I spent a good minute working my legs and finger, doing my best to get some warmth back into them that my vigil in the rain had driven out. It would be very stupid to take all these precautions and then fall off the slippery roof because I couldn’t feel my fingers.
With some semblance of life back in my extremities, it was a simple climb down to ground level and I made my way across the street to the entrance to the store.
Even though I was expected, I didn’t want to face any unpleasant consequences that might arise from the surprising the people inside. I gave the door a couple of hearty thumps and pushed it open.
As I went inside, I had to smile as I thought of previous meetings with this group when I had tried to persuade them that we should use a standard knocking pattern to identify the knockee, but they’d never seen the point and eventually I gave up.
Inside the store, someone had lit a couple of torches and the pale light was enough to see the assembled group clearly. I was proud to notice that they’d placed the torches towards the rear of the store, so that the light wouldn’t penetrate the grime on the front window and spill onto the street, advertising our presence.
“Ah, here he is. Nice of you to join us, Rylan”