She caught a glimpse of the mother bear on top of the other wolf, clawing at its throat. The wolf let out a howl of pain, struggling to get up. Then Lusa lost sight of the brown bear, as the wolf atop her bore down with burning eyes and parted jaws.

Oh, Arcturus, help! Lusa prayed, battering the wolf with both forepaws.

Suddenly a huge brown paw thumped down on the wolf’s shoulder, tearing it away from Lusa. She staggered to her paws to see the other wolf vanishing into the undergrowth, yelping as it went. The she-bear threw a couple of stinging blows around the head of the wolf that had attacked Lusa, and it fled after its packmate.

Lusa and the she-bear were left looking at each other. Lusa’s chest heaved as she fought for enough breath to speak.

“Thank you,” the brown bear began. “I—”

“Mother! Mother!” Shrill cries came from the tree where Lusa had left the cubs. “We’re up here!”

The she-bear padded over to them and stood at the bottom of the tree. “You can come down now,” she panted. “It’s safe.”

“But how do we get down?” Fala asked, while Flo wailed, “We’re stuck!”

“It’s okay!” Lusa called to them. “I’ll come help you.”

She climbed quickly up the tree to the two frightened cubs and began coaxing them down from branch to branch, showing them where to put their paws.

Fala made it to the lowest branch, then launched herself to the ground in a mighty leap. “I’m a squirrel-bear!” she announced.

Her mother sniffed her all over, making sure she wasn’t hurt. “Thank the spirits!” she said. “Maybe we should practice tree climbing, too.”

Meanwhile Lusa was guiding Flo’s paws into cracks and knotholes in the tree bark, but the little cub hurried too much, and her paws slipped. She let out a screech as she plummeted through the leaves.

“Flo!” Her mother darted forward and managed to break her fall with her shoulder.

Flo rolled over on the ground, her paws waving in the air. “I can fly!” she squealed.

While Lusa was climbing down the tree, the mother bear gathered the two cubs together. “What have I told you about going too far from our den?” she scolded.

“But we were going to catch a deer for you,” Fala told her.

“And we were fine,” Flo added. “That funny black bear saved us. I think she’s a squirrel.”

Lusa dropped down to the ground and padded over to the brown bears. “My name’s Lusa,” she said.

The brown she-bear looked her over with friendly interest. “I’m Makya,” she said. “And these are Fala and Flo. I think you must be the black bear they told me about, the one who spoke to them by the stream one day?”

“That’s right,” Lusa said.