“The rest of us can drop stones and branches down on top of them once they’re in the ravine,” Yakone suggested.

“But remember we don’t want them badly hurt,” Lusa warned. “They have to be able to run.”

“We’ll just use small stones and branches,” Kallik said. “And we don’t need to aim for the wolves. Stuff falling out of the sky will confuse them, even if it doesn’t hit them.”

“That should work,” Yakone agreed. “As soon as the wolves know they’re beaten, we let them escape, and chase them all the way up to the ridge.”

“But it’s almost a day’s climb up there, and we’ll all be exhausted,” Toklo noted, turning to gaze across the open grassland to the trees beyond.

Lusa gave him a friendly nudge. “That’s why we’ll need the other bears to help us. I’ll ask Makya, and you can ask Aiyanna.”

Toklo let out a snort. “Aiyanna won’t help,” he muttered. “She seems safe from the wolves in her territory.”

“She’ll help,” Lusa assured him. “She’s kinder than you know, and she doesn’t want the wolves here any more than you do. Makya should know where we can find Maniitok, too,” she added. Better not mention Chogan, she told herself. Toklo won’t work with him, and he wouldn’t want to help us anyway. “If there are enough of us,” she went on, “we can line up through the forest to pick up the chase when someone else gets tired.”

“And Yakone and I will be at the very top to start the avalanche!” Kallik’s eyes gleamed. “Lusa, I really think this is going to work!”

Lusa nodded. “We’ll do it at nightfall tomorrow,” she said. “The moon will be full then. The wolves are used to hunting in darkness, but we’re not, so we’ll need the extra light.”

“But we still don’t know how we’re going to get the wolves into the ravine to begin with,” Toklo growled.

Lusa couldn’t come up with an answer. Frustrated, she could see her plan melting away.

“I could lure them,” Kallik offered after a moment. “They’ll easily spot my white pelt in the darkness.”

Lusa froze with horror. “No way!”

Yakone shook his head. “Absolutely not. Remember what happened when I lured the coyotes.”

“But that worked, sort of,” Kallik argued.

“I don’t care. You’re not doing it,” Yakone retorted.

Kallik was looking furious, but before she could speak, Toklo stepped between them. “Calm down, both of you,” he said. “It wouldn’t work this time anyway. It only worked with the coyotes because they were all together.”

“So what can we do?” Lusa asked.