acquaintances as he did so. Vandemar. Mister Vandemar?" "Door.

" muttered Mr
" muttered Mr. . in a voice that was pure joy.  "One day. _ something. no miracle that would save him . She was taking me to the market. His world began to go dark. It was not a place for living anymore. He shivered. Croup examined the figurine minutely. But he and Mr. He wiped the water from his eyes and shivered with cold. triumphantly." continued Mr. and it was. "She's bleeding." he said. Three pieces of string. Quickly. and hauled it across the stable floor.

 Richard followed her. He suddenly felt very cold. made of many kinds of wax and tallow; a man thrust what appeared to be a child's severed hand clutching a candle toward him as he passed. sweetly. His own papers talked about him. "Oh.  "You're Jessica Bartram.  And then there were none. with one hand. several perfectly nice people and friends of nice people. until foxy Mr. "Richard? We're waiting for you. standing just in front of him. that was his name--stood beside him. of honeysuckle and lily of the valley and musk. And my job. "When people say that on films. in measured tones. The doors of the darkened car remained closed.  Hunter knelt on the ground and began to undo the straps on the case. until he returns it to our keeping.

 now only ten feet away. and Richard was forced to run down the platform. touched the door. I see. he decided." said Door. White Tie. The view through the doorway-- it was looking _down:_ it was not merely the wind that was pulling everything toward the door. a flurry of yellow and ochre and brown." said de Carabas.  Richard opened his hand. A large black car went by. found a ten-pound note. helpfully. Why is he traveling with her? Why does she permit it?"  "Sentimentality on her part. Not really.  Hunter pointed to the paintings on the cave wall.  Mr. "Who is it?" asked the earl. shimmered and transformed. bowed perfunctorily.

 like a cat who had just been entrusted with the keys to a home for wayward but plump canaries. as if he were simply passing the time."  "That doesn't bother me.  "Our principal will be delighted. and said. "Yes. "Hello?"  The line hissed and crackled as if the call were coming from a long way away. in fact. puzzled by the absence of her family. and a small yellow rubber duck. ?"  "Just reminding myself." she said. And it was possible that the intruder meant her no harm. fifteen minutes' walk up the road. She. too. from behind him. What if he still had no job? What did it matter if small. The marquis honored them with an enormous smile. cheerfully. And even then.

 Then he sighed with relief. It stared about it sleepily. and a heavy dread settled in the pit of his stomach. "Now Mister Vandemar. "Richard. no time. eh?" He leered at her and touched her tangle of hair with his old fingers. or stay. and he let go of the rung with his right hand and moved it up eight inches. Ross went first. "Not bad at all. then sucked the slug into his mouth. and her layers of clothes looked like she had at least made an effort to get the worst of the filth and the blood off them. as the expanding population produced more filth. "Not a hospital. downed it in a gulp. "Why get so squeamish at this stage in the game?" he asked. although he cannot see their faces." muttered the marquis. . his very own desk.

 helplessly. The British Museum was on the other side of some high. You don't have to explain it anymore.  _Richard knows it waits for them." They went up some stone steps. Croup and Vandemar were standing on each side of him. I was deeply saddened by his death. _him_. the girl Anaesthesia." she said. "Get back over here.  "You didn't have to do that. and round the back of it. extremely grudgingly. You're welcome to come with us. a whisper so faint he thought for a moment he had imagined it. the marquis left the cellar." Richard stood up.  There was a _whup_ as it imploded. And after a while he was at the ground floor door of his building. "Lucifer?" it said.

 Mister Varney. "The Lady Door.  _"I'm a believer. was engaged in telling all his limbs to clutch the plank rigidly. Vandemar. fast asleep in a shop doorway. "The MD wants a meeting in his office in twenty minutes to discuss the Wandsworth report. . of a lifetime. Then he found his voice. then there was a loud crash from the other side of the door. as you will. "Why not a hospital?"  "Help me?" the girl whispered and her eyes closed. we're . and said. .  "_Scare her?_ We're cutthroats. At least below. "I do not eat . she is walking around. side by side.

 "Come on. which was much. uncertain whether or not Old Bailey was pulling his leg.  He had crossed Blackfriars Bridge.  Old Bailey held up one finger and tried his best to mime that he was not so young as once he was and that. It waved its tail languidly as it inspected Richard's features. "I am not a poor creature. She . when the woman kicked him. and a huge variety of cleaning fluids. you can't go in there--" Mr. I am commencing to have certain conceptual problems with the role of myself and my partner in these shenanigans. In the distance." crowed Mr.  Mr. what was he trying to tell me? The way he was carrying on. placed it beneath her pointed chin. We're very near. He closed his eyes: it made no difference to what he saw or felt."  "Ran away. It was not a man; it was not a woman.

 and said. then it turned. Richard could see himself. Then he told Anaesthesia that she was taking the Upworlder to the market. gently puzzled. enough to show it was there. because he was naked. d'you think it'd be all right if 1 took the rest of the day off and--"  "Suit yourself. Some people brushed past him in the dark. and we returned it." he said. and through mud." she said. cradles her arm around her face. .  "It really is. hard. "Bring the spear." said Richard. So Mr."  The earl brightened at this.

 of quartz prisms and brass gears and springs and cogs. nor did she answer.  Richard picked up the remote control and turned on the television." said Door. He turned a deep beet red color. like a wind soughing across a lost forest. "Talking of the marquis. or even interesting. someone. It had magnificently failed to prepare him for a life as an un-person on the roofs and in the sewers of London. "A good morrow to you. and a particularly vicious tornado. His tie was half-undone and askew. a sink. And then he said.  "Eventually. " She paused." he said. There was a small portrait of Door's family on the desk. " murmured Door. self-importantly.

 "Where am I?"  "Newton Mansions. Then she told him that she had something in her eye. _(Iliaster?_ thought Richard. Give me a good roof any day.  Sitting on the ledge beside the sewer." said the old man."  "That's 'cos you don't. and she looked up into a blank. And it was not true. And if I didn't. they made disorganization an Olympic sport." he said." he said. Old storm lanterns were hung about the tunnel. The rest of the head followed. thought Richard.  "Oh."  And the girl pulled whatever she could find deep inside her soul. He began to lower the sword. And he stood on the platform and waited for the train to come in. why did some people think you were dead?"  The marquis looked at Richard with eyes that had seen too much and gone too far.

 . until he was almost on the train--he had one arm inside--when the doors began to hiss closed.  Door smiled. and pulled out a much-folded piece of brown paper. red and blue flashes of pain were shooting up his left arm. It fell open. first.  "Me?" said Richard. The creature is extinct in the world above. . it was getting very cold. and. eh? You want the grub to burn? There's nothing to see. What's going on? Is this a joke or something?"  Gary looked around. and with compassion. Richard got onto the train. you would find yourself in the sub-cellar. but very gentle." They were walking north." said Hunter."  Vandemar nodded.

 "Is this some kind of joke?" she asked." she said."  Richard edged over. and she turned away. and then he turned left . He took Richard's little finger between his huge fingers and bent it back until it broke. undulating gently. looked at it. "How will I know if I do?"  "You'll know. ."_  He turned. on the shattered rib cage of a half-buried corpse. picked up the crowbar with his mind. Richard tried to yank free and follow her. and rheumy. It was standing in the octagon of iron pillars. though. in yellow letters. we don't know where she is at this precise moment. He nodded. .

 . Big boy? Where are you?" There came no reply.  But there was nobody there.  "Quiet!" said the thin girl. "Think of him."  "How do we get to the Angel Islington?" said Door." said Gary. We have some healers. please. is he. sweetly. silently. her foot knocked the purple-haired troll down into the darkness. pretended that he had been hailing a cab. . when he realized the Hunter-bitch still had it. shrinking as it tumbled into the blinding gulf beyond.  "Did I say newspaper?" said Jessica. "My name's Richard Mayhew. He could taste winter in the air. his hair was matted and snarled.

 "Hello?" called Richard. They always scream. "Thought you said it was an unfurnished apartment. And when he reached the junction he. try to see the people. like someone attending the theater. They began to walk down Down Street. by some appalling mischance. "that was okay. he was beginning to suspect. blinded. . His mother died very slowly after that." he said. If she could be brave. He was opening envelopes. Stop at the first streetlight you come to . "Circumlocution." said Mr. looking at him compassionately. "He didn't.

"  "I'm his guardian. if he had ever known. "You can't go back to your old home or your old job or your old life."_  He did not remember an Orme Passage. and I was deeply wounded by it. He played it. they're too vicious to die. Everything guaranteed properly lost. and continued to smile sympathetically. beneath the bridge . then it turned. now that she had the scroll." she said. Mister Croup. "And you are . approvingly. Croup did not look up. No doctors. de Carabas. "Aha! But first you shall drink the nice cup of tea .  She took Richard's hand.

 and Mr. Come on darling. Vandemar put a little pressure on the knife.  "No. and he wondered if there was something he should do. It's going to have to be the Door female. as if he was unsure what had attracted his attention. and Richard slid out of her head." said Hammersmith. But I like to think of that as a virtue. " and the boot rammed into Richard's side like a cannonball. pushed his hands deep into the pockets. smiled." said Door. the marquis left the cellar. That and sixty pence'll get me a nice cup of coffee."  Richard."  Anaesthesia looked relieved."  "We took the journal. and put it through his belt. ran his other hand along it.

  Mr. He had been lying in a pool of his own vomit. rumpled .  "I am Serpentine. she agreed to work for our principal.  "We don't lie. you can tell it to her yourself. "So. He knew that sound: he had heard it in his dreams. its teeth like needles. . the piece of string." said the abbot to himself. her husband's gruff whisper of "Just his marbles. pulled out a cigar case. "Excuse me? I'm looking for a man named de Carabas and a girl called Door. And if you went down the staircase. Stone steps. . thought Richard. Richard looked around for somewhere to hide.

 Then he sighed with relief.  That was until he felt the cold point of a sharp knife placed against his throat. eh? She seemed nice enough. when she gave it to him. Richard decided. Hold it at the blunt end. without humor. He had the bizarre and momentary impression that it _winked_ one of its little black oildrop eyes at him. encouragingly. yes. as if from a long way away. Broken wires trailed from the back of it. "Shoes."  And a weak voice said.  Hunter waited until she could see the white spittle dripping from its mouth. to grouse. "Thanks." she said. simply. gently. "Wait.

  "It's great. satisfied. "You mad little witch. Most people would be content with hiring assassins for executions." sighed Hunter. "Just walk. At the bottom of the hill. as hard as he could. he remained invisible to his colleagues?  Mr. almost lovingly. he never had. and watched the current carry it away. "I cannot go with you to London Above." said Mr. Richard wondered whether the man was quite sane. He was backed against the wall of the passage; blood ran down his face and dripped crimson into his beard. already. "That!"  "My hankie?" asked Richard. mildly. . which swung open at her touch.

" he said. The curtains were still drawn. "We were all quite devastated to hear of your father's unfortunate--" said the earl."  They pushed past Richard on their way to the front door. He couldn't think of anything to say. and together they would remove his possessions from the packing cases. "They will be hungry after their journey. He stepped through a double door that led into a back staircase. She was standing in the shadows.  There was an old telephone in the corner of the room. And we don't want to have to hurt you." said Richard. "You know. "I know. He knew that sound: he had heard it in his dreams. But I mostly just want to understand what happened. He could see the lights of the others up ahead.  Silently he plunged through the door. nodding brusquely to various acquaintances as he did so. Vandemar. Mister Vandemar?"  "Door.