Free It Is Said (Mathias Bootmaker and the Keepers of the Sandbox) by Edward Medina Page A

wasn’t looking. He was listening.
    “What’s happening?” Mathias asked as he tried to hear what the boy was hearing.
    They stood silently together, there in the square. Then there was a sound that sounded like a heartbeat. Mathias was sure it was his. Then he heard what the boy heard. Hoof beats. Faint. Distant. Getting louder. Coming faster.
    Mathias felt the boy's hand slip into his.
    “Run,” Mouse said quietly as he pulled at Mathias’ hand.
    Mathias was looking but could see nothing. He pulled the boy closer. Mouse pushed back.
    “Run,” he insisted.
    Mathias gripped at the boy's vest and shirt to hold him while he looked for the rider, and his speeding horse. The hoof beats were getting much louder. Loud enough that they should both be seen by now he thought.
    “Run!” Mouse screamed as he broke free.
    The boy was very fast. He was almost at the tree line at the edge of the village in just a little bit more than a blink.
    “Mouse! Wait!” Mathias shouted after him.
      Mathias was surprised to find that he was fast too. He was on the heels of the boy in just a little bit less than a blink.
        Without any warning, the rider and the horse were suddenly upon them both.
         Mathias felt the first blow to the back of his head. He had his hands on the boy's shoulders when the second one came. The rider threw the full bulk of his enormous black horse at Mathias and drove him to the ground. As he fell, he brought Mouse down with him.
    The boy raced on all fours along the ground while the horse rode over and past him. The rider turned his mount and reached down for the child. Mathias was trying to stand when the rider appeared directly in front of him. It was impossible, but the rider was in two places at once. He spun around and kicked Mathias square in the chest while, at the same time, pulling Mouse up and over his saddle.
    The force of the kick was unmatched by the impact of his body against the ground as Mathias dropped hard. The rider and horse jumped over him, and rode off down the dark path with the boy. The sound of hoof beats drifted after them, until they were faint, distant, and faded away.
    The town square was quiet again.
    Mathias could hear only the crackle of the torch fires. He slowly started to move, adjusting his movements with each sharp pain as he stood himself up. Around him everything was still. It was as if the violence that had just occurred had never happened. There was no boy. There was no rider. At least as far as this place was concerned.
    Mathias was being watched. He could feel it.
    He was not alone in the square.
    Something moved behind him. He heard it. He caught a glimpse of a shadow turning the corner of one of the shops.
    Something, or someone was moving slowly around a set of barrels to his right.
    The wind was moving the fabric of a figure that was hiding behind a chimney stack, above the building to his left.
    There were people in the dark places all around him.
    Curtains were moving in windows. Shutters were creaking open, just enough to sneak a peek. Mathias could hear whispers. This ghost town had found its spirits and they were restless.
    From somewhere there was a whistle.
    A rock struck him on the shoulder.
    “Go away,” came a voice from behind the chimney stack.  
    Another rock struck him on the side of his head. The impact and the pain made him drop to his knees. Realizing he was in danger, he quickly stumbled back to his feet.
    As he was trying to push away the pain, Mathias could see several people moving about. They began extinguishing the torches in the square. By the last lit torch, stood a woman. She was cleverly positioned so that the firelight obscured her face from Mathias’ view. His only clue to her gender was her voice.
    “Please go,” she said as she pointed behind Mathias. “Go now.”
    With that she threw a thick black cloth over the fire, and she and it melted into the darkness. A torch lit behind Mathias. As he turned a male voice