At first when they left the cave the ravine was still in shadow, but while they were still checking their surroundings, the sun rose over the top of the rocks, its slanting rays striking the track where they stood.

“That feels good,” Lusa murmured, hoping that the warmth would dry her pelt.

“We have to move.” Toklo was examining the edge of the cliff where the water cascaded down. In daylight, Lusa could see a narrow gap, just wide enough for a bear, between the water and the trees. “Do you think we can climb up there?” Toklo asked.

Lusa looked upward, assessing the cliff. It was almost sheer, but there were plenty of ledges and cracks in the rock that they could use for pawholds. “I think I could manage it,” she said.

“Well, Yakone certainly can’t,” Kallik retorted. “You must be cloud-brained if you think he could get up there. We’ll have to find another way.”

“Why don’t I climb up and wait for you at the top?” Lusa suggested. “Then you and Toklo can help Yakone, and I can keep a lookout.”

Toklo hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. But stay under cover.”

Lusa gave him a poke with one paw. “Whatever you say, bossy!”

Without waiting for Toklo to respond, she began scrambling up the cliff. Before she had climbed more than a couple of bearlengths, a stone under her paw gave way, and she lurched into thin air. Lusa clutched at the wet rocks, swaying, then managed to claw herself up to the safety of a ledge, where she paused for a moment, her heart thumping and her legs trembling. Bee-brain! You should be more careful. Lusa glanced down to see if her friends had noticed that she’d almost fallen. She was thankful to see that all three of them were picking their way back along the edge of the stream, their backs to her.

Once the quivering in her legs had died away, Lusa started to climb again more slowly. In a shorter time than she expected, she reached the top of the cliff. A grassy slope stretched in front of her, dotted with trees. A lush growth of ferns and bushes grew along the edge of the stream. Thicker forest lay just beyond the grass, and in the distance Lusa could see the exposed cliff that Toklo had recognized in the moonlight the night before. There was no sign of wolves or any other bears.

Lusa took a drink from the stream, then padded along the top of the ravine until she caught sight of her friends, who were toiling up a narrow track that wound back and forth up the slope, furtively scrambling from the shelter of one rock to the next.

Kallik’s voice drifted up to her, sounding annoyed. “Toklo, slow down! Yakone can’t keep up.”

“Okay, okay!” Lusa saw Toklo turn back and grab Yakone by one shoulder, dragging him up.