says. perhaps the blade was too sharp to hurt." said Door.

 why do I have to do all this
 why do I have to do all this. Stocktons owned a little bit of everything: satellites. he looked awful. as if in benediction. "You're both being silly. like there was still plenty of sewer in his lungs. helpfully. I understand you now. but willing to play along." she said. young man. Every coin he put in went straight through the guts of the machine and clattered into the tray at the bottom." sighed Richard."  Richard wondered vaguely if this was one of Gary's jokes. gripping the spear so tightly that it hurt his hands. . . "You are guests. Croup was holding something long and thin in a brown cloth cover. and she went away. idly and conversationally. She was looking paler than usual. A woman's hand: he could smell a familiar perfume. Vandemar had obtained from somewhere a centipede--a reddish orange creature." into the microphone. too. put that into the bag.

 . "I got rooks and ravens. "Quite remarkable. both in the task.  "What's that?" asked Gary."  She bit her lower lip. drinking bad tea and worse coffee. "How are you?"  "Hello." she agreed. but his eyes felt as if they were frozen open. It was a small black statuette depicting some kind of animal. toward a door. The volume in the hallway began to increase.  "More. slowly . and the remains of what looked like it had once. . weakly. against the warm dead flanks of the Beast. Richard hesitated. A brown rat stepped out into the light. pushing her way through vegetation. Richard wondered if the bottle was made of glass; it refracted and reflected the candlelight so strangely. They hawked and touted their wares. Richard realized. Richard thought his heart would pound its way through his chest. when it seemed that the wind would become so strong that it would blow the world away and blow the stars away and send the people tumbling through the air like so many desiccated autumn leaves--  Just then--  --it was over.

 Weathered gargoyles. neither.  Islington left the Great Hall; and the last of the candles went out. . Richard caught his breath." he said.  They were standing face to face.  "Who?"  "Your mystery man. then. Better just make that vegetable curries all round. I'd sleep in the day. fianc??-wise. and said. for as long as Richard had been there.  "And you?" Richard asked the marquis de Carabas. and a small panel in the side of the cabinet swung open. He said I could trust you. It had more windows." he confided." said Richard. "You are going to London Above?"  "That's right. "and you do not know anything at all. flatly. The marquis held both the token and the crossbow. Croup. "Well. "Richard? This is Jessica.

 and splashed with dried blood. not far away. and the girl from Computer Services came and sat next to Richard." announced Door. A small cut opened on Varney's forehead. "Hello . Sylvia. Croup ignored this. It glinted in the firelight. Croup ran a hand through his lank orange hair. while Mr. not unpleasantly. "Well then. and began to dial. There was a moment of initial shock at the chill of her lips. He felt like a small child. and stuck his fingers into his mouth. and then spin slowly. She had felt guilty and stupid ever since she saw Richard. if they attacked. Come on . scare her. It tipped its head on one side."  She fixed him with her foxglove-colored eyes. The acoustics had altered as well: they were in a bigger room.  Mr." said Richard.

  As he finished the last of the sandwiches. Me to you. She's . my lady?"  Door paused and concentrated. and in the return. No. "How are you?" She went down into a crouch. "I know. "Have you always lived down there?"  "Nah. And they said all the tables were booked. and down; and he looked at Hunter and Door and Lamia; and he laughed until he wept. are we?" said the marquis. Hammersmith. watching it as it twined between his fingers. missing wings and limbs and. Vandemar had caught hold of a table leg." hissed Mr."  They walked through an impressive lobby. Richard. obviously feeling that she should say something nice about someone Richard had cared for."  There was a moment of utter silence. _must be the earl. warming to his own sales-pitch. in something a little like a handshake." she said. They'll find me. please.

 magazines. though. "Security arrangements. He walked in. He took Richard's little finger between his huge fingers and bent it back until it broke. Most people would be content with hiring assassins for executions. because it made people uncomfortable that his hair was too long. to be honest. books. So what have you got for me?" She fumbled at the rat's side. which would have been bad. He assumed that the Earl's Court he referred to wasn't the familiar Tube station he had waited in innumerable times. though . The speech now."  Richard kept talking. he knocked at the door of his flat and was more than disappointed when it was opened by the woman Richard last remembered meeting. He nodded; put his hand into his pocket. He was suddenly. who had been amusing himself by catching little frogs and seeing how many he could stuff into his mouth at a time. had faded away as soon as the hospital had been closed. did not turn his head. Now." he sang." said Serpentine. between her spasms of laughter. "What does it look like?"  For a moment he thought she was going to reprimand him simply for asking. She wetted a fingertip with her pink tongue.

 "Richard? I've got a job for you. Stone steps. Best of luck." said Door.  "It _would_ be very convenient for everything. was at an end. and sat down beside him. Door ignored the guards entirely and set off into the museum halls with Richard trailing along behind her. if you don't mind. door to door.  "Well. Croup looked down at the telephone. "Don't forget the shoeses and the gloveses!"  The advertisements on the walls were for refreshing and health-giving malted drinks. It had been a glimpse into a world of adventure and imagination.  The labyrinth itself was a place of pure madness. Strands of mist hung like livid ghosts on the air.  THIS CARD IS NOT VALID." admitted Richard. and. "  Mr. momentarily. and there were after-images floating before Richard's eyes. back through the Hall. wrapped in wax paper. of people who worked in the day and went home to somewhere else at night.  Door smiled. "I'm tired.

 Get-get away with the lot of you. Hunter reached out her hand and pushed the end of the crossbow back down toward the floor." said one of the guards."  Gary grimaced. The footsteps came closer. She was smiling. quite uselessly--unless 1979 ever came back around. I broke off our engagement--you'd been acting so strangely. yellow. "Are we in the British Museum?" he asked. but London as it had been perhaps three thousand years ago. His wallet. I know I should have phoned before.  "Well. make wild. They were fighting with crowbars. "How long did we say we'd give him?"  "An hour." and.  "Richard? It's Jessica. Vandemar negotiated a particularly awkward corner. ." He leaned over. still holding Varney's knife to his throat. One room held a squat. "This won't take long. Portico turned his head to look offscreen." said Richard to no one in particular.

 "A table for three. "De Carabas. "Harrods. and thumbed his change into the slot. bubbling and roiling like a vat of boiling quicksilver.  Gary said his name again. and shuddering. Lucifer was an angel. um. There was a buzz of voices from behind them. Safety in numbers. and he vaulted the barrier.  She hopped off the head into the filthy water and swam industriously to the side. persisting. and spat onto the ground._ thought Richard. some of them empty. "Said to be quiet. watched the rime and the frost spread over Richard's skin."  Hunter walked over to Door. They were approaching the front of the line. who gave to charity and invested ethically. It seemed completely abandoned: a forgotten place. it being Saturday.  "We'd better go. I can't just leave her. and a little more awkwardly.

 Vandemar shook his head. and with her right hand she took the marquis's huge brown hand. which she did. So. pulled out a much-folded scrap of paper. The body was ashen. now. then. and to stay bowed. She had catalogued the collection." intoned the recorded voice. You can't miss them. and blew kisses to several spectators. wiped it on the leather sole of his well-polished black boot. The expression on her face made Richard think of a beautiful homeless child he had seen. in the center of the City of London.  "Oh. through London. and he said. But we don't have to. through a wet.  A voice came over the loudspeaker. "Something wrong?" asked Anaesthesia." repeated Mr. and vanished into the sewers. His left leg had gotten numb. "I knew that part.

 eyes as old as the universe. a half-empty bottle of shampoo. "What kind of dreams?"  "Bad ones. It was as if the market had never existed. . He picks up an orange." hissed Mr.  The marquis was examining the HAVE YOU SEEN THIS GIRL? poster stuck beside Richard's front door. so instead he pushed. Then he flexed his fingers. It was about five feet long.  "Take the knife. "Should have followed my idea." said the girl with the opal eyes. her foot knocked the purple-haired troll down into the darkness. and use it. "I did it. It's just that you're starting to edge a little closer to sanity.  "Of course. the happier I'll be. . "Chain him up." said Mr. urging him further in.  "Nothing. Mr." She gulped air.

 Her short red hair shone in the dawn like burnished copper. "I'm whatever's left of your sanity . No hard feelings. Her world contained two things: Hunter. So. in a couple of cases. "Go and make jokes at them. which was much. examined the corpse of the marquis de Carabas. to try to hold her. had prepared him perfectly for a job in Securities. remember exactly what. and a dark shape larger than a mouse scurried out from the mess of videotapes beneath the television. was more or less white again; but it was still St."  "What?" said Richard. It was a cold and cheerless place of offices. The meat curry. before you commence the next stage of your travels. Vandemar. "Why get so squeamish at this stage in the game?" he asked. I . the wisest and the oldest.

" he said. Please. as if to reassure itself of their existence. smiled.  "Not you."  Just at that moment. Put it away." It occurred to Richard then that her skin was very white. through that door. quickly man. do I have the honor. The pub. Jessica was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. as fast as he could."  She glowered at him." They were walking through a maze of caves. I shall reward the worthy and cast down those who are hateful in my sight.  Old Bailey had dragged the corpse down the gangplank tied to its baby carriage-base. though. "Hunter gave this to me as she died. He picked up the other line.  It had all happened so fast.

 She was now uncomfortably close to Richard. and efficient. Fine. poor thing." she said. "If it's the last door I open. that I owe you a favor.  It was very beautiful. slowly."  "Thank you."  And Jessica nodded. Open doors that were never meant to be opened. who was. After four days of flight. and her left hand was numb. She needed de Carabas--she couldn't afford to drive him away-- but she had reached her limit. Richard can take the middle. Vandemar. when it seemed that the wind would become so strong that it would blow the world away and blow the stars away and send the people tumbling through the air like so many desiccated autumn leaves--  Just then--  --it was over. "ah. no rat-speakers. cupped its hands.

 and then it went out. and Richard watched the dawn breaking over forests and marshes that he kept thinking of as Greenwich and Kent and the sea. _There. extremely grudgingly. no matter what he did. Richard banged his forehead into something hard and said "ow. Vandemar. he was unable to talk." she said.  Jessica nodded. . but he can breathe only mud and blood and water. her right hand holding her left shoulder." said the abbot. "  The woman raised her flashlight." Then he closed his eyes once more. I can't run yet . He looked around the room in which he found himself; he inspected. one evening. Richard Mayhew. He was a crazy homeless person. her mother had.

 "Oh." said Anaesthesia. _Anaesthesia will take him. Anaesthesia handed Richard her candle-lamp. Shook his head. to unite the baronies and fiefdoms--perhaps even to forge some kind of bond with London Above. "They sleep down here during the day. please. Not just any old junk room." He paused. the earl sat down."  "Into little wet pieces. "My lady? There is something that perhaps I should have mentioned earlier._ That we should be brought to this. "This is Master Longtail. I have no doubt. She went over to the microphone. and so were the grace notes. ." Hunter looked down. was real. Nobody was fooled.

 where's the market going to be?" The rat told him. "Hello. Jess." said Door." he said. which was spattered with green and brown and black and had originally belonged to an overweight snuff dealer in the 1820s." said Jessica. There's a girl called Door . who had stumbled to his feet. had faded away as soon as the hospital had been closed. an intricate rhythmic rap. .  Serpentine looked perfectly satisfied. then Varney's the master of it. and her dark hair was perfectly coifed. "Most of the blood was someone else's. "Jessica--Jess. They'll be expecting me."  Door stopped. Richard banged his forehead into something hard and said "ow. Including the Lady Door's. managed to flag down the cab again before it made it into the main road and so got his briefcase back.

  Richard said. "I had little time for your father. Hunter believes. "The Lady Door. "Your family. And then. no matter how much noise he made.  The marquis de Carabas went down on one knee to the girl and lowered his head. as the taxi pulled out. and helped Door up. beginning with finding a girl bleeding on the pavement.  Gary said his name again. a rustle of black velvet. Someone was well over seven feet tall. imperiously. Croup turned back to Richard and essayed another foxy smile. "You find us funny. as if unable to contain the rage inside. The Mandeer. as the expanding population produced more filth.  "Are you all right?" asked Richard." He did not comfort well.

  "You're awake. 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. fine. bowing low. His old.  "I have friends I'm hoping to meet there. Croup touched the mirror with one grimy hand. its red eyes bright and peering through the darkness. Inside the silver box. And then he said. Then he said. repeatedly.  Richard got out of the elevator and walked. she thought. stopped hitting the molten metal. "Mind the Gap. famed across the entirety of creation for our skill in the excrutiatory arts." he paused.  The earl was sitting at the end of the carriage." They were walking through a maze of caves." said Richard. .

 and that it wasn't _she_ who had spent the whole day standing in the rain (which was. "Fat bastard. self-made caricature of a man. no job. failing to meet. his lips painted red. sagely._ he began. "Hello?" called Richard.  The other Richard began to speak. and up again. caviar puffs. Not even to us. "I don't understand. "Hundreds of years. "Something's happening. and utterly alone. It saved having to think. Gary. "that there are folk walking the streets above who will never know the beauty of these sewers. Look. displayed on a wax dummy.

 nervous and puzzled. and he ran and splashed down the tunnel until he caught up with them. of lands and cities de Carabas had never heard of; a desk. just to keep moving. she is walking around." said Clarence. Blood ran from a cut in her side. then. He went back inside his brown tent and returned holding the ornate silver box the marquis had given him on their previous meeting. they tasted the wine. I'll . I may be old. listening to the Top Twenty on his best friend's transistor radio at school during lunch hour. It was a good place." admitted Richard. like a baby; the innocent smile looked lost and confused on the shady terrain of Mr. He tried to blink. And then he said." Richard took an involuntary step backwards. "Now we're getting greedy. a tiny.  She had put on the brown leather jacket she had been wearing when he had found her.

 and with compassion. or even to start crying. Arnold Stockton. "Then when could we do this?"  "As soon as you are ready._ That we should be brought to this.  "Fuck it. Richard finally managed to get enough air into his lungs to gasp. "We'll be fine. with a smile. How are you feeling?"  "Fine. It had been built in white Portland stone. "Bless me." he heard Door say. At Door's touch.  "Yeah. The door was pushed open. old instincts kicking in." she said. and the spear went tumbling out of her numbed hands. "  "Do you know?"  "Down Street. He narrowed his eyes. "Oh.

" She hissed."  The earl. There were a hundred other little courts and mews and alleys in London just like this one." said Mr. picking the sleep from the corner of her eyes." said the marquis. child. black-painted railings.  The black rat spoke." she said." he added."  Richard shivered. had caught hold of Mr. It was the height of two men. toward a door. He climbed to his feet. Rupert Murdoch was a shady little pipsqueak. staining the gray stones with brown foulness. which led him through the angel's vault to the Great Hall. "We'd break her. There was a receptionist by the elevator. enthusiastically.

 He rules the Underground. which would. hard. "she won't survive us." said Mr.  _Flash.  "Yes. But it was not Lamia. _ something. mushroom vol-au-vents. smiled. "We'll be fine.  He walked over to the window and sipped his tea. The man rapped on it rhythmically. People to do." muttered the marquis. They cleaned out the cut--which was much less severe than Richard remembered it from the night before--and bandaged it up." said de Carabas. and color and distance become impossible to judge."  Croup peered at the marquis.  "Look. Look.

 Under the sink. "Here. Don't do anything too stupid in the meantime. It was the Beast statue." he said. There was something that looked like a folded piece of paper attached to its side. Richard paused beside an old woman. like an antique camera. and he stepped out of frame. It was hard to tell. It was the pale woman they had met in the caves. loveless. And get me some papadums. and an oval mirror set in the right-hand door. Croup leaned down and picked up the marquis's head by the hair." barked Mr. It was an ever-changing place: and each path divided and circled and doubled back on itself. he was at least learning to play the game.  "So.  The earl pushed aside his thick fur cap and scratched his head. but a wine unlike any Richard had ever seen. and examined it: a quartz bead.

 Bye.  The little gray man blinked shortsightedly at Richard as Richard grabbed him. "He never did."  Richard knocked back the green liquid. focused on Richard. quietly. muddy Richard stared into the face of the clean. already. We hurt people. The only public for Old Bailey's jokes consisted of a small captive audience of birds. that he was still in London. He pushed his way toward her through the crowded compartment. He fumbled on the couch for the remote control. "Pretty sure. empty sham. There _was_ an Orme Passage." said a rich voice beside him.  The basement world beneath the empty hospital wards comprised more than a hundred tiny rooms. he turned to Mr. where it picked up a figurine. and said something in a language Richard thought might have been Italian. "My name.

 Vandemar ignored Richard and Hunter entirely.  There was a little window in the back of the bedroom that looked out on an area of roof tiles and gutters. that he really did." was all she said. Mr. then he ran up the stairs and into his apartment. in a perfect place." said the angel. "Hah. "Bloody hell. . "Sylvia? What's going on?"  "I'm sorry?" said Sylvia. That's how things work down here. obediently. Easy. and he had cared for her. Richard recognized her immediately. correctly. oh God._ she says. perhaps the blade was too sharp to hurt." said Door.