The Longest Day by Erin Hunter Page A

huge, cool space. Lusa would have stared in wonder at the falling water as it made patterns of the sunlight beyond.
    â€œCan this be our secret place?” Akocha begged. “I don’t want the other bears to know about it.”
    â€œOkay,” Toklo answered absently. A breeze swirled in from one side of the falls, carrying the scent of pines. It jolted him from his memories. “We should go back to the lake,” he murmured. “Your mother will be wondering where you are.”
    Akocha was sniffing the wall. “I don’t think anybody has ever been here before us.”
    Toklo wondered if that was true. There were no other scents beyond wind and water here. “Come on.” He walked toward a pillar of sunlight where a ledge curved around the edge of the falls and led out to the bank.
    Akocha trotted after him, raising his voice as they skirted the wall of water. “We found the best place in the world!”

CHAPTER EIGHT
Kallik
    Kallik slept. Dreams rushed in and out like waves lapping the shore. Black bears flashed in her thoughts, trapped and bleeding, their faces contorted with pain. Firebeasts streaked past her. The heat of their wind blasted her muzzle. She could see Lusa darting one way, then the other, eyes wild. Ujurak! Fear lifted her to the surface of sleep, and she broke momentarily into wakefulness before slumping back, black bears and firebeasts crowding in again. She knew Ujurak was there, skirting the edge of her dream, just out of reach.
    Come and help us! As Kallik wailed out loud, she saw Lusa on the BlackPath. A firebeast thundered toward her. Run! Kallik tried to shriek, but no sound came out. Lusa!
    A large, wet snout snuffled at her ear. “Kallik?”
    She raised her head, shaking herself awake. Relief swamped her as she saw the barren shore sloping down to the lake. No firebeasts, no Lusa.
    Yakone nudged her cheek. “A nightmare?”
    â€œYes.” Kallik heaved herself to her paws and shook out her pelt. “I dreamed Lusa was in danger.”
    â€œLusa’s safe,” Yakone soothed. “We brought her home with the injured bears, remember? She’ll be curled in her nest.”
    â€œI hope so.” Kallik gazed across the shore to the black bears’ wooded hillside. “I’m worried she stayed up all night looking after the wounded. She seemed to be the only bear who knew what to do. She’ll be exhausted.”
    â€œLusa can take care of herself,” Yakone reminded her. “She’ll rest when she needs to.” He nodded to the group of white bears gathered at the water’s edge. Taqqiq, Iqaluk, and Salik were among them. “They’re planning to swim out to that island.” A small rocky hump lay a short way from the shore, hazy in the morning sunshine. “Why don’t we go with them? It looks like there will be birds to catch.”
    Kallik gazed across the sparkling water. Gulls wheeled and fought above the island. “I can’t,” she told Yakone. “Lusa will need fresh herbs. I want to collect some.” The forest beyond the ridge looked green and lush. She felt sure there would be plenty of useful plants growing among the trees.
    Yakone’s eyes rounded with sympathy. “She has other bears to help her now, Kallik. She doesn’t need us anymore.”
    Kallik looked at him sharply. “Lusa will always need us! We’re her best friends.”
    â€œWe’ll always be special to her,” Yakone agreed. “But she must make her own life now.”
    Kallik snorted. “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean we can’thelp her. If you want to swim to the island with the others, then go. I can look for herbs by myself.”
    â€œNo,” Yakone murmured. “I’ll come with you.”
    Kallik wasn’t sure whether to feel grateful or annoyed that she’d had to persuade him to help. Don’t you care about Lusa anymore? She brushed the