playfully.

"We'll get your stuff in the truck," said Nick, picking up her valise.

"Alrighty," said Bea, walking over to the ladies' room at the side of the station building.

As soon as Bea disappeared inside the ladies' room, Nick turned to Judy.

"False alarm, baby carrot cakes," said Nick with a knowing grin. "You can put your pitchfork down now."

"Huh?" asked Judy. "Whu…whaddaya mean…?"

"Oh please, don't play the dumb bunny with me, sweetheart. I can smell your jelly from a mile away, my little green-eyed imp," said Nick.

Nick leaned closer to Judy with a snarky smirk to end all smirks.

"You can untwist your knickers now, baby face," said Nick. "She's my cousin."

It was very early, but Gideon Gray was working away inside his bakery, getting everything ready, baking breads and pies and arranging the freshly baked rolls and loaves in woven baskets sitting on wooden shelves. He looked out the window of his bakery and noticed a truck parking outside. It belonged to the Hopps farm. From it emerged three figures: Judy Hopps, Nicholas Wilde, and a third he had never seen before…

"Morning, Gideon!" said Judy as she walked into the bakery and held the door open for Bea and Nick.

"Morning, Judy," said Gideon. "Officer Wilde, good morning."

"Morning!" said Nick and he tugged Bea towards the counter. "I'd like you to meet my cousin, Beatrice Wilde. Bea, meet Gideon Gray, the best bloomin' baker born in Bunny Burrow. And that's alliteration for you."

Bea giggled and extended her paw. Gideon smiled and extended his paw over the counter.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Wilde," said Gideon.

"Likewise, Mr Gray," said Bea. "I'd like to buy some delicious freshly-baked rolls for the Hopps family, they invited me to have breakfast with them. I am told your currant rolls are simply to die for."

"Oh, well," said Gideon shyly. "They do sell out pretty fast, so I am constantly baking more."

"Well, I shall have to taste these delicious rolls myself, then," said Bea, walking to the counter and taking a paper bag.

"Oh yes, by all means," said Gideon. "Right over there, in that basket, by the rye bread."

Bea and Judy walked over to the bread shelves to choose their purchases. Nick walked up to the counter and leaned on it, his face mischievous.

"Hey cousin," whispered Nick. "What do you think?"

"Um…about what, Officer Wilde?" asked Gideon in a low voice.

"Oh, don't play dumb fox with me, sport," said Nick. "She's quite a dish, ain't she?"

"Ah…um…well…" Gideon stumbled with his words.

"I thought so," said Nick triumphantly, leaning closer to him over the counter. "She's slowly climbing the career ladder."

"I am happy for her," said Gideon.

"She's a really fun-loving kind of gal," said Nick, "an excellent cook, and she's veeery single."

He gave Gideon a hearty wink.

"Oh, Mr Wilde, surely a lady of that stature…"

"…would go totally head-over-heels for a small town baker boy just…like…you," said Nick, jabbing his finger on Gideon's apron. "Go on, sport. You'll never know until you try."

Bea and Judy returned to the counter with their bags of bread. They paid for their purchases and thanked Gideon.

Gideon hesitated, but then mustered up the courage.

"Um…Miss Wilde?"

"Yes?" asked Bea, looking at Gideon with her arresting eyes.

"Um…I'd like to welcome you to Bunny Burrow…and give you a token of my admiration…eh, hospitality…um, a little present."

Gideon fumbled a bit, but he took a pastry box and put into it a cute little cupcake decorated like a pink bunny. He held it out for Bea, who smiled delightedly and accepted it.

"How very kind of you, Mr Gray!" said Bea. "I do hope to see you again before I return to the city."

"Um…coff…cofff…."

"I beg your pardon?" asked Bea.

"Co…coffee!" blurted Gideon. "Coffee, and pie. Pumpkin pie, it's in season and I am baking them."

Before he realised it, he had invited her to have coffee and pie. Bea's face lit up.

"I would be delighted, Mr Gray!" said Bea. "This afternoon, perhaps? At five?"

"Yes!" said Gideon.

"Then so it shall be," said Bea. "I shall see you later, Mr Gray!"

"Yes," said Gideon. "Have a very nice morning, Miss Wilde!"

As Bea and Judy exited the bakery, Nick walked behind them. Before he walked out the door, he turned to Gideon and gave him a sly wink, then did the bow-and-arrow sign with his paws.

Gideon stood there stunned, looking into empty space as the Hopps farm truck drove away.

Breakfast was a cheerful affair! Everybody was around the table enjoying the hot warm treats. Garth and Kevin had been working on assembling cameras in the loft. Garth showed Kevin how to disassemble a laptop computer and take the camera out, when assemble a wireless camera that would transmit the feed directly to his computer in the loft. Kevin had learned a great deal with his Uncle Garth and was very enthusiastic about learning more about computers.

Penny had been helping her Auntie Amber prepare a solution of sodium chloride in the right proportion to neutralise the pan-dimonium acetate and prevent the lands from suffering further damage. They tested their solution on a sample of soil from the Benteen farm, and it worked. The results were looking good.

Beatrice Lorena Wilde became immediately loved by the children. They were enthralled to have so many new uncles and aunts, all of them so nice and funny. Bea was every bit as charming and gracious as their Uncle Nick, only in female form.

"So this is what we've uncovered so far, Bea," said Judy as they sipped their coffee, showing her all the evidence they had gathered.

"This is indeed very serious," said Bea in a grave voice. "The perpetrators are certainly looking at a lifetime sentence. This is a heinous crime."

"We haven't been able to get hard evidence of them actually doing it, though," said Nick. "Our computer expert and his assistant, Garth and Kevin over there, are working on it."

Garth and Kevin waved from across the table.

"That would be just what you'd need," said Bea. "If you can catch them in the act, that will definitely bring them down. Their lawyers won't be able to do any of their legal mumbo-jumbo hocus-pocus if you catch them dead to rights."

She took a portable flash drive from her purse and gave it to Judy.

"Copy everything you have and I will show it to the head of my department tomorrow," said Bea. "We will initiate an investigation and we'll get to the bottom of this."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Stu went to answer the door. It was Uncle Terry.

"Morning, Stu," said Uncle Terry. "I'm passing down the news. Emergency meeting at the town hall. We need to talk about the crisis and agree on what to do, before winter kicks in."

Uncle Terry gave Stu all the details of the meeting. Stu nodded.

"Thanks, Terry," said Stu. "We'll be there as soon as possible."

As Uncle Terry left, Stu called Penny and Peter and the other older siblings.

"Kids, you're responsible for the house while we're gone," said Stu. "You know what to do."

"Yes, daddy," said Penny.

"Sure, pa," said Peter.

"This meeting is for all the grown-ups," said Stu. "Take care of your little siblings while we're gone."

"We will, pa."

Stu ruffled his children's heads and went to tell everyone else the news.

Meanwhile, two hundred and eleven miles away, in a high-rise penthouse high above Zootopia, Preston Keyes, President of Terra Firma Incorporated, was sipping a cocktail and standing before a large glass window that occupied an entire wall. Behind him, a large door opened and two bodyguards stepped in. And after the bodyguards, a small mole wearing thick glasses and a business suit.

"Y-you asked to s-see me, Mr President, sir?" asked the mole, George Jenkins.

"Yes, Jenkins," said the rabbit. "Have you gotten any answers from the Bunny Burrow farms yet?"

"N-No, none at all, sir," said Jenkins. "Not one of them responded to our offers."

"Most unusual," said President Keyes, sipping his drink. "None of the other farms wasted any time in selling. Their signed agreements were on your desk the following day. Why is Bunny Burrow taking so long?"

"S-Sir, Bunny Burrow is one of the oldest farming towns, sir. I believe they might be reluctant to selling and changing their ways," said Jenkins.

"Charming, but futile," said President Keyes. "Change is inevitable. The strong and bold bring about change, weeding out the unfit from society. We are the future, Jenkins. We must take the rudder and make this boat sail towards progress."

"Of course, sir," said Jenkins.

"Perhaps a little…persuasion…is in order," said President Keyes.

"P-Persuasion, sir?"

"Yes. A mere public relations move, nothing serious. Something to dissipate the doubts and convince

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