"Where else can we hide her, Reef? It has to be close enough to give her a bottle four times a day."
Reef grinned, and kept walking away from the treeline "Don't worry Mark. It's just a short walk, but nobody will bother her."
Soon it was obvious that they were heading straight towards the pier. "What are you doing, Reef? The pier isn't hidden, and there's no boat here. Someone might see us!"
"Trust me. But you have to promise not to tell anyone."
"I don't know what you mean, but if you have a safe place for the fawn, I promise I'll never tell anyone about it."
Reef put his left arm around the baby deer which Mark carried. "I haven't taken anyone with me. I hope this works. If I disappear, don't panic."
Mark didn't say a word, but he did look at Reef for a long few seconds before he allowed himself to be led further.
As soon as the familiar swirling began, Reef guided Mark into a sitting position, to avoid possible injury to the fawn.
"What is that? Where are we? How did we get here?"
Reef laughed at his new friend's shock and curiosity. "One thing at a time. But first, let's get this baby over to where I saw a herd of deer less than an hour ago. That's probably a really safe place."
The two boys walked along the shoreline until they reached the edge of the meadow.
"This is perfect! And you said you can come and go any time you want?"
Reef quickly told Mark his story as they quietly approached the bushes lining the meadow.
"Reef, I'm going to stay for the day. Do some exploring. Can you come back with a bottle of warm goat's milk in say five hours?"
"Sure. That'll be when everyone is around though... I'll have to time it so they think I jump in the lake."
"It doesn't have to be exact. Just don't forget!"
"I won't. I would stay and explore too, but Dad wants to take me to see the new Avengers movie today. Maybe you can show me around tomorrow?"
"I'll show you whatever I find that's interesting. And you'll introduce me to your sea monster friend!"
Reef extended his hand. "It's a deal."
As promised, Reef returned with the baby bottle, full of warm milk. Mark was waiting on the warm sand.
"Hey! I've got some amazing news. While I was sitting here, the deer came back. It turned out that I had hidden the orphan close to another fawn. When the doe came back, she nursed both of them."
"Wow, she has a family now?" asked Reef, looking at the bottle.
"Yeah, I don't think we have to worry about her any more. Thank you for helping save her life."
"No problem, I wanted to help as soon as I saw her. Now let's have a look around this place!"
Cover image made in Canva Pro using an image by @tattoodjay