She ran back towards the knot of bodies that now eclipsed him, blotting out the sound of Cal's voice calling her to get away while she could. By the time she reached Jerichau he'd given up all hope of resistance. He was just sliding down the wall, sheltering his bloodied head from a hail of spittle and blows. She shouted for the assault to stop but anonymous hands dragged her from his side.

Again she heard Cal shout, but she couldn't have gone to him now if she'd wanted to.

'Drive!' she yelled, praying to God he heard her and got going. Then she flung herself at the most vicious of Jerichau's tormentors. But there were simply too many hands holding her back, some covertly molesting her in the confusion of the moment. She struggled and shouted, but it was hopeless. In desperation she reached for Jerichau, and hung onto him for dear life, covering her head with her other arm as the bruising hail intensified.

Quite suddenly, the beating and the cursing and the kicks all ceased, as two officers broke into the ring of lynchers. Two or three of the mob had already taken the opportunity to slope away before they were detained, but most of them showed not the least sign of guilt. Quite the reverse; they wiped the spit from their lips and began to justify their brutality in shrill voices.

They started it, officer,' said one of the number, a balding individual who, before the blood had stained his knuckles and shirt, might have been a bank cashier.

'Is that right?' said the officer, taking a look at the black derelict and his sullen mistress. 'Get the fuck up, you two.' he said. 'You've got some questions to answer.'

XI.

THREE VIGNETTES.

1.

'We should never have left them.' Cal said, when they'd made a circuit of the block and come back up Lord Street again to find the street crawling with officers, and no sign of Jerichau or Suzanna. 'They've been arrested.' he said. 'Damn it, we shouldn't have -'

'Be practical.' said Nimrod. 'We had no choice.'

'They almost murdered us.' said Apolline. She was still panting like a horse.

'At this point, our priority has to be the Weave.' Nimrod said. 'I think we're agreed on that.'

'Lilia saw the carpet.' Freddy explained to Apolline. 'From the Laschenski house.'

'Is that where she is now?' Apolline enquired. Nobody replied to the question for several seconds. Then Nimrod spoke. 'She's dead.' he said flatly.

'Dead?' Apolline replied. 'How? Not one of the Cuckoos?' 'No.' said Freddy. 'It was something Immacolata raised. Our man Mooney here destroyed it, before it killed us all.'

'She knows we're awake then.' said Apolline.

Cal caught her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes had become like black pebbles in the puffed dough of her face.

'Nothing's changed, has it?' she said. 'Humankind on one side, and bad raptures on the other.'

'The Scourge was worse than any rapture.' said Freddy.

'It's still not safe to wake the rest of them.' Apolline insisted. 'The Cuckoos are more dangerous than ever.'

'If we don't wake them, what happens to us?' said Nimrod.

'We become Custodians.' said Apolline. 'We watch over the carpet until times get better.'

'If they ever do.' said Freddy.

That remark put an end to the conversation for a good long while.

2.

Hobart looked at the blood that was still bright on the paving stones of Lord Street, and knew for certain that the debris the anarchists had left on Chariot Street had been only a curtain-raiser. Here was something more graspable: a spontaneous eruption of lunacy amongst an ordinary cross-section of people, their violence whipped up by the two rebels who were now in custody awaiting his interrogation.

Last year's weapons had been bricks and home-made bombs. This year's terrorists had more access to more sophisticated equipment, it seemed. There'd been talk of a mass hallucination here, on this unremarkable street. The testimonies of perfectly sane citizens spoke of the sky changing colour. If the forces of subversion had indeed brought new weapons into the field - mind-altering gases, perhaps - then he'd be well placed to press for more aggressive tactics: heavier armaments, and a freer hand to use them. There would be resistance from the higher ranks, he knew from experience; but the more blood that was seen to be spilled the more persuasive his case became.

'You,' he said, calling one of the press photographers over. He directed the man's attention to the splashes on the paving underfoot. 'Show that to your readers.' he said.

The man duly photographed the splashes, then turned his lens towards Hobart. He had no opportunity to snatch a portrait before Fryer stepped in and wrenched the camera from his grip.

'No pictures.' he said.

'Got something to hide?' the photographer retorted.

'Give him his property back.' said Hobart. 'He's got a job to do, like all of us.'

The journalist took his camera and withdrew.

'Scum.' Hobart muttered as the man turned his back. Then: 'Anything from Chariot Street?'

'We've got some damn peculiar testimonies.'

'Oh?'

'Nobody's actually confessed to seeing anything, but apparently around the time of this whirlwind things got crazy. The dogs went wild; all the radios cut off. Something strange went on there, no doubt of that.'

'And here too.' said Hobart. 'I think it's time we spoke to our suspects.'

3.

The haloes had faded by the time the officers threw open the back of the Black Maria, and ordered Suzanna and Jerichau out into the yard of Hobart's headquarters. All that was left of the vision she'd shared with Jerichau and Apolline was vague nausea and an aching skull.

They were taken into the bleak concrete building and separated; their belongings were taken from them. Suzanna had nothing she cared much about but Mimi's book, which she'd kept in either hand or pocket since rinding it. Though she protested at its confiscation, it too was taken from her.

There was a brief exchange between the arresting officers as to where she was to be lodged, then she was escorted down a flight of stairs to a bare interrogation cell somewhere in the bowels of the building. Here an officer filled in a form of her personal details. She answered his questions as best she could, but her thoughts kept drifting off: to Cal, to Jerichau, and to the carpet. If things had looked bad at dawn they looked a good deal worse now. She told herself to cross each bridge as she came to it, and not fret uselessly about matters she could do nothing to influence. Her first priority was to get herself and Jerichau out of custody. She'd seen his fear and desperation when they were separated. He would be easy meat if anyone chose to get rough with him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. A pale man in a charcoal-grey suit was staring at her. He looked not to have slept in a long while.

'Thank you, Stillman.' he said. The interviewing officer vacated the chair opposite Suzanna. 'Wait outside, would you?'

The man withdrew. The door slammed.

'I'm Hobart.' the newcomer announced. 'Inspector Hobart. We have some talking to do.'

She could no longer see even the merest shadow of a halo, but she knew, even before he sat down in front of her, the colour of this man's soul. It gave her no comfort.