The Red-Headed Demon by Tom Hoobler

Author:Tom Hoobler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: samuraimysterymystery historical
Publisher: Tom Hoobler

17: Into the Night

It took them a while to find the way outside, particularly since they had to drag Hans along. Once, Seikei thought they had been caught when they met a young monk in a hallway. But the man’s eyes widened when he saw Hans, and he knelt and bowed his head as they passed by.

At last they found a door that opened onto the rear courtyard. In the moonlight they spied what was clearly a stable and hurried inside. There were no guards here, probably because, as Kazuo pointed out, “What kind of dishonorable people would steal from a monastery?”

“We’re not stealing,” Seikei told him. “Those horses belong to my father.”

It wasn’t hard to find them, for they were the only two decent horses the monastery had. All the others were old plodders meant for working in the fields.

As Seikei began to saddle the horses, he asked Kazuo if he’d ever ridden before. “I sat on the back of a few horses that pulled carts when I traveled with the theater troupe,” he said.

Seikei pinched Hans, who seemed to wake up a little in the cool night air. Hans stared at him and said, “Knodeln.” A good sign.

“Help me get Hans into the saddle,” Seikei told Kazuo. “You get on behind him and hold the reins.”

When Kazuo and Hans were settled on the mare, Seikei mounted the colt and led the way around the monastery to the front gate and down the path. He stopped to retrieve his swords, finding to his relief that they were still where he had hidden them.

As he strapped them to his waist, a bell began to ring. It hung over the roof of the monastery and was clearly intended to be an alarm.

“I should have hit that abbot a little harder,” said Kazuo.

Seikei could have galloped down the path, but he was afraid of losing Kazuo and Hans. “Go ahead of me as fast as you can,” he told Kazuo. “I’ll follow.”

Kazuo urged the mare forward, with Seikei close behind. Seikei held his breath as he watched the two riders sway back and forth. If one of them fell off, surely someone from the monastery would catch up to them.

The bell was still ringing. Seikei hoped that the guard who stopped them on the path before wasn’t on duty at night.

But he was. Suddenly he loomed up in front of the other horse. He looked twice as big as before. Seikei started to draw his short sword, regretting that he might have to use it on a man dedicated to Buddha.

But before he could get there, the gigantic monk screamed. He staggered backward, his hands covering his eyes. Kazuo kicked his heels against the mare’s sides, and off he went. Seikei had to hurry to catch up, taking a quick look at the monk as he passed. The monk heard Seikei’s horse’s hoofbeats and lunged out blindly, trying to catch him, but Seikei eluded him.

No one else barred their way as they fled down the hill.

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