Judy tried to text Nick every fifteen minutes or so, hoping that he wasn't going to panic too much about the time between them. Then again, that might have been too much to hope for seeing as his response to her telling him to 'just stay calm' was 'sure, cause a drug filled duffle bag in the back of a pickup is a safe place for a bunny.' Thankfully, after having passed through what sounded like several small towns it finally seemed that they were stopping. Judy heard the pickup stop by one house and then another, each time dropping off one of the deer. During these stops she had managed to get a fix on her location; they were in the northern woods in a small town called Low Timber. Judy forwarded this to Nick, who had been waiting at a gas station for an update as to where he was going next. As she confirmed with Nick about where he needed to go, the truck pulled up to yet another stop. Taking a break from her texting Judy carefully listened to what was going on outside. The truck door opened and the last one apparently walked out, although it seemed that he was trying to walk as quietly as possible.
Is he trying to sneak inside? Judy mused to herself. Perhaps there is someone that he lives with that doesn't approve of his 'poor life choices'? The answer to that question was forthcoming, and loud.
"BUCK! I TOLD YOU TO GET HOME BEFORE SEVEN!" Judy heard a muffled curse under the deer's breath. Apparently, this is what he was trying to sneak past.
"Mable… You know how long it takes to get to and from the city, besides, look at all the mon-"
"I don't give a hoot about how much cash you and them boys are raking in! You know how I feel about you selling drugs!"
"Mable, I told you that this is on-"
"Temporary! Oh yeah sure, I remember what you said! This has been a 'temporary' job for the last three years hasn't it eh?! You said that as soon as you had enough money to pay for a farm that you'd do it! Well, it sure seems to me based on the fancy clothes that you been buying me and that fancy truck that you ought to have more than enough money by now! So how about it eh? You gonna buy a farm or aren't you?"
A long silence hung in the air, Judy was sure that 'Buck' must have been looking at the ground as she heard him dig his hoof into the dirt.
"Alright Mable, you got me. I'll tell you what, this is going to be my last trip and then I'm through."
"Do you really mean that Buck, or are you just saying that to get me off your back?"
"I mean it, and if I'm a liar you have every right to leave me." Once again the silence hung in the air thick with intensity. Judy decided to use the drama outside to her advantage, texting Nick all of the information about Buck that she could. Nick didn't seem too happy with what she had given him to go on.
You're telling me that I am supposed to find Buck just by knowing that he 'has a fancy truck' and a wife named 'Mable?' Carrots it's near impossible to find someone on that little information.
In Zootopia sure, but you're on my turf now Nick and trust me, that is more than enough for you to figure out who he is.
Alright Carrots, I am going to start driving again so hang tight.
Mable spoke up again, this time sounding a little teary eyed.
"Oh Buck, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Judy heard the rushed footsteps that she could only assume meant that they were in a warm embrace.
"Don't worry about it Mable. Though I have to say, the boss isn't going to be happy to hear this."
"Who cares? My Buck is about to make an honest living and that's all that matters to me! You tell that damned Puma you're quitting!"
"Yeah… Sure…" He let the words fall out of his mouth without enthusiasm. Judy didn't know who this Puma was, but it seemed that Buck didn't think of him lightly. The quiet of the moment was broken though when Mable seemed to notice the back of the pickup truck.
"Oh no! You are not keeping a truck bed full of catnip in our driveway overnight! You take that back to ranch or you're sleeping outside!"
"Mable, it would only be for the day-"
"Don't care, you are not keeping those dirty drugs on our property!"
Giving a long sigh, the deer decided that it wasn't a good idea to try and argue his point anymore. Judy heard him turn and head back to the truck. She felt the truck pull out of the gravel driveway and start heading up the road. Judy knew that this deer was a criminal, but for some reason she couldn't help but feel a little sad for him. She had known others like him out in the country and that if you didn't inherit a farm or some kind of business just how hard it was to make a living. For some, turning to drugs was an escape, and for others it was a way to make a living. She tried not to think about it too hard as the car started down the road, instead focusing on the map on her phone as it struggled to get a fix on her location. With a bit of fussing she was able to get it to resolve her location, the truck was heading out of town up a small highway. Judy figured that after she got out of town, she would probably lose reception and so texted Nick the highway she was heading north on and turned off the phone. The rest would be up to Nick and his skills to try and figure out where she was as she gathered evidence at "the ranch"
It wasn't long before her signal finally gave way, and Judy realized she really was on her own. Not long after, the hum of asphalt was replaced by the crunch of gravel as the truck made yet another turn, this time onto a gravel path. Judy felt the truck buck a little here and there as it meandered up the rocky road, eventually coming to a stop. She heard Buck get out of the cab and started picking up the duffle bags. With a slight grunt he grabbed hers and lobbed it onto the porch. Judy sank into the catnip as the duffle bag landed against the hard wood porch of what she assumed was probably a cabin. She heard Buck then get out a set of keys only to hear him curse a little to himself.
"Damn it, wrong set. Ah well, the boys will be here in an hour anyway. It's not like I'm planning to be on the boss's good side anyway."
Judy heard him turn around and head back to the truck and then felt a wave of relief as she heard the truck drive off into the distance. Judy didn't have time to relax though, she had a job to do and the first part of that job was getting out of the duffle bag and collecting evidence. Cautiously unzipping the duffle bag Judy peeked one eye out and gave a cautious glance around the porch. The sun was already up and the orange from the sunrise was fading fast. If there was a morning crew arriving soon she would have to work fast. Quietly, she got out of the duffle bag, taking one of the catnip balls and putting it in an evidence bag. Stretching out her legs she walked away from the cabin so as to get a better look at where she was. Unsurprisingly, the cabin didn't have an address.
In many ways, it was perhaps the most unremarkable cabin that Judy had ever seen, standard in every sense of the word. Judy snapped a few pictures of the front of the cabin before she started to walk around the back. Judy didn't have to go far though to find out that the scale of the operation that she had uncovered was far larger than she could have ever expected. Stretching out for over a mile there was a fence that surrounded the land behind the cabin, and within that fence was what appeared to be wild fields of mint and lavender. However, just behind the wall of herbs there was nothing but catnip. Judy snapped a few more pictures and collected some samples of the surrounding catnip. As she collected her samples though she heard the characteristic crunch of gravel been driven on. The morning crew had arrived.
Judy knew that they were still pretty far away, but that didn't mean that she had a whole lot of time. Looking around she noted that there was a swamp not too far off from the property. In fact, it looked like the perfect place to observe the goings on. Moving quickly, Judy collected her samples and headed for the trees by the swamp.
As she had expected, it wasn't long before a truck carrying deer showed up at the cabin. She watched as they all got out, some with coffee and others with bottles of soda. All of them however seemed to be carrying some sort of conversation until one of them held a hoof up in the air as he stretched his head and sniffed around. Their mood instantly changed and Judy tried to follow the new conversation as best she could from where she was.
"Seems we got ourselves a guest eh?" The other deer began to sniff the air as well.
"Sure do. Although…" he took a few deep sniffs, "I don't know about you but I sure don't recognize the smell." The deer who had told them all to stop now seemed to be preparing to give orders.
"Spread out, we need to find out who's sneaking around here before we get to work." Judy felt her nose twitching, she had forgotten that deer had an exceptionally good sense of smell.
Looking around, Judy took stock of what she had to work with. There was the lake behind her, which could work, but would mean having to move even further away from the cabin and the evidence. On the other hand, there was also the swamp that was right next to her, not a whole lot there other than mud. Pausing for a moment Judy remembered a scene from an action movie where Arnold Schweinnager tried to hide from some sort of savage alien predator by covering himself in mud. In that case he had used it to hide his thermal signature from the alien's scanner. Movie antics aside, she figured that she might have actually learned something useful from cheesy action movies about concealing her scent.
First putting her phone in an evidence bag, Judy quickly removed her shirt and shorts, first burying them in a thick layer of mud and then noting their position with a few rocks and a mark on the nearest tree. Judy then quietly pushed herself into the mud, quickly covering herself in a thick layer. However, it still seemed that the deer were still getting closer. She could hear them walking through the grass and calling to each other. In one last bold move Judy crawled towards the lake and sunk herself as deep she could into the more fluid mud, making sure that everything was covered. She finally pressed herself next to a log that was resting near the water's edge on the muddy bank, hoping that its raised silhouette would help to camouflage her more. Covering her ears and nose were the worst parts, since once she covered those she could no longer hear or smell anything, leaving her senses deprived of almost any input. Furthermore, with only a small opening for her nose it made breathing feel more difficult and suffocating with every breath. She had been very fortunate that the mud near her had been as fluid as it was, but now only time would tell if her improvised deception would work.
For what felt like hours the deer paced around the edge of the lake, every now and then their footfalls being audible to Judy as she heard them drag their hooves through the thick mud. Eventually some of the deer began to give up and seemed to be walking back towards the cabin. Even through the thick layer of mud that now covered her ears, Judy was able to hear the voice of the one in charge shout some orders at the others.
"Let's bring it in boys, whoever decided to pay us a visit, it seems that they're long gone. We have a lot of work to do today so let's get to it eh?" Judy relaxed a little as she heard the last of the steps walk away from her and back towards the cabin. With the immediate threat gone, Judy began to slowly crawl out of the mud and away from the relative safety of the log that had helped to disguise her. It was at about this time that she finally began to realize what she most likely both looked and smelled like. Judy thus felt the strongest urge for a hot shower and bar of soap that she had ever felt in her life. Or at the very least, the strongest since she ate those pancakes Nick made for her.
Still need to figure out how he made them so good, she mused to herself. Unfortunately, both the opportunity to cleanse herself and taste Nick's cooking again would have to wait until after she had gotten back to Zootopia.