All the calm he was trying to exude by force of holding his breath (which, in reality, just made him a telltale red in the face) fled at the brandished, lit candle. His eyelids all but retreated into his skull, letting out a nervous laugh that might as well have been a sob.

There was a brief, startled pause, like a mouse just realizing the cat that had caught him sneezed mid-kill and he was still alive. He bolted before she lit the paper on fire, but he certainly smelt it in his retreat ... to Mother.