to be ready to flee.

"If the Bear was here to kill a deer, he could have already easily done so," he said to the others.

"The bear stopped several lengths away still mostly hidden by the trees and bushes. "As I see this is not how Man normally behaves. I know Stranger and Bambi would come and I was wondering what they made of it."

"That fact is we do not know what is happening here," Bambi added. "We do not know if it is safe for the herd. We will need to find out before we bring the herd out onto the meadow.

"Then how do we know if the meadow is safe?" Balo asked.

"We cannot know by standing here, but I can think of one way to find out," he told him and stepped away from the others. "The rest of you stay here," he ordered.

"Father, it may not be safe," Stena said.

"Another duty of the herd leader," he said tersely and walked away just inside the trees.

He worked his way around the edge of the forest along the far side of the meadow. He stayed just inside the trees always looking for any sign of danger. As he walked toward the Man cave it seemed to him the flickering light was getting brighter. Again the increasing breeze broke only a trace of Man scent. It looked like Man had gone, yet why the light and the Man machine. He got closer to the Man cave. Finally he got below the location of the bear's den. He continued on until he got as close to the Man cave as he dared. Other than the increasing light from inside the Man cave and the increasing smell of a skunk, he could not detect anything. Part of him told him there was danger here and part of him told him there was none. Man certainly had not behaved like this in the past. He left the cover of the trees. As he did he saw into the Man cave for the first time. The light was much brighter now. In fact it looked almost like a fire that Man would start to burn his meat. Would man burn his meat inside his cave? He had seen the Men he grew up with do that sometime, but the fire was always small and in something. This was in the open. Then he saw it. The light rose up and suddenly he realized it was not a light. It was a fire. The Man cave was on fire. He turned and yelled as loud as he could.

"Fire," he called back to the others.

"Just then there was a high squeal like some bird in distress and the skunk smell got very strong for an instant. Suddenly a huge bright light appeared in front of him. As he did he felt something lift him up off the ground and throw him away like he would throw away a piece of dirt caught in his antlers. There was a loud crashing noise in his ears. He hit something hard, very hard like a large male stomping on him. He heard several loud pops from inside his left side when he hit the ground. Then he felt nothing.

Sometime later he woke up. He heard a roar in front of him and felt heat on his body. He opened his eyes, but the view was blurry. He saw a huge mass of fire in front of him. The fire was large and already in the trees near the Man cave. He could see the flames were being blown by the wind. The fires were already in the trees going across the meadow. Fires were also breaking out all around him on his side of the meadow and the bear's side. Trees were lighting on fire everywhere. The bushes were burning quickly. He had to get up. As he tried to move, he found he couldn't. His whole lower body had a tingling feeling. It was in his legs, in his muscles and even in his neck. His body would not move. He could not turn his body either. He was going nowhere. He was also feeling dizzy in his head. He was fixed to the ground like an oak tree. He felt something liquid in his mouth. He recognized the smell and taste. It was blood. It was his blood. He was bleeding out of his mouth.

He looked around what little he could and saw fire increasing. It would soon burn his entire forest. It would burn his herd along with it. He had to get his herd out, yet he could not move a single muscle. He was helpless. Again and again he tried to move his legs and again and again they would not move. Something had to be done. The fire was getting bigger by the moment. The smell of smoke was getting stronger and starting to choke him. He then realized this was where he was going to stay. He was going to die here and there was nothing he could do about it. As soon the fire reached him, he'd be just as burnt as the deer meat Man put on the fire. Not only him, but the rest of the herd would be caught inside the burning forest. They would be burnt too. He could show them where to run if he could only move. He had failed his herd when they needed him the most.

"Stranger," he heard.

"He looked up and saw Bambi looking at him. "You have to get up, the fire is coming."

He took a deep breath. "Bambi, I cannot move my body. It will not do anything. I can feel nothing in my legs. You have to go. I cannot run away. You have to get the herd out before the fire blocks any escape."

Bambi shook his head no. "Balo, Delon and Stuben are going that. They are going to take the herd to the top of the hill on our side and then move them into the Man path forest. I came to get you. You have to get up."

"No," he said. "There is blood in my mouth. I am going nowhere."

"Stranger, the fire will be here soon," Bambi yelled at him. "If you do not move, you will die."

"There is nothing that will stop that now," he said. He was getting tired speaking and it was getting hard to breath. "Listen we told each other long ago what we would do if it was one of using lying in the meadow. Well it is going to be me. You have to go. Maybe you can straighten things out with Delon and Stuben. I could not. I need you to take care of Claris as you promised. Try and help the others as much as you can. Now leave me."

He looked down at him, "Please get up," he begged.

"I tried, my legs will still not move. Now go before the fire gets you too."

Bambi looked up at the increasing glow and then leaned over and rubbed his forehead on his. "I am sorry my friend," he said with a moan and left.

He took another deep breath and started coughing. The smoke was getting heavier. "At least the herd would get out. He was happy the others would carry on now when he could not do it any longer. Now all he had to do was wait. He could feel heat increasing on his body. He hoped it would not hurt too much. He tried to lift his head, and found he could not even do that now. He started feeling dizzy again. Everything was spinning in his head.

He thought he smelled fat before he passed out, but suddenly everything went dark.

Chapter 6: A Strange Journey

He woke up, which surprised him. He could not see very well, but he knew he was not on the meadow any longer. Everything around him had a burnt smell, even him. Then his nose began to work again and he smelled it. That odor of wet fur and fat, it was near him.

"Bear," he called out.

He saw a large black object come quickly over to him and look down at him. "Can you move your legs?" the bear asked.

He tried to move them, but his side was shot full of pain. "No, nothing moves," he said with a groan

"You smell of burnt fur," the bear added looking him over.

"How long was I asleep?" he wanted to know,

"Two days," the bears answered. "None of the scavengers came around. They were most likely still running for their lives. What about the others?"

"I told Bambi to tell them all to run into the Man path forest. Bambi did not want to go with me lying there, but I told him to leave anyway and Bambi went. The fire did not go that way with the wind blowing. It just burnt up this forest."

The bear looked around him. "The trees are standing, but the leaves and bushes are all gone. The meadow is burnt. All the grass is gone. Things are so bare I can see your side of the forest. It looks just as bad."

"And they were arguing who was going to be herd leader," he said his side still aching.

The bear got up he moved over to the other side of his den and went to a bush that was just about burnt to ash. There were still a few sparse leaves. The bear came back with them. "These are the last of them. Eat them; maybe they will make you feel better."

"Thanks, did you drag me up here?" he asked his friend. "I do not remember."

"I found you in the meadow, asleep and not moving. I thought you were dead, but you moved your head. I dragged you up and put you into my den next to me. The fire passed over us."

That is why he was still alive, not that he thought it would do much good. Nothing in his body seemed to work right. "Thanks, that is twice you saved me," he groaned as a spasm of pain went up his side. "This hurts worse than when you took the Man stones out of me. "

"You look a lot worse," the bear said

He stopped and chewed on the leaves the bear gave him. "Any sign of Man?"

"None," the bear said looking around. "They were either gone or left when the fire started. The Man cave was burnt up. I have seen no sign of Man in two risings of the greater light."

He looked around himself. All he saw were bare trees and black ash on the ground. "With the fire burning everything, what is left for them to kill? "They will go someplace else until this all grows back."

"That will not be for several seasons," the bear said. "We will not be here when that happens."

"True, I should not be here now," he said looking at the huge figure of the bear. "The leaves are making me sleepy. I will try and get up when I

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