The whole herd was shifting like waves rolling over a beach, but they didn’t seem to be going in any particular direction. They would feed for a while, then raise their heads, pace away for a few bearlengths, then settle to feed again. A weird clicking noise came from them every time they moved.

‘What’s that funny noise they’re making?’ Lusa asked.

‘They do it every time they walk.’ Ujurak eyed the caribou with interest, distracted from the uneasy brooding that had worried Lusa earlier.

‘It’s coming from their feet!’ Kallik exclaimed, after watching for a moment longer. She raised one of her paws and flexed it curiously. ‘Why do caribou’s feet click when bears’ don’t?’

‘Who cares?’ Toklo asked. ‘Maybe it’s so we can creep up on our prey without them noticing. Their prey is grass. You don’t have to sneak up on grass.’

They wandered on, while the sun hauled itself almost to the height of the mountains before it slowly began to sink again. Days didn’t last long here – not like when they’d been by Great Bear Lake, where the sun had barely dipped below the horizon before rising again.

‘Hey, Toklo!’ Lusa called. ‘How do you like the idea of sinking your teeth into a caribou? We’d never be hungry again!’

Toklo halted and scanned the nearest of the herd with a gleam in his eye. ‘No, I already said they’re too big . . .’ he muttered. His claws scraped the ground as if he was imagining how it would feel to rake them across a caribou’s hide.

‘I think you could do it,’ Ujurak told him.

Toklo blinked as a look of pride spread across his face. ‘Well, maybe a small one . . .’

Lusa noticed that he was eyeing the herd with much more interest now as they padded on. There were caribou calves among the herd, grazing beside the full-grown adults. I bet Toklo could catch one of those.

On the other side of the caribou, the ground sloped up more steeply and vanished into a dark growth of trees. The branches rippled in the wind, as if the whole hillside were the pelt of a huge animal.

‘Look at the forest!’ she exclaimed, jerking her snout in that direction. ‘Please can we go and check it out? Please?’

‘Looks good,’ Toklo agreed. ‘I could find my own territory there.’ His eyes focused with a gleam of determination. ‘Any bear who crossed my border had better watch out!’ He gave Lusa a playful nudge. ‘I might let annoying black bears visit, though. Just to make sure they didn’t starve.’

‘You can be annoying yourself!’ Lusa bared her teeth at him in a mock snarl. ‘I can look after myself, thank you very much. Miki showed me lots of tricks in the forest beside Great Bear Lake.’

‘That scared little cub? The one the white bears took?’ Toklo’s voice rose in disbelief.