Peace and Quiet

Ever since the girls and I cleaned out the gutters a couple of weeks ago, they've been asking permission to relax on the roof.  The little ones have only gone up a couple of times, but these girls are making a habit of it, even h'learning (however ineffectively) up there, and shouting messages down the chimney to me.  Yesterday, they wore capes all day, and when night fell they climbed up again to starwatch, their dim shadows looking like nothing else but prodigious bats crouched upon the gable.