CHAPTER 10
It’s not important how you hit,
The important thing is how well you can withstand your opponent’s blows.
(From the movie “Rocky Balboa”)
Spurring the horses, now more than tired, up the steep hilltop, as indicated to them by the stableman at the Mandracchio, in just under an hour, Amilcare and Matteo arrived in sight of the tower of Montignano. The sun was high in the sky and on that late spring day it began to hit hard. The horses were at the end of their strength and were foaming with sweat from all their pores. Amilcare beckoned Matteo to tie them to the trunks of the trees in a cool shady area at the edge of the woods. Then he carried the wineskin with the remaining wine on his shoulders and walked silently with his companion towards the tower, which stood isolated on th
