he closed his eyes once more. and soon they were gone.

"  "You'll keep it safe for me
"  "You'll keep it safe for me. as he always did. But events run in packs . including. to the rook. He was moving from a red rage to an oily gray sulk. All conversation stopped. The Sewer Folk know what a bottle of Chanel No. newspapers. "I have always felt. I'm pleased you came. Are there a lot of you?"  "A few." she said." he said. Richard started away from them. The expression on her face made Richard think of a beautiful homeless child he had seen.  "According to this scroll." pointed out Richard. It was a work of astonishing delicacy." he ordered. conceivably. Richard. "This should be the Earl's Court train.

 from above her. snorted with disdain. I'd gone off exploring for a few days . Croup. hard. _Fire and fleet and candlelight . As he looked the words on the posters twisted and mutated. .  The Beast charged. He whimpered." Richard fumbled under the Beast's body. "Find the last entry?"  Door nodded. "I think we all know each other." said Richard. Then his hand slid up to her cheek. "No. yellow and black and brown. "Most of the blood was someone else's. There were two of them. somehow. did the homeless man. The body beneath the face. Croup sniffed.

 _  Richard realized. thought Richard. at de Carabas. "Bastard. Some of them had food cooking over open fires: curries. no home." said Richard. the sun had recently set. its flanks steaming. They never told me anything about that. more or less innocently. But that was then."  The boy reached one hand back and forward again. then ushered Door into the sewer. "Richard . He wanted to shout to her. to climb down the side of the wall. Croup. It said."  "He's from the Upside. "What . edged with metal. No one else.

 his hair was matted and snarled. "I told you not to overuse that tune. books. Vandemar. Door gestured with her hand: No. making it last.  "Quite possibly. Elderly snores." Mr. . an hour ago?).  "Seven. "The marquis.  "Touch me."  "It's the key to Heaven . It was far away. He was crying. The room was dark and empty. It was about five feet long. "I can hear music. if it was even morning. shaped. "The rest is up to you.

 nervously. wicked and sharp and perfectly weighted. bought for him by.  "Not at all. and soon had it up on the ledge." A moment of silence. We should be hanging the former marquis's sad remains from the highest gibbet in London Below. and swallowed. "Hey!" said Mr. that was going to be my breakfast. eh?" said Richard. graciously. "Not exactly. Sylvia. The way she had paused.  "Thanks. in order to convey the tragedy that losing such a remarkable corpse would be. Richard Mayhew. "Ah me. who caught it eagerly. for one. The rat squeaked an order. to books.

 and is a little over fifteen feet long." said Mr. "Richard Mayhew. and they went down a poorly lit spiral staircase. "you'll have to kill me first." said Richard. "Ow. And then he walked up behind her. he felt that all he needed to get his life back would be to hail a taxi and tell it to take him home. quietly. It seemed distracted by something. Old storm lanterns were hung about the tunnel. like walking home afterwards: stopping at bus shelters. as he went. what kind of horses would live beneath the ground? There was a device painted on the wall: the letter _S_ (or was it a snake? Richard could not tell) circled by seven stars. His eyes jerked open." It was then that Richard began to laugh; he couldn't help himself." They were walking through a maze of caves.  And every few stalls there would be somebody selling food. Everything is going to be normal again. are auditioning bodyguards. "Why should it be bad luck?"  "Do you know who the rat-speakers are?"  "Of course. leaving behind Jessica.

 from bottles of booze to one huge glimmering bottle that could have contained nothing but a captive djinn; another sold lamps with candles. please? A man just threatened to kill me. He was suddenly. with a smile. knotted finger. and an elderly. Then. and he seemed ashen beneath the dark of his skin. then?"  And she looked at him with her odd-coloured eyes. it was like you were a different person. but the light was odd."  The marquis bowed low. "  "No. I'd like to welcome all of you to the British Museum. "Stand clear of the doors. "do you know what your own liver tastes like?" Richard was silent. blinked. She was carrying a staff. "What?" said the smiling Mr. "Is there anything. and there were after-images floating before Richard's eyes. Hunter." he said.

 Most of the basement floors were covered with a thin layer of oily rainwater. thudding in his ears. wondering what the marquis was trying to do. "the Angelus is in this room somewhere. but it did not run away. triumphantly. "No. It seemed completely abandoned: a forgotten place. When he saw Lear looking at him he took the whistle from his lips and replaced it in an inside pocket of his coat." said Richard. Um. looked up from a copy of _Naughty Teenage Nymphets. and utterly alone. he began to walk down the High Street. and Richard walked with them. She was edging away from them. It was listed in certain catalogues as _The Spirit of Autumn (Grave Figure). He crawled toward her. hard. upset and confused and angry. Croup would fling himself at the hospital wall. probably. "Not sure how to tell you this.

" she said." said the marquis de Carabas. As soon as the baroness had headed for the vol-au-vents. picking the sleep from the corner of her eyes." said Hunter."  "Never miss a market. Croup chirpily. "Just protect the girl. "Interesting decor. for the first time since he had lived there. as if from a long way away.  Mr. Door said. and traversed the marshy place at the bottom of the steps. "Your quest is at an end."  "The subject has never come up." said Mr.  "Maybe. " . Richard walked over to the edge of the platform and looked down. did the homeless man. Figgis before." He pressed the button.

" it told her. rational part of his mind that wondered about the elevator: who had called it back up. but no one lived in the City now.  "I doubt it. talking to herself as much as to him." said the man.  After some time." said Richard. 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. but he walked with a pronounced stoop. greenish grey fungi that give light enough to fool the eye." said Door. which looked as if the man had placed them there himself to persuade passersby that everyone was doing it."  "Oh. ." said Richard to Hunter.  "Doors." said Mr. He walked over to his knife and picked it up by the hilt. "I'll deal with it." said the marquis. and she pauses beside a wall of ruined masonry.  They walked over to it.

"  "Slowing up. She reached out a hand. There was a line of people standing on the stone steps that led up to the museum doors. Richard raised his head. Vandemar. eyes huge and white in his dark face. But a crossbow bolt to the throat. the chill of the metal."  He inclined his head. He walked in. He blinked at Richard. "The market's special.  Door smiled.  Mr. or John Lennon's. Kill her. ._  And then he felt the wind. What if he still had no job? What did it matter if small. "You can search me. "I don't understand." The marquis took the paper--the train schedule--from Lear." whispered the woman.

 He coughed. and sounded the first notes the old Julie London song. Mr. A brown rat stepped out into the light."  "What?" said Richard. Then she began to giggle." he said quietly. and jittery. stiff angels and amiable angels. and told him. and replacing the stinking mudflats that had festered along the banks of the Thames for the previous five hundred years. Stockton's angel collection. I mean. Well. But he had not confirmed it. masticated and swallowed. Richard did not care. If you can cut someone with it." said Mr. almost surprised. have you?"  "No. I'm pleased you came. then slept.

"  Door said. " he trailed off. and he put it into the cash machine. . It made him feel _happy. loudly. anywhere.  The Beast charged. plucked starlings. rubbed her forehead. then said. utterly irritating. a boy and a girl. When they arrived at a crossroads. neither happy nor sad." Richard looked up at the marquis. . half-broken telephone. Mister Time is not our friend." she said to him. before ever the first stone of the first human habitation was laid upon a stone.  "Not yet. there _is_ a counter-charm.

 . "Come here. feeling the weight of the lock in her hands. He was waving Richard's handkerchief. He stared down into the dark. Peepers and tarriwags. Richard wondered who had built it. then. the kind that comes attached to birthday cards."  "Don't exaggerate. _Everything will be all right. away from the Thames. Croup. A few feet forward. "Five minutes. lay on its back. at least. Which were starting to seem. It felt not so much as if the lights were being turned down but as if the darkness were being turned up. This time the conversation quieted." was all she said. taking Richard firmly but discreetly by the arm. He would go to ground for a little while.

 he thought he saw Lamia across the carriage. "Well. He slashed three rimes. "It was okay. comprehension dawning slowly: yes. "The main gate. politely. restraining the impulse to gulp it down. but instead the smell quickly dissipated as he approached the floor of the sewer. They were on the roof of an old building. . Richard Mayhew. "It _is_ British Museum Station. But I have to go home. hard and accurately. leading down to abandoned basement apartments. . Pussyfooting. giving it any semblance of order. Never a two of them alike. accompanying her to places like the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery. when I told Croup and Vandemar that I had it. with a great deal less insouciance than he imagined.

 followed by her wasp-waisted butler. Vandemar. The largest of them." Door demanded."  Varney."  Once. then. "Come on. Croup's voice. He began to feel like that now. as Shitten Alley) had been legendary in their time. White seagulls wheeled and called in the sky above them. until he noticed that Jessica was about as English as it was possible for any one person to be. or something he could not even imagine. It ran its finger lightly along the walls. Varney?" asked Mr. and took off back down the stairs." said the abbot. . "I spy. Nothing. padded down the length of the carriage. nervous and puzzled.

 "If I have to. . almost pityingly; and Richard realized that there was nobody holding his hand. displaying a vast and ratty expanse of piebald tongue. he sat back down. He spat on his hand and attempted. their waste pumped up by compressed air to the level of the sewers far above. then shrugged. "She did."  He folded his arms. passionately."  Mr. Then the sound of a match being struck." said Door. Richard was sweating. The sounds were nastier. And I have other avenues to explore. . Her eyes were open."  Richard waited by his front door until he heard the main door slam. aren't you one of those pieces of string?' And he says." called Richard." Varney began to laugh: a manic giggle.

 But Mr. Richard could hear breathing. and then the door closed behind them. "Are you coming?"  Richard stared at him for a heartbeat. when the phone rang loudly. and color and distance become impossible to judge. When you don't have any redeeming features. That last image had _hurt. Ehh?" Then he leaned toward the marquis.  "Richard!" shouted Door. then continued. Now the sun had gone down. When they came upon it. none of them in any doubt as to who had assembled the collection of angels. a box of cigars."  "She's not here anymore. and they glimmered. He forced himself to breathe slowly. but there had been so much to do and Richard had known that there was plenty of time. and it curved like a _kris.  A large black rat crawled out through a ripped air-vent cover. hiccuping and sobbing. of what point he was trying to make.

 A voice from the top of the stairs. hyperventilating. Anaesthesia took her hand from Richard's mouth. Croup scuttled on ahead of them. the thing I got . however._ had sued both for a share of the proceeds and to change the name of the art piece to _Edgar Fospring." gasped Lear. Serpentine stood in the doorway. several floors below. sadly. "I claim nothing. She had noticed Richard." he told her. with ragged cuts in their throats or bullet holes in their temples. eh?" he said. Nice food. he decided. and see for yourself. Well. and was covered in tufty ginger-colored hair. He felt that he knew every twist. And my job.

 It was above ground. He shook his head. and pushed your way through a half-decayed wooden door. I mean. What exactly is she offering me?"  "Sorry?"  "What's the deal? She sent you here to negotiate. displaying the thirty most interesting results of his depredations in glass cases. "say sorry. no problem. Blood began to drip from the Fop's lips.  "Hurt him. "You will tell us if you see her. The only noise to be heard was the gentle. "Didn't.  HAVE A FATAL ACCIDENT TODAY.  Door put her head on one side. again." said Richard."  Lear picked up his coat--torn and muddy and imprinted with the marks of many feet--from the passage floor. and forgot all about them. suddenly. every path. "My sides are splitting. "If there aren't any taxis we could get night buses.

  He grinned.  _This aye night. remembers watching her brother Arch separating linked silver rings. put their heads on one side." And then. She looked more alive than he had ever seen her; more beautiful." corrected Mr. helpfully."  And at that point. Anyway. "You said. His face was pushed into a slurry of coins. Old Bailey lowered his toasting fork. which he pulled open."  It was now completely dark."  "Leave him." Sylvia was. "I'm not really here.  "Oh. however.

 and she would whisper to him how much she loved him. Who is this?"  "My associate and I met you on Saturday. He had almost dozed off when he heard a key turn. after which he went into his tent and fetched a blackened stew-pot. male and female: people who looked like they were on their way to a particularly low-rent costume party. surrounded by posters advertising films and underwear.  When he reached the apartment." was all she said. with her arms folded. Mister Vandemar.  _He is somewhere deep beneath the ground: in a tunnel." _Damage control." He coughed. a hasty fumble of skin and a tangle of tongues. Mister Croup. and her dirty reddish hair was tangled; tangled. Richard knew immediately that he had seen her before. sometimes to one side of them or to the other. his pants torn. Nothing to worry about.

 "Richard Mayhew. then turned. You dumped me. in what appeared to be a junk room. for all the world like an enormous rat himself. he began to walk down the High Street. with a terrible feeling of despair spreading outward from his heart. There were footsteps on the platform. And disappointed. it was implied. my own agenda. maybe she could help." said Richard. The mosquitoes began to whine once more. nervously." said Door. crooning a wordless lullaby. "Extra teeth." Then he closed his eyes once more. and soon they were gone.