‘Here we are!’ came Janet’s cheerful voice. ‘And I’ve brought you a little friend to cheer you up.’

Ujurak sat bolt upright, looking past the nurse to see if Lusa or Toklo or Kallik was following her. But only Janet came into the room. She was carrying a tray, which she set down on the table beside Ujurak’s bed.

‘There! Say hi, Ujurak.’

She was holding out something soft, coloured a bright purple, made out of some kind of pelt-stuff. Ujurak blinked at it. The thing looked back at him with bright, glassy eyes. Four stumpy limbs stuck out from its fat body; its nose and mouth were made out of pelt-stuff too.

‘It’s a bear, honey,’ Janet said, looking a bit surprised. ‘Your very own bear to keep you company.’ After a pause, she added, ‘I saw the wooden bear you brought with you, so I thought you liked them.’

That’s not a bear! It’s purple!

But Ujurak could see that Janet was trying to be kind. ‘Uh . . . I do,’ he replied. ‘Thanks.’ He reached out and folded his hand around the bear, feeling how soft and fuzzy it was.

‘Are you going to give him a name?’ the nurse asked.

‘Er . . . yeah.’ Frantically Ujurak wondered what flat-faces called their bears. He had no idea. ‘I’ll call him Toklo,’ he said at last.

‘That’s a great name, honey,’ Janet said.

Yes, it is. I just hope the real Toklo never finds out.

Gently Janet took purple-Toklo away from Ujurak and set him down on the bedside table. ‘There, now he can watch you.’ She plumped up Ujurak’s pillows so that he could sit up, and set down the tray on his lap.

There was a covered bowl on the tray with a spoon beside it; Janet took the cover off and warm, meaty scents drifted up to Ujurak’s nostrils. He’d had this before: the flat-faces called it ‘soup,’ and it tasted good, even though Ujurak longed for something to get his teeth into. But the soup slid down easily without hurting his throat. He wished he could lap it sensibly, though, without having to use this clumsy spoon that spilled everywhere.

While he ate, Janet moved quietly around the room, clearing up the water Ujurak had spilled earlier, and checking something on a flat board at the end of his bed. When he had finished she took the tray away and wiped up his spills.

She hadn’t quite finished when there was a tap on the door and a male flat-face in a blue pelt came in. The door squeaked again as he pushed it open. He carried a square metal box in one hand.

‘Hi, Janet,’ he said. ‘I’ve come to fix the door.’

Janet turned towards him. ‘That’s great, Ed. That squeak has been driving me crazy.’