Thief of Time - Climb

Then she reached down and grabbed the top of a drainpipe.

She wasn't certain how this would work. If she fell... but would she fall? There was no time to fall. She had her own personal time. In theory, if anything so definite as a theory existed in a case like this, that meant she could just drift down to the ground. But the time to test a theory like that was when you had
no other choice. A theory was just an idea, but a drainpipe was a fact.

The blue light flickered around her hands.

'Lobsang?' she said quietly. 'It is you, isn't it?'

That name is as good as any for us. The voice was as faint as a breath.

'This may seem a stupid question, but where are you?'

We are just a memory. And I am weak.

'Oh.' Susan slid a little further.

But I will grow strong. Get to the clock.

'What's the point? There was nothing we could do!'

Times have changed.

Susan reached the ground. Lady LeJean followed, moving clumsily. Her evening dress had acquired several more tears.

***

The Thief of Time - p289-290