AN: So I just want to say that when you see This, this is horse talk. This is thoughts. Also I own nothing other then Tayrn, Jackson, and the horses that you don't know. I don't own any of the Rangers Apprentice. And enjoy the next chapter.

Updated 12/11/12

The sun reflected in Taryn's eyes as she looked across the pond that she was letting her horses drink out of. It had been a success couple of weeks. Working with the eight 3 year olds and also worrying about the gathering, had her running around in circles. Also helping Jackson repair two of the multiple saddles that had to be fixed and making a trip into town to pick up some more grain and leather straps had taken up any free time she had.

Waiting for the horse she was on to finish drinking she deciding to rest here for a bit long to give the two horses a break. Looking around the clearing she noticed that the surrounding forest was peaceful, just the way she liked it. It showed the world in a different way then the village that was down the road. It was raw and full of life that didn't care if you were a woman in a profession full of men. It was relaxing with the hot sun falling through the leaves of the trees at the edge of the clearing and Taryn decided that if she ever wanted to live somewhere other than in the cabin she shared with Jackson that this would be the place to live.

As she dismounted her horse she left the rein loose so he could graze if he wanted to. Staying by the side of the horse she untied the lead to the 3 year old that she was teaching and let it drop so she could eat to if she chose to.

Ahlerich looked at her and you could practically hear him say 'Do you think Amethyst did well?'

"I think Amethyst is doing fantastic. Why? Do you think she need some more ponying time?" Taryn responded as she scratched behind his ears in his favorite spot.

'I think she needs to learn to follow and not try to lead.' Snorted Ahlerich as he leaned into her hand.

"Well that will come in time Ahlerich. What about when I was training you? You didn't think that you needed to follow and not lead. As I recall you thought that you should be the boss." Taryn scolded for a second as she reminded him of his younger years and his training.

'I suppose your right, but I think that she might be a little to hotheaded to be a Ranger horse.' He huffed his reply and then lowered his head to snatch up a tasty looking clump of grass that he had his eye on for the last 5 minutes

'Well I think that you are a bossy sour old hag' Amethyst said glancing over at Ahlerich, then trotted away to eat closed to the water where the grass was the greenest.

"Amethyst be nice, you still have a lot to learn and you, Ahlerich, you may be done with your training by you still haven't been chosen to be a Ranger horse yet so you need to be quiet." Taryn said as she looked between the to horses.

Laughing inside because this conversation was not new by far. In fact she had had this conversation with many of the horses that she had trained, all of them thinking that they were better than the other. What made her laugh was that in about two years when she would be making her rounds with Jackson to check on all the horses that finished their training and were accepted as Ranger horses their mind set would be totally different. Glancing up at the sun to gage the time she figured that is was almost six in the evening. Quickly calculating the time it would take to ride back to the barn she estimated it would be around half past seven. Evening feeding was at eight; she would be cutting it close to be back at the barn and rub down the horses before it was time to start feeding with Jackson. Calling both horses back over she picked up the lead to Amethyst and mounted Ahlerich and started of at a canter to cover ground faster. 'I wonder if Ranger Crowley realized that he never told me which Ranger he was sending?' Tayrn wondered as she cantered along the forest trail.

'Don't worry about Miss Taryn. I'm sure the ranger will realize it sooner rather than later.' Amethyst told her.

Glancing back at Amethyst, Taryn smiled "Thanks Amethyst."

'Not a problem, but could we maybe pick up the pace?' Laughing Taryn signaled Ahlerich to move in to a gallop. Racing through the trees Taryn and the two horses made it back to the barn in record time. Giggling as she brought Ahlerich to a walk, she saw Jackson talking with a man by the barn door. Jackson saw her and signaled for her to dismounting when she got to the hitching post. Doing this she walked up leading the two horses.

"Hello Jackson, and who is this?" Taryn asked when she reached the two men. Glancing between the two.

"Taryn this is Ranger Halt. He is the Ranger that Crowley was going to send to meet you at the cross roads." Jackson said as he introduced the two. Glancing from Jackson to look at the Ranger that stood across from her, she noticed that he was very grim and serious.

Extending her hand in welcome Taryn said, "Welcome to our farm Ranger Halt. It's nice to meet you."

Shacking her hand Halt replied, "Good to meet you too. When Crowley told me I was escorting one of our horse trainers to the Gathering this year I figured it would be Ol'Bob. Then I find out you're the trainer he was talking about. I've heard great things about you from Ol'Bob. One of them being that you helped trained Abelard."

"Um yes, he was the first horse I trained. It was during my apprenticeship. How is he doing for you?" Taryn asked.

"Very good, one of the best horses I've had." Halt replied.

Taryn could barely detect a hint of pride in his voice. Glad that one of the horses she had trained was doing well, Taryn invited Halt in for coffee and to further discuss the meeting in a week's time. Gladly accepting, Halt followed Taryn into the cabin as Jackson called after them saying that he would go ahead a take care of Ahlerich and Amethyst, and then start the feed and for her to take her time discussing the details of the upcoming trip.

"So do you know why it's me that was pick to come to the gathering this year and not Old Bob?" Taryn asked, once she and Halt were sitting at the table sipping the coffee she had made.

"Crowley figured it would be nice to give Ol'Bob a break, he's been working farly hard this year and Crowley is suspecting that he's thinking about retireing, normally a new trainer would be pick months before the gathering but Crowley only just decided what he was going to do." Halt replied after taking a long sip of the still steaming coffee.

"Oh, that's nice of Ranger Crowley. Is there anything I should bring other than myself and my training equipment?" Taryn asked leaning back in her chair and relaxing.

"No, Will my apprentice and I are going to be providing the food for the duration of the Gathering" Halt said after a few seconds.

"Okay. Now tell me Ranger Halt, how many apprentices am I going to be supervising?" Taryn asked, needing to know how many so she could come up with a testing program to fit the amount of people that she was going to teach.

"Call me Halt. There are going to be three that will be taking their test to graduate this year." He replied after thinking about it for a minute or two.

Falling into a comfortable silence Taryn and Halt enjoyed the last of the coffee before Halt stood up and thanked her for the coffee before heading back to Redmont. Wishing him a good evening Taryn headed back out to the barn to find Jackson.

"Hey you, did you finalize everything with Halt?" Jackson asked upon seeing her round the corner of the barn.

"Yup, everything is ready to go. " Taryn said reaching to pet one of the 3 year old that came up to the fence. "How did the feeding go?"

"Good, they're behaving much better and waiting patiently for you to dump the feed in, rather than pushing and shoving. So that's an improvement." Jackson replied reach over and petting the little stocky horse's nose.

"This is one of your horses isn't it?" Taryn asked continuing to be the small bay gelding.

"Yup, he's coming along nicely. Almost ready to start ridding him." Jackson said with a smile "He's showing real promise. I think he will pick up the advanced training real quick."

"That's good. What are you going to name him?" Taryn questioned.

"I was thinking about the name Flame or something similar." Jackson replied.

"I like Flame, I think it suits him." Taryn agreed with him.

"So have you finished the saddle that Mr. Bower ordered?" Taryn asked walking back with him to the barn to start the cleaning before she and him headed in for the night.

"I almost have it finished, just need to do a little bit more work on the tree before I put the finishing touches on the leather." Jackson said as he handed her a broom and started picking up the leather pieces he had been working on before Halt had showed up.

"I could help you out if you want? And don't forget that you need to pick up the slack in the training with the other eight horses." Taryn reminded him as she started sweeping all the hay and dust into a pile.

"Yeah that would be great, you're better at the detailing then I am, and yes I remember that I have to pick up the slack. Do you have anything specific that you want me to do with them while your gone or do you want me to just keep working on basics?" Jackson asked as he finished putting up the leather pieces and crossed the length of the barn to grab a shovel so that he could pick up the pile that Taryn had made.

"No, other than Amethyst, she still needs work in following on a trail and not rushing ahead. She keeps wanting to be the lead horse and needs to learn to follow and not try to be the leader all the time." Putting the broom back in the corner. She grabbed the bucket that was sitting there and went to set it by Jackson.

"Ok, I'll work her with Meric, he should put her in her place really quick, you know how he is." Jackson laughed as he said this, thinking of the old retired Ranger horse that had an attitude problem towards young horses.

"I kind of wish I could be here for that. It would be a sight to see." Taryn laughed along with Jackson at the thought.

After finishing up the cleaning of the barn Taryn and Jackson left and did a final check on all the horses in the three different pastures to make sure everybody was doing fine. Deciding that everyone was good, they headed back to the cabin to go to bed. It was going to be a busy next week, and they needed all the rest they could get.

AN: Wow four pages, the most I've ever written. Hope you guys like it. Please read and review.