It was early morning and Halt was frying bacon for breakfast. His apprentice, Will, was out feeding the horses their morning meal. The tantalizing fragrance of the bacon mixed with the aroma of the pot of coffee hanging over the fire. Halt breathed deeply the scent of cooking breakfast and sighed contentedly. All was quiet and normal.

"Halt!" Will cried as he flung the door open, causing the Ranger to jump and nearly drop the sizzling bacon on the floor.

"This had better be good," he said in a low voice.

"Sorry," the apprentice apologized. When he didn't continue, Halt raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right. Come see," he instructed and jogged back out the door.

Halt rolled his eyes and followed Will outside. He found Will standing in front of the horses' stalls and pointing at something inside. Looking where the apprentice Ranger was indicating, Halt discovered there was a small, black goat sharing his horse, Abelard's, flake of hay.

"It's a goat, Will. You've never seen one before?" he asked dryly.

"I've seen a goat before," Will answered defensively.

"What's it doing there?" Halt questioned. He didn't own a goat, and he knew it hadn't been there the night before.

"I don't know, I just came out to feed and there it was," replied Will. Halt and Will turned back to study the goat.

Just then, the goat looked up from its meal. It stared directly at Halt, finished chewing the food in its mouth, stuck its tongue out and yelled, "Maaah! Maaah!"

Halt frowned at the little creature.

Will, on the other hand, was laughing. "I think it likes you, Halt," he teased. This caused his master to frown at him, which only encouraged his amusement.

"Get rid of it," Halt ordered.

"We can't keep it?" Will asked as emotionlessly as possible. He actually succeeded in perfectly replicating Halt's serious expression for a good three seconds, then he cracked and a big grin spread over his face.

"No! Goats eat everything and make huge messes. We're not keeping the goat," Halt announced.

"What should I do with it?"

"Will, to be a Ranger, you have to think, so think of a way to get rid of it on your own, it's good practice," he instructed. He then turned and headed back for the cottage, mumbling something about needing coffee.

"Maah! Maaaaaah! Maaahaha!" the goat cried as Halt entered the cottage and shut the door.

"Sorry, goat, looks like you can't stay," Will sighed.

"Maah," the goat replied, sounding incredibly sad. Will patted the animal consolingly a few times before finding a thin rope and tying it around the goat's neck like a leash.

"Come on, let's go before Halt decides to turn you into dinner," Will said as he tugged on the leash. The goat resisted at first, but as Will continued to pull on it, it finally gave in and followed.

"Alright, goat, you go find some nice farmer to live with," Will instructed once he was at the edge of the village surrounding Castle Redmont. He untied the rope, setting the goat free. "No following me back, understand?"

"Maaaahh!" the goat protested.

"I'm serious," Will said firmly. It then struck him that he was out in the middle of a public area, where anyone could see him, talking to a goat. He quickly looked around, but fortunately no one was there. "Go!"

The goat ran off a few paces at his shooing, turned, and gave him a very indignant look. It then bounced away in the direction of the village.

Will watched until the goat was no longer visible. Sighing, he headed back towards the cabin, sincerely hoping Halt hadn't eaten all of that bacon.

"Is it gone?" Halt asked as soon as his apprentice walked through the door.

"Yes. Is there any more bacon?" Will inquired hopefully. Halt waved a hand at a plate in the center of the table. Smiling, Will headed over to eat breakfast.

"We need to practice your shooting from behind cover," Halt commented. His apprentice looked up from his plate, mouth full of bacon. "I'll set up some objects for you use as cover. When you're done eating, grab you're bow and come outside," he instructed, standing up and heading for the door.

Will sighed; it was going to be another long and tiring day in the life of a Ranger's apprentice.

Halt stood watching his apprentice quickly step out of the cover of a tall barrel and let loose three arrows before ducking back behind the barrel. The three arrows thudded into the center rings of three targets spaced at different distances. This made Halt nod in satisfaction; Will was doing very well. One more round and Halt would let him be done with this topic for the day.

The hairs on the back of Halt's neck stood up and the feeling that someone was watching flooded over him. His hand dropped instinctively to the throwing knife at his belt. He looked over his shoulder and saw what was watching him.

"Will!"

Will jumped and looked at Halt, who was giving him an annoyed glare. He didn't understand why, though; he had been doing everything correctly.

"I thought you said you got rid of that goat," Halt said.

"I did," Will replied.

"Then what is that?" Halt asked as he stepped to the side and pointed at the little black goat who had been watching him.

"Maaah!" cried the goat.

"It must have followed me back, but I swear it headed for the town," answered Will. He and his mentor stared at the goat. It glanced from Will to Halt. Then it burped and started chewing its cud. The two humans gave it a slightly disgusted look. "Do you want me to take it back to town?" asked Will.

"No, I'll handle it. I want you to practice what you're doing one more time then take Tug out for a ride. Find something to track and see how fast you can go and still be able to track it," Halt instructed. He had a plan to get rid of the goat. Will nodded and went to collect his arrows.

Halt headed for the horse stalls where there was a small pile of boards. The little goat followed him. He selected a good sized flat board and used his Sax knife to carve words into it. His sign read "Free to anyone who wants it." He then found a rope and tied it around the goat's neck, like Will had done earlier that morning.

Just then Will came around the corner. He looked quizzically at the sign. "You know, if anyone sees you leaving the goat there, I doubt they'll take it. They might think it's cursed or something, you know how they think we're sorcerers" he commented.

The older Ranger rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Good point. Here, hold this," he said and handed Will the leash. Will took it and Halt headed for the cottage. The goat tried to follow but was brought to a sudden stop when it ran out of leash.

"Maaaah! Maaaaaaaah! Mahahahaaaa!" it cried.

Will felt sorry for the little creature. He knelt down and started petting it. The goat backed away from Will, lowered his head, and butted the young apprentice, causing him to lose his balance and fall over.

"Well fine then!" he yelled at it, pushing himself up off the ground. The goat backed up and butted him again. This time, Will was able to keep from tumbling over.

"Making friends, are we?" Halt asked. He had walked out of the cottage just in time to see his apprentice get knocked to the ground by a miniature goat. Now he was giving Will one of his one-eyebrow-raised-slightly-amused looks.

The goat was very happy to see Halt. It ran to him and jumping on him, all the while yelling its little head off.

"Apparently it only likes you," Will said, glaring at the goat. Halt was now doing the same. Will handed him the leash and headed for his pony's stall.

Halt picked up the sign and began walking in the direction of the town. He didn't have to tug on the leash at all; the goat willingly followed him. His plan was to find somewhere in the center of town to tie the goat and leave it there with the sign. The next day was market day and many of the villagers and farmers would gather there. Someone was bound to take the goat. Halt had left the objects that easily distinguished him as a Ranger in his cottage; his cloak, his longbow and arrows, and his double knife scabbard. He still carried the knives, however, the throwing knife was hidden and only the Sax knife hung at his belt.

At the town center, Halt found a patch of grass next to a sapling tree. He tied the goat to it, making sure it had enough room to move around a little, and placed the sign just out of the goat's reach, so it wouldn't eat it. That done, he turned and started walking back home.

"Mahahaaaa! Maaaah! Maaaaaaaaaaaah!" cried the goat, pulling at the end of its tether. It sounded so very sad. Halt looked at it and it stopped crying but continued to look pathetic.

"No," Halt told it and resumed walking. Again the goat began crying, but this time, Hat didn't turn around.

"Is it gone?" Now it was Will's turn to ask. He had just gotten back from his ride and come into the cottage to find Halt making dinner.

"Yes, it's gone," Halt said cheerfully.

Apparently that goat was bothering him quite a lot; he hardly ever sounds this happy, Will thought.

"How did you do on the assignment I gave you?" Halt asked.

Will shrugged. "Fairly good; I was able to track a herd of deer through the woods at a fast trot."

"It's a good beginning, but you'll need to be faster. You're going to have to…" Halt began.

"Practice. I know," Will interrupted.

"And while you're at it, learn to not interrupt people when they're giving you instructions," Halt said pointedly.

"Sorry," Will apologized sincerely.

Halt nodded and continued cutting the slab of beef in front of him into bite sized pieces for stew. Will grabbed a knife and started chopping carrots.

"So what am I going to be doing tomorrow?" Will asked.

"You'll be throwing knives from behind cover, much like you did today with your bow, and you should practice tracking on Tug again," Halt replied. Will nodded. "And tomorrow we won't have any goat related distractions," he added optimistically.

Little did he know how wrong he was.

The following afternoon, Will was busy retrieving his throwing knife from the target in which it was lodged. Halt was sitting on the porch gluing fletching to a new set of arrows he had made.

"Uh, Halt?" Will said apprehensively. He had collected his knife and had started walking back to the barrel he was using as cover, but something had made him stop.

"What?" Halt asked, looking up from the black-shafted arrow in his hands.

"It's back," Will replied, pointing.