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turned to carry it back to her friends. Then she halted in surprise as she saw Yakone pacing toward her.
    â€œI was watching you,” the male bear said as he reached her side. “That was a terrific catch. You looked just like Toklo!”
    Kallik gaped, dropping her prey. “What? Didn’t I look like a white bear?”
    Yakone looked taken aback. “Well, of course. I just think it’s great that you can hunt like other bears.”
    Kallik took a deep breath. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I only want everything to be perfect going home. I don’t want the bears there to think I’m not like them.”
    Briefly Yakone buried his muzzle in her shoulder fur. “Everything will be perfect, because we’re both here,” he told her. “So quit worrying!”
    I wish I could believe him , Kallik thought. There’s still so much that could go wrong .

CHAPTER SEVEN
Toklo
    Toklo nosed his way into the open and stood blinking in the pale dawn light. Behind him, in the den they had scraped out beneath an overhanging rock, he could hear his friends still snuffling in their sleep. From somewhere nearby came the sound of slow dripping, a sign that the snow and ice were starting to melt at last. A faint scent of pine wafted toward Toklo on the breeze, and from high above his head came the cry of a bird.
    Excitement prickled at Toklo like ants creeping through his pelt. The warmer weather is coming . But his excitement couldn’t banish his anxiety as he thought of the time when his little family of bears would split up.
    Kallik and Yakone will stay at the Melting Sea. Lusa and I will have to go on alone .
    Determinedly pushing away the thought, Toklo gazed at the landscape ahead of him and began planning the day’s route. He and his friends had traveled through the mountains for several days, and already they were nearing the end of the range. They had descended a long way from the high peaks; from the ledge where he stood, Toklo could see a flat expanse of land stretching into the distance. The horizon was so misty and blurred that Toklo couldn’t make out any details, but he wondered if he was already gazing out over the Melting Sea.
    On their journey they had stayed at the center of the ridge to avoid flat-faces. To Toklo’s relief they hadn’t seen any more metal birds, or the weird flat-faces with sticks on their paws.
    That’s because we’ve been extra careful. For all we know, the flat-faces are still looking for us .
    But even though it was so important to stay away from flat-faces, the bears hadn’t been able to travel by night. The terrain was too difficult. Toklo winced in sympathy as he remembered how Yakone had stepped off the edge of a rock in the dark and wrenched his shoulder. That had meant a day of no traveling at all, so he could rest.
    After that, they traveled in daylight, always alert for the appearance of more flat-faces. Toklo stifled a sigh of regret for the vast open spaces of the Endless Ice, where flat-faces never bothered them.
    But we couldn’t stay there forever , he reminded himself. We’re all going home, back where we belong—wherever that is .
    â€œHey, the air smells different!” Lusa popped out of the den beside Toklo, her eyes gleaming as she surveyed the land in front of them. “I can smell green things growing—buds under the snow! I—” She broke off with a squeak as a drop of water fell from the overhanging rock above and splashed onto her head. “The mountain’s melting!” she exclaimed.
    â€œNo, just the snow,” Yakone told her, emerging from the den behind her and stretching his limbs with a mighty yawn.
    Kallik pushed her way into the open behind him and paced forward to the end of the ledge, where she stood staring into the distance. After a moment she spun around. “I can smell home!” she gasped. “Look, the Melting Sea is there!”
    Toklo