Smoke Mountain by Erin Hunter Read Free Book Online Page A

and started scratching his back against the tree. His lip curled back to show his teeth as he sneered at Lusa. Bits of bark flaked off and fell to the ground around him.
    â€˜No! Stop!’ Lusa shrieked. ‘Leave it alone!’ The tiny black cub threw herself at Taqqiq, battering him with her paws as she tried to push him away from the tree. It was like trying to move a mountain. He snorted as she clambered on to his back and tried to wrestle his head aside.
    â€˜Taqqiq!’ Kallik barked. ‘Leave the tree alone!’
    Toklo came running up from the stream, his teeth bared. But before he could get to them, Lusa lunged forward on Taqqiq’s back and buried her teeth in one of his ears.
    â€˜Ow!’ Taqqiq roared. He swung around so fast that Lusa lost her grip and went flying into a pile of leaves further up the bank. Taqqiq reared up on his hind legs, bellowing, but Kallik threw herself infront of him before he could pounce on Lusa. With his powerful front legs, built for digging seals out of snowbanks, he could easily crush the smaller bear – whether he was trying to or not.
    â€˜Taqqiq, leave her be!’ she snarled. Her fur was standing on end and her breathing was fast and angry. Why was Taqqiq always picking fights? ‘And don’t you go near that tree again either! Lusa wouldn’t make fun of our ice spirits, and you should have some respect for her beliefs. Plus she’s half your size! You won’t impress anyone by hurting her!’
    â€˜And it might be the last thing you ever do,’ Toklo growled from behind Kallik. She turned to look at him. She had never seen a bear looking so angry, and for a moment she was scared for her brother. Toklo’s long claws raked the earth as he glared at the white bear.
    Taqqiq held his gaze for a moment, then dropped to all fours. He shook his shaggy head, looking disgusted. ‘She
bit
me,’ he protested.
    â€˜You deserved it!’ Lusa yelped, sticking her head out from behind Kallik’s leg.
    â€˜Lusa and Ujurak see the same thing in that tree,’ Kallik told her brother. ‘We’ll follow this streamuntil we reach the Big River.
Together
. No more fighting. All right?’
    Taqqiq grumbled something under his breath. He touched his paw to his ear, which wasn’t even bleeding. With a snort, he turned his back on the cubs and marched down to the stream. Splashing through the water, he headed in the direction Ujurak had pointed to, out of the woods.
    Ujurak breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thanks, Kallik.’ The brown fur on Toklo’s back slowly flattened. He shook himself and trotted down to walk beside Ujurak. ‘Maybe next time he’ll be brave enough to pick on a bear his
own
size,’ Toklo said, just loud enough for Taqqiq to hear. The white cub’s ears twitched, but he kept pacing ahead without looking back.
    â€˜Are you all right?’ Kallik asked Lusa when he was out of earshot. She craned her head around to sniff the black cub.
    â€˜I’m f-fine,’ Lusa said through chattering teeth. ‘I can’t believe I attacked him! He just made me so mad! I’m sorry, Kallik . . . I didn’t mean to hurt your brother.’
    Kallik understood that Lusa was sorry onlybecause it was Kallik’s brother she had bitten. If Taqqiq weren’t Kallik’s family, Lusa wouldn’t want him here either. Nobody liked Taqqiq, not even friendly little Lusa.
    â€˜I don’t know why he’s so awful sometimes.’ Kallik sighed. ‘He wasn’t like this when he was a cub. We used to have fun together.’ She shook her head. ‘It must have been terrible for him when he thought Mother and I were both dead. I’m sure that’s what changed him. At least I still had the hope of finding him alive to keep me going.’
    Lusa leaned into Kallik’s side. ‘But he has you now,’ she said. ‘Maybe that will help him become a