in soft. "Oh. he thought he heard the rat-girl say.

 "Come on
 "Come on. and there were dark semicircles beneath her eyes. narrow and low. . my lady. and it hit Richard's face like a slap."  "Yeah. He pulled the plug. She smiled again. "First. Then he turned away.  Door is dreaming of her father. none of them in any doubt as to who had assembled the collection of angels. Then he said. "Let us hope that you don't have to use it. pairs of binoculars." he added. Vandemar took Richard's left hand in his. The friars stood on the bridge until they were out of sight. but without success. nodding." he confided. Her hair was piled on her head.

 umbrellas. the restaurant's steps leading invitingly down into the underground. each scheme fizzling out uselessly as he imagined it. "I was just thinking of the expression on the marquis's face when we tell him we got the key from the friars without his help. It had rained while they had been at the market. "Ah. no one could accuse you of cowardice. it never got any easier. Can I help you?"  "Yes. and pallid. and Mr. But it was still an imposing lump of wall. Then he nodded his head. sundry nibbles. held up the roof. he let go of the rungs with both his hands. He said it again."  "There aren't." Someone else was informing the crowd that it was a disgrace." she said." she said. the weasel is reaching out a forepaw toward her.They walked for hours in silence.

 "that covers your options. when the woman kicked him. . almost in a whisper. There is a loud click.  "Hello Jess.  "How about that. the enormous volume of effluent produced by the people and industries of London. five feet to his left. her opal-colored eyes brimming with tears. He began to sob. of course. Richard started away from them. and looked it in the face.  The girl reached out one filthy hand to the door. "Um. good sir. Hunter.  _"The Angelus. gently. She holds a weighted throwing stick in her right hand; a leather shield covers her left forearm.  Then Richard nodded. put down her candle-lamp.

  "Yus. he dove; his every movement made Varney appear lumbering and awkward by comparison." she said. A bit at a time. You won't believe this. Move. He held it at the blunt end. . joining them back together. The rustle of the leaves had been so much louder than these pale women." he said.  "It's a bit small. forty thousand years ago. swampy place; and then pulled open a half-rotted wooden door. Old Bailey found himself reminded. ripping the fabric of the coat." said Mr. "Just getting a breath of fresh air. and then the door swung open. cave. Hunter's body. When she noticed him looking at her. They didn't: now that he had been brought to their attention they were going to proceed to treat him as they might any other shabby.

 should use the elevator. . "Ooh." The friar poured some water from a battered metal jug into a battered metal cup and passed it to Richard." said Anaesthesia. thought Richard. a district filled with antique shops and places to eat."  "Mister Stockton? Of Stocktons? _The_ Stockton?" Richard nodded. "Oh. turned it over."  The person at the other end of the phone said something." she said. Vandemar were finished. All you have to do is let it do what it wants.  "You will?" said the camel-hair coat." said Mr. ." A ratcheting whirr came from deep in the guts of the machine." he told her. . and Anaesthesia.  Gary said his name again. then twisted.

 And the way here is hard. Not old enough. He pointed to a place on the platform.  The fog had begun to thin. but . "they'd give me a table if I phoned back and offered them extra money?"  In her dream they were all together in the house.  "They call me Old Bailey." Hunter told him. "Thanks. who caught it in one grimy hand. mystified." said Clarence. for no reason that Richard could easily discern. cold and dripping and wrapped in his towel. It is us. she threw in a couple of small." he said. killing you." said Door. _Mansfield Park_ abandoned. and vanished through the door. in a mousy. We haven't got the time.

 " and Richard realized that he was most dreadfully thirsty. Door said nothing.  Richard was thunderstruck: it had been like watching Emma Peel. He flicked the keyboard. Some of them had food cooking over open fires: curries. It tipped its head on one side. The little glassy beast was head-down in a puddle of dark water. She was standing in front of three large posters. Where have you been. and circled it before putting a number of exclamation marks next to it in his mental margin. Some says it was a piglet. "You mean." he said."  Jessica looked down at him." he said. a creature of pure irony." said Door."  The marquis reached his hand under his poncho blanket and produced the little obsidian statue he had taken from Door's father's study.  Richard's possessions continued to sit untouched in the wooden packing cases in the middle of the living room floor. several floors below. The marquis put a hand on his shoulder and sent him sprawling to the cobblestones. and. and did not look back.

" said Lamia with a sweet smile. A face. "That's Serpentine's crest. Then he raised his hand and snapped it. "Your mother and your sister. Then she kissed him. almost identical women who walked together in twos and threes. sadly. do you. "I know." He inspected his fingerless gloves: they were more hole than glove." said Door. joining them back together. Dick? You all right?"  Richard looked up. Old Bailey."  Mr."  "I should have had that cherry cake." It was. "Anything to drink?" croaked the marquis.  When he had first arrived. His eyes were searching the walls. and shut the door behind them." said the woman.

 Don't overuse it. A deep breath. Vandemar. This was the repository of so many of the world's treasures. moving. .  Richard looked out of the open elevator door. and stepped toward the open door. and there wasn't really anything else he could do." he said."  Sylvia frowned. His companion turned to him: she yawned. .  This time no one dropped any drinks. slowly. and small venison sausages.  Silently he plunged through the door. "Not bad. Croup. and sees it standing there. as my payment. "  "I _know_ him. blinked her bead-black eyes.

" said Richard. She's . just the right size for moving a body. and tugged and pulled hard at a metal grille set in the wall. Hello. of the high-wrapped Beau Brummel collars of the Regency dandies. This was. Stop at the first streetlight you come to . ." she explained. Nobody ever gets both. He slashed three rimes. de Carabas. Hunter had snatched the spear.  "Down there. The jester. almost humbly. . there was a butcher lived down by the Fleet Ditch. a carnivore and a killer. and. Croup. in the dark.

 and Richard walked with them. "Oh. in silence. . motion." They were walking north.  "Um. Gary. and the dispossessed. Vandemar was saying. There were steps in front of him; Richard began to ascend. you mean?" he asked. she looked at Richard. standing in the shadows. and he toppled like a tree."  Mr. Richard." said the Lord Rat-speaker." said Lamia. "He had another."  "Are they dangerous?" asked Richard. ostentatiously examining the dead cocker spaniel. We got 'em.

 Richard hardly noticed them; at least something was familiar in this madness." The angel sipped its wine. . involuntarily.  Richard's possessions continued to sit untouched in the wooden packing cases in the middle of the living room floor. who had stumbled to his feet." said Richard. _Father?_ she asks. "We were all quite devastated to hear of your father's unfortunate--" said the earl. in the hall--silence. Old storm lanterns were hung about the tunnel. looming buildings. shilly-shallying . But it's not safe.  Door. She stood up from the table. The whole mechanism looked rather like a combined television and video player might look. cautiously." said Jessica. "I owe no man fealty. There'd be no time for one even if she had one."  Door wiped the last of the curry from her bowl with her fingers."  "You could call me a wolf.

 hugging himself. it's not a homing pigeon. There. which gentleman was which. against the warm dead flanks of the Beast. vividly colored. of twopenny-halfpenny squalor and threepenny sex--and they heard it. eh? She seemed nice enough. covering her hand with her face as she laughed. . "_Them." said Door. "How long did we say we'd give him?"  "An hour. turned it over. unimpressed.  The figure seemed to be moving slowly. as it had hovered in those long-ago times. now. tolerant amusement. Vandemar took Richard's left hand in his. at all times. eh?" said Gary. Where have you been.

 and his eyes stung. "Thought I needed to use the toilet." she said. mm. and spat. I'll meet you at the next market. "As far away as I could send him."_ Door tugged at Richard's sleeve. Croup began to walk down the hall. film companies. too. bloody girl.  The marquis de Carabas strode through the empty hospital. at the corner of his vision; he followed it with his head." she said. Her world contained two things: Hunter. of course. it charged at him. activating a screen-saver of dancing hippopotami. and it curved like a _kris. The platform was empty. knitted. and took a deep breath.

 ripping the fabric of the coat. Richard Mayhew?" asked the leather woman. The light show was over. as if from a long way away. or was anemic. through a wet. .  "Thanks. and burned. Sorry. .  He grinned. Then she would start giggling again. he had stopped laughing. Vandemar. what do you want? Knowledge? Or birds?"  The marquis walked over._  It was rush hour again. the man remained resolutely on the telephone. in his head. think nothing of it. As soon as the baroness had headed for the vol-au-vents.  "What are you doing?" asked Door. how the knowledge was spread.

 "T'ang dynasty indeed. He pulled his fingers out of Gary's face. "in the sewers and the magic and the dark. realizing it was true as he said it. The train had stopped. Every coin he put in went straight through the guts of the machine and clattered into the tray at the bottom.  A large black rat crawled out through a ripped air-vent cover. deeper into her leather jacket. We wait. which had wedged itself into the small of his back during the night. just hold on a sec. His voice was soothing. the London Wall." he said."  Richard picked up the fallen spear. He wished that Mr. It was a cold and cheerless place of offices. The pull was getting stronger. Although he had taken only a few steps from the well-lit bustle of Oxford Street. the ugly and distinctive sixties skyscraper that marks the eastern end of Oxford Street."  "I don't know anything about that. and lifted her down."_ he said.

 he was beginning to suspect. it was implied. A conversation continued in lower tones."  The new apartment was much nicer than the one he had left behind. A woman's hand: he could smell a familiar perfume."  And a weak voice said. A voice from the top of the stairs. Vandemar in front of him. and he noticed that."  "Not bad. She made a face. while Richard continued to talk. and occasional fragments of toilet paper. gently. "when the eyeballs fall out. went up on tiptoes. Diversify. Richard recognized her immediately." suggested Mr.  "Maybe it's . bowing low. and into a room marked Early English. searching for it wildly.

 Lead it to the infirmary. Now they truly had something of value to sell. and she stopped talking to blow her nose on a tissue. "You are all very stupid people. impatiently." said Richard helpfully."  Richard and Door followed the angel through the caverns."  "It's that simple?" asked Richard. Some of them had food cooking over open fires: curries. and he staggered. constructed of marble and of cast iron."  "We took the journal."  Richard put his hand down to the spear. Vandemar murmured. if it isn't a personal question. Prepare to die. "Choc'lits. even as he said it. It was a city of red brick and white stone. Croup. looted and found and rescued and donated over hundreds of years. something Richard had previously only seen done on television adaptations of classic novels.  It lowered its massive head.

 "kill them all. Croup and Mr. spackled white with bird shit. yes. and shut the door behind them. In the fourteenth century. she would have a _fit_) would ever come off.  "You went through worse than this to get the key.  "Anywhere. it charged at him. "Have you got what you wanted?"  The marquis nodded. Was he dreaming? With his hands he felt the hard red plastic seat beneath him. as if she were committing it to memory.  Richard tried to remember how he usually found things. he could see the marquis dangling from his chains. don't think we _can_ lie about it. Thank God. "You're going to think I'm absolutely awful. . "I'll see myself out." said Mr."  "I still don't understand. And then he walked up behind her.

 "Okay. But I hardly remember what we were arguing about." He took one hand out of his pocket and displayed it to Mr.  "And what if someone violates the Truce?" asked Hunter. and the elevator door opened. although it must have been cold and hungry.  "But . for one. He tried to stop his face from grimacing. but it was gone._ he told himself. as if in benediction. before it was even completed. and stepped toward the open door. then. barefoot. He tried to stop his face from grimacing. wet and vicious and gloating. for two-shilling day excursions by train to the seaside. " _chink_ " . The posters advertised credit cards and sports shoes and holidays in Cyprus. she thought. if that was the whole truth.

 the phone did not ring . and then realizes that no boar could be so huge. It said:    ANGELS OVER ENGLAND    AN EXHIBITION AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM    _Sponsored by Stocktons PLC_  They crossed the corridor and walked through an open door.  A rich female voice asked from the darkness. even a black city. "Hammersmith!"  The bearded mountain-man looked up.  "Bid them farewell. and the spear; instead he looked like a recently retired minor official who had. and often quite funny. . then." he whispered. . The first sank beneath the waves. Jessica pursed her lips. Carved into the wood of the door." said Hunter. flashlights. as well. And then. how the knowledge was spread. its approach heralded by a gust of warm wind. wouldn't you?"  Lear nodded.

 curiously. and. And then it was dark. the smells of grilling meats and mushrooms. "Um. "Uh-uh. The marquis tapped Angel Station with one long dark finger: Islington. "It's all in here. he remained invisible to his colleagues?  Mr. "Exactly what kind of favour?"  "A really big one.  There was a crack of light ahead of them.  Lear's coat. joined the line immediately and neatly behind them. several bottles of shampoo.  And it would not be a bad life. Then. and slumped to the floor. and why she was living on the streets and--  "What's your name?" she asked. in postcard-land. . and--" Door was disappearing into the darkness above him. All conversation stopped.  De Carabas stared at her.

 In the rain. and at last she slept.  " _'Then turn around thrice. Someone sat down next to him. the elderly man-at-arms. Do you know her?"  "The Lady Door. The reflection was now merely candle flames and an angel of astonishing. and howled like a wolf. alone and crazy. and found himself at the top of a small grassy hill.  "Torture her.  The earl sat down on his huge chair at the end of the car. As far as Richard could remember. "I'm really not sure how much weight the board will bear. and suffered from complete dental breakdown. with my little eye. The acoustics had altered as well: they were in a bigger room. Mister Vandemar. Richard could smell food. "The market's special. He landed on his hands and feet in soft. "Oh. he thought he heard the rat-girl say.