Chapter 51: Departure

Judy still as she lay in her bed pondered her sister's words about her relationship with Nick. On the one hand Suzanne was right to wait until the moment of departure on the platform, then she would avoid an argument between them, and they would have to talk about it themselves. In two days Judy would be leaving anyway, so she was sure she could stand not to say a word about it, even though talking to her sister had teased her and encouraged her to discuss the subject. Talking to Suzanne gave her a lot of relief, she finally felt lighter not having to suffocate the thought only in her head. She knew Suzanne wouldn't tell anyone, she could feel it. She saw a glint in her eye that told her this, gave her a guarantee of it. Her sister herself had reacted rather mildly to this news. Yes, she was shocked by what she heard, but she didn't seem angry, or what would have been worse - disappointed. That was what Judy was afraid of - letting her parents down. She knew that they were probably already proud of her anyway (after all, she had fulfilled her dreams and even more than she had assumed), but knowing their stereotypical life (especially her father), one could deduce that he would have a hard time digesting the subject of a relationship with a fox.

"First of all, I have to find Nick," Judy thought. There was still not a single trace of Nick that suggested where he might be. The police are making no progress on the case and the kidnapper is starting to play boldly with them, so how can the officers make headway? Judy knew she would have to tackle the case herself, otherwise the mystery would remain unsolved.

After quite a bit of thought, Judy checked the time on her alarm clock - it indicated 1.00 a.m. The doe turned over to the other side of the bed then fell fast asleep.

Two days later, the day had finally come - Judy could return to Zootopia so that she could begin again to solve the mystery of the mysterious kidnappings in the Foxy Quarter. Doe had been waiting for this for several days - she missed that mysterious atmosphere that made her day not boring, but contained some sort of twist all the time. It was hard for her to get used to the boring home life, where nothing was done, and if anything was done, it was just reading books or watching TV. Quite soon she realised that this was not the life for her, it was too slow, linear and just plain boring. Life as an officer was maybe much more dangerous, but it was interesting and dynamic!

Bonnie, on the occasion that their daughter would be leaving the family house once again (and she would be back at some unknown time, most probably around the holidays), had prepared some really tasty dishes for dinner to say goodbye to her Judy. She got up the earliest of all to cook first thing in the morning in time for the midday meal. Everyone got up quite early that day as everything had to be prepared in advance (crockery, table set, dress smartly etc), the doe train to Zootopia was due at 4.00 p.m. and the next train wasn't until 11.00 p.m. so it would be a good idea to arrive on time at the train platform.

Judy, on the other hand, was in no hurry to get out of her room. After waking up around 9.30 a.m., she wanted to be alone with her thoughts for a while. All the time thoughts about the conversation on the platform were running through her head, she imagined in her mind how it might look. She came up with different scenarios that could come true. Most of them were based on the fact that her parents would accuse her of making a big mistake by being in a relationship with a fox, which stressed her out even more, she saw no other way for this conversation to go. She finally broke through to get up and say hello one last time to her family during her unscheduled stay with them.

Leaving the room she walked to the stairs leading to the ground floor of the house leaning against their frame, she saw most of her siblings who had been up for a long time preparing the table for dinner. Everyone dressed, active, alive made Judy feel a little silly for being the oldest of them and getting up last and looking like she was further in bed in her mind. Everyone who noticed the doe by the stairs greeted her, to which she waved her hand at them while yawning. Maybe there was something in the fact that she looked as if she was still in her soft bed in her mind. A moment later Judy felt a touch on her left shoulder, she turned behind her to see Suzanne, who most likely like her was just getting out of bed.

"I see I'm not the only one who just got up" said Judy seeing Suzanne straightening up. Her sister laughed modestly leaning against the railing as did Judy.

"I wanted to sleep longer. Have you thought about it at all? You know, that about Nick?" Suzanne asked.

"Yes...you don't even know how much I thought about it, after our last conversation I practically think about it all the time" replied Judy.

"And what have you come to?"

"I think I'll do as you said. It will be the best solution," replied Judy. They talked about it quite quietly so that no one would accidentally hear about it, it would certainly be the last thing Judy would want, a third person was unnecessary for this topic. It seemed that the rest of the intermediaries were not ready for him...

"Suzanne! You're finally up, go into the living room and set out the plates!" cried Boonie from downstairs. She was standing under the stairs but when she noticed Judy standing next to Suzanne, she dodged up the stairs with her younger daughter and stood next to Judy burbling something under her breath most likely something about Suzanne.

"How did you sleep last night?" Boonie asked.

"Quite well. I wanted to lie down a little longer, but I'm not used to resting that long," laughed Judy.

"I expect so daughter. City life must be very stressful"

" It's not quite like that. It's just that life in the city is so much faster, there's no time to take a break like here in the village..." Judy replied. Bonnie must have interpreted that a little differently because she muttered quietly and nodded with a movement of her head.

"Are you going to go back to work straight away? You should still be a little..."

"Mom, the police need me, and we know it. I can't rest any longer...the situation isn't getting interesting, it's getting out of control and I'm most likely the only one who can do something about it. " Judy interrupted quickly. Her firm voice made it clear that what she was saying was a certainty, so Bonnie didn't want to challenge her opinion.

"Well...if you think so. Get cleaned up, and changed. Dinner should be ready by now, and then we'll drive you to the station," Bonnie replied. She left Judy alone, who also went downstairs to take a relaxing bath.

While in the bath, Judy thought again about what she wanted to say to her parents, or rather how she wanted to say it. She didn't want to hide the truth, rather she wanted to present it in a light-hearted way that didn't require drastic and extreme emotion that added to her parents' shock. She contrived to say it in an indirect way, safe enough for her, so that she could drive away from the station in peace without any further questions. She did not want to argue with them at the farewell, but everything was already agreed. They were going to find out everything already that afternoon, the sooner the better. While bathing in the warm water and the gentle foam, the doe felt a sense of relief and relaxation that made the thoughts of confessing the truth not seem so terrible. After all, a relationship is a part of life, and one should finally do it right?

After her bath, Judy changed into a fairly everyday outfit of a white sweatshirt with dark sweatpants. Most of the clothes she took were her older sister's, who was a similar size to her, just as Judy had moved out, only to another house in the countryside, married to a rabbit called Max. For Bonnie and Stu he was immediately to their liking, so there was no problem to discuss the wedding and related things. The doe wiped her grey-white body then put on her clothes and left the bathroom to go to dinner, which, as Mum had promised, was all ready.

The distinctive smells of the food had already spread throughout the house, so everyone knew that it was time to sit down together at the table to eat dinner for the last time until Sister Judy's next arrival. It was classic to have to wait several minutes before the youngest, those with the most energy, could calm down to eat in peace. This always annoyed the older ones, but they must have forgotten how they themselves behaved in a similar way. Judy did not mind their behaviour, after all, childhood should be enjoyed as much as possible, whatever it might be. Finally, when they were all seated peacefully at the table, Bonnie brought several dishes to the long table in the living room, which not only smelled good, but looked good too! Bonnie always knew how to bring a kind of charm to her dishes that made the food so appealing that it could be eaten with just a glance. And if a dish looked so colourful, it couldn't, it had no right to taste worse.

The first to get access to the dishes was Judy, who let the others go before her, herself explaining that she was not very hungry. Most were tempted by the vegetable soup, which consisted of vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, potatoes, celery and corn. It was quite an original dish, but most of the family liked it, even though hardly anyone wanted to eat it the first time. Judy classically took a few spoonfuls of her favourite salad, which was made especially for her or for Christmas. From time to time Suzanne and Judy would give each other communicative glances that only they understood fortunately. It was evident from Suzanne that she cared that Judy was somehow able to successfully come to an agreement about her life partner, although she knew it would not be an easy task despite this, she feared that seterotypes about foxes would take over. She herself was also not entirely happy that her sister wanted to be with a fox, but she couldn't help it. Last night she had wondered what it might be like with a fox, she had never had close contact with a fox, a few times with Gideon in her youth, but it had never been a pleasant conversation. Usually when they had a dialogue with each other they just argued. Mostly because of this she developed a kind of loathing for foxes.

After dinner was over, it was time for Judy to leave for Zootopia to deal with the Fox Quarter issue. Classically Judy took some time to say goodbye to everyone, hugging everyone took some time, most with the little ones who like pinchers did not give up easily to get away from their big sister. Judy spent the most time cuddling with Suzanne, who used the brief moment to wish her well.

"That you succeed in convincing your parents and finding Nick," Suzanne said quietly into Judy's tender ear. The sisters smiled slightly at each other and then hugged one last time.

"Come on Judy, we have to catch the train" said Stu. Judy said goodbye to everyone one last time, then put on her boots and winter jacket and left the flat with her parents.