"All right, Liam, old son," he said softly, "you saw those two come in here,

an'

you haven't tripped over them yet, so they must be up ahead somewhere. This

bloody tunnel must go somewhere, mustn't it? Christ, I wonder if there're any

rats in here?"

He froze and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt something slither over his

shoes.

"Ach, McMurphy, you stupid git, you had to go an' say that, didn't you?"

With a convulsive movement he shook the creature off his foot, swallowed

hard,

and pressed on through the darkness.

Billy sat on the stone balcony wall in a large arched opening overlooking the

Great Hall, nodding his head in time to the music. He leaned back against the

side of the stone archway, one leg bent at the knee, the other dangling over

the

side. Directly below him was the band, playing loud enough to make the stones

groan, and the dancers on the floor had become even more frenzied as the

night

progressed. From where he was sitting, roughly at eye level with the huge

chandeliers, Billy could see the entire Great Hall, most of the upper

balcony,

and the outer entry hall.

There were other people on the balcony, mostly couples, but two pretty young

women who were on their own, standing at the balcony across from him, spotted

him and waved. One of them blew him a kiss and beckoned him over. Billy

laughed

and shook his head.

"Gor', d'you see that?" Billy said, inhaling sharply. "Best offer I've 'ad

all

year, an' I'm sittin' 'ere shakin' my 'ead like a bleedin' loony."

"You can get yourself into a great deal of trouble if you go running every

time

a pretty girl beckons," Merlin said inside his mind. "Believe me, I know."

"Yeah, well I wouldn't mind 'avin the chance to find out for myself, y'know."

"I can appreciate that," said Merlin, "but the timing is rather unfortunate

at

the moment. We need to stay alert and on our guard."

Billy reached into his pocket and brought out a pack of cigarettes. He stuck

one

in his mouth and started rummaging in the pockets of his coat for matches.

"Here," said Merlin. Billy's right hand came up and he snapped his fingers. A

flame appeared at the tip of his thumb.

"Thanks," said Billy, lighting the cigarette, inhaling' deeply and then

blowing

out his thumb.