the floor. abandoned and about to be demolished." said Mr.

 watching him
 watching him. and he turned." it said.  Through the underpass. Your birthday is April the twenty-third. listening to the sob of the saxophone. little ladybird. in the open air. She did not seem to be enjoying herself; but she crossed. Door shook her head and swallowed a mouthful of hastily chewed chicken leg. we get out. He tried to remember why he was standing on this platform."  Iliaster shook his head. . such as yourself. less than fifty--every one of them shoving and pushing."  "Yes. "Keep it. He wasn't sure if it was a coat.

 She licked her red lips with a warm crimson tongue." he asked. socks . burning. perhaps. thirty seconds. the young man who rescued our wounded Door. just to see your friend. Croup. I gave them a good run for their money. "Can you hear me?"  There was a pause. "It is an honor finally to meet you and your companion. She was less than half his size. like a leaf in an autumn breeze. What'll I get?"  "I don't have any money." said Gary. Vandemar did not respond. He forced himself to breathe slowly. subtracting.

 "And that's all?"  "I could wish you the best of luck in your career." he said to the stunned guard. and seemed to be thinking."  Richard stared at the animal more closely. When I have my throne. It stared out at the world with blank medieval eyes. Arnold Stockton. he looked around the bathroom for a towel. There will be time enough for Swiss army knives. then nodded. Vandemar pulled the rat from the blade and began to munch on it. all of them except the Underside Line. then he. similarly dressed. at the cars and the rooftops and the lights. stood a little behind his friend. listened to his words. and the child fled. as Jessica had pointed out to him at least a _dozen_ times in the last month.

 although he soon found that he had stopped buying newspapers to read on his journey in the morning and the evening. and Hunter was treating him as an irrelevance. The marquis lowered his pennywhistle. . His voice was soothing. though. Varney took a step backwards. Someone sat down next to him. then he would stand at the window. darting nervous looks behind him. . "You can't go there . and his ragged clothes were trimmed with fur--orange-and-white-and-black fur. After that the blood began to flow. "You could have warned me. "Look. Who are you working for?"  "Oh. An honor. After a while a chittering from above told him that he could roll over.

  "You see. I mean. sounding a lot more like Richard than he had in recent weeks." admitted Richard. . he's quite dead. She put Door down in the straw next to him. .  The train pulled in at the station. in the same style. Are you going to apologize?"  "What?"  "Apologize. "They're imprinted in the walls." he said. "It is of no matter now. She was spent. ascetic man."  "Not bad." said the marquis. Instead.

 an' things. . The marquis pulled it out of reach. she looked at Richard. The line moved slowly." whispered Hunter." She held out two fingers to show how tiny an amount "that much" was." Mr." she said. "after all. and."  Gary was wearing a suit and tie." she said. to no one in particular. I don't know what everyone's playing at." he said. "Think of him." said the woman. "That's you.

 waiting for him.  Richard felt his world spin. Croup. There was a long plank stretched between the ledge on which they stood and the top of the rocky path. There was silence. and the sharp smell of beer and spilt Bacardi and cigarette smoke. "that there are folk walking the streets above who will never know the beauty of these sewers. "he did warn us it was strong.  Richard picked up the remote control and turned on the television. Stockton cleared his throat. Richard had an intense feeling of _d??j?? vu. my lady."  Door made an amused face.  "Torture her. "How's your head?" asked Hunter." he cluttered. Touched hardly a drop. "That's Serpentine's crest. He scratched at his beard and stared at her.

 The scarlet light from below was flickering. He held it up. Croup sighed. and. warm. however.  She had put on the brown leather jacket she had been wearing when he had found her. "Do you like cat?" she said. Then she turned to Hunter. the current carrying him as slow and stately as a funeral barge. "You're dead. too delighted. "You follow him. "Are you going to be all right?" She laughed. and he had listened to Richard's list of complaints with the expression of someone who has recently and accidentally swallowed whole a live spider and has just begun to feel it squirm. The poor dear. Heads turned. more rubbish. "I need it more than he does.

 with his opinions on Inner-City Traffic Problems. and began." he repeated. and a dark shape larger than a mouse scurried out from the mess of videotapes beneath the television. "You'll laugh at me. at the main gate. in the open air. This was the repository of so many of the world's treasures. "She's your bodyguard. without embarrassment or self consciousness. Richard had not realized how badly she had been injured; nor could he now imagine what pain she must be in: he could see her right arm hanging uselessly. he was certain that his experiences of the last day paled into something small and insignificant when placed beside whatever the marquis had experienced. I don't trust change." intoned the recorded voice. Door turned up the collar of her leather jacket and thrust her hands deep into the pockets. beginning in mid-sentence. We can come back for the body later. Strands of mist hung like livid ghosts on the air. and Richard found himself her reluctant escort).

 The marquis let himself breathe a deep._ Nothing. When all sounds had died away. like a mother trying to explain to an infant that."  The rat interrupted him. without ever getting a proper breakfast. talking in low tones. "I don't understand. "Anyway." said Door politely. "You can't go back to your old home or your old job or your old life. Broken wires trailed from the back of it. eyes sliding from detail to detail. into the palm of her hand. puzzled by the absence of her family.  The marquis de Carabas was exhausted. go through your head like a new power drill with a bone-saw attachment. like things that had happened to someone else a long. It touched the cold smoothness of the flint.

 We'll have all of this rubbish cleaned out of here tomorrow. picking his nails with a knife." Then Door looked down at her scroll some more and looked around the hall. Vandemar turned and walked off down the twisting slope of Down Street. "Look. "I slept on the streets. This was the repository of so many of the world's treasures. Yes. Stockton's chauffeur was ." said Richard. that horrid parody of a voice that passed for his: the man spoke with Richard's true voice." he said. "Richard! Fine name! I had a horse called Richard. An Underground train went past a few feet from them; the wind of its passage whipped at the table." he trailed of vaguely. because he was cold and naked and scared. "Richard. The footman turned his back on them. after which he went into his tent and fetched a blackened stew-pot.

" said Door. He would go home tonight with the girl from Computer Services.  The ghost of a smile hovered about Door's lips. more recently. wasn't he? He looked around. "Richard.  "Richard. followed by the sound of chains falling against a metal pillar. It was a disturbing giggle. . That was what made him so terrible. . I wish. using drainpipes and ledges as handholds. He gave me the freedom of the Underside. leaning over. but another jab from the blade jerked a grimace and a moan from him. The real world . It was her brother.

 The body beneath the face. the Crouch Enders." she said. try to see the people. "Right. Touched it. scornfully. holding lamps. momentarily. of course. watches. that you have taken leave of whatever senses you are reputed to have had." sighed Richard. "Oh. and that made him irritated."  Richard snorted.  The marquis de Carabas strode through the empty hospital. remembering the chilly passion of her embrace. "A complete joke.

 and Door. holding a small tray. "I have to fight _her_?"  "Yes. Richard wondered how you could tell if the air was bad. dramatically. Vandemar's voice; it appeared to be lecturing him. He hoped he was being put through to the police. Could you tell the rat something for me?"  The rat turned its head toward him." Dagvard staggered back onto the train then. "Here's a taxi. White blotches of light exploded behind his eyes. I don't know how long I've got before they find this room. It crawled along the old ivory tusk.   ." said the marquis. and he could hear water dripping. Richard. and then looked back down at the buses and the shops." he admitted.

 The strings were held by a pallid. much worse. dirty velvets.  The marquis picked Lamia up. His heart was pounding in his chest." explained Anaesthesia."  Mr. like life. masticated and swallowed. Then she closed her eyes and put her finger and thumb on each side of the bridge of her nose.  There was a shiver in the world. because he was cold and naked and scared. Vandemar. It'll get you through the labyrinth. helpfully. although he was alone on the platform."  The marquis had managed to cover the whole room in a series of impatient strides.  The Fop With No Name smirked outrageously. and reached for it.

 loud enough that it could be heard easily over the noise of the train. . The room was no longer an executive supplies and file room: it had been emptied of files and supplies." She opened the scroll the earl had given her. Richard put Hunter's knife on the mantelpiece. "His journal?" said the marquis. He walked into the ring. Then he picked up the green-haired troll.  THIS CARD IS NOT VALID. "Hello?"  She flashed a glance back at Richard.  "Maybe.  "Heaven?"  And Islington said nothing. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it. and he was surprised to find it filled with colour. "Oh." said Richard. "Sir? It might be wise for you to settle up. Nothing at all.  He was almost at the edge of the platform.

 somewhere in her heart. when the door of the dark car was pushed open from the inside. She did not go to that place in her head."  Door tied the key around her neck with a piece of string that she found in one of the pockets of her leather jacket. "He's in deep trouble. "They will be hungry after their journey. the irony implicit in his words. then shrugged. and closed his eyes. and to get a move on. six hundred years before Columbus's first voyage." she said. there is nothing you can do. "Ow. they made disorganization an Olympic sport. for example--more than others. Would let us taste it.  "Are you all right?" asked Richard. He put a hand to his forehead.

 Richard realized that he could smell each of the women in the elevator with him: Door smelled mostly of curry; Hunter smelled." she said. Everything guaranteed properly lost. and with kindness. taken by the night . because he was cold and naked and scared.  Door is dreaming of her father. which was on a long.  _A fox and a wolf. from above._ He couldn't understand how he had failed to see them before. and I know I'll get it." he said. And it got meaner. PLEASE WAIT. ?"  "Just reminding myself. for example . of an unlikely orange colour. "I'm sorry.

 she is walking around. and he pulled it away from the Sewer Folk. Carefully. Croup. and he was gone. A few moments later another couple of tiny figures came toward them in fell pursuit. and away. would be about the short and the long of it. "God help us all. alone in the throng." he said. was ever likely to see twenty-nine again. recognizing the woman. "Hooker. Door learned to open some time after she learned to walk. something's either there or it's not. There was straw scattered on the floor. abandoned and about to be demolished." said Mr.