‘We can’t help him,’ said Lusa, echoing Kallik’s thoughts, ‘but I think the flat-faces would know what to do.’

‘Oh, right,’ Toklo grumbled. ‘Like flat-faces would care about a bear.’

‘They will!’ Lusa insisted. She sounded so certain that a tiny spark of hope flared up inside Kallik. ‘Back in the Bear Bowl, there were flat-faces who healed bears. They took my mother away and made her better when she was sick.’

‘We’re not in the Bear Bowl now, in case you haven’t noticed,’ Toklo pointed out.

‘And we don’t know if there are any flat-faces who heal bears here,’ Kallik added, her spark of hope ready to be snuffed out.

‘But we know they heal other flat-faces,’ Lusa retorted. ‘Remember the little cub who fell over and cut his leg? Later on we saw him running around, quite well again. That flat-face den where his father took him must be where the flat-face healer lives.’

‘And how does that help Ujurak?’ Toklo asked.

But Kallik had already understood what Lusa meant. ‘If Ujurak can turn into a flat-face –’ she said slowly.

‘Then we can take him to the healer,’ Lusa finished, her eyes shining. ‘And the healer will help him.’

Toklo grunted. ‘He was a flat-face cub when I first met him. But I don’t know if he’ll be able to change now.’

Kallik nudged Ujurak’s shoulder with her snout. ‘Come on, Ujurak, wake up! You have to be a flat-face.’

Ujurak didn’t move. Toklo shouldered Kallik aside and gave Ujurak a sharper prod. ‘Wake up!’

Ujurak moaned faintly and more blood trickled out of his mouth. His eyes flickered open, glazed with pain; he stared at his friends as if he didn’t recognise them. A grating sound came from his throat.

‘Don’t try to talk,’ Kallik said, bending over him. ‘You’re hurt. But you have to turn into a flat-face so we can help you.’

Ujurak blinked slowly, as if he didn’t understand. Kallik peered at him, looking for the first signs of change, but he was definitely still a bear.

‘It’s no use, he can’t –’ Toklo began.

‘He can and he will.’ Kallik wouldn’t let any of them give up yet. ‘Come on, Ujurak. You know what a flat-face looks like. Please try.’

‘You don’t have any fur, and your skin is pink,’ Lusa added, crouching down beside Ujurak on the other side from Kallik. ‘Your face is flat.’

‘Don’t worry, we’ll stay close.’ Kallik pressed herself against Ujurak’s flank, feeling the cold of his sea-soaked fur. ‘We won’t let the flat-faces hurt you.’