Several Hopps rabbits pulled out folding knives and opened them as they advanced on Nick. The fox backed up, ears flat against his head and his paws raised placatingly. "There has got to be a better way to handle this."
Stu shook his head. "Sorry Nick. Just hold still so we can get this over with."
A few rabbits picked burrs off of Nick's shorts while the rest focused on different parts of his tail and legs. One young bunny said, "This is why Grampa Stu told us to stay on the trail," and a few rabbits snickered.
Stu tried to provide a distraction as the rabbits worked. "At least you managed to keep Peggy out of the stickers." Nick looked over to see Zeke carefully inspecting the little rabbit's legs and feet.
Ten minutes later they were walking again. Nick sighed after he examined what was left of his summer coat one last time and jogged to catch up. At least he'd only be a patchy mess until his new winter fur grew in.
Later, as they drew close to their destination, they passed by a camp where Nick saw a huge brown bear sitting in front of a fire. The bear waved, but Nick was the only one who seemed to notice, so the fox tentatively waved back.
Several minutes later, they stopped in a large clearing not far from a shimmering lake. The swarm of bunnies quickly raised eight tents, as well as gathered wood and water. Nick mostly felt superfluous, but he tried to lend a paw when he could. After dinner and a few rounds of roasted marshmallows, Peggy crawled up on the log next to Nick and insisted that he read to her. She gave him the first book, Goodnight Moon.
One nearby young bunny looked over and sneered, "That book is for babies."
Peggy pouted at the other kit and Nick examined the cover. "Huh, the author has the same name as you do, Peggy."
The small rabbit smiled and nodded. "Mama said this book is her favorite, so she named me Margaret."
"How about you read it to me, and I'll read the next one." The bunny nodded enthusiastically and began to quietly read aloud.
When Peggy finished reading, Nick stretched and said, "Whew, you did a great job. I'm ready for bed now."
Peggy pouted and said, "Aww, you promised you'd read to me."
Nick grinned and picked up the second book: Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Moose. As he read the tale of faraway Sala-ma-Sond aloud, a few other kits and even some of the older rabbits showed interest and moved closer to listen. By the time Nick made it to the tale of Gertrude McFuzz, he smiled inwardly at the number of bunnies that had gathered around. Finally, Nick's imitation of the worm as he spoke to the rabbit and the bear had most of the campsite in stitches.
Peggy yawned, and Nick tousled the fur between her ears. "Goodnight, squirt." Peggy hugged the fox and grabbed her books before she ran off to find her dad. Nick decided it was probably time for him to turn in too. He approached Stu and tentatively asked, "So uhh… where are the facilities?"
The buck looked confused for a moment before he realized what Nick was asking him. "Just head straight uphill thataway," Nick looked in the direction he pointed, "until you see the log with a shovel next to it. And if you want to wash up, the lake is the other way." Stu reached into a nearby backpack and handed Nick a roll of toilet paper. "Don't get lost."
Nick wandered off into the dark. A faint smell of something cooking carried on the breeze, and he realized what it was. He'd eaten fish a few times, but hadn't really been fond of the taste. Nick figured the smell was probably coming from the nearby bear camp.
The fox stepped into a clearing and gawked at the night sky for a few minutes before he continued up the hill.
The next morning, Nick woke up shivering. Last night he'd discovered that Judy's sleeping bag only came up to just above his waist, and even with his jacket wrapped around his torso it had been a cold and uncomfortable night. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and listened while two younger rabbits argued outside his tent.
"Grampa Stu said we had to stay in camp until he and Uncle Zeke came back."
"But we should go after Peggy."
Nick jerked fully awake when he heard the last part. He struggled to get out of the sleeping bag and opened the zipper on the tent while the rabbits continued to argue, until Nick crawled out of the tent and asked, "What's going on out here?" About a half dozen young rabbits started speaking at once. Nick grew worried after noticing the gray storm clouds that had rolled in overnight. He turned back to the confused jumble of rabbits and held up his paw before asking in a loud voice, "Where did Peggy go?"
The panicked gabbling stopped and two of the rabbits tentatively pointed. Nick said, "Okay, all of you rabbits wait here, and I'll go find her."
He ran a few dozen yards into the woods in the direction the rabbits had pointed and shouted, "Peggy!" He listened, but couldn't hear a reply. Nick hated what he had to do next, but he didn't have a choice. Feeling like a primitive savage, Nick knelt and sniffed around until he picked up Peggy's scent.
As fat water droplets started to splash on the ground, Nick decided he'd better hurry. He dropped to all fours so he could track her scent better. Nick shivered and wished he'd thought to bring his jacket. A few minutes later the rain picked up, and he was beginning to worry the scent would get washed away when he found Peggy, who was crouched down and crying under a tree.
"Hey kiddo, what's-" The little rabbit hopped into his arms and hugged him. He held her for a few moments as she sobbed into his shoulder before he said, "You can't just run off like that, ok? Let's get back to camp, and you can tell me what's going on." She loosened her grip on his neck slightly and nodded.
The rain was steady now, and Nick jogged along, trying to remember the way back to camp. He stopped and sniffed, picking up the smell of smoke ahead. The rain approached torrential proportions, so he sprinted forward, until he realized that the camp in front of him wasn't theirs.
A loud booming voice made Nick jump. "Come in outta the rain, fox."
The brown bear he'd seen yesterday motioned to him from under a rain fly stretched between trees in front of a huge tent.
As Nick and Peggy stepped into the shelter, two more bears emerged from the tent and Peggy blurted out, "Are you the three little bears?"
The largest bear laughed heartily and said, "Yeah, and it looks like you brought us Goldifox." His voice rumbled as he introduced himself and the other bears. "My name is Bruce, this here's my wife Thelma and my daughter Sheila."
Thelma smiled and said, "My my, aren't you the cutest lil' darlin' bunny. Lemme grab ya'll some towels."
Nick tentatively sniffed the air after Thelma handed him what could have been washcloths to a bear, and was surprised to discover she was pregnant. He was debating the propriety of mentioning it when Bruce noticed the look on Nick's face and laughed. "Ya smell it too, dontcha?" The bear amicably elbowed Nick and almost knocked him over. "Don't worry none, I know she's in a family way."
Nick finished helping Peggy dry off and the bunny scampered over to Sheila, who was playing with dolls almost as big as the little rabbit. Nick looked at Bruce and nodded, before he said, "Congratulations."
Bruce returned the nod before he went back to cleaning fish. The bear grabbed a fish from a nearby huge bucket and said, "I can't say it was planned, but sometimes you just gotta roll with the surprises life throws at ya." Nick quietly watched with interest when the bear deftly slit open the fish with a single huge claw before gutting it. "You know, your fur don't look so good. My grampa had a surefire cure for mange, if'n you wanna give it a try."
Nick turned to watch Peggy playing with Sheila. "No, I just got into a fight with a sticker bush yesterday, so I'm good."
Bruce chuckled and followed Nick's gaze. "You gonna eat all them bunnies yer campin' with?"
"Nope, just the smaller ones." Nick cringed when he saw Peggy's ears twitch at his words.
Bruce laughed and went back to cleaning fish.
Fifteen minutes later the rain had died down, so Bruce led Nick and Peggy to their campsite. When it came into view, Nick said, "Thanks, Bruce. I owe ya, big guy."
Before he ambled back towards his camp, the bear replied, "You're welcome to come by later, if'n you wanna learn how to clean fish. We'll cook up a fresh batch too."
Peggy reached up to hold Nick's paw as they walked towards camp. He smiled down at her and said, "You know I'm not really going to eat you guys, right?"
The bunny smiled back. "Yeah, Mom says you're just teasing."
Nick's eyebrow quirked up. "And what does your dad say?"
The bunny looked at the ground. "I'm not supposed to say those words."
They walked into camp and Stu stopped scolding two kits before he greeted them. "You got lost, didn't you?
Nick replied, "I may have gotten a little turned around."
Stu asked, "You both ok?" Nick nodded, and the buck added, "I'm sorry, I should have woken you before we went off to talk for a bit, but I didn't think we'd be gone that long."
Just then Zeke and a few older kits arrived. The buck looked at Nick accusingly and said, "You couldn't keep an eye on Peggy, huh?"
Stu said, "Now listen Zeke, the older kits-"
"Why is everyone alway standing up for this fox?" He turned to Peggy. "Let's get you into some dry clothes before you catch cold."
The scowl on Zeke's face deepened when Peggy said, "But I want to stay with Uncle Nick!"
Nick let go of her hand. "I have to get cleaned up too. I'll see you later, squirt." The fox hurried to duck into his tent, but not before he noticed Stu shaking his head as he looked after Zeke.
The rain had stopped by lunchtime and the clouds slowly drifted away. After Nick had crawled out of his tent, he discovered that Zeke had taken Peggy and some of the other rabbits on a hike, so Nick grabbed his jacket and went for a walk along the lake. An hour later he still wanted some space from the rabbits, so he decided to take the bear up on his offer.
It was already dark when Nick finally strolled into camp to find Stu and a few bunnies gathered around the campfire. The older buck looked up and said, "I was just about to send out the search parties to look for you."
Nick asked, "Zeke and Peggy back yet?"
Stu nodded, then wrinkled his nose when the fox came closer. Nick realized he probably reeked of fish, since he'd helped clean several and then waited around the fire while they were cooking. "Sorry, I must smell pretty bad." He sat on the opposite side of the fire and hoped the breeze would help.
After a few awkward moments, Nick said, "Can I ask what Zeke's problem is with me?"
Stu scratched the back of his neck. "That's… complicated." The buck glanced at a few nearby rabbits, and Nick thought he might be hesitant to speak frankly around the younger bunnies. There was an uncomfortable silence before Stu added, "I can't speak for him, but I can at least clear the air between us." The buck looked pensively at the fire. "You trust Judy, don't you?"
Nick nodded. "Of course. With my life."
Stu continued. "I trust her too; she has a good head on her shoulders. She never was one to take the easy path, but I know she'll find her own way." Stu poked the fire with a stick, causing the logs to crackle and release a small shower of sparks. "I trust Peggy too. That little bunny really loves you, Nick."
The fox stared at the fire, lost in the dancing flames for a few moments before he looked at Stu and said in a somber voice, "At the restaurant, you asked me what my intentions are. Judy makes me a better mammal, and she fills an empty space in my life I didn't even know I had. I'll do right by her, and I intend to spend the rest of my life by her side because I'd be an idiot to do anything else."
They were quiet for awhile, before Stu said, "I can see how Judy looks at you, and it's pretty obvious how you two feel about each other. I'd be proud to call you my son someday, Nick."
The unexpected words startled the fox, and he paused for a moment before he grinned and said, "I should call you dad when we get back, just to mess with her." They both laughed, and Nick sighed before adding in a glum voice, "Though I dunno. For me, dad has way too many bad memories associated with it."
Stu nodded. "Well, maybe when you have kits of your own someday, they can help change that."
Nick shrugged. "If that's something Judy wants, to adopt someday I mean, I can't think of another mammal I'd rather raise kits with."
Stu nodded again and paused as if to say something more, but instead remained silent. Nick could tell something was on his mind, but between the campfire smoke and his own overpoweringly strong fish smell, he couldn't read anything from Stu's scent.
They listened to the night sounds for awhile, until Nick cleared his throat. "Well, I better get cleaned up before bed." He grabbed a towel and soap along with a clean shirt from his tent and started to walk towards the lake, but stopped and looked at Stu. "Thanks for talking to me tonight."
The buck smiled. "I'm glad we did. And thanks for finding Peggy."
Nick stepped away from the fire and heard a young bunny say, "Don't get lost, Uncle Nick," followed by a cascade of giggles. The fox chuckled and continued down the path.
On the way back from the lake, Nick ran into Zeke, who almost dropped the flashlight he was carrying when he saw the fox. The buck looked at him warily, and Nick was confused when yet again he caught the scent of anger along with the other nuanced smell he couldn't identify.
They paused awkwardly for several seconds before the buck said, "You may have Judy's old man fooled, but you can't trick me, fox."
Nick almost snarled out a nasty reply, but he held his tongue after he thought of Judy. Instead, he said, "Zeke, why don't we sit down and talk-" but the buck ignored his words and pushed past Nick before he disappeared into the darkness.