"Thank goodness for the telephoto, though, or you'd have been putting yourself in a pretty unpleasant spot there!" Bill noted.

Everyone laughed at Bill's easy humor.

"What's next, Photomaster?" Marilyn asked.

"I thought we'd work with shutter speeds. When Nard sends the horses out, we'll do some pan shots. You're familiar with the technique?"

"Yes, but won't that be tricky at dusk?" Marilyn asked.

"Since this is a layover day, he'll turn the stock out once we're back, and we'll catch them back up and picket them for the evening. Otherwise, we risk them heading home for supper tonight."

"Why did he put a cowbell on one of the horses last night?" Ida asked.

"Two reasons. That's our bell mare. She's the only female horse on the trip, so all the other animals will stick to her. The riding horses are geldings, and they'll stay close because they think she's their girlfriend. The mules stay close because boy or girl, they think the mare is their mama. She wears the bell so Nard can find her easily in the morning after they've been grazing all night."

"What happens if the bell mare wanders off?"

"Then we're all in trouble. Some trips get held up a whole day because the stock follows her all the way home. There's nothing more valued than a loyal bell mare," Kristine said wishing that the women at the Lodge were treated as well by some of the cowboys.

"Have you worked with this outfit before?" Marilyn asked. "You seem to know a lot about how everything works."

"That's really my job," Kristine explained. "I'm a pinch hitter for them on photography."

"But you know so much about this, too," Ida said. "Is there anything you don't do?"

"Well, I've never cooked a trip." The group didn't say anything, and Kristine couldn't help thinking she'd do a better job than Trish even though she'd argued so vehemently that she wasn't a cook. Though she'd fought going on overnight trips all summer, she found herself grateful for the opportunity to teach photography and spend time capturing images she'd framed in her head when she didn't have time to stop. To break the silence, she continued. "For me, nature photography just goes with all this packing stuff."

"We sure can't ask for better scenery to shoot," Bill said.

"How's everyone feeling on horseback?" Kristine asked.

"Besides sore?" Ida asked.

Everyone laughed. "I mean are you confident that they aren't going to run away with you?" Kristine clarified. Seeing that everyone had acclimated to the riding on the trip, Kristine talked about what she wanted them to shoot as they rode. "Your horse is going to follow mine. Trust me. I've shot a lot of stuff from the front of the line knowing my horse is going to stay on the trail. You've got the added safety of being behind me. My horse isn't going anywhere, so feel free to explore what angles you can get from the saddle. You might also remember how Ida framed the picture Bill likes so much. One of my favorite images is the Devils Postpile seen between a pair of mule ears. Have some fun. Let's mount up."

After she helped everyone aboard, Kristine swung up and took the lead. In her saddlebags, she had her own camera, the remnants of her lunch and Gloria's flare gun. She'd been on alert all day, remembering Gloria's warning that their day ride hadn't taken them outside a normal bear's territory. Now heading back to Rosalie in the late afternoon, her tension rose. Whenever she stopped to afford her group a chance to shoot without the horses moving, she scanned the area, never allowing herself the distraction of her own photography.

They dropped back down to Shadow Lake, but before Kristine picked up the trail over to Rosalie, Gary called for her help. He'd seen Kristine pull off her sweatshirt and tie it to the back of her saddle and tried to do the same but dropped it. Kristine doubled back to retrieve the item.

Though he thanked her, Gary looked uncomfortable.

"Are your stirrups too high?" Kristine asked.

"No. It's my back. We're pretty close to camp, aren't we? Maybe I could just walk the rest of the way? I wanted more time practicing with the waterfall here."

"You may not make it back in time to snap the horses being turned out."

"That's okay. If it's no trouble to you, I'll hike back."

His brother seconded the request, and soon the whole group was in on the idea, opting to spend more time out of the saddle. Kristine hesitated, not wanting to leave the group on their own. Although they were close to camp, it still didn't feel right to leave them alone. She didn't want to worry them, but she didn't want to hold up Nard's plan to feed the animals before dinner. "I can give you fifteen minutes," she said. "But then, considering the bear activity, we'll all head back to camp together."

"Do you need any help with the horses?" Ida asked. She was the last to dismount.

"Oh, no thanks," Kristine said. She'd thrown a loose half hitch with each horse's lead rope on the next horse's saddle. "They'll be fine strung together like this until everyone gets back." When she'd helped Gary, she'd looped her own horse's lead through her belt, and now the horse tugged hard on the rope connecting them. Reflexively, she grabbed the rope, but she still had trouble controlling him. "Whoa, there, buddy," she said, trying to stay on her feet. One look at the whites of his rolled back eyes sent a wave of adrenaline through her body.

Time seemed to stand still. Every hair on her body stood up, and her ears strained to hear something, anything... She tried to pin the horse's fear on anything but what she feared, but failed. Her instinct screamed danger, too.

Bear.

Ice-like fear stabbed her. "BEAR," she yelled.

"Bear?" Ida repeated, her voice strained and quiet. "There are lots of bears out here, right? It doesn't have to be the one that Fish and Wildlife woman was talking about, does it?"

Kristine was still looking for it, but she also had a string of five animals that were keyed in, all of them dancing, swinging each other around. "Everyone stop moving wherever you are. We've got a visitor," she hollered.

"Do you want us back on the horses?"

Kristine considered but then rejected the idea. If they tried to outrun a bear on horseback, he'd have the advantage since he carried no extra weight, and she didn't want to risk someone coming off at a dead run. No, safer for them to stay put where they were and let her create a diversion. "Ida, grab my saddlebag, would you?" she barked, quickly working to untie the animals from each other. They continued to dance, trying to locate the danger they felt nearby. She pointed her own mount in the direction of Rosalie and swatted him on the rump. "Get out of here," she shouted, and the six horses galloped up the trail.

With the burst of motion on the trail, Kristine saw thundering movement up the hill. The ma.s.sive bear crashed down the hillside targeting the animals. She had never heard of a black bear chasing after horses before. In all the summers she'd worked there, in all the stories she'd heard, bears had never bothered the stock. She'd ridden by mama bears and their cubs without being attacked or chased. Seeing it charge after the horses stopped Kristine in her tracks. This is what Gloria meant by abnormal behavior.

This was Gloria's rabid bear.

As the frightened horses scattered off the trail and into the surrounding woods, Kristine's guests ran to her. "What do we do now?" Bill asked nervously.

"Hope that the horses keep it distracted. If they take him all the way back to camp, Nard'll get 'im."

"And if they don't?" Marilyn asked, the edge of panic in her voice.

Kristine grabbed her saddlebags from Ida and shot off her flare gun. "Hopefully, Gloria is nearby and can help us out. Our best bet is to get out of sight, quickly, and stay still. Do not run. He can run faster. Normally, I'd say get as big as you can and scream like mad, but I don't think this guy is in his right mind."

"So we just hide and cross our fingers?" Marilyn said, her voice shaky.

"Head toward the outcrop of rocks. Get up there in a defensive position, and if you can find a large stick or something to help keep him away, even better."

Not that it's likely to do you any good, she thought to herself, remembering Gloria's comment about a gun being the only way to fend off the animal, but it seemed to calm them to have a plan, and for that she was grateful.

"I don't know how she's staying so calm," she heard Marilyn say as they crept off the trail.

Kristine was faint with fear and had absolutely no idea what she'd do if the bear came back. For the second time of the season, she cursed Leo for creating a problem she was not equipped to handle. In her first seasons, he had scared her by sending her off on unfamiliar trails. He'd draw a map in the dirt and tell her she couldn't get lost. Amazingly, she'd always made it to her destination, not always without consequence, but nothing that compared to where she found herself now, eye on the trail praying Gloria had seen her flare.

Chapter Thirty.

Searching the wilderness north of Shadow Lake, Gloria had finally found where her bear had holed up. She had intended to hike farther from Rosalie to see if the bear had headed toward Gladys Lake, but knowing that Kristine was heading in the opposite direction, she had changed her plans. If Leo insisted on putting Kristine in a dangerous area, she was at least going to stay as close to her as she could.

The bear had gone through quite a bit of food from the crazy guests at Rosalie that Kristine had sent her to observe. She'd finally stumbled upon scat that contained food wrappers and cursed that it was too old to give her any information about where the bear was now. He'd obviously eaten enough to satisfy his appet.i.te, but she reminded herself that she was calculating with a "normal" bear in mind. She had no idea if the disease might make the bear hungrier.

A sharp hiss burst from the north side of the lake, and she saw her flare shoot up over the tree canopy.

Kristine.

Gloria slung her daypack over her shoulder and ran as fast as her feet could carry her in the direction of the flare that shot up right next to the lake. She skittered over rocks and leaves, her forward motion keeping her upright. She held onto her rifle with both hands, using it for balance. If the bear had been close to Kristine, and presumably it had for her to send up the flare, she knew she wouldn't have much time to get there to help. Kristine was unarmed and vulnerable. The image of a rabid bear crashing down on Kristine's line of horses flashed in her mind. She saw again the horse that had been mauled down at Fish Creek. Mauled by a sane bear. Imagine the damage a mad bear might do... She pushed faster.

Then stopped. Her heart pounded so loudly she couldn't figure out whether she'd been imagining the sound. Then she heard it again. Hoofbeats. She was nearing the trail and could definitely hear hoofbeats. Three riderless horses galloped up the trail. Kristine would have had more horses. Why were they running alone? Gloria knelt and brought her riflescope up to her eye hoping to see the bear following the stock. She swept over the area, searching but finding no sign of him. "s.h.i.t."

She jumped up and continued running just above the trail down toward Shadow Lake, trying to pinpoint where the flare had gone up. Ahead of her was a clearing. She heard hollering. Kristine's voice? She reached the trail. In front of her, a few of Kristine's guests huddled on a boulder.

"Where's the bear," Gloria demanded.

"It just came back down the trail. It was headed for Ida, and she jumped up in a tree. The bear started to climb it, too, so Kristine charged it."

"She what?" A wave of terror flooded through Gloria.

"She's trying to distract it. Can you shoot it from here?"

Gloria scrambled up the rock, locating Kristine on the opposite side of the clearing. As the couple had described, their fellow guest clung to the lower branches of a tree, and the bear seemed temporarily torn between her and Kristine. Gloria watched helplessly as the bear decided to go after Kristine who was now scrambling up her own set of rocks.

"Can't you take a shot?" the woman asked.

"Bad angle. We can't afford a wounded bear." Gloria scuttled down the rock and ran, faster now that she was on the trail. She needed to get in front of the animal, needed a heart shot...if she was faster...if Kristine got high enough fast enough...

The enormous brown bear lumbered up to the rock and began to get purchase. Gloria couldn't let him get up on that rock with Kristine. Kristine had nothing. The bear, about to gather his haunches beneath him, suddenly took a step back. Gloria pa.s.sed the rock Kristine was on and dropped to her knee to set up her shot, hoping for a good angle at the front of the animal as it approached the rock again.

She glanced again at the whole scene before relying on the scope, making sure Kristine was well out of harm's way, and saw what had given the bear pause. Kristine had her finger on her shutter and was firing off shot after shot with her flash popping with each image. The light temporarily stumped the bear, long enough for Gloria to aim and fire.

The large brown form crumpled in front of the boulder, harmless. She fell back onto her b.u.t.t rigid with fear. Kristine peeked over the boulder at the ma.s.s beneath her.

"Gloria?" She still hadn't seen her. Of course, she'd been too absorbed by the bear to see her hauling a.s.s across the trail. Behind her, she heard the couple she'd been talking to.

"Over here!" she called.

Kristine scrambled down the rock and ran in their direction. As she reached Gloria, she threw her arms around her, shaking with fear. "Holy c.r.a.p, I'm glad you made it."

The enormity of the situation, knowing what would have happened had she not made it, settled in Gloria's throat making it impossible to talk. Instead, she held on to Kristine, just closed her eyes and held on. Her mind whirred all the faster since her tongue was stuck. She couldn't do this anymore, couldn't be in the backcountry tracking bears and trying to intervene like she just did. She'd been right, she knew it without needing the forensics lab in Sacramento to confirm her diagnosis, though she'd see through with the necessary decapitation for a.n.a.lysis of the bear's brain. But no one had listened. She needed a job where people did listen.

Finally, she pulled away from Kristine. "Stupid risk," she managed.

"I don't think Ida would say the same," Kristine responded, ever stubborn.

"What would have happened if..."

"Shhh. It didn't. I'm okay."

For a moment, it was just her and Kristine. She was lost in Kristine's eyes, eyes that no longer held fear and only held her. She couldn't believe how fast it was all over, couldn't bring herself to think about the fact that she could have lost Kristine. They hadn't had enough time. She realized then how little of the summer they had left. How was she going to tell Kristine that she couldn't stand to lose her? Too soon, Ida and the brothers crossed the clearing, slowing as they neared, still wary of the bear. "I need to check him, make sure..."

"Oh, he's done. You got a real clean shot. And I got it all on film," Rob said, beaming, his bald head shining with perspiration.

"You took pictures?" Kristine gasped.

"Well, when I saw you get out your camera, I figured this was another lesson you set up special for us," he kidded, a wide grin on his face. "I gotta hand it to you. This was an awesome subject. Can't wait to see what you got on those frames you were firing off."

"I can't look," Kristine said, handing off her camera to him.

"The flash," Gloria said, finding Kristine's eyes. "Brilliant."

"So I'm stupid and brilliant." Kristine beamed. "All in the span of minutes. I've outdone myself. Well, folks. I'm sorry to say we're in for a hike. I'm sure Nard and Trish are worried about us. Come back to camp with us?" She reached for Gloria's hand.

Gloria took and squeezed her hand. "I've got to stay here with the carca.s.s. I can't have anything getting to its head before I get it out of here."

"Tell you what," Kristine said. "I'll get my crew settled back at camp, pick up your gear and meet you back here."

Gloria nodded. "I'll take you up on it. After running all that way, my legs are jelly. I can't move."

"You don't have to." Kristine wrapped her arms around Gloria. She whispered for only her to hear. "Thank you for rescuing us. I owe you big-time."

Chapter Thirty-One.

"She was awesome," Bill exclaimed to a wide-eyed Trish back at the camp. "First she distracts him with the horses, and when he came back and went after Ida..." he and the rest of the group all looked to Kristine.

"I couldn't let him up that tree."

"Still, I couldn't believe it when you started running and screaming in the opposite direction," Marilyn said. "We thought you were toast."

"That's nice," Kristine laughed, trying to deflect their concern. Her body still hummed with the adrenaline, and the piercing look Nard kept trained on her didn't do anything to calm her nerves. All she wanted to do was get back to Gloria.

"She's a keeper, that's for sure," Bill said, putting an arm around Kristine's shoulders.

"You guys don't get to keep me tonight. I'm headed back over there to Ms. Fisher's camp." She felt funny calling Gloria by her last name, but she wanted to emphasize the professional relationship in front of Nard. She took her leave to gather her own things. She wasn't surprised to hear Nard's voice as she hauled her gear over to the stock.

"You have time to head back to camp after you take her gear over there," he said.

"I'll help her protect the carca.s.s tonight. She's making arrangements to have the head picked up tomorrow, so she can get it tested."