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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Fairy Tales & Fantasy
- Subject: Serial / Series
- Published: 05/07/2018
The Way of the Forest Part 3
Born 1956, M, from Orlando/FL, United StatesCHAPTER FIVE: CONFLICTS
Bambi followed Faline and the twins back to the meadow. Behind him, Geno walked somberly. It was dark on the meadow when he arrived. He called out to the deer to come over toward him.
“Geno,” stand next to me,” he told his son.
The deer came over and he spoke. “I have sent my son to see if Man was in the forest. He had found Man is in the forest over by the hills next to the smaller lake. They are hunting bears, but we should still be very careful. These Men have dogs and they will hunt deer. Geno barely escaped both Man and his dogs to return to tell me. We must all be off the meadow before the rise of the great light. If any of you see any sign of Man come tell me or call out.”
“Have you seen Man here?” Cleon asked.
“No I have not,” he answered. “That does not mean he is not around. We must be careful.”
Filon stepped forward and spoke up. “Since I found the last Man print, I have kept looking. I have seen nothing near here.”
“Thank you, Filon,” he said. “It is wise if we all keep looking.”
“You do not even belong to this herd,” Kragus called out to Filon. “Why should we listen to you?”
Filon smiled before speaking. “I do not care if you listen to me. We already have had one deer here killed by Man. If you wish to die next Kragus, it matters little to me.”
Kragus spun around to face the new deer. “You think you are so big,” the senior male growled loudly.
“I am big enough to handle you,” Filon said and dropped his head.
He stood back saying nothing. He could do little when males decided to fight. He knew better than to try to stop fights between males. His Father had taught him it is best to let males fight it out. As long as the males did not threaten him or his position as herd leader, or harm the herd, he did not care. Fighting among males is normal in any herd. He looked over to Geno who looked fascinated at what was happening.
“Watch, my son, and learn,” he muttered.
His son just nodded.
Kragus put his head down. Both males had their racks still in velvet so they could not use them as if it was The Season. Both males charged. There was a large crunch as they hit each other. Both males tried to get low and get position on the other. Then they could lift and push the other out-of-the-way. They could also drive the other’s face into the ground. Both Kragus and Filon locked at the shoulder, neither one getting an advantage. Kragus was a strong deer, he knew that, but Kragus’ idea of a fight is just to use strength to win. His father had taught him to use movement, feints, and even kicks to get position to win.
He did notice one thing. While Kragus was trying with all his might to move Filon, Filon was not using all his might on Kragus. He could tell Filon was holding back. He was gauging the strength of his opponent. That was smart, but it might allow Kragus the opportunity of getting position on him.
Both males pushed hard with their rear legs looking to break the lock. This went on for some time with both males locked in place. Then Kragus shifted his weight to better adjust his stance. That was what Filon was waiting for. The moment Kragus shifted his weight to his rear legs. Filon put all his might into a push and upset Kragus’ balance. Filon got down under Kragus, and using his huge neck and chest muscles, lifted the male up. A great push from his rear legs and Kragus went over flying on to his back and fell heavily to the ground. Filon then lowered his head and charged into the exposed flank of Kragus. There was another large crash with Filon knocking Kragus over several times. That ended the fight. Filon pulled back to stand over his fallen victim.
“Like I said, Kragus,” Filon spat out. “I do not care if you listen to me or not, but the next time you come at me, I will beat you to a pulp.”
Filon turned his back and walked away from the down deer. He thought that was foolish until he saw Filon turning his head slightly to look behind him. Kragus got to his feet slowly and looked at the deer that beat him. Filon was casually walking away as if beating Kragus was nothing. He saw Kragus’ rage rise up. He put his head down and charged the unprotected rear of Filon. Before he could shout a warning, Filon kicked out hard with both rear legs hitting Kragus squarely in the face. There was a loud crack. Kragus looked stunned. Filon then turned around and hit Kragus hard in the flank again before he could recover. The blow knocked the big male senseless to the ground.
“Attack me from the rear,” Filon shouted. “I should. . .” and then the deep voice trailed off. Kragus was not moving.
Filon looked up at him. He ran over to look at the down deer. He poked him a few times. He felt for any sign of life from inside the big male. There were none. He stood up slowly.
“Kragus is gone,” he announced to the herd.
Geno ran over and looked at the big deer. “Father, look,” he said pointing his nose at Kragus’ head. “Kragus is bleeding out of the eyes and ears. I see no life in him.”
The deer standing around were stunned. Deer often fought, but there were seldom deaths with these fights. The most stunned was Filon who looked in shock.
“I...I...I did not mean to kill him,” Filon said in bewilderment.
Many deer were looking at the prone figure of Kragus. The other deer were looking at him. Suddenly he realized he had to say something. This was his decision to make. As herd leader, any hesitation was a sign of weakness. He stood back and called out. He knew what was right here.
“The fight was fair,” he said. “Filon beat Kragus. He was walking away. Kragus would not accept defeat and attacked Filon from the rear when he thought he was not looking. Only then did Filon lash out to protect himself. This is the fault of Kragus and not Filon,” he said.
Most of the other deer just nodded approval. Only a few like Ronno seemed to disagree but kept their mouths shut. He looked down at Kragus. There was a dead fresh deer lying in the meadow. It would not go unnoticed for long.
“Everyone should eat quickly,” he told the herd. “Others will be here soon to feast on the body. They may also look to eat other deer that are nearby.”
With that, all the other deer went back to feeding themselves leaving Kragus to lie in the meadow by himself. He, Faline, and Geno ate and then they all drank by the stream. It was only later when they were back near Faline’s thicket did they talk.
“I did not know you could kill a deer by fighting,” Geno said.
“Yes, you can especially when you kick out like Filon did,” he answered.
“Kragus,” Faline said. “I have known him since we were fawns ourselves. I remember how you beat him for me. Now he is gone like the others.”
“Kragus was always a troublemaker,” he reminded his mate. “He and Ronno never accepted me as herd leader. I am just glad it was Filon who did this and not me.”
He then looked at down his own son. “Come, Geno, I need to teach you more about fighting. You may soon need it.”
He led his son away from Faline and the fawn. Doe did not like fighting, but it was part of the herd. He had his son push as hard as he could against him. Geno was strong, but not as strong as he was. It was like how his Father taught him. He could push as hard as he wanted against his Father, but he would always change position or push him off-balance to win. It was not until the summer after Geno and Gurri were born that he was strong enough to move his father. He was still learning tricks from him when he died.
He had his son push and push until he could tell he was exhausted. Still, he made him fight on. A deer had to learn to fight when tired, learn to fight even when exhausted. The more he exhausted his son became, the stronger he would get. Geno might be strong, but he needed to get stronger. In one or two seasons, he would have no problem in being a senior male. He did like one thing. His son never asked to stop. He kept coming.
It was near light when they stopped. “You are doing fine,” he told his son. “I do not think there is a yearling male who can beat you, but the older deer are still too strong for you.”
“Thank you, Father,” he said.
“There is one other thing,” he added. “When you spar with the yearling males, do not show them the tricks your Grandfather and I showed you. Those you only use when it is a real fight. Otherwise, they may learn your tricks and use them against you. Instead, just use your strength to gain position.”
Geno nodded his head. “I see, Father, I will not. Then he stopped. “Before we go back toward mother let me ask you something.”
“Yes,” he said.
“I still feel partly responsible for what happened to Gurri,” he said in a hushed tone. “I could go look for her.”
“No, not now,” he said. “After The Season and after Man leaves there is a time when it is peaceful. This will last until the first snow comes and it gets hard to find food. That is when we will both go look for her. The fawns will also be old enough then to leave them with your mother.”
“I understand, Father,” Geno said calmly. “I just wanted to help Mother. I know she worries about Gurri.”
It pleased him that his son cared enough to ask. “That is good of you, my son, but there are other more important things to do now.”
As it was, it was days before they went back to the meadow. The smell from Kragus’ body and the work of the scavengers made it unpleasant to be there. By the time they did go back, Kragus was just a scattered pile of bones lying on the grass.
He watched his Son play with the yearling males. Most yearlings hung around him both because he was the son of the herd leader. They also wanted to hear about his adventures. What fighting there was among the yearlings was just friendly sparring. This was how deer found their place in the herd.
Filon stayed by himself. He was never that friendly, to begin with, but after the fight with Kragus, he became even more remote. He would eat by himself and seldom talked to anyone. The senior and herd males mostly ignored him both because of his oddness, and because out of fear, Ronno especially. Ronno only had a few friends in the herd and Kragus was his best friend. Now he was gone and Ronno was alone. One evening he just went over to Filon to speak with him.
“You can join the herd,” he reminded him. “No one holds you responsible for Kragus’ death,”
“Tell that to Ronno,” Filon told him. “Every time I come to the meadow he looks at me like I tried to kill him.”
“Ignore him,” he told Filon. “He hates me much more than you.”
“I wish I could believe that,” Filon went on.
“Father,” he heard from behind him. “Look behind you to your right.”
He turned to see five deer walking toward him led by Ronno. The others were herd males, not senior males. The rest of the herd males along with Celon and the other two senior males Atlan and Delno looked at them from the herd. All five stopped about five lengths away.
“Bambi,” Ronno called out. “We want you to chase Filon away from the herd. We no longer want him here.”
That took him by surprise. No one had asked him to do that before. “Why do you want me to do this?” he asked studying the males carefully.
“He killed Kragus,” Ronno bellowed. “He does not belong here. He offends me.”
He smiled shaking his head no. “I have already said that Kragus’ death was Kragus’ fault, not Filon’s. If you do not want Filon here, you chase him out. He has done nothing that would make me chase him away.”
Ronno flashed rage and he went stiff. “Do not think we will forget this, Bambi,” Ronno glared and walked away with the other deer.
As soon as they were far enough away for them not to hear, Filon came up to him. “Thank you,” Filon said, but maybe he is right and I should go.”
“That is up to you,” he said. “But, you have done nothing wrong as I see it.”
“At least the rest of the herd seemed not to care,” Filon said and walked away.
A cool icy feeling came over the meadow. There was now a split within the herd he had to worry about. One good thing, most of the herd and the other senior males seem not to care about this one way or the other. If they all came over and complained, then he have to do something. While none of the other herd males or even the senior males were his enemies, neither were any of them his friends. They followed because they were not smart enough or strong enough to lead. They would follow anyone who was smart and strong. This he would have to watch.
Over the next few days, nothing happened. He noticed Ronno and a few of the herd males were not on the meadow at night. He did not mind that, but there was a tenseness in the air. He continued his search for Man. He had Geno take him over to his Father’s cave. Geno had told him a bear had chased Gurri away from it. Both of them searched the area and he found no trace of a bear except for some lingering scent in an old waste pile and in his Father’s old cave. The hunters must have killed him. He wondered if it was the same bear his Father used to kill and eat him. He did not know. The cave was empty again and he could use it over the winter.
Geno pointed out where he had seen the bear die and where he and his sister hid. He could see it hurt him when he showed him where Man and his dog killed Wesal. From the look on Geno’s face, he could still tell what happened here was hurting him. He had hoped to find Gurri still there, but she was not. Not even a trace of her scent could he find.
His daughters were growing nicely. They showed no sign of sickness or weakness. He did not think they have trouble getting through the winter if they put on more weight. Both were still more interested in their Mother than him. They were not like Gurri who insisted on coming with him on his walks with Geno. They were more like normal doe fawns. He did not know if that was good or bad, but that is the way it was and he knew he could not change it.
It was the next day when he, Faline and Geno went to the meadow after dark. As expected the herd was there feeding. As he walked on the meadow, he saw Ronno and the four other males turn their backs and walk away toward the far end of the open field. Other herd members were backing away. He caught a sense of tension in the air. The herd looked nervous. He smelled no scent of danger; heard nothing that would warn of alarm. He could sense something was wrong here.
“We will eat near the edge of the meadow,” he told Faline and Geno.”
“Is there something wrong, Bambi?” Faline asked in her smooth voice.
“I am not sure, but there is something going on,” he said.
He bent over and started eating when he saw Filon come up slowly, seeming to hesitate. He looked over his shoulder as he approached. He was on guard. The male walked up and whispered.
“Something is wrong, Bambi,” he said. “When I came on the meadow all the deer moved away from me. I am used to them ignoring me, but they have never shown fear of me.”
“Ronno is stirring up trouble,” he said. “Have any of them approached you?”
“No,” Filon said. “They have gone out of their way to ignore me.”
He saw Ronno and the other four males talking and then as a group, they all turned and walked toward him. He continued to eat not wanting them to know they had drawn his attention. The all got within a few lengths of him. Then they stopped. He noticed three of the deer stood to his flank, while Ronno and the other two stood in front of him.
“We want to talk to you,” Ronno said as if in charge.
“So,” he said keeping an eye on the others.
“We want Filon gone,” Ronno shouted. “We want you to chase him out now. If you do not, then we want a new herd leader.”
“I said before, Filon has done nothing to deserve me doing that.”
“He killed my friend Kragus, and he must pay for this,” Ronno said bitterly. “If you do not throw him out, we will find a new herd leader."
By now, Geno was standing close enough to hear. He saw the face turn from curiosity to pure anger. He was getting mad. This was a direct challenge to his leadership. Ronno knew this.
“If you want to be herd leader, Ronno, here I am,” he said and lowered his head.
To his surprise, Ronno lowered his head to accept. He leaped forward at Ronno who leaped forward at him. They hit hard in the meadow. It was like hitting a tree at full speed. He locked his head with the big deer at the shoulder. Ronno dropped his head and tried to pin him against the ground. He shifted his weight and pushed hard with his rear legs. The force pushed Ronno back breaking the lock. Ronno dropped his head and started again at him. He hit him and then started to push him hard. As he did, he locked his head with his.
“Now,” Ronno cried out.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the males to his side lower his head and start to charge his exposed flank. With Ronno holding on to him, he could not turn to defend that attack.
“Die,” the other deer called out and came at him.
There was nothing he could do about it; he was going to be hit hard. They were all going to gang up on him even those such fight are supposed to be with only two deer fighting. He tensed his side As the charging deer got close to him, a blur of motion came from the back hitting the charging deer in his side.
“You die,” he heard Geno shout. His son had charged and the other deer did not see him. As the second attacker came close to his flank, Geno hit him in his own side at full speed with his shoulder. There was a loud impact noise He heard several cracking and popping from inside the deer Geno hit. His impact knocked the other deer aside and sent him sprawling on the ground.
“Geno,” Faline called out.
Now he understood; this was not a fight to challenge him or remove Filon. They were out to kill him. He got angry and dropped his head hard, driving Ronno’s face into the dirt.
“You little runt,” another deer to the side yelled and started to charge Geno from the rear. As he came up behind he saw Geno do something he had never seen before. He kicked out hard with his two rear hoofs. Filon had killed Kragus this way, but Geno was smaller. Instead, he hit the deer lower in the neck and chest.
He threw his full weight into Ronno. This time he held nothing back. As Ronno lifted his face out of the dirt, he got under his head and with all his might pushed. He slid under Ronno and almost lifted the deer off the ground while pushing him back. Ronno flipped over onto his back. The senior male hit the ground with a heavy thud and it stunned him for a moment. Before the big deer could move, he was on him. Normally he would stop fighting now, but not this time. Ronno had proved he do anything to get rid of him. He would never give him another chance. He did something his Father taught him to do if he ever found himself in this kind of fight to the death. He raised himself up in the air and stomped on Ronno’s side hard.
“DAAAFFFFF,” Ronno cried out.
He rose up again and hit him and again, and again, and kept on until Ronno stopped moving. Then he turned quickly to see what else was happening.
The one deer Geno hit in the side was trying to get up. He was no longer a threat. The deer Geno kicked was running off the meadow. He could see the blood trail on the ground. There was a lot of blood. Geno had turned to face the other two deer head down. He could clearly see the young body was full of rage.
“Come on,” he son cried out to the others. “You want to try me?”
Felon also had his head down ready to hit them if they moved. The two had wisely decided to stay still. He looked around. No one else was coming. The fight was over. He looked up at the rest of the herd. No one else came near. The rest went on eating. What happened was no concern to them. He walked over to the other two deer. He was not even sure of their names.
“Leave the herd,” he ordered. Go find somewhere else to live. If I ever see, hear, or smell you again, I will kill you myself. Now GO!”
The two herd males turned and ran into the forest as fast as their legs could carry them. In a moment, they were gone. He then looked at the deer still struggling to get up. He knew that deer would be dead soon. He finally went to look at where Geno kicked the other deer. There was a long streak of dark liquid on the grass. Geno's hoofs must have cut that deer open. With that much blood loss, that male was already dead. Both Filon and Geno came over. Geno looked at the deer he had hit.
“I am sorry, Father,” he said meekly. ”I know I should have let you fight them, but they were all going to attack you at once. I will not let them kill you.”
“As long as it was just Ronno fighting your Father, that is correct, no one should interfere,” Filon said. “When the others attacked, that is not allowed. You were right to help your Father. You have down well, Young Prince. I just wish I could have been of more help, but they surprised me with what they did.”
Geno looked down at the long streak of blood and then back at the struggling deer. “I killed the one I kicked and the one on the ground will likely die.” It sounded like was going to sob.
Yes,” he told his son.
“Then I am a killer again,” he muttered. “Maybe Gurri was right. Maybe I am a monster.”
“No,” he said sternly. “What happened to Wesal was unfortunate and yes that might have been a mistake to chase him, but you did not kill him. Here, these deer would have killed me, and then you, your sisters, and your mother. Do not forget I have killed too,” he said and pointed to Ronno’s still body. “Your Grandfather also killed when it was necessary. You helped me defend the herd, as any herd leader will do. You are my son and I am proud of you.”
Geno nodded his head with his budding rack now bleeding in some places. “Thank you, Father, but it is only because of what you taught me that I could do this.” He then looked up at Filon. “I also learned from you.”
“I saw that,” the large deer said with a grin. “And you have learned well. I also think you will not have to go back to the yearling herd again. You have proven your place in this herd. I think by the end of next season, you will be a senior male, assuming we all live that long.”
“I suppose so, but I do not feel well, excuse me,” he said and slowly walked off the field.
His mother came up to comfort him but he shook his head. “I want to be alone for a while,” he said and walked away.
“One thing for sure,” Filon said. “He will have no problems getting a doe this season. After seeing what happened here, no yearling or even a herd male will want to challenge Geno.”
“That is correct,” he said looking at the death around him. “He had to learn this lesson. I just wish he could have learned it later.”
“I am sorry I put you and your family through so much trouble,” Filon said lowering his head. “I will leave the forest if you want me to. You do not have to chase me out.”
“No, you were not the cause of all this,” he said. “You were just the excuse the others used. I rather you stay; I will need more senior males. As you can see, I can depend on none of those,” he said and pointed his nose at the herd still standing far away.
“Thank you,” Filon said with a bow of his head.
He looked around the field. “We should leave before the scavengers come to clean up this mess. They are the only ones that won this fight.”
“Yes, herd leader,” Filon said and walked away.
He called for the others to leave the meadow. With that done, he walked off the field and back with Faline and her fawns.
No one said anything on the way back.
CHAPTER SIX: WANDERING
Gurri kept running until it was close to dawn. In her mind was the glaring image of Wesal being hit by Man’ killing stick and then torn to pieces by the dog. It revolted her as nothing had ever done in her life. After seeing what her brother had done, she wanted nothing to do with Geno or her family. It was bad enough that they treated her like an empty-headed doe; they had to destroy what little happiness she could find. She had to get away. She had to get far away.
Once away from the smaller lake and the hills, she went into a part of the forest she knew little about. She knew the forest was vast and her herd only lived in part of it. Once away from the two lakes, the hills, and the large open meadow, she was in a part of the forest she did not know. She was still thinking well enough to realize that meant unknown dangers. It was well past dawn when she finally stopped. The trees were more open here. The ground was rockier. From her stomach, she felt a growling so she satisfied her hungry by eating leaves from bushes. There were also patches of grass she found growing in the open places between the tall pine and oak trees. She tried to rest during the day, but she could not. Every time she closed her eyes, the horrifying image of Wesal being killed flooding into her mind. Despite the dangers, she kept on moving deeper into the unknown forest until she felt exhausted.
She saw birds, squirrels, rabbits, ferrets, raccoons and other familiar animals of the forest. She did not pick up any scents of badgers, or coyotes, but she smelled a few foxes. She was now too big for them to easily feast on her. The great light felt directly above her when she finally felt exhausted enough where she had to stop. She found a hidden spot and lay down. Finally, her head was too tired to fill her with images of Wesal dying in front of her. She finally was able to relax and fell instantly asleep.
It was well into the night when she awoke refreshed. She stood up and took in a great quantity of air through her nose. There was nothing to alert her of any danger, but she did smell something familiar. There was the scent of other deer on the wind. They were upwind of her. That meant they would not smell her coming. She got up and quietly moved toward the scent. There were several deer, but the scents were not like in her Father’s herd. There, all the scents mixed into a huge herd scent. This herd was smaller, but she could pick out at least four or five individual scents. There were also males and doe there. She walked on looking carefully as she went. Sometimes other herds were not friendly to strangers her Grandfather told her.
It was easy to follow her nose toward the increasing smell until she saw the trees part in front of her. There, in a small clearing, not much bigger than the one outside her Mother’s thicket, stood six deer. There were two males and four doe. She looked them over. One male was larger, maybe a season older than she was. There was a smaller male next to him about Geno’s age. The smaller male was of average built, but the older one had heavier muscles. Already he was sporting a growing rack that would of decent size by The Season. The bigger male could be a senior male in the herd, but the smaller one looked like a normal herd male.
The four doe were all yearlings. She could see two were twin sisters. Both were of them were of normal build. They looked like herd doe. The other two were the same only not sisters. She was bigger than all four of them. She was wondering where the rest of their herd was. It was a small herd and she was surprised there were no others nearby. They were not very alert. Even with the wind, they should have smelled her. She coughed once loudly to draw their attention to her and walked into the opening.
The entire herd turned toward her. The doe looked ready to flee. The two male were nervous.
“Greetings,” she called out. “I am Gurri and I am a stranger to your forest.”
All six of them looked at her in surprise. They were lucky she was not a bear or mountain lion, or she would be eating one of them now.
The bigger male was the first to recover at her sudden entrance. “I am Kelo,” he said. “Where did you come from?”
“From the lake and hills,” she said.
“The other male is Rongi,” the bigger male went on. “The two sisters are Flnar and Monar and the other two are Wenna and Stera. We are all a herd.”
“I saw the herd was small,” she said. “Where are the others?”
“They are all gone. Between Man and his killing sticks and the bad winter, we are all that is left,” Kelo explained.
It must have been bad here if the six of them are the only ones left out of a herd, but all she knew was a herd the size of her Father’s.
“Are you alone?” Rongi asked. “Where is your herd?”
“I left my herd,” she told them. “I was tired of being treated like a know-nothing doe and having males decide my life for me. I came here looking for others.”
“You went out on your own,” Kelo repeated. “That is strange for a doe.”
“Well it is not strange for me,” she said. “I go where I want and when I want.”
The others still looked at her in shock. She did not think she was that different. Maybe she was. “Do you mind if I eat some of the grass? I am hungry,” she asked politely.
“No we don’t mind,” Kelo said.
She walked fully into the open and they saw her for the first time. “You are big for a yearling doe,” Rongi said.
“All in my family are big,” she answered and then bent over to start eating.
She ate with them staring at her. Soon Rongi started to come over sniffing the air. He came up behind her to get a sniff at her tail. She waited until he was close and then kicked out lightly with her rear legs. Her hoofs hit the male in the chest, but not hard enough to hurt him. The male jumped back. She spun around quickly.
“I am here for the grass and nothing else,” she told him bluntly. “Besides, The Season is still a ways away.”
She went back to eating in peace. It was only after she had finished that Kelo came over to her. “Rongi did not mean anything when he sniffed at you,” he said.
She looked up at the older male who was about a head taller than she was. “When I want the attentions of a male, I will ask for them,” she told him. “What he did was rude.”
That looked to put everyone off. The others finished eating and moved on into the forest. She followed the six of them until they came to a small stream where they drank. The water was cold and had a better taste than the water from the lake. She liked it. The others then left without a word. There was no invitation for her to join them so she stayed behind. She looked and found a dry spot on a short rise near the stream. Seeing no one around, she lay down and started chewing her cud. For now, this was not a bad place. No one knew her. She decided to stay here. She slept alone in the dark listening to the noises of the forest around her. She smelled nothing around her except the faint odor of a badger. In the morning, she found a badger’s old den near her, but it was empty and not used for a while. There were no signs of bears or mountain lions around. It looked safe, but she still kept searching.
Her new home was not bad, but she missed other deer to talk to. The small herd here tolerated her presence but did nothing to make her feel welcomed. When she met them in the forest, they did not speak to her, but they did not try to chase her out. There was plenty of grass for everyone. Over a period of a few days, she got to know her surroundings well. She convinced herself there were no dangers. She also was starting to get over what happened to Wesal. She could not forgive Geno for what he had done. It was not necessary for him to attack a deer that could not have possibly hurt him. This thing with males treating lesser males with disdain or contempt was silly to her. She did not think her Father would have done that.
She had been there for many risings of the great light when near dark he heard many yelping noises in the distance. At first, she thought they were dogs, but after listening to them, she realized it was a pack of coyotes. One thing for sure, the yelping was getting louder. Her Father had told her a single Coyote was not a threat, but a pack could run down a deer and kill it. She called out a warning to the others nearby and started moving quickly away from the howling. If she moved with the wind blowing at her back, she could smell them and they could not smell her. It also meant she was moving through a part of the forest she knew, if only briefly. If she moved crosswind, it would take her into places in the forest she did not know about. Grandfather had told her never let anyone chase you into places you do not know. You would be at a disadvantage. Moving upwind would only take her scent and blow it toward the coyotes. There left her only one choice, to go back the way she came. Although she moved quickly, she did not run. Running would tire herself out. Instead, she moved away from the sound. The wind was still blowing from her back, so it would not carry her scent far behind her. Every so often, she would stop and again call out a warning to anyone around her. She moved on and started to notice the yelping getting more distance.
She kept moving quickly until she was sure she could hear nothing behind her. By now, she had come back most of the way toward the smaller lake and the hills she had live in before with Wesal. There was no danger she could smell or hear, so she decided to stop and rest. She laid down on some leaves and listened carefully. For a while, she heard nothing, and then the nearby bushes started to move in the distance. It was too quiet for coyotes. A familiar scent came to her nose. Through the bushes fled a large deer. It was Kelo. He looked tired and he was alone. She got up and called to him. He ran over, looking exhausted.
“Where are the others?” she asked.
“I do not know,” he gasped. “The coyotes were chasing some of us. I thought I heard someone scream, but I do not who. We all scattered. I heard you call twice so I ran toward you.”
“Well rest here,” she told him. “I cannot hear or smell any sign of danger. We can wait until tomorrow for the others to come.”
“We can wait here a while. It seems a nice place,” Kelo said looking around.
“No, there is no water nearby,” she said. “There is a lake over there,” she pointed with her nose. “We can wait until morning and then we have to go to the lake.”
“But the others,” Kelo said.
“There is no telling where they went or if they are even alive,” she said.
“We can go back after them,” Kelo said.
“Go back toward a pack of coyotes,” she said shaking her head. “You are asking to die. A pack can kill any deer they smell. They did not smell you or me and that is why they did not chase us. I am not going back so they can find us again and maybe kill us this time. You can do as you please. I will leave for the lake in the morning. Believe me; if there was another way, I do it.”
She lay down again in the leaves. Kelo lay down several lengths from her on some leaves. She could not believe that fool wanted to go back and maybe run into to those coyotes again. Did his mother teach him nothing? Her Father would never do that. She knew if everyone in that small herd had all run together when they first heard the pack, they might have all gotten away. One thing for sure, with a pack of those scavengers around, that part of the forest was no longer safe for any deer. She just kept quiet and waited.
She was still waiting when the great light came up the next day. No one else had come. She got up, tested the air and started to walk away. Kelo did not get up and looked at her go. “You can stay if you want,” she said. “If you want to come later, I will leave a scent trail for you to follow. It is not far to the lake.”
“I will not leave the others,” Kelo said.
“Fine,” she told him, “Goodbye. I hope to see you again.”
With that, she left the male still lying on the ground and went back toward the lake. As she traveled in the forest, she would empty herself from time to time to leave her scent on the ground. The others should easily be able to follow her.
The great light was now high overhead before she got to the lake. She stood inside the trees and waited. The wind was now blowing in her face, so she was sure there was nothing in front of her. She could not tell if there were any dangers near the hills. She did not see any smoke. She slowly walked around the lake until she came to the small stream that came from this lake and went to the larger lake. She stopped to drink. The meadow was nearby, but she was as interested in seeing her Father’s herd again as she was to see those coyotes. After dark, she would go back to the trees she stayed in before. She remembered Man had been in this part of the forest. She did not think he was still here during the day. Still, traveling during the day was as foolish as going back to run into that coyote pack. She would not then travel anymore during the day. Instead, she would rest here.
It was late, almost dark when she heard movement behind her. The footsteps were light, but not as silent as either she or her brother was. She turned and saw Kelo moving with his nose close to the ground following her scent. He was still alone. He let out a cough that got his attention. He came over to lay down a few lengths from her.
“No one came,” he said in a sad voice.
“After dark, I will show you a good place to find food. Until then, Man may be nearby so we stay still when it is light.”
The big deer looked nervously around him. “I am more frightened of Man than any pack of coyotes. At least they have to catch you to kill you. Man kills you even if you are far away.”
“That is why we wait until dark,” she said and closed her eyes. This male was either not bright or had not been taught as she and her brother had.
Once darkness fell, she led Kelo around to the other side of the lake where the grass was better and the trees grew thicker and were easier to hide in. They got there while it was still dark so they ate in the open area and then drank in the lake. After she finished, she moved away from her bedding area and emptied herself. It was easy to find a spot to rest near where she and Weasel had been before.
“You can sleep where you like,” she told Kelo.
“Can I sleep near you,” he asked with a slight smile.
“Not next to me,” she told him flatly. “I told you before I am not looking for a male. You want to sleep anywhere else, it is fine with me.”
Kelo got the message and slept several lengths away from her. The last thing she thought before she drifted off to sleep was despite her wish to get away from her Father, brother, and the herd, she was right back where she started. Somehow, that did not seem fair to her, but that is how things happen.
The day passed quietly with no noises from any danger. After dark, she left for the open area near the lake to eat the grass that grew there. Kelo followed her and did as she did. She did notice that often Kelo would stand downwind of her and sniff the air but did not approach her. Finally, she just stopped eating and asked.
“Is my scent so unusual you need to sniff it?” she asked.
Kelo took a step back shocked at her forwardness. “Ah Ah, no,” he said with surprise. “You have a very pleasant scent. Rongi told me that is why he got close to you because your scent is so wonderful to sniff.”
“Oh,” she said with some embarrassment “Thank you, it comes from my mother. She has a very pleasant scent also. I do not mind if you smell me from a distance, but not like Rongi did.”
“You also look beautiful,” the male said.
She knew that from the attention she got on the meadow that males, especially younger males, had an interest in her. She never considered herself nice looking, although her Mother was a real beauty. All the deer said that.
“Thank you,” she said again feeling slightly embarrassed. She also could see Kelo was not paying much attention to anything else.
Something her Father would never do. “Now instead of looking at me, you should instead be looking for danger,” she went on. “I will not kill and eat you, others will.”
It bothered her that while this male was a season older than she was, it was her teaching him. Did his Mother ever teach him anything? Did his herd never show him anything? It seemed strange to her. Her Mother taught her as soon as she was old enough to understand. Then both her Father and Grandfather taught her. Maybe what she learned was more than other fawns learn. It would certainly explain some of their actions. Males did not think with their heads at times, except for her Father and Geno. At least he was someone to talk too and he did not treat her like an empty-headed doe. She could take comfort in that.
This went on for several nights. No one bothered them. By now, she knew they were into the long days of summer. One night when she was eating, she heard a sound off toward her Mother’s thicket. She turned and saw two herd males moving quickly toward the lake. They were moving nervously as if being chased by something. She barked a warning to Kelo and raised her tail. Both males stopped by the edge of the lake to drink, and then they looked up and saw her. After a moment’s hesitation, they started toward her. She stood her ground and Kelo came up close to her. Both males had normal size racks. Kelo’s rack was larger and he was bigger. She recognized them from her Father’s herd but did not recall their names. They came up to her. When they got closer, she saw they looked angry.
“You,” one called out. “You are Bambi’s daughter,” he spat out.
She went into a guard position. “My name is Gurri,” she told him coldly.
“Your father killed our friend Ronno,” the other told her, eyes blazing. “Your brother killed Enos and badly hurt Malon.”
“My brother killed a herd male,” she said. “I find that hard to believe. What did you do to deserve this?”
“We want your Father gone. He should not be herd leader,” the first one yelled at her. “We cannot beat them, so instead we will beat you!”
The first one lowered his head and charged her. She saw it coming and leaped back, but he still grazed her with his budding rack along her side. It hurt her. The first deer ran by her. The other started to lower his head. That she was ready for. As he put his head down, she raised up with both her front legs kicking him in the face as her Grandfather taught her. She kicked hard and felt her hoofs tear into his flesh.
“BUAAAAHHH,” the second one cried out. His head shot up revealing cuts along his mouth and on the side of his head. His face was bleeding. By now the second one had stopped and turned around and was facing her rear.
“I will kill you for this,” he shouted and started to charge when he stopped suddenly. Kelo had his head down and charged the first male, who barely had time to turn and face him. Kelo had managed to take three leaps before he ran into the male. His speed was increasing when he hit the male hard in the head.
There was a large impact and the first male got pushed back. Kelo still charging was on him in a moment before he could recover. He took his head and pushed down on the other male while pushing down hard with his neck. That drove the other male’s head into the dirt. Now he had position over the male, Kelo drove his face deep into the ground. Kelo then charged almost running the first male over.
Meanwhile, the male in front of her tried to raise his head, but his face was a bloody mess. She took advantage and kicked out again with her front hoofs into the chest of the herd male.
“DAAAAAA” he screamed again as she cut into him there also. That was all for him. He turned and ran trailing blood toward the end of the lake and the hills.
She turned and watched the first male running off the way he came, beaten. Kelo was chasing him. Only then did she feel the pain in her side from the impact.
She bent over trying to breathe. Every time she took a breath, pain ran along her side. The pain in her left side was bad, but she did not think she was hurt badly. She looked at her left side, two long cuts in her fur were bleeding, but not bad. She tried to move and found she could walk, but she was stiff and getting stiffer. If she lay down, she knew she would not get up and she was in the open. She moved slowly into the trees until no one could see her. Then she found a soft patch of grass and lay down. That was all for her, she felt ready to collapse.
A short while later Kelo returned with a huge smile on his face. “That one will not come back any time soon,” he boasted. Then he looked down at her. “Are you alright?” he asked seeing her side.
“He cut me along my side,” she told him. “I am hurt, but not seriously. I need to rest for a while.”
“Of course, you cut that other male badly,” Kelo told her. “He was bleeding from his chest and face and it was a lot worse than you. What was that all about?”
I am not sure,” she labored. “It was something about my Father and brother. Would you mind if we talked later, I need to rest?”
“Of course,” he said and lay down a few lengths from her.
She closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.
When she woke up it was late in the day. The pain in her side was still there and just as bad. She got up and found she was stiff. Each time she took a step her left side throbbed. She forced herself to move about. It helped ease the stiffness. By the time it was dark, she was able to move easier. The pain was also a little less. She moved slowly into the open and started to eat. Kelo was always nearby watching her. She wondered why. There was the obvious reason, he looked at her as a doe he could breed during The Season, but she caught him from time to time smiling at her. Could it be he liked her? She did not have any strong feelings for him, but at least he seemed to care about her. That was more than she had with any of the other males outside of her family, other than Wesal.
Once she finished eating, she drank from the lake. The water tasted blander than the stream water, but it did refresh her. After that, she walked around some more still trying to loosen up her body. Later when she rested close to morning, Kelo lay down near. She looked over and smiled at the male.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked. “You do not have to answer if you do not want to.
“What is the question?” he came back.
“Do you like me,” she asked outright.
“Yes,” he said simply.
“Why,” she wanted to know.
The male seemed surprised for a moment about why she asked him this. Then he spoke up in a voice that hesitated slightly. “Well you are pretty, you have a wonderful scent, you are smart, and you fight like no doe I have ever seen. You are different from any doe I have known before.”
“I know I am different,” she said. “That is because my Father and Grandfather taught me things most doe do not learn. You see my Father is the leader of the herd near her. My Grandfather was the Great Prince of the Forest, the wisest deer that ever was. They all taught me the ways of the forest and showed me how to think. Most males I know only look at me as a doe: something to breed in The Season and very little else. I want more than that. I want a male to feel for me. I want a male I can feel for as my Mother feels for my Father. Most males cannot do that. After they breed a deer, they want nothing to do with them. That is why I am unusual and most males shun me.”
“That sounds nice,” Kelo said. “I never really felt for a doe before. They were not interested in me. Last season I bred one and afterward, she wanted nothing to do with me. I do not even know if she is alive or dead with my fawn.”
“So do you feel for me?” she asked.
“I think so. I certainly feel more for you than that doe I mated with last season.”
That was as much as she was likely to get. “Very well, then you can come over and sleep next to me,” she told him with a smile.
Kelo eagerly complied.
The Way of the Forest Part 3(Wilbur Arron)
CHAPTER FIVE: CONFLICTS
Bambi followed Faline and the twins back to the meadow. Behind him, Geno walked somberly. It was dark on the meadow when he arrived. He called out to the deer to come over toward him.
“Geno,” stand next to me,” he told his son.
The deer came over and he spoke. “I have sent my son to see if Man was in the forest. He had found Man is in the forest over by the hills next to the smaller lake. They are hunting bears, but we should still be very careful. These Men have dogs and they will hunt deer. Geno barely escaped both Man and his dogs to return to tell me. We must all be off the meadow before the rise of the great light. If any of you see any sign of Man come tell me or call out.”
“Have you seen Man here?” Cleon asked.
“No I have not,” he answered. “That does not mean he is not around. We must be careful.”
Filon stepped forward and spoke up. “Since I found the last Man print, I have kept looking. I have seen nothing near here.”
“Thank you, Filon,” he said. “It is wise if we all keep looking.”
“You do not even belong to this herd,” Kragus called out to Filon. “Why should we listen to you?”
Filon smiled before speaking. “I do not care if you listen to me. We already have had one deer here killed by Man. If you wish to die next Kragus, it matters little to me.”
Kragus spun around to face the new deer. “You think you are so big,” the senior male growled loudly.
“I am big enough to handle you,” Filon said and dropped his head.
He stood back saying nothing. He could do little when males decided to fight. He knew better than to try to stop fights between males. His Father had taught him it is best to let males fight it out. As long as the males did not threaten him or his position as herd leader, or harm the herd, he did not care. Fighting among males is normal in any herd. He looked over to Geno who looked fascinated at what was happening.
“Watch, my son, and learn,” he muttered.
His son just nodded.
Kragus put his head down. Both males had their racks still in velvet so they could not use them as if it was The Season. Both males charged. There was a large crunch as they hit each other. Both males tried to get low and get position on the other. Then they could lift and push the other out-of-the-way. They could also drive the other’s face into the ground. Both Kragus and Filon locked at the shoulder, neither one getting an advantage. Kragus was a strong deer, he knew that, but Kragus’ idea of a fight is just to use strength to win. His father had taught him to use movement, feints, and even kicks to get position to win.
He did notice one thing. While Kragus was trying with all his might to move Filon, Filon was not using all his might on Kragus. He could tell Filon was holding back. He was gauging the strength of his opponent. That was smart, but it might allow Kragus the opportunity of getting position on him.
Both males pushed hard with their rear legs looking to break the lock. This went on for some time with both males locked in place. Then Kragus shifted his weight to better adjust his stance. That was what Filon was waiting for. The moment Kragus shifted his weight to his rear legs. Filon put all his might into a push and upset Kragus’ balance. Filon got down under Kragus, and using his huge neck and chest muscles, lifted the male up. A great push from his rear legs and Kragus went over flying on to his back and fell heavily to the ground. Filon then lowered his head and charged into the exposed flank of Kragus. There was another large crash with Filon knocking Kragus over several times. That ended the fight. Filon pulled back to stand over his fallen victim.
“Like I said, Kragus,” Filon spat out. “I do not care if you listen to me or not, but the next time you come at me, I will beat you to a pulp.”
Filon turned his back and walked away from the down deer. He thought that was foolish until he saw Filon turning his head slightly to look behind him. Kragus got to his feet slowly and looked at the deer that beat him. Filon was casually walking away as if beating Kragus was nothing. He saw Kragus’ rage rise up. He put his head down and charged the unprotected rear of Filon. Before he could shout a warning, Filon kicked out hard with both rear legs hitting Kragus squarely in the face. There was a loud crack. Kragus looked stunned. Filon then turned around and hit Kragus hard in the flank again before he could recover. The blow knocked the big male senseless to the ground.
“Attack me from the rear,” Filon shouted. “I should. . .” and then the deep voice trailed off. Kragus was not moving.
Filon looked up at him. He ran over to look at the down deer. He poked him a few times. He felt for any sign of life from inside the big male. There were none. He stood up slowly.
“Kragus is gone,” he announced to the herd.
Geno ran over and looked at the big deer. “Father, look,” he said pointing his nose at Kragus’ head. “Kragus is bleeding out of the eyes and ears. I see no life in him.”
The deer standing around were stunned. Deer often fought, but there were seldom deaths with these fights. The most stunned was Filon who looked in shock.
“I...I...I did not mean to kill him,” Filon said in bewilderment.
Many deer were looking at the prone figure of Kragus. The other deer were looking at him. Suddenly he realized he had to say something. This was his decision to make. As herd leader, any hesitation was a sign of weakness. He stood back and called out. He knew what was right here.
“The fight was fair,” he said. “Filon beat Kragus. He was walking away. Kragus would not accept defeat and attacked Filon from the rear when he thought he was not looking. Only then did Filon lash out to protect himself. This is the fault of Kragus and not Filon,” he said.
Most of the other deer just nodded approval. Only a few like Ronno seemed to disagree but kept their mouths shut. He looked down at Kragus. There was a dead fresh deer lying in the meadow. It would not go unnoticed for long.
“Everyone should eat quickly,” he told the herd. “Others will be here soon to feast on the body. They may also look to eat other deer that are nearby.”
With that, all the other deer went back to feeding themselves leaving Kragus to lie in the meadow by himself. He, Faline, and Geno ate and then they all drank by the stream. It was only later when they were back near Faline’s thicket did they talk.
“I did not know you could kill a deer by fighting,” Geno said.
“Yes, you can especially when you kick out like Filon did,” he answered.
“Kragus,” Faline said. “I have known him since we were fawns ourselves. I remember how you beat him for me. Now he is gone like the others.”
“Kragus was always a troublemaker,” he reminded his mate. “He and Ronno never accepted me as herd leader. I am just glad it was Filon who did this and not me.”
He then looked at down his own son. “Come, Geno, I need to teach you more about fighting. You may soon need it.”
He led his son away from Faline and the fawn. Doe did not like fighting, but it was part of the herd. He had his son push as hard as he could against him. Geno was strong, but not as strong as he was. It was like how his Father taught him. He could push as hard as he wanted against his Father, but he would always change position or push him off-balance to win. It was not until the summer after Geno and Gurri were born that he was strong enough to move his father. He was still learning tricks from him when he died.
He had his son push and push until he could tell he was exhausted. Still, he made him fight on. A deer had to learn to fight when tired, learn to fight even when exhausted. The more he exhausted his son became, the stronger he would get. Geno might be strong, but he needed to get stronger. In one or two seasons, he would have no problem in being a senior male. He did like one thing. His son never asked to stop. He kept coming.
It was near light when they stopped. “You are doing fine,” he told his son. “I do not think there is a yearling male who can beat you, but the older deer are still too strong for you.”
“Thank you, Father,” he said.
“There is one other thing,” he added. “When you spar with the yearling males, do not show them the tricks your Grandfather and I showed you. Those you only use when it is a real fight. Otherwise, they may learn your tricks and use them against you. Instead, just use your strength to gain position.”
Geno nodded his head. “I see, Father, I will not. Then he stopped. “Before we go back toward mother let me ask you something.”
“Yes,” he said.
“I still feel partly responsible for what happened to Gurri,” he said in a hushed tone. “I could go look for her.”
“No, not now,” he said. “After The Season and after Man leaves there is a time when it is peaceful. This will last until the first snow comes and it gets hard to find food. That is when we will both go look for her. The fawns will also be old enough then to leave them with your mother.”
“I understand, Father,” Geno said calmly. “I just wanted to help Mother. I know she worries about Gurri.”
It pleased him that his son cared enough to ask. “That is good of you, my son, but there are other more important things to do now.”
As it was, it was days before they went back to the meadow. The smell from Kragus’ body and the work of the scavengers made it unpleasant to be there. By the time they did go back, Kragus was just a scattered pile of bones lying on the grass.
He watched his Son play with the yearling males. Most yearlings hung around him both because he was the son of the herd leader. They also wanted to hear about his adventures. What fighting there was among the yearlings was just friendly sparring. This was how deer found their place in the herd.
Filon stayed by himself. He was never that friendly, to begin with, but after the fight with Kragus, he became even more remote. He would eat by himself and seldom talked to anyone. The senior and herd males mostly ignored him both because of his oddness, and because out of fear, Ronno especially. Ronno only had a few friends in the herd and Kragus was his best friend. Now he was gone and Ronno was alone. One evening he just went over to Filon to speak with him.
“You can join the herd,” he reminded him. “No one holds you responsible for Kragus’ death,”
“Tell that to Ronno,” Filon told him. “Every time I come to the meadow he looks at me like I tried to kill him.”
“Ignore him,” he told Filon. “He hates me much more than you.”
“I wish I could believe that,” Filon went on.
“Father,” he heard from behind him. “Look behind you to your right.”
He turned to see five deer walking toward him led by Ronno. The others were herd males, not senior males. The rest of the herd males along with Celon and the other two senior males Atlan and Delno looked at them from the herd. All five stopped about five lengths away.
“Bambi,” Ronno called out. “We want you to chase Filon away from the herd. We no longer want him here.”
That took him by surprise. No one had asked him to do that before. “Why do you want me to do this?” he asked studying the males carefully.
“He killed Kragus,” Ronno bellowed. “He does not belong here. He offends me.”
He smiled shaking his head no. “I have already said that Kragus’ death was Kragus’ fault, not Filon’s. If you do not want Filon here, you chase him out. He has done nothing that would make me chase him away.”
Ronno flashed rage and he went stiff. “Do not think we will forget this, Bambi,” Ronno glared and walked away with the other deer.
As soon as they were far enough away for them not to hear, Filon came up to him. “Thank you,” Filon said, but maybe he is right and I should go.”
“That is up to you,” he said. “But, you have done nothing wrong as I see it.”
“At least the rest of the herd seemed not to care,” Filon said and walked away.
A cool icy feeling came over the meadow. There was now a split within the herd he had to worry about. One good thing, most of the herd and the other senior males seem not to care about this one way or the other. If they all came over and complained, then he have to do something. While none of the other herd males or even the senior males were his enemies, neither were any of them his friends. They followed because they were not smart enough or strong enough to lead. They would follow anyone who was smart and strong. This he would have to watch.
Over the next few days, nothing happened. He noticed Ronno and a few of the herd males were not on the meadow at night. He did not mind that, but there was a tenseness in the air. He continued his search for Man. He had Geno take him over to his Father’s cave. Geno had told him a bear had chased Gurri away from it. Both of them searched the area and he found no trace of a bear except for some lingering scent in an old waste pile and in his Father’s old cave. The hunters must have killed him. He wondered if it was the same bear his Father used to kill and eat him. He did not know. The cave was empty again and he could use it over the winter.
Geno pointed out where he had seen the bear die and where he and his sister hid. He could see it hurt him when he showed him where Man and his dog killed Wesal. From the look on Geno’s face, he could still tell what happened here was hurting him. He had hoped to find Gurri still there, but she was not. Not even a trace of her scent could he find.
His daughters were growing nicely. They showed no sign of sickness or weakness. He did not think they have trouble getting through the winter if they put on more weight. Both were still more interested in their Mother than him. They were not like Gurri who insisted on coming with him on his walks with Geno. They were more like normal doe fawns. He did not know if that was good or bad, but that is the way it was and he knew he could not change it.
It was the next day when he, Faline and Geno went to the meadow after dark. As expected the herd was there feeding. As he walked on the meadow, he saw Ronno and the four other males turn their backs and walk away toward the far end of the open field. Other herd members were backing away. He caught a sense of tension in the air. The herd looked nervous. He smelled no scent of danger; heard nothing that would warn of alarm. He could sense something was wrong here.
“We will eat near the edge of the meadow,” he told Faline and Geno.”
“Is there something wrong, Bambi?” Faline asked in her smooth voice.
“I am not sure, but there is something going on,” he said.
He bent over and started eating when he saw Filon come up slowly, seeming to hesitate. He looked over his shoulder as he approached. He was on guard. The male walked up and whispered.
“Something is wrong, Bambi,” he said. “When I came on the meadow all the deer moved away from me. I am used to them ignoring me, but they have never shown fear of me.”
“Ronno is stirring up trouble,” he said. “Have any of them approached you?”
“No,” Filon said. “They have gone out of their way to ignore me.”
He saw Ronno and the other four males talking and then as a group, they all turned and walked toward him. He continued to eat not wanting them to know they had drawn his attention. The all got within a few lengths of him. Then they stopped. He noticed three of the deer stood to his flank, while Ronno and the other two stood in front of him.
“We want to talk to you,” Ronno said as if in charge.
“So,” he said keeping an eye on the others.
“We want Filon gone,” Ronno shouted. “We want you to chase him out now. If you do not, then we want a new herd leader.”
“I said before, Filon has done nothing to deserve me doing that.”
“He killed my friend Kragus, and he must pay for this,” Ronno said bitterly. “If you do not throw him out, we will find a new herd leader."
By now, Geno was standing close enough to hear. He saw the face turn from curiosity to pure anger. He was getting mad. This was a direct challenge to his leadership. Ronno knew this.
“If you want to be herd leader, Ronno, here I am,” he said and lowered his head.
To his surprise, Ronno lowered his head to accept. He leaped forward at Ronno who leaped forward at him. They hit hard in the meadow. It was like hitting a tree at full speed. He locked his head with the big deer at the shoulder. Ronno dropped his head and tried to pin him against the ground. He shifted his weight and pushed hard with his rear legs. The force pushed Ronno back breaking the lock. Ronno dropped his head and started again at him. He hit him and then started to push him hard. As he did, he locked his head with his.
“Now,” Ronno cried out.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the males to his side lower his head and start to charge his exposed flank. With Ronno holding on to him, he could not turn to defend that attack.
“Die,” the other deer called out and came at him.
There was nothing he could do about it; he was going to be hit hard. They were all going to gang up on him even those such fight are supposed to be with only two deer fighting. He tensed his side As the charging deer got close to him, a blur of motion came from the back hitting the charging deer in his side.
“You die,” he heard Geno shout. His son had charged and the other deer did not see him. As the second attacker came close to his flank, Geno hit him in his own side at full speed with his shoulder. There was a loud impact noise He heard several cracking and popping from inside the deer Geno hit. His impact knocked the other deer aside and sent him sprawling on the ground.
“Geno,” Faline called out.
Now he understood; this was not a fight to challenge him or remove Filon. They were out to kill him. He got angry and dropped his head hard, driving Ronno’s face into the dirt.
“You little runt,” another deer to the side yelled and started to charge Geno from the rear. As he came up behind he saw Geno do something he had never seen before. He kicked out hard with his two rear hoofs. Filon had killed Kragus this way, but Geno was smaller. Instead, he hit the deer lower in the neck and chest.
He threw his full weight into Ronno. This time he held nothing back. As Ronno lifted his face out of the dirt, he got under his head and with all his might pushed. He slid under Ronno and almost lifted the deer off the ground while pushing him back. Ronno flipped over onto his back. The senior male hit the ground with a heavy thud and it stunned him for a moment. Before the big deer could move, he was on him. Normally he would stop fighting now, but not this time. Ronno had proved he do anything to get rid of him. He would never give him another chance. He did something his Father taught him to do if he ever found himself in this kind of fight to the death. He raised himself up in the air and stomped on Ronno’s side hard.
“DAAAFFFFF,” Ronno cried out.
He rose up again and hit him and again, and again, and kept on until Ronno stopped moving. Then he turned quickly to see what else was happening.
The one deer Geno hit in the side was trying to get up. He was no longer a threat. The deer Geno kicked was running off the meadow. He could see the blood trail on the ground. There was a lot of blood. Geno had turned to face the other two deer head down. He could clearly see the young body was full of rage.
“Come on,” he son cried out to the others. “You want to try me?”
Felon also had his head down ready to hit them if they moved. The two had wisely decided to stay still. He looked around. No one else was coming. The fight was over. He looked up at the rest of the herd. No one else came near. The rest went on eating. What happened was no concern to them. He walked over to the other two deer. He was not even sure of their names.
“Leave the herd,” he ordered. Go find somewhere else to live. If I ever see, hear, or smell you again, I will kill you myself. Now GO!”
The two herd males turned and ran into the forest as fast as their legs could carry them. In a moment, they were gone. He then looked at the deer still struggling to get up. He knew that deer would be dead soon. He finally went to look at where Geno kicked the other deer. There was a long streak of dark liquid on the grass. Geno's hoofs must have cut that deer open. With that much blood loss, that male was already dead. Both Filon and Geno came over. Geno looked at the deer he had hit.
“I am sorry, Father,” he said meekly. ”I know I should have let you fight them, but they were all going to attack you at once. I will not let them kill you.”
“As long as it was just Ronno fighting your Father, that is correct, no one should interfere,” Filon said. “When the others attacked, that is not allowed. You were right to help your Father. You have down well, Young Prince. I just wish I could have been of more help, but they surprised me with what they did.”
Geno looked down at the long streak of blood and then back at the struggling deer. “I killed the one I kicked and the one on the ground will likely die.” It sounded like was going to sob.
Yes,” he told his son.
“Then I am a killer again,” he muttered. “Maybe Gurri was right. Maybe I am a monster.”
“No,” he said sternly. “What happened to Wesal was unfortunate and yes that might have been a mistake to chase him, but you did not kill him. Here, these deer would have killed me, and then you, your sisters, and your mother. Do not forget I have killed too,” he said and pointed to Ronno’s still body. “Your Grandfather also killed when it was necessary. You helped me defend the herd, as any herd leader will do. You are my son and I am proud of you.”
Geno nodded his head with his budding rack now bleeding in some places. “Thank you, Father, but it is only because of what you taught me that I could do this.” He then looked up at Filon. “I also learned from you.”
“I saw that,” the large deer said with a grin. “And you have learned well. I also think you will not have to go back to the yearling herd again. You have proven your place in this herd. I think by the end of next season, you will be a senior male, assuming we all live that long.”
“I suppose so, but I do not feel well, excuse me,” he said and slowly walked off the field.
His mother came up to comfort him but he shook his head. “I want to be alone for a while,” he said and walked away.
“One thing for sure,” Filon said. “He will have no problems getting a doe this season. After seeing what happened here, no yearling or even a herd male will want to challenge Geno.”
“That is correct,” he said looking at the death around him. “He had to learn this lesson. I just wish he could have learned it later.”
“I am sorry I put you and your family through so much trouble,” Filon said lowering his head. “I will leave the forest if you want me to. You do not have to chase me out.”
“No, you were not the cause of all this,” he said. “You were just the excuse the others used. I rather you stay; I will need more senior males. As you can see, I can depend on none of those,” he said and pointed his nose at the herd still standing far away.
“Thank you,” Filon said with a bow of his head.
He looked around the field. “We should leave before the scavengers come to clean up this mess. They are the only ones that won this fight.”
“Yes, herd leader,” Filon said and walked away.
He called for the others to leave the meadow. With that done, he walked off the field and back with Faline and her fawns.
No one said anything on the way back.
CHAPTER SIX: WANDERING
Gurri kept running until it was close to dawn. In her mind was the glaring image of Wesal being hit by Man’ killing stick and then torn to pieces by the dog. It revolted her as nothing had ever done in her life. After seeing what her brother had done, she wanted nothing to do with Geno or her family. It was bad enough that they treated her like an empty-headed doe; they had to destroy what little happiness she could find. She had to get away. She had to get far away.
Once away from the smaller lake and the hills, she went into a part of the forest she knew little about. She knew the forest was vast and her herd only lived in part of it. Once away from the two lakes, the hills, and the large open meadow, she was in a part of the forest she did not know. She was still thinking well enough to realize that meant unknown dangers. It was well past dawn when she finally stopped. The trees were more open here. The ground was rockier. From her stomach, she felt a growling so she satisfied her hungry by eating leaves from bushes. There were also patches of grass she found growing in the open places between the tall pine and oak trees. She tried to rest during the day, but she could not. Every time she closed her eyes, the horrifying image of Wesal being killed flooding into her mind. Despite the dangers, she kept on moving deeper into the unknown forest until she felt exhausted.
She saw birds, squirrels, rabbits, ferrets, raccoons and other familiar animals of the forest. She did not pick up any scents of badgers, or coyotes, but she smelled a few foxes. She was now too big for them to easily feast on her. The great light felt directly above her when she finally felt exhausted enough where she had to stop. She found a hidden spot and lay down. Finally, her head was too tired to fill her with images of Wesal dying in front of her. She finally was able to relax and fell instantly asleep.
It was well into the night when she awoke refreshed. She stood up and took in a great quantity of air through her nose. There was nothing to alert her of any danger, but she did smell something familiar. There was the scent of other deer on the wind. They were upwind of her. That meant they would not smell her coming. She got up and quietly moved toward the scent. There were several deer, but the scents were not like in her Father’s herd. There, all the scents mixed into a huge herd scent. This herd was smaller, but she could pick out at least four or five individual scents. There were also males and doe there. She walked on looking carefully as she went. Sometimes other herds were not friendly to strangers her Grandfather told her.
It was easy to follow her nose toward the increasing smell until she saw the trees part in front of her. There, in a small clearing, not much bigger than the one outside her Mother’s thicket, stood six deer. There were two males and four doe. She looked them over. One male was larger, maybe a season older than she was. There was a smaller male next to him about Geno’s age. The smaller male was of average built, but the older one had heavier muscles. Already he was sporting a growing rack that would of decent size by The Season. The bigger male could be a senior male in the herd, but the smaller one looked like a normal herd male.
The four doe were all yearlings. She could see two were twin sisters. Both were of them were of normal build. They looked like herd doe. The other two were the same only not sisters. She was bigger than all four of them. She was wondering where the rest of their herd was. It was a small herd and she was surprised there were no others nearby. They were not very alert. Even with the wind, they should have smelled her. She coughed once loudly to draw their attention to her and walked into the opening.
The entire herd turned toward her. The doe looked ready to flee. The two male were nervous.
“Greetings,” she called out. “I am Gurri and I am a stranger to your forest.”
All six of them looked at her in surprise. They were lucky she was not a bear or mountain lion, or she would be eating one of them now.
The bigger male was the first to recover at her sudden entrance. “I am Kelo,” he said. “Where did you come from?”
“From the lake and hills,” she said.
“The other male is Rongi,” the bigger male went on. “The two sisters are Flnar and Monar and the other two are Wenna and Stera. We are all a herd.”
“I saw the herd was small,” she said. “Where are the others?”
“They are all gone. Between Man and his killing sticks and the bad winter, we are all that is left,” Kelo explained.
It must have been bad here if the six of them are the only ones left out of a herd, but all she knew was a herd the size of her Father’s.
“Are you alone?” Rongi asked. “Where is your herd?”
“I left my herd,” she told them. “I was tired of being treated like a know-nothing doe and having males decide my life for me. I came here looking for others.”
“You went out on your own,” Kelo repeated. “That is strange for a doe.”
“Well it is not strange for me,” she said. “I go where I want and when I want.”
The others still looked at her in shock. She did not think she was that different. Maybe she was. “Do you mind if I eat some of the grass? I am hungry,” she asked politely.
“No we don’t mind,” Kelo said.
She walked fully into the open and they saw her for the first time. “You are big for a yearling doe,” Rongi said.
“All in my family are big,” she answered and then bent over to start eating.
She ate with them staring at her. Soon Rongi started to come over sniffing the air. He came up behind her to get a sniff at her tail. She waited until he was close and then kicked out lightly with her rear legs. Her hoofs hit the male in the chest, but not hard enough to hurt him. The male jumped back. She spun around quickly.
“I am here for the grass and nothing else,” she told him bluntly. “Besides, The Season is still a ways away.”
She went back to eating in peace. It was only after she had finished that Kelo came over to her. “Rongi did not mean anything when he sniffed at you,” he said.
She looked up at the older male who was about a head taller than she was. “When I want the attentions of a male, I will ask for them,” she told him. “What he did was rude.”
That looked to put everyone off. The others finished eating and moved on into the forest. She followed the six of them until they came to a small stream where they drank. The water was cold and had a better taste than the water from the lake. She liked it. The others then left without a word. There was no invitation for her to join them so she stayed behind. She looked and found a dry spot on a short rise near the stream. Seeing no one around, she lay down and started chewing her cud. For now, this was not a bad place. No one knew her. She decided to stay here. She slept alone in the dark listening to the noises of the forest around her. She smelled nothing around her except the faint odor of a badger. In the morning, she found a badger’s old den near her, but it was empty and not used for a while. There were no signs of bears or mountain lions around. It looked safe, but she still kept searching.
Her new home was not bad, but she missed other deer to talk to. The small herd here tolerated her presence but did nothing to make her feel welcomed. When she met them in the forest, they did not speak to her, but they did not try to chase her out. There was plenty of grass for everyone. Over a period of a few days, she got to know her surroundings well. She convinced herself there were no dangers. She also was starting to get over what happened to Wesal. She could not forgive Geno for what he had done. It was not necessary for him to attack a deer that could not have possibly hurt him. This thing with males treating lesser males with disdain or contempt was silly to her. She did not think her Father would have done that.
She had been there for many risings of the great light when near dark he heard many yelping noises in the distance. At first, she thought they were dogs, but after listening to them, she realized it was a pack of coyotes. One thing for sure, the yelping was getting louder. Her Father had told her a single Coyote was not a threat, but a pack could run down a deer and kill it. She called out a warning to the others nearby and started moving quickly away from the howling. If she moved with the wind blowing at her back, she could smell them and they could not smell her. It also meant she was moving through a part of the forest she knew, if only briefly. If she moved crosswind, it would take her into places in the forest she did not know about. Grandfather had told her never let anyone chase you into places you do not know. You would be at a disadvantage. Moving upwind would only take her scent and blow it toward the coyotes. There left her only one choice, to go back the way she came. Although she moved quickly, she did not run. Running would tire herself out. Instead, she moved away from the sound. The wind was still blowing from her back, so it would not carry her scent far behind her. Every so often, she would stop and again call out a warning to anyone around her. She moved on and started to notice the yelping getting more distance.
She kept moving quickly until she was sure she could hear nothing behind her. By now, she had come back most of the way toward the smaller lake and the hills she had live in before with Wesal. There was no danger she could smell or hear, so she decided to stop and rest. She laid down on some leaves and listened carefully. For a while, she heard nothing, and then the nearby bushes started to move in the distance. It was too quiet for coyotes. A familiar scent came to her nose. Through the bushes fled a large deer. It was Kelo. He looked tired and he was alone. She got up and called to him. He ran over, looking exhausted.
“Where are the others?” she asked.
“I do not know,” he gasped. “The coyotes were chasing some of us. I thought I heard someone scream, but I do not who. We all scattered. I heard you call twice so I ran toward you.”
“Well rest here,” she told him. “I cannot hear or smell any sign of danger. We can wait until tomorrow for the others to come.”
“We can wait here a while. It seems a nice place,” Kelo said looking around.
“No, there is no water nearby,” she said. “There is a lake over there,” she pointed with her nose. “We can wait until morning and then we have to go to the lake.”
“But the others,” Kelo said.
“There is no telling where they went or if they are even alive,” she said.
“We can go back after them,” Kelo said.
“Go back toward a pack of coyotes,” she said shaking her head. “You are asking to die. A pack can kill any deer they smell. They did not smell you or me and that is why they did not chase us. I am not going back so they can find us again and maybe kill us this time. You can do as you please. I will leave for the lake in the morning. Believe me; if there was another way, I do it.”
She lay down again in the leaves. Kelo lay down several lengths from her on some leaves. She could not believe that fool wanted to go back and maybe run into to those coyotes again. Did his mother teach him nothing? Her Father would never do that. She knew if everyone in that small herd had all run together when they first heard the pack, they might have all gotten away. One thing for sure, with a pack of those scavengers around, that part of the forest was no longer safe for any deer. She just kept quiet and waited.
She was still waiting when the great light came up the next day. No one else had come. She got up, tested the air and started to walk away. Kelo did not get up and looked at her go. “You can stay if you want,” she said. “If you want to come later, I will leave a scent trail for you to follow. It is not far to the lake.”
“I will not leave the others,” Kelo said.
“Fine,” she told him, “Goodbye. I hope to see you again.”
With that, she left the male still lying on the ground and went back toward the lake. As she traveled in the forest, she would empty herself from time to time to leave her scent on the ground. The others should easily be able to follow her.
The great light was now high overhead before she got to the lake. She stood inside the trees and waited. The wind was now blowing in her face, so she was sure there was nothing in front of her. She could not tell if there were any dangers near the hills. She did not see any smoke. She slowly walked around the lake until she came to the small stream that came from this lake and went to the larger lake. She stopped to drink. The meadow was nearby, but she was as interested in seeing her Father’s herd again as she was to see those coyotes. After dark, she would go back to the trees she stayed in before. She remembered Man had been in this part of the forest. She did not think he was still here during the day. Still, traveling during the day was as foolish as going back to run into that coyote pack. She would not then travel anymore during the day. Instead, she would rest here.
It was late, almost dark when she heard movement behind her. The footsteps were light, but not as silent as either she or her brother was. She turned and saw Kelo moving with his nose close to the ground following her scent. He was still alone. He let out a cough that got his attention. He came over to lay down a few lengths from her.
“No one came,” he said in a sad voice.
“After dark, I will show you a good place to find food. Until then, Man may be nearby so we stay still when it is light.”
The big deer looked nervously around him. “I am more frightened of Man than any pack of coyotes. At least they have to catch you to kill you. Man kills you even if you are far away.”
“That is why we wait until dark,” she said and closed her eyes. This male was either not bright or had not been taught as she and her brother had.
Once darkness fell, she led Kelo around to the other side of the lake where the grass was better and the trees grew thicker and were easier to hide in. They got there while it was still dark so they ate in the open area and then drank in the lake. After she finished, she moved away from her bedding area and emptied herself. It was easy to find a spot to rest near where she and Weasel had been before.
“You can sleep where you like,” she told Kelo.
“Can I sleep near you,” he asked with a slight smile.
“Not next to me,” she told him flatly. “I told you before I am not looking for a male. You want to sleep anywhere else, it is fine with me.”
Kelo got the message and slept several lengths away from her. The last thing she thought before she drifted off to sleep was despite her wish to get away from her Father, brother, and the herd, she was right back where she started. Somehow, that did not seem fair to her, but that is how things happen.
The day passed quietly with no noises from any danger. After dark, she left for the open area near the lake to eat the grass that grew there. Kelo followed her and did as she did. She did notice that often Kelo would stand downwind of her and sniff the air but did not approach her. Finally, she just stopped eating and asked.
“Is my scent so unusual you need to sniff it?” she asked.
Kelo took a step back shocked at her forwardness. “Ah Ah, no,” he said with surprise. “You have a very pleasant scent. Rongi told me that is why he got close to you because your scent is so wonderful to sniff.”
“Oh,” she said with some embarrassment “Thank you, it comes from my mother. She has a very pleasant scent also. I do not mind if you smell me from a distance, but not like Rongi did.”
“You also look beautiful,” the male said.
She knew that from the attention she got on the meadow that males, especially younger males, had an interest in her. She never considered herself nice looking, although her Mother was a real beauty. All the deer said that.
“Thank you,” she said again feeling slightly embarrassed. She also could see Kelo was not paying much attention to anything else.
Something her Father would never do. “Now instead of looking at me, you should instead be looking for danger,” she went on. “I will not kill and eat you, others will.”
It bothered her that while this male was a season older than she was, it was her teaching him. Did his Mother ever teach him anything? Did his herd never show him anything? It seemed strange to her. Her Mother taught her as soon as she was old enough to understand. Then both her Father and Grandfather taught her. Maybe what she learned was more than other fawns learn. It would certainly explain some of their actions. Males did not think with their heads at times, except for her Father and Geno. At least he was someone to talk too and he did not treat her like an empty-headed doe. She could take comfort in that.
This went on for several nights. No one bothered them. By now, she knew they were into the long days of summer. One night when she was eating, she heard a sound off toward her Mother’s thicket. She turned and saw two herd males moving quickly toward the lake. They were moving nervously as if being chased by something. She barked a warning to Kelo and raised her tail. Both males stopped by the edge of the lake to drink, and then they looked up and saw her. After a moment’s hesitation, they started toward her. She stood her ground and Kelo came up close to her. Both males had normal size racks. Kelo’s rack was larger and he was bigger. She recognized them from her Father’s herd but did not recall their names. They came up to her. When they got closer, she saw they looked angry.
“You,” one called out. “You are Bambi’s daughter,” he spat out.
She went into a guard position. “My name is Gurri,” she told him coldly.
“Your father killed our friend Ronno,” the other told her, eyes blazing. “Your brother killed Enos and badly hurt Malon.”
“My brother killed a herd male,” she said. “I find that hard to believe. What did you do to deserve this?”
“We want your Father gone. He should not be herd leader,” the first one yelled at her. “We cannot beat them, so instead we will beat you!”
The first one lowered his head and charged her. She saw it coming and leaped back, but he still grazed her with his budding rack along her side. It hurt her. The first deer ran by her. The other started to lower his head. That she was ready for. As he put his head down, she raised up with both her front legs kicking him in the face as her Grandfather taught her. She kicked hard and felt her hoofs tear into his flesh.
“BUAAAAHHH,” the second one cried out. His head shot up revealing cuts along his mouth and on the side of his head. His face was bleeding. By now the second one had stopped and turned around and was facing her rear.
“I will kill you for this,” he shouted and started to charge when he stopped suddenly. Kelo had his head down and charged the first male, who barely had time to turn and face him. Kelo had managed to take three leaps before he ran into the male. His speed was increasing when he hit the male hard in the head.
There was a large impact and the first male got pushed back. Kelo still charging was on him in a moment before he could recover. He took his head and pushed down on the other male while pushing down hard with his neck. That drove the other male’s head into the dirt. Now he had position over the male, Kelo drove his face deep into the ground. Kelo then charged almost running the first male over.
Meanwhile, the male in front of her tried to raise his head, but his face was a bloody mess. She took advantage and kicked out again with her front hoofs into the chest of the herd male.
“DAAAAAA” he screamed again as she cut into him there also. That was all for him. He turned and ran trailing blood toward the end of the lake and the hills.
She turned and watched the first male running off the way he came, beaten. Kelo was chasing him. Only then did she feel the pain in her side from the impact.
She bent over trying to breathe. Every time she took a breath, pain ran along her side. The pain in her left side was bad, but she did not think she was hurt badly. She looked at her left side, two long cuts in her fur were bleeding, but not bad. She tried to move and found she could walk, but she was stiff and getting stiffer. If she lay down, she knew she would not get up and she was in the open. She moved slowly into the trees until no one could see her. Then she found a soft patch of grass and lay down. That was all for her, she felt ready to collapse.
A short while later Kelo returned with a huge smile on his face. “That one will not come back any time soon,” he boasted. Then he looked down at her. “Are you alright?” he asked seeing her side.
“He cut me along my side,” she told him. “I am hurt, but not seriously. I need to rest for a while.”
“Of course, you cut that other male badly,” Kelo told her. “He was bleeding from his chest and face and it was a lot worse than you. What was that all about?”
I am not sure,” she labored. “It was something about my Father and brother. Would you mind if we talked later, I need to rest?”
“Of course,” he said and lay down a few lengths from her.
She closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.
When she woke up it was late in the day. The pain in her side was still there and just as bad. She got up and found she was stiff. Each time she took a step her left side throbbed. She forced herself to move about. It helped ease the stiffness. By the time it was dark, she was able to move easier. The pain was also a little less. She moved slowly into the open and started to eat. Kelo was always nearby watching her. She wondered why. There was the obvious reason, he looked at her as a doe he could breed during The Season, but she caught him from time to time smiling at her. Could it be he liked her? She did not have any strong feelings for him, but at least he seemed to care about her. That was more than she had with any of the other males outside of her family, other than Wesal.
Once she finished eating, she drank from the lake. The water tasted blander than the stream water, but it did refresh her. After that, she walked around some more still trying to loosen up her body. Later when she rested close to morning, Kelo lay down near. She looked over and smiled at the male.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked. “You do not have to answer if you do not want to.
“What is the question?” he came back.
“Do you like me,” she asked outright.
“Yes,” he said simply.
“Why,” she wanted to know.
The male seemed surprised for a moment about why she asked him this. Then he spoke up in a voice that hesitated slightly. “Well you are pretty, you have a wonderful scent, you are smart, and you fight like no doe I have ever seen. You are different from any doe I have known before.”
“I know I am different,” she said. “That is because my Father and Grandfather taught me things most doe do not learn. You see my Father is the leader of the herd near her. My Grandfather was the Great Prince of the Forest, the wisest deer that ever was. They all taught me the ways of the forest and showed me how to think. Most males I know only look at me as a doe: something to breed in The Season and very little else. I want more than that. I want a male to feel for me. I want a male I can feel for as my Mother feels for my Father. Most males cannot do that. After they breed a deer, they want nothing to do with them. That is why I am unusual and most males shun me.”
“That sounds nice,” Kelo said. “I never really felt for a doe before. They were not interested in me. Last season I bred one and afterward, she wanted nothing to do with me. I do not even know if she is alive or dead with my fawn.”
“So do you feel for me?” she asked.
“I think so. I certainly feel more for you than that doe I mated with last season.”
That was as much as she was likely to get. “Very well, then you can come over and sleep next to me,” she told him with a smile.
Kelo eagerly complied.
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