Ranger's Apprentice - Halt's Peril Quiz

Answer: Realisation that his death would not prevent Halt getting the information

Will learnt that the smuggler O'Malley had carried Tennyson and his cronies on his ship but was unable to find out from O'Malley where he had taken them. Halt and Horace then joined him and, working together, the three of them were successful. This was only when O'Malley realised that nobody else in the tavern owed him any loyalty or friendship and would be happy enough to supply the information if he was dead.

Answer: By hitting the helmsman with an arrow

The Black O'Malley wanted revenge and the Sparrow's captain expected him to drive the Sparrow onto the reef or ram him with his reinforced prow. He knew that there was little he could do and that he could expect no mercy from O'Malley. Halt's plan was to disrupt the steering of the Claw by taking out the helmsman. O'Malley himself was steering the Claw and an arrow in the arm caused him to let go the tiller. The Claw swerved astern of the Sparrow and onto the reef. Halt got some empty barrels thrown overboard to help any survivors.

Answer: They stampeded the cattle at the approaching Scotti

Traditionally the Scotti left their attacks until late afternoon so that they could escape under cover of darkness. Halt's party overtook the Scotti raiders when they were resting before the attack. They found the farm recently abandoned although the cattle were collected in an open pen where there was some feed. Horace was tasked with starting the stampede but merely got butted out of the way by the bull. Kicker, Horace's horse, took exception to this and in dealing with the bull, started the stampede.

The cattle stampeded straight over the Scotti.

Answer: They complained

The farm occupants appeared from the woods behind the farmhouse after the Scotti left. Rather than show their appreciation for saving the cattle from being stolen and the farm buildings from being burnt down, the old farmer complained that Halt's party had scattered the cattle in the forest and that it would take days to round them up. Halt turned down the suggestion that they stay to help round up the cattle and managed to get the farmers to say thank you under the threat of getting Will and Horace to burn the farmhouse down.

Answer: Halt was poisoned through a flesh wound

The Araluans realised that they had been spotted and assumed the worst, namely that they were likely to be ambushed by the Genovesans. Halt deliberately followed the path the Genovesans had marked but sent Will around to come behind them. When Halt triggered the ambush, one Genovesan was killed and the other escaped. Halt got flesh wound from one of the crossbolts. Unfortunately the crossbolt had been dipped in poison, one of the specialties of the Genovesans, and Halt soon began to suffer its effects.

Answer: Malcolm of Grimsdell Wood

Ranger training included some basic first aid but Will soon realised that he was out of his depth. Halt during one of his lucid moments confirmed that it was likely to be a poison. Eventually Will decided to seek medical help and the healer Malcolm (who Will first met in "The Sorcerer of the North") was the best in the kingdom. Will had already decided that any local healer was highly unlikely to have encountered exotic poisons.

Answer: Drug-induced coma

Malcolm knew the typical phases that Halt would go through with this type of poison. He recognised that Halt was entering the final phase and would not survive until Will returned with the Genovesan. He had already used a drug to suppress some of the symptoms and decided that using a calculated overdose of the drug would slow Halt's system and buy enough time for Will to return.

The danger was that too much of this drug could kill as well. In effect, Malcolm was putting him into a drug-induced coma.

Answer: By using his own poison on him

Will decided to capture the surviving Genovesan to get him to confirm which poison had been used. Having been captured, the Genovesan worked out that Will and Horace were not ruthless enough to kill him in cold blood and so would not talk. Horace decided that using the same poison on him might give him the incentive to save his own life and disclose which poison had been used.

Answer: In a cave complex near Willey's Flat

By the time Halt had recovered sufficiently to take up the pursuit, Tennyson had moved to the cave complex along with his followers and fresh recruits. His plan was to persuade them to give up their gold and jewels, and then make off with their donations with a view to making a fresh start in elsewhere. Halt's party interrupted one of his sermons and things did not go as planned for Tennyson.

Answer: Trobar gave him one of Shadow's puppies

When Will had given away his dog Shadow to Trobar he had done so under the condition that he was given the pick of Shadow's first litter. Trobar picked out this pup who, along with Shadow, had one brown eye and one blue eye. Trobar named her 'Ebony'.