Island of Shadows (5 page)

“Some bear has to, when you have bees in your brain,” Toklo retorted, fury flaring up in his eyes. “Or you can carry on alone, and see how far you get!”

“We'd be just fine, wouldn't we, Yakone?”

“Stop it, both of you!” Lusa's voice rose into a wail. “This is all my fault,” she went on miserably. “I'm holding you back.”

“No, you're not.” Kallik padded over to Lusa and pressed her muzzle against the little bear's shoulder. “It's harder for you, that's all. I just want to do what's best for you.”

“It's not best, when you and Toklo talk about splitting up,” Lusa told her in a small voice. “We belong together. You know we do.”

“You're right.” Kallik felt her anger die. “I'm sorry.”

Toklo gave a grunt of acknowledgment, though he didn't meet Kallik's gaze. He gave Lusa an awkward prod with one paw. “Let's go a bit farther,” he suggested. “Then we'll find somewhere to spend the night.”

He turned and jumped onto the next ice floe. He had adapted to the way the ice pitched and rocked when he landed, and he slithered quickly to the center with his paws spread out to steady it. Kallik's irritation rose again at his assumption that he was still taking the lead, but at least he turned and waited for Lusa, checking to make sure she crossed safely before carrying on.

Thankfully, the chunks of ice grew bigger and the gaps narrower until the surface was solid and unbroken beneath their feet, though there was still no sign of land ahead. Darkness fell, with a thick cloud cover that cut off the light of the moon or stars. With nowhere to make a den, the bears huddled together to sleep.

Missing walls of snow or even of earth around her, Kallik slept uneasily. The wind swept across the ice with a thin, whining sound; she began to imagine that she could hear voices in it. Then she thought that she could hear her name. “Kallik! Kallik!”

Her eyes flew open. Toklo, Lusa, and Yakone slept beside her, as still as stones. Kallik caught her breath as she spotted a glimmer of starlight far out over the sea. The voice calling her name seemed to be coming from there. Gradually the light grew closer, though Kallik couldn't make out what it was. Cautiously sitting up, she prodded Lusa, who was closest, with one paw. “Lusa!” she hissed.

The black bear didn't move; not even her nose twitched.

Growing fearful, Kallik faced the starry glimmer. It seemed to be moving faster now, and as it drew closer, she could make out its shape. That's when her fear vanished.

“Ujurak!” she barked joyfully.

The brown bear trotted up to her. Stars were entangled in his fur, and his eyes glowed with the silver light of two small moons.

“Kallik,” he murmured affectionately, coming so close that she could see his breath clouding in the icy air.

Kallik prodded Lusa again, but still she couldn't rouse the black bear. “Why can't I wake the others?” she asked.

“They will see me soon,” Ujurak promised. “But tonight I've come to visit you.”

Kallik stared at him. “Why me?”

“Because I need to ask you something,” Ujurak told her. “Kallik, please don't quarrel with the others. It makes your journey harder.”

“I know.” Shame swept over Kallik and she bowed her head. “I'm sorry.”

“Toklo isn't the easiest bear to get along with.” There was a spark of amusement in Ujurak's eyes. “But you have always been the one to calm ruffled fur and keep the bears together. This is your gift, Kallik.”

Kallik nodded, remembering the quarrels she had stopped, the tempers she had cooled, on their long journey to Star Island. It hadn't always been easy, and sometimes she'd almost had to bite her own tongue off to keep the peace, but there was no point getting angry with the bears that you relied on for companionship, food, and shelter. She just had to think outside the moment, to the days and moons that lay beyond them. “I'll try harder,” she promised.

Ujurak lifted his muzzle, leaving a trail of sparks hanging in the air. “Good. Because you and Toklo and Lusa must share your destiny—and your journey—for a while longer.”

“I'll try,” Kallik repeated. “This journey is too important to be risked on a single fight. We're going home, aren't we?”

Ujurak didn't answer. Instead, his eyes flared with dazzling brightness. He took a huge leap into the air and soared above Kallik's head, a streak of silver light heading for the sky.

“Good-bye, Ujurak!” Kallik called, watching him as he rose higher and higher, until he was no more than a point of light among the clouds, and then winked out.

Kallik woke to pale gray light, with a milky line on the horizon where the sun was struggling to rise. Toklo was already awake, standing a couple of bearlengths away and giving himself a vigorous scratch with one hindpaw. Yakone was stirring beside her, though Lusa still slept in a bundle of black fur. Kallik felt a rush of affection for her three companions, warmed by the knowledge that Ujurak wanted her to keep them united and focused.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, springing to her paws. “Ujurak came to me in a dream last night!”

To her dismay, Toklo spun around to face her, his eyes full of pain. “Why would he come to you and not me?” he demanded.

Why wouldn't he visit me?
Kallik took a deep breath, determined to do as Ujurak asked and not quarrel. “He said you would all see him soon,” she explained. “And his message was for all of us.”

“But it was
you
he spoke to—or so you say,” Toklo retorted.

He turned away, but not before Kallik glimpsed hurt mingling with anger in his eyes. She wished she knew what to say to him.
I know he's grieving … but I couldn't keep Ujurak's message to myself, could I?

The sound of raised voices had woken Lusa, who struggled to her paws, glancing from Kallik to Toklo and back again. “Ujurak visited you?” she asked Kallik in astonishment. “What did he say?”

“He warned us about arguing with each other,” Kallik said, deciding not to mention how Ujurak had told her that she was the peacemaker among them. She didn't want Toklo thinking she had been singled out even more. “He said that our destiny lies together for a while longer.”

“I know
that
!” Toklo choked out, not looking at her.

“Well, okay, then,” Kallik replied, trying to sound calm. She noticed that Yakone was giving her a bewildered look, as if he didn't understand why a dead bear was visiting her, or why Toklo should be so angry about it.

“I'll explain later,” she murmured.

Meanwhile, Toklo was already walking away, not looking to see if the others were following him. His head was down and his shoulders hunched. Kallik sighed.
I guess all we can do is follow.

The island they had crossed lay far behind them now, and nothing could be seen in any direction but flat white. Kallik's belly growled with hunger, but there was no sign of prey or seal holes. Lusa kept up well at the beginning of the day's journey, as if the news of Ujurak's visit had encouraged her, but as time went on, she started to fall behind again. Kallik could see how hard it was for her to keep putting one paw in front of another.

We all need food. And Lusa needs to get to land. How long can we go on like this?
Kallik wondered, her anxiety rising with every pawstep.
We'll never get home at this rate. We don't even know where we are.

A harsh squawk from overhead interrupted her thoughts. Looking up, she saw a gull, its white wings flashing silver as it circled their heads. Toklo halted to watch it.

“Please,” Kallik heard him grumbling as she and the others caught up, “don't come and bother us when we have no hope of catching you.”

The bird went on squawking and swooping around them, then headed off in a different direction, only to circle around and come back to them again.

“I think it wants us to follow it,” Lusa said.

“Bee-brain!” Toklo snorted. “It's a
bird
.”

“I know.” Lusa wasn't daunted by Toklo's dismissive tone. “But maybe it's not
only
a bird. I've never seen a bird behave like that.”

“We might as well follow it and find out,” Kallik suggested, suddenly beginning to feel hopeful. “It can't do any harm.”

Toklo let out an exaggerated sigh. “Okay. Have it your way.”

Kallik took the lead as the four bears headed after the gull. It kept plunging around them, skimming the surface of the ice, then mounting into the sky again on strong curved wings. Kallik had to break into a trot to keep up.

Suddenly Yakone let out a roar. “I see a seal hole!”

He bounded past Kallik, heading for a dark circle breaking the white surface. Kallik glanced back to make sure that Toklo and Lusa were still following, then hurried after him. By the time she reached the seal hole, Yakone was crouched at the edge, his gaze fixed on the dark water. Keeping back so she wouldn't disturb him or frighten the seals, Kallik looked around again for the gull. She caught a glimpse of it, a silver fleck against the cloud cover, and then it was gone.

At the same moment, Yakone exclaimed, “Yes!”

Kallik glanced back to see that he was already dragging a seal out of the hole. It flopped around on the ice until he killed it with a swift blow to the neck.

“That's amazing!” Lusa breathed out. “We didn't even have to wait for it.”

“And it's
huge
! We'll all eat well today,” Kallik said, admiring the fat body. “You know,” she added more hesitantly, “I don't believe this was just good luck. I think that bird was Ujurak.”

“What?” Toklo exclaimed.

But Lusa was nodding eagerly. “I think you're right, Kallik. We really needed food, and the bird came to show us where to find it. That's
just
what Ujurak would do.”

“Well, I think you're both cloud-brained,” Toklo said grumpily. “We got lucky, that's all.”

Kallik suppressed a sigh. She thought Toklo would be anxious to think that Ujurak had come to help them, because he wanted to see his friend so much.

Maybe he doesn't dare let himself believe.

Yakone was looking from one bear to another with a baffled expression on his face. “I thought Ujurak was dead.”

“He was, but…” Kallik began.

“He rose up into the sky and turned into stars,” Lusa interrupted eagerly. “And when he was with us down here, he could change into all different shapes, so I don't see why he couldn't come back as a bird if he wanted to.”

Kallik was struck again by how much she missed Ujurak. “I wish he'd come back as a bear. Before he died, he seemed so real.”

“He
was
real!” Lusa insisted.

“But he wasn't a real
bear
, right?” Yakone said. “Real bears don't turn into stars.”

Toklo let out a disgusted snort, then turned away without speaking.

“He
was
a bear,” Kallik replied. “He was just … different. And now he's in the stars, and he's watching over us.” She leaned over and rested her muzzle on Yakone's shoulder. “Our memories of him are real, I promise,” she went on. “We just never knew that he belonged among the stars.”

“I'm glad we didn't,” Lusa said softly. “I think it would have made me … scared of him.”

Yakone glanced from Kallik to Lusa and back again, his eyes still full of confusion. “I see… I guess,” he muttered. “Can we eat now?”

“Sure we can,” Kallik responded. “You made a great catch.”

As the bears settled down around the seal and began to tear off chunks of juicy flesh, Kallik realized that Yakone had never really known Ujurak, not the way the rest of them had. Of course he would find it hard to understand how important the star-bear was to them.

But he'll soon learn, if Ujurak is really with us on our journey.

Lusa's belly ached as they set
off across the ice again. She knew that seal meat wasn't the right food for her. But at least she had managed to conquer the worst of her exhaustion. The thought that Ujurak had guided them to the seal hole gave her new hope and helped her to ignore the pain in her belly.