‘Are you from a circus?’ Maria asked eagerly. ‘Are your bears magic?’

There was no time to answer her. Ujurak bundled down into the cellar, squeezing himself into a space among his friends, and Maria dropped the door on top of them. Thick darkness fell. Ujurak couldn’t even see his own paws. The furry pelts of his friends squashed up against him and their mingled scents flooded over him.

‘I don’t like this,’ Kallik said in a trembling voice.

‘You’ll be OK,’ Lusa whispered.

‘Shh!’ said Ujurak. ‘I want to listen.’

He could hear Maria’s voice coming faintly from a distance and realised she must be speaking to the flat-faces outside the den. ‘Yes, the bears came through here. They went that way!’

Then Ujurak heard a male flat-face’s voice, but this time he couldn’t make out the words. Nearer, and more worrying, was the snuffling and whining of dogs; they sounded as if they were right up against the wall of the den.

‘They can scent us,’ Toklo growled. ‘They know we’re in here.’

‘Inside the shed?’ Maria’s voice came again. ‘Oh, no, they couldn’t be. It’s always kept locked.’

Please don’t try the door, Ujurak thought.

‘Ujurak.’ Kallik’s voice came again, quavering with terror. ‘I can’t breathe! I’ve got to get out!’ She raised her paws and started scrabbling frantically at the stone wall, shoving Ujurak into a corner.

‘Not now!’ Toklo protested.

‘Just a moment or two longer,’ Lusa begged. ‘We can’t let the flat-faces find us now!’

‘I can’t – I can’t . . .’

Ujurak could feel Kallik shaking and hear her rapid, panting breaths. He strained to hear what was going on outside. Flat-faces were shouting to one another, and a dog was barking; to his relief, after a moment, the sounds began to die away.

‘I think they’re leaving,’ he said.

A moment later Maria pulled open the door; moonlight filtered down into the cellar. Kallik exploded upward with a roar, and Toklo and Lusa scrambled out after her. Ujurak pulled himself up to see Maria pressed back against the wall of the den, trying to keep out of the way of the panicking white bear.

‘It’s OK, Kallik, it’s OK.’ Lusa followed Kallik to the door of the den and stood close beside her while the white bear calmed down. Toklo headed outside, and a moment later Kallik and Lusa followed him.

‘Thanks, Maria,’ Ujurak said to the cub. ‘We owe you a lot.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Maria replied. ‘Where are you going now?’

Ujurak drew a deep breath. ‘Out of this place. Which is the quickest way?’

‘I’ll show you.’ Maria took them back to the BlackPath. ‘That way, if you want to avoid the oil fields,’ she said, pointing. ‘Head for the tall black building.’

‘Thanks,’ Ujurak said.