The deer pawed at the frozen ground, scuffing at the hard-packed snow in an attempt to get at the slow growing shrubs beneath. It spent a good while and not a little amount of effort on this task, eventually persuading the frozen surface to yield its green and yellow treasure. The effort was worth it though, for although the leaves were small, and there were not many of them, what was there was food enough, and food in places such as this was very rare. The deer had spent all day at this particular patch; a favourite place, and the browsing ground of many creatures, seeking the shelter of the trees. Not many trees grew in this part of the world, although the deer did not know that. To her it was just another place to graze during the bitter winter months. Come the warmer weather, food woul
