River of Lost Bears (2 page)

“There's really nothing to it,” Toklo told him. “If you
know
what you're doing, it's easy.” His tone was a little condescending, and Lusa remembered Toklo's frustration when he'd first had to learn the patience a bear needed for ice fishing. He was happier being a teacher than a student!

Wind ruffled the ferns at the edge of the trees. Yakone turned and bared his teeth. “What's that?”

“It's just a breeze,” Lusa soothed. Yakone had been jumpy since they'd left the ice. She guessed he was unnerved by the strange, crowded world of trees and bushes and rushing water. He ducked out of the forest whenever he could to stare at the sky, as though he was checking that it was still above them.

Kallik skidded down the boulder and stopped beside the fish. Claws scraped behind her as Yakone followed, half scrambling, half falling.

“I can't dig my claws in here,” he grumbled as he landed beside Kallik. “And they sink pawdeep in the soft forest muck.”

Kallik touched his muzzle softly with hers. “I know you miss the ice.”

Yakone snorted. “Who wouldn't?” He sniffed the fish. “Are we going to eat this, or what?”

Toklo tore the fish into four pieces.

“You can have mine.” Lusa pushed her portion away.

Toklo narrowed his eyes. “You need to eat, Lusa,” he growled softly.

“I'm fine,” she reassured him. “I can find food in the forest later.” Her mouth watered as she imagined scratching up pawfuls of juicy grubs and beetles from among the tree roots. She'd almost forgotten how rich the forest was, with ant-filled crevices in the tree bark and soft soil where she could dig for sweet roots. But cold-earth still lingered. Fruits and berries hadn't flowered yet, and there was no sign of any soft green shoots in the undergrowth she could nibble on. Ants and grubs weren't always enough. So she was glad the river gave them fish. She'd eat anything rather than be hungry again. They seemed to have been hungry so many times before.

Toklo gulped down his share of fish and licked his lips. “Come on.” He pointed his nose upstream. “The day is half over. We should keep moving.”

As he ambled away, Lusa felt a stab of disappointment. Why
couldn't
he make his home here? She followed him with a sigh, glancing back at Kallik and Yakone as they crossed the rocks after her, their white pelts pressed together. They had each other. Toklo was ready to cross half the world to find his own kind. When he did, Kallik and Yakone would head back to the ice.
What will I do then?
She pushed the thought away. She didn't have to decide now.

They followed the river until the rocks rose steeply, too jagged to climb easily.

“Let's go around them,” Lusa suggested. Without waiting for an answer, she charged into the forest. Pushing through a dense patch of bunchberry, she looked back, relieved to see the others following. The white pelts of Kallik and Yakone stood out like snow in the shadows. They glanced nervously at every tree they passed, as though they thought it was about to fall down on them.

“I think Kallik and Yakone are scared of the trees,” she whispered to Toklo, who was close on her heels.

“Then they should have stayed on the ice,” Toklo grunted.

Lusa stopped and stared at him. “But they chose to come with us!”

“We came because our journey is not over till you've reached your home.”

Toklo whirled around in surprise as Kallik's voice sounded behind him. The white bears had caught up.

Toklo shrugged. “It was your decision.” Then he added hurriedly, “But I'm glad you did. I … I would have missed you.”

Lusa heard honesty in his growl, and knew that he admired Kallik for leaving her home to travel with them. And Yakone, too, for sacrificing the life he had known to be with Kallik.
Toklo really does appreciate it!
She willed the white bears to understand.
We're stronger together than apart.
Lusa's fur pricked as she wondered what the journey would be like if Kallik and Yakone hadn't come with them.

Yakone pushed past them and trudged away through the trees. “I thought we were trying to make the most of the daylight.”

Lusa galloped after him, tearing through a bramble, relishing the prickles as they scraped her fur. As she raced past Yakone, the forest floor began to slope, plunging down into shadow. She could hear roaring ahead. “I think there's another river this way!” she called. She couldn't believe that she'd once thought the Bear Bowl, where she had been born, was big. How had she ever been so bee-brained?

“Wait!” Kallik's terrified roar split the air.

Lusa tried to stop, but the ground fell away under each pawstep. Unbalanced, she tumbled down the slope, scrabbling to find a grip on the slippery needles.

“Lusa!” Yakone plunged after her.

Lusa flailed her paws. Why did the white bears sound so frightened?

An acrid smell hit her nose. Light flashed ahead. The roaring grew louder.
That's not water!
Terror thrummed in Lusa's ears as she fell.
That's a firebeast!

The firebeast roared past a moment
before Lusa tumbled out onto the BlackPath. Blinking open her eyes, she stood frozen, watching it thunder away. She coughed, choking on its stench.

“Lusa!” Yakone plunged out of the trees and skidded to a halt, spraying Lusa with grit from the rutted BlackPath. Another firebeast was raging toward them. He grabbed her scruff and dragged her to the far side and threw her across the verge. The firebeast hurtled past.

“I thought you were used to the no-claw world!” Yakone glared at her, eyes blazing.

“I—I didn't expect firebeasts here,” Lusa stammered. “Surely we're too far away from flat-faces?”

“No-claws are
everywhere
,” Yakone growled. “I thought you'd learned that on the ice.”

“Lusa!” Toklo called from the other side of the BlackPath. “Are you all right?” He and Kallik stood together at the edge of the trees, watching anxiously.

“I'm okay.” The roar of another firebeast drowned her bark. She jerked around and saw huge firebeast eyes flashing toward them.

Toklo and Kallik ducked into the forest. Yakone pressed Lusa back into the grass as the ground trembled beneath their paws. With a bellow, the firebeast thundered past. Lusa flattened herself on her belly as stones showered her pelt and wind roared in her ears.

Arcturus, save us!

The firebeasts were flowing past like logs on a river. She pressed her paws over her ears and tried to hold her breath. The noise and stench were sickening. After the long days on the ice, she'd forgotten the bitter tang of the BlackPath. She wanted to run and hide among the trees, but Toklo and Kallik were still stranded on the other side.

At last there was a moment of heavy silence, as if the forest itself was gasping for breath. Lusa felt Yakone's muzzle on her flank. Gently, he nudged her to her paws.

“Just stand still. We'll be okay,” he murmured. Gratefully, Lusa leaned against him and stared across the BlackPath.

In the distance, more firebeasts were approaching. In a heartbeat, the first one was thundering by, followed by another, snorting smoke. Toklo's gaze was fixed on the firebeasts. His muzzle twitched as he watched each one pass, eyes round with concentration.

“How will they get across?” Lusa whispered.

“Toklo's working out the spaces between them.” Yakone was watching the brown bear intently. “He needs to choose the exact right time to cross.”

Toklo leaned toward Kallik and whispered something into her ear. Kallik nodded and focused on the BlackPath.

Another firebeast roared past.

“Now!” Toklo gave the order and Kallik bounded forward, crossing in the firebeast's wake while another bore down on her.

She reached the other side just in time. The firebeast tore past as she scrambled to a halt beside Yakone. “Thank the spirits!” Her breath was fast, and Lusa could feel heat pulsing from her. “I've never seen so many firebeasts!”

“You made it!” Lusa pressed against Kallik.

“Great spirits, protect Toklo.” Kallik's gaze turned to the brown bear on the far side of the BlackPath.

He was still watching the firebeasts. They came faster and faster, a whole herd of them, stampeding from unseen terrors. Toklo flinched as each one tore past, but he kept his ground.

Lusa held her breath.
Please let him be okay.

Suddenly, Toklo shot forward. Lusa gasped as he raced between the tail of one firebeast and the nose of another. His paws slithered on the grit.

Toklo!

Eyes wild with terror, he unsheathed his claws to get a better grip and hurled himself forward. He landed heavily on the edge of the BlackPath and rolled onto the stone-strewn grass.

Lusa crouched down beside him. “Are you okay?”

Toklo stood and shook the dirt from his pelt. He was trembling. “That was close.”

“Too close.” Lusa pressed her flank against his.

“But we're safe.” Toklo nuzzled her gently, then pushed her away.

Yakone was already heading across a wide stretch of snow-flattened brambles toward pines. “Let's get away from here.”

“The sooner the better.” Toklo charged past him and took the lead.

Kallik gave Lusa a nudge and bounded after them.

“Wait.” Lusa stared at the firebeasts. Some of them had long, flat backs, each carrying a heap of closely stacked trees. The branches and roots had been lopped off, and Lusa could see the insides of each trunk, starkly exposed to the sky. They trailed clouds of wood dust that drifted on the churned-up air. “They're taking the trees away,” Lusa whispered.

“Come on, Lusa!” Kallik called. “We need to get out of sight.”

Lusa charged past Kallik and Yakone and caught up with Toklo. As she fell in beside him, she sniffed the wood dust on her fur. It smelled tangy and fresh. She scanned the distant hills, looking for gaps in the endless sea of green. “Why would the flat-faces take the forest away?” Perhaps they were building a new one somewhere else. But wouldn't the trees need their roots and their branches to grow again?

Toklo nudged her. “Let's keep moving before those firebeasts start wondering what white bears are doing in their woods.”

“It's not
their
woods.”

“Just keep moving.” Toklo quickened his pace as bramble gave way to pine.

Lusa followed him into the forest, glancing back to make sure Kallik and Yakone were keeping up. Their pelts glowed eerily under the dense branches.

“Did we look that strange when we were out on the ice?” Lusa wondered.

Toklo grunted. “We probably looked like furry seals.”

Behind them, Yakone paused to shake a twig from his claws. He gazed around at the leaf-strewn forest floor. “Does all this stuff melt when burn-sky comes?”

Lusa coughed with amusement. “No. It just rots down, making the earth smell even better.”

Ahead, something sparkled between the trees. Lusa pricked her ears and heard the rushing of water. “What's that?” She didn't want to stumble across another BlackPath.

Toklo licked his lips, tasting the air. “It smells like Big River,” he guessed.

Lusa slowed. “Will we have to cross the BlackPath again to reach it?”

“I don't think so,” Toklo told her. “I can't smell firebeasts here.”

Lusa sniffed. Toklo was right; there was no smell here besides earth, trees, and meltwater. As they broke from the trees, she ducked her head, flinching from the light until her eyes adjusted to the glare. White clouds piled like snow on the far horizon, and the wide frothing river sliced open the forest. Toklo quickened his pace, crossing a swathe of bracken that opened onto a rocky shore. Lusa charged after him.

Water lapped the stones, slow and shallow near the river's edge. Toklo waded in and leaned down to drink. Lusa followed him, suddenly realizing how thirsty she was. The water was so cold it made her shiver when she swallowed, but it tasted as fresh as a forest breeze. It swirled around her paws. “Are we going to fish?” She looked up, her muzzle aching from the chill.