After their break, Brayden led the tourists up the trail to the old miner’s cabin, his typical destination for a full-day’s ride. They’d have lunch here, then be back to the lodge by mid-afternoon.

Occasionally, he would do an overnight ride, but those were rare these days. Most of the tourists chose the half-day ride up to the falls and back. It had been a while since he’d been to the miner’s cabin.

“Here we are,” he announced. “Everyone down, and we’ll have lunch.”

After he helped Andrew and his sister down, he took lunch from his saddle bags and set it on the picnic table. The tourists walked around, stretching their legs, snapping photos. Brayden volunteered to take one of Andrew and his family.

Then he sorted the sandwiches and little bags of chips on the table. “Help yourselves. We’ll need to head back in less than an hour, so we don’t get caught out in this unexpected snow. I’ll be back in a few minutes. While I’m here, I need to check on the trail up to Garnett Lake.”

“Is that the hiking trail you were telling us about?” Andrew’s dad asked.

“Yeah. And I may need to go ahead and close it.”

“I hope not. We were thinking about hiking up there tomorrow.”

Brayden nodded toward the sky. “You may have to hold off on that idea.” He put his foot in the stirrup and mounted his horse. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

Brayden chuckled to himself as he disappeared around the trees and galloped a little way along the trail. This was his favorite part of the trip.

After finding a secluded spot, one that he often used, he dismounted and secured his horse. He didn’t do this for every group. Especially not when there were lots of hikers around. But Andrew was a good kid, and Brayden wanted him to have some excitement he could talk about for years to come.

Stepping behind some brush and a small juniper tree, he undressed and shifted. On all fours now, he shook out his fur and stretched his paws. He had to be careful shifting into a bear in the cold weather, but there was a trail he could take that would put him on the other side of a gully from the picnic area where he’d left the horseback riders. He could be there, make an appearance, and be back in human form and on his horse in no time.

He took off in a sprint, sure-footed on the rocks. He knew this unmarked path well. In fact, he was fairly certain that he was the only one who used it.

As far as he knew, Brayden was the only shifter who shifted into a bear for the enjoyment of the tourists.

Looking across the gully, he saw the guests sitting at the picnic table eating their lunch. They didn’t see him, so he would have find a way to get their attention.

He went to the edge of the ravine and sat down on his haunches. When no one saw him, he stood up and scratched his claws on an aspen tree. That did it.

Andrew was the first one to see him. “Look!” He cried. “A bear!” Andrew jumped up, and his dad grabbed his arm and told him to stay back.

Although Brayden was out of normal human earshot, as a bear, he could hear them talking clearly. He stood, stretching to his full height and posed for their cameras.

Brayden shook his fur, turned, and ambled along the ravine, then after disappearing in the trees, dashed back to where he’d left his clothes and his horse.

After shifting back into human form, he mounted his horse and rode back down the trail.

The tourists were still staring across the ravine where he’d been as a bear. As he rode into the clearing, Andrew ran toward him. “Guess what! We saw a bear!” The little boy’s face was flushed with excitement.

“You did not.” Brayden looked at him in disbelief.

“I did.” Andrew pointed across the ravine. “Everybody saw him.”

“Bears are hibernating right now.”

“Well…” Andrew frowned. “This one got up to take a break.”

“If you say so.”

“My dad took a picture.”

“Yeah? Can I see?”

Andrew grabbed his arm and tugged Brayden toward the picnic table where his dad was sitting now. “Dad, show Brayden the picture of the bear.”

Brayden looked at the picture of himself. He was a fine-looking bear, if he had to say so himself. “I guess you did see a bear. You’ve been honored.”

“Really?” Andrew asked. “What does that mean?”

“There’s an old Indian legend that says if a bear lets a boy see him during hibernation season, you’re going to grow up to work closely with and be in-tune with animals.”

Andrew’s eyes widened. His dad ruffled his son’s hair. “Hear that Andrew? You’ve been gifted.”

Andrew’s sister, Mia, rolled her eyes, but a smile played about her lips.

“See, Mia? You were wrong about this trip being a waste of time.” Andrew said, jumping up and down.

Brayden grinned. He loved his job.