The Longest Day (5 page)

Sympathy for the old bear washed over Kallik.
He must be weary after the long journey here.

“Is that all he's going to say?” Illa protested.

Yakone pawed the trout toward her. “Here, at least we caught something. And I don't think those brown bears will be in a hurry to come too close to us again.”

Kallik shifted her paws uneasily. Yakone had slipped back into the ways of the white bears so easily—hurrying to defend Taqqiq and Tonraq; untroubled by the tension that had already sprung up between the white bears and the brown bears. Hadn't his journey with Toklo and Lusa changed him at all?
Perhaps it changed me too much.
Guilt stabbed Kallik's belly. She looked back toward the brown bears' shore. The grizzly and his friends were clambering out of the water. Other bears clustered around them, and Kallik felt sure they were throwing glances toward the white bears. Were they muttering angrily among themselves just like Salik, Iqaluk, and Manik?

“Brown bears are too greedy,” Salik complained.

“They think they own the water
and
the woods,” Manik snarled.

Yakone nudged a piece of trout toward Kallik. “Eat,” he murmured.

She lapped up the pale meat and chewed, hardly tasting it. Why couldn't the bears find a way to be peaceful?
Is everyone just looking for a reason to fight?

Lusa brushed dried leaves into the
dip where she'd made a nest with Ossi. Pokkoli was already sleeping, tucked into a crook in the tree above them. She could hear his gentle snores and just make out his shape, little more than a shadow among the branches. The sun had been slowly setting and, at last, had dropped below the horizon. It would still be a while before dark, and Lusa remembered with a pang of affection the long leaftime evenings in the Bear Bowl, when she had played with Yogi in the twilight.

Ossi slid into the dip, sending the leaves fluttering. Curling up at the bottom, he yawned. “I'm so sleepy.”

“Me too.” Lusa hesitated at the edge. Around her, the other black bears were settling in for the night. Dustu had tucked himself beneath a cloudberry bush. Dena was sharing a nest beside a fallen tree with two other she-bears. More bears clung dozily to the branches around the camp, letting the breeze rock them gently to sleep.
No sign of Miki or Chula.
Lusa turned around, scanning the woods one more time.

A she-cub was moving beneath the trees. She stopped beside a swirl in the bark of a birch tree and whispered, “Spirit? Are you there?”

Lusa watched her, remembering when she'd found Chenoa's spirit. Chenoa was a black bear who had traveled with them for a while. But the friendly she-bear had died when the river had swept her over a waterfall. Grief twisted Lusa's heart. Was this she-cub searching for a lost friend, too?

Two young bears bounded up the slope toward the cub. They looked so alike that Lusa guessed they were brothers. “Are you still looking for bear spirits?” the larger bear asked.

“Mother says you have to come back to the nest,” the other told her.

The she-cub stared at them crossly. “I'm not coming until I've found one. There must be lots here.”

Lusa glanced at the trees. What a lovely thought! To be surrounded by black bear spirits as she slept.

The larger bear rolled his eyes. “It's getting dark. Even if there are spirits, they won't be able to see you.”

The she-cub dug her paws into the earth. “I'm not coming yet.”

The smaller brother started back down the slope. “Let's leave her.”

“But we're supposed to be fetching her.”

The smaller bear kept walking. “Let her stay out all night. So what if a brown bear eats her, or a white bear steals her?”

The she-cub squeaked in alarm. “That won't happen!”

The bigger bear swapped a knowing look with his brother. “I suppose the spirits will look after you,” he told her casually. “But I'm not sure about the brown bear spirits or the white bear spirits. Once it's dark, who knows what they will do to a tiny cub lost in the woods?”

Lusa saw fear spark in the she-cub's eyes. “But I
have
to find more spirits in the bark!”

“Oh well.” Her brother turned to leave. “Good luck.”

Lusa's heart lurched. “You can't abandon her!” Hurrying from her nest, she ran over to the she-cub. “You can look for bear spirits again in the morning,” she suggested. “I'll help you if you want.”

The cub blinked at her. “I want to find one before I go to sleep.”

Lusa rubbed her chin on the top of the little bear's head. “I once found a tree spirit when I woke up. I opened my eyes and there it was, in the bark right beside me.”

“Really?” The cub opened her eyes wide.

Lusa nudged her gently toward her bothers. “Sometimes it's easier to find things after a good night's sleep.”

The cub let herself be steered away. “Perhaps our mother will let me sleep in a tree.”

“Let's hurry back so you can ask her.” One of the cub's brothers nodded to Lusa. “Thanks.”

As the young bears headed away, Ossi called from the nest. “Are you coming to sleep, Lusa?”

“Yes.” She hopped down beside him. “Do you think Miki
and Chula will get here tomorrow?”

“Probably.” Ossi snuggled deeper into the leaves and closed his eyes.

Lusa curled up beside him. Above them, Pokkoli's snores were growing louder. Breathing the musty scent of earth and dried leaves, Lusa closed her eyes.

Around her, the forest slipped away, leaving her on a wide plain, alone beneath a starry sky. Looking up, Lusa saw the dazzling outline of Ursa. She seemed to blaze brighter than the other stars, except for her son Ujurak. Lusa shivered. Star-Ujurak was staring straight at her. She felt it deep in her fur.

“Ujurak?” Her voice sounded tiny. “What's wrong?” Lusa raised her voice. “Tell me what to do!” She longed for Ujurak to spiral down from the sky and become a real bear again, warm and furry and close to her. But he remained still and distant in the crow-black sky.

Lusa pricked her ears. The air around her seemed to quiver. A rumble like thunder sounded in the distance, growing louder as it swept toward her. Fear lurched through Lusa as the earth shook beneath her paws. She dug in her claws to steady herself, but the ground shuddered harder and the thunder filled her ears. Numb with terror, Lusa flung herself to the ground and buried her nose beneath her paws. “Ujurak, help me! Arcturus! Please!”

Yelps of pain split the air. Were other bears here? Lusa lifted her head. “Where are you? Are you hurt?” A shriek of anguish sounded on one side of her, then the other. Lusa
jumped up. Suffering bears surrounded her in the darkness. She could hear them! “Where are you?”

Dust swirled around her, blinding her. Lusa staggered forward, trying to keep her balance on the quaking ground, flattening her ears against the roar. “I'll help you!” Her eyes stung and tears streamed down her snout. An agonized bark screeched through the shadows. “I'm coming!” Lusa wailed.

A paw grabbed her shoulder and shook it.

“Lusa?”

Ujurak!
Relief swept through Lusa. He'd come to help her save the bears. She opened her eyes, surprised to find she was in the forest. Early morning sunshine dappled the nest, warming her pelt.

Ossi stood over her, his paw on her flank. “You were dreaming.”

Lusa stared up at him, still trembling. “Is everyone okay?”

Ossi glanced around. “As far as I know.”

“Was anyone calling out in pain?” Lusa couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible had happened. She heaved herself up, shaking off Ossi's paw.

“No.” Ossi looked puzzled. “Everyone's getting ready to go for the dawn forage.”

Leaves showered over them as Pokkoli slithered down the trunk. “Did someone say forage?” He sat back on his haunches and rubbed his belly. “I hope so. I'm starving.”

“Lusa had a bad dream,” Ossi told him.

“I have bad dreams when I'm hungry.” Pokkoli glanced at a family of bears as they ambled past. More black shapes flickered
between the trees. They were heading upslope. “Come on.”

Lusa hung back as Pokkoli and Ossi followed the others. “It wasn't hunger that gave me a bad dream,” she called. “It was something else.”
Ujurak was trying to warn me about something.

Ossi glanced back at her. “Come and eat anyway,” he urged. “The berries higher up are really sweet. They'll help you forget your dream.”

Lusa climbed out of the dip and shook the dried leaves from her fur. She wasn't sure she wanted to forget her dream. It had frightened her, but what if Ujurak
was
trying to warn her? She followed Ossi and Pokkoli through the woods, spruce and birch giving way to aspen and beech so sparse that sunlight streamed through the canopy. A she-bear was guiding a group of cubs toward an old beech tree. Its thick roots arched up off the ground.

“Watch.” The bear began digging at the soft soil.

One of the cubs leaned forward in delight as white creatures wriggled at the bottom of the hole. “Grubs!”

The she-bear stepped away. “Try digging for yourselves now. There'll be enough grubs for everyone.”

The cubs began scrabbling in the dirt, shouting each time they unearthed a new writhing nest.

Two older bears had stopped beside a patch of ferns and were hauling fronds from the earth and gnawing on the sweet roots. Another bear joined them, while two young males charged deeper into the forest.

“There are blueberries this way,” called one. “I can smell them!”

Others began to follow them, swiping their tongues around their jaws.

Lusa called to Ossi. “Should we go with them?”

“No.” Ossi glanced over his shoulder. “Pokkoli knows where there's a cloudberry patch.”

“Cloudberries?” Dustu's rasping growl sounded behind Lusa.

She turned and saw the grizzled old bear ambling after her. “Do you want to join us?” she asked.

Dustu's eyes sparkled. “Yes, please.”

Lusa let him pass as she watched the black bears foraging around her. She'd never hunted like this. She was used to Toklo, Yakone, and Kallik racing away after deer or chasing down elk. She'd helped where she could. She'd even learned to catch fish and rabbits. But it felt good to be part of a group that hunted for food the same way she did. She could help the cubs dig up grubs, or search for roots with the older bears. Or she could follow Pokkoli and Ossi to a patch of juicy cloudberries.

A bear's roar echoed in the distance. The cubs rooting around the beech looked up, fear darkening their eyes.

“Don't worry,” the she-bear reassured them. “It's just the brown bears showing off.”

Dustu snorted beside Lusa. “They're all roar and no claw.”

That's not true,
Lusa thought. Toklo was the bravest bear she knew. She wondered how he was. Had he met bears he knew from the last gathering? Was he lonely without her? Did he miss Yakone and Kallik?

Her dream flashed in her thoughts, and she wondered if Ujurak had been trying to warn her that her friends were in danger.
I would have known if they had been calling to me, surely?

Ossi and Pokkoli were heading away through the woods. Dustu hurried to catch up with them. Lusa trailed after them, her pelt tingling with anxiety.
It was just a dream,
she told herself.
It didn't mean anything.
As she struggled to push away her worries, the scent of cloudberries touched her nose. Ossi had broken into a run. Sunshine pierced a clearing ahead of him, and Lusa saw berries glowing on the forest floor.

She stopped and pulled at one with her paw, lifting the stem so that the berries dangled in front of her snout. Their tangy scent made her mouth water. “How did you know they were here?” she called to Pokkoli.

Pokkoli was already stuffing berries into his mouth. “I remembered them from last suncircle!”

Lusa took a mouthful of the fat, juicy fruit. With sunshine warming her pelt, she ate until her belly was full. Then she leaned against a tree trunk. Drowsy with food, she slipped back into her dream. The dust storm swallowed her at once. Bellows of pain surrounded her while the ground shook and thunder battered her ears. Flashes of starlight glimmered through the choking air.

Ujurak?
Was he trying to reach her through the chaos? She strained to see his starry shape. Then a voice Lusa recognized sounded beside her ear. “Help me! I'm trapped!”

She awoke with a start. “Chula!”

“Chula?” Ossi jerked his snout toward her. “Is she here?”
He began scanning the trees.

“No!” Lusa stared at him, her thoughts tumbling. “She's in trouble! We have to find her.”

Pokkoli frowned. “How do you know she's in trouble?”

“Did you hear something?” Dustu asked, his mouth full of berries.