A week later, after breakfast, the Raven sent Red and Wolf to prepare their horses and draw supplies. They first went to the stables where they saddled Midnight, Easy Rider and Pinto Bean. They also saddled the Ravens pack horse with a utility saddle with large saddle bags and extra tie down straps.

The students stopped by the Quartermaster, who gave them fresh bedrolls, rain ponchos and water skins. They visited the Mess tent where they loaded up on dried fruit, cheeses, dried meats, and fresh vegetables. Red mixed up some of her formulas of spices and herbs for cooking, and then made the selection of teas and coffee.

Red explained the importance of the spices and teas. They would be without fresh cooked food so they need the spices to make the food they had more palatable and tasty. The teas were to help them keep up their fluids and to help them stay alert. Without the spices, eating on patrol would be bland and cheerless. The tea provided a little warmth and due to its caffeine a good boost in the morning it also tasted better than plain water.

Red and Wolf returned to the Raven's tent just as he finished packing. They loaded the horses and mounted up. They rode through camp to the weapons master's tent where the Raven and Red each picked out a lance. Each lance had a razor sharp steel point. The points were broad and not barbed, designed to slice. Heavy leather caps were put over the points for safety.

The riders started West across the valley floor and soon cleared the fields and entered the forest. They rode for a couple of hours passing the incoming patrol lead by the Eagle. He relayed the news of their findings and the disposition of the outposts.

Red took the time to explain to Wolf how they managed the security of the valley. "The outposts are manned by two squires each. They're posted at the three entrances to the valley. They are at the east and west mountain ridge trails and in south at the valley's river exit. There are none in the north since there are no usable trails there.

"The purpose of the outposts is strictly to provide control and warning of any intruders. We regularly patrol the valley. Frequently we patrol beyond the mountain ridges into other valleys as a service to the state. The outposts are manned in 24 hour shifts by the two squires. Two horse patrols are always circling the valley, like we are, visiting them.

"We're starting a three day patrol and expect to cover the entire rim of the valley. We'll ride for long periods of time without a break other than to rest and refresh our horses. It will be tough on the horses and you."

For Wolf it would be a true test of his newly acquired riding skills thanks to the lessons the Wolverine had given him. The Raven expected him to keep up with his studies and to learn what ever Red could teach him. Pinto Bean turned out to a very good horse and forgiving of the errors Wolf made. As old as Wolf, the horse seemed to be teaching him as much as Red and the Raven could. On dangerous steep trails the horse kept his footing, giving Wolf a sense of ease.

Wolf had to keep performing his mapping. He frequently had to climb trees during rest breaks, and Red often climbed up with him and used the time to work with him on his math. Wolf had graduated from using a book of logarithms to do his calculations to using a slide rule. The slide rule enabled him to multiply and divide and to work trigonometric problems far faster and easier.

The patrol reached the western mountain pass into the valley where they were challenged by the two squires on watch. "Halt; who goes there?" demanded Squire Jon.

"Three children of the forest," answered the Raven."

"What is the password?"

"Pegasus," answered the Raven.

"Horse feathers," countered Squire Mike.

"Well meet," concluded the Raven.

The Raven then took a full report from the two squires, Jon and Mike. There had been no trouble to speak of except some deer passing through during the night, possibly chased by wolves. They were sure they had heard the wolves howling.

The Raven searched for the tracks with Red and Wolf following. The tracks were easy enough to find and they were cloven hoofed, but the Raven pointed out the pattern didn't fit a deer's track; the animal's gait being too short and the impressions too deep. The Raven then pointed to some of the damage the animal had caused. He stood up and Wolf could tell by the Ravens dark expression that something was seriously bad.

Red said it first; "Pig."

"Wild boar," emphasized the Raven, "possibly a very dangerous one. You two boys are very lucky that it had been chased by wolves." He then issued orders for the younger squire, Jon, to carry news back to camp accompanied by Wolf.

Wolf started to protest, but the Raven stopped him. "This is too dangerous for a new page; you have no weapons training and all students are to travel in pairs in this situation."

The older squire, Mike, would ride with the Raven and Red. A suitable lance had to be fashioned for him as soon as a proper tree could be found. He and Red removed their arrows and bows from the horse packs, and Red checked her broad hunting knife.

The Raven pulled out three swords one of which he gave to Mike and one to Red who strapped it to her back. The last weapon he pulled out was a small fearsome tomahawk and tucked in his belt. The blade on its head extended only sixty millimeters wide, but the other side of the head had a long sharp spike whose inner edge had been sharpened. It looked like it could rip through the top of an automobile.

Raven then prepared a dispatch for Wolf and the younger squire to carry back to camp. They all mounted up and started down the trail into the valley until they reached the tree line and the track of the boar diverged off to the right. The Raven sent Wolf and Jon to camp with haste. When Wolf again protested, the knight reminded the page of his duty to deliver messages.

The Knight turned his attention to following the boar's trail. The boar traveled fast, but The Raven did not hurry. He told the squires the boar would head for water. He made a lance for Mike. A quick search found a small dead pine tree, which with a few chops with his war hatchet; he felled and stripped of its branches. He then attached a spear point to the end of the pole thus forming a very deadly lance. The Raven and Red then uncapped their own lances exposing the lethal points.

The three horsemen mounted up and with lances pointing up they started hunting for the boar. The Raven followed the trail with Red twenty yards to the right and behind, Mike twenty yards to the left and behind thus forming a triangle. They slowly and carefully trailed it until they came to a stream where the boar had been. The banks of the stream were torn up from the rooting it had done.

Without question this beast was big, at least two hundred kilograms. If left alone the boar would tear up a good part of the valley and possibly seriously hurt someone. It had to be killed.

They crossed the stream and continued following the trail. They were in deep woods now and the Raven walked Midnight carefully, wary of coming upon the beast unexpectedly.

Red's had a dry mouth and sweat run down her forehead. She couldn't swallow. Gripping her lance hard to keep it from slipping, she used her free arm to mop her brow. As they progressed through the forest she paid attention to not catch her lance on a tree.

Every once in a while they came to a spot where the boar had dug a hole, rooting for a morsel. The animal would rub pieces of bark off trees with its deadly sharp tusks, an untiring machine of destruction.

Red looked at Mike and saw her worries mirrored in his pale face. She looked around, trying to see things that weren't there.

The Raven the voice of calm, quietly reassured the two squires that they were doing fine. They kept advancing through the trees, the knight keeping to the tracks, the squires at his flanks.

They did not have long to wait, they soon heard the boar rooting ahead and lowered their lances the rest of the way down to attack position. The boar seemed to sense their presence and went quiet. Tensely Red turned to the right, Mike turned to the left, and everyone held their position.

The boar came from their left, bursting out of the undergrowth with surprising speed.

Mike managed to prick the animal's back, cutting a long gash. The boar wailed as it passed by the squire, crossing behind the Raven who couldn't get his lance around fast enough. It ran by Red who instantly gave chase, spurring Easy Rider to action as the boar disappeared into the brush.

Red and Easy Rider plowed through the brush after it. They broke out onto the bank of the stream. The boar had already crossed the stream and into an open field, while Red in hot pursuit, lowered her lance to the pig's height. She finally caught up with it at midfield and managed to stab it in the back with weapon, but had to slow down to keep from overrunning the pig.

They were only twenty yards from the edge of the field when the horse slipped on loose grass. Red went sprawling, rolled once, and managed to get to her knees. Red realized the pig had turned and now charged towards herself. She had lost her grip on the lance, so she pulled her sword from its scabbard over her shoulder. The boar was now too close for her to plunge her sword into its back. Desperately she dived to her left as it rushed by. Red then sprang to her feet and started running for the trees, but she knew she couldn't make it in time. Seeing the lance on the ground pointing in the right direction, she dropped her sword, dived, rolled, and came up at the base of the lance.

Red planted her right knee on the butt end of the lance, forcing it into the soil, grabbed the shaft with both hands, bringing the point up just as the boar reached her. The boar hit the point of the lance square in its breast. Its momentum carried it forward until a meter of the slicing point and shaft emerged out of its lower back.

The butt end of the lance dug firmly to the ground and the boar finally collapsed, face to face with Red. It still swung its head side to side, the deadly sharp tusks inches from Read's nose. It spewed blood from the massive wound. The boar still tried to get to its feet, and Red kept holding onto the lance for her very life.

The Raven jumped off of his horse, pulled his tomahawk, plunged the spike into the top of the beasts head, and then gave it a hard twist that finally stilled the beast.

Red had been splattered with blood from the massive pig. She kept holding onto the lance with an iron hard grip, until the Raven gently pried her hands loose. He kept reassuring her, "Everything is alright; it's over."

The Raven led Red over to the stream and carefully dunked her face and hands in the water to wash off most of the blood. He then took her over to Easy Rider, boosted her into the saddle, and gave her a bed roll to wrap herself in to keep warm.

The Raven turned his attention to the boar and using his big knife quickly gutted the beast. He left Red's lance still sticking through it, but retrieved his tomahawk. The Raven and Mike built a horse sled which they rigged together in a few minutes from their lances. Rolling the pig onto it they hoisted the long ends of the sled and secured them to the sides of the pack horse's saddle.

The trip back to camp gave Red time to calm down. The Raven and Mike walked the horses and Red rode Easy Rider in front. They were met halfway back to camp by the Wolverine, Willow, Bob, Bill, and Wolf who stared wide eyed at the boar.

The Wolverine and Willow flanked Red, and the Wolverine started a tale, "I knew a young knight who had just earned his spurs. He was hunting for rabbit in a valley far to the north when he came to a large stream. It had some of the purest water imaginable, bone chilling cold. The salmon were swimming and jumping over the rocks. The knight put down his bow and quiver, and took off his boots to wade in and catch one of the large fish.

"He snatched a jumping fish right out of the air, a huge fish. As he tried to make his way to the bank, a mother bear came wandering out of the woods leading her two cubs.

"This knight stopped in the stream and looked at the bear then at his prize fish. Thinking quickly he tossed the fish onto the bank. The bear swiftly attacked the fish killing it with a well placed bite. The cubs attacked the knight's bow and boots using them as chew toys. The knight didn't run because he knew better than to turn his back on the bear.

"Finally out of fear more than anything else he decided to fight the bear. Still standing in the middle of the stream he slowly slipped his coat off and waited. When the bear finished with her fish she turned her attention to the knight, and started growling.

"The man didn't hesitate, but charged the bear while swinging his coat and yelling wildly. The startled bear stared at the man for a few moments then stood up on her hind legs. The knight feared for his life, for there is nothing as fearsome as a mother bear. But, the knight kept charging at the bear, yelling and yelling. Soon they were face to face.

"The bear was huge, and the knight was desperate. He almost dropped his coat to pull his knife when the bear turned and dropped to all fours. It had apparently tired of the game. She proudly walked away trailing her cubs."

The Wolverine made a dramatic pause, looking straight at the Raven, "That night he returned to camp, much, much braver for having faced the bear, but alas without his prized bow, without his boots, without his fish, and without the rabbit he had been hunting."

This and other tales soon had Red laughing so hard that she finally relaxed. More and more students arrived as they got closer to camp until it seemed the whole camp had decided to parade. Everyone wanted to see the pig.

Back at camp Mike recounted Red's exploit. Somebody penciled a drawing of the boar impaling itself on the lance, somehow the boar looked bigger and fiercer and Red looked smaller, but she liked the drawing. The Mess crew confiscated the boar, then butchered and cooked it. Dinner that evening turned out to be a big feast for all. The squires sang songs in praise of the hunt and Red, who started to get tired of all the attention.

Bob and Bill made up a song.

How do you hunt rabbit? Ask Red.

If you hunt squirrel get Red instead.

What if a turkey calls, you call Red.

She once found a skunk, in her bed.

Oh the lovely perfume she wore.

She was ever so hard to ignore.

When a boar in our valley strayed.

It was Red who went to do the chore.

Tracking is her skill and trade

The beast had not a chance she swore.

She skewered it on a lance well made.

The beastly boar is now no more.

Little Red is a squire and she's OK.

She sleeps all night and hunts all day.

Little Red is a squire and she's OK.

She keeps the little piggies at bay.

Little Red is our squire here to stay.

We'll keep her here for another day.

David penned a poem.

Little Red Riding Hood,

At camp she became very bored.

She wanted some food.

Spent the day hunting for boar.

Now we're eating good.

Later that night when Red and Wolf reported to the Raven's tent for the next day's orders Wolf mentioned that he felt really bad that he had missed out on the action. The Raven just reminded him how close Red had come to being run over by the pig and told him," Only her sharp reflexes and quick thinking saved her."

He saved his criticism for Red. "It might have been pretty brave to blindly charge after the boar, but you foolishly put yourself in unnecessary danger. You did not account for something bad happening. You had extra resources, I'm a resource, and Mike is a resource. As a team we had time to do it right.

"But, since you showed the bravery and quick thinking a knight should have. You should enjoy this day for the rest of your life. Tomorrow, early, we are going back on patrol." He handed her the lethal tusks that had been extracted from the boar's jaws. "Here, make a necklace for yourself." The students were dismissed for the night.

Red, exhausted, tried to sleep, but unable to, went outside her tent together some fresh air and came face to face with the boar. The beast chased her, running her down, and her arms and legs felt like lead. She couldn't pull her sword from its scabbard or lift her lance; she just didn't have the strength. The boar's tusks tore into her belly. It felt like an explosion, and blood sprayed everywhere. She screamed.

When Willow shook her awake Red found her arms and legs tangled in her bedroll. She was sweating profusely from her struggles. Willow made Red sit up and gave her a cup of cold water to sip on. She listened as Red related her dream.

When Red finished she confided, "I'm afraid, if I become a knight I'll fail and someone will die."

Willow furrowed her eyebrows and sighed, "I think you will do well, you didn't fail, and you didn't give up. I think everybody fears failure, I certainly do. You didn't fail, just remember that. You've passed the test of bravery.

Red slept peacefully for the rest of the night.