### 32

Paido opens the tailboard and you pull yourself into the wagon. The driver jerks the reins and the rickety vehicle moves away, its wheels squealing as it clatters across the flagstoned quadrangle. In the narrow street ahead you see your horses hitched to a post outside a bakery. You call to the cloaked driver to stop and immediately he obeys your command, pulling his mules to a halt opposite the baker’s shop. You bid farewell to your silent friend and retrieve your horses. He returns your wave with a smile and, as you mount your horse, you notice that around his neck he wears a wooden amulet shaped like a fish.

Suddenly the sound of angry voices echoes along the street as the monks emerge from the baker’s shop. You and Paido spur your horses to a gallop, and not until you reach the town’s north gate do you bring them to a halt.

Turn to 347.