(This story is about Jody, his father, a doe and a fawn. Jody's father gets bitten by a rattlesnake. As believed by some, a quick remedy demands the use of the heart and liver of a doe to draw out the poison. In this story, Jody is disturbed by thoughts of the doe's baby, the little fawn, who is left without a mother.)
Jody allowed his thoughts to drift back to the fawn. He could not keep it out of his mind. He had held it in his dreams, in his arms.
He slipped from the table and went to his father's bedside. Penny lay at rest. His eyes were open and clear, but the pupils were still dark and dilated.
Jody said, "How are you feeling, Pa?"
"Just fine, son. Old Death has gone thieving elsewhere. But wasn't it a close shave?"
"I agree."
Penny said, "I'm proud of you, boy, the way you kept your head and did what was needed."
"Pa."
"Yes, son."
"Pa, do you recollect the doe and the fawn?"
"I can never forget them. The poor doe saved me, that's certain."
"Pa, the fawn may be out there yet. It might be hungry and very scared."
"I suppose so."
"Pa, I'm a big boy now and don't need to drink milk. Why don't I go and see if I can find the fawn?"
"And bring it here?"
"And raise it."
Penny lay quiet, staring at the ceiling.
"Boy, you've got me hemmed in."
"It won't take much to raise it, Pa. It'll soon start eating leaves and acorns."
"You are smarter than boys of your age."
"We took its mother, and it wasn't to blame."
"Surely it seems ungrateful to leave it to starve. Son , I can not say 'No' to you. I never thought I'd live to see another day."
"Can I ride back with Mill-wheel and see if I can find it?"
Do you think Jody's father will allow him to ride back with Mill-wheel?
"Tell your Ma I said you can go."
He slid back to the table and sat down. His mother was pouring coffee for everyone.
He said, "Ma, Pa says I can go bring back the fawn."
She held the coffee pot in mid-air.
"What fawn?"
"The fawn belonging to the doe we killed. We used the doe's liver to draw out the poison and save Pa."
She gasped.
"Well, for pity's sake—"
"Pa says it would be ungrateful to leave it to starve."
Doc Wilson said, "That's right, Ma'am. Nothing in the world comes quite free. The boy's right and his daddy's right."
Mill-wheel said, "He can ride back with me. I'll help him find it."
She set down the pot helplessly.
"Well, if you'll give it your milk—we've got nothing else to feed it."
Mill-wheel said, "Come on, boy. We've got to get riding."
Ma Baxter asked anxiously, "You'll not be gone long?"
Jody said, "I'll be back before dinner for sure."
Mill-wheel mounted his horse and pulled Jody up behind him.
He said to Mill-wheel, "Do you think the fawn's still there? Will you help me find him?"
"We'll find him if he's alive. How you know it's a he?"
"The spots were all in a line. On a doe-fawn, Pa says the spots are every which way."
Jody gave himself over to thoughts of the fawn. They passed the abandoned clearing.
He said, "Cut to the north, Mill-wheel. It was up here that Pa got bitten by the snake and killed the doe and I saw the fawn."
Suddenly, Jody was unwilling to have Mill-wheel with him. If the fawn was dead, or could not be found, he could not have his disappointment seen. And if the fawn was there, the meeting would be so lovely and so secret that he could not endure to share it.
He said, "It's not far now, but the scrub is very thick for a horse. I can make it on foot."
"But I'm afraid to leave you, boy. Suppose yougot lost or got bitten by the snake, too?"
"I'll take care. It might take me a long time to find the fawn, if he's wandered. Leave me off right here."
"All right, but you take a sure road. You know north here, and east?"
"There, and there. That tall pine makes a bearing."
"So long."
"So long, Mill-wheel. I'm obliged."
He waited for the sound of the hooves to end, then cut to the right. The scrub was still. Only his own crackling of twigs sounded across the silence.
Then a buzzard rose in front of him and flapped into the air. He came into the clearing under the oaks. Buzzards sat in a circle around the carcass of the doe.
He parted the grass at the place where he had seen the fawn. It did not seem possible that it was only yesterday.