Lusa crouched down and peered around Toklo to see a huddle of flat-face dens several bearlengths away. The firesnake had stopped with its head beside a tall, shiny treelike thing. “What’s that?” she whispered.

No one replied. As Lusa watched, a flat-face climbed out of the firesnake’s head and detached a long tendril from the silver tree. He stretched it from the tree to the firesnake and somehow inserted the end into the firesnake’s head.

“Great spirits! What’s he doing?” Toklo muttered.

“I think he must be feeding it,” Kallik murmured uncertainly. “A firesnake as big as this must need a lot of food.”

Yakone let out a snort. “I wish somebody would feed us!”

The white bear’s words made Lusa realize how hungry and thirsty she was. She couldn’t remember the last time her belly had been full. “Maybe we should get off and look for food,” she suggested.

“Yes,” Kallik agreed. “We need to hunt, and find water for Yakone. He’s so hot he feels like he’s burning up.”

Yakone opened his jaws to speak, but before he could get a word out, Toklo was already shaking his head. “The mountains are still too far away,” he pointed out. “If we get off here, we’ll have a long walk in the open.”

“I know,” Kallik began, “but Yakone—”

“Is better off here where he can rest.” Toklo spoke curtly, as if he was in no mood for arguments. “We’ll have to put up with hunger and thirst for a while longer, until we’re closer to the forest.”

Kallik exchanged a glance with Lusa, then sighed. “If you say so. We—”

She broke off at the sound of flat-face voices and the stomp of their paws. Lusa spun around to see two of them walking along the firesnake, coming their way. They seemed to be inspecting its sides.

“They’ll see us!” she gasped. “Now we have to get off!”

“This way.” Toklo gave her a shove toward the side of the firesnake body that was opposite the flat-faces. Lusa half jumped, half tumbled to the ground through an opening in the body and crouched on the dusty earth while Kallik scrambled after her and turned to help Yakone down. Toklo brought up the rear, a low growl of annoyance in his throat.

“Come on,” Lusa urged. “Let’s get as far away as we can before the flat-faces spot us.”

“No,” Toklo said stubbornly. “We have to stay close by. The firesnake will start moving again soon, because it’s going to the mountains. I’m sure of it.” Flattening himself to the ground, he began crawling under the firesnake’s belly, beckoning to the others to follow him. “We can hide here until it’s finished feeding.”