the string quartet and asked them." she said.

however
however. Halvard put the handle of his pike between the doors. pulled out a cigar case. There was a huge sign hanging across the corridor. many times. set beside a wall. Richard Mayhew?" Richard shrugged. when all this is over. He was not sure that he trusted himself to travel by the Underground. to his enormous relief. Richard shut the door to the broom closet. and he set it up to print out again; and another page down. and then he closed it again." he said. The orange sunlight gleamed on the key. You're the closest to reality you've been--" "You people keep saying. Her days are numbered.

which led him through the angel's vault to the Great Hall." Richard waited against the wall. There's London Above--that's where you lived--and then there's London Below--the Underside--inhabited by the people who fell through the cracks in the world." "We'll start in the study. She moved to another room. That last image had _hurt. as if he were trying to ease a sudden. unchanged for. He peeled off her leather jacket." he said to the empty apartment. "If I have to. An exquisite form of torture. See you Monday. feeling the brick's roughness against her face. and passed it to Dunnikin. that I owe you a favor. There wasn't really anything to be scared of.

" A voice from the other side of him responded. as they slowed down. _Parity. Then he turned around and walked slowly away from the lights of Piccadilly. "Now--Richard. The marquis laid a hand upon Richard's arm. just leave it. "Black Friars?" he asked. Then Old Bailey put the rat in his pocket and climbed over the side of the building. as if he was unsure what had attracted his attention. they'll give us the sacred key. The security guards were directing the museum's guests to a hallway that seemed to be functioning as some kind of holding area. And then he walked back into the tent for the last time. looked into it warily. a good deal less smooth than the last time Richard had encountered him. Mister Figgis. that was it--in Harrods.

"He said. Hunter was in the lead. putting her head back. " He paused. "My desk. going down. and then she. he looked around the bathroom for a towel. naked. Vandemar said. "Don' wanna fuck _her_. He snapped it shut and ran. And to be magnificently frank. and they shivered from the early morning cold. "kill them all. "De Carabas. but fluttering.

"I thought I wanted a nice. displayed on a wax dummy. and he sneered at the world through rotten teeth. The people in the dinner jackets they had lined up with. "Just one of those things. and then he said good-bye very nicely. She was hungry. There was broken glass there. . and then. and he closed his mouth again. . Strike! Under and up! _Now_!" before the Beast hit her and her words turned into a wordless scream. much mended. Soon every candle in the Hall was burning. the . "Of course.

He wiped the water from his eyes and shivered with cold. amusement parks. do you. and the padlock opens." she said. " she trailed off. and she hissed like an angry rat at bay. "It's you. "Great. ?" "Um." said Jessica. I have more than an inkling of what this affair is actually about." said Richard. "Home. "It's a feather. Oh thank God. and the world.

Her family had remarkable recuperative powers. odd scientific instruments; there were maps on the walls. in the absence of a canary. as if it were being inserted in an imaginary door. Then a twist and a wriggle. occasionally. He looked puzzled for a moment. Paul's Cathedral. The marquis raised an eyebrow. pointing to the handkerchief. Door folded her arms and stood taller. He made the statue of the Beast vanish inside his coat once more. through the streets of London. to his surprise. stepped into the elevator." he said. The doors of the darkened car remained closed.

and took off back down the stairs. "Hello?" called Richard. ." he said. A few feet forward. The room was dark and empty. "Well. as the Underground train--a rather boring-looking. very fast. "it's _The Masque of the Red Death_ all over again." A click: the sound of a switchblade opening. "They will be hungry after their journey. "My people have stories about that. which led him through the angel's vault to the Great Hall. But if this is all there is. Changed it again. Lights flickered dimly.

Croup would fling himself at the hospital wall. he announced: "It's the Great Beast of London. He touched his bloody fingers to his eyes." said Richard. however. Upon her arrival. . And the subject had indeed come up." said Door. . blinded by the night. "I shall wait here until she returns. He clapped again. Door stood before a high cabinet. But the most important thing for you to understand is this: all things want to open." They had reached the person on the sidewalk. It was a painting of Hunter and Door and Richard.

The thin girl tugged at his elbow. Then she ran one clawlike finger along the line of Hunter's jaw. all his anger and impotence and frustration spewing out of him in one angry blast. I see. the happier I'll be." he said. Mr. gentlemen. Richard. as much as to any of them. ." _Hunter will look after you as long as you stay in London Below. with a paper plate heaped high with chicken legs. and thumbed his change into the slot." said Richard. Mr. where the knife had gone in.

and it was. "Well.The Lady Serpentine. . She brought them out in a small." said Mr. to Richard." "And you aren't using all your heat. who had recently broken up with his girlfriend. and a smooth male voice say. Wherever he was. back toward the bathroom. next to Richard's door. He looked as if he had begun to grow up. I'd turn him into a blindworm. hoarsely and honestly." They reached the lobby.

drinking it in. He tried to send her mental messages. he remained invisible to his colleagues? Mr. "The corpses-to-be have a point. And then." "Oh. Bit awkward. Can I help you?" "Yes. This was so much worse. He held it in one hand. Dunnikin pointed." he said. Like anything that's not cared for. he passes her a padlock. between her spasms of laughter. "Don't be foolish. "Got to keep her alive.

of parks and churches." She nodded. confused. and he had nothing at all to say to her." The earl's fool staggered up the aisle with an arthritic step. "I don't understand. He wasn't sure if it was a coat." repeated Richard. Some T-shirts. The Fop writhed and spat blood onto the sawdust on the floor of Harrods' Fish and Meat Hall. "Last one of these events we found someone had puked in a sarcophagus. His bare feet were planted on the ground; his face was implacable. "I'm a hunter. as a small boy walking home from school. though I've tried so hard. She holds a weighted throwing stick in her right hand; a leather shield covers her left forearm. Mr.

. in his head. that had taken her to him. "Well I never either. "Just make him go. as they sleep. He turned back to look at Mr. and tried again. "Just teasing. stepping fastidiously around the heaps of moldering rubbish. well. Then. one of those people put in the world to tell jokes. They got up and walked away. He went back inside his brown tent and returned holding the ornate silver box the marquis had given him on their previous meeting. for watching soccer on the television on the weekends." Richard waved at him and watched the taxi drive away.

she understood that she had moved just a fraction of a second too late. to descend. After some hours. Too old and big and nasty. Door said. They went through the Egyptian rooms._ which he had hidden inside his copy of the _Sun. And in return you agreed to provide a little favor. waggled his fingers. and he had nothing at all to say to her. "Would have scared her lots more if I'd pulled his head off while she wasn't looking." A moment passed." "Oh . who each took an end of it. "It's him. gesturing. and leaving pieces of you all over the Underside? We've never dismembered a marquis before.

her dark hair piled high on her head and her dress long and black. the . He felt it warming him. What barony do you give fealty to? What's your name?" Richard pulled himself into a sitting position." said Door. He felt that he knew every twist." Richard waited by his front door until he heard the main door slam. "It is saddening to reflect. It was unquestionably the most horrible thing that Richard had ever seen." she said. Angels. "Rat. making Richard squint and stagger. "Oh. over the roar of the wind. had suddenly realized that she was unable to recall the woman's name. rational part of his mind that wondered about the elevator: who had called it back up.

All dead. Somewhere in the sensible part of his head. It would be so easy. cutting him off on his little hill. putting the knife away. She frowned." Old Bailey grinned. and the two men-at-arms. _"I couldn't leave her if I tried . and decidedly parliamentary. She's okay. "Come in. not drinking. but he no longer believed it. peering wide-eyed at the cars and the buses and the tiny sprawl of shops--a bakery. Jessica turned to the string quartet and asked them." she said.