The next morning Wolf awoke early and reported to the Raven's tent to find Red just finished with boiling a pot of water and poured three cups. She made coffee for the Raven and tea for him and herself. She informed Wolf, "You are going to have to learn to cook quickly if you expect to stay up with the Raven. He likes his coffee hot and his food spicy."

Wolf sucked in his breath and slowly let it out, "The coffee seems easy enough. I've seen you cook rabbit. You'll have to teach me your spice mixtures."

"No way; it's my secret. You'll have to make up your own recipes. I'll help you make up your own recipes, but there is a price."

Wolf looked at her trying to decide if he should ask. "What is that?"

"You fix coffee every morning."

He knew what she meant; he would have to get up earlier, start the fire, and fetch clean water, "Every morning?"

Red smiled "Absolutely every morning."

Wolf considered for a minute if it was worth the bargain. "I've got to get something more than a few recipes out of this."

"You will," grinned Red.

The Raven stepped out of his tent, glanced at Wolf and said, "I've got a job for you."

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to boil water to make coffee and tea every morning."

"Yes sir." Wolf gave Red the darkest look he could muster, and Red gave him the most innocent look she could. The Raven took his coffee from Red and disappeared back into his tent. Wolf went up to Red and whispered, "You knew this was coming, didn't you?"

Red calmly replied, "Yes, but now you get something in return. The Raven is going to give you more and more responsibilities. I'm just trying to help. I was a page once; it's easier than being a squire. Trust me."

"Oh! Sure. I trust you, right." said Wolf with a certain degree of sarcasm.

They went for breakfast and returned with theirs and the Raven's. They all sat down to eat at the table in the Raven's tent. The Raven laid out an ambitious plan for the day. They would be getting out of camp as early as possible and heading north. The river that ran the length of the valley entered through a narrow cataract in the north. They had a lot of ground to make up on their patrol assignment.

After breakfast Red went to saddle the horses and Wolf stayed to help the Raven pack. He prepared the pack horses' bundles, arranging the supplies they had checked out the day before. He had to compare the items against a checklist the Raven had prepared.

The Raven also gave Wolf another checklist of things he needed to eventually obtain for surviving in the wild alone. The Raven suggested he acquire the listed items over the next week or two. The list included items such as flint and steel for making a fire, a bow and arrows, fish hooks and string, a camp shovel and a compass.

Everything had an important purpose and The Raven expected Wolf to make all the items he could. He would have to find out who could help him over the next week or so, and keep the Raven informed of his progress.

As soon as Red returned with the horses they loaded up and went by both the Quartermaster's and mess tents. There they finished collecting their supplies and headed out of camp, but not before a couple of squires urged Red to catch another pig for lunch. Red pointedly ignored them.

They proceeded North up the valley at a trot until they were clear of the various glens and entered deep forest. The Raven finally slowed the pace down, but did not stop except to let the horses drink at a stream.

They reached the northern edge of the valley at lunch time and the Raven called for a break. Red and Wolf gathered twigs for a small fire and Red started it using the back of her knife and a piece of flint.

"How does that work?" Wolf asked.

"It's actually the sharp edge of the flint moving fast across the surface of the steel, producing very fine particles of iron which burn in air producing intense heat."

"So I need a piece of flint. Where do I find one?"

"It's a special kind of rock. It sort of breaks like glass, but it's a lot tougher. I use them for my arrow heads. There is an ample supply of it near here. Ask the Raven if we can make a stop and we'll get a small supply of it."

"It's on my list," replied Wolf.

Wolf finished making coffee and tea and they made lunch of fruit and beef jerky. Then he asked the Raven about the flint.

"No more than you can carry and be quick about it," replied the Raven.

Wolf and Red mounted up and rode about ten minutes to a small rock outcropping where they found shards and nodules of flint. They didn't have much time, so Red picked out some good usable pieces for Wolf. On returning they found the Raven had already packed the coffee pot, put out the fire, cleaned the ground, and ready to ride.

They rode east around the perimeter of the valley for the rest of the day keeping just in the tree line. The Raven found nothing of importance, but did use the time to teach Wolf some of the secrets of tracking by practicing on deer tracks. It became obvious to Wolf that it would be a long time before he could follow a deer trail. He did learn some of their habits; where they sleep, where they rub against trees, and what a deer path looks like.

They frequently saw deer in the valley. Pages were not allowed to chase after wildlife, other than rabbit and squirrel. If the animals came close to them, they could still watch them. Wolf quickly learned how to be still and quiet. It was not as easy as it seemed. A small noise or movement could be enough to send animals scattering.

Towards late afternoon they reached the eastern trail into the valley. There they watered their horses and began the climb into the pass. They climbed for an hour up before they reached the pass. They encountered John the squire on watch, who challenged them. "Halt, who goes there?"

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

"What is the pass?" demanded the squire.

The Raven responded, "The oxen are slow."

"But, the earth is patient," the squire responded back.

"Give me your report," the Raven demanded.

"Sir, no large animals have passed through here during the last twenty four hours. Two knights and their squires and pages came into the valley. There has been no other traffic reported in the prior three days."

"Well done," the Raven replied.

Squire Jimmy boiled water for coffee. Too cold and windy in the pass for a light drink, he fixed coffee for everybody. Wolf discovered he liked coffee. Coffee seemed to be a necessity in the high country and the squires knew how to make very good coffee. With no milk available they used a little honey to cut the bitterness. Wolf noted the Raven drank his coffee plain.

With coffee over, the Raven left orders for the squires, and headed back down the trail to the valley floor. Upon reaching the first stream he ordered a halt for the evening. They unloaded the horses and turned them loose. Bedrolls were laid out and a fire prepared.

Wolf received his first lesson in fire starting. He managed to get the steel and flint to spark easy; but had difficulty getting the shavings to burn. The tender would barely smolder and refuse to flame up. After several tries and a lot of shavings he finally mastered the technique.

Red then showed him how to use charred cloth patches to start the tinder more easily. She told Wolf that she prepared the cloth by cooking small patches in a candy tin to keep the cloth from catching fire. After cooking and cooling, the tin could be opened revealing the charred black cloth.

Red couldn't manage to kill a rabbit that night, but the fire was friendly and the dried fruit and beef jerky were good. The sourdough bread toasted with cheese tasted great.

With dinner over it was time for music and song. Red told Wolf to sit back and enjoy the music. She pulled out her fife and announced, "This is, 'The World Turned Upside Down,'" and started playing. She followed with 'The King of the Fairies.' When she finished Wolf and the Raven clapped their hands, and she bowed.