Robert Grieve Black
2023
Marion bounced on her tip-toes a few more times and then surged forward. One, two, three, up and she was grabbing wildly at the window sill. She stifled a scream as the rough concrete bit into her fingers but she held on. It was going to be more difficult than she thought. She swung her foot to the left and made contact with a drain-pipe and managed to manoeuvre the foot onto the pipe from the office. John had to use both hands to steady her right foot and they nearly all lost balance as he let go one hand to pass her up the iron jemmy. There was no space between the two sides of the window and Marion fought desperately to force the jemmy into this non-existent space. Without success she tried a different approach, straining all of her body to reach up to a small space in the top of the window. Her left hand was aching and she struggled to hold on. Luckily the jemmy was the type with an angled “V” on the end for extracting nails. This angle gave her some leverage and with one final push the window-catches snapped and the windows swung inwards.
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