The Longest Day (16 page)

Yakone folded his injured paw beneath the other. “I'll never win anything with missing toes,” he murmured under his breath. “The others would mock me for even trying.”

Kallik felt a stab of sympathy. At the same time, knowing Yakone, she doubted he wanted to be the white bears' leader. “You don't have to take part.”

He glared at her. “What will they think if I don't?” His gaze flashed to Illa and Tunerq, the bears from Star Island. “It'll look like I'm coming home weaker than when I left.”

Kissimi bounced on his paws. “I want to take part!”

“You're too young to be good at anything!” Salik scoffed.

“I'm good at hiding!” Kissimi told him.

Iqaluk swiped playfully at the young bear. “Then go hide now, and let the grown bears talk.”

Kallik turned to Illa. “Is this such a good idea?” she whispered. “What if everyone gets too competitive?”

“That shouldn't happen,” Illa answered. “It's just like playing games. And it will keep us busy until the Longest Day.”

“Is there enough time left?” Kallik wasn't sure how close the Longest Day was.

Illa nodded. “I was watching the evening shadows,” she told Kallik. “Judging by their length, there are three more sunrises before the Longest Day. That gives us plenty of time to find a new leader.”

Kallik hoped the gentle she-bear was right.

Anarteq got to his paws. “It's decided then. The first trial will be swimming underwater.”

Qanniq's eyes lit up. Kotori stared across the lake, his eyes narrowing.

“We will meet at the water's edge at dawn.” Anarteq looked around at the bears, his gaze solemn. “Good luck, everyone. See you at sunrise!”

The sun was sinking when Lusa
woke. Rosy light filled the forest. A cool breeze rolled in from the lake and streamed over her nest among the pine roots. Yawning, she climbed to her paws and stretched.

Her first thought was of the injured bears. Had Pokkoli brought them food? Had Issa changed their bedding? Lusa padded into the trees, toward the black bear camp. She smelled herbs as she neared, and freshly dug earth and root sap. When she reached the clearing, she admired the thick layers of fern that lined the nest of the wounded bears.

“Lusa!” Rudi spotted her first. The old bear looked bright-eyed. “Tell me I don't have to stay here anymore! The scent of fresh berries is driving me mad. I have to forage before everyone takes them!”

“Pokkoli brought you food, right?” Lusa checked.

“Loads.” Rudi nodded to a pile of discarded branches. “But it's not the same as picking your own.”

Lusa sniffed the old bear's wounds. The cuts on his shoulders
smelled sharply of herbs, but no heat rose from them. They were healing well. And the swelling around his bruised back had eased. “You can go where you like,” Lusa conceded. Foraging in the fresh air would probably help him heal more quickly.

Rudi dipped his head. “I don't know how to thank you for all you've done.”

Lusa glanced away.
It's Ujurak you should thank.

“And those white bears,” Rudi went on. “Make sure you thank them from me. I owe them my life.”

Lusa nodded, surprised. Was this the same bear who'd refused to let Kallik carry him? “I'll tell them.”

Rudi turned to go, then hesitated. “I don't know how you ended up being friends with white bears,” he grunted. “But I hope it's a friendship that lasts.”

As the old bear shambled away, Lusa's heart lurched.
So do I.
She couldn't imagine not being friends with Kallik and Yakone, but they would be leaving for the Endless Ice soon. Was friendship still friendship if you never saw your friends again?

“Lusa!” Issa's call shook her from her thoughts. “Did you get some sleep?”

“Yes, thanks.” Lusa studied the rest of the injured bears.

Tibik was fidgeting as if he had fleas in his pelt. Chula was dozing, her injured leg wrapped in thick leaves. “Has she been in much pain?” Lusa asked.

“She complained earlier, but I dripped water onto the leaves to make them damp and the sap seems to have eased it,” Issa answered.

Lusa was impressed. “That's great!”

“The hardest part has been keeping Tibik in his nest.”

“I'm bored,” Tibik complained. “Can I go foraging with Rudi?”

“Not yet,” Lusa told him gently. It would be better for Sheena if he stayed close.

“But I'm so bored!” Tibik wailed.

Lusa spotted a lump of moss at the bottom of the dip. Issa must have used it to drip water onto Chula's dressing. She grabbed it and found it was still damp. Squeezing it between her paws, she rolled it into a ball. “Where I come from, a bear could balance that on his nose.” She gave it to Tibik.

He took it from her, his eyes lighting up. “Really?” He placed it on his snout. It rolled off and dropped to the ground. “That's impossible!”

“I've seen it,” Lusa encouraged. “Keep practicing.”

Paws scuffed through the leaves behind her.

Lusa turned and saw Miki approaching. “Where have you been? You should be resting.”

“I needed a drink.” Miki slid into his nest. “Did you rest?”

“Yes, thanks.” Lusa checked the leaves swathing his ear. “How's your head?”

“Not as sore as it was.” Miki watched Tibik as the cub placed the ball on his snout again. This time it stayed there for a moment before slipping off. “Did you really know a bear who could balance things on his nose?” Miki murmured.

“He could balance a stick, too,” Lusa told Miki.

“A stick?” Tibik had overheard. “
I
want to balance a stick.”

Miki plucked up the moss and pressed it onto Tibik's snout. “Learn to balance this, and I'll find you a stick.” He glanced at Lusa. “You smell of white bears,” he told her. “Did you visit them?”

“Kallik came to see me.” Lusa searched his gaze for signs of accusation.

“She's one of the bears who helped save us, isn't she?” Miki checked. “The one who came back to the camp this morning.”

Lusa nodded.

Miki frowned. “Why does she seem so familiar? She didn't rescue me.”

“Not this time,” Lusa mumbled.

“What do you mean?”

“Don't you remember last suncircle when Taqqiq and his friends took you?”

Miki's eyes narrowed. “Was she the white bear who rescued me?”

Lusa enjoyed the look of surprise on his face. “She's the one. And Toklo.”

“The brown bear who carried me here?”

Lusa sat back on her haunches. “It seems like you've spent most of your gatherings being rescued by brown and white bears.”

Miki sniffed. “I guess they have to be good for something!”

Lusa nudged him playfully. “They've saved my life a few times, too.”

Ossi stepped up to them. “I'm going to look for grubs.” He looked at Lusa. “Do you want to come with me?”

Lusa paused, waiting for Ossi to ask Miki as well, but as the pause grew longer, Miki spoke. “You go, Lusa. You must be hungry. I'll stay here and help Tibik practice balancing.”

Tibik was sitting as still as a tree trunk with the moss ball resting on his snout. It dropped as Miki turned toward him.

“I've nearly learned it!” Tibik barked.

“I'd better start looking for a stick.”

Lusa looked up at Ossi. “I shouldn't be gone long,” she warned. “Chula might need me.”

“I can take care of Chula.” Issa leaned closer and lowered her voice. “I'm sure she wouldn't want to stop you spending time with Ossi.” There was a knowing gleam in the she-bear's eyes.

Lusa blinked in alarm. “It's not like that,” she hissed. “We're just friends.”

Issa glanced at Ossi. “I'm not sure he feels the same way.”

Pelt ruffled, Lusa climbed out of the nest. Ossi was kind and funny, but she could never be more than friends with him. “Come on.” She marched past him briskly, hoping that he didn't think she was agreeing to anything more than a friendly forage.

He galloped after her as she headed between the trees. “Slow down!” he puffed. “Let me show you where the grubs are. I've found a patch that looks like perfect grub soil.”

He looked so happy that Lusa couldn't feel anything but fond of him. She stepped to one side. “Lead the way.”

She followed as he wove between trees and crashed through ferns until they reached a clearing where a tree stump sat in a
patch of bare earth. The soil around the tree stump was dark and crumbly. Lusa sniffed, breathing in the sweetness of the earth and the grubs she guessed would be hidden beneath.

Ossi moved around the trunk and stopped with a gasp. “Oh no!”

Lusa trotted over to his side. Ossi was staring at a patch of freshly churned soil. Grubs were scattered across the untidy heap of earth.

Lusa frowned. “Who would do this?” No smart black bear would forage so messily, or wastefully.

“Perhaps some of the cubs did it.” Ossi hooked a stray grub with his claw and popped it into his mouth. “It's hardly the feast that I promised you. Sorry.”

Lusa hardly heard him. A pawprint at the base of the stump had caught her eye. She leaned close, her pelt prickling along her spine as she smelled an unfamiliar scent. “I don't think it was black bears at all. Look.”

The pawprint was large and splayed out, edged by claw marks. But the indent was fuzzy, not sharp like a real bear print.

Lusa glanced nervously over her shoulder, scanning the undergrowth. “Perhaps we should go back.”

Ossi shrugged. “We could try digging on the other side of the stump. There may be more grubs.”

Leaves rustled a few bearlengths away. “I'd rather go,” Lusa urged.

Ossi glanced at her. “Okay.” He popped another grub into his mouth and headed down the slope.

Lusa followed him, listening for any unusual sounds. “Did you see anything strange when you came here earlier?”

“No,” Ossi replied. “Are you worried other bears have been raiding our territory for food?”

“Perhaps.” Lusa didn't want to encourage negative ideas about brown or white bears. Besides, the pawprint didn't look like it belonged to either. “It was probably just some cubs, like you said. Perhaps they scraped out the pawprint as a joke.”

“Yeah.” Ossi fell in beside her as the slope steepened toward the lake. “Cubs like to play tricks. Me and Miki used to climb trees and drop berries on the older bears. Rudi thought it was raining bilberries. Another time, we laid a trail of nuts through a bramble patch and lured Sheena right through it. Her fur was so full of thorns by the time she came out the other side, she looked more like a porcupine than a bear.”

Lusa huffed with laughter.

Ossi stopped. “Look.”

Ahead of them, Hashi's pine loomed among the alders and spruce. Dena and Leotie were piling berries on the grave. Sadness stabbed at Lusa's heart. The two she-bears were moving very carefully, placing their gifts as though trying not to disturb the spirits of Hala and Hashi.

As Ossi and Lusa joined them, Dena paused and gazed up at the branches. “Hashi was a good leader. So strong when he was young, and so wise as he grew old.”

“The brown bears have lost their leader, too,” Lusa commented. “I heard there have been arguments over who should take his place.” She didn't dare mention Toklo.

“Brown bears like to fight.” Dena patted the pile of berries and stems tighter together. “That's why they need a leader. We're different.”

Lusa frowned. “Who will lead the Longest Day celebrations?”

“We know how it's done,” Ossi pointed out. “We don't need someone to show us.” He bent over a patch of ferns and pulled up a fat frond. Earth sprinkled from the thick root as he shook it. Then he laid it on the grave.

“I must go check on Chula and the others,” Lusa told him.

Ossi nodded. “Is it okay if I stay here? I want to find more roots for Hashi. I know he liked them best.”

“Of course.” Lusa blinked at him fondly. “I'll see you later.”

She headed back to the camp along the well-worn path. Issa had gone.

Tibik was sprawled on the leaves, fast asleep, a short, stout stick clutched to his belly. Miki sat beside him while Sheena held a wad of dripping moss over Chula's dressing. She let the moisture drizzle over the leaves.

As Lusa approached, Chula looked up, her eyes sharp with pain.

Lusa stiffened. “Is it worse?”

“Not worse,” Chula grunted. “But I wish it would stop hurting for a while.”

“I'll try to find something to help.” Lusa went into the trees and plunged through a patch of bilberries, long picked clean. Nose twitching, she searched for an herb Ujurak had once shown her.
It's strong,
he had warned her.
It will make a bear
sleepy. Too sleepy to feel anything.
Lusa headed downslope toward a stream that marked the edge of the camp. The herb grew close to water, and as she reached the stream, she was relieved to see dark-green leaves clustered at the edge. She picked two and, holding them softly between her jaws, careful not to swallow any of their sap, carried them back to Chula.