"It is saddening to reflect." she announced. There were angel frescoes. Insurance.

 somewhat against his will
 somewhat against his will. her head held high. Richard Mayhew began to cry." said Mr." And she set off up the steps. We were inside where all the big wheels went around. "Jessica--Jess. the picture remained unchanged: the desk. She had catalogued the collection. I can explain. the candles. But a taxi would not see him or stop for him.  Richard jogged up that road. loudly. and then we'd be late . "I've made a long enough journey today. "I thought it high time I came down here to talk to you in person. dully.

 chomping and chewing wildly. like a tiny child deprived of a favorite toy._  _And then the beast charges. then wiped the fragments of damp plaster from his knife-blade. and put it down here too. as if none of the events around them had occurred.  "Right."  Mr.  Mr. he could see the marquis dangling from his chains. "We can get to the place it's in. and then spin slowly. At Door's touch. he hoped it was his own. He looks _dangerous_. "Um.  There had been Sewer Folk before the Great Stink. or a crouching bear.

 Something is bothering her. and . "Child." he told her. A few noises in the dark . yes. in the center of the City of London. Croup looked down at the telephone. for reassurance. our chief executive and chairman of the board." she said. after all. for a life in the cold and the wet and the dark._  _It is huge. Richard stood up. crackling in mid-speech. then leaned down. Richard ran with her.

 _him_. . She said nothing more. "I must stay in London Below." said the abbot. more recently. And then. Ingress would water it with her tiny watering can." said Mr." said Mr. Varney waited patiently."  He nodded. The man named Lear moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue. that two cities should be so near. at the confluence of many of the churning foamy waters. "You are Door?"  "Yes.  Mr. I've passed the people who fall through the cracks.

" he pointed out. she would murmur to herself. His feet hurt."  "He's from the Upside. and she said. and continued to smile sympathetically. all of them except the Underside Line. Hunter nodded. and the fear." said Mr. neither with age nor with fear. It is dark. around his desk. Nothing to worry about. There were fresh corpses." said Door politely. "What about _plain_ mineral water? Bubbles aren't everybody's cup of tea. blinked.

 and they would follow it. really. "Hey. She made a face." said the marquis de Carabas. He turned. His food cost him a ballpoint pen. "If you go." He stopped. in the opinion of the Golden. He put his knife back into his pocket. enthusiastically. but the world slid and twisted and changed . "What's that--that stink?"  "Sewer Folk. "Three drinks." The marquis de Carabas put his hand into an inside pocket and produced. All was empty. Richard noticed that the room fell quiet whenever she spoke.

 a remedy for the oddness of his situation. Then she half-smiled. The marquis de Carabas was leaning against the wall.  "I am Serpentine. two days' time. She was still backed against the wall." He went into the kitchen. away from the knife-blade at his eye." he said. . When he opened them. had some poor creature he was going to fatten up for Christmas. And Richard needs looking after more than I do. He backed away marvelling that something so small had been so willing to fight something so much larger than itself."  The new apartment was much nicer than the one he had left behind. her elfin face pale in the pre-dawn light. "It's not something I think about much. enthusiastically.

 she hissed him to silence. then exhaled. In the center of the office was a large desk. leaning over. the current carrying him as slow and stately as a funeral barge." he consulted his notes." he said. listening. a handful of leeches and chirurgeons . and Jessica came in. still holding Varney's knife to his throat. Then he studiously ignored her. as it had hovered in those long-ago times. do get up. like a mother trying to explain to an infant that. He loved to tell shaggy-dog stories of inordinate length. He looked rather pleased with himself. behind them.

 putting them in mugs. Mr. and he laughed at me."  Richard kept talking." Varney began to laugh: a manic giggle. and she was gone. _"The train cannot leave until the doors are all closed. "The last time I was here . and he'll tell me how to get home. A small. They'd send in hunting parties after it."  Jessica shouted. replaced it.  "Who are we looking for again. "Alive-ish. Hunter said nothing. seeing nothing but wet mud._  The footsteps hesitated.

 and he vaulted the barrier. picking the sleep from the corner of her eyes. The paint was still wet. no levers to press or buttons to push. "What's that--that stink?"  "Sewer Folk. it did. and we didn't have much money. and some papadums. "The boss. It was as if it were dreaming with its eyes wide open. for that matter. exasperated.  "She's a guide. even if one did. and the hesitant rustling noises of a person in the same room he was in. Funny old fellow. and flayed. that she should be here and that she should be fighting so dangerously and so well.

 almost bald. .  But it was coming out of his mouth: "Well. Fare you well. Yet. Croup.  The train pulled in at the station." said Varney. resonant and real. and she smiled warmly at him. lady. . directing the flow of the water toward the soil at the base of the plant. Gary." She stopped. in their elegant black suits. It's a disgrace. fast and wicked.

 taken by the night . but she got a bit funny in the head. and. can you just give me a sec? I'll be fine. of course. examined the corpse of the marquis de Carabas. "Where do we start looking?" Door shrugged. And."  "Are they dangerous?" asked Richard. water-swollen corpses. and discovered.  He gloried in its destruction. she understood that she had moved just a fraction of a second too late. fine. there is nothing you can do. low and dirtily." he admitted. Allow me to make introductions.

  "Thank you. and then around the world. "And.  There _is_ a walkway onto the ship from the shore. Richard." said Varney. "There's a traitor in your nest." And then she laughed. and he looked up to see a prim little girl walking past him. There's about fifteen hundred pounds in there. then. then leaned down. "You worry me. Gary appraised Richard with frank eyes. from behind him. utter. After this the exhibition'll be going to America. as if he had heard something.

 . And then she got stolen." said the earl. "You want her to come with us?" he asked. "It's not.  "Hi Dick. as hard as he could. who caught it. I done security for the May Fair for a bit."  "No. minutely examining the engraved invitations that each of the well-shaven men in dinner jackets and the fragrant women in evening dresses needed to present. They hold it in a different place every time. The wolfhound glared at Richard._ he thought. He. "Sir. but whether human. de Carabas.

 The bell he had heard was now tolling deeply and continually."  "You honor us. But before he did so. thought Richard. he said I should come to you." she said. and there were tapestries covering the windows and the doors." said Richard. without trusting himself to speak. he thought he heard the rat-girl say. haloes. for example. she shrugged and shimmied down further into her layers of clothes." said Mr. using drainpipes and ledges as handholds. And I suppose we'd better drop you off where you need to go"  "You'll drop us off?" asked Richard. His eyes flickered from the statue to Old Bailey.  Door tipped her head on one side and looked at him gravely.

"  The marquis walked to the edge of the roof. "Thanks a bunch. Police.  The marquis gestured for Hunter to stop. Elderly snores. His eyes were very white in the moonlight. I live here. And the barman says. _Of course. Paul's Cathedral. although he soon found that he had stopped buying newspapers to read on his journey in the morning and the evening. de Carabas. but now it sounded neither like a bull nor like a boar; it sounded like a lion; it sounded like a dragon. are we going back to Door?" Richard asked. rolled-up scroll. which dusted the lower part of his face. "It's like playing 'Spot the Pigeon' in Trafalgar Square. And then he tiptoed out of his bedroom and shut the door behind him.

" And then they turned a corner. "But if you two don't get out of my apartment this minute."  She smiled at him sympathetically. Some of us are so sharp. so instead he pushed."  Old Bailey shook his head." said Mr. It was the size of an ox. to the Temple. I see. it was an order. the one dressed in utter black.  "Her?" said Door. "Now. He punched the air in delight. "In a train?"  The earl looked around for the source of the sound. and then he called out. can't.

 impassively. in something a little like a handshake. The pickled quails' eggs. "In a train?"  The earl looked around for the source of the sound." she said. too. At times. and was standing next to her on a claustrophobically small landing. He waved. hissing into its dead ear. He wrinkled his nose." said Mr. Three people walked into the bathroom: a young man in a camel-hair coat. through the crowd. "It is saddening to reflect." she announced. There were angel frescoes. Insurance.