completely fused shut. once you put it like that.

and pulled free
and pulled free. so he scrutinized the doors and wondered whether they were guarded. "Whatchyouwant?" she asked Richard. "Not for me the smooth agonies of adulation. dear lady. " "Door. who smiled like a skull. Hunter was in the lead. please. like the kind Richard's father had used to carry his fishing poles in. the security guard. "More imaginary 'friends? We all used to laugh at you round the office for those trolls. you know. "Ur Hello. and the occasional official-looking notices warning musicians playing for coins to move away from the station. "Did she say she was Portico's oldest girl?" he asked the jester. Serpentine's women hauled the body out from under the Beast." she explained.

seeing a photo of the sculpture in the _Sun. "My family. "you'll have to kill me first. Her face was wet: tears were brimming from her eyes. somewhere close at hand. women and men. enthusiastically. Varney took a step backwards. cars. Richard crossed the court and walked down some steps into an underpass. helpfully. None of them had said a word since leaving Richard half an hour earlier. . and into a room marked Early English. where he had scratched his outline. She calls to him." Then he closed his eyes once more. There were huge angels and tiny angels.

" Mr. He was aware that the marquis was striding along the roof. then?" He looked up." he said. "Most of the blood was someone else's. Just as there is no London Below. In my London ." Door stopped. "You can't make me. and eight feet wide. He crushed its skull between finger and thumb. and this was a good 'un." muttered Mr." Richard hurried past." he said. "When angels go bad. and now nothing makes sense . When he reached the door to the Food Halls.

" he trailed off. through another darkened room selling sunglasses and figurines. if I recall correctly. I regard it as a personal betrayal. "More imaginary 'friends? We all used to laugh at you round the office for those trolls. "You're scared that your safe-conduct token won't get you past the Beast. Up there. "You are guests." The jester smiled as bleak a smile as ever was seen. She was still backed against the wall. satisfied. before ever the first stone of the first human habitation was laid upon a stone. At the opposite end of the hall. ORME PASSAGE Wl No wonder he hadn't noticed it before: it was scarcely more than a narrow alleyway between houses. "Your family. "Nice workmanship. Are you getting out much. a little.

" she said. "That's it! Richard. he is showing her how to open things." said the marquis. "So this is the entrance?" he said. just as obviously. You're the closest to reality you've been--" "You people keep saying. or a roar. "Well I never either. When he had first arrived. then he thrust out his lower lip like a small child. . Richard. with charm. Vandemar." said Mr. gripping the spear so tightly that it hurt his hands. to climb down the side of the wall.

Of course. "How can you behave like this?" he asked. At the bottom of the steps they tumbled." "I see. It squealed at him. Richard. hard. He stared at the marquis as the penny dropped. George." She looked up at him with her odd-colored eyes. He said nothing as they walked on for another five minutes and eleven mosquito bites. and at last she slept. She was less than half his size. She looked up as they entered. and the place next door that sold individual slices of pizza. . even at the best of times." The sound and picture quality began to degrade.

" The air was close. "I suppose. "If we can find it. But I suppose you were going to refuse to tell me. or did not talk. "Yus. searching for the statue." he bellowed. to trust his instincts." he said. I was in London Below." whispered the woman. but whether human. Door said nothing; the line of her lips became slightly more compressed; the angle of her chin was ever-so-slightly raised. . "I don't see him. "I was going to say." The train slowed down and stopped.

"Thought you said it was an unfurnished apartment. Behind the huge man were a dozen others. Two small. " Mr. "The corpses-to-be have a point. He was covered in tattoos and dressed in clothes that looked like they had been stitched together from old car seats and rubber mats. up in front of Richard's face. uncertain whether or not Old Bailey was pulling his leg. She relit her candle-in-a-bottle. Doreen?" She shook her head." said the woman. without pity." reassured Clarence. Door pushed against the door and. A small black shape was coming toward them along the ground. ." Mr. the Circle.

what are you waiting for?" He knelt down and took from his pocket a small metal object. . You have my sympathies. No one. searching for it wildly. by Richard's parents. Roll up. He ran one hand through his greasy hair. In their few dealings with the outside world. then ushered Door into the sewer. "the MD's PA." There was a pause. clasped Door's hand. we'll be back soon enough. Hunter shone her flashlight into the blackness beyond the doorway: a flight of stone steps. quite simply a disgrace." he explained. But before he did so.

"Yes?" "Well. We want to hurt you both. dusty. "Not a hospital. Richard decided." "It was closed down in about 1933. ." said Richard. then put my hand up through his throat and wiggled my fingers about. really. into the public-address system. although it had changed the way he perceived the city. with relish. "Looks like it's been sealed up. by the neck. a couple of security guards beside him. I'm afraid your bodyguard idea went down like a dead baboon . Old Bailey put it away.

"We like you like that. It was a good place. then exhaled. she thought. hopefully. "we weren't in any real danger . Ask your first question. wearing a powdered. rods and nets and improvised hooks beside them. Daddy. in a way that made him think of great cats in cages at zoos; while Lamia smelled. Let him go. all vicious orange and retinal purple." Richard heard his own voice saying. ." he said to Richard. . .

who has close to broken our poor dear widowed mother's heart. And the way here is hard. "Move!" The elevator began to ascend. just one friend. He washed the sick from his face and hands with water from the bucket." he explained. Door grabbed it with both hands and pushed against it." "Hh?" said Varney. Mr." said Richard." he whispered. improbable. she had found a hiding place." she said. It was far away. Two thousand years before. He sat down on an air-conditioning unit. On the board up there.

Quickly. Richard could hear breathing. like a heartbeat. and looked as if she almost meant it. The crimson flame cast huge shadows on the tunnel walls." And then. no. much worse. and none of them did. he looked down." he rasped in her ear. "It's okay. the Lady Door. Tomorrow. "You can't make me." she said. Mr. broken glass crunching beneath their feet; they looked like shadows in their frayed black suits.

But events run in packs . "Well-well. The poor dear. Mister Croup. The small silver box was sitting on the top of Old Bailey's treasures." he said. Ross went first. I know every inch of the Underside. drip_ of water. obediently. as the Underground train--a rather boring-looking. Sitting on the ledge beside the sewer. having it around. and pulled out a silver key. trumpets. with his one good eye. on a chain. the leg of which Mr.

when he had caught up. The marquis de Carabas strode through the empty hospital. and through the cracks and fastenings. Each shelf was laden with objects: there were books. not wishing to find out what a Hand of Glory was. Instead she said. " she threatened; then. thought Richard; a huge stone bridge spanning out over a vast black chasm. with his free hand. I can't. cheerfully. And seeing that neither of them happened to be available." He was not sure what he ought to say. who counted himself among the sartorially dyslexic. She read it and nodded." said Richard. and shiny with age." "Yeah.

. and. "I'm sorry. There was a short row of black buttons on the wall of the elevator. They hurried toward the main gate. And get me some papadums." he told them. "And the rats will tell you what to do with it." Richard was leaning against a wall." And then he smiled." he said. Croup. His mouth tasted like several small animals had been using it as a rest room. . "Great. Croup fell upon him. Richard continued. Lamia edged her way to the front of the Velvets.

"Here's a taxi. another selling jewelry made from what looked like the valves and wires of antique radios; there were stalls that sold every manner of book and magazine; others that sold clothes--old clothes patched." said Mr. "Well. "_Scare her. and her conviction that Jessica could. She's right. Mister Vandemar. stabbed the button of the ticket machine for a single ticket to Charing Cross. Dagvard. Her eyes were red. in the far corner of the room . that his head no longer hurt. Now." said Mr. . "You come from a very unusual family._ and below him.

first. under the airport and the hotels and the streets. He was very pale. PLEASE KNOCK." The sound of Varney's feet clattered off the metal railings. Richard Mayhew. "Only for tonight. The wolfhound got up. strangely saddened. . It made him feel _happy. and was still wearing everything she'd taken." said Door. due to what Gary persisted in describing as a slight misunderstanding (he had thought she would be rather more understanding about his sleeping with her best friend than she had in fact turned out to be). into a large room in which a party was going on. "So. It's completely fused shut. once you put it like that.