11. Memory

"How did this happen?" Malcolm asked Will.

"We were climbing up a mountain. Racing. And Horace, er, slipped. He must have hit his head on a rock."

"And why were you two racing up a mountain?" Malcolm asked.

"Horace bet that he was a much faster climber than I was, and I was like, 'No you are not.' And he was like, 'I am, too!' So we decided to have a race."

"Do you have any sense?" Malcolm asked the young ranger.

The ranger looked at Malcolm. "Of course we have no sense. Horace was trained by Rodney and I was trained by Halt. What do you expect?"

Malcolm looked down at Horace's body. The knight had a large gash on his head from where he had hit a rock. "How high up were you?"

"Ummm...Maybe ten feet high?" Will offered.

"He hopefully won't have any internal bleeding, then. Ten feet isn't terribly high. But this gash..." He trailed off.

"What?" Will asked.

"Horace might have some brain damage." Malcolm said.

"You mean his brain wasn't already damaged?" Will asked.

"Will! This isn't the time for you to try and be funny!"

"I'm not trying to be funny. I just didn't think anyone could really be that stupid. Then I though, 'He probably just has brain damage.' He didn't?"

Malcolm sighed. "No, Will, he didn't."

"Oh. So..What are you gonna do?"

Malcolm sighed again. "Will, why don't you go find Shadow?"

"Okay. But I'm not stupid Malcolm, you could've just asked me to leave." Will said as he turned to leave the house.

After what felt like hours, Malcolm came out of the house. "He's waking up, Will."

Will jumped to his feet. "Is he okay? Does he actually have brain damage? Did you cut open his head?" Will asked.

"Just come inside." Malcolm said.

Will obeyed, and he saw Horace looking around, dazed. "Hey, Horace!" He said.

Horace looked at Will. "Who are you?" Horace asked.

Will raised an eyebrow at Horace. "I'm Will."

"Should I know you?" Horace asked.

Will turned to Malcolm, who was looking at Horace. "Strange." Malcolm said. "Horace recognized me."

"Yeah. How could I forget you, Malcolm?" Horace said.

"Yet you don't remember me?" Will asked.

"No. You don't look familiar. Well, other than your cloak. That looks like the same kind that Halt and Gilan wear. Are you a ranger?"

"You remember Halt and Gilan?" Will asked.

"Of course. I also remember Cassandra and King Duncan. Just in case you were going to ask.

"Malcolm?" Will asked. "Is this strange to you, too?"

Then Horace started laughing. "WIll, you had such a great look on your face!" He said.

"What?" Will asked.

"Will, I know you aren't that smart, but, seriously, can't you figure this out?"

Will's mouth dropped open. "You were playing a trick on me!"

"Yeah. Serves you right for what you did to me, too."

"That was an accident, though!"

"Yep, you yelled, 'I will not lose, Horace.' and then you threw a large rock at me, knocking me off of the cliff!"

"The rock wasn't...that big. It was practicly a pebble.

"Yep. A pebble that was about as big as your head. And just as thick."

A devious smile spread across Will's face. "Horace, you had fake brain damage to get back at me for what I accomplished through my own cunning-ness."

"And a rock." Horace added.