"Today is the big day." Wart announced, "We get to prove our horse riding skills and really have some fun."

"What are you going to do?" Wolf asked.

Wart grinned, "I'll race my horse cross country."

"Are you any good at it?"

"I'm better than most pages. It doesn't seem to matter how old you are, if you like horses you'll learn to ride. I'm not afraid of galloping hard anymore. It's thrilling."

Wolf suddenly thought about Red and her two horses, "What kind of rider is Red?"

"She's the best! She puts all the other boys and girls to shame. She's the only one I know who can ride standing up."

Wolf's eyes opened up wide, "What? How does she do that?"

Wart shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know how, but she owns the best trained horses of any squire. They will actually come to her when she calls. What I hear she raised Mary from a foal."

Wolf seemed surprised, "They're her horses?"

"Yeah, Easy Rider and Mary are hers, not the schools." Wart pulled Wolf close to him to whisper, "I don't know how she did it. She's like you; she has no family."

That tidbit of information stunned Wolf, "Where did she come from?"

"Nobody knows or they're not talking. Some of us think she was left at the school as a baby, some think she was born at the school."

Wolf realized that Red really was unusual, more so than himself, "What do you think?"

"I think she is a knight's daughter, maybe the Wolverines. They hang out together enough."

"How old is she?"

"Sixteen I think; at least she goes to class with mostly sixteen year old squires."

"She doesn't look much older than us!"

"Yeah I know. It's weird."

Wolf stopped whispering, "So when do you race?"

"Fairly late, you go before me."

Wolf frowned, "I don't have any horse skills, what am I suppose to do?"

"Just get on the horse they give you and show them that you can ride and turn. You know, the basic stuff. All the new students have to do it. It's sort of like being graded."

"I think I can do that; it sounds easy."

"You can do it easily," Wart said encouragingly.

They reached the stables and went to the bulletin board to look up their assignments. Wolf's riding test would be the first event of the morning, and he had to ride Easy Rider.

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He went down the line of stables to where he found Red grooming Easy Rider. She had already brushed him to a fine sheen and now she stood on a stool, braiding his mane. Mary stood next to them, looking magnificent. Her mane braided into knots every three inches and her tail braided short with a large knot in the end.

Red announced, "I managed to get Easy Rider assigned to you since he is the only horse you've ridden. However you must saddle him up and walk him out. It's part of the test and I'm not allowed to help you. You have to show the judges you can do it yourself."

"Who are the judges?"

"Some of the knights, maybe others; it really doesn't matter. All the grownups are going to be there anyway. You had better saddle Easy and get going. I'll be there doing the same thing with Mary."

The boy started to saddle Easy by placing the horse blanket after careful inspection of his back. He prepared the saddle and then realized that he needed to clean and shine the leather to make it presentable; he had to show off. He started by brushing the saddle and tack with a soft brush to get all the dust off. When satisfied with the saddle's cleanliness he used a rag to apply wax to the leather and buffed it to a shine using a large fine haired brush.

Wolf finally ready to saddle the horse struggled to lift the saddle and put it on the horse by himself. He finally managed the job by standing on a stool. He cinched the straps tight, taking care that Easy didn't hold his breath, thus keeping the straps loose. Next came the halter and bit. Once complete Wolf lead Easy out of the stables along with Red who had finished up with Mary.

"You did a good job of saddling up Easy," commented Red, "I would have stopped you if you were doing it wrong. I think you have a good chance of making it in this school."

Wolf beamed, "Really?"

"Yes, really. The Raven is a very good judge of people and he picked you to be his page. I'm beginning to think he might be right about you."

They continued walking to the lists. The lists being a long stretch of level ground at least two hundred meters long with a series of stakes going down the center and a ribbon tied to the top of the stakes dividing the lists into two lanes. Near the middle there were two low hills off to each side where spectators were milling about; the adults had a row of crude split log benches to sit on.

When they were in the field with the other new pages Red told him, "Go ahead and mount up, don't do anything fancy, but most of all be calm. Easy knows what to do; I trained him myself." With that she and Mary turned and walked away toward the other squires and their horses.

Once he had mounted the Eagle came over and told him to line up with several other younger pages that were on their horses. He ended up being fourth in line which suited him, it would be over soon, and he would be able to see what the routine before he started.

He didn't have long to wait. The Eagle called up the first rider. The knight directed him into a series of basic maneuvers: turn around to the right, turn around to the left, walk forward, trot, stop, back up, trot around the pillions in a figure eight, stop, dismount, and remount. That completed the whole test. When Wolf's turn came, he had a good idea of what to do. The knight signaled him to start the exercise. He walked Easy Rider up to the knight who examined the horse and tack.

The Eagle ordered them through the series of maneuvers. Wolf pulled off the maneuvers well, except for backing up. The knight congratulated him and directed him off of the lists. As he exited the lists the Raven came up to him and congratulated him and said, "You have learned well from Red, but it's time for you to take lessons for real."

Wolf seemed surprised, "Red won't be teaching me?"

"She really doesn't have time to teach you, besides her duties to me and her own lessons. You need to report to the stables in the morning, after your self-defense, for riding lessons."

"Yes Sir. May I ask what is next?"

"The knights are giving riding demonstrations. You'll enjoy it, but first go fetch Midnight for me."

Wolf ran to fetch the high spirited destrier. He noticed the saddle sat a little loose so he cinched it up like Red had taught him; by waiting for the horse to exhale.

When Wolf reached the Raven, he informed him of the loose strap.

The knight double checked the saddle. "Good observation, it's not fun to fall off of your horse when you're at full gallop. You might make squire yet. So stand back and enjoy the rest of the day, but look after Red. She could use some help when she rides. She'll tell you what to do."

Wolf ran to check on Red, she was giving a demonstration to the other squires on how to ride standing. She obviously didn't need help at the moment, so he returned to the lists to watch.

The Raven mounted Midnight and trotted to the far end of the lists where he turned and came charging at a full gallop. The boy saw the Wolverine galloping from the opposite end of the lists holding a sword up high. As they charged to meet at the center of the lists she brought the sword down in a sweeping motion at just the right height to cut the Ravens head off. But, the Raven wasn't there.

Wolf had closed his eyes in anticipation of the blood. He blinked again only to see the Raven back in the saddle. The two knights had reached the opposite ends of the lists and turned to come back at each other. They charged again and this time he could see the Raven slip completely to the side of his horse as the sword came sweeping over him. The Raven pulled himself back up in the saddle just as fast and everybody cheered.

Soon the squires would be performing. While everyone waited, pages set up a series of stands in each lane of the lists. Each had an arm sticking out with a small ring suspended by a string at its end. The rings were of different sizes, some were about three inches in diameter, some two inches and a few were one inch.

Wolf located Red among the other squires and ran to her. "Is there anything I can do for you Red"?

"Yeah, wear this red scarf around your arm and if any squires or pages offer you any wager money, take note of whom they are and pocket the money, and for goodness sake be careful about it, if you know what I mean."

"I think I do, no adults," the boy replied.

"Yeah, now go fetch me a lance," indicating a pile of long poles. He went and fetched one and returned to her. She mounted up on Mary and then took the lance from him. "When I return, be ready with a new lance, but most of all keep track of the wagers."

"What's the game?"

"Jousting."

"Jousting? Isn't that where you knock each other off of the horse, like kill each other?"

"Sort of, but only the knights get to kill each other. We don't wear armor so we joust and race for points; the skill is in snagging the rings. If you feel brave enough you can borrow a couple of bucks to bet on me. It's my gift to you."