Nothing followed; no one had heard.
He tried again, crawled forward his own length, and brought up snug and safe in the angle where roof met wall.

The voices and shuffling feet were dangerously close.

He sat up, caught a shaft of light full in his face, and peered in through the ragged chink.

Two legs in bright, wrinkled hose, and a pair of black shoes with thick white soles, blocked the view.

For a long time they shifted, uneasy and tantalizing.