The Longest Day (14 page)

Lusa watched the muscles tighten beneath his pelt. She knew he was angry. He scooped up the trout in his jaws and marched along the shore toward the brown bears. Holata and Muna followed him, casting dark looks at Lusa and Kallik as they left.

Kallik nudged Lusa's shoulder. “Well done,” she murmured.

“Thanks.” Sadness tugged at Lusa's heart.

“I guess I'd better get back.” Kallik blinked at Lusa. “You should get some rest.”

“I will,” Lusa promised. She rubbed her muzzle along Kallik's jaw. “See you soon.”

“Yes.” Kallik gazed at her fondly, then waded into the lake and swam away.

Lusa's thoughts whirled, muddled by tiredness. Why did they have to leave? Was she really happier with her own kind of bear? She thought of Ossi and Miki and Chula.
I like them, don't I?
Heading toward the forest, she ducked into the shadow of the trees. Curling into a mossy scoop at the foot of a pine, Lusa closed her eyes. This was supposed to be the end of their journey. But she hadn't expected life with the black bears to be full of worry and grief. Already, two bears were dead. And Toklo's group was fighting among themselves.

Sleep tugged at her weary limbs. Why did life apart from her friends have to be so difficult?

Toklo padded after Holata and Muna.
The trout felt heavy in his jaws, its sweetness gone. His ears burned. He felt like a cub who had been scolded by his mother. How dare they treat him like this? They had probably seen nothing beyond their home territory and this lake.
Cloud-brains!
They wouldn't even know how to make friends with a black bear or a white bear.

As they neared the brown bears' territory, Elsu and Elki bounded toward them. They raced past their parents and scrambled to a halt in front of Toklo.

“Did you catch that?” Elsu stared wide-eyed at the trout. “It's huge!”

Elki fell in beside Toklo as he continued walking. “He caught the salmon last suncircle, remember?”

Elsu sniffed the fish. “It smells yummy.”

Toklo stopped at the edge of the brown bears' camp and dropped the trout. “You can have it,” he told Elsu and Elki. If he couldn't share it with Lusa and Kallik, he might as well let these two young bears have it. They weren't cloud-brains yet.

The other bears had gathered around Shesh beside the parley rock. Holata and Muna had already joined them, jostling for position among the others.

“We must find a bear to take Oogrook's place,” Shesh growled.

Wenona was at the front of the crowd. “How do we decide?”

“The strongest bear should lead us!” Hattack reared onto his hind legs and thrust out his chest.

Toklo spotted Akocha and his mother piling up fresh sticks for the Longest Day ceremony. At least they seemed more interested in honoring the spirits than fighting over who was leader. “Come share this fish!” he called to them.

Akocha galloped toward Toklo, Tayanita following more slowly. Elsu and Elki moved aside to let them share.

As Akocha bit a lump from the fish, his mother dipped her head to Toklo. “Thank you!”

She looked so grateful that Toklo felt less sour about having to share the trout with the brown bears. “I hope you enjoy it,” he grunted, and headed for the bears milling around Shesh.

Shesh was speaking again. “The Longest Day is nearly here.”

Holata glanced at Toklo as he stopped at the edge of the group. “We must choose someone who knows where his loyalties lie,” he growled.

Toklo sank his claws into the pebbles.
These bears have no idea what loyalty means!
He'd stuck by Kallik, Yakone, and Lusa through more than they could imagine.

“We need a leader everyone respects,” Tuari called.

Wenona snorted. “That's obvious!”

A dark-brown male shifted beside her. “Why do we need a leader at all?” he barked. “I don't need to be told what to do.”

A few murmurs of agreement rose from the others.

Shesh lifted his muzzle. “Someone must lead the ceremony!”

The dark-brown bear held his ground. “Anyone can lead the ceremony. It doesn't mean they lead us.”

Hattack barged past him. “Of course we need a leader! Until we decide, there won't be peace among us.”

Toklo held his tongue. He wanted to point out that Hattack had started most of the arguments. If they wanted peace, all they needed was to stop fighting about who should be leader. He saw Shesh's gaze fix on him. His heart sank as he guessed what the old bear would say next.

“Toklo swam to Pawprint Island and brought back the salmon,” Shesh called. “That must mean something!”

“It means he's lucky!” Hattack scoffed.

“Oogrook didn't say Toklo should be leader after him,” Holata pointed out.

Shesh raised a paw. “Oogrook didn't know he wouldn't be here this suncircle.”

“Every bear deserves a chance to be leader!” Wenona insisted.

Muna scowled. “We can't take turns!”

Movement caught Toklo's eye. On the far side of the group, bears were breaking away, their pelts prickling. Toklo strained to see what had disturbed them. A group of bears
were trekking down the beach. New arrivals! He wondered where they'd come from as he heard them bark greetings. Their voices sounded familiar.

Toklo pushed through the crowd.

“Watch where you're stepping!” An old bear tugged his paw from beneath Toklo's.

“Sorry!” He broke from the crowd. “Makya!” It was the she-bear from the Forest of Wolves. Her cubs charged forward as soon as they saw him.

“Toklo!” Flo rubbed her muzzle under his chin.

Fala bounded around him. “We hoped you'd be here!”

Makya's eyes shone. “It's good to see you again, Toklo.”

Izusa was behind her with her cubs Wapi and Yas. Toklo felt a surge of hope as he searched for another face. There she was!

“Aiyanna!” he barked.

The brown she-bear joined the others from the Forest of Wolves as they crowded around Toklo.

Yas was buzzing with excitement. “We've been traveling for
moons
!”

“Wapi kept falling into things,” Flo teased.

Fala huffed with amusement. “He fell into a bramble
and
a river
and
a hole.”

“I did not fall!” Wapi bristled. “I jumped. It was totally on purpose.”

Toklo chuffed at the cub. “I hope you didn't hurt yourself.”

Wapi's pelt was dusty from the journey, but there was no sign of wounds. He nudged Flo. “They're just jealous because
I was always first to find the trail.”

Yas rolled her eyes at Toklo. “Wapi's just showing off because he wants to impress Flo.”

Wapi's eyes flashed with embarrassment. Flo looked at her paws.

“Go wash yourselves in the lake,” Izusa told the cubs. “But stay in the shallows and watch out for currents.” As the cubs hared away, she looked wearily at Toklo. “I don't know where they find the energy.”

Makya shook leaf dust from her fur. “My paws are worn out.”

Toklo nodded. He knew how long their journey had been. “I can show you a good place to make nests,” he told her. “And help you gather ferns for bedding.”

Makya glanced knowingly at Izusa. “We can sort out our own nests,” she told Toklo. “Why don't you show Aiyanna around?”

Toklo snatched a look at Aiyanna before staring at his paws. “Would you like that?” he mumbled.

“Yes, please.” Aiyanna sounded as awkward as he felt. Last time they'd seen each other, they'd got along fine. But now it felt as though they hardly knew each other.

“Come on, Izusa.” Makya began to pad toward the trees. “I think I saw a perfect place to make nests.”

“Should I stay and keep an eye on the cubs?” Izusa glanced toward the shallows, where Flo, Fala, Wapi, and Yas were splashing water at one another and barking happily.

“If they can travel this far, they can survive a bit of water,”
Makya told her. “Besides, we won't be long, and they'll be glad of fresh nests to climb into when they finally get tired.”

The two she-bears ambled toward the woods.

Toklo jerked his nose along the shore without meeting Aiyanna's eye. “Let's go this way.”

He brushed past the group of bears who were still arguing over the best way to choose a leader.

“It should be the best hunter!”

“The fastest runner!”

“The strongest fighter.”

Toklo felt pebbles spatter his paw as Aiyanna drew up alongside him, her flank brushing his for a moment, before she jerked away.

“Sorry about the other bears,” Toklo murmured, feeling embarrassed about the simmering tension in the group.

“Why are you sorry?” Aiyanna asked. “Did you start the argument?”

“No.”

“Then why apologize?”

Toklo glanced at her. He liked the way Aiyanna wasn't afraid to say exactly what she was thinking. “I guess I just expected the gathering to be different.”

“I heard Oogrook is dead,” Aiyanna growled. “Is that why everyone's arguing?”

Toklo nodded. “They don't know how to choose a new leader.”

Aiyanna shrugged. “Let's not worry about that. I want to explore! You were here last suncircle, right?”

“Yes.”

“I've never seen the lake before.” She stopped and stared out over the water. “It's huge!”

“Do you want to swim?”

“Sure,” she told him. “But tell me about Lusa and Kallik and Yakone first. Are they here?” She scanned the long sweep of the lake, narrowing her eyes as her gaze reached the white bears' stretch of beach.

“Kallik and Yakone are over there,” Toklo told her. “Lusa's in the woods with the black bears.” He pointed his nose toward the patch of birch and spruce spreading among the pines.

“Can we meet them?” Aiyanna looked eager.

Toklo shifted his paws. “The other bears don't like us to mix.”

“Really?” Aiyanna looked confused. “But we're all bears. And it's the Longest Day. Isn't that why we're here?”

“We're here to honor the spirits,” Toklo explained uncomfortably. “Not to hang out with black bears and white bears. At least, that's what
they
say.” He nodded toward the others.

Aiyanna's eyes flashed with defiance in a way that Toklo remembered well. “I'm really glad you came,” he murmured.

“So am I.” For the first time she met his gaze without shyness, and they stared at each other for a few moments. Aiyanna blinked first. “Show me your favorite place to fish.”

Toklo turned toward the lake. “There's a stretch over there.” He aimed a paw at where the water was deep blue. “The trout are huge if you swim deep enough.”

“I've only ever fished in rivers,” Aiyanna admitted.

“Let me show you how to fish in a lake.” Toklo began to head for the water.

“Toklo!” Hattack's bark made him halt. The grizzly was trotting toward them, his gaze on Aiyanna. “Introduce me to your friend,” he chuffed.

Toklo narrowed his eyes. “This is Aiyanna,” he grunted warily.

Hattack stopped a bearlength from Aiyanna and dipped his head low. “How do you know Toklo?” he asked as he lifted his muzzle.

“We met in the Forest of Wolves,” Aiyanna told him.

“Is that where you're from?”

“It's where we're both from,” Aiyanna explained.

Toklo shifted his paws. The less Hattack knew about him, the better.

Hattack was still curious. “Is that why you came?” he prompted. “Because Toklo is here?”

Aiyanna glanced away without answering.

“I'm sorry,” Hattack murmured softly. “I'm asking too many questions. You must be tired. Has Toklo shown you a good place to sleep?”

“Makya and Izusa are finding nests,” Aiyanna told him.

“Can I help you hunt?” Hattack offered.

“Toklo was about to show me how to catch fish here.”

Hattack nodded. “That's just like Toklo. He's a great bear. So helpful. It's good that he's here.”

Toklo swallowed a growl.
He wishes I never came!

“I'd better get back to the others,” Hattack announced. “I
promised I'd teach some of the cubs how to catch deer.” He turned and headed away.

“Bye!” Aiyanna called after him. “Nice meeting you!” She turned back to Toklo. “What a great bear!”

Toklo wanted to warn Aiyanna that Hattack's friendliness had been an act. But how would that sound? She might think he was mean. Or jealous. He changed the subject. “Let's fish.” When Aiyanna hung back, Toklo paused. “I can show you a special place I discovered instead, if you like.”
The waterfall!
She'd be impressed.

“I'm kind of tired after the journey,” she admitted.

“Of course.” Toklo's heart sank. Why did Hattack have to come and spoil their reunion? It had been going so well. “I'll walk you back to the others.”