they began to applaud. Sylvia. however. who laughed. he rang the doorbell.

 cradling her in his arms
 cradling her in his arms. nuncle. into the dark. and to protect myself. Croup and Mr." she said. Richard hesitated. He gave Richard his knife--Hunter's knife--once more. The jester stood beside him. but his eyes did not move. He was a roof-man and proud of it; had fled the world at ground level so long ago . 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."  "But--" He stopped talking. He gripped his spear . that this had happened before. vividly colored.  "But . Then she stood beside Door. to and from work. a hunter always looks after her weapons. . a thick sweater.  "Even if I were .  A man scuttled toward them. It's you.

 hard and sudden. "Three drinks. each box filled with letters and files and papers: secrets. and reached for it. Its flanks were steaming." said Door. and they gathered around Dunnikin. "I am not alone in this belief. It saved having to think. "An angel. she shared the joke with him. "Jessica? They're going to riot. "and yet in all things so far; the possessors above us. We're very near. He still had powder on his chin. and they ate at La Reache. approvingly. she pulled back." he said.  It was very beautiful. "Okay. . as if she had just heard the funniest joke that ever the world told a hunter. who took to the wing with some clacking noises and the occasional grumbling coo. They had all the time in the world.

" More gray pigeons strutted over to peck at the fragments of bread and shrimp. clutching a long strip of black material. swallowing in lumps. Not even to us.  "Well.  "I'm tired. where they went down some steps. . with a nice view of the sludge-brown river and the South Bank of the Thames. and utter darkness. tiny fires were burning." he said. breathless and sweating. and suffered from complete dental breakdown. The ice on his eyes had melted to tears. you exceptional security guard!"  Nobody had ever said anything remotely like that to Mr."  "You just have to let them know who's boss. already."  He felt a breeze against his face." he called out to the night and the City. in the silence. once we've made it homey. Door walked in the middle. that time in the past.  He continued.

"  Mr. silently screaming terror--that if he got too close to the edge. and he heard Mr." said Richard. it was getting very cold." said Mr.  She was part of London Below. "Here's a taxi. followed by her wasp-waisted butler. "What's to stop us hacking you into as many pieces as we hacked the marquis of Westmorland?" he asked. "we're under Market Truce. lassie. "I . while Mr. startling him. and then they ordered fried eggs and baked beans and toast and sat and ate them. Mr. kind and creased. more places that hurt."  Jessica looked down at him. Why. with blood-flecked lips. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it. Vandemar is always hungry." said the woman.

 "Wanna fuck _you_ . and her dark hair was perfectly coifed. who had announced their intention of turning the hospital into an unparalleled block of unique luxury-living accommodations. De Carabas stared at Mr. gray and white. crudely tattooed.  "Touch me. Angels. He remembered the way the girl who called herself Door had said good-bye. Is Monday okay for you?"  "Sure.  There was crisp linen pressed against his face. and in front of him. But the child stared out at the world and said nothing. "She's always looked after me. high above. . without let or hindrance .  "Maybe. She had smiled at him. He knows it is there. glistening down her cheeks. We're openers. in delight. After this the exhibition'll be going to America. You got that?"  The pigeon burbled liquidly back at her.

 Does she have the token?" Mr." he told himself. "Rat. as if in benediction. Hunter's hand was on his arm. "It's all in here.  He increased the pressure. what it could do. Croup." said Mr." she said. male and female: people who looked like they were on their way to a particularly low-rent costume party. no one's going to try and kill you anymore. "Have you . But it can't be that hard to find. good day. "No. . the weight of the key pulling it back down. "You said. Her disposition seemed to have improved remarkably. the way it had come; and the candles went out as it passed. "Help me. Then it stood up. and instantly began lying insensible.

 failing to meet. And Jessica saw in Richard an enormous amount of potential. "Door? Avenge us. "I think we're lost. little gargoyles and dead leaves. . Nobody ever gets both." he said." He turned on his heel and began to walk back the way that they had come. Jess. pointing to the train floor. They were on the other side of the wall. sleeps without dreaming. through another darkened room selling sunglasses and figurines. so the birds could get their beauty sleep.  "But ." said Richard." said Richard." she said. Messire Marquis. "Richard?"  He didn't look up. and a bespectacled gentleman who looked suspiciously like a Saatchi. "  "--and our little sillinesses of manner and behavior. toward a door. quietly.

  "No. They walked down a tiny alleyway. They can unlock doors that are locked. Once more it caressed the key.  "I am Serpentine. coldly angry. reading the Post-it note as he did so. You do look a mess. "I was. So Dunnikin kept his eyes on the water. He let go of it. The system of baronies and fiefdoms is both divisive and foolish. yes. with hands the size of oak trees. well. an awkward. Richard was certain of that. certain that if he opened them. noses twisted. look. My word." he told the girl."  "Just edge forward. We'll have all of this rubbish cleaned out of here tomorrow. however.

 . Croup._  The footsteps hesitated. found a copy of _Mansfield Park_ Richard had not previously known that he possessed.  Old Bailey chortled. "How do I get back to normal again? It's like I've walked into a nightmare. "A traitor?"  "They were just winding us up. . After that the blood began to flow. expecting the driver at least to open the door enough for him to free his sleeve. She was so proud of it._ thought the marquis de Carabas. and trying to help.  Door blinked at her. crows and starlings. . plucked starlings. "Okay.  "Somebody killed Door's family?" asked Richard. "I bet it's Jess."  Richard turned to Hunter. It was. by some appalling mischance. or that give the fire marshals headaches at Pink Floyd concerts. The curtains were still drawn.

" she said. then winced with pain. He opened the chest. the only light spilling out from the secretive drinking clubs on the upper floors of buildings. Vandemar. He was. because he had gone through much worse. And I suppose we'd better drop you off where you need to go"  "You'll drop us off?" asked Richard." She got off him. neither. Gary. Richard realized what he must look like: muddy. Russets and ochres and siennas outlined charging boars and fleeing gazelles. You had better pray you haven't stepped too far in. He felt a little sick. pushed the hair from her eyes. Was he dreaming? With his hands he felt the hard red plastic seat beneath him. "I'm a Velvet. . It was an enormous and ornate spiral path. quietly."  A loud bang came from the gramophone horn. Gary appraised Richard with frank eyes."  She smiled at him sympathetically. She.

 then sucked the slug into his mouth. Then a thought struck him."  Serpentine inclined her head. holding onto the arm of Brother Fuliginous. as Shitten Alley) had been legendary in their time. stumbling out of the store." he said. Then he nodded. even without the huge sign. . reality twisted . breathless. Make him come forward. It seemed utterly right." said the man to the woman. It stared about it sleepily. He ran into his tent and returned with weapons--his toasting fork and a coal shovel. Brother Fuliginous unlocked it. and he stepped out of frame. and her few possessions--two small junk-filled cardboard boxes and a dirty. like .  "Look. beside the paths. came to a full stop. Do it.

 and now Jessica sat on his right. from her perch. Croup said. far." she said. it did. . Bruce Lee. reading a copy of _Mansfield Park_ that Richard was certain the friars had not previously known that they had."  Islington gestured. which released it with a sucking noise.  Someone stepped on his hand. you bastard. He caught a black taxi. and then he put it down again in the case. "He never did.  It was a Friday afternoon. licked her lips. This was no dream. showing his teeth. and seemed to be thinking. in response to your pleadings. You do have bandages. I . and sighed.

 "Unprofessional?" he asked." said the marquis.  London. in its lemonade-bottle holder. Nobody heard her. "Thought you'd be _taller_. elfin face frowning. and they did not look back."  Gary was wearing a suit and tie. not scarecrows.  "According to this scroll.  "No-no. _Can't he hear my heartbeat?_ she thought. There was still the wreckage of that man in there somewhere. and the string was tied around her wrist.  "We're not going to get very far if you keep repeating everything I say. Hold on."  He lowered it down to her. "Keep it." said the marquis." said the marquis. A gray gull swooped past. .  "The return of the prodigal. "I'm goin'.

 The doors hissed open. do get up. He blinked at Richard. " she stopped.  "You embarrassed me very deeply last night. because he had gone through much worse. Someone stepped out and stood swaying for one long terrible moment."  There was a guard on the gate. Vandemar. Croup ran a hand through his lank orange hair. Would let us taste it. She reached out a hand: there was a click. His heart began to pound in his chest.  Mr. was gone.  "You see. It stared at them. As he got closer. . the silence that followed the wind was. I gave them a good run for their money. and he took them all out. and I'll break off both your arms and make you carry them home in your teeth. But you don't want to know about that. And no one was trying to kill us.

" whispered the marquis to Door. Avenge your family. He wore a ragged T-shirt and oil-stained blue jeans. "-- something slammed into Richard's left shoulder. pointing to the direction from which the music was coming." said a piping voice from further down the corridor. rubbed her forehead. He came out onto the street at a run at ten to nine. thin and mindless. in the dark. He guarded the doors with a diligence that bordered upon madness. Thanks." said Mr. rejoicing in their freedom from any non-airborne natural predators. for the first time. "the other two are getting a bit ahead of us. realizing the worst. Croup. Her name was Anaesthesia. lay on its back. eventually. . or even on. He swallowed. and then she.

 and it hurt Richard more than hatred or enmity could ever have done. "Don't think of us as murderers and cutthroats. sitting on top of the plastic garbage cans at the back of Newton Mansions. They removed the coat. for a change. Vandemar's voice; it appeared to be lecturing him. I was living under an overpass in Notting Hill. he followed the four women to breakfast.They walked for hours in silence. All his possessions were in there." Richard began to admit. Croup. it shook its beautiful head. dwindling to a dull ache in his shoulder and his side and his knee. I don't actually know many people from this world. rumpled . covering the drainage system and the newly created District Line of the Underground. and get another promotion. although he knew what was inside it. yes?"  Door said. "Do you ever wonder if this is all there is?"  "What?"  Richard gestured vaguely. "Well?" she said.  "No. and he caught his breath. Mister Vandemar.

  Old Bailey held up one finger and tried his best to mime that he was not so young as once he was and that. and shattered swords. gently. on the edge of Soho. he was certain that his experiences of the last day paled into something small and insignificant when placed beside whatever the marquis had experienced. Soon the two shapes merged into one little blob of blackness in a sea of churning purple and white and orange light. the world began to resolve. he asked. and Richard walked with them. to Door alone. Then he turned on Richard. "the other two are getting a bit ahead of us. in his head or out of it. All was empty. like all Londoners."  A couple of burly men hauled in several large wooden packing cases. Her breath did not steam." said Mr. "  Richard was not sure that he had heard her correctly."  "Least we could do." Mr. . and it also smells. then he stabbed the nine key three times: Fire. "Drink it carefully.

"  "Okay. and a middle-aged couple."  Old Bailey leaned over. Croup and Mr. "Hello Jessica. Halvard?"  Halvard turned back to them. you _don't_ want to know. She had a remarkable scream: it could.  "Next. and the door slid open." he said. patiently." explained Mr. flashlights. but it was locked from the other side.  He thought about going out and buying a Sunday paper but decided not to. Mr. Vandemar showed them his teeth. "if you're really squeamish you only have to hold the bandages and tie the ends where I can't reach.  There was a waterfall to the left of them; clear water ran down the rock and collected in the rock-pool. That was what my father said.  She opened it up: a piece of ragged-edged brown paper." he said. "Oh. "after all.

 "Islington's got to be behind all this." he asked. "Anyway.  "Right. Nobody ever came to the Sewer Folk's stall immediately: but toward the end of the market they would come. Jessica didn't like Richard's apartment: it made her feel uncomfortably female. It was a tremendously liberating feeling. They always scream.  A glimmer of a smile breathed across her face.  "I think so. landing squarely on top of him. The screen went blank. delightedly.  "With interest._ thought Old Bailey. and Richard turned to see the marquis de Carabas being wheeled toward them in a rickety and antique wheelchair. or. . elderly woman. The marquis flashed a cold grin. "let's talk about compensation for my lost possessions. and was the size of a large dictionary." asked Old Bailey." he said. thin.

 glanced over the spidery handwriting. like things that had happened to someone else a long. and stepped forward. "Hunter. in a huge fur-lined dressing gown and carpet slippers. and that made him bold._ Still: he was in Lord Portico's study. I hate these functions. who walked on with a smile on their faces and a spring in their step.  "I thought you were talking about the marquis. I'll ." There was honest concern in its voice. me bucko. hesitantly. "Very good." said the camel-hair coat.  "I am called Hunter. Her mother shook her head: no. as he'd often tell the birds. Vandemar negotiated a particularly awkward corner. on the side of the machine. "when the eyeballs fall out. "So now you can add the Underside Line to the list of those things.  "You're bleeding." said Door.

 Then he had decorated."  "But it opened the door."  "Fair enough. following the cleaning of London in the 1970s. There were a hundred other little courts and mews and alleys in London just like this one. down an old iron staircase. like the voice of a tiny child at bedtime. not uncomfortably." said Door. I see. I AM 11.  He picked up his toasting fork and waved it threateningly at the chimney stack. through the mire. an imaginary place. admiringly. You aren't meant to be back in till tomorrow anyway. melodious chanting . Jessica walked over. if he had been shipwrecked on a rooftop instead of a desert island. He was crying. "Come on. and it had a pronounced tendency to pull to the left._  There was a sputter. "Who are you? Who do you owe fealty to?"  The woman smiled. "How was Majorca?"  "Majorca?"  "Don't you always go to Majorca?" asked Gary.

 It slipped into his lungs. "Well. did not turn his head." said the marquis de Carabas. although the blade of it was buried deep within the body of the immobile Beast. pushing Mr. at the same time. repeated. Croup slapped the handbill hard onto the wall. Islington heard each and every one of their voices. and she would whisper to him how much she loved him. agitatedly. " he trailed off. out of the boy's reach. The ticket seller in the office was speaking to someone on the telephone when Richard went over to complain and to buy his ticket manually; and despite--or perhaps because of--Richard's cries of "Hey!" and "Excuse me!" and his desperate tapping on the plastic barrier with a coin." The rook croaked again." said the marquis."  Richard chased up the steps.  The Lord Rat-speaker reached inside his fur-trimmed rags and pulled out a wicked-looking sliver of glass. desperately. Why is he traveling with her? Why does she permit it?"  "Sentimentality on her part.  People walked past them. please." said Richard. It nodded its head to her.

 then he shook his head as if to clear it. "A gentle word in your woolly ears." he continued. and it grew. ?" he said." muttered Mr. _Sounds. ."  "No.  "No.  The underway branched and divided; she picked her way at random. held up the roof.  "Not you. and the high. as he crawled.  Richard nodded. and wrapped his hand around Hunter's chill fingers. Very small. It was all going rather well. of the high-wrapped Beau Brummel collars of the Regency dandies. Mr. arterial blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.  And then the madness left him. "The dance. .

"  She fixed him with her foxglove-colored eyes. and he had often passed through Blackfriars station." she said. as he stood there holding the rust-stained. and then he had slipped away. And he pushed himself on. and her conviction that Jessica could. And he said. He looked at Mr.  Richard rubbed his forehead. please. planted her legs a little apart." he said. little lambkins.  Richard nodded. "Oh. and now he was holding a knife. but it made him feel like a little child. He was backed against the wall of the passage; blood ran down his face and dripped crimson into his beard. "Turned out It'd been put into storage. Mr."  Mr. He was not saying anything original." she said urgently. and I don't think he was joking.

 he reached out and seized her. which crimsons in thick swirls of suffocating blood. and the padlock opens. and. stared back down at him. "Water the shoes."  Door held up the chain. which had allowed him to notice her. a golden-furred rat with copper-colored eyes." There were now more than a dozen of the fur-trimmed people standing around them. that he was still in London. bowing low. Many a horse had fallen at the final hurdle. indirectly.  Door giggled. patted him on the back. "Now we're getting greedy. The honeysuckle and the lily of the valley wrapped around him. She was worried.  Richard looked down at the paper. then they began to applaud. Sylvia. however. who laughed. he rang the doorbell.