Mr." said Door. and kicked the wall. lost something?" asked Mrs.

 the one they had called Iliaster
 the one they had called Iliaster. on Tube trains. Richard?"  "I can't wait. maybe them._ "We're intimidating you. I know what pain is. in something a little like a handshake. "This gate marks the end of Down Street. Door put her head on one side." said the man who was once more wearing his camel-hair coat.  "Door. Deep water." He demonstrated with his right hand. They did not look like anything Richard had seen before. he muttered. Yes." said a female voice.  "Not this time. This was the repository of so many of the world's treasures."_ "To do that.  She turned her head. he thought about London Above.

 black. Come on. clutching the key tightly in her hand. tiny people. that he had absolutely no idea. They arranged themselves around a table. Leicester Square: the rest of his life." he admitted."  "Excuse me. "Hooker.  The angel's voice was a fraction less gentle and less caring."  Mr. "What you doin'?" asked the woman. Vandemar." said the marquis. "Richard! Fine name! I had a horse called Richard. dirgelike. "You know. at the end of the alley. raising her pointed chin. wearing a black dress pinched wasp-thin at the waist. d'you think it'd be all right if 1 took the rest of the day off and--"  "Suit yourself.

 . don't look down. Credit cards. which took up less desk space. Richard sipped the water slowly. "Come on. He rubbed his eyes with his hands. ." They had reached the end of the tunnel. You learn to recognize the type." she said." agreed Richard. He could see it there. then. But--  There was a scratching noise. that two cities should be so near. and crying like a little girl. When he saw Lear looking at him he took the whistle from his lips and replaced it in an inside pocket of his coat. narrow and low. . The fact that Hunter had clearly brought them here as a safe haven was doing nothing to assuage her fear. The light was that strange.

 It was my birthday. which caught. and the morning-star crashed past him. he said. He reached for the machete in his shoulder sheath. Richard finished his glass of wine. squinting about him." said the marquis to Mr. Nice food. Croup's face. and their hands did not tremble." he said." it said. she lets it be what it wants to be. I can't quite see how it could have happened. was the crowbar he had used in the fight with the dwarf. " muttered Richard." he said. Let him go. although she knows that. "I am not alone in this belief." said Richard.

 simply. In the distance. Sorry?"  She looked around her suspiciously. While neither of the guards would ever see sixty again. too. There is something she has to know. Keep it short." he called out to the night and the City. . ."  "It's not a big drop. which was how caricaturists often chose to draw him. as he bit off its head and commenced to chew. however. "My family ._ thought the marquis de Carabas. awkwardly. "He says you looks exceeding familiar. Richard stared at it. and she had a knife at her belt and an electric flashlight strapped to her wrist. Human error. each dress as dark as night.

 whatever can have come over you. looked around. and a number of serving staff were providing a roomful of well-dressed people with food and drink. stop to think. a fool.  Richard scrambled back up to his feet.  "I . Dunnikin pointed. Now." He looked up at the bloody thing hanging above them."  "Get off the bloody phone. Stockton's collection of angels. That this was the real him speaking. until. and slumped to the floor. for a moment. "You see. seriously.  _The memory was fresh. to a cluster of bewildered strangers."  The marquis sniffed.  It was not known how the Sewer Folk communicated among themselves.

 May they each get what they deserve. He was no longer sitting at his desk." whispered the woman.  "I suppose we won't.  "Travelling with a rat-speaker. silently screaming terror--that if he got too close to the edge."  He led them to a large room. the huge pillars of the facade. almost lovingly. the shape resolved into objects." said the marquis.  Mr. futilely. It began to spin around and around."  The air was close. and it chittered at him. A few individuals manage a kind of half-life--you've met Iliaster and Lear. obediently." said Richard. "I have ." He was pointing towards Harrods' extensive network of Food Halls. and one late office worker.

 can't. there was a labyrinth here." he said. It was an enormous and ornate spiral path."  She walked up a couple of steps. and then the office and the Tube and--" He showed her his ragged sleeve."  "Mister Mayhew.  "If you're part of London Below. It licked its lips.  Mr. for as long as Richard had been there. "You have been gone for eight hours. ears back. "The dance is not yet over."_  He turned into Hanway Street. the kind that comes attached to birthday cards. the blank white wall behind it. Mister Croup."  Richard shivered. Croup waggled a finger at Mr." she said. .

 and then spin slowly. several chairs. In his journal. They were in an Underground station. "Oh. shimmered and transformed. He felt like a small child. Croup expanded on his theme.  Expansive. near the hospital.  "Jessica. Nobody should have been able to hurt us. as if he were looking for something. ." he said. "it's _The Masque of the Red Death_ all over again. "And you left her alone?" he asked. puzzled. which Richard found rather disconcerting." said the angel." he said. "Whatever you want .

 Old Bailey did not care very much for Centre Point itself. Lead it to the infirmary. and that it wasn't _she_ who had spent the whole day standing in the rain (which was. It is partly a maze. Got it?"  Varney ran his tongue over the wreck of his teeth. and then she turned it in the lock. actually. before Richard could answer. "Things like that. utterly overwhelmed--and.  "Yes. and Anaesthesia. Hunter's body. he reached out and seized her.  "No.  "Well. walking home from school. Croup went paler than pale.  The two women who had been walking."  "I don't want to do this. The exhibit was closed after the artist sold _Stolen Cadaver Number 25_ to an advertising agency for a six-figure sum.  Richard walked out of the station and down some gray stone steps.

 Vandemar. "that Merlin's master Blaise once wrote a reel so beguiling that it would charm the coins from the pockets of anyone who heard it. Old Bailey. which had been held in Westminster Abbey." She pressed her fingers against a seriously locked glass door. often as not. "She did. Croup. Croup. The wind caused by the opening of the door made the key swing back and forth. "So paint me gray and call me a dire wolf if it isn't two little lost lambs. "Richard? I've got a job for you. a monster or a god. He twisted to avoid her fingernails and fell to the tunnel floor." said an elegant voice.  "Here's your tea and your ??clair. ." said Richard. and as it lowered its head she stabbed up with the spear; but. it could wait. be saying to yourself. everything you say.

 they had no record of a table for tonight in the name of Mayhew. as was their prey. and listened. This is all wrong. "What? I . and it isn't a good life. who was beginning to exude an aura of what. The jester-- Tooley.  _He is somewhere deep beneath the ground: in a tunnel. he realized that he had no idea how anything he had just eaten had tasted; and he resolved to slow down. are you? She'll never do it. with a rope suspended from the clapper. discolored skeletal bones. . "Find the last entry?"  Door nodded. "Well. "Have you ever got everything you ever wanted? And then realized it wasn't what you wanted at all?"  "Can't say that I have.  "There are shepherds. urgently. and echoed. A color. "Well.

 and in waking he found that he was Richard Mayhew. "For when the vastness of creation is mine. and the key stared up at him from his palm. It was _younger. get up! We have to run--before she finds out we're here ." He felt the wood of the plank pressing against his face. A wide.  The marquis took out the golden pocket-watch that he had found in Portico's study. you _don't_ want to know." said Door. but he could tell. "and her companions. picking up one of the creatures from his desk. So you'll find out. Have either of you crossed Night's Bridge before?" Anaesthesia shook her head. I know what pain is."  "Actually. ." said Richard. nervously. but. He was the chief of the Sewer Folk.

  "Oh.  "Well. made no attempt to wipe away the tears. carrying but a single suitcase filled with lard between them). In her dream." The voice oozed. There was a pause. How could I have been such a ninny?" He pulled the razor blades out of the wall. But they were still talking then. Richard. "Bye-bye.' and to the man behind it all. In the end."  Richard waited against the wall. physically attack it with his fists and feet."  Mr." said Mr. and dropping the bits of twisted metal onto the floor. Croup sighed. Bob Geldof. no.  "Sorry?" said Richard.

 Of course we are." She stopped.  Mr. Your guide was . who appeared to be some kind of majordomo. plucked starlings." said the marquis. lit a small fire in a soot-blackened coffee can. That scares the stuffing out of them. which one the live rail was; and decided. Then he said it again. "It's very good of you. And as soon as they were underway he asked--practically begged--the cab driver to regale him. rods and nets and improvised hooks beside them. yes. in the darkness: absolute silence. no--_now_ she was in danger. strange. and beech trees. "I think the marquis probably did know. almost desperately. "Weapons expertise?" asked the marquis.

 "is about as useful as the ability to regurgitate whole lobsters. Just a little more time . Vandemar tipped over the cart. triumphantly. The poor dear. "Well caught. "I think it was just a rat or something. your grace.  Richard strained to hear the Beast." said the Lord Rat-speaker.  She carried an improvised lamp made of a candle. Then he said. Then he confided. Her eyes were sharp. there are things I have to take care of at home . He felt that he knew every twist. like a used . "Don't you want to know what happened? Well. He stopped at the top of the spiral staircase and drew a deep breath. to convince itself it was here. "What was that?"  Hunter looked down at him impassively. "My name.

"  Richard said. and I'll come by day to your cavern. with a rope suspended from the clapper. he had realized on seeing it. heading for the tiny figure of Mr. Mr. held it for some moments."  Iliaster shook his head. abandoned and lonely." said a woman. which creased into a vicious smile. water-swollen corpses."  "Yeah.  Another whiff of cooking food wafted across the floor.  Ruislip stamped his bare feet on the floor."  Halvard waggled a gloomy spear at the marquis. When she stood before the earl's wooden chair. and once Richard left home she simply faded away: six months after he moved to London he took the train back up to Scotland."  Hunter raised an eyebrow. like mercury trickling through her fingers. scanning the faces in the crowd as they walked. There is a loud click.

 . sweet. It had frizzy purple hair.  "Maybe. " He ghosted. "I do not know who will see this." she said. He rubbed his wrists. "Excuse me. then nodded. Well. puzzled and nervous. You may guard her from the rest of the world. his shoulders glancing off the walls.  "I'm afraid so. to Hunter. and they gathered around Dunnikin. There were footsteps on the platform. Never a two of them alike." There was honest concern in its voice. Vandemar. She forgets her dream entirely upon waking.

 " she paused. then. and inched forward. where Docklands would one day be. was a large duck's egg. She was getting out tea bags.  "Look. he attached the security chain."  A loud bang came from the gramophone horn. Not indoor fireworks. She was smiling at him; it was the smile that did it." he called out to the night and the City. the doors hissed open. Vandemar smiled at him. rusting iron staircase. then put my hand up through his throat and wiggled my fingers about."  The first guard shone his flashlight straight into Richard's eyes. Halvard?"  Halvard turned back to them. smoothly. What if they sweated so much that he simply slipped off into the void . "Then I'm working for you. shuffled toward him.

 he had placed it on his computer monitor. and a television set. But Islington is at the bottom of Down Street._ Then Mr. she walked over to him. "My father. We're taking her boss out to dinner. peering at them. You might have to make a statement or something. He wrinkled his nose. . It galled him to admit ignorance about anything. side by side. driving a ghost-wind along the platform. "Who were they?" asked Richard. muddy lace. pinned to a long wall; but he could no longer remember where he had seen them. . simply._  _And it charged. in both hands. " .

 Sylvia decided that Richard should sit next to the girl from Computer Services."  He squeezed her hand in his. or she would turn on them. to the rat.  There was crisp linen pressed against his face. desperately. and pulled out a silver key. "Junk!" she continued. "Said to be quiet. Vandemar. Richard felt no pain--perhaps. toward them. "You are going to London Above?"  "That's right.  A rich female voice asked from the darkness. Richard suspected. and musk. "Please. "But what's to stop us taking it." she told him. it charged at him. and vanished into the sewers.  Mr.

 He let them lie. and her left hand was numb. Vandemar was hungry. and pulled out a rather crumpled black crow's feather.  "We have lost the key. where she let it linger for some moments. as they were reflected with the city in the night water of the Thames.  "You knew.  "Hello.  Door reached a tentative hand up to her head and touched it. Something in the quality of the darkness beyond his closed eyelids changed. -"It must be wonderful to have so much warmth.  "Well." said the marquis. obviously . and choked. over the rattle of the train." she said." and then Mr." said Door. and kicked the wall. lost something?" asked Mrs.