Island of Shadows by Erin Hunter

Island of Shadows by Erin Hunter

Author:Erin Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins US


CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Toklo

“Why can’t we go after the no-claws—I mean, flat-faces?” Nanulak asked as he padded beside Toklo up the hillside. He growled the words; Toklo could tell he was still angry. “Are you saying it’s okay for them to attack us with firesticks?”

“No, it’s not okay,” Toklo grunted. “But Lusa’s right. Even if we killed one or two flat-faces, the others would come after us. There are always more of them than there are of us.”

Nanulak just snorted; Toklo knew he didn’t agree, but the smaller bear didn’t protest anymore. Toklo guessed that he was too tired to go on arguing; his paws were heavy, and his head drooped. That was fine; Toklo didn’t want to talk. He was disappointed that the raid had failed, and troubled by the fight with his companions.

They should let Nanulak make suggestions, and listen to him, he thought angrily. Then a small voice seemed to speak inside him. Suggestions like going to attack the flat-faces? Is that really what you want to do, Toklo?

Toklo jerked his head as if he were flicking away a troublesome fly. Now that his frustration had cooled, he realized that going back to the flat-face dens would have been a bee-brained thing to do. If he hadn’t been so angry and scared, he would never have considered it.

The ridge they were heading for was still some way off when Toklo spotted a thornbush jutting out of a snowbank. “Let’s stop here,” he said gruffly. “We’ll dig out a den.”

Nanulak waited, looking exhausted, while Toklo scraped a hole in the snow. The two brown bears crept into it together and lay down.

“I’m hungry,” Nanulak complained.

“We’ll hunt tomorrow,” Toklo promised.

Darkness had fallen, but the star spirits gave enough light for him to see Kallik and Yakone plod up and begin to dig out another den a couple of bearlengths away. Lusa caught up, her pawsteps wavering with weariness, as the white bears huddled into their den.

“Come on, Lusa,” Kallik said, shuffling to one side. “There’s room for you here.”

“Thanks,” Lusa muttered as she squashed into the den.

Before the others were settled, Nanulak was asleep, snoring with his nose on his paws, his warm breath melting a little hole in the snow.

But for a long time Toklo couldn’t sleep. He lay looking up to where thin cloud drifted over the sky, blotting out the stars, then letting them shine out again. A sense of loss griped deep within him as he tried to make out the shape that was Ujurak.

Are you watching us now, little bear?

When Toklo woke, Nanulak was still asleep, tucked cozily into his side. In the other den the white bears were stirring. Toklo watched them for a moment through half-open eyes, then let out a sigh. Careful not to wake Nanulak, he wriggled out of the den and padded over to the others.

As he approached, Kallik and Yakone both emerged from the den and shook snow from their pelts. They turned to face him; Toklo hesitated when he saw the coldness in their eyes, then made his paws carry him on.



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.