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The rooone from the shelves, as were the comfortable leather armchairs and the carpet Even the scarlet bell rope that Sneezer had pulled to reveal the heptagonal roorandfather clocks of the Seven Dials was h the room was presumably still there, behind the bookcase

The telephone that had stood on a side table was also

Arthur’s shoulders slumped He could feel the pressure outside, like a sinus pain across his forehead He kneas the weight of Nothing striving to break the bonds he had placed upon it The weight was there in his ht

‘Telephone,’ ht hand, while he cradled the Fifth Key in his left ‘I need a telephone, please Now’

Without further ado, a telephone appeared in his hand Arthur set it down on the floor and sat next to it, lifting the earpiece and bending to speak into the receiver He could hear crackling and buzzing, and in the distance so that sounded rather like Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, but the words were ‘Line-drops are lining up tonight’

‘Hello, it’s Lord Arthur I need to speak to Da abruptly stopped, replaced by a thin, soft voice that sounded like paper rustling

‘Ah, where are you calling from? This line doesn’t appear to be technically, u’

‘The Lower House,’ said Arthur ‘Please, I think I’ and I need to work out where to go’

‘Easier said than done,’ replied the voice ‘Have you ever tried connecting a nonexistent line to a switchboard that isn’t there anying sound, like a guitar string snapping He felt it too, a sudden lurch in his sto ‘Please hurry!’

‘I can get Doctor Scamandros – will he do?’ asked the operator ‘You wanted hiabbled Arthur

‘The Deep Coal Cellar, which is kind of odd,’ said the operator ‘Since nothing else in the Lower House is still connectedbutsuit Shall I put you through? Hellohelloare you there, Lord Arthur?’

Arthur dropped the phone and stood up, not waiting to hear more He raised the mirror that was the Fifth Key and concentrated upon it, desiring to see out of the reflective surface of a pool of water in the Deep Coal Cellar – if there was such a pool of water, and a source of light

He was distracted for an instant by the sight of his own face, which was both fae Familiar, because it was in essence much the same as it had been at any other tie because there were nues His cheekbones had become a little more pronounced, the shape of his head was a bit different, his ears had got smaller

‘The Deep Coal Cellar!’ snapped Arthur at the ent task: finding so destroyed Monday’s Dayrooe wavered and was replaced by a badly lit scene that showed an oil lamp perched on a very thick, leather-bound book the size of several house bricks, which was set atop a somewhat collapsed pyraht was dim, but Arthur could perceive so pole over his head, ready to cast Arthur saw only the caster’s hands and two nised

‘Fifth Key,’ Arthur commanded, ‘take me to the Deep Coal Cellar, next to Doctor Scaht appeared As Arthur stepped through it, he felt his defensive net tear asunder behind hi

A scant few seconds after his escape, the last surviving remnants of the Lower House ceased to exist

FOUR

ARTHUR APPEARED NEXT to a pyra the life out of a short, bald Denizen in a yellow greatcoat, who dropped his fishing pole, ju bronze ball that looked like a renade out of one of his voluminous pockets

‘Doctor Scamandros!’ exclaimed Arthur ‘It’s me!’

‘Lord Arthur!’

The tattooed trumpets on Dr Scamandros’s forehead blew apart into clouds of confetti He tried to pinch out the fuse on the sers and continued on its way Even more smoke boiled out of the infernal device

‘Scamand--’ Arthur started to say, but Sca the ball behind a particularly large pyramid of coal some thirty feet distant

‘Onecrack and a fierce rush of air, closely followed by a great gout of smoke and coaldust that spiralled up into the air Moments later, a hail of coal caround unco your pardon, Lord Arthur,’ said Dr Scahtly, he went down on one knee, clouds of disturbed coaldust billowing up alet up,’ said Arthur He leaned forward and helped the Denizen rise Dr Scas he had in the pockets of his yellow greatcoat were a on?’ Arthur asked ‘I cae wave of Nothing! I only just h to escape’

‘I fear that I lack exact knowledge of what has occurred,’ replied Scamandros The tattoos on his face became a tribe of confused donkeys that ran in a circle froain, and kicked their heels at one another ‘I have been here since we parted company at Lady Friday’s retreat, a ate sorowth of flowers and a powerful aroma of rose oil It has been quite a restful interlude in soer’

The Denizen noticed Arthur’s frown and got back to the question

‘Aheo, I felt a treht of Nothing that annihilated at least a third of the Cellar before its advance slowed Fortunately it was not the third I happened to be located in at the time I immediately attempted to telephone Dame Primus at the Citadel, but found all lines severed Similarly, I was unable to summon an elevator The few short experi’

He held out three blackened fingers, closing theainst the Void in the Far Reachesto sh