Both fighters weakened quickly because their wounds were deep and driven into vital parts. They tumbled into a hollow between two big rocks. There they struggled feebly for a time. Finally they lay still, the crumpled and tangled body of the owl under that of the cat, his big, round eyes staring savagely up at the stars. The bobcat lay with fangs driven into the neck of his antagonist, his yellow eyes closed to slits, his sleek coat marred by tufts of torn hair. A little wind stirred down the canyon. It passed over the hollow where the dead animals lay, it seemed to spread the news that two deadly hunters had passed out of the red rock garden. The bunnies crept out to the edge of their thicket homes and the wood mice and rats ventured into the tall grass. After the way of the wild they started feeding peacefully. Lady Ebony and Midnight halted in the middle of a meadow a mile above the spot where the battle had taken place. Midnight, true to his wild instinct, had already forgotten the fear that had sent him charging out of the garden below. He saw a doe and a fawn feeding at the edge of the meadow and started over to make friends with them. Lady Ebony did not forget so quickly. She was nervous and excited all that night and tried to keep her son from walking up to the doe. Midnight approached the mule deer and her fawn. He nickered softly and humped his back, doing a little dance to show off before them. The doe snorted and shook her head. She was not afraid of a colt but she would take no chances with her baby. She turned about and led the little one back into the brush. Lady Ebony stayed in the upper meadow. She wanted to give her son time to get his legs under him before moving on. By the third day the colt was able to race around the meadow. He noticed the brightly colored flowers, and made a great show of fear when a rabbit hopped away before one of his charges. He was inquisitive and shoved his pink muzzle close to everything that interested him. That day he met one of the wilderness dwellers who lived in a burrow under a dead stump. Midnight was dancing about pretending to be frightened by a pair of rockchips who sat on a stone scolding and chattering because he had disturbed them. The stranger walked out of a brier thicket and marched down a deer trail. He was sleek and black except for broad stripes of white running down his back. His tail was a handsome plume of drooping hair, his snout was pointed, and his little eyes stared out on the world like black buttons sewed on his face. This stranger showed little interest in his surroundings. His dull mind held but one thought. Hunting for mice and bugs had been poor in the thicket near his burrow; he was crossing the meadow to another thicket. He had no fear of other animals. He claimed the right of way on every trail and not even a grizzly bear would have contested that right.