Seekers #6: Spirits in the Stars by Erin Hunter Page B

I’ll come back for you very soon.”
    Kissimi nodded happily; Kallik made for the beach, where the others were padding up and down, exploring the bay. She stood still and sniffed; close to the sea the ice still smelled clean. There were no leaking pipes here; there was no disgusting black mud to defile the sea with its stink.
    “This place looks good for seals,” Toklo remarked, halting beside her.
    “It does, but we can’t be sure yet,” Kallik replied. “Not until we’ve looked under the ice. That’s where the seals and fish spend most of their time. We have to be certain that there’s no poison in the water.”
    Lusa stared out at the ice, her eyes wide with dismay. “But how will we be able to do that? That ice is thick!”
    “I’ll look for a breathing hole,” Kallik replied, beginning to head out onto the ice.
    “But won’t that mean there are other seals living here?” Lusa asked. “They might not let the seals from the cove come live here.”
    Kallik glanced back. “Maybe. But I don’t have a better idea.”
    She ranged back and forth across the ice within the curve of the bay, but at first she found nothing. Almost ready to give up, she was on her way back to the beach when she spotted a darker patch a little farther ahead. Drawing closer, she found a ragged hole in the ice, already starting to close up.
    It looks as if there was a seal here, but quite a while ago. If there were seals here now, there would be more than this one hole.
    Taking a deep breath, Kallik plunged her head through the hole, right down into the sea. The cold shock rushed through her, sending a tingle of energy through her whole body to the tips of her paws.
    Opening her eyes, she saw that the sea was dark but there was no dirt in it. With a satisfied grunt she pulled back, taking a huge gulp of air. Carefully she swiped her tongue around her jaws; all she could taste was salt and the wild tang of the ocean.
    “Well?” Toklo was plodding over to her across the ice, followed closely by Lusa and Ujurak. “What did you find?”
    “It’s clean,” Kallik reported. “This really could be what we’re looking for.”
    “Then we should go and tell—” Lusa began.
    She was interrupted by a loud squeaking from farther inshore. “K’lik! K’lik!” Kallik turned her head to see that Kissimi was scampering across the ice toward them.
    Warm happiness spread through Kallik. He knows my name!
    As Kissimi hurtled toward her, his paws skidded on the ice. He let out a shrill cry of exhilaration as he slid forward with the wind flattening his soft fur to his sides.
    Kallik’s happiness turned to horror. “Kissimi, watch out!” she shouted, hurling herself toward him.
    But she was too late. Before any bear could reach out to stop him, Kissimi fell with a splash into the breathing hole. His excited squeal became a startled wail; then his head went underwater.
    “No!” Kallik exclaimed.
    For a moment of heart-stopping panic she thought that the young cub had vanished completely. Then she spotted him underneath the ice, scratching feebly at the underside with his paws. His eyes were wide and terrified.
    Kallik crouched beside the hole and plunged a paw into the water, but Kissimi was just too far away for her to grab him; all she managed to do was push the cub farther away still.
    Beside her Toklo reared up on his hindpaws. “I’ll break the ice,” he grunted, his forepaws poised to crash through it.
    “No!” Kallik thrust herself in front of him. “You’ll hurt him!”
    “I’ll save him.” Ujurak spoke behind them, tense but calm. “Wait here.”
    He bounded over to the hole. Kallik watched in breathless hope as his body shrank and his brown fur vanished, to be replaced by a gleaming gray-brown pelt. In the shape of a sleek seal he dove into the hole, his slim form just brushing the sides.
    Gazing down, Kallik saw Ujurak’s dark shape curl around Kissimi. The cub thrashed with his paws as if he was afraid and trying