The Stranger: Generations(Wilbur Arron) Introduction

This is the fifth in a series of stories about the Stranger and his extended family. Stranger is now a deer late in life. Old age is sapping his abilities and his strength. His friends are also feeling their age. A new generation of deer are ready to take their place in the forest and to provide leadership. Stranger had taught them the best he can and they are now ready. He hopes. This should be a relaxing time for him and his friends, unfortunately not everything is going to plan. Stranger will be faced with his most difficult choices and challenges as he prepares his forest for life after him.

CHAPTER ONE: SATISFACTION AND AGONY

Year 8

It was early spring. Another season had come. Another winter had passed them. This one had been mild. There had been no hunger. Even the meadow grass had not been covered by snow. He was glad. The snow and cold brought increasing aching to his legs and hoofs; the sure sign of a deer getting old. He always knew he was would get old, assuming some Man did not use a killing stick on him. In was only in the last year that he really felt his age in his breath, his muscles, and his strength. All were diminishing. No doubt his first son Stabo, and some of the older deer could beat him now if they wanted. So far no one else had shown an interest in being herd leader. Regardless, very soon he knew he have to give up the herd leadership. Balo was more than ready, and a season of training had resulted in having several deer ready to help out. One of them would take over the forest one day. He and Bambi had done the best they could. He only hoped it was enough.

He had gone away after Carie told him the time of giving birth to their fawn was near. Doe did not like to be watched as they gave birth to their fawns. He hoped things would work themselves out as they did last year when Stelar had been born. He could not believe that little fawn was now a yearling and already taking on the looks of a beautiful doe. He was watching her and the other new yearlings playing in the meadow. Nearby was his son Stuben, now a two years old and still growing. He was practicing fighting with Delon, the child of Stena, his first daughter and her mate Balo. Near Stuben stood Karlene one of the twin daughters of his son Stabo and Gena, Bambi's second daughter. Near Delon stood Young Faline, Veron and Alana's first and sadly last daughter. Neither doe had mated the previous Season, but he knew that would change this Season.

He decided he climb the hill on the other side of the meadow and lay facing the herd partly concealed from view. He did not want any of the herd seeing him meet with his old friend. This position also allowed him to view the entire meadow and watch for danger. He found a soft patch of grass, lay down, and rested his increasing tired body.

"Looking at you family from afar," the growling noise came from behind. A huge black bear came out of the woods and lay down next to him. He did not even moved which would normally mean any deer being killed and eaten by such an huge animal. Instead he remained still and allowed the bear to approach him. The bear had been his friend and companion for many seasons since he came to this forest.

"I am afraid soon enough I will be looking at them from even further away, if at all. I am starting to feel my age, my friend, and I am starting to feel my body fail me on the inside. Maybe not this season or the next, but soon my place will be taken by others as it is in the Way of All Things."

"I am the same way," the bear growled. "Even though I found a mate last season, I will not be able to hold her much longer. Some of the younger bears are starting to push their weight around. They are getting bigger and stronger than me. At least one of them is a Son of mine. At least your sons will not attack you. My son will attack me. Soon I will have to step aside or be pushed aside to make room for him like you will have to soon step aside. That is if Man does not kill us both first."

"If Man does kill me, he will not be getting much," he answered. " I am old and most likely tough on the inside. I doubt if I would even make a good meal for a bear. It really does not matter anymore how I die. I have others that will follow me no matter what happens to this old deer. It is good to have children to follow you after you are gone. When my time comes, however it will come, I will not mind much. I will have left my sons and daughters behind me. They will take over after me. The herd will be lead well. I have done about all that I can do."

He then stopped and looked up at the bear's huge face. "I have not told his to anyone, but soon I will call a gathering of the herd and give up being herd leader. I will ask the herd to accept Balo as the new leader. He is ready for it. Bambi and I will still be here a while longer to help if he needs it, but I think Balo is ready to lead. Besides, I rather give up the herd that way instead of one of these young know-nothing males beating me in a fight."

"I doubt that will happen," the bear grunted. "Sometime I watch you deer practice fighting on the meadow at night. You still seem to be able to take care of yourself as I can. Yes we are old, but we are far from dead. We both have pregnant females that can answer to that."

He had to smile. "Yes you are correct, and do not worry my friend, I am not ready to go yet."

"I will be going soon. I will be leaving to go over the hill for the spring and summer,' the bear told him.

"Things may not be as easy for you there now. Young Claris, Stabo's eldest daughter mated with Felon from that forest. I understand Felon is now herd leader there."

"He is the one you trained?" the bear asked.

"Yes, we trained him until last Season. He and Young Claris mated and he went back to live in his home forest. Now that Razor and his males are dead, it should not be as hard on the deer. Felon will lead the herd well and Young Claris will help him. I fear it will be hard on you bears."

"I will manage," the bear said. "As I have said before, they have never been as careful as you are. What are your plans for this season?"

"Much the same; continue training my children and the children of my children and friends. As you said, try and make the forest a better place to live in. Then try and survive the hunts and Man. I have not seen any more Men and Man fawns. I really like to meet some of their smaller fawns, they remind me of my own."

"I do not want to meet any of them," the bear growled loudly. "Unless it is to eat them."

"I understand," he went on. "One of the things I always wanted to know is what turns the Man fawn into Man killers. They start out as playful as my own fawn, and then something changes them. That is the one thing I would want to know before I die. If I knew that, perhaps I could be of more use to my herd in staying away from Man. In any case, I do not think it I have much longer to find out. If I am lucky, I will die of old age like Bambi's Father. If I am not lucky, either some Man will take my body back to his cave to eat, or perhaps another bear will run me down and eat me. Like I said, it doesn't really matter either way. The only thing I hope for is, no matter if it is Man or a bear, or coyote that kills me, I hope they choke on my flesh."

The bear laughed. "Stanger you are different from any deer I have ever seen. Do not change, I like you too much."

He smiled openly. "I like you also, my friend. I just wish that Son of your would see the forest like his father does."

"Small chance of that happening," the bear said with a moan. "To him deer are meat to eat and little else."

He continued to watch his herd when something caught his attention from the edge of the forest. Claris darted out of the forest near where the small stream that led to the pond and small clearing. She was running and looked frighten. She ran up to Stuben and Delon and was talking to them. Stuben pointed to where he was at and then let out with a loud call. "

"COME HERE NOW!" his voice echoed through the hills.

He got up quickly. "Something is wrong," he told the bear. "I need to go."

With that he broke into a run down the hill and out onto the meadow. He ran as fast as he could, but by the time he got to the meadow he was tired. He was losing his breath. He used to run this far for exercise. By the time he got to his son and Claris he could hardly speak. The others were also there.

"What happened?" he said gasping for air.

"You need to get to Carie," Claris said excitedly. "There is something wrong with her fawn."

He nodded and continued to move quickly toward the small stream and then up the hill all the while breathing heavily. His legs were aching and his chest felt like it would burst open. He finally got to their clearing and he saw Carie standing there. Below her was a quivering brown spotted male fawn, only something was wrong. It was struggling to get to its feet, but it could not. He watched it try and stand to feed many times without success. Every time it try and get to its feet, it fell over onto its side. It did not seem as if it could stand.

He walked over and put his nose under the little brown fawn to try and lift him. As he did, he caught the scent of the fawn. If was like no new born he had ever smelled. This is fawn smelled almost decayed. He backed away and looked at Carie.

"The fawn is not right. There is something wrong with him," he told her.

"The smell is wrong," she said. "If he cannot feed, he will not live," Carie told him with fear in her eyes.

He went back to look at his son. He went over and looked at the little fawn's face. The eyes looked blurred; it was like they did not see properly. The fawn held his head strangely as if it was not straight. The rest of his small body looked as if it was crooked. His little legs were not straight, but seemed to curve. One front leg was longer than the other. He came to the realization that this fawn, his son, was not going to survive, was not even going to able to feed.

He looked up at Carie his black eyes were misty. "Carie, I think this fawn was born deformed on the inside. I do not think it will survive."

Carie looked stunned and came up and smelled the fawn again. "No," was all she could say with her own brown eyes running. "He is going to die if I cannot feed him," she said."It will die in pain."

In a moment, he realized he could not allow that to happen. This was his son, and he was not going to live. He was going to die slowly and painfully, or be torn to pieces by the scavengers. He would not allow that to happen.

He walked over to Carie and rubbed her head. His eyes were already tearing. "Listen, I want you to leave here. I want you to go away and not ever come back."

"But the fawn. . ." she started to say,

"The fawn will not live. It cannot stand. It is deformed for some reason."

"Stranger, if we leave our son, he will be torn to pieces by the scavengers," she said her own eyes tearing.

"No he will not be," he said. "I will make sure of that. He will die in as little pain as possible. That I promise you."

She looked confused at him for a second before her eyes went wide when she realized what he was saying. "That is our son," she gasped.

"Yes," he sobbed. "That is why I must do this myself."

Carie looked past him as the small mound of still wet fur. She walked over and nuzzled the fawn, and taking in its scent. She then stood up and looked directly at him. "I understand, Stranger, please do it quickly. I am going to go alone into the forest. Please do not follow me," she sobbed."

With that she walked off toward the top of the hill. He waited until he was sure she was far enough away. He then went over and looked down at the fawn. He took several deep breaths. This had to be done right the first time.

"My, Son," he said through his tears. "Please forgive me."

He took his right front hoof and then kicked the little mound of fur in the side of the head as hard as he could.

"EEEEE," was the sound it made and then it lay still. He had knocked it senseless, but it was not dead. He raised his body and came down and stomped his right front hoof onto the side of the fawn's head. He felt the bone crack and give way. He felt the fawn jerked its legs once and then did not move. He did not look down. He could not. Instead he walked out of the clearing toward the Man path forest. He managed to get barely out of the clearing before he felt a burning sensation in his throat. A mass of cud came up and he threw up on the ground. He walked away and found an oak tree he could lean against, and sobbed uncontrollably for he did not know how long. That was two sons he had killed. At least this one had not gone bad. It never had a chance to do anything wrong. He loathed himself for what he had done.

It was after dark when he lay down next to the oaks. In that moment he felt wearier than he could ever remember feeling before. He felt an emptiness inside of him that only made the memory what he had done even worse. No matter what he did, he could not get the feeling of his son's head giving way under his blow, out of his mind. He felt like a murderer. How could anyone stand to look at him now? He had killed male deer who did less than what he had just done. Did he deserve any better? The wind blew in the trees that night and it rained heavily. Normally he would seek shelter to get out of the storm. He did not do that this night. He lay soaking wet and alone. He got no sleep at all that night. It was toward first light when he heard someone behind him. He smelled Claris and she was alone. She came up and quietly lay down next to him.

"You should go," he told her. "I am not fit company for anyone."

"I will be the judge of that," she said softly.

"Carie told us what happened about the fawn," Claris told him with her smooth voice. "There was nothing else you could have done except let the scavengers have the fawn. At least he did not suffer much. I do not think anyone blames you; not even Carie. I certainly do not."

He leaned over and nuzzled her on the side of the neck. "I am getting too old for any of this," he said still with a tight lump in his throat. "Maybe it would be best if I just left and turned the herd over to Balo. I am starting to feel old and useless here."

"No, Stranger, you are not useless. You have trained the children to follow you, and they will. They will train the others that will come after them. You have done good things in the forest. Everyone can see that except you. I have seen you look sad lately. I know you feel you are getting old, but old does not mean useless."

"I wish I could believe that," he said. He put his head on the ground and closed his eyes.

"For now sleep," Claris told him. "You will feel better. Later we can go to the meadow and feed."

"I could not do that," he said cringing. "How can the herd look at me after they know what I have done?"

Claris nuzzled his neck "The herd will look at you as the herd leader who had to do a hard thing, yet still did it even through it hurt him badly. Now sleep and know I still care deeply for you."

He relaxed as Claris put her body close to him. It still made him feel warm inside. He slowly drifted off to sleep.

They woke as the greater light was setting. After empting themselves in the forest they ate and then walked toward the Man path forest. As he looked out at the short distance between his forest and the Man path forest as he thought about what he should do next. He looked at Claris standing silently behind him.

"You know I could just walk out of this forest and into that forest and just keep walking. No one would ever hear from me again. Balo would be herd leader, and I would not have to look at my herd and try to explain what I have done. Perhaps it would be better for everyone."

"No it would not," Caris said harshly. "Your children and Bambi would wonder what happened to you and would come after you. Despite what you think, they still care for you as I do. That is one reason why you will not go. The other and greater reason is because you are herd leader, and you will continue to be herd leader until you give it up, or die doing it. You cannot stop. You are like Bambi in this way. I have known that since the time we met. In all that time you have always tried to do the right thing, just like today."

He looked back over his body at the collection of scars caused by Man , dogs, and other deer. Doing the right thing has a high cost. A cost he knew he would continue to pay. He nodded to Claris. She was right as usual. No matter how much he wanted to lose himself in the wide forests; he could not lose himself from himself. He would stay.

"So what then shall I do?" he asked.

"You come with me and we walk back into the meadow. There is no Man around. We will walk over to the herd and they will still follow you."

Claris slowly walked over to him and nipped his tale like she would in the old days when they were still young. She then walked past him and walked into the forest for a short way. He still did not move not wanting to follow her back to the herd She stopped and looked back to him.

"You are coming," she told him almost as an order.

He followed her, more by habit than anything else. They both slowly walked through the forest until they came to the end of the trees directly across from the Man cave, It was still dark and empty. There was no sign of Man on the meadow. There he stopped. He looked out onto the meadow. His herd was feeding peacefully. Mostly there were the doe all showing one to three new fawns. He saw his daughter Stena and Balo with a new fawn. It looked healthy. Bambi and Faline were talking to them and the rest of his family. The herd males and few senior males were all in close groups. Only the yearlings seem unconcerned except for those he had trained. He was reluctant to go on. He did not know how the others would treat him.

"You are coming," Claris told him again. She then walked slowly over to him and lifted his head with hers. She then looked into his face with those sparkling green eyes. "Please, you need to come," she pleaded. She then nudged him forward with her body.

He walked into the open with Claris. They went closer to the Man cave than they usually get and ate by themselves. It did not take much to fill him and afterwards he drank in the small stream running through the meadow. After he was done he saw several members of his family walking toward him. When they got several lengths away Bambi motioned for the others to stop and he and Faline came forward alone. He really did not feel like talking to anyone. They stopped and both Bambi and Faline looked at him with sympathy and compassion.

"Carie has told us all what has happened," Bambi said in a low respectful voice. " I cannot guess how you feel right now. I am only thankful I never had to make that decision."

Bambi then walked up to him and rubbed his forehead on his in a sign of affection. Faline rubbed the side of his neck. Claris rubbed his smooth flank against his. "This may not mean much to you now, but no one blames you for this," Bambi went on in a barely audible tone. "The herd understands and so does your family. You were faced with choice no deer should have to make and you chose the best you could. I admire that you had the courage to do that. I can only hope I would have had the courage to do something like that if I would had to."

He did not feel very courageous, only sick to his stomach. "I only hope that you, my family, or anyone else in this herd never has to make that decision," he told him in a low voice.

"Your family would speak to you," Bambi said. "They see how this has torn at you and they want to help. They also understand why you have done this. Stranger, they still care about you as do I and Faline."

He did not want any help right now. He did not want to talk to anyone. He looked up at the herd all staring at him like the day he came to this forest. He was strange then, and he was strange now. Despite all those around him, he felt alone. He wanted no reminder of what had happened. He wanted to speak to no one about this. The hurt on the inside still tore at him. He needed to be alone for awhile.

He raised his head and looked Bambi in the face. "No, my friend, I do not want to speak with them about this," he said. "If you wish to help, tell my family and the others I never want to speak about this to anyone again. He felt the glare of the herd on him, and it only added to the emptiness he still felt. He felt the urge to move away from all of them. He had to get away. He walked alone away from the others. He slowly moved back to the edge of the forest and disappeared silently into the trees. Only then did he feel better.

CHAPTER TWO: ANNOUCEMENTS

He came out of the woods several days later as close to normal as he could be. It had taken him a while to finally accept the idea that what he had done was necessary. Claris and Bambi were right. What had convinced him to return was that he was still herd leader and although the herd did not need a leader at this time, he was still responsible for them; at least for now. That was going to change. He finally made up his mind about that also. He walked slowly out onto the meadow with the herd and saw the others there. He saw Bambi and Faline eating next to Claris. Carie was eating next to her son, Stuben and Young Faline. For now he only wanted to talk to Bambi, Faline, Claris and Carie. The rest he would tell later.

He walked over to Bambi, Faline and Claris who stopped eating. "I like to talk to all of you and Carie, when you finish eating," he said to them in a low voice.

All nodded silently. He next went over the Carie and repeated the message. She also agreed. He was leaving when Stuben spoke up.

"Father," Stuben said to him.

He turned and looked into his son's dark brown eyes which were almost on a level with his. By the time next season came around, he be as tall or even taller than him. He and the others would soon be ready.

"Father, I know you wish to be alone," Stuben said in a low voice. "Mother has explained what happened. I am very sorry for that, but as you taught me, some things cannot be helped. I just wanted to let you know I think you did the right thing. My only concern is the hurt it has caused you and mother. We can all see how this has torn at you. I am sorry it had to be done. I just wish we could be of more help."

A lump formed in his throat, for he knew his son meant what he said. His eyes got misty and he walked over and nuzzled his son like he had done when he was a fawn. "You already have helped, my Son, and I thank you and your mother for that."

With that he walked away feeling better than he had for days. It made what he was going to say easier. He went out into the middle of the meadow and continued to eat alone until he noticed the others coming up to him. He waited until they were all there before he bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you for coming,' he started. "I am going to call a gathering of the herd soon. When I do, I am going to announce that I am giving up being herd leader. I will ask the herd to accept Balo as the new leader. It is time I step away from this and let a younger male lead."

"Stranger, if this has anything to do with our fawn, do not do this. I was angry at the time, but I know you did the right thing," Carie told him.

"Thank you," he said to her, "But this has more to do with my age than anything else. Like Bambi did with Gorro, I rather give it to someone I trust than have some young male fight and beat me for it."

"You are not that old," Bambi said. "Other than Balo and Stabo, I doubt any male could take this herd from you."

He smiled slightly. He had some doubts about that."Thank you, my friend, but age is catching up with me as it is doing for all of us. As you have shown me, I now know it is time someone else lead. If there are problems, both you and I will be here to help, at least for a while. The others are almost ready to take over themselves so this forest and the Man path forest will be well lead without us. There is not much more I can do here."

"I do not believe that," Claris told him. "I have seen you too many times do things that I thought could not be done, and yet you did them."

"I have done all that I could do," he answered. "Both Bambi and I knew that the young deer we trained this time would most likely be our last. That is why we trained so many of them. I can only hope what they learned will be passed on to others."

"So you will tell the herd that Balo is now leader?" Carie asked.

"No!" he said empathically. "I will tell the herd that I am giving up the leadership. I will ask the herd if they will accept that Balo should lead in my place. The choice belongs to the herd. They must decide who will lead them."

"And suppose someone challenges him?" Carie asked.

"Anyone that challenges Balo, will get his tail stomped into the ground," Bambi said just as empathically. "Stranger is making the right choice. It is best to leave rather than to be beaten."

"When will you tell Balo and Stena?" Claris wanted to know.

"Tonight," he said. " I will tell the others in our family when their training is done. That should happen in summer. Only then will I call a gathering. I doubt if there will be any problems. Any of the senior males in this herd will not fight Balo on their own, they know better. I also know they will also not form a group like Tarro and Razor did to push Balo aside. At least not while Young Bambi, Koren, Stuben and Delon are here."

"Then who will follow Balo?" Carie asked.

"When the time comes, the herd will decide that also," he said clearly." I guess it will be either Delon or Stuben. The herd will make that choice when the time comes."

"Your son should follow you," Carie went on. "I agree with you he is not ready yet, and Balo is the wisest and strongest, but afterwards it should be your son."

He tried not to show his anger. "That is not my choice or yours to make. It will be up to the herd. They will decide when the time is right. That will not be for many seasons. By then I will not be here."

"That no one knows," Faline answered.

He nodded his head. "Yes, Faline, you are right. That no one knows."

He then stopped and took a deep breath. "Now here is something that I will not discuss with anyone else except us," he told them all. "I also want you never to mention what I am going to say to anyone. This is deeply personal and I do not wish to share this with anyone else including the rest of our family."

They all looked at him strangely before he continued "I have been thinking about what happened with our fawn. I am wondering if I am getting too old to make healthy fawns myself."

The others looked stunned almost in disbelief.

"That is nonsense," Bambi told him. "My Father had me when he was your age and I turned out rather well."

"I know, but after what happened with Claris and now with Carie, I have to wonder if I am at fault here. One thing however is for sure; even if I can still make healthy fawns now, I will not be able to do it for much longer."

There was silence. He knew Bambi had not sought out another doe after Faline's fawn was born dead and she told him there would be no more. Carie was young enough where she could still have those fawns.

He went on trying not to get emotional. "Carie will be able to have healthy fawns for several more seasons. I will not be able to father them for that long. Therefore I give Carie a choice. If she wants to stay with me and try and have more fawns, I would be happy to try again during The Season. However," he said and looked directly at her. "If you feel you would rather find another male for your fawns, I will not stop you or challenge anyone for you. I am giving that choice to you."

Carie looked more surprised than anyone else. She stood there in silence for a time while everyone looked at her. Then she spoke clearly, but he could hear the emotion in her voice. "I will not lie to you, Stranger, I did think about your age when my fawn was born deformed. Right now I do not know if I want to leave you or not. One thing I can say is that none of the other males in this forest I would even consider to be a father for my fawns. Only two males in this forest have ever interested me and that is you and Bambi. Bambi has a fine mate already. The only other good males are our children and Bambi's children and their children. The rest of the herd are lesser males and I will not be a mate to a lesser male. This is why none of the herd males interest me in the least. We still have a while before The Season. I will let you know if I will stay with you or not before that time, In the meantime I will help raise our son and daughter and see they come into to their proper place within the herd."

Her talk did not surprise him; he expected that much. He also knew, but would not say it, that Carie also liked the position of mate to the herd leader and while she did not push herself forward, she did present herself as being a leading doe. If she was as wise as Claris he would not mind this, but she was not. He was now going to give that up so she would lose that position. He further knew she would not like it. He also did not like her comment about his son's and daughter's proper place in the herd. He knew you got position by being reliable, knowing what to do, and being able to protect the herd. To whom you were born to meant nothing. That was something she had not learned yet and possibly never would.

"Very well, I accept that," he told her. "We will discuss this later."

"When will you tell the rest of our family?," Bambi asked.

"When their training is done and before I call for the gathering," he said. "They need to know, but I do not think any of them will dispute Balo being herd leader."

"Nor do I," Claris said. "Stabo already has the Man path forest, Stena will be the mate of the herd leader, so I see no problem there. I do not see any the other children objecting. You have made it clear for a long time that Balo would most likely follow you."

"Again, that is up to the herd," he repeated.

"Very well," Bambi said nodding his head. "I do not agree with everything you have just said, but I do understand why you said it. I agree it is time for Balo to take over. You have to tell him this and I suggest you do it now."

"I intend to," he answered. "I thank you all for listening to an old deer."

With that he bowed his head and left them still standing in the meadow. It was easy to find Balo and Stena. Other than himself and Bambi, Balo was the largest deer in the forest. He saw them eating with Delon and Stena's new doe fawn Balene, named after Balo, and some of the other young males around him. He walked up to them until he was within a length of them. Balo looked carefully at him, but it was Stena that spoke.

"Father I am so sorry at what has happened," she told him her eyes misty. "I just want to say we understand."

He nuzzled his daughter like she was still his fawn. "Thank you, daughter," he said and then turned toward the others present. "I need to speak to Balo and Stena alone," he told them. "Please excuse us for a while."

The herd males left quickly and Balene went to play with the other fawns. With that he walked toward the trees near where the stream from the pond entered the meadow. When he was sure they were alone he stopped.

"What is it Stranger?" Balo asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No, Balo, for once nothing is wrong," he said with a smile. "I need to tell you that soon I am going to call for a gathering of all the deer in the forest. At that gathering I am going to give up being herd leader. I am getting too old for this and it is time for a new leadership. I am going to suggest to the herd that you be the new herd leader. You are old enough, you have been trained by Bambi and me, you know what to do, and most importantly Stena is very wise on her own. You both can lead the herd as well or better than Bambi or I ever did."

"Father, you are not that old," Stena said looking shocked. "You can still be leader for seasons to come."

"No daughter, I cannot," he said calmly. "Bambi has showed me it is best to turn over the herd in your own time, rather than get beaten by some new male. I watched him do it with Gorro and then saw how you both helped him. Now it is time for you two to do it on your own."

"Will the herd accept me?" Balo asked.

"The herd has seen you help me for many seasons. They have seen me and Bambi teach you. They have seen how you helped Veron, Stabo, Gorro and I take care of Razor. Right now you could most likely beat me. Besides I am old and tired. It is time for a younger deer to take my place. You are the best deer in the forest to do this. Both Bambi and I agree on this. The herd also knows this and I feel will agree. Besides if any deer is stupid enough to challenge you, I know you can stomp them into the ground."

"I hope the others agree with you," Balo said still looking a bit frightened at the prospect."I also hope I am up to being the leader."

"You are," he said and rubbed his forehead against Balo's. "Besides you can always ask Bambi and me for advice if you want to, at least for a while."

"Father no," Stena said the tears now flowing."You will be here for a long time to come. I do not know what I would do without you and Bambi, Even mother and Faline are a great help. The forest would not be the same without you."

He looked deep into Stena's black eyes and smiled openly. "You will do the best you can no matter if we are here or not. You have your children and mine to help you. All of you are good deer and we have trained you well."

Stena then turned to Balo and spoke in a normal tone. "Father is right. If you are herd leader, Delon will be of help to you. He can also can follow you if anything happens to us."

Not again he was thinking. "That will be up to the herd when that time comes. Remember one of the first lessons I taught you long ago; the herd will decide, not you."

Stena stepped back looking disappointed. "Yes Father of course, but it is only natural that the son will follow the father."

"Balo is not my son," he reminded her, "Although he is like a son to me. Balo is the best deer in the forest. This is why he should be herd leader. The deer in the forest will follow the best deer no matter who it is. When the time comes, the herd will make the choice."

"Yes, Father," she said meekly.

"I will try and do the best I can," Balo said.

"I know you will," he said. Then he looked deep into Balo's black eyes."I only knew your mother for a short time before she was taken. I do know if she was here now, how proud she would be of you and the deer you became. You are as close to me as my own sons. You will do a good job. I trust you with the herd."

With that he rubbed Balo's forehead again and turned and walked away. Balo turned quickly not wanted to see the tears forming in his eyes. Stena went over to comfort her mate. He walked into the forest alone toward the other side of the meadow. For the first time in many risings of the greater light he felt at peace within himself. He had done the best he could. It was time for others to carry on.

He found some grass over by where the stream to Bambi's old forest flowed between the hills. Near the stream were also fresh leaves. He ate them. He had not eaten fully for a while and he discovered how hungry he was. He then heard someone from behind him. It was Claris she came over and started to eat next to him. He looked at her and pictured the doe he first knew when he came to this forest. Not a beauty like Faline or even Young Claris or Young Faline, yet she was still beautiful. How he wished he could take her in The Season like he once did and put himself inside her. That too was now beyond him. How he hated getting old. He went over and lifted her head with his like he once did. He then gazed into her green eyes and kissed her long and passionately. He watched her white fluffy tail shoot upwards has his did. He still felt the warmth fill his body like a fire.

"I still like that, Stranger," she said taking in a deep breath.

"So do I," he told her. Now sleep with me here tonight. I need someone near me."

'I will always stay near you," she said in that voice of hers that use to make him almost crazy in The Season.

They finished eating, drinking and then empting their bodies before find a soft piece of grass and there sleeping close together until the greater light was high overhead. It was then he heard someone creeping through the forest very quietly. The wind was blowing in the wrong way; then he heard a different noise. There was more than one of them. He slowly got up taking in a great breath through his nose. He smelled nothing, He turned and faced the noise and saw two deer coming toward them. The male had his nose in the ground smelling for something. A moment later he got a good look. It was Young Faline and Stuben out walking together.

He bleated lightly once, and they both approached them. Both were smiling broadly. He looked at Claris who kissed the side of his cheek. "I was her age when you first came here," she reminded him.

"Hello Father," Stuben said. "You left so quickly, we did not have a chance to talk to you."

"We have something to announce to you and Claris," Young Faline told them. A pity she did not have the voice to go with her beautiful body and face.

"You do not have too, I saw it last season and I see it now," he said grinning ear to ear.

"Were we that obvious?" Stuben asked looking embarrassed.

"As obvious as Claris and I were when we were your age," he said. "I wish you both well, my Son. Finding the right doe is a wonderful thing and makes life well worth living."

"Faline has agreed to stay with me and be my mate during The Season." Stuben was beaming like he was.

He first kissed Young Faline on the side of her face and then rubbed Stuben's forehead. Claris did likewise.

"Have you told your mother?" he asked his son.

"Yes, and she is happy about Young Faline and me. We will go soon to the Man path forest and tell Young Bambi, but I am sure he already knows. Mother thinks we will be a good pair. She also told me what you told her Father." Stuben then lowered his head."I am sorry this has happened, but I understand it. Mother does not blame you or anyone for this. I am glad you gave her the choice."

He did not indicate that he was bothered by Carie telling their son of their private conversation. He continued to smile. "She deserved that and a lot more for giving me you and Stelar. I look forward to seeing your fawn next spring."

Stuben reached over and kissed Faline on the mouth like he just like he did to Claris. It was a long, passionate kiss and both their tails shot up into the air. His eyes got misty again and he thought so did Claris' At least here was one announcement he enjoyed hearing. Now he had only one more journey to make.

"Well I must go see my son Stabo, so I will leave you all for a short while," he told them.

"Thank you Father," Stuben said and he and Young Faline walked away their flanks touching. They were, obviously very happy.

"That makes me glad," he told Claris and then kissed her again.

"So I can see," she said in that soft voice of her and she kissed him again.

"I need to see Stabo," he told Claris. "He needs to know about this."

"I will go with you," Claris told him and together they walked into the forest.

It was near the time the lesser light was over head that they came to Stabo's clearing. They were not there, but their scent was strong, so they stayed nearby. It was near the rising of the great light that he smelled Stabo, Gena, Charlene, Karlene, Koren, and Young Bambi approach As they got close to their clearing, they smelled them and hurried into the clearing.

"Mother, Father," Stabo called out and his son came over and embraced his mother and then him. They all embraced which made him feel good. All looked healthy. However, only Gena had a little male fawn. He also noticed Surro, the male fawn from last year was not there.

"I glad you are all here," he said. I wanted to talk to you.

"We were going to come to see you, Stabo said. "There have been some changes here. Surro has left for the other forest over the hill. The forest Young Claris and Felon went to."

That surprised him. He thought Surro would start training this year. "Why?" he asked.

Stabo took a deep breath. "Surro was not going to be a big deer and he was never going to be a strong deer. I could see that and so could Young Bambi when we played with them. The rest of the herd saw it too and I think they teased him about it. Surro would never speak of it. Surro knew he could never be a senior male so he decided to go someplace where no one knew him or his family.

"He did not even say goodbye," Gena added. "He just left. The only way we knew where he went was we followed his scent."

He took a deep breath. Yes all his brothers and sisters were all strong, powerful deer. For some reason he was not. Finally he looked up. "That was his decision to make," he said. He then looked at the new male fawn.

"Who is this one?" he asked.

"His name is Kalen," Gena answered.

"He appears healthy enough. He is always trying to play," Stabo added.

He then looked at both Charlene and Karlene. He knew Karlene and Delon would be close and would likely become a pair. "What of you?" he asked. "Did you find a male you like."

Charlene spoke up. "No Stranger, I have found no one. All the good deer I know are already part of our family. The senior males here and in your forest do not interest me."

"You will both find someone," he told them. You are far too pretty not to have males interested in you. "

"They are interested in me, Stranger," Charlene said. "I am not interested in them. After what you showed us, we are fairly good at keeping unwanted males away."

He laughed out loud as did the others. "Well I am sure you will find someone that will interest you. " The he stopped and looked at the other. "Now I need to tell all of you why I have come."

They all lay down in the clearing and he told them of his plans. Stabo seemed surprised. "Father, you are not that old," he said. "You were strong enough to take care of Razor."

"That was two seasons ago," he said. "Things I have changed since then. I have gotten older and weaker. I have decided to turn it over to Balo."

Stabo nodded and turned to Young Bambi. "You are right," he said. "Come next Season, I will turn this herd over to Young Bambi. It is his rightful place. I just wish he could find a mate."

"Like Charlene said, all the good doe are already in my family," the young male said.

"One problem at a time," he said. "Mates for your daughter and Young Bambi will come later."

With that they all bedded down for the rest of the day.

CHAPTER THREE: GHOSTS FROM THE PAST

A few days after his talk with Stabo, they were all out on the meadow putting the final touches on the regular training to Koren, Charlene, Karlene, Young Bambi, Young Faline, Delon and Stuben. The training was some mild sparing and practice kicking. Soon he would start the final phase of their training and then he be done. It was mid spring, and the weather was mild with some rain in the afternoon. He had just come onto the meadow with Bambi, Faline, Carie and Claris and young Stelar. He saw Stuben stop and suddenly turn to face the Man cave. As he turned, he saw a large male walking out onto the meadow across from the Man cave. The training suddenly stopped. He looked at the new male carefully. He wasn't from this herd and he did not look like any male he knew from the Man path forest. The male looked maybe three or four years old and in the prime of life. He was tall, heavily muscled, and he could already see a large rack starting to grow. He walked over to Bambi and Faline.

"He is not from around here. Could he have come from your old forest?" he asked Bambi.

"He looks familiar, but he did not come from my forest," Bambi answered. "I would have known a male like that."

Now Balo, Stuben, Koren, Young Bambi, and Delon approached them looking at the male. "Do you know who he is Father?" Stuben asked.

"No," he said. "I wonder if he is one of the males from over the hill in the forest Felon and Young Claris went to?"

"We did not fight him when Razor came, I know that," Balo said.

He knew they could stand here and wonder all night. It would do them no good. There was one way to find out. He looked at Bambi. "Care to introduce ourselves?"

"I do not mind," Bambi said with a smile.

He looked back at the other five males. "You all stay here. If there are more of them and they come out, then come in quickly, but I do not think he has friends."

The others nodded and he and Bambi walked over slowly. The other male didn't more, didn't show any sign of threat. He was studying them as intently as they were studying him. They walked up until they were within three lengths of the strange deer. The deer looked right at them. "You must be Stranger and Bambi," he said in a deep voice.

Bambi froze in place looking shocked. "He sounds like my Father."

"Not your Father," the deer said. "More likely your son. I am Galin. My Father was Geno, your son."

Bambi continued to look stunned for a moment. He then walked forward sniffing the air around the large male. "Yes, Geno's scent is with you."

"You come from the forest over the hill and across the large open field?" he asked.

"Yes, I crossed the large open field. It took me two days of careful movement. Man is not in the forest at this time so it was safe. I wanted to come here and meet you both."

"Did my son send you?" Bambi asked suspiciously.

"No," he said abruptly. "Bambi your son and my Father Geno is dead. He died last winter of illness. I came on my own."

Bambi stopped and dropped his head. The large black eyes closed. "Another one," he said almost sobbing. "My children are fewer and fewer."

He walked up to his old friend and rubbed his flank. "I am sorry," he said. Then he looked at Galin and asked, "Why have you come here?"

"That is a story I would like to tell, but I can see the five large males looking anxious. I take it those are the males you are training.

"And some of the doe too," he answered.

"Interesting," Galin said. "My Father told me you could not train doe. My Father said it be a waste of time to even try and train them. They would not understand what they were learning."

Bambi looked up harshly. "In that and a great many other things, your Father was wrong."

"I know that," Galin said as a matter of fact. "My Father believed in strength and power. He always felt like that was the best way to rule. He was wrong as I found out and so did he when it was too late, but that is part of my story."

"Very well," he told Galin. "If you have not come here to challenge or cause trouble then you are welcome here."

"I thank the herd leader," Galin said.

He took Galin over to the rest of his family and introduced him. The shock was universal all except Faline. She did not even have to be introduced before she saw and smelled him and ran over to him and embraced him.

"You look and smell like my son returned," she said and kissed him as a mother would.

"Faline!" Bambi called out. "Later, Galin has a story to tell and I think it would interest all of us to hear it."

He nodded; he was still uncomfortable around this new male. "OK, let us get everyone together and go to the pond. It is more open and we can fit everyone in."

It took a little while to get everyone there. After they all arrived Galin stood and addressed them as he would friends.

"Thank you for your invitation," he said first. At least he was trying to be polite. He then went on in a strong powerful voice. "After my Father was told to leave this forest, he traveled to the large forest over you hill above us. That forest is similar to this one only it is much bigger and has three meadows and a much larger herd. There was no real herd leader, but an old large male Asar was considered the strongest and all the deer paid attention to him. "My Father came and Asar saw him as a threat. My mother told me, Geno said he has no interest in being herd leader, but he was not going to be thrown out again. Asar tried to push his weight against Geno who pushed back and told Asar he fight him there and then if he wanted. Asar saw he was not afraid and seeing my Father was a large male like him, he laughed and said any male who fight him was either very brave or very stupid. Asar and my Father decided not to fight and Geno became one of the lead males. Rignor the next senior males in that herd did not like it and went after Geno. Geno beat him so badly that he died soon afterward. Mother told me he beat him with ease. After that no one bothered my Father and he got along with Asar. In fact he even mated with Aslene, Asar's younger sister and my mother."

"I was born four seasons ago and for the first two seasons things were fine. No one bothered me or my mother because no one wanted to anger either Asar or Geno. During this time things worked well. My Father and Asar did not like each other, but it was like what Father told me about Bambi and Ronno, and how they agreed to live peacefully with each other. The next season my sister Galene was born and that year passed peacefully. The next season my sister Garla was born along with my brother Garten. Things were fine until The Season came with Man. The hunt was large and many deer were killed. Asar did not know what to do, but Geno took the herd and went deep into the forest where Man could not find us. As a result, no more deer were killed. After that all the deer started to ask my Father questions and ask his advice on what to do. This bothered Asar greatly. He was used to being herd leader and having his way. This spring my mother died having a fawn that was born dead. Asar blamed my Father and things got worse and worse. Finally at The Season Asar started yelling at my Father for looking at the same doe he was interested in. Their yelling led to a fight. The fight was terrible; both would not give way and fought longer than they should of. My Father killed Asar, but was injured badly during the fight. He had a hard time getting around. When the cold came, he got the fever and died. That was last winter."

He could see Faline did not take that well. He had always felt that Faline hoped Geno learn his lessons and come back one day. He was her first born along with Gurri. Now they were both dead. She lay next to Bambi and turned her head away from them.

"What about the rest of the deer?" he asked. "What are they doing?"

"Nothing much," Galin added. "They eat, drink, and breed and go on their way. There is no direction so they all look out for themselves. I hate to think what will happen when Man comes back to hunt during The Season."

"Then who is herd leader there now?" Bambi asked.

Galin shook his head no. "No one really; there is just a group of males constantly fighting. That is why my sisters, young brother and I came here."

"Your family," Faline called out. "Your family is here?"

"Yes," he said. "I told them to stay hidden because I was not sure we would be welcomed on account of my Father."

He got up slowly and spoke directly at Galin. "I will not lie to you. Your Father was not liked because of what he did with Bambi and him trying to put his deer in charge here. That is why Bambi and I chased him away. You and your sisters and brother did not do any of these things so you are welcomed. You may go get them and bring them here."

"I will get them now," he said and left in a hurry.

Everyone kept silent until Galin was far away as not to overhear. "Stranger, do you trust him?" Balo asked.

"For now yes, but let us watch them," he told them all.

He then turned and faced Bambi. "You and Faline have more to say about this than any of us. They are your family. What do you think?"

Bambi just nodded. "Stranger, I agree with you. What I feel for all of them is mixed with what I felt for Geno. They cannot help being Geno's children, but they have done nothing to harm us. I think you are right, Stranger, we welcome them and watch them."

"Does anyone else have an opinion?" he asked the group.

"They are my family also," Young Bambi said. "If they act well, then I would gladly accept them in our forest. I am sure Stabo would also agree."

"I know I agree," Young Faline spoke out.

There was silence after that so he took it that the rest of his family agreed. They retold the story of when Bambi got so mad at Krono he almost killed him and other stories about Geno that would not have pleased Galin. He again reminded his family that these were Geno's children, not Geno. Then he smelled several deer approach. Into the clearing walked Galene, an older doe, and then a two-year old brother and sister. His jaw almost dropped and so did Bambi's and Claris'. Galene was almost the exact image of Faline when she was her age. It was uncanny. She had the same graceful lines, the same perfectly formed body. She was a delight that any male would want. The other doe Garla was also very nice looking. Her brother Garten was a nice size deer, but would not get as big as his older brother. He stood up again.

"Welcome Galene, Garla and Garten" he said. Please lie down over there. I still have some questions for your brother.

"You are the one they call Stranger?" Garlene asked. Her voice was a little gritty, not like Faline's smooth voice.

"Yes," he said with a nod and went on to introduce everyone else in his family group. "You must forgive our stares, but you look exactly like Faline when she was your age."

"You mean my Father's mother he told me about?" she asked.

"Yes, my child," Faline said and got up and looked her over before looking over Garla and Garten. "Yes, you are all Geno's sons and daughters for sure. I smell his scent in yours. I am so happy to meet all of you." With that Faline embraced all of them like they were her own fawns. That relaxed things considerably.

Young Bambi stood up and walked over to his sister who also rose. "My name is also Bambi and this is my sister who is also named Faline. We are children of Veron who was Bambi and Faline's second son. I regret to say our father was killed during the hunts. We welcome the new members of the family."

He looked at them together. Young Bambi was a little smaller than Galine, but much stronger looking than Garten. Young Faline was as big as Galene,

After everyone greeted the new pair and they all lay back down he started asking questions. "Tell me Galin, why have you come to our forest? Do you wish to live here?"

"No, Stranger," I want to go back to my old forest, but I want to learn from you and Bambi how to be a good herd leader. Right now no one leads the herd and it suffers because of it especially during The Season and the hunts. I want to stop that. We had heard of both of you and know of your wisdom and teachings. I would like you to teach that to us."

"How do you know of us?" he asked.

"It is not that hard," Galin answered "From the end of our forest, it is a one night walk to a smaller forest that lies near Bambi's old forest. Sometime we get deer from Bambi's old forest and we hear the stories like what you did to Tarro. We also heard how you train the new herd leader Gorro. We need a herd leader like that in our forest and we both figured this be the only way to get it."

That caught him by surprise. Geno would have never cared about learning how to lead despite Bambi's teaching. Bambi looked at him and then looked at them nodding his approval.

"This training you ask for is not easy, and takes times," Bambi spoke seriously. "There is not enough time to complete it this season. If you stay over winter and into next spring we can do this. It would please me to teach you. I tried to teach your Father, and that never worked out."

"So we would not be back for the hunts after The Season," Galene said.

"Yes," Bambi told her. "I know that will mean another season of hunts, but you will be back to try and help out in the seasons to come. All the deer you see here have been taught or are being taught. You will join them. If you want, we will start tonight.

Galin looked at his brother and sisters. They all nodded. "If you are willing to teach, then we are willing to learn," Galene said.

That settles that," he said. "It is getting toward light. We will rest here as a family today and start tonight."

They all bedded down and as a group and slept together. He was happy his family was getting so large. At least there would be more to take over after him. That thought comforted him as he fell asleep.

That night he got up with the others. After they all went to the meadow to eat and drink he spoke for a while with Bambi and then called everyone together.

"Bambi will take Galin and Garten start teaching them. He will start on how to move quietly and how to keep Man from Tracking you. Stena, I would like you, Claris and Carie to take Galene and Garla and start showing them how to defend themselves. Balo, I would like you to come with me. It is time we started the last of the training for Young Bambi, Koren, Delon and Stuben. This training we do in private so we will go to the clearing. Are there any questions?"

There were none. He took his group and went to the clearing. When he got them there he started on them. "You have learned most of what you need to know as senior males and herd leaders. I have no doubt any of you could defeat any male in either this forest or the Man path forest outside of this family. What we taught you was normal fighting. We use that when we fight other males for mates and leadership. There is another type of fighting we only use when others try and come to hurt or kill like Tarro and Razor. This is what Balo and I will start to show you now."

All four younger deer started to smile. He knew they had always wanted to know how to fight other deer like this, but he had waited until they were all well trained with regular fighting. It was easier to learn that way.

"What we are about to show you can easily kill other deer. Other deer can also use it to kill you. Never use it unless you find yourself in a fight to the death. Then you must kill your opponent before he kills you."

He started with kicks to the mouth, and neck that can cut open a deer. Then kicks into the stomach and then he started on the stomp. They all got in a lot of practice that night, but it was tiring. He was getting too old to do this much longer. Near the rising of the greater light, they all went back to the clearing.

The others were already there. He motioned to Bambi to follow him. When they were away from the others he asked. "How where they?"

"They seem eager to learn. I think Galin is as strong as I or Geno ever was. Garten is not as big or strong as Galin and most likely never will be. He can be a senior male in the herd, but he is not big enough or strong enough to be a leader. During some sparing I saw some of the things I taught Geno and then he taught his sons. For normal fighting they are fairly well trained. What they do not have is any idea how to lead a herd."

"What about the doe?" he asked.

"They were taught nothing so everything that Stena showed them was new to them. They will learn, but it will take time."

That was more than he expected. "Very well,' he said. "I think you should teach them how to avoid Man and maybe some fighting. How to be a herd leader we will do over the winter."

Things did not change much for the remainder of the spring. Sometimes Faline, would talk to Galene alone after taking her into the forest. Questions were many and whenever possible answered as best that they could. Even the bear came down once in a while. The first time it scared Galin, Garten, Garla and Galene almost out of their wits, especially when he started to talk to the large bear. It took some convincing for them to get close, not that he blamed them a bit.

Things went well until early summer. "One night Bambi had all of them all together in the meadow. "Tonight we are going to go over pushing back and kicks again," he told them.

"Stuben, you and Delon lock together and try and try to get one another on the ground."

"Stuben and Delon got close together and locked at the shoulder and started to push each other around. They were evenly matched with Stuben being a little bigger. Both tried to trip and kick each other, not to hurt, but to exercise. The others had seen this, but Galin watched in fascination. In a short while Stuben and Delon had managed to put each other on the ground, Stuben by pushing Delon off balance, and Delon by tripping Stuben. Then he had both Young Faline and Charlene do the same thing. If anything the doe were more aggressive than the two males and after a while, neither could get an advantage. He then repeated the exercise with Young Bambi and Koren. Again both locked at the shoulder and after a while he could see no one was getting an advantage no matter what tricks they used on each other. Finally, he had Balo and Galin do it. Balo was able to throw Galin to the ground twice, but it was not easy. After they were done, Galin came up to Bambi.

"Bambi, I understand why you are trying to teach the males," Galin said. "Males fight for mates and leadership. I do not understand why you teach the doe. They do not fight for either."

"That is quite true, but there is another reason," Bambi said and looked around "Charlene, come here please."

Charlene came forward and stood in front of Bambi. Galin, I want you to come over and try and push Charlene onto the ground like so many males do."

"I am not like that," Galin said seeming sounding angry at what he was being asked to do.

"I know that," Bambi said flatly. "Otherwise you would not be here. I do this to show you, your two sisters, and brother something. Now please do what I ask."

Galin walked over and then leaned reluctantly over Charlene and tried to use his weight to push her down. It was obvious he was much stronger, but as he applied his weight onto to her back Charlene stepped aside quickly and in one motion brought her leg under Galin knocking out his front legs. Galin's weight worked against him and he fell face first on the ground. Before he could get up she went over and kicked him lightly in the side. She then jumped back quickly and let the confused and embarrassed male get to his feet.

Galin shot up looking angry for a moment. For a second he through the male might attack her. Galin then stopped and looked down at the ground he just got up from. He then raised his head and suddenly laughed out loud. "I understand, Bambi," he said. "Yes that might work once on a male."

"I can use that moment to get away from you," Charlene said calmly. "We doe cannot fight males, but we can certainly discourage them."

"Yes, I see you can," Galin said and walked over to Charlene and kissed her on the side of the check before she could move. "Males can have surprises too," he said with a grin on his face.

Bambi then showed Galene how to do that. Young Bambi offered to be used as a partner. He let Galene trip him and then showed her how she could do it better. Then Koren did the same to Garla and Delon did it with Karlene. Both Bambi and he looked at each other and suppressed a smile. This was certainly interesting.

The lessons went on that night and for other nights. It was pleasing to see them getting along. He knew that Stuben, Delone, Karlene and Charlene would soon be done with their training. Then they have to learn by experience. He used the rest of the spring to show the others how to avoid Man and his dogs. It did not escape him that both Galin and Galene had taken a fancy toward Charlene and Young Bambi, as Koren had done to Garla. It was obvious that Stuben and Young Faline, as well as Delon and Karlene were going to be pairs, come The Season. If the others paired up, he would not complain.

It was very nice to have a growing family.

CHAPTER FOUR: BLOWUP

It was getting on to mid-summer and it was time. He had been training Young Bambi, Koren, Delon, and Stuben and they looked as ready as when Gorro, Balo, Stabo, and himself had fought Razor. Galin, and his brother and sister were learning but still needed more training in herd leadership that would continue after The Season, assuming they were all still alive. He finally felt ready to do what he wanted to do since his fawn died, call a herd gathering and ask them to accept Balo. He had wanted to do this for a while, but wanted to be sure the others were ready. Now he was sure they were ready as they were ever going to be. It was time. After feeding and training for the night was done, he spoke to Bambi, Faline, Claris Carie, Balo and Stena.

"Would you come with me for a while?" he asked.

They all stepped away until he was sure they could not be heard. He then turned to face them. "I feel it is now time to call a gathering of the herd and turn over leadership to you Balo. The children are trained, Galine and the other are learning well thanks to Bambi and Stena. I feel it is time for me to go."

Bambi just nodded. Claris smiled and rubbed the side of his face. Only Carie spoke up.

"I still say you are not that old and can continue for a while, at least until after The Season and the hunts."

"No, the herd needs to get use to a new leader before then," Bambi said. "I agree, Stranger, now is the time."

"What will you do," Claris added.

"I will talk to the children tonight and explain and then tomorrow call the herd together," he told them. "Bambi if you will take Galin, Garten, Galene and Garla. We know they will not be remaining and this does not concern them." He next turned to Balo. "Are you ready?"

Balo hesitated and then looked at Stena who kissed him. "I am as ready as I will be," he answered with confidence. "I will do my best."

"I know you will," he said. "I will ask the herd tomorrow to accept you are herd leader. I do not think you will have any problems. The herd knows I have been getting you ready. Besides I and Bambi will still be here and you can always ask us."

"And after Balo?" Carie added.

That drew a harsh look from Stena, but no words. He turned and answered sternly. "After Balo, that will also be decided by the herd at that time. That will not be necessary for several seasons."

With that, he turned and they all left for their bedding places. Carie said nothing to him for the rest of the day.

That night, after the others had eaten and Bambi led Galin and his family aside for training, he did something unusual. Rather than take all of them out for training or mock combat. Instead he got them all together in the meadow and then in front of them all, he lay down on the ground. Claris came up and lay beside him like she did when they were young.

"All of you lie down, tonight's lesson will be short and then I have to talk to you about something very important."

Stena and Balo who knew what was coming, lay together near them. Next to them Delon and Karlene lay down close together, Stuben and Young Faline, next to them, with Koren, Charlene, and Young Bambi on the end.

Bambi and I have been teaching you now for over a full season. You have all learned well. The teaching is now over. Soon all of you will start families on your own. You are full adults now and from here on I will start treating you like adults. I have taught you everything I can," he told them. "I will know when winter comes if your listened well enough."

"How is that Father?" Stuben asked.

"If you listened, you will be alive. If you did not, you will be dead," he told them flatly.

That seemed to shake them up which he wanted to do. He then made the most serious face possible. "Although we played this as a game at times, this is not a game. If you do what we taught you wrong, if you make a mistake, it is not that you get to do it again the next night. You will be lying dead in the meadow or the forest with blood pouring out of your bodies. Then Man will come, cut off your heads, and put it in their Man caves. Then they will burn you and eat your bodies. All the time they will be happy and enjoy themselves, because killing deer is fun for Man."

That was the one thing they had to understand. To make a mistake around Man is to die, and die horribly. He went on as serious as possible. "Understand this," he said. "Man does not need to kill us like the bear does, or the coyote does. Those animals kill for food so they can live. Man has all the food he needs. He can get all the food, and all the meat he wants, just for the asking. This I know from my time with Man. He kills us not to live, but for fun. That is why he does not belong in the forest like we belong. We are here for a reason, Man is not. I wish I could change that, but I cannot. That is the last thing I want to teach you. You are now on your own. Bambi and I have done all we can. This will be my last lesson as herd leader."

That got their attention. They all looked at him in shock.

"I am old and soon I will pass from here. I am the past, you are the future. Take what you have learned, and when the time comes teach your children. That is the only thing I will ask of you. In passing on what you have learned the memory and lives of Bambi, Faline, Claris and myself will have counted for something and in a way we will still be here."

He felt his eyes burning and noted tears in Claris and Stena who understood well his meaning. He also saw Carie walking closer to them, yet still standing. "Now for the announcement," he said loudly so all could hear. "Tomorrow night I am going to call the herd together for a gathering. At that meeting I will step aside as herd leader. I am too old to do this any longer. I will ask the herd to accept Balo as the new herd leader. I have trained him for several seasons and he knows as much as I do. I am asking all of you to support Balo as the new herd leader. I am also asking you to help him with the herd. You all know how to do this. If there are matters you do not agree with, tell him in private. Balo has never questioned my position as herd leader. I expect all of you to do the same. Am I clear on this?"

There was not a word. Whether they did not understand him or were still getting over the surprise he was stepping away as herd leader, he did not know. He lay there patiently waiting for someone to speak up. Finally Stuben broke the silence.

"Forgive us father, but this comes as a surprised." The others were still struck mute. "We all knew you give the herd to Balo someday; we just did not expect it now."

"I am not giving the herd to Balo." he said letting his voice rise. "I am asking the herd to accept Balo as leader. There is a great difference. The herd must decide if they want Balo just like they decided if they wanted me or Bambi. I believe the herd will accept Balo without challenge."

"Unless they want their tales pounded," Delon added.

"Delon, it does not work that way," Stena chided him. "Stranger is right, the herd must decide. You father will deal with any challenges unless several males come forward at once."

"That is where the rest of us come in," Young Bambi said. "As my father told me, an individual challenge must be met by the new herd leader. Attacks by many will be met by many as my Father did with Razor. As you all know, as soon as Stabo thinks I am ready, I will ask the herd in my forest to accept me as herd leader."

"Young Bambi is right," he told them all. "Now again I ask, will you all support Balo?"

"I will," Delon said first. He looked at his father with a look of pride in his eyes. Karlene nodded her approval.

"I will also," Young Bambi spoke up. "I also would like your support when I ask to be herd leader."

"No problem with that, my friend," Stuben turned and said to Young Bambi. "I also agree with my Father, Balo is the best choice for herd leader; although two nights ago you did not seem so old when you spared with me Father."

They all smiled and he was thankful for his son, but he also remembered just how tired he was when they were done.

"I agree with Stuben," Young Faline said beaming.

"I also agree," Koren said.

"And I," Charlene told them.

He looked around, there was agreement. Now all he had to do was call the herd together. His job would be done.

"And who follows Balo?" Carie asked loud enough to be heard halfway across the meadow.

He suddenly got very angry and shot to his feet and glared at Carie. "As I told you before, that will be decided when it is necessary and it will be decided by the herd."

"Your son should follow you, it is only right," she bellowed back.

"It will be done this way as long as I have anything to say about it," he said now getting very cross."

"But you are no longer herd leader," she snapped back. "You just said you are just an old worn out deer."

"That is wrong of you to say that," Stena said now getting up along with Balo and Delon. "He chose you, Carie, not the other way around."

"Because your mother could not have any fawns. Now it looks like your Father cannot either. He no longer gets a say in who is herd leader."

"Yes I do, and if you do not believe me, try me," he said looking at Carie ready to hit her if necessary. He would not be talked to like that from anyone.

"Or what." she hissed back "You will stomp on me like you did Tarro and Razor? Big male, big deer; you cannot even make a fawn anymore you are so old and worn out. Stuben should be herd leader and that is the truth. He should follow you as is his right as your son."

Now they were all on their feet. He saw Bambi and Faline looking at them and starting to walk this way.

"And what of Delon," Stena yelled. "He has as much right to follow his Father as Stuben has to follow his. We will settle this at the proper time."

"No, we will settle this now," Carie came back. "My son is stronger than your son and my son is wiser than your son. He will follow his Father. In fact he should follow him now."

"No he will not," he said and walked up to Carie. She looked at him and for the first time he saw a glint of fear in her eyes. "You will keep your silence, Doe!"

"Or what," she said and brought he left leg up to try and hit him in the face. He saw it coming and dodge left and brought his left leg under her right leg knocking it out from under her. She fell on the ground like an old tree. At once he was on her. He brought his head to look right into her eyes. "Leave," he ordered, "Or I will. . .

"Stuben," he heard Claris call out a split second before something had hit him knocking him aside. He lost his balance and fell over onto the ground. By reflex he spun quickly getting his feet under him and shot to his feet. He looked straight into his son's face.

"Do not try and hurt my Mother," he said tersely. "I do not agree with everything she has just said, but she is my Mother and I will not let you or anyone else hurt her."

"Then you tell your mother to keep her mouth shut," he said glaring at his son.

"She is part of the herd too, Father," Stuben said glaring back. "She has her say also."

"Very well then, I have heard her say," he told his son. "Now I will hear what your think."

"Very well," Stuben said standing back and holding his head up high like a senior male in the herd. "What I said before I meant. Balo is best deer to lead this herd after you. I admit I am not ready to be herd leader right now. I will not admit to anything else. After Balo steps aside, I will present my claim to the herd as leader. I do this because I think I am the better deer."

"You do," Delon said sarcastically. "I rather doubt that."

"We can find that out right here and right now," Stuben said and dropped his head.

"Fine," Delon said and dropped his.

"ENOUGH!" he heard a loud voice from behind him. It was Bambi.

Everyone turned to see the large deer standing as tall and erect as he had ever seen him. "As a deer who has been herd leader longer than any, of you this is the perfect way to break up a herd." Bambi said and looked at all of them with contempt. "What The Stranger said is right. When it comes time for Balo to step aside, the herd will decide who will be leader, just like it will decide if Balo will be herd leader now. It is not up to just you. If you want to challenge the decision, by all means go ahead, that is your right. It is also the right of Balo to pound your tails into the ground for doing it."

"Says the male and doe that cannot make fawns either because they are so old," Carie said. That one even shocked him.

"You have no right to insult my oldest friends, doe!" he growled. "Get out of my sight."

"Says the herd leader," she said with a grin and turned away. "I doubt that too."

That finally got to him he leaped over and brought his front leg and kicked her in her tail. Carie tried to kick out with her rear legs but he was ready for that and pulled back too quickly for her to hit. He was also ready when Stuben brought down his head, He turned and dropped letting the young male charge over him. He brought his velvet covered antlers up and dragged them along the length of his body. It did not cut into him, but it certainly hurt. He quickly pulled back as not to give Stuben a chance to attack again. He looked his son right in the eyes and smiled broadly.

"Son, I taught you everything you know about fighting, but I did not teach you everything I know about fighting," he told him. "You can go with your mother."

He did not tell him that almost tired him out, but he dare not show it.

Young Faline looked at Stuben and his mother walking toward the woods and looked at the rest of them. "Excuse me," she said and ran off after Stuben.

He got a hold of himself and took several deep breaths and looked at Bambi. "That could have gone better."

"Indeed," Bambi said."What brought that on?"

Stena yelled out, "That DOE! said her son was better than mine. I should pound her tail into the ground."

"No, Stena," Balo said. "That is not worthy of the mate of the herd leader. If she bothers you, tell me. I will take care of it. Forgive me Stranger, but what are you going to do now?"

For once in his life, he did not know. He did not believe this was happening. He had always taught his family they were here to help the herd, not themselves. It now appeared some of his family did not learn this most basic of all lessons. His plan to leave the herd leadership to Balo with no problems was now in ruins. The entire herd must have heard their argument. He could not believe that after all his teachings they could be having an argument like this.

"May I make a suggestion," Bambi said politely.

"Please do," he told him.

"Do not call for a gathering tomorrow night. Let this settle for a while. Balo, I must ask you to be patient."

"I understand," Balo said.

"Why," Stena spoke up. "Why should Balo be patient because that Doe thinks her son is so mighty? If we do that, all we do is admit that they are right and there is no way I am going to do that. You must call for a gathering tomorrow night, Father, whether they want it or not."

"I think Bambi may be right, daughter," he told her.

No, Father, I must disagree," Stena argued. "This needs to be settled now to show the herd just who is leader here, you or Carie. Besides anyone with any sense know Delon is a better deer than Stuben. He is more sensible."

"Daughter, you are starting to sound like Carie," he said as a warning.

"No I am not," she told them. "I am giving a mother's opinion. I am not insulting my mate, nor our oldest friends, but I do believe Delon is a better deer. I do not accept we delay the gathering."

"I have to agree with my mother on this," Delon spoke up. "I will not be the second deer to Stuben."

"You are what the herd says you are," he said.

"I am sorry, but I have to agree with Stranger and Bambi," Young Bambi said. "This herd is not ready to choose a new herd leader."

"So you agree with Carie?" Stena came right back.

"No I agree with Bambi and Stranger, and yes I think you are starting to sound like Carie." Young Bambi said.

"Stop!" Delon said out loud. "Do not ever say my mother is like Carie."

"Then please ask her to stop sounding like her because she is not listening to me, or Stranger or Bambi."

He could see the red flash in the eyes of Delon who took a step forward and put his head down. "You will not say that and walk away from here."

"And you are going to stop me?" Young Bambi laughed as if he heard something funny. "If case you have forgotten I am stronger than both you and Stuben. If I did not have my own forest to try and lead, I might challenge both of you."

"That is not polite," Bambi said.

"Polite no, the truth yes," Young Bambi told them all. "In fact I am going back to the Man path forest now. "You can all mess up this forest as much as you want. Just do not come into my forest to do this. Stabo and I will throw you out. Stranger, Claris, Bambi, Faline, you are all welcomed in my forest if this forest goes bad."

With that the young male turned and started walking toward the Man path forest. He never looked back at them.

Koren, Karlene and Charlene stood up together. "Do not look at me," Koren said. "I think you all have taken leave of your senses." With that they followed Young Bambi back to the Man path forest.

He noted the light increasing in the sky. "We should leave, more than enough has been said for one night."

He walked away feeling lower than he could remember. This felt worse than losing his fawn. It was not one deer that was lost to him, almost his whole family had rejected what he had tried to show them. The family he thought was so ready to lead had shown themselves to be more interested in themselves than anyone else. It left a bitter taste in his mouth and sickness in his stomach. It was not bad enough they had said that to him, but the whole herd had listened. What would they think? Why should they listen to anything he said now?

He turned and looked at Galin and his family all standing together, Galene with her mouth still open in shock.

"I am sorry, you all heard that," he said in a low voice. "I thought my family was ready for this. I was wrong. The teachings I believed I had given them, were not learned after all. It looks like I failed completely when I trained them. For that I am truly sorry."

"Stranger do not think, , , , " Garten said and then trailed off as he turned around and walked alone into the forest.

He rested alone near the pond that day. After the greater light was overhead, he heard banging noise from the Man cave. It did not sound like Men were back to hunt, but instead they were working on the Man cave. Then the noise stopped as the greater light started to set, and there was quiet for the rest of the day. It was near the time the greater light was setting that he first heard the noise. At first it was just voices that got louder and louder. He woke and raised his head.

It sounded like loud voices now coming from the clearing. It sounded like deer arguing.

He listened for a moment and then shot to his feet. It was Stena's and Carie's voices and they were yelling at each other again.

"Well I am still herd leader and this is still my problem," he said to himself and started off toward the clearing at a quick walk. It did not take long before he could understand what they were saying.

"You think your son is so mighty," Stena called out.

"He is better than yours," Carie yelled back.

"I said I would prove that right here and now," Stuben yelled out.

"If you say so," Delon called back.

"I will say who fights here," Balo yelled. "I was chosen by the Stranger as herd leader."

"We can see about that too," Stuben said. "Right after I pound Delon's tail into the ground."

That is when he reached the clearing his face was hot and his body filled with rage. The five deer were all standing close to each other. Both Stuben's and Delon's heads were down ready to fight with Balo looking to join in. Carie again tried to strike Stena who jumped back and turned quickly kicking out with her rear legs. It was a big kick and would have serious hurt Carie if she had not leaped aside.

"You can all start by fighting me," he said.

They were so busy yelling at each other they never heard them approach. He stood there shaking his head. After all his and Bambi's teachings, after all their efforts, it had come down to this. He was so mad he could not get words out at first.

"I am sorry, Father but you taught us. . ."Stena started to say.

"I have taught you NOTHING!" he yelled at them. "That is obvious to me now. Oh you certainly learned how to pound each other into the ground, but the most important thing NONE of you have learned. That is you are here for the good of the herd; not the other way around. After all this time, I have failed in the most important thing; to teach my family that one simple item. Thank you all, you have just convinced me that all my efforts here in this forest were a complete waste of time. Now ALL of you get out of my sight," he told them and turned his back on all of them.

"But Father. . ." Stuben started to say.

"LEAVE!" he shouted with his back still turned to them.

He heard them all leave taking different paths. He bent over and put his head close to the ground and closed his eyes that were watering.

"It was all for nothing," he said out loud. "I have failed."

With that he started to walk away toward the top of the hill by himself.

"Stranger," he heard Claris call out from behind him.

"I need to be alone," He called back to her. At least Gorro, Stabo, Koren and Young Bambi turned out right.

With that he walked into the dense forest and left everything behind.

CHAPTER FIVE: THE PRICE

It was early evening several days later when the old deer walked back onto the meadow. He was alone. He looked around. Despite the noise from the Man cave during the day, there was no sign of Man now. There were no light from there. The place was cold and dark. He sniffed around and found no hint of danger. He felt safe and it looked safe for the herd. He knew the herd be feeding soon.

He stood in the middle of the meadow and called outward as loud as he could."HERE, ALL COME HERE," he called.

He was summoning, calling a gathering of the herd. He had not discussed it with his family or his friends. At this point he did not care what they thought. He had lived his life here doing his best to take care of the herd. That could not continue, especially now. He had done all he could, and it was not nearly enough. Others would need to decide what to do now.

He repeated the call twice more and waited. He was winded by the calling, another good reason to do what he was going to do.

In ones and twos they came out of the forest. The doe and their growing fawns, the yearlings, the herd males and the few senior males. His herd all came out. He saw Bambi, Faline, and Claris coming out together. All looked surprised at his summons. Out came Balo, Stena, Delon and Balene her fawn from this year. From another part of the forest came Carie along with Stuben and Stelar. The last to arrive was Galin and his family who stood together yet away from the others since they were not part of his herd. From the edge of the Man path forest he saw movement. He could not see who it was, but it was likely his son Stabo, and his family along with Young Faline. Bambi, Faline and Claris started to approach, but he motioned them to stay back. This was for everyone in the herd and he wanted all of them to hear it at the same time. When he was sure everyone was there, he started.

"Thank you for all coming," he said as loudly as he could. "I need to make an announcement."

He took a deep breath, there was only one way to say this. "I have decided that due to my age and my many failures, I can no longer be your herd leader."

There were gasps, moans and pleas coming from his friends, family and most loudly from the herd. The comments were mostly all the same: "No!"

"Thank you, but what I have said is the truth. I am getting too old to be a good leader and it is time that I go. I have been proud to be your leader and I hope what I have done has protected the herd. My greatest joy has been in watching this herd grow and be healthy, not like other herds have. Some herds were starved because of poor leaders. In this herd we have no sickness, there is food for all, and we have lost none to winter. We have lost only a few with the hunts. I hope what I did was able to save as many deer as possible. I have done the best I could."

He stopped for a moment to let that past, there was silence from all. "I had hoped to ask you to accept Balo as the new herd leader. I cannot do that now. You have all heard the arguments coming from my family on who should be herd leader. Those arguments should make it clear to you that I was not able to teach them that it is the herd that comes first. Therefore I have no one to recommend to you to take my place. This has been my greatest failure to the herd because I cannot provide you with someone to take the herd leadership," his voice started to choke. He had to clear his throat and his eyes which were starting to tear. "Some deer like Bambi's son Gorro, and my son Stabo have learned these lessons and have gone on to be good leaders for their own herd. Many of my family have not. I have tried showing them what to do, and I have failed despite many seasons of teaching them. The fact that I could not teach them this simple item, is my own greatest failure that I take full blame for. For this failure, I tell the herd that I am truly sorry, and this is another reason why I should go."

He had to stop as his voice cracked in his throat. This was worse than telling Bambi about Veron's death. He felt almost ready to vomit, but he could not stop now. He fought to get control of himself and finish.

"The herd must decide now who will be leader. I will tell the herd that Balo has more experience than anyone except Bambi and myself, but it is up to the herd to decide that. Other members of my family have said they should be leader. I am sure you heard them argue about it. Just who you pick as leader, is up to you, but think carefully. The life of this herd depends on your decision. Because of my failures, I will not remain in this forest. I no longer deserve to live here. I plan to go to my son Stabo and live out the rest of my life in the Man path forest. I am sorry this has happened, and again I take the blame for it. Goodbye, I shall miss all of you."

With that he turned around and walked away. The herd must now decide. He walked toward the Man path forest alone. He heard voices call out from behind him, but he no longer listened. They did not need him. He had done the worse thing possible a deer could do. He left his herd without leadership. That was still far better than have him stay and try to fix things. Most likely he mess it up even more. Despite everything he had tried to do, he had mostly failed in his responsibility of herd leader and he knew it. He walked into the Man path forest and found a small thicket. He felt so weary. There was a very small stream nearby. He drank, and emptied himself and without eating, lay down and almost collapsed onto the ground. The last thing he thought before falling into a deep sleep was, it would probably be best if he did not wake up.

He did wake up, but it was late in the day. He could see light setting from his left. He had spent most of last night and today out here by himself. Soon another night would start. Part of him said he should just leave and go deeper into the Man path forest. He should go alone. If he lived to get there, he be an unknown, just be another old male there ignored by the others until he was gone. If he did not live through the crossing, well that would not be the worst thing. He did not think he could do any more good here.

He heard a twig break to his right. Someone was coming up next to him. He got up and turned quickly. There were several deer coming toward him. Not what he wanted company, but it was clear they already knew where he was.

"Here," he called out.

He watched Bambi, Faline and Claris approached and lie down next to him. Behind them came Stabo, Gena and Young Bambi.

"You should have talked that over with us," Bambi said.

"No," he said curtly. "This was my problem and my decision alone. I made it."

"Why," was all Claris said sobbing.

""Why?" he asked as if it was obvious. "After all this time and they still have not learned," he said in a low voice. "I have failed miserably as a teacher and as a herd leader. Now every deer in both forests knows my family is ready to fight each other to see who comes after me, as if any of that matters to them. Why should they listen to any of us, especially me?"

"As you said with Geno, the fault was his and not mine," Bambi said. "The fault is theirs and not yours, I really did expect more out of Balo and Stena, and even Carie. You have done all you could."

"I have done nothing," he said loudly. "And I have done all I am going to. The herd does not need me any longer. I did the only thing I could so and that was call for a gathering and then tell everyone that I am no longer herd leader. They will have to choose another one."

"Well that did not happen," Faline told him bluntly. "After you left, Balo, Stena and Delon started blaming Carie and Stuben, who blamed them. Things got so bad, Bambi had to step in and tell them all to keep quiet as if they had not done enough damage. Both Stuben and Delon got so mad at Bambi, I through they would attack him, until Balo stepped in, but even he was angry. He was very angry at you. He told me that after all this time you did not trust him. I tried to explain, but he did not listen. The gathering broke up with no decision on leader."

Galin, Galene, Gertan and Garla came with us and are sleeping near Stabo. With the exception of Young Faline and Karlene, everyone came here."

Finally Claris looked at him. "All this will do is cause Balo, Delon and Stuben to get into a fight. You heard them. They may kill each other."

"Oh yes," he said plainly. "I certainly succeeded there. They can pound each other's tails into the ground. They can kill each other almost as quickly as the bear. I taught them well there. They learned to avoid man well. They learned to give orders quickly. The most important thing however that I was supposed to teach them, that they were all working for the benefit of the others: that I failed in. In failing that, I failed in everything else. I knew they all be better off without me."

"You cannot mean that," Bambi said out loud. "This herd is much better off with you here. Maybe better off than when I was herd leader here."

He looked into his close friend's deep black eyes. "That may be true, but what happens after me? Who continues to lead? They cannot all be leaders. Balo has the experience, but he and Stena wants Delon to follow him. Carie wants Stuben to follow me because he is my son. It is not them that need to make the choice. It is the herd that decides and that is the one thing they do not understand. If they force themselves on the herd, then they are no better than Tarro or Razor, and that I also failed to teach them." He dropped his head low and closed his eyes. "I feel useless."

"You are not useless," Stabo added. "You taught me, you helped teach Young Bambi and Gorro. I do not understand this all myself. I thought my sister and Balo was smarter than this. Carie I am not so surprised."

"So now what?" Young Bambi spoke up. "We stand here and let Stuben and Delon kill each other."

"I cannot stop them from doing that," he said looking up at the young deer. "I am afraid all I have done is insure this will end in blood."

There was no more said. Claris snuggled in close to him and Bambi and Faline lay together in front of him. Stabo, Gena and Young Bambi left them alone. He felt very tired and very old and very weary of his life here. He was thinking about that when darkness passed over him.

"Clang," he head from below him. That brought him awake. "Clang," he heard again.

"They are doing something with the Man cave again," he said, "

The other three looked at him as if asking what he intended to do about it. After a few moments he took a deep breath. "Very well I will go take a look after dark."

During the day it had become cloudy and the wind shifted to blow from the Man path forest. The sky had darkened over. Soon the rain came. A soaking warm rain fell on them. The rain continued for a short while and then stopped and the hot sun came out and dried everything again. The ground was dry by the time the greater light started to fade.

He rested with them there until the greater light had set. Then they got up and moved to the edge of the Man path forest. The last thing he wanted was to talk to the others right now. The lesser light had risen as they approached. He walked into the open meadow and looked. He saw the Man cave, but it was dark except for one small flickering night light. He saw a Man animal there that was also dark and not moving. There was no movement on the Man path or around the Man cave. The increasing wind was blowing strongly in his face from the Man cave. In the sky, he could see distant flashes of light in the sky. It looked like a storm, but it was far off. The wind also brought a lingering scent of Man, but he could not smell any dogs. The wind also brought a scent of what smelled like a skunk which put him on alert. It made him wonder if there were any Men there.

"It is strange," Bambi said. "I would think I smell more of a scent of Man. There are no dogs here. I also do not like the smell of the skunk, yet I see no sign of Man."

By now he heard the approach of another deer. This one was quieter. It was Stabo. There were others with him.

"I am not that old were I cannot smell you anymore," he said out loud. "This presence of Man concerns all of us here along with the rest of the herd. You should all look at this."

Slowly and silently they all came up near him. Stabo, Gena, Young Bambi with Galene, Galine with Charlene and Garten with Karlene, and Koren with Garla.. "Very well," he said "Look out on the Meadow and tell me what you see?"

He watched them all look at the Man cave. They are breathed in large quantities of air through the noses. They all looked and Stabo spoke.

"I smell the light scent of a skunk. That means Man wants to trick us again so we will get close to them so they can kill us."

That may be true," he answered, "But the wind is blowing and blowing hard from the Man cave. If they were hiding there, we could smell them. Also remember the skunk odor Man has used before was strong, this is weak."

"Last season when Man came early to kill birds, they had a fire going outside and they burned the birds on that fire before eating them," Young Bambi said. "I smell no fire and I smell no odor of burning meat."

"That is true, and we heard no thunder sticks today, so Man was here, but not hunting."

"Then could he come here just to sleep and go elsewhere to hunt?" Koren asked. "He has done that in the past."

"That is also possible," he said calmly.

"When Man hunts birds he uses dogs," Claris spoke up. "I do not hear, see, or smell any dogs. If the dogs are not here then Man is not here,"

He smiled and nodded his head. "That is the point I was noticing. I see a Man animal, but it is cold and dark. If Man has left, why would it be there? I have not seen him leave one of his animals behind."

It was then he heard it: a light breaking of branches and another whiff of fur and fat He looked at Bambi who smiled at him. He looked at the others who we studying in front of them so much they did not notice anything else. What was he doing here.

He called out loudly. "What do you think, my old friend. "You know you are getting better in moving without being heard or smelled."

"Thank you Stranger, but I see I am not good enough for both of you," the bear's voice called from behind them.

All the deer except Bambi and him jumped up and away. The others looked to be ready to flee.

"If the Bear was here to kill a deer, he could have already easily done so," he said to the others.

The bear stopped several lengths away still mostly hidden by the trees and bushes. "I heard what has happened. I heard your family arguing almost at my den, and I heard your call last night. I was close enough to listen to what you said. I think you are foolish if you truly believe that."

He walked over to the hidden black mount much to the distress of the others. They could not look past their fears, especially Galin's family, but he could not blame them. "I wish I could believe that, but I cannot deny what has happened. It was my responsibility to teach them. I failed."

The bear came out in full view. Galine and his family backed away; however Bambi, Faline, and Claris stayed where they were. The bear was huge, looking twice as big as him standing there. He came up until he was less than a length away from him.

"It was your responsibility to teach them," the bear growled. "It was their responsibility to learn. They did not and that makes it their failure, not yours. You have taught others and they have learned. One of those others was me. I learned, Stabo, Gorro, Gena, the younger Bambi learned from you and you in turned learned from us. You did what you had to do, they did not. I said your purpose here was to make thing better for all in the forest. This you have done. Even the other animals in the forest have watched you and learned how to avoid Man better. They even learned how to avoid me better which is why I will go back over the hill shortly."

He swallowed hard and then walked up and nuzzled the bear on the side of his face. A something that brought a gasp from Galine. "Thank you, my friend," he said barely getting the words out.

The bear rubbed the side of his face. "Your Claris is right, everyone sees the good you have done except you."

He saw Bambi walk over and face out into the meadow. "The skunk smell is getting worse," he said with concern.

He nodded to the bear and walked over next to his oldest friend. Bambi was right, the skunk smell was worse. There was also a flickering light inside the Man cave, yet there were no Men around.

"We do not know what is happening here," Bambi added. "We do not know if it is safe for the herd. We will need to find out.

"Then how do we know if the meadow is safe?" Galin asked.

"We cannot know by standing here, but I can think of one way to find out," he told him and stepped away from the others. "The rest of you stay here," he ordered.

"Father, it may not be safe," Stabo said.

"Another duty of a herd leader," he said and walked away just inside the trees.

He went forward until he was in the open. The wind had shifted. It was now blowing strongly at his back, yet he could still smell the skunk order. As he walked toward the Man cave it seemed to him the flickering light was getting brighter. Again the increasing breeze broke only a trace of Man scent. It looked like Man had gone, yet why the light and the Man machine. He continued on until he got as close to the Man cave as he dared. Other than the increasing light from inside the Man cave and the increasing smell of a skunk, he could not detect anything. Part of him told him there was danger here and part of him told him there was none. Man certainly had not behaved like this in the past. As he stood in the open, he saw into the Man cave for the first time. The light was much brighter now. In fact it looked almost like a fire that Man would start to burn his meat. Would man burn his meat inside his cave? He had seen the Men he grew up with do that sometimes, but the fire was always small and in something. This was in the open. Then he saw it. The light rose up and suddenly he realized it was not a light. It was a fire. The Man cave was on fire. He turned and yelled as loud as he could.

"Fire, RUN!" he called back to the others.

Just then there was a high squeal like some bird in distress and the skunk smell got very strong for an instant. Suddenly a huge bright light appeared in front of him. As it did, he felt something lift him up off the ground and throw him away like he would throw away a piece of dirt caught in his rack. There was a loud crashing noise in his ears. He hit something hard, very hard like a large male stomping on him. He heard several loud pops from inside his left side when he hit the ground. Then he felt nothing.

Sometime later he woke up. He heard a roar in front of him and felt heat on his body. He opened his eyes, but the view was blurry. He saw a huge mass of fire in front of him. The fire was large and already in the trees near the Man cave. He could see the flames were being blown by the wind. The fires were already in the trees going across the meadow. Fires were also breaking out all around him on his side of the meadow and the bear's side. Trees were lighting on fire everywhere. The bushes were burning quickly. He had to get up. As he tried to move, he found he couldn't. His whole lower body had a tingling feeling. It was in his legs, in his muscles and even in his neck. His body would not move. He could not turn his body either. He was going nowhere. He was also feeling dizzy in his head. He was fixed to the ground like an oak tree. He felt something liquid in his mouth. He recognized the smell and taste. It was blood. It was his blood. He was bleeding out of his mouth.

He looked around what little he could and saw fire increasing. The wind was blowing the fire into his forest. It would soon burn his entire forest. It would burn his herd along with it. He had to get his herd out, yet he could not move a single muscle. He was helpless. Again and again he tried to move his legs and again and again they would not move. Something had to be done. The fire was getting bigger by the moment. The smell of smoke was getting stronger and starting to choke him. He then realized this was where he was going to stay. He was going to die here and there was nothing he could do about it. As soon the fire reached him, he'd be just as burnt as the deer meat Man put on the fire. Not only him, but the rest of the herd would be caught inside the burning forest. They would be burnt too. He could show them where to run if he could only move. He had failed his herd again when they needed him the most.

"Stranger," he heard.

"He looked up and saw Bambi looking at him. "You have to get up, the fire is coming."

He took a deep breath. "Bambi, I cannot move my body. It will not do anything. I can feel nothing in my legs. You have to go. I cannot run away. You have to get the herd out before the fire blocks their escape."

Bambi shook his head no. "The others are doing that. They are going to take the herd to the top of the hill on our side and then move them into the Man path forest. I came to get you. You have to get up."

"No," he said. "There is blood in my mouth. I am going nowhere."

"Stranger, the fire will be here soon," Bambi yelled at him. "If you do not move, you will die."

"There is nothing that will stop that now," he said. He was getting tired speaking and it was getting hard to breath. "Listen we told each other long ago what we would do if it was one of us lying in the meadow. Well it is going to be me. You have to go. Maybe you can straighten things out with Balo, Delon and Stuben. I could not. I need you to take care of Claris as you promised. Try and help the others as much as you can. Now leave me."

He looked down at him, "Please get up," he begged.

"I tried, my legs will still not move. Now go before the fire gets you too."

Bambi looked up at the increasing glow and then leaned over and rubbed his forehead on his. "I am sorry my friend," he said with a moan and left.

He took another deep breath and started coughing. The smoke was getting heavier. At least the herd would get out. He was happy the others would carry on now when he could not do it any longer. Now all he had to do was wait. He could feel heat increasing on his body. He hoped it would not hurt too much. He tried to lift his head, and found he could not even do that now. He started feeling dizzy again. Everything was spinning in his head.

He thought he smelled fat before he passed out, but suddenly everything went dark.

CHAPTER SIX: RECKONING

Pain!

That is what woke him up. That he woke up at all surprised him. He could not see very well, but he knew he was not on the meadow any more. Everything around him had a burnt smell, even him. Then his nose began to work again and he smelled it. That odor of wet fur and fat, it was near him.

"Bear," he called out.

He saw a large black object come quickly over to him and look down at him. "Are you alright? Can you move your legs?" the bear asked.

He tried to move them, but his side was shot full of pain again. "No, nothing moves," he said with a groan.

"You have blood coming from your mouth," the bear added looking him over. "I can also smell blood from your left side."

"I know," he groaned. "What happened?"

"As you got near the Man cave there was a great noise like nearby thunder. There was also a bright light. Something lifted you and knocked you aside much harder than I could. You hit the ground hard on your left side. I thought you were dead until you started to talk to Bambi."

"How long was I asleep?" he wanted to know,

"Two days," the bears answered. "None of the scavengers came around. They are most likely still running for their lives. What about the others?"

"I told Bambi to tell them all to run into the Man path forest. Bambi did not want to go with me lying there, but I told him to leave anyway and Bambi went. The fire did not go that way with the way the wind blowing. It just burnt up this forest."

The bear looked around him. "The trees are standing, but the leaves and bushes are all gone. The meadow is burnt. All the grass is gone. Things are so bare I can see your side of the forest. It looks just as bad."

"And they were arguing who was going to be herd leader," he said his side still aching.

The bear got up he moved over to the other side of his den and went to a bush that was just about burnt to ash. There were still a few sparse leaves. The bear came back with them. "These are the last of them. Eat them; maybe they will make you feel better."

"Thank you, did you drag me up here?" he asked his friend. "I do not remember."

"I found you in the meadow, asleep and not moving. I thought you were dead, but you moved your head. I dragged you up and put you into my den next to me. The fire passed over us."

That is why he was still alive, not that he thought it would do much good. Nothing in his body seemed to work right. "Thanks, that is twice you saved me," he groaned as a spasm of pain went up his side. "This hurts worse than when you took the Man stones out of me."

"You look a lot worse," the bear said.

He stopped and chewed on the leaves the bear gave him. "Any sign of Man?"

"None," the bear said looking around. "They were either gone or left when the fire started. The Man cave was burnt up. The Man animal is also burnt up. I have seen no sign of Man in two risings of the greater light."

He looked around himself. All he saw were bare trees and black ash on the ground. "With the fire burning everything, what is left for them to kill? They will go someplace else until this all grows back."

"That will not be for several seasons," the bear said. "We will not be here when that happens."

"True, I should not be here now," he said looking at the huge figure of the bear. "The leaves are making me sleepy. I will try and get up when I wake. Thank you again, my friend."

With that he fell into a deep sleep. Just as he passed into sleep he felt the warm fur of the bear next to him. It was just like being next to Claris if not for the smell.

He woke later, only this time there was a different, but familiar smell. It took him a moment to place the scent.

"Bambi," he called out.

"I am here," Stranger," the familiar voice told him. You slept through the day and most of the night. I am here with the bear."

"The others," he called out. "What happened to the others?"

"They are mostly all fine," Bambi said. Then he looked at him with pain in his eyes. "We cannot find Stelar," Bambi said. "She may have fled a different way."

That hurt worse than his side. He could only hope his daughter was alright, but there was little he could do about it.

"Many of the others wanted to come with me, especially Stabo and Young Bambi. They were all worried about you. They were afraid you were gone."

He felt pain in his body and in his legs. He could feel them again. He could raise his head again. He tried moving his legs and they moved when he told them too.

"I think I can move," he told them.

"How did you live through the fire, everything is burnt to ash," Bambi said looking around him.

"I would have been gone if not for the bear," he said with a smile.

"Can you get up?" Bambi asked

"I will try," he said. With that he rolled over onto his legs. It hurt like fire was poured on him. He pushed up his back with his rear legs and then his front. So far it was doable until his weight shifted to his left. Then a wave of pain almost made him collapse again. He would have fell down if Bambi had not held him up with his own body. He slowly staggered over to the small stream near the bear's den. He slowly bent over and drank. As he did he felt a great pressure build up inside of him. He moved quickly over the stream and turned away from his friends. He side felt like bursting. He then let go and his body emptied a large amount of waste from his back and underneath. It was as foul smelling as that of a young fawn.

"I am sorry," he said and went back to drinking his fill. The water tasted like ash. Even the water smelled burnt, but it was the only water he had. He then ate a few acorns he found lying on the ground. He walked slowly. He got three steps and his legs suddenly threatened to collapse. He fell almost to the ground like a cut tree. The agony shot through him. "AEEEEE," he cried out. He could feel a cold numbness again in his legs. He could taste blood in his mouth. He knew what that meant.

"I feel broken on the inside," he told Bambi and the bear. "It is like a big deer stomped on me."

Bambi walked over and smelled at his side. He could see his face turn down in a deep frown "I smell blood in you, I also smell sickness," the big deer said. "Stranger you need to leave here and go back to the Man path forest."

He shook his head no. "I cannot walk that far," he said. "I am too weak on the inside."

He then looked at his two friends and had to admit something to himself. "I may not get better from this. I am thinking maybe you should both go. If I can get back I will. If not, the forest will go on without me. I do not want you both here staying with me and maybe coming to harm because of me."

"I am not leaving you here" the black shape answered.

"Nor am I," Bambi repeated. "We are in no danger here for now."

He smiled at both. "Thank you my friends, but we all know a deer has to move to survive. I am not sure I can move much any longer."

"Will you try?" Bambi asked.

"Yes," he told them, "But not now. I feel very tired. When I wake up I will try again."

With that, he folded his legs and almost fell to the ground. He was asleep before he was still.

He woke sometime later. He felt better. Then he smelled them. A collection of smells.

"Who is here?" he asked.

"Us Father," he heard Stabo's voice. "Bambi came for us. When we got here and you were lying still and cold. We all thought you were dead."

"Are you alright?" Claris asked.

Then it struck him. "Claris, you are here with the bear?" he said with astonishment.

"We are all here with the bear," he heard Faline's voice.

"I do not believe any of this is happening," he said.

"Yes," the bear growled. "I am surrounded by more deer meat than I have ever seen in my life and I am not even hungry."

How did they get here he asked himself? "How long was I asleep?"

"Two days," the bear said. "I went over the hill to eat some berries and Bambi stayed here. When I got back, Bambi left and got the others."

"Father, you have to get up" Stabo told him. "It is like what you told me about getting knocked down in a fight. You have to get up or else."

Stabo was correct. If he could not move, he would not live. He no longer felt the numbness in his legs, nor did he taste the blood in his mouth. He moved his legs under his body. After a few seconds of agony, the pain subsided. He pushed up first with his front legs. The front of his body came off the ground. He then pushed up with his rear legs. As he stood erect and felt the pain course through his side, he lost his balance. He would have fallen had not the bear and Stabo held him up. He had to spread his legs to stay up. After a while he stood normally. He then looked around him. Besides Claris, Stabo, Bambi and Faline, there was also Young Bambi.

"The others?" he asked Bambi.

"With the herds," Bambi added. "Mostly talking."

"Mostly arguing among themselves," Stabo jeered. "Father, when I approached Balo, Stuben and Delon and told them what happened. They would not come."

"Stabo," Calris said. "I thought we would not bother Stranger with that."

Stabo looked harshly at his mother. "I am sorry, Mother, but Father has to know."

"That does not surprise me," he said. "It does not matter. Have you found Stelar?"

"We are still looking for Stelar," Young Bambi said. "Many deer are looking for others. I am sorry, but I do not think all the herd got out in time or went another way."

He could do nothing about Stelar. He had to move. He tried to take a step. Pain shot through his side, He took another and then another. The pain seemed to get less, but it still racked his body. "I can walk awhile," he said, "But I am not sure how far."

He looked back at the bear and slowly turned around. He moved up to the large head with the large teeth and rubbed his forehead against the bear. This was normally certain death for a deer. "Thank you again," he said with true affection for his friend.

"Yes, thank you," Claris said also with affection and also nuzzled the bear.

"We need to get going," Bambi told them. It is almost night and we have a way to go to the Man path forest."

The moved slowly with Bambi, Stabo and Young Bambi taking turns steadying him. Faline and Claris walked behind him in case he fell backwards. He walked slowly, and carefully down the hill. He could not move quickly, but going downhill was easier on him. The lesser light was up by the time they got to the bottom of the hill. It was then he had to rest for a while. As he lay still he looked at all of them. "We need a plan for the herds," he said. "There will be many more deer living in the Man path forest. Stabo, will that be a problem?"

"For food no" his son answered. "What needs to be decided is if the herds stay as two different herds or combine into one. It will be many seasons, before deer can live here again."

"The herds will need to decide that," Bambi said. "Stranger is right; we need a plan."

"I am sorry Bambi, but I do not think we need a plan until the herds tell us what plan we must make," Young Bambi cut in. "We will need to call a gathering of the herds and ask them. They will tell us what they want and then we can make a plan."

"You are partly correct young deer," he said. "But it is always nice to be ready to suggest something to the herds. It tends to make things easier."

By the first sign of the greater light they had only reached the spring by the ruins of the Man cave. They drank in the spring and ate the grass and then lay just inside the burnt woods of his forest. The day passed in peace and quiet. With the night they crossed into the Man path forest. It was when the lesser light was overhead that they crossed the dark, foul smelling, Man path. As they entered the forest he saw many deer from his old herd there. They all looked at him, not saying a word. One of young males started to run toward the middle of the forest. Soon, Gena and Koren came to see them. Koren looked at him and his face was a mixture of horror and relief.

"Stranger, you are alive," he said and came up and nuzzled him.

"Mostly alive," he said.

"Father, Stena and Carie are still arguing," Koren said. "I have heard complaints from several deer about this. They tell me it is wrong what they are doing. I went up to them and told them to be quiet, they ignored me and still went on. Even Balo was angry. He said to the herd that you showed him no respect by not recommending him for herd leader. Then Carie said that Balo did not deserve any respect and her son should be leader in his place. That started the argument again between Delon and Stuben. When I asked them to be quiet until you returned, they all started yelling at me. I thought Delon would attack me along with Balo, before Galin, and Gertan came up and stood behind me. That got them all mad, but they left. Father, some of the senior males like Relnor and Cuben are saying this makes you look weak."

He saw his son Stabo get red in the eyes. Even Young Bambi looked ready to tear into someone. This was going to end up in a fight and deer were going to get hurt. More hurt to the herd because of him. He had to try and stop this and there was only one way to do it.

"Koren, is it far to where they are at?" he asked.

"Yes," he said.

"I cannot walk that far," he admitted. "Koren, I want you to go get Galin and bring him here. If his family wants to come that is fine, but no one else from my family."

"But Stranger, I can help. . . " Koren started to stay.

"Do it my way," he said as loudly as he could. "I will explain later. Now go!"

With that Koren ran off into the forest. The pain racked his left side. "I have to lie down," he said to the others. With that he dropped to the ground. Bambi came over immediately to look at him.

"You are in no shape to talk to anyone," Bambi told him. "Does anyone know where there are healing leaves in this forest?"

"I know," Gena said.

"Get Stranger some, he needs them."

"No," he called out. "The leaves make me sleepy and I must be awake for this."

"Get them," Bambi told his daughter and she ran off.

He put his head on the ground. He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he heard was Galin calling to him. "Stranger, did you send for me?"

"Yes,' he said. "I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Galin said.

I need you to find Balo, Stena and Delon and tell them to be here as the lesser light rises. Then you need to find Carie and Stuben and tell them the same thing. I will meet with all of them to get this straighten out."

Galin stared down at him. "Stranger, you are in no condition to do anything. You look more dead than alive."

"Do what I say please," he groaned.

"Why me?" Galin asked.

"None of them are mad at you. They won't try and attack you or get mad at you. That is why I am sending you."

"Stranger, please you really are in no condition to talk to them," Galin almost pleaded.

"He is right," Claris added.

He got to his feet quickly, the pain almost knocked him over.

"Look at me," he said looking into Galin's eyes. "You asked how to be a good herd leader. A good herd leader takes care of the herd first. Before his family and before himself, the herd comes first. Right now my family is a threat to the herd that must be stopped. This is my responsibility to do this; like it was my responsibility to go out to look at the Man cave. This is what herd leaders do so others do not suffer no matter what happens to them. If you learn this, and do this, then you are a herd leader. Now please do what I ask."

Galin backed away a few step. His face now was also a mixture of horror and disbelief. He bowed his head slightly. "I will do as you ask, herd leader." With that he turned and ran into the woods followed by his younger brother.

The pain shot through his left side again. He grimaced and lay back down again. He thought he heard Claris sob behind him. He just felt tired. "Wake me when the greater light sets," he said out loud. As he drifted off, he thought he heard Bambi say to Young Bambi. "That is a herd leader like your father."

It seemed to him only a short time later that he heard Bambi, call to him. "Stranger, it is time."

That woke his up. He opened his eyes and saw that the greater light had almost set. He stood up. The pain seemed a little less, but it was there. He looked into the old face of his best friend and smiled. "Thank you for letting me sleep," he said. "My friend, I may need your help in what is coming."

Bambi walked up to him and nuzzled his face. "I am here for you. Stabo, Koren, Young Bambi, Galin and his family and our doe are all here," he told him with pride. "Now do what we both know you have to do."

He turned and looked behind them. They were all there and all smiling at him. He bowed his head slight and called out. "Thank you."

Galin walked up to him. "I have spoken to Balo, Stena, Delon, Carie and Stuben. They are all coming. I must tell you they are all very mad at you."

"I am afraid they will be madder still when I am done," he said.

With that he waited and soon the lesser light rose. He smelled Carie and Stuben first approach. Carie looked like he was going to have a fit. Stuben looked more bewildered than angry. At least when they arrived they stood off to one side and waited quietly. A short while later his daughter, Balo and Stuben arrived. Balo made no secret of glaring at him like he wanted to tear him apart. He was not the only one who saw this.

"If they start anything with you, we will take care of it," Bambi said.

"No," he said firmly. "If there is going to be blood and death here tonight, it will be mine alone. I am responsible for this , no one else. Now please stand with the others."

He also saw and smelled other deer from both herds nearby. They were not a part of this, but they would here to listen and tell the others in both herds. That is what he hoped would happen. This was going to be hard and he was going to hurt several of his family, but there was no choice. Their arguing could not be allowed to weaken Stabo's and Young Bambi's position within their herd. He looked at all of them.

"I am sorry I cannot speak louder, but what happened at the Man cave has hurt me on the inside leaving me weak."

"You insulted me. . ."Balo started to say.

"QUIET!" he shouted out as loud as he could. He was surprised he could still call out that loud. "It was not bad enough you had to argue in our forest and weaken the herd there. Now you are continuing to argue even through the forest we lived in no longer exists. Are you all that foolish? Do you not even understand your bickering is hurting Stabo's herd? This has to stop so I am going to make it clear to you one final time what I think. I expect you to all respect my decision and respect Stabo's position as herd leader."

His daughter and Carie took a step back, while his son, Balo and Delon all dropped their heads and took a step forward.

He dropped his head. "I am not dead yet, as I will gladly show you," he told them. "Balo, you said I insulted you. Well you are correct; I did insult you. I did so because with your bickering you have proven to me you do not deserve to be herd leader. I consider the effort Bambi and I spent on training you to be wasted. You are not a herd leader and you will never be a herd leader. My mistake was in not seeing that much earlier. For that I apologize both to the herd and the rest of my family."

"How dare you say that to me," Balo yelled. "I should rip you apart."

He heard the others behind him step forward. "Back," he said to them. He turned his attention back to Balo. "Yes, you should rip me apart," he told him with sincerity. "With how badly I am hurt you could easily do it. It would be just punishment for me for my stupidity in not seeing your failings earlier."

He then looked at his daughter. "You have broken my heart, daughter. With all that you have seen, with all that I have taught you, you were the one I had the most faith in. You were the most like me. I figured you were the most intelligent. That is why I wanted you and Balo to be leaders. With both of you together, his courage and strength, and your cleverness and determination, I felt the herd would be in good shape no matter what happened to me." He stopped for a moment as his voice choked up inside him. "Seeing you two act like this has hurt me far more than what happened to me at the Man cave."

Stena looked like she would melt into the ground, but said nothing.

He next turned to Carie. "With you I must also say I made a horrible mistake. I through you wanted a strong male for your children. What I did not understand until recently was that what you wanted most was leadership and influence over the herd. That in itself is not what bothers me the most. Any good or bad herd leader must have a part of that inside them to be leader. Your mistake was being just like Razor and Tarro. They thought power was the answer, so did you. They were wrong and so are you. Your main fault is that you were not wise enough to use the power you had, and to understand it was not the way to what you wanted. Correct action is the way to power and influence. Keeping the herd safe is the other way to power and influence. You missed out on both. My fault was in not seeing this earlier. For that I must also apologize to the herd again for my stupidity."

Carie's face went red with anger. "You old useless. . . "

"QUIET!" he shouted again. "I am not done here."

He next turned his attention to the young males. "Stuben you are my son. Delon, you are as dear to me as my own son. I respected Balo, loved Stena, and looked for comfort with Carie, In you two I saw the future of the herd. I knew if you worked together, the herd would be in good shape not only after my death, but far beyond that. What you two could not do is overcome your petty jealousy of each other. That jealousy has now destroyed any hope of mine in the future. Even with seeing how me and Bambi worked together, you two failed to learn. That hurts me the most. Not only have I failed with your mothers, but my failure with you two means my failure with the herd will now extend far beyond my death."

With that he stepped back so he could see all of them in one view. "None of you should be herd leaders, not now, not ever. The herd will need to seek its new leader elsewhere. Fortunately we have deer that have learned. There is where our leaders will come from."

There were several grunts and angry looks from all five of them. Balo, Stuben and Delon all went red in the face. The three of them looked ready to come at him.

"I see you are all angry enough to want to kill me. Well like I said before, go ahead. It will be best chance you will ever have. Like I said, it will be fair punishment for me for my many failures. I turn my back on all of you. If you want to attack me, do so now. You will be doing me a favor."

With that he turned his back on them and slowly walked into the forest by himself. At that point he did not care if the others killed him or not. In that moment he no longer cared much about anything.

No one followed him.

CHAPTER SEVEN: DECISIONS

When he woke up this time he saw Claris sleeping near to him. She must have followed him after his meeting with his family. He let out a groan and tried to get to his feet. It was painful, but he managed to get up.

"Ahhhh," he grunted as the pain flowed through him again. Besides hurt he felt famished and very thirsty. His insides also felt ready to burst. He looked up at his doe. "Excuse me, please," he told her.

He walked off until he was far enough away and again his body released waste that smelled like death itself. The greater light was going down and there was no sign of Man in the forest. He walked to a nearby stream and drank and started to eat. He ate several mouths full of grass before his insides started to hurt again. He stopped and limped back to where he woke up. By now Bambi and Faline were there with Stabo and Gena with Young Bambi. All of them looked at him like he had just returned from the dead.

"I still hurt on the inside, but at least my legs move better. I cannot run, nor can I eat much When the Man cave caught fire, it knocked me down and damaged me on the inside. I do not know if I can heal or not, but I do know I can no longer lead. In any case we are now all forced to live here in the Man path forest. Our home is no longer there so we are going to have to live here or someplace for many seasons until our forest grows back. We will be living with the herd here and its leader Stabo."

They all nodded, so they saw the situation like he did. He next turned to Young Bambi. "I want you to get, Koren, and Galin and his family. Do not bring any of others.

"That is good not to bring others" Young Bambi said. "After the meeting last night Balo, Stena, Delon, Stuben and Carie are still looking for your blood, my younger sister is with Stuben and Karlene is with Delon."

He nuzzled Young Bambi on the side of the face. "If they want my blood, they can have it," he told him. "That is their choice. We now have other things we must do. The first is to put the herds into order."

Young Bambi looked at Stabo who nodded his approval and he went on his way.

Stabo and the others looked at him suspiciously. "Father what are you going to do?"

"I will explain when the others get here. I only want to say this once," he told him. "I am starting to feel tired again. I am going to lie down. When the others get here, please wake me."

He went over to a small grassy area near one of the many small clearings and lay down. He was asleep almost immediately.

Bambi woke him later and he went back to the others. By now it was dark and it was the normal time they feed. He saw they were all there and he walked in among them.

"With the permission of the herd leader I am going to call for a gathering of both herds. We must decide what we are going to do with the herd from the meadow forest. We cannot go back there for many seasons. Stabo, I am still concerned about food. Are you sure there enough for both herds to last through the winter?"

It was Young Bambi who spoke up. "Yes," he said with confidence. "But your herd will have to go deeper into the woods. I have walked for a full day into the woods and the forest goes on as far as I could see, and I have seen little sign of deer. The forest is just like here, lots of trees, many small clearings, and a few streams. There should be enough food and water for all. The question is Man. If we all live here in this forest, will not Man return here in greater numbers? I have already lost my father to them; I do not want to lose any of you."

It was the voice of an intelligent deer speaking out. It was clear and to the point. He nodded. "Thank you, Bambi," he said deliberately leaving out the word young.

"Do you want to keep this as one herd or two?" Stabo asked.

"That will be up to the herds," he said. "If there is one herd, then you Stabo are herd leader. If they want to become two, then I will tell them they have to select a new leader."

"I see two deer that could do it," Galin pointed out looking at Bambi and him.

"No, Galin, my injuries will not allow me to be a herd leader, besides I am old and getting older. It is time a younger male do this, but thank you."

"I already gave up being a herd leader," his old friend Bambi said. "I do not need to do this again."

Galin shrugged his huge shoulders. "Very well, but I must tell you there is talk among the other deer about Balo, Stena, Delon, Stuben and Carie. Many of the meadow herd dislikes what they heard with all their arguing, especially the herd males. They also heard you, Stranger, talk to your family last night. Few in either herd wants anything to do with them. Even with your injury and age, I do not think any deer in the herd would challenge you for herd leader, and if they do, they can fight me first."

"Thank you Galin," he said with a bow of his head. "No, all we would do is post pone the decision until I pass on, which may happen soon anyway. My injuries are serious and they do not appear to be healing well. A new leader must be chosen."

"Then you can expect Stuben and Delon to have a fight soon afterwards," Galin said. I have seen this before with my father. There is so much hatred built up now between them, it may be a fight to the death."

"My old friend Bambi and I will try and stop that," he said shaking his head. "I am afraid that in the end there is little we can do. If they want to kill each other, I can hardly stop them. We do have other deer that can help," he said looking at Koren."

"I am afraid not, Stranger," Koren said. "Both Garla and I will go with Galin, Charlene, and Garten and when they go back to their old forest. Galin will need help and all of us can provide that help. Besides I do not think I am saying anything secret when I tell you that Charlene and Galin are going to be a pair as are Garla and I."

He, Claris, older Bambi and Faline were surprised at the announcement.

"Is this true?" he asked them. "Is this what you all want?"

The four of them nodded together. There were going to be lots of new pairs this Season.

"I will not be going back," Garlene said. "I am staying with Bambi here."

He watched Young Bambi walk over and kissed her. "Yes, we have decided to become a pair also," he told them.

This was the best news he had received in a while. "I am happy for all of you" he said with a smile. "I am just sorry that most of you have to leave, but I understand. Your herd comes first."

"Yes, Young Bambi will likely take over here after I step down," Stabo told him. "He is almost ready now. When he gets to be fully grown, I will gladly step aside for him. I never wanted this in the first place. He will have children and teach them and Gena and I have other children to teach. Garlene will make a find herd leader's mate. She is smart, strong, and has learned unlike some of the others. We should all be fine here. It is the meadow herd I fear for."

"Then could I ask Stabo and Bambi to call the herds together. With my injuries I can no longer call out strongly."

He watched Stabo, both Bambis, and Koren go away and then start to call out loudly, "Here, Here, All of you come here," they bellowed several times. They waited and slowly, in twos and threes they came toward them. The lesser light was well overhead before they all got there. The clearing was much too small to hold them so they assembled in the trees. He only hoped he could speak loudly enough so they all could hear.

He stood in the middle with Claris on one side of him, older Bambi and Faline next to him, and Stabo and Gena with Koren and Garla on the other side. The younger Bambi, Galin, and Garten and Charlene stood next to Faline. As Balo, Stena, Delon and Karlene came he put them on one side. Then he saw Carie, Stuben, and Young Faline come in and motion for them to stay on the other side.

He looked at Carie. "Have you seen Stelar?"

She barely nodded no all the while looking at him as if he was the vilest creature on Earth. She did not seem too upset by her missing daughter which bothered him greatly.

He noticed Stuben was eyeing him carefully. Not only that, he could still see Stena and Carie glaring each other. The other deer looked bewildered, and lost due to the recent fire in their forest and the arguments within his own family. Since Stabo was herd leader here he nodded to him to speak first.

"You all know, Stranger, my Father," Stabo told the group. "He has asked me to call the deer together from both this and the meadow forest to discuss what we will do now that fire has destroyed the meadow forest. It might be many seasons before we can use the meadow forest again. I ask you all to please listen to my Father."

He waiting until here was silence and he started to speak as loudly as he could. "I am sorry, but this is as loud as I can speak due to my injuries. With the burning of the meadow and our old forest we are forced to stay here in the Man path forest. We may be here for many seasons. I am told that if we go deeper in the forest, we will find enough food and water to keep us all well fed through the winter."

That took care of their immediately concerns. He then went on after the mumbling died down. "You must now make a decision. In this forest, Stabo is herd leader. Those of you who wish to remain with Stabo's herd are welcomed. Those of you that want to stay with the old herd can travel deeper into the woods and have your own herd and herd leader." Then he stopped and let the murmuring settle down again. "If you want to stay with the old herd, you will have to select a new herd leader. Due to my age and my injuries, I can no longer be your leader as I told you before. You will need to select a new herd leader now."

There was still a chorus of 'no', and 'do not go' he heard from those around him. It did make him feel good that he was liked by so many. He heard a lot of talking and that was good. He let it go for a while and then Marco, one of the large four-year old males from his herd came up. "If I may speak," he said.

"Marco may speak," He said as loud as he could.

Marco nodded his head and then spoke loudly. "Stranger, if we do keep the old herd, who would you suggest as the new leader?"

"I can still make no recommendation," he said as loud as he could. "On that my mind has not changed since out last meeting."

Marco nodded his head as if expecting his answer. "I would agree with Stranger that we do not have anyone to lead our herd. Lately we have seen how Balo and his family have argued loudly over the leadership. This has also caused me to question Balo's ability to lead the herd. I also question whether Balo's son, Delon, and his mate Stena can lead. This is also because of their arguments. I have also heard the words of concern Stranger has said to his family. I question even more your mate Carie and your son Stuben for starting the arguments. I do not think they have the needs of the herd as their main interest. For these reasons I think we should stay as one herd under the leadership of Stabo. He is wise, he has been trained by Stranger and Bambi, and he has proved he has the needs of the herd as his first concern. Veron's son Bambi has also shown the ability to lead. I would follow both of them."

He saw Balo's jaw drop to the ground in surprise. Both Delon and Stuben looked ready to charge out and kill Marco. Stabo, him, and the two Bambis stepped out near the senior male. He was disgusted. How could his family be surprised after what all of them had said? They should have known the herd would not follow them.

"All here have the right to speak," Stabo shouted.

Relnor, a four-year old deer from this forest then walked out into the open. He had been one of the first to flee from Razor and had never gone back to his old forest. "I hear Marco and I agree. Stabo and Veron's son Bambi are best to lead. I also did not like hearing the arguments among the other deer about being herd leader. One thing Stranger and the older Bambi has taught me is that the herd must come first and that is not the case with them. I say we live as one herd with Stabo as our leader."

"I agree," came a shout from the herd followed by other similar calls.

After the shouting died out he stepped up again into the middle. "Is it then the wish of the herds that you now become one herd with Stabo as your herd leader?"

There was a general chorus of yes, from both herds. Although the amount of support surprised him, the decision to become one herd did not. Poor Balo, Stena and Delon looked like they had all just been beaten by a bear. They had been rejected by their own herd. He knew what that meant. They were all told no one wanted them. There was nothing more to be done, they had made this mess themselves and they would have to correct it.

"Very well," he said loudly. "Then as of now I step aside and let Stabo be leader for both herds. I want to thank all of you for allowing me to be your leader. It has been my pleasure to do so. I just wish it would have turned out better."

Marco then walked up to him. "Thank you for being our leader, we can clearly see the price you have paid for it," Marco said and rubbed his forehead. "We thank you for it. Many of us are alive because of you two. To many of us, you and Bambi will always be our leaders." Marco then looked directly at Stabo, "No offence is made to Stabo by saying this."

"And no offence is taken," Stabo said. "They will always be leaders to me also and I hope will continue to give me advice when I need it."

"As long as we are able," he told his son.

"I have something to say," Balo shouted out.

He thought Balo cannot be that stupid, but Balo walked out into the middle with the rest of them. All of them in the center looked tense and ready for a fight.

"I do not accept being one herd and I will never accept Stabo as my leader," he said spitefully. "I will not challenge Stabo for the leadership of this herd, but I will say that if there are any who also do not accept this, I will leave tomorrow night for the deep forest where we will set up our own herd. All who wish to come with us are welcomed."

There was dead silence among all the deer. That should have told Balo, Stena, and Delon all they needed to know. Most of both herds wanted nothing to do with any of them.

"All who wish to go with Balo, are free to do," Stabo said loudly. "The rest will stay here."

"Any more questions?" he asked the herd.

Again there was dead silent. He turned to Stabo. "Thank you herd leader for calling this gathering. I wish you well as herd leader."

"One more thing to take care of," Stabo said. "Bambi," he called to Veron's son. "Come with me." Stabo then turned to him and older Bambi, "May I ask you two to also come with me."

They all followed Stabo over to Carie and Stuben. The other deer were already leaving. The matter of the herd had been settled. He did notice Galin hanging back about three lengths behind them. When Stabo got within two lengths of Carie, Stuben and Young Faline he stopped dead and stared right at them. "Let me say this to both of you," he told Carie and Stuben. with his voice showing anger. "I am herd leader here and when I step aside I will suggest to the herd that Veron's son Bambi take over from me. I know you do not like that so I suggest you both leave now, because I will not put up with anything from either one of you."

"And just where are we supposed to go?" Carie sneered. "Our forest is burnt, that fool Balo and his family are leaving for the deep woods; we cannot go with them. Maybe you hope we go to the forest far away over our hill we used to live on, and die before we get there?"

"You will not go to my forest, I do not want you there," Galin called out from behind them. "You go to that forest and when I become herd leader, the first thing I will do is chase you both out. Deer like you I do not need."

"I suggest you go to the forest over that hill," he pointed toward the bear's den. "No one knows you over there except Young Claris. If you behave, her and Felon will let you live there in peace."

"Very well," Stuben said. "I am taking Young Faline with me."

"That is up to her," Young Bambi said moving right up to Stuben.

"Young Faline," he called to her. "You know Stuben and Carie will need to leave here. It is your choice if you will go with them or not."

Young Faline lowered her head. "I do not like what I am about to say," she said in a low voice. "Although I care for Stuben very much, I will not leave the rest of my family to go with him. I am sorry, Stuben, but you will need to go alone."

'You are coming with me," Stuben growled and stepped forward right into the front of Young Bambi who stepped forward quickly blocking him. "You heard her, now go," he said making it very clear he was ready to fight.

He saw Stuben almost turn red with rage and he was waiting for him to take it out on Stabo or Young Bambi. He wisely decided not to. Instead he turned to him. "I hope you are happy, Father."

"No, Son," he said calmly. "I am not happy, but again you and your mother brought this on to yourselves. You have no one to blame except yourselves. I am pained to see you go, and go alone, but it would be best for the herd if you did."

With that he walked away thinking how problems tend to work themselves out if you give them enough time. Only one more thing left to see. He went back to where he slept before and ate some grass until his side started to hurt. He then found a stream and started to drink. The older Bambi Faline and the Claris all found a soft spot of grass as the greater light rose, they all fell quickly asleep.

The next night he and the others watched as Balo, Stena, Delon and Karlene gathered together. Four males, two females and five yearlings also went with them. They all were deer from the other forest Razor had come from.

"I wish you all luck," he told them.

They said nothing in returned. He knew they all blamed him for the situation they were in. In a way they were right. He could not control how this turned out. It just happened. They walked off into the distance and disappeared into the deeper darkness of the forest. He hoped they be alright, but from here on out there was nothing more he could do for them. The problems with his family have been sorted out. He had done his best, there was nothing more to be done. He looked back and saw Stabo, Young Bambi, Gena and Charlene standing together. He walked over to them with Claris. "You know it occurred to me, we never asked permission from the herd leader to stay in this forest."

His Son laughed out loud and rubbed his head and then his mothers. "You two never have to ask my permission to stay anywhere," he said. They all walked off to feed.

It was two days later that Claris and he were walking to the edge of the Man path forest after they had fed. They looked out at the burnt meadow. He could see the remains of the Man cave lying in pieces on the ground. A burnt up Man animal lay alone and looked dead. The lush green grass was gone, replaced by a burnt cover of gray.

"Will it ever grow back?" Claris asked.

"Yes, he said. "It is like Bambi's old forest did after the fire there. It grew back and is still growing back. It is only we will not see it."

"We are all getting old," she said and rubbed his neck.

"It is not just getting old," he told her. "It is my injuries that now bother me. What bothers me the most is what happened in my family. I have heard what you and the others have told me, but I still feel it is my fault I did not see it earlier. Now the lives of our daughter and my son are lost to both of us."

"We still have our eldest son," his mate told him. "You cannot be blamed for this. None of us saw this coming, not you, me, Bambi, or Faline."

"I suppose so, but like our old forest they are gone from us now."

It was then he noticed the scent of another deer behind them. He turned and sniffed the air. It was Garten and he was alone.

"You can approach us," he said out loud.

The young male came forward, looking a little hesitant. He approached until he was within a few lengths of them and then stopped. "Am I disturbing you?" he asked bowing his head slightly.

"No, of course not," he answered. "Come here and tell me what the problem is."

The young male was smaller than his brother and somewhat weaker. However he was no weakling. Like Balo had been when he first got here, Garten was a little taken back at events and preferred to let his older brother talk.

"Stranger, besides being herd leader, all the deer say you are one of the wisest deer in the forests," Garten told them.

"I wish that was true," he said. "Please continue."

"I must tell you that since I came to your forest, I have always been interested in Young Faline. I think she is beautiful and she is smart. I never told her however, because I felt her and Stuben were a pair. Now they are not. I was wondering, do you think she be interested in me?"

"Have you asked her?" Claris asked.

"No," Garten said in a low voice. "I was afraid that not being a lead male, her brother, Young Bambi, would not approve."

He repressed a smile. "You are a senior male," he told him. "Other than larger deer like Stabo, Young Bambi, Galin, or Balo," there are few deer in the forest that can beat you. I know this because I have helped train you."

Garten swallowed hard enough to be heard by all of them. "I just do not think of myself as a senior male when I see deer like you, Bambi, Stabo, Young Bambi, Delon and Stuben around. They seem more powerful and ready to act. I am not like that."

"No, but you have learned," he said. "Most deer do not act because they do not know how to. They also have little interest in learning. You have taken the time to learn. I hope better than my own son and daughter. Even when you go back to your forest, you will be a senior male. If you are interested in Young Faline, ask her. If she tells you no; you have lost nothing. Only if she says yes, will you need to see her brother. Young Bambi will mate with your older sister; I do not see why his younger sister should not mate with you."

The young male's face lit up. "Thank you," Garten said with a bow of his head and walked quickly away."

"Do you think he will asked Young Faline, and do you think she will accept?" Claris asked.

"That is their decision to make," he said.

CHAPTER EIGHT: SETTLING OUT

Following the gathering, life in the Man path forest became almost normal. With Balo, Stena, Delon and Karlene leaving for the deep forest and Carie and his son Stuben leaving for the forest over the hill, quiet finally descended on them all. The two herds joined peacefully and Stabo and the younger Bambi spread them out as not to over graze the grasses near them. Things went well for a change. The new herd accepted Stabo as leader and seemed to have no problems with the younger Bambi taking over one day. As for the four of them, they settled into a much easier life, which was good. His side improved, but it still hurt when he tried to run or eat a lot. He knew it would never fully heal.

The four of them found an open clearing near where they fought with Razor and decided to call it their home. It was well shaded, near heavy brush and close to Stabo and Young Bambi's resting places. A stream ran nearby and around them were enough grasses and eatable leaves so it was easy for him to find food. The other deer treated them respectfully, but looked to Stabo and Young Bambi for leadership.. He spent his time helping Bambi with Galin Garten, Garla and Galene. Both Charlene and Koren kept nearby. The younger Bambi also showed up to learn more. He did not take part in anymore mock combat because his side hurt too much, but he could still show them things so he still felt somewhat useful. However he was still sad. His son and daughter were gone, likely forever. What bothered him the most was they never saw a sign of Stelar. He could only think she had not survived the fire as did maybe ten or more deer and fawns who were missing.

Summer passed into to fall and again their antlers grew out. Bambi's rack was still large despite his age. His rack, while smaller than before, was still of good size. The younger Bambi grew a rack that was as big as anyone else in the forest and may have been a little larger than Stabo's. He had just started to feel his antlers itch when one morning he was awaken by distant noise.

"Wham…..Wham…Wham," he heard echo through the forest. It came from deep in the forest. The noise woke them all.

"Killing sticks but far away," he told them. "It is still a little early for Man to come for us."

"What are they doing?" Faline asked.

"It is near the time for Man to hunt the larger animals like bear. Maybe they are after them. One thing for sure, unless they get a lot closer I am not going worry about it."

That night after sunset they met Stabo, Gena, Koren and Garla in a clearing they often ate in. "You heard the killing sticks?" Koren asked.

"Yes, but they are far away," he told them.

Soon afterwards Galin and Charlene and Young Bambi and Galene came into the clearing. Galin walked up to them. "I walked deeper into the woods last night and after the rising of the lesser light. I heard the sounds of the killing sticks this morning."

"We all did," the elder Bambi told him.

Galin went on calmly. "Did you also hear the noise like someone pounding on something? It was a noise that sounded like things hitting each other. I never heard anything like it. It was far away, but I could just hear it."

"That noise sounds like the noise Man makes it when he comes to his Man cave to get ready to hunt us," he reminded them "It is not from the old Man cave, it is gone. Stabo, do you know if Man built another Man cave nearby?"

"Not that I know of, Father," Stabo said.

"What do you suppose all the noise means?" Koren asked.

He could think of only one thing. "It might mean Man is building another Man cave there. If so it means Man will hunt more in this forest when The Season comes."

"That would be bad for us," the younger Bambi said. "Is there some way we can know?"

"Only by looking for ourselves," he told them. "I can no longer do that with my injuries. I cannot walk that far without resting too much, nor can I run if I have too."

"We can," Koren said. "We can go there and look and come back and tell you."

"Yes we can," the younger Bambi added. "You have taught us how to approach Man. We can do it at night so Man will not see us."

"That is dangerous," Stabo added. "If you are seen, you are likely to die."

"All part of being a herd leader," Koren said with a grin. "We can leave tonight."

"What about us," Galene said.

"A small group is less likely to be seen than a large group," he told them, "The fewer that go with them, the better for all."

"So we have to stay here and wait to see if you come back?" Garla said not looking pleased with Koren.

"That is part of being the mate to the herd leader," Claris said coldly. "Something I know about."

He watched Faline smile and nod her head. Yes, it was worse for those that stayed behind. They had to worry about what would happen if those who went did not come back. The only thing the ones that went had to care about was staying alive.

"If you wish to go, I will not stop you," Stabo said.

"Just be careful both of you," Gena said with a plea.

"Of course we will," Koren said. "Right now I have a good reason to come back," he said with a smile and then kissed Garla on the side of the face.

"Just remember what we taught you and do not take any unnecessary chances," he reminded them.

Both Koren and the younger Bambi left that night. As they disappeared into the darkness he looked and swallowed hard. "I hope they remember," he said out loud.

"You told them what would happen if they did not," Bambi said. "They had to do this some time."

"I was wondering if I should have gone with then," Galin, said quietly.

"No," Bambi said. "You are not ready for this and the bigger the group the harder it is to stay hidden. Come, let me show both of you some tricks on approaching Man. Stranger can you help."

"I might as well," he said. "I feel useless here."

The training continued that night and for four more nights before the two of them returned. He was starting to get worried when both Koren and the younger Bambi walked quietly into the clearing. They approached with the wind in their faces like he taught them. He did not notice them until they were almost in the clearing. Both looked healthy and seem no worse for their experience. Both Garla and Galene both ran to them and greeted them not like friends but as mates. It was heartening to see they really did care for each other.

"Things went well?" he asked.

"We are safe," Koren said. "At least for now, but there is much to tell."

"We have not eaten much the last few days and I am hungry. Can we talk after we eat?" the younger Bambi asked.

"Of course," Stabo said. "We will all go over to my clearing and have a long talk after we eat and drink."

After they ate, they all went to the larger clearing and lay down. Even Kena, Gena fawn from this year lay at her mother's side and promptly went to sleep.

Koren stood up and started. "The best place to start is our trip. We walked for a full night before we heard the banging noises again in the morning. We moved toward the noise carefully and then stopped as soon as it was full light. We found the Man cave that night. It is as big as the one that burnt down outside of our forest. We saw no Men with killing sticks there, it was all dark. It did not look like it was done so it seemed to us they were just making it."

The younger Bambi stood up. "Near this Man cave the Man path leaves the forest and runs into the open field that goes as far as we could see. There were many Man animals there that left after the setting of the greater light. At no time did we see any of the Men in the forest. No Man we saw was using killing sticks or hunting."

"That means Man will hunt in that part of the forest when The Season comes," he said. "Please go on."

"We left just before the rising of the greater light after we saw the Man animals return with their glowing eyes. We went deep in the forest and kept the wind in our faces. We picked up no scent of Man for that day."

"After resting for the day we then looked around the forest for any sign of deer," the younger Bambi continued. "We found some, but not many. The first deer we found was my mother."

"She is alright?" Stabo asked.

"Yes, she had found a new male and had a small male fawn with her. She also told us that she had seen both Balo and Stena. They are now living there. Balo is trying to form a herd, but so far not many deer are joining. My mother had not seen any sign of Delon or Karlene. We spent a day with my mother and then came back. We did not go looking for Balo and the others."

"That was a wise move," Bambi said nodding his head. "They may have attacked you. You have answered our questions. It does not explain the killing sticks we heard, but they were far away. I think you have both done well."

"I agree," he said. "Thank you both for that. You are now starting to see just what a herd leader has to do at times."

Both Koren and the younger Bambi beamed in appreciation and were immediately kissed by their perspective mates. Everyone smiled looking at the next couples.

"Does that mean Man will not hunt here in the meadow?" Stabo asked.

"I think so," he answered. "Only you cannot be sure with Man. We will have to wait until The Season to see where Man puts up his other caves. That is where most of the killing sticks are put."

"So if Man does not put up his caves where he usually has before, he might not hunt here?" Stabo continued.

"You are right," he answered. "Man MAY not hunt here. Only time will tell." He yawned widely. "We have all done well this night. The greater light will soon rise. Now it is time to rest."

"Let us all stay here," Faline suggested, "and be together as a family."

The all agreed and soon slept close together. It was pleasing to have so many scents fill his nose. He went to sleep pleased that at least some of the deer he taught appeared to have learn. The rest would have to take care of itself.

That night after they woke, he saw the younger Bambi being approached by Galin. "May I talk to Young Bambi for a moment?" Galin asked politely. "Could Stranger and Bambi also please come?"

The three of them followed Galin out and when they were away from the others Galin stopped and faced Young Bambi. "I may not be a herd leader yet, but I have noticed that lately Garten, and your sister have been getting close."

"I have noticed that too," Young Bambi said. "Is there a problem?"

"No I think your sister is a beautiful doe, and Garten is lucky to have her," Galin went on. "I just wanted to know if you objected."

"No, Garten is a good deer," Young Bambi said honestly. "He is young, and is fairly strong, but not as strong as you or I. Him and Koren are a close match. They can both be senior males, but I doubt if they will be herd leaders."

"That is also what I wanted to talk about. I am glad you see things as I do," Galin said. "I wanted to ask the opinion of both Bambi and Stranger."

"It does not matter what I think," Bambi said bluntly. "It does not matter what you two think either. The only thing that matters is how they feel for each other. Deer that pair year round make a herd stronger. This I know. To have two of your senior males having mates like that along with you and Charlene, will only make your herd better. They can also help if things get bad. I say we all need to accept them as a pair, because if we do not, we may drive them out, and I have seen enough deer driven out for this season."

"I must agree with Bambi," he said. "Having a doe pair with you year round is a great joy. This I know. Accept them as a pair, because they will be a pair whether you accept them or not."

Galin just seem to nod and then bowed to them. "Thank you both herd leaders. Your wisdom has again given me answers to many of my questions. There is only one thing. If your sister and my younger brother do pair, when Charlene and I along with Koren and Gerla leave late next spring, they will come with us."

"Yes," Young Bambi said with no surprise. "I know that, but my sister has her own life to live so the decision is hers. You also know that your other sister is staying with me."

"She has told me that," Galin said. "I understand you have duties here like I have duties in my forest. You cannot go, and I cannot stay."

Bambi seemed to grin. "Since you both understand this, it is another sure sign that you are both are almost ready to be herd leaders. Both of you will make find leaders when the time come. I wish I could be here to see it."

"If we are good herd leaders, it will be only because of your teachings," Galin said to both of them. "For which I am thankful."

"Just pass on what you have learned and we will be happy," he told all of them.

"On that I promise," Young Bambi said.

"Me too," Galin replied.

Bambi and him smiled at each other. At least here they had succeeded.

Fall moved on and there was no more Man activity around the old forest and this forest. The herd continued to be healthy. Galin and his family were making good progress in their lessons. Soon after their journey he noted Galene, started sleeping with Young Bambi, Garla was sleeping with Koren, and Charlene was sleeping with Galin.. That was a sure sign the pairings would be formal. Shortly after Garten and Young Faline started sleeping together.

It was late summer that heard the call just before morning. It was a loud call coming from across the old meadow where the stream flowed from his forest to Bambi's old forest. It was strong, direct and said only one word…."Stranger."

He recognized the call at once. It was from Stuben. He was talking to Stabo, when they heard it.

"What does he want?" Stabo said with distain.

"Me," he replied simply. "I will leave at once."

"You are going to meet him," Stabo said looking at him as if he was crazy. "You know he just might be calling you to kill you."

He turned and looked at his oldest son and nodded. "That is possible, still he is my son, and I am responsible for him. I would come if you called. If he wants to kill me, he won't be doing much more than what Man had already begun. Besides, even though I am weak, I am far from dead. If this is how I end up, then that is what happens."

"Father, it is almost daylight," Stabo said.

"I will circle around inside the burnt out trees, but I will go and I will go alone," he ordered him. "You will tell the others that I will go alone. I will return in one or two nights. If I do not come back, do not go looking for me. Goodbye, my son," he said and rubbed his forehead.

He left quickly without telling anyone. Others would want to go with him and this was his task alone. He crossed the short distance past the spring and the remains of the Man cave. He walked into the trees. The air was quiet around him. There was no scent of Man or anything else except burnt wood. There were some small animals underfoot like mice and screws. He was glad he saw the first shoots of new grass beginning to grow. Life would come back here; it would just take longer than any of them were alive. He had to rest several times on his trip and it was late day and full daylight as he slowly walked around that part of the forest. He walked below where the bear's den was but decided he would not disturb him. At this time of year he would either not be there, or might not be alone. By the time he reached what remained of their old viewing location he was tired. His side hurt, and his legs felt weak. He had gone as far as he could. He turned and let out a bleat as loud as he could.

Afterwards he lay down in the dust and ash and waited. It was not long before a familiar scent came upon him. There was only one scent. That surprised him.

Soon he heard the steps of another deer, a big deer. It walked quietly. He was glad his son remembered something he taught him. He lay still facing what used to be the Man cave and waited. The figure came up and stopped behind him.

"Where is your mother?" he asked not turning around.

"She is not here, she has gone her own way," the familiar voice told him.

"I see," he said looking at the lighted sky. "If you are here to talk, then come lie down next to me. You are much too big to be hidden in this bare forest when standing. If you want to do anything else, then go ahead and do it. You will be accomplishing little."

His son came up and lay down beside him about half a length away. He was also looking at the remains of the Man cave.

"I never understood how beautiful this place could be until I see it like this," he said in a calm voice.

He nodded approval. "That is often true; we never truly understand how much we care for something until it is taken away. Now, my Son, why have you called me?"

"First off, to say I am sorry I treated you like that, but I could not see how I could allow anyone to insult my mother. I understand she wanted me to be herd leader here, but I thought it was only because I was the best deer to follow you. I still think that, other than Balo, I am I am the best deer."

"In this condition, the forest will not need a herd leader until well after you and I are gone," he sat there thinking. His son did not sound as angry and sure of himself as before. What had happened?

"What has brought on this new wisdom, my Son?" he asked.

"My mother's behavior when we went over the hill. She immediately started to argue with young Claris and Felon. It was then I saw what she wanted. She did not want me to be herd leader because I was the best deer there. She wanted it so others would come to her and treat her well. I am convinced of that now. After she argued with Young Claris she took up with some large male and got him to challenge Felon for the herd leadership. The male was beaten soundly. Young Claris got so mad at mother they got into a real fight. Young Claris kicked her, hard. Then mother told me to kill both of them. I would not do it so she got angry with me and started yelling at me. That is when I left and I have not gone back. Felon and Young Claris can be the herd leaders there for all I care. The only person I am still mad at is Stabo. He threw us out of his forest before we had done anything to him."

"He was trying to prevent problems before they arose," he told his son. "I did not disagree with him. So what has happened to your mother?"

"After we fought she walked deeper into that forest and where she went I do not know. I do know she still hates you, Balo, Stena, Delon, and Stabo. She will be back to bother you if she gets a chance."

"That does not surprise me at all," he told him. "Now I need to know what you want."

"I want to go someplace and start again. I still will not live where Stabo and Young Bambi are herd leaders. I still do not want to be near Balo, Stena and Delon."

His son was starting to learn, but he still had much to learn. "My daughter, her son and mate have gone deep into the Man path forest and will try and start their own herd. Like you they did not accept Stabo and Young Bambi as their leaders. Like you, they were also correct about not being welcomed any place in the Man path forest."

"Yes, Father, that is why I have decided to go to Bambi's old forest. No one knows me there except Delene and Gorro. I know better now than to argue with Gorro, so I will just go there and maybe try and find some young doe to mate with and have my own family."

The made a good deal of sense. It was the best place he could go. "I am sure as long as you don't try and become herd leader, Gorro will not bother you. I think that is your best choice. You have made a wise, but dangerous decision."

"You mean the dangers of the trip, yes Father I remember your stories about the dogs," Stuben said. "I will take the chance because I have nothing here to live for. If I am not welcomed there, then I will go someplace else. Your son may become a wanderer like his Father was at my age."

"Yes, but your Father finally found a place," he reminded him. "Your Father finally found friends. From that comes the rest. I wish you luck, My Son."

"You and Claris can visit me if you like," he added.

"No, not with my injuries, I could never survive the trip. I am also far too old. No, Stuben, when you go, do not expect to see me again. In another one or two seasons, I will be gone anyway. I have taught what you need to know to help Gorro. If you use it wisely, you can be a great help to him."

"Thank you, Father. I am sorry we will not see other again."

"So am I, my Son," then he turned and faced his child.

"When you go, stay near the stream. Travel only at night and empty yourself in the stream. That will throw predators off your trail. The grass will be plentiful, but tasteless. The stream will empty into a large lake. Follow the lake to the hill with the falling water. Gorro will be near there."

Stuben nodded his head, "Anything else, Father?"

Yes," he said empathically. "Be a deer I can be proud to call my Son."

He then turned away, put his head down and closed his eyes. Here was more of his family leaving that he would never see again. He was getting too old. No more was said.

That night after the greater light had set, they stood up, ate what they could find, and then he embraced his Son and watched him disappear through the space between the hills the small stream ran between them. He waited until his Son was out of sight and then turned and sadly started back to the Man path forest.

CHAPTER NINE: LOSSES AND GAINS

He returned to the Man Path forest just after morning. He walked over and lay in a small clearing near where he could look out over the meadow. Although still colorless, he could catch a slight greening of the ground. Grass was beginning to grow, life was returning to his forest. As he lay there he smelled several nearby familiar scents. He looked over and saw the others of his family walking toward him.

"Come," he told them. "I think I have an interesting story to tell you."

After telling them about his encounter with his Son he could see a mixture of frowns and smiles from the others. Some were pleased Stuben had left for good. Others like Bambi were not happy where he was going.

"I wish he would have gone someplace else," Bambi said angrily. "Gorro does not need the problems."

"I agree," he said. "I know you are not happy he went to the old forest, but without his mother to mess things up, he should be fine. If he does do anything stupid, Gorro is capable of putting him in his place. Besides he already told me he had no intention of challenging Gorro and he is trained well enough to help Gorro out if needed."

"I still do not like it," Bambi spat out.

"Just where else could he go?" he asked. "He certainly cannot come here: he cannot go into the deep woods with Balo and Delon, he cannot over the hill again to Felon's forest, or in the distant forest over our hill. He had no other place to go and he knew it. I think he will behave.

"I am happy he finally learned from his mistakes," Claris said.

"We hope," Bambi sneered.

'Yes, we hope," he added, "Because that is all we can do."

After their discussion, life went back to normal. Summer ended and brought the fall which brought on his itching rack. He scraped off the velvet. He knew his rack were not as large as before. He did not care; he was hardly going to chase a doe in his condition.

Over the next few days the other males scrapped off their racks. Young Bambi and Stabo had large, powerful looking racks. Galin's rack was only slight smaller. Koren and Garten has smaller racks, but still larger than most of the males in the herd. He did not think there was any chance any of them would be challenged and pity the poor male that did.

As soon as all their racks were fully out, the scents from the other doe began. Gena, Young Faline, Charlene, Galene and Garla were all putting out heavy scents. Only Faline and Claris put out none. As soon as that happened, he noticed the males starting to get agitated with each other. He suggested to all the males they take their mates and get away from each other. He knew that many males around so many breeding doe would only cause trouble even in the closest families. After The Season was over, things would be alright again he told them. Unlike back in his forest, all the new fawns and some of the yearlings gathered in a group while their parents gave into the urges of The Season. Soon even Bambi and Faline left, leaving them alone. This was the first time he had been alone with Claris during The Season since he came back from Bambi's forest with Carie. They stood at the edge of the Man path forest and watched the lesser light rise overhead. They said nothing, but just took pleasure in being with each other after the events of this year. They ate some grass and then went to sleep by a small stream.

He was jolted awake the next morning by a familiar scent. It was the musty odor of a breeding doe, but it was not a strong scent. He was looking around thinking one of the other doe had returned early for some reason, yet he saw no other deer. It was then he realized the scent was coming from Claris. He looked at her and she looked back embarrassed.

"Claris," he said taking in a large whiff of air.

""Yes it is me," she said hesitantly. "This is the first time I have felt this since my fawn was born dead."

She got up and started to walk away. "I am sorry," she said.

"Do not be," he told her. "I rather like it; if I could only do anything about it."

Claris looked at him and took in a large whiff of air near his tail. "I think you still can," she said in that smooth voice of hers. "Come with me."

She led him away from the open clearing into the woods where she stopped and then looked back at him with a smile. She spread her four legs and hunched her back as an invitation. More by instinct that anything else he mounted her and much to their surprise he found he was not that old, yet.

But it sure hurt later.

The Season passed with its urges and soon afterwards the males returned with their now mated doe. All were smiles and happiness like after his first season with Claris. They had all come back to their group for a day before they heard it in the distance.

"Pham…..Pham echoed repeatedly in the direction that Koren and Young Bambi had told them the new Man cave was built.

At least man had not rebuilt the Man cave that had been destroyed in the fire. He wondered if Man thought all the deer had run away to other forests after the fire. There were also Man sounds of killings still from the forest over the hill where the bear lived and in the far distance from the forest from where Galin, Galene, Garten and Garla lived. He could see all the noise from that forest troubling them, especially Galin and Galene. He walked over to both Galin and Charlene standing close together looking toward Galin's forest.

"I know that hurts you," he said trying to show sympathy. "Next year, you will be able to help them."

"If anything is left alive after Man is done," Galin said looking cross. "That is my herd Man is killing."

"I know that," he reminded Galin. "I never liked when Man killed any of my herd, but it happens; however, not even Man can kill all the deer. There will always be some to look after. That is one of the bad parts of being herd leader. You can never save all the deer, just most of them. It still hurts when it happens."

"Right now I am saving no one except myself," Galin said with gloom. He then walked away with Charlene.

He and Bambi walked to the edge of the Man path forest and looked out over their meadow. There was not a sign of Man. There were no small Man caves Man used when he chased deer. He could nor smell or hear anything of Man's presence.

"Do you think Man will leave us alone?" he asked Bambi.

"Perhaps," he said as not believing it. "After the fire in my forest, Man did not come back the next season."

He heard Stabo's familiar walk behind him. The now large and well built deer held his rack high in the air. No mistaking who is herd leader here. He looked out over the meadow with them. "I do not think Man will hunt here this season. He does seem to be hunting everyplace else."

"We must still watch carefully," he said. "The Man animals can get here quickly with many Men."

Bambi nodded. "We watch and wait," he said sternly.

"As you said, Father, we can also hope," Stabo added.

No Men came. No killing sticks sounded near to them. He heard many killing sticks deeper in the forest which worried him for that is where Balo and Stena went. Balo should be smart enough to avoid Man. Every night the younger Bambi and Galene went into the forest to look, but they did not go far. Koren and Gerla looked along the edge of the Man path forest. Each time they came back and told them they saw, heard, or smelled nothing of Man. Soon the noise of the killing sticks stopped and he knew they were safe until next Season.

It was two days after they heard the last killing stick. The air chilled, the clouds appeared over head and the first cold rain of fall started to come down on them. It was near morning after they ate that he heard the younger Bambi calling out. It sounded like trouble so they all moved quickly. The call came from an area in the forest near the clearing where they had met before their battle with Razor. They all moved to the clearing. As they did, he picked up another scent. It was a doe. There was also the strong odor of blood. The doe was lying on the ground on her side, looking beaten. She had been injured; he could see bleeding from her side. As he got closer he could see a deep wound in her flank. She had been hit by a killing stick.

"Stranger, please look at her?" Young Bambi asked sounding frightened. "Galene and I found her lying here a short while ago. Her name is Jara and she was one of the doe that went with Balo and Stena."

He walked up and looked at the wound in her side. He could smell the wound. It already smelled of sickness. He felt her forehead and it was burning. The breathing was strained and rattling. This doe would not live much longer.

"What happened," he asked the doe.

"Man came," she gasped. "Many Men came with dogs, large dogs," then she stopped to catch her breath. "Balo saw them and told us to run toward the forest and not run into the open space. We were all running together. We tried to run with the wind in our faces, but the air was filled with Man scent so Balo told us to run the other way. I remember the wind was at our tails and then suddenly there were the noises of killing sticks all around us. I was near a tree and I saw the tree near me go to pieces. I then felt something hit my side. I fell down and got up quickly. I turned to look for the others." She then stop and gasped for air.

He looked her over again. She was struggling to get air, but he knew she would not get up from here. He looked at Young Bambi and he was standing looking at him with a mixture of fright and worry.

"What else did you see?" he asked.

"When I turned there were many deer on the ground. I saw Balo. Stena, Kalo, Rossa, and others. They were all on the ground. I saw Man walk out from behind some trees and I ran. I managed to come here, but I cannot go on any longer."

He felt a burning in his throat. He heard Claris start sobbing. "Stena," was all Claris could say.

"My mother and young brother," young Bambi echoed.

His heart sank. He looked at Stabo who was shaking. He muttered, "Sister," and turned his head. He looked back at the doe that was now starting to shake as death overcame her.

"We can do nothing more here," he told them. "She will be gone soon." They all left the dying doe who seem to stop moving soon afterwards.

Young Bambi looked desperate. "Look, I can go into the deep forest and look for them. Man is gone so there will be little danger."

"No!" Bambi said loudly. "All that will do is to get you killed. If they could come back here, they would have. If they are not here by now, then they will not be coming. You are needed here with the herd."

"But my brother and mother," Young Bambi pleaded.

"My Son, Veron, your father," Bambi said his voice beginning to crack. "My daughters Gurri and Gerta; they are all gone. If you go after them, one of two things will happen. Your will either die, or find something you will wish you had not found. They are gone and nothing we will do will change that." With that the big deer also turned away. and walked into the forest with a sobbing Faline.

"Bambi is right," he said in a low voice. "My daughter, Stena, is gone. Nothing will change that. The best thing we can do is live."

He turned away from the other and walked into the woods with Claris. Two Sons was all he had now and one of them he would never see again. It was getting too much to bare. They went back to their clearing and he spent the following day awake remembering that little doe fawn that asked so many questions and found a male that asked so few. Only then when he was alone with Claris did he let his emotions out.

The air turned cold. He knew soon the snow would fall. The grass had not grown back enough on the meadow where it would be a source of food for the herd this winter. There was nothing in the old forest to eat. They have to live off the food here. He thought they had enough. His rack loosen and then fell out as did the others. He wondered if this be his last rack.

He still continued with Galin and his family's training. He had deep concerns however. He had trained no other deer better than Stena and Balo and yet Man had managed to kill them. He questioned if he was doing Galin and the others any good. As the greater light rose once more and they went back to their resting area he called Bambi over to him to walk alone in the forest away from the others. When they were alone he told Bambi of his concerns.

"I have felt the same way," Bambi said. "We were not there so we do not know if Balo and Stena made a mistake, or if Man was too clever for them like when Gerta and Gurri were killed. Neither of us saw that coming either."

"I wish I knew," he said. "In the late spring, Galin and the others will leave here and go back to their forest. Are we sending them to their deaths."

"No," Bambi said. "I know we have saved many deer with what you learned from Man and what my father taught me. As you said we cannot not save all the deer, not even the ones closest to us. We can only save who we can. In the end all of us die. Do you know I am almost as old now as my father was when he died? I ask myself how long before it is me."

"As do I," he told him. "With my injuries, I do not understand why I am alive now."

"Forgive me for saying this, old friend," Bambi said in a low voice. "I do not understand why you are alive now either. You have taken more injuries than any deer I know by far, and yet you still live. Remember when you first came to the forest, I told you about what my father had told me about the is One above Man and all of us?"

"Yes," he answered. "I never believed it."

"That is the only reason I can think of for either of us being here," Bambi said.

He did not know if that made him more afraid or not.

A few days later it turned cold again. For some reason the cold weather made him feel better. He decided he try and see his friend the bear once more before winter came and he went into his sleep. There were also the unknown consequences of if he would survive the cold of winter. He wanted to see his friend one more time. As usual he went alone, although Stabo wanted to go, Gena kept him back. He did not mind. Although he felt his family had accepted the bear, they never felt comfortable around a creature that could tear them in half in a moment.

It took a while for him to get there. His injury still did not allow him to walk a great distance. He stopped many times before he arrived outside the den. He bleeped once and sure enough the large black mass of fur came out of the den. He started to approach his friend and then stopped. There was something wrong. The bear was not moving normally. He favored his right side and seemed to limp on three legs. As he approaches he could see claw marks in the skin and the side of his face. Bear had been in a fight and it looked like he lost.

"Are you alright, my Friend," he said as he approached.

The voice was more labored. "I have fought with my son over the female I bred two seasons ago. He is now stronger than me and beat me and chased me away. At least he did not kill me when he had the chance."

So it had finally happened as the bear had thought it would. A new bear had taken his place. "Did your son chase you out of the forest?"

"No," the bear told him. "All he was interested in was the female. He did not care if I stayed in the forest as long as I did not try and breed the female. After they had breed, he paid no attention to me. He has his territory and I have mine. At least for now he does not care."

"I am sorry," he said simply.

"Do not be, it is the Way of All Things as you like to say" the bear went on."You and I are old. Right now the only thing left to see is which of us will last longer. I have eaten enough and I should easily make it through the winter. You seem to be getting around better."

"A fawn could out run me," he told the bear."No I am feeling old not just inside my body, but inside my head. I still do not know why I am still here. The only thing I know is that the longer I live the more of my family I say goodbye to."

He lay down on his legs and told the bear all about what had happened since the fire. He was interested and sadden at his news."I remember Stena," he said as if he recalled her face. "She never liked me, but I could tell she was the most like you despite the fact she was a female."

"I remember how she used to almost order Balo around to a point before he get mad and stamp his hoof. I still find it hard to believe we will not see each other again."

"I know," he said. You were also right about catching deer in the other forest, it is harder, but like in your forest, not every deer listens. I still caught my fill. I did see Young Claris and her mate from a distance last summer. She had two older fawns, but I was not close enough to tell if they were male or female. They looked happy."

"Thank you," he told the bear sincerely. "I am glad one part of my family is doing well. Everything else seems dark to me. I start to wonder what I am doing here. I feel the great emptiness inside me and I have to ask myself, just why I am still here."

"I feel that will answer itself in time," the bear told him.

"I also feel if I could change places with Stena, I would," he said.

"That would do none of us any good," the bear told him. "Your time will come soon as will my time. There is no sense rushing it. I feel you still have good to do."

He was about to answer the bear when the bear suddenly got up and looked down the hill to the meadow. He got up and turned to face the meadow and saw a lone late yearling doe walk onto the meadow out of the remains of the forest near the stream that flows to Bambi's old forest. He looked at her for moment and then realized who it was.

"Stelar," he gasped. He turned to look at the bear. "Forgive me, but I have to go."

"I understand," the bear said with a grin. "I will see you in the spring."

He moved down the hill as quickly as his side would let him. He moved around the trees. By the time he got down there she had walked past him. He bleated and she turned and looked at him coming out of the forest. She ran over to him and reached up and kissed him on the side of his face.

"Father," she called out and almost jumped on him.

"You are alive," he blurted out and kissed her like a small fawn. She leaned again him. He almost did not mind the pain that shot through his side.

"Careful, daughter," he said. "I was injured during the fire and that side now is very weak. It is hard for me to move."

"I am sorry, Father," she said moving away.

"It does not matter, where have you been?" he wanted to know.

"When the fire burned the forest, I ran into the big open area near where we hid the herd before. When I came back I found no one. I thought you were all dead and so I went to live in Bambi's old forest. I remember you telling us how to get there. I met Gorro and Delene and they let me stay with them. I was going to stay there when I saw Stuben. He explained what happened and that you were alive. I decided to come back here. I know he is not welcome here, but I was wondering if I would be welcomed here."

"Of course you are. You never did anything. It was your mother. Even your brother learned that, but too late to allow him to stay here," he said and then added. "Now follow me."

He led her across the burnt meadow past the remains of the Man cave and into the Man path forest. Only then did he call out as loud as he could. A short while later Stabo and Young Bambi came racing out thinking there was something wrong. They stopped dead when they saw Stelar. They looked for a second, as if not believing it, then ran to embrace her. The others soon arrived and they also embraced her. There were tears of pure joy from all of them. It was like his daughter had returned from the dead. As soon as they were all there, Stelar told her story.

"How is Gorro," Bambi asked.

"He is fine and in control of the herd. He is allowing Stuben to stay as long as he behaves. So far he has. Delene has a yearling male fawn Baler who they say looks just like you Bambi. She also has a doe and male fawn from this year. They were not hurt by Man during The Season. When Man came, Gorro took the herd deep in the forest. Only a few of the foolish were lost. Stuben helps him and took up with a doe during The Season and when I left, all was fine."

"You went to our old forest and back by yourself," Faline asked.

"They was no one else who could come with me." she said. "I had to come alone, or stay there. I rather come here."

She then looked at Stabo. "I know my brother and mother are not welcome here, but could I stay here?" she asked meekly.

"Sister, you never did anything like your brother and mother did. You are always welcome to stay here," he answered with a smile.

"Good, I wanted to tell Stena, Balo, and Delon," but I do not see them."

"Everyone looked shocked. He dropped his head. "I never told her," he said to the others. He raised his head and looked into his daughter's brown eyes. "Stena, Balo, Delon, and Karlene started a herd deeper in the forest. Man came and now they are all gone."

"No," she cried and buried her head in his side. He could feel her tears wetting his fur. His own eyes were running with the memory of his daughter.

He had lost one and got another back. It was not fair, but it would have to do.

CHAPTER TEN: THE REASON

The first heavy snowfall covered what little grass had started to grow back on the meadow. The grass inside the Man path forest was also covered. Stabo spread the herd out in the his forest in order to be able to find food more easily. Fortunately there was enough and none went hungry. Galin, Charlene, Koren, Gerla, Garte, and Young Feline all fed deeper into the woods and were not seen much afterwards except at training. Stabo, Gena, Young Bambi and Garlene went into that part of the forest near the Man path where there were fewer deer. Bambi, Faline, Claris, Stelar, and him stayed nearby which was good because when it got very cold, his side started to hurt worse than when it was just cool. The first snow, while heavy, did not stay on the ground for long. The second snow was lighter, but it was colder and the snow remained. It took them longer to find enough food to fill their stomachs. He struggled, the others his age seem to have an easier time, but it was Stelar that seem to thrive.

In a way he envied his daughter. She was filling out and would soon be a two year old. She was petty enough to have found a male last Season, but did not. That would change and he just hoped she find a good male. Having a good mate was one of the great joys of life, having a bad one was one of the worse things in life. He spent most of his time training her and the others as well as telling thems everything he knew about Man. He could only hope it would help them.

In the middle of winter, Man showed up again on the meadow. He heard Man making all sorts of noises near where the Man cave had been. They stayed there for two days and then left. When they had gone, the remains of the old burnt out Man cave were gone, The burnt Man animal was also gone just leaving bare just earth on the ground. A few days later Man came back and again. They heard noises only these sounded more like pounding.

That night Bambi and him went to look at where the noise had come from and found that Man had put large sticks into the ground with different colors on them. Just why they did that he had no idea, but they had. The others went out to look at what Man had done.

""Do you think Man will come back and build his Man cave," Stabo asked him.

"He may. He still has some interest in this place." he told him and the others.

"If he does, then he will be able to hunt from here and the other Man cave. That means more Men coming," Bambi added.

"That means more killing sticks," the younger Bambi realized.

"More death," Claris added.

"I am glad there are no such things near my forest," Galin said. "My father told me there was an open place on the edge of our forest. When Man came, he put up caves, but when he was done, took them away again. When the Man cave was here, Man did not take it away."

"That is how Man came to my old forest," Bambi added. "There was no Man caves all the time. I wonder why he builds come caves that remain and some caves that he takes away."

"Maybe he likes this place better," Garten added.

They left it at that and went on. His old forest looked bleak and empty. No deer went back. There was nothing to eat. Even the birds seem to avoid the place. Only at the far edge of the old meadow near where had met Geno and Oswell were there any trees that were not burnt.

It was doing this time they had good news. With the exception of Claris and Faline, all the doe told them they could feel the fawns growing inside them. He could look forward to new family in the spring. The only sad thing was his realization that by the time these fawns were ready to be trained, he would not be here to do it. However, at least his family would go on without him. That gave both him and Claris some comfort.

It was a few days later that he noticed something unusual. Stelar was talking to a young male. He did not recognize him. He looked like a two year old male. He was large, but not as big as Stabo, or Young Bambi had been at that age. They seemed interested with each other. What bothered him was that the next day, Stelar vanished from the forest. She left without telling him or the others and that bothered him. He wondered where she had gone.

For several days they heard nothing from her. Then early one evening he heard Stabo call out to them all while Bambi was again going over with Galine and his family how to fight with their hoofs. He wondered what it was now. They all went to Stabo's clearing and there stood Stelar with the same young male he had seen her with before. Both were talking to Stabo.

Stabo looked up. "I wanted you to hear this. I do not whether to be angry or glad for my sister."

By now Young Bambi had come with Garlene along with Gena, Bambi, Faline and Claris. with them all in the clearing while Stelar and the male stood.

"Where have you been?" he asked poignantly

"I took a long walk with Helos," she said. "I went deep into the forest looking for Balo, Stena, and the others."

"That was foolish," he said loudly. "In fact it was stupid. You want to end up like your sister?"

"Perhaps," she said, "But I made a choice of my own. Besides what you taught me protected us."

"You should have discussed this with your father," Claris blurted out also showing her anger.

"Well I did it," she said also letting her voice rise. "I do not argue with you when you and your bear friend spend time together, or you all go off looking to do something dangerous."

"I have been doing this a long time," he told her. "Not all the time successfully as I am sure you noticed. I have already lost one daughter there; I do not want to lose a second."

"Well you did not lose me and I was able to find out some things. Most are bad, but there are some good things I learned too."

"I take it this will also explain your friend, here?" he asked looking at the male who looked timid and confused.

"My friend's name is Helos, and he is from the deep forest. Many days ago I saw him and I knew he was not from this herd. Helos came from near where Balo and Stena had gone. I asked him to show me, but it took a few days to get there and back. He lost his mother at the same time Stena and Balo were killed. I found where they died, Father. It was not pretty, but I do not think they suffered."

"How do you know that?" Bambi asked.

"Because I found where Man killed them," she said plainly. "Man drove them into a clearing with the wind at their tails. Man was in front and the deer could not smell them. They killed several deer. There pools of blood in the clearing, and even though they were old, the ground was stained heavily. They were very large. I remember Bambi what you said when Gurri, Jolo and Gerta were killed. It was the same."

That silenced everyone. She seemed sure of what she was saying, but how could she be he wondered? "You know a lot for someone who was not there."

"No, but I talked to those who were there and lived. That is the good news. You see Delon, Karlene, and Alana all lived."

That brought them all to their feet. "Are you sure?" Young Bambi called out."

"Yes, because I talked to all three of them. When Man went to chase them, Balo and Stena led the herd. He sent Delon and Karlene to the back to make sure no was left behind. When Man used his killing sticks, they were far enough away where they were not hit. Alana and Helos were with them. They all ran in another direction and got away. I met them and Helos along with many other deer. Helos' mother was also killed along with Alana's son. There is a large herd in the deep forest, but they had no leader. Balo was trying to get them to listen to him when Man came. Balo tried to lead them away, but many deer did not listen. When they did try and run away, Man was ready for them."

"Why did not Delon and Karlene return?" Stabo asked.

Stelar answered quickly and without hesitation. "Because they did not think they were welcomed back here. Besides, the members of that herd started listening to Delon. He led them away from where the others were killed. Those deer lived. Then the deer there started to ask Delon questions about what they should do. Delon told them. A couple of the senior males did not like that and tried to push Delon aside, With what you taught him, he beat them. I saw one fight. Delon took care of a four year old male easily and beat him bad, but did not hurt him. Now many deer are looking to Delon as herd leader."

"Did Delon treat you well," Claris asked.

"Yes, Delon and Karlene seemed happy I lived through the fire and told me that I never did anything to harm him or his mother and father. Stabo, I must say he hates you and Young Bambi. He even had bad things to say about you, Father. He wants nothing to do with any of you."

"No loss there," Young Bambi snorted.

"I understand how you all feel," he told the others. "I feel it too, but if Delon can keep that herd safe, then I wish him and Karlene well."

"There is one other thing," Stelar went on. "Man has built that Man cave near where Delon is at. It is as big as the Man cave was here. Delon told me he expects many Men next Season to hunt. He may take the herd farther away."

"At least he learned that much," Bambi said.

All he could do was shake his head. He was not happy his daughter went off on her own, but she had found out what they wanted to know. She had come through and brought back a young male.

"Very well Helos, when you are not guiding my daughter in the forest, what do you want?" he asked.

Helos spoke clearly and did not seem afraid, but still a bit unsure of himself. "I saw what Balo did with the herd. I then saw how easily Delon beat the other two males who were trying to make the others in the forest follow them. Delon, Karlene, and Stelar all told me it was because of what you taught them that they could do that. I asked Stelar if you could train me the same way."

That was interesting. "You want us to train you?" he asked. "Why should we do that?"

"So I can be of help to my herd," he said calmly.

He looked at Bambi and shrugged asking him silently what he thought. Bambi spoke up. "You know that this training is difficult. It is at times dangerous. What we teach you can allow you to be of help to the herd. It can also cause you to end up dead like Balo and Stena. Have you considered that?"

He could see the young male had not considered it and looked a bit taken back. Finally after a few moments he spoke up. "Since I am going end up dead in any case, I like to learn so I can stay alive as long as I can."

That made perfect sense to him. This male was not stupid, but was he strong enough? That he could only know after the training started.

"Very well Helos, we must talk about this among ourselves. I like you to leave us for a while," he said.

"Of course," Helos said and left, Stelar started to follow him.

"Not you, young doe," he said loudly.

Stelar froze in place while Helos left the clearing. When he was convinced he was far enough away he spoke up letting his anger show. He walked over to his daughter and looking her into her black eyes. "What you did, Stelar, was stupid. You could have been killed easily. You have not been fully trained."

Stelar did not back down looked right back at him. "Yes I could have, just like Balo and Stena who you did fully train. Father the training helps, I can see that, but it does not work all the time as I am sure you know. I did what I thought was right. I have not changed my mind. I have learned enough to travel to Bambi's old forest and return. I have learned enough to travel past the Man cave and watch it. Do I know everything, no, but I know enough or I would not be here." She then stopped talking and glared back at him.

"She has courage," Galin said.

Claris spoke up. "She is stubborn, at times reckless, and perhaps too fearless for her own good. Stelar, you are your Father's daughter."

He could hear the other trying not to laugh out loud. He had to suppress a laugh himself. She was like him. "Very well," he said, "We cannot undo what was done. Stelar despite my feelings at what you did, you did do it well. The next question is do we train Helos?"

"He seems to want to learn for the right reason," Bambi said. "He did come all the way here with Stelar. I say we try and teach him and see what happens."

"I agree," Stabo said. "He could be of use to either us or Delon."

"I like him," Garten said out loud. "Even without the training he still went with Stelar and came back again. That also shows courage."

"I agree with my brother," Garlin said.

"Yes, but with my injuries, I cannot longer teach him to fight," he told the others. "I shall have to depend on the rest of you to do that."

"I can help there, Father," Stabo spoke up.

"I think I can help there also," Young Bambi said.

"And I am not yet dead," Bambi said. "Stranger we can teach him that."

"Then I will teach him what I know about Man," he said. "I just hope I have enough time to do it."

He then looked back at his young daughter. "Very well, daughter, and we will continue your training also. Now go get that young male of yours."

"Father, he is not my male," she said looking somewhat angry.

"Oh, you have been sleeping with him," he said. Stelar looked at him shocked that he knew. "My body may not be working well, but my nose does," he told her.

"Stelar looked slightly embarrassed. "Do not be ashamed," he told her "You are old enough to decide who you stay with. You could have done a lot worse."

With that Stelar took off to find Helos leaving him standing there. She was nice to look at. He watched her go and noticed again just how lovely his daughter looked from behind. He could see why Helos would be interested in her. He then turned and faced the others. "Then it is agreed we start the training tomorrow night. I will start him out with Man and walking carefully. Bambi will tell him about how to be a good herd leader. I think the fight training we will start in the spring after Galin and the others leave for their forest."

The rest of them nodded. It looked like it was going to be an interesting winter after all. He looked at Bambi, Faline and Claris lying close together. "So it begins again," he told them and then added silently "For the last time I think."

It was late evening the next night. He, Helos and Stelar stood alone in the remains of the meadow now almost a bare piece of ground. In front of them was the brown earth and sticks where the remains of the Man cave had been. That cave was now as dead as the deer the Men inside had used their killing sticks on. The air was chilly and his side hurt, but he could still move and still talk.

"Very well, Helos, this will be your first lesson. Come with me. Stelar you stay here,' he ordered.

He took the young male into the center of the meadow and had him look around. He wanted Helos to see what had happened.

"This is all a result of Man," he told him. "Man comes, Man kills, and then Man goes away leaving only death and destruction behind. This place used to be a beautiful forest with lots of deer and other animals; now it has almost nothing. The only good thing is that it will grow back. Man can destroy a forest, but he cannot stop it from growing back. New life always comes from the old and even if the old life has passed, the new life will remain. That is the true lesson of the forest."

Helos look around for a moment. "So any children I have will remain, after I am gone."

"That is correct. That is why we teach them and when the time comes, you will teach your children what you learn now. In this way, what we know carries on after we are gone."

"I think I understand," Helos said looking a bit confused.

"You will," he said. "Now for your first lesson. I want you to face where the Man cave had been."

Helos did exactly what he was told and faced the empty remains of a past long gone.

"Now what do you feel?" he asked.

The first lesson went on all night. He also saw Bambi talking with Galin, Charlene, Garten, Young Faline, Koren, and Gerla. Stelar was listening to Bambi also. Very soon Stabo, Gena, Young Bambi and Galene came out also. Almost the entire family was there like the old times when the meadow was green and full of grass. After the lessons and before the rising of the greater light they all stood together in the open field.

"Crack," he heard behind him.

He turned suddenly looking to see the source of the noise. A large back object was coming down the hill. He smiled and walked over. Sure enough the bear walked out from the trees. He was surprised. It was late enough in the winter where he thought the bear be sleeping. Helos took one look at the bear and left in a hurry as did Galin and his family.

"I thought you be asleep," he said out loud.

"If you remember, I usually get up in midwinter," the bear said. "I had gone over the hill into the other forest to find something to eat. With the heavy snow and cold, I found an old deer that did not survive, a doe I think. I satisfied myself with her. I was going back into my den when I saw you through the bare trees. Who is the new male."

"Someone I found when exploring," Stelar said from behind him. "He is a nice male. Please do not eat him." His daughter then broke out into a laugh that soon him and the bear took it up."

The bear looked at her approach. "Yes, you are your father's daughter," the bear said. "And you are your father's son," he said to Stabo who was right behind her.

He looked back, not only Stelar, but Stabo, Claris, Bambi and Faline were coming closer. He was surprised so many now trusted the bear.

"And you are my friend," he said and went up and nuzzled the bear. "I wanted to say thank you again for saving me the second time."

"Yes thank you again," Claris said and also nuzzled the bear. "It would not be the same forest without Stranger."

"Are you much better," the bear asked him.

"I am still broken on the inside, but I can still move and I can still talk and teach. As long as I can and there are deer who want to learn, I will continue."

"Of course," the bear said. "As I have said before, that is the reason you are here. It would appear that my reason to be here is helping you when needed."

Again, they all smiled."And you have, my friend," he told the bear.

"You are herd leader now of both herds, I hear," the bear said to Stabo.

"Yes," Stabo said simply.

The bear looked at him seriously with his red eyes fixed on him "After your father and Bambi are gone, will you continue what they started?"

There was some gasps from the others about the bear talking about his death and Bambi's as a fact. He was not offended, the bear was just saying what was obvious to all. Stabo was taken back for a second before answering.

"Yes I will," Stabo said sternly. "As will the others we have taught, such as Gorro, Bambi's youngest son, as will Galin and his family who will live in the forest over the far hill, and you already know about Felon and Young Claris in the forest over your hill. It will all go on. It will just go on with different deer as it will go on one day without me. "

"Good!" the bear said and let out a growl. There was movement in the trees above them Another bear, smaller than this bear came down and stopped just inside the trees. The others in his group ran off. He stayed still, he could not run from a bear even if he wanted too.

"That is Uttral, who is my daughter," the bear said. "I watched her in the other forest. I noticed how she hunted. Like my son and the others of my kind she did not stalk and run down her food. She let the food come to her while she hid herself. She told me she liked to study how animals moved, it made her hunting easier."

"I have heard this before," he said with a grin. "I am happy one of your children has learned as you have."

"Do not approach her yet, she still may just eat you, but she is learning. Because she is a younger sister to my son, he will not run her off or try to breed with her. She will make a den on the other side of the hill. I wanted to show her how we get along. I was thinking I will teach her like you teach your children."

"Perhaps that is also part of the reason you are here," he said. "If she wishes to meet with me, call me."

"We will see," the bear said. "For now, I and Uttral must go back to finish our winter's sleep. I will see you in the spring."

"Stay well, my friend and your daughter too," he said and walked away.

He walked back to all the others standing near where Men had put the sticks in the ground. Helos as well as Galin and Young Bambi gasped at him.

"Were you not afraid of that other bear?" Young Bambi called out.

"No," he answered. "It was just another part of the reason I am here."

Being the slowest he followed the others back into the forest. Watching them disappear into the tress he found that he felt happy. He had not felt this way since his fawn died in the spring. He now understood better why he was here, and why he would stay for as long as he could. There had been lots of pain this season, but he was still here and still alive. There were others who seem to need him. It gave him something to live for. Which is all any creature really needs.

Epilogue

Year 9

They stood on the top of the hill near where they had all lived before the fire. It was late spring and it was time to say goodbye to more of his family he would never see again. He was tired, the trip up the hill had exhausted him. Galin with Charlene and their little male fawn Gerro. Koren with Garla and their doe fawn Wena, and Garten with Young Faline and their male fawn Striko. Off in the distance he could see the large open fiends and the forest in the distance where they would live out the rest of their lives.

The lesser light had just rose giving light to the open area.

"We will follow the stream that goes from my forest to here," Galin said to them. "It should not take more than two days."

"Go quickly and quietly," Bambi said. "Empty your waste in the stream, less chance predators will smell you."

"I shall miss all of you," Stabo said. "I wish you well with your herd. You are ready now and I know you will be good herd leaders."

"Only because of what you, Bambi and Stranger taught us," Charlene said. "With that she went up and kissed her mother and father goodbye.

"Thank you for your help," Galin said to both Bambi and him.

"Pass on what you have learned," he told them.

Galin looked at his new son and smiled. "When the time comes, I will teach him. That I promise you."

"Now go," Bambi told them. You have a long trip to make."

With that the six of them left. Only Galene would remain with Young Bambi and their new doe fawn Jena. " Goodbye my brothers and sister," she said as they walk out onto the open grassy meadow.

Like him, they knew they most likely would not see each other again. He felt sorry about losing his children and the rest of his family. He knew he would not have worry about it for much longer. Still the bear had been right all those seasons before. Not only did the best in them continue, it would now spread to other forests.

"I hope they do well," Faline said watching them go.

"They will do the best they can. Of that I am sure," Bambi told them.

He could not have said it better.

THE END for now

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