River of Lost Bears Read Online Free PDF

with pain. “But it was my fault.” She paused to take a trembling breath. “I was on a BlackPath and I tripped.” She dropped her gaze. “My mother came back to help me, and that’s when the firebeast hit her.” Her voice thickened as if grief choked her. “Hakan was watching from the trees. He said it was my fault. He says only I’d be stupid enough to trip on a BlackPath.”
    Toklo wanted to say something to make her feel better, but the young bear was lost in her misery.
    â€œHe doesn’t need to keep blaming me!” she hissed. “I know it was my fault. I know I’m clumsy and stupid, and if I wasn’t such a wrong-paw, our mother would still be alive.” Her eyes flashed with anger as she lifted her head and glared at Toklo.
    What can I say? Toklo gazed back at her. Chenoa must have been just a cub when it happened. It wasn’t her fault. “My brother died,” he blurted. Perhaps if she knew that bad things happened to everyone, she wouldn’t feel so bad. “Tobi was my littermate. He was always sick. I tried to play with him. I tried to teach him to hunt, but he was never strong enough. I was angry that he slowed us down. And then he died and after that, my mother didn’t want me anymore.” He paused, suddenly breathless.
    Chenoa gazed at him, wide-eyed. “She didn’t want you? Why? ”
    Toklo swallowed. He didn’t want to think about it. “Because …” He groped for words. “I guess she was scared I was going to die, too.” He stiffened, surprised how much had tumbled out to this unknown bear.
    Chenoa blinked. “That must have been terrible.”
    â€œIt was.”
    â€œI guess I still have Hakan.”
    â€œI’m not sure that’s such a good thing.”
    â€œHe means well,” Chenoa insisted. “But he doesn’t realize that I’m not a cub anymore.”
    Toklo looked her up and down. She wasn’t exactly a full-grown bear, either.
    She went on, lifting her muzzle. “I can’t stay here forever. I need a territory of my own, or I’ll never be able to look after myself.” She eyed Toklo, suddenly curious. “Where’s your territory, by the way? I don’t recognize your scent.”
    Toklo glanced over his shoulder. The others would be missing him. “We’ve been traveling.”
    â€œWe?”
    â€œMe and Lusa, Kallik, and Yakone. And Ujurak.” He stopped, the pain in his cheek suddenly numb as his mind swirled. He missed Ujurak. The young bear had left them moons ago, but his spirit was still traveling with them. He had been a special bear, like no other. When he’d been alive, he had changed into other creatures, shifting his shape to become whales or birds—whatever he wanted. And now he still visited in dreams and visions.
    Toklo tugged his thoughts back to Chenoa. She was watching him with round eyes. “We’ve been to the Endless Ice, and now we’re traveling home. Well, Lusa and I are going home. Kallik and Yakone are traveling with us till we get there.”
    Chenoa gazed at him steadily. “Where is your home?”
    â€œIn the mountains. I was born there.”
    Chenoa sat down. “You’ve really been to the Endless Ice?” Her words were hardly more than a breath. “Everyone’s heard of it, but I never believed it existed.” She stared away through the trees. “I’d like to travel, far away from here. Perhaps if I wasn’t around, Hakan wouldn’t be so angry all the time.”
    Toklo wasn’t convinced. “Really?”
    â€œI remind him of our mother.” Chenoa shrugged.
    Toklo stared at the young bear. She looked more like a cub than a mother. “I’ve got to get back to my friends.” His pelt prickled. This wasn’t his problem. He wanted to get home. “We need to move on.”
    Chenoa jumped to her paws. “I could