Chapter 4 – Ravenswood – Part 2
A few months after her arrival at Ravenswood, a young Judy, along with fellow schoolmates, was forced to watch, in horror, as Bellwether disciplined a cream-colored fawn during one of the few short breaks between studies.
"Preyda! You disgraceful... arrogant, fawn." Ms. Bellwether shouted as she struck a short fawn on the back of the neck with a thin stick, bitterness erupting from her voice at the kneeling fawn. Bellwether continued to hit the mammal repeatedly.
What drew Judy's attention the most from witnessing this harsh punishment by Bellwether was the fawn herself. With every strike Bellwether gave to the back of her neck, she was not crying. Instead, the fawn, Gazelle, only fidgeted each time the stick struck her. This strength deeply impressed Judy by the sheer inner strength she was showing.
The following morning, Judy found herself walking around the school's cold courtyard alone, having made no friends. She and her fellow schoolmates had been ordered to remain outside for the morning. A chilly air seemed to blow around her as she eyed a secluded spot next to the dormitory steps. Stepping over to the wall, Judy pressed herself against it, hoping to shelter slightly from the wind. Judy gazed around at a few small groups of females huddled together for warmth while others, their heads bowed low, stood along the side of the dormitory and schoolhouse walls. She noticed the familiar fawn from the other day on the steps next to her. "You're name's Gazelle, right?" She asked kindly, moving toward her.
The fawn looked over at her and smiled as she answered, "Yes, but some just say Gaz."
"My name is Judith, Judith Hopps." Judy smiled as she moved closer to Gazelle. "Can I ask you something?" She adjusted the thick cloak she was wearing. "Yesterday, after midday lessons, why were you being punished by Bellwether?"
Gazelle turned her head to watch as the short white ewe moved along the open courtyard, supervising everyone. "Because I do not believe in her or everyone else's line of faith." She looked back at Judy. "Where I'm from, we are taught a different faith. We believe those no longer with us in the physical world still walk among us. Some issue guidance, while others choose to protect those in need. But, all around us, they speak to us constantly." The fawn continued to smile as she looked around the courtyard and her fellow schoolmates.
Judy, raising her ears high, listened to the sounds around them. "I don't hear anyone else except us here in the courtyard." Judy lowered herself onto the step next to Gazelle. "And bunnies have keen hearing."
Gazelle giggled at this comment. "I can teach you how to listen to them if you'd like. You have...tone into them, you can say."
"I don't know what I believe in anymore." Judy's ears fell limply along the back of her head. "Growing up, my cousins and aunt despised me. They had little use in faith." She took a deep breath and raised her face toward the grey sky above. "I used to think at times after my parents died, I lost the ability to be loved by anyone. Being sent here has shown me the truth in that.
"I'll love you then if no one else will." Gazelle reached over and grabbed Judy's paws. "How about that? This way, you will never be alone and have someone who cares for you." Gazelle and Judy instantly seemed to click with one another from that moment on.
After completing her first year at Ravenswood, Judy soon found that while some of the teachers were heartless and cruel at times, nothing would equal that of the headmaster, Bogo. For the most part, each teacher within the school had a different form of punishment for minor offenses and how they were given to the offender. While one or two teachers looked down on such harsh penalties, in the case of Judy, what would occur at the paws of Bogo would be something she would never forget or forgive in her life.
What was to transpire then happened during a natural history lesson one afternoon. During one of Bogo's routine school inspections, he walked into Judy's classroom to observe it for a few moments. Judy, heavily focused on the day's lesson, had not noticed his appearance as a question was asked by the teacher in the class. In her haste to be the first to answer, Judy sprang to her feet, her arm raised, resulting in her writing slate falling to the floor. His sharp eyes shifting down at her, Bogo watched the young doe as the board broke on the floor, its sound echoing. Bogo cleared his throat as he took a step away from the wall.
"What do you mean by breaking that?" Bogo spoke in a stern tone. All the student's heads turned in his direction in fear as silence fell on the room.
Her bottom lip quivering, Judy lowered her head as she answered, "It was an accident, sir. I...I didn't mean for it..."
"Come here, now!" Bogo spoke over her as he recognized her at once. "Ah yes, Judith Hopps." He exhaled through his nose. "Come with me, and bring only your stool with you." Judy, worried by the tone in his voice, gripped the top of her stool and walked cautiously toward the massive buffalo. "Everyone, follow me," Bogo called to the class before exiting the room. As he walked along the hallway, Bogo called into each classroom and instructed everyone to rise and follow him. In a small amount of time, Judy and Bogo, with the rest of the school, were in the main entrance hall to the main school building.
"Place your stool here." Bogo pointed to a spot near the center so that she would be visible to everyone. He moved a few steps to the side and watched Judy as she followed his orders. Then, placing the stool down, she turned her head to gaze at the faces now staring back at her. "Now stand on that stool." Bogo barked, causing her to flinch a little. Not saying a word, Judy stepped on her stool, feeling foolish. Bogo then addressed the assembled school as he circled Judy, erupting into one of his sermons.
"Students, teachers," Bogo began to speak softly at first. "Look at this doe before you. How simple and yet fragile God has graciously given her to us. To nurture and show her the way, as he does for us all. Yet even here before you all now, you are being misled." Bogo stopped to look at the crowded room before shouting. "For who would have thought, in this holy, righteous school of learning..." He faced Judy and pointed a finger toward her. "...the devil found a servant in this doe!" Bogo began to circle Judy once more, his tone back to a calmer manner. "Each of you must guard against her. She is well knowledged in the art of deceit." He stopped next to Judy's classmates. "Shun her company. Close your ears to the very words she may utter to you all. We must strip away her evilness, for her salvation alone, and welcome her again as one of God's children when time shows us to.
Hearing these false accusations, Judy kept her head bowed as a deep hatred for Bogo grew inside her. "You, Judith Hopps," Judy raised her head suddenly and noticed Bogo kneeling and staring straight at her. "This is the base of your deceitfulness for which you stand accused. So shall it be where you will stand and remain all…day…long." Bogo turned to the teachers in attendance. "No food or water is to be brought to this child. As the hearts of sinners are barren in this life, so too shall this child be from God's daily bread today." He addressed the students in a final carrying voice. "I urge you all to caution with this, Ms. Hopps." Bogo started to make his way along the hallway as students moved aside, clearing a path. "Or so too, you be condemned forever, as she has done.
By the last afternoon, having to stand on the small stool, Judy's legs began to shake with stiffness as she struggled to control her emotions. Her stomach roared with displeasure as she cried silently to herself, her head still bowed as she pressed her ears to her eyes. As two fellow students walked past her, they laughed and called her offensive names. She lowered her arms to her sides, wishing nothing more than to hide within the confines of her own bed. Suddenly, Judy felt something pressed into her partially closed paw. Startled by this, she looked at her paw and noticed what appeared to be a vegetable biscuit from the school's dining hall. Looking up suddenly, Judy saw Gazelle stop and look back at her. Gazelle quietly raised a finger to her lips as she smiled back at her before disappearing through the main doors. Judy began to nibble on the biscuit without hesitation, careful not to leave any signs of crumbs on the floor as she thought of her friend and her act of kindness. Her ears raised high above her, listening for anyone approaching her as she ate quickly.
Due to the terrible living conditions within the dormitory by the following winter, flu was always a danger among the students at Ravenswood during the cold weather season. Added to the meager meals and lack of proper nutrition the female students received, the school quickly struggled to cope with an eruption of flu cases. However, while two years older than Judy, Gazelle became one of several students to develop lasting harmful symptoms due to the strain of the virus. Judy would make daily visits to keep up with her friend's condition in the medical ward. Yet while other female students improved and were released from the ward, Gazelle's health remained unchanged, causing her to be the ward's only patient.
During one extremely frigid night in the dormitory, Judy desperately missed her friend. Earlier that day, Judy found she could not have her daily visit with Gazelle. Yet, something in Judy seemed to want to see her friend even more at that moment. Reaching for her robe on the bed, she carefully slipped out of the dormitory and entered the medical ward. Not fearing the repercussions she would face if found out of bed during the late hours, Judy was careful not to arouse fellow students as she exited the dormitory and crossed the school courtyard or staff as she entered the ward.
Slowly opening the large oak door to the medical ward, Judy peered into the dim room. The Medical ward at Ravenswood was not as massive as some of the larger staff. Managed by a pleasant lioness, Ms. Prideson, who rarely ventured outside its walls, would often be heard calling it a suitable school hospital. The stone-covered ward consisted of ten medium-size mammal beds divided into two rows along each border. A second room at the far end of the ward where Ms. Prideson's living quarters resided, its door was now closed. Carefully, Judy walked over to Gazelle's bedside, where a small candle sat burning low in its wax. Then, reaching out, she grasped the young fawn's paws in her own. Judy noticed that her friend's skin color seemed paler in the dim candlelight. The young fawn's eyes opened as Judy felt her friend squeeze her paw. "Gaz, it's Judy," Judy whispered as she smiled when Gazelle turned her head to look at her.
"Judy, your paw is so cold." Gazelle grinned at her, whispering back.
"It's cold outside, and Ms. Prideson would not let me in to see you earlier this afternoon. But I need to see you." Judy whispered. "Something was telling me I just needed to be here. So I creeped out of the dormitory to come to see you.
Gazelle, shifting in her bed, let go of Judy's paws as she raised the covers off her. "Climb up here with me, and we can keep each other warm." Judy did what she had been asked and was soon lying beside her, both fawn and bunny holding each other. Judy felt the warmth of their bodies as they lay there. "I'm so happy your here with me, Judy." Gazelle kissed the top of Judy's head. "Because I will be leaving soon to be with my family."
"But, you can't go, Gazelle. We promised each other to always be there for one another." Judy, hearing these words, stared in shock at her friend, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"Where I'm going is no place for you now. But you will always have me with you." Gazelle struggled to take a deep breath. "Promise me you will be happy for me, please."
"Okay, I promise," Judy replied as she pressed her face along Gazelle's neck.
"Stay here with me until I'm asleep," Gazelle asked. "I don't want to be alone."
"I'm not going anywhere," Judy reassured her as the two slowly settled into the bed, still holding on to the other.
Hours later, the feeling of her body becoming suddenly weightless, Judy found she was no longer lying in bed next to Gazelle. Fear exploding from her, she opened her eyes to see the school nurse, Ms. Prideson staring back at her. Dressed in a nightdress and robe, having picked up the small doe from the bed, the nurse slowly walked away from the bed she and Gazelle had shared. "Miss, you should not be in here. If someone finds you..." Ms. Prideson started to speak in a low voice.
"No! I want to stay with Gazelle, please; I want to stay with her." Judy cried out, fighting to free herself from the nurse's large paws.
"I'm sorry young miss, but you can't. Unfortunately, your friend is no longer with us. She passed away during the night." Ms. Prideson spoke softly by the doe's ear. Hearing the nurse's words, Judy's body went limp as she looked back toward her friend, motionless in the bed.
Her lips trembled with grief at the sight moving away from her seemed to tear her heart apart. With the body of her late friend lying on the bed, the idle eyes of the fawn seeming to stare directly back at her, Judy burst into tears. "No...Gazelle!" She pressed her face into the warm chest of the lioness.
"I'll take you back to the dormitories, little one." Ms. Prideson spoke as she comforted Judy, the pair emerging into the still dark early morning.
Present day…
"Judy, are you alright?" Mary's voice spoke from one side as Judy opened her eyes and found herself back in the company of John and Mary.
The memories from her childhood brought a sudden uneasiness over her. Feeling her emotions trying to take over her, Judy rose from her seat. "I'm sorry, I think I need some air at the moment. Please forgive me." Judy turned and walked carefully to the front door of the cottage. Placing her weight on the cane, she opened the door and stepped out into the morning air. Her eyes bursting with tears, she struggled to breathe as the long-lost memories of Gazelle seemed to flood over her.
Still seated in the dining room, Mary turned to look at her brother with a mixture of alarm and sadness on her face. "Give her a few minutes, Mary, before rushing off after her. Whatever is troubling her is none of our business. You and Diana must not force it out of her." John took a sip from his cup before opening the newspaper once again. "She will open up in time; just be patient." Mary turned and eyed the open door as her mind began to contemplate.