were fragments of food in his red-gray beard.

 He ran
 He ran. Then she would start giggling again. Stay just where you are. just the right size for moving a body. A knife was pulled and one of them died. no water below. Richard raised the knife. The spectators clapped. He was dragged off into the corner by some friends. So what have you got for me?" She fumbled at the rat's side. They crossed an iron bridge in the darkness. She was delighted and transported." he sang. He crouched. " She paused. Hunter shook her head."  The man closed the file. Vandemar was headed straight for the bathroom. " he paused. He was a bit of a connoisseur of skies. the feeling grows in urgency and weight. somehow . who had been somewhat subdued. pale blue green in the moonlight."  The angel shook its head.

 from the mainland. Vandemar. "they normally don't even notice you exist unless you stop and talk to them. down the sloping stone road under the world. Vandemar's coattails. for watching soccer on the television on the weekends. beneath the grime and brown dried blood. The clock on the office wall said that it was 10:30. There was a drawer inside the box. as he always did._ isn't he. because he had gone through much worse._  The footsteps hesitated. the marquis de Carabas began to laugh. at village cricket matches. "Got to keep her alive. and looked at him. "Hammersmith!"  The bearded mountain-man looked up. I don't know how long I've got before they find this room. "Then I'll bugger off. cast in brass and in bronze and in burnt caramel. The kind that craps on Lord Nelson. it shook its beautiful head. in mock Bela Lugosi. which was not terribly tall.

 I thought that. The Beast had come out of the darkness."  Door said. holding onto the arm of Brother Fuliginous. threw back her head. in an underdecorated sort of way. . a tiny gesture from such a huge man." She pressed herself up against the wall and peered out of the window. perhaps. tail and legs and arms and fingers and eyes and hair all tumbling and twisting powerfully and strangely into the underneath and out across forever. "Baroness.  A gruff voice some distance away shouted. Then. eating food from garbage cans." it was good that he was saying it. . Vandemar walked behind her. almost eight inches long. Lear opened his eyes. covering the drainage system and the newly created District Line of the Underground. as if to reassure itself of their existence. with a sharp _squee. darting looks back at Richard as they did so." said Richard.

 Croup's: "Really.  "You see. Richard hated clifftops. The animal climbed into it." said Serpentine. solemnly. examining the cartoonish models of forgotten film stars and the old posters and comics and magazines on display. Her mother shook her head: no. I threw the TV remote. Richard hesitated. never quite having lived down the evening when an entire floor's worth of computer equipment upped and left. There's about fifteen hundred pounds in there."  "Look. of the angel itself and the candle flames that framed it. The old man had pitched his tent for the night on a roof opposite St. It was not a particularly clean handkerchief; it had been a present from his Aunt Maude. _something_ happened to you. before he returned his attention to Ruislip. "This gate marks the end of Down Street. He said it again. He jumped. Then he said it again. I mean. and there was nobody standing in the driver's compartment in the front." said Door.

 Ruislip drew one long. but I'm afraid I rather doubt you'll live long enough to have one. and now he made a dash into the crowd of pigeons. knitted. "So. holding his hand in hers. We want to hurt you both. I'm sorry.  After some time.  Old Bailey remembered when people had actually _lived_ here in the City. . and trickled into his. It's safer. walked in. His eyes were very white in the moonlight. It seemed distracted by something. Stockton. . "He wants to know who you all are.  Door. Door reached into the darkness and removed something roughly the size and shape of a small cannon-ball. sir?" asked a cheery voice. How is your dear father? Keeping well. Bonfire Night." It repeated the words.

 "We need your father's journal." said Door. Come back some other time. I ." said the guide. "Ah me."  "I was under the misapprehension that your family was skilled in locating doors. Richard Mayhew. "Before King Lud founded the village on the Thames marshes. I was there.  "Spare any change?" said a tired voice from behind him." she told him.  Door lowered her hand from her face. "I am the greatest warrior of London Below. The poor dear. Don't look back. He sat down on an air-conditioning unit. Richard thrust his hands deep into his pockets. She knelt on the floor. the oldest of the Seven Sisters.  There was a shiver in the world. It was listed in certain catalogues as _The Spirit of Autumn (Grave Figure). . after the great plan of Victorian sewer-building. The four of them stood packed in the elevator.

 The people in the dinner jackets they had lined up with. The girl leaned over the sink. "Oh. The thin girl tugged at his elbow. Croup expanded on his theme. Croup.  "Jess?" he said. like an explosion with a secret. elfin face frowning._ before realizing that. Hunter stood there."  She smiled at him sympathetically.  A rustle in the tunnel darkness; Mr. It tipped its head on one side and stared back at her with bead-black eyes. the weight of the key pulling it back down. according to tradition. She was getting out tea bags." explained Mr. in which the average speed of transportation through the city had not increased in three hundred years. as a surprise bonus. which grumbled and fidgeted in his grasp and pecked ineffectively at his fingers." she mused. We have to get the . mm ." whimpered Richard politely.

 PLEASE KNOCK. Richard paused beside an old woman. The earl fumbled on the shelves. Croup cleared his throat. It ran its finger lightly along the walls. It's a disgrace. he had placed it on his computer monitor. It was extremely familiar. "I really don't have time for this tomfoolery. "Promise. _Perhaps he'll go away. "Is she dead?"  The woman shrugged. "Sire. and an open first aid kit."  The angel turned. He was sitting on the steps ahead of the marquis. The friars stood on the bridge until they were out of sight. nor indeed of ever seeing you again." said Richard. his hair was matted and snarled. and you and your companions will face some very real difficulties. "I'm not actually a rat-speaker. to convince itself it was here. "There's a key I have to get for this angel called Islington. the beam of his flashlight flashing from side to side.

 He waved at it and yelled. When Mr. "Child. and Mr. Yes. She grabbed Richard's shoulder. dark chocolate.  "Here. threw back her head. The world smells of spice and dried mango. He was shaven-headed." he said. they made disorganization an Olympic sport. anywhere . At least. Vandemar. "Okay. All was silent. Croup. They were sitting in his office. Vandemar seemed genuinely pleased by this. I told you already. There were broken spears. She smiled."  By the time the marquis reached the market they were gone.

 he looked around in puzzlement. It stared at them." said Mr. and what appeared to be pajama pants were visible at the bottom of his shabby fur gown." She had washed herself while he was gone. where Docklands would one day be. You don't stray from the path. throats slit. and the train moved away. No hard feelings. And froze again. first. She reached out a hand. though: there was something rather strange and special about the quality of this junk. All his possessions were in there. He started breathing too fast. She towered above them all: her shock of graying hair brushed the door lintel." _You can say that again. Now the sun had gone down. in a large pool of scarlet gore. .  As he entered the building." and let go of the table leg. And. Vapor came from her mouth.

  "I'm glad it's come in useful. and it chittered at him." gasped Richard. and suffered from complete dental breakdown.  They were in a huge hall." said Gary. in a low voice. He stared down into the dark. carved from rock.  A glimmer of a smile breathed across her face. before allowing them through. before allowing them through." said Hunter. There was a fluttering in the half-dark. for." She took the bird to the window and let it go."  The starlings made polite noises. spackled white with bird shit. . Sylvia. "Hear that."  "If you are crossing the bridge. books. was not listening. then shrugged.

"  The earl reached out his hand. When you brought the curry. Mister Vandemar. fragments of rust getting in his eyes and mouth. He was moving from a red rage to an oily gray sulk. of the clan Gray. and no doors opened. "How can you behave like this?" he asked. somewhere close to him. obstinately."  Richard shrugged. Each step he took left him more anxious.  "Not immediately. from the tip of the blade to the end of the haft. don't you?"  And Richard nodded. was exchanging pleasantries with a small knot of damsels of a certain age.  Croup and Vandemar fastened manacles around the marquis's wrists.  "Yes." said Jessica. a little more anxiously than he intended to. reflectively. The view through the door was blinding in its intensity: a swirling maelstrom of color and light. and the girl. and emptied.  The wasp-waisted woman was now standing next to Richard.

 watches. perhaps. puzzled by the absence of her family. obstinately."  "I'll be there. "There does seem to have been some kind of problem. and took off back down the stairs. Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush to the west. _Me?_ La. and together they left that place. . and exhausted. thrown by passers-by. his face pressed against the wooden board. Richard. long ago. to grouse. . ."  It was late afternoon in Central London. "You said. He held it at the blunt end. Bonfire Night. watering the plants.  "I _said.

 "And new gloveses. was standing next to Lamia. But it can't be that hard to find. de Carabas. rusting iron staircase. He grabbed the chain holding the left hand. "Now._ thought Richard. honestly. . each in their separate ways.  He floundered toward it through the mud. and leaving pieces of you all over the Underside? We've never dismembered a marquis before. pushed the hair from her eyes. in the dark. and he had begun to tremble."  "I'll be there."_  He turned into Hanway Street. He felt that he knew every twist." agreed the marquis. gently."  Somewhere inside Richard a small. terrifying Richard. Croup. "Where's my desk?"  "This way.

" he said. it was implied. Some people brushed past him in the dark. Croup. He went down the stair's." it explained. "We can't do this. Richard." he said. can't. now.  Mr. though . wondering if he had ever really eaten curry late at night in a street-market held on the deck of a gunship moored by Tower Bridge.  Clarence opened the double doors to check on the crowd. Looks pretty damned furnished to me. yes. . What'll I get?"  "I don't have any money. Richard was humming loudly. "I think maybe you were in shock or something last night. . and the Sewer Folk began to ready themselves for the market. Richard wondered if he were starting to hallucinate. then: a vicious rabbit punch to the gut.

 as the evening went on. "Without the angel's token you could never find your way." Richard deflated." and sulked for all of the five-minute journey up the Strand. "Harrods. There they would sit. through the dark. and shattered swords." she said. and he laughed at me. "What's that--that stink?"  "Sewer Folk. "But . The Japanese tourists ignored him." he bellowed. and she waits. too. who had recently broken up with his girlfriend. He swallowed. He blinked. He sat there. Hunter reached out her hand and pushed the end of the crossbow back down toward the floor. Richard walked over to the window and looked out. and shook her head. "Fooled again. an off-the-shoulder general marshalling her troops and stoically pretending that Mr.

" said Richard. At least. . . . to the week's groceries. Which were starting to seem. friends. Had you thought of trying out for the task?" Mr. breathless and sweating. The last of the women. They pulled it in with their hooks and their nets. framed by the pillars. ."  "Yes."  "Door and the others." she added.  "It's amazing."  They walked through an impressive lobby. but very gentle. dehorned." she said. there you are. all the city's detritus blew up from the ground and was driven through the air. "Do you know who I am?"  "Not really.

 I'm warning you. "The dance is not yet over." said her dead father. "If I've been fired then just tell me I've been fired. ."  Richard was not dead. Try not to let anyone follow you. rewrote it in huge letters in red ink." said the man._ isn't he. Richard heard. Richard could hear breathing. I trusted you. by now you must have sensed a lurking 'but' skulking beneath my happy.  Door giggled.  Hunter knelt on the ground and began to undo the straps on the case. She . and the fear. Why?"  "Just . and lily of the valley. then he shook his head as if to clear it. At least I know where I'm going to eat and sleep tonight. . sharp and bright as a laser in the candlelit darkness of the hall.' or whatever it is that you do.

 Nobody should have been able to hurt us. "Information. apparently not caring whether Richard was with him or not." he said. Tis not a man. out the door and down the corridor.  "Felt like an hour. inhabited by things that had lost the use of their eyes. She closed the knife and tossed it back to the boy. He remembered the hard object in his back pocket."  "Have. who smiled like a skull. He crawled forward. "Food!" She descended on the canapes like a small.  "Yes I do. Your Grace."  Richard shook his head. An associative house." he explained. . The door closed. They were smoke-blackened relics of the late twenties or the early thirties. was not listening. _a frayed knot. and gazed up toward the heavens.

 Broken wires trailed from the back of it. "I owe no man fealty. evaluating. a Hogarth cartoon of a man. with the dispassionate clarity that comes when a lunatic is about to slit your throat with a piece of broken glass. the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. "It's a long story." said Serpentine. "that we had a deal? I negotiated the peace treaty between your people and the Raven's Court.  He grinned. And I have other avenues to explore. as the line moved slowly toward the single open glass door at the museum's main entrance. . placed it beneath her pointed chin.  "Don't hurt me. Richard wondered who had built it. his grey and black hair cut bristle-short. earnestly." said Mr. and. the bargain hunters." it said to Richard. the blade having first hit and penetrated the back of Mr. somewhat unshaven gate-crasher."  "It's that simple?" asked Richard.

 He thought he saw a black shape at the edge of his vision. then?"  Richard paused for a moment."  She glowered at him. as if tossed by a giant. Yet." said Richard Mayhew's voice. and he realized how wrong he had been in thinking it slow. All kinds of food--the smells of curries and spices seemed to predominate. You've owed me a favour for twenty years. and he wondered who it could belong to. and a book of matches he had forgotten he had. to Door. and he wondered if there was something he should do. deep in its throat." intoned the recorded voice. the rat who brought us the marquis's message--"  "Master Longtail. hoping not to encounter any dead faces or hands. He let go of it. "I want my life back. They're auditioning. _you_ don't exist. for Door. Croup's voice. Richard was certain of that.  Old Bailey reached into his pocket and pulled out the black rat.

    BITES AND KICKS.  As it passes her. Iron pillars. She's of the House of the Arch.  "I think you're an asshole. "She can start guarding me again then. and he had woven it into the fabric of the House Without Doors. and Mr. just a wall on which a stained old calendar hung.  "How _bizarre_. He could hear the rattling of a train. looking out over London. the sweetness of that smile.  "Come on.  Serpentine's women hauled the body out from under the Beast. and he scrambled up the wall; then. It was about twelve feet long." Hunter dipped her hand into the bucket and flicked it at Door's face. and the lights came on all over the city. lad. he said. "Bye. less richly carpeted stairs. and offered a compromise. so he scrutinized the doors and wondered whether they were guarded.

 Richard. just that they were coming out of his mouth. and would say nothing more than. Now. Then he studiously ignored her. I suppose. Thanks. Anaesthesia peered back. funny. He ran a finger across his chin." She smiled at him some more. And then the footsteps came closer. "Without the angel's token you could never find your way. "Five minutes. I prefer debts to be in my favor. "Look. and the sewage works." said the angel. "I've made a long enough journey today. .  "Then." he said." said Mr. "I spy. squinting about him.

 and eat. . that was the start of it all. as Richard was convinced forever after. are we going back to Door?" Richard asked. "Hunter. exactly like a recently retired minor official were it not for the tin hat. my lady?"  Door paused and concentrated. A few individuals manage a kind of half-life--you've met Iliaster and Lear. he said.  It reminded Jessica of something her mother had once told her about. _my. "I . They smelled more or less as one would imagine. _my. and they shivered from the early morning cold. had changed little in the last three hundred years. but gray. "I'm a little scared." he said." she said.  "In the old days. "Then I'll bugger off. had faded away as soon as the hospital had been closed. sir.

" it told them. Richard got onto the train. then. discolored skeletal bones. The old man averted his face and held his breath until the embrace was concluded. Richard. It would tell the Golden: all favors had been repaid. "That's not going to be safe. PLEASE CONTACT CARD ISSUER. And the rat-speakers. and to disregard the lettuce.The world went dark. and the leaves. almost comically so. each in their separate ways. "Why are you going to the market. crooked wig and scarlet livery. Her world contained two things: Hunter. I'll settle for someone who could give you the time you might need to get away." said Serpentine. the ugly and distinctive sixties skyscraper that marks the eastern end of Oxford Street."  "Paper?" said Richard. "He's kidding. There was a rock face in front of them. There were fragments of food in his red-gray beard.