Chapter 8: The Hunts

It started again exactly like he expected. He was lying next to Carie. They had felt the urges of The Season and once more had satisfied themselves until the urges had passed.

"Clang!" he heard from the meadow. It was loud enough to wake every deer in the forest. This was followed by more shouting and more ringing filling the forest with the announcement that Man was back in the forest to kill.

"Stranger?" Carie asked eyes filling with dread.

"Yes, Man is back for us," he said. "After dark we will go to our viewing place to watch and see if we can understand what he will do this time."

The noise got much louder as if almost in front of them. The shouting also seemed louder as if more Men were on the meadow. It was not the same as before and the difference bothered him.

"The fawns," Carie said almost as an afterthought.

Claris is wise; she will keep them in the clearing until night. We must not walk around in the forest during the day. Man can be anywhere. For now we stay still and stay hidden.

They spent the rest of the day in their glade trying to rest among the increasing clamor of Man's building in the meadow. Every time he almost fell asleep, some new sound would force him wide awake. As usual as the greater light set, the noise stopped. He waiting until it was completely dark before he got up.

"We will go first to the clearing and get Stuben. Then I want you to take him and Claris and go up to the place we hid from Man last season. I will send the others up soon. I will join you there. I want to see what Man is doing and I do not want many deer around me."

"I understand," she said. She looked relieved he hadn't asked her to go with him.

They went to the clearing, already most of the fawns had gone back to their mothers. Delon was gone.

"Where did Stena go?" he asked Claris.

"She was going with Balo to see what all the new noise was about," she said.

That was what he did not want to happen. There was something different this time and until he knew what it was, the fewer deer nearby the better.

"Tell all the deer that come here I told you to tell them to go to the place we hid last year," he told her. Claris, you go there now. I will see you when the greater light comes."

He did not wait for comments and hurried quickly away. He took the long way around avoiding the stream that ran down the hill. He walked carefully and noiselessly through the dark woods. The wind was again blowing across the meadow where he could not smell anything from the Man cave. He called out in a low voice several times when he smelled other deer. He told them all to go up to top of hill and wait. As the lesser light started to rise, he got to his viewing place. As he expected, Balo, Stena and Delon were already there.

"It is different this time," Balo said out loud as he approached.

He stood next to Balo and looked at the meadow. As before the Man cave was lit with bright light. There were small Man caves along the ground nearby. The small Man caves that they usually put up across the end of the meadow so they could look along its full length had been moved. They were now standing along the long side of the meadow. They were in a row along the edge of the forest on his side of the meadow. That was different than he had ever seen it before.

"Man is going to do something different this time," he said, "But I do not know what it is."

He thought about it for a while. "We will hide in the same place as last year. It is still hard for Man to climb it from the meadow. Stena you should take Delon and go there now. I am going to call the herd. Balo I think you should go with her and watch the others."

"Yes, Father," his daughter said and she left with little Delon. Balo stayed back looking concerned.

"I will be fine," he said.

"Balo took off. He came around the forest toward the small stream that led to the clearing. He called out loudly several times and then went to the clearing. Immediately he heard dogs barking loudly, but they did not sound as if they were running toward him.

He ran quickly toward the small clearing and waited. In twos and threes most deer came. He explained quickly what he wanted done and where they should go. Fortunately there were no arguments. He did note that Duro and Sinno were not there along with some of the three and four year old males and females. All the five year old males came to him for instructions, It was just as the greater light first appears that they all managed to get to the top of the hill and bed down. He found Claris, Carie and Stuben bedded down behind some rocks. Balo, Stena and Delon he was told was at the far end of the group. He lay down with his family and waited. It was not for very long.

First came the smell of fire and dead meat burning, but it was not deer. Then he heard the noise of several Man Machines that seemed to be moving away from them. He then waited for the shouting he knew would come as Man tried to get behind them and chase them onto the meadow only this time that did not happen. A little while later he heard faint shouting, but it was coming from far away toward the Man path forest. As they rested the shouting got a little louder. Then he heard it.

"PHAMM, PHAMM," went the killing sticks only these were close. In fact they sounded like they came from the edge of the meadow near them. There were other sounds of killing sticks, but these were in the Man path forest. It was then he realized what was happening.

"Man is not hunting here," he told Claris and Carie. "Man is hunting in the Man path forest. He is trying to get behind Veron and his herd and push them out on this side of the forest. It is not far from there to our meadow. As they run into our meadow the Men in the small Man caves will kill them."

He listen to the noise go on until the greater light had almost set. Then it stopped and he could hear the shouting from the Man cave. Again there was the smell of burning deer in the wind. He almost vomited because the smell was so strong. Some deer did throw up some of their cud.

After it was fully dark he found Balo and talked it over with him.

"They went after Veron's herd today," Balo said. "Veron was afraid if too many deer join his herd it would bring Man. It looks as if he was right."

All he could do was nod his head in agreement. "I am afraid he was. I heard several sounds from the killing sticks inside our meadow and the Man path forest."

"I hope Veron and Stabo are alright," Balo went on.

"They both are wise, they will be alright," he answered. The he looked around the forest near them. "Have you seen Duro and the other deer?"

"No, not a sign of them," Balo said anxiously. "They did not come up here."

"Well I am not going to go looking for them," he said. "Right now we need to get the herd fed and have them drink. We will do that now."

Balo nodded and went away. He got the herd to eat the grass in the large open area between his forest and the forest he had chased Geno to. After they ate he led them down to the stream that flowed into the small pond and clearing near where he lived. As soon as everyone had eaten and drank their fill, he got them all back hidden well before the greater light rose and it started again.

Man hunted in the Man path forest that day also. Only this time Man used dogs. He could pick up traces of barking dogs on the wind. What he heard plainly were more sounds of the killing sticks. None of the killing stick sounds came from his meadow. Instead they came from the Man path forest. He heard several during the day. In his meadow he heard more clanging noises from where the smaller Man caves had been. Between the dogs, killing sticks and clanging noises, no one got any sleep that day.

That night he let Balo take the herd to feed, while he went back to his viewing place by himself. As he looked again he could see the brightly lit man caves, and the fire, and the Men smoking and drinking, but the smaller Man caves had been moved back to where they usually were. That told him they hunt in his forest tomorrow. He turned and lefty his viewing place. Immediately he picked up the scents of four deer near him. There was Duro, Sinno, and two others he did not know.

"I know you are there," he said out loud.

"A moment later four male deer came out of the forest near him lead by Duro. The other stayed behind him.

"How are things going here?" he asked.

"Thing are all well here," Duro said sounding like he himself was a herd leader." Man is getting too clever in finding us. We need to go someplace else."

"Suit yourselves," he said. "It is your lives."

"We do not think you are right," Sinno stammered.

"That is nice," he said now talking firmly like he would to a fawn.

"We also think you have been herd leader too long," Duro added. "We need new deer, with newer plans."

"Like who, you Duro?" he spat out.

"You could do worse," Duro said.

He took a deep breath and seemed to relax before leaping ahead quickly until he was only a short distance from Duro. It caught Duro and the others off guard. He looked long and deep into Duro's eyes.

"Anytime any of you want to challenge me, please come on," he said tersely. "I would wait until Man left the forest, but I certainly do it while you still have your antlers. You know where to find me. Anytime you are ready, Duro. Now are there any other questions."

No one said a word. He nodded. "Very well, Man will be

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