The Last Wilderness Page 3

  The others followed. ‘The water’s freezing!’ Lusa squealed, bounding through it and throwing up fountains of spray.

  Toklo veered away from her. ‘Watch it! You’re soaking my fur.’

  They headed for one of the biggest islands, a grassy stretch in the middle of the river with a ragged circle of large boulders covering the upstream end. Toklo flopped down gratefully in the shade.

  ‘Let’s rest. We can fish in the morning. And explore the woods,’ he added when he saw Lusa looking expectantly at him.

  His friends settled down around him. Lusa was soon snoring, her paws wrapped over her nose. Ujurak yawned, flattened the grass to make a smoother spot to lie on, then followed her into sleep. Kallik stayed awake longer, her snout raised and her gaze fixed on the sky, but at last her head drooped and her eyes closed.

  Toklo found that he couldn’t sleep. He watched the river turn to red as the sun sank towards the horizon, then fade to the colour of storm clouds as the last rays of light shrank behind the mountains. He wriggled, trying to find a position that would send him to sleep. But the ground beside the rocks was soft and grass-covered; there weren’t any loose pebbles digging into him to keep him awake. No, it was the scent of the caribou herd, still trailing tantalisingly from the hills they had crossed, that was stopping him from going to sleep. So much food, all in one place, clicking their way into his thoughts.

  I’d be fine on my own, he thought. He could picture himself as a full-grown bear, striding across his own territory, marking the trees to warn off other bears. He could almost hear himself roar as he challenged his rivals and hunted down prey. He couldn’t lie still a moment longer, trying to sleep. He needed to prowl! This was his home now – he could go wherever he wanted, hunt whatever he chose. Careful not to rouse his sleeping companions, he rose to his paws and waded out into the river.

  The surface of the water was a sheet of rippling silver touched with white foam where the river splintered against rocks. The only sound was the gurgling of the current. Toklo took in deep breaths of the clear mountain air, enjoying the icy touch of water against his legs. He felt exhilarated to see night falling again, after so many moons without true darkness. He could feel his dusty pelt being washed clean by the river, his pads soft and cool on the smooth round stones so that the moons of journeying faded away.

  His grumbling belly brought him back to reality. Bending his head, he studied the water and soon spotted the dark grey flicker that betrayed the presence of a fish. He settled himself more comfortably, legs braced against the current, and waited.

  The flicker came again. This time Toklo struck, plunging his snout into the water a little downstream of the glimmering shadow. His teeth met in a plump, cold body, and he straightened up with a wriggling fish in his jaws. Toklo gulped it down where he stood, remembering that other river – a single great tongue of water, much wider than this one – skylengths away from here, where he had been swept off his paws trying to catch his first salmon and nearly washed up in the jaws of Shoteka. So much had changed since he had been abandoned by his mother and had met the strange cub Ujurak. He wasn’t the same bear any more.

  Swiping his tongue around his jaws, he looked up at the sky and spotted the star-bear, shining alone in the dark sky.

  I felt like him once, Toklo thought. The other animals fought with me or drove me away. I was lonely and miserable, just like he is.

  But not any longer, he told himself. He was bigger and stronger now. He had proved himself at Great Bear Lake, where he had accepted the challenge to swim to Paw Print Island and defended his territory there against his old enemy. Toklo’s claws rasped against the pebbles on the riverbed as he remembered how Shoteka had fled, defeated and disgraced. Having the island as his territory had made Toklo feel proud and strong and independent. He wanted that feeling again.

  He glanced over his shoulder to where Ujurak was sleeping at the foot of a boulder, his nose resting on his paws. I promised him I would look after him, and I have, Toklo thought with satisfaction. We made it together, all the way to this place where we can live well and safely, just like brown bears should.

  Even so, Toklo couldn’t help feeling slightly uneasy. Ujurak kept insisting that the journey wasn’t over. Would he be able to survive if he continued the journey on his own? Toklo shrugged. He’ll get over it, once he understands what a good place this is. I couldn’t save Tobi, but I have saved Ujurak. He nodded to himself. His mind was made up, and he was glad to realise that he didn’t feel any sadness. The time was right for him to go it alone. Wading out of the river, he settled down beside his friends; their muffled breathing soothed him as he drifted into sleep.

  We’ll say goodbye soon, he thought drowsily. I’m glad to have known you all, but it’s almost time for me to leave.

  CHAPTER FOUR:

  Kallik

  Kallik opened her eyes on darkness shot through with silver. A couple of bearlengths away, the river splashed between the smooth grey rocks, its surface flashing with the reflections of moon and stars. Around her lay the humped shapes of her friends, snoring softly in deep sleep.

  Excitement filled Kallik’s belly, powerful as the surge of the river. She wasn’t sure what had roused her from sleep, but she felt as if something momentous was about to happen. She looked up and saw Silaluk, the great star-bear, blazing out from the blue-black sky.

  Was it you that woke me?

  She stared at the glittering ice-spots that surrounded Silaluk, wondering which one of them was her mother’s spirit. The thought that Nisa might be looking down on her filled her with happiness. ‘Thank you for bringing us safely to this wonderful place,’ she whispered. ‘I know I would never have made it without you.’

  Thinking back on her journey, the struggle from the melting Frozen Sea through the land of sunbaked earth and stones, Kallik still found it hard to believe that her quest was over. She had been alone then, drifting like a piece of broken ice on the waves. Only her determination to find her brother and the unfailing light of Silaluk above her had kept her trudging on. Sadness welled up inside her as she thought about Taqqiq. She had been so delighted to find him beside Great Bear Lake, and even happier when he had agreed to join her and the others on their journey.

  ‘But it didn’t work out,’ she whispered out loud.

  Taqqiq hadn’t been able to get along with the other bears, and with every step away from the lake his conviction had grown that it was wrong for him to be travelling with them. Finally he had decided to go back to the lake and tried to trick Kallik into returning with him.

  ‘He wanted to be with me,’ she murmured. But not enough to stay, she added silently.

  Kallik let out a long sigh. There was nothing more she could do for Taqqiq; it was unlikely they would ever meet again. That part of her life had to be frozen deep inside her, locked in a block of ice. But at least now she knew that her brother was alive and that he could fend for himself.

  ‘Goodbye, Taqqiq.’ She whispered the words to the empty air. ‘May the spirits be with you.’

  Exhaustion swept over her, and her eyes felt heavy. She closed them again, letting herself sink back into sleep. In her dreams she bounded tirelessly across the ice while her mother’s face shone down on her from the sky, her eyes filled with love.

  When Kallik next woke, the ice-spirits had faded from the sky and a red band of mist hung over the horizon. The other bears were already awake and had padded down to the water’s edge, black shapes outlined against the milky light. Kallik rose to her paws, gave her pelt a shake, and headed over to join them.

  Toklo stood in the river with the water flowing around his legs, staring intently at the surface. Lusa and Ujurak were both crouched on the bank, each gnawing at a fish.

  Lusa looked up as Kallik approached her; fish scales were clinging to the fur around her jaws. ‘Toklo caught a fish for me,’ she announced. ‘He’ll catch one for you if you like.’

  Before Kallik could protest that she could catch her o
wn, Toklo plunged his snout into the river and pulled out a glossy salmon. He tossed it to the bank, where it gasped and thrashed in front of Kallik’s paws. She planted one paw on it and bit it hard behind its head to kill it quickly.

  ‘You can have this one if you want,’ she told Toklo, looking up.

  ‘No, you have it,’ Toklo said. ‘I can catch another.’

  Kallik hesitated. She didn’t want Toklo to think that she couldn’t find her own food. But she could see how proud he was to be providing for his friends. Besides, the smell of the fish was too enticing for her to wait for long. ‘Thanks!’ she said, squatting down to eat.

  The fish was plump and succulent, its scent and taste bringing Kallik’s dreams of the ice and ocean back to her mind. ‘I have to go to the ocean today,’ she announced.

  ‘What?’ Toklo glanced up from studying the current. ‘Have you got bees in your brain? We’re heading into the hills, remember? Lusa wants to check out the forest.’

  ‘I know. I’m sorry,’ Kallik said. ‘But the ocean is my home, just like the forest is yours.’ Her voice quavered. ‘And I haven’t seen it for so long.’

  Lusa gulped down the mouthful she was chewing. ‘I understand. I’ll come with you,’ she said. ‘We can go to the forest tomorrow.’

  ‘I’ll come too,’ Ujurak added quietly.

  Toklo waded out of the river with another fish in his jaws and crouched down to feed, tearing into the flesh with enormous bites.

  ‘Toklo, are you coming to the ocean with us?’ Lusa asked.

  Toklo blinked at her, almost as if he hadn’t heard the question. ‘No, I don’t think so,’ he replied at last. ‘I want to check out the caribou.’

  Lusa flashed a swift glance at Kallik.

  Is this where we say goodbye? Kallik wondered.

  ‘OK,’ Lusa said. Kallik thought she was trying to sound cheerful, and not succeeding very well. ‘I guess this is it, then. I . . . I hope you find a good place to make your territory.’

  ‘Don’t be such a fluff-brain,’ Toklo mumbled around a mouthful of fish. ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’ll see you later.’

  ‘Oh – I mean, great!’ Lusa’s eyes brightened as she bounced to her paws.

  Leaving Toklo to finish eating, Kallik, Lusa and Ujurak waded across the river and followed along the bank as it wound gently down to the plain. Kallik’s paws tingled. She felt as if every step was leading her closer to the ice: the ground smelled of it, and she could taste it in the pool of water where they stopped briefly for a drink.

  As the view opened up and they could see the plain once more, they disturbed a flock of snow geese. The birds went whirling up into the sky, filling the air with the clamour of their wings and their harsh cries.

  Kallik paused to watch as the flock formed into a ragged wedge-shape and flew off across the open ground. Her excitement rose as her gaze followed them and she saw the edge of the ocean, the blue waves stretching to the horizon where she could see the tempting shimmer of ice.

  ‘Come on!’ she called to Lusa and Ujurak. ‘It’s not far now!’

  She quickened her pace until she was bounding along, with her friends panting after her, splashing through the river’s wandering channels. Mounds of tough, springy grass grew up to the water’s edge, delicate wild flowers dancing among them. High in the pale sky, a golden eagle hovered.

  The light strengthened as the sun rose, turning the surface of the water to dazzling silver. The darkly forested slopes were far behind them now, and Kallik shivered with anticipation at the cries of seabirds coming from up ahead. As the river neared the ocean, she left the bank and struck across the shore at an angle until she could stand at the very edge, with seawater lapping at her paws. The air was laden with the scents of ice and fish.

  ‘Home . . .’ she whispered.

  Narrowing her eyes, Kallik peered at the ice in the distance. Its frosty glimmer merged with the haze at the bottom of the sky. Can I swim out to it yet? she wondered. It seems very far away . . .

  ‘Kallik . . .’ Lusa said nervously behind her.

  Kallik turned her head to see Lusa and Ujurak backing away, staring at something further along the shore. Following their gaze, she spotted another white bear with two half-grown cubs, trundling along the shoreline towards them. For a moment a pang of sorrow stabbed at her belly. That should have been Nisa and Taqqiq and me . . .

  Lusa and Ujurak, wary of a strange bear so much bigger than they were, scurried to take shelter behind a nearby thornbush, but Kallik stayed where she was until the she-bear and her cubs came up to her. ‘Greetings,’ she said, dipping her head respectfully to the mother bear. ‘Are you going on to the ice?’

  The she-bear’s eyes widened in shock as she gazed at Kallik. ‘You’re so thin, young one!’ she exclaimed. ‘Where have you come from?’

  ‘From another sea, a long way away,’ Kallik replied. ‘The ice melted there, so I crossed the land to Great Bear Lake, and then to here. I was looking for the Place of Everlasting Ice.’

  ‘You have come so far!’ The mother bear breathed out the words in amazement, while her two cubs stared at Kallik as if she were Silaluk herself, come down from the sky. ‘I’ve only ever met one other bear who made that journey from the other Frozen Sea. Her name was Siqiniq; she was very wise.’

  ‘I know Siqiniq!’ Kallik exclaimed joyfully. ‘I met her at Great Bear Lake. She was my friend.’

  The mother bear dipped her head. ‘I’m glad to hear Siqiniq still lives. I was only a cub when I met her, but I’ve never forgotten her. How did you manage the journey?’ she went on. ‘So many skylengths, and alone!’

  ‘I wasn’t alone,’ Kallik replied. ‘Not all the way. I had friends with me.’ She pointed with her snout toward Ujurak and Lusa, who were peering out anxiously from behind the thornbush.

  The she-bear flinched, instinctively stepping between them and her cubs, who huddled behind their mother. ‘A brown bear and a black bear?’ she growled. ‘What are they doing so close to the sea? Those kinds don’t often come down to the shore.’

  ‘They won’t try to hurt you, or your cubs,’ Kallik assured her. ‘They’re just waiting for me and they’ve helped me come all this way. But now I think my journey’s at an end.’ She turned again to gaze out to sea. ‘I’ve found what I was searching for. The Place of Everlasting Ice.’

  Was the ice closer than when she had first seen it? Kallik wasn’t sure, but her longing to swim out to it, to be part of that cold, white world again, was so strong that she could taste it. ‘Are you going to the ice?’ she asked the she-bear.

  ‘Not yet,’ the she-bear answered. ‘I’ll wait until my cubs are stronger first.’

  Kallik eyed the two cubs. They looked strong to her already, plump and healthy, so different from the wretchedly thin bears she had seen on the shore of the Melting Sea and at Great Bear Lake. With their mother to take care of them, they were sure to reach the ice soon.

  Longingly Kallik gazed out at the ice again. Its pull was overwhelming; her ears filled with the murmurings of the ice-spirits, the sound of ice crystals forming in the water. The ice seemed to have drawn closer already. Kallik felt as if she could stretch out her snout and touch it. Her paws carried her into the sea; she could feel the cold touch of the waves as they lapped around her legs. Her excitement rising, she waded deeper into the icy water.

  Then she halted abruptly as a huge paw rested on her back. ‘Wait, little one,’ came the voice of the mother bear. ‘The ice will soon return.’

  The whispering of the spirits faded, drowned by the cries of seabirds and the rush of wind in Kallik’s ears. She became aware once more of the wide stretch of open sea that separated her from the ice.

  Kallik wrenched herself free from the lure of the ice. She was standing several bearlengths from the shore, the waves washing against her belly fur. Beside her, the she-bear watched her with worried bright eyes.

  ‘Sorry,’ Kallik said hoarsely, beginning to head back to shore. ‘You’re
right. I’ll wait.’ Wading out of the sea, she shook water from her pelt and dipped her head to the mother bear. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘You’re welcome, young one,’ the mother bear replied. ‘Maybe we will meet again, on the ice.’

  ‘I hope so,’ Kallik replied.

  Calling her cubs to her, the mother bear trudged off along the shore. With one more curious stare at Kallik, the cubs followed, their stubby tails bobbing as they scampered over the stones. Kallik glanced across to where Lusa and Ujurak were still peering anxiously from behind the bush.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Lusa called.

  ‘Fine,’ Kallik replied, plodding up the beach to join them.

  Their concern for her filled her with warmth, but she knew that however much she loved them, the pull of the ice was stronger. For the first time, she realised that when the ice came close enough to the shore, she would be able to leave them without regret.

  My path is different from theirs, she told herself. Soon I must go where they can’t follow.

  CHAPTER FIVE:

  Lusa

  Lusa, Kallik and Ujurak turned back towards the low hills. Lusa kept close to Kallik’s side and her anxiety gradually ebbed away. For a few heart-stopping moments she had thought that her friend was going to leave her forever and swim out towards the glittering ice on the horizon. Relief had flooded over her when Kallik had turned back.

  But she’ll go as soon as the ice reaches the shore, a small inner voice nagged at her.

  Lusa pushed the thought away. She would deal with parting from Kallik when it happened, and not before. For a while they wandered along, following the line of the shore. Ujurak bounded down to the water’s edge to sniff at a piece of wood washed up on the pebbles, only to bounce out of the way as a bigger wave surged in and swirled around his paws.

  ‘I’m soaked!’ he exclaimed, trotting back towards his friends, scattering shining water drops from his fur.