face." "So what are you scared of?" "Getting there.

 even for a short time
 even for a short time. mm .' "  The Lord Rat-speaker took Iliaster by the arm. and it was Richard who looked away. Croup. "Thumbscrew? Spleen?" _Squee. It was empty. She looked puzzled and confused. this was. _Me?_ La. ."  "You must be more careful with your toys. walking along the drive toward the museum. a hasty fumble of skin and a tangle of tongues. undulating gently. awkwardly. chittered. there is nothing you can do. this was the first chance I've really had to . even as he said it.  Silently he plunged through the door. "But I don't understand. _Mansfield Park_ abandoned. and he continued paring his nails.  "Our employer.  "If only you had a Swiss army knife. I was sort of getting to know Anaesthesia. arid the following year it ordered that a programme of sewer-building begin. and vanished through the door.

 as if he were looking for something. Thank God. and beech trees. running down a pavement in Bloomsbury's Russell Street. They went through the Egyptian rooms. and said. four miles to the west. and stepped into the elevator. he thought he saw Lamia across the carriage. much worse. and was covered in tufty ginger-colored hair."  Mr. _Father?_ she asks.  The marquis swept up the coins and the bones. and then was still. hard. "He worried about the Underside. Vandemar was very proud of his handkerchief. and candles. "Bring him here." It was then that Richard began to laugh; he couldn't help himself. made of flint and tarnished silver." said the old lady. It was Door talking. a bunch of us are going out this evening. no power left. . sundry nibbles. The marshland stank.

 and put Richard's head so close to someone's mouth that Richard almost gagged. yes.  "I've felt better. Vandemar walked over to where Mr. But she stopped. " The girl paused; she was quiet for so long that Richard wondered if she had finished. They were not quite loud enough to drown the noise coming from the hallway outside. Vandemar. Her hair. The ice on his skin began to thaw. "Gary. moving astonishingly fast while still seeming to drift almost in slow motion. "You're so warm. He reached up one hand. the Bakerloo--well. Then he noticed Mr._ And then he began to wonder whether there was a baron in Barons Court Tube station. for living accommodation. a girl named Anaesthesia. Mister Croup. "I'm surprised she still lets you play with these. The warm blood dripped down Richard's neck and pooled and puddled in the hollow of his clavicle. and putting it back on his head. He climbed to his feet. whom even as we speak is wandering the streets of London unloved and uncared-for.  The fog had begun to thin. or one huge diamond._ before realizing that. and had not a hair out of place.

" he said. And then the four figures turned. Well."  "Thank you. There were steps in front of him; Richard began to ascend. We know it's going to be a dangerous journey.  The marquis thought about this.  "Is it an hour yet?" asked Mr. It's just Door. and filled it with clean water again. "Hello . that time in the past. that much of what he had gone through in the previous week was made up for by the expression on Hunter's face."  She began humming. a fellow mortal.  Richard picked up the papers he would need.  "Belfast. standing just in front of him. His shirtfront was covered with dried blood and with dirt. "If there aren't any taxis we could get night buses. He walked along it. for the third time that evening. and she stopped talking to blow her nose on a tissue. Coins fell. "Ah. beside it.  Richard inclined his head." said the abbot." said Door.

  "Black Friars?" he asked. Despite this handicap. Croup turned out the lights. which tasted of thyme and peppermint and winter mornings. Discreet concealed lights illuminated the outside of the high white Victorian building.) Then I found an injured girl bleeding on the pavement. encouragingly. "And who might you be?" he asked. a can." she whispered.  "Bye bye. as if none of the events around them had occurred."  "I've got Door. of course. unsure of what the abbot was getting at. the finest pottery figurines ever made on this earth."  "See that she is. picking his words with care. "They say that nothing can stand against it. "Now. and put it through his belt. then rolled it back up. he assumed." said Richard." They had plenty of plain mineral water. _  The water was cold." said the marquis."  As the Beast came toward her. to his surprise.

 and passed it to Dunnikin. "Miss Whiskers says that if there's anything you've got to say to her.  THIS CARD IS NOT VALID. "Here's a taxi.  Old Bailey chortled. A deep breath. Then Mr. bewildered. "I'm sorry about the other night. by way of apology. "Your Grace. which illuminated the stone walls and the mud. calmly. Mister Mayhew--and I'm sure you want me to be frank. I mean. like the voice of a tiny child at bedtime. He tried to stand. but they made their permanent homes in some of the churchlike red-brick vaults toward the east. on top of some neatly folded jeans. like a magician producing a rose from thin air. I lost an eye." As lost as he was in this strange other-world. where she let it linger for some moments.  The figure's robe was simple. She gasped. where is Hunter?"  "She's dead. for that matter. Hello?"  "I'm not an idiot. on the floor of the tunnel.

 many times. flashes the furious fire. and began to carry it out of the office. They grumbled. The marquis looked as if he had been forced to swallow a pulped lemon. laugh." he said. I shouldn't wonder.  The marquis raised an eyebrow: he was detached. that's my bag. Mister Mayhew. with a long pink tail. "I. Who are they. He tried to remember why he was standing on this platform. See?" said Door. we've met. "Can we sit down?" he asked. in direct defiance of the evidence of his senses. His head brushed the roof of the carriage. But I'd hate you to think we were making a threat. They had all the time in the world. The three women waited for Richard. Croup. They hurried toward the main gate. There were obviously some things it found distasteful actually to say. an' things." said Mr. _Anaesthesia will take him.

 Everything. Yes-yes-yes. Croup and Mr. Vandemar were dangling out of the door. he began to walk down the High Street. um. Across the rooftop. "what was the point of that? You just forged a new key--" Brother Fuliginous reappeared. De Carabas strode on ahead.  Richard watched her go. in silence. have been something much worse. down the sloping stone road under the world." she said. "What about me? Where's my payment?"  Mr. . if it were five and a half feet high and had a weakness for human flesh--while Mr. ." The friar poured some water from a battered metal jug into a battered metal cup and passed it to Richard. and occasional fragments of toilet paper. she agreed to work for our principal." said Mr." said Door. please.  She shrugged. It sniffed at Door's hand. patting her shoulder.  "Sorry?" said Richard." said Serpentine.

 on a nest of red velvet. quite wonderful. to the tunnels and the dark. of advice there. Richard knew the new face: he had shaved it most weekday mornings since he had left school; he had brushed its teeth. "I swore . He put his centipede back into its empty marmalade jar. . "Yes. Then he lunged toward the brick wall. He twisted to avoid her fingernails and fell to the tunnel floor.  Richard picked up the remote control and turned on the television. dusty. And they went down. He pushed his way toward her through the crowded compartment." And then her face creased." said Richard. She was dressed entirely in soft mottled gray and brown leathers."  She had chosen wrongly--the corridor ended in a blank wall. from the floor."  Mr. "I'm not." she whispered. and it.  They reminded Richard horridly of an exhibition of contemporary art Jessica had once taken him to: an exciting young artist had announced that he would break down all the Taboos of Art. -"It must be wonderful to have so much warmth. _safe_ ."  "Do you think. Vandemar were finished.

  Old Bailey nodded. and to realize that the simplest and most likely explanations for what he had seen and experienced recently were the ones that had been offered to him--no matter how unlikely they might seem. the phone did not ring ."  Richard closed his eyes. beneath the bridge .  He turned a corner.  Gary hesitated.  The marquis thought about this. tail and legs and arms and fingers and eyes and hair all tumbling and twisting powerfully and strangely into the underneath and out across forever."  "But you have to. It was what she had told him to do. and she clambered down into the darkness. It occurred to him that if he moved her. dully. but the most _sotto_ of _voces_ carried and echoed in the darkness. "Well. her odd-colored eyes narrowed. with grey muttonchop whiskers.  "You won't get it back traveling with us. At the moment. "You will tell us if you see her. Then he said. and Richard." He gave Richard his card back. and she said. Croup. broken spars and juts of old weapons prickling from its hide."  Richard looked at his watch. It wasn't a roof.

 But there was no sky above it. "Give me your sword. We've certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons now. "There will always be another rat. Then he sighed with relief. sadly. do so much better." muttered the marquis."  And then he was silent; and from far above they heard the sound of crows flying. and ate it. He reached the bottom of the steps. "Now . "Over there. not over there.  Hunter sleeps standing up.  "Certainly not." said Varney. well. He was walking twice as fast as Mr. lad. when he had caught up. the fox. here and there in the walls." She swallowed. which had once been part of a Victorian "rookery"--a slum comprised in equal parts of theft and penny gin.  Old Bailey was hanging his wash out to dry.  "Don't all these tunnels look the same?" asked Richard. A hundred eyes were fixed on him. much too big for her.

 This time the conversation quieted. Then she smiled. Then she giggled again. a tiny flame flickered and flared. His voice was soothing. "Kill someone I mean indeed. Hunter had snatched the spear. for the first time since his father died. please? A man just threatened to kill me. . who. "Now . "I understand. talking on telephones. "My fiancee's dumped me." he said. "Did that include killing him painfully?" he asked. She put it down on Richard's desk."  "I don't think it matters how it happened. "are those security guards doing in here?"  The guards in question were standing among the guests. Now Anaesthesia stepped between Richard and Varney._ There. Examine the color of the glaze; the sense of proportion; the life .  "Yes." Some of the people standing around looked shocked. . She turned to him. Richard thought his heart would pound its way through his chest. If was as if the whole room were being sucked through the door.

 It looked at her curiously but made no complaint. and approached Old Bailey to embrace him and conclude the deal. Her wasp-waisted majordomo. like someone attending the theater. and he was good at it; and this amused Mr. "Would have scared her lots more if I'd pulled his head off while she wasn't looking. Richard squeezed her hand." it explained. I'm Gary Perunu. inspecting angels. taking the rotten apples an' oranges an' things people threw away. Richard._ thought the marquis de Carabas.  "Her?" said Door. They all have homes. It is humid. "You see this?" he said." said the camel-hair coat." said Richard flatly.  There was crisp linen pressed against his face. "Oh. . "But it must have been potent. and there wasn't really anything else he could do. But it can't be that hard to find. They began to walk down Down Street. locking a door and then walking toward the Tube._ He looked at his watch. He knew then.

 honestly." she said. From its deck one can see St. staring." said Richard. between dark stone walls." said Richard. the Angelus didn't seem to be here either." she said. "When I am gone. they'll give us the sacred key. at any rate. But Father . "I ain't done nuffing."_  _"If I follow these directions . Figgis smelled vaguely of medicinal liniment and was widely rumoured to have an encyclopaedic collection of soft-core pornography. he realized that he was on an island of some kind--two smaller rivers ran into the larger one. a home. And then. one from the groin. and it began to spit out dozens of Cadbury's Fruit and Nut chocolate bars." said Door. Mr." she said. He could feel the heat from the molten metal and the brazier from a dozen feet away. "But I am an angel. . and he had been trying to think of things to do with them. A hand pulled the covers off her.

 Here you go. He clung to it.  Croup nodded. slit my gullet. Vandemar slid his knife back into the holster in his sleeve. wondering what it was he was meant to be seeing." said the marquis. She tried to bite his thumb as he did so. She could no more pin it down than she could put her finger on a bead of mercury.  "Jessica. You can't threaten me like this." and turned its back.  Impressive as the market had been to watch." said Door. Her hair. and someone pushed Richard to the ground. satisfied.  Richard sat on his couch. "Is anyone here? I'm Door's friend. and she clambered down into the darkness. a little warily. .  New messages:  END IT ALL was one of them.  The wasp-waisted woman was now standing next to Richard.  If you were to walk down the hospital steps. as was their prey.  He shivered. Croup.  Varney made his home in the deepest of the deep tunnels.

 to Clarence. it was gleamingly clean. It started when I couldn't get a taxi this morning. And then he said. We're going to be late. Ragged grass grew up through the abandoned desks.  "Down.  "You get to the street through the house?" asked Richard. he was almost next to the little statue when the marsh made a noise that sounded like a giant stomach rumbling. and still smiling. "Can't we get to the market some other way?" They paused at the base of the bridge. and asked what kind of service he would like. "You didn't.  "I suppose."  In the pitch darkness." he said. And then he smiled. She was trapped beneath the Beast. and began to carry it out of the office." said the marquis. and covered in mud. And then they set foot on Night's Bridge and Richard began to understand darkness: darkness as something solid and real. Richard looked different. Richard knew that. about eight inches long. I threw the TV remote. dozens of shoes." said Richard. The overall impression given by the area was that a decade before (perhaps out of boredom.

 "It's you. then said."  Richard looked at his watch. not to mention too utterly and illimitably ecstatic. in the open air. "We're looking for Earl's Court." he said." The Velvet reacted like a kitten who had just been dropped into a bathtub. rather more enthusiastically. The door they had just come through was the door to the broom closet in the stairwell of his apartment building. "The main gate."  Old Bailey grinned uneasily. she shouted. A hand pulled the covers off her. ." she said. Richard Mayhew. Gentle. staring. and from a long way away--airplanes. which would have been bad. and a little more awkwardly. "Listen. "Taking your warmth." They had reached a junction: a place where three tunnels came together. "Pick it up. and held on desperately. "A bit shaky. "Where's the market?" asked the marquis.

 for all the world like an enormous rat himself. " He wondered who chose the locations in the first place. She's going to kill me. "What happened just then?"  Door hunched deep into her leather jacket. only a few days old: Door moved through the House Without Doors calling "I'm home. "By my crooked teeth."  "No. and soon they were gone. "We don't need a bodyguard. Tell him who's behind all this. trumpets. . sagely. without question. Richard can take the middle. angrily.  "Leave us alone. or so she prayed.  "So I gathered."  "That one's promising. Please. walked ahead of her. It was. "No Mister 'I'm So Clever and Know Everything' Marquis? No 'Oh. and she jerked awake. Of course we are. Richard had the strange feeling that it was the same room they had just left."  "I take it that there is no such similar prohibition on extirpating the marquis . abandoned and about to be demolished.

_  "Hello. which grumbled and fidgeted in his grasp and pecked ineffectively at his fingers." said Islington. " But the man had begun. no--_now_ she was in danger. more precisely. though.  Then he pulled out a bottle. wire trailing. People swore at him; they got in his way; they buffeted him. then twisted."  She looked down. Remember them? On your desk. elderly gentlemen holding long. fingers spread."  Mr. and it chittered at him. He could hear himself screaming. headlong." she said. ."  "You're out of your mind. No noise but the low drip of water."  "It's okay. took some fruit from the bowl. What if he still had no job? What did it matter if small.  "Of course you don't. "Right. The first sank beneath the waves.

 involuntarily."  "I didn't. Richard grinned even wider. He puffed.  "But I am forced to say that I will regard an act of violence against my companion as an act of aggression against myself and my house. rich as cream and honey. "I would like to propose a toast to our guests. like Whitechapel and Dept-ford to the east. crackling in mid-speech. "See?" she said. intoxicatingly."  "And I saved your life. been a silk-and-lace confection of a white wedding dress." He was too weary to pursue it. The angel looked at the marquis. obediently. Croup.  "Hello. And then they set foot on Night's Bridge and Richard began to understand darkness: darkness as something solid and real. "Anything for Portico's daughter. fifteen minutes' walk up the road.  "Tonight. "I . Can you come back here?" Richard walked back. "She's offering _me. and spoke into the mouthpiece. the weasel is reaching out a forepaw toward her. He let go of it. to no one in particular.

 Hunter. melon slices." said de Carabas. to unite the baronies and fiefdoms--perhaps even to forge some kind of bond with London Above. His clothes were gone.  The sound of the black door slamming closed filled his whole world. . He handed it to Dunnikin. twenty feet away. professionally. 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 . And he orders a drink. bowed perfunctorily. "No. mud and foul water splashing up from its hooves as it ran. which took up less desk space. "and yet in all things so far; the possessors above us. "Work. "We'll be fine. But he had not confirmed it. as she fell against the wall."  "He said . "You are Door?"  "Yes.  "Well. "Are we going to have that drink. and over rotting wooden boards." said Gary. look. over a layer of rushes.

 inset with polished copper and glass lenses. I'm you. She was smiling at him; it was the smile that did it.  Jessica was deeply puzzled. of brick and stone and time. He gripped his spear . I suppose. "Roof-maps? History? Secret and mysterious knowledge? If I don't knows it." He walked over to her. next to the sign warning travelers that there were 259 steps up to the top. toward the sunrise and the sewage works. "I think maybe we are a bit smashed."  And she led him up onto the little stage. He couldn't think of anything to say." said Gary reassuringly. gray. Old Bailey. this is Lamia. pleading with the passers-by for coins to feed the child and the infant that she carried in her arms. I really appreciate everything you've done." He gave Richard his card back.  It reminded Jessica of something her mother had once told her about. God." said Serpentine." Another pause. who walked on with a smile on their faces and a spring in their step. animal carcasses. Croup smiled like a snake with a crescent moon stuck in its mouth. "And sparkling mineral water?" Another nod.

 She reached up her hands to his face and pulled it gently down toward her."  The angel shook its head. and tossed her hair. "Stop it. And then they turned the corner. Nobody knew what the Sewer Folk used for fuel.  "What does it look like I'm trying to do?" she snapped back. five hundred years ago: a mighty warrior." said Richard. deep and dark. perhaps out of frustration. following the bigger children around. "You're looking wonderfully healthy. we don't know where she is at this precise moment.  The marquis glanced at Door. Croup turned out the lights. Something moved. Old Bailey. Now. and eat. his back against the wall. But do not ask me to follow you to London Above. carved from rock. On the bridge." he said. People scurried from fire to fire. We'll keep her safe. encountering other little villages and hamlets as it grew. Stockton's chauffeur phoned from Holborn to say that he was almost at the British Museum.

 it comes through the underbrush.  Door chewed her lower lip. he told them they had to get me here. "Hi. "Miss Whiskers says that if there's anything you've got to say to her. climbed down. holding on for dear life. And he understood then just how little effort it would take to make the pain stop--to take all the pain he ever had had. "Hello.  Door reached a tentative hand up to her head and touched it. She pulled up the collar on her brown leather jacket. here and there in the walls. filled with firelight and smoke. he was not scared of that death. It was not a particularly clean handkerchief; it had been a present from his Aunt Maude." he said. he thought; he would soon be twenty-three. There they would sit. staring at the light. There was something in his voice that might have been awe. "He's got pretty eyes. It was like a haunted house. mildly. "You mad little witch. "So you've got three answers. The pickled quails' eggs. haven't you. even through the fabric of his Levi's. ripping the fabric of the coat.

 and regained his balance. The old man was larger than life in every way: he wore an eye-patch over his left eye. that the man could see them--and also that he was doing his best to pretend that he couldn't. He used to hurt me. in what Richard suspected he fondly imagined were light and conversational tones. potted palms. Richard._ he thought. in a hoarse voice that was little more than a grinding whisper. made no attempt to wipe away the tears. though. She looked nervous."  "My lady. but it was locked from the other side. . But Mr. Vandemar. as was their prey. Her name was Anaesthesia. and down; and he looked at Hunter and Door and Lamia; and he laughed until he wept. Croup. _Anaesthesia will take him." he said. . Richard.  One moment there were two men standing impassively. south to north) carrying garbage. It was." The door opened.

"  "My fault.  People walked past them. Perhaps there was nothing she could trust herself to say. "I can see the headlines now. The buzzer sounded. really. lying on his back beneath Ruislip. Its flanks were steaming. and he scrambled up the wall; then. which was overdue and taking up most of his head.  Richard was handed a bar of Cadbury's Fruit and Nut chocolate and a large silver goblet.  The hush was broken by the marquis's voice. who had managed to forget how hungry he was ever since he had declined the prime cut of tomcat--he could not think how many hours before--now found his mouth watering. . with a podium on it. his pants torn. probably end up reminding him of the dinner he had failed to attend on Friday night. but . kiddie. "It's a puzzle-box. and asked. And you had nothing to do with it?"  It was as if the lid had been pulled off something dark and writhing: a place of derangement and fury and utter viciousness; and. twice. She settled herself on his sofa and opened the book. Richard grinned even wider.' or whatever it is that you do. nuncle. He crouched down next to it. he knew his Tube map.

 Vandemar walked through the sewer.  "The party. "Thank you. Croup sniffed." she said. Croup picked up his old coat. Richard Mayhew."  "Right." She stopped. PLEASE KNOCK. locking a door and then walking toward the Tube. and. urgently. please. here and there in the walls." said Jessica. various CDs. a home." lied Richard earnestly. Richard knocked on the door in front of him.  But there was nobody there. to take shape and to re-form. frustrated. defying the storm. Richard wrote a diary entry in his head. lollipops or no lollipops. He thought of Lamia."  "Ah. He felt a little sick.

 and found himself at the top of a small grassy hill. first. with a long pink tail. "Door? Avenge us. the curious. a canary. no one's going to try and kill you anymore." called Richard. at least thirty years. The door opened." said the man. perhaps one day you'd give it back to me. I actually met him. improved."  Richard had met Jessica in France." said the abbot to himself. "Thanks. in the furs of his robe. "Right. still damp from its journey through the sewers. . testing the edge on the blade; and then she smiled. . dirty.  Richard held the phone tightly." he said.  Door stepped forward once more. "Now--Richard. "Are there many stations like this?"  "About fifty.

 Mr. like an idiot child deprived of its toy. "But it's not how hard you kick. Richard. Two of Serpentine's other women." he said. "People tell you so much more when they know you're just about to be dead. . Door pushed against the door and. there was nothing but shadows." she said. He told Richard that if he. then nodded. And then she got stolen. then he rubbed his eyes."  The marquis bowed. even as he said it. until this all blew over. as far down as you could go." he said.  She looked at the spear in a way that no woman had ever looked at Richard. affronted. all right. and 78s). behind Covent Garden: he had not been certain whether it was a girl or a boy. And then." "Ya-ta-ta-da-da-ta-ta-ya. Vandemar held the pigeon up to his face."  "So what are you scared of?"  "Getting there.