Chapter 47: The Book

The next day started quite late for Judy. The dinner conversation hadn't been the best for her, she remembered the moment Nick had gone missing which spoiled her mood for the rest of the evening. She was probably the only one who went to her room not to play something on her phone, but to actually relax and unwind. Although she did not see it, she was different from her siblings. She was more responsible, had more imagination and was most importantly independent, even from her sisters of similar age she seemed to be mentally older than them.

Her morning relaxation was interrupted by a knock on the door of her room, which, initially ignored, intensified in series every few minutes. Doe initially thought that once she didn't answer the figure standing behind the door would understand that she was to leave, but as she could see it didn't work.

"Who is it and what does it want? It's only morning!" Asked Judy when she couldn't stand any more knocking on her door. She growled into her pillow then with a sleepy movement sat on her bed straightening up expecting the person to be revealed. It turned out to be her mother. It made Judy a little dumbfounded, but she sighed quietly for reassurance. Her ruddy ears drooped behind the back of her head and with a movement of her hand showed for Bonnie to come inside.

"Good morning Judy. It's already 11.00 a.m., time to get up," Bonnie said quietly. Judy opened her eyes wide in surprise. She was sure it was 8.30 a.m. at the latest. It was quite dark outside the window, despite the winter time it seemed to be early morning.

"Hm?" Judy made a sound. She picked up the alarm clock standing on the bedside shelf, it indicated exactly 11.00 a.m.

"I'd give my word it's not that late."

"Ah, it must be the weather. It's extremely cloudy today...it rained quite heavily this morning when most of us were still asleep. Such is the winter weather pattern now, you never know what the weather will be like" Bonnie replied. They both stared out of the window watching the dark winter clouds fly across the dark sky at a tortoise's pace, until Bonnie remembered why she had come to see her daughter.

"I came to let you know to eat something. It's very important, you need to eat a lot and..."

"Yes mum, I know, and I need to rest a lot. It's quite easy to remember," laughed Judy quietly as she finished her mother's phrase. It surprised her a little that this time it was Bonnie who was more oversensitive about health than Stu. Usually it was her father who took the initiative to make sure the doe was healthy and nothing compromised.

"Great! Then I'll get you something right away, wait a minute" Bonnie communicated. She wanted to head downstairs to the kitchen to get breakfast for her daughter, but the daughter stopped her at the last moment asking her to stop.

"No need Mum, I'll go downstairs to the kitchen. I can't handle lying here all day," Judy said. She put her carrot shaped slippers on her little feet then stood next to the bed with slight difficulty. Bonnie approached her putting a white dressing gown over her shoulders which she then patted Judy and tied at the waist.

On leaving the room Judy was momentarily blinded by the glow of the lamps in the short corridor, which were switched on. Her dark room compared to the passage, which was doused in warm light caused too much contrast for her eyes, which squinted under the light, although the doe was not surprised why the lamps were switched off. It was terribly dark, she managed to convince herself. After going down the stairs, she was greeted by her brothers and sisters, who had already been up for a long time. They had winter holidays now, it was a good opportunity to relax and take a breather from school matters and sleep a little longer than usual. During the winter there is practically nothing to do in the fields so they have whole days just to themselves.

"Go to the dining room Judy, I'll bring you some food in a minute" Bonnie communicated. Judy obediently went to the dining room where the family usually ate all their meals. In the room were two brothers and a sister who were watching TV on the couch. Seeing Judy enter the living room, they greeted her and suggested that she choose something to watch. They handed her the remote control, which she used to switch channels until she finally came upon ZNN, Zootopia's largest news channel, where a reprotage about the Fox Quarter was airing.

"Police Officer Judy Hopps is in hospital after a failed operation at a restaurant near the Fox Grove where she is being examined for gas poisoning, Police Chief Bogo denies the case is starting to get out of hand. He maintains that the police are all the time on the right track to catch the villain who is committing kidnapping of indirect persons.

[I am calm about the activities that are going on in this case. Our police officers are trying to do their best to unravel the disappearance and it all looks like we will soon unmask the character who committed these acts. Until then, we ask the residents of the Foxy Quarter not to leave their flats in the evenings - Said Bogo]. However, fewer and fewer people start to believe in the Commander's words. Rumours are spreading louder and louder that the police are completely at a loss as to what to do and that soon, something even worse than kidnappings will happen..."

"Ah, the sheer stupidity on this TV," sighed Judy. She switched to another channel, then handed the remote to the children. Thoughts of the case had caught up with her again, and she had only just managed to forget about it a little. Fortunately, Bonnie also entered the dining room and brought breakfast. Judy jumped off the couch to sit at the long table, which was about half the length of the room they were in. A moment later, Boonie placed the plate with the covered contents in front of Judy's eyes, who was eagerly awaiting the dish her mother had prepared for her.

"Enjoy your meal," Bonnie said, then removed the curtain. Judy immediately lost the urge to eat when she saw three carrots on her plate, cooked and next to her peas and tricks.

"Oh...seriously mum! Cooked carrots and peas?" Asked a disappointed Judy. She was expecting some kind of soup, or her favourite salad, or anything else that would be tasty to eat. Boiled carrots were the worst food she could imagine eating right now. Its soft texture and barely discernible taste was no delicacy.

"Remember you are sick and need to eat healthy. Boiled carrots are the best thing you can eat, it's healthy tasty and easy to digest" Bonnie countered, but that didn't convince her daughter, who poked the carrot with her fork in mild disgust.

"I hate cooked carrots and you know it" growled Judy quietly. Bonnie must have heard this because she looked sternly at Judy, who urged the doe to eat the food. With initial reluctance, she cut the carrot in half with her knife and began to slowly eat while watching TV with her siblings.

After a moderately tasty breakfast (but at least a healthy one), Judy decided to finish the book she had started while she was still at home at Christmas, The Labyrinth Prisoner. Judy sometimes took books to her flat in Zootopia to read at her leisure, or at least she did until she moved in with Nick. Since that event, the doe no longer had the time or at least the desire to read books after a day of work and play with her fox. Books as a form of entertainment had receded into the background, which was rarely used by her.

Judy sat by the warm and heated chimney in the living room, several stumps of wood burning in it giving energy to the chimney which gave off heat throughout the flat. To keep Judy warm Bonnie brought a blanket for her to wrap herself in and made tea with lemon and raspberries. Despite her mother's insistence that she not look after her so much Judy could not complain, she had very good conditions for reading a book. She had a view of the entire living room and half of the dining room where her siblings sat until Stu drove them out of there to do something other than watch TV.

While Judy was immersed in reading the book, surrounded by the fantastic world contained in the book, one of her sisters, Suzanne, joined her. Judy remembered her vividly mainly because of the situation when she overheard her talking to Nick, which ultimately had no further consequences, but it was a very awkward moment for Judy. She didn't want anyone in the family to know that they were in a relationship for the time being, and Suzanne could accidentally be the first person to discover it. It wouldn't be the best thing for her, so her first eye contact with her was covered with coldness. Suzanne, however, was calmly looking at the page Judy had open, she looked as if she was reading the book herself.

"Something wrong?" She asked Judy calmly.

"It's a very nice book, I read it twice. The sequels are good too," Suzanne replied. Judy glanced at the shelves opposite her. She could actually see the next two parts: "Trials of Fire" and "The Death Cure"

"Well, I'm only halfway through this one, it must be a while for the other two" replied Judy with a light laugh. She went back to reading the book hoping that her sister would relent and go away, but as she could guess, she had come to her for a different purpose.

"Who is this friend who has disappeared ?" Suzanne asked. Judy sighed heavily, put a bookmark on the page she had finished reading on and put the book back on the couch cushion. She expected Suzanne wouldn't give up so easily.

"A friend is a friend...why do you ask?" Judy asked.

"When you were, you came over for Christmas I remember you talking to one friend during the night, then...when you unfortunate accused me of eavesdropping, was it him? " Suzanne asked.

"Ugh...I knew this would have consequences sooner or later" thought Judy before answering her question. She expected Suzanne to start suspecting something, if she didn't think so she wouldn't have asked about such topics which are quite private.

"No, it wasn't him. And please, if you don't mind, don't ask about him...I came here to rest and not to get upset" Judy asked sounding calm. She was beginning to get slowly nervous, but she didn't want to show it to her at any cost. Suzanne must have understood this because she nodded with a motion of her head asking Judy one more question.

"What is the name of the friend who went missing?" Suzanne asked.

"Nick. Nick Wilde," replied Judy.

"Nick, that's a very pretty name...so predatory, yet gentle at the same time" replied Suzanne quietly.

"I like it too," confirmed Judy. She took the book back to the bookmarked page hoping to be left alone, but Suzanne was still sitting next to her looking through the book.

"Shall we read together?" Suzanne suggested. Judy was slightly surprised by the suggestion, but didn't mind except that she had already read it 2 times.

"But you are not to spoil it for me" Judy communicated. Suzanne nodded with a motion of her head and then the two sisters began to read the book.