by Erin Hunter
Lusa watched, fascinated, as the older flat-faces wrapped the eagle in a furless pelt. I wouldn’t want to get that close to it, she thought, remembering the huge birds she had seen in the mountains. Eagles are scary!
The flat-faces put the eagle into a small cage made of silver mesh like the walls of the enclosures, then loaded it into the white firebeast. As they started to climb into the firebeast’s belly, the young flat-face came running up, barking something at them. The gray-furred male said something and gestured to her, then climbed into the firebeast, which woke up and slowly rolled away.
The young flat-face walked off, her head drooping dejectedly. Lusa yelped to attract her attention, but she disappeared into one of the small flat-face dens. Lusa let out a tiny growl of frustration.
For a while she played in the enclosure, knowing that she had to be ready at all times to show off for the flat-faces. She ran along the log and leaped off it, imagining that she was crossing a deep-set stream. Scrambling up again, she turned in a circle, balancing on her hind legs and stamping her paws to keep her muscles from stiffening up.
Taktuq let out huffs of amusement as she scurried around, as if he realized how hard she was playing, while the coyote snarled and threw itself at the mesh. Lusa ignored it. Smelly thing! I wish they’d put you in the firebeast and take you away!
At sunhigh, Lusa was ready to retreat into the den for some shade. But as she crossed the grass toward the flap, the young flat-face reappeared. Lusa halted and watched her.
At first she headed for the fox and dawdled by its pen for a while. After reaching through the mesh to ruffle the fox’s thick fur, she wandered up the line of enclosures, paused to bark something at Taktuq, then approached Lusa. Glancing around for a plaything, Lusa realized that the round red thing from the day before had disappeared, so she picked an apple out of her fruit bowl instead. Careful not to get too close to the mesh, she rolled it on the ground toward the young flat-face, who bared her teeth at Lusa and yapped.
That’s a happy sound, right? Lusa thought, stopping herself from flinching.
“Be careful,” Taktuq warned her quietly. “I can tell she wants to trust you, or else she’d sound scared.”
Lusa kept playing and realized that the young flat-face made the happiest sounds when Lusa missed the apple when she swiped at it and fell over her own paws, so she began to do it deliberately to please her.
At last the young female reached through the mesh with one brown paw. Lusa approached carefully and let her fur brush against it. The flat-face let out a high-pitched squeal, making Lusa jump. She backed off and then slowly approached again when she saw that the young flat-face’s paw was still reaching into her enclosure.
After a few more tries, Lusa managed to keep still while the flat-face rubbed her head and ears, and she even dared to lick her hairless paw. This feels so strange, Lusa thought. All her instincts were telling her to lurch away, but she forced herself to stand still and let the young flat-face stroke her.
The scent of the strange creature almost overwhelmed her. It reminded Lusa of flowers, though it wasn’t quite the same. She had never been so close to a young flat-face before, and she was fascinated by her hairless face and huge brown eyes.
Lusa heard a whisper from Taktuq. “What’s happening?”
But Lusa couldn’t answer him. She knew she had to keep quiet and still, so as not to scare the flat-face.
But just when Lusa thought everything was going so well, the flat-face turned abruptly and ran off.
“Come back!” Lusa let out an urgent bark, then flattened her ears in disappointment. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked Taktuq. “She touched me and let me lick her paw, and then she just ran away.”
“Don’t give up,” Taktuq encouraged her. “You’re doing well if she let you get that close.”
Moments later, Lusa heard a noise behind her in the big den, and recognized the sound of the cage door opening. Lusa ran in through the flap and saw the young female standing there, anxious and wide-eyed. Her mouth was set with tension, and Lusa could pick up her fear-scent.
Lusa padded forward and pushed her snout gently against the young flat-face’s side. The flat-face took out a narrow length of vine, clipped one end around Lusa’s neck, and held the other end.
She’s trapped me like a dog! Lusa thought, her pelt crawling at the sensation, even though this was what she had been working toward. This is not what a wild bear should do!
When the flat-face tugged on the vine, Lusa balked, turning her head toward Taktuq, who had followed her inside on his side of the bars. “This feels all wrong,” she whimpered.
“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Taktuq prompted her gently. “Go on. This could be your chance to escape!”
Lusa let the flat-face lead her out of the cage and through the big den. So many animals and birds were watching her! The pigeons fluttered wildly, and a rabbit in the cage nearest the door hopped back out of the way.
Lusa hated the thing around her neck. I’m sure those other animals are laughing at me! Though the vine wasn’t tight, she felt as though it would choke her.
But I’m a wild bear, she reminded herself. I’m a wild bear, and my clever plan is working. Look, this is me escaping!
Outside, Lusa scanned her surroundings. Apart from the huge den that held the cages, she could see several small dens that she guessed were used to store flat-face stuff, and a low, white den with windows where the flat-faces lived. Beyond the dens were fields where horses, cows, and sheep were grazing, and around the white den was a stretch of dusty, flat ground with a BlackPath leading away out of sight.
Looking up at the sun, Lusa worked out where the mountains must be.
I have to go back to the mountains where I left my friends in case they’re waiting for me there. I’ll travel back for a while to see if I can find them. If I can’t, I’ll head for the lake and hope that we’ll all meet up. It sounded logical, but for a moment she gazed at the far-off horizon and felt daunted by the scale of her task. But I’m not even sure I can remember the way, and I don’t know how long I have before the Longest Day. Then she reminded herself that she had already found Toklo and Ujurak once. I will find all my friends again. And I know that somehow the caribou will help me to do this.
The young flat-face tugged Lusa around the big den and onto the stretch of grass that lay behind the enclosures. She patted Lusa on the head with her soft brown paw and pulled out a piece of apple from somewhere within her pelt. Lusa took it delicately, making sure her teeth didn’t touch the flat-face’s paw.
Now that I’m out of the enclosure, what do I do? Lusa wondered, as the young female started to walk again, leading Lusa with the vine. I don’t want to hurt the little flat-face. Could I just pull myself free? How fast will I be able to get down the BlackPath?
By this time the coyote had spotted her and was pacing to and fro in its pen, snarling and pawing at the mesh. The young flat-face barked at it as if she was scolding it, but the coyote just hissed through its teeth and kept pacing.
In his enclosure, Taktuq was standing close to the mesh, his ears pricked to work out what was happening. “Lusa, are you okay?” he called.
“I’m fine,” Lusa replied softly.
The young flat-face gave a gentle tug on the vine and bent closer to Lusa, part of one paw raised to her mouth. She made a hissing noise through her teeth as she led Lusa up to a tiny den with mesh sides. Is she going to put me in there? Lusa thought, horrified. I’ll never fit!
As Lusa drew closer to the tiny den, two gray rabbits hopped into view inside it. The flat-face pointed to them and yapped out a few words. Lusa gazed at her, baffled.
Am I supposed to do something with the rabbits? I know how to hunt them . . . is that it? Does she want me to catch the rabbits so she can eat them?
The young flat-face let go of the end of the vine so that she could open the little den and take out a rabbit. She snuggled it close to her, just like a mother bear wi
th a cub.
Lusa’s paws tingled with excitement. She’s not holding me anymore! This is my chance to escape!
She began edging away. With one more glance at the flat-face, who was nuzzling into the rabbit’s fur, she took a deep breath and made a run for it.
At the same moment a terrifying howl split the air, followed by a roar from Taktuq. “Lusa! Look out!”
Lusa glanced back to see the coyote launching itself against the mesh of its pen over and over, ripping the mesh away from the wooden frame. The creature wriggled through the gap it had made, leaving behind tufts of sandy fur, and pelted toward the flat-face.
Lusa skidded to a halt. The young flat-face had dropped the rabbit and was staring at the coyote, frozen with horror. The animals in the other pens were barking and howling, and a flock of small black birds circled their enclosure in a frenzy, beating the mesh with their wings.
Lusa didn’t hesitate. She launched herself at the coyote, catching it in midstride and knocking it off its paws. As the flat-face shrieked behind her, Lusa threw herself on top of the coyote, clawing at its throat. The coyote wriggled out from underneath her and scrambled back onto its paws, but Lusa darted in and gave it a sharp nip on its shoulder.
They always hunt in packs, she thought, remembering how she and her friends had fought the coyotes beside the firesnake. It isn’t as good on its own. I can deal with one, no problem.
The coyote sprang at Lusa. Its claws raked her side, but Lusa spun around and lashed at it with her hindpaws, then spun back to butt it with her head and unbalance it again. It was snarling in a fury, its jaws slavering as it snapped at Lusa, gripping one of her forelegs in its fangs. Pain sliced through her, and she brought her claws down on the coyote’s ear. The coyote let out a howl and loosened its grip, enough for Lusa to jump back.
“Mangepelt!” she growled.
Lusa charged forward again, ducking her head low to dodge the coyote’s jaws. Knocking the creature off its paws again, she planted her hindpaws on its belly and raked its shoulders with her front claws. The coyote struggled briefly, but Lusa had it pinned and it soon gave up, snarling as it gazed up at her with hatred in its eyes. Behind her, she could hear the young flat-face whimpering. Lusa braced herself to tear out the coyote’s throat if she needed to.
Suddenly Lusa heard the rumbling sound of a firebeast halting behind her. She’d been so focused on the fight that she hadn’t heard its approach. Heavy flat-face footsteps raced toward her. A muffled crack rang out, and a long, pointed stick struck the coyote in the shoulder. One end pierced its fur, leaving the shaft quivering in the air. The coyote went on snarling for a few moments more; then its eyes rolled up and it went limp.
Great spirits, have they killed it? Lusa thought. Then she noticed that the creature was still breathing. Carefully, not wanting to wake it, she took a step backward.
The older flat-faces had run to the young one; the gray-furred female wrapped her forelimbs around her. They were all chattering urgently to one another.
“Run, Lusa!” Taktuq’s harsh cry broke through to Lusa, who was still dazed from the fight. “Go now!”
Lusa realized that with the coyote unconscious and the flat-faces focused on one another, no one was paying any attention to her. How did Taktuq know? He’s amazing!
She took off, running with all the speed she could muster across the open ground and down the BlackPath. Her foreleg was bleeding where the coyote had bitten her, she was panting, and her heart was pounding hard enough to burst out of her chest. But she was free.
“Good luck!” Taktuq’s voice drifted after her. “I hope you find your friends!”
As Lusa left the flat-face dens behind, a firebeast suddenly appeared in front of her. She veered off the BlackPath onto rough, tussocky ground and buried herself under the branches of a thornbush, trembling as she waited for the firebeast to stop.
But it must not have seen her, because it kept going. Its roar soon died away in the distance, leaving Lusa limp and exhausted under the bush. Silence surrounded her except for the distant cry of a bird, and a warm breeze washed over her, filled with the scents of trees and dust.
An image of three beloved faces, one brown and two white, filled her mind. I’m coming to find you, she thought. Wait for me.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kallik
Kallik opened her eyes, dazzled by the early rays of the sun. She was lying on the glacier, the ice cool against her fur. The sky above was so blue it was like looking into the sea. As her vision cleared, she could see black dots circling above her head and she gazed at them, puzzled, for a few moments. Then she tensed with horror as the dots dropped closer and she realized what they were.
Vultures!
Two of the birds let out a squawk and swooped so low over Kallik that she could smell their meaty stench and felt their talons scrape her fur. For a moment she couldn’t remember where she was or why the vultures would be targeting her.
Then in a rush Kallik remembered her struggles under the glacier, how she had been trapped there and had finally managed to climb to the top. She had hauled herself out and collapsed in the dark, too exhausted to walk another step. At the same moment she became aware of how the scent of blood from her battered and bleeding body must be attracting the carrion birds.
Summoning all her strength and ignoring her aching muscles and the pain in her paws, Kallik forced herself to her paws. “I am not dead!” she roared.
Another vulture swooped down low, and Kallik raised a foreleg to swipe at it. She missed, but the vulture veered away with an angry shriek, gaining height again.
For a moment Kallik gathered herself, watching the vultures that still circled threateningly around her. Where am I? she asked herself. Where are the others?
Then, as she gazed around at the massive river of ice, she realized that she was at the top of the glacier, while Toklo and Yakone were going to be looking for her at the bottom. But that was an entire day ago, Kallik thought with a tremor of fear. Will they still be there waiting?
Gathering her last scraps of energy, Kallik bounded away down the glacier. Her legs shook with weakness from hunger and the effort of climbing out of the crevasse, but she knew she couldn’t waste any time.
I have to find the others! She tried hard to convince herself that they would have waited for her at the bottom of the glacier. I’m sure they would never leave me here.
As the landscape opened out in front of her, Kallik spotted a dark haze in the distance, on the slopes that led down to the forest, and she recognized the dust cloud they had first seen back in the mountains.
The caribou!
Kallik quickened her pace, straining to see the shapes of two bears following the herd, but it was too far away. The ice between her paws was rough and jagged, dotted with sharp rocks and holes, but she was so desperate to find her friends that she forced herself to run.
She was so eager to keep the caribou in sight that she didn’t see another crevasse opening up in front of her. She let out a yelp of terror as she felt herself plummeting into the depths; then all the breath was driven out of her as she thumped down on a boulder that was wedged in the gap.
For a few moments Kallik lay still, getting her breath back and recovering from the shock of falling again. The surface of the glacier was less than a bearlength above her head, and below her was a dark nothingness smelling of ice and rock. Panic throbbed through her. I’m not going through that again. I can’t.
Making sure not to slip, Kallik slowly reared up onto her hindpaws and clawed herself up and out of the crevasse, gripping the rough edges on the inside of the rift. At last she stood safe on the surface again.
Cloud-brain! she scolded herself. You have to be more careful.
The blood thrummed in Kallik’s ears and her belly was painful from hunger, but she kept going, more slowly and cautiously now. The end of the glacier came into view, a rock-strewn slope emerging from the ice.
Kallik halted, her sides heaving
. “Yakone! Toklo!”
Nothing responded to her loud cry. Around her nothing stirred; all she could see were boulders, stones, bushes. . . .
“Yakone! Toklo!” she called again. Her head drooped as her voice echoed around the slope. It felt as if the glacier itself was mocking her, laughing at her isolation. Don’t give up! Kallik told herself fiercely. You escaped from the glacier. You can’t stop now!
Bracing her shoulders, she padded along the foot of the ice wall, stopping every few paces to bellow the names of her friends. Still there was no reply apart from the echoes. Keep going.
Walk, call, echo. Walk, call, echo. As the sun crept across the sky, Kallik felt her hopes melt away. Did they think I was dead? Is that why they didn’t wait for me?
“Oh, Yakone, Toklo! Where are you?”
“Kallik?”
The call came from behind her. Spinning around, Kallik saw Toklo racing out from behind a tumble of rocks. Yakone followed him, lurching every time he put his injured paw to the ground.
You waited! You didn’t abandon me! Kallik ran forward to meet them, and all three bears pressed themselves together, letting out joyful yelps and nuzzling one another.
“I thought I’d never find you!” Kallik exclaimed. Her throat felt thick and sore with emotion, and she couldn’t stop breathing in the precious fur-scent of her friends.
“We were afraid you were lost down there,” Toklo said, and Yakone added, “We walked to the end of your crevasse, but it disappeared to nothing and you weren’t there. How did you get out?”
“I had to go up to the top of the glacier and climb out there,” Kallik explained. “It wasn’t at all like the ice in the ocean. It was empty, like a . . . a dead thing.” She paused, shivering at the memory, then went on, “I almost got stuck down there. I think I might have given up if Ujurak hadn’t come to help me.”
