Chapter 17
Out in the midst of Silent Creek, Grace followed Honey to a small cave where an adult mule deer had been tending to her three-day old fawn. The two month old calf felt her mouth water from nervousness. She had no idea how to react to this type of animal she had never set eyes upon. Would it be kind or cruel? So Honey instructed her to wait outside while she informs the mother deer of an orphan calf in need of urgent care.
Luckily, the mule deer was kind and caring enough to listen as Honey explained to her about the whole situation and Grace was now allowed to enter. When she did, something else had came to her mind when she viewed how the young fawn was lying on the floor next to its mother. She remembered something about this but couldn't quite figure out what it was. There came an image of someone cleaning behind her ears with her long tongue. As far as she knew, it had been a long time since she remembered. Could that have been her mother?
Grace took a few slow steps further cautious not to wake up the fawn. The mother deer smiled warmly when she did approach forward. That made her feel less frightened and more welcome into her home.
"Are you my mother?" she asked quietly. The deer's smile faded halfway. This calf must have mistaken her for a cow. She couldn't blame her for asking that question.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not," the mother replied sadly, then continued, "But I be willing to spare some milk for you. My name is Orchid. And don't worry about little Juniper here…" she pointed her head to the sleeping fawn, "…she's a heavy sleeper. And there's plenty of milk for her to last all season."
Rising upward, Orchid walked over to Grace so that it would be easier for her to feed. This wasn't so hard for Grace to do since she had already found her way and began to suckle. She had been feeling quite refreshed, warm, and cared for with Orchid licking her lovingly behind her behind the ears, nape, and head. Yet another part of Grace felt strange about taking milk meant for this deer's fawn. Still, she kept on suckling as the mother urged her to continue and not to worry about anything else.
When she had seen the cuts spread all over her hide, she moved her head back to lick them gently and lovingly, wondering if they were hurting Grace. The calf winced from feeling it, but she continued eating. With Honey watching from the outside of the cave, the bluebird wanted desperately to make sure that Grace received as much nutrients as she needed to grow up strong and healthy; even after being rescued, hopefully. Both she and Orchid knew that wounds made from a predators claws or a man's sharp object would take more than loving care to make the pain go away. And some wounds were so deep that they did not heal after a year. In fact, if wounds such as the ones on this calf's back had been cut deeply into the skin, they never healed properly and were left as scars for life.
Then as Grace was suckling, tears began pouring down her cheeks. She didn't know why she was crying whatsoever. Either she was happy or sad. She was confused from not knowing which one. Maybe she was feeling grateful this deer was taking special care as if she were her own. That was something Grace barely felt often. So far, she had only known friendship from Sampson and Honey. And she had known kindness from Sheriff Ned Jones who had taken her away from Lewis and fed her milk from a bottle. Perhaps she was also crying because she had never known her real mother long enough to experience motherly love like she was now.
Unable to hold it in any longer, Grace had stopped and collapsed on the ground weeping emotionally. She could barely contain her dignity. What if she were never rescued? And what if Lewis was awakened right now and was prowling the forest searching for her? She had been through too much.
"There now, it's alright," Orchid whispered softly as she licked the side of the weeping calf's face soothingly to comfort her.
For a while now, Grace had been allowed to let her grief out until she was ready to be fed again. She had even let the doe lick her back on areas where it had hurt the most. Whenever Grace had thought of how Lewis had beaten and lectured her with harsh words, it was like a knife in her chest; deeper than the whip strokes. She hated to have felt that.
"Have some more now, you'll be fine," she urged.
Grace became quiet now and sat up to suckle once more through the lump in her throat. She'd rather stay here than go back to camp. With Orchid gently licking the poor calf behind her head, Grace felt a tickling sensation and loved every minute of it. The adult she was with was certainly no cow, but she was kind enough to take pity upon her poor condition and let her in. Maybe it didn't matter if Orchid was a cow or a deer. Perhaps it was more about feeling loved and cared for.
As Honey kept watching, something inside told her that Grace might want to ask if she could stay here for as long as she wants until the lawmen find her. With the calf being tenderly loved, she couldn't possibly lead her back to that awful prison camp now and she knew that Grace was thinking the same thing. And if Grace did beg her, the mother would have no desire to turn her away after all this. She loved her fawn Juniper dearly and would love to have Grace snuggle closely beside her.
Later that afternoon
All through the day, Orchid took care of Grace like she was her own fawn. And she told the calf that she could stay for as long as she wants; delighted to hear her say that, Grace was no longer feeling grief. So what if the men woke up right now and found her missing? Let them scour the entire territory for all she cared. Perhaps they'll forget about her and keep on running until they are caught under the eyes of the law. She was going to stay right here and forget all that has happened. Grace had been too hungry to think about what would happen if she were somehow caught in here or outside. Sometimes it was better to forget all the bad things and enjoy life in happiness.
The little fawn Juniper woke up from her nap and yawned. When she noticed Grace suckling from her mother, curiosity filled her mind. Was there another baby to add in the family? Gathering her footing, she carefully walked over to where the doe stood to ask.
"Momma, who is she?"
"She's going to be staying with us for quite a while now," the doe licked Juniper's forehead hoping to make sure that her little fawn didn't think that she was being replaced by another baby animal she had never seen before. "She was lost and had no one to take care of her."
"Is she a deer too?"
"No sweetie…but I'm sure you two can get along well now; won't you? Wait until she's done eating, then you can talk to her."
Little Juniper sat in front of her mother patiently as she watched a hungry Grace carry on. If she wasn't a deer, then what was she and where did she come from? Unlike her and her mother, this one had a pink snout, floppy ears, and a yellow coat with a big tan spot, a long tail, and black hooves.
When Grace turned her eyes over to Juniper, she ceased eating and blushed; unable to think about what to say to her. "Uh, h…howdy there," she made a small greeting gesture with her little hoof like a human waving howdy to someone. "My name is Grace, uh…how…do you do?" she stuttered.
"Are you a deer?" Juniper asked in a small sweet voice as she moved closer to have a better look at Grace.
"No, I'm a cow," Grace answered uneasily as Juniper nuzzled against her face. The doe could only smile warmly seeing this.
"A cow…?" Juniper moved her head back in bewilderment. "…what's that?"
"Why me, of course," Grace gave a light chuckle. "You've never seen one like me before?"
"Uh-uh," Juniper shook her head. "But I like you. Wanna play with me?" The fawn was jumping for joy.
"Play?" Grace perked her head up with a smile of hope. "You wish for me to play with you?" She had never been asked that before.
"Sure, catch me if you can!" with great excitement, Juniper leaped outside of the cave with Grace running after her.
"Wait for me!" she cried.
"Don't run too far you two!" Orchid called out. "Stay on the green field and play nicely now!" She decided to move out of the cave and watch over the two as they played a game of chasing butterflies and chasing each other around the green grassy field like any other baby animals would. With the sun shining upon the younglings' faces, Grace had already taken pleasure with leaping and jumping in the fresh green grass filled with white and lavender columbine flowers. Soon Honey joined in all the fun in a game of hiding beneath the grass.
When Grace's foster mother watched them from a few feet making sure that no harm came to them, a family of jackrabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, and bluebirds dropped by to say hello to her. When one of the younger chipmunks asked why the other one didn't look similar to Juniper, Orchid tried her best to explain almost everything that Honey had told her about Grace being held against her will and never being properly cared for.
"Bad men in this forest eh!" an elderly squirrel spoke sourly. "Beatin' on a poor defenseless calf like that gal over there. That's what they always do; beat on those smaller than they are," He pointed out to Grace who was still playing alongside Juniper with a game of "tag." And Honey was it. "We'll all have to do our best to see that she don't fall into their clutches again. And we'd be glad to keep an eye out for riders with gold badges." The rest of the families agreed. Orchid felt proud to hear them say that they would help out.
Since this part of the forest had been inhabited by harmless herbivores that enjoyed the peaceful silence without a single predator, it had also become an easier target for hunters to come and hunt down game. That has seldom happened too much, but Orchid knew that's how most travelers and cowboys made a living these days. It was also their way of surviving. But if hunting was done for nothing but sport, then that was plain wrong. She and the other forest critters heard many tales of men hunting for sport that were too horrible to talk about. And she didn't want Juniper or Grace to know about it; not while they were having fun in the sun. As a matter of fact, she couldn't bear to see anything spoil their happiness. So Orchid continued to watch over at them from a distance for the rest of the afternoon until dusk had fallen and the stars twinkled above.
Later, that evening
"Ugh, feels like I been hit with a rock," Scar Face Sam had snapped out of his intoxication along with Hickory and Gene. They all gazed in bewilderment wondering how many hours they had passed out.
"Why's it still dark out?"
"And why am I wearin' the same outfit?"
"That's what ya always wear?"
Sam looked at a liquor bottle next to him and snatched it up. From what he remembered, he and the gang had been enjoying a meal and drinking up as much of this stuff without stopping. They had usually only drank the light kind of liquor, yet this one was enough to knock them out for many long hours. Furious, he threw the bottle down with a crash. "Imbeciles!" he hollered loud enough to not only awaken the rest of the group, but to have his voice echoing in the distance like thunder. "That's the last time I let any one of ya pick out liquor labeled a hundred percent intoxication! Now look what's happened!" Everyone looked at how scattered the liquor bottles were about the camp. "Up till now, we'd be stranded by a blasted rainstorm!"
The sky was quite clear yet a few grey clouds had been seeping by in the distance. The color of those clouds meant that they would have to break up camp and try to find someplace else to take cover in case rain were to come dripping down on them tonight or tomorrow. So the bandits began hurrying anxiously to pack every one of their belongings while Lewis picked up all the empty liquor bottles off the ground to not take big chances of leaving behind evidence, in case any lawmen came riding in this same path sooner or later. When he thought he had gathered every last one, he thought of "his" precious working calf. So he went over to the mulberry bush to see if she was still there. But to his surprise, the only thing there was an unbuckled halter laid across the ground like a dog leash. No calf in sight.
"What, how did she get out?" Lewis snapped.
"What is it Lewis, anything wrong?" Sam asked impatiently.
"That disobedient calf escaped from me again. She must've snuck off while we was knocked out!"
"Well relax now, I doubt she'd be capable of wanderin' down the hills. She must have just scampered off on the other side o' the river. We'll look over there. But first we have to find Tuck; he's missin' too. Must be out patrollin' the area by now. He'll track her down for us."
Author's note: I have four or five chapters to go at least. But that depends on how many ideas I can come up with before moving on to the epilogue; We'll see how it goes.