Smoke Mountain by Erin Hunter Read Free Book Online

Toklo. ‘And there’s something weird about that other brown bear too.’
    Kallik followed her brother’s gaze along the lakeshore to where Ujurak was standing in the stream. The bubbling water washed over his claws while he gazed into the silver reflections. Taqqiq didn’t realise just how different Ujurak was from other bears. She was suddenly very glad that her brother hadn’t seen Ujurak turn into something else.
    She sighed. ‘Well, please try to be nicer to them,’ she said. ‘For me. OK, Taqqiq?’
    He grunted and stood up. ‘Fine. Whatever.’
    They headed down the hill and joined Lusa and Toklo by the side of the stream.
    â€˜Ujurak? Is everything OK?’ Kallik asked.
    The brown cub looked up. ‘This stream,’ he said. ‘This stream will lead us to the Big River.’
    â€˜Oh, really?’ Taqqiq sneered. ‘What happened to going the other way, like you wanted to before?’
    Kallik poked her brother sharply with her nose.
    â€˜If what Qopuk told us is true,’ Ujurak said, ‘this is the way we have to go.’
    â€˜
Oh
,’ Taqqiq muttered. ‘And how can you be so sure?’
    Ujurak didn’t say anything. He just stared at a tree that had long branches hanging over the stream.
    â€˜I see it!’ Lusa cried suddenly, making Kallik jump. The little black bear padded over to the tree. She reared up on her back paws and touched a twisting pattern on the bark of the trunk.
    â€˜What is it?’ Kallik asked. All she saw was an ordinary tree. Her heart sank at the look on Taqqiq’s face. This wasn’t the way to make him cooperate – he’d just think the other bears were even crazier.
    â€˜Can’t you see it?’ Lusa prompted. She dropped to her paws again and tilted her head at the bark. ‘It’s a bear spirit looking at us from inside the tree. That’s what you saw, isn’t it, Ujurak?’
    Ujurak nodded.
    Kallik peered at the knobby bits of wood, trying to see any sort of face in it. Beside her, Toklo had squinted, as if that would make the pattern clearer. There were lumps and whorls in the bark, but to Kallik they just looked . . . treelike.
    â€˜Here,’ Lusa said, touching a dark patch of the wood. ‘This is the face of the bear spirit that lives in this tree. I bet it’s very old. And look how it’s watching over the stream.’ She waved one paw atthe long branches that hung over the burbling water. ‘Maybe it’s a she-bear who once had cubs. Now she has something else to take care of.’
    Kallik stepped back, trying to see the tree the way Lusa did. It was true that the branches hanging over the stream looked a bit like a mother bear protecting her cubs. Thin green leaves trailed in the water like rippling fur. And maybe that patch of darker wood could be an eye . . . and those flecks could be whiskers . . . or more fur . . . or tufty ears.
    â€˜It’s a sign,’ Lusa whispered. ‘Isn’t it, Ujurak? The spirit of this bear wants us to follow this stream. She’s guiding us to the Last Great Wilderness!’
    Ujurak dipped his head. ‘I think that’s what I see too.’
    Taqqiq shoved Kallik aside and stalked up to the tree. He narrowed his eyes at the bear face, which was much closer to his eye level than Lusa’s. Next to him, Lusa looked as small as the Arctic fox that had followed Kallik to Great Bear Lake. But Lusa didn’t seem afraid. She dropped to all paws and looked up at the big white bear cub.
    â€˜You see it, don’t you?’ she said earnestly. ‘Now do you believe that we must go this way?’
    Taqqiq didn’t speak for a moment. Then a low growl rumbled in his throat. ‘There’s nothing here at all,’ he said. ‘Bear spirits don’t live in trees. Trees are just stupid things that get in the way when you want to run.’
    He stepped forward, twisted around,