'What' s that noise?' I turn to Mother and whisper.
'I really don't know,' Mother says. We look to where the rustling is
coming from but can't see anything unusual. Meanwhile, Dad and
Roger stop and Mother and I catch up to them. We stand close, the four
of us, and look into the bushes.
There it is again. The rustling sound is like leaves and branches gently
shaking. We can tell from which clump of bushes the sounds are
coming. Dad steps between us and the bushes. Roger and I stand right
behind Dad to protect him. Mother is very close.
The rustling is louder. From out behind a bush steps a doe.
We relax. Whew!
The doe isn't very big and it's friendly but shy. It looks us over and
wiggles it's ears in our direction to hear any noises we might make. She
also lifts her head to smell the air. Deer have very sensitive noses for
smelling danger, and that's what the doe is doing. She's trying to decide
if we're also friendly. We stand quietly so as not to alarm her. After a
while the doe moves a little way toward us and smells the air again. I
guess it's satisfied because it comes close.
Slowly I reach out and touch the doe's fur. She doesn't seem to mind.
The fur feels firm and smooth.
After a short while the doe moves away. It really is getting late, you
know, and the setting sun changes the day into evening. The doe needs
to find a place to spend the night. Wiggling her ears and flipping her
tail, she moves off and disappears into the bushes.
We start back to the campsite and make our way along the trail down the
side of Mount Nokomis. Soon we're back at camp.
Dad lights a lantern and gets the campfire going. We put sweaters on,
sit on logs next to the fire and sing camping songs. The girl with the
guitar joins us, and so do other campers and everyone joins in the
singing. The moon and stars shine in the sky and it's very peaceful.
Suzanne and Roger rose, waved to me, and headed for home.
'Don't forget to be here tomorrow,' Roger shouted. 'We had another
interesting experience the next day.'
'I'll be here.' I waved back.