bear let out a roar and hit one dog with his huge front paw sending it screaming along the ground. He then reared up on its hind legs and bellowed out a roar that made the forest shake.

“DAR TOFFF,” he heard something shout followed by the shrill sound like a birdcall. It made his ears ring. In an instant, the dogs leap off the stricken animal and ran to their master.

“WHAM…WHAM…WHAM,” sounded in quick succession.

He saw the bear pushed back like hit by something. He fell on his back. He tried to roll over.

“WHAM,” came again. The bear called out once and then fell into the lake. After that, the huge animal lay still.

“Do…Not…Move,” he said slowly. “If they see us, we are all dead.”

He looked up at the trees. The wind was blowing over their backs and across the lake. The dogs could not smell them from the far end of the water. Fortunately, Man called off the dogs. Many men in red fur came out of the woods next and put vines around the bear. They pulled the large carcass out of the water. Then several men started cutting into the brown bear with their claws. They cut the poor animal open spreading its insides along the edge of the lake. Man cut huge pieces of flesh from the animal and carried them away. The even cut the skin and fur off the animal. They threw the bones in a pile. Some of the dogs chewed on them. All the Men were having a good time cutting up the bear. By the time the great light was overhead, they were all gone. The bear was a pile of bones and another pile of his insides lying in the open. The smell was awful even from this distance. Above them already the buzzards were circling making sure Man was gone before they started their feast. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

“That was close,” he whispered. “If the wind had shifted and the dogs picked up our scent, I do not want to think what would happen.”

“The poor bear,” Gurri sobbed. “I feel sick.”

“Does Man do that to us,” the male asked looking ready to vomit.

He felt bad too, but there was one good thing. “That bear would have easily killed the three of us and eaten us whole,” he reminded them. “That is one less bear we have to worry about.”

“What now?” the small male asked.

He knew the answer from his talks with Grandfather. Men do not hunt at night. “We wait here for night and then make our way back. We will have a great story to tell to Father and the herd when we get back.”

“Can I ask something?” the small male asked meekly.

“What!” he spat out in disgust.

“Did Gurri say you were a prince of the forest?” he asked.

“Yes,” he said flatly. “Bambi, our herd leader, is our Father, and our Grandfather was the Great Prince of the Forest.”

“Oh,” he said in surprise. “I am sorry, I did not know,” he muttered and looked at Gurri.

Did he hear that right? “You did not tell him?” he asked his sister.

“No, it did not seem important,” she said.

“I am sorry. If I would have known, I would not have asked you to stay,” he said to her.

That explained it. This weakling did not know whom he was with. His sister should have had the smarts to tell him. “Very well, that explains many things,” he said calmly. “I apologize for my earlier rudeness, but my sister is not for some half-grown yearling that will never even be a herd male.”

“Isn’t that up to your sister,” Gurri said with an icy tone.

He raised his head back in shock. “You want him?” he said with disbelief.

“I want whoever I want. It is my choice, not yours or Fathers,” she said. “I did not tell Wesal because I wanted to see if he liked me just for what I am and not because I am the daughter of the herd leader.”

It was all nonsense to him. The fact that he was Bambi’s son made him who he was. He was born with duties and responsibilities. His father had taught him that since he was a fawn. He was supposed to lead the herd: not now of course, but in the seasons to come. That was what he was here for.

“I did not know,” the male said. “If I did. . . .,” and this his voice trailed off. He looked to shrink in size before him and curl up into a ball.

“A dog by the lake,” Gurri said.

He looked up and saw a single dog walking along the side of the lake. The dog was big and vicious looking with large teeth. The black animal smelled along the ground looking for something. The dog came up to near where they had eaten and stopped. The dog then looked up at them and started barking.

“Get ready to run,” he told the others.

“Hii yoooo,” he heard Man call from the edge of the lake. The dog stopped barking and ran back toward the Man.

He took a deep breath. He then looked down and saw the male looking at his sister. “I did not know,” he said with hesitation. “If you want to leave, I will not mind,”

His sister actually smiled at the male. “I can stay if you want?”

“What!” he called out. “Stay with that.” He said pointing his nose down at the small male who even now was shivering in fear. “You are the herd leader’s daughter and deserve a much better mate than that.”

Before Gurri could answer, the small male shot to his feet. “She can stay if she wants too,” Wesal said and glared at him.

That was all he would take from something like that. In his rage, he dropped his head and charged the male. He collided with the small body. The force of his charge threw the male out of the ticket they were hiding in. He then charged again and almost trampled the smaller body underfoot.

“No,” Gurri cried out.

He then backed up and waiting for the smaller male to stagger to his feet before he hit him again. That was all it took. The small male ran off toward the lake. He watched him flee in panic bleating in fear. He ran past the trees and into the open of the shore near the lake. He watched him run and then he heard it.

“WHAM” came the sound from nearby.

The small legs flew out from under the male and he hurtled along the ground. Almost at once, he saw the large dog run toward them. He thought the dog saw them, but instead, the big black animal jumped on the small male, biting and tearing into him with his claws. There was a loud scream from Wesal and then he lay still.

“Run!” he yelled.

Gurri did not move. She stood frozen in place. A look of disbelief covered her face. This was no time to hesitate. He went up and kicked her gently in the rear. The brought her out of her stupor and she took off with him. Behind them, he heard the dog barking. It was chasing them.

“Hii yoooo,” he heard Man call again followed by the squeaking birdcall. The dog went quiet, but they kept running.

They kept running through the trees until he was sure no one was following them. He then stopped and tried to get his breath back. He looked over to Gurri. She looked almost ready to drop to the ground in exhaustion. He stood there still breathing deeply. He slowly felt better again. They had escaped. At least he and his sister had.

He saw his sister raise her head turned toward him looking as if he was something repulsive. She yelled out ran up to him and lashed out with her front hoof. He leaped back but it still scrapped along his chest. She came at him again. This time he was ready. He leaped aside and brought his own foot up hitting her in the left flank. The impact knocked her over. He felt an urge to stomp on her, but then he realized this was his sister. Instead, he backed away with his head down on guard against a further attack.

“Are you crazy?” he yelled out. “It is bad enough Man and his dogs want to kill me, I have to guard against you now?”

She got up slowly favoring her left side. She was looking wide eye at him her entire body was shaking with rage like his earlier.

“You killed him,” she screamed.

That confused for a moment. “The male?” he asked. “I did not kill him. Man and his dog killed him.”

She continued to look at him as if he was the vilest of creatures. “You knocked him out of the thicket and beat on him. You chased him into the open. You knew Man and his dog was there. You killed him.”

That made him even madder. “You think I am going to let that worthless male talk that way to me,” he shouted back. “That male was nothing. He would never have amounted to anything. I am surprised he survived the winter. No yearling male talks to me like that. I am a prince of this forest. My father is herd leader. If I let a male behave like that near me, I would be the laughing stock of the herd. What you saw in that thing I have no idea.”

She took several deep breaths looking even angrier with him by the moment. “What I saw was someone who liked me because I am Gurri, not the herd leader’s daughter. I liked him, not because he was some big male with a huge rack, but because he wanted my company. I liked him, Geno. Does that make any sense to you? I liked him. Now he is dead. You made sure of that. You and Father are not going to be happy until you ruin my life. You are a monster.”

It was all more nonsense to him. Doe picked the strongest males they could find and not the weakest. Liking him was not part of that choice.

“You are being foolish,” he told her. “A male like that would count nothing in the herd. Now come with me. I still have to find Father and tell him what we have

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