“I hope we see a bear!” The six-year-old tourist jumped up and down, holding his coonskin cap with one hand and his toy rifle in his other hand.

Brayden Hunter grinned as he tightened a strap on the horse. “Be careful what you wish for, big guy. There are bears all around here.”

“Really?” The boy stood still, his eyes widened.

“It’s Andrew, right?”

The boy nodded.

“Yep. They’re all around these woods. But you can’t see them unless they want you to.”

The boy looked around him. “Do they eat people?”

“They only eat people who run off from the group.”

Andrew shook his head, his eyes wide. “I won’t run off.”

“Ready?” Brayden grinned. The boy nodded and held up his arms. Brayden swung him up to the back of the horse.

Brayden had a group of six for today’s horseback ride: a couple with two children, the six-year-old and their ten-year-old daughter, and a middle-aged couple.

Brayden nudged his horse, and they started up the trail, his little group behind him. There were patches of snow along the path, but the trail was clear. He listened to their chatter behind him. Heard someone delightedly point out a chipmunk panhandling at the edge of the path.

He noticed clouds banked low, obscuring the mountain peaks. It was going to snow today. Oddly enough, his weather girl had predicted the snow for tomorrow.

She was rarely wrong.

They reached the fork that led to Silver Creek Falls and continued their leisurely travel for another hour. By the time they reached the falls, it was time for a break. When the chatter slowed, it was usually an indication that they were getting tired and needed to stop.

With the roar of the falls as a backdrop, he dismounted and helped the two children off the horses. The others didn’t seem to need any help, so he left them to take care of themselves.

He took snacks out of the saddlebags and passed them out along with some bottles of water.

“Do you think we’ll see a bear up here?” Andrew asked.

Brayden smiled as he noticed that Andrew was staying close to the group. His warning was working. “Could be. The bears have a tendency to stay in the high country. We might see one today. You never know.”

Andrew took his toy gun off the horse and brandished it. “I’m ready for them.” He said.

“Oh no,” Brayden said. “It’s against the rules to shoot the bears.”

“Why?”

“Because this is their house. Besides, it’s winter, and they’re in hibernation, so they aren’t moving very fast right now, if at all. You’d have an unfair advantage.”

Andrew lowered his toy gun. “Okay.” He kicked at the ground. Brayden ruffled his hair.

Yes, they would see a bear.

But not yet.