River of Lost Bears

by Erin Hunter

  Toklo nudged her. “Let’s keep moving before those firebeasts start wondering what white bears are doing in their woods.”

  “It’s not their woods.”

  “Just keep moving.” Toklo quickened his pace as bramble gave way to pine.

  Lusa followed him into the forest, glancing back to make sure Kallik and Yakone were keeping up. Their pelts glowed eerily under the dense branches.

  “Did we look that strange when we were out on the ice?” Lusa wondered.

  Toklo grunted. “We probably looked like furry seals.”

  Behind them, Yakone paused to shake a twig from his claws. He gazed around at the leaf-strewn forest floor. “Does all this stuff melt when burn-sky comes?”

  Lusa coughed with amusement. “No. It just rots down, making the earth smell even better.”

  Ahead, something sparkled between the trees. Lusa pricked her ears and heard the rushing of water. “What’s that?” She didn’t want to stumble across another BlackPath.

  Toklo licked his lips, tasting the air. “It smells like Big River,” he guessed.

  Lusa slowed. “Will we have to cross the BlackPath again to reach it?”

  “I don’t think so,” Toklo told her. “I can’t smell firebeasts here.”

  Lusa sniffed. Toklo was right; there was no smell here besides earth, trees, and meltwater. As they broke from the trees, she ducked her head, flinching from the light until her eyes adjusted to the glare. White clouds piled like snow on the far horizon, and the wide frothing river sliced open the forest. Toklo quickened his pace, crossing a swathe of bracken that opened onto a rocky shore. Lusa charged after him.

  Water lapped the stones, slow and shallow near the river’s edge. Toklo waded in and leaned down to drink. Lusa followed him, suddenly realizing how thirsty she was. The water was so cold it made her shiver when she swallowed, but it tasted as fresh as a forest breeze. It swirled around her paws. “Are we going to fish?” She looked up, her muzzle aching from the chill.

  Toklo glanced back at Kallik and Yakone. “I’ll fish for us all,” he called.

  Yakone stiffened. “Do you think I can’t hunt here?”

  “You can’t yet,” Toklo pointed out, though he sounded gentler than before. “But that’s okay. I’m happy fishing like a brown bear again.” His eyes sparkled. “Let me hunt for us. You can rest.” He nodded toward a stretch of flat rock beside the shore. “The stone will be warm from the sunshine.”

  “Warm!” Yakone snorted. “I’m sick of being warm.”

  Kallik nudged the white bear. “Stop being such a grumpy old seal.”

  Toklo snorted with amusement. “I was a grumpy old seal on the ice,” he reminded Kallik. “It’s hard feeling like a useless cub again, that’s all.”

  “I’m hardly useless,” Yakone grumbled.

  Toklo waded away into deeper water as Kallik and Yakone settled onto the flat rocks and Lusa padded through the shallows, the stones shifting beneath her paws. She suddenly spotted a cluster of smooth silver fish, each a little longer than her foot. They were moving like shadows in the water around her paws. Excited, she lifted her forepaws and splashed them down onto the nearest fish. Curling her claws, she felt for soft flesh. Something hard jabbed her pad.

  A stone!

  She hooked out a long, flat rock and stared at it, disappointed. Where had the fish gone? Had she really moved so slowly?

  A huge splash behind her made her drop the stone. Toklo had jumped into the rapids. Water raced up against his wide back and splashed over his shoulders as he ducked his head beneath the waves. He loomed up again with a huge trout between his jaws and strode dripping to the shore. He laid the trout proudly onto the smooth rock beside Yakone and Kallik.

  Lusa watched Yakone’s gaze flick along Toklo’s sodden pelt.

  “It’s a messy way of catching fish,” the white bear huffed.

  Toklo tossed his head. “But it works.”

  Yakone poked the trout. “It’s more luck than planning,” he grunted. “You don’t need any of the skill and patience it takes for ice fishing.”

  “When you’ve finished grumbling, you can eat it.” Toklo shook himself, showering Yakone and Kallik with silver droplets, and then headed back to the river. “I’m going to catch another one.”

  Lusa felt a rush of happiness. Now that Toklo was back in the forest, fishing swift, swollen rivers instead of the dead waters of the frozen sea, nothing seemed to bother him. Not even bad-tempered white bears. She waded farther upstream, her eyes fixed on the fish flitting tantalizingly around her paws. She spotted one as it darted into the shallow water pooled between two rocks. With a hiss of excitement, she followed it and pounced, spearing it with her claws before it had a chance to escape.

  “Look!” She held it up for Kallik to see. “Black bears can fish, too!”

  Kallik was eating. She looked up and swallowed. “Well done, Lusa!”

  Lusa trotted back to join the white bears and dropped her fish beside the half-eaten trout. She wrinkled her nose, unimpressed by the sour tang her catch had left on her tongue. How she missed the sweetness of fruit!

  Toklo emerged from the river with another fish in his jaws, just as he’d promised. He dropped it on the rock beside Kallik and settled down to eat.

  “Look.” Lusa nudged her fish toward him. “I caught it myself.”

  “Very good!” Toklo rumbled.

  Yakone sat back on his haunches and began gnawing at a forepaw. “How do you get the dirt from between your claws?”

  Toklo lifted a drenched paw. “The river’s washed mine clean.”

  Kallik nudged Yakone’s shoulder with her muzzle. “The sooner you learn to hunt in the river, the cleaner your paws will be,” she teased.

  Yakone snorted and padded down to the river’s edge. With a growl, he jumped in and stood in the shallows while the water raced around his paws. “You know why the water here is in such a hurry, don’t you?” His eyes flashed, suddenly mischievous.

  Lusa took the bait. “No, why?”

  “Because it wants to get to the Melting Sea, where it can be proper water.”

  Toklo tore a strip from his fish. “Don’t tell me you prefer it salty!”

  Yakone lapped from the river. “This stuff’s got no taste.”

  “Don’t be mean about the forest!” Lusa scowled at Yakone. “At least you can drink river water without being sick.”

  “Ow!” Kallik’s yelp made Lusa jump.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Kallik was twisting desperately, trying to reach something in her flank.

  Lusa stiffened. Had something bitten Kallik? She glanced along the crevice running between the rocks beside her. Were there snakes here?

  Toklo nosed Kallik’s muzzle out of the way, then plucked a pinecone from her fur.

  “I sat on it,” Kallik complained, and lapped at her sore flank.

  Lusa snorted with laughter. “Just be glad it wasn’t a teasel.”

  Kallik blinked at her. “A teasel?”

  “Like a pinecone but much pricklier,” Toklo explained.

  “Great.” Yakone padded heavily from the water. “More forest treasures to discover.”

  Lusa gazed at him earnestly. “You’ll get used to it,” she promised. “And then you’ll see what a wonderful place the forest is.”

  As she spoke, a deep growl rang from the trees. Lusa’s pelt bristled with fear. “What was that?”

  Toklo was already beside her, teeth bared. “I’m not sure,” he said, letting the fur stand up along his spine, “but it sounds fierce.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Toklo

  Toklo flexed his claws. He had started to recognize the scent flooding from the forest. “Get behind Kallik, Lusa.” He pushed in front of the two white bears. “I’ll deal with this.”

  Lusa hesitated, staring wide-eyed into the trees.

  “Now!” Toklo’s growl hardened, and Lusa scrambled backward, fur on end. Toklo was cursing his own stupidit
y. I should have realized this was some bear’s territory. How had he missed the scent? I’m such a fur-brain! Splashing about in the river like this was my home.

  The bramble bushes swished ahead. Toklo stiffened as a black bear swaggered from the trees. He was full-grown, half as big again as Lusa, and though still a head smaller than Toklo, his body was lean and tough looking. His muzzle was scarred, his ears torn. His muscles were solid beneath his bristling pelt. This was a fighter.

  The black bear stared at them, eyes hard as flint. “What are you doing here?”

  Toklo stared back. “We’re just passing through.” If it came to a fight, he’d win easily, just because he was so much heavier than the black bear.

  “And helping yourself to my fish,” the black bear snarled. He took a step forward, clearly not intimidated by Toklo’s size.

  Toklo thought fast. Perhaps this bear was more dangerous than he looked. Perhaps he had friends nearby. Whatever, this wasn’t a battle worth fighting. “Sorry about the fish,” he said. Toklo heard a growl rumble in Yakone’s throat, suggesting the white bear would rather fight than apologize, and he shot him a warning glance. We don’t need to prove we can beat a black bear! “We’ve been away from the forest for a while,” Toklo went on. “We’re not used to smelling out territory yet.”

  The black bear peered past him at Kallik and Yakone, muzzle wrinkling in disgust. “They shouldn’t be here.”

  Kallik strode forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Toklo. “Who says so?”

  Toklo’s fur lifted along his spine. Kallik’s tone carried a threat. He glanced anxiously at Lusa. Her eyes were round with alarm. Back off, Kallik, Toklo thought.

  The black bear’s fur bristled. His lip curled. “I say so,” he snarled. “And so do the other bears who’ve seen white bears traveling where they shouldn’t travel.”

  Lusa darted forward. “Have there been other white bears in the forest?”

  “Too many,” the black bear snapped. “There’s been talk about white bears coming inland. They should stay on the Melting Sea where they belong.”

  Lusa blinked at him. “But these bears are helping us—”

  Toklo cut her off. “Look, we’re just passing. We don’t want your territory, and we won’t take any more of your fish.”

  The black bear narrowed his eyes. “Then I’ll let you go this time,” he rasped. “But I don’t want to see you again.”

  “Thanks,” Toklo said quickly. Indignant heat flashed beneath his pelt. Didn’t this bear realize they’d beaten enemies three times his size?

  Kallik must’ve felt the same. She stiffened beside him. “What do you mean, ‘thanks’?” she whispered.

  “Let’s just go,” he hissed back. “If he wants to think he’s letting us off lightly, that’s up to him.”

  “Why are you whispering?” the black bear snapped.

  Toklo turned around to meet his gaze. “I was just explaining that we’re going to leave.”

  “Yeah.” The black bear snorted. “White bears are pretty dumb.”

  Toklo’s claws itched. He pressed them harder against the rock to stop himself from swiping the bear across his muzzle. “We’re going, okay?” He turned and padded upstream.

  He could feel the black bear’s angry gaze on his back as he led Kallik, Yakone, and Lusa over the rocks. “Let’s stay close to the river.” He glanced at Kallik, catching her eye to make sure she understood. Their lives had been hard enough on this journey. It would just be easier to stay out of the black bear’s territory.

  Kallik nodded, but Yakone was still growling under his breath.

  “We should have chased him away,” the white bear muttered. “We outnumbered him three to one.”

  “Four to one,” Lusa corrected him.

  Toklo blinked at Lusa. “Would you have fought a black bear?”

  Lusa huffed. “I’d fight any bear who was a bully!”

  “I know you would.” Toklo thought of Taqqiq’s thieving friends. Lusa had faced them as bravely as a brown bear. “But you heard what that black bear said. The bears here don’t like white bears on their land. If we’d fought him, word would have spread. Then we’d have to fight every bear between here and—”

  “And where?” Yakone challenged. “Do you even know where we’re going?”

  Lusa scrambled ahead. “He’ll know when we get there.”

  “If we follow the river toward the setting sun, I’ll find my home in the mountains.” Toklo felt certainty like a stone in his chest. The river scent had woken an old longing that tugged at his heart, a longing for the place that he had once called home.

  Yakone caught up with him. “Are you sure we should be traveling with you?” he grunted. “If what that bear said was true—if the bears here hate white bears in their forest—maybe we should leave you and Lusa to travel alone.”

  Toklo’s chest tightened. What if Yakone persuaded Kallik to go back to the Melting Sea? They’d promised to stay with him and Lusa till they got home!

  Kallik’s growl sounded behind them. “We travel where we like, Yakone. No bear’s going to scare us away. Not now, when we’ve come this far together.”

  “But if we’re just going to attract trouble because we stand out here—”

  Lusa stopped and turned on Yakone. “That bully would have driven you off whatever color your fur was.”

  “It was his territory.” Kallik nudged Yakone gently. “Would you have picked a fight with a bear on his own territory on Star Island?”

  “I guess not.” Yakone glanced toward the forest. His nostrils twitched as though he was checking for scents.

  Toklo picked up the pace, leading Lusa out of earshot of Kallik and Yakone. “I’m not letting Yakone split us up.”

  “He’s just nervous.” Lusa glanced back at the white bear. “Don’t you remember our first days on the ice? Everything seemed so strange.”

  “I guess.” Toklo peered over his shoulder. Yakone and Kallik were picking their way across the boulders, navigating the fissures and cracks, as clumsy as newborn cubs. Whenever they crossed a patch of melting snow, their pawsteps grew firmer.

  “Admit it,” Lusa puffed. “You wished you were back in the forest with every frozen step. Just like me.”

  “But we didn’t go back, did we?” Toklo pointed out. “We stayed till we’d done what we said we’d do.”

  “So will they,” Lusa promised.

  Toklo huffed. “I hope so.”

  The sun was reaching higher. Lusa paused to nuzzle for roots among the sedge from time to time, then caught up with Toklo and chewed noisily as she trotted along beside him.

  “Toklo!”

  Kallik’s call made him turn. He was surprised to see how far behind the white bears had fallen. “What’s up?” He stopped.

  She stared at him wearily. “I’m used to the coldness of the ice.”

  “It’s not even warm yet.” Toklo could feel the breeze in his fur. It still had the freshness of cold-earth.

  “It might not be warm for you,” Yakone puffed. “But we’re melting as fast as the snow.”

  “Why don’t you go for a swim?” Lusa suggested. “The river’s freezing.”

  “Good idea.” Toklo glanced toward the trees. Had they cleared the black bear’s territory yet? “And in the meantime I’ll find somewhere cool for you, sheltered from the sun.”

  Yakone and Kallik waded into the river and let the rushing torrent sweep over their backs while Toklo and Lusa scouted the shore.

  “There’s a cove down here!” Lusa called from a boulder a few bearlengths ahead. She scrambled down out of sight.

  Toklo clambered up the rock and peered over the edge. Below, a pebbly beach lined the shore. “Lusa?” There was no sign of the black bear. Quickly, Toklo clambered down to the beach. “Lusa!”

  “I’m in here!” Her voice echoed from beneath the boulder.

  Toklo peered into a smooth, shallow cave.

  Lusa stood in the shadows, water puddling arou
nd her paws. Floods had hollowed out the rock. She lifted her muzzle. “It’s nice and cool in here.”

  The wind whisked in from the river, lifting Toklo’s fur. “Good find, Lusa!”

  “I’ll get Kallik and Yakone!” Lusa flicked her muzzle toward the two white bears. They’d waded farther out and were diving in the fast-running water.

  As Lusa bounced happily past him, Toklo sniffed the cave, checking for bear scent. Nothing. Just the cool smell of water and moss. Of course! Why would a black bear hang around here when he had a whole forest?

  “They’re fishing!” Lusa appeared at the mouth of the cave, shaking water from her short, black fur. “Kallik’s teaching Yakone how to catch like a brown bear.”

  “Good.” Toklo padded into the sunshine and stopped beside Lusa. The fresh scents of the forest tugged at him. “Why don’t you fish, too? I want to check and make sure we’re out of that black bear’s territory.”

  “We must be by now,” Lusa huffed. “We’ve been walking for ages.”

  “We don’t know how big his territory is,” Toklo pointed out.

  “Be careful.” Lusa headed into the river and waded downstream.

  “You too,” Toklo called. “Stay in the shallows. The currents farther out are too strong for you.”

  Lusa glared over her shoulder. “Just because I’m small doesn’t mean I’m stupid.” She pointed her nose at the thundering river. “Only an idiot would go fishing in the rapids!”

  “Sorry.” Toklo knew that Lusa had proved herself as brave and smart as any bear while they were on the ice. But she was so small, it was hard not to feel protective.

  He climbed the rocks from the shore and plunged through the sedge bordering the forest. The cool scents of tree sap and pine needles drew him into the shadow of the trees. Green hummocks, thick with moss, sat between the slender trunks. Toklo padded forward, nostrils wide, and sniffed the roots of a spruce. No bear markings here. Sunlight dappled the forest floor, and he sprang from hummock to hummock, icy water squelching between his claws. The forest sloped upward, and the hummocks gave way to smooth forest floor. Budding ferns unfurled among tree roots, and Toklo relished the swish of them against his paws. Birds twittered from every branch, and high above the treetops, he caught a glimpse of an eagle, circling. After the long journey across the ice, it felt good to be plunging through the forest alone. For the first time in moons, he felt at ease.