Seekers #6: Spirits in the Stars (23 page)

“Yes,” Lusa replied.

“The other white bears don’t know about it,” Aga went on. “My mother showed me, and her mother before that, and so on for all the time there have been bears on this island. It is a secret known only to one bear at a time. I will tell Illa when my turn comes to join the Iqniq.”

“The stars are—” Lusa began, only to fall silent as Toklo gave her a nudge.

Kallik realized that Lusa wanted to tell Aga about the way the stars in the cave had changed.
But there’s no need for that,
she thought.
Perhaps Aga will discover it for herself one day.

“Everything is safe,” Toklo said solemnly, with a long look at Aga.

Aga nodded. “What will you do now?” she asked.

Kallik, Toklo, and Lusa exchanged glances; then Toklo shrugged. “Go home, I suppose,” he said.

“That’s right,” Lusa agreed. “We don’t belong here, on the ice. We need to find rivers and trees and sunshine.”

“And what about you?” Aga turned to Kallik. “You don’t need trees and rivers. You could stay here, if you like.”

“That’s a great idea!” Yakone put in; the red-pelted bear had padded up to listen without Kallik being aware of him.

Kallik took a deep breath. Aga’s offer had surprised her, and Yakone’s enthusiastic agreement sent a warm glow through her from snout to paws. She liked the way that these bears lived together, instead of roaming solitarily on the ice. The thought of staying tempted her like the scent of fresh-caught prey. But she knew what her answer had to be.

“Thank you, Aga, but this is not my home. My home is on the Frozen Sea, where the bears are in even greater trouble. And I must try to find my brother, Taqqiq, again. I cannot live without knowing that he is safe and well fed.”

Aga nodded. “I understand. Travel well, all of you. I shall think of you each night when I look at the stars.”

Kallik wondered whether the wise old bear knew where Ujurak had gone.
Perhaps she’ll find out for sure when she next visits the cave of stars. I hope so.

While Kallik stood in thought, Toklo had turned away. “Come on,” he said. “We should get going while the weather is good.”

“Feel free to hunt from our seals,” Aga invited them.

But Kallik’s paws were itching to be gone, and she guessed that her friends felt the same. They would be able to hunt some prey on their way.

“Plants for me!” Lusa exclaimed, making a face. “I’ve eaten enough seal to last me the rest of my life.”

As they headed toward the shore, Kallik spotted Kissimi as he broke away from Illa and the other she-bear and scampered toward her. Tunerq padded after him.

Please, no,
Kallik thought, anguished.
Don’t ask to come with me, little one. Don’t make our parting harder than it need be.

But Kissimi seemed quite cheerful as he bounced up to her and butted her leg with his head, letting out an excited squeak.

“He’ll be fine with us,” Tunerq assured Kallik. “I’m going to teach him to hunt seals when he’s bigger.”

Kissimi puffed out his chest. “Big now!” he announced.

“You’ll be a great hunter, little one,” Kallik murmured. “Be good and listen to your elders and . . .” Her voice choked, and she bent to nuzzle his head.

“Come on.” Toklo gave her a nudge, gruffly sympathetic.

“Good-bye, Kissimi.” Kallik felt as though her heart had been trampled by caribou.

“Bye, K’lik.” Kissimi touched his nose to hers.

Kallik drew in his scent for the last time and gave the top of his head one final lick. “There. Go to your family,” she murmured.

Tunerq dipped his head to her and nudged Kissimi away, back to the other white bears.

Kallik was turning to follow Toklo and Lusa when Yakone stepped up to her and planted himself in front of her. “I don’t want you to leave,” he said bluntly.

“I’m sorry,” Kallik said, a new pain invading her heart. “I wish things could have been different. . . .”

“They can be,” Yakone responded. “Let me come with you.”

Kallik stared at him, not knowing how to reply. “But this is your home . . .” she began.

“My home is wherever I want it to be,” Yakone countered.

Kallik gazed into his eyes. She yearned to say yes, but she shrank from allowing him to make such a momentous decision, to leave his home and his family and everything he had ever known.
He would do that for me?

“You could be making a terrible mistake,” she faltered.

“Maybe. But at least let me be free to make it.” Incredibly, Yakone’s eyes held a mischievous glint. “Are you going to tell me that you do even worse things than steal cubs?”

Kallik felt a rumble of pleasure rising from deep inside her. “You’ll have to wait and find out!”

As she finished speaking, Toklo padded up with Lusa behind him. “What’s going on?” he asked, glancing from Kallik to Yakone and back again.

“Yakone wants to travel with us,” Kallik explained.

Toklo narrowed his eyes, sizing up the young red-pelted bear. “Well, I guess extra paws for hunting won’t hurt,” he grunted. “What do you think, Lusa?”

The black bear hesitated, while Kallik waited anxiously for her reply. She knew that Lusa had been hurt by how much time she had spent with Kissimi, and she didn’t want her friend to be jealous of Yakone.

There’s no need. Lusa will always be my friend.
Kallik stretched out a paw, gazing at Lusa as if her eyes could reassure the black she-bear of all her affection and trust.

Finally, to Kallik’s relief, Lusa nodded. “We came here as four,” she pronounced. “We should still be four. Ujurak would like that. Let’s go.”

While Yakone turned back to say good-bye to the other white bears, Kallik gazed up at the sky. She knew that somewhere beyond the blue, Ujurak was watching them. His scent whisked around her, and she heard him whisper.

“I will be with you every step of the way home.”

“Thank you,” Kallik whispered back.

KEEP WATCH FOR

OMEN OF THE STARS

BOOK 4:

SIGN OF THE MOON

Prologue

Water thundered down from the mountaintop
, screening the entrance to the cave with a shimmering cascade. Gray light filtered through it and shadows gathered in the corners of the cavern like soft black wings. Near the sheet of falling water, two kits were scuffling over a bunch of feathers, batting it back and forth and letting out shrill squeals of excitement. The pale tabby fur of the little she-cat and the tom’s brown pelt almost blended into the dark stone floor.

At the back of the cave, an old brown tabby tom was crouching in the mouth of a tunnel. His eyes were narrowed, and his amber gaze never left the kits. He was motionless, except for the occasional twitch of his ears.

The tabby kit leaped high into the air, clawing at the feathers; as she landed with the bunch in her paws her brother flung himself on top of her, rolling over and snapping at the feathers with teeth like tiny white thorns.

“That’s enough.” A gentle voice came from close by as a graceful brown tabby she-cat rose to her paws and padded across to the kits. “Mind you don’t get too close to the water. And Pine, why don’t you try jumping high like Lark? You need to practice for when you’re a prey-hunter.”

“I’d rather be a cave-guard,” Pine mewed. “I’d fight every cat that tried to trespass on our territory.”

“Well, you can’t, because I will,” Lark retorted. “I’m going to be a cave-guard
and
hunt prey, so there!”

“That’s not how we do things,” their mother began; a swift glance over her shoulder showed that she was aware of the old cat watching from the shadows. “Every Tribe kit has to—”

She broke off at the sound of pawsteps coming from the narrow path that led behind the waterfall and into the cave. A broad-shouldered gray-furred cat appeared, followed by the rest of his patrol. Instantly the kits let out squeals of welcome and hurled themselves at him.

“Careful!” Their mother followed and gathered the kits in with her tail. “Your father has been on border patrol. He must be tired.”

“I’m fine, Brook.” The gray tom blinked at her affectionately and gave her ear a quick lick. “It was an easy trip today.”

“Stormfur, I don’t know how you can say that!” a black tom put in, shaking water from his pelt as he left the cliff path. “We waste our time and wear out our paws patrolling that border, and for what?”

“Peace and quiet,” Stormfur replied, his voice even. “We aren’t going to get rid of those cats, even though we do think they’re intruders. The best we can hope for is to protect our own territory.”

“The whole of the mountains should be our territory!” the black tom spat.

“Give it a rest, Screech,” a dark ginger she-cat meowed, with an irritable twitch of her tail. “Stormfur’s right. Things aren’t like that anymore.”

“But are we safe?” asked Brook. She glanced at the kits who were now tussling over a morsel of rabbit fur.

“The borders are holding, mostly,” Stormfur told Brook, a worried look in his amber eyes. “But we did pick up the scent of other cats in a couple of places. And there were eagle feathers scattered on the rock. They’ve been stealing prey again.”

The ginger she-cat shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do about that.”

“We can’t just let it go, Swoop,” Stormfur murmured. “Otherwise they’ll think they can do exactly what they like, and there was no point in setting the borders in the first place. I think we should increase the patrols and be ready to fight.”

“More patrols?” Screech lashed his tail angrily.

“It makes sense to—”

“No!”

Stormfur jumped as a voice rasped out from the shadows and he saw the old tabby cat standing a tail-length away.

“Stoneteller!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Evidently.” The old cat’s neck fur was bristling and there was a trace of anger in his eyes. “There will be no more patrols,” he went on. “The Tribe has enough to eat, and with the thaw approaching, there will soon be more prey: eggs and young birds stolen from nests.”

Stormfur looked as if he wanted to argue, but he picked up a flickering glance from Brook and a tiny shake of her head. Reluctantly he dipped his head to Stoneteller. “Very well.”

The old cat stalked away. Making an effort to flatten the ruffled fur on his neck, Stormfur turned to his kits. “Have you behaved yourselves today?”

“They’ve been very good,” Brook told him, her eyes warm. “Lark is growing so strong and sturdy, and Pine jumps really well.”

“We’ve been hunting,” Lark announced, pointing with her tail toward the bedraggled lump of feathers. “I caught three eagles!”

“Didn’t,” Pine contradicted her. “I killed one, or it would have flown away with you!”

Brook met Stormfur’s eyes. “I can’t seem to make them understand that they’ll have separate duties when they’re to-bes.”

“They shouldn’t have to decide now,” Stormfur began, only to break off as Brook flicked her tail toward Stoneteller, who was still in earshot. He let out a sigh. “They’ll learn,” he murmured, a trace of regret in his tone. “Is there any fresh-kill left? I’m starving!”

As Brook led Stormfur over to the fresh-kill pile, to-bes and their mentors headed back into the cave, and Stormfur’s kits shot across the cavern floor to intercept them.

“Tell us about outside!” Lark squeaked. “Did you catch any prey?”

“
I
want to go out,” Pine added.

One of the to-bes butted his shoulder gently with his head. “You’re too small. An eagle would eat you in one bite.”

“No it wouldn’t! I’d
fight
it,” Pine declared, fluffing up his brown fur.

The to-be let out a
mrrow
of laughter. “I’d like to see that! But you still have to wait until you’re eight moons old.”

“Mouse dung!”

Stoneteller stood watching the to-bes and kits romping together for a few heartbeats before he headed back toward his tunnel. As he approached it, a gray-brown she-cat rose to her paws and padded up to him.

“Stoneteller, I must talk to you.”

The old tabby glared at her. “I’ve said all I have to say. You know that, Bird.”

Bird did not reply, merely stood there waiting, until the old cat let out a long sigh. “Come, then. But don’t expect any different answers.”

Stoneteller led the way into the second tunnel, and Bird followed. The sounds of the young cats died away behind them, replaced by the steady drip of water.

The tunnel led into a cave much smaller than the one the cats had left. Pointed stones rose up from the floor and hung down from the roof. Some of them had joined in the middle, as if the cats were threading their way through a stone forest. Water trickled down the stones and the cave walls to make pools on the floor; their surface reflected a faint gray light from a jagged crack in the roof. All was silent except for the drip of water and the distant roaring of the falls, now sunk to a whisper.

Stoneteller turned to face Bird. “Well?”

“We’ve spoken about this before. You know you should have chosen your successor long ago.”

The old cat let out a snort of disgust. “There’s time yet.”

“Don’t tell that to me,” Bird retorted. “My mother was your littermate. I know exactly how old you are. You were chosen from that litter by the Tribe’s previous Healer, the last Teller of the Pointed Stones. You have served the Tribe well, but you can’t expect to stay here forever. Sooner or later you will be summoned to the Tribe of Endless Hunting. You
must
choose the next Stoneteller!”

“Why?” Bird flinched at the harshness of the old cat’s retort but Stoneteller continued. “So that the Tribe can go on, generation after generation, scrabbling their lives from these uncaring stones?”

Bird’s voice quivered with shock when she replied. “This is our
home
! We have earned the right to live here many times over! We fought off the trespassers, remember?” She padded closer to Stoneteller and held out one paw appealingly. “How can you think of betraying our ancestors by not preserving what they began?”

Stoneteller turned his head away; there was a flash of something in his eyes that warned Bird he was not telling her everything.

At that moment a thin claw-scratch of new moon appeared from behind a cloud; its light sliced down through the hole in the cave roof and struck one of the pools of water, turning its surface to silver. Stoneteller gazed at it.

“It is the night of the new moon,” he murmured. “The night when the Tribe of Endless Hunting speaks to me from the sky, through reflections in the water. Very well, Bird That Rides the Wind. I promise you I will look for signs tonight.”

“Thank you,” Bird whispered. Touching Stoneteller affectionately on the shoulder with her tail-tip, she padded quietly out of the cave. “Good luck,” she mewed as she disappeared into the tunnel.

When she had gone, Stoneteller approached the edge of the pool and looked into the water. Then he raised one paw and brought it down with force on the surface, shattering the reflection into shards of light that flickered and died.

“I will never listen to you again!” Each word was forced out through bared teeth. “We trusted the Tribe of Endless Hunting, but you deserted us when we most needed your help.”

Turning his back on the pool, he paced among the pointed stones, his claws scraping against the rough cave floor. “I hate what the Tribe has become!” he snarled. “I hate how we have taken on Clan ways. Why could we not survive alone?” Halting beneath the rift in the roof, he raised his head with a burning gaze that challenged the moon. “Why did you bring us here if we were doomed to fail?”