The Last Wilderness Read Free Page B

blinked as a look of pride spread across his face. ‘Well, maybe a small one . . .’
    Lusa noticed that he was eyeing the herd with much more interest now as they padded on. There werecaribou calves among the herd, grazing beside the full-grown adults.
I bet Toklo could catch one of those
.
    On the other side of the caribou, the ground sloped up more steeply and vanished into a dark growth of trees. The branches rippled in the wind, as if the whole hillside were the pelt of a huge animal.
    ‘Look at the forest!’ she exclaimed, jerking her snout in that direction. ‘Please can we go and check it out? Please?’
    ‘Looks good,’ Toklo agreed. ‘I could find my own territory there.’ His eyes focused with a gleam of determination. ‘Any bear who crossed my border had better watch out!’ He gave Lusa a playful nudge. ‘I might let annoying black bears visit, though. Just to make sure they didn’t starve.’
    ‘You can be annoying yourself!’ Lusa bared her teeth at him in a mock snarl. ‘I can look after myself, thank you very much. Miki showed me lots of tricks in the forest beside Great Bear Lake.’
    ‘That scared little cub? The one the white bears took?’ Toklo’s voice rose in disbelief.
    ‘Miki knew a lot,’ Lusa assured him. She shot a sidelong glance at Kallik, trying to warn Toklo not to remind the white bear of how her brother Taqqiqand his friends had stolen the little black bear. Kallik still loved Taqqiq, whatever he had done. ‘He showed me what sorts of berries were the best, and how to find grubs underneath stones . . .’
    ‘Berries . . . grubs?’ Toklo growled, though his eyes still shone with amusement. ‘That’s no sort of food for a bear.’
    ‘It’s the best!’ Lusa argued. ‘And ants . . . I never imagined that ants could taste so delicious.’
    ‘I’ll settle for goose, thanks,’ Toklo said. ‘Or caribou.’ He eyed one of the herd that was clicking nervously past. ‘You’re right, that would really fill our bellies.’
    ‘I’m hungry for seal,’ Kallik murmured, gazing back down the hill to where the white sea-ice glimmered on the horizon. ‘You don’t know how exciting it is, crouching beside the hole in the ice and waiting for the seal to come up for a breath!’
    ‘Exciting?’ Toklo muttered into Lusa’s ear. ‘If sitting all day freezing your fur off is exciting, then I’m a goose!’
    Lusa gave him a stern look. ‘Doesn’t the seal know you’re there?’ she asked Kallik.
    ‘Not if you’re really quiet,’ the white cub replied.‘Then when it appears, you have to be so quick, to drag it out and kill it before it can get away.’ She heaved a long sigh. ‘Seal meat is the best thing ever . . . I can taste it now. I can’t wait for the ice to come back!’
    Seeing the glow in her eyes, Lusa knew she had to feel happy for her, though a prickle of apprehension ran down her spine. The day when they would follow their separate paths couldn’t be far away.
    ‘I love building a snow cave and curling up inside it,’ Kallik went on. ‘It’s so cosy to listen to the wind whistling outside and know you’re warm and safe. And swimming with beluga whales –’
    ‘Swimming with
whales
?’ Lusa’s fur bristled with alarm. ‘Isn’t that how your mother died?’
    ‘No, it was an orca whale that killed Nisa. Belugas are different.’ Kallik’s eyes clouded with memories, making Lusa sorry she had asked the question.
Bee-brain! Think before you open your big mouth!
‘The beluga won’t hurt you,’ Kallik went on, brightening a little. ‘I wish I could show you the ice, Lusa. You’d love it.’
    I doubt it
, Lusa thought, gazing out at the silver shimmer on the edge of sight. Just the idea of all that emptiness made her ache inside. How could that everfeel like home?
Not a tree in sight! I’d get blown away like a leaf, if I didn’t freeze into an icicle first!
    ‘I think forests are best for black bears,’ she told Kallik.
    ‘They’re