River of Lost Bears

  “Just long enough to bring the coyotes close.” Kallik was suddenly aware how frail Yakone looked, his eyes clouded with pain, his pelt ungroomed. Was it fair to ask him to put himself in any more danger?

  Yakone looked at Toklo. Then his gaze flicked to Kallik and rested on her for a moment. Kallik gazed back at him. Every hair on her pelt trembled at what they were asking him to do.

  “Okay,” he growled at last. “We can’t let them hunt us anymore. I’ll do what I have to do.”

  Kallik pressed against him, nuzzling his cheek. “I won’t let them hurt you,” she murmured. “I promise.”

  The stones on the shore crackled as Lusa charged toward them. She was holding a wad of hornwort in her jaws. She dropped it and looked expectantly at Kallik.

  Kallik guessed what she was thinking. “We asked him.”

  Yakone cleared his throat. “I’ll do it.”

  Lusa nodded and began to chew the hornwort into pulp. “What’s the plan?” she asked, green pulp dripping down her muzzle.

  Toklo gazed along the gorge. Trees crowded the end, where the cliffs gave way to forest. “We’ll need cover,” he murmured thoughtfully.

  “So we lead them along the gorge?” Kallik offered.

  “Yakone can collapse near the end, in the open.”

  Lusa spat the pulp onto Yakone’s paw. “And we can hide in the trees!”

  “Exactly,” Toklo agreed. “When the coyotes come sniffing, we’ll be ready for them.”

  Lusa began licking pulp into Yakone’s wound. Kallik watched him grit his teeth against the pain. “Do you think the coyotes will fall for it?” she asked.

  “It’s up to you to make it look real,” Yakone hissed. “You’ll have to act like I’ve really died.”

  “We know how to grieve,” Toklo growled bitterly.

  Kallik felt sick.

  Toklo stared Yakone straight in the eyes. “This won’t be easy for you,” he admitted. “But we’ll attack as soon as the coyotes are distracted.”

  As Yakone’s eyes flashed with fear, Kallik pressed harder against him. Spirits, protect him!

  He lifted his muzzle. “When do we do this?”

  “Now,” Toklo decided. “The sooner we chase them off, the sooner we can hunt properly.”

  Kallik was aware of the hollowness in her belly, but she couldn’t imagine being able to swallow anything. Fear clouded her thoughts. She wasn’t ready! What if the coyotes hurt Yakone before they could save him?

  But Yakone was already on his paws. “Come on.” He began to limp along the gorge. Toklo hurried and pressed against him.

  Kallik slid in on his other side. “Are they watching?” she asked Lusa.

  Lusa glanced up. “Like hawks.”

  Kallik didn’t dare look back. She couldn’t believe they were going to do this. But it was the best chance they had of shaking the coyotes. As they neared the woods, she tasted the sourness of sap. She longed for the cool, clean taste of ice. The walls of the gorge gradually shrank away, swallowed by forest slopes, and the stream widened and deepened, cutting a broad path through the pebbles.

  “We do it here.” Toklo gave the order though gritted teeth. Thick bushes rolled from the tree line a few bearlengths away. Kallik saw with a spark of relief that there was plenty of cover. They wouldn’t have to go far from Yakone.

  She glanced at Lusa from the corner of her eye. “Are they following us?”

  Lusa circled nervously. “They’re climbing down the cliff path.”

  Toklo scuffed his paws roughly over the pebbles. “Leave as much scent as you can,” he hissed. “If we make it strong here, the coyotes won’t notice our smell when we’re hiding.”

  Kallik rubbed her pads across the stones.

  “Ready, Yakone?” Toklo kept his gaze fixed forward.

  “Ready,” Yakone hissed. With a gasp, he staggered.

  Kallik jumped away, shocked. This was just a trick, wasn’t it? She stared in horror as Yakone dropped to his knees, then collapsed on his side.

  “Yakone?” A yowl ripped from her throat. She crouched beside him, trembling. She felt his skin twitch under her paw. He was alive, which made Kallik even more terrified about what was going to happen next. “Yakone!” There was no way she could leave him here to be picked over by coyotes. What if she didn’t rescue him in time?

  Toklo dropped beside her and rested his head on Yakone’s shoulder. Lifting his muzzle, he let out a long howl of grief.

  Lusa nudged Yakone’s haunches with both front paws. “Get up, Yakone! Get up!” Panic edged her bark.

  Toklo lifted his head and turned toward the black bear. “I’m sorry, Lusa. He’s dead.” He straightened and stepped away, dipping his head.

  Alarm flashed through Kallik. She knew they were pretending. She could see Yakone’s flank moving, just enough to take tiny breaths. But she couldn’t leave him. “I’m staying!”

  “There’s nothing you can do.” Toklo narrowed his eyes. “Come on.”

  Lusa pressed her head into Kallik’s side and glanced back. “They’re watching from downstream,” she breathed.

  Kallik couldn’t bear to look.

  “Let’s wait,” Toklo whispered. “We have to make this real.”

  Kallik pressed herself against Yakone, burying her muzzle into his pelt. “We won’t let them hurt you,” she whispered. She could feel the sun on her back. It was lifting high above the trees, beating from a blue sky. The stream swished past invitingly. Kallik felt thirsty at the sound of it. How would Yakone lie still in this heat?

  Toklo circled Yakone, head low. Lusa crouched a bearlength away, her ears flat.

  “Come on,” Toklo growled suddenly. “We have to go.”

  “But—” Kallik glanced downstream. The coyotes were pacing in the distance, their eyes fixed hungrily on Yakone. She froze, suddenly unable to move. “I can’t leave him,” she whimpered.

  Toklo curled his lip. “You have to.” He padded away, following the stream into the woods.

  “Come on, Kallik.” Lusa nudged her flank.

  Kallik glared at the coyotes, furious at their confidence. How dare you? They paced silently, their gaze unmoving. She forced herself to her paws. Deep in her belly, she felt a tug of unease.

  Lusa nosed her forward. “Just walk!” she hissed.

  Numbly, Kallik followed Toklo into the woods. As she reached the shade of the trees, she glanced back. She could see the coyotes beyond the trunks. They held their ground, still pacing from side to side. “They’re not coming.” Her voice trembled.

  Toklo was pushing through bracken beside the stream. “Keep walking,” he ordered. “They have to believe we’ve gone.”

  Lusa fell in beside Kallik. “We’ll go just far enough, then double back,” she whispered.

  Kallik pushed herself on, the pain of abandoning Yakone pricking like thorns in her heart. When she looked back again, trees and bushes blocked her view. “I can’t see him!” she gulped.

  “Keep going,” Toklo insisted.

  Kallik’s breathing quickened. “Let’s go back,” she pleaded.

  Lusa pressed against her. “Toklo?”

  Toklo halted and looked back.

  “We’ve gone far enough.” Lusa blinked. “We promised we’d watch him.”

  Toklo grunted. “Okay.” He veered away past a clump of brambles, avoiding the track they’d made through the wood. Heading uphill, he circled away from the stream, climbing higher and higher.

  “We’re going the wrong way!” Kallik snapped. Her heart pounded in her ears.

  “They might check our trail.” Toklo pushed on until Kallik felt panic throbbing in her paws.

  At last he turned and began to pad back toward the gorge. Kallik pushed past him.

  “Be quiet,” Toklo warned.

  Kallik ignored him. She had to get back. She had to see Yakone. The stream chattered ahead, and she broke into a run. Toklo and Lusa followed, their pawsteps soft. As the forest lightened ahead, Kallik squinted through
the trees. She glimpsed the pebble beach, scanning for Yakone.

  He was exactly how they’d left him; hunched on the stones, muzzle flat against the ground. Sunlight drenched the gorge, blanching the stones white. He must be burning up! She moved closer, crouching as she reached the edge of the forest. Toklo ducked in beside her, Lusa keeping close.

  “They’re coming,” Lusa breathed.

  Gray shadows moved along the gorge. The coyotes were closing in. Kallik swallowed against panic, forcing herself to stay still. The coyotes stopped a few bearlengths from Yakone. Jaws open, they tasted the air. They glanced at one another.

  “Can they smell that he’s still alive?” Lusa hissed.

  Toklo shrugged. “Let’s hope not.”

  One padded closer, nostrils twitching. He stopped and stretched his snout forward. Another padded to join him, tail flicking warily.

  Lusa growled. “Rabbits would be braver!”

  “Quiet!” Toklo silenced her as the largest coyote padded closer to Yakone. Stretching forward, it sniffed Yakone’s fur. Its hackles lifted. Kallik tensed, ready to spring.

  “Wait.” Toklo moved a paw to hold her back.

  The coyotes began padding around Yakone, seven gray pelts circling as silent as owls. Their ears were pricked, alert for noise. Their heads twitched back and forth, their gazes probing the forest. Kallik pressed herself closer to the ground. How much longer?

  Suddenly, a coyote darted forward. Kallik saw its teeth flash as it snatched a bite at Yakone.

  No!

  As it jerked away, Kallik saw white fur in its teeth. She leaned forward, breath quickening. She couldn’t see blood. It hadn’t torn flesh. She looked at Yakone. He hadn’t moved. Fear flooded beneath her pelt. The ground seemed to sway beneath her. Is he actually dead?

  “Hold on, Kallik.” Toklo brushed against her as she struggled to stay on her paws.

  The coyote’s eyes lit excitedly. Lifting its head, it barked a thin, harsh yowl that rang along the gorge. Its companions closed in on Yakone. The white bear’s pelt disappeared as they fell on him.

  “Now!” Toklo’s roar rang through the trees.

  Kallik lunged from the bushes, hitting the beach in a burst of pebbles. The coyotes whirled around, their eyes wide as Kallik raced toward them. She hurled herself at the one nearest Yakone’s head. Sinking her jaws into its spine, she flung it away. It thumped against a tree and dropped, limp, to the ground.

  Kallik spun, growling at the next. It backed away as she glared into its startled gaze. Fury pumped through her. “You dare to threaten my friends? To track us like prey? You wait for him to die?” She reared and smashed her forepaws down. The coyote dodged away, but she caught its flanks and dragged it toward her.

  Yakone stirred at the corner of her vision. Relief surged through her pelt. “Get to the woods!” she ordered. Yakone hauled himself up and began staggering toward the trees.

  The coyote writhed in Kallik’s paws. It twisted, its jaws glistening, and snapped at her throat. Kallik flung the coyote backward, pain searing as it tore a lump of fur from her neck.

  “Help!” Lusa’s panicked cry made her turn.

  A coyote was on the black bear’s back, slavering at her neck. Lusa bucked, trying to throw it off, but the coyote snapped its jaws around her spine. Kallik bounded toward her friend and sliced her claws along the coyote’s back. Howling in pain, it let go of Lusa, and ripping it away, Kallik clamped her jaws around its scrawny neck. She bit deeper till it screeched, then dropped it. It glanced at her, eyes white-rimmed with fear, then fled, wailing, into the woods.

  Teeth dug into her rump. Kallik whipped around and slammed her paw against a coyote’s head. It reeled away, its stinking breath billowing around her muzzle. Toklo’s roar sounded beside her. He was driving three coyotes back toward the woods. They snarled and snapped, showing their teeth as he reared in front of them. With a grunt, he crashed down onto one. Kallik heard its spine snap. It twitched, then lay still. Toklo turned on the others. One stared in horror before pelting away. Kallik watched it disappear into the undergrowth.

  An ugly growl rumbled behind her. She turned slowly, narrowing her eyes. A coyote was pacing back and forth, glaring menacingly at her.

  “Why haven’t you run away yet?” Kallik tipped her head. “Aren’t you scared?”

  It growled again and leaped for her. She lashed out with a paw and batted it away. It twisted as it hit the ground, finding its paws and lunging for her again. This time Kallik grabbed it as it hit her, digging in her claws. It howled, struggling in her grip, its jaws snapping at her head. She felt teeth rip her ear and hurled it onto the pebbles. It landed with a yelp and stared up, eyes wide with shock. As she reared, snarling, it rolled away. Kallik slammed down her paws, sending pebbles showering after it as it pelted into the trees.

  The gorge was suddenly quiet. Kallik turned her head to find her friends. Toklo panted at the edge of the stream. Tufts of fur hung around his neck.

  Lusa limped toward Kallik. “Is that all of them?”

  Kallik looked around. The coyotes had gone. “Let’s find—”

  A howl cut her off.

  “Yakone!” Kallik raced for the trees, bursting through the undergrowth. A coyote was dragging at Yakone’s scruff.

  Rage roared in her ears. She grabbed the coyote and sank her teeth into its rump. Yelping, it let go of Yakone, and Kallik dragged it through the bushes. It thrashed in her grip. A root caught her paw and she tripped and fell, rolling toward the stream. She landed with a splash, the coyote twisting between her paws. It snarled, trying to break free. Kallik held tighter. It clamped its teeth around her leg. Howling with rage, she shook it free. It scrambled up the bank, but she caught its leg and dragged it back. Pressing its head into the water, she held it down.

  “Couldn’t you leave him alone?” she snarled.

  Anger surged inside her as it struggled. Bubbles rose from its mouth. Kallik pressed harder, feeling it weaken. Don’t kill it! a voice hissed in her ears. Kallik paused. She never wanted to kill in anger. She let go and, hauling herself away, watched the coyote struggle to its paws and hare through the trees.

  “Kallik?” Lusa appeared from the bushes.

  Kallik looked up, panting. “Check Yakone.” As Lusa disappeared, Kallik limped from the stream. Please let him be okay. She followed Lusa’s trail into a clearing. Lusa and Toklo were leaning over Yakone’s white pelt.

  “Is he—?” The breath stopped in Kallik’s throat. She watched the white bear’s unmoving flank. Panic gripped her chest.

  Then he twitched and slowly rose.

  “Yakone!” Kallik rushed to him and pressed her cheek against his.

  He pushed up with his hind legs and staggered clumsily to his paws. “Are you okay?” His eyes were dark with worry.

  She let out a long, slow breath. “Just a few scratches and bites.” Looking along her flank, she saw red staining her pelt.

  Lusa’s cheek was swollen, her ear bleeding. “We did it!” Her eyes sparkled. “We scared them off!”

  Together they limped from the trees. Two coyotes lay dead beside the river.

  Toklo looked grim as he stared at the bodies. “We did more than just scare them.”

  Kallik flicked her snout toward the trails of blood disappearing into the woods. “We did what we had to.”

  “They won’t come after us again,” Lusa growled.

  “I hope not.” Toklo’s gaze was dark. “Let’s keep moving.”

  Kallik stiffened. “But Yakone needs to rest.” Why else had they ambushed the coyotes?

  “They were more aggressive than I expected,” Toklo told her. “I didn’t think they’d put up such a fight.”

  Lusa bristled. “Do you think they might still come after us?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Yakone lifted his muzzle. “I can walk.”

  Kallik heard the strain in his voice. “Are you sure?”

  Yakone shrugged. “What’s a few more scars?” br />
  Kallik leaned close, her wounds stinging. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Yakone pressed his cheek against hers. “We fought together today,” he murmured. “We always will.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Toklo

  Toklo’s ears pricked as he listened for pawsteps, or the swish of coyote pelts in the undergrowth. The bites on his flank stung. At least they weren’t deep. He opened his mouth, tasting for musky scents. The coyotes hadn’t traveled this way, but he was wary that they might still be nearby, watching for a fresh chance to close in on Yakone.

  The white bear was struggling. He was trailing behind, Kallik steadying him. As the day wore on, he’d begun to stumble more. His pelt felt hot. His wound must be turning bad, and Toklo knew that a bad wound could kill him.

  Toklo glanced through the branches, dazzled by flashes of sunshine glittering through them. Birds chattered; insects hummed. A gentle breeze ruffled his pelt. He could see Lusa’s fur flickering through the bracken ahead. Perhaps she’d been right. Perhaps they’d chased off the coyotes for good.

  “Toklo!” Kallik’s bark made him jump.

  He spun around, bristling. “What is it?”

  She’d stopped. Yakone leaned against her, his head low, his flanks heaving.

  Lusa burst from the bracken. “Yakone!”

  “He’s really hot.” Kallik stared desperately at Toklo. “He needs to rest.”

  Yakone lifted his head. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Kallik soothed.

  Toklo glanced back along their trail. They’d hardly traveled any distance since Yakone had been injured. His paws prickled. Home was tugging him hard. If he were traveling alone, he’d be there in a few days. He shoved the thought away. He would never abandon his friends.

  Lusa paced around Yakone. “I wish I’d found more herbs.” She touched his white pelt with her nose. “You’d be better by now.”

  Kallik dipped her head. “You’ve done plenty for him, Lusa.”

  Yakone grunted weakly. “If I could just rest for a while, I’ll be able to go on.”

  Toklo closed his eyes. He couldn’t risk Yakone getting sicker. He’d already said good-bye to too many friends on this journey. “Let’s build a den.”