Chenoa and Lusa bounded after her, dark shadows inside the mist. They slipped past Kallik and launched themselves at the rock face. Toklo hissed, but Yakone said, “Let them lead. That way we can keep an eye on them, and they can set the pace.”
Chenoa scrambled up the first few rocks, finding pawholds on the pitted stone. Lusa followed closely, using the same nooks to pull herself up. Kallik took a slightly different route, able to use pawholds that were farther apart. Toklo hesitated by the foot of the cliff, tipping his head back as he strained to see the top. It was clouded in spray and seemed farther away than the clouds. He felt Yakone nudge him.
“Go on,” the white bear grunted. “We’ll be okay.”
Toklo heaved himself onto the first rock and stretched up for pawholds. The stone felt perilously slippery beneath his pads, but suddenly his paws lodged in a smooth-edged crevice and he was able to pull himself quite easily up to the next jutting boulder. He tried not to look at the falling water thundering past him a bearlength away. Its speed made him dizzy. His ears throbbed at the sound. He fixed his gaze on the rock immediately above him and concentrated on keeping his balance and finding new pawholds—front paws, then back paws, front, then back.
Before long, his claws ached as he pulled himself up, from ledge to ledge. He lost sight of the others in the spray, but he could hear the black bears calling encouragement to each other. Chenoa was leading them through a zigzagging route across the rock, but she was finding firm ledges with easy pawholds. Just above Toklo, Kallik was silent, only letting out the occasional grunt as she heaved herself up. Toklo realized that the black bears were finding this easier than the others because of their lighter bodies.
Suddenly his head emerged above the cloud of spray. The air was still soaked in tiny droplets, but he could see the trees beside him more clearly now. He risked a glance upward. They were nearly at the top! The cliff ended abruptly just a few bearlengths ahead, giving way to gray, sullen sky. Lusa was hopping from rock to rock as though they were branches. Chenoa was just above her, swarming up the cliff like a lizard.
Toklo focused on a pawhold a muzzlelength above his reach. Pushing off with his hind legs, he sprang up and clamped his forepaws around the ledge and dragged himself up. Relieved, he tumbled onto a wide shelf of rock and stopped to catch his breath. It was much quieter here. His pelt dripped and his paws stung. Not much farther, he told himself, over the sound of his racing heart.
There was a shriek from above. “We made it!” Chenoa cheered.
“Come on, slow slugs!” Lusa called down.
Toklo hauled himself to his paws and studied the last stretch of rock. The quickest route was directly upward, using the overhanging lip above his current ledge. Leaning back, Toklo could just see Kallik vanishing over the very top of the cliff. He heard yelps of delight from the black bears. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Yakone scrambling up closer to the edge of the forest, his paws slipping on loose stones.
“Careful!” Toklo warned. Yakone just grunted.
Toklo reared up on his hindpaws and stretched his front paws over the edge of the lip above him. His claws sank into the tiny grooves on the surface of the rock. He lifted his hindpaws briefly, testing his weight, then took a deep breath and pushed as hard as he could. For a moment, his body swung in empty air, and Toklo caught a glimpse of the pounding mist far below. His claws slipped on the ledge, and he let out a snarl. Digging in once more, he heaved his belly over the lip and rolled sideways onto the rock. He looked up, panting heavily, to see Lusa and Chenoa peering down at him. Their eyes were huge with terror.
“Did you think you could fly?” Chenoa squeaked.
Toklo was too out of breath to speak. He scrambled over the last rocks and pulled himself onto the cliff top. Just a bearlength away, the river was as smooth as a trout as it slid over the edge of the cliff.
“That was fun!” Chenoa bounced on her paws.
“Are you okay, Toklo?” Lusa sniffed him.
“Fine,” Toklo puffed. He padded away from the edge and sat beside Yakone, who had arrived a few moments before him. “We made it,” Toklo breathed.
Yakone nodded. “I knew we would.”
The river looked wide and peaceful beside them, slipping gracefully toward the waterfall before it tumbled down. Toklo wondered what happened to the fish. Did they know there was a drop, or did the river just sweep them over?
“Come on.” He felt uneasy being so close to the edge. The others jumped up, complaining mildly of sore claws and scratched pads, and followed Toklo upriver. The shore was hard going, the uneven rocks jolting his legs as he hopped down one boulder, then climbed the next. He glanced back, checking on the others. Chenoa and Lusa were helping each other, steadying, nudging, and sidestepping as they scrambled along the beach. Kallik and Yakone walked in single file. Yakone’s gaze was dark as he brought up the rear; he was concentrating hard on every step, on a surface that couldn’t have been more different from cool, smooth ice.
Toklo wrinkled his nose. He could smell the fragrant tang of flat-face food, tinged with BlackPath stench. He stopped, pelt twitching. The trees were retreating from the shoreline, leaving a wide-open space, and he could make out a herd of bright pelts farther upstream.
Flat-faces.
He stopped. “Look,” he hissed over his shoulder.
Lusa caught up with him. “Why are they here?”
Ahead, the shore was swarming with flat-faces. They crowded right to the edge, wrapped against the chill in thick, colorful pelts, pointing at the river as it disappeared over the falls. Bright white flashes exploded among them, curiously silent apart from shrieks from the flat-faces.
Toklo flinched. “They’ve got firesticks!”
“No.” Lusa pressed against him. “There’s no noise, is there? And the lights are much smaller. The flat-faces who came to the Bear Bowl made flashes like that,” she explained. “They come from flash boxes.”
Toklo stared. “What are flash boxes?”
“Dunno,” Lusa snorted. “But they seemed to make the flat-faces happy. They flashed at everything. Now they’re flashing at the waterfall.”
“Everywhere we go, we trip over flat-faces!” Yakone stopped behind them. “It’s not like the ice.”
“I know,” Toklo agreed. “Perhaps we’re crossing their migration path.”
Beside the flat-faces, a wide stretch of BlackPath was crowded with firebeasts of every size and color.
Kallik reached Yakone, ears twitching. “A flat-face colony, guarded by firebeasts!”
“How will we get past it?” Yakone growled.
“We could head into the woods and circle around,” Toklo suggested.
“No!” Chenoa gulped. “There’ll be BlackPaths all over the woods if that many firebeasts are here.” She began to back away, as if she was seriously considering retracing her route down the cliff.
“It’s okay.” Lusa nuzzled her.
“But she’s right,” Yakone muttered. “There’s probably a tangle of BlackPaths through there, all full of flat-faces and firebeasts.”
“What are we going to do?” Kallik asked. “There’s no way past them.”
Toklo gazed across the river. The far shore was empty. It was wider and more pebbly than where they stood now, though not as wide as where the flat-faces stood. But that meant the trees were closer to the water, offering good cover if they needed to hide, and a source of prey. “It would be better if we could travel on that side of the river,” Toklo pointed out. He studied the flat, shining surface of the river. “We could swim across.”
“I don’t know. The currents are probably stronger than they look,” Kallik warned. “And it’s a long way to swim when we’re tired.”
“There are rocks showing above the water.” Lusa pointed out wide, smooth stones dotting the river. “We could use them to rest between swims.”
Toklo’s gaze flicked from one boulder to the next. They were widely spaced, but they reached right across. The water mov
ed swiftly around them. He narrowed his eyes, judging the distance from the boulders to the edge of the waterfall. Kallik and Yakone were strong swimmers; Chenoa was young but had been raised by the river and knew its currents better than any of them. But would Lusa be strong enough?
“Lusa?”
She whipped around, dragging her attention from the water.
“Do you think you can make it?”
“Yes, I really do.” Lusa lifted her muzzle. “The water’s moving steadily. It’ll be like swimming from the ice to land.”
“But not as cold,” Kallik put in.
That’s true. Toklo knew that Lusa had faced greater dangers than this. “Let’s aim for that boulder first.” Toklo flicked his snout toward a flat-topped rock a few bearlengths out. “There won’t be room for all of us at the same time, so you two go first. If you think the currents are too strong, let us know.” He glanced from Kallik to Yakone. “Okay?”
Yakone nodded and began wading into the river.
Upstream, flat-faces started hooting and pointing. Toklo ignored them. “Then head for the second rock there.” With a flick of his muzzle, he showed Kallik a boulder farther out.
“I see it.” Kallik headed into the water. “We’ll stay one boulder ahead of you until we reach the far shore. That way we can swim back if you need us.”
“Go on, Lusa,” Toklo urged. But the black bear was already following Chenoa into the river. Toklo waded after them. He pushed off into the stream, his belly tightening as he felt the heavy pull of the current. It was stronger than he’d expected. The falls were dragging greedily at the river, hungry for more spray, more roaring water.
Yakone and Kallik were already plowing toward the second boulder. Chenoa reached the first and hauled herself out. She turned and grabbed Lusa’s scruff, helping her onto the stone.
Toklo reached them a moment later, relieved to escape the current. “You’re doing well,” he told Chenoa and Lusa.
“The current’s strong, but it’s not impossible.” Lusa studied the next boulder. Yakone and Kallik were swimming past it, heading for a rock farther upstream. The water was growing choppy around them. Currents clashed as rocks broke up the flow. Branches and leaves bobbed past, caught in the stream and carried over the falls.
“Come on.” Chenoa plunged in and followed the white bears.
Lusa blinked at Toklo, water dripping from her ears. “Which boulder are we aiming for?”
Toklo nodded to the nearest, but Chenoa was swimming around it, pushing on after Kallik and Yakone.
Toklo’s heart quickened. What was she doing? She should rest before tackling the difficult water. “Come on.” He plunged in and swam after her, looking back to make sure Lusa was on his tail.
Lusa splashed into the river after him and swam to his side as he moved steadily through the water. A broken branch flashed past, missing them by a muzzlelength. “Chenoa’s heading for the wrong rock,” Lusa puffed.
“Let’s catch up with her.” Toklo pushed harder, making sure Lusa stayed close. Her pelt brushed his. He could hear her spluttering. “There’s a rock soon,” he promised.
A jagged boulder rose from the white water upstream from Chenoa. Toklo headed for it, calling to the black she-bear, “Over here!” Her head jerked around and followed his gaze toward the rock. Turning, she headed toward it.
The water frothed as the currents grew more chaotic, pulling this way and that like wolves fighting over prey. Kallik and Yakone had reached a boulder near the far shore. Toklo pushed on for the jagged rock in the middle of the river. Chenoa was almost there, her paws sending up spray as she fought the tumbling water. Toklo reached it, slapping out a paw and heaving himself out of the water. He turned and grabbed Lusa. As he pulled her close, Chenoa caught up and nosed Lusa onto the rock.
“Thanks—”
Chenoa’s head jerked backward as a branch bounced past her. It crashed into her hind legs and dragged her away from the rock. Her bark choked into silence. She spun away with a yelp and vanished under the water.
Toklo leaned forward in horror.
“Chenoa!” Lusa gasped.
Chenoa fought her way to the surface, paws flailing, eyes glazed with shock. There was no strength in her paddling, no sense of balance as she rolled over and ducked underwater again. The river tossed her one way, then the other, as it swept her closer to the waterfall.
Lusa stiffened beside Toklo, eyes wide. “The stick hurt her!”
Panic pounded in his ears. What can I do? Chenoa was too far away to reach if he stayed where he was. But the currents would be just as strong for him if he tried to swim after her. He crouched on the edge of the rock, staring wildly.
Suddenly, Lusa lunged past him.
“No!” Toklo sank his claws into her pelt. “You can’t go after her! You might be swept over!”
She stared at him. “What about Chenoa?”
He scanned the water, heart lurching. “Where is she?”
Kallik’s bellow sounded from the far boulder. “Chenoa!”
Toklo whipped around, almost losing his footing on the rock. A black head was bobbing at the edge of the waterfall on the far side of the river. Paws thrashed against the rush of water for a moment, then disappeared.
Toklo stared, his belly hollowing, as Chenoa vanished over the edge.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kallik
“She’s gone!” Kallik’s breath stopped as water splashed over the boulders onto her paws. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
We were only crossing the river!
Yakone shifted beside her. “Chenoa?” He was staring at the empty space where the black bear’s head had appeared a moment before she was swept, flailing, over the edge. “Chenoa!” His voice rose to a roar before he plunged into the river.
Kallik gasped, her breath flooding back. “Yakone! It’s too late!” She stared, stiff with shock as Yakone swam toward the falls. “It’ll drag you over, too! Come back!”
“Yakone!” Toklo howled. “Don’t be a fish-brain!”
The current swept Yakone closer to Toklo’s boulder. Fear flashed in the white bear’s eyes. The current had grabbed him. He struggled against the water.
Don’t let him fall! Kallik pleaded with the spirits.
As Yakone thrashed, Toklo leaned out and grabbed for his pelt. He caught Yakone’s scruff in his teeth and threw his weight backward, trying to pull him out of the river.
Don’t let go! Kallik’s heart pressed in her throat.
Toklo heaved and Yakone flailed. Suddenly, a wave threw him against Toklo’s rock, and with Toklo’s teeth still locked in his fur, he managed to haul himself out of the water. Kallik stared, numb with shock.
Toklo bellowed at her, “Get to the far shore! We’ll climb down and find Chenoa!”
Does he think she might have survived? Kallik froze for a moment, trying to picture a small black shape falling through the water and splashing harmlessly into the river below. Chenoa was an excellent swimmer. Maybe it was possible that she had been washed up, winded but unhurt, on the shore below the cliffs. Toklo was right; they had to go look for her! Kallik dove from her rock and swam for the shore. Jaws clenched, she reached the bank and waded out.
She turned and saw that Toklo was moving swiftly through the water toward her. Yakone followed, Lusa’s scruff in his jaws. The small black bear held her head above the waves as Yakone carried her through the rapids, struggling free as soon as her paws reached the riverbed.
“We have to get down there and find her!” Lusa raced past Kallik.
“We will,” Kallik promised. She glanced past Lusa to Toklo. He was staggering from the river, hollow-eyed. Yakone shook the water from his pelt as he padded through the shallows.
Lusa hurried for the cliff edge.
“Wait!” Kallik caught up with her. She peered down. On this side of the river, the forest reached the waterfall. Trees clung to the sheer cliff, while rocky soil edged the steep slope. It looked as though the forest was
sliding into the gorge. In fact, the presence of roots and soft earth would make for an easier climb than the slippery rocks on the other side. It’s a good sign! Kallik told herself. Chenoa must be down there alive!
Lusa began to climb down, threading herself through the branches. Kallik lowered herself after her, hindpaws first, hanging on to a branch and letting her pads slide over crumbling earth until they reached solid rock. She let herself drop onto the ledge, then slithered down, reaching again with her legs until she felt a stiff branch blocking her way. Clinging onto brambles, she called down to Lusa, “Are you okay?” She could just make out Lusa’s small shape sliding from branch to rock, sending earth showering down.
“Yes!” Lusa called without stopping.
“Slow down!” Kallik warned.
“Chenoa needs us!” Lusa barked back.
Kallik stared at the relentless wall of water, pounding into the pool at the bottom, then looked up. Grit sprayed her muzzle. She blinked it away and saw Yakone’s white pelt heading toward her. Toklo was above him, his claws stripping bark as he skidded downward.
Kallik started moving. Climbing down was much quicker than climbing up. Grabbing a branch, she let her haunches drop. As her hindpaws bumped down the cliff face, the branch dipped and lurched in her claws. Kallik gasped in terror as it cracked and broke. She dropped, heavy as a deer carcass. Stone scraped her pelt as she thumped down the rocks. She hit a ledge with a jolt. Grunting with shock, she grabbed for branches and steadied herself. Thank the spirits! Catching her breath, she slid gently down onto a boulder sticking out below. Bracken brushed her cheek as she scrambled tail-first down the last few bearlengths. She could see Lusa though a haze of spray, already racing over the rocky shore.
“Can you see her?” Kallik bellowed over the roar of water.
“Not yet!” Lusa waded through the shallows.
There was no sign of a black pelt among the mossy boulders edging the pool. Kallik felt a tingle of hope. “She must be farther downstream.”