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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Fairy Tales & Fantasy
- Subject: Serial / Series
- Published: 05/06/2018
Way of the Forest Part 2
Born 1956, M, from Orlando/FL, United StatesCHAPTER THREE: GURRI
It was late and Gurri was hungry. She walked out alone on the meadow and started to eat the new spring grass. It was still dark and she knew it would be a while before the great light rose. She saw many of the herd males along with many doe and fawns eating. She ate at the edge of the meadow, away from everyone. She was tired of the other deer, especially the yearlings, wanting to get her to ask her Father some question about something that was not important. She felt resentment being a messenger. They could ask him themselves. Besides, her Father made it clear that he was training Geno to do that, not her. She was sure it was because her Father thought she was just a doe and would not do such things as a male would. She also knew why her Father sent her away. Her brother was important; she was not. This made her even angrier. She was just as smart as her brother was, she was just as fast and understood just as much, but she had no rack so she did not matter.
She continued to eat until she felt full. She ate fast; she would chew her cud later when she relaxed during the day. As she finished, she went over to the small stream and drank her fill of water. As she did, she heard the tread of light footsteps behind her. She did not look back and instead moved off until she was downwind of the pond. The smell of a male deer came to her, but he was still behind her. It was not Ronno's or the other herd male's scents. The smell was new.
“You know my Father is much quieter when he sneaks up behind me,” she called out.
She then turned around and saw the new male deer was behind her by several lengths. “Filon, is it not?” she asked.
“Very good, young doe,” the male said in a friendly voice. “I can usually sneak up on other deer, but I can see your Father has taught you well.”
“I wish he would,” she said. “Right now he is only interested in teaching my brother. I guess only males with racks are smart enough to lead in the forest.”
The new male stopped about three lengths away. “That is how things are," he said. "Males are the ones that fight for doe and their place in the herd.”
“And doe are just meant to be bred and have fawns,” she said with disgust. “Well, I can think too, and I can do a lot more than make fawns. At least I will when it is time. So what do you want?”
“Direct too,” Filon said still smiling. “Nothing like that I assume you. My taste in doe runs toward older doe nearer the age of your mother. You are still too young for me, although, in one or two more seasons, that may change. You are cute.”
“Thank you,” she said formally. She still did not fully trust this male. “Now what do you want?” she repeated.
“I was curious about a yearling doe that eats by herself and not with the other yearlings,” he said. “I also wanted to give your Father a message and you see him more than I do.”
“I eat by myself because the other yearlings keep asking me about my Father. They are not interested in me, but only in my Father. I also eat alone because I do not see one of them I have any amount of respect for. All they do is boast and brag about how big a deer they will be,” she said. “Now what is your message?”
“Tell your father I saw fresh footsteps of Man near the edge of the meadow by the fallen oak tree. Man has been watching the meadow from there.”
“Hmmmmm, I do not like that,” she said. She then looked toward the place the great light appears. It was still black.
“Will you see him tonight?” Filon asked.
“No,” she told him. “He is with my brother. I will try to see him later. I will give him your message. If you are right, I think it is time to get off the meadow, I have eaten all I need.”
“Wise doe,” Filon said. “I am still hungry, I will see you later.”
With that, the big male walked away and started to eat the grass. She walked away toward the trees and her resting place. From there she could see the meadow and still be completely hidden. She lay down to give her meal a chance to digest and fill her hunger. She chewed her cud for a while and then went to sleep.
Sometime later, she awoke hearing footsteps and voices. For a moment she was afraid that Filon had come looking for her, but the footsteps were loud and the voices familiar. It was just the yearlings wandering on the meadow. She looked again and saw the first glow of light. She stood up and spoke loud enough for them to hear.
“Filon has seen Man tracks at the edge of the meadow,” she called out the group.
They stopped to look at her for a moment, and then a few of the louder males started laughing at her and moved into the open as if it was nothing. Well, she had tried. She moved off and emptied herself well away from her resting place. Above her were singing birds looking to start a new day trying to find food to feed their chicks. She thought about trying to find her Father but decided she do that tonight. She lay down again and soon drifted off to sleep.
“WHAAAAAMMMMM,” echoed loudly through the trees. The noise snapped her awake. She froze in place.
He looked at the meadow. It was full light. Many of the deer, mostly yearlings, were running wildly off the meadow in a panic seeking the cover of the nearby trees. Some were bleating in fear. The other deer scattered in many different directions. A putrid smell of smoke filled her nose. It was the first time she had heard or smelled this, but it must be one of Man’s killing sticks. Soon there was another smell just as awful: a smell of sweat and dirt. It was new to her. She remained absolutely still; she knew better than to move around with Man in the forest.
She looked back out into the meadow. On the ground lay one deer. It looked like a yearling male from the size and shape of the body. It lay still, and she could not tell who it was. Then other motion caught her attention. Two large figures walked on the grass toward the down deer. They walked slowly carrying a long stick. One figure was bigger than the other was. It was Man. She had never seen Man before. They came up to the down deer and poked it. They took the stick and then put it through the legs of the down deer. After using some kind of vine, one man picked up each end of the stick. The picked up the deer and carried it away. She waited until the scent of Man and the smoke had gone before she eased away from her hiding place and headed back toward her mother’s thicket.
She had gone only a short way when she heard her name called out from behind her. She turned around to see and saw Filon coming up from behind her. At the same moment, she smelled a familiar scent. It was her brother followed closely by her Father. She went behind some trees where they could hide from view.
“Gurri what happened?” her Father asked.
“Man was on the meadow,” she told him. “He used a killing stick on a yearling male. Then a large and small Man came and took the deer away.”
“Were you on the Meadow?” her father asked sternly.
“No,” she said angrily. Her Father should know her better than that. “I was off the field before the first sign of the great light. I was going to come find you because Filon told me he had found a Man track at the edge of the meadow.”
Filon spoke up. “She even warned the yearlings as they went to the meadow. I heard her myself. The other deer just laughed at her and walked out on the meadow anyway.”
“Of course they laughed,” she said bitterly. “I am just a doe and a young one at that. No one listens to me. They only listen to older males with racks.”
Her comment seemed to take both her Father and Filon by surprised, but she felt she was right. If her Father had warned those yearlings, one more of them would be alive now.
“I think they will listen now,” Filon said trying to make her feel better. “The rest of the deer now know better. Experience is the best teacher, as long as you can stay alive long enough to learn.”
“I agree with Filon,” he Father told her. “You warned them, they did not listen, and one deer died for their stupidly. Maybe they will listen now. There was nothing more you could have done to prevent this.”
Her Father was also trying to make her feel better, but it did not help. “I am sorry, Father, but if they would have listened to you because you are the herd leader and the other deer respect you. They would have listened to Filon because he is a large male and they respect him. I am just a yearling doe and I feel none of them respect me so they did not listen, nor do I think they will listen to me in the future.”
She could not bear to stay there any longer. She ran off into the deeper forest. She heard her Father and Filon still talking about something, but she did not care. She just wanted to be by herself. She went to the lake, took a drink from its cool waters, and then walked around always testing the air. A bear had passed by, but long ago. She smelled no other danger. It was after the great light was overhead that she came upon the old down log she recognized. Her Mother had brought her and her brother here when they were fawns. She stopped to eat some grass and saw most of it was already gone.
“Thumper,” she spoke into the tree log. “It is Gurri.”
A few moments later the older gray rabbit appeared and looked up mouth open as if amazed. “It is you,” he said. “My, how you have grown since I last saw you. Where are your brother, father, and mother?
“Mother has two new fawns to raise,” she explained. “Father is with my brother teaching him all about the forest. They do not need me at home and so I am out on my own. I was walking by and thought I stop to say hello.”
“You are getting large, you look like your Mother,” Thumper said looking her over carefully.”
“How are you doing?” she asked.
The old hair looked away. “Oh, I found a new mate this spring. I have a new litter of rabbits. This will be my last liter I think.”
“Why is that?” she asked. He looked old yet healthy.
“I am getting old,” he said as a complaint. “Soon I think I will join your Grandfather.”
The way the old rabbit said it shocked her. “Do not say that Thumper. You are my Father’s friend and mine. You will live for a long time to come.”
“I like to, but I doubt it,” he said. “I am the oldest rabbit I know. None of my sisters are even alive. I do not even know if any of my children are still alive.”
She was going to answer when an odor crossed her nose. It was a fox. “Run, Thumper, the fox is here.”
He might be old, but the old hare vanished in an instant. She stood by the log and waited. Sure enough, the fox appeared silently out of the bushes.
“Still looking for Thumper,” she told the red furry animal with the white long tail. “I am afraid you missed him again.”
“I am patient, and there are others,” the sly fox said looking at her closely. The fox was sizing her up.
“Thinking of eating deer today?” she asked. “That would be a mistake.”
“Oh no,” the fox pleaded. “I would never eat something as big as you.”
She remembered what her father told her about foxes: ‘Believe nothing about a fox except that it is hungry.’
“Very well,” she said and pretended to turn away. The moment she seemed to take her eyes off the fox, she saw it shift its weight to it rear legs and leap.
She quickly brought her leg and hoof up as the fox jumped up for her throat. The hard hoof caught the fox in the face. The blow knocked him off-balance and he instead fell at her feet. She raised up to stomp the fox hard on the ground, but he saw it coming and rolled away. In a flash, the creature was on his feet again.
“You tried to kill me,” it screamed.
“I will do more than try,” she growled and lashed out hard with her front legs again. This time the fox was ready and jumped back.
“Lost your taste for deer,” she said eyeing the creature well. “You should try something smaller,” she said and charged.
She did not think she would hit the fox, but it did scare him off. The last she saw was the white tail disappear into the bushes. She went back to the log.
“He is gone,” she told Thumper.
The old rabbit peaked out of the log. “That was like your Father,” he said.
“That was the second time today someone thought that because I was a doe and a yearling, I was weak and stupid. It is also the second time today they paid the price for their mistake.”
Thumper gazed at her in disbelief, “You remind me of your Father when he gets mad. He gets that same look in his eyes like he is ready to fight anyone.”
Inside she felt ready to fight anyone. There was still anger from before, and now this was just making her madder. She had to calm down. Mad deer can make stupid mistakes as her Father said to Geno. She calmed down but did not take her eyes off the bushes and trees around her.
“I am sorry, but it has been a bad day for me so far,” she explained.
Feeling calmer, she then told the old rabbit the story of what happened to her and how she felt about it. As she did, she felt the anger diminish inside her. She knew she had no right to burden Thumper with her problems, but it felt better to share it with someone else.
“I see,” Thumper said. “I am afraid you are right. The other creatures respect strength and that usually means males fighting for mates. It is not just deer. All sorts of creatures do that. That struggle is what drives the forest on. Females usually do not have the strength to gather that respect.”
“Well just because I am a female, it does not mean I cannot think. I am my Father’s daughter and I do see things. My Grandfather and Father taught me that much.”
“So I see, well I must go,” Thumper said and disappeared again into his log.
She walked away still keeping an eye out for the fox just in case he had not learned his lesson. She did not feel like seeing her parents or the other deer. She was near the lake. Beyond that, there were the hills her Grandfather had lived in. It looked safe enough so she and decided to go there. There was no deer here. She was alone. That suited her now. She ate in a small open area near the trees and drank in a small stream that came off the hills. It was peaceful here. Might not be a bad place to stay. Late in the day, she got up and started walking around the forest. She kept smelling the air and changed direction often. There were few predators by the open meadow here. Her Grandfather did not like visitors, so she was only here twice with her brother when they were fawns. She decided to go to her Grandfather’s old cave to look around. She climbed the hill looking carefully about her, as she got higher up. Near the top, she stopped. In the air was a faint scent. It was not a scent she smelled before. It smelled big and that meant she did not want to meet it. She stopped and began to go back the way she came. Halfway to the bottom, she heard branches cracking behind her. That was all she needed to hear, she ran.
She flew down the hill and ran toward the lake. The trees and bushes flew by her as she ran fast. There was nothing from behind her. Whoever was chasing her did not follow her far. She ran back to the lake before she felt tired and stopped. Everything was quiet around her. She looked around and found a hiding place in the trees behind some bushes. There she lay down on her knees and rested. Other than the usual sounds of the forest, that was nothing going on around her. It was easy for her to sleep into the night.
It was late evening when she got up and tested the air. Nothing was around her she could hear, see, or smell. She was hungry and grass grew alongside the lake. When she tasted it, the grass was delicious, so she ate her fill and drank from the lake. It was still late when her nose picked up a familiar scent. The odor was coming from the other direction she had run earlier. It was not the same scent as before on the hill. This one was another deer. A deer she did not know. She went back into the trees and waited.
A short while later, another deer walked carefully out of the trees and toward the lake. It was another yearling like her, but it was a male. Like her, he was testing the air with his nose. The male was small, barely her size. There was a patch of white on his chest, but otherwise, his fur was the same. He was not much to look at. He did not even look strong enough to be a herd male. He was also alone, which was unusual for a yearling. She watched him timidly approach the lake and start to eat, all the while looking around him. He was careful. She watched him eat and then drink from the lake near where she just did. He did not look like a threat. Quietly, she moved out of the trees and came up behind him. He turned quickly, glanced at her, and started to run.
“I will not hurt you,” she called out. “I am alone like you are.”
The male stopped suddenly and turned to look at her. She moved out into the open where the male could see her even in the dim glow from the lesser light. Slowly, as if expected her to attack him, he approached her. It was amusing to her that a doe like her could scare a male, but this was not a regular size male. This one was small.
“Who are you?” the male asked in a high-pitched voice.
“I am Gurri,” she said and slowly walked over to him. When she was closer, she asked him, “I do not know you. Please tell me your name?”
“I am Wesal,” he said meekly and bowed his head.
“I did not expect to find many deer out here. Most stay near the meadow,” she said.
Wesal bowed his head as if in shame. “I do not go to the meadow. The other deer do not like me.”
She looked him over. Granted he was small, but he was not deformed or had a bad scent. There was no obvious reason other deer should shun him. “Why don’t they like you? You seem alright to me.”
“I am small,” Wesal moaned. “The other deer push me around because they know I cannot fight back like they can. They tease me and chase me. I left the meadow to live out here. Not many deer here and no one bothers me.”
At least the other deer did not try to do that with her, but she was large for a doe like her mother. “Yes, I know other deer are cruel at times. They also do not like to listen. I got tired of it myself and came out here.”
Wesal looked at her. “Why would they not like you? You are not weak. You are beautiful, not like me,” he moaned.
She did not want to laugh. “Thank you,” she said. “You are not that small.”
“Yes I am,” he said. “I am small and weak and that is the only thing other deer look at. Nothing else to them matter.”
“Except for being a doe,” she told him. “The males will listen to other males, but never to a doe. You warn them of danger and they ignore you. If I was a male, they at least listen to me.”
“I like to listen to you, your voice is nice,” the small male said smiling.
“Thank you again,” she said. “She looked the deer over. Other than being small and not having the heavy muscles other male deer have, he was rather cute, but not for her. She wanted a male like her Father or brother, not something small like him.
That is when the idea struck her suddenly. What then was the difference between what other males felt about her and what she felt about this male? She wanted a big male because all doe want the best males to make their fawns. That was the way of the forest. The strongest always got the best doe. In the same way, all males’ respected strength, and doe and small males like Wesal were not strong so they did not respect them. This was also the way of the forest. That may not be right, but it was the way things were. To expect otherwise was foolish.
“Did I say something wrong?” Wesal spoke up.
That broke her concentration and she looked back at the yearling male who only came up to her eye level. “No,” she said. “I was just thinking about something.”
“You looked far away,” he said.
“I felt far away,” she answered, “But I am back now.”
Looking at the sky around her, she knew it would soon be light. She had not slept much yesterday and she felt tired. She looked at the small male just gazing at her as if she was something out of a dream. Inwardly she felt a sudden impulse.
“It will be light soon,” she noted. “It is time to rest. There are large animals around here I do not want to meet.”
“Like the bear,” Wesal said. “He drinks at the lake at dawn and just before night. I stay hidden at those times. So far he leaves me alone.”
So that is what she smelled yesterday. It was a good thing she ran. No deer can hope to fight a bear and live. “Thank you for telling me that,” she said. “I need to empty myself. You see that large tree that leans toward the water?”
“Yes, I sleep near there,” the male said.
“I will meet you there shortly,” she said and dashed off into the trees to empty out her insides.
When finished, she went back to the lake to take one more drink of water and then met Wesal by the tree.
“I will go with you,” she said. “Show me where you sleep.”
The male swallowed and led her on to an opening among some bushes. It was big enough for two. She lay down in the clearing and motioned Wesal to lie near her. He did so nervously.
“Other than my sister and mother, I never slept near a doe before,” he said.
“I have not slept near a male. Do not worry about it. The Season is still a long ways away,” she said. She put her head down and went fast asleep. She rather liked it.
For the next three days, they ate and slept together by the lake. Wesal was right about the bear, but the large black creature did not come any closer than the lake edge. She stayed close and found she liked talking to this male. She felt no wish to have him bred her, but it was nice being near someone who felt like her. No doubt, her parents would have a fit at her choice, but he at least liked her and did not look at her as if she was some prize doe ready to be bred. Nor did he boast about his power and influence. The main thing was he listened to her; for a male, that was almost a new experience.
On the fourth day, she was just going to go to sleep when she looked out toward the hill her Grandfather cave was at. Past the hills and saw it. In the distance was a cloud of smoke rising in the air. That meant there were more Men in the forest. She spent a sleepless day listening but could hear nothing. As soon as it was dark, she left Wesal and told him to stay hidden and not to go out during the day. He moved quickly back to her mother’s thicket. When she got there, it was empty. Her family should be in the meadow with the fawns.
She went to the meadow and sure enough, she saw her Mother, her younger sisters, and her brother eating. Filon and her Father were talking. She moved over to them. As she got closer, they all stopped eating and looked up at her.
“Where have you been?” her Father ask sound annoyed.
“I have been out on my own,” she said flatly. “I was over by Grandfather’s old cave. There was smoke rising from beyond it. I think Man is in the forest again.”
Her Father looked surprised. “They are early this year?” her Father said. “They are not usually here yet. Are you sure?”
She tried not to get angry, but words just slipped out. “Go over and see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”
She spun in her hoofs and started to walk away. “Gurri, wait!” her Father commanded.
She took a deep breath and turned around. “Yes,” she grunted.
“I need to know for sure about this, that is all,” her Father explained.
“If Geno told you this, or Ronno, or even Filon, you believe them, but not your daughter. Why, because I am a doe and I do not know anything. Like I said, look for yourself.”
She turned again and moved away.
“Gurri Stop!” her Father yelled. She kicked her hoofs up and ran into the forest. She tried to hold back the tears in her eyes. At least there was someone there she knew who would listen.
CHAPTER FOUR: GENO
He watched as his sister ran off into the night. For a moment, he wanted to go after her, but his Father had not moved. Therefore, he did not move. He saw his Mother seeming to glare at his Father to do something, but he did nothing. Instead, he went back to talking to Filon.
“You do have an unusual daughter, Bambi,” the new deer said to his Father.
“Yes, she is not your normal doe,” his Father said sternly. “If she was only a male,” he muttered quietly.
“Father, are we going to go see if Man is in the forest?” he asked.
His Father looked at him and seemed to think for a moment. He then shook his head no. “No, we are not going to go look. I am staying here with the herd. You, my son, are going to go look. It is time to see if what I have taught you is taking hold.”
“Would you like me to leave now?” he asked.
His Father looked outward at the sky. “No, it will be light soon and if Man is in the forest, they will be hunting. Wait until tonight and then leave. You know where it is at?”
“Yes,” he answered quickly. “It is by the smaller lake near the hill where Grandfather had his cave.”
“Correct, you will go tonight. You will just look for the smoke. Do not get close to Man. If you see anything, come back and bring your sister if you can.”
“Yes, Father,” he said.
His Father then turned back to Filon. “Did I tell you my old friend Thumper the rabbit told me Gurri was attacked by a fox near his borough? She actually kicked the fox in the face and then charged him to run him off.”
Filon stepped back laughing. “That is good,” he chuckled. The big deer then looked back at his Father and Mother. “I mean no disrespect by saying this, but I wish your daughter was two seasons older. She would be the perfect mate for a deer like me.”
His Father smiled openly. When he turned to face his Mother, she was not smiling at all, but glaring even harder. He wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. He went on eating and then followed his Mother and Father home where they rested for the day.
That night after it was dark, he left his Father and went off by himself. His Father had warned him again of the dangers of Man and the forest. His Mother just told him to be careful. As he was leaving, he heard his Father say to Mother, “He has to learn sometimes.”
He was proud his Father trusted him enough to do this on his own. It showed he was getting older. Already the first buds of his rack were growing out. He knew he would not have a big rack like his father this year, but he have a rack. It would get larger as he got older. All he had to do was to live long enough for that to happen. He moved carefully among the trees testing the air often. He smelled badgers but nothing larger than that. The Coyotes did not come to this part of the forest. He knew bears lived in the hills, but they seldom came here. Just as his Father showed him, he changed direction from time to time to make sure nothing was following him. It took him a while, but by morning, he was near the lake. He found a good hiding place and lay down to rest for the day. It was still too far away to see or smell anything about Man.
That evening after he woke, emptied himself, and ate some nearby grass and leaves. He traveled on still moving carefully. It took him a little while before he got to the far end of the lake. The hills were on the other side of the open water. All the trees were tall and green. The fire his Father told him about did not burn this part of the forest. The trees by the other large lake were hardly more than chest high. You could not hide a pheasant there, never mind a deer. He glided quietly among the trees around the side of the lake. When it was completely dark, he saw movement on the other side of the lake. Two deer were out eating and he could not tell who they were. If it was his sister, then he was on the wrong side of the lake. He cursed his stupidity at taking the wrong direction. He turned around and went back the way he came. By the time he worked his way around to the other side, they were gone. It was also getting late.
He moved through the trees and towards where he thought his sister was. He walked near the lake and that is when he caught the scent in his nose. A smell of bitterness remained in his nostrils. It was smoke from Man. He could see nothing in the darkness. He moved up to the edge of the trees near the lake edge to hide. He was moving there just inside the trees when he heard someone whisper from behind him.
“Geno,” he heard his sister’s voice. He turned quickly He saw her familiar shape near the trees. He backed up and ran over to her.
“Where is Father?” she asked looking around.
“With the herd, he sent me instead,” he told her. “Is that smoke I smell?”
“Yes,” she said and led him back into the trees. Once there he picked up another scent. A young male it smelled like. It was not a powerful scent, but one that was nearby. His sister led him into a thicket. There stood a small male barely up to his shoulder.
“This is Wesal,” she said.
“Wesal,” he repeated. That deer was no threat to him. He wondered why a male that small would be near his sister. Certainly, he could not be interested in her. Any male he knew could drive that puny thing off without taking a deep breath.
“We can rest here,” his sister suggested.
He nodded agreement and lay down near his sister has he always did. Wesal did the same on her other side. That bothered him, but he said nothing.
“A bear likes to drink at the far end of the lake in the early morning and near night,” Gurri said. “It is best to stay away from him.”
“I agree, have you see any sign of Man?” he asked his sister.
“No,” she said. “I can smell only the smoke. I dare not go to the hill. That bear has taken over Grandfather’s cave and chased me when I first came. I got away and found this place. I like it here.”
“Father will not like that someone else is using Grandfather’s cave,” he said.
Soon the first light appeared he heard distant noises. Soon after that, it was full light, a noise echoed through the forest.
“WHAM,” they all heard, but it was far away. It sounded to him like it was on the other side of the hill. That told him what he came to find out.
“Well, that settles that,” he said to his sister. “It is Man in the forest. As soon as it is dark again we will need to go tell Father.”
“You go tell Father,” Gurri told him. “I am staying here.”
That sounded foolish to him. “With Man in the forest,” he said. “You want to die here?”
“Man is far away and you know it,” his sister barked at him. “Besides, Father does not listen to anything I say anyway. He did not believe me before; he will not believe me now.”
“Of course he will. I am with you now,” he said.
“That is right,” she said shrilly. “He will believe me now because my brother will be with me and my brother will be a prince of the forest one day. He has to believe you. I am just a doe that is only good for breeding.”
He shot to his feet his face getting flush. “That is nonsense,” he spoke down to his sister.
“No it is not and we both know it,” she shouted. “Otherwise he would not have sent you to check up on me.”
“Not so loud, Man is near,” the male spoke up quietly. Advice from a puny male infuriated him even more.
“Quiet from you, or I will drag you carcass all over the forest. My Mother can beat you to a pulp.”
The male just shrunk away from him. Gurri, however, shot to her feet and put her face right next to his. “That is right big male,” she growled. “That is the only answer you know. You are prince here; we all must obey you. Well not anymore.”
He tensed his muscles. “Father told me to find out if Man is in the forest and then come back to tell him. He also said to bring you, and I will.”
“No!” she bellowed back. “I am staying here unless you are going to beat me to a pulp also.”
He knew this was not the time and place to have a family argument, but the idea of his sister staying with this waste of a deer made him angry. She deserved better than this thing.
“Fine,” he told her. “Stay here if you want. I do not care, but I am going back. I have other deer that depend on me and I will not let Father down.”
“Listen!” the other male said.
He was going to pound him before he heard it. It was a yelping noise. Father had told him about that noise before. “Dogs,” he said.
He dropped to the ground quickly. His sister lay out flat close to the small male. The yelping was getting louder. They were after something. The barking then changed, became even louder, more vicious. He could hear them calling back to Man. “Here…Here, He is here,” many of them shouted.
“They are after something,” he whispered, “And it is not us.”
“Look,” the male said and pointed his nose.
They could barely make out the edge of the lake, but he could clearly see a large bear running out of the forest with dogs just behind him. The bear ran blindly until he went into the water and stopped. The next moment many large dogs came out of the woods and jumped on the bear. They bit him, tearing the flesh on his back. They also scrapped him with their claws. The 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 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.
Way of the Forest Part 2(Wilbur Arron)
CHAPTER THREE: GURRI
It was late and Gurri was hungry. She walked out alone on the meadow and started to eat the new spring grass. It was still dark and she knew it would be a while before the great light rose. She saw many of the herd males along with many doe and fawns eating. She ate at the edge of the meadow, away from everyone. She was tired of the other deer, especially the yearlings, wanting to get her to ask her Father some question about something that was not important. She felt resentment being a messenger. They could ask him themselves. Besides, her Father made it clear that he was training Geno to do that, not her. She was sure it was because her Father thought she was just a doe and would not do such things as a male would. She also knew why her Father sent her away. Her brother was important; she was not. This made her even angrier. She was just as smart as her brother was, she was just as fast and understood just as much, but she had no rack so she did not matter.
She continued to eat until she felt full. She ate fast; she would chew her cud later when she relaxed during the day. As she finished, she went over to the small stream and drank her fill of water. As she did, she heard the tread of light footsteps behind her. She did not look back and instead moved off until she was downwind of the pond. The smell of a male deer came to her, but he was still behind her. It was not Ronno's or the other herd male's scents. The smell was new.
“You know my Father is much quieter when he sneaks up behind me,” she called out.
She then turned around and saw the new male deer was behind her by several lengths. “Filon, is it not?” she asked.
“Very good, young doe,” the male said in a friendly voice. “I can usually sneak up on other deer, but I can see your Father has taught you well.”
“I wish he would,” she said. “Right now he is only interested in teaching my brother. I guess only males with racks are smart enough to lead in the forest.”
The new male stopped about three lengths away. “That is how things are," he said. "Males are the ones that fight for doe and their place in the herd.”
“And doe are just meant to be bred and have fawns,” she said with disgust. “Well, I can think too, and I can do a lot more than make fawns. At least I will when it is time. So what do you want?”
“Direct too,” Filon said still smiling. “Nothing like that I assume you. My taste in doe runs toward older doe nearer the age of your mother. You are still too young for me, although, in one or two more seasons, that may change. You are cute.”
“Thank you,” she said formally. She still did not fully trust this male. “Now what do you want?” she repeated.
“I was curious about a yearling doe that eats by herself and not with the other yearlings,” he said. “I also wanted to give your Father a message and you see him more than I do.”
“I eat by myself because the other yearlings keep asking me about my Father. They are not interested in me, but only in my Father. I also eat alone because I do not see one of them I have any amount of respect for. All they do is boast and brag about how big a deer they will be,” she said. “Now what is your message?”
“Tell your father I saw fresh footsteps of Man near the edge of the meadow by the fallen oak tree. Man has been watching the meadow from there.”
“Hmmmmm, I do not like that,” she said. She then looked toward the place the great light appears. It was still black.
“Will you see him tonight?” Filon asked.
“No,” she told him. “He is with my brother. I will try to see him later. I will give him your message. If you are right, I think it is time to get off the meadow, I have eaten all I need.”
“Wise doe,” Filon said. “I am still hungry, I will see you later.”
With that, the big male walked away and started to eat the grass. She walked away toward the trees and her resting place. From there she could see the meadow and still be completely hidden. She lay down to give her meal a chance to digest and fill her hunger. She chewed her cud for a while and then went to sleep.
Sometime later, she awoke hearing footsteps and voices. For a moment she was afraid that Filon had come looking for her, but the footsteps were loud and the voices familiar. It was just the yearlings wandering on the meadow. She looked again and saw the first glow of light. She stood up and spoke loud enough for them to hear.
“Filon has seen Man tracks at the edge of the meadow,” she called out the group.
They stopped to look at her for a moment, and then a few of the louder males started laughing at her and moved into the open as if it was nothing. Well, she had tried. She moved off and emptied herself well away from her resting place. Above her were singing birds looking to start a new day trying to find food to feed their chicks. She thought about trying to find her Father but decided she do that tonight. She lay down again and soon drifted off to sleep.
“WHAAAAAMMMMM,” echoed loudly through the trees. The noise snapped her awake. She froze in place.
He looked at the meadow. It was full light. Many of the deer, mostly yearlings, were running wildly off the meadow in a panic seeking the cover of the nearby trees. Some were bleating in fear. The other deer scattered in many different directions. A putrid smell of smoke filled her nose. It was the first time she had heard or smelled this, but it must be one of Man’s killing sticks. Soon there was another smell just as awful: a smell of sweat and dirt. It was new to her. She remained absolutely still; she knew better than to move around with Man in the forest.
She looked back out into the meadow. On the ground lay one deer. It looked like a yearling male from the size and shape of the body. It lay still, and she could not tell who it was. Then other motion caught her attention. Two large figures walked on the grass toward the down deer. They walked slowly carrying a long stick. One figure was bigger than the other was. It was Man. She had never seen Man before. They came up to the down deer and poked it. They took the stick and then put it through the legs of the down deer. After using some kind of vine, one man picked up each end of the stick. The picked up the deer and carried it away. She waited until the scent of Man and the smoke had gone before she eased away from her hiding place and headed back toward her mother’s thicket.
She had gone only a short way when she heard her name called out from behind her. She turned around to see and saw Filon coming up from behind her. At the same moment, she smelled a familiar scent. It was her brother followed closely by her Father. She went behind some trees where they could hide from view.
“Gurri what happened?” her Father asked.
“Man was on the meadow,” she told him. “He used a killing stick on a yearling male. Then a large and small Man came and took the deer away.”
“Were you on the Meadow?” her father asked sternly.
“No,” she said angrily. Her Father should know her better than that. “I was off the field before the first sign of the great light. I was going to come find you because Filon told me he had found a Man track at the edge of the meadow.”
Filon spoke up. “She even warned the yearlings as they went to the meadow. I heard her myself. The other deer just laughed at her and walked out on the meadow anyway.”
“Of course they laughed,” she said bitterly. “I am just a doe and a young one at that. No one listens to me. They only listen to older males with racks.”
Her comment seemed to take both her Father and Filon by surprised, but she felt she was right. If her Father had warned those yearlings, one more of them would be alive now.
“I think they will listen now,” Filon said trying to make her feel better. “The rest of the deer now know better. Experience is the best teacher, as long as you can stay alive long enough to learn.”
“I agree with Filon,” he Father told her. “You warned them, they did not listen, and one deer died for their stupidly. Maybe they will listen now. There was nothing more you could have done to prevent this.”
Her Father was also trying to make her feel better, but it did not help. “I am sorry, Father, but if they would have listened to you because you are the herd leader and the other deer respect you. They would have listened to Filon because he is a large male and they respect him. I am just a yearling doe and I feel none of them respect me so they did not listen, nor do I think they will listen to me in the future.”
She could not bear to stay there any longer. She ran off into the deeper forest. She heard her Father and Filon still talking about something, but she did not care. She just wanted to be by herself. She went to the lake, took a drink from its cool waters, and then walked around always testing the air. A bear had passed by, but long ago. She smelled no other danger. It was after the great light was overhead that she came upon the old down log she recognized. Her Mother had brought her and her brother here when they were fawns. She stopped to eat some grass and saw most of it was already gone.
“Thumper,” she spoke into the tree log. “It is Gurri.”
A few moments later the older gray rabbit appeared and looked up mouth open as if amazed. “It is you,” he said. “My, how you have grown since I last saw you. Where are your brother, father, and mother?
“Mother has two new fawns to raise,” she explained. “Father is with my brother teaching him all about the forest. They do not need me at home and so I am out on my own. I was walking by and thought I stop to say hello.”
“You are getting large, you look like your Mother,” Thumper said looking her over carefully.”
“How are you doing?” she asked.
The old hair looked away. “Oh, I found a new mate this spring. I have a new litter of rabbits. This will be my last liter I think.”
“Why is that?” she asked. He looked old yet healthy.
“I am getting old,” he said as a complaint. “Soon I think I will join your Grandfather.”
The way the old rabbit said it shocked her. “Do not say that Thumper. You are my Father’s friend and mine. You will live for a long time to come.”
“I like to, but I doubt it,” he said. “I am the oldest rabbit I know. None of my sisters are even alive. I do not even know if any of my children are still alive.”
She was going to answer when an odor crossed her nose. It was a fox. “Run, Thumper, the fox is here.”
He might be old, but the old hare vanished in an instant. She stood by the log and waited. Sure enough, the fox appeared silently out of the bushes.
“Still looking for Thumper,” she told the red furry animal with the white long tail. “I am afraid you missed him again.”
“I am patient, and there are others,” the sly fox said looking at her closely. The fox was sizing her up.
“Thinking of eating deer today?” she asked. “That would be a mistake.”
“Oh no,” the fox pleaded. “I would never eat something as big as you.”
She remembered what her father told her about foxes: ‘Believe nothing about a fox except that it is hungry.’
“Very well,” she said and pretended to turn away. The moment she seemed to take her eyes off the fox, she saw it shift its weight to it rear legs and leap.
She quickly brought her leg and hoof up as the fox jumped up for her throat. The hard hoof caught the fox in the face. The blow knocked him off-balance and he instead fell at her feet. She raised up to stomp the fox hard on the ground, but he saw it coming and rolled away. In a flash, the creature was on his feet again.
“You tried to kill me,” it screamed.
“I will do more than try,” she growled and lashed out hard with her front legs again. This time the fox was ready and jumped back.
“Lost your taste for deer,” she said eyeing the creature well. “You should try something smaller,” she said and charged.
She did not think she would hit the fox, but it did scare him off. The last she saw was the white tail disappear into the bushes. She went back to the log.
“He is gone,” she told Thumper.
The old rabbit peaked out of the log. “That was like your Father,” he said.
“That was the second time today someone thought that because I was a doe and a yearling, I was weak and stupid. It is also the second time today they paid the price for their mistake.”
Thumper gazed at her in disbelief, “You remind me of your Father when he gets mad. He gets that same look in his eyes like he is ready to fight anyone.”
Inside she felt ready to fight anyone. There was still anger from before, and now this was just making her madder. She had to calm down. Mad deer can make stupid mistakes as her Father said to Geno. She calmed down but did not take her eyes off the bushes and trees around her.
“I am sorry, but it has been a bad day for me so far,” she explained.
Feeling calmer, she then told the old rabbit the story of what happened to her and how she felt about it. As she did, she felt the anger diminish inside her. She knew she had no right to burden Thumper with her problems, but it felt better to share it with someone else.
“I see,” Thumper said. “I am afraid you are right. The other creatures respect strength and that usually means males fighting for mates. It is not just deer. All sorts of creatures do that. That struggle is what drives the forest on. Females usually do not have the strength to gather that respect.”
“Well just because I am a female, it does not mean I cannot think. I am my Father’s daughter and I do see things. My Grandfather and Father taught me that much.”
“So I see, well I must go,” Thumper said and disappeared again into his log.
She walked away still keeping an eye out for the fox just in case he had not learned his lesson. She did not feel like seeing her parents or the other deer. She was near the lake. Beyond that, there were the hills her Grandfather had lived in. It looked safe enough so she and decided to go there. There was no deer here. She was alone. That suited her now. She ate in a small open area near the trees and drank in a small stream that came off the hills. It was peaceful here. Might not be a bad place to stay. Late in the day, she got up and started walking around the forest. She kept smelling the air and changed direction often. There were few predators by the open meadow here. Her Grandfather did not like visitors, so she was only here twice with her brother when they were fawns. She decided to go to her Grandfather’s old cave to look around. She climbed the hill looking carefully about her, as she got higher up. Near the top, she stopped. In the air was a faint scent. It was not a scent she smelled before. It smelled big and that meant she did not want to meet it. She stopped and began to go back the way she came. Halfway to the bottom, she heard branches cracking behind her. That was all she needed to hear, she ran.
She flew down the hill and ran toward the lake. The trees and bushes flew by her as she ran fast. There was nothing from behind her. Whoever was chasing her did not follow her far. She ran back to the lake before she felt tired and stopped. Everything was quiet around her. She looked around and found a hiding place in the trees behind some bushes. There she lay down on her knees and rested. Other than the usual sounds of the forest, that was nothing going on around her. It was easy for her to sleep into the night.
It was late evening when she got up and tested the air. Nothing was around her she could hear, see, or smell. She was hungry and grass grew alongside the lake. When she tasted it, the grass was delicious, so she ate her fill and drank from the lake. It was still late when her nose picked up a familiar scent. The odor was coming from the other direction she had run earlier. It was not the same scent as before on the hill. This one was another deer. A deer she did not know. She went back into the trees and waited.
A short while later, another deer walked carefully out of the trees and toward the lake. It was another yearling like her, but it was a male. Like her, he was testing the air with his nose. The male was small, barely her size. There was a patch of white on his chest, but otherwise, his fur was the same. He was not much to look at. He did not even look strong enough to be a herd male. He was also alone, which was unusual for a yearling. She watched him timidly approach the lake and start to eat, all the while looking around him. He was careful. She watched him eat and then drink from the lake near where she just did. He did not look like a threat. Quietly, she moved out of the trees and came up behind him. He turned quickly, glanced at her, and started to run.
“I will not hurt you,” she called out. “I am alone like you are.”
The male stopped suddenly and turned to look at her. She moved out into the open where the male could see her even in the dim glow from the lesser light. Slowly, as if expected her to attack him, he approached her. It was amusing to her that a doe like her could scare a male, but this was not a regular size male. This one was small.
“Who are you?” the male asked in a high-pitched voice.
“I am Gurri,” she said and slowly walked over to him. When she was closer, she asked him, “I do not know you. Please tell me your name?”
“I am Wesal,” he said meekly and bowed his head.
“I did not expect to find many deer out here. Most stay near the meadow,” she said.
Wesal bowed his head as if in shame. “I do not go to the meadow. The other deer do not like me.”
She looked him over. Granted he was small, but he was not deformed or had a bad scent. There was no obvious reason other deer should shun him. “Why don’t they like you? You seem alright to me.”
“I am small,” Wesal moaned. “The other deer push me around because they know I cannot fight back like they can. They tease me and chase me. I left the meadow to live out here. Not many deer here and no one bothers me.”
At least the other deer did not try to do that with her, but she was large for a doe like her mother. “Yes, I know other deer are cruel at times. They also do not like to listen. I got tired of it myself and came out here.”
Wesal looked at her. “Why would they not like you? You are not weak. You are beautiful, not like me,” he moaned.
She did not want to laugh. “Thank you,” she said. “You are not that small.”
“Yes I am,” he said. “I am small and weak and that is the only thing other deer look at. Nothing else to them matter.”
“Except for being a doe,” she told him. “The males will listen to other males, but never to a doe. You warn them of danger and they ignore you. If I was a male, they at least listen to me.”
“I like to listen to you, your voice is nice,” the small male said smiling.
“Thank you again,” she said. “She looked the deer over. Other than being small and not having the heavy muscles other male deer have, he was rather cute, but not for her. She wanted a male like her Father or brother, not something small like him.
That is when the idea struck her suddenly. What then was the difference between what other males felt about her and what she felt about this male? She wanted a big male because all doe want the best males to make their fawns. That was the way of the forest. The strongest always got the best doe. In the same way, all males’ respected strength, and doe and small males like Wesal were not strong so they did not respect them. This was also the way of the forest. That may not be right, but it was the way things were. To expect otherwise was foolish.
“Did I say something wrong?” Wesal spoke up.
That broke her concentration and she looked back at the yearling male who only came up to her eye level. “No,” she said. “I was just thinking about something.”
“You looked far away,” he said.
“I felt far away,” she answered, “But I am back now.”
Looking at the sky around her, she knew it would soon be light. She had not slept much yesterday and she felt tired. She looked at the small male just gazing at her as if she was something out of a dream. Inwardly she felt a sudden impulse.
“It will be light soon,” she noted. “It is time to rest. There are large animals around here I do not want to meet.”
“Like the bear,” Wesal said. “He drinks at the lake at dawn and just before night. I stay hidden at those times. So far he leaves me alone.”
So that is what she smelled yesterday. It was a good thing she ran. No deer can hope to fight a bear and live. “Thank you for telling me that,” she said. “I need to empty myself. You see that large tree that leans toward the water?”
“Yes, I sleep near there,” the male said.
“I will meet you there shortly,” she said and dashed off into the trees to empty out her insides.
When finished, she went back to the lake to take one more drink of water and then met Wesal by the tree.
“I will go with you,” she said. “Show me where you sleep.”
The male swallowed and led her on to an opening among some bushes. It was big enough for two. She lay down in the clearing and motioned Wesal to lie near her. He did so nervously.
“Other than my sister and mother, I never slept near a doe before,” he said.
“I have not slept near a male. Do not worry about it. The Season is still a long ways away,” she said. She put her head down and went fast asleep. She rather liked it.
For the next three days, they ate and slept together by the lake. Wesal was right about the bear, but the large black creature did not come any closer than the lake edge. She stayed close and found she liked talking to this male. She felt no wish to have him bred her, but it was nice being near someone who felt like her. No doubt, her parents would have a fit at her choice, but he at least liked her and did not look at her as if she was some prize doe ready to be bred. Nor did he boast about his power and influence. The main thing was he listened to her; for a male, that was almost a new experience.
On the fourth day, she was just going to go to sleep when she looked out toward the hill her Grandfather cave was at. Past the hills and saw it. In the distance was a cloud of smoke rising in the air. That meant there were more Men in the forest. She spent a sleepless day listening but could hear nothing. As soon as it was dark, she left Wesal and told him to stay hidden and not to go out during the day. He moved quickly back to her mother’s thicket. When she got there, it was empty. Her family should be in the meadow with the fawns.
She went to the meadow and sure enough, she saw her Mother, her younger sisters, and her brother eating. Filon and her Father were talking. She moved over to them. As she got closer, they all stopped eating and looked up at her.
“Where have you been?” her Father ask sound annoyed.
“I have been out on my own,” she said flatly. “I was over by Grandfather’s old cave. There was smoke rising from beyond it. I think Man is in the forest again.”
Her Father looked surprised. “They are early this year?” her Father said. “They are not usually here yet. Are you sure?”
She tried not to get angry, but words just slipped out. “Go over and see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”
She spun in her hoofs and started to walk away. “Gurri, wait!” her Father commanded.
She took a deep breath and turned around. “Yes,” she grunted.
“I need to know for sure about this, that is all,” her Father explained.
“If Geno told you this, or Ronno, or even Filon, you believe them, but not your daughter. Why, because I am a doe and I do not know anything. Like I said, look for yourself.”
She turned again and moved away.
“Gurri Stop!” her Father yelled. She kicked her hoofs up and ran into the forest. She tried to hold back the tears in her eyes. At least there was someone there she knew who would listen.
CHAPTER FOUR: GENO
He watched as his sister ran off into the night. For a moment, he wanted to go after her, but his Father had not moved. Therefore, he did not move. He saw his Mother seeming to glare at his Father to do something, but he did nothing. Instead, he went back to talking to Filon.
“You do have an unusual daughter, Bambi,” the new deer said to his Father.
“Yes, she is not your normal doe,” his Father said sternly. “If she was only a male,” he muttered quietly.
“Father, are we going to go see if Man is in the forest?” he asked.
His Father looked at him and seemed to think for a moment. He then shook his head no. “No, we are not going to go look. I am staying here with the herd. You, my son, are going to go look. It is time to see if what I have taught you is taking hold.”
“Would you like me to leave now?” he asked.
His Father looked outward at the sky. “No, it will be light soon and if Man is in the forest, they will be hunting. Wait until tonight and then leave. You know where it is at?”
“Yes,” he answered quickly. “It is by the smaller lake near the hill where Grandfather had his cave.”
“Correct, you will go tonight. You will just look for the smoke. Do not get close to Man. If you see anything, come back and bring your sister if you can.”
“Yes, Father,” he said.
His Father then turned back to Filon. “Did I tell you my old friend Thumper the rabbit told me Gurri was attacked by a fox near his borough? She actually kicked the fox in the face and then charged him to run him off.”
Filon stepped back laughing. “That is good,” he chuckled. The big deer then looked back at his Father and Mother. “I mean no disrespect by saying this, but I wish your daughter was two seasons older. She would be the perfect mate for a deer like me.”
His Father smiled openly. When he turned to face his Mother, she was not smiling at all, but glaring even harder. He wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. He went on eating and then followed his Mother and Father home where they rested for the day.
That night after it was dark, he left his Father and went off by himself. His Father had warned him again of the dangers of Man and the forest. His Mother just told him to be careful. As he was leaving, he heard his Father say to Mother, “He has to learn sometimes.”
He was proud his Father trusted him enough to do this on his own. It showed he was getting older. Already the first buds of his rack were growing out. He knew he would not have a big rack like his father this year, but he have a rack. It would get larger as he got older. All he had to do was to live long enough for that to happen. He moved carefully among the trees testing the air often. He smelled badgers but nothing larger than that. The Coyotes did not come to this part of the forest. He knew bears lived in the hills, but they seldom came here. Just as his Father showed him, he changed direction from time to time to make sure nothing was following him. It took him a while, but by morning, he was near the lake. He found a good hiding place and lay down to rest for the day. It was still too far away to see or smell anything about Man.
That evening after he woke, emptied himself, and ate some nearby grass and leaves. He traveled on still moving carefully. It took him a little while before he got to the far end of the lake. The hills were on the other side of the open water. All the trees were tall and green. The fire his Father told him about did not burn this part of the forest. The trees by the other large lake were hardly more than chest high. You could not hide a pheasant there, never mind a deer. He glided quietly among the trees around the side of the lake. When it was completely dark, he saw movement on the other side of the lake. Two deer were out eating and he could not tell who they were. If it was his sister, then he was on the wrong side of the lake. He cursed his stupidity at taking the wrong direction. He turned around and went back the way he came. By the time he worked his way around to the other side, they were gone. It was also getting late.
He moved through the trees and towards where he thought his sister was. He walked near the lake and that is when he caught the scent in his nose. A smell of bitterness remained in his nostrils. It was smoke from Man. He could see nothing in the darkness. He moved up to the edge of the trees near the lake edge to hide. He was moving there just inside the trees when he heard someone whisper from behind him.
“Geno,” he heard his sister’s voice. He turned quickly He saw her familiar shape near the trees. He backed up and ran over to her.
“Where is Father?” she asked looking around.
“With the herd, he sent me instead,” he told her. “Is that smoke I smell?”
“Yes,” she said and led him back into the trees. Once there he picked up another scent. A young male it smelled like. It was not a powerful scent, but one that was nearby. His sister led him into a thicket. There stood a small male barely up to his shoulder.
“This is Wesal,” she said.
“Wesal,” he repeated. That deer was no threat to him. He wondered why a male that small would be near his sister. Certainly, he could not be interested in her. Any male he knew could drive that puny thing off without taking a deep breath.
“We can rest here,” his sister suggested.
He nodded agreement and lay down near his sister has he always did. Wesal did the same on her other side. That bothered him, but he said nothing.
“A bear likes to drink at the far end of the lake in the early morning and near night,” Gurri said. “It is best to stay away from him.”
“I agree, have you see any sign of Man?” he asked his sister.
“No,” she said. “I can smell only the smoke. I dare not go to the hill. That bear has taken over Grandfather’s cave and chased me when I first came. I got away and found this place. I like it here.”
“Father will not like that someone else is using Grandfather’s cave,” he said.
Soon the first light appeared he heard distant noises. Soon after that, it was full light, a noise echoed through the forest.
“WHAM,” they all heard, but it was far away. It sounded to him like it was on the other side of the hill. That told him what he came to find out.
“Well, that settles that,” he said to his sister. “It is Man in the forest. As soon as it is dark again we will need to go tell Father.”
“You go tell Father,” Gurri told him. “I am staying here.”
That sounded foolish to him. “With Man in the forest,” he said. “You want to die here?”
“Man is far away and you know it,” his sister barked at him. “Besides, Father does not listen to anything I say anyway. He did not believe me before; he will not believe me now.”
“Of course he will. I am with you now,” he said.
“That is right,” she said shrilly. “He will believe me now because my brother will be with me and my brother will be a prince of the forest one day. He has to believe you. I am just a doe that is only good for breeding.”
He shot to his feet his face getting flush. “That is nonsense,” he spoke down to his sister.
“No it is not and we both know it,” she shouted. “Otherwise he would not have sent you to check up on me.”
“Not so loud, Man is near,” the male spoke up quietly. Advice from a puny male infuriated him even more.
“Quiet from you, or I will drag you carcass all over the forest. My Mother can beat you to a pulp.”
The male just shrunk away from him. Gurri, however, shot to her feet and put her face right next to his. “That is right big male,” she growled. “That is the only answer you know. You are prince here; we all must obey you. Well not anymore.”
He tensed his muscles. “Father told me to find out if Man is in the forest and then come back to tell him. He also said to bring you, and I will.”
“No!” she bellowed back. “I am staying here unless you are going to beat me to a pulp also.”
He knew this was not the time and place to have a family argument, but the idea of his sister staying with this waste of a deer made him angry. She deserved better than this thing.
“Fine,” he told her. “Stay here if you want. I do not care, but I am going back. I have other deer that depend on me and I will not let Father down.”
“Listen!” the other male said.
He was going to pound him before he heard it. It was a yelping noise. Father had told him about that noise before. “Dogs,” he said.
He dropped to the ground quickly. His sister lay out flat close to the small male. The yelping was getting louder. They were after something. The barking then changed, became even louder, more vicious. He could hear them calling back to Man. “Here…Here, He is here,” many of them shouted.
“They are after something,” he whispered, “And it is not us.”
“Look,” the male said and pointed his nose.
They could barely make out the edge of the lake, but he could clearly see a large bear running out of the forest with dogs just behind him. The bear ran blindly until he went into the water and stopped. The next moment many large dogs came out of the woods and jumped on the bear. They bit him, tearing the flesh on his back. They also scrapped him with their claws. The 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 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.
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