away."

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

"Stop," she interrupted loudly, almost in a yell. She had never yelled at him.

"You are herd leader," she said. "A herd leader needs to have a doe that can give him fawns. I can no longer do that. That is why I must leave. You need to find another doe that can give you these fawns. There are several four year old doe in the herd that are healthy. One or more of them can give you the fawns you need. You need a son that can follow you, and you will not get that with me."

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

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

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

"Claris," he said. "Do not do this. I still feel for you. Even if you cannot have any more fawns, we still have Stena and Balo. We still have Stabo and Gena. They can produce as many fawns as I will ever need."

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

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

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

"Your mother has left me," he told her exasperated. "She has convinced herself she cannot have any more fawns and this makes her unsuitable to be with me."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What about the herd?" Stena asked.

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

With that he turned away and went back to his thicket. He was still mad at himself for acting the way he did. He went back to where Claris had left him and put his nose to the ground. He smelled a faint scent of Claris along the ground. He followed it. Instead of going toward the Man path forest where his son lived, she doubled back. He followed the scent around toward the top of the hill and then on past where they had hid the time Man come for them and Gena and Jolo were killed. He followed it all the way back to the stream that flowed into the other great forest in the far distance where they had chased Geno. He then followed it down his hill toward the meadow.

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

"She had gone to be with her mother and her friends," he said to himself. It made sense. He also knew he just couldn't follow. Going to the other forest meant leaving his forest, not for a short while, but for days, maybe even an entire season. It was also a dangerous trip and would get more dangerous the later into spring and summer it got. She knew that. He only hoped she could cover the distance safely. He would follow her, but not until he made plans to protect the herd while he was gone. He looked at the series of hills Claris had vanished over and took a deep breath.

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

Chapter 2: Preparations

He had spent the rest of the day going back until he got to the meadow and then rather than go to the right where the stream and the old cave, pond, and clearing was, he went left and tried going back to the bear's den. He had an idea and he was going to tell the bear what he was going to do. Unfortunately the bear had already left so he spent the night near the Man cave. They were cold and dark at this time and there was no danger. He stayed near the old spring and waited. During that time he lay down and started to think. He knew he have to plan his actions carefully in order to do what he wanted. The first thing he needed to do is talk to his son. Just before the greater light rose, he got up and quietly traveled the short distance from the spring to the edge of his forest. He then moved quietly across the open space into the Man path forest.

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

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

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