Chapter Two part Three

Al turned sharply. The stone in the moonlight forgotten. He had heard voices.

Besides him the rats cut and scattered back into the shadows. Their high pitched squeals rose into the dark as Al's eyes fixed on the door.

There was a faint breath of wind. Like someone had blown gently into his face but it was cool. He felt it stir his fringe around his ears. He pushed the loose curls away with a quick swipe of his hands and glanced around the room.

The owl called outside the window. The twit ta whoo, echoed around the room. There was a sudden stillness and the shadows in the darkness grew more solid. As the moonlight intensified there was a hush on the wind. It sounded like someone calling out his name. He scanned the shadows for a moment. Confused Al turned back to the door and the voices outside. It couldn't have been them, so distant. This voice was nearer. Another draft wined through the window. It sounded so much like the urgent whisper of his name. He glanced back towards the window, the table beneath it was silver in the light but there was nothing else there. Still he felt his name lingering in the darkness.

"Hello," he called out. "Is there someone there?"

He trembled faintly in the darkness. He could still hear the muffled voices beyond the door but people were always coming to the stores to collect things. This voice was different, this voice was coming from the shadows in the room.

He felt like someone was staring at him, his eyes narrowed, picking out the deeper shadows of the storage crates and bags of oats the lay stacked in the corners. For a moment he thought he saw the moonlight shimmer and outline of a figure appear but even as he looked at it, it seemed to fade and fall back into the shaft of light.

"Hello," he called out again, less certain this time. He felt the skin tighten over his shoulders "Show yourself," he demanded. There was a low whistle as the wind blew through the gaps in the window frame. The cold air stroked his face delicately.

"Just the wind," he reassured himself but he still felt the urgency in the room. He could almost touch it. He turned back to the stone slab on the floor. He needed to find what was hidden but then the voices beyond the door became louder. He could hear footsteps on the stone steps. They were coming down, towards him.