Will could hear hurried footsteps behind the door. Then the door opened slightly and the weary face of Sir Rodney appeared.
"Oh, hello, Will. Good to see you again. Please come in." he said.
Will entered Sir Rodney's office.
"Now, what brings you here?" Sir Rodney questioned.
Will pulled out the small box. "It's from Halt, sir," he said.
Sir Rodney took the box and placed it on his desk. He lifted the lid, and, surprisingly, it opened easily. Inside, Will noticed, was a folded sheet of paper. Sir Rodney pulled the paper out and unfolded it. He quickly examined the note, turned the paper over, and scribbled something on the back. Then he refolded it and put it back in the box.
"Thank you," Sir Rodney said merrily. He was in a much cheerful mood than when Will had first arrived. "Take this box back to Halt. I will see you soon, I expect."
Will took the box, bewildered by the fact that there had only been a letter. "There…there wasn't anything else, sir?" Will asked.
"No." Sir Rodney replied simply.
"Oh—okay then," Will said, a bit disappointed. "Goodbye, sir."
"Goodbye, Will. I'll see you soon!" Sir Rodney said with a wink.
Will left the office with the box in his hand. He was extremely confused. What did Sir Rodney mean by 'I'll see you soon'? And what was written on that paper? Will was still troubled by his thoughts by the time he had reached the Battleschool horses' stable.
"Hey, Tug, you ready to home?" Will said.
Tug, unlike most of the Battleschool horses, was wide awake. He enthusiastically neighed. Will smiled. Then he hopped onto Tug's back, and the two of them galloped away into the forest.
By the time Will had returned to Halt's cottage, it was long after midnight. Will hastily knocked on the door, and Halt's annoyed face peeked out.
"What took you so long?" he said, ushering Will in.
"Sorry," Will said. "This is from Sir Rodney. He wrote something on the back of your letter." Will handed Halt the box.
"You didn't—er—you didn't see the note, did you?" Halt said, putting the box on the table. He sounded unusually anxious.
"No," Will said quickly, staring at Halt.
Halt's face relaxed. "Oh—good. Now, go to sleep. It's past midnight."
Will obeyed, still mystified by the day's events. First Sir Rodney had said something about seeing him later, and now Halt was acting nervous. What this normal? He'd have to think about this tomorrow. His eyelids felt heavy, his back was aching from riding Tug, his feet were sore…
Lying in bed, Will couldn't stop getting the feeling that there was something Sir Rodney and Halt were planning—and they were excluding him out of it. It was an unusual feeling. After all, Will was Halt's apprentice. Why shouldn't he get know what they were doing? And yet Will had this strange feeling that it would be better not to know. It was all so confusing. Before long, Will had fallen asleep.
The next morning, Will awoke to the nearby sounds of someone muttering uncontrollably. He sat up and discovered that it was, to Will's surprise, Halt. Halt was sitting on the floor mat, his back to him. The box was placed in front of him, and Halt was muttering something under his breath. Then he shook his head, muttered again, and then shook his head once more. Will didn't want to interrupt Halt, in case he was doing something important. But before Will could lie down to pretend that he was still asleep, Halt turned around.
"Oh, you're awake. There are eggs in the kitchen, Will. Don't interrupt me, all right? I'm in the middle of something important." he said, and then started muttering again.
"Uh…okay. I'll be…I'll be in the field practicing after breakfast, if you need me." Will said.
Halt nodded. "Of course."
Will yawned and sat up, and got out of bed. But before he could start toward the kitchen, there was a knock on the door.