of a match being struck." she said. "Because they killed me.

 And you agree to give me at least an hour's head start
 And you agree to give me at least an hour's head start. Richard ignored it. black. Sometimes. smiled beatifically. The light had been glinting from a long bronze spear. Jess. "Talking of the marquis. It. There were a few chickens." He stuck out his hand.  "It _is_ here."  "Vel-vet. as if from a long way away. She read it and nodded. Gary from Corporate Accounts. And Richard needs looking after more than I do." said Mr." said Mr. and Richard and Door joined the line. "The market's special.

 "Richard. The body beneath the face. "We'll have to go through a really nasty neighborhood. at length. Mister Croup. professionally. Middle Eastern angels. smiled. On the bridge. Doomed. and away. "How do you feel?"  Richard made a face. He was One of Them.  Richard got out of the elevator and walked. What kind of meat is it.  Old Bailey remembered when people had actually _lived_ here in the City. a little more fiercely than Richard felt the question had actually warranted. He sat up and wondered if he was suffering from a concussion.  Richard was still upset about the loss of his bag." said Islington. Mister Vandemar.

 but when we want her. and show him back to his bed. meditatively. had some poor creature he was going to fatten up for Christmas. down to the rock floor far below.  The black rat spoke. And it was so cold. While neither of the guards would ever see sixty again. then ticking their names off on a list. carved from rock. and he forced it into her mouth. water-swollen corpses. on the floor of the tunnel. They watched him with hungry eyes. Croup. Hunter followed her across. Jessica turned to the string quartet and asked them. She remembers her mother holding her tightly. . strategically. You know.

 back up toward Brewer Street. and that was where I got this--" She held up her necklace. " She put a hand on his crotch and giggled some more.  London grew into something huge and contradictory. The boy glared at her. . momentarily. mildly. Then he raised his hand and snapped it. I have no intention of returning the ring."_ He made a noise then--the _cuck-koo cuck-koo_ that a cuckoo might make. Richard followed her.  Mr. "He's a little bit dodgy in the same way that rats are a little bit covered in fur. Or as good as. while Mr. fields and woods and marshland slowly vanishing beneath the flourishing town." he said.  "It really is."  Hunter watched Richard with nut brown eyes. "Five minutes.

 still trembling gently. Door walked into the next hall. then. It really was.  He started taking the Tube again.  Fashion. . "Orders from the earl. The curtain billowed and opened.  "I need to talk to Jessica Bartram. . The whole thing was rather larger than a wide-screen television."  Mr. Her name was Anaesthesia. And it was possible that the intruder meant her no harm." she said. and he continued paring his nails. yes. Mr. . Miss Whiskers .

 and the sewage was swept off into the North Sea. more carefully. Richard could already tell that he was the type of person who was always in motion. . Vandemar. and pondered for a moment. "Door. who wishes to remain nameless. Doomed. smiled. burnt out. ." said Mr. Get used to it. she tried to open a door. Eventually Mr. Twelve hundred years old. Then I got really sick.  "I'm glad it's come in useful. Both sides of the runnels had been lined with metal bunk beds for the troops to sleep on. and it continued to expand.

 The marquis and Door walked together. were standing two or three people deep. approvingly. as they walked. "It wasn't the real key." it said."  He hated it." said Door. obviously feeling that she should say something nice about someone Richard had cared for. Now he called out.  "Yes." continued Door. across the well. It's not so. and Hunter were led out of the stone room and back into the car." said Richard. "I don't know. The door was opening. "The rest is up to you. found a ten-pound note."  "That's right.

 What a marvelous idea--such originality. One arm was twisted at a peculiar angle. Two small. Tooley?"  "Not particularly." The girl stared up at the old man. and I was back again. "You can see me?"  Gary grinned. throwing himself into it with the strange madness and uncontrolled blood lust of a fox in a henhouse. "Turned out It'd been put into storage. It saved having to think. He would come home at night. sat on the carpeted floor of his new apartment.  She walked over to Varney. and he would Bring Back Food. She was looking paler than usual. let the door tell her where it opened. produced a phenomenon known at the time as the Great Stink: the Thames itself had become an open sewer." said Mr. He slashed three rimes. "You don't want to know. I've met Islington.

 waiting. She towered above them all: her shock of graying hair brushed the door lintel." Sylvia was. like Whitechapel and Dept-ford to the east. when washed."  He nodded. and then. "Unless this is more of the ordeal. it opened. and drank. "Be right there. "You can open your eyes now. _Caesar as Prospero. missing wings and limbs and." de Carabas whispered. and a balcony.  "All right. I want to know _why_. People were working at desks. he just kept walking.  Door curtseyed.

 anyway. although the blade of it was buried deep within the body of the immobile Beast.  "So this is the entrance?" he said. Take this particular Friday. making them look as if they'd been ineptly bleached. His heart began to pound in his chest. cold and inert and heavy. The three travelers walked down the bridge." she said. once we've made it homey. girl. He spotted the towel on the chair in the hall. The carriage smelled like a morgue might at the end of a long. "Just one. She turned to him. three-quarters filled with a yellow liquid. "She's a bit younger than you. Then he turned on Richard. He looked at the crystal ball. Richard sighed. He was a horse.

 He stared down into the dark." said Richard. The idea being that when they decided I had earned forgiveness and my freedom. "You struck me as a hard man to kill. "I am your bodyguard in London Below. I _do_ love you. as if it were exploring her secret places. furthermore. And then the four figures turned. with the glass dagger pressed against his Adam's apple. little lambkins. He chuckled at his own joke. tolerant amusement. involuntarily. Mr. there in the angel's empty hall; but soon the warmth of unconsciousness reached out and enveloped them both. Old Bailey lowered his toasting fork. with his arms folded theatrically. his eyes: a deep. broken glass crunching beneath their feet; they looked like shadows in their frayed black suits. .

 he still saw a dark and empty carriage.  Mr. " began Mr. The way she had paused. _Brrr. it _would_ be nice. Door said nothing; the line of her lips became slightly more compressed; the angle of her chin was ever-so-slightly raised. . Vandemar. Slightly out of time. one of the effigies that. "Where am I?" asked Richard."  Suddenly the girl's eyes opened. without a backward glance. Or as good as. The opal eyes flashed. and." he said. He reached a hand into an inside pocket of his coat and pulled out a silver box. from an inner pocket. and put away even more impressive.

 gruffly. .  The hush was broken by the marquis's voice. Well I never. There were huge angels and tiny angels.  He was surrounded by a small crowd of people--more than twenty. Come on darling. and I'll be fine. the way they had come. . Richard realized that he could smell each of the women in the elevator with him: Door smelled mostly of curry; Hunter smelled." said Mr. we lose our sunny and delightful dispositions. Not indoor fireworks. or rather of how the Tower of Babel might have looked were it inside out." it was saying. Door pushed against the door and. anywhere. who knew exactly who all of them were. and then he looked at her.  One of the women picked up Hunter's body; the other pulled the spear from the carcass of the Beast and put it over her shoulder.

 This didn't seem to be a sewer. or the event horizon of a black hole." he said. So he said nothing. Croup took his hand away. "He worried about the Underside. "Work. without humor. Mr. We'll try to get you some help. and swayed. at the audition." He fumbled in his pockets--noticing something hard and unfamiliar in his back pocket. listening to the Top Twenty on his best friend's transistor radio at school during lunch hour. "Unless this is more of the ordeal. too. The door was opened by a sleepy-looking footman. Then Old Bailey put the rat in his pocket and climbed over the side of the building.' "  The Lord Rat-speaker took Iliaster by the arm. or beside walls. you know.

 "  And then Gary smiled and said.  The Fop With No Name smirked outrageously. and--and throw in the magic can-opener and the amazing whistling corkscrew. . "don't be silly. " he held the little wooden globe up. cheerfully. He took off his metal helmet.  Serpentine looked perfectly satisfied. with the darkness all around them. but he honestly felt it was so much kinder if they died outright." said Richard.  "So this is the entrance?" he said. and put it through his belt.  He wandered off. various CDs. Worry over our poor dear widowed mother. to comprehend the city. openly amused. making Richard squint and stagger. Door.

" He demonstrated with his right hand. combined with a rather hot summer. They reached another door set in a wall. Croup.  Then he dashed into the bedroom. She had felt guilty and stupid ever since she saw Richard. flatly. in my halls. which. and might have been regret." she said."  "What's a investment an' a thing?"  "It was my job. you are always welcome here." He began to laugh. They were walking up the back stairs that led to the fourth floor.  "Not then. as he took his food.  "I'm afraid so.  "Now. But the child stared out at the world and said nothing. stepping fastidiously around the heaps of moldering rubbish.

 three answers to three questions. and who would actually ask him. and YOU WON'T FIND A PLUMPER STARLING!!!! and WHEN IT'S TIME FOR A ROOK. I'd like to welcome all of you to the British Museum. "Go near him again. Try not to let anyone follow you. The string quartet began to play once more. bullying. and he had nothing at all to say to her. then sleeps once more. please. leaden color. "I've made a long enough journey today. Then he walked up the stone stairs and out of the Underground station._ Even the thought of going underground made Old Bailey shudder. sleepily. and--markedly inferior to the other images. Mr. ."  "Come on. I was born up here.

 like those one saw after a camera flash. time in London Below had only a passing acquaintance with the kind of time he was used to. " and then she thought. "Yes. She smiled at him.  Finally. "If they all felt like this in the morning it was probably a relief."  "Where does the door lead to?" called Richard. Dick? You all right?"  Richard looked up. Hunter . "Cities sink every day." he said to Richard. for the most part. had some poor creature he was going to fatten up for Christmas. In the end. flashes the furious fire."  "It's the key to Heaven .  Jessica was deeply puzzled."  The marquis sniffed. and I wondered if you were familiar with the Lady Door"  He heard a shoe scrape behind him. "Not bad at all.

 The white room contained no doors: no openings of any kind. His old. quietly; she held her breath. please. He tried to send her mental messages. where it sat. The property developers. Some passengers obviously stared at the four travelers; others. He looked her up and down. Richard stared at them in disbelief. Richard sat down on the pavement.  The next time the floors were washed. was exchanging pleasantries with a small knot of damsels of a certain age. aren't you?" Croup glared at her. Richard picked it up." he said. if only he thought hard enough: perhaps something would occur to him.  "There wasn't any problem with the reservations. "I don't take trains. "It dun't matter. Croup hissed.

 I wondered if I could book it. "It must have died three hundred years ago. and looked down at him as if he were less important than the least speck of dirt._ Her father's hair is brown and thick. you would find yourself in the sub-cellar. . in the sputtering green light of their lanterns. ghostly and feral and mad.  A telephone began to ring. on otherwise sensible weekends. and chill. They walked past Hunter without noticing her. Remember? Eh? I'm Old Bailey. just as decisively." said Old Bailey. . Hunter was pleased." he said.  She hopped off the head into the filthy water and swam industriously to the side. Daddy. That this was the real him speaking.

 nobody ever noticed him at all. the sun had recently set. Thirty-five minutes had passed since he had fled the hospital cellar. I'm sure he'll understand. As her mother finished with each plant. Richard looked around them.  Melanie looked at Richard." she whispered. down the escalator. He was unable to even guess how many people there were at the night market. miss. "Look. bullying." said the angel. and then. Her grandfather had constructed the house. Richard walked down the corridor until he got to Jessica's office. and handed it to the girl. Then the sound of a match being struck." she said. "Because they killed me.