teaching my younger sisters.”

“Yes, it is time we started with them the same as we started with you and your sister,” he said.

“Good,” he said and nuzzled both his sisters. “Any there any more signs of Man?” he said.

“No,” he said, “But I do not think that will last.”

“It is still dark,” Geno said. I will go near the meadow and look. Do not worry; I will be gone long before the greater light rises.”

He thought that was a good idea. He was going to do the same thing himself after finishing with the fawns. “Be careful, my son, and remember what both your Grandfather and I taught you.”

“I will,” he said. “I do not want anything to happen to me now. I am starting to enjoy life.”

With that, his son disappeared almost silently into the forest. Both fawns seem to gape at how quiet he was.

Faline leaned over and spoke softly to both his daughters. “See, if you listen to your Father, you will be able to do that next season.”

“Yes, Mother,” they both said and he went on with the lesson.

They all stayed near the spot Gurri stayed with Kelo. They ate and he showed the girls to empty themselves away from where they slept as not to draw predators to them. As soon as the greater light showed itself, they all stopped and he found a place for them to sleep. The next night he took them back to Faline’s thicket and he went to the meadow. As he went on the field, he expected to see Geno, but did not. He did see Filon and the other senior males. As he came on the Meadow, he saw Filon walk over toward him.

“Any sign of Man?” he asked.

“I have seen nothing,” he said.

“Did you do well during The Season?” he asked.

Filon broke out into laughter. “Bambi I did better than back in my old herd. I found three doe who wanted to come with me.”

“That is good,” he said. “I also heard no sound of killing sticks when Man was here before.”

“No, the herd scattered exactly like you told them to do,” Filon told him. “Man could not find us and went away.”

“That is also good. Have you seen Geno?” he asked.

“I saw him last night,” Filon said. “He was walking in the trees just outside of the meadow. It was as if he was looking for something. Near the rising of the greater light, he disappeared. You know he has a nice rack for a yearling. It would not surprise me if he was a senior male here by next season.”

He did not agree. He did not want to push Geno along too fast. “That may be. He will still be too young, I think.”

With that, he ate in the meadow and drank in the nearby stream. He walked slowly around the edge of the meadow and then he saw it. Foot tracks of Men were walking around the meadow. He also noticed the track of a male deer. One sniff of his nose and he knew they belonged to Geno. The deer tracks followed the man tracks. It was getting late so he went back to Faline and his daughters and hope Geno was smart enough to stay out of trouble.

He did not see his son the next night either. He heard no sounds of killing sticks so there was no hunting going on. Faline, Lina, and Eta ate on the meadow that night. Unlike before, the fawns this time did not play with the other near their age. They stayed close to him and their mother while the other fawns from his year frolicked on the meadow. He continued to look around and found more Man prints on the other side of the meadow. It smelled like the same Man. Man was watching for signs of deer and there were plenty around. Celon, Delon, and Atlan took notice and the so did Filon. They all came over to see him. He could tell things were still cold between Celon and Filon after their fight.

We have seen you looking,” Atlan blurted out. “Do you see any danger?”

“No obvious danger,” he said, “But a Man has looked closely at this meadow. That concerns me. It means Man is looking for us like I look for him.”

“They could be getting ready to hunt here,” Filon said.

“That is what concerns me but I do not see. . .” his voice trailed off. Onto the meadow running was Geno. He looked around, saw them and came over. He was wet with sweat. He had run for a while. Something was wrong. He barked at his son to come over. He did so.

“Sorry for disturbing you and the others,” he said in near exhaustion. “Man is in the forest. There are many Men over by the large lake. They have killing sticks and they have dogs. They have many dogs. They may come here soon.”

“Why is that?” he asked.

“I followed the Man tracks from the meadow. I followed them staying out of sight and far behind. They led me to where other Men and the dogs are. A Man had gone from where the Men are to here and he has done it several times.”

“Are you sure,” Celon asked.

“I know that I saw more Men than I could count and more dogs than I can count. They are getting ready to hunt, but I do not know where.”

With that, Geno dropped his head and started to breathe deeply trying to get air into his body.

“They may come here, or they, may not,” he told the others. “One thing for sure, that many Men and dogs, it means they are going to hunt someplace.”

“I do not think we can take the chance, Father,” Geno stammered out.

“No, we cannot,” he said and looked at the others. “The herd must scatter. If Man does not come here, we lose nothing. If Man brings many dogs here, they can run us all down. They do not have to chase us into the meadow.”

“You are right,” Filon said. Dogs can run deer down and either tear them to pieces, or hold them until Man comes with his killing sticks. I have seen this in my old forest as a fawn. My mother and I barely got away. Many others did not.”

“We must flee,” Celon said and ran off into the forest.

He called out to the other deer. “Run, Run now. Man may be here soon with dogs. Flee and do not come back here.”

He looked at his son. “Take your Mother and sisters and go back to the thicket. I will join you there shortly.

Geno nodded and staggered off still suffering the effect of his exertions.

“Geno,” Filon called out. His son turned around. “You did well, herd male.”

He looked at him with some concern. Filon noticed it.

“Next spring he will be that anyway,” he said. “That is assuming any of us live through this. I am leaving Bambi.”

Filon turned around and fled. Atlan and Delon did the dame. He turned around and saw the deer leaving the meadow quickly. The greater light would come soon, time for him to go.

For the first time since he was a fawn, he was afraid of what was going to happen.

 

 

 

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