Shattered Bonds (continued)

She remained perfectly still as she landed. That condition, however, lasted only a moment. Her hands and feet began to slide on the roof’s smooth surface. Her tiny claws automatically extended, making sharp little scrabbling noises against the unyielding material as Shanta slid along it. Banging her knees hard against a protrusion made of the same material, she was able to grab onto it, stopping her slide.

Clinging to the small handhold, she willed her breathing to slow and her heart to stop its racing. She was convinced now that she would be detected. It took her very little effort to bring herself as flat as possible as against the roof’s surface, as she was already hugging it closely. In the dark of the night, they might not see her without actually coming up onto the roof.

With her ear now pressed hard against the surface of the roof, she listened for noises from within. None of the sounds that came to her were unfamiliar. They blended in strange ways, some sounding like the buzz of angry insects, and other noises that she thought she should be able to identify. She lay there for a long while, even past the time when her breath came normally and her heart no longer sped. No one had yet come out from the building to investigate the noise she had made, and she began to believe that she was still safe.

Lifting her head, Shanta attempted to re-orient herself. The gate was now to her left. That meant the possible direction toward Wendy’s home was now behind her. Moving slowly, and keeping her body very close to the surface of the roof, Shanta turned herself and started to pull herself slowly to the opposite edge of the rooftop. Understanding now how to maintain a grip on the smooth material, even if a somewhat tenuous one, she moved more quickly now.

When she reached the edge, she looked down along the vertical edge of the building. Below her was what appeared to be large baskets, but made of the some kind of solid translucent material that she had never seen before. Looking across at the next building, she was certain that she could leap across the distance between them. She hesitated, worried now about how to land without recreating her almost disastrous—and noisy—slide across its surface.

She realized then that it had been the sound of her claws scraping against the hard material that had created most of the noise. Looking down at her hands, she flexed her fingers, trying to decide whether or not she could manage to suppress her instinctive reaction to protract them.

Maybe, she decided.

She felt fairly confident about her ability to do so, but not entirely convinced.

It’s either that or hide up here all night . . .

The latter option she found particularly unappealing.