River of Lost Bears (29 page)

“Great spirits!” Toklo cursed as he tripped.

“Why don't we walk along the shore?” Kallik suggested. They were shadowing the river; she could see it through the trees.

“There's more cover here,” Toklo puffed.

“Why do we need cover?”

As she spoke, Yakone lurched between them. Lusa rushed to help, ducking under Yakone's muzzle as it jerked forward.

Kallik could hardly breathe for the pain shooting through her flank. “We have to rest,” she growled to Toklo.

“We can't stop,” he hissed.

“But we're both exhausted!”

Yakone was growling under his breath, lost in a world of pain.

Please don't let him die.
Guilt swamped Kallik. It was okay to risk her own life for her friends. But she'd asked Yakone to risk his, and now he might never make it home.

Yakone fell silent and slumped heavily between them. He was unconscious.

“We can't carry him any farther,” Kallik grunted.

Toklo swung his head toward the trees. “There's a thicket over there.” He jerked his muzzle to a bramble tangled between two pines.

Lusa ran ahead and sniffed it. “The earth's soft and clean.”

Panting, Kallik guided Yakone toward it. Toklo pressed on, and between them, they hauled the white bear across the needle-strewn forest floor.

“Clear a path to the middle of the brambles,” Toklo ordered Lusa.

Kallik frowned. “How are we going to get him in there?” She flicked her nose toward a tree a bearlength away. The earth was hollowed out between the roots. “He'd be much more comfortable there,” she puffed. “And it'd be easy to lie him down.”

“He'll be safer in here.” Toklo shifted to let Lusa past.

“Safer from what?” Lusa asked as she tugged at the branches and pressed them aside with her rump.

Kallik narrowed her eyes. “Are you scared there will be wolverines?”

Toklo's gaze darkened. “The scent of blood might attract scavengers,” he mumbled. “Help me get him in.”

Kallik stumbled forward with Yakone. She could see a space just beyond the passage Lusa had made. Toklo squeezed into it and turned to grab Yakone's pelt in his jaws. He dragged the white bear inside, hissing with the strain. Screwing up her eyes against the twigs, Kallik shouldered her way in after him, shoving Yakone past the snagging thorns.

Inside the bramble thicket, they let him fall. The white bear collapsed on the soft earth, his head lolling sideways, his flanks barely moving. The branches closed around them, Lusa shut outside.

“Kallik?” Lusa called through the thorns. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I don't know!” Kallik smelled Yakone's breath. It had a sour tang. Blood was still pulsing from his paw. “We have to stop the bleeding.”

Toklo blinked at her. “How?”

Lusa's black snout appeared under the branches. “We could pack it with mud.”

“Mud might turn the wound bad,” Kallik pointed out.

Lusa scowled, then brightened. “I know!” She began to squeeze out of the thicket.

“Wait!” Toklo's bark was sharp with fear.

Lusa froze. Kallik jerked her muzzle around. Toklo had sounded like he was scared to let Lusa go out alone. He'd always been protective of the young bear, but he knew better than to treat her like a helpless cub.

“I'm just going to get herbs,” Lusa told him.

“I'll come with you.” Toklo followed as she burrowed her way out. “Stay out of sight,” he warned Kallik before he disappeared.

Kallik blinked. Why was Toklo being so cautious? Was there something he wasn't telling them? She curled around Yakone and began lapping the fur on his flank in long, smooth strokes.
Hang on, Yakone,
she begged.
We'll take care of you.
She listened to his shallow breathing, willing his flank to keep rising and falling. Lusa and Toklo were taking ages. Sunshine glittered through the branches, dappling Yakone's grubby pelt.

Hurry up!

Pawsteps sounded outside the bush. Kallik sat up, tasting the air.

“Toklo!” She pulled aside a pawful of branches, wincing as thorns pricked her pads. “Lusa!”

The black bear pushed through the thicket, herb scent rolling ahead of her. Kallik recognized it at once. “Chenoa's leaves!”

Lusa was clutching a bunch between her jaws. She spat them onto the floor of the makeshift den as Toklo squeezed in behind her. “They fixed my wounds.” Lusa's eyes sparkled. “There was lots of it by the shore. We can grab as much as we need.”

“We're not staying here longer than we have to,” Toklo warned.

Kallik looked at him in surprise. “Why not?”

“We're just resting, then moving on.”

Why was he in such a hurry to get them away from here?

Lusa was busy chewing up leaves. She spat the pulp onto Yakone's paw and began pressing it into the wide gap where his toes used to be. Kallik flinched away, feeling queasy.

Lusa lifted her head. “It's still bleeding.” Her eyes glittered with worry. “The leaves aren't stopping it.”

Kallik's belly tightened. The floor of the den was already red with Yakone's blood. If he lost much more, he would be dead.

Toklo nosed Lusa out of the way and inspected Yakone's paw. “We have to stop it flowing.”

Lusa tipped her head. “Like blocking a river?”

Toklo narrowed his eyes. “But instead of stopping it flowing out, we can block it farther upstream.”

Kallik blinked. “Like a beaver dam! But how?”

Toklo barged out of the bush and returned a moment later with a long, soft tendril of knotweed between his teeth. He lifted Yakone's leg with a front paw and felt along it with the other. “This is the softest place,” he announced when his paw was halfway to Yakone's knee. He draped the knotweed over it. “Hold that,” he told Kallik.

She pressed the stem in place, feeling it rigid under her pad, and watched curiously as Toklo used his free paw to wrap the trailing end around Yakone's leg. He drew the tendril up the other side, grabbing it with his teeth. “Keep pressing, Kallik,” he mumbled. Kallik pressed harder, leaning out of the way as Toklo tugged the stem taut. Hooking it with his paw, he wrapped the tendril around Yakone's leg again. It flopped from his grasp.

“Stay still,” Toklo ordered, reaching for the dangling end of the knotweed. He snagged it with a claw and pulled hard. The stem tightened, cutting into Yakone's pelt. Toklo leaned close and nipped the loops he'd made with his teeth, pulling hard enough to push the trailing end underneath with his claw. “That should hold.” He sat back and cocked his head. “I hope.”

Lusa leaned forward and peered at the white bear's paw. “The bleeding is slowing!” she barked triumphantly. Quickly, she chewed more pulp and wadded it into the wound.

Yakone stirred. “Where are we?” He tried to lift his head but fell back, panting.

Kallik lapped his cheek. “We've made a den for you,” she murmured. “We're just fixing your wound.”

He fell against her, his eyes closing as he drifted back into unconsciousness.

“Has it stopped bleeding?” Kallik asked Lusa.

Lusa looked up from his paw. “Yes.”

Kallik felt her pelt smooth. Yakone was going to be okay.
For now.

Toklo lifted his muzzle. Kallik could see him sniffing the air. Was he checking for something? “We'll give it time to dry,” he growled. “Then we'd better get moving.”

Get moving?
He had bees in his brain! Walking might start the bleeding again! Kallik got to her paws. She had to find out what was bugging him. “Lusa, stay here with Yakone. I'm going hunting with Toklo.”

Lusa stared at her. “Hunting?”

“We won't be much use to Yakone if we're half-starved.” She began to push through the thick bramble wall. “Come on, Toklo.”

“But—” He started to object.

She cut him off. “Come
on
.”

Outside the thicket, Kallik shook out her pelt. It was specked with thorns. She'd be picking them out for days. “What's going on?” she demanded as Toklo nosed his way from the bush. “Why are we hiding in the world's prickliest den? And why do you want us to keep moving? Yakone's badly hurt!”

Toklo stalked away between the trees. “Keep your voice down!”

Kallik hurried after him. His gaze flitted over the undergrowth. He looked
hunted
. “Toklo,” she began. “What aren't you telling me?”

He lowered his head. “I don't want to scare Lusa,” he murmured.

“You're scaring
me
!” Kallik snapped.

Toklo swallowed. “We're being tracked by coyotes.”

“Coyotes?” Shock jolted through her. “I didn't know there
were
coyotes in the forest.” She recalled seeing them in the distance when they were traveling across open plains, before they reached the Endless Ice. But never under trees.

“I've seen them,” Toklo told her. “They look like wolves, and they're traveling in a pack.”

“You've
seen
them? When?”

“When Yakone was stuck in the trap.”

“Why didn't you tell us?” Alarm raged though Kallik.

“You had enough to deal with.” Toklo met her gaze. “I didn't think it would help.”

Kallik scanned the undergrowth, suddenly aware of every trembling leaf and twitching branch. “How many?”

“I couldn't tell, but one of them looked right at me.” Toklo shivered. “I'm nearly twice as big as it was, but it just stared at me. It wasn't scared at all.”

Kallik fought down a howl of panic. “There must be a lot of them.”

“Yes.” Toklo's gaze glittered with fear. “Normally, we could take them on. But Yakone can't fight and—” He hesitated.

Kallik understood. “We'd have to protect him.”

“We couldn't fight properly with one eye on Yakone.”

“So we have to keep moving.”

Toklo nodded. “If we can get out of their territory, they might leave us alone.”

Kallik glanced back toward the brambles. They'd left Lusa and Yakone. “We should get back.”

As she turned, Toklo touched her shoulder with his muzzle. “They're safe for now.”

“You can't be sure.”

“We should hunt,” Toklo pressed. “Like you said, we're not much use to Yakone if we're half-starved.”

“Okay.” Kallik wasn't hungry, but they had to keep their strength up. “Do you think we can outpace the coyotes?”

Toklo shifted his paws. “I hope so.”

“What about Yakone?” She tried to read Toklo's gaze. “He can hardly walk.” She knew that if it weren't for the wounded white bear, they could be clear of the coyotes' territory by sunup.

“We're not leaving him behind,” Toklo growled. “We stay together until the end.”

Kallik scuffed through pine needles, sniffing for prey. Budding leaves brushed her pelt. Trees blocked her view. Every bush might hide a coyote. Or a flat-face trap like the one that had hurt Yakone.

She pushed the thought away, tasting prey-scent. Toklo's brown back moved through bracken nearby. Kallik was anxious about losing sight of him, but she knew she must hunt. She forced herself to focus, spotting orange feathers flickering between waving fronds of quillwort.
Partridge.
Treading softly, she stalked it, her heart beating so loud she was sure it must hear her.

She stopped a bearlength away, scanning the ground for traps. The partridge strutted through stripes of sunlight, pecking among the needles. Hunkering down, Kallik fixed her gaze on its back. She tensed, and lunged. With a squawk of terror, the partridge fluttered into the air. Kallik reared and swiped it down with a paw. It fell, stunned, to the ground. She nipped its neck between her teeth and carried it to Toklo, slowing as she saw him digging into the earth, his rump swaying as he rooted out prey.

“Toklo?” she hissed.

He turned, a dead rabbit in his jaws. “Wait!” He dropped his catch and began scooping rabbit kits from the hole, killing each with a bite. When he'd finished, he straightened and picked up the limp bodies in his teeth.

Kallik tensed. Prey-scent filled the air. What if it brought the coyotes? “Come on.” She hurried for the den.

“Slow down!” Toklo's muffled growl sounded behind. “We need to make sure we aren't followed.”

Heart lurching, Kallik scanned the undergrowth. Forcing herself to walk slowly, she kept her ears open. Partridge scent filled her nose. A coyote could be a bearlength away, and she wouldn't know. Or they might have sniffed out the den. Her heart quickened, and she broke into a run as she caught sight of the brambles. Panic rising, she burst through the branches.