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Across the parade ground, to our fury, we beheld our cherished brown horse flying upside down fro by a substantial uarded by their first-years On seeing us ee like bees froe to coha theed the temperament of the Carneston House first-years Or perhaps they had not We charged into the fray, Rory in the forefront, bellowing like a bull I heard someone shout from behind ht for each house!" But if that had been the plan, no one had told us about it beforehand, and noas too late The first-year cadets of Carneston House hurtled, bare-handed, into the ranks of Bringha for the honor of our houses In reality, the second-years of both houses hadthem some free entertainment They roared and cheered and cursed us from the sidelines We were scarcely aware of the wrestling as we tried to bull through to the base of the flagpole to reclaim our colors Then fists started to fly I do not knoho struck the first hard blow Bringham House accused our cadets, and we accused theirs I think that all the frustration of all the first-years at the bullying we had endured as well as the pressures of the Academy suddenly burst like a swollen boil

There were a dozen of us froha the best of theh of them waded in to more than even the odds Even so, the triumph came to us Most of us were frontier-lean and leathery while the Bringham House first-years were town boys Gord, for all his tubbiness, was in the thick of it, red-faced and shouting and flailing away I saw three Bringha him down, but he just hunched his head into his shoulders and plowed on toward the flagpole Trist was ever the best of us, for he fought as if he were in a ring, throwing punches and ducking and gracefully sidestepping his opponent’s wild swings There were perhaps twenty-five of us battling at the base of the flagpole, but at the tiht with none of Trist’s refinethe feet out fro another off my shoulders as he jumped on me He landed badly and I didn’t care I stepped over hi

I don’t even knoho finally reached the lines and pulled our flag doithin our reach Theirs ca back across the parade ground, in possession of both flags and heading toward our own house, when third-years on horseback led by the house sergeants froround The sergeants waded into us, tossing cadets aside as if ere children Once they had roughly separated us, the third-years rode their horses in between us We were standing apart, breathing hard and caught between shock and triumph at e had done, when Colonel Stiet hi at us to for Bringhaed lines, facing one another My nose was bleeding, my knuckles were raw, and one sleeve was half torn fro his arm across his chest Jared’s features were hidden by adown his face froha us were in far worse condition One of the held up by two of his co slack One had lost his entire shirt in the battle, and the red blossoms of ould be bruises were all over his chest and upper ar stirred in the dust as a slight wind picked up one of its corners

I had no ti down the rank on foot, roughly hustling us into a straighter line Sergeant Rufet caes were severely injured Trent and Jared were hustled off to the infirmary, each escorted by two third-years, as if they were crier and buried fearin the eyes of those evaluating us, Rory was unabashed His battle lust was clearly unabated, regardless of a bloody abrasion high on his cheek He elbowed me joyously in ha carried The rest of us were judged fit to stand and take our punishment