Fire in the Sky by Erin Hunter Page A

four distinct streaks of clouds, all angling in this direction, which he’d taken for a sign they should go this way. But now the lines had blurred away, and his certainty had melted along with them. There was nothing in all this emptiness at the moment to convince him they were on the right path.
    He clung to the thought of Kallik’s mysterious escape from the orcas. Surely that meant what he hoped—that they had made the right choice and the spirits were with them. He just had to have faith.
    And most important, he had to act confident for the others. They couldn’t know that he was even a little unsure; he had to hide how much the ice confused him. If they knewhow lost he felt, they’d lose faith in him. Ujurak looked back at Toklo stomping along, muttering grumpily to himself as he sometimes did. Toklo’s temper was already on edge; Ujurak was afraid the brown bear would seize any excuse to go back to the land.
    If Toklo lost faith in Ujurak’s guidance, there would be nothing to keep him here…nothing to keep all four of them together. And Ujurak was certain that was the most important thing. All four bears were essential for whatever was ahead.
    He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. The memory of how he’d nearly lost himself as a whale still terrified him. And now that he’d taken back the role of guide from Kallik, the weight of his friends’ expectations lay heavily on his fur.
    He had to be strong. He had to act sure, even when he wasn’t. He had to watch even more carefully for signs and hold the group together, no matter what. He couldn’t hope that Kallik would lead the way in his place anymore.
    Everything depended on him.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Toklo
    Toklo stopped on a sloping bank of snow and looked back at the broken ice river in the distance. He could still see black fins slipping through the green water. He shuddered as he imagined vicious teeth closing over his paws.
    Nearly losing Kallik had given him more of a fright than he wanted to admit. He couldn’t rely on the white bear to take care of them. He needed to learn to catch seals properly and how to find shelter on the ice, in case he needed to take over for any reason.
    He hurried to catch up to Kallik, scrambling past a sleepy-looking Lusa and a plodding Ujurak. Kallik’s wet fur was drying quickly under the sun and with the brisk breeze; she didn’t even seem very cold. Toklo had always thought his fur was the perfect thickness to keep him warm, but now he secretly craved whatever was keeping Kallik so comfortable out here.
    “Hey, Kallik,” he said, nudging her flank. “Maybe you could teach me your way of catching a seal, the way your mother taught you.”
    “Really?” she said. She swung her head around to look at him. “You really want to learn? It seems pretty boring at first. You have to be very patient .”
    “Well, I’m quite a patient bear,” Toklo said. “I mean, that’s what I’m known for.”
    Kallik snorted with laughter and Toklo checked behind him to see if Lusa had heard his joke. But she was a couple of bearlengths back, struggling through the snow with her head down.
    “I want to learn,” he said earnestly. “I promise to listen, I really will.”
    “And behave?” Kallik prompted. He nodded. “And not grumble?”
    “I don’t grumble!” Toklo barked. “I never grumble!”
    “Oh, really?” said Kallik.
    “All right, if we get through this lesson, and I do exactly as I’m told, then you say you’re sorry for calling me a grumbler.”
    “Deal,” Kallik huffed. She lifted her head and sniffed deeply. “We’re in luck. I think there’s a seal breathing hole only a skylength and a half that way.” She nodded at the edge of the sky in a direction that looked exactly like every other to Toklo. He tried inhaling, but couldn’t smell anything like seal.
    “How do you do that?” he whined.
    “Same way you can find your way back to places you’ve been before,” Kallik said. “It’s just