The Last Wilderness Read online

  ‘Of course. It’s where I come from,’ Ujurak replied.

  ‘If you’re so interested in maps, you should go to the Propkin Community Center,’ Janet told him. ‘It was built by the oil company before they started work.’ She got up and went back to the window, pointing out in a different direction. ‘There it is.’

  Ujurak could just make out the outline of another building, lower than the towers, but big and solid, with a flat green roof.

  ‘It’s great there,’ Janet went on. ‘There’s a wide-screen TV, bowling, snack bars – even a clinic. The oil company has done such good things for the community! And you would just love the room where the oil company shows their plans.’ She returned to Ujurak’s bed and sat down beside him, her eyes shining. ‘The walls are covered with maps of the ocean as well as the land around Propkin, with the oil rigs and new communities and roads. I’d really like to get a placement on an oil rig,’ she added, sighing. ‘Those guys are so brave! And they’re keeping North America alive! If you like, I’ll take you over there and show you when you’re feeling better,’ she promised.

  ‘Yes, I’d like that,’ Ujurak said, thinking, If I’m still here . . .

  ‘And now it’s time for you to get some sleep.’ Janet straightened the sheet and put the blanket back, tucking purple-Toklo into the bed beside Ujurak.

  Ujurak leaned against his pillows. ‘Save the wild . . .’ he murmured, remembering what Lusa had told him, back on Smoke Mountain.

  ‘What was that, honey?’ Janet asked.

  Ujurak blinked. ‘Uh . . . nothing.’

  ‘OK then, well, get some rest.’ Janet picked up the tray and glanced around the room as if she was checking that everything was all right. ‘Goodnight,’ she said with a smile, and went out.

  Once he was sure she had gone, Ujurak got out of bed and went back to the window, pulling the pelts aside to reveal the devastated landscape outside. With a struggle he managed to shift the catch on the window and push it open. Cold air flooded in, bringing with it an acrid smell.

  Ujurak coughed, his sore throat protesting, as he breathed it in. That’s oil, then. It’s foul! He seemed to see the black, sticky stuff spreading out from his fingers, choking his skin, slicking his hair, filling his nose and mouth . . . There was no escape from it.

  The horror of his vision filled him with fury and he let out a roar. The soft flat-face pelts seemed to cling to him and stifle him; he couldn’t bear their touch against his skin. Ripping them off, he felt his body begin to change. Ujurak let out a loud cry of relief as his transformation began.

  CHAPTER THIRTY:

  Kallik

  Kallik padded cautiously between the flat-face dens, Lusa and Toklo flanking her on either side. Her rush of confidence from finding the small white bear was fading away. She couldn’t scent Ujurak any longer, and though she kept scanning the ground, she didn’t see any more signs.

  Clinging to the shadows, the bears kept going, but Kallik felt her fear growing with every pawstep. The smell made her feel sick, and the air shuddered with bursts of noise. The lights were harsh and unnatural, and their glare blotted out the bears’ view of the stars.

  Silaluk, where are you? Kallik wondered, raising her snout to peer vainly at the sky. Are you still watching us, even here?

  The BlackPath they were following divided, and more BlackPaths came to join it. The bears had to cross; Kallik’s pelt prickled as she listened for the roar of approaching firebeasts, but the only ones they saw seemed to be asleep.

  The buildings became smaller as they left the metal birds’ nest behind, more like the flat-face dens Kallik had seen before. Lights shone from gaps covered with pelts. Each of the dens had a small territory around it. Kallik started at the sound of a dog barking from behind a fence.

  ‘Do you think the flat-faces brought Ujurak here?’ Lusa whispered.

  Kallik shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’ve lost his scent.’

  She let Toklo take the lead down a long BlackPath flanked by dens on either side. Lights on tall, thin trees glared, leaving few shadows where the bears could slip along unnoticed. Kallik’s paws tingled.

  Sounds were coming from the no-claw dens, but so far they hadn’t seen any flat-faces outside. Then, about halfway along the BlackPath, the pelt across one of the gaps was suddenly swept aside. A flat-face cub was peering out: a female, with long yellow head-fur.

  Kallik and the others froze, pinned under the blazing light of one of the thin trees.

  ‘Oh, no, she’s seen us!’ Kallik yelped.

  But the cub remained still, her face and paws pressed to the shiny stuff covering the gap. Finally she raised one of her pink paws and waved it at them.

  ‘I think she’s friendly,’ Lusa whispered.

  ‘Let’s not wait to find out.’ Toklo nudged Kallik. ‘Run!’

  With Toklo a bearlength ahead, the bears charged down the BlackPath. Toklo led them around corners and down narrow gaps between buildings until they had left the flat-face cub far behind.

  ‘Nobody followed us!’ Lusa panted as they came to a halt in an open space.

  Kallik looked around, trying to catch her breath and get her bearings. ‘You know something?’ she said after a moment, her heart sinking. ‘I think we’ve been here before. We’re going in circles.’

  She raised her head and gazed up at the stars. Guide us, Silaluk, please. We’re lost!

  She jumped as Toklo gave her a shove and muttered, ‘Flat-faces coming, cloud-brain! Move!’

  Intent on the sky, Kallik hadn’t heard the voices heading towards them. Shivering, she huddled with Lusa and Toklo in the shadow of a big white den, while the group of full-grown males walked past them.

  Toklo puffed out a breath when they had gone. ‘They didn’t see us.’ Glancing up and down the BlackPath, he added, ‘We’re no nearer to finding Ujurak. I think we should get out of here.’

  ‘Hey, Toklo! Kallik!’ Lusa had moved further down the side of the white den, and hadn’t heard what the brown bear said. Her voice was excited. ‘Come and look at this!’

  ‘What now?’ Toklo grumbled, but he padded over to her, and Kallik followed behind, her curiosity piqued.

  ‘Look!’ Lusa was gazing up at a row of huge metal cans with lids on the top. ‘Food!’

  Kallik’s belly rumbled; she had been trying to forget how hungry she was. ‘Really?’ she asked hopefully.

  ‘Really,’ Lusa said. ‘Toklo, can you tip one over? Carefully. We don’t want to make more noise than we can help.’

  Toklo didn’t move. ‘It’s not a good idea. We need to leave now, before they catch us. Besides, who wants to eat flat-face rubbish?’

  ‘I’m not leaving without Ujurak,’ Lusa responded stubbornly. ‘And if we’re going to go on looking, we need to eat.’

  Toklo let out a sigh. ‘Don’t blame me if it all goes wrong.’

  He drove his shoulder against the nearest of the metal cans and it tipped over. As the lid came off Lusa grabbed it with her forepaws and lowered it quietly to the ground. Flat-face rubbish spilled out of the can; water flooded Kallik’s jaws as she picked up the scent of meat.

  Lusa pawed excitedly through the heap of rubbish. ‘There’s fruit, and some sort of green stuff . . . oh, and these potato sticks! Try them, they’re really good.’

  She pushed a few stumpy bits of potato towards Kallik, and some to Toklo, then munched her own share enthusiastically. Kallik glanced at Toklo, who was giving the potato sticks a suspicious sniff, then tried one for herself. The taste was strong and salty; Kallik couldn’t quite understand why Lusa liked them so much. But hey, it’s food! she thought, swallowing the rest.

  The can yielded a few scraps of meat which Toklo and Kallik shared, while Lusa gulped down the fruit.

  ‘Don’t even think about it,’ Toklo said as Lusa eyed the next can in the row. ‘We’ve wasted too much time already. Now that we’ve eaten, we have to go.’

  Lusa nodded reluctantly. As they turned to leave, Kallik raised h
er snout for one last sniff. Beyond the smell of oil and rubbish, she could pick up the scent of blood coming from the big white den, mixed with something hard and strange. The combination made her fur bristle.

  But there was another scent too. Faint, almost drowned by the rest, but unmistakable . . . Ujurak!

  ‘Lusa! Toklo! Wait!’ Kallik called.

  Already several bearlengths away, her friends looked back. ‘What is it?’ Toklo grunted.

  ‘I can smell Ujurak!’

  The other two bears came bounding back to her; Lusa’s eyes glowed with eagerness as she sniffed the air. ‘You’re right! But where is he?’

  Looking up, Kallik saw that far above her head one of the windows of the den was propped open. ‘Maybe he’s in there? Ujurak! Ujurak!’

  ‘It’s us! We’re down here!’ Lusa added.

  But no one came to the window.

  ‘Maybe the flat-faces are keeping him in a cage,’ Toklo growled.

  ‘We’ve got to get inside and look for him,’ Lusa declared.

  At the thought of entering yet another flat-face den, a shiver passed through Kallik from nose to claws. Fear lodged in her belly like a hard stone. But she wasn’t going to let her friends down, and when Lusa set off along the side of the den, looking for a way in, she forced her paws to follow. She was encouraged by Toklo’s bulk as the young grizzly padded beside her. Flat-faces will think twice before they mess with him!

  As they came around the corner of the den, they saw yellow light seeping out from around a door, but the door itself was firmly closed. Kallik and her friends paused on the edge of the light.

  ‘Do you think we can get in?’ Toklo muttered.

  ‘I know we have to try,’ Lusa barked.

  Feeling very exposed, Kallik followed the black bear as she set out across the lighted stretch of ground to the door of the den. About halfway there, Lusa stopped; Toklo almost crashed into her.

  ‘Watch it!’ he growled.

  ‘Sorry, Toklo, but look what I’ve found!’

  Lusa dipped her head and touched her nose to something lying on the ground. Peering closely, Kallik saw that it was a tiny carving of a black bear, like the white one she had found beside the metal bird. Giving it a sniff, she picked up Ujurak’s scent again.

  ‘He left this for us,’ Lusa said. ‘Now we know he has to be in here.’

  Determinedly she padded towards the door and stopped to study it.

  ‘Now what do we do?’ Toklo asked.

  ‘Let me think.’ Lusa’s eyes were fixed on the door. ‘I got into the healer’s den. Maybe I can get in here.’

  As Lusa examined the door, Kallik kept watch for the approach of flat-faces. Her heart was pounding, but the BlackPath was deserted as far as she could see.

  ‘I’ll have to –’ Lusa took a pace forward towards the centre of the doors and broke off with a frightened squeak. With an almost inaudible swish the door had parted in the middle, the two halves sliding aside to leave an opening in the middle.

  Fear gripped Kallik and she kept very still. Beside her, Toklo and Lusa stood rigid; Kallik thought she could hear the thudding of their hearts.

  ‘It’s a trap,’ Toklo said hoarsely.

  ‘Do you . . . do you think it wants to eat us?’ Lusa whispered.

  The faint trail of Ujurak’s scent beckoned them through, but no bear moved. Kallik didn’t think she could force her paws to carry her past this mysterious door that moved when no one was near it.

  But as the moments dragged by, nothing happened. No angry flat-faces appeared, and the door stayed invitingly open.

  ‘We wanted to get in, didn’t we?’ Lusa said at last. Kallik could tell that she was trying to sound brave, though her voice still shook a little. ‘Let’s go.’

  Toklo blocked her as she tried to plunge inside the den. ‘Hold it, bee-brain! Let me check it out first.’

  Pushing past Lusa, he stuck his head inside the door, then padded all the way in. ‘There’s no one around. Come on.’

  Every muscle in Kallik’s body was yelling at her to run. She had been scared enough when she and Lusa had sneaked into the healer’s den. This was much worse: she couldn’t imagine what flat-faces would do to bears if they caught them trespassing here.

  But letting Toklo and Lusa face the danger alone was unthinkable. Every pawstep an effort, Kallik padded into the den behind them. She stood in a small inner den, brightly lit, with white walls and doors leading off on all sides. Pushing down her fear, she followed her companions as they crept forward through one of the inner doors, which led into a long passage.

  ‘How do we know where to find Ujurak?’ she whispered as she caught up to the others.

  ‘We don’t,’ Toklo replied. ‘We just keep looking.’

  ‘Good plan,’ Lusa muttered.

  They were passing closed doors on either side; Kallik guessed that they led to other little dens. She didn’t think Ujurak could be inside one of them; she had picked up his scent again, once she was calm enough to check, but it was still some way off.

  Partway down the passage was another closed door; its frame was filled with the transparent stuff, and Kallik could see that the passage continued on the other side.

  ‘Do you know how to get through there?’ she asked Lusa.

  While she was still speaking, the door slid open, just like the one that had let them into the den. Is it another trap? she wondered.

  Then Kallik heard a door open behind her, followed by a loud scream. She whipped round to see a female flat-face in a white pelt standing in the doorway of one of the little dens they had passed. Instantly the flat-face ducked back inside the den, and Kallik heard the door slam.

  Almost at once another door opened; a flat-face male popped his head out and withdrew again. His door also shut with a bang.

  ‘They know we’re here,’ Toklo snarled. ‘We’ve got to move now!’

  Barely able to think for fear, Kallik bounded beside her friends, through the terrifying door and on down the passage. After a few pawsteps, she heard the door swish shut again. It was a trap!

  But there was no time to think about that, or to worry about how they were going to get out again. A harsh ringing sound broke out all around them, and they ran even faster, skidding along the smooth passage floors.

  ‘This way!’ Toklo gasped.

  He led them up a steep slope with chunks cut out of it, which made it easier to climb. Ujurak’s scent was growing stronger now. But the flat-faces will catch us first!

  At the top of the slope they hurtled down another passage, only to skid to a halt as a flat-face with a firestick appeared at the other end.

  ‘Down here!’ Lusa dived down a side passage.

  Kallik heard the crack of the firestick and glanced back to see a dart hit the wall before she pounded on.

  ‘They’ll put us to sleep!’ she gasped. ‘They’ll take us to the place where the hungry bears are kept!’

  The passage led to another of the slopes; Kallik scrambled up behind Lusa and Toklo, desperate to leave the firestick behind. The passage above was deserted, in spite of the terrible clanging that never stopped.

  Kallik’s heart thudded with panic. Ujurak’s scent was stronger here, but she knew they were running out of time. It wouldn’t take long for the flat-faces to track them down inside their own den.

  Even if we find Ujurak, how will we get him out?

  Then Toklo swerved to one side, throwing himself against one of the inner doors. It burst open; Toklo tumbled into a small den, with Lusa and Kallik hard on his paws.

  Ujurak’s bear scent flooded over Kallik; he had been here, and not long before, but a single glance told her that he wasn’t here now.

  ‘This must have been his den,’ she panted.

  ‘Yes, look.’ Toklo was standing beside the bed, staring down at something small and dark on the rumpled white coverings.

  Drawing closer, Kallik saw that it was yet another wooden carving, this time of a brown bear. Her hear
t cried out with frustration as her gaze met Toklo’s. We’ve only just missed him! Ujurak, where are you?

  Lusa padded over to the gap in the wall and looked out. ‘This is what we saw from outside,’ she reported. ‘I can see the cans – there’s the one we tipped over. Ujurak must have gone out this way just before we came.’

  Kallik followed her friend to the window and stuck her head out. ‘It’s a long drop,’ she murmured doubtfully.

  ‘It’s all right for Ujurak,’ Toklo complained, coming up behind her. ‘He can fly.’

  ‘Not if he’s a bear,’ Lusa said. ‘Or a flat-face.’

  For a few moments their discoveries had made them forget about the pursuing flat-faces. Now Kallik jumped as she heard pawsteps thundering down the passage, getting closer and closer.

  ‘Go!’ Toklo bellowed. ‘Jump on to one of the cans!’

  He shoved Lusa hard from behind, so that she tottered on the ledge outside for a moment, then half fell, half jumped on to the nearest can, then to the ground outside. Toklo scrambled up and leaped out after her. Kallik followed, hesitating at the sight of the drop until she heard a flat-face burst into the room behind her. As she launched herself through the gap a firestick cracked out, and the dart whizzed past her ear.

  Slipping from the top of the can and hitting the ground hard, Kallik lay winded for a moment, until Toklo shouldered her to her paws.

  ‘Move,’ he growled, pushing her forward and limping after her. ‘They’ll find us if we stay here.’

  Lusa was bounding away, but she stopped after a few bearlengths and looked back. ‘Quick!’ she urged. ‘We’ve got to hide.’

  Kallik staggered after her, still dazed. Lusa headed for a huge firebeast that crouched, apparently asleep, beside one of the buildings. She slid behind it, careful not to wake it; Toklo shoved Kallik into the gap and crammed himself in after her.

  The loud clanging noise still came from the den behind them. The flat-faces’ pawsteps and shouting grew louder as they spilled out of the den and into the night. Another firebeast swept past, making a high-pitched wailing sound.