DC's Dawnstar

.1.

 "George!"

"GEORGE!" Intense shaking followed.

"Uh... what...? Where? Mabel, what are you doing? It's three o'clock in the morning. I've only just got to sleep."

"George, someone's broken into the shed."

George sat upright in bed, still feeling sleepy. "The shed? What shed?"

"Your shed. Our shed. The garden shed. And it's ten past one." Mabel walked over to the bedroom window, wrapping herself in her dressing gown. "I heard a clattering and got up to look out, and I saw the hole. They've got in through the roof."

"Through the roof? The door's hanging off, Mabel. Why would they bother to climb up to the roof?"

"Oh, I don't know. Come and 'ave a look!"

George moaned as he climbed out of bed and walked across the bedroom to stand beside his wife. Through the light of next door's faulty security light he could see the splintered hole in the roof of the shed.

"We're in the middle of a street. Why would someone break into a garden shed in the middle of a street?" George was puzzled. "And I'm not too happy that they've chosen my shed."

"It's not as though there's anything in it for starters!" Mabel scoffed. "Your bench is riddled with woodworm."

"I'm going to see if they've taken anything." George put on his dressing gown. "They'd best not have taken me watering can."

"Why would they want your watering can?" Mabel laughed, and then stopped herself as she saw George putting on his slippers. "You can't go down there, George Green. They may still be down there."

"I'm going, Mabel. And I'm going to give 'im what for."

"But George. I'm going to phone our Sheila."

"Mabel, what would phoning your Sheila do? By the time she gets here, he'll be long gone."

Mabel sighed as George left the bedroom and walked down the stairs. She stepped into her slippers and followed him.

George obtained a small torch from the drawer beside the fridge in the kitchen, and walked through the sliding door into the conservatory. Mabel linked his left arm as he unlocked and opened the door out into the back garden. "Go back inside, Mabel. I can deal with this."

"Nonsense, George. I'm coming with you, and that's that."

Outside, the night air was cool. The sky was partly cloudy, but several bright stars could be seen shining above. The crescent of the moon shone brightly too, giving both George and Mabel a clear view of the hole in the shed's roof. The security light from next door switched off as they stepped outside.

"Mabel. They've smashed their way through that. It must have taken them ages. It would've been quicker for them to peel back the planks." George shone his torch over to the shed. "Why didn't you wake me earlier? We could've scared them off before this."

"George Green, I woke you as soon as I 'eard the noise. I went to the window, saw the hole and woke you. There and then. Don't go saying I was lying there all night without doing anything."

They walked across the garden to the shed.

"I'm not saying anything like that, Mabel. I'm just saying it would've taken them ages to make a hole that size by knockin' it through."

"Well it didn't. It was like a quick whoosh, is what it was. A whooshing clatter. They probably just fell through the rotting wood."

"Right then. Now shush. We don't want to let them know we're here." Mabel glared at George as he shone his torch onto the padlock on the shed door and turned the key. "I mean, if they'd have just tried the door at least, they'd have seen the key was in the lock. They needn't 'ave gone to the bother of climbing up to the roof and force themselves in that way."

George pulled the rotting door outwards, and he and his wife were greeted by the familiar and comforting musty aroma from within. A small crockery plant pot fell out of the door and George bent to pick it up, rubbing his back as he did so. "This cold is doin' nothing for me back" he moaned.

They both peered inside the shed as George shone the torch around. Garden tools and plant pots were strewn all over the place, but nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. Debris covered the floor and large splinters of wood lay scattered across the top of the workbench.

"There!" Mabel shouted. "Behind the bench. They're asleep!"

George shone his torch over the figure who lay stunned between the bench and the shelves. A rake and a hoe lay across them. "They were after my watering can. Look!" George directed the torchlight to the rusted can under the intruder's left arm.

"George!" Mabel rolled her eyes.

They both stepped into the shed, taking care not to trip over the contents that were scattered everywhere. George shone his torch at the figure's face. They could both see her eyes slowly opening and closing. They could also hear a faint groaning.

"George! It's a girl!" Mabel realised. "She must've been freezing, looking at how she's dressed, and wanted to get some warmth in our shed. Poor thing."

"Mabel, there's a bus stop outside, with a shelter. It isn't as though she could see our shed from the street. She was after my waterin' can. That's all there is to it."

"George! Even if she did want your watering can, it looks like she's hurt. We can't leave her there like that. Let's see if we can get her inside and give her a cup of tea." Mabel took the torch off George, and moved the light away from the girl's face, stopping mid-sweep. "Are they feathers?"

"Mabel, they're wings. Look."

"George? Is she an Angel? She must be an Angel. Look at her face."

"Mabel, why would an Angel want my watering can?"

"Oh, George. Let's get her inside. She needs help."