hill," he said loudly enough for all to hear.

He then led them up toward the increasing light and safety of a new day.

Epilog: The Quiet Season

He climbed the hill quickly, keeping his nose in the air in case there were unexpected guests. He smelled none. It was getting toward day, and the crisp cool air in the morning only hinted at the cold weather to come. The Man caves were empty, and the Men had vanished just before his antlers fell off. The forest was at peace and would remain that way for now.

"I thought I smelled you," the bear called him from the side. He looked and saw the black shape among some berry bushes, no doubt getting a last meal before his winter sleep. "I have not seen you since spring."

"I have been away and busy," he told the bear and walked over and told him his tale. The bear seemed surprised.

"You have been busy," the bear finally said. "Funny, I normally do not think of you deer as being violent creatures, yet you and Bambi managed to kill three of your own kind. Wish I had been there to take care of the remains."

"Yes, I know," he said. "I do not like to think of ourselves as violent, and we are not unless we are forced to be. Other than the fact we do not eat our kills, I suppose we are not much different than you bears in some respects."

"True, we are all animals, just like Man," the bear said.

"No," he said emphatically. "Your kind kills for food to live, I killed to protect my friends and their families, Man kill for sheer pleasure."

"In the end, the others are just as dead no matter what the reason," the bear countered. "Did you ever think that Man needs this pleasure in the same way I need to feed and you need to protect your family?"

That comment took him back for a moment. He thought about it and shook his head. "I do not see how," he answered. "Man does not need to feed on us to live, since he already has all the food he needs. With their killing sticks, neither of us are threats to Man or his families. I am sorry, I do not see how."

"Perhaps there are other needs we are not aware of," the bear told him and started walking up the hill toward his den.

"Then I wish I understood what they were," he said walking with the bear.

"So what comes now?" the bear asked.

"I am going to see Stabo," he told him. "I will try and talk to him. Balo and Stena now accept Carie as my mate. I need to convince him of the same."

"Good luck on that," the bear said. "He strikes me as being as about as stubborn as his father."

He chuckled,"Yes father and son are alike," he said.

"What of Claris?" the bear asked. "Will you keep her?"

There was no hesitation with that answer. "Yes, because I sill care for her, and I think I always will. Carie will make my children, but I will always feel inside for Claris."

"That is the one thing I do envy about you deer," the bear said. "You can feel strongly toward your mates. We do not and mostly live our lives alone."

"Did you mate with the same female this year?" he wanted to know.

"No," the bear said flatly. "I could not find her, nor could I find one of the younger males in the forest over this hill. I do not know where they went. I did find a younger female and after I drove off a young male, I mated with her. Funny, I do not even know her name."

There was no need for explanation. If the bear could not find them, they were likely gone. No sense bringing that up. He decided to change the subject.

"I suppose you will be going into your den for your long sleep," he said.

"Yes, I feed the urge to sleep," the bear said. "I will be back in the spring. By then your new mate should have her fawn. "

"I hope it is a son," he said.

"To follow you in case something happens to you and Balo?" the bear say eying him.

"Of course," he said with a shrug. "It can be anyone of us lying dead in that meadow. Someone has to carry on."

"All the more reason to enjoy life while we can," the bear added.

"For as long as it lasts," he said.

The End

For Now