“The other bears will be glad to see us,” she said thoughtfully. “I’ll see Taqqiq again, and we’ll be able to keep those other cloud-brained bears in check.” The prospect should have filled Kallik with joy, and she wondered why she didn’t feel the excitement she had expected to be reunited with her brother. Then she gave her pelt a shake. It’s just that I’m missing Lusa and Toklo.

“We might even arrive as the sea starts freezing again.” Yakone sounded quite happy with the plan. “Just in time for snow-sky.”

“Yes, that would be good,” Kallik responded.

Moving on, they came to the head of an old waterfall that was now filled with snow and rocks and bushes.

“Come on,” Kallik said, taking the lead again. “It looks like there might be a chance of prey down there.”

They began to clamber down; Kallik hoped they would find prey before they got anywhere near the tree line. The distant forest looked dark and forbidding and suffocating, even after such a short time in the open. “I can’t believe we ever survived down there!” she exclaimed.

“Neither can I,” Yakone agreed. “We—” He broke off, scenting the air.

At the same moment Kallik heard the sound of pawsteps and spotted a mountain goat scrambling over the rocks. “Over there! Quick!” As both bears headed after it, she added, “I ate goat when we were traveling across Smoke Mountain. It’s delicious!”

Kallik and Yakone stalked after the goat, which was unaware of their presence, cropping tufts of grass that poked up through the snow. But before they were close enough to make the catch, Yakone stumbled over a rock and sent a shower of pebbles sliding down the hillside. The goat jumped up and fled along the ridge, with Yakone and Kallik bounding after it. It dodged among the rocks, then swerved down toward the shelter of the trees.

Kallik raced after it, her belly rumbling in anticipation of a feast, and plunged into the undergrowth beneath the trees. The goat was trapped in a bramble thicket, tugging vainly at the tendrils that entangled it and letting out terrified bleats. Kallik was about to spring on it when a furious roar sounded from farther in the trees.

Halting, Kallik turned to face the sound. A light brown she-bear was looming in front of her. “Prey-stealer!” she growled. “What are you doing? Why—?” She broke off suddenly, her jaws gaping in astonishment. “Great spirits! What color are you?”

Kallik backed away. The she-bear was enraged, and much bigger than her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realize this was your territory. I’ll leave.”

But before she could move, Yakone limped up behind her and stood at her side. “No. We found that goat first,” he asserted, glaring at the she-bear.

“Yakone, don’t,” Kallik said, touching his shoulder with one paw. “We’re on her territory. We shouldn’t fight her over a goat.”

“But it’s our goat,” Yakone protested.