Cassiopeia's View Use the rocks to show where the frame will go.

She hunkered down and watched the herd for a while. Towhee really wished she’d waited for Jack to come along with her, even though it was probably still a bad idea for the two of them to try anything. But the fawns might be easy prey, right? Her orange eyes kept fixing on them, though they never strayed far from their mothers, who in turn stuck close to the buck.

The deer spooked, suddenly and all at once. Towhee shrank behind the outcropping even while casting her eyes around the nearby mountainside. They must’ve heard something. Before she could figure out what, one of the scattering does sailed straight over her.

Towhee crouched instinctively, muffling a yell. The deer landed gracefully on her far side and bounded up the nearby slope. She sat up to goggle after her when something clobbered her upside the head.

This time, she let out a loud shout of pain as she was knocked sideways. Her eyes squeezed shut and she curled to protect herself against an onslaught. It felt like someone was rapidly beating her with sticks and stones.

She cracked open one orange eye to figure out what the hell was going on right around the time a second doe—who’d evidently slammed right into her—found her footing. Towhee could only gape as the frantic deer tried to spring after her cohort up the nearby incline.

Something went wrong. Maybe she’d hurt a leg in the collision. Or perhaps the combination of pine needles and recent rainfall made her hoof slip. Towhee had no idea, she just knew that the doe slid and began tumbling backward, careening right toward her for a second impact.