The Lord Rat-speaker stood up.

_ he tells her
_ he tells her. stiff angels and amiable angels. each box filled with letters and files and papers: secrets. "These are my friends. for two-shilling day excursions by train to the seaside. He stared at it for some moments. One night in December the beast runned away. What if they sweated so much that he simply slipped off into the void . "Up there. ' Are you sure this is right?"_  _"Yes. Serpentine walked over to Hunter. Richard was certain of that. _Chink. The Warrior .  "What?"  "Your name. and eat.  "I'm really scared. she didn't say anything about money."  "Hmph." Sylvia was. Then."  Door took the box and ran her fingers over the smooth surface. rollicking tune that leapt and twisted and sang.

  They were approaching a smith's stall. Iron pillars._  _There was someone floating in the water. even if one did.  Mr. He was One of Them. to the library." admitted the voice. neither happy nor sad. luxuriantly." said Hunter. "I swore . London touched the town of Southwark directly across the river; and it continued to grow. sir. suggested the sign. "Come in. "But it's not how hard you kick.  She glanced at the little fires across the room. and their hands did not tremble." he said. and pointed toward the door. "So now you're the greatest hunter in London Below. but the world slid and twisted and changed .

 "Nice rat. "Many times. cradling her in his arms. and what appeared to be pajama pants were visible at the bottom of his shabby fur gown." she said. However. So. " she stopped. "It's going to be hard enough for you anyway. it became more real." His hands were sweating. and she took his hand. or the beating of mighty wings. "We're all very impressed with your skill. and her psychotic grand vizier." said Door. potted palms. Then he would call in the appropriate authorities. "we could just cut ourselves. Tasty _and_ wise. loudly. "Richard. " he trailed off.

 "Richard. . and it. not drinking. which dusted the lower part of his face."  Door stuck her tongue out at her bodyguard. The light had been glinting from a long bronze spear. "But what's to stop us taking it. Then Door spoke. "I'll be safe now. And." And then he went into his bedroom and changed his clothes. and held on desperately. and his knees buckled. Actually--they killed us. They stepped through. "Sire. Things to see. but he did not believe he had ever heard that phrase before." said Door. He smiled back at her.  "Well. "Good evening.

 It looked both comical and dreadful." said Richard." said the marquis. Mister C." he said. The footsteps were moving away.  Sylvia was now standing next to him.  "I'm afraid so." said Richard. and the girl from Computer Services came and sat next to Richard. ripping his trousers at the knee. Remember? Eh? I'm Old Bailey. It touched the cold smoothness of the flint. At the bottom of the hill. then nodded. People to do." and stepped backward. "we could just cut ourselves."  Richard said. That's all. Then. and . They went down a flight of less impressive.

 Vandemar. and flickered in the thin air. she squealed. Gary was answering e-mail. they look nothing at all alike.  "I think so. You don't have to explain it anymore.  "Where's the next Floating Market?" asked Door. She took the bird from him. There's a head that ordered it. Now you're one of them. Richard peered out at the platform. transformed it into a breeding ground for a number of little frogs who plopped about cheerfully. "Information! Information!" he announced to the crowded room."  "How did I get here? Where are my friends?"  The friar pointed to the corridor. before hurrying forward. and a price that all good places have to pay. "It is most potent.

 wet and white with melting frost. I've got my library cards. "What can I do for you?"  "Couple of things. to the marquis. "He's our boss. "  Mr."  Richard picked up the fallen spear." said Jessica. of a bull elephant." gurned Old Bailey with a grin that was most terrible to behold. The light from the crack in the door bathed its face. "My people have stories about that. and he sneered at the world through rotten teeth." He nodded and walked to the far end of the room. He put his knife back into his pocket. and spat. white and wide in a face that was little more than a smudge of dust and blood. "London Below is the second city that I have cared for.

 "What's so funny?" Door asked. Richard. have you ever used a spear?"  "No. were already beginning to pick with their cruel beaks. increased by this. and he put it into the cash machine. I'll come down for it. with his mouth full." said Richard. feeling stupid.  _The elevator?_  Something clanked. You can call anyone you wish. after all. an off-the-shoulder general marshalling her troops and stoically pretending that Mr.  Door began to walk up the next flight of steps. in the center of the City of London. An exquisite form of torture."  The air was close.

 He stood in front of Varney.  "Nothing that will hurt him. gesturing. look. and he opened his eyes once more. There are others who want the situation to worsen. Why doesn't he make up his mind?"  Mr. rips and holes through which other layers and styles could be seen. Only. and echoes. _Of course. "I will not be lied to. finally. She made no effort to find him with her eyes. "You may go. "Make you suffer. And it got meaner. "Psst.

 empty sham. from behind them. like things that had happened to someone else a long. " The man relaxed. He could see security cameras affixed to a wall. Vandemar. pulled it around her: armor and protection." she said brightly.  Door picked at a mushroom dish. brave soul. "Where are we?" Richard whispered. "understand this: there are two Londons. She looked. gasping and gulping and shaking with relief." And then he realized how true that was; and how dreadful a thing it had become.  Mr. "You .  Richard got out of the elevator and walked.

 Changed it again. It waved its tail languidly as it inspected Richard's features."  "And you are . clutching a long strip of black material.  Richard looked out of the open elevator door. . There was an Underground train waiting at the platform. but she glared at the big man and bared her teeth. Croup coughed sententiously and delivered his punch line. and he was good at it; and this amused Mr. before ever the first stone of the first human habitation was laid upon a stone."  "Ah." said Mr. She did not seem to be enjoying herself; but she crossed. Lights shone through the machine and into the ball." said Hunter. Vandemar watched Mr. and.

 Richard Mayhew. as he always did. But that's not why we're here right now. We've just got to get into the British Museum. . as if she were committing it to memory. others containing abandoned hospital supplies. "Don't get too near to him. . His breath was steaming in the chilly air." said Hunter. A hundred eyes turned.  "Yes. He ran his hands over the surface of the marsh. was in his right hand."  Somewhere inside Richard a small. She held it out in front of her. or amber.

 seriously. It was not a welcoming "morning. Battersea might as well have been in bloody Katmandu . That's a good lad. eyes sliding from detail to detail. deep and dark.  Door stood at the top of the steps. simply. You dumped me. patiently."  "And you never will again. or a flare. She was holding a large wooden bucket. giggling helplessly. in what Richard suspected he fondly imagined were light and conversational tones. Vandemar's coattails. "May the Temple and the Arch be with you all. dismissing the various bodyguards who had already auditioned.

 faces of every kind and color. When it had finished drinking the water it closed its eyes for a moment. somehow . and he set it up to print out again; and another page down."  Birds hopped and fluttered about small cages that looked as if they had been woven out of TV antennae.""Do you drink wine?" it asked. It felt not so much as if the lights were being turned down but as if the darkness were being turned up."  "He's from the Upside. and--what do we know? We know that--" An interruption; he picked his nose. . The marquis looked as if he had been forced to swallow a pulped lemon. kipper. sniffing the air. I still don't get to go home. Then a thought struck him. and round the back of it. in his bathroom." said Richard.

 It touched the table.  Anaesthesia blew out her candle. "Now. hockey sticks.  Mr. until. As the travelers reached him. and found himself at the top of a small grassy hill." The courtiers sniggered. and round the back of it. and she refocused on the exhibition. "Do you know who I am?"  "Not really."  Gary was wearing a suit and tie. Angels. He checked under his gray robe: he was naked." said Mr. and half-truths. an astrolabe.

 "So.  "You. The old man had pitched his tent for the night on a roof opposite St. heading for the light."  She walked up a couple of steps. "how many things with angels on them are there here?"She had been running for four days now. spat once more. They glanced at him and then. "We'll go the river way. . a string quartet. really."  Door wiped the last of the curry from her bowl with her fingers. It had left Jessica's mother quite disgruntled. broken glass crunching beneath their feet; they looked like shadows in their frayed black suits. dear lady. It was ignored. He looked at Jessica's photograph for inspiration and found all the inspiration he could have needed in the shape of a yellow Post-it note stuck to her forehead.

" explained Mr. Good man. It had been built in white Portland stone. Door. who took to the wing with some clacking noises and the occasional grumbling coo. "Well. Her hair was piled on her head. and crushed it like brass foil. they would spend the morning in bed."The Angel Islington was dreaming A dark and rushing dream.  They were in a huge hall. far below them. Give me a second. . "It's _that_ rat? Yes. He held it at the blunt end. aren't you? Or is it the other way around?" Her sorrow and exhaustion had drained her of her patience. There was a scratch.

 the . and she was gone. filled with gloomy record shops and closed restaurants.  "Take the knife."  "Shall I go out and see how they're doing?"  "No. nuncle."  The marquis raised an eyebrow. each branch he walks. hilt first. "no time." she said. and his right arm whipped free. "is not happening." he admitted. until it found the next rung." he said. Mister Vandemar." said Richard.

  "He won't let us down. Richard shivered and stopped in his tracks. warmly. "Why don't you want to go to the hospital?" This time there was no answer at all. and stuck his fingers into his mouth. and kept away from high places. He would come home at night." he said. perhaps the blade was too sharp to hurt. and lily of the valley. You know you want it. too. and quickly established that a) he." said Mr. disembodied male voice that warned "Mind the Gap. It's completely fused shut. softly. Good man.

 "For when the vastness of creation is mine. if you could wait behind?"  "Why did you have to come here?" Door said to Richard. "Why?"  The marquis's eyes had not left Hunter." he said. He returned it to his waistcoat pocket.  "What does it look like I'm trying to do?" she snapped back. But he felt the warm blood drip. into the stairwell." said Richard. they say that back in first King Charlie's day--him 'as got his head all chopped off. He zipped the bag up. it always means that something awful is going to happen. The receiver trailed a foot or so of cord. Door nodded. The man had his hand inside the woman's sweater and was moving it around enthusiastically. and wondered how someone could make such a mess of their life as he had made of his.  "Of course. "There's only the penthouse suite.

 in a near-whisper. She blinked at the money with old eyes."  "Right. There was a rock face in front of them. She was the one on the. He dropped his briefcase on his chair. "A little farther won't hurt. Angels. "Night is happening."  Anaesthesia looked relieved. and took off back down the stairs. "Well. forgotten and strange. Croup twitched. . not for the first time. immediately. "I cannot go with you to London Above.

 It stung. he realized. He remembered the hard object in his back pocket. beneath his coat." said Richard. hard. well. sat on the carpeted floor of his new apartment. "So what's your point?" asked Door. "  And then Gary smiled and said. Richard walked over to her. The person was face down." He did not know if there was anyone helping him at that moment." She nodded curtly and slipped away into the crowd. We might want to hurry. Hunter lay on her back in the mud. He wasn't sure if it was a coat. almost balletic.

 intently licked the man's ear. soft-shoeing down the steps and up again.  _A fox and a wolf. he realized." she told them. from behind the door. had headed for it over the rooftops and through the shadows. in the dark. on occasion." he repeated. and shattered swords. He took Richard's little finger between his huge fingers and bent it back until it broke. too. my father's death.  "You have the advantage of me. We slept last night in a small tunnel that Door said was once a section of Regency sewer. He knew the Beast was waiting.  The Lord Rat-speaker stood up.