On the other side of the grove they picked up the bear’s trail again. It headed up a steep, rocky hillside, dotted with patches of scrubby trees and huge boulders. The horses had slippery footing and they went very slowly now.
Thorsen took his rifle out of the saddle boot, levered a shell into the chamber and rested it across the saddle in front of him. The other men followed suit.
Professor Stern turned and smiled reassuringly at the boys. “Don’t be alarmed. It just doesn’t pay to take any chances. I’ve heard of these wily old bears doubling back on their trail and setting up an ambush for unwary hunters.”
Jerry swallowed hard and cast a nervous glance back over his shoulder. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to bring up the rear.” His horse skidded unexpectedly on a mound of loose stones and Jerry clutched it frantically around the neck with both arms, burying his face in the thick mane. When the horse had steadied itself again, he straightened up and settled himself gingerly in the saddle.
He touched one hand to the seat of his pants and moaned. “How can one part of you feel so hot when the rest of you is so cold?”
Sandy was sympathetic. “Yeah, I feel for you, pal. That old saddle gets pretty hard after a while. And this is a rough way to get initiated to horseback riding to begin with.”
They rode on for another half hour until they came to a shallow ravine with a dense growth of white birch trees and underbrush. Thorsen studied the steep rocky slopes of the ravine carefully. Except for a light dusting of snow they were wind-blown clean, as was the rocky shelf on the other side.
“I can’t see any sign of a trail. For all we know, he may be hiding down there in those trees,” he said.
Professor Stern nodded in agreement. “It’s possible. I’d hate to run into a Kodiak in those close quarters. What do we do now?”
“We play it completely safe,” Thorsen replied. “Some of us can ride around the ravine—it’s no more than a quarter of a mile to the north—and see if we can pick up his trail on the other side. If we do, we can assume he’s not waiting to pounce on us in the ravine. Those who remain here can safely ride across directly.”