Three to See the King

the gables. I continued like this for another ten minutes or so, all the time making sure I never glanced towards the approaching visitors.
    Finally I heard the door opening down below, followed by Mary Petrie crying out.
    ‘Simon!’ she exclaimed. ‘Steve! Philip! How nice of you to come!’
    In feigned surprise I looked round, expecting to see three faces gazing up at me. Instead, they were lost from view, presumably gathered in a cluster around the doorway.
    There arose a babble of excited voices, and then I heard Simon saying, ‘He’s on the roof, but he hasn’t seen us yet.’
    ‘Well, he’ll be glad you’ve come,’ replied Mary Petrie. ‘He’s been missing you all terribly.’
    ‘What’s he doing up there?’ asked Steve.
    ‘Oh, he’s messing about pretending to measure the chimney. He’ll be down in a minute.’
    I heard a boot scuff the ground, and next thing Steve appeared with a big grin on his face.
    ‘How’s the weathercock?’ he called.
    Tine!’ I replied. ‘Never been wrong yet!’
    ‘That’s good! Are you going to come down and say hello then?’
    His tone of voice wasn’t at all like the abrupt and impatient Steve Treacle I was used to. Instead it was what I could only describe as ‘more than friendly’. He was still smiling, and for some reason this made me feel quite vulnerable up there on the roof.
    ‘I can’t get down!’ I heard myself say.
    ‘Oh dear!’ he replied. ‘Wait there and I’ll get help!’
    Moments later the others had arrived on the scene, offering words of comfort. I couldn’t see Philip, but I could hear someone scrabbling up the tin walls, and in a moment his head appeared quite close to me.
    ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘You’ll soon be safe.’
    The next few minutes were a blur of helping hands and guiding voices. In an utterly helpless state I was manoeuvred downwards until eventually I stood swaying on solid ground.
    ‘There, there,’ said Simon, putting his arm around my shoulder.
    ‘Thanks,’ I mumbled. ‘I thought I was going to be there for the night.’
    ‘You’re alright now, though, aren’t you?’
    ‘Oh yes. Never better.’
    My weak attempt to make light of the matter didn’t appear to register with my rescuers. Instead, they all stood round enquiring how I felt and asking if I’d like to lie down for a while. It occurred to me that because of this incident I was now indebted to the three of them, and my actual feeling was one not of relief, but of irritation. To tell them would have been churlish, however, so after I’d recovered sufficiently I invited them into the house.
    This was the first time that Simon, Steve and Philip had sat down at my table together, yet I couldn’t help noticing how relaxed they all seemed as a group. It was almost as if they’d spent many days and nights doing nothing but talking and getting to know one another. This I could imagine Simon doing quite easily, but I wouldn’t have expected it of Philip. Nevertheless, there he was in the thick of the conversation, speaking with great confidence to Mary Petrie. For her part she appeared to find our three guests quite fascinating. I’d assumed she would do her disappearing act up the stairs as soon as we got inside, but instead she joined us in the kitchen and started asking all sorts of questions.
    ‘So,’ she began. ‘What brings you back to these parts then?’
    ‘I suppose we’re on a mission really,’ replied Philip.
    ‘A mission?’
    ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘We have an important task ahead of us.’
    ‘Don’t tell me you’ve come to fix the chimney?’
    ‘Not primarily, no.’
    Philip glanced at Steve, who was now gazing intently in my direction.
    ‘Is that why you were on the roof?’ he asked.
    ‘Sort of,’ I answered. ‘Just having a look really. We think the chimney needs lengthening.’
    ‘I see.’
    ‘I suppose you wouldn’t know how to do it, would you?’
    I asked the question as casually as possible, because I didn’t want Steve to think I was dependent on him in any way. There was a long pause before he replied, during which I realized he had ceased his habit of continually drumming on the table top.
    Instead he sat calm and still in the place opposite mine, with his hands resting before him. Then, at last, he spoke.
    ‘I can’t do it for you,’ he said. ‘I can only show you how.’
    Simon and Philip were seated each side of him, looking as though they approved of every word. Their eyes were on me, and