this,” he shouted and started to charge when he stopped suddenly. Kelo had his head down and charged the first male, who barely had time to turn and face him. Kelo had managed to take three leaps before he ran into the male. His speed was increasing when he hit the male hard in the head.

There was a large impact and the first male got pushed back. Kelo still charging was on him in a moment before he could recover. He took his head and pushed down on the other male while pushing down hard with his neck. That drove the other male’s head into the dirt. Now he had position over the male, Kelo drove his face deep into the ground. Kelo then charged almost running the first male over.

Meanwhile, the male in front of her tried to raise his head, but his face was a bloody mess. She took advantage and kicked out again with her front hoofs into the chest of the herd male.

“DAAAAAA” he screamed again as she cut into him there also. That was all for him. He turned and ran trailing blood toward the end of the lake and the hills.

She turned and watched the first male running off the way he came, beaten. Kelo was chasing him. Only then did she feel the pain in her side from the impact.

She bent over trying to breathe. Every time she took a breath, pain ran along her side. The pain in her left side was bad, but she did not think she was hurt badly. She looked at her left side, two long cuts in her fur were bleeding, but not bad. She tried to move and found she could walk, but she was stiff and getting stiffer. If she lay down, she knew she would not get up and she was in the open. She moved slowly into the trees until no one could see her. Then she found a soft patch of grass and lay down. That was all for her, she felt ready to collapse.

A short while later Kelo returned with a huge smile on his face. “That one will not come back any time soon,” he boasted. Then he looked down at her. “Are you alright?” he asked seeing her side.

“He cut me along my side,” she told him. “I am hurt, but not seriously. I need to rest for a while.”

“Of course, you cut that other male badly,” Kelo told her. “He was bleeding from his chest and face and it was a lot worse than you. What was that all about?”

I am not sure,” she labored. “It was something about my Father and brother. Would you mind if we talked later, I need to rest?”

“Of course,” he said and lay down a few lengths from her.

She closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

When she woke up it was late in the day. The pain in her side was still there and just as bad. She got up and found she was stiff. Each time she took a step her left side throbbed. She forced herself to move about. It helped ease the stiffness. By the time it was dark, she was able to move easier. The pain was also a little less. She moved slowly into the open and started to eat. Kelo was always nearby watching her. She wondered why. There was the obvious reason, he looked at her as a doe he could breed during The Season, but she caught him from time to time smiling at her. Could it be he liked her? She did not have any strong feelings for him, but at least he seemed to care about her. That was more than she had with any of the other males outside of her family, other than Wesal.

Once she finished eating, she drank from the lake. The water tasted blander than the stream water, but it did refresh her. After that, she walked around some more still trying to loosen up her body. Later when she rested close to morning, Kelo lay down near. She looked over and smiled at the male.

“Can I ask you a question?” she asked. “You do not have to answer if you do not want to.

“What is the question?” he came back.

“Do you like me,” she asked outright.

“Yes,” he said simply.

“Why,” she wanted to know.

The male seemed surprised for a moment about why she asked him this. Then he spoke up in a voice that hesitated slightly. “Well you are pretty, you have a wonderful scent, you are smart, and you fight like no doe I have ever seen. You are different from any doe I have known before.”

“I know I am different,” she said. “That is because my Father and Grandfather taught me things most doe do not learn. You see my Father is the leader of the herd near her. My Grandfather was the Great Prince of the Forest, the wisest deer that ever was. They all taught me the ways of the forest and showed me how to think. Most males I know only look at me as a doe: something to breed in The Season and very little else. I want more than that. I want a male to feel for me. I want a male I can feel for as my Mother feels for my Father. Most males cannot do that. After they breed a deer, they want nothing to do with them. That is why I am unusual and most males shun me.”

“That sounds nice,” Kelo said. “I never really felt for a doe before. They were not interested in me. Last season I bred one and afterward, she wanted nothing to do with me. I do not even know if she is alive or dead with my fawn.”

“So do you feel for me?” she asked.

“I think so. I certainly feel more for you than that doe I mated with last season.”

That was as much as she was likely to get. “Very well, then you can come over and sleep next to me,” she told him with a smile.

Kelo eagerly complied.

 

CHAPTER SEVEN: PARTNERS

 

It was tense on the meadow.

Bambi stood at the edge of the open field and watched the other deer of his herd. Before the fight, the deer were talking to each other, running around playing, males sparred with each other, and the deer mixed easily. Now the deer ate quietly, only the fawns were playing, hardly any sparring went on, and the deer stayed in their places. Mostly, the place they stayed on was on the other side of the field from him. It had been a few days before the herd went back to the meadow after the fight. It took that long for the scavengers to finish with Ronno. There were also two other groups of vultures and other carrion eaters circling in the forest near the meadow, no doubt taking care of the two deer Geno had fought. He felt the difference. Before, the other deer looked at him with respect, as they did with his dead Father. Now they looked at him in fear. This was not how he wanted to lead the herd.

Poor Geno was not doing better. The yearling males avoid him as if afraid his son would turn on them. After the death of Wesal, and the killing of two deer here, his son felt bad enough. This was getting to be too much for him. The other deer still respected his son, but it was the kind of respect given to someone you feared rather than liked. It was almost as if the herd expected him and his son to turn on them. Only Filon talked freely with either of them. Celon told him the herd felt uneasy around both of them. He needed to do something, but he was not sure what. He only wished his Father were still alive. He would know what to do.

Finally, he gave up and just asked Celon, Atlan, and Delno to talk with him. He asked them what the matter was.

Celon and Atlan remained silent, but Delno spoke out. “You and your son killed three deer. Not only did you kill them, you both killed them easily. Will you do the same to us? Bambi, you and your son scared us like a bear or Man would.”

He took a deep breath and tried to answer as calmly as he could. “My son attacked only when it became obvious that Ronno and the others were not out to challenge me, but to kill me so Ronno could be herd leader. After they killed me, they certainly would have killed Geno, Faline, and my twin daughters. Was I supposed to do nothing about it? If those other deer would have stayed out of the fight, none of this would have happened and they all still be alive.”

“I saw that fight,” Delno said. “You are right. Ronno was out to kill you after you did not run Filon out. I have known for a while that Ronno hated you and your family. That still does not change the fact you easily killed the three of them and chased the other two off. Your Father never did anything like this and now the deer are scared of you. They are also scared of your son.”

Atlan finally spoke up. “Bambi this is not like before when Man killed one of us, or the bears or coyotes killed one of us. These are dangers we all know about. They are part of the forest and this has gone on as long as the forest was here. This is not the same. Deer are not used to having deer kill other deer. This has upset many. I have heard many deer say they may just leave the herd and try to find another herd someplace else in the forest.”

“I have never forced myself on the herd,” he said. “I have only spoken up when I saw some danger or threat to the herd. I only fought now because neither my son nor I had any choice. If I had let Ronno go, he would have attacked my family or me unexpectedly. He would have hurt or maybe killed them. I was not going to let that happen.”

“I am not sure about that,” Celon said carefully as if afraid his comments would offend him. “I hear what you say, but I am not sure I accept it. In any case, it is far too late now to worry about. ‘Things are what they are,’ your Father used to say.”

“I remember those words,” he muttered, “And you are right. My question is what can I do about it now?”

“Wait and hope things work out,” Delno said.

The others remained silent. This was all he was going to get out of his senior males. “Thank you,” he said to the others and walked away.

He went back to Faline’s thicket and looked in on her. She and the two fawns were

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