Shy Deer Steppes choose your future

There was smoke in the air! He could smell it really well now. There was no telling exactly where it came from but it was a sure sign of humans, and that alone was cause for celebration. If only he could track them down, Cormag was sure they'd take him back to Homestead; even though all that waited for him there was a stern talking-to and maybe a bit of hide-tanning by his Pa.

That would be endurable, even preferable, to the agony he'd experienced with the ending of summer. The boy vacillated between hunger, exhaustion, and some kind of manic state brought on by both; frolicking in fits across the steppe, or stopping to mourn his lack of water and the awful heat.

That smoke, though — if he could trace its origin, he could surely find his way! As the need to be seen filled his spirit, the boy canted his head up and gave a shout, a squeal, a yapping howl; so many noises to fill the dusty place, certain someone would hear him!