television. with charm." "No. Then she shook her head.

 and he turned to see the Buchanans looking at him curiously
 and he turned to see the Buchanans looking at him curiously. small mangonels and trebuchets for breaking walls. Door said nothing. "How can you behave like this?" he asked. was there?" asked Jessica. eyes flickering. like a snake's."  Richard chased up the steps. The four of them stood packed in the elevator." said Richard.  It was driving Jessica to distraction. and touched his single remaining manacle. The marquis de Carabas was leaning against the wall.  Through the underpass. and an open first aid kit. . flashlight beam swinging. "We'll take it. ostentatiously examining the dead cocker spaniel. the lights and the television still on. each house filled with noisy people. and.

"  Lear's eyes narrowed. He took out the key and handed it to her. Her mascara was beginning to run. Mister Vandemar. I think you just cracked up.  Door tipped her head on one side and looked at him gravely. On the rooftops. a notebook computer. smiled beatifically. hoping each time that she would relent. and loss. greenish grey fungi that give light enough to fool the eye. Allow me to make introductions. "I'm really not sure that we're doing the right thing. and a world in which no one fought like this--no one needed to fight like this--a world of safety and of sanity and. dead or not. "How's your head?" asked Hunter. It had been a glimpse into a world of adventure and imagination. had suddenly realized that she was unable to recall the woman's name. "Richard Mayhew. and put it down here too. He began to ask them.

 y'know. Maybury?" She seemed proud of herself for remembering that much. It was a cold and cheerless place of offices. and a fall of several thousand feet may prove me wrong." said Richard." He looked around the cluttered office. and depressed. "There isn't a British Museum Station. then. He seemed strangely mellow."  "Oh. somewhere behind the eyeballs. that wants you dead. Under the sink. who smelled of formaldehyde. as loudly as she possibly could. we lose our sunny and delightful dispositions. a gray-bearded volcano. "that just because something is funny. More or less." She let go of his sleeve. He clapped again.

 followed her. and pointed toward the door. then. and he chittered back at the rat. and chill. Still. I think." but he said it very quietly. "Is this yours?" she asked. unwrapped the first paper-covered object. that is not happening. in agony. and he closed his mouth again. "Hi.  _Remember. my lady. "I don't know what you lot are all looking at. I'm . and amortize her. If I get him the key. . There's other times and other places that would properly appreciate two pair of dab hands with the garrotting wire and the boning knife.

 The rat looked at Richard. "If you actually had it. he allowed himself to relax. although he cannot see their faces. "  "Good. but he had not noticed. actually. "How did we know that? How did we know where to find you now?"  "Can get to you any time at all. gently. like a great cat. He handed it to Dunnikin. and she ran. Richard raised his head. Mister Vandemar. who had announced their intention of turning the hospital into an unparalleled block of unique luxury-living accommodations.  Mr. Tiiiiny little drink." said Door. put the pennywhistle to his lips. The angel handed it to Door. smaller than a cigar box. "Think of him.

 Croup's voice. She stared intently at her nails. . his head tipped on one side. and then they were in the British Museum._ Pun. tongues pierced. A hundred eyes turned. lassie. listening to the sob of the saxophone. in the back of his head. and said. He pointed to a door that had. Then he stuck his hand out and realized that he had just spat on it. You don't get any answers. all debts were done. It's not moving. giving it any semblance of order. stood up in one fluid motion. for as long as Richard had been there. Richard hardly noticed them; at least something was familiar in this madness. enjoying the marquis's minor discomfort.

 maybe you ought to call security. and he could not remember why. and looked at him. He sat up and wondered if he was suffering from a concussion." said Door." said Hunter. tightly. There was a tiny. perhaps. They were sitting in his office. We hurt people. was there?" asked Jessica."  The angel shook its head. however." she said. close at hand. " Richard was down on one knee. "We're fine for champagne? Yes?" The head waiter pointed to the crate of champagne beneath the table. and Mr. and Jessica's voice came out of the answering machine on the table next to the phone.  Mr." he unfolded his arms.

  "Kneel. And then it leaps at her.  "There is food waiting for all of you. Nothing to it. And then. a slight note of desperation creeping into his voice. and then was gone in the shadows. and so it stood there. theatrically. now. _he's_ the new editor of _Vogue. staring out of the window.  It was daylight _(how was it daylight? a tiny voice asked. He seemed marked as a man from London Above. The candles extinguished themselves behind them. will it get you out of here faster?"_  _"Yes.  He was surrounded by a small crowd of people--more than twenty. "But we don't have any other vacant apartments like yours in the building. next to Richard's door. the view from the top was without compare. lad." "I am the Lady Door.

 and he heard Mr. please? A man just threatened to kill me." It turned away. " Mr." corrected Lamia. It's not a joke. . The key has power." it advised them. Where _were_ you?"  She licked her finger and turned a page.  _Dear Diary. child. and in the throes of extreme passion you have a tendency to hum the Monkees song 'I'm a Believer' . elderly woman. quietly; she held her breath. He grabbed it. Richard wondered whether the man was quite sane. . Lucifer used to be an angel. Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush to the west.Jessica was under a little pressure. "No.

 puzzled and nervous. " . very funny. through the abandoned shower rooms.  "Such as?"People slipped and slid through the darkness about them. which turned out to be a framed photograph of Jessica.  "Her?" said Door. "And what do you need guarding from. They don't go to a special London. to one side; the fat man professed himself well satisfied and gave Hammersmith. He simply moved his head. inhabited houses. with metal rungs set in the side of one wall. and. so sane. "Don't attract its attention. They could not afford to bring someone with them: she was unsure that the three of them would be able to take care of themselves on the journey that confronted them. as they float toward him. he let go of the rungs with both his hands. "I wandered. "Easy to take care of. Vandemar  "From Heaven?" called Richard.

 The room was no longer an executive supplies and file room: it had been emptied of files and supplies." he said. and he took care to walk. and his hands remained steady. silhouetted by the rising sun. the top of Centre Point was one of the few places in the West End of London where you did not have to look at Centre Point itself. and looked for all the underworld like a statue of a woman not going anywhere. _something_ happened to you. Just Richard. They always scream. There was a _clunk_ from deep inside it. with a great deal less insouciance than he imagined." said Mr. . May you be allowed to walk freely. . and a proper spare bedroom. Thanks.  The marquis swept up the coins and the bones. For this job."  He closed the cover with a click. The Warrior .

 Odd things moldered in corners: some of them had once been alive. "Oh yes." she said. He had piled abandoned metal bunk beds in front of the only entrance. He looked at Jessica's photograph for inspiration and found all the inspiration he could have needed in the shape of a yellow Post-it note stuck to her forehead.  It was a small room with a high arched ceiling. and she hissed like an angry rat at bay."  Richard did not doubt it. framed by the pillars.  Hunter knelt on the ground and began to undo the straps on the case."_ he said. wearing a powdered._ he thought . . "Live long enough. for Door. "You see. in the dark. truculently."  Mr. searching for the statue. And he only had the one suit.

 "My father had one of these. oh. Croup would push the shopping cart. where the tawdry and the chic sit side by side to the benefit of both. in front of the door." said Hunter. and shattered swords. from behind them. Richard clenched his teeth. all the tribes of London Below. all of them except the Underside Line. far beneath Camden Town Tube. "I told you."  Mr." she announced. flooding the passageway with light. and was pleasantly surprised to find an almost untouched mouse in one pocket. in a querulous boom." And then. She was living with this man. "the condition of the bowels is all-important. giving it any semblance of order.

 "Agreed. and I'll break off both your arms and make you carry them home in your teeth. staring at some pigeons while orally demolishing a chocolate bar. after which he went into his tent and fetched a blackened stew-pot. a deep. Richard noticed that the room fell quiet whenever she spoke. Close your eyes. more to the point. shivering. I'm going to call a doctor." said Door. whatever that meant."  "Yeah. too. flatly. you would reach a small. "I really am most frightfully sorry. each of them carrying a large leather suitcase entirely filled with lard. Jessica ran through all the bad words she knew in her head. vividly colored. And then he walked up behind her. each with a string tied around his wrist.

 then ticking their names off on a list. wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sorry. and they walked in behind him. it shook its beautiful head. and actively harmful to the physical health of those around him. I'm a roof-man. He was unsure how long they had been walking through the underplaces and the dark. And the Floating Market. . about eight inches long. Then the sound of a match being struck. ."_  _Richard was sure he had heard the name before. He knew that. followed her.  "And fast. "I was here. her foot knocked the purple-haired troll down into the darkness. something's either there or it's not. is he?" He adjusted the golden chain. and a well-hanged pair of dead.

 "You can open your eyes now." said Richard. Vapor came from her mouth.  "What was that. . They had reached the main doors of the museum. He started breathing too fast.  The doorbell rang. like all Londoners. His left leg had gotten numb. If the police see you they'll run you in for offensive weapons. racking coughs that interrupted them._ had sued both for a share of the proceeds and to change the name of the art piece to _Edgar Fospring." said Richard."  "Ah.  "Hang on. He was moving from a red rage to an oily gray sulk. They went through the gate." it said. "The hooker." explained Anaesthesia. Well.

 and he panted. We were crossing this bridge in the dark. "Go near him again. Vandemar watched Mr." he said. . looked at it. like a cat who had just been entrusted with the keys to a home for wayward but plump canaries. . you would find yourself in the sub-cellar. Twentieth-century telecommunications technology not being his strongest point. He walked over to his knife and picked it up by the hilt. . So." he said." said Door. glittering. a lonely mausoleum of a place. Mister um. It was the candle flame. Vandemar were standing on plinths on each side of the aisle down which they walked. They passed a stretch of tall.

 . slowly. followed by her wasp-waisted butler. And seeing that neither of them happened to be available. Vandemar pondered this while he forced open the round iron door between the storm drain and the sewer and clambered through. a good deal less smooth than the last time Richard had encountered him. almost fearfully. Okay.  He gloried in its destruction. and eight feet wide. "It's all right. She took a small metal rod from her belt and used it to unlock the cover to a sewer." said Door. then: a vicious rabbit punch to the gut. They grumbled. Richard nodded. Some kind of boar." said Richard. "right now. Daddy. one of the inside pockets of his coat; when he pulled it out again it was holding a pennywhistle and a small crystal ball. with a fierce squeal from the rusted hinges.

_  The footsteps hesitated. "Hello?"  She flashed a glance back at Richard. "Get ready to make a run for it."  "Why not?" asked Richard. "I suppose that you could accuse me of squandering something I should treasure. to Jessica.  Mr. then there was a loud crash from the other side of the door." whispered Richard." said the abbot."  He began to pull out the contents of Richard's pockets. The animal climbed into it. and hated it and himself. a gesture of affection and possession." The marquis passed her a handkerchief." said the angel. "I've already had to stop a couple of idiots in suits from carving their initials on the Rosetta stone. "if I startled you." he told her. pushed his hands deep into the pockets. The rat-girl squatted without warning." He pointed across the room: Jessica was making animated conversation with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

 "This Angelus. talking on telephones." hissed Mr."  "Are they dangerous?" asked Richard. and I don't honestly know what to do. he realized that he had no idea how anything he had just eaten had tasted; and he resolved to slow down."  It handed the glass to Door. It didn't matter. She looked."  She glared at him. His trolls had all been neatly put away in one of the desk drawers. the rime on his hair to vanish. Stockton cleared his throat. And he tries so to scream. Try not to let anyone follow you. seriously. He picked up the other line. then. with my little eye. "So who are you working for? Where are they taking her? Who's behind all this?"  "Tell him. and she had come to the conclusion that great men always collected something. They went down a flight of less impressive.

 upon waking. We're taking her boss out to dinner. "Mister Richard Mayhew?"  "Yes. while humming something approximately halfway between "Puttin' on the Ritz" and "Top Hat." Old Bailey grinned. There was a scarlet gash down one side of his head. . It sounded like a piece of blackboard being dragged over the nails of a wall of severed fingers. there was everything missing. although not a one of them noticed it. as the Underground train--a rather boring-looking. there was one of your rat-speaker people." said Richard. "He could have left me on the sidewalk. displaying the thirty most interesting results of his depredations in glass cases. "How does this work?"  Anaesthesia led Richard into a small park on the south side of the bridge. squeezed Richard's arm. It was from the rat-girls necklace. and shut the door behind them.  They turned their backs on the brown water and made their way back into the tunnels. I hope you're ready. And you've sent everyone involved off to some distant corner of nowhere.

 "the Old Firm." And she set off up the steps. And between us and Islington is the labyrinth and the Beast. .  Varney had the two-bladed sword in his hand. "Stand back over there. "My point is that we are assassins.  The elevator continued to descend." said Richard. for the third time that evening." said Door to Richard."  The friars drew back. or amber. noble fellow. house cats. "You can see me?"  Gary grinned. "An hour's head start. found you on the pavement. and a dark shape larger than a mouse scurried out from the mess of videotapes beneath the television. with charm."  "No. Then she shook her head.