Chapter 12 – Sadness and Rectifying
Mrs. Otterton stepped alongside the manor's open front door, shifting nervously as she looked ahead and walked out along the gravel drive. "Now, are you sure you have everything you'll need, dear?" She asked, approaching the car parked in front of the manor.
Judy, handing Ben the second of two small travel cases, turned around to face her. "I think so." Judy smiled back at the otter, dressed in an olive green dress. Walking back to the front door, two other mammals stood quietly before her. Tabitha, wearing her afternoon maid attire, smiled as she handed Judy a travel cloak she had been holding. Accepting her cloak, Judy hugged the Flemish rabbit in a tight embrace.
"Do you really have to go?" Standing beside Tabitha, wearing a knee-length blue dress, Sophie spoke for the first time in what seemed hours. Reaching out, she took hold of Judy's arm and embraced it.
Her eyes filling with tears, Judy looked over at her young pupil. "Yes, Sophie, I'm afraid I have to. But I will come back, I promise." She smiled at the young vixen before giving her a hug. "Now, while I'm gone, you must keep up with your studies, young lady." She eyed Sophie playfully. "I have left Mrs. Otterton your course information, and she has agreed to ensure you are tested on your assignments while I'm away. So no slacking off."
"Yes, Ms. Hopps." Sophie looked over at Mrs. Otterton, who gave the vixen a quick wink and a smile.
Mrs. Otterton, reaching her paw out to Judy, motioned her back to the waiting car. "Let us know your return date when you know, and we will have Ben pick you up from the station. If you have any problems, you know how to reach me."
"Judy, we better hurry if you still want to take the train in time." Benjamin, leaning his head out the window, called to the group of ladies as each gave a final farewell hug to Judy. With a quick hop into the back seat, Judy positioned herself next to the window and waved goodbye to her friends as Ben shifted the car into gear. Standing on her hind legs, Judy turned along the rear window and watched tearfully as all three females grew smaller as the car rolled along the lane to the main gates of the manor.
"Bunnyborrow," A loud male voice called out along the train's second-class carriage section Judy had been occupying. Dressed in a conductor's uniform, a male brown beaver knocked gently on one of the carriage compartment doors, "Arriving in Bunnyborrow in the next five minutes." before walking on. Sitting alone in one of the compartments, Judy suddenly yawned, waking from her nap as she stretched her toes out. It had been over two days since she left Casterly to return home to her aunt. She glanced out the compartment window momentarily as the conductor's voice faded along the carriage. A sense of uneasiness seemed to come over her as the arrival at her destination grew closer.
The sudden sound of screeching breaks, followed by the pull of the carriage, told Judy that the train was approaching the station. Getting to her feet, she reached along the overhead bins and started removing her two travel cases. With a sudden lurch, the carriage had come to a complete stop. Taking a deep breath, she slid the compartment door open and joined the small queue to disembark. As she took her first few steps on the station's raised deck, Judy was simply amazed at the sight of so many bunnies coming and going around her. It felt foreign to her. Having spent so much of her youth and adulthood away from here and among other mammals. After a few minutes of searching along the station platform, Judy caught sight of a familiar older doe.
Sitting patiently on one of the several benches near the ticket booth site, Bessie rose and rushed to greet Judy. The pair immediately embraced one another. "Oh, young miss, you do not know what it means that you decided to come." Bessie released her as she reached over to take one of the cases from Judy. "We received your letter from the morning post during breakfast yesterday.
"How is she, my aunt, Bessie?" Judy asked as the pair walked along, arm in arm.
"During my return trip, I learned she suffered a heavy seizure. The doctor had been called to the house that night to treat her." Going into further details, Bessie helped guide the pair through the interior of the station house and out the main front entrance.
Listening to every word Bessie said, Judy remained silent as they emerged on the town sidewalk outside the station. With a quick look around her surroundings, Judy's thoughts switched to their current situation. "How are we to get to the house? Should we find a taxi?"
"Oh no, we won't need to worry about that," Bessie guided them around the street corner. "Your aunt had her driver, Remy, take me to fetch you from the station. He's right over here." Bessie motioned to where a male opossum, dressed in a chauffeur uniform, sat on the front wheel fender of a four-seat Panhard et Levassor.
With a short leap from the car and a quick tip of his hat, Remy reached out his paws to take the bags from the ladies. "I'll take those if it's alright; you two go on and have a seat in the car."
After almost an hour of driving through the countless produce fields, the car carrying Judy began to approach a familiar sizable three-story estate. As they pulled up to the front entrance, Remy called back to Bessie, who had chosen to sit beside Judy in the back seat. "Do you think anyone will need the car for anything else today, Ms. Cottonbrook?"
"No, I don't think so, Remy. Ms. Hopps will be a guest with us, so you can take the car back to the garage." Bessie slid over to the car door and opened it.
Judy felt a little uneasy as she stepped down from the car and gazed up at the place she had once called home. For a moment, she almost expected to see her aunt staring from her window, the same disgusted look she had shown her the day she had sent her away.
As Bessie led the way through the front door, Judy's ear rose to hear two voices that echoed louder as she walked inside the greeting hall. "If you follow me, Judy, I'll take you to where your aunt is upstairs."
Ahead of them, attached to the greeting hall, two massive staircases flanking each other rose above them, bending to form a single staircase to the second floor. Thinking longingly about wishing nothing more than to be back at Casterly, Judy did not notice as two older doe's emerged from the second landing, each stopping in their tracks.
"What is that creature doing back in this house?" Sarah, Judy's white and golden fur cousin, stood before them, glaring at them like a statue. Eyeing her cousin, Sarah looked to her sister beside her.
"Well, if it's not our long-lost cousin, Judith...Hopps," Agatha spoke, pausing between Judy's first and last name before making a loud pop on the last "P".
"Bessie, explain yourself!" Sarah shouted at the older bunny, who had stopped two steps from where Judy was. "What is the meaning of you letting her back in this house?"
Uneasiness encircling Bessie, she fidgeted with her left paw as she looked up at the two bunnies and back at Judy. "Well, you see, Mrs., your mother had sent a letter instructing that she come and..."
"Lies!" Sarah erupted, descending two steps from her sister. "Mother would never wish," She drew a finger down at Judy, her face acting as if something foul had been placed before her nose. "Or allow her back into this house."
Her reflexes, both mental and physical, reacted at once. Judy, brushing past Bessie, advanced toward her two cousins, who, in fear, jumped back slightly at Judy's action. "Here, Sarah," Judy pulled the letter she had been given out of the handbag she had been carrying. Unfolding it, reaching Sarah first, she thrust the letter at her. "Read the letter yourself, you cold, heartless..." She immediately turned around and walked back downstairs to Bessie, who had remained where she was, silent.
With a look of sheer amazement at how she had just been treated, Sarah remained perfectly still, her mouth open. Taking this moment to lean over, Agatha read the letter in her sister's paws. Grabbing hold of the letter, she turned it over and continued to read the entire contents. From her distance, Judy noticed as her cousin's eyes raced over the letter, immediately recognizing her mother's handwriting. "I can't believe it," Agatha spoke first, glancing at her sister, who was still reading. "Did you know anything about this, Sarah, and not tell me?"
"No, of course not." Sarah finished reading and looked at Judy and then at her sister beside her. "Mother never once mentioned it to me."
"Bessie, would you please take me to my aunt's room now." Judging her cousin's expressions and looking satisfied, Judy waited for Bessie to lead her to the top of the stairs and beyond. Huddling closer together, Sarah and Agatha observed as Judy passed them without any further words.
As the pair made their way around a corner along the upper floor, a relatively slender calico feline wearing a white nurse's uniform emerged from a room ahead of them. A worried look flashed over Bessie's face at the speed at which the female calico moved. "Roe," She called out, quickening her pace. "Did something happen while I was away?"
The nurse, stopping in her tracks, turned her head back at the sound of her name being called. "Oh, Bessie, your back." she turned around as the bunnies approached her. "No, nothing happened. I need to send the routine updates to the doctor before the hour. The short female cat, noticing the unfamiliar bunny beside Bessie, smiled at her as she brushed a little of her golden fur playfully. "And who would this lovely doe be?"
"Oh yes, forgive me." Bessie began the introductions, motioning to the feline first. "Judy, this is Nurse Roe. She has been in charge of caring for your aunt for the last year. Roe, this is Mrs. Footerton's niece, Ms. Judith Hopps." Both females took each other's paws in a warm greeting. "Mrs. Footerton had requested that I bring her to her once she arrived. Do you know if she's awake?" She looked back at Nurse Roe with this question.
"The last time I was in to check on her, she was," Roe answered. "But I better warn you that her mind seems more finicky today than usual." She motioned the pair to follow her as the three set off. "The poor dear is struggling so much with her mind these days." She spoke more to Judy as they walked along. "One moment, she's fine, talking and reacting to you, then the next moment, she looks at you as if you were some unknown stranger." Bessie and Roe, guiding Judy to her aunt's bedroom suite, came to a set of dark-stained double doors within minutes.
Bessie, steadying herself, reached out and knocked on the door three times before opening one slowly. For a moment, she stood still, her ears listening within the room. Motioning to Judy, the three females entered. Nurse Roe moved past Judy toward a set of drapes on the opposite side of the room. With a slight tug on a suspended cord, she pulled apart the drapes and allowed sunlight to fill the space.
Judy's aunt, who had been silent since the three of them entered, groaned in utter discomfort at the sudden light exposure within the room. Raising a pale paw in the air, shielding her eyes, Judy listened to her aunt's hurried, heavy breathing and angered voice call out. Ms. Footerton, lying in a massive bed in a nightdress, turned her head away from the sunlight. "I told you, Agatha, leave me in peace, wicked child. Have you not tortured me enough with your stupid demands? You and your sister?"
"Aunt, it's me, Judith, your niece." Judy addressed her aunt in a calm tone. She stood a few feet from her aunt's bed, taking in her appearance since the last time the two were together. Her aunt's fur had become significantly paler than when she was young. Judy, able to see clearly into her aunt's eyes, noticed the unmistakable signs of cataracts within them. She then looked over at Nurse Roe. How has her eating been?"
"Not good," Roe answered as she returned to the door to leave. "She's been losing her appetite more often at times. As a result, she's been placed on bedrest due to a lack of strength to move around.
Bessie, motioning Judy closer to her aunt, sat beside Mrs. Footerton on the bed. "Mrs., it's Bessie. I have your niece Judith here, as you requested.
"Oh, that name, how it has been a source of torture for me for so many years now." Mrs. Footerton, in an ill voice, spoke as if to no one before bursting into a fit of coughing. Whizzing terribly, Bessie helped support her head as she struggled to take a deep breath. "He loved that doe more than his own children. Why did he have to leave and force me to care for her?"
"You could have just loved me as if I was one of your own." Judy stepped closer to her aunt on the bed.
"Who is that, Bessie?" Fear consumed her as Mrs. Footerton felt and griped Bessie's paw as she shifted a little where she lay. Judy watched for a second as her aunt struggled to focus on her.
"It's Judith, aunt." She lowered herself down on the mattress. You ask me to come, and I have."
"Judith, is it really... oh, thank the maker, Judith." Judy's aunt began to tear up as she continued to clutch onto Bessie beside her. Choosing to remain silent, Judy looked over at Bessie blankly. What had happened during the years since leaving this place? Is this truly the same aunt she remembered from her past? Mrs. Footerton looked again at Judy, sadness consuming her. "I have wronged you, child. I need to confess this to you before it's too late. Twice in my life, I went against the wishes of another mammal only to satisfy my hatred of you." Her eyes engrossed in tears, Judy's aunt stretched her paw out and took Judy's where she sat on the bed. Judy's muscles twitch at the sudden contact of her aunt's own cold paw. "With what little time I have left, I must find a way to make amends for my past actions on you, Judith."
"Bessie," She turned to look over at her as she brushed the top of her head with her paw. "I need you to go over to my writing desk over there. "Mrs. Footerton pointed a finger across the room where a small oak desk stood. "A letter should be wrapped in a green ribbon in the top center drawer. The letter will also have a broken wax seal bearing a coat of arms. I need the letter brought over to me." Bessie, getting to her feet, did what was asked of her and quickly found the letter described by her employer. Returning to where she had sat on the bed, Bessie handed the letter to Mrs. Footerton.
"Here, Judith, take this and read it." Her aunt spoke as she passed it over to Judy, who had remained silent. Judy, obeying her aunt's wishes, untied the green ribbon holding the small paper letter closed. The musty smell from the old parchment paper made Judy's nose twitch as she unfolded it. Judy steadied herself by taking a slow breath before reading the strange and unknown letter aloud.
Dear, Mrs. Footerton
While our relationship has never been one on the best terms since the death of your husband, I hope that this letter reaches you in good health and safety. As to the reason for this letter, I have often found myself troubled about a sensitive issue I wish to ask of you. This sensitive issue is regarding the well-being of my dear niece, Judith Hopps. Having been waiting to hear something for a few years now, I ask that I may have her visit me at my estate if you will allow it.
As you may already know of my own recent loss of my lovely wife, Clara, I have decided and wish to offer my niece, Judith, to be the heir to my entire estate. Having the misfortune of being unable to have our own children, I, therefore, wish for your assistance in allowing me to adopt my late brother's only surviving child as my own. Rest assured, she will continue to be cared for and loved.
Your family, having cared for the child with the utmost kindness since her parent's untimely death, is something I can never fully repay. Allow me to offer you a monthly endowment to your family as a gesture of thanks.
Respectfully, Charles Michael Hopps
Unable to think of the right words to describe her sentiments, Judy took a moment and reread the letter in silence before looking over at her aunt. During this second reading, she noticed the postmark date where the address to her aunt had been written. "But this letter was postmarked ten years ago. Why was I never told about it or the other half of my family?" Her face showed a look of sudden astonishment.
Mrs. Footerton, breathing heavily, looked into her eyes. "Because I didn't want you to know then." She closed her eyes for a second before continuing on. "I wrote back a few days later informing your uncle you died during a flu outbreak at Ravenswood." With a look of shock after hearing this, Judy stared at her aunt, her mind burning to shout at the aged bunny. "Yes, I knowingly lied to him, your uncle. I'm not proud of what I did, child, but I was lost." She held tighter to Bessie's arm as she continued on. "You were brought to us as a way to torment me." She looked away and began to cry out. "I thought of you only as a curse on this family. My own husband died because he agreed to raise you away from everything you suffered as a newborn. My own son, my sweet child, is dead. My remaining daughters despise me." Judy's aunt was suddenly taken up with a bout of violent coughing.
"All I ever wanted to be was part of a family growing up. A family who would love me for who I was." Judy looked at the letter in her paw and then back to her aunt. "Whatever you may have thought of me, it was not to punish you or anyone in any way." Judy, who had despised the elderly bunny before her all her life, could only feel pity and sadness for her at that moment. This same doe that punished her harshly and cast her away the moment she was able, the soft-sounding voice of her long lost Gazelle, seemed to suddenly speak in her ears. Listening to her friend's words, Judy's tensed body seemed to ease as she felt warmth flood her. Smiling at her aunt, Judy leaned in and cupped the side of her aunt's face. Thinking of her aunt's pain throughout the years, she found herself not wishing such torment on anyone during their final days. "Wounds heal in the test of time for all of us, Aunt. But know this before you leave this world: I forgive you with a full heart and mind for any actions done to me by you." Judy leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her aunt's forehead.
"Oh, thank you, child. I can never say...how sorry...I..." Mrs. Footerton once again struggled to breathe before coughing violently. As Judy and Bessie did their best to help Mrs. Footerton, both noticed that drops of blood started to be coughed up by the elder bunny as she struggled to breathe.
"Judy, quickly, I need you to go and fetch Nurse Roe," Bessie called over as she adjusted her body to support Mrs. Footerton's head and shoulders more. Without questioning anything, Judy leaped off the bed and to the bedroom door, shouting for the feline calico as she raced along the floor.
What followed during the subsequent weeks after arriving back at her childhood home was that Judy found the old manor a little more bearable at times than her childhood. Walking down a familiar hallway sometimes brought back a memory of being chased after by a cousin or Mrs. Abbot, the old housekeeper. By the third day, after her arrival, Judy soon found herself sitting opposite her two cousins, beside her aunt's bedside. The corners of her eyes wet in grief, she sat there quietly as she observed both Sarah and Agatha clutching onto their recently deceased mother. As she had witnessed her aunt's final moments, Judy thought only of her aunt and how the elderly doe may have finally found peace in her last few days.
The next day, wearing a simple black dress as a sign of mourning, Judy was to be found sitting in her late uncle's library, off from the parlor, writing a few letters announcing the recent death of her aunt for her cousins. Around the manor, staff members seemed to wonder about draping black around the open rooms. For a moment, turning her head toward an open window, she gazed out along the grounds, setting down a pen on a letter she had finished. A great deal of thought buzzed within her mind, thinking back to one of the last discussions she and her late aunt had before her death. Having agreed to remain at the house after the passing, Sarah and Agatha had left to return to their own homes early that morning, promising to return the following day or two to make arrangements for their mother's funeral. Looking back at the letter before her, Judy lifted it and blew on it, ensuring the dark ink had dried before scrutinizing it. It was this letter, out of the others, that she cared the most for at that moment.
My dearest uncle, The Honorable Charles Hopps,
The letter you are receiving might come off as a complete shock to you, as it was to me upon learning of your existence. But please let me set the record on an urgent matter that needs rectifying.
Ten years ago, you received false information from my aunt, Mrs. Footerton, regarding my death while attending Ravenswood Institute. I'm sorry to announce that my aunt, Mrs. Footerton, passed peacefully in her bed a few days ago. I was fortunate to be at her bedside during her final moments. Before her passing, she disclosed a letter you had sent her asking of me. You would be correct in thinking of how I may have acted at hearing of the response she directed toward you of my death.
So, dear uncle, I'm writing to assure you I'm alive and in good health, currently at my aunt's residence in Bunnyborrow. I'm also sorry to inform you that with everything happening now, I'm due to return in the coming fortnight to my place of employment at Casterly Manor, where I am currently serving as the governess to the ward of Lord Nicholas Piberius Wilde. I would like to know if I may, at some point, have the opportunity to introduce myself to you in person properly at a later opportunity.
Your loving niece,
Judith Hopps