As he struggled onward, the light grew stronger, a golden light that gradually filled his eyes, blotting out the sight of the hare. He felt cool, fresh air blowing toward him from the mouth of the cave, carrying the warm scents of summer.

At last Ujurak took the final step that brought him outside, leaving the dark cave behind him. Golden light blinded him, but from within it the voice of the hare rang out joyfully.

‘Well done! There’s nothing to fear now. You are safe here.’

Ujurak blinked and opened his eyes to find himself lying in a nest in a flat-face den, wrapped in warm pelts. At one side of the den a fire was burning. Smoke drifted from it, tickling Ujurak’s nostrils with the scents of healing herbs. He recognised one that he used to chew into a pulp and put on wounds, and another that soothed pain. Yet another scent was unfamiliar.

In spite of the fire and the pelts, Ujurak couldn’t stop shivering. His throat burned as if the fire had scorched it. When he tried to remember what had happened, and to decide what he ought to do next, he felt as though he was groping his way through a fog.

Gradually Ujurak became aware of a steady mumble of words coming from one side of the bed, barely audible above the crackling of the fire. He couldn’t understand the words; turning his head, he saw a flat-face sitting beside him. He was a broadshouldered man with a lined, weathered face and long grey head-fur swept back from his forehead and tied into braids, caught at the ends with bright beads and feathers. His hands were square and looked strong. Ujurak thought he looked familiar; after a moment he recognised the man who had come out of the den where the little flat-face had gone for healing.

‘You’re awake,’ the flat-face said. He was speaking clearly now, his face creasing into a smile. ‘Welcome to my home. My name is Tiinchuu.’

‘What happened?’ Ujurak asked hoarsely. ‘Why am I here?’

‘You swallowed a fishhook,’ the flat-face told him. ‘It nearly killed you. But I visited your spirit in the form of a hare, and brought you back. Your animal spirit is strong.’

He visited me . . . Ujurak thought confusedly. Is he like me? Can he be a hare and a flat-face too?

He struggled to sit up, and discovered how weak he was; he couldn’t resist when the healer placed one gentle hand on his shoulder and pressed him back on to the bed.

‘Lie still, little bear,’ Tiinchuu said. ‘You’ll soon be strong again.’