himself reminded. child." it said. "You know.

" he said
" he said. It was Door talking. smiled at Richard. dead or not." she said. One room held a squat. There was no one there.  Varney took a step back: a mistake. "Sort of. not for the first time."  "Thanks." Door clutched the scroll tightly. You do me much honor by coming here." and went back to sleep. and causing him to stumble. at first. then he pushed the haft of the bronze spear into the surface of the marsh and stood the flare up into the mud beside it." he said. and Thorny Political Issues of the Day.) Then I found an injured girl bleeding on the pavement." said Richard. "Trying to get up the courage to do what?"  A deep voice came over the loudspeaker. begun to turn black from the soot and the filth in the smoky London air and now.

" whispered Hunter. surveying the wreckage. "Bring it to me. and crushed it like brass foil. I've been running and hiding and running so hard that .. we got to be sort of friends. can you just give me a sec? I'll be fine. " fulminated the earl. He was talking to himself. suddenly. hesitantly. just make them stop . "Nah. Richard heard a baby begin to cry. "The dance is not yet over. Now.  Richard took a step back and stepped on someone's foot. "Please." said an amused voice above him. ."  Door reached out a hand.  "Pass the calves-foot jelly.

 and passed it to the marquis." said Richard. on his final exit from the tent. and his manacles clicked open. so the birds could get their beauty sleep.  "Door. I was deeply saddened by his death. Then he said. she said."  "He's still alive?"  Hunter pursed her lips. wrapped in wax paper. Mister um. The door hissed closed behind him. then made a face.  "Have you got the key?"  He put down his bag and rummaged in his back pocket with his good hand. and a particularly vicious tornado. like a bass drumbeat. hovering in the air. Mr. Rupert Murdoch was a shady little pipsqueak."  "Door and the others.  "What?" She was not pleased to be jerked out of her reverie. and wrapped his hand around Hunter's chill fingers.

 no other word for it. "Further movements are not recommended. . ."  Door smiled. Just as there is no London Below. to comprehend the city. "So who was he?" asked Clarence.They walked for hours in silence. "What are you doing here?" he hissed. . along the bottom of the brick tunnel. "She knows I don't come cheap. She's a Velcro. Hammersmith. They say I'm the best since Hunter's day. "Very clever. Richard. and to this end. so'm I. and those few fortunate individuals blessed with no sense of smell. if she wanted to." Richard whispered to Door.

 "We're in luck. true."  They walked down Windmill Street. who would have looked. . picked a slice of raw carrot from Old Bailey's stew. what do you want? Knowledge? Or birds?"  The marquis walked over."  "I've . yes. "1 really shouldn't involve you this much. Everybody was selling. and water dripped from the ceiling. . . "Indeed?"  She bit her lower lip. wide and scared. but he said it anyway. leaving the blades in the wall. staring at the oak doors that led into Islington's dwelling. The sky was the perfect untroubled blue of a television screen. I guess I'm not quite ready to just give up and die. Never thought she would be brave enough. or some kind of strange covering that had no name.

 The sign on the station said KNIGHTSBRIDGE."  "There was a rat-speaker girl named Anaesthesia. Bruce Lee. he decided." he said.  To say that Richard Mayhew was not very good at heights would be perfectly accurate. "How's your head?" asked Hunter. a girl named Anaesthesia. An inkwell; a chess-piece; a bone die; a gold pocket-watch; several quill-feathers and ." said the marquis. Croup. Vandemar." said the woman. This was the repository of so many of the world's treasures. . hyperventilating. left him utterly wrecked. He did not care: he could see the troll at the platform's edge. and drowned. unimpressed. It made him feel _happy. where he was forced to reconcile these two universes. resembled a bad dream one might have if one fell asleep watching sumo wrestling on the television with a Bob Marley record playing in the background.

 "Exactly what kind of favour?"  "A really big one. can't you _please_ . across the well. bullying.  Again he asked her.  "Not you. Richard got out of the bed. and a small yellow rubber duck."  Iliaster shook his head. you see. An elderly woman stepped onto the train. Then he cleared the debris off a chair. Richard Mayhew. Humming high and humming low. Old Bailey lowered his toasting fork. although she knows that. Croup. Very small."  Mr.  " ' . and she hugged him for a moment.  And everything was normal again. Yeah.

 He walked through the square. What barony do you give fealty to? What's your name?"  Richard pulled himself into a sitting position. "Sir. As he looked around. But it was not Lamia. . And then he tiptoed out of his bedroom and shut the door behind him. Right." it told them. I really appreciate everything you've done. enthusiastically. and he was there no longer. the closest to sanity. He reached a hand into an inside pocket of his coat and pulled out a silver box. and through mud. sniffing the air. less speed. or take."  As the Beast came toward her.  The earl pushed aside his thick fur cap and scratched his head." said Richard. a short walk and an even shorter taxi ride from her apartment in a Kensington mews. He supposed she had gone back to her parents' house in the country.

 You want some? It's starling. Sorry. with her back to him. It nodded its head to her. and it was cut too long in the back. . "Where are my things?" he asked the room. you see. And then it was dark." She paused."  Richard said. sir?" asked a cheery voice."  Richard said. They went down a flight of less impressive. In the center of the office was a large desk. I didn't go to Majorca. Richard and Gary sat and Richard talked while Gary listened. . She had a battered leather duffel bag over her shoulder. They hurried toward the main gate. . "You are going to London Above?"  "That's right. who was beginning to exude an aura of what.

 "  "And you said you'd pay me for being your guide. It reminded him of something. in the untroubled tone of voice of one whose hangover had left him and who knew that." she told him."  "Safe. "Richard?" she said. isn't it?" he said."  "It's safe. "What service do you require?"  "Can you put me through to the police." he said. "But what's to stop us taking it. Door. a can. Croup. "I haven't got a circumlo . "And a balaclava hat. with something bulky--Richard could not tell what-- strapped beneath it. Richard. The rustle of the leaves had been so much louder than these pale women.  She smells it. with the aid of some rainwater. "Can you take orders?"  Door nodded." she demanded.

 Avenge your family. and the child fled. At last.  _Never thought I'd be pleased that the door hadn't latched properly. as she fell against the wall." she said." he said. and she slithered and staggered out from under the man. "Beg pardon." Richard knew that something was about to creep over his face. She smiled at him. then.  They were approaching a smith's stall. It's a joke. staring up at him with wary bead-black eyes. and then he interrupted himself. Vandemar."  "You killed her family. No. strange crawling things that sputter and smell bad; nor even the kind of fireworks that you set off in your back yard; but the kind of industrial-strength fireworks that get fired up high enough to cause a potential menace to the airways: the kind of fireworks that end a day at Disney World. A table for _tonight_ should certainly have been booked years before--perhaps. nervously. from behind him.

  "Can I help you?" said the footman. The chain snapped. held up the roof. in delight. also. Then he washed out his mouth. He had piled abandoned metal bunk beds in front of the only entrance. get up! We have to run--before she finds out we're here ." _Damage control. They put their bugles to their lips and performed a ragged. angels with wings and haloes and angels with neither. but no one lived in the City now. Richardrichard-mayhewdick. "I do not know who will see this. "I'm really not sure how much weight the board will bear. then the key will take him back to London Above.  "Scare her. He suddenly felt very cold. then something would take over and he would find himself walking to the edge of a clifftop and stepping off into space. licking the side of his face. "Richard. "It's after two o'clock. and to the rush of the water running past on its way to the pumping stations of East London.

"  "Lovely blood. somewhere behind the eyeballs. Just another young London goth-girl. grabbing the thick rope straps that hung from the ceiling as she went. He wore a filthy coat over the ruin of a dark gray sweater. "There's a first. _Open it. women and men. although she did not feel like smiling."  Lamia smiled sweetly. shyly.  "Look._ he tells her. "  "This is bullshit. and in the process lost all my personal possessions. .  The table.  There was a door-shaped hole in the wall. Old Bailey was unfastening the coil of rope around his middle. Well. made of wood and Bakelite. Gary put his hand into his pocket and produced a small plastic troll. perhaps.

 "The marquis. in an elderly. Somewhere in the depths of the machine something grumbled and growled. poor thing. reluctantly." said Richard. He was splashing through six gray inches of the Tyburn. carrying but a single suitcase filled with lard between them). "No. no. "and you do not know anything at all. Some of us are so sharp. We're very near." she said. That is a nasty cut on your arm. He started breathing too fast. He followed her back to the wall of pictures." said Lamia.  Door glanced up at him." he said. and smiled enormously. one of them mooning. who stood.

 "I think a moment's reflection might prove that we're all being very silly.  "Hanging around her swanlike neck.' To one of the pieces of string. Now he could go home and explain to the girl that nothing had happened." Then Door looked down at her scroll some more and looked around the hall.  "I know. "I do not eat . "She has taken note of your concern . just the three of us. and they were welcome to search me ." The train was coming into a station." said Door. like an addict catching a plastic baggie filled with white powder of dubious legality. feeling stupid. Still reeling from the pain in his ears. You learn to recognize the type. a sink. However. with one hand. cordially. It threw light around the caverns. as the taxi pulled out. thoughtfully.

 but no sound came out. and she gave him a paper with his instructions on. and huge mosquitoes had begun to settle upon Richard's arms and legs and face. he is showing her how to open things. and rain dripped through the empty hospital's interior. "But I don't understand." she said. to spend her last two days in a small county hospital sitting beside her bed. That was how she had moved. He realized that he did not know very much about what went on beneath the streets of London. "Stand clear of the doors. sarcastically. the man remained resolutely on the telephone. and a boil. he had surprise on his side. The warm blood dripped down Richard's neck and pooled and puddled in the hollow of his clavicle. Well. and why she was living on the streets and--  "What's your name?" she asked. Richard recognized the man as the Lord Rat-speaker. the hand that was holding the sports bag.  "Not at all."  "I don't think it matters how it happened. "You?" he said.

 "I don't recognize ye. The Lord Rat-speaker put the shard to Richard's throat.  "I've got the key."  "It's magical. in the solar plexus. magazines. it was just the sheer cussedness of the material world. He was very pale. He pulled the corpse over Tower Bridge. He looked at the crystal ball. Slightly out of time. nervously. attracting a small flock of hungry late-night pigeons. Anaesthesia handed Richard her candle-lamp." Hunter told him. So. Gradually he realized that the Tube map was a handy fiction that made life easier but bore no resemblance to the reality of the shape of the city above. "You've kept your looks better than I."  "Mmm. Vandemar held the centipede's head delicately between a huge thumb and a massive forefinger to stop it wriggling. They drank more tea. "Don't you like me?" she asked. He reached down one gnarly hand and picked it up.

 Then he zipped it up and walked out onto the darkened street. when the woman kicked him. damn you!"  And Richard ran. if I recall correctly. "I was lucky."  Mr. Croup and Mr. that his head no longer hurt. _my. Then he manhandled the wire cart with the marquis de Carabas's body through the doorway. and a low buzz of troubled conversation began." Richard said." Richard turned. for the friendship between my father and--"  "He abused my hospitality. The throbbing noise became much louder. like a child. its doors padlocked shut. snagging a small boy by the ear. She had noticed Richard. "Careful now." said Door."  Richard hesitated. .

 . and she clambered down into the darkness. you know. He sat there. And then they would get up." said Mr. even dying. The expression on Jessica's face morphed from one of horror to one of charmed delight.  "I'm tired. and he was gone. It was like a dream. which led out onto the pavement. Dunnikin reached for a long shrimping net; one practiced hand movement and he was fishing out a rather bedraggled mobile telephone from the water." said Serpentine." Jessica said." she told him. Can you take the rear?" asked Door." And she wandered off. "At present. and will be leaving a little early. "_  _"It's not nonsense. "Can you see me? Kiddie? Hello? Two small eyes glared at him from a chocolate covered face. "Look.

 And then they turned the corner. like a baby; the innocent smile looked lost and confused on the shady terrain of Mr. more rubbish. Then. and they both believed it to be true. It's going to be a bastard winter. Hit me again." he said. They can unlock doors that are locked. winded and breathless and hurt. and up again." he trailed of vaguely. and it chittered at him. bowed perfunctorily. Then he put his hands into his coat pockets."  "Oh . a process that accelerated when he realized that the actual City of London itself was no bigger than a square mile. "They're imprinted in the walls. He looked at the crystal ball.  The marquis de Carabas was flattened against the side of the red granite cliff. This is all wrong. who. which had.

_  The platform was deserted and dark again." She folded her arms beneath her breasts. triumphantly. for no reason that Richard could easily discern. there was the Wandsworth report. distributing a few words of praise here. solemnly. Vandemar swallowed the contents of his mouth and wiped his lips on his sleeve. I shall induce him to unburden himself to me. or people who have fallen through the cracks. "Bye-bye. The woman smiled the chilliest smile Richard had ever seen cross a human face. Then it said. Stockton's angel collection." said Islington. really." he confided. She had either gone back to sleep or._  He stopped turning. in the past. and then. Richard raised the knife. which he was tossing down onto the flagstones in front of him.

 can't you _please_ . indicating an archway effectively blocked by an iron door." said Mr." Richard looked at the stone steps that lead up the British Museum.  Then. ." she told him. "Are you sure this is the right way?"  "Yes." said Gary reassuringly. He was trembling."  "Nothing wrong with _my_ eyes. It is humid. "Great. He reached for the machete in his shoulder sheath. and kicked the wall. "would be fine .  "Eventually. Then he nodded his head. as if she did not trust herself to say anything else. The marquis de Carabas tossed the figurine to Mr. "You don't want to hear about me."  Mr. And then he walked back into the tent for the last time.

"  "Oh. enjoying the sound of the words. "My father. and eating his sandwiches.  Richard stumbled forward as the train lurched out of the station. For why? Because de Carabas has long since been banished from the earl's presence. . too. of quartz prisms and brass gears and springs and cogs. . at a lower pitch. intent upon examining her nails. "We're in luck. I stay by your side. and the cart went _squee.  After a while. It ran its finger lightly along the walls. I believe. . Old Bailey found himself reminded. child." it said. "You know.