CHAPTER FOUR: HUNTS

"That was all I found," he told the deer standing there. Bambi, Galene, Stabo, his father, his mother, Kena, and Juon all heard him tell his tale. None of the other senior males seemed interested. After he finished, he waited for the others to say something. Instead, for a moment the seven deer stood silently still. For an instant, he thought he made some mistake or did not do what Bambi asked him to. Then his uncle and mother broke out into a big smile. Bambi looked at his father and nodded his head.

"That was more than I thought you find," Bambi told him.

Stabo then added, "I am especially thankful you got to see Felon and my daughter. I had had not heard from them in some time and wondered if anything happened to them. You did well."

"You also managed to talk to Uttral," his mother said. "I was going to take you to see her one day, but I did not think you were ready yet."

"He looks ready now," his father told them.

"It was like when you two took off into the deep forest together," Stabo said to his mother and father. "You took too much of a chance then, but you were smart enough or lucky enough to survive and do some real good at the same time. Your son is the same."

"Yes, and you also told us if things get too bad in the winter we can send a few deer to live in the old forest," Bambi added. "I am glad the old places are still there and that there is grass available."

"But there is no cover there," he added. "We cannot hide from anyone in that place."

"That is too bad, but in the dead of winter Man seldom comes," Stabo added. "We will use the old forest only if we have to."

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

"No," Bambi said. "Get some rest. I am going to continue your training tomorrow night. There is still more you need to know."

"Yes herd leader," he said beaming.

Juon must have seen his self-satisfaction and spoke bluntly. "Do not think you are ready to be a senior male yet. Look how long Stena and Balo learned from Stranger and Old Bambi and see what happened to them. Always be on your guard. You can never relax. You can never feel safe. That was one of the most important things your grandfather taught me."

"Yes, Juon," he answered, but he was still happy with himself.

He went back to his bedding area after drinking his fill and emptying himself deep in the woods. He got to his resting place and found three young doe already there. They all came to meet him and he caressed all of them.

"We missed you while you were gone," Nalene said and kissed him.

"I am happy I'm back," he told them and kissed them all.

"Did you see anything?" Dala asked.

"Let me tell you about that," he said and then all three doe lay down in front of him and he started to tell about his journey again. They are seemed thrilled at his adventures and marveled at his escape from the bear, not that he tried to escape. It was well after the greater light appeared that he finished. They all fell asleep soon after. It was only after the greater light was overhead that they all heard it.

"RUMMMMMMMMMMMM," he heard and was instantly awake. The noise came from deeper in the forest but got louder until it seemed to go into the meadow. There the noise stopped and crashing noises began.

"Eeee Onnn," he heard someone say. It was a Man.

That frighten him, but not as much as what he heard next.

"Yelp…Yelp…Yelp"

He had never heard a dog this close before and it frighten him even more than Man. Stabo and his father told him about the sounds dogs make. Man and dogs went into the forest to hunt. Man used the dogs to find the deer. Once they s found it, they either ran the deer down and attacked it, or brought Man there so he could kill it. Dogs could also smell them at night or hidden in the forest. A deer could hide from Man; Man could not see, hear, or smell well. A deer could not hide from dogs. They could follow a deer or any creature by their scent.

He got up along with his three doe, faced the meadow, and sniffed the air. He could smell nothing, but the wind was blowing at his tail. That meant the wind blew their scents to the dogs that could smell them and lead Man here. They were too close for comfort. It was time to go.

"Come with me," he whispered to his three doe. "Try to be as quiet as you can. No talking at all. Man is on the meadow. He also has his dogs with him. They might smell us and come after us."

All three doe just nodded their understanding and he led them quietly back into the deeper woods. He did not take them directly to Bambi's bedding area. They would need to go too close to the meadow and the wind was in the wrong direction, it would be easy to find them. Instead, he wanted to put more distance between them and Man. They went straight back into the deeper forest. The doe were quieter, but he could still hear them too easily. Thankfully, Man and his dogs did not sound like they were getting closer. He led them away until he could no longer hear the dogs and there he stopped.

"I think we are safe here," he told them in a low voice. "Now listen carefully, I need to find the herd leader. It is too dangerous to take you three with me. Too large a group is easy to see. I want you to stay here and do not go back to the meadow or our sleeping area. If the dogs smell you, they will chase you and that usually means Man will be close behind with his killing stick.

"BAAAANNNGGG. . .BAAAANNNGGG," he heard in the distance. It was only the second time he heard killing sticks this close. He remembered what Garris said about wanting to hide like a fawn he was so afraid. Part of him wanted to lie down in fear, but he could not. Others depended on him. He looked over the three doe that were frightened out of their wits. He had to go on despite his fear and find Bambi and Stabo and he could not take the doe with him. Together they would all be too easy to see in the day.

"You three stay here," he repeated. "If you hear Man or the dogs get closer, run into the deep woods and keep going until you no longer hear them. Go back to our place only after dark. I will meet you there, do you understand me?"

He made the doe repeat what he said and when he was satisfied there were as safe as possible, he slowly crept off straining to hear any sound of dogs or Man as he quietly moved through the forest.

He hated traveling during the day especially with Man nearby, but he had no choice. He had to tell the herd leader what he knew. He traveled very slowly because the wind was in the wrong direction so he could not smell them approach. He could still hear them from time to time and they did not seem to be getting closer. He dared not go back toward the meadow; that was asking to die. Instead, he walked with the wind on his right flank. It was very slow going, and it was well after the greater light was near setting that he felt safe enough to travel back toward the clearing he knew Bambi and Galene lived in. By then the wind shifted so it did not blow his scent toward the meadow, but into the woods. He also had not heard any more from the dogs or killing sticks since morning. As he slowly crept forward until he could smell other deer near him. They were the scents of herd males and doe. As he walked forward he stopped. There on the ground under some bushes, he saw a brown lump lying still on the ground. As he got closer, the brown lump became brown fur and white spots, but very little scent. He walked up and saw twin fawns lying close together. He came up and looked closely at them; thankfully, they were not hurt. Their mother must have put them here for safety before fleeing herself. He put his nose in and stroked the white-spotted bundles.

"Ma Ma," one called out.

"No, I am not your mother. She will be back soon. I am Stafen. Stay still and no one will hurt you. You must stay still. Do you hear me?"

"Yes," the one fawns squeaked.

"Good," he said and after nuzzling both of them, he then went on.

He looked for the others for rest of the day but found only traces of their scents. It was only at dark he smelled Stabo's scent on the ground. He followed it into the deeper forest. After dark, he found them by the Man Path. His mother, father, Stabo, Galene, and the herd leader were all there. He approached quietly, but Bambi heard him while he was still ten lengths away.

"You are getting better when you walk," he said. "I was worried about you. That hunting was near where you and those three doe sleep together."

"I heard Man and the dogs," he told them. "But the wind was blowing our scent into the meadow so we left before the dogs smelled us. I took the doe and hid them deep in the forest so the dogs would not find our scents. I walked crosswind until I found your scent and followed you here."

"Good, you are learning," Stabo said.

"Now what do we do?" he asked.

"Now we find why Man is here," Bambi said. "It is normally too early in the season for killing deer. Man is likely here to kill birds."

Bambi then looked around. "Stabo you come with me. Juon and Helos, you keep the herd back from the meadow." Then the large deer turned toward him.

"Young male, you come with me," he ordered. "It is time to continue your training."

"I will do as the herd leader asks," he said.

"Good," Bambi nodded. "Come with me and be quiet. What we are going to do is dangerous if Man or his dogs find us."

He followed Bambi and his uncle away and toward the meadow. They stayed just inside the trees near the black Man Path. They slowly and carefully picked their way through the trees and bush silently. He saw both his uncle and Bambi take special care in making sure they made no sound. He tried to follow their example and mostly succeeded. They did this until the Man Path approached the edge of the meadow near the spring.

"Follow me," Bambi whispered and then turned towards the Man cave now blazing in light.

Now the wind was blowing in their faces. He could smell the fire and the odor of something burning. It smelled terrible. They continued to walk until Bambi stopped and then lay down on the ground just inside the trees. They had a good view of the Man cave. He saw two Men sitting around an open fire. They sat on strange rocks and near them lay two dogs.

"Very well, young male, tell me what you see and smell," Bambi said.

He took in a deep breath through his nose. He smelled many scents, none of them pleasant. "I smell two dogs lying outside. They do not smell us because the wind is blowing in our faces."

"Good," Bambi said, "Now what else?"

He sniffed again and added. "There are two Men there and they do not see us because the dogs do not smell us."

"Also good," Bambi said, "What else."

"They are burning some awful smelling. I remember Uncle Stabo told me Man liked to burn his meat before he eats it. Is that what they are doing?"

"Yes," Stabo told him. That is what they are doing."

Again he sniffed. "I have not smelled that before, is that deer they are burning?"

"No," Bambi said painfully. "Deer smells differently when Man burns it. What you smell now are birds. Man was killing birds today, not deer. Sometimes Man comes to the Man cave to do that. Man likes to eat both birds and deer. He comes to kill birds in the spring and early summer, but he comes to kill deer near or after The Season. This is not always true, however. If those Men saw a deer, they might kill it. That is why we must always be careful when Man is on the meadow."

"But Man will leave, tonight?" he asked.

"No, he will not," Stabo added." Man likes to stay two or three days when he hunts birds."

That hit him like being struck by a killing stick. He had told his doe to go back after it was dark. If the wind blew into the meadow tomorrow, the dogs might smell them. That would bring Man.

"I have to go," he said anxiously.

"Why?" Bambi and Stabo asked together.

He explained quickly, "I told my doe that I would meet them back at my bedding place tonight. If they go there, they might be near enough so the dogs may smell them."

"That was a mistake," Stabo grunted. "You should have told them to stay away until you got them. You are right the dogs may smell them. And that will bring Man."

"Man does not hunt at night," he remembered. "If I leave now, I will get the three doe and take them deeper into the forest and tell them to stay there."

"No," Bambi said. "You bring them to where you found us by the Man Path. They will be safe there."

"Forgive me," he said and slowly got up and went deeper into the forest.

"He still has much to learn," he heard Stabo say to Bambi as he walked away.

He moved quickly and as quietly as possible with the wind in his face. He smelled nothing and he heard no dogs barking. With the wind in his face could smell and hear things better from the Meadow. That allowed him to move more quickly without the dogs knowing he was there. That made his trip back to his bedding area much faster. He finally made it back to his clearing after the lesser light was up over the nearby hills. There was no one there. They had not made it back yet. He decided to lie down and wait. He must have fallen asleep because he heard some twigs break. He woke and got quickly to his feet. As he did, Nalene came into his clearing followed closely by Allia and Dala."

"Listen," told them. "Man and his has dogs are still here and they might smell us here in the morning. That will bring Man and his killing stick. I am going to take you to a place where you will be safe."

"All three doe looked at him in astonishment."You said to come back here," Dala said.

"I was wrong," he had to admit. "Man is going to stay on the meadow for a while. As long as he does we are not safe here. We must leave until Man goes away."

The three doe look at each other in confusion for a few moments before Dala called out. "We will follow you."

"Good and please be as quiet as you can," he asked them.

They were getting quieter than before, but he could still easily hear them walking behind him. They kicked leaves and broke small branches on the ground. It took a while but he got them back to the black Man Path where he found his mother and father waiting.

"Mother, father these doe are Nalene and Allia that I found when I went into the deep forest. This doe is Dala from our forest."

His father could not repress a smile as he looked them over. "Nice doe," he said. "Please join us."

He saw his mother had the two fawns with her and they lay next to her when she lay down. He went over and looked at them. They did not know what to make of this large deer, but other than to nuzzle them, he just got their scent which was increasing with their age.

"Where are Andrene and Helar?" he asked.

"They are still with the yearlings. Bambi has Galene and other older doe watching them deeper in the forest.

That made sense; they were still too young to avoid Man.

"I am hungry," Nalene complained.

That was the second mistake he made tonight. He did not think about feeding. "Come with me," he told them. "There is a small clearing and stream nearby, we will go there and feed."

He led the doe off and found the clearing. Already there were two doe with fawns and three herd males eating. There was grass for all. They all started to feed. As he ate his fill, he noticed one of the herd males; maybe a five-season male and only slightly bigger than him came over and started to sniff at Allia's tail. That got him angry. He turned quickly and glared at the male.

"NO!" was all he said.

Despite the fact the male was twice as old as him; the male backed up quickly and ran out of the small clearing. That was good. It meant his reputation was spreading through the herd. They all went back to eating. He took them to a small stream where they all drank their fill. He then took them a little way away and they all emptied themselves before returning around the first sign of the greater light.

He lay down with Dalia and Allia lying next to him and Dalia lying in front of him. By now Bambi and Stabo had returned near morning. He saw his father and Stabo smiling at him and even Bambi seemed amused by something. Remembering what Felon told him, he didn't get mad, but ignored it and went to sleep.

"KKKAABBAAANNNG," woke him from that sleep. The three doe were instantly awake along with all the others.

"Man is still on the meadow and not in the forest," Bambi said loudly. "Everyone stay still."

"He remained calm and nuzzled his three doe to reassure them.

"BBBAAAANNNGGG" echoed through the forest. It sounded closer. Then he heard the one thing he hated the most, loud and rapid barking. Man might be on the meadow, but his dogs were in the forest. He slowly stood up to hear better.

"Yelp…Yelp," they barked.

"They are chasing something," Stabo said.

"It is also getting louder," Bambi said getting up. The others got up when he did.

"Yelp…Yelp…Yelp" they heard and it was louder. The dogs were coming toward them.

"ROOOOOONNNN," he head Man cry out.

"They must have caught someone's scent," Stabo told them. "They are following something."

"It was not us," Bambi said. "We did not go that way."

"It does not matter," his father called out. "They are coming here. They will pick up on our scent soon enough."

"Helos is right, we need to leave," Stabo said.

"Everyone run," Bambi called out. "Scatter, in all directions. They cannot follow all of us."

"ROOOOOONNN" he heard again only louder.

"Follow me," he said to his three doe and he started to run back into the forest. At first, he saw many deer running around him, but shortly there were only the four of them as the others went in different directions.

He first led them deeper into the woods. He wanted to get crosswind of the dogs so they would not smell them easily. Once the sound of the dogs and Man were between them and the meadow, he stopped.

"Rest," he told his three doe. "I do not think the dogs can smell us here."

"They will come after us," Nalene said sounding frightened.

"No, they will not," he assured them, "Not if we stay still and quiet."

He lay down on the ground and the others lay next to him. They waited. The sound of the dogs got less and less until he heard nothing. They rested for a while. Several times he heard Man call out, "RRROOOONNNNNN" in the distance. They rested for a while before he heard it again.

"Yelp…Yelp," he heard off toward the Man Path.

"Don't they ever give up," he cursed.

The barking continued. They were over where Bambi and the others had been, but they were all gone from there by now.

"RRRROOOOOOOOONNNNN," the Man called, but this time it sounded closer. It was getting too much. First the dogs and now Man. At least he could fight the dogs.

"Come we go deeper into the forest," he told the doe. "This time we do not run, we walk quietly as we can, but quickly.

"We should run," Nalene called out.

"No," he told her. "If we run we make too much noise and Man could hear us. I am more afraid of the killing stick than dogs."

He led them into the deep forest. He started to notice some places looked familiar. He had come through this place earlier He continued and as they walked, the forest looked more familiar. They walked for a while and there was quiet behind him. He was almost ready to stop when he heard.

"Yelp…Yelp…Yelp…Yelp," called out. The dogs were chasing something and getting closer to them. No choice now. They had to flee the noise or get run down.

"Run," he told them. They are getting too close."

"They all fled into the forest with him staying in the rear to watch for danger. They went ran some distance before they stopped and he looked around. The forest here was familiar. He had come through here yesterday. He then remembered the fawns he came across. He looked around and found the same furry brown mound was there but in a slightly different place. The mother had come back to feed the fawns before she left again.

"Yelp... Yelp…Yelp…Yelp, he heard from behind him. The dogs were still looking

If the dogs came this way, they could find the fawns. They would have no problem in ripping them apart.

The fawns were not old enough to flee quickly. They had no protection here unless…

"Keep running," he told the doe. "I will catch up later."

There were trees all around him. He went over and hid behind the trees and got down low near the ground. He could only hope the dogs did not come this way. He sat very still and listened. It was then he felt a wind change on his fur. The wind was now blowing toward the meadow like yesterday. It was only a little while later he heard again, "Yelp…Yelp." The noise was louder.

"ROOOOONNNNNNNNN," called the Man again. It also sounded closer. The Man was following the dogs closely.

He should go, soon the dogs would find their scent and come this way, but that might mean the dogs would follow their scent and find the fawns. He needed another plan. It then occurred to him the dogs would follow a stronger scent. That gave him an idea. He ran toward the dogs until he was several lengths in front of the fawns. Then he emptied himself on the ground to leave a scent patch. Maybe the dogs will follow him instead of attacking the fawns. He then rubbed some bushes with his scent and went to hide behind some trees away from the fawns.

He was waiting for a while and still lying low. The yelping got louder and soon he caught motion in front of him. There were two dogs. They were brown and white with long thin tails, maybe a third of his size. They came running down the same direction he and the doe came. They ran until they came to his scent patch. They stopped and immediately began sniffing the ground. They then started to follow his trail toward him. He would speed away in a different direction from the others and see if he could tire out the dogs.

The dogs were about halfway to him. They were following his trail when suddenly one of the fawns stood up and bellowed for its mother. That did it. Both dogs turned their attention from him and back to the fawns.

"NO!" he yelled out and lowered his head. As the dogs approached the fawn, he charged them out from behind the trees. The dogs did not notice him at first. They still concentrated on the fawns. His rack was still small and in velvet but he got down low and ran into the rear of one dog throwing it into the air.

"IIIIEEEEEEE," the dog screamed when it hit the ground hard. The other dog turned and came at him barking loud enough for all to hear. The dog jumped, but he pulled back just as if a deer had charged him. The dog landing close to him and he latched out with a kick. This was not a practice kick. He kicked this time to hurt. His blow glanced off the side of the dog that leaped out of his way. He turned quickly and kicked out with his rear legs and missed. He turned and backed away with both dogs in front of him. Both were growling deeply and yelling at the top of their voice for Man.

He backed up toward a large oak tree behind him. The dogs cautiously approach him all the time yelling for their master. The one he missed with his kick came forward and tried to leap on his back. He lunched forward hitting the dog in the stomach with his rack throwing it through the air. That dog hit the ground with a scream. The other dog came forward. He was going to attack him when he heard, "RRRROOOOONNNNN," close by. He looked up and many lengths away stood something taller than him that stood upright. It was wearing a red outfit and carrying something in his arms and looking at him and the dogs. It was a Man with a killing stick. He turned and fled bounding and changing direction as he ran

"WHAAAMMMM," he heard, and a moment later felt a burning in his left rear leg. There was also the sound of angry bees flying past him.

He changed directions and leaped again, and then after two more leaps changed direction once more and just ran for his life at full speed. He kept going. At least the dogs did not follow him. He ran blindly for some time before he stopped. He was exhausted. His rear left leg hurt some. He continued to walk trying to catch his breath. His rear left leg started to get stiff so he lay down in the grass and rested. He heard no one behind him. This was as good a place as any to rest until night. He fell fast asleep

He woke after dark and got up. His rear left leg was still sore, but it was not bad. It was strange; he thought any deer that got hit by a killing stick would die. While he hurt, he did not think he would die. He looked around and was not sure where he was. He continued to walk. As he moved more his left rear leg seemed to loosen up a bit. His legs started to feel better. Now he knew he would not die from the killing stick. He moved on and soon smelled the deep foul odor of the Man Path. He saw the back surface in the night. Now he at least knew where he was. He would follow it back to the meadow and find the herd that way.

He moved through the night eating any tender grass he could find, but he did not see or smell water. That was bad because he felt hot and thirsty. He walked all night. There were some scents of deer on the ground, but they were old. By the time the greater light came, he was still in deep woods he did not know well, but he thought he might be close to the meadow.

He had slept for a while when he heard something nearby. He could not smell it. The wind was blowing into the forest. He could not smell what was out there but it could certainly smell him.

A little while later he heard heavy breathing and he caught a movement of brown at the edge of his vision. It turned and came closer. He saw it smell the ground several times. It was not long before he could see it clearly. It was a single coyote coming the same way he did. He was not afraid of a single coyote, but if there was a nearby pack, they would attack him. He got up to run again, but his leg felt stiffer now. He did not want to run unless he had to.

He hid behind some trees but it did no good, the brown hunter came right for him. At least he was alone.

Finally, the coyote stopped maybe five lengths from him and looked directly at him.

"I smell you," he said in a hissing voice. "I smell your blood. You are hurt. We will eat well tonight."

"I can easily kill a coyote," he said. "I would leave now."

"Yes, but can you kill five of us? That is how many in my pack. They will be here soon. All I have to do is watch you and we will run you down and eat you."

He thought about charging the hunter, but he was too far away and he could not move as quickly as he needed to. The coyote would stay out of his reach until the rest of his pack showed up and then they attack all at once. They could easily kill him.

"AAAAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO," the hunter called out.

Far off in the distance, he heard another similar cry. They were far away, but they would get here soon. Then he was dead. If he ran, all the single coyote would do is follow him, telling his pack where he went and the others would follow. He needed to run and not have that hunter follow him.

The coyote smelled the ground where he had been. "Yes, I smell your blood, you are injured. It will be easy to bring you down."

"Bring him down," he thought. That gave him an idea.

"I will run," he said out loud and backed up. As he did his left rear leg went out from under him and he fell to the ground. "

"Ahhhhhhhh," he cried out in pain.

The coyote looked at him on the ground and smiled with glee."You were stuck with the killing stick," he exclaimed. "This will be too easy. You can't run or fight. I will kill you myself and get the biggest piece of meat."

With that, the coyote came in until he was about four lengths away. He stumbled to his feet looking shaky. The coyote howled once and then came close to two lengths and then went to leap on his back.

That was what he was waiting for. He had faked his injury to bring the coyote close to him. As the coyote leaped in the air, he turned his right front leg slightly so the sharp end of his hoof pointed out and he kicked with all his might. His foot caught the animal on his left side between his neck and chest and dug into his skin.

"YYYAAAOOOOOWWWWWWWW," he screamed. As the hunter landed on his back, he lifted on his front legs, and the creature rolled easily off his back. It hit the ground hard. That impact stunned him. He lifted his hurt left rear leg and stomped down on the body as hard as he could. He felt bone crack under him with the blow. He also felt his left leg spasm in pain. It didn't matter; he wasn't going to wait for the rest of the pack to show up. He ran as fast as he could down the Man Path

He traveled on the Man Path itself for a while. It was after the greater light was overhead he heard a roaring noise coming down the Man Path. He quickly ran off of the black surface and into the forest. A short while later a Man animal went quickly by him. It disappeared in the distance and things were suddenly very quiet.

By now, he hoped the smell of the Man path would keep the rest of that coyote pack from picking up on his scent. He was tired and wanted to rest, but he dare not stop. He knew the Man path would lead to the meadow. He followed it until it was almost dark. He forced himself to keep going despite his weak feelings in his left rear leg and the increasing heat he felt in his body. By now he was also very thirsty. Finally, he saw the Man Path end right near the spring. He went over and drank seemingly half his body weight in cool water. He also now knew where he was. He lay down on the ground needing to rest. He fell fast asleep and did not awaken until it was very late. He walked slowly toward where Stabo and his family liked to sleep. It was so late at night, no one was on the meadow, but the Man cave was dark. He saw or smelled no sign of Man.

The greater light was coming over the hill when he came up to the part of the forest Stabo and his mother and father lived. He approached with the wind in his face and smelled no trace of anything except deer. Soon he started to hear voices. He approached cautiously. He smelled several deer. Bambi, Galene, Stabo, his mother Dala, and Allia were all there. He got closer until he could make out it was his mother talking.

". . . sent Juon and his father to look for him."

"We do not even know where he went," Stabo said. "We do not know if he was hit by the killing stick or not."

They were talking about him. He stepped into the clearing and called out. "No, Man did not kill me with his killing stick."

All six deer turned as one. In moments his mother ran up to him and kissed him like he was a fawn again. Both Dala and Allia also ran to him.

"What happened to you," Bambi said looking him over.

You look horrible his uncle said and felt his head. "You have a fever. You have been injured."

"Dala and Allia told us you fought two dogs when they tried to kill those fawns. Then they saw Man use his killing stick on you."

"That is true," he told them panting. "Man hit me with the killing stick, but not hard. My rear left leg is sore and I feel hot."

Stabo immediately looked at his rear. "I do not see any bleeding. I cannot see well here. We need to go into the bright light." His uncle then felt his head. "Your fever is not bad. I will get some leaves to help with that. Otherwise, how do you feel?"

"I feel stiff in my rear leg, but otherwise, I feel fine," he said. He looked at Bambi. On my way here, I ran into a coyote that was part of a pack. He was going to call the pack over to eat me. I tricked him into thinking I was too weak to fight back. He came to kill me himself. I kicked him, Bambi, just like you Stabo showed me. I kicked him hard and I think I killed him. Then he looked up at the herd leader."Did the dogs kill those fawns?"

"No," Bambi said with a smile. "They had something else to worry about."

Bambi then came over and rubbed his forehead. "That was brave of you to do that. As for the coyote, that is why we taught you these things to use when your life is in danger. You did well, and you survived where other deer would have been killed."

"Good," he said suddenly feeling tired. "I am going to get something to drink. Would you mind if I slept here today?"

"Not at all," Bambi told him.

Stabo soon came back with the leaves he had seen before. He ate several of them. Whether it was the leaves, or his fatigue, when he finished eating them, he lay down, put his head on the ground, and slept, oblivious to everything else.