he held his breath , trying not to make a sound , but he only had a few seconds to wait before a figure emerged from the door at the front of the barge , the wooden portal swinging back behind him with a bang that sounded unnaturally loud in the near darkness , and then hurried directly past the unseen rob along the towpath , before turning left and disappearing into the woods heading , as far as rob could judge , along the same path that rob had followed earlier .