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To my auntie and number one supporter: Jessie Corson MBE. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Epilogue
Other AFTERWORLDS books by Barry Hutchison:
Copyright
About the Publisher
“
“I bring news, sir.”
“News? Of the book?”
“Of the book. We have tracked it down.”
“You have? Excellent. Where is it?”
“It’s... well, it’s down below, sir.”
“What? On Earth?”
“Somewhat further down below than that, sir.”
“Oh. Right. Yes. Of course. The blighters. No surprise, I suppose.”
“Not entirely unexpected, sir, no.”
“Right. Well, now we’ve found it, what’s happening? They going to send it back?”
“No, sir.”
“No? What do you mean, ‘no’? They’re not playing silly sods again, are they?”
“They have requested that we send someone down to collect it in person.”
“You must be joking! One of us? Down there? You must be joking!”
“Alas, no, sir. They’re quite adamant about it. If we want the book back, we have to send someone to pick it up. They assure us it isn’t a trap.”
“It sounds like a trap.”
“They assure us it isn’t.”
“If I recall, Gabriel, they’re rather fond of lying. Rather adept at it too.”
“Quite, sir. But if they refuse to send it back, I don’t see that we have much of a choice in the matter. They have us over something of a barrel on this one. We need that book. What with the... current situation.”
“Yes, yes. You’re right, of course. Bless it all, we’re going to have to send someone. But who?”
“I anticipated you might ask that, sir. If I may be permitted to make a suggestion...?”
“Speak freely, Gabriel.”
“What if we didn’t send one of us, sir?”
“What do you mean?”
“They didn’t specify whom we should send. They just said we should send ‘someone’.”
“I don’t follow.”
“If it is, as we suspect, a trap, then it would seem unwise to send one of our own marching in. Better, surely, to send someone from down below?”
“A demon? How would that work?”
“Somewhat less far below than that, sir.”
“A human. Hmm. He wouldn’t like that.”
“He isn’t around to make the decision, sir. You are. With all due respect.”
“True words, Gabriel. True words. But whom would we choose?”
“I have taken the liberty of choosing for you, sir, so that you may distance yourself from any subsequent... unpleasantness.”
“Good thinking. Good thinking. Excellent. Off the record, though, who did you pick? No names, just the basics.”
“Someone disposable, sir.”
“Yes. Yes. Well, aren’t they all? But capable, I trust?”
“Oh, my word, yes, sir. He’s capable. He’s most capable indeed.”
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