Kallik looked around for any flat-faces that were still outside, but the spaces between the huts were empty. She guessed that most of them were in the big den. ‘Let’s go,’ she whispered.

They raced across the open ground and halted in front of the door to the healer’s den. Lusa studied it.

‘Be quick!’ Kallik urged her.

‘Keep watch,’ Lusa hissed, not taking her eyes off the door. A moment later she squeezed one paw into the gap between the door and the door frame, and wriggled it around. For a long time nothing happened; Lusa was muttering under her breath, while Kallik’s pelt prickled with fear that one of the flat-faces would come out and spot them.

At last Kallik heard a click. ‘Got it!’ Lusa puffed, pushing the door open.

Every hair on Kallik’s pelt stood on end as she followed Lusa through the door. This was totally wrong: bears didn’t go into flat-face dens! But Lusa didn’t look scared, only cautious, and Kallik couldn’t let her rescue Ujurak alone.

Looking around, she spotted the shiny gap in the wall that they had peered through. Her heart pounded; she hated the feeling of being shut in, with flat-face stuff all around her. But the air was full of the tang of herbs and caribou meat, soothing after the harsh scent of the metal bird.

‘We have to hurry,’ Lusa said. ‘We don’t want the flat-faces to catch us in here.’

Kallik glanced anxiously back at the open door, hoping any passing flat-face wouldn’t notice anything wrong. Then she followed Lusa over to the nest where Ujurak was lying. There was hardly enough room for them to squeeze through the flat-face stuff that filled the den. Kallik brushed against a wooden slab standing on four flimsy legs; a round white thing fell off the top of it and smashed on the floor, sending sharp little fragments bouncing into the corners. Kallik’s heart thudded, but no flat-faces burst in to find out what the noise was, and she managed to reach Ujurak’s side without knocking anything else over.

He looks so small! Kallik thought, pity welling up inside her at the sight of the skinny flat-face cub half buried in the flat-face pelts. Ujurak’s face was white, except for a spot of red on each cheekbone, and his tangled fur was slicked against his head. But he was breathing evenly, his eyes closed in sleep, and he seemed quite peaceful.

‘Do you think he’s strong enough to come with us?’ Kallik whispered.

‘He’s got to be.’ Lusa raised a paw and shook Ujurak’s shoulder. ‘Ujurak! Wake up! We have to get out of here!’

Ujurak let out a grunt and burrowed deeper into the pelts without opening his eyes.

‘Ujurak!’ Lusa gave him another prod. ‘Wake up!’