Kallik nodded. “I will always miss my brother, but he has his own life now. I left the Melting Sea to find the Endless Ice, but I never had a chance to appreciate it. Now that I know it really exists, I want to go back, to stay for longer—perhaps forever.”

Yakone nuzzled her shoulder. “I’ll be honored to take you home with me.”

The white bears were well rested now, their bellies full from the hare. Kallik rose to her paws. “Then let’s go.”

Before they headed down to the forest, they climbed the last few bearlengths to the very top of the ridge and looked down on the other side, where the destruction of the avalanche was still visible.

“I hope Izusa, Wapi, and Yas are still safe,” Kallik said.

“They will be.” Yakone gave a snort of amusement. “We’ll probably go down in legend as the mysterious white bears who dug them out of a snowfall!”

With a last look at the far slopes, Kallik turned and padded beside Yakone back over the ridge and toward the familiar forest. Wind buffeted them, whipping up the snow into sharp little flakes. Kallik hesitated for a moment at the top of the scree that led down the cliff; it looked too much like the old waterfall where they had been trapped by the avalanche. Then she told herself she was being stupid. It couldn’t happen twice—could it?

Letting Yakone take the lead, she half climbed, half slid down the narrow gully, trying to grip the rocks with her paws. Her heart thumped every time a pebble shifted under her weight, and she let out a huff of relief as they reached the bottom.

Heading down the lower slopes, Kallik was aware that the air was growing hotter and dustier. Her mouth was dry, and she longed for a drink of cool water. But what matters is that I’m going to see Lusa and Toklo again!

The white bears followed the rocky, exposed shoulder of the hillside as far as the edge of the forest. Confronted by the dark, rustling trees, Kallik felt a moment of disquiet; this still wasn’t a natural place for her to be.

“Toklo and Lusa will be amazed to see us,” Yakone said, padding up beside her.

“I hope they haven’t moved on,” Kallik said, realizing for the first time that her friends might have left the forest. This is Toklo’s home, she reminded herself. But then, there are the wolves. . . .

Kallik broke into a run, scrambling down the last part of the rocky shoulder and plunging into the trees. But once she was surrounded by the soaring trunks, she felt disoriented.

“Everything looks the same,” she muttered. “How are we supposed to find our way in here?”

“We just need to look more carefully,” Yakone suggested.