The Longest Day Read Online Free PDF

till they reached the Endless Ice, where there’d be seawater to swim in. Salt water felt thicker than lake water; it pulled at her pelt with a reassuring heaviness.
    As she broke the surface, she saw Yakone floating on his back with the trout between his jaws. Taqqiq popped up a bearlength away, Shila and Tonraq surfacing beside him.
    â€œGet back to your side of the water!”
    An angry bark took Kallik by surprise. Four brown heads were bobbing behind Taqqiq. Grizzlies! Kallik glanced back at the shore, surprised they’d swum so far. And yet they weren’t that close to the brown bears’ beach. These grizzlies were a long way out.
    â€œThe lake’s big enough to share!” she called back. It felt strange to be arguing with a brown bear after so many moons hunting beside Toklo.
    In response, one of the grizzlies pushed through the water toward Shila, Tonraq, and Taqqiq. Shila had a large salmon between her jaws, and Kallik saw the grizzly’s gaze fix on it as he plowed closer. The other three brown bears swam in his wake.
    Yakone dropped his trout and flipped onto his front. Kallik dove to catch it. As she surfaced, she saw Yakone heading toward Taqqiq. Tonraq and Taqqiq were facing the grizzlies, growling.
    Tonraq slapped a paw hard on the lake’s surface, sending water spraying toward the brown bears. “No brown bear tells us where to hunt!” he snarled.
    Taqqiq swam sideways, blocking the gap between the grizzlies and Shila. “You have the forest to hunt in!” he shouted.
    â€œThe fish here are ours!” The grizzly who had spoken before was now swimming in place, his lip curled. “Get back to your own side.”
    â€œOr what?” Tonraq growled.
    Taqqiq snorted, slapping the water again. “Don’t threaten a white bear when he’s swimming! You can hardly keep your head above water. Go back to the shallows. Your paws are only fit for land.”
    The other brown bears lined up beside the first. One snapped his jaws, the wet fur around his neck spiking.
    Kallik dropped the trout into her paws. “Come on!” she called to Taqqiq. “Let’s leave them to fish.”
    Tonraq spun around, spraying water, and hissed at her. “Have you forgotten where your loyalties lie?”
    â€œBut we’re all bears !” Kallik glanced toward Taqqiq and Yakone, hoping one of them would back her up. But they both kept their gaze fixed on the brown bears.
    Frustrated, Kallik looked at Shila. Did she think this was a battle worth fighting? Shila was struggling to keep hold ofthe salmon thrashing in her jaws. “Let’s take our catch back to shore,” Kallik urged her. If she could get Shila away, the others might follow. She placed the trout back between her jaws, before turning away from the blustering males and swimming back toward the white bears’ beach. As she felt the lake bed rise to meet her paws, she glanced back.
    Shila was following, but Yakone and the others were still exchanging splashes and snarls with the brown bears. At least none of them were within striking distance; perhaps this would be a show of strength rather than a fight with teeth and claws.
    Kallik climbed up the sloping shelf of rock onto the shore. Shila padded beside her, pelt streaming. They dropped their catch as they passed the waterline.
    â€œThose dumb brown bears.” Shila stared angrily across the water. “If I wasn’t holding a fish, I’d have shown them who was trespassing!”
    At last, Yakone, Taqqiq, and Tonraq were swimming for shore. The brown bears had turned away and were diving for fish.
    â€œWhat was that about?” Illa hurried over the stones toward Kallik and Shila. “What were those grizzlies doing?”
    Before Kallik could answer, a gruff bark came from farther up the shore. “They were on our side of the water!” She recognized it at once.
    Taqqiq’s former friend Salik was staring across