The Fawn

Snowflakes drifted like blown apple blossoms. Izzy stuck out her tongue to catch some of the falling crystals. She shut her eyes, feeling the flakes caress her eyelids. A full-force shove to her back sent her sprawling to the ground, face first. Mouse stood over her laughing and clapping his hands together. Slush dripped down her face.

“I’m gonna get you.” Izzy flung herself up and pounced on Mouse, sending them both back to the woodland floor in a tangled heap. They gasped for air between hysterical giggles.

Izzy grabbed Mouse’s gloved hand. “Come on, Mouse. I wanna show you something I found while I was exploring the other day.”

He frowned, looking at his sister with bug eyes. “Mom told you not to go exploring by yourself Iz.” His nose and cheeks were rosy. An Afro puff of red curls frizzed on top of his head.

“Don’t tell her, ‘kay?” Izzy pulled him to his feet, bent down and snatched up the stocking cap that had fallen off his head.

“Where we goin, Iz?” Mouse wiped his nose on his jacket.

Izzy winked and pulled the hat down over his eyes. “It’s a surprise. You’ll see.” She lead the way into the grove of trees. Mouse crept behind her.

Branches grabbed at their snow pants and jackets. Pillars of light beamed through the white-frosted giants looming above their heads. Izzy put a finger to her lips. “Sshhhhhhhh.”

A clearing opened in front of them, a flat space of white, encircled by a ring of wooden soldiers and thick undergrowth. Tufts of green weeds surrounded a small iced-over pond that reflected the glare of the sun. The ground sparkled like crushed diamonds.

Iz glanced at Mouse from the corner of her eye. His two front teeth perched on his lower lip, and he rubbed at his raw nose. “Just wait. They’ll come. I know they will,” she whispered, almost reverently. A shiver excited her spine, and she clenched her mittens together.

“Who?” Mouse sniffled.

“You’ll see. Be quiet.”

The two sat trembling , teeth chattering for what seemed an eternity to the children. Iz peered into the woods opposite them, then her eyes widened and she held her breath. “Look.”

“Where?” Mouse gazed into the darkness, waiting. Izzy pointed a timid finger.

The doe emerged from the shadows of the trees, her long nose sniffing the air, her thin legs sinking into the soft snow. Anxious black eyes searched the clearing. A fawn followed its mother.

Mouse kneeled silently, mouth opened in an “O.” Izzy bit her lip and kept her hands gripped tightly.

The fawn made its way clumsily to the tall grass around the frozen water. Its mother stood solidly and watched, nose slanted upwards. Her ears twitched nervously.

A disturbing flash of orange caught Izzy’s eye. She shook her head frantically and grabbed her brother’s arm.

“What’s wrong, Iz?”

“Hunters,” she choked.

Mouse’s brow creased and he balled his hands into fists. Izzy sat paralyzed. Mouse looked back at the doe with her fawn. He jumped up, running into the opening, flailing his arms and screaming, “Run! Run!”

The startled deer scampered wildly back into the camouflaging trees. A single shot echoed throughout the forest, sending a flock of chickadees out of a snowberry bush. The bullet missed the deer. Izzy watched in disbelief. A painful yelp escaped from Mouse’s lips and he crumpled into the snow.

“No!” Izzy cried, sprinting to her brother’s limp figure. She slipped her arm under his head, “Mousey.”

The blood oozed from his leg just above the knee. Mouse’s lip quivered and he gripped Izzy’s hand. “Get Mom, Iz. Please, get Mom.” He clenched his teeth, tears rolled from his eyes.

The man with the orange hunter’s vest jogged out of hiding, carrying his rifle. “Good God. Good God.” He crouched beside Izzy.

Despite the cold, sweat dripped from his pores. He removed a hunting knife and cut Mouse’s pant leg up to mid-thigh. Ripping the sleeve of his thermal shirt, the man knotted the cloth just above the wound, and wrapped the cut pant back around Mouse’s leg.

Mouse’s eyes closed and his lips had turned a light blue. “Did you kill my brother?” Izzy’s voice trembled.

“We gotta get your brother to the hospital.” The man draped the boy’s frail body over his wide shoulder.

Izzy followed them out of the crystallized pines, being careful to avoid the spots of blood marking their trail. At the edge of the woods the man had parked his white Ford truck, freckled with rust. Iz climbed in the passenger’s side. The man placed Mouse in her lap, resting the limp leg on the seat.

Izzy gazed out at the cold forest where the fawn had disappeared with its mother. Mouse was moaning. She watched her breath fog on the window and hugged her arms tighter around him.

“Mom will take care of you Mousey,” she whispered.

Rocking softly, Izzy listened to the sound of the warm air blowing through the vents.