“‘I’m sure we’re all nervous,’ Alyss said. She directed one of her rare smiles at Will. ‘We’d be stupid not to be.’ ‘Well, I’m not!’ Horace said, then reddened as Alyss raised one eyebrow and Jenny giggled.”

As soon as he makes his boast, Horace realizes he’s fallen into a verbal trap that makes him look like a fool. The other ward mates admire Horace, but they’re unimpressed by his false bravado. They’re honest friends, the kind he’ll need if things get tough and doubt begins to shadow him.

“Strange, he thought, how seldom people tend to look up.”

Already, Will has a sense of how people respond to their surroundings. He knows that, if he climbs a tree or a building, he can hide in plain sight because no one will look there. This aptitude foreshadows Will’s future success as a Ranger’s apprentice while studying under Halt.

“‘Bucket there. Barrel outside the door. Water in the river. Ax in the lean-to, firewood behind the cabin. Broom by the door and I believe you can probably see where the floor might be?’ ‘Yes, sir,’ said Will, beginning to roll up his sleeves. […] As he walked outside, the empty bucket in one hand, he heard the Ranger say contentedly as he poured himself a mug of coffee and sat down again: ‘I’d forgotten how much fun having an apprentice can be.’”

Halt’s simple, mundane, and tiring tasks help Will develop the methodical determination that will get him through the difficult field work he’ll soon confront. When completed well and cheerfully, they also signal to Halt that Will is ready for the next level of Ranger training.