Midwinter Day
- When Will wakes up, he hears music but he's not sure where it's coming from; everything is still all around him.
- In fact, all of his brothers and sisters are sound asleep, but he knows he's not dreaming. He shouts at Robin to wake up, but gets nothing, so Will looks outside and discovers thick snow over everything. Yippee.
- He goes outside to play in it but doesn't hear anything. No birds, no people, no nothing. Okay, this is weird…
- Finally he sees John, who wishes him a happy birthday. Just then, a woman comes out of a cottage and offers him some bread, saying he must be hungry.
- The bread smells fresh and Will can almost taste it in his mouth, but for some reason he doesn't want to take a loaf from this lady.
- Just then, the horse clamors and John tells the old woman to get out of here. Will's not sure what's happening, but he knows he wants to—he must—find the Walker, even though he's not sure who that is.
- When Will asks John to explain all this to him, John says he can't because Will has to figure it out for himself. Oh gee, thanks.
- This is Will's first day awake, whatever that means.
- Then the woman comes out again and flashes her blue eyes at Will, who thinks they look like the Rider. John suggests they leave.
- He tells Will to mount the horse, which Will scoffs at—he's not big enough to do so and he's never done it before. Still, Will gives it a try and manages to get on.
- It's then that Will notices that the horse's shoes are in the same circle and line pattern that's on his gift from Mr. Dawson. Hmmm… coincidence? We think not.
- When Will gets to a square hut, he asks an old man about the Walker and why the guy was watching him yesterday. The more questions he asks, the more the old man gets annoyed.
- The guy doesn't think Will is really "the one" because he should know the answers to some of these questions.
- When the Old Man asks to see the Sign, Will shows him the gift from Mr. Dawson. Just then, the Rider shows up on his horse.
- He tries to take the Sign from Will and says it wasn't wise for him to leave the road. Luckily Will's horse is much smarter than he is and manages to flee to safety. Phew.
- Will feels like he's aware of more than he realizes because he starts seeing a circle with a cross—the same shape of Mr. Dawson's gift—everywhere he looks.
- Finally, Will comes to two wooden doors that lead to nowhere. Sure, this looks about right.