‘The ice is coming,’ she murmured.

Lusa and the others followed Toklo as he padded over to a pool. Lusa dipped her snout to drink from the ice-fresh water. It tasted different from the water further inland: sharp and salty, with a trace of fish. Lusa wasn’t sure she liked it, but Kallik gulped it down.

‘This feels almost like home,’ she said. Her voice grew eager. ‘Come on, let’s go to the shore. I want to dip my paws in the sea!’

Toklo lifted his dripping snout from the pool. ‘You mean you want the water to freeze your fur off?’ he teased.

‘Cold is good,’ Kallik insisted. ‘Please come! I really want to go down to the sea today.’

‘Come on, Toklo,’ Lusa put in. She could see the longing in Kallik’s eyes. ‘It’ll be fun.’

Toklo shrugged. ‘OK. It’s not like we have anything else to do.’

The bears set off with Kallik leading the way, her pace quickening as they neared the glimmering line of the ocean. The wind grew stronger as the land flattened in front of them, sweeping in from the sea with a spatter of sleet that stung Lusa’s eyes.

Kallik still kept on going, her head lowered into the blast, but Toklo stumbled to a halt, and after a moment’s hesitation Lusa and Ujurak joined him.

‘Hey, Kallik!’ Toklo called out. ‘We can’t go down to the sea now. This wind is too cold. And it’s blowing my fur off.’

Kallik paused, looking back over her shoulder. ‘The wind is great!’ she protested. ‘Can’t you smell the ice in it?’

‘But we’re not like you,’ Lusa told Kallik. ‘The ice isn’t our home. Let’s stay here in the hills for a while, until the weather’s better.’

‘But –’ Kallik began.

She broke off as Lusa touched one paw to her shoulder. ‘Just for now,’ Lusa whispered. She knew what was going to happen: the bears would split up, each finding their own perfect place to live, and she might never see the others again. They had reached the end of their journey, but Lusa didn’t want it to be the end of their friendship too. ‘Wait until the ice comes back,’ she pleaded.

Kallik hesitated, then gave a reluctant nod. Lusa saw her glance longingly back at the sea before she followed her friends toward the hills once more.

There weren’t many trees in this direction, Lusa noticed sadly, but there were plenty of low-growing bushes and outcrops of rock that could provide shelter from the freezing wind. The caribou grazed on the tough moorland grass, throwing up their heads and snorting with dismay as the four bears padded past.

‘They’re really restless,’ Lusa commented. ‘I wonder if something’s disturbed them.’

‘We’ve disturbed them,’ Toklo responded, baring his teeth.

‘No, I think it’s something else,’ Kallik murmured.