River of Lost Bears

  Kallik nosed her way in beside Yakone. The twigs pricked her pads, but when she lay down, she found the mesh of tiny branches was dense and comfortable beneath her. She rested her head on her paws and closed her eyes.

  “How’s a bear meant to sleep with the river roaring like a herd of hungry caribou?” Yakone muttered.

  Kallik kept her eyes shut. “You’ll get used to it.”

  “It’d be quieter if we’d found a den in the forest,” Toklo muttered.

  “With trees creaking and cracking like they’re about to snap?” Yakone snorted.

  “The ice used to creak, too, remember?” Lusa replied.

  Kallik grunted. Tiredness was making everyone bad-tempered. “Let’s go to sleep. We’re all tired.” Her bones ached. Of course it was strange for Yakone, but she wished he’d stop drawing attention to how alien this environment felt to him. She tried to recall how she’d felt when she’d first left the ice, but the journey to Great Bear Lake had seemed such a desperate fight for survival, she could hardly remember the sound of trees and water.

  Trees and water.

  Trees and fish.

  Her thoughts became jumbled as she drifted into sleep.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Kallik

  Kallik was dreaming. She felt rock, smooth beneath her paws, and saw forest sprouting beyond a craggy slope. A river tumbled past. She had been here before.

  “I’ve caught it!”

  She jerked around as Ujurak scooped a salmon from a river, hooking it into the air with a curled paw while the shallow water flowed around his legs. The salmon flapped madly. Ujurak’s muzzle opened in surprise as his catch leaped from his paw back into the river.

  Lusa, watching from the shore, rolled on her back, huffing with laughter. “Why don’t you change into a salmon and chase it?” she teased.

  Toklo was sunning himself on a flat rock beside the stream. “Then what? Persuade it to jump out of the river to be eaten?”

  Ujurak sat down in the water with a splash. “I thought I had it this time.”

  Toklo raised his head and blinked at the young brown bear. “Prey doesn’t give up till it’s dead.”

  Kallik saw Ujurak’s shoulders slump as he gazed at the water flowing away downstream. “Never mind, Ujurak.” She felt a wave of sympathy. “I’ll catch something for you.” She wondered if his heart was ever truly in hunting. He’d changed into so many animals that he must understand the terror his prey felt when under attack. How could he hunt knowing that?

  Ujurak rubbed his snout with his paw. “I’m not in the mood for salmon anymore.”

  Lusa sat up. “I can teach you which berries are sweetest.”

  Ujurak’s eyes shone. “Yes, please.” He bounded from the river and shook out his pelt.

  “Watch out!” Toklo hid his muzzle as water showered over him.

  But Ujurak was already chasing after Lusa. In a moment they’d disappeared into the woods. For a few heartbeats, Kallik could hear them crashing through the bracken, then the sound was swallowed by the roar of the river, close to her ear. . . .

  Kallik woke up and gazed blearily around her. Yakone’s pelt pressed next to her. Toklo and Lusa were sleeping, curled tight beside each other on the juniper branches.

  Ujurak, where are you? A sharp pang of loss jabbed at her heart.

  Kallik sat up. Grief tugged at her belly. The river shone in the half-light. The distant horizon glowed red. Sunup was not far off. Kallik quietly picked her way between her companions. She padded onto the shore, pebbles crunching beneath her paws. Yakone moved in his sleep, murmuring, then fell still.

  Kallik gazed into the sky, searching out the stars that shaped Ujurak and his mother. But the dawn sky was too pale, and she could only make out the faintest pine-needle pricks where Ursa and Ujurak should be. “Ujurak?” she whispered. “Are you there?” Her heart ached with longing.

  Sighing, she lumbered down the shore. She waded into the shallows and let the water pull at her fur. Gazing into the smoothly flowing stream, the reflection of the stars caught her eye. They shone brighter in the water, shimmering on its surface. Suddenly fur brushed her pelt. Kallik froze, her heart leaping like a salmon inside her chest.

  “I am still with you, Kallik.”

  Ujurak!

  His voice whispered in her ear. “Don’t miss me too much.”

  Kallik breathed deeply, hoping to smell the familiar scent of her old friend.

  “Hey, Kallik!” Yakone landed with a splash beside her.

  Water sprayed her flank and face.

  “Yakone!”

  “Did I surprise you?” He blinked at her, water dripping from his ears.

  “I was talking to—” Kallik broke off. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Yakone rolled in the shallows, making waves in the fast-flowing stream.

  “You seem more cheerful today,” Kallik commented.

  “I guess I’m getting used to not being able to see the horizon.” Yakone stared into the endless green. Far ahead of them, the river curved away into the woods. “Don’t the trees ever end?”

  Kallik understood the wonder in his voice. She felt like she could walk forever and never reach the horizon, lost in a sea of pine. She pushed the thought away. “Let’s catch something to eat.”

  Toklo and Lusa were stirring on the juniper patch. Lusa rummaged intently through the fur on her flank, looking for fleas, while Toklo stretched up and smelled the air.

  Yakone waded into deeper water. He looked more at home in the river than he had yesterday. He dove beneath the waves, then surfaced with a splash. “Nearly got a trout!” Taking a gulp of air, he disappeared again.

  Kallik waded upstream, keeping to the shallows and watching the water funneling between her paws. She glimpsed the dark shape of a fish gliding toward her. Standing still, she waited, remembering what Toklo had taught her. Don’t aim where the fish is. Aim where it will be. With a lunge she leaped and slapped her forepaws down into the water. Triumphant, she felt flesh squash beneath them. Digging her claws in, she hooked a trout from the river, grabbing it between her jaws before it could struggle free.

  It flapped wildly as she waded ashore. She made a quick, killing bite and carried it over to Toklo and Lusa.

  Lusa wrinkled her nose. “Nice catch, Kallik! But I’m going to dig for roots.” Shaking out her fur, she headed into the forest.

  Kallik noticed Toklo’s ears prick as he watched Lusa stomp away. He looked worried. She dropped her fish. “She’ll be okay.”

  Toklo was still watching the little brown bear. “I don’t want her bumping into Hakan.”

  Kallik tasted the air. “I thought we’d left his territory.”

  “We have,” Toklo told her. “But I don’t trust a black bear who’s dumb enough to attack a brown bear.”

  Stones clattered as Yakone bounded from the shallows, a fish in his mouth. He laid it beside Kallik’s. “I might get used to river fishing!”

  Kallik fell in beside Toklo as they headed along the shore. They’d reached the curve in the river, but Toklo was still glancing into the forest every few paces. “Even a dumb bear won’t have tracked us this far, surely?”

  “I guess not.” Toklo shrugged, fur ruffling behind his ears.

  “Then what are you looking for?” Why is he looking so flustered? “Other bears?”

  “I guess.”

  “Any sign?”

  “No.” Toklo hurried to catch up with Lusa.

  “What’s up with Toklo?” Yakone padded beside Kallik. “He seems distracted.”

  “I think he’s nervous about running into other bears after his clash with Hakan,” Kallik replied.

  “But we’ve traveled for a day and not even smelled another bear,” Yakone pointed out. He slowed as Lusa and Toklo halted where the river changed direction.

  Kallik and Yakone reached them. “Are we stopping to hunt?” Kallik asked.

  “Toklo says if we keep following the river, it’ll take longer to get home,
” Lusa explained.

  Yakone tilted his head. “Are you sure?”

  Toklo nodded. “The cold wind blows us home.” He looked back along the river, the breeze rippling his fur. “If we head straight through the forest instead of following the river around, we’ll get there quicker.”

  Kallik heard excitement in his voice.

  Yakone’s eyes darkened. “Won’t we get lost if we leave the river?”

  “It’ll meet our path again,” Toklo told him.

  Kallik felt queasy at the thought of plunging into the dark woods. What if they never found their way out? “How do you know?”

  “The water smells of home,” Toklo told her. “It’s mountain water—I can remember its taste. It comes from where we’re headed. We’ll cross it again.”

  Yakone leaned closer to Kallik. “How will we stay cool without the river?”

  “It’ll be shady in the forest,” Lusa promised.

  Kallik gazed across the wide stretch of water, her belly tightening at the thought of leaving it. She looked at Toklo. “You decide,” she told him. She trusted the tug of home. She could feel the ice pulling in the pit of her belly. Surely, Toklo felt the same wrench. “It’s your journey home, Toklo. You should choose the path.”

  Toklo glanced uncertainly from river to forest. “I wish Ujurak was here,” he murmured. “He was good at guiding us.”

  “He was good at everything,” Lusa whispered.

  “He’s still with us in spirit,” Kallik reminded them. “I dreamed of him last night.” She didn’t mention the soft voice she’d heard on the wind after she’d woken from her dream and padded into the shallows. She wanted to keep it as her own quiet memory.

  “Which way would he choose?” Lusa wondered.

  Kallik lifted her muzzle. “He’d tell Toklo to follow his instinct.”

  Toklo straightened. “Then we head through the forest.” Without waiting, he headed upshore and pushed his way through the sedge.

  Kallik hesitated as Yakone and Lusa followed him into the woods. Gazing at the river, she took a final drink and hurried after them.

  The pines closed over her head like storm clouds. The sound of the river faded. Lusa was right, it was shady here, but the trees kept out the wind and Kallik felt suffocated by the stillness. Toklo and Lusa pushed ahead, threading easily between the shrubs. Yakone grunted as he tripped over a root. Kallik kept her eyes on her paws.

  “Ow!” A bramble caught her pelt and ripped at her fur. She struggled, but more thorns hooked into her flank, and they held her fast. She jerked her muzzle around and nipped at one of the branches. Pain stabbed her jaws as prickles dug in. The bramble trembled as though it was about to tumble over her.

  Panic rising, Kallik turned to Yakone. But his pelt was disappearing among the trees. Toklo and Lusa were already swallowed by shadow. For a moment she imagined being stuck here forever, the trees crowding around her, the sky gone.

  “Yakone!”

  Yakone jerked around. “Kallik?”

  Toklo stopped and turned.

  Lusa hurried back. “You’re caught! Hold on.” Stretching out her muzzle, she began to pick Kallik free of the sharp thorns.

  Kallik huffed crossly. “How do you make forest walking look so easy?” she growled. “If I watch for bushes, I trip over roots, and if I watch for roots, I get shredded by bushes.”

  “Have you forgotten?” Lusa tipped her head. “Just pick up your paws.”

  Of course! Kallik remembered how she’d done it before.

  Yakone lowered his head. “What do you mean, pick up your paws?”

  “Like this.” Lusa finished unpicking Kallik and high-stepped in a circle, raising each paw a muzzlelength off the ground as she walked. “You’re used to half sliding over ice, like this.” She pushed her paws across the forest floor.

  Yakone tipped his head. “It’ll be a hard habit to break when I’ve been doing it my whole life.”

  Toklo joined them. “Would you rather stub your claws? Or walk into trees?”

  Lusa’s eyes widened. “Don’t walk into trees! The spirits won’t like it!”

  Yakone stared at her. “Why not?”

  “That’s where they live!” Lusa exclaimed.

  Kallik nodded solemnly. “When black bears die, their spirits go into trees.”

  “Look!” Lusa pointed her snout to a knot in a fir tree. “Can’t you see its face? There are its eyes.” She reached up the trunk and stretched out a paw. “And here is its muzzle.” Dropping on all fours, she dipped her head respectfully to the fir.

  Yakone’s ears twitched. “If you say so.”

  Kallik nudged him. “It’s what Lusa believes.”

  Toklo shifted restlessly. “Come on, let’s get moving.” He turned and headed between the trees.

  Lusa stared at Yakone. “You will be careful, won’t you?”

  “I’ll be careful,” Yakone promised.

  As Lusa hurried to catch up with Toklo, Yakone snorted. “Spirits in trees! What will she think of next?”

  Kallik bristled. “Respect Lusa’s beliefs! You believe white bear spirits are trapped beneath the ice before they are freed into the stars.”

  “But you can see them moving,” Yakone pointed out. “Lusa was just staring at a gnarly bit of bark.”

  “To her, it’s a spirit.” Kallik pushed on, lifting her paws high as Lusa had shown her.

  “What’s more believable? Spirits that move or spirits that are stuck in old knotholes?”

  Kallik shot him a fierce look.

  Yakone dipped his head. “I give in,” he rumbled fondly. “If Lusa says there are black bear spirits in the trees, then there are black bear spirits in the trees.”

  Kallik spotted a thorny tendril swaying across their path. “Look out!” She blocked Yakone before he walked into it.

  He rolled his eyes. “Perhaps there are spirits in the trees and they’re trying to rip my fur off.”

  “Don’t say you weren’t warned,” Kallik teased.

  Ahead, Toklo had stopped and stretched onto his hindpaws. He was tasting the air. Kallik let the forest scents bathe her tongue. She smelled the musk of woodland prey.

  “It’s a deer,” Toklo hissed. “Let’s catch it.” He dropped onto his forepaws as Kallik and Yakone hurried to catch up. “We could hunt like we hunted caribou.”

  Kallik’s fur rippled. She had to admit that hunting on land could be more exciting than waiting beside ice holes.

  Yakone shifted beside her. “Caribou?”

  “We circle the prey like wolves,” she explained.

  He nodded, catching on. “Then move in for the kill.” He looked thoughtful. “Toklo and Lusa are better at running through the forest,” he mused. “Kallik and I could wait there.” He nodded to a gap in a long stretch of brambles. “You could drive it toward us, and we’ll attack as it races through.”

  “Good plan.” Toklo signaled to Lusa with his muzzle. “Come on.”

  As they stalked away, Kallik felt a rush of pride. “How did you think of that?” she asked Yakone.

  His eyes twinkled. “I guess prey is prey. Getting it to run the way you want is the same on ice and land.” He headed for the brambles and crouched on one side of the gap.

  Kallik ducked down on the other. Bushes swished in the distance, and hooves thrummed the earth. “It’s coming.” She bunched her muscles, ready to spring as the ground trembled beneath her. She flattened herself harder against the earth, aware of how white their pelts looked in the gloom of the forest. What if the deer spotted them?

  The brambles crackled beside her. Deer musk washed her nose. Its pelt blurred before her eyes as it leaped through the gap. She lunged for it, cursing as a root caught her hindpaw. With a cough, she collapsed onto her belly. Yakone dashed away. He charged after the fleeing deer, swerving with ease around a clump of tall knapweed. Kallik watched, wide-eyed. He ran as though he’d hunted in forests all his life. With a roar, he leaped, stretching out his forepaws to grab the deer
and bring it down.

  As Kallik scrambled to her paws, Toklo and Lusa charged through the gap in the brambles.

  “Great catch!” Toklo skidded to a halt where Yakone was standing proudly over the dead deer.

  Lusa circled Yakone and his catch. “You’re a natural!”

  Yakone’s eyes shone. “I guess instinct took over.”

  Toklo nudged him. “You’re turning into a brown bear.”

  Yakone glanced over his shoulder at his grubby pelt. “I’m even changing color,” he remarked.

  Kallik touched her nose to his cheek. Perhaps they would get used to the forest after all.

  By the time they’d finished eating, the sun had dipped below the horizon.

  “It’s too dark to go on.” Kallik licked blood from her muzzle.

  Lusa’s eyelids drooped. “I’m sleepy.”

  “We can rest here and start up again at dawn.” Toklo glanced at his companions across the deer carcass. “Okay?”

  “Fine with me.” Yakone stretched and got to his paws. He wandered back toward the swathe of brambles where they’d waited for the deer.

  Kallik heaved herself up, drowsy from the meal, and followed Yakone. Lusa stumbled after her sleepily. Behind them, Toklo was hardly more than a shadow in the darkness. Kallik heard earth spattering the ground. He must be kicking dirt over the remains of the deer, hoping to disguise the scent. They didn’t want to attract other predators when they were sleeping.

  Yakone lay down beside the bramble. Lusa curled into a ball close by, tucking her nose under her paw. Kallik yawned and settled onto the soft earth. She rested her muzzle on Yakone’s back. As his breath grew shallow with sleep, she gazed into the shadows. The ice was never this dark. Even on the cloudiest night, it still glowed, as though it remembered moonlight.

  Toklo lumbered from the shadows, reeking of leaf-sap. “I scattered muskroot, to hide the smell of blood.” He sat down beside Kallik.

  She closed her eyes. “How long till we reach the river again?” she asked with a yawn.

  “I don’t know.” The pine needles rustled as Toklo settled down to sleep. “Maybe tomorrow?”

  “Good.” Kallik imagined Ujurak overhead, shining beside his mother. “Sleep well,” she murmured.