The Stranger: Stepping Out(Wilbur Arron) The Stranger: Stepping Out

By

Wilber Arron

Historical note: I know many of you hunters out there will tell me that the hunting tactics I use in this story are completely out of date. I know this, but remember this story occurs in the late 1930s where such hunting parties along with off season hunting were more common according to my research.


Chapter One: Lonely Spring

Year 5

"Father, are you alright?"

The Stranger looked down at his daughter Stena looking up at him with worry on her face. Her mate Balo was standing next to her also looking at him with a concerned stare. Next to Stena stood a small spotted doe fawn hardly more than a few days old. The fawn also looked up at the huge deer next to her, but, like her parents, she also appeared to know something was wrong.

"I am fine," he said leaning down to nuzzle the small fawn standing next to his daughter. The infant returned this embrace and started to lick the side of his face. His daughter's first fawn was beautiful and healthy, which gave him no end of happiness under the circumstances. He straightened up and looked back at his daughter and Balo. "I will be fine," he repeated. "It is your mother that I am worried about. Losing her fawn along with the deaths of your younger brother and sister last winter has made your mother feel terrible. She has this feeling that somehow this is all her fault. I have told her that is silly, but she does not listen to me. These things happen."

"I know father," Stena answered looking at her own healthy fawn. "I can go see her if you wish?"

"For now she wants to be alone," he told her. "You will have all you can handle with your first fawn. You pay attention to little Delene. I will take care of your mother."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Balo asked. Balo seldom talked much. He was content to let Stena speak for him most of the time.

"You can watch the herd and let me know if anything is going on," he said. "I am going to be spending a lot of time around Claris. She needs me now." Then he looked back at the small little quivering mound of long legs and brown fur. Then he looked back at his daughter's mate. "That does not mean neglect Stena and Delene. They need you also."

Balo nodded, "I understand, Stranger. I hope you will also continue my training. I wish to learn more about becoming a herd leader."

Balo was right. With Bambi living in his old forest and the hunts killing Jolo, there were few deer left who could taken over from him. Only his first born Stabo could, but he was living in the Man path forest with Bambi's son Veron. He claimed he was not interested in this forest.

"Later in the spring," he told them. "You both will need little more in training. All you need now is to finish growing. That you will do this Season and next."

"One other thing," Balo said. "I saw the bear yesterday. He had come down from his den after his winter's sleep. I think he was looking for you."

"You did not go near him, did you?" he wanted to know. The bear would not eat him he knew; he doubted he eat Stena or Stabo. Other deer he was not so sure of.

Balo shook his head no. "No, I stood several lengths away and just introduced myself. He said he knew who I was and then went away. You may trust him, Stranger, but I do not."

"Good," he told the now two year old male deer. "You never go near him unless I am with you," he reminded him.

"I know," Balo said sounding a little annoyed he was still being lectured to again about this.

"I will go see him now," he said. "I feel the need to talk to someone. I wish Bambi was here. I could always depend on him to give me good advice."

He regretted saying that the moment he uttered the words. It made him sound like he didn't trust his daughter and her young mate, but they were only two years old. They did not have the years of experience Bambi and the bear had. They were also his family, and would keep anything they thought was wrong about him to themselves; something Bambi or the bear would never do. At times he knew he needed that type of advice. He looked at his daughter and Balo. Both looked hurt. He lowered his head and spoke in a low tone. "I am sorry; I did not mean it like that. I just miss my old friends at a time like this."

With that he walked away toward the other end of the forest. The meadow was becoming fully green again. The weather was getting warmer. It was barely spring, and as usual, at this time of year, there was no sign of Man. He was still not going to take the chance of cutting across the meadow in the increasing light. Not all deer are killed by Man near The Season. He walked around the far end of the meadow well inside the trees and crossed the stream that ran out of his forest and toward the big forest Bambi and Faline had come from and then had gone back to last year when the herd there was led by Ronno. That deer had made such a mess of it, the herd fell into a very poor state. Because of that, Bambi had to go back to his old home to straighten it out.

Once he got to the other side of the meadow he started to walk up the hill towards the bear's den Normally this would be the height of folly for a deer since the bear could easily kill him with one blow. Yet the bear had saved his life now over three seasons ago and could have eaten him easily where he was lying more dead than alive after being hit by Man. The bear had become his friend. They rarely spoke, but each had come to depend on the other for information to keep them both alive. The bear was also wise which is why he listened to him and the bear did the same. He trusted the bear. One day the bear might eat him, but that is the fate of most deer to be eaten by others or to be killed by Man. Very few like Bambi's father get to live long enough to die of old age.

The hill got steeper and soon his rear left leg again started to protest at the effort. It had never fully recovered after being hit by two of the small black stones from Man's killing sticks. The bear had taken them out saving him. He was tired by the time he got to the top of the hill. There was the den that the bear dug into the hill side. There were the pine trees he slept under while he recovered, and the healing bush the bear had use to save his life. By now, the wet fur and dead meat smell of the bear filled his keen nose.

He called out, "Bear."

From the den out came a large black mound of muscle, black fur, four huge paws, and the biggest head he had ever seen. The bear walked until he got within five lengths of him and lay down. He came in closer and lay down also.

"Hello, my friend," he said.

The bear studied him for a second. "Hello," he responded. "What has happened?"

Was he that obvious? So much for hiding his emotions. "It has been a bad winter for me, and the spring has also been poor. There have been many deaths in my family."

"Your family," the bear said. "You had said in the fall you were worried about your youngest son and daughter."

"Yes, they never got as big or as strong as they should have during last summer. Claris had a difficult time when they were born and did not have enough milk for both of them. Faline helped out, but neither of them grew like they should have. When the snow came, they both got sick and died. There was nothing Claris or I could do. Then Claris lost the fawn she was carrying this spring. It was born dead. Now she blames herself for what has happened and won't listen to anything I tell her."

"I am sorry, my Friend, but these things do occur," the bear said. "I have heard there are some doe that cannot make healthy fawns."

"I know, but Stabo and Stena are certainly healthy and are getting as strong as me. She had made two very healthy fawns." He had thought the same thing, but usually doe like that never make a healthy fawn and often die before they get very old."

"I would not know about deer. Among my kind that does not happen. All the cubs I have seen are healthy. In cases where there are many cubs in a litter, one or two will be the weaker than the others and die soon after birth, but that is just normal. What will you do?"

He let out a deep breath. "Help her," he said trying to hide his exasperation. "What else can I do except try again next season? I still do not believe I cannot have healthy fawns with Claris."

"I suppose that is best thing to do," the bear replied and then changed the conversation."Have you seen anything of Man?" the bear wanted to know.

"Nothing, even the hunts last year were done elsewhere. We did not lose one deer last Season to Man. Maybe they will leave us alone again this year, but I would not count on it."

"Nor would I," the bear said. "They killed one of the large bears in the forest over the hill last year. A couple of young males are moving in there and may challenge my presence. I think one of them may be a son of mine. I do not have much to worry about yet. I am still far too big and powerful for them to fight me and chase me out. However that will not continue. Like you I am getting older and I am starting to feel it."

"I know," he said calmly. "That is why I am hoping Balo grows as big as his father was said to be and learns all he needs to know. Claris hates it when I say this, but neither of us will last too many more seasons. If I must give up being herd leader, I rather give it to someone I know and trust rather than be beaten by some idiot like Sinno or Duro. That is assuming Man does not kill me first."

"Me too," the bear said with a grin.

"Did your mate have cubs last winter," he asked.

"I suppose so," the bear answered. "I am going to go over the hill and look for her, but I will not try and get close to her. She would attack me. Still I know that my other cubs are growing. I have found other sign of bears in the other forest that may be mine."

"Any chance one of them may be as wise as you?" he asked.

"I have seen no sign of it," the bear said showing disappointment in his voice. "They did not grow up like you and I. I am afraid I will be the only one who tries to have a friendship like we do. When we are gone, it will be lost."

"No, not lost," he said. "It may be a while, but if we can do this, so can others. I am teaching my family. I just wish it was possible for your to teach you family."

The bear let out a deep breath. "I wish I could too, but it is not in the ways of my kind to learn like this. You have to learn it for yourself as I did."

"Well then let us hope one of your children are as smart as their father," he said with a smile.

"I hope you are right," the bear said almost in a whisper.

"Good," he said getting up. He felt it was time to go. The bear got up also.

"I need to go back to Claris," he told him.

"I need to feed over the hill," the bear said.

"Stay healthy, bear," he said and bowed his head.

"You too herd leader," the bear said and walked up the hill.

He walked around the end of the large meadow to the small stream. He followed the stream up- hill past Bambi's old cave and their old thicket, past the pond, and the smaller clearing until he came to the woods. He smelled the scent of other deer including Stena and Balo along with the rabbits, squirrels, mice and other creatures of the forest. For the most part they paid him no attention. They were busy hunting food without becoming food. As he called it, 'The Way of All Things.' Life in the forest went on around him as it had done all of his life and would continue long after the scavengers made a poor meal of his dead body. Maybe Claris was right, and he should not think about that, but he had seen so much of other dead deer as he grew up in the Man cave, he could not picture it in any other way. Maybe that was one reason why he was truly the Stranger. He went to the place in the woods near the small clearing that he and Claris bedded down in. He found Claris standing there looking tense. She looked at him, walked up slowly, and nuzzled his face.

"I need to talk to you alone," she said pulling away from him. Her voice was also tense as if afraid. He looked into her eyes and her green eyes that were usually sparkling were dull and pale. She was also agitated and upset.

They walked until they were both sure they were alone and she turned to him. "Stranger I have been thinking about our fawns," she said in a low voice.

Already he did not like this. "What?" he asked.

"Stranger," she choked out. "I still feel much for you, but I know I must go away."

That took him by surprised. He took a step back. "What! Go away, that is nonsense…."

"Stop," she interrupted loudly, almost yelling at him. She had never done that before.

"You are herd leader," she said. "A herd leader needs to have a doe that can give him fawns. I can no longer do that. That is why I must leave. You need to find another doe that can give you those fawns. There are several four year old doe in the herd that are healthy and have already produce healthy fawns. One or more of them can give you the children you need. You need a son that can follow you, and I can no longer provide you with that."

He was stunned. "Claris," he pleaded. "You do not know you cannot have any more fawns. What happened last year and this year is unfortunate, but it does not mean you cannot make more fawns."

"Yes it does," she said now choking to get the words out. "I can feel it inside me. I cannot have any more fawns. This is very hard for me to say, but you must find another doe for your children."

He did not believe this for a moment, but he knew Claris was utterly convinced she was telling him the truth. What if she was right? It did not matter, he felt nothing for those other doe. Other than the feelings that came about during The Season, he would feel no interest in saying with them. Not like he had with Claris."

"Claris, I have no interest in those doe. I chose you and I want you. They mean nothing for me. I want you to stay here. I still feel for you. Even if you cannot have any more fawns, we still have Stena and Balo. We still have Stabo and Gena. They can produce as many fawns as I will ever need."

"NO!" she yelled at him. "It is not the same. A herd leader's mate must be able to make fawns. If she cannot, then she is not suitable for her position. I can no longer do this. You must find someone else." Then she took a long look at him and said. "Goodbye Stranger, I really did feel much for you." With that she turned around and started to walk off into the forest.

"No wait," he yelled and started after her. He got behind her and then suddenly she leaped up and kicked out with both her hind legs hitting him firmly in the chest. The move surprised him. The impact knocked him back and he fell on his side. It sunned him for a moment. By the time he got up, she was gone.

He stood there not knowing what to do. It was almost like the time he had been struck by man. Everything about him stopped. He could not picture in his mind not having Claris next to him for as long as either of them lived. He just stood there for a while trying to understand what had just happened. The only thing he could think to do was go find his daughter and Balo. Maybe both of them could convince her to stay. He hurried back to the pond and the small clearing where he knew Stena and Balo had their resting place. He smelled Stena's scent and followed it to her bedding place. He saw her, Delene and Balo lying together. As he got close the two of them rose. Stena took one look at him and cried out. "Father, what has happened?"

"Your mother has left me," he told her exasperated. "She has convinced herself she cannot have any more fawns and this makes her unsuitable to stay with me. She told me she was leaving. He told me to find another doe."

"Is she the one that kicked you," Balo said looking at the two imprints on his chest, one was bleeding slightly. He hadn't even noticed it.

He nodded. This was still almost too much for him to take in. "I am sorry, I simply did not know what else to do so I came here."

He saw Balo and Stena turn toward each other looking at him strangely. He then saw little Delene come up and start to nurse at Stena and at that moment he realized what a fool he had been. He had let his emotions interfere with his thinking. Stena was in no position to go looking for her mother. She had her own fawn that required her full attention. Balo needed to stay near Stena for now. He was the one who was always telling others to think. He had not thought this through for a moment other than to concern himself with his sudden loss. He felt like kicking himself as hard as Claris had.

"Look, if either of you see Claris, please tell her I want to see her," he told them. "I am going to go look for her now. If you do not see me around for a while, that is why."

"Stranger, perhaps I can help," Balo said.

"No!" he told him. "Your place is with Stena. Stena needs to stay near Delene. She is still far too young to travel. If this was late summer, then yes, but not now. I will go find your mother. I was foolish for trying to involve you two because I did not think and I felt sorry for myself. Just keep your nose in the wind and tell me if you can see or smell Claris."

"What about the herd?" Stena asked.

"You two can take care of that. I do not think there will be much happening for a while. For now the main thing is to make sure everyone is eating enough to put on weight for The Season and next winter. I will not be gone that long."

With that he turned away and went back to his thicket. He was still mad at himself for acting the way he did. He went back to where Claris had left him and did what he should have done to begin with. He had a nose and a good sense of smell. It was time to use them. He put his nose to the ground and smelled around. He smelled a faint scent of Claris along the ground. He followed it. The easiest place for her to go was the Man path forest with her son, but her scent did not go that way. Instead, it led in a different direction. She started to climb the hill. He followed the scent around toward the top of the hill and then on past where they had hid the time Man come for them and Gurri, Gerta, and Jolo were killed. He followed it along the top of the hill and then back down to the stream that flow into their forest from the other great forest in the distance where they had chased Geno. He then followed her trail down his hill toward the meadow.

He had no idea where she was going. She seemed to be wandering aimlessly like he had before. She circled about and went through the woods that were on the far side of the meadow away from the Man cave. From there she went down the hill to the larger stream that flowed out of their meadow and out of their forest toward Bambi's old forest. He followed the stream and her scent until he came to the edge of their forest. The scent went on into the open. He looked up. The only thing he saw for as far as he could see was the open grass covered ground. He knew in the distance was Bambi's old forest. It was then he realized Claris was not wandering. She was trying to throw him off her trail. She knew he would follow her. She knew exactly where she was going. It was to the one other place she knew she have friends and family. She was going to Bambi's old forest.

"She had gone to be with her mother and her friends," he said out loud.

It made sense. He also knew he just couldn't follow her. Going to the other forest meant leaving his forest, not for a short while, but for days, maybe even an entire season. It was also a dangerous trip and would get more dangerous the later into spring and summer it got. She knew that. He only hoped she was wise enough to cover the distance safely by herself.

He had a choice. He could leave her go and live by himself, or he could follow her. He remembered living by himself. He was never happy until he had met her and he was not prepared to give that up. He was determined to go after her, fawn or no fawn. He would follow her, but not now. He could not just leave the herd unprotected to take care of his problem. He had to made plans to protect the herd while he was gone. He thought about it for a while and decided what he would do. He looked at the series of hills Claris had vanished over and took a deep breath.

"I do not care what you think, I am coming after you," he said out loud.

Chapter Two: Preparations

He had spent the rest of the day making his plans. The first part was going to see the bear before he went to the other forest for the spring and summer. The bear had to know what he was going to do in case something happened to him. He knew he have to plan his actions carefully in order to do what he wanted. The next thing he needed to do is talk to the his son. He walked up the hill and found the bear nearby feeding on the first berries of the year. As he approached the bear turned and looked surprised at his presence.

"I am sorry to bother you," he explained. "Something has happened and I need you to know about this before you go over the hill for the summer."

The bear looked at him with some concern and came over to him. He quickly explained what had happened with Claris and what he was going to do about this. The bear did not look pleased.

"Stranger, if she feels that strongly, you should let her go," the bear told him.

"I know," he said. "Maybe this is selfish, but before I met her, my life was lonely just going from herd to herd. I felt no meaning. Everything I have is because of her. I will not let that go so easily. She is much more to me than a doe that provides me with children. I am going to get her. I wanted to come see you. . ."

"In case you do not come back," the bear interrupted. "You are going to arrange things so the forest is taken care of in case you are dead from his foolish idea." The bear stopped and turned around and walked back to his cave. When he got there he lay outside his cave and continued to look at him as if he was crazy. "I will not try and talk you out of this," he went on in his deep voice. "That would be a waste of time. You have already made up your mind and I can see why. Very well, go after her. I take it you will ask your son Stabo to take over the herd if you do not return?"

The bear was way ahead of him. "Yes, that is my plan until Stena and Balo are old enough to do this. That will not be for at least one or two seasons."

"And you want me to treat them like I would treat you?" the bear added.

Yes, " he said with a bow of his head. "I believe you can help them and they can help you like we help each other. Before I told them that, I wanted to talk to you to see if you agree."

The bear lay there for a moment. He did not look happy. He could not tell if it was because he was being presumptive on their friendship, or because the bear thought his idea of going was still folly. Finally he took a deep breath and told him. "I said before I would meet with Stabo and Stena. I have also met Balo and he seems a much more cautious deer than you are. If they wish to approach me, I will not eat them. If I have a female here, I cannot promise she will not try and eat them, so they need to be careful."

"I understand and I will remind them of that fact." he nodded. 'There is one more thing I wanted to say," he said and paused for a moment. "I want to say thank you for being my friend and saving my life. You have provide me and my family with wise advice. As crazy as this sounds, I admire you more than most of the deer in my herd."

The bear slowly got up, walked over to him and put his huge front paw on the side of his head. "Thank you for warning me all those times about Man. I admire you Stranger, and I still think your purpose here is far more important than mine or even your herd. I hope you come back. If you do not, I will miss you."

"Thank you," he said his voice starting to choke again.

"You should stay here until dark and then leave for the Man path forest," the bear told him.

"Thank you," he said and lay down in front of the bear's den to sleep.

That night he traveled near the Man cave and the old spring. The Man cave were cold and dark at this time and there was no danger. Just before the greater light rose, he quickly traveled the short distance from the spring to the edge of his forest. He then moved quietly across the open space into the Man path forest.

He ran into the forest and immediately started looking for the other deer. He could call to his son, but he did not want to make himself or his problem obvious. This was his problem to deal with and he was not going to bring anyone else into this except as necessary. The side of the forest from the Man path to the Man cave was empty of any deer. In fact other than the usual smaller animals, it was free of any animal. The nearby presence of Man drove them away. After eating and drinking at a small stream, he emptied himself and washed himself off in the stream. He walked through the forest eating as he came across patches of grass and bushes. By the time it was full light he had crossed the wooded area and smelled no deer. He then came upon the opening and the hard ground of the Man path. He was reluctant to cross it. He had seen the Man animals come down the path sometimes with their two eyes glowing brightly. Although the ground gave off a disgusting smell, he did not smell death in it. He looked down the path and as far as he could see there was nothing other than the night-black Man path. He took a deep breath and ran across it into the other part of the forest. At once the scents changed. He could smell lingering odors of other deer. He started moving about. He moved toward the clearing he had last seen both his son, Gena, and Bambi's son Veron. He knew approximately where it was. As he got close he started picking up other scents. There were smells of other fawns mostly new born and the occasional left over smell of a birth.

As he looked around he became aware of another deer behind him. He walked with the wind at his tail. Sure enough the wind blew the scent of a deer to him. It was not Stabo, the scent was from a doe, but it smelled a bit like Claris and Stabo. He quickly move behind some trees and waited. The deer did not approach, but stopped behind him. The deer was quiet.

"You can approach me," he said out loud. "I will do you no harm."

He turned slowly and from behind a tree came a yearling doe. She was smaller than Claris was, but much sleeker. She reminded him a bit of Faline. She had that graceful curve to her neck and she had a nice looking face. By this Season she would be some prize catch for a young male.

"I will not harm you," he repeated. "Would you please tell me your name?"

The doe seemed hesitant she could not get a good smell of him with the winding blow his scent away. Finally she spoke up. "I am called Claris," she said cautiously.

His eyes went misty and he smiled widely. "You are Stabo's and Gena's daughter," he said.

The doe seemed surprised. "You know my mother and father?" she asked puzzled. She did not recognize him; she was a small fawn when Bambi, Faline, and he had last seen her.

"Stabo is my Son," he told her. "I am the deer they call Stranger."

All hesitation in her vanished. She came over to him and reached up and nuzzled his face. "He did likewise like she was his own fawn. "My father and mother spoke of you many times and still do," she said with a bright smile on her face.

"Are you mother and father nearby? I must speak with them," he said to her.

"They are over near their resting place. Mother has a new fawn so it was time for me to go out on my own. How did you know I was behind you? I thought I was quiet."

"You were, but I am much older than you and have more experience. I heard you. You still need to practice your walking quietly. Also I got you to follow me with the wind at your tail. That blows your scent to me, but you cannot smell me at the same time. Remember that; never follow anyone when the wind is at your tail."

She seemed to listen intently. "Yes, Stranger, I will remember. Thank you. I will show you to mother and father."

He followed the young doe. She moved gracefully and quietly. Stabo and Gena had taught her well. In another year she would walk like a breeze in the forest: hard to follow, and impossible to catch. It made his heart ache to watch her, but he was reminded of what the bear had told him long ago. No matter what happened to him, the best in him and Claris would go on and that made him feel as happy as he had felt since his own Claris had left.

He followed her back into a small clearing. There was a small stream that ran through it. On the other side of the stream she stopped.

"Mother, Father," can I come in," she called. "I have a visitor with me. It is Stranger."

Immediately he heard the sound of breaking twigs and rustling leave and a moment later, Stabo walked into the open. A moment behind him was Gena with a young male fawn close to her side.

"Father," Stabo called out and came up to him. They exchanged embraces as only a deer could do. He then kissed Gena and nuzzled her fawn.

"This is Koren," Gena told him. He was a bright and alert little fawn and seemed to wonder about the new big deer in his life.

"I am so happy to see all of you," he said. He looked at Stabo. He had grown. He was as big as him now. Already he could see the stubs of a large rack that would grow out this Season. Gena was sturdy and very healthy.

"Where is mother," Stabo asked looking around

He dropped his head. "That is what I wanted to talk to you about. Your mother has left and gone away."

"What!" Stabo yelled out, "What happened?"

"I like to know that too," a voice called from behind.

He turned and saw Veron standing to the side of him. He never heard him approach. He was as quiet as his father. He was smaller than his father, but much stocker and heavily muscled. He pity any male that tried to fight him in Season.

"I am glad you are all here," he said to them. "I only want to tell this once." He went into his tale of what had happened last winter and this spring. It was hard for him to tell and several times he had to stop when he choked up, but they had to understand what he wanted and why. When he got done, Stabo simply stood there shaking his head in disbelief.

"I am sorry, Father, but I do not understand why mother thinks she will never again have a healthy fawn. Look at me. I am healthy and so is my younger sister."

"I told her that," he said, "But she would not listen."

"You think she has gone back to live with my father and mother," Veron called out

"Yes, her scent clearly led that way and that is why I am here. I am in need of your help."

He saw Stabo look at little Koren. "Father I cannot come with you. I cannot leave Gena and Koren."

"No," he said abruptly. "That is not what I want. I will go after your mother and I will go after her alone. That will mean I will be gone for a long while; too long for the herd to be without a leader. Your sister and Balo are good deer, but they are still too young to be herd leaders. I will need someone who is older with more experience. Stabo, I will need you to help them especially after mid-summer and we get near the Season. Can you help them during this time?"

Stabo looked at Gena and then she looked at Koren. Gena looked back and nodded yes. "Koren will be grown more and will be able to travel by then," Gena said.

"Very well Father, after mid-summer I will go back to our forest and help," Stabo said.

"Veron," will that be a problem with you?" he wanted to know.

Veron thought about for a few moments before answering," No, so far Man has not come here, but that will not last. I remember enough from what you and my father taught me to hide from them. I would like to have Stabo here to help. But I can see where he will be needed more in your forest. How long do you think you will be gone?

He took a deep breath because that was the part of the problem that had no idea about. "I do not know," he said simply. "If I can find your mother, if she will listen to me, and if she will come back. All of this I cannot say. There is also something else. The travel to Bambi's old forest is longer, more dangerous, and more out in the open than travel here. It is possible I may not live to get there."

With that he turned to face Veron. "When your mother and father first left they were in a small group. After the fight with Geno they came back as a small group. Last time your father and mother went together with Gorro. With several deer, it is not a problem to travel. The predators will not attack a group. A lone deer is something else. I do not even know if Claris survived the trip and I do not know if I can survive it alone. It is possible neither of us will ever come back." He went back to face Stabo and Gena "In that case Stabo, you may have to be herd leader until Balo is old enough to take over from you."

"Stranger no," Gena blurted out, "Do not say that."

"Sister, he is right," Veron spoke up sounding a lot like his father. "The herd must have a leader and Stabo is the best choice."

"I understand, Father," Stabo told him. "If you do not come back, I will lead the herd, but I will not stay. This place is my home."

"Stabo is a great help to me," Veron added. "It would be much harder to be herd leader here without him. None of the others I can depend on like I can depend on Stabo and Gena. "Little Bambi is only now old enough to be trained. I must do that this season in case something happens to me. I must stay here."

He walked over to Veron and rubbed his forehead with his nose. "There is so much of your father I see in you," he told Veron. "He then walked over and did the same to Gena. "There is so much of your mother I see in you and in your daughter," he said looking at young Claris.

He then stepped back where he see could all of them together. "I will go back tonight and talk to Stena and Balo and let them know." Then he stopped as his throat started to tighten and he stammered out; "I just want to say how proud I am of all of you. I know you will do good with the herd no matter if I came back or not. You are all my family."

They all went to a clearing. Veron left and brought back Alana and his new doe fawn, Faline, named after his mother. Even young Bambi came back. He was only a yearling, but already he could see him growing a rack. He would be another large deer. They spend the rest of the day and into the early night talking. He told them about his conversations with the bear. Then after the lesser light was high in the sky, he got up and left them. He hoped he see them all again, but that was all he could do was hope.

He traveled to the edge of their forest and made the short journey back to his forest as light broke again. He rested near the large oak of the Old Owl that Oswell had taken over. He spent some time talking to him and letting him know he was leaving. He slept near the location Claris and he had chosen as their bedding place at the time of The Season. He then wondered if they ever use it again. So much was in his head and there was so much he did not know. He usually liked to know what he was going to do before he did it, but now he had no idea. He had to do it and hope it all turn out for the best.

He waited until evening and the time the herd ate on the meadow. The lesser light was rising when he walked onto the meadow and saw the rest of the herd feeding as normal. A couple of doe were paired with males, but most doe were alone with their fawns. As he walked over toward the small stream he saw the two familiar figures. He walked over to them nuzzled first his daughter and then her fawn.

"I have not seen you for a while," Balo said. "Where have you been?"

"I have been to see the bear and then went to the Man path forest to talk to your older brother," he said to Stena. "There were things I wanted them to do while I was gone."

"Gone?" Stena said lifting her head from feeding.

"I have decided I am going after your mother. I know she has gone to Bambi's old forest and I am going to follow her."

Stena did not look surprised. Balo seemed resigned. Finally as young Delene came up to nurse. Stena looked right at him. "Father, I cannot go with you and neither can Balo. Delene is still too young."

'I know, I am going alone," he said.

"What of the herd?"Balo asked suddenly seeing where this was going.

"I have asked Stabo to come over to help. He will be here in high summer and will stay until I get back or until both of you are old enough to take over the duties of herd leaders."

Balo eyed him carefully before telling him, "You do not think you are coming back."

"No" Stena said as a plea. "You have to come back."

"Balo is right; the journey is long, and dangerous. If I do not come back, Stabo will be herd leader here until you two can take over. I expect you to listen to him as you would listen to me."

"Stranger, you have taught us well, we can take over," Balo said looking at him. He could see a flash of anger in those young brown eyes."

"You cannot take over now," he said. "Both of you are still too young, you need more time and more experience before you can lead this herd. In one or two seasons, yes both of you can do this, but not now."

Balo lowered his head almost in a threat. "Both Bambi and you have taught me. I can do this." He could tell Balo had read his words as him not having confidence in the young deer and it made him angry.

He walked up to the young deer that still did not come up to his height. "No Balo, you are not yet fully grown. In this Season you will be mature, The Season after that you will have your full rack and you will be completely grown as will Stena. Then you will be ready. Stabo is older and has helped Veron be herd leader. He has more experience than you do, but even he is still a little young. You will be a good herd leader Balo, I can clearly see this, but it will not happen now. You still need help. Stabo has already told me he wants to live in the Man path forest and not here. He will not stay, but will go when you are ready."

He could see Balo was not convinced. "I do not agree," he spat out. "I can do this."

The last thing he needed was Balo and Stabo getting into a fight over this. He had to settle this now or Stabo would have no peace here. There was only one way to do this.

He turned to face Balo and put his own head down. "You think you are ready now, young male. If so, then charge me."

Balo seem confused for a second and then lowered his head and came at him. As Balo did he ran toward him. Balo stop suddenly and turned quickly to bring his rear legs around to knock him off balance. He saw it coming and jumped away before Balo could do it. Balo turned swiftly and came at him again. This time Balo stopped short and leaped to one side and tried to kick him. He also saw it from their training and jumped aside. So his tricks were not going to work here. Then Balo just came at him. This was what he was waiting for. He slammed into the young male hard. He could see it stunned Balo, but he recovered quickly. They did not have racks so early in the year so they locked at the shoulder and Balo tried to get leverage on him. It reminded him of trying to spar with Bambi again. He countered and then he just pushed hard with all his strength. It was hard like trying to push against an old tree, but Balo gave way. Slowly he pushed him back and as Balo's rear legs began to slip he dropped his shoulder, and he got under Balo and lifted with all his might. Balo went tumbling on to the ground. Before he could recover he ran over and lightly kicked him. He then pulled back and let the young deer get up. Balo got to his feet still glaring at him.

"Consider that my last lesson to you," he said loudly. "I beat you because I was stronger than you. I am stronger than you because I am older than you. In one or two seasons I will not be able to do that to you, but now I can. That is why you are not ready to lead. Stabo can also do that to you because he is stronger, older, and has more experience. That is why he must lead until you are ready. Can you understand this?"

He looked at the young deer shaking the dirt off him. Inward he could see the rage in him. "Do not be blinded by anger," he yelled at him "That is one of the first things I taught you. Think about what has just happened and learn from it."

By then Stena came over and stood next to Balo and looked up at his brown eyes. Little Delene came with her. "Balo, do not get angry with him?" she asked meekly.

He could see the young male taking in large breaths. Frankly he was a little winded too. That was not as easy as it had once been. Balo was getting stronger. Finally the breathing slowed, then head came up, and the rage subsided. "Yes, you are stronger than me," he admitted. "At least for now you are. If Stabo comes I will welcome him, and I will at least listen to what he says."

He walked over to the two young deer and nuzzled them both. "That is all I can ask. Balo, you are like my own son to me, but just as I have to teach hard lessons to my own son, I must teach them to you. In one or two seasons you will be herd leader. All of ask of you is try and take care of the herd as well as Bambi did, or I tried to do."

Balo nodded, "I will try."

"Good," he said. "That is all I can ask of you. Now I can leave in peace."

Chapter Three: The Journey

He stood at the edge of the forest by the stream that flowed to Bambi's old forest. Beyond a few trees it was all open space between him and Bambi's forest in the distance. That forest was so far away he could not even see it unlike the other forests surrounding the meadow. He remembered from Bambi the best way to get to his old forest was to follow the stream. That stream would lead him to a large lake and the deer lived near there. It was soon after dark. He wanted to wait until it was black before he left.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Balo asked. He had not wanted him to come to the edge of the forest, but Balo insisted.

"Yes," he said, "I have to. Remember what I told you. I will try and be back before The Season. If I am not, Stabo will help."

"I understand," Balo said still showing a little tension in his voice.

No sense delaying his journey. He turned and nuzzled Balo on his nose. "You really are like a son to me. If something does happen to me, I want you and Stena to know how proud I am of the deer you have become. I deeply feel for both of you, Goodbye."

He turned and moved at a fast trot following the stream. "Goodbye, Stranger" he heard at his back. He forced himself not to look behind him and just moved on. Once he went past the space between the first two hills, the view of his forest was blocked. He was now on his own.

The grass on the side of the stream was much taller than the grass in the forest. Like the forest it was growing from the spring melting of the snow. The stream flowed with some noise. He moved quickly, but quietly. The wind was from his side. He could smell nothing except the grass and other plants. He kept close to the stream. It flowed through the hills in a low point like his meadow. He did not want to climb the hills because he was afraid he would be seen. There was no place to hide here other than behind the hills. The only other cover came from the grass and he was much bigger than the grass. He stopped to eat some. It was dryer and did not taste as fresh as the grass in the meadow. He drank from the stream and moved on. He knew if he followed the stream he would be fine. He continued to move all night. The only things he heard were the insects as well as a few frogs. The biggest animals he smelled were rabbits.

The ground around the stream was flat, but the stream ran in between hills that rose a few lengths high. From time to time he could see small shadows moving at the top of the hills. They looked like large mice. He had never seen them before, and they had an unusual scent, but they smelled something like mice. Overhead he could hear owls and other birds of the night flying along with the occasional squelch of the bats. He never thought other animals could live in the open, but they did. There was life out here that did not depend on trees. It did not depend on Man either because he could find no trace of Man scent. That comforted him because he knew he could not hide from Man or dogs out here. During the night he did hear one owl come down and grab one of the mice like creatures and carry it away. He heard the caught creature squealed in agony for a few moments before it became silent. It appeared 'The Way of All Things' applied here as it had applied in the forests. Everything hunted for food and tried not to become food for another. He wondered what other creatures out here could turn him into food.

The lesser light had almost gone when a powerful scent came to his noise. It came from a pile of waste much bigger than anything he had seen before. It smelled differently. He did not know this animal, but it had to be big to leave a waste pile that large. It smelled of grass like deer and horses. He next saw places near the stream where the grass had been eaten close to the ground. He kept following the stream all night and stopped as the first streak of light entered the sky. He ate some of the grass near the stream. The grass there was tender and tasted better. After eating his fill, he emptied himself out. He moved on to the bottom of a small hill and stopped. It was then he saw them coming toward him.

There were many animals; large animals that were much bigger than him. With the way the wind was blowing, they had to have smelled him, yet they took no notice. They were bigger than the bear, but these animals did not have claws. Their legs were also long like his. They had hoofs like him only much bigger. They had racks, but these were grown out even though it was early spring. These racks were smaller, and less pointed. In fast each rack had only one point. Also, both males and doe had them. He watched them. They were eating only the grass. They did not look like they were hunting. They paid him no mind. They came within several lengths of him and then stopped to drink at the stream. They looked at him, but made no attempt to speak or even have an interest in him.

"MMMMUUUUUUUUUUUU," was the only sound they made. It was loud.

The way they were walking around, they were showing no fear of him or anything else around them. They were not cautious in the least and made no effort to hide themselves, not that there was much to hide in out here in the open. He decide to try and talk to them.

He did not get up He did not wanted to be seen in the increasing light. "Greetings," he called out from where he lay down.

The creatures all stopped and looked up at him. They had blank, almost empty looks on their faces. All he heard in return was: "MMMMUUUUUUUUUUUUUU."

"Are there any Men around here?" he asked.

"MMMMMUUUUUUUUUUU," came the answer.

He decided to try again. "Is there any danger around here?"

"MMMMMUUUUUUUUUUU," came the answer again.

He wondered if they were all just stupid, or simply didn't care if he talk to them or not? One thing for sure, he was not going to get anything from them. He decided to leave them alone and got comfortable behind the hill. At least here he was partly hidden. He continued to watch the animals eat and drink.

It soon became obvious that all they were interested in was the grass. He lay on the other side of the stream, in full view of them, yet keeping them closely under watch. They did nothing other than to continue eating. Their smell was a little like a deer, but it was much more striking on the nose. This was especially true after two of them emptied themselves. He looked up at the light brightening in the sky. If he went on, he could be easily seen by anyone. This was a good place to stop and wait for night, even if the company was limited in usefulness. After the greater light was higher in the sky the creatures moved off and left him alone, which was fine with him. He put his head down and tried his best to sleep.

He did not sleep much. Every time a new sound came to his ears he immediately became alert. Other than the animals that were here, there were no new smells. The only other sounds was from the large mice creatures at the top of the hill that did not seem to mind if he was there or not. There were more bird calls, but although the air was filled with sound, he heard or smelled nothing that would threaten him. He wondered if this is the way Claris went, but he had found no sign of her on his travels. That was a good thing. If anything had happened to her, he could smell it from some distance.

He slept on and off all day. The greater light had almost set when he heard something in the distance. He looked up and saw something approach. It was tall and heading toward the stream many lengths away. He looked at it for a moment and did not know what to make of it. As it got closer he started to pick out features. It was like the horse Stena, Balo, Bambi and he had seen before, but there was something else. There was something with it, in fact on it. He looked closely and then saw it. It was a Man.

He remembered the horse had told them that they carried Man around with them and that they helped Man work. This horse carried Man on his back. The horse came up to the stream and stopped. The horse leaned over and started to drink out of the stream. The Man stayed on the horse for a while and then once the horse finished drinking, they left. He waited until they were far away before he dared moved. He waited until the greater light had set and it was dark, before he got up. He emptied himself again, drank out of the stream and continued on his journey.

He continued on following the stream until the lesser light rose. Then he heard something behind him. There was still too many hills around him to see very far. He moved quickly but did not break out into a run. As the lesser light was over head, he past the last of the hills. There was only flat open space between him and a forest he could see in the distance. The ground was clear all the way to the old forest. He could see where he was going, but at the same time he was out in the open. If he was seen out here, he would be open to attack.

He continue on for a while and then started to hear something behind him again. This time the noise was louder. There were yelps, and barking. He knew the sounds, there were dogs behind him. He moved quicker at a trot and continued to listen. The barking told him they were coming up the stream. They must have smelled his scent and were following him. He did not hear any sounds of Man. He quickly started to move down the stream. After a while the dog sounds seem to get weaker. He decided to walk in the stream for awhile. He knew dogs could not follow him in a stream. Bambi had learned that from his father, and then had taught him that. His travel was nosier with water splashing all around him. However he was not leaving any scent. He continued to move in the stream until the yelping noise got less and less.

He continued at a trot for some time until he was sure the dogs were gone. He looked up ahead and saw trees of a forest. They were not far away. He would be there by the rising of the greater light. He continued onward until he noticed something in the dark. He thought he saw a shadow moving to his left side. The wind was blowing from his right side so he could smell nothing. Then he saw it again this time better. Then he knew. At least one of the dogs had come around him and were moving down wind of him so he could not smell them. They were still after him.

If there were many of them, he could not fight them all. He had to out run them. He got out of the stream and got on firmer ground. He started to run. He ran down the stream toward the forest. He looked to his left. There was nothing there now. He seemed to be leaving the dogs behind him, but it was taking all of his strength to keep running. As he kept running he thought he could hear a barking noise in the distance. He knew dogs could run longer than he could, but he was faster. He looked up ahead. The forest was much closer. Soon he be there. He kept running as best he could. It was a short while later he started to feel tired. He lost sight of the Shadows, but he could now hear yelping from behind him. They were still there and they were still after him. His rear left leg was starting to hurt. He had to stop soon. The trees were closer, but still far enough away where he could he could not reach them. He stopped. He would have to fight them here. If he went much further, he be too tired to fight. He backed up into the stream and slowly started to walk to the middle of the rushing water trying to catch his breath. He was looking for a place where the dogs could not get behind him. There was none. The ground was flat as far as he could see. The stream was the best place. The water was not deep for him, but the dogs were shorter. They would be slowed by the water. Now he had to fight. In the back he heard the yelping get louder until it sounded like they were on top of him. He turned and faced down stream. He saw four figures running toward him. There were two large dogs and two smaller ones. At least they were not the big hunting dogs.

They ran up to him stopped on the bank close to him. He turned and faced them. The two large dogs started to go down the stream while the two smaller ones got into the stream and came after him. The water came up to their chests. He waited until they were close to him and then he reared up and kicked out with his front legs. He caught one dog with both front hoofs. There was an immediate cry and the dog went backward. He tried to stomp on the other dog in front while he came down, but the dog was able to dodge him. He then heard splashing behind him. The two large dogs were going to attack from behind. He saw one come up to leap on his back. He kicked out with his rear hoofs and caught the large dog in the face. This was a hard blow. Even his hoof hurt him. There was another large yell as the dog flew back hitting the water hard with a large splash. The other large dog leaped and he felt it land on his back. Immediately there was a sharp pain as the dog bit into his back. By now the dog in front was coming up again. He reared up on his hind legs as hard as he could. The dog on his back went flying off splashing loudly in the stream. He felt his skin rip as the dog flew off of him. The smaller dog in front leaped up looking to go for this throat. He kicked out with his front legs knocking the dog off balance and he fell into the water. As he came down he brought both front hoofs down onto the smaller dog. He felt his hoofs hit the dog and head a loud pop. The dog cried out and then lay still.

He turned around and saw both large dogs standing together in the stream. One looked to be favoring his left side. The second dog eyed him and then leaped again. He kicked out with his front legs. This time he only grazed the dog with his hoof. The dog landed on his back and started to claw at him. He could feel the claws dig into his skin like the time the bear had removed the Man stones. Again he reared up as high as he could. The dog fell off and hit the water. As the dog hit the water he turned quickly and kicked out with his rear legs as hard as he could. This time he caught the dog squarely on the side. There was another yell as the dog went flying back. He stood in the middle of the stream. The dogs had stopped. He looked around him. One dog lay in the stream not moving. The other smaller dog was climbing onto the bank limping from his left front leg. One large dog behind him was making for the side of the stream. He was bleeding from the face. The dog in front was looking at him, but not moving. That dog still wanted to attack. By now his back was starting to hurt him. He put his head down and charged the dog in front hitting him and pushing him aside. He kept running down the stream until he was exhausted. He looked back, but he was not followed.

He slowed down and moved as fast as he could since he was worn out. The pain was aching from his back. He was out of breath. His rear left leg ached. He could feel blood flowing down his side. He continued to follow the stream. The throbbing in his leg finally got so bad he had to stop. His breath slowly came back, but his back continued to hurt worse. He looked up and the trees while closer were still too far away. He found a patch of taller grass near the stream and he lay down in it to rest.

He also noticed the sky was getting lighter. He should keep moving. He had to get into the cover of the forest. He was hurt and out here if anything found him, they kill him for sure. His legs would not do it. He had to rest. The grass did not hide him, but it make it hard for anyone to see him. He put his head down, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Sometime later head heard a high pitch sound. He work up and saw something moving on the other side of the stream. He remained as still as a new born fawn and watched. Soon he heard heavy footsteps coming toward him. He saw it was another horse coming toward him. This horse was also carrying a Man. They rode up to the stream and stopped many lengths from him. There was also another sound. The barking of dogs. It sounded like the ones that had chased him. He could clearly see what was happening. The horse turned to look down the stream. He did not know if they could see or smell him yet, but they paid no attention to him. He saw the Man reach down and pick something up from the side of the horse and hold it in his front hoofs. It took him only a moment to realize it was a killing stick.

He was in the open and weak. If the Man tried to use the killing stick on him, he was dead. The Man did not turn toward him. Instead he pointed the killing stick downstream toward the barking of the dogs.

"WWWHHHAAAMMM," went the killing stick.

Off in the distance he thought he heard the cry of one of the dogs. Why would Man kill a dog? The dogs worked for Man. Man did not kill them. The Man pointed his killing stick again.

"WWWHHHAAAMMM, WWWHHHAAAMMM, WWWHHHAAAMMM," he heard. Then there was silence. The Man put his killing stick back on the horse and after a moment rode away from him down stream. Other than the sound of the horse's footprints that disappeared quickly, there was no other sounds. He looked around. The horse and Man were gone.

He had no idea what the Man, horse, and killing stick did, and he did not care much. There were no more barking from the dogs. All was quiet again. He was tired, hurt and too scared to move. He decided he stay where he was and rest until the greater light set. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

When he woke there was darkness around him. The greater light had set. He got up and found his back was aching. It was sore and he felt weak. He knew the forest was close. He needed to get there. He forced himself up and just followed the stream next to him. He was slow, his body hurt too much. He could not see right. Yet he had to go on.

He put his head down and just forced himself to kept going. He started to feel weaker in the legs. He felt lightness in his head. He was not bleeding but his back felt very sore. Besides his back, the rest of his body ached terribly. He looked up. He could see the tress and the edge of a large lake in the distance. He was almost there. He climbed out of the stream and walked along the bank. He looked back and could see and hear nothing behind him He could see, but not clearly. It was like his eyes were dim. He pushed himself on. His head now pounding in his ears.

He passed his first tree, then another, and another. He had made it. He kept walking. He could smell other animals, but no deer. He just kept walking along the side of the stream because he knew deer were at the end of the lake. He came upon an open patch of ground. He bent over and ate some grass and drank. It made him feel a bit refreshed. He still went on. Soon the dizziness started getting worse. His legs started to wobble a bit. He was feeling a lot weaker now. He was near trees again. He had to stop to rest again soon. He came upon a waste pile. This was from a deer, but a deer he did not know. His nose told him he was getting near more water than just the stream. By now he was staggering. He looked up and saw the large open lake in front of him. He had made it. Now he had to find cover

As he got closer another scent came to his nose. It was a deer and it was close. He thought he recognized the scent, but his brain couldn't tell him who it was. He thought he heard voices up in front of him, but his weak eyesight could not tell him where they were. He saw a patch of what looked to be soft grass. He started to lie down. As he got down on his legs he felt something near him. He looked up and barely managed to see deer several lengths in front of him. It was a large older male along with a doe and a young fawn. The doe and the fawn ran. The older male walked up to him slowly. His eyes were diming and his head started to spin.

"Hello," he called out. "Do you know the herd leader Bambi?" he asked.

The deer came over to him. The scent still smelled familiar, but he still could not place it. The deer looked him over and then said, "Stranger?" in a familiar voice.

"Ronno" he called out. "Is that you?"

"Stranger, what happened to you?" the big deer said.

"Dogs," he said in a gasp. "Is Bambi nearby?"

The young doe had move closer to him. He looked at her. It was Marol. For a second she looked like Claris. Then he suddenly felt very dizzy and then he felt nothing at all.

Chapter Four: The Awful Truth

He opened his eyes; he was lying on his side in the grass. His eyes were still blurry and he still felt light headed. He took in a deep breath through his nose and smelled several deer. They were all nearby. He tried to roll over onto his legs to lie normally. As he turned, his back was shot through with pain.

"Ahhhhhh," he called out.

""Stranger," he heard a voice call to him. "Are you alright?" He knew the voice.

"Bambi," he called out.

The big deer stepped in front of him so he could at least look up into his face. Faline stood next to him and nearby was Ronno and Marol. Near both doe stood small fawns only a few weeks old. There was a large yearling male standing behind all of them. Faline walked up and dropped a branch in front of them. He recognized the leaves as the same the bear had given him when he had been struck by man. He nodded and started eating them. They were bitter, but he knew they help him feel better.

"Thank you," he told her.

"Stranger, what happened to you?" Bambi asked.

It was hard to talk, but he managed to get out. " Came to find Claris. I was attacked by dogs."

Bambi leaned over and started to look at him closely. "You have two bite marks on your back. One is deep the other is not. Your back also has many claw marks. They are no longer bleeding, but you have a fever and you must rest and recover your strength."

He nodded and said, "Thank you, my friends."

The large deer bent over and rubbed his forehead with his nose. "When I was hurt, you helped me. Now I will help you," he said calmly.

He looked at the large friendly face. "Claris, is she here?"

"Yes," Faline told him. "She has gone to live with her mother. They are not near here. I sent a young doe to tell them you are here."

He yawned widely and suddenly felt sleepy. He knew the leaves would do that. "You need to rest," Bambi said. "My son Gorro will stay near here. When you wake up, you must get food and water in you. My son will bring you more of the leaves to heal you."

He put his head on the ground and closed his eyes. Even though there were many deer around him, he fell fast asleep.

He was awakened by a foul stench. He opened his eyes and realized the stench came from him. He had fouled himself in his sleep just like a little fawn. The smell was awful. He forced himself to get up on his feet. His head was dizzy for a moment but then the forest stopped spinning. He walked over to the stream, got down and let the cool water run over him washing the foulness off of him. He rested there for a while before getting up and eating the grass that grew along the side of the stream. He noticed it was the middle of the day. He was also in the open. He hoped Man was not around. His nose still did not smell properly, but he felt no danger around him. He kept eating until he felt full. It was then he heard a sound behind him. The yearling male was standing in the trees several lengths away. He caught hold of the scent and knew it at once.

"You are Gorro, Bambi's son," he said remembering. "The last time I saw you, you still had spots."

The young male looked embarrassed and walked over to him with more of the leaves. "My father said you should eat these." He then dropped the leaves at his feet. He ate the bitter leaves and stood up and looked around.

They were by the edge of a large lake near where the stream ran into it. There were trees near them. Here they were too much in the open. "Let us talk over in the trees, I do not like being in the open even if there is no scent of Man."

He walked over and went into the forest until they were enclosed by the protection of several large spruce trees. Then he felt he could relax.

"Are you feeling better, Stranger?" Gorro asked.

"Yes," he answered, "But I still feel weak. That will pass in a few days. I would not want to fight those dogs again now, but I will be fine thanks to you and your father and mother."

"You are welcome," Gorro said looking respectful. "I still remember you and Claris before mother and father left for the forest. My father always told me you were his best friend."

"As your father is my best friend," he said. "I like to speak with your father and mother tonight if they are not busy."

"I will take you there after dark," Gorro said. "I do not like moving about in the daylight."

"Wise deer," he said. "You father has been teaching you." With that he started to yawn again.

"I will sleep again until night. When the lesser light rises, wake me even if I am still asleep."

"I will," Gorro said.

He lay down on a patch of grass and in a short while was sound asleep again.

He woke up a little before the greater light vanished. He went into the forest to empty himself and chew some of his cud. It helped with the weakness that he continued to feel. His back was still sore, but not as sore as this morning. He came out and took a long drink of water. He heard a noise behind him, it was light footprints. Bambi had been teaching Gorro how to walk silently. Like little Claris, he still needed practice, but he would learn.

"Can you walk?" Gorro asked.

"Yes I can walk," he told him stretching his back slightly. "I don't want to run yet. I am afraid I may open the wounds again.

"My father's place is at the end of the lake," Gorro told him.

"Let us be off," he said and followed the yearling.

Bambi's forest looked and smelled much the same as his. Many of the same animals lived there. The one thing he did notice was the smell of bobcats. They used to be in his first forest after he escaped from Man, but few were in his forest. There were several here. The lake here was much larger than the pond in his forest. It was so big it had a small piece of land in the middle of it. As they got closer to the far side he noticed the tress were much smaller. Many looked burnt away. Bambi had told him this part of the forest had been burnt by a great fire when Bambi was a yearling. New growth was everywhere but it would be many seasons more before the forest was back to normal. As they got to the far end of the lake there was a large hill from where water fell into the lake. Gorro took a sharp turn and went toward a place where there were many brushes that grew as tall as he was. Gorro stopped outside a thicket.

"Father, Mother, I am here with Stranger," he called.

He heard movement and saw two deer coming out. He also saw a doe fawn following Faline. He walked over and put his head down. The little doe looked at him and then started to lick his face. He did the same. She was beautiful, sleek, and had a wonderful scent, like her mother.

"What is her name?" he asked.

"Eta," after my mother's sister.

"She looks like you," he said to Faline.

'Faline just smiled. Bambi came and looked over his back and smelled him along the where his wounds were."

"I still smell some sickness there," Bambi said and felt along his forehead with his nose. "Your fever is still not gone." He then looked at Gorro. "Please go get some more of those leaves for Stranger."

"Yes, Father, I will get them now," he said and then left almost silently.

"You have been teaching him and teaching him well," he told Bambi. "In another season he will travel through the forest like a light breeze.

"I started teaching him last season," Bambi said. Now that he is older and will have a rack this year, I will teach him the rest."

"Good, I am glad for you. I saw Veron and Gena before I left. Their children from last year are learning, and they have new fawns for this year. Verone is a fine herd leader and he has a new doe fawn he named after you, Faline. She is very cute. Veron is teaching young Bambi how to be exactly like you."

Both Bambi and Faline looked happy at his news. He watched Gorro leave the thicket before turning again back to his two best friends. "I am glad Gorro is gone, what I have to say is only for us."

"I understand," Bambi said.

"I want to see Claris," he said.

Bambi let out a deep breath. "I know, but she still feels the same way as before. She asked me to tell you to go away and find another doe."

He turned away trying not to show anger to his two oldest friends. "Bambi, I did not come all the way here and almost get killed by four dogs to be told to go away. I also would not have come here if I was interested in just another doe. I am going to see Claris. I am going to see her whether she likes it or not."

Bambi walked up next to him. "Stranger, I do not think she will go back with you. She is sure she cannot have any more fawns. I myself have told her I think that is foolish."

"I do not think she is wrong," Faline said.

He turned and looked harshly at Faline. "How can you or anyone else know that?"

"Because a doe can tell when she cannot have any more fawn. As older Eta once told me she knew when she had her last fawn. When the Season came around she had no interest to be with a male anymore. The males had no interest in being with her. Something changes inside you."

"We are not close to the Season yet. How can she tell that now?" he wanted to know.

"Because something inside tells her. I cannot explain better. I have already told Bambi, I will not have many more fawns. I am getting too old."

He had to admit what she said might be true for an older doe, but Claris was not old. "Faline, Claris is one season younger than you, and little Eta looks very healthy to me."

Faline went on as if she hadn't heard him. "There was also the trouble with Sterus and Stera. She should not have had problems, yet she did. She did not have enough milk for both. I helped as much as I could, but they never gained the weight or got healthy enough."

Faline stopped talking yet he knew that was not all. Faline looked concerned almost frighten of something. She was fidgeting. There was something else, something Faline was not telling him.

"Tell me all of it, Faline, please I have to know," he pleaded. Even Bambi looked puzzled at what Faline was saying.

"I told Claris I never tell anyone what she said to me," Faline said in a low voice. "She did not want you or anyone else to ever know. She was afraid you would leave her or treat her badly."

He was stunned. What could make him treat Claris badly? She was the first doe he ever knew that had treated him as if he was not some freak of the forest. What could have happened that Claris would think he would not treat her like he always did? It all made no sense to him.

"I do not understand," he said. "You both know that I have always felt for Claris. I never knew anyone else I could feel this way for. I will not give her up unless I know the whole story, good or bad. I have already watched two of my children die. It cannot be worse than that."

"Yes it is," he heard Claris's voice from his back.

He turned around quickly and saw Claris and her mother Ate standing near the edge of the lake. He wanted to run over to her, but she didn't look like his Claris. There was something different. She was standoffish like the first day he knew her. He stayed where he was. Something was very wrong here he knew.

"Then what is it, Claris?" he had to know. Even Bambi looked confused. Claris came close to him. He could already see tears running from her eyes as well as from her mother.

"It was my last fawn," Claris sobbed. "You remember I left our place right after I told you he was dead. I told you I wanted to be away from that place. I really did that because I never wanted you to see it."

"Why, Claris," he said slowly. Now he knew there was something horribly wrong.

Claris dropped her head to the ground and sobbed uncontrollably. She tried to speak but could not. Her mother looked at her and then looked directly at him.

"She did not want to tell you that what came out of her did not look like a fawn," Ate said in a stern and firm voice. "What she gave birth too was not a fawn or even look like a deer. It was something else. Thankfully it was something that did not live long. She was afraid if you saw it; you walk away from her and never talk to her again."

He was stunned into silence and motionless. He felt almost the same as when he had been hit by Man. Now he understood. He stood there catching his breath. Having a doe that cannot breed was one thing. Being a doe that produced deformed fawns meant that doe was shunned by the males and all others around them. They were outcasts and usually did not live long.

No one spoke a word. He had no words and neither did Bambi or Faline. He stood there thinking. What would he do now? What could he say now? He had to do something. He had to say something. He searched his thoughts and then searched what he felt. It was his feelings that gave him an answer. He walked over the Claris her head still low to the ground and sobbing uncontrollably now.

"Claris, look at me," he said in a low, but firm voice.

Claris didn't raise her head, but only went on sobbing. He waited and then repeated this time in a firmer voice.

"Claris! look at me."

She stopped sobbing and slowly raiser her head to look at him. Those green sparkling eyes were now like cold dead flames. She was waiting for him to say something.

"I wish you would have told me this before," he said calmly. "At least I would have understood why you did what you did. I would not have sent you away. I would not have shunned you. I would not have been with you in The Season again, but I would not have cast you out. I felt for you then and I feel for you now. That I cannot have another fawn with you hurts me, deeply, but we had two healthy fawns and both of them have again produced fine children. Our son Stabo and Bambi and Faline's daughter Gena have a fine male fawn Koren. He is healthy and strong. Stena and Balo have a nice doe fawn Delene. Stabo's daughter Claris, is growing into beautiful young doe that I suspect a lot of males will be after. I am sure Balo will make a fine herd leader one day. You and I made two good children and they are now having children and these children will have children. We will go on now matter what happens to any of us. I still feel for you and I still want you, but you are right, I will go elsewhere to have my children."

Claris looked back at him. The tears stopped. He could see she was happy he would not send her away, but she was sad he find another doe to take her place during the Season.

"Is that all?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, I want you now to come with me," he told her. He turned and faced Bambi and Faline.

He could see smiles come from the two of them again. At least there was some good news to this mess.

He next spoke directly to Bambi, "I ask permission of the herd leader to stay in your forest for a while at least until my injuries heal fully."

"My friend, you stay as long as you want," Bambi said with half a grin "There is a small thicket under those pine trees that no one uses."

"Thank you," he said. "He walked off past Ate and Claris. Claris followed behind him with her mother as he went over to the thicket. As he stood there Gorro came back with a branch full of leaves. He dropped them on the ground next to him.

"Thank you, Gorro," he said. I will eat them in a short time."

He picked the leaves up and carried them into the thicket. It had leaves from last year and soft grass. It would do for now.

Claris and Ate came over and stood beside him. Claris did not offer to go into the thicket with him which was strange. Instead she looked at him as if something was on her mind.

"Stranger," she said looking at him. "I have to know something."

"What is it," he said.

"Did you mean what you said about still feeling for me?" She looked afraid at what he might say.

He walked over to her and nuzzled her long soft nose and licked her face. She did likewise. Some things were best left without words.

"You are still going to find another doe in the Season?" she asked gently.

"Claris I will not lie to you," he said firmly again. "I understand you may not have any more fawns, but I can and I want more than two. I may need them. Yes, when the time comes I will find myself a doe to be with, but I will not feel for that doe the way I feel for you."

"I understand, Stranger," Claris said with a hint of a grin on her face.

Ate nodded her head and also smiled. Then spoke up in her clear direct tone, "I think I may have a way for all of us to be happy."

"How is that?" he wanted to know.

"You will have to see," Ate told him. "For now Claris and I need to talk with some of my family. We will be away for a little while. When we return we will discuss the matter with you."

With that Claris and her mother walked off the meadow and into the forest. Without saying another word. He looked at Bambi standing several lengths away.

"I know nothing about this," Bambi said and left him alone. He lay down in the thicket, ate the leaves, and fell fast asleep,

He slept until the greater light was almost set. He got up feeling much rested and refreshed. He ate some grass on the meadow and drank from the lake. As the sun set the other deer in the herd came onto the meadow to feed. He saw Ronno, Marol, and their fawn enter the meadow. He remembered what he must have had looked like when he saw them before. It was not right to burden them with his problem. He decided to go apologize to them. As he watched, he saw four large males walk out of the forest and walk over to talk to Ronno. There all looked like four year old large males, obviously senior males of this herd. The other deer gave them a wide berth. One was just as big as Ronno.

He walked over as normal and stopped a few length away and bowed his head slightly as a matter of respect. "Greeting, Ronno," he said.

"Greetings, Stranger," Ronno replied. "You are looking better than before."

"Thank you," he said. "I came over to apologize to you and Marol for the way I looked before. I should not have approached you looking like that. I should also not have bothered you with my problems. I am sorry."

Ronno nodded. "There is no need to apologize, Stranger. We could clearly see you were injured and not yourself. I am just glad you are feeling better."

He turned and faced the other four males and spoke formally. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Stranger, herd leader in the Meadow forest."

"I am Tarro," the largest one said. "Ronno has spoken of you in the past. I thought you be bigger. My other companions are Latos, Kellis, and Errin. We are senior males in this herd."

"So I can see," he said. The four male were studying him like a male would study another male who he is about to fight.

"Are you staying in our forest," another spoke up. The question was direct and rude in its tone.

"I will be staying as long as I need too," he said coldly.

He took a step back studying the four deer in front of him. The thought of taking on four or five males in his condition did not appeal to him. These four males were being deliberately rude to him almost asking for a fight. like Krakus did the first day he met his herd.

"Stranger is not an enemy," Ronno spoke up. "He is also a herd leader," he said to the others. He then turned back to him. "I am sorry Stranger, some of our younger males are suspicious of new deer. Having new deer take over the herd has been a recent event that a few are still getting use too."

"An event, not all of us asked for," Tarro added.

"Very well," he said coolly. "Just to let you all know, I will not be staying. I have a matter to clear up here, and once that is done, I will be gone. Bambi is herd leader here and I plan on doing nothing to change that."

"Very well," Tarro said. "No offense was meant."

He felt like saying what a complete lie that was, but instead he smiled. "No offense was taken," he answered formally. "Again, my apologies to both Ronno and Marol for my appearance and behavior, good day," he said and backed carefully away.

He backed away several lengths before turning and going back into the forest. He could hear Ronno talking to the others in a hushed tone. He had gone several lengths into the forest before he caught a familiar scent.

"What was that about?" Bambi asked.

"You tell me," he answered looking back. "For a moment I through I was going to have to fight those four males. Who are those four, they are certainly not friendly."

"They use to be Ronno's senior males that helped him keep order when he was herd leader. They also helped him get rid of my Son. They were not happy I came back. Tarro actually challenged me, but I easily beat him. Since then, they have been causing me some problems, but not enough for me to chase them out. Ronno keeps them under control for now."

"I am sorry for you," he said. "Your need to watch them and teach Gorro how to fight well. I am sure they will be a problem for him."

'I intend to do both," Bambi answered. "Most deer are happy I am back. A few are not. That is not what I want, but that is the truth."

He had to agree.

Chapter Five: Partners

Early the next evening he got up alone. He decided to go look around the lake. On the lake were ducks and other birds that lived near water. He could see many were making nests. For many birds, this was their Season and they went about the business of making their children. He walked along the lake inside the trees. He was feeling better; his back did not bother him nearly as much. In a few days he would be ready to go back. He ate near the lake. Around him he smelled animals familiar to him, but no trace of Man. At least there was no Man cave in this forest. There were other animals he did not know. There were long furry animals that lived in the water with long flat tales. There were also many more fish in this lake than in the other. He saw large birds swooping down and catching them and taking them back to their nests no doubt to feed a hungry brood.

He also saw other deer feeding by the lake. They were fully in the open. Most were doe, no doubt eating as much as possible to make milk for their new fawns. He saw some males including Ronno and Marol and their fawn. This time they did not have their friends with them. For now he decided to let them be. That kind of trouble he did not need. He walked away and toward the deeper woods. As he did he could hear grunting and shuffling. It sounded like two deer fighting. At this time of year fighting over what? He approached with the wind in his face as quietly as he could. He could see two deer and recognized them at one. It was Bambi and Gorro. Gorro was charging against his father, and his father was pushing back at him. Gorro was big, and powerful, but he could see he was off balance. He did not keep his rear legs far enough apart to support himself properly. He also did not have full strength in his rear legs. He approached until he was in clear view.

"Very good," he said loudly. "Can I make a suggestion?"

Both males stopped and looked at him. Neither had heard him approach. At least he was not losing his abilities. "How are you feeling this morning?" Bambi asked him.

"Better," he said. "My back is still sore, but I am feeling fine."

"Bambi walked over and rubbed his forehead with his sensitive nose. "The fever is almost gone."

He smiled and walked over to the two sweating males. "Yes, thank you both again for the help. Perhaps now I can help you if you do not mind."

"Go ahead" Bambi said. "Just be careful you do not open your wounds again."

He went over and locked his shoulder against Bambi. "Gorro stand to the side please and watch my rear feet." He then turned back to Bambi, "Push lightly, my friend."

He deliberately put his feet close together and let Bambi push at him. He was pushed back easily. "You have no support from your rear legs," he told Gorro. "You have no support to steady yourself. Now watch me." He put his legs father apart and let Bambi push him again. It was much harder to move him.

"Keep your legs apart like this and use your rear leg muscles more, but be careful because if you keep your legs too far apart. . ." He deliberately put his legs too far apart and this time Bambi dropped his head and got underneath him. He was easily pushed aside.

"The deer can get under you and push you away," he went on. "It takes practice and time to learn. In another season it will be hard to move you. In two seasons no one will be able to move you."

Gorro nodded and stood and put his rear legs apart the correct distance. "Like that," he asked.

"Exactly," he told him. "Now when your father pushes you back use your rear legs and your front legs at the same time while you shift your weight forward."

Again Bambi locked Gorro at the shoulder and pushed him back. Gorro push from all four legs and flung himself forward. He still could not push his father back, but he kept Bambi from pushing him back farther.

"Thank you, Stranger," Gorro said with a smile. "I hope you can teach me some of your tricks my Father told me so much about."

"As soon as I heal more," he said.

With that he stood back and watched the lesson go on. The lessons had two purposes: one, to teach Gorro how to fight off other deer; second, to build his strength. He could already see he was big for a yearling. With the other friends of Ronno running about, he might need his skills earlier. In two seasons he might be bigger than his father or him. After a while it was clear both of the deer were tired, but Gorro seemed ready for more.

"He is getting stronger," Bambi said walking over to him.

"It is not just about strength as we both know," he said. "Raw strength without the thinking how to use it is useless. You will be teaching him soon how to be a herd leader."

Bambi nodded and then turned to Gorro. "Gorro see if your mother wants any help."

Gorro looked disappointed at not being included in the conversation but did as his father asked. When he was well away Bambi turned to look at him. "Like Claris, Faline does not like it when I talk this way, but Gorro will be the one to follow me after I am gone."

"I guessed as much. He is strong, he seems smart, and he is learning," he said as they walked into the deeper forest.

"I will be teaching him more this season, in two seasons he will be ready. By then I will be ready to give the herd to him. I rather give it to someone I trust than to be beaten by another deer like Ronno when I am old."

"I have not seen any deer in this forest that can beat you," he said.

Bambi shook his head no. "There are a few young males who like to try it as you have seen. Right now they do not have the strength to do it. Even if they had the strength, they do not have the knowledge. They never will have the knowledge. They think all they need is heavy muscles and a broad rack to lead a herd. It would be worse than having Ronno in charge."

That brought up an interesting point. "How bad were things when you got here?"

Bambi stopped and let his head drop as if recalling a painful memory. "Awful, the deer were just running about with no direction. A lot of them were killed by Man for stupid things like walking into the open during daylight. Ronno did not know how to get the herd to avoid Man. Not like you or I did. After I teach Gorro, he will know." Bambi then stopped looked at him closely. "What about you and your forest?"

He took a deep breath. "Together Stena and Balo could lead the herd. They are smart, especially Stena. Balo mostly does what she tells him, but he has a temper. When I told him Stabo would come help out if I did not come back, he got angry. He argued with me and I had to put him in his place. He is big, but not that big. He needs time to grow and gain experience. Stabo will help out, but Stabo has no desire to be a herd leader. He rather stay in the Man path forest with Veron. Together they seem to be doing very well."

"At least my second son, turned out better than my first," Bambi uttered. "Has anyone seen anything of Geno?"

"No, and it can stay that way," he spat out.

It was then he heard a small twig break in the distance along the path he took to get here from the meadow. He looked at Bambi, the wind was still blowing toward them. Both Bambi and him immediately got behind some trees.

"It does not sound like Man, it is too quiet," he told Bambi.

"Yes, but I am still glad I sent Gorro away," Bambi told him quietly.

Together they watched and shortly two male deer walked into the opening in the forest they were in. One deer was Ronno, the other he did not know. Both were together. They looked around the opening as if searching for them. When they turned their backs to them, Bambi stepped out of the trees quietly.

"Greetings Ronno," Bambi said formally before turning to the other deer. "Greeting Neris," he repeated.

Both deer stopped and turned. Neither had heard the big deer move. "Greeting, Bambi," Ronno and then took a sniff of the air. "Is Stranger with you?"

He stepped out from behind the trees. He heard no one else approach. "Greetings, Ronno and Neris." he said formally. "Can I help you?"

He studied closely the other deer. He was not as big as Ronno, but large enough and he looked strong enough to be a senior male. His coat was a light brown and his rack look like it be of respectable size, but not large. He could see some scars on him from fighting so he assumed he had some skill. Still, even hurting, he felt he could take him if it was a fight they wanted, but somehow he did not think so. Neither deer was moving aggressively.

"I was coming to see you," Ronno told him. "I wanted to apologize for the behavior of Tarro last night. I met Neris on my way to you and he told me something I think the herd leader needs to hear."

"Thank you," he said to Ronno. "However you do not need to apologize to me for anything. You did not treat me rudely, Tarro and the others did. I hold nothing against you, Marol, or your fawn."

Ronno looked relieved and bowed slightly. "Thank you, Stranger." He then looked at Neris and Bambi. "I should explain something to both Bambi and Stranger. I have not gone into this before because until now it was not important, and because no one else was involved." He then stopped to collect his thoughts for a moment. "When the herd decided to run Geno, Krono and Roto out of the forest, I had help from many other senior males: Neris, Tarro, Latos, Kellis, Errin, Arges, Frano, and Morro all decided to help me. We told Geno and the others we wanted them to leave. They refused and laughed at us so we attacked. The fight was bitter and Arges and Frano were killed and Morro was so badly hurt he died shortly afterwards. I became herd leader and as you know, I did not do a good job. When I asked the herd if they wanted Bambi back as herd leader, almost all said yes. Tarro, Latos, Kellis and Errin said no. They did not want you. They told me if I did not want to be herd leader, then Tarro would be herd leader. The rest of the herd said no and Tarro was forced to back down."

"Bambi walked up to Ronno. "Thank you for telling me this, but others already told me about Tarro."

Neris stepped forward and went on in a formal tone. "Tarro came to me after he met Stranger and asked me if I would be interested in either running you out, or killing you. Tarro said he should be herd leader here and not you. I told him no. I like the way you lead the herd. Tarro then threatened me and said after you were gone he would run me out or kill me. I then told him I did not think he could beat you, Bambi, and after what I have heard from Ronno, I told him I did not think he could beat Stranger. Tarro said that you told him you would be leaving in a little while to go back to your forest. He then laughed and walked away."

Bambi looked at him. He had seen all four deer. He shook his head no. He did not think the four of them could take him. They might be able to take Bambi. Gorro would be of no help in that fight, he was still too young.

"Thank you," Bambi said bowing his head in appreciation. "I will keep this in mind. What has brought this on. I have never heard of this before."

"Tarro and the others always listened to me," Ronno said, "Because of my age, strength and experience. The four of them were also too young to think they could be herd leaders. I told them Bambi would be the best leader and until now they have listened to me. Now that I am showing my age, they do not listen any more. I am sorry, I can no longer guide them."

"I understand," Bambi said and rubbed Ronno along the side of the neck. "Thank you for telling us this."

"Yes, thank you," he told them with a bow of his head. "I would go back another way so no one will see you were with us."

"We will do that," Ronno said and the two deer left the opening and walked toward the hill through the forest.

Once they were gone and he could not smell them anymore he talked to Bambi in a low voice. "What are you going to do?"

"I am not too afraid of the four of them, but I will have to do something," he said.

"I would do it while I am here," he said."Let us go back to the clearing, I would not mention this to the doe or Gorro."

"I agree," Bambi said.

They walked about half way to the clearing and they head a distant call.

"COOOOMMMMEEEEE," they heard in the distance.

"Gorro," Bambi called and started running toward where the sound had been. He ran after Bambi as fast as he could, but tightness in his back slowed him down. He ran through the trees until he was back again at the thicket Bambi and Faline lived in. Both father and son were looking off into the distance toward the large hill. From behind it he could see a column of smoke.

"Is that Man?" Gorro asked.

"Yes," both he and Bambi said together. They both looked at each other."It is early for Man, spring has barely started," he said out loud.

"I saw it and did not know what to do so I called you," Gorro said.

"You did the right thing, but never call anyone if Man is around," Bambi told him. "It can lead Man to us." Bambi looked around. They were alone. "Where is your mother and Eta?"

"When I called you, I told mother to take Eta and go into the forest. Mother said she go to the small meadow," Gorro said looking around uneasily.

"Good," Bambi said, "It safer there. It is also where Claris and her mother live."

He noticed two deer were still on the meadow. He barked a warning to them. They understood and fled. He looked at Gorro. "Never be on the meadow when Man is around."

"Let us go to the small meadow," Bambi suggested. Just follow me."

He looked around at the now clear meadow. It seemed safe now.

Bambi lead the two of them back into the deeper forest. As they walked on the trees got taller and closer together. After they got away from the lake there were fewer and fewer burnt trees. It looked like the fire did not burn here as much as near the lake. There was little undergrowth between the trees which were mostly tall oak. The ground was almost completely shaded. Bambi led them on a dark deer path until he saw light in front of him. Through it he saw a small clearing about the size of the one back in his forest. It was sun lit from an opening in the tops of the trees. Near the clearing he saw other deer. In the woods around the clearing were Faline and little Eta. Next to her were Claris and Ate and near to them stood two doe he did not know. He could tell the two doe he did not know were related, a mother and an older daughter. The mother looked nice, but the daughter was sleek like Faline and looked rather attractive. They all walked up to them.

"Man is back?" Claris asked looking worried.

"Yes," Bambi said sharply. "I think for now we should stay here."

"I agree," Gorro added.

He just nodded then he noticed the doe looking at each other. There were nods and motions that they had been discussing something. There was obviously something going on between them. They way the doe looked at him with side glances he knew it was about him. Finally Faline nodded and spoke to Bambi and Gorro.

"Bambi, Gorro," she said politely in that smooth voice of hers. "Could I ask both of you to leave for awhile? We have something we like to discuss with Stranger. We need to do this alone for now."

Bambi looked at him wondering what was going on. He shrugged back because he didn't have any idea what was happening. Bambi motioned to Gorro to follow him and they both walked off into the forest.

"I think we should all lie down for a while," Ate said with a grin on her face.

He lay down and noted the two doe he did not know lay directly in front of him. Claris and Ate lay to his right, and Faline and young Eta to his left. He got the feeling he was being surrounded for a reason. He did notice the younger doe in front seemed to be studying him intently.

"Very well," he said warily. "Now what is this all about?"

Ate spoke up for the group. "First the older doe in front of you is Cara my eldest daughter. Next to her is her second born, Carie."

"I am pleased to meet you both," he said politely.

"Stranger," Ate went on. "I am too old to speak any way except plainly, so I am going to talk to you like I hope your mother or your closest friends would do. I do not mean to insult you here."

She stopped and looked at him. He was now really starting to feel that something was up here and he was not sure he liked it. They were obviously expecting an answer by him. All he did was bow his head and answer in a formal voice. "By all means let us speak plainly. I will take no insult from anything any of you have to say to me."

"Very well," Ate said. "All of here know about the problem with Claris. All of us know she can no longer have your fawns. All of us also know that a herd leader must have a doe that can give him fawns. I now know for sure how you feel for Claris. If you did not feel strongly, you would not be here. I can also see that Claris still does belong with you, but at the same time you must still have a doe that can give you fawns. What we like you to do is not only to take Claris, but to also take Carie. In this way while Claris cannot have your fawns, someone from her family can."

If Bambi had run him over and stomped on him, he could not be more surprised. For a moment he was not sure what to say. Finally he stumbled out, "You want me to take Claris and Carie back to my forest?"

"Yes," Ate said calmly as if it was nothing.

He turned toward Claris and looked deep in her green eyes that were sparkling again. "You want me to do this?" he asked not believing it himself.

"Yes," she said. "I want you to do this. In this way I will still be with you and Carie can do what I cannot."

She meant it he realized. She wanted him to take the young doe. She also still wanted to be with him. That alone made him happy, but what of the other doe. He looked straight in front at Carie. "What do you think, young Carie? You do not have some young male you are interested in? You are certainly pretty enough to have one as is your mother."

Both of the doe looked slightly embarrassed. "Thank you." Carie said "No, I do not have a male that I care for. All of the males that I had any interest in last year were already paired. Most of the males around here only think as far as the next Season. Claris, Ate, and Faline all tell me you think differently. You act differently because you rule your herd not with just strength, but with your head as well just like Bambi. Between Geno and Ronno I have seen what happens when you rule by strength. All the deer who know you say you are also very brave. You are a male I would want and I would like to have for a mate. The only deer around here like that is Bambi, and he already has a mate," she said and looked at Faline before going on. "Gorro may be that way, but I am too old for him. If I am to bear fawns, I will bear them only from a male that I want."

"In short, she is just like my other daughter," Ate spoke and looked directly at Claris.

"I do have a male," Cara said. "We are only together around The Season. At other times he is not that interested and seldom comes to talk to me. Claris told me and my daughter how happy she and you were together all the time. I would like that for my daughter. This is why I think you, my daughter, and my younger sister would be happy together."

He could not believe this. They all wanted him to take Carie. He hardly knew her. She hardly knew him. She did appeal to him, but then all pretty doe appeal to him. He needed time to know her and for her to know him. If he accepted Carie, it would be the answer to his problems. It was also the only way he knew Claris would stay next to him. They all let him know how they felt. He wanted to make sure they all knew exactly how he felt about this arrangement.

"Very well," he said standing up."He is what I will do. I will remain in this forest for a while until I heal. I will bed down with Claris in the thicket near Bambi and Faline. Young Carie can join us there. In this way you can get to know me better before we go back to my forest. If you find that for whatever reason you rather not come to my forest with me, you are free to stay here. If you wish to come with me, then yes during the Season, I will breed with you. You will have my fawns. Now since we are speaking plainly, allow me to say one more thing. If during The Season, Claris finds she can have more fawns, I will also breed with her. I will accept them as my children too. I will teach any fawns I make with either of you as the same and I will teach them like I have taught my son and daughter. In this way I believe I will be fair to all of you. "

With that Ate also go up and looked at him with a smile. "Yes, Stranger that is very fair. You are as wise as Claris and Bambi say you are."

Young Carie also got up and looked at him. "Thank you, Stranger, I will be pleased to do as you say. You are indeed very wise."

"Claris got up, came over and licked the side of his face. "Thank you," she said her eyes showing a tear.

Finally Faline and young Eta got up and came over to him. "You have chosen well. I will explain this to Bambi and Gorro when they come back.

"Good," he said. "With Man in the forest, I think we should rest here during the remaining light and eat at night on the meadow."

"I am sure Bambi will say the same," Faline said. "I will bed down here with Eta. Our normal place is too close to Man."

"Fine," he said. "Excuse me for a moment. He leaped away into the forest for a short while and then emptied himself. He ate some grass and then went back to the open clearing. He found a spot with a thick layer of grass. He lay down on his legs. Claris came over and lay down on one side of him as she normally did. Carie lay on the other side of him. Cara and Ate lay near them. Having two warm bodies next to him felt strange, yet he found he did not mind it. The smoothness of their fur on his sides sent waves of delight up and down his back. He reached over and nuzzled Claris and then did the same to Carie. She did not seem to know what to do, but he did know she liked it when it did that. He chewed his cud for a while and then quietly went to sleep.

This arrangement might not be so bad after all.

Chapter Six: Lessons in Death

They all woke as the greater light disappeared and darkness fell. He got up and both doe got up with him. As usual they all left each other for a short while to empty their insides. Then they all went back to the lake and the large meadow nearby and ate their fill. The other deer were on the meadow eating. He could smell only a trace of smoke in the air, but no scent of Man. He spent most of the night with Claris and Carie eating and drinking. It was after the lesser light was high overhead that Bambi came over to him and motion him to walk away with him. He followed Bambi until they were well away from the others.

"Faline told me," Bambi said. "What do you think?"

"I think if I can have Claris back and have Carie as a doe to make fawns, I will be happy. Carie is a nice looking doe."

"Yes she is and she did not take a mate in her first breeding season," Bambi went on. "In that way she is like Claris. She wanted nothing to do with the young males around here."

"So I was told, now tell me if this was your idea?" he wanted to know.

"No," Bambi said shaking his head. "I think it was the idea of Faline and Ate. You coming here, showed how you really feel about Claris. I think Claris was afraid you walk away from her if you knew about her unborn fawn."

He still felt exasperated at that and what had happened. A lot of deer had been put through a lot of trouble because of this and he was not happy about it. "She still should have told me," he said flatly. "It would have made things easier on a lot of deer. However I guess that is no longer important."

"Well, I hope you are happy," Bambi said.

He did not know what to say except, "I hope so too. "In in any case I get what I need and I think Claris and Carie will get what they want. I will not lie to you. I wish you and Faline were going back with me."

"They need me here, and there is no one else to lead," Bambi told him. "Gorro is not ready and none of the other males I would trust."

"I can understand that," he said looking at the other deer on the meadow. "You are always welcomed back in my forest, both you and Faline."

"Thank you," Bambi smiled. "Perhaps one day when I am no longer herd leader."

It was then he heard a large calling of birds from up on the tall hill. He saw several of them flying away. It did not sound like a warning. He turned and took in a large breath of air through his nose. He could smell nothing, but the light breeze was blowing from the lake to the hill blowing any scent there away from them.

"You smell something?" Bambi asked.

He kept his head into the wind trying to smell something. Something did not feel right to him. "No, but I feel uneasy. Let us go back near where your thicket is. It is too open where we are even through it is still night."

He baked a warning to the others and all of them came back toward the hill. Bambi walked back with him until they were near the thicket they used. Near his thicket where, they were mostly hidden by trees. They continued eating and talking for the rest of the night. Over head in the distance behind the lake, he saw the first glint of the greater light. He still smelled nothing or heard nothing unusual. He put his uneasiness down to being in a different place. He looked out on the meadow near the lake and saw several deer still feeding including Ronno, Marol, their fawn, and a few others. The first light from the greater light came over the lake and lit everything with a new day.

"PHAMMMMMMMMMMMMM, PHAMMMMMMMMMMMMM, PHAMMMMMMMM- MMMMM," echoed from the hill. It stunned him and the others for a second before he heard PHAMMMMMMMMMMMMM, PHAMMMMMMMMMMMMM echo again.

In a moment all the deer scattered in every direction toward the nearby forest. In moments he lost sight of everyone. He lunged into the thicket and the deeper woods beyond before stopping. He got down low behind some bushes growing near the burnt trees and waited. He knew he was well hidden. He strained his nose and ears to detect any sign of Man. The forest had gone quiet again. He was alone. He had not seen anyone hit, but he hadn't had time to be looking for anyone. He waited and after a short time he could hear the voice of Man, in fact several Men. They were walking toward him, yet they were still on the meadow. They were laughing and having a good time. He got up and very slowly moved forward keeping his head behind trees and bushes. It was not long before he could see into the meadow.

He looked around and the meadow was empty except for three deer lying still on the ground. He recognized them immediately. It was Ronno, Marol and their fawn. All were lying still. He could not see well from this distance, but he could see the large open wound above the shoulder of Ronno. Marol was hit in the same place. It was the fawn that made his sick. The poor little thing was blow open by the killing stick of Man, pieces of its little body flew everywhere. At least it hadn't suffered. Then he heard the laughter of Man. He watched Man walking on the meadow, their killing sticks on their shoulders. They walked over to the three deer and looked at them. They were obviously having a good time.

He watched them get down and then reach into the shell like thing on their backs and pull out what looked to be a single claw each. After that they stared driving their claws into Ronno and Marol and cutting into their bodies like a bear. The Men removed their skins and put them aside. Then they took parts of their insides and threw them out onto the grass. Then they started to cut away other parts of them, cutting away their flesh into pieces. They put the flesh in something that looked like skin. They even did that to the fawn, although there was little enough to be had from something that small. A part of him wanted to go out and charge the Men to hurt them for what they have done, but that would only mean he be dead along with Ronno and Marol. There was nothing he could do.

He had seen this before when he lived with Man. He knew they go back and throw the flesh on a fire and burn it; then eat the flesh. All the while Man would be having fun shouting, drinking, and eating the flesh. He could not look at it anymore. He waiting until he was sure they were busy cutting up poor Ronno and Marol and not watching around them before he slowly got up and walked away being careful not to make a sound. He backed away when he caught the scent of another deer in front of him. He looked and saw Gorro hiding behind the trees. He quietly moved over to him. Gorro seem fixed in place as if rooted to the ground like the trees. His face was a blank stare. Gorro was only paying attention to what was going on in front of him. Finally he saw that from his hiding place he too had seen everything that happened on the meadow.

"Gorro," he whispered.

Gorro did not move or utter a sound. He moved up to him until he was right next to him. Gorro never heard him approach. He was stunned.

"Gorro," he said and kicked the young male in the rear. That brought him out of it. He turned and looked at him with shock on his face.

"Stranger," he squeaked. "Did you see what the Men did to Ronno and Marol?"

"Yes, now come with me before we are next," he ordered him. He then nudged him again. This time Gorro moved with him away from the meadow. Gorro followed, but he made no attempt to pick his way quietly. He stepped on a few twigs and broke them. The sound was loud, but not loud enough to be heard far.

He turned quickly and hit Gorro with his front left leg. "Be quiet!" he tried to say in a whisper.

That seemed to shake him out of it. He started to pick his way around the ground making little noise. Once he could no longer hear anything from the meadow he stopped. He turned and looked angrily at Gorro.

"When you are near Man you cannot make a sound," he told him. "That can get you just as dead as Ronno and Marol are now, along with anyone else near you."

"They cut them up," was all Gorro could say as if not believing what he saw.

Yes, Man does that," he told him tersely. "Man will cut them up, take them back to a Man cave, then throw their flesh on a fire, and then eat it. That is what Man does. I have seen it many times."

"My father told me you lived with Man when you were very young," Gorro said trying now to be quieter. "Did you see that there?"

He realized the young male had not seen anything like this before. It was too much for him. It reminded him of Stabo when he was this young. He looked down at Gorrro and glared at him with his eyes. "Yes I saw that there. Yes, I heard Man having fun as they ate the meat and drank. They were all very happy about the whole thing. That is what made me leave. How can anyone take pleasure in doing that, yet they do. You have to learn that the only way to stop them doing that to you or others close to you is to be careful around Man. You must not be seen. If Man can see you, Man can kill you. Then he will do to you exactly what he did to Ronno."

Gorro backed away and then turned quickly he spat up a large piece of cud along with some foul smelling liquid. He also lost control of his bowel for a moment. "I am sorry," he said. "I do not know what came over me."

He took a deep breath. "Do not feel bad. I was the same way the first time I saw what you just saw. Now let us go back to your parents and the others. They most likely think we are dead."

"Does what the Men did to Ronno and Marol not bother you?" Gorro asked.

For a second he was angry to be asked such a question. He then reminded himself Gorro was young and had not learned yet. "Yes it does," he said calmly, "But I have learned to live with it. As have your mother and father. You will learn to live with it too. All deer learn to live with it and get wiser, or they end up like Ronno."

"But I never smelled Man," Gorro said.

"Nor did I or your father," he answered. "Man can sometime approach without being seen, heard, or smelled. That is why you never stand in the open during daylight, because you never know when Man is around. The only reason it is not one of us out there in the meadow being cut up right now is that we walked back near the thicket before the greater light came up. Man could not see us clearly. Ronno was slower and was seen. Now he, Marol and their fawn are dead. You must learn from this Gorro. You must understand this because someday you will be leader around here and the other deer will look to you to tell them when it is safe to feed and when it is not. It will be up to you to see they are safe just like your father does. What you have seen is a hard lesson, but it is a lesson all herd leaders must learn. It is just as important as knowing how to fight and knowing how to lead. Your father will teach you this and you must learn because someday it will be you doing this."

Gorro looked to him almost in shock. He could see it was only now clear to him what it meant to be leader. He took a few deep breaths and the nodded his head. "I understand, I think. I am sorry I behaved the way I did."

"There is nothing to forgive, because you did not know," he said now trying to sound friendly. "You are young and you must learn as I did from Man, as you father learned from his father, and you will learn from your father. One day you will teach it to your son and he will follow you after you are gone."

He walked with Gorro back to the small meadow. He let the young deer ponder what he had seen and what he had said. He hoped he got his message across. They were walking when a familiar and terrible scent crossed his nose. A smell of waste and dirt.

"What is that smell?" Gorro asked.

"It is the smell of blood and it is coming from nearby," he said using his nose to determine where the smell was coming from. He hoped it was no one he knew.

"Another deer was hit," Gorro said.

"Come with me," he told Gorro. "Time for another lesson."

He followed the scent in the air. It was coming from where Bambi and Gorro practiced fighting the other day. It took a while, but as he expected, he found a large red streak on the grass. He leaned over and smelled it. Fortunately, it did not smell like someone he knew.

"That is blood," he motioned with his heard toward the red streak. "It is the one thing you never want to see. It means a deer has been hit. From the smell and the size of this smear, I am afraid this deer is either dead, or will be dead soon."

Gorro looked horrified again. "You must see this," he told him. "It is time your understand about Man."

Gorro seemed reluctant to follow. He had no time for his indecision. He knew that Man might be tracking this deer to cut them up like Marol and Ronno. He needed to show Gorro this.

"Come with me," he barked an order like a herd leader.

Although he hesitated, Gorro followed. The found another red streak, then another. Finally he could see the body of a young male lying on the ground. He looked about as old as Gorro. The body was still. He walked over and looked at the body. In the flank above the rear shoulder was a large open hole oozing out blood. He leaned over and felt the head of the down deer. The male was already dead.

"It is Halis," the son of Neris," Gorro said looking at the body in horror. We played together as fawns."

"Well Halis is dead," he told Gorro.

"Look at his face," Gorro said and turned quickly away.

He looked at the deer face. The eyes were still open. They had a look of fear and disbelief on them. There was nothing more for them to do.

He stood up and went over to Gorro. "I am sorry you had to see that, but that is what happens to deer that are hit by Man's killing sticks. This is why we must always be careful around Man.

"Gorro looked back at the dead deer and looked up to him. "Why does Man do this?" he asked almost in tears.

What could he tell him? There was nothing but the truth."Because Man enjoys doing that to deer," he said as calmly as he could. "A horse told me one time it is because we deer do not serve Man, so Man feels fine in killing us. In fact Man finds pleasure in killing us and eating our bodies."

"If this is what Man does to us, I can understand why father acts the way he does," Gorro said voice still choking. "Who wants to die like that?"

"No deer should die like that," he answered. "Yet it happens all the time. The only way to prevent it from happening to us and those close to us is to be very careful. These things your father is teaching you are not just for fun. It is meant to keep this from happening to you. More important, it is to keep this from happening to all the deer in the herd. This is why your father came back here. To prevent this from happening to all the other deer."

"Crash." he heard in the distance. "Something was moving though the forest with heavy feet.

"We need to go quickly," he told Gorro. "That may be Man looking for the deer he killed. Like us he is following the blood trail. If he finds us here, the same thing will happen to us. At least he doesn't have dogs. "

"Ahhh ta tae," he heard in the distance. It was Man talk.

"It is Man," he said showing some fear himself. "We have to go. Do not run and follow me and be quiet."

With that they moved off at a trot into the thick trees. Gorro moved almost as quietly as he did. They moved quickly into the deeper forest. He kept listening. The Man noises got fainter and fainter. It did not sound like they were after them. He kept on until he was sure there was no Man sound behind him. Of course by now he was lost in the forest.

"Do you know where we are?" he whispered to Gorro.

"Yes," Gorro said. "I do not hear anything behind us. Do you think it is safe to go back to the clearing?"

"I think so. I cannot smell or hear anything of Man. That usually means it is safe to return to your home."

"Follow me," Gorro said and they walked lightly off in the direction of home.

As they approached the small clearing their scent carried into the opening. Bambi, Faline, Claris and Carie all ran out to meet them.

"You are safe," Faline said with relief licking Gorro. When neither of you came back we were afraid you had been hit.

"We are fine, Mother," Gorro said his voice still sounding tense. "Ronno, Marol and their fawn are dead. Halis was also hit by Man and we found his body. Excuse me for a while."

With that Gorro walked away from them. Both Faline and Bambi looked at each other. They were all stunned. They had all known Ronno and Marol for many seasons, now they were gone just like that. After a few seconds Faline looked toward Gorro walking away and turned to follow him.

"No," he told them and then started to explain exactly what both of them had seen and his talk with Gorro on their way back. He also described finding Halis. Carie almost looked like she would be sick as Gorro was when he told them the details.

"I am sorry, that I overstepped my bounds with Gorro," he told Bambi. "However he saw some terrible things today and I wanted to make sure he learned the lesson while it was fresh in his mind. I know you should have told him that, but you were not there."

Bambi looked at him with a mixture of sympathy and disgust. "Yes, I wish I had been there, but you know this lesson as well or better than I do. I am thankful it was you. Do not feel badly. I am sure Gorro will get over this."

"Man really does that to us?" Carie asked not believing it.

"Yes," he said.

'And you saw all of this before?" she asked again. She still looked she really didn't believe it.

All he could do is nod his head. It was then Claris stepped forward and stood next to him. She nuzzled him lightly in understanding. "Stranger, I think that you need to tell Carie the story of your early life like you told me, Bambi and the others" Claris told him. "She needs to know if she is going to stay with us."

Claris was right he knew. He should have done this earlier. "You are correct," he told her and licked the side of her face. He then turned and faced Carie and spoke in a low tone. "My early life was completely different from any other deer I know. It has given me the knowledge on how best to live around Man. It has also forced me to see things I wish I had not, but now that is not important. Things are what they are. Before you decide if you want to stay with me, you must know this. Carie, come with me, and I will tell you my story."

Ate walked up and looked at him. "I too want to hear your story as does as Clara," she said eyeing him carefully.

"As does Gorro," Bambi said taking a deep breath. Faline looked at him harshly. "If he is to be leader he must know," he told her. "I learned much when Stranger told it to me."

The last thing he wanted was to repeat his life story to a group of deer. It was too personally painful, and brought back memories he just as soon forget, yet he could see the choice was being made for him. He looked around and accepted the inevitable. "All of you eat and drink and do anything else you must. This will be a long story. I will be here when the greater light is overhead and I will tell you the story. None of you will like it; of that I am sure."

He turned and walked away from the others. He never liked doing this, but at least those who heard it understood him better. However every time he told it, it always left him empty inside. He went into the forest, found a small stream and drank and ate his fill and then emptied his body, much like he was about to empty himself. He came back and lay down in the small meadow. All the others were there. He took a deep breath and talked until the greater light set and the lesser light had risen.

When he was done and he finished answering what few question that were asked, he lay as if spent by some great physical effort. Both Clara and Gorro looked more horrified at his tale, got up and moved away from him. Both Bambi and Faline came over and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thank you again, my Friend," Bambi told him.

Ate walked over next. She looked at him her eyes full of pity that he hated. "I thought I had a bad time of it as a fawn," she said in a low voice and walked away.

Carie walked over to him and looked down at him. Her eyes were full of sorrow rather than pity. "Thank you, Stranger for telling me this," she said. "I think I now understand you better." With that she lay down at his side and moved in close so her body fully lay against his. Claris did the same on his other side. It felt wonderful, and he should have been happy, but all he felt was emptiness in his body every time he told his story. He hoped it was worth it to all of them.

Chapter Seven: Unexpected Aftermath

All of them stayed close to the small meadow for the next few days. From time to time he could hear the sound of the killing sticks from the lake, no doubt killing some hapless creature. The noise then stopped. While the rest all waited in the safety of the deep forest, Bambi and him went near the meadow. There they saw signs of Man's presence in the remains that still lay in the thick green grass and were being picked upon by birds and other predators of the forest. It was not a pretty sight to look at and he was glad the others were not with them. One thing both Bambi and he were sure of was the Men had come back and had come for the meat because there were no racks on deer this early in the spring.

Bambi had called many of the deer to him in the little clearing and told everyone to avoid the lake and the meadow. The deer listened and afterwards there were no more sounds of the killing sticks. They did not know if Man had gone or not. There was only one way to find out. Bambi then showed him and Gorro a way to climb the hill without being seen by those below. He mentioned his own father had showed him this path. He could tell it was not used often. By then Gorro had managed to get over his shock and asked to come. Bambi reluctantly agreed. He also went with him to look for himself. There was no way he would try and go back to his forest with Man prowling about. Early in the morning before the greater light rose, they climbed the hill. It was steep and rocky at places, but his back did not protest. The first rays of the sun had come over the lake when they got to the top.

Bambi took them to a place on the side of the hill where they could see down below on the other side. It was open with another forest in the far distance. In the open area grew tall grasses, and through it flowed another stream that emptied into the lake. There was nothing there except the lingering smell of burnt meat.

"This is where Man puts his Man cave when he comes to the forest," Bambi told them. They could all see they were gone.

"If so then they are gone for now," he said.

"It should be safe to use the meadow again," Bambi uttered, "But only if we use it at night."

It was then he looked back and saw Gorro looking around. He was holding his nose in the wind and smelling.

"Gorro, something wrong?" he asked.

Bambi also turned around and looked at his son. Neither of them detected anything.

"A strange smell," Gorro answered tensely. "Something I have not smelled before. I caught a scent once and then it was gone." He then looked in front of him. "Excuse me," he said and walked to the other side of the hill.

Both Bambi and him tested the air and could smell nothing except the smoke from where the Man caves had been. He wondered if Gorro was getting too nervous at what happened and was imagining things.

"Father, Stranger, over here," they heard the young male call.

They both hurried over and saw Gorro standing in front of some bushes and sniffing at the ground. As he got next to Gorro he smelled the putrid odor again in his nose. Gorro was also looking at a pile of what looked like ashes from a fire lying on the ground.

"Is that the scent of Man?" Gorro asked.

"Yes, Son that is," Bambi said. "That was good of you to find it. Man has been here."

He wondered why Man had climbed up here when he looked over the bushes.

"Look," he said and pointed his nose over the hedges. Below he could easily see the lake and the meadow and he could easily see the place where Ronno and Marol had died. It was a perfect place to watch deer on the meadow.

"That is why they came," Bambi said. "They can see clearly from here. When the greater light came up, Ronno and Marol stood there and Man saw them."

"I cannot see our thicket, Father," Gorro added.

"And that is why we are alive and Ronno and Marol are dead," he told them. "If you are close to the hill, Man cannot see you."

Bambi nodded and then after Gorro looked closely he turned. "Yes, now I understand," he said. "Man can only kill what he can see. If we are not seen they cannot kill us."

"Then you have learned a great lesson," he told Gorro.

Gorro beamed like he had found something of great value, and he had.

"Not only that, when they are up here we could not smell them or hear them," Bambi said and then stopped suddenly. He turned away from them and walked several steps back to the other side of the hill.

Gorro and him looked at the big deer wondering what had happened. Bambi just stood there upset at something. Finally after a moment he turned around, he could see tears in his eyes. Those black piercing eyes looked very sad, then he spoke with some effort. "It is exactly like when Man used the odor of the skunk to hide himself from us at our old home. That was when your older sisters Gurri and Gerta were killed."

Like Bambi he felt the memories of that terrible day flood back to him. It was all he could do to keep from breaking down himself. It was before Gorro was born. The yearling male looked at them. He walked up to his father and then nuzzled his neck. Finally he spoke up. "Father, as you told me, we can do nothing about what happened before. We can only make sure it does not happen here again."

"You...you are correct," Bambi told him. "Gorro, I think you have learned more than one lesson here."

"Yes, you have," he said and nuzzled the side of Gorro's face.

He decided to change the subject to something more pleasant. "Now young male, my back feels fine. Let us go back to the clearing, and I will show you some of my tricks. That is if your father doesn't mind."

"Not at all," Bambi said forcing a smile, and they all walked off the hill back the way they came.

They walked into the deep forest toward the smaller clearing. As they passed from where the trees had burned to the location the trees had not burned a sudden breeze brought an unusual scent to his nose. In fact there were several scents. It was not Man, they were scents from other deer, if fact it smelled like several deer. Both he and Bambi stopped. Both took in the air as did Gorro.

"Male deer, Father, three or four of them, but I do not recognize the scent," Gorro told them.

"There are four of them," he replied. "I certainly do know them. It is those four males I met with Ronno."

"I also know them," Bambi spat out. "Remember I told you there were a few other males who were looking to be leader here. It is Tarro, the leader of that pack.

They continued on quickly, they both entered the clearing. There were multiple scents, but no one was there. The outside males and the other doe from his family had been there recently.

"FALINE," Bambi called out.

A short while later Faline walked out of the forest. She was limping slightly. Little Eta was also limping. Bambi and Gorro ran up to her."

"What happened?" was all the big deer could say.

"Four males came here and said they wanted to chase you out. They said after what happened to Ronno, you were not fit to be leader anymore. When I told them you were not here, they kicked me and little Eta. Claris, Ate, Cara and Carie came up and they all left saying they be back for them later."

He looked over at the small fawn. She had been kicked. He rubbed his nose along the fawn's side and tried to smell anything unusual. She had been hurt, but not seriously. He was suddenly filled with a great anger.

He stood up and faced Bambi and Faline. "I think she will be fine, but she will hurt for a while."

By now, Claris led the others into the clearing. He walked over to them trying not to let his anger show. "Did those four really say they be back after all of you?"

"Yes, Claris," told him calmly. "They were loud, rude, and kicked poor Eta," He could clearly see and smell she was upset. The others looked worried.

They threaten all of us," Ate told him.

That got him really angry. He turned and looked at Bambi. "We need to deal with this," he said flatly.

"Right now," Bambi told him he could feel the anger in his voice.

"You know where they are," he asked anyone.

"If it those four you told me about before, Father, they live on the other side of the hill near where the other stream flows into the lake. I have seen them there before." Gorro also looked red eyed. He was ready to tear something apart, but he would be useless in a fight with four year old males. He was just too small.

"I have seen them there myself," Bambi said trying to keep calm. His eyes were turning red again like when he beat Krono. "Stranger and I will take care of this. Gorro you stay here and protect the doe."

"But Father. . ." he started to protest.

"NO ARGUMENT!" Bambi shouted. "Son, you are not old enough or big enough to fight these deer. In two seasons, yes you will be, but not now. You stay here and do what I say."

Gorro looked hurt, but Bambi was right. He would only get in the way.

"We will be back later," he told the others.

With that Bambi and him left walking deliberately, but not in a hurry. They walked until they got to Bambi and Faline's old thicket.

"Take the other way around the hill. There is a path my Father showed me that is shorter." He could still hear the anger in Bambi's voice.

"My friend we just cannot go into this like two angry deer feeling The Season," he said. "We have to think about this. We will be fighting four of them. We need skill not anger here."

"Understood," Bambi answered. "The wind is blowing off the lake. If we are behind the hill they will not hear or smell us coming."

"Good," he said.

They walked on in front of the hill passing in front of where the Man cave was located so recently. He could still smell a tinge of smoke. They walked along the side of the hill that rose almost straight up from where they were earlier. He could see where they had stood before looking down at where the Men had been. He was thankful Man was not here now. They were mostly in the open and could not flee because of the hill. What few trees and bushes that grew were small and could not hide them well. It was not long before they came to the other side of the hill. He could see the small stream ahead. Bambi stopped suddenly.

"Pass the hill near the stream is a part of the Meadow that extends to the lake. Beyond that meadow is a group of burnt trees. The four of them like to bed there."

"Understood," he nodded. "You want to try and talk to them, or just pound their tails into the ground."

"I am going to a lot more than pound their tails," Bambi said.

That made it clear in this mind what they were going to do. With that they got to the side of the hill and looked. There was a small stream and open space to the trees. Just inside the trees he saw four male deer standing close together. It was now full light.

"That is them," Bambi said in an icy cold voice.

He looked at the open ground. The others would see them coming. There were a few trees on their side of the small stream.

"Keep the trees between them and us," he told Bambi. "They will not be able to see us until we cross the stream. It will give them less time to prepare."

They moved quickly from behind the hill to behind the trees by the stream. There they stopped. The four deer took no notice of them. The wind from the lake blew their scent away from them."Alright, we will walk up to them at a trot," he said. "We will see what they will do. If they are smart, they will try and surround us and attack our flanks as we fight two of them in our fronts. They will expect us to charge. Lash out with your front hoofs. Use your rear hoofs on the other two if you have too. Hit hard this time. No playing, we are here to hurt these deer."

Bambi nodded and they both stepped out into the open and walked quickly toward the four large males. He was surprised they got almost halfway to them before they were even noticed. At once the four deer lined up. Then the two deer on the ends stepped aside.

"The two on the ends will try and hit us in the flanks," he repeated. Bambi just nodded.

They four deer stood still. The two largest ones were in front. This was beginning to remind him of how the dogs attacked. Both Bambi and he covered the distance quietly not giving away anything they were going to do. Just on the outside of the trees they met. As they got within five lengths the bigger one Tarro spoke out in a haughty tone. "Are you here to beg us to leave your doe alone," he said with a sneer. With that Tarro and Ellis put their heads down ready to charge. They take their charge and let the other two attack them doing the damage.

Both Bambi and him dropped their heads pretending to charge. As Tarro and Ellis stopped to received their charge, both Bambi and him stopped suddenly and then raised up with both front hoofs as quickly as possible. He hit the deer in front of him in the chest with one hoof and under the jaw with the other. Bambi landed both hoofs on the chest of the big male. Neither male was prepared for that attack. The two deer on the end were stunned for a moment then put their heads down and charged. They came up and both Bambi and he turned quickly with their back to the charging deer and both kicked back hard with their rear hoofs. He caught his deer in the head with one hoof and scrapped the side of his face with the other cutting it open. He heard a loud crack as Bambi handed both hoofs on the head of his deer. The deer he hit fell back staggered bleeding heavily from the mouth. Bambi's deer fell back and collapsed onto the ground like he had been hit by Man. There he lay still.

The deer in front of him was just now getting up. He brought his front hood up in a slashing move across the deer's face. His hoof hit the male on the neck just behind the head. His deer went flying sideways. He then turned around facing the deer behind him. He placed himself between the two deer that he was attacking. The first deer now at his back was just getting up. The second deer in front was also getting up, blood pouring from the side of his face. He kicked out as hard as he could to the deer behind him. He felt both hoofs hit hard in the deer's shoulder and felt something give with a pop, He then lowered his head and charged forward to the deer in front of him who had also begun to charge. He hit him with his shoulder and got down low. The other deer was no fool, he went to shift his weight so he could not get leverage only he was moving slowly as if still dazed. He hit the deer hard and then brought his weight up. He started to lift the deer up and as he did he put all of his strength into his four legs and pushed as hard as he could. He felt something tear on his back. He managed to push the deer over his back legs and flipped him onto his back. He then leaped up and came down on his belly with both front hoofs.

"Daoff," the deer coughed as all the air was knocked out of him. He then rose up and stomped the deer hard in his flank. He heard snapping noise from inside that deer's side. He stomped him three more times before the deer stopped moving. He then turned to face the first deer he attacked who by now was just staggering on his feet. Bambi was pushing the bigger deer forward into a tree. The other deer was looking at this and seeing an opportunity positioned himself to attack Bambi on his flank. That deer stupidly had lost sight of him for a moment. He dropped his head again and charged forward. The other deer saw him but too late. He hit the deer's flank so hard with his shoulder it stunned him for a moment, but he was still standing. The other deer looked like he had been kicked like a small stone. His deer flew backward rolling on the ground. By now Bambi had knocked his deer to the ground and started to stomp on him. He decided unlike Krono last year he was not going to stop Bambi this time. Any male that kicks a fawn, he didn't care if he lived or died. He watched Bambi stomp on Tarro until blood flowed out of his mouth and he lay still. He then went up to the first deer he attacked. As he slowly got up he charged him hard again hitting him and knocking him into a tree. He then walked over and stomped on his flank once and then bent over. By now Bambi was walking over toward him.

"Listen, fawn," he said gritting his teeth. "The only reason we are letting you live is so you can tell the others. Anyone who attacks Bambi, his family, or my mates will get this same treatment. You were all easy to defeat because we know how to fight and you do not. You give this message to anyone else who thinks they can be herd leader here. Try and hurt Bambi and I will kill you like we killed Tarro and your other friends."

With that he stood up and walked away. "GET UP," Bambi yelled at him. The deer got slowly to his feet looking terrified. Bambi still looked like he was ready to kill him. When he got to his feet Bambi came over and used his front left hoof to raise the face.

"Leave my forest, do not come back. If I ever see or smell you again, you are dead." With that Bambi pushed him down, he staggered, fell, and then got up quickly and ran into the open space like a bear was after him.

After that they went over to examine the three deer on the ground. Tarro was still alive but was dying. He was bleeding out the mouth and the side. He looked like he wanted to say something but he couldn't. He next looked at the deer Bambi kicked with both hoofs. He felt along the side and his neck. He was already dead. His neck looked broken by the force of Bambi's blow. Bambi was looking at the one he had stomped flat.

"This one will not get up. The scavengers will have a fine meal with him," Bambi said almost with glee.

"Tarro will be dead soon and this one is already dead. I think the scavengers will feast here tonight," he said then he looked at the big deer. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," Bambi answered still out of breath. "Tarro managed to kick me, but it does not hurt much. How are you?"

"I feel fine," he answered and looked around. "They thought we beg for mercy or attack them normally. Our quick attack and our tricks unbalanced them and they never got a change to regain any advantage before we beat them."

Bambi walked over to him and looked him over as he did to Bambi. "The wound on your back opened slightly and there is a trickle of blood, but it is not serious."

"I see nothing wrong with you except the cut in your chest which is not bad," he told him.

They both looked at each other and smiled. "You know for a Stranger, you fight well," Bambi said.

"So do you," he told him. "Let us go back to the clearing our doe will be worried."

"One thing first," Bambi said.

He followed Bambi out into the meadow, there were almost no deer in sight since it was day. Bambi stood in the middle and let out a loud thundering call. "COME HERE," he ordered at the top of his lungs."

Normally Bambi would never call a gathering in the daytime, but there were no Men nearby, so the meadow was safe. There was also the matter here to be taken care of. Bambi called again and waited. Slowly other deer appeared. Most were males, a few were doe and fawns. Soon he could not count the number of deer in the meadow when he looked over and saw Claris, Carie, and Cara all standing to together.

"Where is Faline, Gorro, and Eta," Bambi called out.

Claris trotted over to them. "Faline and Eta were hurting so Ate told them to lie down and rest. Gorro stayed with them along with Ate." They she looked past the two of them and saw the three deer lying still on the ground just inside the trees. She looked at them both in shock but said nothing and went back to stand with Cara and Carie. Bambi waited until he saw no more deer come. There were more than enough to hear. The word would get around quickly.

"There are three deer lying dead over there. They attacked my family and threatened the mate of The Stranger." Bambi's voice was bellowing almost triumphal. "I want to make it clear that any deer that tries to hurt our families will get the same thing. You think you can be a better herd leader than me, then challenge me. If you try and hurt those close to me, then I will show you no mercy. Remember that," he said before adding. "Are there any questions?"

Bambi looked at all of them like he was ready to take on anyone who stepped forward. No one made a move. He then stepped up alongside Bambi.

"Do not think you can wait until I go back to my forest to then try and hurt my friend's family. I can be back here sooner than you think and like Bambi, I will show you no mercy. Remember this day. Are there any questions?" he repeated shouting at the top of his lungs.

Most deer looked at them and then the three still figures lying still in the woods. Already birds were starting to circle the bodies. No one said a word. He didn't expect any discussion.

"Man is gone, but we will continue to use the meadow at night," Bambi said. "This was all I wanted to say. I will call you all together again when it is necessary."

With that the two of them walked back to the small clearing. Claris and the others followed silently behind.

Chapter Eight: Departure

They returned to the clearing mostly in silence. As soon as they could be smelled by the others Faline, Eta, Gorro, and Ate came out quickly. Faline still limped as did Eta. Bambi and he said nothing until Gorro broke the silence.

"Will they come back?" Gorro asked.

"Three will not come back, the other will come back only if he wants to die," Bambi said tersely and walked over to Faline to examine her and the fawn. Gorro then looked at him.

Before Gorro could ask he told him. "Three of them are dead; the other was running so fast to get away we let him go."

"Dead," Gorro squeaked.

"Yes dead," Bambi said looking directly at his son. "It was the only way to make sure they will never be back."

"Oh," was all Gorro could say and walked away.

"I am tired," he said out loud. "I am going to lie down and sleep until the lesser light rises. Then I think we should eat on the meadow."

"I agree," Bambi said and that settled that.

Both Claris and Carie stayed away from him and he slept alone. They both knew he would not be good company for a while.

That night on the meadow their group ate together. The other deer on the meadow did not come near to them. In the darkness, over by the tress, he heard Bobcats, ferrets, maybe a coyote, and other creatures all feasting on the bodies of Tarro and the other two. It was a not so pleasant reminder of what had transpired. Other deer, especially the males, gathered in small group discussing something. It did not take any effort to guess what they were talking about. Bambi, he, and the others ate and drank quietly and little Eta drank from her mother. Every time the little fawn took an obviously painful step, he knew Bambi and he did the right thing. It was after the lesser light was overhead that Gorro walked up to his father. He moved over close enough to hear.

"Father, I do not understand, why did you have to kill them and not just run them off like you did the others?" Gorro was not criticizing his father, but he looked and sounded confused at what they had done.

"Because the others did not hurt your mother and younger sister," Bambi told his son directly. "Before they came only to challenge me. I beat them and they left. These four did hurt them. If I had just chased them off they would have come back and maybe killed you, your sister, and your mother. That was something I would not let them do."

"So what you teach me can really kill," Gorro said as if not believing it.

"Yes," Bambi said simply. "It can and will kill a deer, or Bobcat, or even a single Coyote. I hope you do not have to kill, but sometimes you must. If you must; kill as quickly and as effectively as you can and without hesitation. Otherwise the other animal or deer may kill you. That is the greatest lesson a herd leader must understand. Sometimes he must decide who lives and who dies."

With that Bambi went back to eating. Gorro walked away toward him. As the young deer approached all he did was nod in agreement. These were more words that were best left unsaid. With the way the other deer looked at Bambi and him, he doubted if anyone would seriously challenge Bambi while Gorro grew up. That was another unsaid reason behind their fight.

It was the next evening when they were on the meadow again that he noticed a group of males gathering near the end of the lake. Neris, and some other three and four year males were there including one older male he did not recognize. As soon as they were done eating, the group of several deer started to walk over toward them. He barked a warning to Bambi and motioned for Claris, Carie and the others to stay where they were. Bambi and him walked up toward them. cautiously.

"The big one is Ceon, he is a five year male," Bambi whispered to him. "He is big enough to challenge me, but never has. There is Neris, and the other three are Tuco, Plau, and Oris. There are all two years. They have formed another group, but I never had trouble with them before. With Tarro and his group gone, they are the next senior males of my herd."

He looked at them. They were not taking any defensive stance or showing any threat. "They do not look aggressive. I think they just want to talk."

"I have no problem with that," Bambi said.

They all met in the open. He went out of his way to smile remembering this is Bambi's herd, not his.

"Greetings Ceon, Neris, Tuco, Plau and Oris," Bambi said formally. "Can I help you."

"Greetings," said Neris. "Bambi we have come over to ask you about Tarro and the others. I saw that fight from my bedding place near the lake. It looked to me that you and Stanger did not talk to them, but instead just killed them. This bothers me and the others."

Not this again he thought. Gorro was at least young and had no experience so he could understand why he was confused. These deer, especially Ceon and Neris, should know better. He saw Bambi stiffen. He was getting mad.

"I did what I thought I had to do to protect my mate and my fawn," he said with anger showing in his voice. "Tarro and his companions made it clear they were out to hurt them. That I will not allow."

"That is what we heard you say, Bambi," Ceon spoke up timidly. "But Tarro and the others never said anything like that to us or the other deer in the herd. All he said was after Ronno died, he did not think you should be herd leader."

"Then he should have challenged me," Bambi let out. "Not hurt my family, not threaten my friends. He did not challenge me openly. Instead he thought he could threaten my family and scare me off. That will not happen."

He was starting to think the scavengers may have another feast tonight if this went on. It was then he thought maybe that is what they wanted. If Bambi did attack them, then he would show the others in the herd he was not fit to be herd leader. Was that was this was about? He decided to put an end to this.

"I ask the pardon of the herd leader for what I feel I must do," he said out loud. He then turned to the others. "Faline, would you and Ate come here and bring Eta."

Bambi looked at him in bewilderment. He was about ask him what was he doing. The other males looked at him with confusion. Faline, little Eta and old Ate came forward. As they did it was evident both Faline and Eta were still limping. Eta was still limping badly and looked in pain.

"Look at the fawn," he growled. "That fawn was kicked by Tarro. Look at Faline. She was also attacked by Tarro and the others. There was no threat from Tarro; he tried to hurt them and made it clear he be back."

Ate got to them first because Eta was slow next to Faline. He turned to the old doe. "Ate, please tell these males exactly what Tarro and his other friends told you."

He then nodded to the old doe who understood exactly what he wanted. She then told all of them what was said in such a direct manner such that no one could misunderstand what was said. When she was done he turned back to the others and raised his voice showing his displeasure at this conversation.

"What I am going to say, I will say for myself and no one else," he told them all. "Anyone who threaten my family, any male that attack a helpless fawn, or hurts a doe for no cause, does not belong in my herd or any other herd. You ask why I did not talk to them. I did talk to them. I talked to them in the only way they understood." Then he stopped for a second before adding, "Like I said before, any questions?"

He looked at the five males not even trying to hide what he was feeling inside. Bambi looked at him first in shock, then anger, and then smiled at him broadly. "Stranger is correct, and he also speaks for me." Bambi said. "Did we answer your questions?"

"Excuse us," Tuco pleaded and the five of them walked away and discussed what was said among themselves. Bambi, Faline, Eta, Ate, and himself stood there silently. He felt himself calming down. Finally Neris came over to them and spoke to them in a distinctly more respectful tone.

"I thank the herd leader and Stanger for sharing with us what had happened. We now understand your actions. Let me say no disrespect was intended by our questions."

"None was taken," Bambi replied an edge still in his voice.

Neris went back to the others who wasted no time in leaving them in peace. He hoped they finally put this problem behind them. He walked over and nuzzled Ate along her nose.

"Thank you, that helped greatly as did Faline and Eta."

"Yes it did," Bambi added. "Now let's finish eating."

There were no more was questions from the herd about Tarro and the others. Things calmed down back to normal. Spring continued and soon the warm greater light filled the forest. They went back to live in the thicket near the hill. Ate took her daughter Cara away leaving the three of them alone. His back finally healed and he could run and spar like normal. Bambi and he did spar with each other, but mostly they spared with Gorro who got over his uneasiness. He taught Gorro some of his tricks on turning and kicking and finally sweeping your opponent's feet from out underneath him. They spent days just getting to know each other again. During this time he got to know Carie better. She was like Claris in that she was independently minded and knew exactly what she wanted. She was a bit more sensitive than Claris. Carie, also tended to talk more than Claris which was the only trait of hers that bothered him. Still he was not displeased with Carie. With Claris and Carie and Bambi and his family, those days were some of the happiest of his life.

Faline and Eta got over their injury. Man kept away from the forest, and everything else seemed close to normal again. Together spring came and went and soon he realized they were into full summer. That meant he had to return soon. He waited until he felt it was high summer before he told the others."

"We must get back to our forest before high summer is over and the time of the Season approaches. That will bring Man and his killing sticks and we both need to be with our herds at that time."

"I expected you go soon," Bambi said. "When will you leave?"

"Tomorrow night at the setting of the greater light," he said. "It will take two days to get back to my forest."

"I am sorry to see you go," Gorro said his voice sounded disappointed. "I was hoping to learn more off of you."

"You have learned enough from me. The rest you can get from your father," he told the eager young male. Gorro was growing seemingly in front of him. Already his first rack was plainly showing.

Carie got up. "I want to say goodbye to my mother and Ate. I know I may not see them again."

He understood that and Carie was right. "Do so tonight and meet me at the lake tomorrow after the setting of the greater light. We leave then."

"I will go with her," Claris said. "I also want to say goodbye to my mother."

He nodded his approval. "I think you should both go now and meet me tomorrow."

With that they both got up and moved off into the darkness of the forest. He watched them go. He was not displeased. In a way he envied them. He never had a chance to say goodbye to his mother, in fact he never even knew his mother. That was probably the main reason he was and always would be The Stranger to those around him.

He spent the rest of the day talking to Bambi and Faline and giving Gorro one final sparing lesson. He wondered if there was some doe that catch his eyes during the Season, but Gorro did not seem interested in that. He knew that change with The Season. Gorro was too fine a young male to be overlooked. If they were not so closely related, he be tempted to send young Claris over. They make a fine pair. He slept after the greater light was over head and woke just before dark. He walked over to Bambi who like him was just getting up and motioned for him to follow.

They walked toward the lake but stopped well inside the woods. He turned.

"I will leave you now, My Friend," he said to the big deer. "I think you will have no problems with challenges for this season. All the males have to do is look at the piles of bones in the wood near the hill to remind them of that. When the time comes I think Gorro will make a fine herd leader."

"Thank you," Bambi said and rubbed the side of his neck. "I will miss you, but you have to get back. Take care of them Stranger, and one day, when you are no longer needed you will be welcomed back here."

"As you will be welcomed in my forest should you decide to leave the herd to Gorro. Now I must go," he said and walked over to near the lake. Soon Faline and little Eta came out to meet him. He bent over and nuzzled the now growing fawn.

"I will miss you too," he told the little doe.

She licked his face," I like Stranger," she said with a gleam in her eye.

Right after the lesser light rose Claris, Carie, Ate and Cara came out of the forest. He said his goodbyes to them and promised he take care of Carie. As soon as they all exchanged farewells he left and led the two does down the stream toward his own forest. He was pained to leave the first friends he ever had, but there were things that counted more than just family. In his opinion, that was truly the greatest lesson a herd leader had to understand. The herd came first: before his family and before him.

The journey back to his forest was uneventful. Other than meeting another herd of those four legged creature he saw on the way to the forest, they saw nothing except the usual animals. If there were any dogs around, they kept far enough away where he could not even smell them. They rested behind a large hill when the greater light was overhead. At least there were no sounds or scents of Man on their journey. No other animals tried to interfere with their travels.

Claris mostly stayed silent on the trip back. She spent the time like him testing the air and looking closely around them. Carie tried to imitate her, but he could tell she had not the understanding Claris had. He could see her trying to learn by watching Claris and him and understand what they were doing. As least she did not blunder along making all sorts of noise.

It was well after the second night and near the rise of the greater light that he saw the familiar trees of his forest. He led them into the forest and started to show Carie the stream and meadow. He looked and saw a few deer there. Then he saw Stabo, Gena, Stena and Balo and their fawns all standing together. They seem peaceful enough. He came out of the trees and they saw him at once. Immediately all of them started to run over to him. He nuzzled his son, daughter and their mates.

"This is Carie," he said and introduced her to the others. "There are things that happened while I was in Bambi's forest that I need to tell you all about, but it is getting close to light."

"I think we should go to the clearing," Stena suggested. "We can talk there privately."

Everyone nodded their agreement and they went to the small clearing. The nine of them fit comfortably in the small opening. All of them seemed eager to hear of their adventures and the new doe in the forest. He told them everything except the conversation with Faline, Claris, Bambi, and Ate about the unborn fawn. He also did not discuss why Carie was there, preferring to let Claris do that. He talked about the attack on Bambi's family and the revenge they took, and the death of Ronno and his family. It was a mixed tale of happiness and sadness and took until the greater sun was overhead to finish.

"I am glad mother and father are alright," Gena said. "I think you and father did the right thing in taking care of those bullies. Any male who deliberately hurt a fawn is not much of a male."

"I agree," Balo answered. "We had nothing anywhere like that in our forest. While you were gone the only thing that happened was that Man came back to shoot birds. We kept everyone away from the meadow while they were here. They left and didn't hurt any deer."

"Good," he told them. "You all did exactly the right thing."

"You left out one thing," Stena said eying them carefully. "Can you please tell us something of Carie and if she is going to live here?"

"I was going to let you mother explain that," he said and looked at Claris. "It affects her more than me."

Claris spoke up and told them everything else except the part about the deformed fawn she bore. They had no need to know that. She then explained Carie was the daughter of her older sister and why she was here. He could tell it did not go over well with Stena and Stabo. That was to be expected. She finished and Stabo spoke first.

"Mother, I must ask this," he said firmly. "Are you sure you cannot have any more fawns?"

"Yes," she said. "I asked my mother and some of the other older doe and they all told me the same thing. I told this to your father. I then decided that since I cannot give your father the children he wants, the daughter of my older sister would do it. That way the children your father makes will still be in my family."

Stabo looked more hurt than his mother and he and Gena whispered back and forth for a moment before he spoke in a more serious tone. "I am trying understand what you have done, Mother, and why. I do not like what I am hearing."

Claris looked a little hurt. "I understand, my son," she said to him. "It was the only way I could still be here with your Father and at least my family could give him the fawns he wanted."

"That is also something I do not understand," Stabo uttered looking at him suspiciously. "You have a son and daughter. While I admit I have no interest in being herd leader here, I can clearly see Balo does. I do not think he would be a bad leader with more training. Why you want other children is not clear to me."

He knew the answer, but he also knew if he told them that, it most likely offend his children and their mates. He tried to think of a good way to say this, but he could not so he just told them bluntly.

"I want more children, Son, in case something happen to us here. I was hoping Bambi or Jolo would follow if something happened to me, but they are not here anymore. There is nothing certain in this forest or in this life. Something may happen to all of this Season or at any other time. The best way to make sure the herd will be led well is to have others than can come and take our place if something happens to us. This is why I want other children. I was hoping to have those children with your mother. That will not happen now."

"Mother," Stena said with an icy voice. "I want to know if this was truly your idea."

Both Claris and he looked at each other surprised at the question. Claris then looked at their daughter. "Yes, daughter, this was my idea," she said, the hurt was clear in her voice. "Your father was as surprised as you were when I told him." Claris' voice choked slightly.

She looked at Balo and they both looked doubtful. "You will have to forgive us, we did not mean to give offense, but this was completely unexpected. We are all taken back. However, I must agree with my brother in not seeing the need for more children. It is almost like you do not trust us."

Now he was angry. He shot to his feet; both Stabo and Balo did likewise an instant later. "Do not trust you?" he said loudly. "If I did not trust you, do you think I would have left the forest in your care when I went away? If I did not trust you, do you think I would have asked Stabo to come here? If I did not trust you, you think I would have taken the time and effort to teach you what I know? Of course I trust you; that is why I made the arrangements I did before I left because I knew there was a good chance I might not return, and I almost did not. However I also trusted Bambi and Jolo and they are not here. Bambi has his own forest to lead and Jolo is dead. What happens if this year I have to smell of pool of blood with your scents in it? Who then leads, who follows you? I thought I had trained you better than this. You cannot see just the now, but you have to see the later as well. I need other children to follow me in case it is your dead bodies or my dead body we have to look over. What you have said here tonight hurts me deeply, much more deeply that those dogs ever did. I think you have also hurt your mother, and you have been rude to Carie."

He noted he was starting to breath hard. He tried to calm himself down. Claris got up and started to rub his back.

Then Stabo walked over and looked him directly in the eyes. "Father, you have returned safely, so my task here is done. The rest here is your making. This is your forest, not ours. Gena and I need to get back to our forest tonight to help Veron prepare for the Season and the hunts."

With that he turned quickly and he, Gena, and little Koran walked away from the clearing and toward the large oak trees. No one said a word as they went.

Balo then walked over to him, the anger was not so strong in his eyes. Stena came with him and he could tell she still was not satisfied. "I understand what you say, Stranger," he said calmly but firmly. "I just do not agree with it. What you have said also hurts us. I think enough has been said. We are going back to our resting place. Maybe we should not see each other for a while."

With that Balo, Stena and little Delene walked away back toward their thicket. He turned and looked at Claris and Carie. Carie was shocked at the outburst and said nothing, but Claris was almost in tears and also did not say anything.

This had not gone as he hoped.

Chapter Nine: Uncomfortable Explanations

He saw nothing of Stena and Balo over the next few days. He went out onto the meadow and told the rest of the herd he was back. A couple of the older males seemed glad, most did not care. With no one to talk to, he started to train Carie about the forest. He started with walking quietly and she caught on fairly quickly. She was treated no differently than Claris among the other doe in the herd. Both she and Claris would often talk to the other doe. Most of the males avoided him which was normal and they knew better than try and make advances to Claris and Carie.

As the summer went on Balo and Stena still kept away from the three of them as they ate on the meadow. Balo did not return for training. His rack grew in although still covered by velvet. He went back to his duties as herd leader. His main task at that time was looking for sick deer or other deer that were too thin to survive the winter. Thankfully he did not have sickness in the herd, nor were there old deer in the herd. That would not change for a few more seasons. There were a couple of thin fawn and remembering his experience last year with his own two children, he encourage the doe to see their fawns ate well. Still there were a couple of sickly fawns he did not think would survive the winter.

He knew Claris was hurt by what Stabo and Stena had said and the fact that Stena made no attempt to discuss the matter further with her mother bothered him more. They did not seem interested any more in anything he had to say or teach. At times he felt like going over and just telling them what he felt, but he tried to control his temper. Stena did not avoid her mother, but she make no effort to try and understand the situation. Stabo also was content to remain in his forest. His future plans for the forest seem to rest with any child Carie could make, and that would not happen until three seasons from now. He did not think he would last those three seasons. The best he could hope for was things with Stena and Balo would work themselves out in time.

It was again on the first day his velvet started itch that noise from the Man caves started. It was not loud, but he could clearly hear large dogs. There was little shouting and it did not sound like there were many Men there. That night he took Claris and Carie with him to his view spot and looked at the man caves. There were a few lights on, and he saw four Men outside with their dogs. These were not the regular hunting dogs; these were the bigger, meaner dogs that had attacked them two seasons ago. As they were standing there, a noise came from behind him. A small whiff of a scent came to him.

"You can come, Balo," he said out loud.

The large male walked next to him and looked at the Man cave. "Not many," he said.

"No, but they brought the big dogs that attacked us when you and Stena were fawns." He then faced Balo and tried to explain to him like he had done to Stabo. "They will go out hunting large animals tomorrow like the bear. The problem is if they don't find a large animal those dogs will continue and attack anything they come across. If they came across a doe or fawn, they will tear them to pieces. This is why I am going to call the herd together and tell the doe and fawn to go up into the hills. That includes you too, Stena," he said.

He heard some braches break mostly from Delenn and a short time later the two of them walked into the outcropping with them. "You think they are that dangerous?" Stena asked.

"Last time they almost killed Bambi and me," he reminded her.

"Well I am making no plans on getting killed," Balo said.

He was surprised and a bit angry at the bravado Balo was carrying on with. This was about their last talk and not hunting dogs.

"Ronno and Marol did not plan on getting killed in that meadow with their fawn," he reminded them. "I did not plan on getting hit by Man and almost killed the first year I was here. Your mother and Jolo did not plan on being killed by Man. The fact is all of that still happened. There was no plan, none of us wanted it, but it still took place. That is why we must make plans in case something happens to us."

He knew he hurt Balo with the comment about his mother, but he didn't stop. If they wanted to ask like spoiled fawns that was their business, but he was not going to make things easy on them."That is why we have others to come forward if anything happens to us. That is needed because what happens to the herd if something does happen to us?"

Then he turned and glared into Balo's eyes. "Tell me future herd leader exactly what are you going to do if suddenly it is me lying dead in that meadow. "Just what are you going to do to protect the herd?

"No," he heard Claris plead.

"Yes," he said turning to her. "That is something you must be ready for too. Just because we do not want it to happen, does not mean it will not." He then turned quickly back to Balo. "So tell me, what is your plan if suddenly it is me who is no longer here?"

Balo took a step back, he swallowed hard and then after a second he spoke out his voice shaking slightly. "I will get the herd together and to safety. I will then try and see what Man will do, and then tell the herd what to do in order to avoid it."

"That is a good plan," he said sounding pleased. "Now let us go one step further. What if it is you lying dead in that meadow? Then what happens?"

"Father, NO!" Stena called out.

"Same answer to you as to your mother," he said firmly. "It might happen, none of us live here forever. Few of us die like Bambi's father of old age. Usually something kills us. Now Balo what do you do if it is you who are dead."

Balo looked shocked as did Stena. Finally Balo blurted out, "I will be gone and can do nothing," he said defensively. "What can I do then?"

"You can do nothing," he jumped back in. "What about your son, if you have one? What about a younger son of mine? What about the others calling Stabo? There has to be a plan or the herd falls apart and they are killed one by one. One day none of us will not be here, but the herd will always go on."

He let what he said soak into them before he went on. "Why do you think Bambi and I put in so much time training Veron, Stabo, you, Stena, Gorro, and the others," he said as if pleading with him. "It was so on that day when we are not here; someone will take control of the herd and lead it wisely."

He then stepped back and looked at all of them. He saw tears in the eyes of Claris, Caria, and Stena. In truth his eyes were cloudy also. "I know I hurt you with what I say. I hate hurting you, but this has to be said. No matter how or when that happens, the herd must have a leader and few deer can do it. This why I trained you; this is why you will train your children; and I will train any more children that I have. Why, so on that day when it is needed, that leader will be there."

With that he stopped. No one said a word. He let them all think that over and we walked back to Balo. "I am going to warn the bear. You call the herd together and send the doe and fawns up into the hills. Tell the males they should go also. Hopefully the dogs will not follow them that far."

All Balo did was nod. He could still hear Stena and Claris sobbing. Carie just looked at him with a mixture of shock and pity. He walked off and disappeared into the forest by himself.

He walked around just inside the trees until he was directly below the bear's den. The wind was blowing across the meadow so he could smell the dogs and they could not smell him. He could not go to the bear's cave. He might not be alone. So he have to call loudly. They would all hear him at the Man cave for sure. As before he took in a deep breath and called as loudly as he could.

"BBEEAARRRRRRRRR," he yelled.

He then ran back to his viewing place calling the bear twice more. The dogs over by the Man cave were up and barking loudly. Some dogs were pulling to get free. He looked at the wind. It was now blowing from his back. The dogs must have smelled him when he got close to the bear's den. The lights went on in the Man cave. He looked around and smelled, heard, and saw nothing near him. He tried calling one more time. By then he could see Men coming out of the Man caves. All were looking toward him, but he was sure they could not see him. The Men went over and this time they did something different. Instead of quieting the dogs, they released them. At once four large dogs started running toward him. He had to flee. He hoped the bear heard him. He ran just inside the trees until he came to the stream that flowed out of his forest and into Bambi's forest. He ran in the stream toward the hills at the end of his forest away from the Man cave. All the while he heard the dogs behind him. As he came to the end of his forest, he ran up the hill that led to his side of the meadow. By now he was getting tired. The dog sounds were weaker. He stopped to catch his breath.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE," he heard a loud sound from below. He had never heard it before. It was a very high pitch call like some bird would make.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE," he heard again. At once the dogs barking stopped and it sounded like the dogs were running back toward the Man caves. It had to be a sound made by Man, but it was new to him. It sounded like Man used it to control the dogs.

"COOOMMMMEEEE," he heard in the distance.

That was Balo's call. He wanted to go to the gathering immediately, but could not take the chance the dogs were still behind him. He would lead them right to the herd. He moved along the top of the hill slowly, always listening. He soon came around to where he could face the meadow and feel the wind in his face. He took in deep breaths of air until he could hear and smell that nothing was behind him. He moved around the top of the hill until he came to the stream that flowed from his clearing into the open area and toward the other large forest in the distance. He waited there for some time until he heard nothing from around him. He went down the hill to the stream and quickly ate and drank his fill before climbing the hill on the other side of the stream.

As he walked up the hill, he caught the scent of many deer, mostly doe and fawns. There were some males, but not all of them. He continued to the top and looked around. He saw the doe and fawns standing around. He met them, and told each to spread out and hide as soon as the greater light first appeared. The few males he saw were standing around trying to look unconcerned, but always looking toward the bottom of the hill.

"Stranger," he heard Claris's voice. He turned and saw Claris and Carie lying in a hollow in the ground behind some trees. He walked over and lay down between them.

"Did everyone come?" he asked Claris.

"No," she said sounding worried. "All of the doe and fawn came up, but some of the males said they would not come. I think they wanted to show they were not taking orders from someone as young as Balo. Several males finally came when Balo said he was telling them what you told him too. Duro said again that this would not be necessary to do if you did not keep warning the bear and left. A few more went with him."

"Stupid," he said. "Is Balo, Stena and Delene here?"

"Yes they are over by the bushes they hid in when they were fawns," Claris told him. "What do we do?"

He looked at her worried face and the increasing light from the greater light and just shook his head no. "We can do nothing; it is too late to go after them" he said flatly. "They made their choice; they have to live with it."

They all lay there until the greater light shone brightly. Then they could hear the sounds of the dogs moving below them. The dogs barked loudly. They first started at the meadow and worked their way into the forest. They went up the side of the hill the bear's den was on. There was loud barking but no sound the dogs had found anything. He listened and for a while he heard nothing more. Then as the greater light was overhead, he heard the barking cross the meadow and start coming up the hill they were on. Then suddenly, there was a change in the barking. It became more forceful. They were chasing something. He heard the noise go across the forest below. They were moving fast after something. After a while he heard another change in the barking. It was like the barking when the dogs attacked Bambi and him. The dogs were calling their masters. Then he heard a squeal from one of the dogs and then a loud scream from a deer. That was followed a short while later by the noise of a killing stick. The barking went silent. A while later he heard the dogs going back toward the Man cave. By that time the greater light had vanish and the sky was getting dark and there was silence again. It was then he made up his mind what to do.

After dark the deer got up and moved around. He found Balo, Stena, and Delene together. He approached them; Stena looked shaken. She looked at him, "That was one of us who screamed," she told him.

"Yes," he answered. "Stena I want you to leave Delene with your mother. Carie, Stena and Balo will follow me. There is something I must show you. I warn you, it will not be nice to look at."

With that he lead the three of them quickly down the hill toward where he heard the scream. He was searching for a particular smell. He knew the smell from the time he was hardly more than a fawn. As they got close to the bottom of the hill he smelled it.

"Smell that," he told the others. "It is the one scent you never want to smell."

"It smells like a deer and something like when we empty ourselves," Balo said.

"That is correct, but there is something else. None of you have smelled it before. That burnt ground like smell is blood, deer blood. Now come with me. He led them on for a while until he saw the first streak of blood on the ground. "That is something else you do not want to see. That is blood from a deer."

He then led them on past that until he came to a place where there was an intense odor of blood, and filth. He saw parts of a deer lying on the ground, mostly the insides he knew Man did not like to eat. There was a stench there that was almost overpowering. Balo, Stena and Carie all pulled away.

"Look at this," he ordered. "This is where a deer died. He was chased by dogs, tried to outrun them, got tired, and the dogs caught him and started to rip him to pieces. Man came with his killing sticks and killed the deer. Man then cut him open, took out his insides, and took the rest of the meat. Do you understand? This is what Man does to us. This is what happened to Ronno and Marol and any other deer Man kills. "

He thought Carie was going to be sick. Both Balo and Stena turned away. He knew it was unpleasant. He was surprised the scavengers had not found the remains yet.

"Look at it," he ordered again. "You must understand this to understand what I have told you. In the past whenever Bambi and I had to discuss something like this we walked away from you to discuss it in private so we would not upset you. I can now see that was a mistake on my part. It is a mistake I am correcting now. This is the result of a deer acting stupidly. This is why we lead the herd to prevent this from happening. If the herd just wandered around, most, if not all, would end up like this."

He stopped to let all of that sink in. "Now here is the other thing, what has happened here to this young male can happen to any one of us at almost at any time. The only things that protects us are our speed, smell, hearing, sight, and the ability to move quietly through the forest like a breeze. Without these we would be helpless before Man. This is what I saw as a fawn when I was growing up, and this is why I tried to train you so hard so that none of you would end up like this."

He stopped for a moment so they could take in what he said. "This deer did not plan to die today, but because he was stupid, he did die. He died in agony being eaten alive by the dogs, that is until Man came and used his killing stick on him. None of us plan to die, but we will. This is why we must have others ready to come forward when we are no longer here. Take a good look, because this is what likely will happen to us unless we are very careful or very lucky."

"He then stepped back and waited for anyone to say something. Carie finally did spit out some cud and Balo and Stena looked at each other in horror.

"Now come with me. It is getting late and I have one more thing to show you tonight," he said and then headed toward the meadow. The wind was blowing now from the Man cave. He stopped well within the forest. They did not have to get closer. He smelled another odor he expected. This was as close to the Man cave as he dared get with those dogs.

"Smell the air and notice the odor of fire that the men have made," he said. "Balo and Stena have smelled this before, but you Carie have not. That awful smell is burning deer flesh that was cut off that dead male. The Men are burning it to eat later. That large fire is where they are burning the flesh of that dead male. Do you all understand?"

"You wanted to show this to me, why?" Carie said looked at him with a mixture of revulsion and sickness.

"To show you what Man does to us," he explained "It is so all of you will understand why we must be careful, why we must lead the herd wisely, and why we must always have others ready to come up in case we end up like this. There is no kind way to show this. This is how I learned living with Man."

"I thought I understood, but now I am not so sure," Balo said to no one. "In fact now I am not so sure I want to be herd leader."

"I never wanted to be herd leader," he told them. "Bambi left and I had to do it. I had no choice. One day Balo you may have to be leader because you will not have any choice. The herd must be led, and must be led by deer who understand what will happen if it is led poorly. This is what will happen," he said and pointing his nose at the fire. "Only it will happen to many instead of just one."

With that he started to walk away up the hill. "Come, let us be off before Man or the dogs find us here."

He lead them back up the hill and it was just after the lesser light was overhead that they all came back to their hiding places. On their way back no one had said a word to him. As they climbed the hill two familiar scents came across his nose. Sure enough two deer were there. It was Sinno and Duro. He had no patience to listen to their complaints right now.

"Well," he said looking at the two of them.

Duro said in a mumbling voice. "I heard Gralos scream. I take it he is dead."

"Yes," he told them. "Man is burning him now. Are you going to blame his death on me also?"

"You did warn the bear again," Sinno said.

"Yes I did," he said. "I also told you to get up into the hills. You and others did not. You are lucky it is only the one of you who is dead."

"Why do you keep warning the bear?" Duro asked almost as a plea.

He laughed out loud. "Because he is my friend, because he save my life as you both well know; and because he is worth the two of you many times over."

Duro shot an angry glaze at him. Balo walked up quickly; his head lowered. His rack was bigger and he was stronger. He had also trained Balo and he was sure he could take that deer with no help from him.

He turned to face Balo. "Thank you, but I can handle this." Then he turned quickly back to the others. "Anything else?" he then paused for a moment and there was no reply. "No, well then I suggest you go up the hill to hide otherwise it might be you two tomorrow."

He then walked away from them and back up the hill. He found the others and ate some grass and then traveled a ways to drink from the stream. The greater light was nearly up by the time he got back to Claris. Carie was not there.

"Carie went to a place to sleep by herself," Claris told him. "She was upset at something, but said nothing. Even Balo, Stena and Delene went away. They also said nothing."

He lay down next to Claris and she moved close to him

"Stranger, what happened?" she asked with concern.

"I had to show them the truth," he said and tried to force himself to sleep without much success.

Chapter Ten : New Tricks and Old

Man hunted with the large dogs for two more days and then left them in peace. After the first day there were no more deer lost to these hunters. He knew soon the others would come and the hunting would start again. The herd spent this time in getting as much nourishment off the meadow as possible before the rigors of The Season, the hunts that would follow, and the winter came upon them. Over the next few days he managed to scrap the velvet off his antlers. Both Claris and Carie told him he had a fine rack. Balo did the same, and his rack too was large and would get larger next year. Following that both Stena and Balo came to his clearing. He noted Delene was not with them

"Both Balo and I were thinking," Stena said. "We still do not agree that that you need more children to take care of the herd, but we better understand your reasons. If you wish to have more children with Carie, then we will accept that."

"The only thing we ask," Balo went on. "Is that any children you have will be taught the same as any children we may have."

He looked at Claris and Carie before he answered. While none of them were completely happy with what Balo and Stena said, the coldness they showed to Carie was gone.

"I am sure there will be no problems with that," Claris said. Her voice still had a touch of hurt in it.

Carie stood there her mouth tightly shut. She said nothing. Instead she just nodded her head in agreement. She was still visibly angry on the inside.

He smiled and decided to take what he was offered. "The whole point of what I said depends on teaching all of our children," he told all of them. "When the time comes the herd will decided who will lead them anyway." He then asked them, "Where is Delene?"

Stena looked sadden. "Our daughter has decided she want to spend her time with the other fawns from this season. She no longer sleeps with us in our thicket."

"Just like another fawn I remember," he said.

"Yes, but I had someone," Stena said looking at Balo. "Delene has shown no interest in any male.

They all smiled at that and parted as a family again.

Soon afterwards he again started the feel the building up inside himself of the pressure of The Season. He could clearly smell the approaching Season in the scent his daughter gave off. It was the powerful scent of a breeding doe. Carie did the same, but poor Claris gave off no scent of a breeding doe. She told him inside she felt nothing of The Season. He was finally forced to admit to himself that Claris was correct and she would never have any more fawns. This saddened him greatly, but not nearly as much as it hurt Claris. Even Stena was kind around her mother because it was so obvious to all of them just how much she hurt on the inside.

The only other thing of note that occurred was when Delso a three year old herd male started sniffing around Stena. This infuriated Balo. When Balo told him to leave, Delso stayed and lowed his head to challenge. Balo charged him and drove the male back. The male then came again and Balo swung his rear legs around and took the legs out from under Delso knocking him on his face. A second charge by Balo drove the other deer off with little trouble and not much damage to either. No deer even tried to challenge him for either Carie or for the herd.

During this time he heard nothing from Stabo and the others in the Man path forest. Again he felt that if anything was wrong, he would have heard from either Veron or Stabo. Soon both Balo and he started to avoid each other due to the approach of The Season. It was better if males stayed away from each other at this time. It was Claris he felt sorry for. No one would be with her during this time. He thought about that problem and thought he found a solution.

He called the herd together just before the full effect of The Season started. He told the fawn to go live in the clearing until The Season was over. Two years ago he put Stena and Balo in charge of them. Last year Men did not come to their forest so it was not necessary to send the fawns away. This year he felt Man would be back so he put Claris in charge of this year's fawns. That would give her something to do. In that way she felt useful.

As soon the scents of The Season were strong enough in the forest so there was fighting on the meadow and in the forest, he called the herd together. He told the fawns to go with Claris and told everyone to be on the lookout for Man who was sure to come. The herd broke up and he took Carie into deep woods by the old oak of Oswell the Owl and found a bedding place to their liking. He let Carie arrange it the way she wanted. He then followed her around sniffing at her tale waiting for her scent to change. On the second day, her scent change and as before with Claris, he coupled with her several times over two days. After that, the heat of the Season and the urges he felt inside of himself, passed.

As before, the next day he heard the banging noises from the Man cave again. These were loud and sounded like there were many Men present. He knew what that meant. The hunts would soon begin again. Their time of trouble had arrived.

"We must go back to the watching place," he told Carie. "Man has returned."

"I understand," she said softly. She had enjoyed their time together. She was now a bred doe that would carry his mark. He only hoped in the spring he would get a healthy fawn. As soon as the greater light vanished they left their bedding area and traveled quietly toward their watching place. He was somewhat surprised to see Balo and Stena already there."

"You heard them too?" he asked Balo.

"Who could not have heard them," Balo said still looking at the many bright lights and fires. "There are many this time, more than before."

He looked over the meadow and had to agree. "Yes, they have build more of the smaller Man caves near the edge of the meadow," he said looking over the view. "The caves are still dark so the Men with the killing sticks have not yet arrived. We have time to make a plan for the herd." Then he looked at Balo. "Let us say you are herd leader now, Balo, what would you tell the herd to do?"

Balo looked surprised at being asked and looked closely at the Man caves for a while. He could see Balo was lost in thought and so he did not disturb him. Finally Balo turned and told him calmly, "There are many Men. I think they will try and get Men into the forest to try and chase deer into the meadow where the Men with the killing sticks will kill the deer."

"That is most likely true," he answered. "So how do we stop this?"

"We take the herd where Man cannot get behind them to chase them," he said sounding somewhat surer of himself.

"You are again correct," he told Balo. "Now for the important question; where do we take the herd?"

"Balo looked around and stood still for a second. "I know you want me to say take them back up the hill where we took them before, but I am thinking no."

"Interesting," he said, "Why not?"

Balo was quicker this time. "You told me during sparing it is unwise to so the same thing time after time. The enemy may learn from you and then defeat you. Man may learn we are taking the deer up the hill near where the trees end."

"Yes," he said. He liked where this was going.

"If we take the herd to the same place Man may learn and try to kill us there. So we take the herd someplace else."

"Good," he said. "Now where do we take them?"

Balo looked stumped but then Stena unexpectedly jumped in. "What about the hill on the other side of the stream from where we took the herd last time. You can easily get up the hill from the stream, but it is rocky and steep to climb up that hill from the meadow."

"He looked at Balo. Stena was right. It was an answer he never thought about. His plan was to take the herd to the hill they met Geno. Stena's idea was much better and closer.

"Balo kissed Stena and she nuzzled him. "Come then," he told them, "We must hurry back.

With that all four went back to the small clearing. As soon as they got there, he bellowed loudly for the herd to come. Balo also called them. They then waited. In ones and twos they came in. Maybe over half the herd showed up. The others were still probably still feeling The Season. As soon as they all got there he told them.

"This time we do things differently just in case Man is learning where we go. When we get to the edge of the forest following this stream, we turn right and not left. We go up that hill to hide. It is easy to climb that hill from the stream and hard to climb up from the meadow. Remember we cannot let Man get behind us and chase us. If any deer runs into the meadow, they will be killed by Man. Even if Man does chase you, run into the forest, not the meadow."

The ones that were there seem to understand, there were no objections. It had worked before, why now not they felt. He only hoped they were right.

"Man will start hunting soon," he told them. "As soon as I am sure the hunt will start, I will call to the herd again. When you hear my call, go up the hill to the right of the stream as it leaves our forest. "

There were no questions. Even Duro and Sinno remained quiet for once.

"All of you listen for my call," he repeated and then left. The gathering was over.

As they were leaving he turned to Balo. "We need to watch from the viewing place every night now."

"I understand, and will see you there after dark," he said and walked off with Stena.

By now Claris came back and told him all the fawns were safe including Delene. Although a few male fawn had approached her, she was simply not interested. Soon, the fawns were either back with their mothers, or together in their group again.

The next day there was even more banging noise from the Man cave. No one got any sleep that day. He was also hearing some shouting. That meant even more Men had come to the meadow.

"I am going to the viewing area tonight alone. We may have to move fast if Man comes. You two wait here and listen for my call. Then go to the top of the hill. I will join you there."

"I will go," Claris said. Carie just nodded her agreement.

Now he did not have to worry about them.

That night Balo and him rested in their viewing place lying down. Again many Men were there, some carrying killing sticks. Thankfully, there were no dogs around. Just before the rising of the greater light. He saw many glowing eyes of the Man machines coming down the Man path. Now he knew the hunt would be on for today.

He turned to Balo who was getting up like he was. "Run to the bottom of the hill and call the herd. I will call from here. Go now quickly."

Balo ran off toward the hill. He went back into the thicker part of the forest so there was no chance he be seen. He took a deep breath and bellowed out his call."

"GOOOOOOOO," he called out. He got his breath back and repeated the call. He then started back toward his clearing as fast as he could travel. As he got there, he saw no one. Both Claris and Carie had left. He ran toward where Stena and Balo had their thicket and also found that empty. He kept running up the stream until he reach near the end of his forest. He then went to his right and up that hill until he got to the top. There he found the herd settling in.

"Everyone lay down and hide" he called out. "Do not get chased onto the meadow. Man is there with many killing sticks."

He went forward and looked for Claris and Carie. The trees were fewer at the top of this hill so he spread the herd out more. He found both Claris and Carie in the middle hidden behind some bushes. Balo, Stena and Delene went to the far end. Then they all lay down and waited.

More deer joined them until the greater light rose. Right after the first light appeared he could hear Man trampling through the forest. They made no attempt to be quiet. They went up almost to the top of the hill they had hid at before and started making loud noises. Man went further up the hill this time. Listening to Stena had been the right decision. None of them came up the hill they were on.

"HEYYAAAHEYY," they shouted over and over. There was also a banging noise like they were hitting something. They were trying to drive them down onto the meadow. Claris and he were fine and so were the older deer. The newer deer and the fawns were scared. Carie look frighten.

"They are not here," he told her."As long as they do not come up the hill, we are safe.

"I never heard Man before," she said shaking. "It is terrible."

"I know," he told her. "Man wants to scare us to run away and onto the meadow. There they would kill any deer that they chased. Stay calm and we will be alright."

Carie said nothing. He moved in close to lie against her side to comfort her.

He heard the noise go down the hill. At first they were slow, and then they picked up speed. They went down to the bottom of the hill. Then he heard it.

"BAMMMMMM, BAMMMMMM," he heard from the meadow. Someone had not listened to them and was now likely dead.

Then there was quiet for a while. He heard shouting from the meadow. Then after the greater light was over head, he heard the same noises on the other hill. Again he heard Man walking down that hill. He only hope the bear went to the other forest. Then from the meadow:

"BAMMMMMM, BAMMMMMM, BAMMMMMM," they all heard. Man was shooting something. No deer lived on that side of the meadow because of the bear. Whatever Man killed was most likely not a deer. Again there was more Man shouting for the meadow and that was all.

There was quiet for the rest of the day. By then the greater light had nearly set and it was getting dark. Men went back to their caves to rest and celebrate their killing. There was loud shouting, and the smell of dead meat burning until the lesser light was well overhead.

The herd ate mostly in the open area beyond the hill. Nothing was there to bother them. Later on they all went to the stream and drank. It was then he heard a noise. He looked up and saw a large male running out of the small clearing toward them. It was Duro,"

"I found you," he said with relief. "I went to the place we hid before and found no one."

He must have listened poorly "We went someplace new as I told you before. I will show you," he told him. "What of the others?"

By now Balo, Stena and Delene had joined them.

"I do not know," Duro said panting. "I was with Nual a young doe. We had just bred when the noise started. I remembered what you said about running into the meadow, so I tried to run into the forest. Nual was behind me, but then we got separated. Man was chasing us. I do not know what happened to her. There were other deer in the forest, because I could hear them. What happened to them, I also do not know."

"Some were killed," Stena said. "I can smell them burning."

"They must have killed a skunk too," Duro said. "I smelled one near Bambi's old cave."

"What!" Balo said sharply.

"Yes, by Bambi's old cave, I could smell a skunk," Duro repeated.

"That is how they killed my Mother, Jolo and Gerta," Balo said coldly. "Would they do that again?"

He could see the anger building inside Balo, who turned and looked at them. "They may be the ones that killed my mother. They must want to kill the rest of us and want to use the same trick again. Very well, I will give it to them."

Balo started to walk off. Stena yelled "No!" and he moved to block his path. "Balo, no," he told him. "Nothing can be done about your Mother, Jolo and Gerta. If you go there, you will die too."

"Bambi and Faline wanted to kill them, I remember," the young male said gritting his teeth. There was red in his eyes.

"Yes, and they came to their senses like I want you to," he said standing still to block Balo. "You cannot kill Man. Even if you succeed in killing one of them, the rest will kill you without mercy. I want you to think of Stena and Delene."

"I am," he said to his face. "I am thinking they will never be safe as long as those Men are here."

"And if you kill them, more Men will come next season," he told him and pushed him back. "Nothing will change except that you too will be dead and more blood will soak into the ground."

"So I am to just going to let them kill us?" Balo said pushing him away.

"No, we know their trick; we will be ready for it. We will avoid it and so go on living," he explained calmly.

"Until Man comes up with a new trick and kills us anyway," Balo growled.

"Yes, but that may happen in the future, if you go now, it is certain you will die today. You have a family and you have the herd. They depend on you and me. If you are dead, you can help no one. Please stay here."

"By now Stena and come forward and also stood in front of Balo. "Please," she pleaded. "Stay with me. I need you and so do Delene and the fawn I may be carrying now. Please do not die like this."

That finally seemed to get to Balo who stopped shoving him. He looked once toward the old clearing. "Mother," was all he called out and then turned and walked away back up the hill. Stena and Delene followed.

Claris and Carie stepped in close to him. "I felt his pain," he said starting to choke up himself. He turned to face the two doe. "You know I do not completely disagree at what he was going to do. Man needs to understand what he does to us. I just wish I knew how to do it."

He then looked over at the herd that was looking at him for direction and safety. Yes that was his main duty. That duty came before his feelings, himself, his mates, even his children. They needed direction.

"Let us go back up the hill," he said loudly enough for all to hear.

They spent the next day in the same place. Man went up the hill Bambi and him had seen Geno on. Man did not come up this hill. He hoped the steepness would keep Man away from them. After that he heard sounds coming from the Man path forest.

"BAMMMMM, BAMMMMMM," they heard in the distance. They all knew it was from the Man path forest. He could only hope Veron and Stabo took the herd deeper into the forest. There was even greater shouting that night.

In the morning they heard nothing. Everyone stayed on the hill, but there were no sounds of Man coming from the forest. That night he decided he go to the viewing place only with Balo. They both crept down the hill quietly after dark and by the time the lesser light had risen they were at the viewing spot. The Man caves were still there, but they were dark.

The next day he heard more pounding from the meadow. It was not the noise he heard when Man hunted . This was the noise he heard from Man when he made things. That night they all went to look and only the one Man cave was on the meadow. Man was gone.

Once he was sure things were back to normal he turned to Balo. "I am going to go to the Man path forest to see Varon and Stabo and see if their herd is alright. I need you two to look after this herd while I am gone. I will be back in two risings."

"I will," Balo answered. Stena just nodded.

"I am going with you," Claris said. "I want to see Stabo."

Since Claris was not carrying a fawn, he agreed and the both moved around their side of the meadow and then just as the lesser light was setting, they ran into the Man path forest. He lead Claris into the forest and into the clearing he had found deer before. There were no deer there. From their scents, there were no deer there recently.

"They might have gone deeper into the forest," he told Claris.

Both he and Claris went to all the places he knew the herd gathered including the places he knew Stabo and Gena bedded down in. He could smell their scents, but saw no sign of any deer.

"They are not here," Claris said. "Do we wait for them, or go deeper into the forest?"

He looked at the increasing light in the sky. "Let us sleep here for the day. We will see what happens tonight."

He and Claris found a soft spot of grass and lay down next to each other. She still felt warm next to him and he still felt attracted to her. She also rubbed his neck and then went to sleep next to him.

That night they cautiously started to move deeper in the forest. They went slowly and carefully into the forest using deer trails. Scents of deer were all around them. The wind blew from his meadow so he could not smell anything ahead of them, but anyone ahead of them could easily smell them. That made him very uneasy. He could see light from the lesser light overhead when he heard a familiar voice call out.

"Mother," Stabo's voice called out. Both of them ran over and found Stabo, Gena, Young Claris, and Koren together. Stabo went up and nuzzled his mother. Claris beamed and did the same in return. He greeted the others.

She had not seen Young Claris before. He looked at both of them together and saw Young Claris was almost as big as Claris. He also noticed she had no male with her. She also did not have the scent of a bred doe, like Gena did.

"We came over to see how you did with the hunt," he said.

"We did fine," Stabo told him. "Man came and we all fled deep into the forest. Veron is gathering the herd. I went ahead to make sure there was no trace of Man around.

"We heard the killing sticks come from here," Claris said.

"We all herd the killing sticks here and in your forest. I do not know what Man was trying to kill. We lost no one from the herd," Stabo told them.

"We lost only a few," he said. "Mostly those who were killed did not hide with the rest of the herd and got chased by Man."

With that they settled down and spent the rest of the day with each other enjoying the fact that they were all still alive and still a family. There was little more he could ask for.

Epilogue

He climbed the hill quickly, keeping his nose in the air in case there were unexpected guests. He smelled none. It was getting toward day, and the crisp cool air of the morning only hinted at the cold weather to come. The Man caves were empty, and the Men had vanished just before his rack fell off. The forest was at peace and would remain that way for now. Stena had wanted to come with him, but Balo in a rare show of authority told her no. If she was carrying Balo's child she would not visit an animal that could kill her in an instant.

"I thought I smelled you," the bear called him from the side. He looked and saw the black shape among some berry bushes, no doubt getting in a last meal before his winter sleep. "I have not seen you since spring. I see you made it back from the other forest. I am glad to see you are still alive." The bear looked genuinely happy at his survival.

"Thank you," he said with a smile. "I have been away and busy," he told the bear and walked over toward him. "It has been a long summer." With that he told the bear what had happened minus the problem with Claris having children. When he got to the part about his fight with Tarro, the bear seemed surprised.

"Funny, I normally do not think of you deer as being violent creatures, yet you and Bambi managed to kill three of your own kind. Wish I had been there to take care of the remains."

"Sorry, but there were others who were there to do it quickly," he said. "I do not like to think of ourselves as violent, and we are not unless we are forced to be. Other than the fact we do not eat our kills, I suppose we are not much different than you bears in some respects."

"True, we are all animals, just like Man," the bear said.

"No," he said empathically. "Your kind kills for food to live, I killed to protect my friends and their families, Man kill for sheer pleasure. There is a difference."

"In the end, the others are just as dead no matter what the reason," the bear countered. "Did you ever think that Man needs this pleasure in the same way I need to feed and you need to protect your family?"

That comment took him back for a moment. He thought about it and shook his head. "I do not see why or how," he answered. "Man does not need to feed on us to live, since he already has all the food he needs. With their killing sticks, neither of us are threats to Man or his families. The horse once told me it was because we are of no use to Man that he treats us this way. Those animals that serve him he takes care of. I am sorry, but I do not see how we can be of use to Man, and I do not see why we should be of use to Man. Would you and your kind serve Man?"

"My kind have never served anyone," the bear growled. "We live in the forest and the hills as we please. The idea of me eating a Man has come to me, but I have never had the chance."

"Well that is certainly something we deer cannot do," he said. "I just do not understands Man's need to kill us."

"Perhaps there are other needs we are not aware of," the bear suggested to him and started walking up the hill toward his den.

"Then I wish I understood what they were," he said walking with the bear.

"So what will you do now?" the bear asked.

"I am going to see Stabo, again" he told him. "I will try and talk to him some more. Balo and Stena now accept Carie as my mate. I need to convince him of the same."

"Good luck on that," the bear said. "He strikes me as being as about as stubborn as his father."

He chuckled, "Yes father and son are alike in many ways."

"What of Claris?" the bear asked. "Will you keep her?"

There was no hesitation with that answer. "Yes, because I still care for her, and I think I always will. Carie will make my children, but I will always feel on the inside for Claris."

"That is the one thing I do envy about you deer," the bear said. "You can feel strongly toward your mates. We do not and mostly live our lives alone."

"Did you mate with the same female this year?" he wanted to know.

"No," the bear said flatly. "I could not find her, her cubs, nor could I find one of the younger males in the forest over this hill. I do not know where they went. Man was not in our forest, so I do not think they were killed. I did find a younger female and after I drove off a young male, I mated with her. Funny, I do not even remember her name."

In a way he was sorry for the bear. How could you mate and make children with someone and not even know their name? Even the doe he bred before coming to this forest he knew and he knew they did not want anything to do with them after The Season. When he thought about it, what was really the difference. Both he and the bear obeyed the feelings of their Seasons and then went on with their lives. He decided to change the subject.

"I suppose you will be going into your den for your long sleep?" he said.

"Yes, I feed the urge to sleep," the bear said. "I will be back in the spring. By then your new mate should have her fawn. "

"I hope it is a son," he said.

"To follow you in case something happens to you and Balo?" the bear say eying him.

"Of course," he said with a shrug. "It can be anyone of us lying dead in that meadow next time. Someone has to carry on after we are gone."

"All the more reason to enjoy life while we can," the bear added.

"For as long as it lasts," he said.

The End

For Now

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