The Melting Sea Read online

  But Yakone’s eyes were warm with affection as he gazed back at her. “I want to be with you,” he told her. “Even if it means going over mountains.” Bending his head, he gently licked her ears. “Don’t worry. We can handle everything together.”

  Kallik was touched by his kindness, but still unsure that Yakone really understood her attachment to the other bears. And why would he? she asked herself. He’s grown up with white bears. He never even knew that other kinds of bears existed until we came to Star Island.

  She knew that Yakone was a decent bear, and kind, and loyal to her. I’m so glad to have him with us. And she also knew that he had forged genuine friendships with Lusa and Toklo. But he always puts me first, and even though he’s important to me, I just don’t feel the same way about him.

  “Hey!” A shout from Toklo interrupted Kallik’s musings. “Do you want to eat or not?”

  His question made Kallik realize how hungry she was; they had eaten nothing since the caribou two days before. Spinning around, she saw Toklo bounding toward her with a goose dangling from his jaws. Lusa was trotting after him.

  “Wow, great catch!” Kallik exclaimed.

  “Not really,” Toklo mumbled around a mouthful of feathers. “I think there was something wrong with its wing. It couldn’t fly and it’s really skinny.”

  “But it’s better than nothing,” Lusa declared.

  When they had divided up the goose, Toklo looked up from the few mouthfuls of stringy meat. “Which way now?” he asked Kallik.

  “Over the mountains,” she replied, hoping that Toklo wouldn’t question her decision. He’s a brown bear, she thought hopefully. He won’t want to travel along the sea-ice, any more than Lusa.

  To her relief, Toklo just gave her a brusque nod. Once they had finished eating, he took the lead, heading inland. The mountains loomed up in the distance, jagged peaks without even a tree to break the expanse of snow-covered slopes.

  Kallik noticed how quiet Lusa was, her head down as she trudged across the frozen white waste. “Cheer up,” Kallik said, falling into step beside her. “It should be easier for you, instead of trekking across the sea-ice.”

  Lusa heaved a sigh; she didn’t look as grateful as Kallik had hoped. “I’m tired out, my paws are still bleeding from crossing that rough ice, and my belly aches,” she complained.

  “I’m sorry,” Kallik sympathized with her, touching her briefly on the shoulder with her muzzle. “We’ll be at the Melting Sea soon!”

  Lusa halted and faced her, fixing her with a stricken gaze. “But I don’t want to get to the Melting Sea!” she whispered. “That’s where we’ll split up.”

  Kallik stared back at her. Lusa’s right! Her longing to go home was taking them closer and closer to the place where they would separate. Suddenly her paws seemed heavier, not so eager to carry her onward. Gazing at the mountains ahead, she wondered how much longer they had left together.

  “Come on!” Toklo had realized that Lusa and Kallik had dropped back, and glanced over his shoulder with an irritated look on his face. “My paws are freezing. And I’ve just spotted some bushes ahead. They might give us a chance at prey, and there’ll be leaves for you, too, Lusa.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Yakone offered instantly.

  The two male bears bounded off, leaving Kallik and Lusa to follow more slowly. Kallik realized that Yakone was trying to reassure her that now the decision had been made, he was happy to travel through the mountains. Gratitude swept over her like a warm breeze.

  The bushes Toklo had found grew in a wide, shallow dip in the ground, with a frozen pool at the bottom. When Lusa and Kallik approached, Toklo was already creeping up to a twisted thornbush, its branches straggling over the water. Suddenly a white-furred lemming shot out from underneath the bush, scurrying across the open ground and right under Lusa’s paws. With a squeak of surprise, the black bear swatted it, and it fell to the ground and lay still.

  “Awesome!” Kallik exclaimed.

  Looking more cheerful, Lusa gave a snort of amusement. “Just think what Toklo would have said if I’d missed!”

  Meanwhile, Yakone appeared from the other side of the bushes with a snow-hare in his jaws. “Toklo was right,” he said with satisfaction as he dropped the hare at Kallik’s paws. “This is a good place for prey.”

  Alerted by the sound of more small creatures scuttling in the undergrowth, Kallik joined Toklo by the bushes. Soon they had flushed out two more lemmings, and settled down with Yakone to eat their catch, while Lusa stripped leaves from the bushes.

  Kallik felt energy flowing back into her body as she ate. For the first time since the caribou her belly wasn’t cramped with hunger, and she felt as if she could run all the way to the Melting Sea.

  When they set out again, they traveled easily over the level ground. Lusa had perked up at last, seeming more like her old, cheerful self. Even when the ground began to slope up toward the foothills, they still kept up the same brisk pace.

  We’re all strong and fit, Kallik thought, her confidence growing with every pawstep. We’re used to this, after all the skylengths we’ve walked. We’ve traveled through places far more challenging than this.

  Then she looked ahead, to where the mountains were drawing steadily closer, and caught herself, suddenly afraid that they were moving too fast. The journey will be over too quickly, and then we’ll have to split up.

  She cast a glance at Yakone, who was padding along beside her. Once again she thought how glad she was to have him, and how much she longed to show him her home. Being left alone again once she reached the Melting Sea would have been terrifying.

  But what about Toklo and Lusa? Who will they have to keep them company when they reach their homes?

  Now the mountains seemed to be rushing to meet them, as fast as a no-claw firebeast. As the icy peaks loomed above their heads, Toklo halted.

  “Let’s stop for the night,” he suggested. “We need to tackle those slopes in daylight.”

  Kallik agreed, relieved that for a while at least they could delay crossing the mountains. When they had curled up together under a jutting rock surrounded by thick bushes, she lay awake for a while, listening to the quiet breathing of her companions.

  What will it be like, when I don’t have this anymore?

  Kallik was jolted awake from a confusing dream of breaking ice and the gaping jaws of orca. At first she wasn’t sure what had roused her; all she could hear was a weird hissing noise, almost like wind sweeping across the ice.

  “But it’s not the wind,” she muttered.

  Then a loud shriek split the air, and Kallik recognized that sound at once. No-claws! Panicking, she leaped to her paws and reared up to peer over the bushes that surrounded their temporary den.

  Kallik gaped as no-claws in brightly colored pelts swept toward her down the snowy slopes. They had long, flat sticks fastened to their hindpaws and carried smaller sticks in their forepaws. The hissing noise came from the long sticks as the no-claws slid over the snow.

  More no-claws—without the strange pawsticks—were lining up on either side, shrieking and howling as the no-claws with sticks whisked by. Kallik’s heart began to pound as she realized they were all heading straight for the den.

  Dropping back beneath the bushes, she saw that her three friends were waking, clumsy and confused by the noise outside.

  “No-claw attack!” she gasped, prodding Yakone in the side to wake him properly and get him moving. “They’re coming to get us!”

  Toklo gave a disbelieving grunt; then his eyes widened as he peered out from behind the bushes. “Great spirits!”

  Lusa and Yakone joined him to look out, and Kallik braced herself for a fight. But the no-claws with pawsticks whizzed past without even looking at them, and the rest of the crowd followed.

  “They missed us,” Toklo grunted. “Typical stupid flat-faces.”

  “Why have they got sticks fastened to their paws?” Lusa asked. “Are they trying to escape from the
flat-faces howling at them?”

  “Who knows?” Toklo snapped. “Why do flat-faces do anything?”

  “We’ve got to get out of here,” Yakone said.

  Toklo glanced out again, then turned back to his three companions. “Okay, this is the plan,” he said. “There are more flat-faces on their way down. After they pass us, we’ll leap out and run. The other flat-faces will be so busy watching, they won’t notice us.”

  Let’s hope not, Kallik thought.

  “When I say ‘Now!’ follow me—fast,” Toklo added.

  Kallik crouched beside Lusa and Yakone, while Toklo peered out of the bushes. A few moments later she heard the weird hissing noise again, and more howls and shrieks from the no-claws.

  “Now!” Toklo growled.

  He scrambled out of the den. Kallik pushed Lusa in front of her and followed, with Yakone bringing up the rear. Bewildered in the midst of the turmoil outside, Kallik swerved away from where the bright-pelted no-claws were hurtling past on their pawsticks, and bounded after Toklo as he headed slantwise up the slope, trying to avoid the crowds.

  The no-claws who were watching all had their backs turned, their attention fixed on the shiny track where the snow had been packed down by the passage of the pawsticks. Briefly Kallik thought that she and her friends would escape without trouble. But then a young no-claw turned around, let out a startled yowl, and pointed toward the bears with one of his forepaws.

  “They’ve seen us!” Kallik gasped. “Run!”

  It was hard to put on speed in the loose snow. As the bears floundered upward, more no-claws turned and started shrieking and jostling one another. Kallik wasn’t sure if they were trying to run away or to surround the four bears and capture them. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the no-claws on pawsticks had begun to make their way upward again. The long pieces of wood that had helped them skim down so swiftly were slow and clumsy when they tried to climb. For the moment they didn’t seem to have noticed Kallik and the others.

  But they’ll spot us soon, she thought, fighting back panic. Then they’ll all be chasing us!

  Still struggling upward, Kallik heard the crack of a firestick. Her belly lurched with fear, and she braced herself to see one of her friends drop to the ground. Instead, a bright pink cloud billowed out overhead.

  What’s going on?

  Spooked by the noise and the crowds, Kallik didn’t know where to run anymore. Just above her on the slope Yakone had turned and was baring his teeth at the approaching no-claws. Toklo was a couple of bearlengths farther up, giving Lusa a shove to help her on her way.

  Some of the no-claws were fleeing, while others poured onto the empty snow, shrieking and waving their forelegs. Soon the bears were surrounded; Kallik whirled to and fro, searching for a gap where they could slip through to the wilderness beyond. More no-claws appeared on pawsticks, with firesticks in their forepaws. Kallik shuddered, certain that not all of them would shoot out harmless pink clouds. The new arrivals let out loud yowls, and the encircling no-claws parted.

  “This way!” Toklo growled.

  Kallik’s heart swelled with admiration at the brown bear’s courage as he charged forward between the lines of no-claws. Floundering after him, she halted as she saw Lusa slip and begin to fall back in the snow toward the no-claws.

  But Yakone reached Lusa first and nudged the black bear onto her paws again. “Go on!” he ordered Kallik. “I’ll bring Lusa.”

  Toklo veered away from the new no-claws, who were raising their firesticks, pointing them at the bears. Other no-claws spilled around, shrieking. Toklo charged forward, with Kallik and the others just behind. The crowds of no-claws scattered in front of them.

  Then Kallik almost crashed into Toklo as he halted unexpectedly. Small firebeasts had appeared in front of them, with no-claws clinging to their horns. From behind, the no-claws with firesticks were drawing closer, gliding on their long, flat pawsticks.

  “Oh, no …” Kallik groaned, her heart thudding with terror. “We’re trapped!”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Toklo

  As their pursuers closed in, Toklo glanced around. The small horned firebeasts growled threateningly in front of them. On one side was a wall of flat-faces, staring and yowling and thrashing their forelegs in the air. On the other side was a row of huge, sleeping firebeasts; Toklo could smell their stench above the snow and the fear of the flat-faces. Every instinct was telling him to avoid them, but he could see that he and his friends had no other option.

  “This way,” he growled, veering around and galloping toward the firebeasts.

  Behind him he heard gasps of shock from the other bears.

  “What are you doing?” Yakone shouted after him. “We can’t go that way!”

  Toklo glanced back over his shoulder. “We don’t have a choice!” he snarled. “Follow me!”

  His mouth was dry, and his heart pounded with fear. He knew that he was taking a huge risk, but he had to get his friends away from the flat-faces.

  “They’re coming!” Lusa squeaked, scrambling through the snow to follow Toklo.

  Toklo led the way as they dived between the sleeping firebeasts. They were big—much bigger than any he had seen before—and square, like the dens flat-faces lived in. I know firebeasts are hollow inside, he thought as he dodged among the massive shapes, because flat-faces travel around in their bellies. These are so big, there must be plenty of room in there.

  He slowed down, sniffing the air.

  “Keep running!” Kallik yelped as she barreled into him, trying to shove him onward.

  “No,” Toklo panted. “We can’t outrun those little firebeasts. We have to find somewhere to hide.”

  “But there are no trees here,” Lusa protested. “No caves or gullies …”

  “Then we have to make the best of what we have,” Toklo told her.

  Padding around the end of one of the firebeasts, he spotted a gap in the far side, with a small step up to it. Resting his forepaws on the step, he leaned in and took a good sniff. There was only a faint flat-face scent, and though he listened carefully he couldn’t hear anything inside.

  “Okay,” he muttered, hauling himself up and squeezing through the gap. I can’t believe I’m doing this! I’m in the belly of a firebeast!

  The walls of the firebeast belly were flat and shiny; there was flat-face stuff strewn around on the floor, but otherwise it was empty.

  Toklo turned back to the gap. “Come in, quick!”

  Kallik’s face appeared in the opening. “Have you gone crazy?” she demanded.

  “Quick!” Toklo repeated, his fear making him angry. “It’s the only place to hide, unless you’ve got a better idea?”

  Kallik’s head vanished; for a moment Toklo was afraid that she and the others had run away. Then Lusa appeared, her paws scrabbling on the hard floor as Kallik boosted her from behind. Yakone climbed in next, and Kallik brought up the rear. She gave Toklo a furious glare but said nothing as the noise of the flat-faces grew louder outside.

  Toklo gestured to the others to draw back into the farthest corner of the firebeast, while he took a quick glance outside. The flat-face yowling was louder still, but none of them were in sight yet. A flap that was clearly meant to close the belly was folded back on the outside; Toklo couldn’t reach it, and there was no time to try. He joined his friends, huddled together at the far end of the space.

  “We’ll just have to hope no one looks in,” he murmured.

  The roar of the little firebeasts grew suddenly louder, almost drowning Toklo’s words. Through the gap he caught a glimpse of flat-faces gliding by on their pawsticks.

  Suddenly he remembered their pawmarks in the snow, marking a clear trail up to their large firebeast, and his belly churned with fear. Is this how our journey will end, trapped like fish in a pool? He gazed at his friends, their eyes wide with apprehension as they stared at the gap. Then the noise of the firebeasts rumbled past and began to die away. Toklo let out a long breath
and felt himself trembling.

  “I think they’ve gone!” Kallik sounded astonished.

  She rose to her paws and began to move toward the gap, but Toklo blocked her with his shoulder. “No,” he murmured. “We should wait in here for a while.”

  For a moment Kallik looked as if she was going to argue; then she flopped down again. “What do we do if the firebeast wakes up?” she asked in a whisper.

  “We’ll worry about that if it happens,” Toklo replied.

  The floor of the firebeast was covered with flat-face pelts, and things that looked like flat-face hindpaws. Toklo and his companions settled uncomfortably on top of them. Lusa was stiff with fear, unable to speak, and Yakone looked numb with shock.

  I wonder if Ujurak can see us now, Toklo thought, cowering in the belly of a firebeast!

  Time dragged on, and Toklo slid into an uncomfortable doze, too scared to let himself sleep. He could feel his friends’ tension; none of them could relax either.

  He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he was roused by the clang of a flat-face hindpaw hitting the step. Before he could react, a flat-face appeared in the gap.

  Toklo leaped to his paws with a fierce growl. For a moment the flat-face stared at him, his face white and his jaws gaping. Then he let out a hoarse shriek and fell backward.

  “Come on!” Toklo barked.

  Leading the way, he jumped out of the firebeast. The flat-face was crawling about in the snow. Toklo leaped straight over him and charged through the rows of firebeasts; he could hear his friends’ pawsteps pounding after him. So far there was no sign of the flat-faces with pawsticks, nor the ones with firesticks.

  The bears fled between two lines of silent firebeasts. Toklo knew that they wouldn’t be unnoticed for long. Already he could hear shouts and shrieks starting to echo around him, and he spotted flat-faces appearing briefly in the gaps between the firebeasts, then vanishing again.

  As they were approaching the end of the row, two flat-faces stepped out in front of them. They held sticks in their forepaws and brandished them threateningly. Toklo veered away into another gap between two firebeasts, only to find the way blocked by more flat-faces with sticks. He halted, staring in dismay.