could see me. You all did the right thing," he said mostly to make sure Stena understood.

"We cannot use the meadow. We will have to feed in the forest," he told them.

"Many of the others are in the clearing," Jolo added.

"Fine, we will eat there tonight," he said and led them back to the small clearing.

He told the others to eat in the forest and not to go to the meadow until he told them it was safe. They ate and drank their fill. By then the first light of the morning was in the sky. They all went back to their resting places.

"You did well tonight," he told Stena. "You must learn how to walk quietly. Last night it did not matter. It might matter soon."

"Yes, Father," was all she said.

"Practice as you walk around with your mother. You must learn not to make a noise as you move through the forest."

With that they all lay down to sleep together. It wasn't much later when they starting hearing the killing sticks. Stena had not heard them often so every time one went off she would cringe. That continued well into the day. They did not get any sleep until the greater light was well past overhead.

This went on for three days and then one morning stooped. That night they all went to look again and saw the Man caves were empty and there were no lights. There was no fire, no dogs and no Men. It was safe on the meadow again. With no men around it was time for him to do something he wanted to do since Man came.

He waited until after they ate on the meadow that night. "I am going to leave and go to the forest were Stabo and Veron went and see how they are doing. I want to do this now before the Season gets closer and Man comes back for us. Jolo, I leave you here."

"Can I come, Father?" Stena asked.

"Not this time," he said, "maybe when you are older."

"Be careful," Claris said and nuzzled him on his cheek.

"I try to be," he said and left them there.

He went around the stream side of the meadow. The side their thicket was on because he did not want to walk close to the Man caves. As he moved he could feel the eyes of some of the hunters look on him, but he was too big for most of them to attack. They kept their distance and so did he. He walked until he was at the side of the meadow the Man caves were at and he looked at them closer. These caves were bigger. The Man cave he had grown up in was only so high that a Man could reach up his arm and touch the top of the Cave. These caves looked much taller and much bigger than his cave. Many Men could stay here and in the Season that means many Men with killing sticks.

He came to the end of his forest. The trees and bushes stopped and there was a hill over which lay the other forest. There was an open space between his forest and the other forest. It was covered only in grass. The gap was not much, but he would be in the open. He smelled the air and other than the three coyotes following him, he smelled nothing out of place. He smelled no dogs and no Men. He decided to run, but not run in a straight line. He darted out and ran one way and then quickly changed direction and ran a different way, all the while getting close to the other forest. He did this four times before he ran into the trees of the other forest. By the time he got there, his rear left leg was hurting where he had been hit by Man. It still had not healed completely. As soon as he was sure he was safely in the other forest he stopped and started to smell, looking for the scent of other deer. He picked up the scent from some waste and followed it toward the Man path. Then he smelled other deer near him. He came to a small clearing and saw several deer eating in it. He walked into the herd. Several of them stopped eating and came up to him.

"Stranger is that you?" one of the three season males asked. He remembered his name was Kelor

"Yes," he answered. "I am looking for Veron and Stabo."

"They ate here and went to look at the Man path," Kelor told him. "Veron told the rest of us to stay here."

"Can you show me the way they went?" he asked.

Kelor took him to the end of the clearing and pointed to where they had gone into the forest. He leaned over and could smell three scents from Veron, Stabo and Gina. All the scents were fresh. "If you see them, tell them I am here looking for them."

He followed the scents which was not hard. They were using an old deer path. He walked taking in large qualities of air. He had no idea what hunters were present, and he wanted to find them, before they found him. He moved for a while and then the scents got strong. He quietly approached and he could just see the opening in the trees the Man path made when he heard breaking of branches as deer started to run. They must have heard him. He stopped and let out a low bleat they should all know. They all approached him from different ways.

"Father," Stabo said. "Sorry we heard you, but did not smell you so we ran because we were not sure who it was."

"You all did the right thing," he said. "When in doubt, run, we can always talk later."

"Veron broke into a smile. "You know you are starting to sound like my Father. Have you heard anything from him?"

"No, and I do not expect to until after the Season or even Winter," he said. "How goes things over here.

"Things are fine," Veron said. "We found five two season females and one male that came back. They said the forest they went too was crowded and they felt there was more food here."

"We have looked around and found lots of small clearings, but no large meadow except at the end of the forest," Gina told him.

"Do you have enough food to last the winter?" he asked.

"Yes," Stabo said. "I would feel better if we knew what was on the other side of the Man path. If we found some more clearings it would make things easier."

"Any bears or other hunters?" he wanted to know.

"No, so far just the raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, mice, moles, ground squirrels, and birds," Veron answered. "There are small hunters like ferrets, owls, and others, but nothing large."

He looked up in the open space of the Man path at the sky starting to lighten. "Morning is coming; let us find a place to lie down for the day."

"Gina and I have a place, Stabo said. "Veron is nearby."

He looked at the two of them standing close together. That was not unexpected, but he did not think it would happen until next year. Usually one of the larger three season males would drive Stabo off until he got fully grown and that would not happen until next year. His rack while nice was not big yet. Veron was going to have a big rack like his father. He would need to be particularly careful. He followed his son back to his bedding area where he and Gina slept next to each other and he slept alone. Veron disappeared into the forest. There he slept until nightfall.

He spent the next night looking around their forest noting numbers. The thing that got him was even the two season males and the two three season males seem to go along with anything Veron said. There were no arguments, no questioning. Everyone seemed happy. The deer accepted Veron as leader. He doubt this would last as the Season came on. He waited until the four of them were together before he spoke up to them.

"I will leave early tomorrow night to go back. I do not want to leave your mother alone for long. I need to explain something mostly to Stabo and Gina."

Both of them peaked up their ears. "Stabo, you are not going to be big enough to fight for Gina this Season. You are still not fully grown and your rack is not grown. One of the larger male could force you away."

Stabo looked shocked at what he was saying. "I can fight Father," Stabo said angrily. "You taught me."

That was what he was afraid of. "I taught you how to fight a deer of your own size. The three season males are simply too large for you and Gina is too good looking of a doe for them not to be interested in her."

"Are you saying I should allow a male to have her, NO!" Stabo said and stamped his foot.

"I do not want another male," Gina spoke up.

"NO I am not, now listen," he said tersely. "When you both feel the Season coming on, you must both leave the herd. Get far away from the other deer so they will not smell you. The older deer will not come after you if they cannot find you. You both leave and stay away from the herd and from each other until the Season passes and you Stabo lose your antlers. After that all will be fine. Next year when you are fully grown and have a grown rack, then you can fight anyone that challenges you for Gina. Besides, Stabo, you are also too young to be a father. I myself was a three season male before I could fight well enough to breed with a doe and I was a four season male when I met your mother. It is not that I do not care what you two feel for each other, but I have lived long enough to know better. This is not the time for you to join together."

Then he turned to Veron. "As herd leader you will be expected to breed with a doe this Season. Pick a good one. Do not worry if you do not feel for the doe like your Father and Mother feel for each other. That will come in time. You will meet the right doe and you will know it. Also once the Season starts one of the three seaon males may challenge you. If so you must beat him, but don't kill him. During the Season deer act differently. Once the Season starts, deer do not think the same. Even Bambi and I moved apart during the Season because we

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