Smoke Mountain by Erin Hunter

Author:Erin Hunter [Hunter, Erin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Egmont
Published: 2011-10-26T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

Lusa

Fluffy, sun-filled clouds scudded across the bright blue sky, carried by the warm breeze. Leaves rustled in the trees, and the scent of blueberries and pears hung in the air. Far in the distance, the chatter of flat-face voices sounded like laughing birds.

Lusa blinked. Bark scraped under her paws, and she twisted around to see that she was perched on the highest branch of a tree.

A very familiar-looking tree.

Lusa caught her breath. She had seen the winding stone paths below her before, and the enclosures full of odd-looking animals. The funny ones were called monkeys, and the leggy pink birds were flamingos.

She was sitting in the tallest tree of the Forest, back in the Bear Bowl.

Quickly she scrambled off the branch and climbed down the tree. Every bump and twist of the branches and bark seemed to fit naturally into her paws. At the bottom of the tree she jumped off and turned round.

She was surrounded by black bears. Not just any black bears – her family.

‘Lusa!’ Yogi cried. He charged forward and knocked her over. They rolled on the grass, batting at each other with their paws. He felt heavier to Lusa, but she was bigger now too. She ducked under one of his paws and popped up behind him, tumbling him on to his back.

‘Ha!’ she cried, pouncing on him triumphantly. ‘I win!’

‘No fair!’ Yogi said. ‘You used wild bear tricks on me.’

Lusa shrugged. ‘I’m a wild bear now,’ she said. ‘I’m allowed to.’

‘You are a wild bear,’ Stella said admiringly, poking Lusa in the side with her nose. ‘You even smell like a wild bear.’

‘Do I?’ Lusa asked. She didn’t know her smell had changed.

‘And you weigh as much as four wild bears,’ Yogi protested, wriggling underneath her. Lusa hopped off and poked him playfully.

‘Oh, little blackberry,’ Ashia said, pacing up and burying her nose in Lusa’s fur. ‘We miss you so much.’

‘I miss you too,’ Lusa said, cuddling close to her mother. ‘The wild is so big! You’d never believe it!’

‘I know it is,’ Lusa’s father, King, rumbled. He’d been born in the wild. He stalked in a circle around Lusa and Ashia, sniffing suspiciously. Ashia ignored him, licking Lusa’s ears.

‘You’re so thin,’ Lusa’s mother fretted. ‘What have you been eating? Do you get enough sleep?’

‘Not nearly,’ Lusa admitted. ‘But I’ve met the most wonderful friends. Yogi, guess what? I’m travelling with grizzlies!’

His mouth dropped open. ‘No way! Brown bears? And they haven’t eaten you yet?’

‘No, they like me!’ Lusa said. ‘And they’re not that bad, actually. Well, they don’t smell as nice as black bears.’ She leaned into her mother, inhaling the warm honey-berry-milk scent of her. ‘And guess what else? My best friend is a white bear! She’s not nearly as grumpy as the ones in the Bear Bowl. I like her very much. We’re going to the Last Great Wilderness.’

Suddenly Lusa stopped. The bears around her seemed to freeze, and even the wind fell still. She blinked, looking around at their staring faces.

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