“Okay.” Yakone set off, limping more heavily than before, while Kallik looked around for prey.

The eagle was still circling, but now it was much lower and seemed to be concentrating on one particular spot. Kallik remembered how birds of prey hunted over the ice, and headed over to where the eagle was circling. He must have his eye on something. As she drew closer, she spotted an old hare hobbling at the edge of the snow line. Kallik crept closer, grateful for how her white pelt blended with the snow, and set her paws down lightly to avoid a crunching sound. Instead of trying to track the hare and maybe giving herself away, she kept an eye on the eagle, tracing the prey’s position by the bird’s keen circling movement. Just as the eagle folded its wings for a dive, Kallik plunged forward, her forepaws sinking into the hare’s body. The shadow of the eagle swept over her, and it let out a harsh cry.

“Sorry,” Kallik murmured. “It’s mine now!”

Picking up the hare in her jaws, she carried it back to Yakone. “It’s not the plumpest prey I’ve ever caught,” she apologized as she dropped it by his paws, “but it’ll have to do.” And I’m hunting on snow again, she added to herself, glowing with satisfaction.

When she and Yakone had shared the hare, Kallik checked on his injury to make sure it was still healing.

“I’m fine now,” Yakone told her. “It doesn’t hurt at all.”

Kallik could see that the wound must still be very tender, but the remaining toes were beginning to close together over the gap. “I think you’ll be okay,” she said.

“Let’s go exploring again,” Yakone said, rising to his paws. “I want to see what’s on the other side of the ridge.”

“Okay,” Kallik agreed. “But stay away from buried rocks!”

Side by side Kallik and Yakone climbed the final slope and stood on the ridge, the wind buffeting their fur. The slope beyond was even steeper, broken by the dark line of the forest, then falling down to a broad, flat plain. They ventured down a little way, picking out a path between scattered boulders.

“We can’t stay here for long,” Kallik said after a while. “It’s good, but it’s not the right place for white bears.”

“True,” Yakone agreed. “As soon as I’m strong enough, we’ll head for the Melting Sea, right?”

Kallik paused before replying, feeling loose scree under the snow and heading across the slope until she found firm ground again. She stood with Yakone on a flat ledge and spotted a river winding its way across the distant plain until it was lost among the trees.