The Melting Sea (2 page)

That's not going to happen now. I can't believe that treacherous bear had me fooled for so long. And suppose a bigger, stronger bear does that—one who could beat me if it came to a fight?
Determinedly, Toklo shrugged off the worry.
No. I'll never make that mistake again
.

“I can't wait to get away from all this snow!” Lusa's voice came from just behind Toklo; she was trotting along between Kallik and Yakone, and sounded quite cheerful, as if she had forgotten all about Nanulak and the problems he had caused. “I'm just longing to see real trees again, and to find some other black bears!”

“I'm sure you will,” Kallik responded. “Every pawstep is taking you closer.”

The she-bears' confidence reminded Toklo of his own blank future. Kallik had Yakone, and might even meet her brother, Taqqiq, again once they reached the Melting Sea. And Lusa was so friendly, she would find it easy to be accepted by her own kind.

But what about me?
Toklo wanted to wail like an abandoned cub, and instantly felt ashamed of himself.
You'll find a territory and live alone. That's what brown bears do
. But the prospect didn't seem as enticing as it once had.

By now the crest of the hill was only a few bearlengths away. As they approached it, Toklo heard a familiar clicking sound, though it took him a moment to remember what it was.

“Caribou!” he exclaimed.

“Oh, great!” Kallik bounded past him. Reaching the top of the hill, she glanced back and added, “A whole herd!”

Toklo quickened his pace until he stood on the ridge beside her, Lusa and Yakone hard on his paws. In front of him the ground fell away in a gentle sweep of land. The herd of caribou were wandering past about halfway down the slope, nosing into the snow to find the grass buried underneath. The clicking sound came from their feet as they moved.

Memories flashed through Toklo's mind of the first time they had seen caribou in the Last Great Wilderness, and then of the time they had driven a herd of caribou into a frantic stampede on Star Island, to trample down the flat-face oil rig that was destroying the wild and driving the spirits away.

He gave his pelt a shake in an effort to banish the recollections.
We've got more urgent things to worry about now
, he thought, gazing out across the landscape.

Beyond the caribou, the slope ended in a narrow stretch of flat, white ice. On the opposite side, mountains reared up, dark and bulky against the sky.

“That must be the crossing,” Toklo said, angling his head toward the ice. “The Melting Sea should be really close now.”

Kallik sniffed the air eagerly, then shook her head. “I can't pick up anything familiar,” she told the others. “We're still too far away—but this must be the right way to go.” With a sigh she added, “It was so much easier when we had Ujurak with us.”

Toklo murmured agreement, struggling once again with a pang of loss. The small brown bear had always been certain of the path they should take, even when there was nothing to guide them. Now the bears had only their own instincts to trust, and any information they could glean from other bears.
And we just have to hope we're getting it right
, he added to himself.

“If it wasn't for all this spirit-forsaken snow, we might be able to see where we're going,” he grumbled.

“At least we can see the place we have to cross,” Kallik reminded him. “Now, what about the caribou? We need to work out how to separate one from the herd and bring it down.”

Yakone stared at her, blinking in amazement. “You
hunt
caribou?” he asked. “That's no sort of food for a white bear.”

Toklo opened his jaws for an indignant retort.
If the Star Island bears had learned how to hunt caribou, they wouldn't have been starving when the seals got sick!

But Kallik spoke first, giving Yakone a gentle nudge with her snout. “It's great food,” she told him. “You'll see.”

Toklo padded along the ridge to get closer to the caribou, making sure that they were downwind of the herd. The huge beasts were meandering along slowly, grazing as they went, and obviously had no idea that there was any danger.

Peering down at the caribou through narrowed eyes, Toklo spotted a young male at the edge of the herd, limping on one forehoof. Water flooded his jaws as he anticipated the taste of caribou flesh.

“That one,” he murmured, pointing with his snout. “Kallik, you circle around and get onto its other side. Make sure they don't spot you.”

Kallik nodded and padded softly down the slope, her white pelt scarcely visible against the snowy ground.

“Yakone,” Toklo went on, “head down the slope, but keep behind the herd, in case the one we want doubles back.”

“Okay.” Yakone followed Kallik, then crouched in hiding behind a rocky outcrop.

“What about me?” Lusa asked, her eyes shining.

Toklo hesitated. Lusa was much smaller than the others and much more likely to be injured by trampling hooves. “Stay here,” he ordered at last. “If our prey breaks away upward, roar and drive it back.”

For a moment Lusa looked disappointed, as if she suspected Toklo was trying to protect her. Then she gave a brisk nod. “You got it.”

Checking that Kallik was in position, Toklo rose to his hindpaws with his forelegs splayed out and roared loudly. The echoes rolled around the hills. The caribou halted, looking up, then as one they began to race away in a thunder of hooves.

Toklo dropped to all four paws and hurtled down the slope. The limping caribou was already dropping back, unable to keep up with the rest of the herd. Seeing Toklo bearing down, it swung around and fled, its hooves skidding in the snow.

Kallik was ready. Springing up out of a shallow dip, she leaped at the caribou. It swerved wildly away, tossing its antlered head, only to meet Yakone racing toward it, his jaws wide as he roared. Trapped between three bears, the caribou let out a terrified bellow. Toklo sprang at its haunches, driving his claws through its tough hide. At the same moment Kallik barreled into it from the other side and threw it off balance.

“Grab it!” she growled at Yakone.

After a moment's hesitation, Yakone flung himself at the caribou, sank his claws into its shoulder, and pulled it to the ground.

As Toklo struggled to get a better grip among the caribou's legs, he realized that Lusa had joined them and was hanging on to the creature's neck, her paws almost lifting off the ground as it fought to rise again. Toklo reached around her and slashed his claws across the caribou's throat. Blood gushed out onto the snow, and the animal went limp.

Panting, all four bears rose to their paws and stood looking down at their prey.

“Good job,” Toklo grunted.

“Try it.” Kallik nudged Yakone closer to the dead caribou. “You'll really like it.”

Looking a bit uncertain, Yakone crouched down beside the prey and tore at its flesh, taking a huge mouthful. A low growl of appreciation came from him as he gulped it down. “That's delicious!”

“Told you,” Kallik said smugly as she crouched down beside him to eat. “Thank you, spirits, for this prey.”

Lusa and Toklo joined her. Toklo sighed with satisfaction as he sank his teeth into the warm caribou meat. It had been a long time since they'd been able to feast like this, with more than enough for every bear.

“You're all really good at this,” Yakone remarked when the worst of their hunger was satisfied. “You make a good team.”

“We've had practice,” Toklo replied briefly.

“Now you're part of the team, too,” Kallik added, edging closer to the other white bear. “It's good to know lots of different ways of hunting.”

Yakone nodded, looking impressed. “I can see that.”

Lusa had taken only a few mouthfuls of the meat. Then she turned away from the carcass and began scrabbling at the snow. “Nanulak taught me how to scent plants growing underneath,” she explained, as she began uncovering a straggly bush with a few grayish leaves clinging to its branches. She took a huge bite. “This is the right food for a black bear,” she mumbled around her mouthful of twigs.

Toklo stared at her, thinking how dry and unappetizing the leaves looked. “Yeah, right,” he muttered. “You're welcome to it.”

While they were eating, the sun had dipped close to the horizon, staining the snow with scarlet light. His belly comfortably full, Toklo began to feel sleepy. He and the others curled up in the shelter of the rock where Yakone had hidden from the caribou. Toklo relaxed into the warmth of Kallik on one side of him and Lusa on the other, but a familiar worm of dread stirred in his belly.
There won't be many more nights like this, when we're all together
.

Kallik is going home, and that should be a happy time. I'm not going to spoil it for her. She's my family, and I will look after her until I know she's safe
.

Cold wind whispering around her woke
Lusa. She opened her eyes to see the snow-covered landscape in front of her, glimmering in the pale dawn light. As she stretched her jaws in an enormous yawn, she spotted her three companions already gathered around the carcass of the caribou.

Good. They'll be full-fed today
.... She blinked blearily as she hauled herself to her paws and stumbled out from the shelter of the rock.

“Hi, Lusa.” Kallik looked up with meat dangling from her jaws. “Come and share.”

Lusa shook her head and scrabbled in the snow until she found more of the grayish leaves she had eaten the night before. Energy started to flow back into her body as she crunched up the twigs.

“All right, let's go,” Toklo said at last, heaving himself up and padding reluctantly away from the remains of the carcass. “I wish we could take the rest of the meat with us, but we can't.”

“Never mind.” Kallik rose and followed him. “The foxes will have a feast, and at least we've had two good meals.”

Yakone took a last mouthful and joined Toklo and Kallik; Lusa bounded after them as they set off down the hill toward the stretch of ice that separated the island from the mainland.

“Once we're across there, we'll be almost at the Melting Sea!” Kallik announced excitedly, picking up the pace until she was racing down the slope. Yakone let out an eager bellow and raced after her.

Lusa followed more slowly, unable to share her friends' enthusiasm.
I hate traveling across ice. It's so cold it burns my paws, and I can't find the right black bear food
. She shivered, remembering how the wind sweeping across the ice would make her ears burn and chill her to the bone. But she knew there was no point in protesting. This was the way they had to go. Besides, Kallik looked so happy to be nearing her home, and Lusa didn't want to spoil that by complaining.

At any rate
, she told herself,
it sounds like it's not so far to cross. Surely it won't be so bad this time
.

When she and Toklo caught up with the white bears at the edge of the ice, Kallik and Yakone were talking together.

“… keep an eye open for seal holes,” Yakone was saying, his eyes gleaming with enthusiasm. “There are bound to be plenty out there.”

Yuck! Seal meat!
Lusa thought, but said nothing aloud. She knew there would be times ahead when she might be glad of seal, even though it weighed heavily in her belly and made her feel sick.
I'm going to be tough about this
, she decided.
I'm not a cub anymore!

Spotting a thornbush growing in the shelter of a rock at the very edge of the land, she bounded over to it and gulped down the leaves. There were even a few shriveled berries clinging among the twigs.

Kallik led the way out onto the ice. Padding along in her pawsteps, Lusa paused to glance over her shoulder at the island they were leaving. The shadowy shape, dark against the brightening sky, seemed like a huge animal, hunched up as if it were about to spring.

I knew there'd be trouble before we ever set paw there
, Lusa reflected, sighing with relief that they were leaving it behind. She would never forget her fear of the underground tunnels where Toklo had been lost, or the shock and disgust she had felt when they discovered Nanulak's treachery.
I don't ever want to come back here
.