sofa in the living room, hugging her and giving her lots of nuzzles. Her Uncle Nick was beside her too, with his fluffy tail wrapped around her like a warm scarf. Her mother and father were sitting on the floor in front of the sofa, grateful and teary-eyed, comforting their littlest daughter.

The whole family was sitting in the living room, gathered around the sofa. Bianca felt secure in the bosom of her family. Big sister Judy sat beside Uncle Nick, and funny Uncle Garth sat beside Auntie Amber, his kind face making her smile and feel that she would never be in any danger ever again.

"Thank you, Uncle Nick," said Bianca, looking up adoringly at the fox and hugging his waist with her little arms. "You're my hero."

Everyone concurred in silence. Nick had once again saved the family from what would have been a devastating event. Nobody wanted to imagine what they'd be going through if Nick had not been there to save Bianca from a deadly fall.

And in the silence of the living room, they suddenly heard an amazing baritone voice singing. It took them a few seconds to realise it was Garth!

"Here he comes, that Mighty Fox! Coming to vanquish the foe, with mighty blow!"

"Aww, c'mon, Garth," said Nick.

And a beautiful, melodious soprano voice answered, like the singing of an angel.

"So don't be afraid anymore! For things won't be like they've been before!"

"You too, Amber?" said Nick. "I give up. What am I gonna do with you two?"

Everyone giggled, including little Bianca. Garth and Amber stood up and walked to the middle of the room, posing dramatically and gesticulating to the lyrics of their song.

"Here he comes to save the day! Thank goodness Mighty Fox in on his way!"

The children were enthralled. And so were the grown-ups, for that matter.

"Just like a bolt from the blue, with a heart that's true!" sung Amber.

"Aw, shucks, you guys," said Nick. Everyone giggled and laughed.

"Fighting evil, fighting crime!"

"And always there in the nick of time!"

They winked upon the word 'nick'. Everyone got their wordplay and applauded.

"Mighty Fox is on his way! And he will prove that crime will never pay!"

Judy looked up at Nick and noticed his lip trembling and his eyes becoming damp.

"So let the trumpet players plaaay…"

"..for Mighty Fox is here todaaaayy!"

Everyone applauded delighted at the amazing song! Garth and Amber held paws and bowed before their audience.

Judy saw Nick's face, streaming with mirthful tears. Bianca noticed too.

"Aww, don't cry, Uncle Nick," said the little bunny and hugged her uncle tightly.

Nick couldn't hold back a sniffle. Two tears rolled down his cheeks as he let it out.

"Awww, honey bun," said Judy.

She hugged him snugly together with her little sister. He must have cried more this past week than he had in twenty years, and she knew that it had done him well to be surrounded by her loving family and such wonderful friends as Garth and Amber.

"You guys…are the best," said Nick, taking a deep breath and wiping his eyes with his handkerchief.

"You're a hero, Nick," said Garth. "Cape and theme song and all. Bianca's drawing on the fridge is proof!"

Everyone laughed happily. After a long while, Bonnie went to the kitchen to get supper ready, and Amber took Bianca in her arms and turned to all the younger bunnies.

"Who wants Auntie Amber to read you a story?" she asked sweetly.

All the bunnies said 'Me!', even the older ones like Penny and Peter.

Amber and Garth walked to the girls' room followed by all the children, Amber carrying Bianca. As they disappeared down the corridor, Judy and Nick stood side-by-side and looked at each other.

"Looks like we have some investigating to do," said Nick.

"That we do, Mighty Fox," said Judy.

The sun was low when Judy and Nick approached the gaping hole in the ground in the middle of the clearing. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that it had once been covered with a thin carpet of leaves and twigs. When Bianca stood on the fake ground, her weight made it collapse.

"Okay," said Judy, taking her supplies out of her bag. "Just a quick look. We don't know what's down there."

"Right," said Nick.

Judy took a headlamp out of her bag and put it on her head. Then she offered one to Nick. Nick smiled.

"Thanks, but I can manage without."

Judy had forgotten, for the second time in a year, that he could see in the dark. For a fleeting moment she envied his natural ability.

"Alright," said Judy, stashing the headlamp and taking out the bungee cable she had brought from old Cosgrove's former warehouse. "Let's tie a stone to the end and see how far down it goes."

They did. Carefully, they lowered the bungee cable into the hole until it touched the bottom. They pulled the cable back up and measured the depth of the pit.

"Not as deep as I thought," said Judy. "Nine metres, and some change."

"Still a dangerous drop," said Nick. "And you say this wasn't here before?"

"No, we used to play in this clearing all the time. This hole is new," said Judy.

"I'll bet you a cup of Amber's hot chocolate and a plate of your mother's currant cookies that this is connected to Terra Firma and the murdered crops," said Nick.

"My thoughts exactly," said Judy as she took a metal stake and hammered it firmly into the ground beside the hole, attaching the bungee cable to it securely. "Let me go first."

Judy switched on her headlamp and descended slowly along the bungee cable into the hole. It was clean and dug with precision. Definitely not natural.

She touched the ground at the bottom and surveyed the area with her headlamp. There was a tunnel that went almost horizontally towards the farm. She shone light into the tunnel but it was too long to see the end.

Judy tugged on the rope three times, and shortly Nick descended and was beside her.

"Check it out, Nick," said Judy. "Someone's been tunnelling under the farm. Let's see how far it goes."

They followed the tunnel cautiously, taking it slow and checking all around them.

It seemed to go on forever, until…

"A fork," said Nick.

"Yes, and one goes south, towards the Benteen farm across the road," said Judy. "Dad told me they were the next to have their crops fail."

"Hey…what's that?"

Judy turned around, and her headlamp shone on something metallic.

They walked closer and inspected it. It was a machine.

It was difficult to describe. It was like a cross between a drill and a bulldozer, yellow and with danger lines around the mobile parts. White letters on its side readBurr-O-Matic 9000.

And then, like a flame in his mind, Nick remembered something.

"That sound!" said Nick.

"Huh?" said Judy.

"Remember last Saturday? When I woke up in the middle of the night and heard a rumbling sound?"

"Yes…ah! Of course!"

Judy realised it immediately.

"They were burrowing under the ground with this machine!" said Judy. "That's what you heard! It was too low for us to hear, but your ears could pick it up!"

"Exactly!" said Nick. "And who better to burrow beneath the farms than a mole!"

Judy remembered! She had seen the mole at the Bunny Burrow Railway Station on Wednesday, the same day Nick left for Zootopia.

"That mole, George Jenkins!" said Judy. "He must have tunnelled under the farm on Saturday night and every night afterwards! And who knows how many nights before!"

"Moles know the earth better than anyone! It's in their blood," said Nick. "So he must be the one killing the crops somehow! And I'll just bet…"

Nick walked closer to the machine and, sure enough, he saw a spraying mechanism. It was very much like an irrigation machine, but instead of water, the translucent tank was filled with…

"Bingo!" said Nick as he showed Judy the viscous, orange liquid inside the tank.

"This is it!" said Judy. "We have enough here, Nick! We can definitely use this as evidence!"

"Yes…only…"

Nick paused for a moment then continued.

"We still have no way of proving that Jenkins was the one using this machine," said Nick. "They could deny it completely and their lawyers could cook up some roundabout alibi and we'd be back to square one, if not worse."

"Oh, right," said Judy, nodding and thinking about it. "But if we were to catch him in the act…"

"…then we'd be able to show that he's the one destroying the crops," said Nick.

Judy nodded. Quickly, she took out her phone and took pictures of everything. The machine, the tunnel, and especially the chemical spraying mechanism.

"We should tell the others," said Nick. "Maybe they can help us think of a way we can tie all this to Terra Firma."

"Right," said Judy, pocketing her phone. "Come on, slick. I'm getting a little claustrophobic in here."

It was dark when Judy and Nick finally emerged from the hole. It felt good to breathe the night air and feel the moonlight shining on them. They walked back to the house, shaking off any loose dirt that got onto their clothes.

It was already bedtime for the younger Hopps

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