growing in. It would be as big as it had been last year.
He walked to the edge of the meadow. Inside its large expanse, it was filled with the local herd. Males were congregated together in the meadow already mock sparing with each other. The females and new fawns were together mostly trying to stay out of the way of the antics of the males. He had deliberately stayed away from them up to now not wanting to meet the others until he was sure he was up to taking care of himself. The other reason he stayed away was because he wasn't sure if they would reject him as the others had done.
He tested the air with his nose. Flowers, deer, squirrels, raccoons and other familiar scents came to his attention. Not a trace of Man, yet he knew there was a herd of Man by the lake near the Man-cave the forest master lived in. That was far over the hills. The breeze was softly blowing into his face. The ground was still cool from the evening. There were no shrill noises or calls to warn of any danger. It all looked safe. As he studied the large herd below him, two things stood out. First, there was a young doe standing well away from the herd. She made no attempt to approach. That was odd, doe normally stayed together at this time of year. She was also without a fawn yet she looked old enough to have one. Second item was he saw Bambi along with a doe and young fawn enter from the woods. At once all the deer stood to attention. He must be the leader of the herd. That made him wondered if he should try and meet the herd now.
"Why not," he said to himself. After all, Bambi had invited him. Other than Bambi, he did not see a deer that looked strong enough to attack him.
He walked into the open of the meadow. Almost at once the males looked up to see him. He walked up toward them but stopped well short so they could study the new deer before them. He bent over and started to fill his stomach with the young spring tender grass. It tasted delicious. Although he did not look directly at the herd of male deer, he kept an eye on them. Sometimes strangers were attacked, but usually that was the job of the herd leader. He was sure Bambi saw him, but the herd leader didn't seem to care if he was here or not.
By and by one of the larger deer in the herd started to walk toward him cautiously. Body puffed up showing off his large muscles and growing rack. He approached him with his head down, but not in a threatening position. He was being cautious. He liked caution in deer, you tended to live longer. He went on eating until the deer was about three lengths away, then he stood up and faced him.
"Can I help you?" he asked the deer.
"I am Ronno," the deer said respectfully but firmly. "I have not seen you before. May I ask your name?"
At least he was polite. "Most call me Stranger. I really have no name of my own. My mother died before she could give me one."
"That is strange," Ronno said. "Are you going to join our herd? You must ask permission of the herd leader Bambi if you want to do so."
"I have already met Bambi," he told him. "No, I am not joining your herd" he said calmly. "In any case I do not seek permission from anyone to do anything I like. For now the grass is all I came for."
Ronno took a step back looking at him like he was something that had just fallen from the sky like rain. By now a younger deer, but one just as big as Ronno approached. This one was brasher, more assertive in his step. He had seen the type before, a young male trying to prove his place in the herd. "I say there, you are not polite," he said harshly. "This meadow is for our use only; we did not give you permission to enter."
He got up and turned facing the new arrival, his gray eyes squarely fixed on the white and brown spotted face. "I did not ask permission from you or anyone else to come here, and this meadow belongs to all the creatures in the forest. It is you who are being rude and not me. Now go away and have your mother teach you some manners."
Without a word, the male lowered his head and charged forward, forgetting his antlers were only partly grown and covered in a sensitive and thin coating of velvet. He stood there motionless not even bothering to put his head down. It looked to all he was going to let the charging male have an open lunge at his chest. He waited until the male was four lengths from him and then he jumped right, planting his front feet hard in the dirt and bringing his rear legs around catching the male at his knees in mid-charge. The other male did not have time to react. He tripped, fell forward with a crash, and buried his face in the dirt. As the male tried to get up, he leaped over, and again planting his front legs firmly, he kicked the side of the male deer hard with both rear hoofs. The male toppled over on his side like an old tree falling over. He moved quickly in front of the now struggling deer. This time he planted his back feet and brought his right front leg up to catch the deer in the face. That knocked him senseless to the ground. In an instant he was on him planting his right hoof squarely on the neck of the down deer.
"Listen fawn," he growled, "I do not like rude deer with more brashness than sense. I can kill you now easily, and it will not bother me a bit. Now leave me alone and go away, before I scatter your body across the meadow."
With that he took his hoof off the neck of the down deer that was glaring at him wide-eyed with terror. He quickly backed up two full lengths and then let the down deer get up slowly. As he staggered to his feet, he caught his balance, and in seconds darted across the meadow into the forest his voice bleating in fear. He turned and faced Ronno again who went into a defensive stance, head down.
"I will cause you no trouble unless you start it," he said calmly and once again tried to appear like a seemingly normal deer. "You were at least polite, unlike that thing," and motioned his head toward the fleeing male.
Ronno just shook his head in bewilderment. "I never saw a deer fight like that."
"I know," he said. He then glanced at the approach of an even larger deer, but this deer held his head up high. This one wasn't looking for a fight, but he was not afraid of one either.
"Greeting, Bambi," he said and dipped his head in respect. "I am sorry if I caused any trouble." He noted the doe and fawn had stopped about ten lengths away. No doubt they did not trust him. Again caution and wisdom was showing in this herd.
"There is no trouble," Bambi uttered in a normal voice. "Kragus has been pushing his weight around the herd. Either I or one of the larger males would have needed to put him in his place soon. You just did it first. What I want to do is to ask is if you wanted to join the herd. You are big, you are strong, you fight well, but strangely, and you do not seem to be a bully."
"I try not to be," he answered. "No Bambi, I have no interest in the herd, they are yours. I prefer to live alone. It works better that way for me."
"Suit yourself," Bambi said looking back at the doe and fawn.
"Yours?" he asked.
"Faline, my mate and Veron, my youngest son," Bambi said almost in passing
"You may tell them they can approach me if they want. I do not attack doe and I never strike a fawn. They are safe with me."
Bambi nodded his head in appreciation. "Thank you. May I ask where you learned to fight like that?"
"While living with Man," he replied. "Man taught me many things. Most of them would sicken you. A few things like my fighting can be of use at times.
Bambi and Ronno said nothing for a second. He was sure they did not believe him. Finally Ronno said, "You are very, very strange."
"Yes I know," he repeated.
Bambi motioned to the doe standing alone in the meadow "That is Claris. She is another strange one like you," Bambi said sounding regretful. "She told me she does not like the company of other deer. Last Season was her first and she took up with no male and had no fawn this spring. She said she just wasn't interested. I was thinking maybe you should talk to her. I think you may be alike."
"Strange like me," he answered and looked the doe over carefully. "She is not a bad looking doe."
He wondered what Bambi was getting at. Herd leaders care nothing about who talks to whom unless it is to their own doe. Her behavior was not normal, but then neither was his. That intrigued him and raised his interest. Still what did he have to lose by talking to her? "Very well I will go over and introduce myself."
Bambi nodded his approval.
"Good luck," Ronno said shaking his head. "Most of the males in this herd tried to do that. They all have sore sides from being kicked."
"That is also interesting," he said. "I bid you both good day," he told them and walked away toward the doe.
She certainly was not a bad looking doe. She was not sleek, with a shinny coat, or perfectly shaped body like Faline. She was shapely, had a beautiful face, and a bushy white tail. Her legs were larger than most doe and more heavily muscled. She looked fast, hard, and ready to run or fight.
It was the way she stood that he noticed first. Most doe are timid and shy away from the males. The way she stood, it looked as if she didn't care what others did and that is what drew his attention. He liked that. Most deer were herd creatures, or at the very least liked being around other deer. The moved with each other, ate with each other, fought with each other, and thought like each other. The only
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