Holmes got slowly to his feet, wrapping his coat and arms tight around himself in a vain attempt to keep warm. The little light from the cellar window was fading fast, though enough to discover that the door was extremely well-built, impassable even for a mouse. The window itself was far out of reach and too narrow for Holmes...
"Er... Master Mouse..."
"Basil," came the curt response from the floor.
"...Basil, my apologies. But if we can find a way to break that glass..."
Crash!
"Well, yes, that worked – but now you've only got one shoe... Hiwhatthedevildoyouthinkyou'redoingputmedowndon'tyoudarenononononoooo!"
A second boot went flying through the break, its screeching occupant clinging on for dear life, until the inevitably haphazard landing tipped the luckless Basil out into the dusty area. Muttering certain choice words, he picked himself up and peered back down at his anxious human colleague.
"Are you all right?"
Basil swallowed the answer that immediately came to mind – he'd had worse tumbles than that, after all. "You couldn't have thrown me a bit farther?" Those area steps would be a stiff climb, but they were the quickest route up to the pavement. "Never mind, I know where we are – I just have to find..." His voice trailed off as a growling silhouette suddenly appeared at the top of the steps, hackles bristling...