have seen.”

“NO!” she screamed. “I will never again go with you. You are no better than Father is. I am leaving. I am sick of being the daughter of the herd leader, I am sick of others telling me what to do, I am sick of no one listening to me, and I am sick of the herd and the rest of you. I am going somewhere where they do not know me and I can live my life in peace and see who I want to see.”

Gurri then turned quickly, lifting her white fluffy tail. She quickly ran off into the forest disappearing into the trees. He watched he go just shaking his head. He had no time for this silly girl thing. He had to finish something for his Father. He kicked the dirt with his hoof and then looked down. Gurri had cut his chest with her hoof. The cut was not deep. It was only bleeding a little.

“Doe,” he said aloud.

Seeing nothing more he could do here, he went back toward his Mother’s thicket. It was day, but he smelled or heard no one near him. Besides, the last thing he needed to do now was sleep. He was too angry. He needed time to calm down.

It was just after dark when he came to his Mother’s thicket. She was still there with the fawns along with Father. Both smiled openly at his return.

“Man is in the forest,” he said. “I saw Man and his dogs kill a bear over by the lake near Grandfather’s cave.”

“So there were not after us,” his Father said. “Man will often hunt larger animal like bears before the time they hunt us.” His Father then looked at him. “Who cut you?” he asked

“And where is your sister?” his Mother asked.

He swallowed hard. There was nothing else to do except tell them the whole story. “Gurri ran away. Something bad happened when I was there.”

“Go on,” He Father said.

He explained what happened from the moment he first saw Gurri and Wesal until now. It was hard, but he told them the best he could. When he finished, his Mother looked sadden and his Father just looked puzzled.

“I do not understand it,” Bambi said. “Why would Gurri do that?”

“Because she liked him and now he is dead,” his Mother jumped in. “Geno, did you have to kill him?”

“Mother I did not kill him,” he protested. “Man killed him. I only chased him when he insulted me. I will not have a puny male treat me like that. As Father taught me, a senior male cannot allow other weaker males to insult him; otherwise, he loses his respect and place within the herd. I will not allow that to happen.”

“He is right,” his Father said. “The male should not have argued with him. It is regretful he is dead, but these things happen.”

“So what are you going to do?” his Mother asked his Father.

His Father started at her for a second looking to understand her real meaning. “You mean go after her?” he said. “No, she is old enough to live on her own. If she does not want to rejoin the herd, that is her decision. If she wants to come back, that is fine, but I am not going to look for her. I am also not sending Geno to find her. She will have to live on her own. That is her decision, not ours. She will have to live with it.”

His Mother stood straight up stiff as if hit by something. “She is your daughter,” she sobbed and led the twin fawns toward the meadow. He watched his Mother walk away thinking of how Gurri left. For the first time, he felt doubt inside about what he had done.

“I suppose I should not have charged him after he spoke badly to me,” he said.

His Father looked down at him. “Yes, my son, that was a mistake. Learn from it. Never chase a deer when Man is around. However, you did what I asked you to do. You found out why Man was in the forest. You managed to survive Man’s hunting and his dogs. That tells me you have put what I taught you to good use. In the future, I will ask you to other things for me as my Father asked me. I am proud of you, my son.”

“What would you like me to do now?” he asked.

“Now I want you to join the yearling herd. Soon they will start sparing with each other as The Season begins to approach. It is time you seek your place among those of your age. Do not spar with the older deer. They are still too strong and powerful for you. In another season, yes you will be able to spar with anyone, but not now. We will also continue our practice together. I will teach you all the tricks my Father taught me.”

Inwardly he felt pride that he proved to his Father he was worthy of his attention. Deep inside him, he felt bad about how he had treated his sister.

He could do nothing about it now.

 

CHAPTER FIVE: CONFLICTS

 

Bambi followed Faline and the twins back to the meadow. Behind him, Geno walked somberly. It was dark on the meadow when he arrived. He called out to the deer to come over toward him.

“Geno,” stand next to me,” he told his son.

The deer came over and he spoke. “I have sent my son to see if Man was in the forest. He had found Man is in the forest over by the hills next to the smaller lake. They are hunting bears, but we should still be very careful. These Men have dogs and they will hunt deer. Geno barely escaped both Man and his dogs to return to tell me. We must all be off the meadow before the rise of the great light. If any of you see any sign of Man come tell me or call out.”

“Have you seen Man here?” Cleon asked.

“No I have not,” he answered. “That does not mean he is not around. We must be careful.”

Filon stepped forward and spoke up. “Since I found the last Man print, I have kept looking. I have seen nothing near here.”

“Thank you, Filon,” he said. “It is wise if we all keep looking.”

“You do not even belong to this herd,” Kragus called out to Filon. “Why should we listen to you?”

Filon smiled before speaking. “I do not care if you listen to me. We already have had one deer here killed by Man. If you wish to die next Kragus, it matters little to me.”

Kragus spun around to face the new deer. “You think you are so big,” the senior male growled loudly.

“I am big enough to handle you,” Filon said and dropped his head.

He stood back saying nothing. He could do little when males decided to fight. He knew better than to try to stop fights between males. His Father had taught him it is best to let males fight it out. As long as the males did not threaten him or his position as herd leader, or harm the herd, he did not care. Fighting among males is normal in any herd. He looked over to Geno who looked fascinated at what was happening.

“Watch, my son, and learn,” he muttered.

His son just nodded.

Kragus put his head down. Both males had their racks still in velvet so they could not use them as if it was The Season. Both males charged. There was a large crunch as they hit each other. Both males tried to get low and get position on the other. Then they could lift and push the other out-of-the-way. They could also drive the other’s face into the ground. Both Kragus and Filon locked at the shoulder, neither one getting an advantage. Kragus was a strong deer, he knew that, but Kragus’ idea of a fight is just to use strength to win. His father had taught him to use movement, feints, and even kicks to get position to win.

He did notice one thing. While Kragus was trying with all his might to move Filon, Filon was not using all his might on Kragus. He could tell Filon was holding back. He was gauging the strength of his opponent. That was smart, but it might allow Kragus the opportunity of getting position on him.

Both males pushed hard with their rear legs looking to break the lock. This went on for some time with both males locked in place. Then Kragus shifted his weight to better adjust his stance. That was what Filon was waiting for. The moment Kragus shifted his weight to his rear legs. Filon put all his might into a push and upset Kragus’ balance. Filon got down under Kragus, and using his huge neck and chest muscles, lifted the male up. A great push from his rear legs and Kragus went over flying on to his back and fell heavily to the ground. Filon then lowered his head and charged into the exposed flank of Kragus. There was another large crash with Filon knocking Kragus over several times. That ended the fight. Filon pulled back to stand over his fallen victim.

“Like I said, Kragus,” Filon spat out. “I do not care if you listen to me or not, but the next time you come at me, I will beat you to a pulp.”

Filon turned his back and walked away from the down deer. He thought that was foolish until he saw Filon turning his head slightly to look behind him. Kragus got to his feet slowly and looked at the deer that beat him. Filon was casually walking away as if beating Kragus was nothing. He saw Kragus’ rage rise up. He put his head down and charged the unprotected rear of Filon. Before he could shout a warning, Filon kicked out hard with both rear legs hitting Kragus squarely in the face. There was a loud crack. Kragus looked stunned. Filon then turned around and hit Kragus hard in the flank again before he could recover. The blow knocked the big male senseless to the ground.

“Attack me from the rear,” Filon shouted. “I should. . .” and then the deep voice trailed off. Kragus was not moving.

Filon looked up at him. He ran over to look at the down deer. He poked him a few times. He felt for any sign of life from inside the big male. There were none. He stood up slowly.

 

“Kragus is gone,” he

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