Chapter 20
Beginning of 1061 (452 From Hegira), hills of central-eastern Sicily
Corrado and Michele had run away like two criminals, frightened to death by those guards who were staying outside their home. Maybe, they were really criminals because they had slaughtered Umar's goats for revenge, or they because they made them marauders. Now they were advancing like hungry dogs, armed only with Corrado's ax and moved by the need to save the innocent family members from the evil that could have struck their home.
As if having damaged the flock of the village debt collector was not enough, they stole what they could by introducing themselves to the fields and chicken coops of the unaware peasants of the area. After half a day of raiding, the two young Christians from Rabaḍ began to enjoy tha
