River of Lost Bears (14 page)

Chenoa let out a slow breath. “Don't you miss having a home?”

“I'll have one soon,” Toklo told her.

Yakone jerked his head up, nose twitching. “I smell fish.”

Kallik scrambled to her paws in the hollow. “Have you been up long?” she called to Toklo.

“I just woke.” Toklo tossed a fish down to the white bears. “Chenoa caught this.”

“Thanks, Chenoa.” Yakone caught a second fish as Toklo tossed it down.

Kallik nosed Lusa gently. “How are you today?”

She raised her head, yawning. “Hungry.”

“That's a good sign.” Kallik looked up at Toklo.

“It is.” He flung Lusa a fish. “How's the pain?”

“Better than yesterday.” Lusa took a bite from the fish. She screwed up her nose and grimaced. “I can't wait for berry season.”

When they'd eaten, Toklo led the way out of the forest. As he broke from the trees, rain lashed his face. He glanced back at Yakone and Kallik. They were going to hate this weather. Lusa was limping. Had she lied about the pain in her rump?

Chenoa must have noticed, too. “I'll look out for more hornwort,” she promised.

Lusa looked gratefully at her. “Thanks.”

“Do you want to be carried?” Kallik offered.

Lusa shook her head. “I'll manage.”

Toklo watched her anxiously as he padded onto the shore. Were her wounds healing? The mountains were tugging harder in his belly, but he didn't want Lusa to suffer. Should they rest until she was better? At least there was food and shelter here. What if Lusa collapsed when they reached the mountains? There were stretches of barren rock where prey and herbs were scarce.

With worry prickling in his fur, Toklo pushed on. He kept one eye on Lusa as she followed beside Chenoa. The rocks were wet with rain and slippery underpaw. They made slow progress upstream. Yakone didn't complain, but Toklo saw him sliding and stubbing his claws with winces of pain. Kallik padded carefully beside him, stopping every now and then to shake the rain from her eyes.

Toklo felt a wet pelt brush his. Chenoa had caught up with him. “How are you doing?” he asked.

“Wouldn't it be easier walking in the forest?” Water dripped from Chenoa's snout and eyelashes.

“Kallik and Yakone aren't used to the roots and brambles yet,” Toklo told her. “They manage better here. They won't yank out a claw or twist a paw.”

Chenoa glanced back at the two white bears slithering over a smooth, wet boulder. “Are you sure?”

Toklo glanced up at the gray clouds. “I'm sorry about the weather.”

“Not your fault,” Chenoa pointed out.

“We're just used to traveling whatever the conditions.”

“What's the hurry?” Chenoa asked. “Are you hoping to be home before cold-earth?”

Toklo snorted. “I hope I'm home way before that.”

“So what's the rush?”

“If we waited out every bad-weather day, we'd never have made it to the Endless Ice.”

“Why did you go there in the first place?”

Toklo stopped and stared, not listening to Chenoa's question. Ahead, a flat stone bridge spanned the river. Its legs sank into the frothing water. Firebeasts roared across its back. “We're going to have to cross a BlackPath,” he called over his shoulder. He saw Yakone's fur spike.

“Do we have to?” Lusa queried.

“The current's too strong to swim under it.” Toklo eyed the river churning angrily beneath the bridge. He padded forward, following the shore till the shadow of the raised BlackPath was a bearlength away. Then he veered into the cover of the trees. They thinned here, where the bridge jutted into the forest. The roar and stink of firebeasts filled the air. Toklo smelled fear and knew it wasn't just his own. No one spoke as they padded over the forest floor. Then light showed ahead, and the trees opened onto a bracken-covered stretch at the edge of the BlackPath.

“Wait.” Toklo stared at the hard, dark surface. A firebeast sped past, sending up a shower of filthy water. He watched the gap that followed it, feeling for its length before the next firebeast.

“They're huge,” Chenoa breathed beside him.

This BlackPath was as wide as a river. Toklo guessed that its firebeasts were bigger than any Chenoa had seen on the sheltered BlackPaths in the deep forest. Their faces flashed, wide and shiny. The ground shook beneath their spinning paws. Another thundered past, spraying Toklo's fur and washing his snout with choking fumes. Chenoa retched beside him. He glanced at her. Her eyes were streaming, her rain-soaked pelt slick against her body. She suddenly looked as small as a newborn cub.

Will she make it across?

Toklo lifted his muzzle. He'd get her across. “Kallik,” he said, glancing past Yakone. The white bear was peering from the trees. “You keep an eye on Lusa.”

Lusa jerked around, as though she were about to snarl at him. Then she paused and nodded. “Just give us the signal, and I'll stay close to Kallik.”

“Chenoa?” Toklo turned to the young she-bear. “Are you ready?” He could see a space behind the next firebeast. It looked like there'd be time for them all to cross together.

Chenoa didn't answer. Her wide gaze was fixed on the BlackPath.

“Just run when I give the order,” Toklo told her.

The firebeast howled past.

“Now!” Toklo sprang forward, crashing through bracken, out onto the stone. His claws skidded on the hard, wet surface. The white fur of Kallik and Yakone flashed at the corner of his eyes, shadowed by Lusa's black pelt.

Chenoa?
He glanced over his shoulder.
Where is she?

“I can't!” Chenoa stood trembling at the edge of the BlackPath. “I can't do it!”

Kallik's paws thumped heavily over the
rain-slicked BlackPath. Toklo, Lusa, and Yakone streaked along beside her. The other side was close. One leap and she'd be clear.

“Chenoa!”

Toklo's panicked cry made Kallik skid to a halt. Through the driving rain, she could see Chenoa still crouching on the other side. “Chenoa! Hurry up!”

A firebeast thundered over the horizon. Kallik caught Toklo's gaze. It was wild with panic. “I'll get her!” she called.

“No!” Toklo began to turn.

Kallik glimpsed Lusa stumbling beside Toklo.
She doesn't have the strength to cross on her own!
“Help Lusa,” Kallik barked at Toklo. “I'll go get Chenoa!” She swung around, away from Toklo, Lusa, and Yakone.

“Kallik! No!”

She ignored Yakone's angry howl and raced back for Chenoa.

“Leave me!” Chenoa cringed, flat against the ground. “Don't come back!” Her glazed eyes were lost in terror. “You'll die!”

The glittering face of the firebeast raced closer. Kallik's paws burned as she pelted across its path. The stink of it choked her. “Get back!”

Chenoa was frozen at the edge of the BlackPath as the firebeast thundered closer. It would smash right through her if she stayed where she was. Pushing hard with her hind legs, Kallik leaped and slammed into Chenoa, sending them both tumbling into the bracken.

The firebeast passed like a hurricane, ripping the stalks nearest to them and tearing at the fur on Kallik's back. She sprawled on her side, trying to catch her breath. Suddenly she noticed Chenoa struggling beneath her. Rolling off, Kallik filled her lungs with dirty air. Chenoa lay limp beside her.

“Are you okay?” Kallik thrust her muzzle close to the black bear.

Chenoa whimpered. “I can't do it.”

Kallik bared her teeth. “Yes, you can.” She scrambled to her paws and scanned the BlackPath. Yakone, Toklo, and Lusa sheltered in the trees beyond, watching with round, anxious eyes. “We can't stay here. We need to move.”

“I can't do it,” Chenoa repeated stubbornly.

“If you live your whole life without crossing BlackPaths,” Kallik growled, “it'll be half a life. Like a captured bear. No choice. Just the same small stretch of forest for as long as you live.”

“I don't care.”

Kallik shoved her muzzle under Chenoa's flank and heaved her to her paws. “I care,” she spat. “We're crossing that BlackPath. The others need us.”

Chenoa turned stiffly and gazed at Toklo, Yakone, and Lusa.

Toklo called across the gap, “Come on, Chenoa. You can do it!”

“They're waiting,” Kallik pressed. She felt a glimmer of relief as Chenoa lifted a paw and began to pad to the edge of the black stone. “I'll make sure you get across,” Kallik promised.

“And what about you?” The young she-bear's eyes clouded. “Will you make it?”

“Of course I will,” Kallik huffed. “I've crossed more BlackPaths than you've eaten bunchberries.”

A firebeast roared past. Kallik pressed against Chenoa, keeping her from whirling around and racing back into the trees. The young bear was as stiff as day-old prey.

“Look.” Kallik pointed her snout to the next firebeast, then to the space beyond it. “We'll go after this one. There'll be plenty of time, but hurry.”

Chenoa nodded her head slowly.

Kallik took a breath, to calm her own fear. She screwed up her eyes as the firebeast tore past. “Now!” Wind screaming in her ears, she nosed Chenoa onto the BlackPath.

Chenoa lunged forward.

“Keep going!” Kallik urged.

Chenoa plunged ahead, ears flat, head down as she raced for her life. Kallik charged after her, keeping a few steps behind, ready to shove Chenoa forward if she slowed even a pawstep. Blinded by rain, Kallik felt the ground soften beneath her paws. They'd reached the other side!

Chenoa stumbled into the forest. Lusa rushed to meet her, pressing her muzzle into Chenoa's ruffled pelt.

“What in the spirits were you doing?” Yakone's angry bark took Kallik by surprise. “You seal-brain, you almost got flattened!”

“Someone had to help her,” Kallik said.

Yakone's eyes blazed. “You risked your life!”

“She's one of us now!” Kallik bristled. “We take care of one another, or hadn't you noticed?”

She stomped into the woods. Toklo and Lusa were already pushing past a bramble bush up ahead, guiding Chenoa between them. Kallik followed them. Yakone trailed a few steps behind her, growling under his breath every time he had to climb over roots or veer around brambles. Kallik's pelt itched with irritation.

As the noise of the BlackPath faded, Chenoa lifted her muzzle and began to trot more calmly. She stopped when Lusa stumbled. “You need some help.” Before the black bear could argue, Chenoa grabbed her scruff and started to shove her onto Toklo's back.

Lusa grabbed onto his thick pelt and clambered onto his shoulders. “Thanks.”

Kallik smelled blood. A dark patch was staining Toklo's fur where Lusa lay. The race across the BlackPath must have opened her wounds.

“Are you going to ignore me all day?” Yakone muttered.

Kallik glanced over her shoulder. “If I have to.”

“You should have let Toklo go back for her,” Yakone growled.

“He was taking care of Lusa.”

“What if you'd been killed?” Yakone snorted. “I'd be stuck here on my own.” He glanced past Kallik at Toklo and Lusa.

Chenoa was padding at Toklo's shoulder, snuffling with amusement. “Can I have the next ride?” she teased.

Lusa lifted her head. “You could hop on behind me.”

“Don't even try,” Toklo puffed. “Lusa's heavy enough as it is!”

“Hey!” Lusa prodded him with a paw.

Yakone growled again. “So it's okay for black bears to stick together. But not white bears.”

Kallik turned on him. “It's not like that and you know it!”