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No, as it is you are already late enough - not to mention, that lurking through unlit alleys that you have never been in before at night seems to be a proscription for getting oneself good and lost. The street, open and bare as it may be, runs straight and true - it would require actually effort on your part to get lost or lose time between here and the Cleaner's Closet. Aye, you will go as the crow might fly! Ginned up and ready to go, you turn in the direction of the closet - and immediately realize that you are still in a fenced in lawn. A fence, that you might add, is simply too unaccommodating for you to climb as you are at the moment. Feeling like raving idiot, you try to ignore the warmth suffusing your cheeks as you check the front gate, as from here, it doesn't appear to be locked. If it is, then you are going to be in a rather tight spot, facing another tricky decision.
But it seems that your luck still runs white; for when you touch the gate, it swings freely. You catch it before it can swing too wide and give you away, then you blow out the light atop your 'stick. The lawn plunges into darkness, but almost immediately your eyes begin to adjust. Looking to move things along, you set the 'stick down, take up the candle and flick the wax out into the spaces between the pavers that lead from the gate to the front steps of the house. Once you are satisfied that the drippings have been sufficiently hidden, you check to make sure that the candle is cool enough to pocket, cramming it into the least bulging and burdened on your apron pockets. The 'stick itself is going to have to stick with you - at least for a little while longer, as it could not be overlooked if you were to just leave it in the lawn here. You allow a little more time for your eyes to adjust to the darkness, and for Hide-Eyes to adjust to your eyes once more. Given the low light, you are not going to be easily able to check your reflection, so as hard as it may be, you just need to keep yourself here for a little while longer - until you are certain that the envelope of the cast has properly covered your eyes. You take this time to study the street as best you can through the gate, the sounds of the waterfront just a few streets down, the stark cones of light from the street-lamps - but most of all, you look for anything that could suggest the presence of witnesses; the sounds of footsteps, or hooves, or wheels, the lights that remain burning in houses. When you find yourself in the middle of a lull in the distant noises and having waited an appropriate amount of time on account of your eyes, you make your move. You deftly push open the gate with your foot-wrapped foot; wide enough to be sure to allow everything through - then you slip yourself outside, and push it closed, just as you opened it.
