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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

Kallik sat frozen, watching. She didn’t want Toklo to go, but she understood what was driving him. He felt the pull of the forest, just as she was drawn toward the ice.

Lusa doesn’t see that, she thought sadly. Anxiety clawed at her as she wondered what would happen to Lusa when they said goodbye to one another. How will I tell her that I must go back to the ice?

Lusa and Toklo still faced each other on the trail, their gazes locked together.

‘Please,’ Lusa repeated. ‘We don’t know that Ujurak will get better.’

Toklo swung round, as if he was going to head up toward the pass without any more argument. Then his shoulders sagged and he turned back.

‘OK,’ he said. ‘I’ll stay for a while.’

‘Great!’ Lusa gave a little bounce of happiness and pushed her snout affectionately into Toklo’s shoulder. ‘Thanks, Toklo.’

But it’s not over, Kallik thought, as the three of them settled down to sleep under the rocky outcrop, huddled together for warmth. Sooner or later, Toklo will leave, and nothing Lusa can say will stop him.

Chapter Fourteen: Ujurak

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

Ujurak

Sunlight on his face woke Ujurak. With one hand he explored the unfamiliar pelts covering him and sat up in alarm when he realised that he didn’t know where he was. Then as he took in the flat-face healer’s den, with the fire still burning, a pot bubbling on it, and the masks hanging on the walls, he remembered what had happened: his flight as a goose, and the agony in his throat when he swallowed the fishhook. And he remembered the healer who had cared for him when he woke up here in the shape of a flat-face. Tiinchuu, who had known all along that Ujurak was a bear.

His throat still hurt and shivers ran through him every time he took a deep breath. He felt hot and cold by turns. He pulled the coverings more tightly around himself and lay back.

I have to get out of here and find Lusa and Kallik and Toklo.

A door opened in the wall opposite the fire and the flat-face healer came in. He smiled when he saw Ujurak. ‘You’re awake,’ he said. ‘How do you feel?’

‘Better, thanks.’ Ujurak’s voice sounded like claws scraping on rock, and pain stabbed his throat as he spoke.

‘Good. I’ve made you some more wintergreen tea.’ Crossing to a table by the fire, Tiinchuu poured liquid from a jug into a cup and brought it over to Ujurak. Deftly he slid an arm around Ujurak’s shoulders and helped him to sit up.

‘There,’ he murmured, holding the cup for Ujurak to drink. ‘We’ll soon bring your fever down and have you up and about again.’