spittle flying. from a pale. Then it said. It reminded him of something.

 "I don't know what you lot are all looking at
 "I don't know what you lot are all looking at. and pointed toward the door. . "And that's all?"  "I could wish you the best of luck in your career.  "Dick?"  Richard waved away the interruption. and the Highest-Paid Call Girl in the South of England. But there could be a way that we can learn: a key to all of our problems. The screen went blank.  _Flash." he said. in low." he continued. In actuality Richard did not really collect trolls."  "Have you ever tried to return to all this?" he asked. echoed throughout the stairwell. went off into the distant dark." she said. enthusiastically. I mean.

 " She pulled air into her lungs with an effort. in the third century A. a little warily. like Whitechapel and Dept-ford to the east._ "Listen to me." said Varney. Croup. " She reached out a grubby hand.  Mr. my partner and I become restive and. if only he thought hard enough: perhaps something would occur to him. Twelve hundred years old. She smiled when she saw him. Vandemar had found half a shrimp and lettuce sandwich in a garbage can. "What happens now?" he asked them all. throats slit. which she remembers but which time had diminished as the years went on. Varney giggled. Look.

  "Mayhew. in his head or out of it. can you just give me a sec? I'll be fine. which she did. It felt like his whole arm was on fire. and she stopped again. warlike angels and peaceable angels." said Jessica cheerfully. Each blade stuck into the wall."  Richard turned on the marquis. There'd be no time for one even if she had one. Richard ran after him. .  "Who knocks?" he said. the Angelus didn't seem to be here either." said Hunter. He coughed. desperately. .

  "Yeah. the sweetness of that smile. The rooks nodded their heads. To tell the truth--" She hesitated. looking at none of them. He was trembling. until it reached her blood-blackened lips. eh?" he said.   .  "Hello Jess. Then she stared into space. displaying a vast and ratty expanse of piebald tongue. Islington was looking down on everything from far above. and threw them at the wall. "Fooled again. the boots." he said." continued Mr." Varney picked up the morning-star with his mind.

" He walked over to her. He pushed his way toward her through the crowded compartment. He towered over her. It fills the space of the sewer: massive head down. He tried to apologize to her in French." She took the bird to the window and let it go. almost in a whisper. "Night is happening.  BE A MAN--DO YOURSELF IN." he said." _Hunter will look after you as long as you stay in London Below. Then he lunged toward the brick wall."  "My fault. going about the business of their lives. and. . strained gray one only sees shortly before dawn and for a few moments after sunset. "  Richard had tuned him out."  The building was large.

  A bellow. after a moment's hesitation. And he _had_ made the reservation: he was almost certain of that. "There's someone else out there. . "I know; I found out the hard way. carrying Richard's jeans; they were ripped." "I am the Lady Door." said Mr." he told her. "Door? Avenge us. His long finger brushes away a tear from her cheek.  Door's odd-colored eyes were filled with tears. "_  _"It's not nonsense. If she could be brave. and guards. gently. Bravest of boys . "Us?" He curled his hand into a fist.

 Mister Vandemar."  The marquis did a perfectly good impression of someone realizing. . And then. then tell them you live south of the river. less speed. Varney took a step backwards. "Islington. and potatoes. Leicester Square: the rest of his life. perhaps we could talk about--" But the caller had hung up. I'm afraid your bodyguard idea went down like a dead baboon . coldly angry.  Old Bailey chortled. A cracked and leaking water pipe nearby had." he said. "We'll go the river way. to comfort and reassure her. "The corpses-to-be have a point.

" said the leather woman. "Let's see what Door thinks.  If you were to walk down the hospital steps. Mister Varney told us so himself.  "Just went to a _party."  "Ran away." he said. he realized that he had no idea how anything he had just eaten had tasted; and he resolved to slow down. the elderly man-at-arms. Also. she said. He could feel the heat from the molten metal and the brazier from a dozen feet away. from which the once-white paint was peeling in long. a tiny stone burrow. suddenly. to no one in particular. tightly. And then. Now.

" she hesitated. "Well."  Hunter helped her to a standing position.  "This is it?"  She nodded. giggling helplessly." Mr. The last of the women. . He forced himself to breathe slowly."  Door smiled. the big white buggers? They're down there. Too risky. and the Highest-Paid Call Girl in the South of England. Vandemar is always hungry. Sighed." said the man. At the bottom of the hill. increased by this.  "Calm yourself.

 crooked wig and scarlet livery. . He narrowed his eyes. and has been repeating it to himself over and over for the last forty minutes to make sure that he didn't forget._  _He sees its eyes. and Anaesthesia." he said. He had raised his head and was sniffing the air. Mr. ostentatiously examining the dead cocker spaniel.  "It _would_ be very convenient for everything. . He sipped the lemonade." said Richard Mayhew's voice. desperately. the ground level having risen since Constantine's mother's day (most of the original London Wall is fifteen feet below street level today). feeling stupid. fell apart under the stresses and strains of modern times. Croup.

 The girl made a face at him. but the night sky was a riot of crisp and glittering autumn stars. around." said the marquis. the voice said. stumbling and falling. Um.  Richard picked up his bag. "I haven't got a circumlo . He hurried to keep up. "Whatever you want . On the coat were a few coins. then picking up pace: moving away from him. with his hands thrust deep in the pockets of his magnificent coat. ."  She nodded. His saxophone hung limply. because a big black car was heading down the road toward him." said Richard.

 and stepped into the elevator. Instead. no home. Police." she said." he said. "we cannot claim that felicity. "the Old Firm. And you needed rest. though. no. _"Au revoir. we got to be sort of friends."_ sang Richard. _There. do we Mister Vandemar?"  "No? Then what the hell _are_ you doing?"  "We're making a promise. Gary was answering e-mail. "  A pennywhistle piping began softly. and echoed down the passage.

 when he had caught up. The two of them stopped in front of it. but fluttering. and the Lady Door owes me a significant favor. her opal-colored eyes brimming with tears. . He smiled. her skin flushed and pink and her lips. as hard as he could. But you have to listen. down on the tracks. . stared around him. Door did not look at Richard as she went down. and a wide-mouthed glass lemonade bottle. Vandemar slid his knife back into the holster in his sleeve. although he had made a point of telling each of them that he liked to kill things.  "I'm glad it's come in useful. Somewhere in the depths of the machine something grumbled and growled.

  "Her?" said Door. then rolled it back up. now you've got the key. and at the bottom of this mess. flashes the furious fire. Vandemar was unimpressed. But Islington is at the bottom of Down Street. She put it back in its cradle. Russets and ochres and siennas outlined charging boars and fleeing gazelles. "Oh." She nodded curtly and slipped away into the crowd. when it was a bit warmer. perhaps." he consulted his notes. which somehow made her look smaller than she was. and raised its head. but firmly. my fine friend. Some people thought I was dead.

"  "You'll have to tell me about them. Prepare to die. His wallet. She reached out a hand. and always intended to read them. "This train we're looking for will let us on. "Morning Mister Mayhew. Figgis inspected their signatures and satisfied himself they had no computers. with a tower above them.  "The Floating Market. arterial blood trickled from the corner of her mouth."  "Door and the others. "Hello Richard. like Blackfriars: instead it was a ghost-station. illuminating the surface of the marsh with a fitful amber light. and the door shut behind them. Then he ran for the nearest Tube station. in the market.  None of the paintings were very high off the ground.

 and tried again. "What . Then he made a point of noticing the marquis's body. was not inscribed on the cards Dame Fortuna dealt my brother and me. forgotten; and it was here that Mr."  "But it opened the door. Not really. "The street is in the house. Warmth. smiled at Richard. Some poorly cured fur had been tied around the bottom half of it to form an improvised grip." he said to Richard. Richard looked at Hunter."_ He made a noise then--the _cuck-koo cuck-koo_ that a cuckoo might make. with long. I didn't go to Majorca. . And Jessica saw in Richard an enormous amount of potential."  The marquis nodded.

_ The one between them is Kate Moss. you're in London."  Door came back down the carriage toward them. and then they ordered fried eggs and baked beans and toast and sat and ate them. It _was_ a girl. I done security for the May Fair for a bit. kindly. " she fingered the quartz beads around her neck. Their feet pattered away down the platform." It held up its glass. The murmur was the kind of restrained and deeply unenthusiastic applause one normally only hears in England on sleepy sunny Sunday afternoons." said de Carabas. "Right. "Who was that?"  "Our employer. the only person there. . but with total certainty. if you don't mind. " Richard was down on one knee.

" said Mr. puzzled. "There.  Then Door let go of Richard and ran to the abbot. Gary. It was too consistent." She did not elaborate." She hissed. a fellow mortal. he would not even put up a fight. "Not for me the smooth agonies of adulation." he said. an angry red carbuncle. Peepers and tarriwags.  "My desk. Vandemar cuffed her head and knocked her against the wall. and a few cars." she demanded. Where are we?"  Hunter flicked another handful of water at Door's face.

 . his face pressed against the wooden board. She wetted a fingertip with her pink tongue." suggested Mr.  Old Bailey put a hand in his pocket and produced a half-used stick of deodorant. And they walked through the open door." he added.  There was a door-shaped hole in the wall.  _"You have to follow the directions written on here. that he really did. Instead. and the place next door that sold individual slices of pizza. It did not help his mood any that there were a large number of dead people in the marsh: leathery preserved bodies. "And I suppose. . spittle flying. from a pale. Then it said. It reminded him of something.