He dropped his briefcase on his chair.

 touched the door
 touched the door." said Door. or from loss of blood." she said. _Can't he hear my heartbeat?_ she thought. so bright as to be startling." he said. Her disposition seemed to have improved remarkably. . Then he lunged toward the brick wall. The others had followed over the next few months. can any of you hear me? This is my apartment. "It must have died three hundred years ago." She reached up to touch the fabric of a suit of antique clothing. down the one road with no streetlights. of course. "Well. perhaps. "Hunter. Hunter. Croup and Mr. and went back the way they had come; a silent procession deep beneath the world.

 watched the rime and the frost spread over Richard's skin. she began to circle the room. slammed it into the woman's face--or would have.  "No. for kippered herrings. misshapen trolls. " she said. "He doesn't look very nice. And thank you again. You learn to recognize the type. They were a luminescent gray. with a nice view of the sludge-brown river and the South Bank of the Thames. It was as if fireworks had been let off in the room. The party had been over for a long time.  He changed his tack. and those few fortunate individuals blessed with no sense of smell. He opened the chest. cheerfully. disgusted.  Richard nodded. and awake when they woke me up. Nobody asked him for a ticket on the way out.

 in the open air. in a smaller trollish voice." said the woman. He knew then. what happened to you?"  Door poured the boiling water into the mugs.  "Well.  "Are you sure the marquis will be at the market?" Richard asked Door. The table was piled high with evil-smelling foodstuffs. Stockton's angel collection was "indiscriminate to the point of trashiness. You aren't meant to be back in till tomorrow anyway. you can't go in there--" Mr." said Richard." he said. then let the beam slide off. and her clothes were wet with blood. He expected it to get worse as he went down. coming toward the station. Young whippersnapper. while the next room housed the blocked and waterless toilets and showers. He sat down on the sofa. and even reds and yellows that vanished and glinted as she moved. one evening.

 and a clunk. and was. a room from there." she told him.  "Yes._  He stopped turning. and seemed to be thinking.  The other Richard began to speak. and I'll be fine. slit my gullet. he knocked at the door of his flat and was more than disappointed when it was opened by the woman Richard last remembered meeting. "Why don't you show me how it should have been done?"  Mr. . with his back to Richard. to convince itself it was here. commissioned in 1939. . her eyes fixed on the ground ahead of her. Richard recognized them: Dagvard and Halvard. then. or even interesting. She was wearing different clothes beneath her battered brown leather jacket: they were still layered and ripped and patched.

 Richard was certain of that.  " ' . They removed the coat. and he would tell her he loved her and always wanted to be with her. and. "Now. Richard had had nightmares in which he simply wasn't there. watching him; and Richard approached him. "She said to tell you that she wants you to accompany her home--wherever that is--and to fix her up with a bodyguard. women and men.  Mr. He raised his hands to his face. Vandemar."  When Richard returned with the curries. narrow and low. lady. "It's all right. helpfully. furthermore.  "You embarrassed me very deeply last night. Everyone else. The surges of anxiety were somehow worse up here in London Above.

 distributing a few words of praise here. peered through the smoke with his one good eye. Richard wondered if he was deaf.  She was part of London Below. nodding. who had announced their intention of turning the hospital into an unparalleled block of unique luxury-living accommodations. who swigged back a mouthful. Richard." it said." but he said it very quietly." said the marquis. and lifted her down. . Ruislip staggered. . I'm . "No no. "Young man." said the marquis." she said. Jessica had. All evidence that it had ever been there was vanishing: stalls were being taken apart.

 wistfully.  Mr. _"Somebody. hand already in his pocket. who wishes to remain nameless. She was so tired. "Things lost.  Rats on a high brick ledge. " and she paused. suddenly; her face seemed to be illuminated. into the marquis's face."  "Mister Mayhew.  Richard watched her go. It was wet and warm and slippery. "we cannot claim that felicity. though. He remembered the way the girl who called herself Door had said good-bye. go. and she stumbled out of the room. carry the offending substances out to sea." she said."  "He's not using it anymore.

 and Richard walked with them. "Who's turning the spits. No hard feelings. Mr. ." into the microphone. "This way. and the man held it. Then he smiled. the palest and the most beautiful. The pub. some kind of dream he had once had. He darted a hand into.  The ghost of a smile hovered about Door's lips. The friars stood on the bridge until they were out of sight. his head bump-bump-bumping on each step as they went. She reached out a hand. "Mind your head. Some kind of boar. immediately. . He started breathing too fast.

 ." said Hunter. and pulled out a rather crumpled black crow's feather. "Can they see us?" he asked. . absorbing all of them.  "You. "I will kill you. silhouetted in the white entrance chamber filled with pictures of rooms. maybe you ought to call security. Jessica was simply going to ensure that nothing went wrong. elfin face. and the cold of her tongue. Mister Mayhew. and at the bottom of this mess. Croup turned to Mr." Gary waved down the taxi and climbed into the back before telling the driver that he wished to go to Battersea. and he knew that they were still friends. hesitantly. who had recently broken up with his girlfriend. somehow. loudly.

 The expression on Jessica's face morphed from one of horror to one of charmed delight. Coins fell. seizing hooks and nets and lines as they did so. I think my poor Portia and your brother and sister are dead. just one friend. and he was gone. He reached down."  "He's from the Upside. Croup. they taste like boiled slipper. Something in the quality of the darkness beyond his closed eyelids changed." she said.  "Thanks. where they sat beside a plastic tomato ketchup container in the shape of an oversized tomato. and what she looked like under the grime. "you must admit. a bunch of us are going out this evening. who walked on with a smile on their faces and a spring in their step. Vandemar seemed genuinely pleased by this."  "Well."HMS _Belfast_ is a gunship of 11. re-formed.

" said Door. "You'd abandon me?" she asked.  "I really appreciate you coming with us. Down Street."  The earl beckoned to Door. touched the door.  Door is dreaming of her father.  He nodded and put the bead back into his pocket. Hunter was planted at the foot of the stairs." She looked into his eyes. it wrapped itself tightly around Richard's ankle. filled with Richard's stuff. .  Richard froze.  Several minutes later. feeling apprehensive.  There was a fluting tone." said Richard. I mean. were standing two or three people deep.  Mr. he stopped playing.

 and. and he had often passed through Blackfriars station. ignoring the looks he got from passers-by. and said nothing."  Mr.  _The memory was fresh. or even interesting. They were on the other side of the wall. dustily. She stood beside him and twined her small fingers into his right hand. "Kill someone I mean indeed. Well. There are those who wish to see things the way they are.  "Down. head first." said Door politely.  He had not yet turned on the television. Vandemar. momentarily. "I thought it high time I came down here to talk to you in person. held up the roof. on tapes and home videos.

 But the shelves were filled with a host of other things: tennis rackets." _Hunter will look after you as long as you stay in London Below. The doorbell rang. "I think we've seen it all. constructed of old brass and polished wood. of course. "Enunciate clearly. sat on the carpeted floor of his new apartment. reflectively. Richard went down on one knee; the earl tapped him gently on each shoulder with the knife. but it would fail to give the full picture. the figures at the end slipped through the space between the grille and the wall and edged into the night. now. But he felt the warm blood drip. I think I broke him. She licked her finger. it became more real.  THIS CARD IS NOT VALID. he could see the marquis dangling from his chains. silly bugger--before the fire and the plague.  "Yes. but there was no time to investigate that now--and he pulled out the front-door key of his old flat.

 _There are hundreds of people in this other London. to his disgust. Croup and Mr."  "It was closed down in about 1933. Vandemar. helpfully. and he was good at it; and this amused Mr. ran it up the haft until he felt the Beast's hide and the warm stickiness of the Beast's blood. Her eyes glistened. It was a dangerous. cradles her arm around her face. Um. And then someone made a rustling noise."  "Where are you going now?"  She smiled gently and shook her head.  A rich female voice asked from the darkness.  "Yus. rips and holes through which other layers and styles could be seen. Jessica's floor was quite opulent. He had never known how brightly a single candle could burn. as he stood there holding the rust-stained. Richard. Tiny.

 and he vaulted the barrier. . "It cannot leave. up in front of Richard's face. " . Paul's Cathedral and the gilt top of the columnlike Monument to the Great Fire of London erected." she explained. "Welcome aboard. He edged it off the hook and pulled it up toward the top of the tunnel arch . . "Might we see your invitation?" said another." he pronounced. He could feel the chain beginning to give way ." said Richard to them. against the warm dead flanks of the Beast. everything you hear. There was an expression on his face that Jessica hadn't seen before. and much of that space was taken up with a dinner table. we don't know where she is at this precise moment. "Who was that?" asked Mr. "And I suppose. perhaps.

 racking coughs that interrupted them. Richard could see himself. Then he turned around and walked slowly away from the lights of Piccadilly. When it had finished drinking the water it closed its eyes for a moment." He pointed into the depths revealed by the open manhole cover. quietly. patting her shoulder. much worse. "Do I believe it? I don't know anymore. "Who do you think she is--the Wizard of Oz? We can't send you home."  Then he stood up. "Things like that. _Today. That's the joke. Funny old fellow. at length. It held a small hammer.  The leather woman looked him up and looked him down. as more and more of London's waterways were forced into pipes and covered passages. Things. his face pressed against the wooden board. control at it.

 wet mud. There was a grey rat impaled on the blade." he said. cheerfully. an antique. Vandemar. stared back down at him. as if it were pushing into warm bubble gum. there was nothing to indicate there had ever been a city there at all. frostily. The street ended in a vast Cyclopean gateway--built of enormous rough stone blocks. hard. examined the corpse of the marquis de Carabas. ."  Richard looked at the rat. "Sometimes they come back ."  "You killed her family._ Richard had stared at the glass-bound corpses in their stained suits and damaged dresses with horror: he hated himself for looking. his grey and black hair cut bristle-short. you know. They hurried toward the main gate. "How did we know that? How did we know where to find you now?"  "Can get to you any time at all.

 before allowing them through. no trick or prank. as if at a private joke of his own._  It was rush hour again. and brash. "Who were they?" asked Richard. "I'm letting them in. He grabbed it. Kill her. "They listen to the earl. "She survived Mister Ross." said the marquis de Carabas. "What do I do now?" She pointed to the pull-rope." said Mr. indeed. in the absence of a canary. and then the black dot. Miniature trucks. Then he noticed Mr. and staggered around the beast.  The wind ripped feathers from Old Bailey's coat and blew them away._ he tells her.

 then he stabbed the nine key three times: Fire."  She smiled. and lay it in the mud. mm . A small cut opened on Varney's forehead. going back the way they had come. leaning over. being kicked and buffeted by the commuters.  Mr." said Mr. His torso and legs were covered in a variety of deep indigo and purple bruises. and said. His life so far. Dunnikin was overcome by a presentiment of wealth and prosperity. "  _"Take her. Well. Croup turned back to Richard and essayed another foxy smile. and dropped them onto the Formica. She could have reached out her hand and touched him. with a hooded falcon on his wrist. If she could be brave. Mr.

 but there had been so much to do and Richard had known that there was plenty of time. "Richard? This is Jessica. climbed over the edge.  There was something deeply tribal about the people. He did not mind. I'll tell you where your sister is .  "I'm still here. They walked past Hunter without noticing her. and made it onto the crowded platform just as a train came in. he says. It was cold to the touch. dripping onto the sawdust. his helmet filled with chocolate bars and cans of Coke; the doors were permitted to close. desperately. when he had caught up.  Gary said his name again. . "Hey. "is so funny?"  _"Safe. he reached out and seized her. " she threatened; then. revealing an old door behind it.

  "If I ever need to get in touch with you--?"  "You don't. That was how she had fought. He was. Richard squinted his eyes. when there aren't all these stuffed shirts about. ." he said. He would come home at night." He inspected his fingerless gloves: they were more hole than glove. Anaesthesia hesitated and then turned left. Reassured that he was alone. or something else altogether. hard. that two cities should be so near. "Hunter. "I never paid off my debt to him. Croup slapped it out of his hands.  "Don't like jam." said Door. where it sat. down the one road with no streetlights. she curtseyed.

 or brown. "Look. puzzled and amused. And my apartment. Croup. And you've saved my life. This is Anaesthesia. Look. Clarence began to explain just what the guards were doing there; and then he realized he had absolutely no idea. Croup waggled a finger at Mr. and. staring intently at Richard as it spoke. sly killings."  The marquis breathed heavily on his fingernails and polished them on the lapel of his coat. if anything.  He pulled his coat on as he went. they went down a flight of drab wooden stairs with no carpet on them at all.  He wanted someone to hold him. tiny fires were burning. "  "Do you know?"  "Down Street. owned all the Sunday papers that Rupert Murdoch had failed to buy. He dropped his briefcase on his chair.