to a place on the platform. "He wants to know who you all are.

 between Richard and Anaesthesia
 between Richard and Anaesthesia. Richard ran with her. lay on its back._  The words went around and around.  She inspected the drinks table. He puffed out his chest. he thought once. It was like all his dreams. honestly. "I know you are all very busy people. he realized that he was on an island of some kind--two smaller rivers ran into the larger one. We find the Angelus." Its eyes were clear and wide. . "I'm sorry.  "I _did_ warn you. "I'm a very busy man. just to keep moving. . which fed on tourists. "Hear that. _how did she end up with me?_ And when they made love--which they did at Jessica's apartment in fashionable Kensington." said Mr. Richard had been told to fuck off and die with more warmth and good humor. Other men ran to him.

 with a rope suspended from the clapper. It held a small hammer. "  "We set your finger. sputtering and blazing in a large fireplace. Asked me about them. fragments of rust getting in his eyes and mouth. the snaky S with the stars surrounding it. what do you want? Knowledge? Or birds?"  The marquis walked over. though. built of brown stone. Croup was saying." For a moment he thought she was about to hit him. which had been held on with something that looked to Richard like a vivid blue rubber band. and raised its head. magazines. "What kind of personal physical services?" he asked. a spade. Croup turned back to Door and smiled."  With an effort. Then he turned around and walked slowly away from the lights of Piccadilly." said Hunter. it was much easier not to believe in something when it was not actually looking directly at you and saying your name. He's bothering me. laddie? I've got some stew cookin' back there. to convince itself it was here.

 burnt out. and she smiled warmly at him. like walking home afterwards: stopping at bus shelters."  "I don't want it. "I will walk by your side when you are in London Below." It was the kind of "morning" that implied that the speaker really did not care if the recipient lived or died--nor indeed. was built on the orders of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. hard. Hunter's hand was on his arm. Vandemar smiled at him. "I don't see the point in this."  "Why . the phone did not ring .  There was a crack of light ahead of them. drily. fell apart under the stresses and strains of modern times. Vandemar's eyes are brown; third. He was One of Them. Croup. quite dead. .  "There wasn't any problem with the reservations. Birds don't catch themselves. some water. The marquis isn't around anywhere.

 For a while you went a little crazy. Vandemar.  There was silence. "_Me?_ Um. a monster or a god."  Door and Hunter went around the curve in front of them. and Richard made a dash for the automatic doors. . " said Door. then the Fop's head rocked back."  "You are Richard Mayhew."  Richard put his hand down to the spear. that horrid parody of a voice that passed for his: the man spoke with Richard's true voice. Then he sat down on a bench and waited for something to happen. and he flicked some imaginary dust from his threadbare black suit. Stocktons owned a little bit of everything: satellites. most of his experiences of the last few days had been impossible.  He unzipped his bag and put the knife away in it. It was worse than he had thought: there had to be more than a hundred people in the hall. with her mouth full. motion. as the path began. "Come on. Dick? You all right?"  Richard looked up."  "Craftsmanship.

 and tell Richard to be quiet. hard and sudden."  "And you are . "Um. and it began to spit out dozens of Cadbury's Fruit and Nut chocolate bars. he persisted in trying. discrete and doorless; her father had added to it." The friar poured some water from a battered metal jug into a battered metal cup and passed it to Richard. of the high-wrapped Beau Brummel collars of the Regency dandies. if. by the neck. being played a dozen different ways on a score of different instruments. as he went.  "I'm not squeamish. . I'm sorry you're not there." And they did. and they walked in behind him. I'll .  If you were to walk down the hospital steps." he said. and he forced it into her mouth." said Richard. drinking bad tea and worse coffee. "I know.

 Croup and Vandemar were standing on each side of him.  The security guards were directing the museum's guests to a hallway that seemed to be functioning as some kind of holding area. which led out onto the pavement. " said Door. They were a luminescent gray. and the pull-rope. He was picking his fingernails with Varney's machete. Here you go. "What's that--that stink?"  "Sewer Folk. You're right. He opened his mouth to shout out Door's name; and as he did so. "Why not a hospital?"  "Help me?" the girl whispered and her eyes closed. clasped Door's hand. serrated on the other; there were faces carved into the side of the haft. nestling in the crook of it. Almost. She hurried back a long a beam. . Vandemar. A woman's hand: he could smell a familiar perfume. or. glanced over the spidery handwriting.  "How _bizarre_." said Door. "Here.

 He was damned if he was going to start now."_ he said. "Richard?"  "Mm. however.  Door put her head on one side. She pulled up the sewer cover. and instead of reading he would scan the faces of the other people on the train. Wipe. Vandemar told Richard."  Richard said. "It dun't matter. He was barefoot. the young man who rescued our wounded Door. over the centuries. experimentally."  He felt a breeze against his face. but he could tell. put it into the Armani pocket of his Armani suit. . and is a little over fifteen feet long. "Look. "Hello?" called Richard. "This gate marks the end of Down Street. had some poor creature he was going to fatten up for Christmas. and he sneered at the world through rotten teeth.

 They arranged themselves around a table." said the angel. and she hissed like an angry rat at bay.  They walked over to it. Then Richard said. "is not happening. hand in hand. the pain was beginning to abate." de Carabas told the jester." said Richard. and. "I _was_ in a fi . . and a small panel in the side of the cabinet swung open. and looked around."  "If you are crossing the bridge." it said."  "I'm happy for you. something's either there or it's not.  "There wasn't any problem with the reservations. What was it the bard said?" And then he recited." said Mr. The boy glared at her. . and the marquis's corpse tumbled out and splashed into the brown water below them.

 melon slices. It is the size of a bull. haltingly.  "Still alive then?" said Hunter. back on patrol." he said. to the rat. sipping it. Now . "You've kept your looks better than I. And when they got too cold to walk they went into an all-night greasy spoon cafe. but the sky was beginning to lighten." gasped Lear.  He felt her heart beating against his chest. painted bright green. her eyes fixed on the ground ahead of her."  Richard shivered. he reached out and seized her. then said. When they arrived at a crossroads. "What's this?" she said. Richard sipped the water slowly. the platform was in semidarkness. and on its tusks. and they glimmered.

 1919-1987 Loving Husband. awkwardly. "I think we do. then?" asked Richard. and the Lady Door owes me a significant favor. so she said. A telephone is the least of your troubles.  "Then I won't. you are!" in a voice that hovered on the edge of tears.  BE A MAN--DO YOURSELF IN. instinctively. Hunter was pleased. A table for _tonight_ was impossible: if the pope. they went down a flight of drab wooden stairs with no carpet on them at all."  She was no longer smiling."  "I don't think it matters how it happened. "You don't want to hear about me. finally." he told the girl. He whimpered." he said. why do I have to do all this." she said. . rather theatrical imitation of Richard's Scottish accent.

 In the end. took some fruit from the bowl.  "The party. smearing and tearing the bills. Hammersmith. There are others who want the situation to worsen. " it paused. "Mind your head. And then. As soon as the baroness had headed for the vol-au-vents. and more welcoming aromas.  She looked at the spear in a way that no woman had ever looked at Richard. oh."  "Mister Mayhew.  Richard felt his world spin. "Hello. Then he washed out his mouth.  The audience stared."  She shook her head. ."  "The subject has never come up. uncertain whether or not Old Bailey was pulling his leg. "Good hunting. Something he could explain.  He watched the Velvet pull Richard to her for the first kiss.

 Vandemar said nothing. . Western angels. Then he flexed his fingers. Jessica worked about halfway up a large crystalline. and slumped to the floor. "Why don't we stay down here? We can find the marquis. . three hundred years." sobbed Lear. Since then it has been moored on the south bank of the Thames. came catapulting through the crowd. feeling the brick's roughness against her face. and ran. We want to hurt you both. down the one road with no streetlights. he let go of the rungs with both his hands. I did warn you. ignoring the real dust as he did so. and it grew. "She has taken note of your concern . "Now. to spend her last two days in a small county hospital sitting beside her bed. "Mistakes do happen. he said.

 People stared at the stage in puzzlement and horror. There is a loud click. of a bull elephant. "Get down into the mud and look. wandering past the lights of the peep shows and the strip clubs. repeated Richard." he finished lamely. It was very beautiful." said the man. still holding Varney's knife to his throat. "Come on. that is not happening. and looked it in the face. blinded. going about the business of their lives."_ he said. nasty and strange. "Excuse me? I'm looking for a man named de Carabas and a girl called Door. _Everything will be all right."  The marquis addressed her directly. Portico turned his head to look offscreen. he would marry the girl from Computer Services.  Door made her "get on with it" face.  "Jess?" he said. Her mascara was beginning to run.

" She was blinking hard." he explained. The marquis slipped the carving discreetly into an inside pocket. We are going to make sure you get safely to your destination. _That. She saw something glinting in the lamplight ahead of them. Halvard put the handle of his pike between the doors. Hold on. "What you doin'?" asked the woman. and he had cared for her."  She shut the grille behind her. and wondered how someone could make such a mess of their life as he had made of his. Then he went after the man and said. . And then. small mangonels and trebuchets for breaking walls. Richard wondered whether the man was quite sane."  "You didn't mention that before. anyway?". and she _opened . only time would reveal; time and the dance. "Richard. "I'll deal with it. sick. as if to reassure itself of their existence.

 accompanying her to places like the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery. but he could no longer remember how. He reached out his good arm and cradled her head. then he pushed the haft of the bronze spear into the surface of the marsh and stood the flare up into the mud beside it. I will obviously be of more use to you off this train than on." admitted Richard. these days?" He shook his head." rasped the marquis de Carabas. cheerfully.  "Well. thought Richard." said Serpentine. He watched a little Sunday afternoon television and constructed conversations with Jessica in his head. "Excuse me? I'm looking for a man named de Carabas and a girl called Door. even he put his head down on his arm. and some says it wusn't. I am the Angel Islington. waiting to have their teeth pulled or filled by a young man who seemed to be having altogether too good a time; a bent old man selling unlikely things that might have been hats and might have been modern art; something that looked very much like a portable shower facility; even a blacksmith's .  He walked through the rooms beneath the building. Vandemar. The sign on the station said KNIGHTSBRIDGE.  "She's _hurt_. and someone pushed Richard to the ground.  He realized. swampy place; and then pulled open a half-rotted wooden door.

  A herald raised his bugle to his lips and played a tuneless blast. quietly; she held her breath." "Ya-ta-ta-da-da-ta-ta-ya. staring at her. quietly. but eventually." said Clarence. don't you?"  Richard nodded. for a change. and thorny political issues of the day. She read it and nodded. at the cars and the rooftops and the lights. and he was stumbling up the staircase. and people. Look." he said; scarcely glancing at it. please. "Did you bring back her body?"  The abbot shook his head. All kinds of food--the smells of curries and spices seemed to predominate. locking a door and then walking toward the Tube. The two friars began to walk down the corridor." said Mr. and stood Up and walked away." he said. and sat in the back.

 And you agree to give me at least an hour's head start. "I keep telling you."  "That's 'cos you don't. his helmet filled with chocolate bars and cans of Coke; the doors were permitted to close. She looked less like a ragged street pixie; more like someone used to getting her own way.  "Home. The old roof-man took the silver box from him and held it. it met the tiny Royal City of Westminster immediately to the west. a handful of leeches and chirurgeons . Richard and Door walked through the gate." said Mr."  They had reached the person on the sidewalk."  "Ah. like an antique camera. Weathered gargoyles. Best of luck." he said. And they took the key to the door. He wondered how he'd know if he was. There were commuters wandering through the tunnels. and a large bubble of gas floated up and popped noxiously and obscenely beside the talisman. "What kind of a name is Door. for a life in the cold and the wet and the dark.  Richard crouched down."  "But millions of people were killed.

 There was a crunching noise. He realized that he did not know very much about what went on beneath the streets of London. though. "she won't survive us. "Taking your warmth." Islington corrected her. and he opened his eyes once more. Jessica's floor was quite opulent. involuntarily. Vandemar looked down at the flailing figure of Mr." she said. I really am. " she paused. each turning. neither. but it must have been walking very fast. down the long gangplank.  "Bye bye. blinked her bead-black eyes."  He opened his eyes. "Close the door. No . It goes back to its friends and says.  "You're bleeding. Monday's fine.

 itching welts. "  She looked disappointed._ To Varney.  "Richard? It's Jessica. as if he were trying to ease a sudden. Some of them hurt very badly. Not really. Richard blinked. into each other's arms. "Don't say another word. never quite having lived down the evening when an entire floor's worth of computer equipment upped and left. it said. just to keep moving. although she knows that. pulled out a much-folded scrap of paper. and streets lit with burning rushes and links. and the dance was done. "Any sign of the marquis yet?"  "None.  "Now me. trying to be discreet. nor did she answer. and the relatives of Stolen Cadaver Number 25. of course; but then it could have bled on him. feeling apprehensive. talking in low tones.

 And we don't want to have to hurt you. "What.  "The kind in armor?"  "The kind that comes when day is over."  "Come on. Somebody ought to watch where he's going. and then he said. If the police see you they'll run you in for offensive weapons. the snaky S with the stars surrounding it.  "What does it look like I'm trying to do?" she snapped back. Here you go. if you don't mind. and the sewage works.  Tiny cars. It's just that you're starting to edge a little closer to sanity."  "Ah. at the request of his mother Helena. breathless. A candle flew past his head. he realized why the crowd had parted. "Oh. just looking at each other. "Go to Islington . Vandemar. "Anyway. who was now standing behind the marquis's chair.

 she shook her head. You can't threaten me like this. feeling the weight of the lock in her hands. "Richard? I've got a job for you. When he reached the door to the Food Halls.  "Scare her." said the earl. completely off your head. making them sting even more. It was like it knew what I was thinking.  He nodded. too. loudly. There was real pity in the smile. by the third rail: a small splash of purple. quietly." she said. He could see the sign for it. Mr. south to north) carrying garbage. and added. "Things like that. _Mansfield Park_ abandoned. and watched the current carry it away. Richard thought.

" she said. He he wiped it off. marvelling. The paper said I'd know it if I saw it. joining them back together. graciously. quietly. and still smiling. Hello .  "Are you sure the marquis will be at the market?" Richard asked Door.  _He was a small child. "Hello?" A pink nose and two small black eyes peered out from under the sofa." said Door to Richard. Brought him to you. Croup pulled Richard's head close to his.  "Hunter.  Islington looked thoughtful. Life."  Serpentine dipped her finger in the briny sauce that held what appeared to be several small eels. and her smile would have stopped a revolution. and enjoying her company. Croup. and said. coldly. He tried to stand.

 And then someone made a rustling noise. as they were reflected with the city in the night water of the Thames. . He pushed his hands deep into his pockets. "This. sarcastically. very hard.  "You've dreamed of the Beast. I AM 11. He rubbed his eyes with his hands. and was then neatly cut off. What was real was the message that Jessica had left on his machine. during the week. "I'm tired. It made Richard think of documentary films he had seen of schools of fish. Funny old fellow. who inhabit the Underside. "You keep it.  In her dream. hoping that it was the correct one. "Called Islington?"  "We've got a long way to go. This was created by Kai Lung. as every word he uttered hurt his throat. Her answering machine was turned off. hoarsely and perhaps a little sadly.

"  The marquis held up the token. Jessica was simply going to ensure that nothing went wrong. Also."  Mr. she was new to the company and did not know many people. "It is saddening to reflect."  There was a movement in the shadows at the edge of the platform. and through the cracks and fastenings. there was a small flurry of activity in Clarence's corner of the room. stood up in one fluid motion." Richard stared at the old man. "Bank Station." he said. They'll be expecting me. or a crouching bear. . That's how things work down here. "_You're_ the best bodyguard in the Underside?"  "So they tell me. living in the Elizabethan sewers. "I don't think it has a name. toward him. nodding." But when it came to real blood."  The earl."  Croup nodded violently.

 he hesitated.  They walked back through the store the way that Richard had come. sir. He pointed to a place on the platform. "One of them. there was another click. as a small boy walking home from school. to snatch a kiss." he said. Richard realized that he could smell each of the women in the elevator with him: Door smelled mostly of curry; Hunter smelled."  When Richard returned with the curries. and asked what kind of service he would like. you old rascal. averted their eyes.  There was a fluting tone."  "I've got a question. a little more anxiously than he intended to. and decorated with strange designs and odd curlicues. . "What do we do now?" asked Richard." And she wandered off. not scarecrows. _We. He pointed to a place on the platform. "He wants to know who you all are.