the two deputies, even as he walked down the short walkway and popped his head through the open door. The Sheriff, an older mule deer named Bob who had an impressive 8-point rack, met Daryl's gaze and waved him in. Stepping into the office and sitting in the chair opposite the deer buck, he said, "Morning, Sheriff."

"Well, Daryl, what can I do for you today?" Bob knew most of the Hopps' boys, but especially Daryl as he seemed to always be in the thick of trouble when he was younger. He was either accusing someone of starting trouble or being accused. But the Sheriff hadn't seen the rabbit buck for a while now, so he was curious as to why he was here. And so early in the morning, too.

Daryl leaned back in the chair and said, "I want you to look someone up for me."

With a raised brow, the Sheriff said, "Well, I don't know about that Daryl. I need a reason to look someone up. Who is it you want me to look into and what do you think he's done?"

Daryl flicked his ear as his nose started twitching at the thought of the pelt who'd suckered his head-strong sister into liking him. "His name is Nick Wilde, a new red fox in town."

The Sheriff frowned. "Well, Daryl, that's not really a reason to look into his past."

With a wave of his paw, Daryl explained, "He's a single fox from Zootopia and he's staying with Gideon for the time being. I just want to make sure we're not inviting a drug runner or a murdering thug into our peaceful community."

Bob frowned a moment longer. He'd heard about Gideon introducing a friend around town that would be staying with him for a while, but Bob hadn't realized the new todd was from Zootopia. With a shrug, Bob turned to his computer screen. He hadn't heard any complaints yet about the fox, but Daryl did have a point. And if the fox was innocent his record would show it. Punching in the name, he waited a moment, then scanned the list that popped up. There were several Wildes living in Zootopia, but only one named Nick. "Is that a Nicholas P. Wilde?" he asked the buck in front of him.

Daryl waved his paw. "I didn't catch more than Nick Wilde, but I think he might be in his late twenties, if that helps any."

Bob leaned forward to get a better look at the small print on his screen. After studying the todd's birth date, he said, "Well, this todd seems to be in his early 30's."

Daryl nodded. "It's probably him."

With a flick of his large ear, Bob clicked on the name and then read what popped up. "Well, if we have the right todd, then it looks like he was arrested twice," (Daryl's ears perked up and a smug smirk crossed his face), "but it doesn't look like he was ever charged with anything."

Daryl's hopeful smirk disappeared as he asked, "You mean they were dropped?"

Bob shook his head. "No, I mean he was never charged with anything." Clicking on a link, he then added, "I can't even see why they brought him in." With a shake of his head and impressive rack, he said, "Well, it looks like your city fox has a clean record. No assaults, no drug possession or selling, and no thefts—he has . . . nothing." Clicking another link, he added, "The last arrest was almost ten years ago, so I'd say your fox has been keeping himself squeaking clean since then."

Daryl wore a scowl again. He was sure he'd be able to get the Sheriff to solve their pelt problem, but it was a no-go. How the fox kept himself out of the system was beyond him. Maybe that's how he fooled Judy—with no record, she must have assumed the pelt kept his nose clean and above the law. Judy was naïve enough that she might get duped that way.

With a shake of his head, he stood up and thanked the Sheriff. After shaking the rabbit buck's paw, Bob leaned back in his chair and asked, "You don't look pleased. Is there something I should know?"

Daryl almost told him the fox was looking for Judy, but if he said anything the Sheriff would probably call Judy himself to learn the facts about the fox and how they knew each other. Pushing the thought down, Daryl flicked his ear, saying, "After what Gideon did to Judy when they were kits, I just don't want another violent red fox in town."

Bob clasped his hooves together in front of him, then said, "I can understand your concern, but I don't think we'll have a problem with him. At least, I haven't heard any complaints about him yet."

Daryl merely nodded, then turned and walked out the door. As he met Billy and Roger still chatting with the deputies, he gave them a slight head shake at their questioning gaze. Realizing their coming here had been fruitless, they left the Sheriff's station a bit dejected. Since they couldn't count on the law to help them drive the fox from town, they had to fall back on their high school pranks, which meant they had to figure out which ones they could use without getting themselves in trouble.

-/-/-

Nick busied himself in the kitchen learning from a master how to bake pies and artfully make pastries. When he had taken a tray out earlier, he was sure he'd seen Judy's specist brothers whom Shaylee had mentioned the day before. There were three of them, and they were the only mammals in the joint who were sitting at a table, but who had refused to buy, eat, or drink a single thing. And the hard, sullen stare they were giving him was one he knew all too well. It was the look of a mammal who hated his species and would like nothing better than to disfigure his face and rearrange his organs.

Still having no way to contact Judy (he had called again, but now, instead of ringing first, it went straight to voicemail which made him think Judy forgot to charge her phone before she went to sleep the previous night and it was now dead), and seeing as three of her most specist brothers were already here and scoping out the place made him eternally grateful that he'd had the foresight to hide his car last night.

When he later took a tray of pies out to restock the display counter, Nick was only partially grateful to see them gone. He preferred keeping them in sight, then they couldn't sneak up on him. As it was, who knew what awful plans they were devising to run him out of town—and probably humiliate and demean him in the process.

With a shake of his head to try and rid his mind of the unwanted thoughts, and more so, the unwanted memories associated with them, Nick returned to the kitchen where Gideon was already packing up his pies and pastries for delivery. Stepping up to help, they quickly loaded his van, then he informed Travis they were heading out and they would be back later.

With his hope of Judy calling him anytime soon fading, Nick figured his next best shot would be to meet with her parents at the rodeo grounds and see what help he could offer. If he did a good enough job, they might just invite him home to meet Judy. It was probably a slim hope, but if Shaylee was there to vouch for him, then maybe it could happen.

Grabbing his Stetson off the hook by the door, Nick hurried outside and hopped in the passenger seat of Gideon's delivery truck. Although he was looking forward to meeting more of the citizens of Bunnyburrow, and thoroughly looking forward to learning more about the rodeo as he helped set everything up, he couldn't get Judy out of his head. The music videos this morning had planted quite a few ideas in his head regarding the energetic ball of fluff, but he still needed to see her to know if what he was feeling and thinking were real or just the heat of the moment. He really hoped he would be able to see Judy tonight.

FYI: A Black-Footed Cat, also called the Small-spotted Cat, is native to southern Africa and is the smallest cat on the African continent, measuring between 35-52 cm or 14-20 inches. It has a tawny coat with bold black markings on its face and black spots that blend together to form stripes on its body, legs, and tail. And contrary to its name, only the soles of its feet are black or dark brown.

Fallow Deer is a smaller deer species with its antlers looking like they are a cross between deer antlers and moose antlers. They typically retain their white fawn spots into adult, but there are 4 coat color variations: the Common color is chestnut with white mottled spots and a white neck and belly. The Menil coat coloring has more pronounced spots and no black around its white rump patch. There is a Melanistic (black) coat with no spots or white rump patch. And Leucistic (white) coat also has no spots. The fawns are born cream colored and then fade to white as an adults. Fallow deer were originally native to Europe but have since been introduced across the globe.

For those of you interested in seeing the Triumph TR6 in action, with a helpful and funny review, here's two YouTube videos to watch. Just search for: James May Full Review of Triumph TR6 Blokiest Bloke Car Ever, and then, Truimph TR6 Rally-Wheeler Dealers.

WingedKatt here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next time, Judy will end up hustling her mom while Nick makes it to the rodeo grounds to offer his help.

Next: Ch. 18: Hustles and Rules of a Good Con, will post in two weeks. I hope you have a great week. Stay safe. If you have any thoughts or questions, let me know.