The door was still propped wide open, and it would have been easy. And having Christy with her had made her feel much braver and much stronger, and she thought that together they could have dodged out when the men were near the staircase’s top. But through the door she could see the other plotters: they were moving to and fro and the pieces of wood were burning up strongly again, so that red shadows danced everywhere, making it look as if there were at least a dozen men. Selina thought it was only the flickering shadows that made it seem like that; she thought there were only about three or four of them. But they still had their guns, she could see that clearly. She did not dare whisper to Christy in case the men heard, but Christy would have seen the men; she would know that it was important to stay in hiding. That was one of the really good things about Christy: she understood things without them having to be explained. The men were almost at the top of the stair. It was a long climb–probably as many as a hundred steps–and they had had to go carefully and slowly because of carrying the two bodies.
