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

Kallik felt a rush of pride. “How did you think of that?” she asked Yakone.
    His eyes twinkled. “I guess prey is prey. Getting it to run the way you want is the same on ice and land.” He headed for the brambles and crouched on one side of the gap.
    Kallik ducked down on the other. Bushes swished in the distance, and hooves thrummed the earth. “It’s coming.” She bunched her muscles, ready to spring as the ground trembled beneath her. She flattened herself harder against the earth, aware of how white their pelts looked in the gloom of the forest. What if the deer spotted them?
    The brambles crackled beside her. Deer musk washed her nose. Its pelt blurred before her eyes as it leaped through the gap. She lunged for it, cursing as a root caught her hindpaw. With a cough, she collapsed onto her belly. Yakone dashed away. He charged after the fleeing deer, swerving with ease around a clump of tall knapweed. Kallik watched, wide-eyed. He ran as though he’d hunted in forests all his life. With a roar, he leaped, stretching out his forepaws to grab the deer and bring it down.
    As Kallik scrambled to her paws, Toklo and Lusa charged through the gap in the brambles.
    â€œGreat catch!” Toklo skidded to a halt where Yakone was standing proudly over the dead deer.
    Lusa circled Yakone and his catch. “You’re a natural!”
    Yakone’s eyes shone. “I guess instinct took over.”
    Toklo nudged him. “You’re turning into a brown bear.”
    Yakone glanced over his shoulder at his grubby pelt. “I’m even changing color,” he remarked.
    Kallik touched her nose to his cheek. Perhaps they would get used to the forest after all.
    By the time they’d finished eating, the sun had dipped below the horizon.
    â€œIt’s too dark to go on.” Kallik licked blood from her muzzle.
    Lusa’s eyelids drooped. “I’m sleepy.”
    â€œWe can rest here and start up again at dawn.” Toklo glanced at his companions across the deer carcass. “Okay?”
    â€œFine with me.” Yakone stretched and got to his paws. He wandered back toward the swathe of brambles where they’d waited for the deer.
    Kallik heaved herself up, drowsy from the meal, and followed Yakone. Lusa stumbled after her sleepily. Behind them, Toklo was hardly more than a shadow in the darkness. Kallik heard earth spattering the ground. He must be kicking dirt over the remains of the deer, hoping to disguise the scent. They didn’t want to attract other predators when they were sleeping.
    Yakone lay down beside the bramble. Lusa curled into a ball close by, tucking her nose under her paw. Kallik yawned and settled onto the soft earth. She rested her muzzle on Yakone’s back. As his breath grew shallow with sleep, she gazed into the shadows. The ice was never this dark. Even on the cloudiest night, it still glowed, as though it remembered moonlight.
    Toklo lumbered from the shadows, reeking of leaf-sap. “I scattered muskroot, to hide the smell of blood.” He sat down beside Kallik.
    She closed her eyes. “How long till we reach the river again?” she asked with a yawn.
    â€œI don’t know.” The pine needles rustled as Toklo settled down to sleep. “Maybe tomorrow?”
    â€œGood.” Kallik imagined Ujurak overhead, shining beside his mother. “Sleep well,” she murmured.
    A strange scent woke her. The warm tang of another animal. She lifted her head and blinked in the darkness. Heart quickening, she tried to adjust to the gloom, but the forest shadows made it impossible to see. She felt Toklo stir beside her.
    â€œDid you hear something?” he whispered.
    â€œI smelled something.” Kallik licked her lips, gathering scent. There was definitely a warm, breathing body close by. “Is it Hakan?”
    Toklo’s nose snuffled. “No.”
    â€œChenoa?”
    â€œNo.”
    The scent was getting