Page 31 (1/2)

'That's about enough, I think,' said Susan, stepping forward The man was spun around An elboas jabbed into his stoht him so hard under his chin that he was lifted off the floor and slaainst the wall As he fell, Susan hit hi,' she said, as if she'd just shuffled so more for us here'

'You killed hi I have a sense about these things It's sort of inherited Besides, go and pick up the hose Go on' Since she was still holding the wrench, Lobsang did so Or tried to do so The coil she'd flung into the corner was knotted and tangled like rubber spaghetti 'Malignancy, randfather calls it,' said Susan 'The local hostility of things towards non- things always increases when there's an Auditor about They can't help it The hosepipe test is very reliable in the field, according to a rat I know' Rat, thought Lobsang, but he said: 'What's an Auditor?'

'And they have no sense of colour They don't understand it Look how he's dressed Grey suit, grey shirt, grey shoes, grey cravat, grey everything'

'Er erperhaps it was just so to be very cool?'

'You think so? No loss there, then,' said Susan 'Anyway, you're wrong Watch' The body was disintegrating It was a fast and quite un-gory process, a sort of dry evaporation It si dust, which expanded away and vanished But the last few handfuls formed, just for a few seconds, a familiar shape That too vanished, with the !' he said 'An evil spirit! The peasants down in the valleys hang up charht they were just a superstition!'

'No, they're a substition,' said Susan 'I mean they're real, but hardly anyone really believes in thes that aren't real Sos are all over the place, and they've got bodies That's not right We've got to find the person who built the clock-'

'And, er, what are you, Miss Susan?'

'Me? I'aze to the wrench that she still held in her hand, and shrugged 'It can get pretty rough at break ti

There was an overpowering se room, and he had been placed on a table in the middle of it By the feel of the surface, it was sheeted withed beside a sink the size of a bath Under the milk smell were many others - disinfectant, well-scrubbed wood and a distant odour of horses Footsteps approached Lu-Tze lay back hurriedly and shut his eyes He heard so under their breath, and they had to be aexperience had ever whistled in that warbling, hissing way The whistling approached the slab, stayed still for a moment, then turned away and headed for the sink It was replaced by the sound of a pu operated Lu-Tze half opened one eye Theat the sink was quite short, so that the standard-issue blue-and-white striped apron he wore al bottles Lu-Tze swung his legs off the slab, e ninja sound like a brass band, and let his sandals gently touch the floor 'Feeling better?' said thehis head 'Oh, er, yes Fine,' said Lu-Tze 'I thought, here's a little balda bottle up to the light to inspect it 'With a wind-up thing on his back, and down on his luck Fancy a cup of tea? Kettle's on I've got yak butter'

'Yak? Am I still in Ankh-Morpork?' Lu-Tze looked down at a rack of ladles beside him The man still hadn't looked round 'Hmm Interestin' question,' said the bottle-washer 'You could say you're sort of in Ankh- Morpork No to yak oat, sheep, caator if you prefer'

'What? Alligators don't give est ladle It made no noise as it caot a good grip 'What is this place, friend?' he said 'You are in the dairy'

The man at the sink said the last word as if it was as portentous as 'castle of dread', placed another bottle on the draining board, and, still with his back to Lu-Tze, held up a hand All the fingers were folded except for the it, which was extended 'You knohat this is, esture, friend' The ladle felt good and heavy Lu-Tze had used much worse weapons than this 'Oh, a superficial interpretation You are an old man, monk I can see the centuries on you Tell me what this is, and knohat I aot a little colder 'It's your er,' said Lu-Tze 'Pah!' said the man 'Pah?'

'Yes, pah! You have a brain Use it'

'Look, it was good of you to-'

'You know the secret wisdoms that everyone seeks, monk' The bottle-washer paused 'No, I even suspect that you know the explicit wisdoms, the ones hidden in plain viehich practically no one looks for Who aer The walls of the dairy faded The cold grew deeper His mind raced, and the librarian of memory took over This wasn't a norer One of the five digits on a- One of five One of Five Faint echoes of an ancient legend signalled his attention One fro the ladle back on its hook 'One from Five,' he said 'The Fifth of Four'

'There we are I could see you were educated'

'You were you were the one who left before they became famous?'

'Yes'

'But this is a dairy, and you're washing bottles!'