Toby was three storeys up, too high to jump, trapped between a vicious brute and a deadly fall. He was staring out of a dormer window. Below, the gutters were old and rickety. It was unlikely that they would hold his weight if he tried to climb down the drainpipe to the forecourt below. What he really needed was another escape route. Something safer. Maybe he should take his chances back inside the chimney. Once he scurried back through the hole, the adults couldn’t follow and he would have time to re-evaluate his options. The problem, though, was getting there in the first place. Mr Snarky, stood between him and the hearth.
‘Get ‘ere, boy. You had a good run,’ gnashed Snarky, his voice deep and s******c.
‘Not a chance, Snarky. I won’t let you take me back.’ Toby laughed out loud. He had
