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  “You’re a strange man,” said the girl.

  “Yes,” said Tobias, good-naturedly. “Yes, I am.”

  Tess shook hands with the little girl. “Tess Goodraven,” she introduced herself, and gestured to Tobias. “My husband, Tobias Goodraven.”

  “Husband?” the girl laughed. “You’re too small to be married.”

  “Not at all.” Tess smiled back.

  Just then, the girl’s father turned, calling the child angrily, and Tess could see Tobias tense up. “What I love about Christmas is it always brings out the best in people,” she said, hoping to ease the situation.

  Tobias took on a mock-scary voice. “And all the ghosts get homesick.”

  She kissed him. “I feel brave.”

  They moved toward the train. Its magnificent, huge black engine breathed steam over the beautiful station, itself a tiny jewel of architecture, covered in dazzling latticed iron and crowned with a small glass dome. Steam unfurled over the waiting crowd.

  Several youngsters turned to her, shocking her with their gaze, for their eyes were pearly white and fixed upon nothing in particular. Others nearby stood with closed eyes, she noticed, and carried canes to help them along. They were blind children, from a school in Salem, she knew. They stood with their chaperones, and Tess felt a pang of sadness that they could not see the beauty that the train and the station created together.

  Everyone was silent, in plain black and brown coats. Tobias and Tess stood out brilliantly, as always, he in gray, she in white. They looked around at the crowd, observing every detail, as the snow crept down around them all.

  Tess realized sadly this was what normal people looked like to them.

  Odd little curiosities.

  The train would take them to the Winter Carnival in the old town, deep in the woods. Passengers were eager to be on their way, moving as one to come aboard. The train was a masterpiece. Tess and Tobias moved through several parlor cars, beautifully appointed, bordered in mahogany. The trip was a short one, but the Festival organizers had spared no expense in trying to attract visitors.

  Car after car grew more opulent. Tess found herself wanting to sink into the chairs of each car, for they were truly rooms, unbelievably beautiful, dripping with Victorian grandeur, plush sofas, dazzling chandeliers, wide windows.

  Then came the showpiece dining car, ornamented with cherry wood tables, brass fixtures, silver and linen and china the finest restaurant in New York would envy—a feasting place for kings. The second dining car was less expensive, but only slightly less extravagant.

  There was a smoking car, complete with an upright piano, a harp, pre-Raphaelite paintings, and a high ceiling made of glass so that Tess could see the snowflakes drifting down upon them with fairy-tale delicateness.

  Finally Tobias and Tess reached the elegant, day-trip passenger cars, and found their seats, together as always. Tess had traveled quite a bit in her few short years of life, and this train was as perfect a creation as she had ever seen in New York, London, or Paris.

  It was a shame it would all be smashed to pieces.

  Acknowledgments

  This book would not exist without the help of my hard-working and supportive editor, Ruth Katcher.

  I would also like to praise the people at HarperCollins, especially Elise Howard, for their aid, advice, and advocacy. Thanks also go to Bryan Burk and Ori Marmur for their help early on. I greatly appreciate the labors of all those who made this book a reality.

  About the Author

  JASON HIGHTMAN lives in California with his wife, Kim, and young daughter, Hannah, who has the magical ability to make anyone laugh even on their dreariest days. After studying dragon hunting and alchemy at the University of Southern California, Hightman has spent the last few years doing battle with the serpents in Los Angeles, who use automobiles to clog motorways impenetrably. You can often find him in his armor, prowling for good books and hunting for any nasty dragons disguised as cynical critics. He prays he never runs into the latter.

  Hightman hopes THE SAINT OF DRAGONS series combines the best elements of old-fashioned swordplay adventure, Japanese comic books, cinematic action, heroic archetypes, and unusual villains—all things he likes in the stories he reads himself.

  You can visit him online at www.saintofdragonsbook.com.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Credits

  Cover art © 2006 by Vince Natale

  Cover design by Joel Tippie

  Copyright

  SAMURAI. Copyright © 2006 by Jason Hightman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Hightman, Jason.

  Samurai / by Jason Hightman.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Simon St. George and his father, the last members of the Order of Dragonhunters, must join forces with a group of Japanese samurai to destroy the dragons in the Far East.

  ISBN 978-0-06-054016-6

  [1. Dragons—Fiction. 2. Samurai—Fiction. 3. Fathers and sons—Fiction. 4. East Asia—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.H543995Sam 2006 2006000301

  [Fic]—dc22 CIP

  AC

  EPub Edition © November 2009 ISBN: 978-0-06-199732-7

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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