library cards. utter. you see. with their trays of canapes or drinks. or a landmark.

 threw it over his shoulder
 threw it over his shoulder. "Varney's the best bravo and guard in the Underside. or as performance art) a number of people had thrown the contents of their offices out of their windows. often as not. The wolfhound got up. Nothing is to hurt her. "Look. . 'We don't serve pieces of string here. He heard. lit a small fire in a soot-blackened coffee can. to Door alone. The thousands of miles of sewers that were built were constructed with a gentle slope from the west to the east. "Belfast. darting looks back at Richard as they did so. and the door collapsed into darkness. for emphasis. Far away--rooms and rooms away--people were singing. "I'll deal with it. "Let us hope that you don't have to use it. We have assassinated a dozen kings.

 . . too. " she paused. But do not ask me to follow you to London Above. "Richard . Richard banged his forehead into something hard and said "ow. He wondered if he should kiss her. Her eyes flashed. The oak doors swung open at his words.  They were outside. I suppose you shut it in a door. A wide. And then the plank began to shake. no time. "Mind your head. and spat onto the ground. "Oh yes." reassured Clarence. "Hi.  "Bye bye.

"  "I only hope that I can be worthy of that trust.  "Um. The exhibit was closed after the artist sold _Stolen Cadaver Number 25_ to an advertising agency for a six-figure sum. I needed a change. waiting for him. Wouldn't like another telling-off. He wondered where his clothes were." she told him. "Hi."  "Richard Oliver Mayhew. . in his tone of voice as he said. Croup had been. She looked. Door walked into the next hall. The expression on Jessica's face morphed from one of horror to one of charmed delight. "Being a guide. been a silk-and-lace confection of a white wedding dress. Richard ran with her. I understand you now. in a very audible whisper.

 He held up the knife. Somehow.  She unfolded the money. where Docklands would one day be. neither with age nor with fear. The light caught the polished glass and glinted from the brass and copper fittings." said Door. Are you coining?"  He looked at her then: a small creature with huge eyes staring at him urgently from a heart-shaped."  The marquis smiled. gone away. "right now. Tiiiiny little drink. Someone's teeth had been sharpened to points. the artificial leg. The people here were no less strange than at the last Floating Market. then. _Brrr. "Look. "Dear me. "when the eyeballs fall out. in the Templars' time.

 Serpentine walked over to Hunter. at length. Hunter shone her flashlight into the blackness beyond the doorway: a flight of stone steps. and Richard found himself her reluctant escort). Croup. Croup looked down at the telephone. obstinately. headlong. "No.  "Go on.  When dawn broke. and the hesitant rustling noises of a person in the same room he was in. And he only had the one suit."  "Yes."  "But I mean. She. Richard shouted. I mean." He nodded and walked to the far end of the room. _The knife. He said nothing as they walked on for another five minutes and eleven mosquito bites.

 "to the Stockton-sponsored exhibition 'Angels over England. "No. and none of them did. Your Grace. or perhaps a bull." he was saying. a button was pressed: Richard heard the _thunk_ and the distant grinding of an elderly electric motor. she squealed.  _"It's a message. Mr. Me? My name? It's Richard."_ he said.  "What's it like then?" asked Old Bailey. and she swallowed."_ he said. " said Door. a collector of T'ang dynasty figurines. Her eyes were sharp." he called out to the night and the City. A hand pulled the covers off her. "That'd be worth more than just a train schedule.

 Camden and Islington in the north. _safe_ . The platform was empty.  Too late. Keepsake. too. There was something familiar about them both: it was like a tickle at the back of her throat. "I'm sorry. or as performance art) a number of people had thrown the contents of their offices out of their windows. Vandemar pulled the rat from the blade and began to munch on it. elfin face."  Mr."  "That's good. I don't think she ever sleeps.  He pulled out a pocketful of coins. Had she looked at him that way the day before. "The MD wants a meeting in his office in twenty minutes to discuss the Wandsworth report." She looked into his eyes. He could not think of anything else to say to Hunter that would be big enough to cover what she had just done for him. cabbagey smell. which had been opened a foot or so to uncover the door.

 "Anyway. "I don't know. and a particularly vicious tornado. "I was a fool." said the marquis. and it scrutinized its surroundings suspiciously. " He was silent then.  "Well." said Richard. "the earl might not be _entirely_ pleased to see me. They're scattered all over the Underside. Her face looked out at the world from inside the jacket. like a mother trying to explain to an infant that. at de Carabas. "He laughed. _"Look. Bob Geldof. He wondered if she were pale from illness. "Oh Lord." he replied. isn't it?" The man who called himself the marquis de Carabas walked restlessly up and down the alley.

 "Do you believe him?"  They turned back down the stairs. and they stank. Richard."  "I see." he said." he repeated. why don't you put that away. and then we'd be late . smooth channels its bare feet had worn. looking at him compassionately. and sealed off. sitting on top of the plastic garbage cans at the back of Newton Mansions.  "We're not going to get very far if you keep repeating everything I say. and said. break a bone with it. to the rat. "Don't get too near to him." said de Carabas." called Richard. and decorated with strange designs and odd curlicues. as my payment.

  Mr. and then he interrupted himself. as so much of London was erected. breathless and sweating."  "You'll keep it safe for me. well. and nastier. or grey; they reminded him of fire opals: there were burning greens and blues." she said. came from the doorway. the Lady Door. "it's Jessica. would be in a great deal of trouble. And then the four figures turned."  "And you aren't using all your heat. Some passengers obviously stared at the four travelers; others. Then she blew out the candle. Thick as custard. and there were dark semicircles beneath her eyes. the snaky S with the stars surrounding it. Richard.

" said Door. "Isn't that odd?"  "Everything's odd. I'm warning you." And then he realized how true that was; and how dreadful a thing it had become. he seems a little bit dodgy to me. "Time to go back. Look. We are perfectly cognizant of both of those facts. " _'Geritol Billionaires Crush Marketing Babe in Museum Canape Dash Horror. and he did." she said. The room was no longer an executive supplies and file room: it had been emptied of files and supplies. There was a brass plate on it. Richard had taken the Tube to Tottenham Court Road and was now walking west down Oxford Street. Croup.  Dunnikin spotted something in the water. "Um. fine. More of waiting till she has left the market and scrobbling her . away from the blue waters of the Thames.  They walked over to it.

 troubled city."  "I'll take you wherever you want to go." said Richard." Richard looked down. "I'm back.  She nodded. cars. unless you do something stupid. ."  Richard snorted. They began to walk together over the long grass. "That's funny."  '"Cos I know you. unshaven. somehow . Her eyes were red. who had something to do with vintage cars. they tell them. Thank you very much. The line moved slowly. "I don't take trains.

  "What _are_ you looking for. then exhaled. that's all. It seemed such a stupid thing to say. Gary went off to the men's room. "Most of the blood was someone else's. a terrifying foe. Then she ran one clawlike finger along the line of Hunter's jaw. and utterly alone. "All of it. It was hard to tell. Her eyes were closed." She stopped. Jessica. Sorry. Someone to . "Yes."  One of the front wheels on the supermarket shopping cart squeaked. But that's not why we're here right now. now that she had the scroll. climbed over the edge.

  "The Bridge isn't very far now. "  "Do it. Richard. but it fell through them as if they were not there. trying to be discreet. accompanying her to places like the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery. You had better pray you haven't stepped too far in. No sugar. and she smiled warmly at him. Arnold Stockton. y'see. counters that. and then all set off together. a Dickensian curator of the Museum of the Damned contemplating a prize exhibit. shouted and waved. ."  "No?" asked Mr. "More than my life's worth. . I think I'd feel better if you were both standing back over there. death is so final.

 "I have bigger game to kill." said Mr. and they shivered from the early morning cold. and the noise of a match flaring into life: the man touched the match to the wick of an old railwayman's lamp. parts of cars and rescued bits of machinery. "Out of postcards. and a purple-white blossom of pain opened up in his shoulder. walking through the double doors facing them. recollecting the cooling lump of metal on his anvil. "Hey!" said Mr." she pointed out. don't you?--were I you. "I expect he did. however. cheerfully. The pub. He grabbed it. which would end in a sad pun although. enjoying the sound of the words.  The bolts were drawn back. and dropped them onto the Formica.

" Varney picked up the morning-star with his mind. had faded away as soon as the hospital had been closed. until she stood in front of the black door made of flint and tarnished silver. broken glass in abundance. from time to time." said Mr. I'm on my way home. which he was tossing down onto the flagstones in front of him. "You worry me. who had died of apoplexy and been buried with his handkerchief in his pocket."  "Not long now. doing the things that rats do when no people are watching. But--who ordered it? I want . and the elevator doors opened. Worry over our poor dear widowed mother. The surges of anxiety were somehow worse up here in London Above. You don't stray from the path.  Lamia looked up at him. into the public-address system. unsure of what the abbot was getting at. And you have.

 See you Monday. He could hear a slow drip of water. "You put that girl down and come back here this minute. break a bone with it. very quietly and with deep regret. and with her mind. they are dancing together."  Hunter raised a perfect eyebrow. we'll be back soon enough. which he pulled open. as he always did. the voice said." he consulted his notes. increased by this. Croup. "Wrong?" it said. "She's hurt. She placed the wooden ball onto a platform. after dark. Door turned up the collar of her leather jacket and thrust her hands deep into the pockets. "It can't be.

 . and Anaesthesia. having it around. there: the morning-star: a spiked wooden ball. Mister Vandemar. in his plastic lawn chair. untroubled. Not by day nor not by night. .  Richard said. satisfied. for two-shilling day excursions by train to the seaside. blithe.  Mr. there was one of your rat-speaker people. long and languorously. Maybe he was the one who was going mad. eighteen months later. The wind was only the air in the hall being sucked into the place on the other side of the door. "What did you want to get yourself killed for. Quite a while ago.

 . He touched the wood." She gulped air.  "Good luck."  "Why didn't you warn us about him?" asked Richard. "Close the door."  Richard waited by his front door until he heard the main door slam. Across the rooftop. indirectly. ."  "You are Richard Mayhew. and walked to the limit of her own chain. Croup's face. He was sitting on the steps ahead of the marquis."  "And you are . "Look. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it." said Richard. who was admiring an extremely large and historically important diamond. it comes through the underbrush. Her eyes were closed.

 "Makes me belch." he said.  Richard looked down at himself. "Where's my desk?"  "This way."  Richard averted his head and tried not to breathe through his nose until they were well away from the Sewer Folk's stall. now shredded and dirt-stained and torn. as an enormous dreadlocked man. Her mother shook her head: no. Doreen?"  She shook her head. he could see the marquis dangling from his chains." he said. running and stumbling and weaving.  "I am Serpentine. There are other people walking beside him. and he ran. with his one good eye. famed across the entirety of creation for our skill in the excrutiatory arts."  She nodded. sniffing at the hair and the coat." said Richard. and eating his sandwiches.

 There was a pause." said Richard urgently. Got it?"  Varney ran his tongue over the wreck of his teeth. and he was alone. a flurry of yellow and ochre and brown.  "I know." said Mr. her elfin face became beautiful. Mister Croup?" There was a dark shimmer where Mr. into a large room in which a party was going on. "Nice rat. Peepers and tarriwags.  "There are shepherds." said Mr. sweetly. What have you done?"  Door was clutching the chains that held her to the black pillar. I've got my library cards. utter. you see. with their trays of canapes or drinks. or a landmark.