It had been over an hour since Amos had had his exchange with Alanah’s Aunt. He had walked away from the building and then once he was out of sight, he quickly changed his appearance. Jim had shown him that if he reversed his tactical jacket, he could wear it inside out and change the colour from black to an olive green. Amos also carried a knit beanie in his bag that he pulled on over his head and finally he popped on a pair of cheap sunglasses.

  It was a disguise that would do little to change his appearance from up close, but Jim had stressed to him that a quick costume change could go a long way if he was trying to hide from someone chasing him or watching him from afar. Jim had told him “It’s incredibly easy to misdirect someone’s attention, they just need a nudge and they will follow along.”

  Since he donned his disguise he had made three laps of the block, slowly going round and round on the opposite side of the street. He was looking for weaknesses to exploit, he needed a way into the building but then what? Was he going to wander the fourth floor knocking on each door until he found the angry Aunt? He was not prepared to overpower her or threaten her…yet…but if he could not find a way to get in touch with Alanah then who knows he told himself. Don’t be foolish, you could easily end up in jail behaving like this, use your head stupid, find a way to get to her.

  Amos shook his head and grinned ruefully. “Use your head stupid” had been an inside joke between himself and his dad. They had always found the contradictory expression rather funny and used it often on each other when they were struggling to solve a problem.

  As he walked down the sidewalk deep in thought a light rain jerked Amos back into the present day. He looked up as the sudden rain was unexpected on what was still a lovely, sunny spring day. It wasn’t rain at all actually and as he moved aside to get out of the way it dawned on him that he was staring at the answer to his problem. He stepped back and leaned against a nearby brick wall and studied the situation. This could work, it could be dangerous but this could work.

  Within a few minutes he had made a mental list of what he needed and then he set off to fetch it. Amos thought that Holden’s might be the best place to start so he wasted no time in getting back to the surplus store to see what he had available.

  “That could be mighty dangerous, one mistake, one wrong move and you get seriously hurt or worse.” Jim was shaking his head the way adults do when their thought process is getting ready to arrive at destination “no.” Amos knew he had to stop Jim in his tracks and get him to agree. “It’s going to work and it is far safer than you think. I’ve seen these guys at work before and they don’t strike me as the best or the brightest or even that well trained.

  “I will use a fail safe too because I only want to go to the fourth floor.” Jim had stopped shaking his head but Amos could see that he was still not convinced. Jim leaned back against the backrest on his worn and creaky stool with his arms folded across his chest. His body language still radiated uncertainty, doubt, and most likely still a no to helping him.

  “Look, I’m going to do it one way or another, I know what I need and I am sure I can buy this gear somewhere pretty easily. Amos paused and then looked Jim in the eye for his closing argument. “This is far less dangerous than some of the things I have done in the last few weeks, I won’t be stupid, I will double check everything and go slowly, I won’t take any silly risks and I’m going to do this.”

  Jim stared at Amos for a long moment; he sighed and slowly got up off his stool. He had started shaking his head again but this time because he had agreed to go along with Amos’ request even though he really did not want to. “Come with me, I’ve got lots of nautical supplies and equipment in back and I can put together what you need. No one has the time or money for sailing anymore so you might as well have it.”

  Amos was eager to go and look for Alanah as soon as he had all his equipment but then Jim had gotten quite angry with him. “Go and set up somewhere first, practice at a safe height and try to make the equipment fail. Much better to do this in a controlled environment. Promise me you will do this.” Amos had given Jim his word and had immediately made his way to the warehouse roof next to the T station where he had practiced firing his gun.

  Since he was going back to the rooftop he also had asked Jim if he could bring a set of bolt cutters to remove the padlock on the access door to the office building. Ever since he had seen that building he wondered what potential the unused upper three floors might offer.

  It was a cumbersome journey with all of his new gear but no one bothered him. Amos realized that because everything he carried in the one large bucket was often used for menial labour jobs that these items would not be a target for thieves.

  He set up atop the second floor of the warehouse, first climbing the gas pipe and then hoisting up the bucket with a rope attached to the handle. No one was around and no eyes were on the rooftop. The subway train rumbled away every so often and only the front of the building had any activity. Amos was starting to really like this location, and he was tempted to cut the lock on the roof top door and explore the office building. Later, do that later. You need to solve the first problem, what happened to Alanah?

  He went slowly at first, going down was easy, coming up was harder, fighting against gravity. Jim had showed him how to rig up a two wheeled pulley with a ratcheting action that made it much easier to hoist himself up but it still took an effort. After his first descent he wanted to pack up and go but he remembered Jim’s warning. “Make sure you know how to operate the system, try it again and again until you are sure.”

  It was good advice. On his third attempt he did not set up the ratcheting pulley properly and he could not ascend. He had to lower himself to the ground, climb the gas pipe and sort out the error he had made feeding the rope from the wrong direction. Finally, after three successful trips up and down he felt he was ready. Amos hid the bolt cutters on the roof, packed up the rest of his gear and headed to Alanah’s building, his stomach was in knots, and it wasn’t from a fear of falling.

  He made a quick stop to pick up some additional supplies at a small Latino tienda just down the block from Alanah’s building that stocked most common household goods. He was really weighed down now, but he did not have far to go. The most difficult task was to hoist himself up to the second-floor fire escape behind the building. The exterior metal stairs and landing went up to the rooftop. Perfect access except that the last section to the ground had been hoisted up to the second floor to keep thieves and vagrants from using it.

  Amos looked around and was frustrated to see that there seemed to be a constant trickle of people moving up and down the narrow street at any given time. Sneaking up was going to be hard if not impossible.

  In the end, he used Jim’s trick of misdirection. He put on the bright orange safety vest and yellow hard hat that Jim had given him and his harness. Now he had transformed himself from a young teenager lingering around a spot he shouldn’t be at into a worker with a purpose. What that purpose was, most people would not care, once they saw that how he was dressed they just assumed he had a purpose. It’s like being invisible in some ways, just let them assume you are something you’re not. This could be a most useful skill to master Amos realized.

  Now standing in his vest he suddenly felt more confident, he acted like he should be there, and he calmly took out his rope and after a few tries looped it around the bottom of the metal staircase and tugged. Nothing happened at first, he tried again and still nothing. He hung on the rope with all of his weight and then finally there was a creaking groan, and the stairs shuddered down a few inches and then stopped. He tried again and managed another inch.

  “Hey, you there.” Amos turned, startled and trying not to look guilty.” A larger middle-aged man wearing an old gray tracksuit was walking quickly at him and holding out his hand like he was going to hail a cab. I’ve got too much stuff, I can’t run…. Amos briefly thought about hitting the man with his baton but immediately pushed that thought aside, this was not a street thug or a criminal.

  “That old staircase hasn’t been used in years. You know why?” The man had stopped in front of Amos, challenging for an answer in that insincere way that people do when you just know that they will give you the answer in the next second. Amos said nothing and waited for the answer that was sure to come. “Because you guys haven’t shown up to clean the windows in years. It’s always an excuse…. too rainy…too cold…. too dangerous with the wind…the ice…the snow. It’s always something. I was starting to think that the super was just lying to our faces.” The older man smiled “you’ve got a big day ahead of you, the windows are filthy. Lemme give you a hand.”

  He grabbed the rope Amos was holding and with his added weight the stairs creaked and groaned down in one slow, arcing motion. “There ya go. I’m on the fourth floor. Can you try and do that one today case ya don’t get it all done and ya don’t come back?” Amos smiled “the fourth floor,….sure thing, that is where I will start, thanks for the help!”

  Fifteen minutes later Amos was set up. The building rooftop had numerous davits that he could use to tie off on. He had been tempted to use the fourth-floor fire escape door and to try using the hallway but he still felt the chance for success from inside in the hallway was small. This will work, I just have to be quick.

  With a deep breath and with his bucket now filled with water and dish soap from the Tienda, Amos the window washer pushed off from the side of the roof in his Bosun’s chair and lowered himself to the fourth floor. The chair and ropes had come from a forty-five-foot sailboat and had been used to repair and inspect rigging high up on the mast. Jim had shown him how to set it up and how to add the pully system so that he could ascend on his own.

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  This contraption felt precarious and inadequate for the job, the bucket weighed heavily on one side of the small cloth chair and the balance of the chair was extremely sensitive. Amos found that by dangling from the davit he could slowly swing between two sets of windows until he was able to grab on with one hand to the window frame and then wash and squeegee with the other.

  The washing was really just an act; he was just there to peer through the window to assess if Alanah was there or not. He had no intention to clean any windows if he could help it. There were four sets of windows on this side of the building, and he realized that he had to go up and down three times on each side of the building just to inspect one side. That’s twelve setups in total plus the ascent and descent. Someone is going to notice pretty soon than I am not washing any windows and that I am just casing the fourth floor….Amos was suddenly worried about his plan, so much could go wrong from falling to getting caught and given over to the police as he had no right to be here.

  Not knowing how to proceed Amos decided to wash the first set of windows to see how it went. These windows had not been washed in years, and his bucket was brown after just two windows. That old man was right; these things are just filthy.” To make matters worse, Amos wasn’t sure how he would know if Alanah was there if he did not see her. It looked like most windows had the curtains drawn and the ones that were open probably weren’t going to have a sign that said, “Alanah Lives here.” He was starting to doubt his plan more and more each minute and he wondered if he should give now before things got worse.

  “Hey kid, ya got the right floor, but you started in the wrong spot. Why don’cha come and start over here?” It was the old man from the alley. He was leaning out of his window on the other side of the building and calling out to Amos. Initially Amos felt a flash of annoyance. Just leave me alone already, I don’t want anyone to notice me right now… As he gritted his teeth and bit back the words he wanted to shout at this annoying old man an idea came to Amos and with that he turned and smiled at the man. “I’ll be right over; these windows are filthy so it’s better to do yours first before my brush gets totally fouled.”

  The old man was called Jerry, and he was quite a talker. He watched Amos pull himself up the building wall and then start his decent down his side of the building. As soon as Amos was within earshot he started a steady stream of nothing in particular as Amos had set up again at his corner.

  “It’s good to see something finally happening round here, I’ve been bugging the super fer years now to wash the grime offa these windows. No one else seems to care much, if it hadn’t been for me, I bet you wouldn’t even be here.”

  Amos played along, he had decided that he needed this old guy to like him. “It’s good that you did, people need guys like you around, guys that care, guys that can get things done.” Jerry smiled and then launched right into a long monologue about all of the things he had told other people to do for the building over the years. It was a very long list.

  After one set of windows was done, Jerry had offered to replenish the water in his bucket. While the bucket was being filled Amos decided to make his play. “You’ve made it a great building here in a tough part of town Jerry. My friend is quite lucky, she just moved in here not too long ago with her aunt, I think she is even on the fourth floor like you.” Amos held his breath, he was not sure if he was more fearful that Jerry would get suspicious or if Jerry just would not know anything.

  Both fears were unfounded however, Jerry was in a fine mood, still delighting in the fact that Amos had done his windows first and that he was doing such a good job of it too, taking the time to get each window clear and clean. He hadn’t the slightest concern about what this boy was asking, and he was only too happy to share more of his knowledge with him.

  “Ahh…that must crusty old Hazel down in 4C.” Jerry’s eyes widened a touch once he realized what he had said. “I mean, Hazel has just been kind of the silent type, no one was expectin her ta bring in a young one all of a sudden. They keep to themselves though and don’t make any noise or what not.”

  Amos smiled, “well maybe if I finish up on time tomorrow, I might pop round and say hello then, but I had better get all the windows done first.” Amos continued to wash Jerry’s windows until they were all clean and streak free. After letting Jerry go on about the building for another five minutes Amos had gotten Jerry to tell him where exactly 4C was so he could remember to wave at Hazel while he was washing her window.

  Twenty minutes later Amos was lowering himself down from the davit on the other side of the roof, the side where 4C was located. His heart was racing a little bit, and his breathing was shallow, Amos was not sure what to expect. Slowly he lowered his canvas bosun’s chair down in between the two windows. He looked into the two windows on the left side and saw a small kitchen with the tall woman he had met outside standing at the sink with her back to him.

  Just on the other side of the kitchen wall was a small living and dining room and there, sitting on a faded blue couch was Alanah languidly reading a worn paperback book.

  Amos’ throat tightened and he tried hard to swallow, he was tempted to knock on the glass, but he knew it was just as likely to get Hazel’s attention as it was Alanah’s. He decided to quietly wash the closest window in hopes of getting Alanah’s attention. The wet sponge on his brush rubbed up and down the window, dust and grime running off in meandering, pale brown rivulets of dirty water that collected on the stone windowsill below. No one noticed the movements, so he rubbed a little bit harder and created a wet, sliding sound against the glass.

  This got Alanah’s attention, and she looked up at the noise and seemed a bit startled to see the small man in the cap and sunglasses suddenly there washing the window. Hazel heard it as well and almost immediately after Amos heard her shrill voice ring out “no one warned any residents about window cleaning, how awful to have this creep staring in on us. He’s not even watching his work; he is just staring at us.”

  Hazel marched over to the window and Amos realized with horror that she would first shut the blinds and then most likely complain bitterly to the superintendent. After that, his gig would be up. As Hazel started to yank down the blind closest to her Amos saw his opportunity. While Alanah’s aunt pulled the blind down blocking her view of Amos, he whipped off his cap and sunglasses which allowed Alanah to see him for who he was.

  Her reaction was immediate, and in the years to come, it became one of Amos’ most cherished memories. Alanah broke into a huge smile and excitedly clapped her hands together many times like a small child might do when getting a new toy or an unexpected treat. Almost immediately afterwards, Alanah jumped into action. “Aunt Hazel, I’ll go shut the bedroom blinds right away and lock the windows, you should lock these ones now. As Alanah left the couch and started down the hall she pointed at Amos and indicated that he should follow.

  At first Amos sat stunned, both delighted to find her and confused as to what she wanted. After a brief moment he pushed off from the wall and swung himself over to the set of windows on his right. Just as he hit the side of the brick wall the window closest to him creaked open and Alanah poked her head out. “I am so so glad to see you, how did you find me and why are you washing windows…. oh…. oh I get it…that is so….”

  Alanah was cut off by first a rattle of the doorknob back and forth followed by a pounding at the bedroom door. BAM BAM BAM, Hazel was driving the ball of her fist against the door. “Alanah, ALANAH. Why is this door locked, open up this instant, what are you doing in there, open up, OPEN UP.” Alanah grimaced and then looked at Amos. “That is my awful Aunt, she doesn’t care about me at all, and she has kept me locked up ever since I came home that night with you. I’ve got to get out of here. Do you have room for a second on that thing?”

  Amos wasn’t sure but he thought he could hoist the both of them up and he did not have any other options anyway. “Yeah sure, no problem, are you ready to go?” “Just a second, I need a few things that my dear Auntie took from me, good thing I am locked in her room.” Amos watched as Alanah first grabbed a side chair and then pulled it over and wedged it on an angle below the doorknob down to the floor added another barrier between her aunt and the room. Then she rapidly started pulling open drawers in the dresser and rummaging through them.

  After tossing the contents of six drawers onto the floor Alanah moved into the closet and returned after what seemed like hours but was in fact just over a minute. With the banging and the shouting at the door not stopping at all Alanah just ignored it and walked to the window with her new clothes in one hand and a white envelope in the other. “I’m packed and ready to go” she said to Amos and then as she climbed out the window, one hand holding her things and the other hanging onto the window frame she turned and shouted at the door “AND I WON’T BE BACK.”

  Alanah had stuffed her things into Amos backpack and then climbed on behind him like a baby gorilla that had decided to get a ride from mom. The problem with this was that Amos was not big like an adult gorilla and the bosun’s chair was not at all designed for the size or the mass of two people or two gorillas for that matter. Once Alanah grabbed onto him, he felt like he might topple off of it at any second.

  For the first time since he had descended from the roof Amos was terrified. He felt as if they could fall at any moment or that the rope might let go suddenly without warning. He started hoisting on the rope and found it extremely difficult to lift both their weight combined. Luckily, Alanah was in a perfect position to help and with her arms assisting, they started to climb. “Alanah, how DARE YOU” her aunt shrieked from the dining window she had just opened. “Come back immediately, you won’t get away like this.”

  “She’s right you know” Alanah said really rather casually given the circumstances. They were dangling four and half storeys above the ground on a small swing after all, but Alanah did not seem stressed out at all by this. “We won’t get away like this, we are too heavy so ……. bombs away” she sang out. Amos felt the chair lurch a bit as Alanah untied his bucket and let it fall.

  Since it had been tied on the left side of the chair it fell along a path that would bring it just by the dining room window. Unfortunately for Hazel the bottom of the bucket grazed the brick wall spinning the bucket over and suddenly changing its trajectory.

  A gallon of very dirty water tipped out of the bucket and most of it caught Hazel right on the side of her head. She has just enough time to register the cold, dirty water splashing into her ear and down her neck when the now empty bucket also glanced off of her head before tumbling to the ground below with a hollow thud.

  Hazel fell back into the apartment stunned from the blow and drenched from the water. “Hah, serves her right, what a mean old coot” Alanah crowed. “Let’s see if we can’t hoist up any faster now without that bucket.”

  After a few minutes of hard labour they were on the rooftop, Alanah’s Aunt had returned to the window and had yelled some really nasty threats at them as they climbed and then mercifully had gone silent. She is probably coming to the roof, maybe with help so we have got to move!

  Amos grabbed his winch setup and ropes, and they ran across the loose gravel rooftop to the fire escape. After a mad scramble down the fire escape they escaped down the sidewalk rounded the corner and collapsed against a brick stairwell. Both their chests were heaving from the exertion from first the climb, then the decent and their laughter at how they had left her aunt.

  “oohh I would just love to hear what she is saying now” Alanah crowed “funny how that is, she would always lecture at me nonstop for hours on end and I just could not stand it but just now it would be a lot of fun to hear her rant and rave.” As he caught his breath Amos just smiled, personally he had seen enough of Hazel Jensen to know that if he never saw her again then that would be just fine.