Smoke Mountain by Erin Hunter Read Free Book Online Page B

better bear.’
    â€˜I hope so,’ Kallik said. ‘I suppose we should catch up with them.’
    â€˜Bye, tree,’ Lusa said, touching the roots lightly with her paw.
    Kallik looked back up at the tree and felt something behind her eyes shifting. A dark bump on the bark suddenly looked just like a bear’s nose. She followed the line of the whorl to where an eye should be and saw a delicate shape in the trunk, lined with flecks that looked like eyelashes. She felta surge of excitement. ‘Lusa, I can see it! I can see the bear’s face!’ The nose and the eyes and the ears all seemed to emerge from the bark, and Kallik looked straight at the face watching them intently through the brown flakes rubbed off by Taqqiq.
    â€˜I hope she isn’t angry with us,’ Lusa whispered.
    â€˜She won’t be angry with
you
,’ Kallik pointed out. ‘You defended her. You were really brave!’
    â€˜We have to protect the spirits in the trees,’ Lusa said. ‘Just as the tree spirits protect black bears. We owe it to them.’ She looked up at the sunlit leaves. ‘I wish we didn’t ever have to leave them. I like having the sound of leaves around me.’
    â€˜There will be lots of trees in the Last Great Wilderness,’ Kallik said. ‘I’m sure of it.’
    Lusa wriggled. ‘I hope so! I hope we get there soon.’
    Me too
, Kallik thought as the two she-bears hurried down the slope and followed the others along the stream and out of the trees.

CHAPTER SIX:
Kallik
    T he stream widened into a small river shortly after it left the wood. The bears followed it for several days, across stretches of bare rock and then through grassy meadows dotted with purple wildflowers. Sometimes the river doubled back and they found themselves walking in the wrong direction for a day. Prey was scarce, and the leaves and berries they found to eat only left their bellies grumbling.
    With each day that passed, Kallik grew more worried. They hadn’t seen any other signs, or anything to suggest that Qopuk was right about where they were going. There was no Big River and no Smoke Mountain in sight. Her paws ached, but more than that, her heart ached as she saw how frustrated and prickly Taqqiq was. She’d heard himmutter more than once that it was crazy to wander blindly like this, following the advice of a dead bear.
    As night fell after a day that had felt even hotter and longer than usual, she stopped to dip her paws in the river. She hated the feeling of dirt clumping in her fur, clogging up her claws. It was nothing like the smooth, clean feeling of ice underpaw. Toklo and Ujurak were far ahead with Lusa, leading the way along the stream with Taqqiq a few bearlengths behind them, shambling grumpily by himself.
    Kallik was relieved to see the sun dipping below the horizon in front of them. It felt like it had been in the sky forever. As the cooler night air moved in, her spirits rose.
    She hurried forward and nudged against Taqqiq. ‘Aren’t you glad the day is over?’ she said. ‘It’s so much cooler at night. And I like seeing the stars twinkling in the sky above us. Don’t you?’ She hoped she didn’t sound too desperate. She wanted to remind him of their earliest days together – and of how lucky they were to have found each other again.
    Taqqiq cast a scornful look at the pink-grey sky. ‘I don’t see any stars.’
    â€˜Well, they’ll be out soon,’ Kallik persisted.
    â€˜I thought the nights would come sooner once the Longest Day had passed,’ Taqqiq complained. ‘Those old bears at Great Bear Lake went on and on about how that meant the end of the sun’s power and the return of the cold and ice. But the sun still stays up in the sky forever. The nights are too short, and we barely even see the ice spots before the sun comes back and swallows them up. How do we know it will ever get cold