face them and made the most serious face possible. "Although we played this as a game, this is not a game. If you do this wrong, if you make a mistake, it is not 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 head and put it in their Man cave. Then they will eat your body. All the time they will be happy and enjoy themselves, because killing deer is fun for them."

Even Bambi swallowed hard. That was the one thing they had to understand. To make a mistake around Man is to die, and die horribly.

"Understand this," he said as seriously as he could. "Man does not need to kill us like the bear does, or the coyote does. They kill for food and so they can live, Man has all the food he needs. I have seen this myself. He can get all the food, all the meat he wants just for the asking. 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. I wish you good fortune."

With that he turned and walked away to the other side of the meadow and into the forest. He didn't feel like being with any of the others. His insides were a mixture of accomplishment because of what he did, fear because he might have done it improperly, and dread at the consequence of what would happen if he was wrong. Part of him was happy he had shown others what he knows, and part of him was sorry at what might happen.

A familiar scent crossed his nose and he smiled. "I smell you my friend. Have you been watching for long?"

"I have been watching you teach the others," the bear's growly voice said from behind some trees. "The wind was blowing from the meadow so I heard what you told them. I think now I understand your purpose in being here."

That made him curious, "What is that?"

"You are here to teach them what you know, so that others can be taught and maybe make life better for all."

"I hope it was worth it, I did the best I could," he said with a shrug. "Then again we both remember what happened the last time I did my best."

"Yes, but as in last time others were saved because of the pain you took on yourself. That is why you belong here and why I will not eat you. The herd is breaking up now, correct?"

"Yes, Bambi and a few will go to the old forest down the stream. I will stay here with some others, and a few will live in the forest with the Man path. I am afraid the hunting will not be good around here for your kind this winter."

"I can go elsewhere," the bear said."Stay alive, Stranger."

"You too," he answered and started to walk the long way around the meadow.

When he got back to the small thicket Claris and Stena were standing.

"Pa Pa, are you hurt?" Stena asked. Her voice was growing stronger.

He leaned over and rubbed her tiny mouth with his tongue. "No I am not hurt, I am just tired. I have been teaching your brother." He looked up at Claris. "Do I look that bad?" he asked.

"You look like you are carrying the entire forest on your back," she said and rubbed his cheek. Again he felt warm and happy inside.

That night was the time of parting. Ronno and Marol, Bambi and Faline, Ate, and the others all gathered just after darkness."

After all this time there was little more to say. He kissed Gretna on the cheek and then Faline, he then nuzzled Bambi. Claris and her mother embraced. There were words of goodbye and good luck. Then he said good bye to his son, Veron, and Gena, and off they went. Although he knew his son would be nearby, he wondered if he would ever see Bambi and Faline again. He suddenly realized just how much he would miss them and just as suddenly realized just how many were depended on him now to lead them. It gave him a cold feeling in his stomachs. As soon as they were all out of sight and smell, Jolo came up to him.

"Herd Leader," what do you want us to do?"

He cringed, but spoke as clearly as he could. "For now we change nothing. We eat on the meadow at night. We hide in the forest by day. Stay away from the meadow during the day or you may end up like Marro. Jolo and I will watch the Man caves to we see if Man is getting ready to hunt in the forest. In that case, I will call you all here and we will decide what to do. Does anyone have any questions?

None did, why should they? The old leader was gone, the new leader was here. That was the Way of All Things. Nothing lasts forever. Not even him.

Chapter 4: Adjustments

It was two mornings after Bambi and the others had left that the noise started. It was loud and came from the area where the new Man caves were. There seemed to be a lot of shouting like the last time many Men came here. As before the Men seemed to shout the same thing at the same time. It started just before the greater light was overhead and went on for the rest of the day. Toward nightfall he could smell the burning meat smell coming from the meadow. He did not know who it belonged to, but it didn't smell like deer.

"As soon as it is dark, Jolo and I will go look and see what is happening," he told Claris as they lay together near Stena. She was sleeping next to him but no longer between them. She looked past her mother and asked him. "Can I come with you Father?"

He was not sure about that. He looked at Claris and said nothing. Claris nodded and added. "We will all come."

"Very well," he said. "One thing Stena you stay next to your mother. If she starts to run, you run with her. You run and you do not look back. Do you understand this, because it is very important?"

"Is because like what you told Stabo, if I do not run fast I might die?" she said that in all seriousness.

He looked at Claris who seemed as surprised as he was. Stena seemed to be trying to understand at an early age. Usually fawns are almost a full season old before they can fully understand the dangers of Man. "Yes," he told her. "It is exactly like I told Stabo. It is time you learn about Man."

"Thank you, Father. I want you to teach me like you teach Stabo and Jolo." She seemed happy she was being treated like a big deer and not a helpless fawn.

They waited until after dark when Jolo came to his thicket to see if he had anything to do. "Tonight I want to look at the Man caves," he told him.

"The noise from today," he said. "You think they are there for us this time?"

"No," he said. "It is not the Season yet. Sometimes Man comes for the birds that live in the meadow. Let us be off, Claris and Stena will come with us."

Jolo shot a glance at Stena, he could tell he was about as happy with this as he was. "We all must learn sometime," he said and left for that place in the forest he could view the meadow.

As they moved all of them walked silently except for Stena who would occasionally break a twig. She also was asking all sorts of questions. Finally as they got near to the place he stopped.

"Stena, look how your mother walks; do you see how she does not step on branches or anything else that makes noise? You must not make noise around Man, or he will hear you. Also do not talk anymore. Sometimes Man or his dogs can hear our voices."

Stena started to say something and then stopped. All she did was nod her head and started to try and pick her way around branches and other things on the forest floor. It made her slower, but that was fine with him. No one learns all of this in one night.

They walked slowly until they came to that place in the forest they all knew well by now. As he looked through the few trees, he could see the Man cave brightly lit up from fires on the ground and from lights inside. Many Men were sitting on their rocks and smoking at their mouths. They could also see dogs lying on the ground. The wind was blowing across the meadow, so the dogs could not smell them from this distance.

He motioned all of them to come close to where he stood so he could whisper. "We need to wait for Man to go inside their caves to sleep. Then maybe we can use the meadow."

He got down on his legs to lie down. Claris lay next to him, but Stena lay next to Jolo who did not seem to mind. They waited and watched. When the lesser light was nearly over head, the Men put out the fires and all went inside their caves. He waited until all the lights in the caves went out before he got up.

"I think we can use the meadow now, but I am not sure," he said in a low voice. "I want all of you to go back into the forest. I am going to step out on the meadow. I know Man cannot see me, but the dogs may smell me and make a noise. If you hear the dogs bark loudly or see lights go on, you all run back to the cave and wait for me."

The all nodded and went deeper into the woods. He slowly walked out onto the meadow. The wind was blowing across the meadow so his scent was not carried to the dogs. He stepped out and started to chew on some grass. At first all seem alright, then he felt the wind change and blew over his tale. A little while later one of the dogs began to bark, followed soon by others. He had to go. He ran into the forest until he was sure the dogs were not chasing him and then made his way back to his thicket. The others were already there.

"Did the dogs smell you, Father?" Stena asked. "We heard the dogs bark and we ran back here."

"We heard no killing stick," Jolo said.

"I left before Man could see me. You

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