The female flat-face called the cub back to her, and all three of them watched the herd as they walked past. Lusa, Ujurak and Kallik crouched side by side in the long grass, their gaze fixed on the little group.

‘They haven’t seen us,’ Kallik whispered. ‘Do you think we should go?’

‘I can’t see any firesticks –’ Lusa began, breaking off when she noticed a familiar shape lying in the shadow of a rock not far from the flat-face den. Toklo!

Ujurak spotted him at the same moment. ‘There’s Toklo,’ he announced cheerfully. ‘Let’s sneak up on him and surprise him.’

‘Not in front of the flat-faces, fluff-brain,’ Lusa retorted.

At first she thought that Toklo was asleep, but then she noticed that his ears were alert. He was watching the caribou, muscles tensed, ready to spring into the hunt. But before he could move, Lusa noticed the little flat-face cub running towards the rock where the brown bear was hiding. With his gaze fixed on the caribou, Toklo hadn’t seen him.

‘Ujurak, look!’ Lusa exclaimed, her heart beginning to thump with panic. She remembered the time when Toklo had been so desperate for food he had almost attacked another flat-face cub. What would he do now, if the little flat-face interrupted his hunt? ‘We’ve got to do something!’ she went on. ‘Ujurak –’

She swung round towards her friend, only to see a young caribou hurrying down the slope to join the herd, his feet clicking briskly. Horns were sprouting from his head as he trotted away.

‘Oh, no!’ she exclaimed, annoyance mingling with her fear. ‘Ujurak’s done it again!’

Turning back to the rock, Lusa saw that the young flat-face had scampered up to Toklo and was reaching out to him. Toklo looked up in surprise, then stretched out his muzzle towards the cub. Was he preparing to launch himself forward? Lusa and Kallik were too far away to do anything. Lusa dug her claws into the ground, flinching at the thought of Toklo’s jaws closing on the cub’s paw, but all the grizzly did was to sniff suspiciously at the little flat-face’s fur coat. The flat-face cub didn’t look scared at all.

‘Toklo doesn’t know what to make of him,’ Kallik commented, amusement in her voice.

Lusa’s heartbeat steadied as she realised that Toklo wasn’t going to hurt the cub. He was pressing himself back against the rock while the little flat-face patted him with one paw, letting out happy cries. Lusa snorted as she imagined Toklo huffing with vexation. He was trapped, helpless as a rabbit, by a tiny flat-face!

At the same time, the last of the caribou herd disappeared up the valley; the clattering sound died away and only the trampled ground showed where they had passed. Toklo had missed his chance of prey.