Thanks to AreiaCananaid, Unfocused and Confused, Dr Merlin, Savannah Silverstone, Dash99, Guest FarmersDaughter, and hey y'all watch this for their reviews and suggestions! Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice, the Inheritance Cycle, or "Over the River and Through the Woods".

Arald screamed and toppled from the top of a human pyramid. Thankfully, an acrobat, who on closer inspection turned out to be Baron Morton, reached out and, somewhat ungracefully, caught the heavyset baron. "YOU STARTLED ME!" he cried.

"What the—" Halt started.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU, HALT?!" Gilan screamed. "NO PROFANITY!"

"—Heck are you doing, Arald?" Halt quickly changed his statement.

Arald glared at the group of newcomers reproachfully. "I'M TRYING TO PRACTICE WITH MY TRAVELLING CIRCUS, OKAY?"

Halt stared at him, confused. "Uh, not to be offensive, but aren't you a bit . . . large to be in a circus?"

"NO, I AM NOT THAT TALL!"

"I meant, um, horizontally. . . ."

"OH. THAT. WELL, ANGELA OVER HERE,"—he indicated a strange-looking woman who was knitting a sock with six bone needled—"TOLD ME THAT SHE NEEDED ONE MORE PERSON FOR HER TRAVELLING CIRCUS, AND I FIT THE BILL."

"I see. . . . Now, will someone tell me why everyone besides me is talking in all caps?" Halt asked.

Angela smiled. "I thought it would be interesting. You must be Halt. I've always wanted to meet you."

"Um, why?"

"Because you have an extraordinary personality, and, anyway, Eragon wants to know how tall you really are."

"Oh, um, well then, Arald, the windows are malfunctioning."

Arald frowned. "How so?"

"All these freak tornadoes and wild animals got into my rooms and destroyed everything."

Arald eyed him. "Is that why you're holding a bag of coffee beans?"

"Yes, but can you fix the damages?"

"How bad is it?"

Halt thought about the chandelier that had been clung to several times and the broken furniture. "Bad."

"It could take a few days."

Halt sighed and turned to the group of people ranging from kings to cooks. "Looks like we have to move to the cabin."

This was greeted by a round of cheers and applause. They turned around and Horace put his hand on the door to push it open.

"Wait!" Angela shouted. They turned back around. "I want to make voodoo dolls of you guys before we leave!"

Selethen glanced at the rest of the group. "RUN!" They ran.

When they got to the stables, they slowed down so as not to spook the horses. "Halt?" Shigeru asked.

"Yes?"

"Are there enough horses for all of us?"

"This is a baron's castle. And it's pretty big. Of course there are enough horses."

"Oh."

Halt saddled Abelard, Will saddled Tug, Horace saddled Kicker, Crowley saddled Cropper, Selethen saddled Chess (the chestnut from before that happened to belong to Selethen), King Duncan a black stallion named Charcoal Fire, and the rest other assorted horses.

The Skandians groaned as they were forced on two brown mares named Brownie and Sundae. "But I can't ride!" Svengal whined.

"Well, you're just in time to learn!" Crowley said brightly. They rode, or, in the Skandians' case, fell off several times and muttered some very colorful words, through the town and into the forest to Halt's cabin.

When the entered the woods, Will started to sing, "Over the river and through the woods/To Grandmother's house we go!/The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh/Through white and drifted snow."

Halt sighed. "We're hardly going to your grandmother's house, Will."

"Yes, but we're going to his grandfather's house, so BURN!" Horace yelled.

"That doesn't make sense, Horace," Cassandra muttered.

"Yes, it does."

"How?"

"Because I said it."

The argument was interrupted when Gilan pointed at a rock and practically squealed, "Oh my gosh! That looks exactly like Dacite!"

Everyone turned in their saddles to look at him. "Um, Gilan, who's Dacite?" Alyss asked.

Gilan reached into his pocket and pulled out a large, bumpy gray stone. "My pet rock!"

Will gasped. "I can't believe it!" He pulled a smooth white rock. "Chert always wanted to meet a dacite!"

Halt sighed as his former apprentices continued to chatter away about their rocks. A couple minutes later, they arrived at his cabin. They took the horses to the stable and un-tacked them then lead them into the pasture so they could graze.

Selethen eyed Halt's backyard. "How long have you had a pool, Halt?"

"Will put that in a year ago."

Sean gasped. "We should have a pool party!"

Halt glared at his nephew. "You're not going to let me say no, are you?"

"Nope."

"So I suppose you want to know where the blow-up water slide is, right?"

"Yep."

"Look in the shed."

Sean and Duncan headed to the shed in search of the inflatable water slide. Halt sulked in a corner. Horace, Selethen, and Svengal cleaned the pool. Gilan and Will went to find pool toys. Jenny and Crowley went inside to make coffee, lemonade, and cookies. Shigeru played fetch with Ebony to keep her out of everyone else's hair. Alyss and Cassandra mounted their horses (Rose and Battlecry) and rode to town in search of bathing suits. Erak supervised and shouted orders at everyone like a true Skandian.

In no time, the pool was ready, the toys were found, everyone—except Halt—was wearing their bathing suits, and the water slide was up. Then Ebony went down the water slide. The water slide deflated neatly with an unpleasant farting noise.

"EBONY!" Will shouted. Ebony looked almost smug as she settled down in a patch of shade.

I know I haven't used everyone's suggestions, but I sorta wanted to shove in a couple of my own thoughts. Suggestions! Dr Merlin: Voodoo dolls and Ebony goes on the water slide. AreiaCananaid: Add Angela. Savannah Silverstone: Pet rocks. Please review! Suggestions appreciated!

Random quote: "If you don't think there is magic in writing, you probably won't write anything magical." –Terry Brooks

Another random quote: "Hacked is such an ugly word. . . ." –Finch