look at my Mother and Sister,” he said. He did not try to hide his grin.

“Geno is also right,” Relnor said. “It would be good to know what Gurri and Geno know. Prince Bambi must soon return to his herd; however, I would ask if Geno and Gurri could stay for a while. What they know can help us.

Gurri looked at him. “Father I can stay here for a while. Kelo can stay with me if he wants.”

The larger male moved in close to Gurri making it clear to the others of his claim for his daughter. There was no argument.

“If you do not mind, Father, I can stay a while also; at least until winter,” his son said. He looked at the two doe next to him start to smile and then began nuzzling him.

He fought the urge to smile openly. It would seem his children had found partners, at least for now.

“I do not mind,” he said, “But Relnor is right. As soon as Man leaves the meadow, I must return. I do not think I will have any problems back at my herd.”

The rest of Relnor’s herd agreed.

The smell of burning deer meat from the meadow that night only made agreement more certain.

 

CHAPTER EIGHT: SEASON

 

Man hunted in Relnor’s forest for three more days, but they were not able to kill any more of the herd. They all hid in the deep forest and Man could not find them. At least he did not bring dogs this time. After the hunting stopped, he carefully looked out onto the meadow and found it empty. He, Faline, and the twin fawns then all ran across the meadow the next night leaving Geno and Gurri with Relnor. They never did see Tion and the males around him again. He did notice that as soon as Tion disappeared, the males started to listen to his daughter and his son with more attention.

His return back to his herd went coolly. The others were still reluctant to come near him. There was nothing wrong with the herd he could see, but he was certain the herd had not missed him. They did look a bit more relaxed with him around. That was nothing more he could do and went back to being herd leader. He patrolled around the meadow at night looking for signs of Man. He could not find any. Other than Filon, no one else looked for danger. It was almost as if the herd decided that Man was no longer a threat here.

Over the next few days, his rack started to itch. That meant he soon scrap off the velvet exposing his rack. The Season would follow that. The sparing between herd males increased in intensity as all males fought to set their place within the herd. Serious fights were few, but there were several cuts, broken racks, and other injuries. The doe took it all in and started making their choices as whom they would partner with. Strength, size, rack, were all part of what the doe looked at. There were never enough doe in the herd to go around, and the lesser males usually did without. Some would never be strong enough to breed. That was the way of the forest. He did not care personally, the only doe he had interest in was Faline, and no one was strong enough to challenge him for her. He started to sleep near the meadow again to make it easier to watch.

On one morning, he had just laid down to rest when he heard a yelping noise in the distance. It was a single dog. The yelping got louder and soon the putrid smell of Man blew from the meadow. Man was on the meadow, but there was only one scent. When they hunted, there was always more than one Man. He thought there was no danger.

“WHAMMM,” he heard. After the noise of the killing stick, the dog starting barking loudly as if chasing after something. A short while later he heard another “WHAMM.” Several more times he heard the killing stick during the day. There were also sounds of killing sticks from further away. Each time he heard the killing stick, the dog would call out. As the great light started to set, the noise on the meadow went away.

That night he walked around the meadow looking for traces of Man. He smelled him and the dog near the fallen oak tree at the edge of the meadow. He looked and there was a Man print on the ground like Filon found before. There was also the track of a dog. He followed it and it led toward the larger lake near where his old home was. As he got closer to the large lake, he started to smell smoke. In the smell of the smoke were the scents of burnt birds. Man must be there in greater numbers. He did not want to get any closer so walked back toward the meadow. As he did, he came up to the tree of the Old Owl. He called and Oswell came out.

“Did you see what happened,” he asked the owl.

“It was Man,” Oswell complained. “He was using his killing stick to knock birds out of the sky. He even got his dog to run through the field and scare birds into flight and then he brought them down too. He then got his dog to pick up the dead birds and took them away with him. I can smell their dead bodies in the air. It is disgusting. I do not burn the animals I catch for food.”

“Did Man use his killing stick on anyone else?” he asked.

“No, just birds,” the Owl answered.

“He likes to burn deer too,” he said. “We must be careful; it is the time for hunting again.”

“I do not plan on leaving my tree hollow during the day until the first snow,” Oswell said looking toward where the scent was coming from. “Man will be after you deer next,” he told him. “You need to be careful.”

“I plan to,” he said.

He walked back to the meadow. It was almost empty. All the noise kept the deer away. He saw Filon in the field.

“I found a Man print over by the fallen oak where you did before. All of us need to be off the meadow before the first show of the great light. Man is back.”

“That is bad,” Filon said. “In my old forest Man use to hunt birds and then a little while came back for the deer. I think he may do that here also.”

“You are likely right,” he said. “Just stay off the meadow during the day.”

“I will,” he said and went back to eating.

He ate some of the fresh grass at the edge of the meadow but was gone before even the first hint of the great light appeared. He took a different path back to Faline’s thicket. It took him off the meadow and toward the smaller lake. In front of him was Thumper’s tree trunk. He had not seen him for a while. He leaned over.

“Thumper, it is Bambi,” he called into the log.

There was no reply. Thumper was never far away from his borough. He called out again only louder. There was still no reply. He put his nose into the log and took in a deep breath. At first, he smelled nothing unusual, but then he picked up a faint odor. It was like the smell in the meadow after Kragus died.

“Thumper,” he called out again.

All was quiet. Sadly, he closed his eyes tightly and took in a deep breath. “Goodbye my friend,” he said into the trunk and walked away.

He went back to Faline’s den and saw her and the two fawns nearby. They were eating the leaves on the bushes growing among the trees. There was no sense bothering them about his friend. They hardly knew him. By now, his daughters were losing their spots and starting to grow their winter coat.

“It has started again,” he told Faline. “Avoid the meadow in the light.”

“I will,” she said. “I have been teaching both Lina and Eta about going near Man. They were asking about you also. I think it is time you started teaching them. They are curious and you are their father. They also know Gurri has learned from you and they want to.”

He felt like saying the main reason he taught Gurri was because she would never stay back when he taught Geno. She was always there with him asking questions. In the past, he felt like the other males that it be a waste of time to teach doe. Gurri had forced him to see that was a mistake. He would not repeat that mistake with his other daughters.

“Very well, as soon as The Season is over and the hunts end, I will start teaching you,” he said to all of them. He could only hope they were as smart as their older sister was.

“Thank you, Father,” Lina said looking at him with a huge smile. Eta kept quiet as usual.

The next two days passed quietly. He finished scrapping the velvet off his rack. Faline smiled and told him it was larger than last years. He felt good about that. Faline also started to give off the scent of a doe getting near The Season. In the meadow at night, the sparring was turning into serious fights. Celon challenged Filon and lost so that made Filon the new head of the senior males. Filon was more interested in the three or four season doe. The other three senior males took many of the three season doe. The herd males took up the rest of the elder doe and a few of the yearlings, As usual, the yearling males and the weaker herd males got only what was left, if anything. It made him wondered how Geno and Kelo were getting along. Most of the senior males in Relnor’s herd had managed to die stupidly and thereby increasing the chances for the smarter males to breed. None of the males here showed any interest in Faline although he thought she was still the nicest looking of all the doe. No one even attempted to challenge him for her. They all knew better.

The next morning he heard noises from the Meadow. The wind carried the odor. It was Man, this time many of them. There were noises coming from the meadow and from all around the meadow. He saw birds flying away in fear from all around the meadow. He could guess what frighten them. He looked around and saw nothing near him, but the noise was getting closer.

“Listen, we have to leave,” he told

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