I always arrive at meetings early. Sometimes it's a chance to spot trouble before its finished brewing and sometimes, like today, it's a fantastic opportunity to sit huddled inside my cloak trying to keep the drizzle out of my eyes.
My vantage point on the rooftop overlooking the abandoned shop that would serve as our rendezvous gave me good visibility of the store front and in both directions along the street.
I'd already scouted behind the old shop and found that the rear entrance was boarded up. No way out if things should get difficult, but I was also reasonably confident that no one was coming in that way. At least, not without a lot of noise. That just left the front door and I was watching that.
As I waited for someone to turn up, the thought occurred to me that someone, or indeed several someones, might already be inside the shop. That is also why I don't like to be first to meetings.
Generally speaking, folk don't tend to look up, especially when the rain would fall into their eyes, so it was no real surprise when someone appeared at one end of the street and hurried, oblivious to my presence, to the shop front door.
The bulky full-length cloak could not fully conceal the athletic figure of a woman in her prime, but it did a fine job of hiding any weapons or armour as well as, presumably, giving some protection against the drizzle.
The lady in the street paused outside the shop, checking the entrance before pushing the door open and moving cautiously inside.
I smiled to myself; she hadn't looked up.
Above the shop door was an old wooden sign showing that the building had once been some sort of general store. Of greater importance than the shop's history was that the sign was big, heavy, larger than an average person, rotten and barely attached to the wall.
It was my opinion, and I make it my business to know about these things, that there was a very real risk that any activity in and around the shop could cause it to come crashing down, possibly injuring anyone below and definitely drawing some attention.
So, that was why, half an hour earlier I'd climbed up to give the sign a proper and very careful inspection and used a couple of stakes and some twine to hold it in place. It wouldn't hold forever, and with the right application of force it would still land on someone. However, the odds of that someone being me were vastly reduced.
No sooner had the lady below gone inside the shop, the next arrival appeared from the opposite end of the street. This one was huge! Standing easily a third taller than most men, he was almost as wide. He didn't seem the least worried about the weather or anything falling on him. He marched with single purpose towards the shop, pushed the door open with a hand as big as my head, and went inside.
The rain was starting to drop heavily now, and it was no surprise that the next two people to arrive har their cloak hoods fully up and hurried towards the shopfront intent only on getting inside and out of the deluge. Details were difficult to pick out at this distance, especially with the heavy rain making things worse. However, it was easy enough to see the height difference in the two. One was willow thin and of average height. The other's hooded head barely reached waist height.
The pair wasted no time and were soon inside the shop.
I wasn't expecting anyone else to arrive, but I nevertheless spent another ten, uncomfortable, minutes trying to ignore the water seeping into my cloak whilst keeping an eye on the street.
Finally satisfied that nobody unexpected was going to arrive, I gave the rooftops one last careful inspection to ensure that there were no observers waiting for me to leave my vantage point so that they could spring a surprise on everyone inside the store.
I could only take so many precautions, and in the final analysis it was all about managing the risks.