Zootopia: ZPD Mysteries: Case #4: The Curse of The Pirate's Eye

Chapter 4: "A Girl I'd Never Part With"

One thing on Zootopia's "top twenty places to see" list was not just City Hall, but also the thing that made City Hall most memorable: the Animalia State Model Railroad.

Surprisingly, Lionel Lionheart, Leodore's uncle, was not a politician, but rather, was more into the eccentric world of model trains, specifically his own, ever-expanding train set. When he died, he left the train set to his nephews, who had been in love with it ever since they had first been introduced to it when they were little. When Leodore Lionheart, his nephew, had taken office as the 52nd Mayor of Zootopia, he had made it a side career to expand his uncle's pride and joy beyond his wildest imaginings.

And he had most certainly done that.

The model railroad stretched from floor to floor in the narrow glass building of City Hall, with sloping, elegant bridges riding between the escalators as they carried the little trains across a total of 12 miles of track. The enormous Animalian Loop went from the ground floor all the way into Mayor Lionheart's office at the top, taking advantage of the open interior shaft. Along it, two thousand little trains rushed from here to there, from various model cities (including an impressive model of Zootopia) to the rolling hills of the Burrows and the enormous Mountains, all the while passing countless model buildings of unimaginable intricacy making the landscape seem real.

In truth, it was created to represent the state of Animalia, and all the animals within, as well and as respectfully as possible.

Judy and Jack were currently on Floor 28, where the Shipping Registry Office was located. Nick and Skye (ever the one to volunteer) had already taken the manifest they had found aboard the Unicorn's Revenge in to be checked. Although it was nothing like the city's DMV, Judy knew that the SRO wasn't exactly the fastest division of the Lionheart administration.

So, she figured, why not play trains and catch up with Jack, her childhood friend and cousin while they waited.

They stood in front of the area of the model railroad's recreation of Bunnyburrow, a model that was, to the two natives of Bunnyburrow, eerily accurate.

"Look!" Judy said, pointing to a colossal poplar tree near the entrance to Bunnyburrow Central School, the old underground school that had been in use since the 1800s. "That tree there is where I remember meeting with you and Jackie every day after school."

Jack nodded, recalling the location.

"You forgot your Uncle Larry," Jack reminded her. "Wasn't he the one who kept on giving us private history lessons?"

Judy nodded, recalling her eccentric uncle's unusual way of telling a story, giving them the general story with a few spins here and there to keep the young ones interested.

"Yeah," she said. "I don't believe I've ever heard a more riveting version of the story of the rise and fall of King Ahmed-Ahmet of Reptilica than the one Uncle Larry told. Especially one using my dad's shotgun shells."

"And pine cones," Jack reminded her, "don't forget the pine cones."

Judy nodded as she watched an old-style steam train chug by Bunnyburrow, its little smokestack shooting up tiny clouds of steam as it ducked into a nearby tunnel.

"Can you believe we've been friends since we were literally babies, Jack?" Judy asked.

"Yeah," Jack said. "I remember meeting you for the first time when I was five. You were just a baby when we met. But boy, we've been through some adventures since then, right?"