as he lunged to stop his latest prized possession being trodden underfoot , dad 's other hand , which was holding the thick volume containing the thoughts of the impious borrow , shot upwards and came into collision with the dutchmans face , causing him instinctively to defend himself by thrusting out one of his fat arms , the resultant collision propelling borrow out of dads hand and over the parapet where he hurtled downwards , flapping open like some avenging angel , towards the two civil guards who were now looking up to see who was laughing at them.they dodged out of the way but the book was evil and at the last moment it took advantage of a gust of air and suddenly shifted its trajectory to one side , catching one of the guards on the wrist .