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Back The Last Wilderness Save as PDF
Chapters (76)
  1. Also By
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Map
  6. Chapter One: Ujurak
  7. CHAPTER ONE:
  8. Chapter Two: Lusa
  9. CHAPTER TWO:
  10. Chapter Three: Toklo
  11. CHAPTER THREE:
  12. Chapter Four: Kallik
  13. CHAPTER FOUR:
  14. Chapter Five: Lusa
  15. CHAPTER FIVE:
  16. Chapter Six: Toklo
  17. CHAPTER SIX:
  18. Chapter Seven: Toklo
  19. CHAPTER SEVEN:
  20. Chapter Eight: Ujurak
  21. CHAPTER EIGHT:
  22. Chapter Nine: Kallik
  23. CHAPTER NINE:
  24. Chapter Ten: Lusa
  25. CHAPTER TEN:
  26. Chapter Eleven: Toklo
  27. CHAPTER ELEVEN:
  28. Chapter Twelve: Ujurak
  29. CHAPTER TWELVE:
  30. Chapter Thirteen: Kallik
  31. CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
  32. Chapter Fourteen: Ujurak
  33. CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
  34. Chapter Fifteen: Toklo
  35. CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
  36. Chapter Sixteen: Kallik
  37. CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
  38. Chapter Seventeen: Ujurak
  39. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
  40. Chapter Eighteen: Lusa
  41. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
  42. Chapter Nineteen: Ujurak
  43. CHAPTER NINETEEN:
  44. Chapter Twenty: Toklo
  45. CHAPTER TWENTY:
  46. Chapter Twenty-One: Ujurak
  47. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
  48. Chapter Twenty-Two: Kallik
  49. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
  50. Chapter Twenty-Three: Lusa
  51. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
  52. Chapter Twenty-Four: Toklo
  53. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
  54. Chapter Twenty-Five: Lusa
  55. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
  56. Chapter Twenty-Six: Toklo
  57. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:
  58. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Kallik
  59. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
  60. Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lusa
  61. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
  62. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ujurak
  63. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:
  64. Chapter Thirty: Kallik
  65. CHAPTER THIRTY:
  66. Chapter Thirty-One: Toklo
  67. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:
  68. Chapter Thirty-Two: Ujurak
  69. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO:
  70. Chapter Thirty-Three: Ujurak
  71. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE:
  72. Chapter Thirty-Four: Kallik
  73. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:
  74. About the Author
  75. About the Publisher
  76. Cover

The flicker came again. This time Toklo struck, plunging his snout into the water a little downstream of the glimmering shadow. His teeth met in a plump, cold body, and he straightened up with a wriggling fish in his jaws. Toklo gulped it down where he stood, remembering that other river – a single great tongue of water, much wider than this one – skylengths away from here, where he had been swept off his paws trying to catch his first salmon and nearly washed up in the jaws of Shoteka. So much had changed since he had been abandoned by his mother and had met the strange cub Ujurak. He wasn’t the same bear any more.

Swiping his tongue around his jaws, he looked up at the sky and spotted the star-bear, shining alone in the dark sky.

I felt like him once, Toklo thought. The other animals fought with me or drove me away. I was lonely and miserable, just like he is.

But not any longer, he told himself. He was bigger and stronger now. He had proved himself at Great Bear Lake, where he had accepted the challenge to swim to Paw Print Island and defended his territory there against his old enemy. Toklo’s claws rasped against the pebbles on the riverbed as he remembered how Shoteka had fled, defeated and disgraced. Having the island as his territory had made Toklo feel proud and strong and independent. He wanted that feeling again.

He glanced over his shoulder to where Ujurak was sleeping at the foot of a boulder, his nose resting on his paws. I promised him I would look after him, and I have, Toklo thought with satisfaction. We made it together, all the way to this place where we can live well and safely, just like brown bears should.

Even so, Toklo couldn’t help feeling slightly uneasy. Ujurak kept insisting that the journey wasn’t over. Would he be able to survive if he continued the journey on his own? Toklo shrugged. He’ll get over it, once he understands what a good place this is. I couldn’t save Tobi, but I have saved Ujurak. He nodded to himself. His mind was made up, and he was glad to realise that he didn’t feel any sadness. The time was right for him to go it alone. Wading out of the river, he settled down beside his friends; their muffled breathing soothed him as he drifted into sleep.

We’ll say goodbye soon, he thought drowsily. I’m glad to have known you all, but it’s almost time for me to leave.

Chapter Four: Kallik

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CHAPTER FOUR:

Kallik

Kallik opened her eyes on darkness shot through with silver. A couple of bearlengths away, the river splashed between the smooth grey rocks, its surface flashing with the reflections of moon and stars. Around her lay the humped shapes of her friends, snoring softly in deep sleep.