He stood on the corner, his breath turning to a thick fog in front of his face in the cold, and watched them walk away. It was very good to see her happy. He smiled, and nodded. He was acknowledging that she would remind him that she was not just happy because she had found Lee. She had been sad when George had left two years ago, but she had dealt with the loss well and apart from the odd slip of the mask had covered her loneliness quite adroitly.
They disappeared around the corner of the gaol wall and he turned in the opposite direction and started to walk towards his appartment. The cold air was not really moving, there was not even a breeze, so the cold air just seemed to settle hard on his shoulders, like a wet blanket, and naturally he had not worn a coat.
He was crossing the last part of the road – the junction between town and the block which included his flat – when he realised that there was someone watching him, and more to the point this watcher was not burdened with good intentions.
“Who’s there?”