She woke to the sound of frying bacon. That could not be right, the kitchen was nowhere near the Ward, there was no possible way she could be in her bed and hear the frying bacon. She must be dreaming, she decided pulling the blanket tightly under her chin and turned on her side. It was a pleasant dream, much better than the nightmare before it. Bacon was the best food around, she should always dream about bacon; not that dream about being apprenticed to a Ranger.
Angie's eyes snapped open so quickly it took a few seconds for her brain to recognize she should be able to see. And when she did see her surrounds Angie really wanted to go back to pretending she was dreaming. Why did it have to be true? Apprenticed to a Ranger, just when she thought her parents were going to come and save her.
It was not that the little room was horrible, by all accounts the private area was the best thing Angie could ever consider her room. But it belonged to a Ranger, one those black magicians that could appear anywhere. She would spend the rest of her life with the grimfaced bearded man in exchange for a private room.
Angie pressed the heels of her hands over her eyes. She lay there for several minutes, waiting to see if the Ranger was coming to wake her anytime soon. When he did not come, Angie opened her eyes to look around the room. It was small, sparsely furnished and very tidy with a small vase of day old wild flowers on the bureau in front of the tiny window. That was a nice touch, she thought sitting up in her bed.
She was still fully dressed. The only thing missing were her boots, which she found in the wardrobe with the rest of her belongs from up in the Ward. Someone must have brought it during the night. She pulled on her boots hopping around on one foot and falling back on the bed as she pushed her heel into place. When both boots were on she looked in the small mirror running her fingers through her hair to make it half way presentable. Then she opened the door.
He was frying bacon, that much she knew before hand since the sound of the sizzling meat had woken her. He was also frying eggs, the aroma flooded her senses, and the old man was whistling. Angie grinned pulling her door mostly closed, the sound of the latch would be unavoidable and it was clear he was unaware that she was up since he was whistling. Something told her, a Ranger would not whistle in the presence of his apprentice.
She began crossing the room on her toes, even the soft soles of the boots would make noise on the wooden panels and she would have to be silent to get past the Ranger. She was half way across the room when his tune lagged for the briefest of moments. Angie froze looking over at him, her breath catching in her throat. When the tune regained tempo, Angie continued on. Her hand was on the latch, she was moments away from escape when Will spoke.
"Ah good, going to fetch the water. And here I'd thought I would have to throw a bucket over your head to get you up." He said it pleasantly, like he was telling a wonderful joke.
He had scared Angie half to death. She had been certain she had not made a sound crossing that room. How could he have known she was there?
Sorcery, she told herself, that was obviously it.
"Better hurry or breakfast will be cold before you get to eat," he glanced back at her over his shoulder. She cast him a mutinous glare before throwing the door open and leaving, stomping across the veranda. Will smiled turning back to his cooking. It was such fun to mess with apprentices.
Breakfast was cold when Angie finished bringing in the water. Will had already eaten and was sipping coffee while going through a pile of letters. She glared at him sitting at the table.
Will chose not to acknowledge her glare. He continued to read through his mail, finishing one and setting it aside for the next. He sipped at his coffee while reading, his eyes briefly catching glimpses of the girl. She was just sitting there glaring at him, her plate untouched.
"You had better eat, busy day," he commented idly draining the last of his coffee and standing to refill his cup.
Determining it was not worth it to skip a meal before more of the household chores Angie knew was coming, she ate the cold meal. Even cold it tasted fantastic, this Ranger could really cook. Angie had once fancied herself a decent cook, she had been punished in the kitchens enough over the years, but not even Master Whey's food could compare to the Ranger's culinary masterpiece.
"I'm glad you like it," Will commented sitting across from her, fresh coffee in hand. "Tomorrow you'll get a try at it."
"I know how to cook," she said around her scrambled eggs. "I had punishments in the kitchens."
"It serves you right, stealing Yule Tide chickens," Will muttered behind his mail.
"How did you," she stopped her question half finished. Soon she would learn all those magic tricks and she would know how.
"You should know right now Angie; there is not much that happens in Redmont Fief that I do not know about." He said setting his cup down.
"Oh really," she attempted to copy the raised brow the Ranger had given her the day before. Now he was claiming to be all knowing. Would he ever stop?
"I know you snuck out of the castle ward and went down to Wensley to see the cooper's son. I know the butcher's son taught you to fight when you told them about being bullied in the ward. And before she left a few years ago, the previous owner of the dining hall taught you a bit about cooking. You attempted to spy on me during some of these little excursions," he raised his brow at her as her face dropped.
"You will not be sneaking out of this cabin. You will not spend your free time in Wensley allowing the local children to talk you into doing something stupid." Angie sank low in her seat, he was all knowing, "And you will not spy on anyone unless I say so."
Angie lowered her head, setting her fork down on the table. This Ranger was impressive, she had been certain that no one had seen her doing any of that, including the late night excursions to Wensley. And anytime she saw the Ranger he had been reading, he had never even acknowledged that she was there. It was good manners to acknowledge a visitor. But the reverse was the same, good mannered people did not spy on others.
"Yes sir," she whispered quietly.
"Good," Will nodded. "Also, don't call me sir. It's Will," the old Ranger smiled at Angie.
After the meal Will set Angie to work again. They already had water but somehow the floor had obtained and unsuitable amount of dust since Angie last swept. Coincidently the hearth was once again filled with ashes that threatened to smother the fire. But Angie caught on to that before sweeping, so she only had to perform that task once. The pots she had scrubbed the night before where no longer glistening, Will claimed that was unacceptable and had Angie clean them again.
More fire wood needed to be cut as well. The task took longer than it should have. Will only cut around a fourth of the fire wood; then sat on the veranda in a canvas chair reading his mail while Angie struggled to cut the rest. When the job was finally complete Angie's arms were so sore she doubted she would ever be able to move them again.
She soon found out she could which was not necessarily a good thing.

It was mid morning when Will led Angie out to the middle of the clearing before the cabin. He had a roll of tanned leather under his arm and the most unreadable expression Angie had ever seen on his face. The dog loped after then and settled peacefully at Will's side when he sat on the ground.
Angie sat across from him as Will unrolled his burden, wondering what was about to happen. Her eyes lit up seeing the contents of the roll: Weapons. She was going to receive an education in weaponry, now Johnny would never be able to pick on her again.
"These are the tools of our trade," Will started, picking up the saxe knife. "First off, this is your saxe." He held the hilt out to the young apprentice, watching her expression carefully.
She had been bullied, he knew that now. And he also knew bulling victims tended to be aggressive afterwards. If Angie turned out to be overly aggressive he would have to break that tendency or she could not be a trained as a Ranger.
Thankfully she held no mischievous gleam in her eye; she looked pleased to have the chance to learn these skills and Will felt it would be defensive only. He hoped he was right, if it later showed otherwise Angie was be a very dangerous adversary he would have to deal with.
Angie held the saxe carefully in her hand, it was heavier than she expected, and her arms burned with tension as she held it upright. She stared at the reflection in the blade, her clear blue eyes staring back at her. It was her saxe, her very own knife. She realized she had been holding her breath and let it out in a small sigh.
"The saxe has many uses," Will was still watching, waiting. "It is very strong. Our smithies learned from the blacksmiths in Nihon-Ja, they are the hardest blades in all of Araluen. You could clash blades with most any knight in the kingdom and when you're finished the knight would have a lot of work to do to remove all the nicks."
"Most any knight," Angie allowed the saxe to sink to her knees, her mind running. Which knight would have that kind of weapon? And how did they get it? She had not heard any stories of people from the far away island kingdom becoming a knight, and they had their own weird title. And they did not come to Araluen.
"Yes, most of them," Will nodded, panic gripping his throat for a moment. "King Horace is the only knight whose sword is contestable to our knives."
Angie's eyes narrowed looking down at the saxe in her hand. She could briefly recall from her history classes about a treaty forged between Araluen and Nihon-Ja in which a knight had sailed off for the island country. It made since that it would be the future king.
"He got it because he's the king," she ventured looking up at the Ranger. "Naturally the king has the best sword in all the kingdom."
"It was a gift from a friend," Will responded. Angie nodded as if she had been expecting that answer. "You're going to learn to throw the saxe, as well as this," Will held up the small throwing knife that would accompany the saxe in the specially made double scabbard. "They're balanced for throwing."
Angie accepted the small throwing in her right hand. "If I throw them how am I suppose to defend myself?"
"Throwing the saxe is a last resort," Will was pleased she had phrased her question like that, but fear was still holding him. "You will have two long range weapons."
Will picked up the sling, it was the newest of the Ranger weapons and only the girls used them on a regular basis. The boys learned, but they were stronger and tended to favor the bow, the girls tended to favor the sling. That was just the way things were.
Angie sat the saxe and throwing knife back on the leather roll to accept the sling from Will. It was a simple weapon, Angie had seen kids playing with them in Wensley, and some of the children of the castle staff had them too. It was a Ranger's weapon?
"I'm not the best at it, but you'll be fine once we get the basics covered," Will offered a smile. His first apprentice Maddie, crown Princess Araluen, had taught him to use the sling. Will could use the weapon, but his accuracy was not commendable for Ranger standards. Will was skilled with a bow, so he felt it all balanced out.
"Next we have our primary weapon, the bow," Will held up the recurve bow he had constructed for Angie. She looked at the weapon in awe, Will fought to suppress his smile, he had allowed it to slip when he had showed the weapon to Maddie.
Angie took the bow in her hands, running her hands down the length of the bow. It was unstrung, but she knew what it would mean to have the weapon. This was better than the saxe or even the sling. All the Ranger's had bows, she had seen her fair share pass through Castle Redmont to see the baron or that old Ranger who once lived in the castle. It was like a symbol that she belonged somewhere.
"Can I string it," she asked, still running her hand long the wood.
Will showed her how to string the bow and how to unstring it, telling her how important it was to unstring the weapon if she was not using it. Then he let her try it. Angie had a lot of trouble, her arms refused to move properly and her arm strength was at zero after chopping firewood, but she finally did it.
Will held up an arrow, keeping his face in check. Angie took the arrow in her left hand and stood up looking at a target she had seen Will setting up just before he showed her the weapons. She looked at him for conformation, when he nodded she nocked the arrow turning to face the target. With a very deep breath Angie brought the bow up as she drew the arrow back.
She forced herself to bring the arrow back full draw, her arms started shaking at mid draw but she was determined. She had heard the baron's daughter Suzanna talk about archery with her friends, Angie knew the full draw was when her forefinger touched the corner of her mouth. The second her finger reached her lips, her fingers felt like they were about to snap off at the tips and Angie released the string.
The arrow arched off, flying at high velocity toward the target. Surprisingly it actually hit the target, not the bull's-eye or even close to it but it was still on the target. Grinning stupidly she turned to look at Will, who looked immensely disappointed.