The Last Wilderness (22 page)

‘Oh, thanks!’ she muttered, blinking to clear her vision.

‘It’s OK now!’ Kallik called from the other side of the BlackPath.

Still not able to see properly, Lusa trusted her friend and thrust off with her hindpaws. She popped out from underneath the tube and felt the BlackPath hard under her pads as she scampered across. She crashed into Kallik’s soft bulk and felt the white bear licking her face to get rid of the grit.

‘Thanks,’ Lusa panted, blinking.

The BlackPath led almost directly towards the flat-face area, so Lusa and the others padded along beside it. Lights were coming on at the top of the flat-face towers, and as they trudged past one of them a vast cloud of fire burst from the top of it, the glare blotting out the stars. Her heart racing, Lusa pressed herself to the ground; Kallik crouched beside her, and she could feel the white bear shaking.

‘What was that?’ Kallik whispered.

‘I don’t know.’ Though Lusa tried to sound brave, her voice rose to a betraying squeak. ‘It’s not hurting us,’ she added a moment later.

‘Yet,’ Toklo snapped discouragingly.

The ground still sloped downward; ahead of them Lusa could make out the pale gleam of water.

‘There’s the river up ahead,’ she said, pausing to point with her snout. ‘I think this BlackPath goes across it. Toklo, do you remember that river we crossed by a BlackPath? That was before you joined us,’ she added to Kallik.

‘I remember a firebeast struck Ujurak and nearly killed him,’ Toklo grunted, his gaze fixed on his paws. ‘I’m not risking that again.’

‘We could swim,’ Lusa agreed. ‘But this BlackPath is much quieter. It might be safe enough.’

Toklo didn’t reply, and Lusa didn’t bother arguing; there was no point, until they reached the river and saw what they had to face.

The sun was going down by the time they reached the bank; the wide, flat surface of the water reflected an ominous red light.

Lusa tried not to shiver. ‘That’s a long way to swim,’ she murmured.

Ahead of them, the BlackPath carried straight on across the river, supported on huge tree trunks of metal. As the bears approached, a firebeast roared up
from the other direction, swept over, and vanished into the distance.

‘It’s a long way to walk as well,’ Toklo pointed out. ‘If we were in the middle when a firebeast came along, it would get us for sure.’

‘I’d rather risk that than swim,’ Kallik said, peering down the bank to where the river lapped at the first of the metal supports. ‘I don’t like the smell of that water. I don’t want it on my fur.’

Before Lusa could point out to Toklo that he was outvoted, another firebeast came growling up behind them and drew to a halt a couple of bearlengths away. Its growl sank to a soft purr.

Toklo spun round to face it, his teeth bared in a snarl. ‘What does it want?’ he growled, alarm flaring in his eyes. ‘Is it trying to hunt us?’

Kallik turned toward Lusa, looking scared and anxious; Lusa realised that her friends were expecting her to provide the answers. She was supposed to be the expert here, the one who knew most about flat-faces. But this place was so different from anything she had seen before, and she wasn’t sure she could help them.

‘Get ready to run,’ she said softly, ‘but don’t move unless I tell you.’

She took a cautious pace towards the firebeast, ready for it to leap into fierce, roaring life, but the tone of its quiet purr didn’t change. She half expected its belly to open up to let out flat-faces brandishing firesticks, but that didn’t happen either. Lusa could see only one flat-face inside.

‘You aren’t going to believe this,’ she said, ‘but I think he’s waiting for us to cross.’

‘You’re right, I don’t believe it,’ Toklo grunted. ‘Flat-faces waiting for bears? You’ve got bees in your brain.’

‘I agree with Lusa,’ Kallik said unexpectedly. ‘If the flat-face wanted to hunt us, he would be doing it by now. Lusa, if you think we should cross, I’m willing to give it a try.’

Lusa felt warmed by her friend’s trust in her, knowing how frightened the white bear must be. She was frightened herself, except that somehow she didn’t think that this flat-face meant them any harm.
There
are
kind flat-faces
, she told herself.
They were kind in the Bear Bowl
.

‘OK,’ she said to Kallik. ‘Off you go.’

With another anxious glance at her, the white bear padded along the edge of the BlackPath and set
out across the river. Now it would be easy for the firebeast to leap forward and trample her, but it didn’t move.

‘Now you, Toklo,’ Lusa said when Kallik was several bearlengths ahead.

Toklo hesitated, and for a moment Lusa was afraid that he would baulk and start arguing again. Instead he swung around with a huff of annoyance and loped after Kallik.

Lusa set off after them. As they reached the opposite side of the river they heard the firebeast’s growl start up again and it started to roll towards them. The bears crouched by the side of the BlackPath, panting with fear, until it had gone past.

‘There!’ Lusa exclaimed, letting out her breath in a huge huff. ‘Wasn’t that easier than a long swim?’

‘You were great, Lusa,’ Kallik said. Toklo just grunted.

Feeling a little encouraged, Lusa led the way towards the flat-face denning place. Now they were crossing a wide flat plain, dotted with small pools of water reflecting the last of the daylight. Toklo lapped at the nearest one, then backed away, making a face and retching. ‘Don’t touch the water,’ he
warned the others, swiping his tongue around his jaws. ‘It tastes disgusting.’

As darkness fell, Lusa began to realise how tired she was. Her paws were sore and her mouth was parched with thirst, but there was no water fit to drink. She wanted to howl with hunger. The rabbit she had shared with Kallik the day before was no more than a distant memory. But she didn’t want to take the time to hunt, and in any case, she hadn’t seen any prey in this barren landscape, not even a bush where they might scavenge a few berries. Besides, the overpowering smell of firebeasts meant they couldn’t scent anything even if they tried.

‘I just hope Ujurak will appreciate what we’re going through,’ she heard Toklo mutter.

Now and again a huge firebeast would sweep past them, its hard yellow eyes cutting through the gathering darkness. At least they could see them coming from a long way off. There was nowhere to hide – no trees or ridges of rock or even a thornbush – so they would huddle together by the side of the BlackPath until the firebeast had disappeared.

‘They don’t seem to take any notice of us at all,’
Kallik remarked when a particularly big one had passed by.

‘That’s a
good
thing,’ Toklo agreed. He had stayed on his paws, gazing up at the flare with a disgusted expression on his face. ‘This is hopeless,’ he added. ‘This isn’t the right place for bears to be, and it gets worse with every pawstep.’

‘Maybe we should go back,’ Kallik suggested in a small voice, ‘and let Ujurak come to find us.’

‘That’s bee-brained,’ Lusa retorted, though she touched Kallik’s shoulder affectionately with her snout to soften the harshness of her words. ‘We don’t know that Ujurak
can
come and find us. He might still be ill, or the flat-faces might be keeping him prisoner. Even if he can get away, he won’t know where to look for us.’

‘
We
don’t know where to look for
him
,’ Toklo pointed out.

‘Yes, we do,’ Lusa argued. ‘Or at least, we’ve got a good idea where to start. And we’re almost there.’

By now they were padding past the first of the dens where flat-faces seemed to live. Lights were coming on inside; Lusa could hear the faint sounds of voices. Her pelt prickled when she spotted
firebeasts crouching outside most of the dens.

‘Quiet,’ she whispered, pointing to one of them with her snout. ‘I think it’s asleep, but you never know.’

Peering through the darkness, Lusa realised that the metal birds’ nest couldn’t be far away. There weren’t as many dens here as she expected; they were much further apart than in the denning places she had seen before. Some of them were raised up on stumpy little legs; she let out a faint huff as she imagined them scurrying off with their flat-faces inside.

‘Sorry,’ she muttered as Toklo and Kallik stared at her as if she was mad. ‘Come on, let’s keep going.’

Together they crept through the dens until they reached an open stretch of ground covered with the same hard stuff as the BlackPaths.

‘Look!’ Lusa exclaimed. Ahead of them, crouching in the darkness, was a metal bird. ‘We made it!’

‘I think it’s asleep,’ Kallik whispered.

‘Let’s go and check it out,’ Lusa whispered back. ‘If Ujurak is here, we might be able to scent him.’

In spite of her optimistic words, she felt terribly exposed as they left the shelter of the dens and set out into the open. She couldn’t see any flat-faces, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any lurking around,
ready to leap out and drive them away with firesticks. And at any moment the metal bird might wake into clattering, snarling life.

But everything was quiet as they approached the bird. Snouts to the ground, they explored the area around it. Lusa’s senses were alert for the least trace of Ujurak’s scent, the tiniest indication that he had been here. But there was nothing. The heavy rain would have washed away the scent, she realised, and even if anything remained it was drowned by the stronger smell of firebeasts.

‘This isn’t working,’ Toklo growled. ‘We should go and look somewhere else.’

‘Like where?’ Lusa challenged. ‘We followed the metal bird. Ujurak must be here somewhere. We’ve got to keep searching.’

‘If we stay here too long then the flat-faces will find us,’ Toklo argued. ‘We have to leave now, Lusa.’

‘No, wait!’ Kallik’s voice was suddenly excited.

Lusa glanced across to where the white bear was nosing something on the ground a few bearlengths away, where a BlackPath led into the metal bird nesting place. Bounding over to join her, she yelped, ‘What is it?’

Kallik pointed with her snout. Lying on the ground was a tiny white bear, made out of wood. Lusa bent to sniff it and picked up a faint trace of Ujurak’s scent.

‘It’s a sign!’ she exclaimed. ‘Ujurak knew we would come for him. Now which way do we go?’ she wondered aloud.

Kallik raised her snout, gazing at the dens that surrounded the metal birds’ nest. ‘He left the sign here, so he must have gone this way.’ She set off along the edge of the BlackPath where the bear had been lying, between two of the dens.

We’ll soon be with you, Ujurak
, Lusa thought as she and Toklo followed.

U
jurak opened his eyes in the peaceful white room. He wasn’t sure how long he had been lying there in bed, but he could feel his strength returning. He sat up, pleased that the movement didn’t make his head spin. His throat was still sore, but his body felt cool and comfortable.

These flat-faces are good healers.

For a moment he stroked the soft pelts the flat-faces had made him wear. They were clean and comfortable, but they didn’t feel right. He wanted the thick brown fur that he wore when he was a bear.

Feeling hungry and thirsty, Ujurak spotted a cup on the table by his bed. The stuff it was made of was transparent, so he could see the water inside, but he wasn’t sure how to get at it. He tried to stick his face
inside it and lap up the water, but the glass skidded on the smooth surface of the table and tipped over. Water spilled over the tabletop and began dripping on to the floor; Ujurak bent his head and licked it up.

Beside the glass on the table was the last of his carved wooden bears, the brown one. Ujurak picked it up and closed his fingers around it. A sharp pang of loss pierced him as he thought of Toklo and his other friends.

He remembered dropping two wooden bears on his way here, but he couldn’t be certain that his friends would find them and come to rescue him.
They’ll be looking
, he told himself.
I know that for sure
.

Suddenly the clean white walls and soft pelts and blankets seemed like a prison. He needed to be with his friends again, and he needed to be a bear.

‘It’s time to leave,’ he murmured.

Clambering out of bed, he crossed the room and opened the door a crack to look out, freezing when it let out a sharp squeaking noise. The passage outside was empty, but as Ujurak slid out of the door and closed it behind him, a woman in a white pelt turned the corner and headed towards him.

Ujurak recognised the nurse who had been looking
after him. She had hair the colour of red-gold maple leaves and kind brown eyes, like a bear’s. She had told him her name was Janet.

When she spotted him she halted briefly with a surprised look on her face, then hurried up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Hey, Ujurak, where do you think you’re going?’ She was smiling and her voice was kind, but Ujurak sensed the firmness beneath. ‘You’re not strong enough to be wandering around yet.’

Ujurak wanted to resist, but an inner voice told him,
Wait. There’ll be another chance later
.