He signed to the others to stay back, then flattened himself to the ground as he tried to creep up on the geese. But before he could get near them, the whole flock rose flapping into the air, letting out raucous cries of alarm.

They flew a few bearlengths, then settled again and began to feed. With frustration bubbling inside him, Toklo waited for his friends to catch up to him.

‘Maybe we should spread out,’ Lusa offered. ‘That way, if they fly away from one of us, someone else might catch one.’

‘I suppose we could try,’ Toklo said grudgingly.

The bears separated so that they were creeping up on the flock of geese from different directions. But it didn’t work. The geese spotted them long before they were close enough to pounce; they took to the air, and when they landed again they were still out of reach.

‘This is stupid!’ Toklo growled. His belly was howling with hunger by now; he was so angry with the geese, he could think of nothing but tearing into one and seeing the feathers fly. ‘We need another plan.’

He beckoned to his friends with a toss of his head. ‘I have an idea,’ he began, when all three were clustered around him. ‘Ujurak, I want you to try a new way of hunting. Turn into a goose; then when you’re in the middle of the flock, you can change back into a bear and grab one of them.’

‘Toklo, that’s brilliant!’ Lusa exclaimed.

‘It’s worth a try,’ Kallik agreed.

But to Toklo’s dismay, Ujurak was looking uncertain. What’s wrong with the fluff-ball now?

‘I don’t know . . .’ Ujurak sounded guilty, his brown eyes unhappy. ‘When I change, I . . . I really turn into the creature that I become. I think the same thoughts as they do and I feel what they feel. They’re not prey any more. I can’t imagine hunting them.’

‘That’s ridiculous!’ Toklo snorted. ‘You’re a bear all the time, right? Even when you’re in the shape of something else? So you need to do what a bear does, and right now, bears are hunting these geese.’

Ujurak shrugged doubtfully.

‘Go on, Ujurak,’ Kallik begged him, her eyes sparkling. ‘It’ll be fun!’

‘Try it.’ Lusa poked Ujurak’s shoulder with her snout. ‘I want to see you surprise those geese!’

Ujurak hesitated a little longer, staring at his paws, then took a deep breath and looked up. ‘OK, I’ll do it.’

‘Great!’ Toklo was relieved that the smaller cub had come to his senses at last. He had to have this weird power for a reason, right? What better reason than helping to catch food?