Island of Shadows Read Free Page A

before it’s completely dark.” He braced himself for an argument with Yakone, but the white bear just nodded.
    â€œThere’s nowhere to dig out a den,” Kallik warned. “But you’re right, Toklo. The island is too far away to make it there in time to find better shelter. Come on, Lusa, you can lie down next to me—but be careful that you don’t fall into the longsleep again.”
    Kallik and Yakone settled down side by side on the ice, and Lusa curled up beside them. After a moment’s hesitation Toklo joined them, checking the wind direction and positioning himself to shelter the small black bear from the worst of the blast. She gave him a grateful look, pushing her muzzle into his shoulder, and the tiny acknowledgment made Toklo feel a little better. Then he spotted Yakone over the top of Lusa’s head, and his jealousy came flooding back.
    There might be hare or deer on that island , he thought. Then I’ll show that white bear how to hunt!
    In spite of the cold, Toklo was beginning to sink into sleep when Kallik’s voice suddenly roused him. “Look!”
    Raising his head, Toklo glanced around warily, half expecting to see an enemy approaching—another white bear, or a full-grown walrus. Then he realized that Kallik was staring up at the sky. Over the island, faint streaks of color were stretching upward: gold and ice blue and the green of forest trees. Lusa scrambled to her paws with a squeal of excitement.
    â€œThe spirits are here!”
    As Toklo and the others stood watching, the colors strengthened and became like shining rivers flowing across the sky from horizon to horizon, brighter even than the twinkling stars. The light billowed into huge clouds, reflecting on the bears’ fur, bathing them in brightness. Green, blue, gold, orange, red, and then back to green again: Over and over the streams of light rippled through the sky, dancing to a silent heartbeat.
    â€œThe Iqniq.” Yakone’s voice was hushed, awestruck. “We thought they had left us forever.”
    â€œSo beautiful…” Kallik rested her head against Yakone’s shoulder. “Nisa is with them; I have to believe that. My mother is watching over me, dancing through the sky with her pelt full of colors.”
    â€œArcturus!” Lusa spoke happily, as if she were greeting an old friend, her head tilted upward and her jaws parted as if she could drink in the sky-fire like clean, clear water.
    Toklo felt as though the spirits were swirling around him, swooping down to the ice before rushing back into the sky, trying to draw him into their dance. Are you here, Ujurak? he asked silently. If you are, let me see you. Please.
    But there was no response, only the shining fire that lapped around him. Toklo didn’t know how long he stood there as the rivers of light played across the sky. He stared into the depths until his eyes ached, straining to make out the shape of a little brown bear running toward him. At last the colors faded and the sky turned black once more. Sighing, Toklo let himself sink down onto the ice again, huddled beside his companions. Sleep overwhelmed him like the crashing of a black wave.
    Toklo paused at the mouth of a narrow cove that led between dark rocky cliffs so steep that scarcely any snow clung to them. Gulls wheeled overhead, letting out their raucous cries, but nothing else moved in the landscape.
    Toklo had taken the lead when they had set out that morning across the stretch of frozen sea that still separated them from the island. Now its black cliffs loomed above them, impossible to climb. They would have to follow the cove, but Toklo didn’t like the feeling of being closed in by those sharp rocks. They reminded him too much of the gully where Ujurak had been killed by the avalanche. What if another one came? Would he have to watch all his friends die under an ocean of snow?
    â€œCome on!” Lusa exclaimed from behind him.