'The fucking rope,' said the deep voice, and he started to untie it.
'Back...' I hissed at Spike, and I scrambled backwards, further into the undergrowth, the spikes of a blackthorn ripping at my face, me tugging at Spike's shirt until he moved, and we were as far in deep shadow as we could be. 'Get down...' and I lay flat, pulling him down beside me. Here, with my face pushed into the earth I could feel the curdling earth again, smell its worry and hear the sounds of ants rushing for cover and dark. A moment later the gap in the hoop house opened and a beast of a man stepped out, flexed and stood twenty-five yards from my nose.