He wondered if he wanted to kiss her.

_ To Varney
_ To Varney. And then." she said. . affronted. _Yes.  Old Bailey chortled.  "What?" She was not pleased to be jerked out of her reverie. about ten feet behind Hunter. and the occasional official-looking notices warning musicians playing for coins to move away from the station. He looked up: a huge man. and thumbs. at length." said Door. There was a pause."  She shrugged.

 all this time?"  "Hunting. Lady Serpentine. handed her the HAVE YOU SEEN THIS GIRL? poster. "You got it. are we?" They walked through the empty museum corridors. smoothly. "I'm you. She was still chained to the pillar on the left. "I like to imagine that one is actually tasting the sunlight of bygone days. and blew kisses to several spectators. Brought him to you. on his final exit from the tent. She's . "Because Mister Vandemar has promised me that he's personally going to cut it out and stuff it into your mouth before he slits your sad little throat. as if it were lost. "Where am I?" asked Richard.

 but he could no longer remember how. and your brothers. Then she began once more.  "I'm afraid so.  He pulled his coat on as he went. Thank you all very much. "I am currently too overjoyed."  "Which one am I?" whispered Richard to Hunter. although he cannot see their faces."  Door stopped. The first sank beneath the waves. then. and away. It was what she had told him to do. with grey muttonchop whiskers. Two of Serpentine's other women.

 He was balding underneath his cap." she said. then ticking their names off on a list. a lonely mausoleum of a place. as an immense. and a fall of several thousand feet may prove me wrong." said Hunter to Door. black-painted railings. pleased to notice that he had at least taken off his shoes and jacket before he had fallen asleep. Fingers. Richard turned away and found himself face-to-face with Jessica. "Well caught. and the string was tied around her wrist. . In London Above. or a little less.

 in the shadow of the tower. A hand caught the crumpled paper in midair. tossed a lump of red-molten metal from a brazier onto an anvil. He had forgotten quite how beautiful she was. "Time to go to market. . and see for yourself. ." said the marquis. Your Grace. Then he pondered Mr. mud and foul water splashing up from its hooves as it ran. flashlights. but it would fail to give the full picture. "Before King Lud founded the village on the Thames marshes. sounding a lot more like Richard than he had in recent weeks.

"  He lowered it down to her. "I'm glad _you_ aren't dead. and a television set." said Richard.  The marquis took in the room. Neither myself nor Mister Vandemar make threats. and make it all go away for ever and ever."  Richard chased up the steps." she said. realizing the flaw in his partner's logic. And then he said. You ever eaten rook?" Richard shook his head. "Did she say she was Portico's oldest girl?" he asked the jester."  "Why .  It had been agreed well over a century before that the Sewer Folk could only set up a stall at those markets held in the open air. at your service.

 The fact that Hunter had clearly brought them here as a safe haven was doing nothing to assuage her fear. clasped Door's hand. how pleasant it was and how cold. and a few cars. Lady Serpentine. Vandemar. . and Richard doubled up. Hunter?" he asked. taking the knife from him. "Don't forget the shoeses and the gloveses!"  The advertisements on the walls were for refreshing and health-giving malted drinks. warily. "How do I get back to normal again? It's like I've walked into a nightmare.  They were wading through a narrow passage of wet. light enough to walk by. Yes.

 It was the noise of a small but affluent crowd: the grumbling of ladies in mink coats. We haven't got the time. Her short hair was filthy." said Mr. "Where are we?" he asked. . that he was still in London. Vandemar. when the woman kicked him. they flickered into flame. It was built of lost fragments of London Above: alleys and roads and corridors and sewers that had fallen through the cracks over the millennia. "Please. Dunnikin looked at it suspiciously. and breathed into his nose and mouth. and even Door." said Door.

  A voice came over the loudspeaker.  "Only everything. now. and wrapped his hand around Hunter's chill fingers. She hugged him tightly. okay?" And she had smiled at him." muttered Hunter. "You struck me as a hard man to kill. . to become that certain young lady's personal bodyguard. no other word for it. hard. "I think maybe you were in shock or something last night. and went inside. and said.  There was a shiver in the world.

 "How are you. To end it all. "I'm sure you'll have fun. Richard followed her. Croup picked at his tombstone teeth. Vandemar's plinth. He could hear a slow drip of water. "You are the Warrior. then ticking their names off on a list. shyly. barefoot. "One of these. The marquis was walking around the perimeter. He said I could trust you. Richard squinted his eyes.  Richard and Hunter and Door pushed their way through the crowds on the deck.

  "Like you killed my family? I don't think you're going to kill anyone anymore. Her family had remarkable recuperative powers." said Richard. in a hoarse voice that was little more than a grinding whisper. you can tell it to her yourself. Russets and ochres and siennas outlined charging boars and fleeing gazelles. as she began to pass out. "My family ."  Jessica waved. defining the darkness. Figgis inspected their signatures and satisfied himself they had no computers. under the airport and the hotels and the streets. Western angels. His guide shushed him to silence. I think I broke him. in the raising.

 actually. "I like to imagine that one is actually tasting the sunlight of bygone days."  "But--"  The rat squeaked again. It _was_ a girl. "He's not dead. .  Mr." he whispered.  The marquis had been amusing himself while he waited for her to collect herself by playing a game of knucklebones with some old coins and bones he kept in one of the many pockets of his coat. ears back. purposelessly."  Old Bailey grinned uneasily. "Now. echoing away. "Get down into the mud and look. Everything else is just technique.

 like a mother trying to explain to an infant that. and its headlights flashed.  The crowd was pressing closer now. "Oh." she said._ The earl's jester was an elderly man with a pinched. "Here. repeated. Stockton's angel collection was "indiscriminate to the point of trashiness. smelled the worst. Please." Richard began. We were crossing this bridge in the dark. "Not much of a tan. wrapping her arms around him.  "You didn't have to do that.

 Mister Croup.  There was a little window in the back of the bedroom that looked out on an area of roof tiles and gutters. and her long dress was jet black velvet. No ticket appeared. Whatever the cause. affectionately. where's the market going to be?" The rat told him. in something a little like a handshake. at the request of his mother Helena._  It was a small statue of a boar. And to be magnificently frank. for two-shilling day excursions by train to the seaside._ he thought . and over rotting wooden boards.  "Still._  It was rush hour again.

 "You don't want to know. "Tonight. the doors hissed open.  It was very beautiful.  "I will. ?"  "Not any longer. "Executive decision."  Richard looked at the outline of a doorway he had scratched on the wall. After some time he stopped laughing. he would not even put up a fight. the damage inflicted by Mr. and tapped his jester on the shoulder."  Richard inspected and rejected as poor towel substitutes a loofah.  "The kind in armor?"  "The kind that comes when day is over. "Hello?" A pink nose and two small black eyes peered out from under the sofa."  Richard stood up in the bathtub.

 tolerant amusement."  The abbot sighed. everything you say. I . . removed them. he let go of the rungs with both his hands. "But it's not how hard you kick." said Mr. Hunter?"  "I worked for all the Seven Sisters.  "I'm still here. "Are there many stations like this?"  "About fifty. "By the bye. miss."  Richard put his hand to his belt and pulled out the knife that Hunter had given him. He wondered if he wanted to kiss her.