Island of Shadows (18 page)

Yakone veered toward the flat-face dens, taking the lead so that Lusa could get a good view of what lay ahead. The others followed.

“Keep a lookout for firebeasts,” Lusa warned them. “They're probably asleep in this weather, but we can't take chances.”

Snow had blotted out any BlackPaths, and Lusa couldn't spot any firebeasts as they drew closer to the dens. There was no sign of flat-faces moving around, either. Clearly the snow had driven them inside.

“Follow this wall,” Lusa instructed Yakone as the first snow-covered den loomed up ahead of them. “Toklo, keep a lookout behind.”

“Why is she telling you what to do?” Nanulak asked. “She's only a black bear.”

It was Kallik who replied. “Because she knows the most about no-claws.”

“And what's with all this creeping around, anyway?” Nanulak went on impatiently, as if Kallik hadn't spoken. “Why don't we just run in and grab what we want?”

Lusa felt her annoyance rising, but she clamped her jaws shut and tried to concentrate on figuring out which of the weird humped shapes under the snow around the den might be a metal can with food inside it. Kallik had already crept up to the nearest and was scraping at the snow to reveal what was underneath.

“We don't want to disturb the flat-faces.” Toklo scanned their surroundings as he explained to Nanulak in a low voice, “We'll just slip in and out without any trouble.”

“What?” Nanulak's voice was a squeal of outrage. “Slip in and out? Without any trouble? I can't believe you just said that!”

Yakone had halted, glancing back, and when Lusa looked over her shoulder she saw Nanulak and Toklo confronting each other.

“Said what?” Toklo asked. “Why would we want to bother the flat-faces if we can get food without?”

“Because that's not what brown bears do!” Nanulak retorted. “We're bigger and stronger than the no-claws, so we should take what we want.”

Toklo took a step toward Nanulak, shaking his head exasperatedly. “Listen, Nanulak, we've done this before. You haven't.”

“Are you a coward, or what?” Nanulak challenged Toklo. “You're a
brown bear
! Brown bears aren't scared of no-claws. No-claws should be scared of us.”

Lusa remembered how terrified Nanulak had been when they found him.
I can't believe
he's
accusing Toklo of being a coward. Toklo isn't afraid of anything!

“It's not cowardice; it's common sense,” Yakone pointed out.

But Nanulak and Toklo still stood facing each other, their gazes locked together.

“I'll show you if I'm a coward!” Toklo growled.

“Toklo—” Lusa scrambled down from Yakone's shoulders and floundered through the snow to Toklo's side. “Please don't do anything bee-brained. You know—”

The sound of an opening door interrupted her. All the bears spun around to see a flat-face emerging from a nearby den. He closed the door behind him and trudged off through the snow, heading for a more distant nest. He was muffled up in thick pelts and was carrying a big bundle in his arms.

“What's that?” Kallik asked, sniffing.

“Meat!” Toklo swiped his tongue around his jaws. He narrowed his eyes, his gaze following the flat-face, who began to trudge through the snow to one of the other dens. Then he turned and thrust his snout into Nanulak's face. “You want meat? I'll get you meat!”

“Toklo, stop!” Kallik shouted as the grizzly bounded off through the snow toward the flat-face. “Come back!”

“Now see what you've done!” Yakone snapped at Nanulak. “You've put Toklo in danger. You've put us all in danger.”

The small brown bear cowered away from Yakone. “Don't come near me!” he whimpered.

“Yakone, don't scare him.” Kallik thrust herself between Yakone and Nanulak. “He doesn't understand.”

Toklo let out a roar as he approached the flat-face, who spun around, momentarily frozen with shock at seeing a brown bear charging at him through the blizzard. With a yell of terror he hurled the bundle at Toklo and fled up to the nearest den, still yelling, and hammered on the door with his fists. The door opened. Yellow light flooded out onto the snow, and two other flat-faces appeared in the gap.

“Toklo, run!” Lusa squealed.

“On my back—now!” Yakone told Lusa, crouching down beside her.

As Lusa scrambled up, Toklo headed for the bundle of meat. But before he could grab it up in his jaws, Lusa saw more flat-faces pouring out of the den.

“Firesticks!” she gasped, as she spotted the familiar thin shapes in the flat-faces' paws. “Toklo, leave it! Run!”

As Toklo whirled around, scattering snow, Yakone turned and took off, his muscular legs eating up the distance. Kallik kept pace with Yakone, shoving the terrified Nanulak ahead of her. Firesticks cracked, and Lusa felt the sting of snow spraying up as the hard pellets hit the ground. Frantic with worry, she looked over her shoulder and saw Toklo galloping behind them, steadily catching up.

Gradually the falling snow hid the flat-face dens from the fleeing bears and the sounds of firesticks and flat-face shouting died away.

Eventually Yakone halted, letting out a huge puff of air. “We made it!”

Lusa slid down off his back, feeling her legs shake with the sudden release from fear. She wanted to roar at Nanulak and Toklo for being so bee-brained and spoiling her quiet raid.

Before she could say anything, Nanulak spun around, gazing back in the direction of the flat-face dens. Anger was smoldering in his eyes. “What were those things?” he demanded. “Can they hurt a bear?”

“Firesticks,” Toklo replied, struggling to get his breath. “The flat-faces were trying to kill us.”

“
Kill
us?” Nanulak echoed in horror. “What if the no-claws come after us? We have to take care of them.”

“Flat-faces don't usually—” Lusa began, but Nanulak ignored her.

“We should strike first!” he insisted.

To Lusa's horror, Toklo responded with a grim nod. “You're right. We only wanted some food. There was no need for the flat-faces to start shooting their firesticks. We should go back and teach them a lesson.”

Kallik stepped forward to confront him. “Toklo, are you completely cloud-brained? That won't get you anywhere except—”

She broke off as Toklo shoved her away. “Don't tell me what to do!” he snarled.

Instantly Yakone strode up to Kallik's side, thrusting out his snout until he was nose to nose with Toklo. “Keep your paws off Kallik!” he growled. “She's right. You and this sorry excuse for a bear nearly got us all killed!”

Toklo opened his jaws to reply, but before he could get a word out, Nanulak spoke. “You want to fight?” he demanded. “Good! We'll show you what brown bears can do!”

“Calm down!” Lusa felt her anger swelling as she raised her voice. “What are you going to do? Kill every flat-face on the island? Do you have any idea how ridiculous you're being?”

For a few heartbeats Toklo and Yakone stood facing each other, the flame of anger in their eyes. Their chests heaved, and low snarls came from their throats.

What if they fight each other?
Lusa wondered, terrified.
What will happen to us all then
?

Abruptly Toklo turned away with a contemptuous flick of his ears. “Come on, Nanulak,” he growled.

For one heart-stopping moment Lusa thought that Toklo intended to go back to the flat-face dens. But then she realized that he wasn't headed in that direction. Instead he was making for the hills again.

Kallik gave Yakone a nudge. “Let's go. It'll be okay. Toklo is never angry for long.”

Yakone hesitated, then gave a reluctant nod, pushing his muzzle briefly into Kallik's shoulder fur. The two white bears followed Toklo, padding so close together that their pelts brushed. Lusa watched them for a moment, then followed.

Is Nanulak just going to cause trouble? Can we really make it to safety without splitting up?
she wondered as they trudged silently through the snow.
What would Ujurak do?

“Why can't we go after the
no-claws—I mean, flat-faces?” Nanulak asked as he padded beside Toklo up the hillside. He growled the words; Toklo could tell he was still angry. “Are you saying it's okay for them to attack us with firesticks?”

“No, it's not okay,” Toklo grunted. “But Lusa's right. Even if we killed one or two flat-faces, the others would come after us. There are always more of them than there are of us.”

Nanulak just snorted; Toklo knew he didn't agree, but the smaller bear didn't protest anymore. Toklo guessed that he was too tired to go on arguing; his paws were heavy, and his head drooped. That was fine; Toklo didn't want to talk. He was disappointed that the raid had failed, and troubled by the fight with his companions.

They should let Nanulak make suggestions, and listen to him
, he thought angrily. Then a small voice seemed to speak inside him.
Suggestions like going to attack the flat-faces? Is that really what you want to do, Toklo?

Toklo jerked his head as if he were flicking away a troublesome fly. Now that his frustration had cooled, he realized that going back to the flat-face dens would have been a bee-brained thing to do. If he hadn't been so angry and scared, he would never have considered it.

The ridge they were heading for was still some way off when Toklo spotted a thornbush jutting out of a snowbank. “Let's stop here,” he said gruffly. “We'll dig out a den.”

Nanulak waited, looking exhausted, while Toklo scraped a hole in the snow. The two brown bears crept into it together and lay down.

“I'm hungry,” Nanulak complained.

“We'll hunt tomorrow,” Toklo promised.

Darkness had fallen, but the star spirits gave enough light for him to see Kallik and Yakone plod up and begin to dig out another den a couple of bearlengths away. Lusa caught up, her pawsteps wavering with weariness, as the white bears huddled into their den.

“Come on, Lusa,” Kallik said, shuffling to one side. “There's room for you here.”

“Thanks,” Lusa muttered as she squashed into the den.

Before the others were settled, Nanulak was asleep, snoring with his nose on his paws, his warm breath melting a little hole in the snow.

But for a long time Toklo couldn't sleep. He lay looking up to where thin cloud drifted over the sky, blotting out the stars, then letting them shine out again. A sense of loss griped deep within him as he tried to make out the shape that was Ujurak.

Are you watching us now, little bear?

When Toklo woke, Nanulak was still asleep, tucked cozily into his side. In the other den the white bears were stirring. Toklo watched them for a moment through half-open eyes, then let out a sigh. Careful not to wake Nanulak, he wriggled out of the den and padded over to the others.

As he approached, Kallik and Yakone both emerged from the den and shook snow from their pelts. They turned to face him; Toklo hesitated when he saw the coldness in their eyes, then made his paws carry him on.

“We have to keep together,” he announced awkwardly. “I won't do anything unless we all agree.”

At once Kallik nodded, relaxing as if she was willing to forget their quarrel, but Yakone's gaze was unforgiving. “Okay,” he agreed grudgingly after a moment. “For now, we'll travel together.”

“But stay away from flat-faces with firesticks,” Kallik added.

Toklo muttered that he would. His pawsteps lighter, he returned to his own den and prodded Nanulak gently to wake him. “Come on, it's time to go,” he said.

Nanulak raised his head and stretched his jaws wide in an enormous yawn. “Can we hunt first?” he asked, stumbling to his paws.

Toklo glanced at Kallik, who gave him a brisk nod. “We'd better,” she said. “We're all starving.”

While Kallik went to rouse Lusa, Toklo padded away from the dens, his snout raised to sniff the air. Nanulak stayed close to his side.