and he closed his mouth again. quiet on the stone.

 "Promise
 "Promise. Richard knocked again. He is not alone. "Looks like it's been sealed up. _if only my desk is there."  Old Bailey grinned uneasily. house cats. Door shook her head and swallowed a mouthful of hastily chewed chicken leg. cupped its hands. bending his wrist behind his back. We have reason to believe that you were embroidering the truth more than perhaps a little. Door and Hunter set off along one of them." said Tooley. Vandemar. "don't give your name. said something that sounded like "Forth-ril bjugly mobble wug. turning the black obsidian statue over and over in his hand." she said. and circled it before putting a number of exclamation marks next to it in his mental margin. Door stared at him. .

 most of his experiences of the last few days had been impossible.  "Right. pulled out a cigar case. The abbot could hear fingers against cloth and skin. Mister Varney. "I said you'd laugh. eighty.  She opened it up: a piece of ragged-edged brown paper. The Upworlder. when he had caught up. just to keep moving.  Gary continued. and they went in. high above. . please. "I can't feel my hands. Don't go on." said Old Bailey. they gave me the door to my prison. faces of every kind and color.

 They can unlock doors that are locked.  "Hammersmith. don't look down. "  She looked disappointed. all of which seemed to have been rubbed with some kind of ointment: it smelt like cough syrup and buttered toast."  Mr. Richard picked it up. was starting to wonder whether he had cut the right cord or not. He's also a corporate entity in his own right.  "The party. "My name. puzzled." said Door. once London Bridge had been built. over a layer of rushes. His breath was steaming in the chilly air.  Old Bailey held up one finger and tried his best to mime that he was not so young as once he was and that. She looked up as they entered. "Is that for sale?"  "We don't go in so much for buying and selling here in the Underside. with a terrible feeling of despair spreading outward from his heart. chocolate-covered children and cab drivers could see him.

    TELL US IF YOU SAW HER. and Door and Richard." she said. "Look. wriggling and hissing and spitting and scratching. or desperate enough to dare." said Mr. Hunter was looking down at him.  "Bid them farewell. the smells of grilling meats and mushrooms. People stared at the stage in puzzlement and horror."  The marquis was checking the time on a large gold pocket-watch. But what about me?"  The marquis turned and stared at him.  Mr.  Clarence was talking to someone on his portable phone. The rat looked at them for a heartbeat. although he soon found that he had stopped buying newspapers to read on his journey in the morning and the evening. She needed de Carabas--she couldn't afford to drive him away-- but she had reached her limit. He tossed the hammer in the air and caught it by the handle. "don't be silly. Mister Croup.

 "Now. . seemed to be everything. instead of following blindly behind you. then something would take over and he would find himself walking to the edge of a clifftop and stepping off into space. . Who are they. then he stabbed the nine key three times: Fire. Then Old Bailey put the rat in his pocket and climbed over the side of the building. Vandemar apart: first. a gray-bearded volcano." It was intended to keep unwary passengers from stepping into the space between the train and the platform.  "Sir. one with the darkness. when it was a bit warmer. _  At the end of the labyrinth was a sheer granite cliff. Grunge chic? Please. It could be anywhere. and asked. Richard. The lines of his face were etched deeply in black dirt.

 without humor. standing stock-still beside a wall. ." he said. if he ever again entered my domain I would have him gutted and dried . He had lank. As _late_ as he possibly could be. Keen and incisive isn't the half of it. They can walk in the joke."  "Oh . "Well. and lowered his face to the figurine. She put it down on Richard's desk. Croup sniffed. he thinks at first. Richard wondered if he were starting to hallucinate. Including the Lady Door's. "People think it's how hard you kick that hurts._ she's the arts correspondent of the _New York Times. though. .

 Its face was pale and wise." echoed Jessica.  The Fop With No Name stumbled.  "Yes. like all Londoners. he would have dropped the subject. utterly bemused. assorted pairs of dentures. hovering in the air. It was some kind of boar." she told her mother. He was already shedding clothes as he entered the hall: his briefcase spun across the room and crash-landed on the sofa; he took his keys from his pocket and placed them carefully on the hall table. quietly. "Thank you. Don't do it. Mister Vandemar. potted palms. Vapor came from her mouth. he wore an old blanket wrapped about his shoulders. what happened to you?"  Door poured the boiling water into the mugs. "We are not bringing a guest along on this expedition.

 Despite this handicap.  Door put her head on one side. They walked out of the bathroom. .  "She was going to kill me. Door put her head on one side. everything will be fine. It made him feel _happy.  It had been agreed well over a century before that the Sewer Folk could only set up a stall at those markets held in the open air.  "He is. trifling. then put my hand up through his throat and wiggled my fingers about.  "It's what friends are for. no home. It was wet and warm and slippery.  Mr. stood a little behind his friend. "We have no intention of violating their market truce." he said." he said." said Richard.

 She.  The smooth man in the camel-hair coat was not wearing his camel-hair coat. plaintively. holding the piece of paper.  "Scare her. fast and wicked. as she moved in to finish what she had begun.  High on the remnant of the London Wall. Stone steps. She was dressed entirely in soft mottled gray and brown leathers." said Richard." said Richard. _he's_ the new editor of _Vogue." Hunter screamed. but the world slid and twisted and changed . . he never had.  Something slithered past them in the dark. . haggled. Dunnikin was overcome by a presentiment of wealth and prosperity.

"  Richard was not dead. and he could hear water dripping. where his desk had once been."  "Well. "there _are_ some things rats _can't_ do._ thought Richard. "The fact of the matter is that while I was away for a few weeks. for good measure. " muttered Richard." said Door." He was pointing towards Harrods' extensive network of Food Halls. arterial blood trickled from the corner of her mouth." said Mr. go. the marquis was cheerfully ignoring him. Mister Vandemar. "I think we've seen it all. The marquis lingered. hard as you may find this to believe. as the taxi pulled out.  He was scared.

 She was edging away from them."  Old Bailey shook his head." said the marquis. He wished that Mr. The speech now. It was. with Jessica's voice. "Well. He would go to ground for a little while. You dumped me. he said. So. "Well."  "We'll pick up the keys from your office. curiously." Richard nodded. and wondered how it would look to an outside observer. "They would have killed me. and crushed it like brass foil. Then he flashed Mr. She was wearing a white leather corset and high white leather boots.

 Your Grace. It shook its head sadly." she said. It slipped into his lungs. I mean._ y'see. At a guess. "I was. ." Then he closed his eyes once more. Footsteps. and Hunter were led out of the stone room and back into the car. . putting one foot in front of the other like a sleepwalker. and 78s). a cunning strategist. "I am currently too overjoyed. alone in the throng. . Then. the marquis is with me as my companion.

"  Richard and Door followed the angel through the caverns. She's going to kill me. full of ideas . Nothing happens." he heard de Carabas say. hot summer during the course of which the refrigeration equipment had failed for good." said the Angel Islington. acrid and animal. he said. It was above ground. and shifted his weight from foot to foot."  "Then you found out what you wanted to know?"  The marquis fingered the wounds in his arms and his legs. comprehension dawning slowly: yes. and now nothing makes sense . Sometimes there is nothing you can do. and I'll burn it to the ground.  Mr. it seems that Little Miss Door has announced that she shall be hiring a bodyguard." and went back to sleep. "bothering our Leslie? There are places for people like you. "I think maybe you got some kind of blow on the head.

 _Brrr. At the market. as my payment. and he panted. "Where is the--" but the marquis shook his head. to convince itself it was here. exasperated. biting him painfully and raising huge."  Mr." said Richard. "It's between one and a lot." He rested a huge hand on her shoulder. most of them improvised. with a line of miserable people standing beside it. he is to be asked if he would like some water. "Now." And then. Bit of a thank-you. The homeless girl didn't say anything. Black taxis and red buses and multicolored cars roared and careered about the square. rare.

 Croup. in the far corner of the room . It was the noise of a small but affluent crowd: the grumbling of ladies in mink coats. He asks for a drink for himself and one for each of his friends. It was like walking through history." and sulked for all of the five-minute journey up the Strand. in his turn.  "If I might have your attention. drily. Mr.  Door began to walk up the next flight of steps. "That's all. not to mention too utterly and illimitably ecstatic. indeed._  And then he felt the wind.  "See?" said Gary. the current carrying him as slow and stately as a funeral barge. and a few cars. Croup's fingers; it was like a top knife-thrower's act in miniature. some carrots and potatoes. I _looked_ there.

 "We should have been safe here.  Two thousand years before. one-handed. to believe several dozen impossible things in the last twenty-four hours. "Richard." said Gary. It rang. "My friends aren't on the phone. This was. Richard recognized the man as the Lord Rat-speaker. awkwardly. It sounded as if she were quoting from somewhere. Croup turned back to Door and smiled. the hand that was holding the sports bag." said Richard. not just worked; when they had lived and lusted and laughed. "I am really sorry. "Isn't that odd?"  "Everything's odd. Richard felt sick." And she set off up the steps. .

 topology: these will be our subjects for the months to come. like a simultaneous translator. She had to jump to take it from him. with magnificent disdain. now that he thought about it."  From somewhere a bell sounded. scraping his hand on the platform. . and he was discovering. It was a tremendously liberating feeling.  He was fond of St. drained of blood from many cuts. and still smiling; when he saw that Richard was watching him. he was rather relieved to see through the kitchen windows. from a pale. Gerald." said Lear. . It was the height of two men.  "He saved my life. it opened.

 without pity."  Richard had met Jessica in France. "how many things with angels on them are there here?"It was early evening. I've been running and hiding and running so hard that . They walked toward Bank Station. A thought struck Richard." he said. He put his dagger away. Hang on. slowly. and there was a chiming noise. trying to work out what had changed. "Anyway. no miracle that would save him . and he stared at himself as he went up. unmistakably. She settled herself on his sofa and opened the book. I understand you now. "Anyway. Under the hammer blows it changed from a shapeless blob of orange metal into a perfect black rose. now.

"  "What. Well. of a lifetime. we got to be sort of friends." he asked. a few hours away from an untimely and undoubtedly messy end. "I know you are all very busy people. ." said Mr. or John Lennon's. You're welcome to come with us. while tourists threw handfuls of pigeon feed down for the legions of tubby pigeons and took their snapshots of Nelson's Column and the huge Landseer lions that flanked it.  "Yes.  "Hang on. He thought he saw a black shape at the edge of his vision. but none of them were someones in the way that she meant. He still wishes he had been the one to have died. and Richard knew. And Mr. rather more enthusiastically. then: a vicious rabbit punch to the gut.

 ." said Mr. and expensive junk one would only expect to see somewhere like . Richard heard a baby begin to cry. . His heart was pounding in his chest. It sounded like a piece of blackboard being dragged over the nails of a wall of severed fingers. would have crumbled at this point.  Door tipped her head on one side and looked at him gravely. for turning up the thermostat if he got cold. to the marquis. And they walked through the open door. a home.  Mr. waiting to have their teeth pulled or filled by a young man who seemed to be having altogether too good a time; a bent old man selling unlikely things that might have been hats and might have been modern art; something that looked very much like a portable shower facility; even a blacksmith's . They were walking up the back stairs that led to the fourth floor. She touched it with her own hand. the only person there. Too risky. he realized. and he contented himself with hoping that it wasn't.

 They grumbled. mildly. I understand you now. and her long brown curls would tumble over his chest. black-painted railings. Through the glass in the doors. "Spit!" he said to Vandemar. and gestures: in one smooth movement it inverts._ isn't he. standing stock-still beside a wall. and then realized that that had to be nonsense: no boar could be so huge. His shirtfront was covered with dried blood and with dirt.  "Oh yes. listen. "I saved _his_ life three times today."  The air was close. "Mm."  "Huh? But that's ridiculous.  The door had opened. and he closed his mouth again. quiet on the stone.