River of Lost Bears by Erin Hunter Read Free Book Online Page A

thorns.
    Kallik huffed crossly. “How do you make forest walking look so easy?” she growled. “If I watch for bushes, I trip over roots, and if I watch for roots, I get shredded by bushes.”
    â€œHave you forgotten?” Lusa tipped her head. “Just pick up your paws.”
    Of course! Kallik remembered how she’d done it before.
    Yakone lowered his head. “What do you mean, pick up your paws ?”
    â€œLike this.” Lusa finished unpicking Kallik and high-stepped in a circle, raising each paw a muzzlelength off the ground as she walked. “You’re used to half sliding over ice, like this.” She pushed her paws across the forest floor.
    Yakone tipped his head. “It’ll be a hard habit to break when I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
    Toklo joined them. “Would you rather stub your claws? Or walk into trees?”
    Lusa’s eyes widened. “Don’t walk into trees! The spirits won’t like it!”
    Yakone stared at her. “Why not?”
    â€œThat’s where they live!” Lusa exclaimed.
    Kallik nodded solemnly. “When black bears die, their spirits go into trees.”
    â€œLook!” Lusa pointed her snout to a knot in a fir tree. “Can’t you see its face? There are its eyes.” She reached up the trunk and stretched out a paw. “And here is its muzzle.” Dropping on all fours, she dipped her head respectfully to the fir.
    Yakone’s ears twitched. “If you say so.”
    Kallik nudged him. “It’s what Lusa believes.”
    Toklo shifted restlessly. “Come on, let’s get moving.” He turned and headed between the trees.
    Lusa stared at Yakone. “You will be careful, won’t you?”
    â€œI’ll be careful,” Yakone promised.
    As Lusa hurried to catch up with Toklo, Yakone snorted. “Spirits in trees! What will she think of next?”
    Kallik bristled. “Respect Lusa’s beliefs! You believe white bear spirits are trapped beneath the ice before they are freed into the stars.”
    â€œBut you can see them moving,” Yakone pointed out. “Lusa was just staring at a gnarly bit of bark.”
    â€œTo her, it’s a spirit.” Kallik pushed on, lifting her paws high as Lusa had shown her.
    â€œWhat’s more believable? Spirits that move or spirits that are stuck in old knotholes?”
    Kallik shot him a fierce look.
    Yakone dipped his head. “I give in,” he rumbled fondly. “If Lusa says there are black bear spirits in the trees, then there are black bear spirits in the trees.”
    Kallik spotted a thorny tendril swaying across their path. “Look out!” She blocked Yakone before he walked into it.
    He rolled his eyes. “Perhaps there are spirits in the trees and they’re trying to rip my fur off.”
    â€œDon’t say you weren’t warned,” Kallik teased.
    Ahead, Toklo had stopped and stretched onto his hindpaws. He was tasting the air. Kallik let the forest scents bathe her tongue. She smelled the musk of woodland prey.
    â€œIt’s a deer,” Toklo hissed. “Let’s catch it.” He dropped onto his forepaws as Kallik and Yakone hurried to catch up. “We could hunt like we hunted caribou.”
    Kallik’s fur rippled. She had to admit that hunting on land could be more exciting than waiting beside ice holes.
    Yakone shifted beside her. “Caribou?”
    â€œWe circle the prey like wolves,” she explained.
    He nodded, catching on. “Then move in for the kill.” He looked thoughtful. “Toklo and Lusa are better at running through the forest,” he mused. “Kallik and I could wait there.” He nodded to a gap in a long stretch of brambles. “You could drive it toward us, and we’ll attack as it races through.”
    â€œGood plan.” Toklo signaled to Lusa with his muzzle. “Come on.”
    As they stalked away,