Smoke Mountain Read Online Free PDF Page B

Lusa’s mind was so different from the peaceful trees around them that she could hardly believe it existed. Morning dew sparkled on the grass, and she could hear the burble of a small stream under Taqqiq’s snoring. A place as terrible as Smoke Mountain seemed very far away.
    â€˜What is it?’ Kallik squeaked. ‘The evil?’
    â€˜There is a legend,’ Qopuk said softly, ‘that speaks of a giant no-claw as tall as seven trees.’
    Lusa and Kallik gasped.
    â€˜He lived on Smoke Mountain many moons ago,’ Qopuk went on. ‘Every step he took was a skylength wide. The trees themselves quaked in fear when he walked by. And he was hungry – always hungry.
    â€˜Then a snow-sky came that was longer than ever before, and fiercely cold. The no-claw had nothing toeat for many days. When the snow-sky finally passed, his hunger was so ferocious that he went into the mountains and killed every bear he could find.’
    â€˜Oh, no!’ Lusa cried.
    â€˜He killed
thirty bears
,’ Qopuk said darkly. Lusa looked down at her paws. She knew she had four of those. Was thirty a lot more? ‘And then he burned them the way no-claws burn their food. He hung them over a fire near a huge rock – the bear I met said he had seen the very rock, which he called Bear Rock. And then the giant no-claw ate all thirty bears.’
    â€˜I didn’t think no-claws
ate
bears,’ Kallik whispered.
    â€˜Well, this one did,’ Qopuk said. ‘And according to the legend, his spirit still haunts the mountain. They say that when the smoke thickens, the no-claw is lighting his fire and searching for bears to eat.’
    Lusa buried her muzzle in Kallik’s fur, trying to block out the screams of bears that rang in her head.
    â€˜That’s really horrible.’ Ujurak wrinkled his nose. ‘There
must
be another way to the Last Great Wilderness.’
    â€˜I have heard of another path,’ Qopuk said, lowering his head. All three cubs leaned closer. ‘It is much longer. And it has its dangers too.’
    â€˜Tell us,’ Ujurak prompted, touching his snout to the old bear’s.
    â€˜Cross the Big River and then follow it all the way to the Ice Sea,’ Qopuk rasped. ‘If you make it through the sinking sands and the waves that try to sweep you out into the ocean . . . if you can survive there . . . it is possible to reach the Last Great Wilderness along the shore.’ He took one long, shuddering breath and lay down. Branches and leaves crunched under his massive weight as he settled to the ground and rested his head on his paws. His eyes slowly closed.
    Lusa padded closer to him and pressed her fur to his. ‘I am so glad you’ll be with us on our journey,’ she whispered to him. ‘You can show us the way – and we can help you find the end of your path.’
    Qopuk didn’t answer. His chest rose and fell quietly as he breathed. Lusa pawed some soft leaves around him and stepped back. Ujurak was watching her with large dark eyes.
    â€˜We should let him sleep as long as he wants,’Lusa decided, ‘so when he wakes up he’ll be strong enough to travel.’
    Kallik blinked, stretching forward to sniff the old bear. ‘I hope he has some nice stories to tell us as well.’
    Lusa picked up the moss and trotted down to the water to soak it again. After a few moments, she realised that Ujurak was right behind her. She lifted her head and looked around.
    â€˜Lusa,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry. Qopuk isn’t coming with us.’
    â€˜Yes, he is!’ Lusa mumbled around the wad of moss. ‘He knows the way – and how to avoid Smoke Mountain! We need him!’
    â€˜He would come with us if he could,’ said Ujurak. ‘But this is our journey to make. Not his.’
    Lusa tipped her head to one side and stared at him. ‘You mean you won’t let him come?’
    â€˜It’s not like