The Librarian sat up and rubbed his head.
The book was thrust in front of his eyes.
'Read it!' said Victor.
'Oook.'
'Please!'
The ape opened it at a page of pictograms. He blinked at them for a moment. Then his finger went to the bottom right-hand comer of the page and began to trace the signs from right to left.
Right to left.
That was how you were supposed to read them, Victor thought.
Which meant that he'd been exactly wrong all the time.
Gaffer the handleman panned his picture box along the row of wizards and then down to the rapidly-dissolving monster.
The handle stopped turning. He raised his head and gave everyone a bright smile.
'If you could just bunch up tighter, gentlemen?' he said. The wizards obediently shuffled even closer. 'The light's not very good.'
Soll wrote down, 'Wizards Joking at the Corepse, take 3,' on a piece of card.
'Shame you didn't get the fall,' he said, the edges of his voice deckled with hysteria. 'Maybe we can stunt it up or something?'
Ginger sat in the shadows by the tower, hugging her knees and trying to stop trembling. Among the shapes the Thing had tried just before the end had been her own.
She pulled herself upright and, holding on to the rough stonework to steady herself, walked uncertainly away. She wasn't certain what the future held, but coffee would be involved if she had any say in the matter.
As she passed the tower door there was a clattering of feet and Victor staggered out, with the Librarian swinging along behind him.
He opened his mouth to speak, and started to gasp for air. The orang-utan pushed him aside and grabbed Ginger firmly by the arm. It was a warm, soft grip, but with just a hint that, if he really ever needed to, the Librarian could easily turn any arm into a tube of jelly with bits in it.
'Gook!'
'Look, it's over,' said Ginger. 'The monster's dead. That's how things end, OK? And now I'm going to get something to drink.'
'Oook!'
'Oook yourself.'
Victor raised his head.
'It's . . . not over,' he said.
'It is for me. I just saw myself turn into a . . . a THING with tentacles. A Thing like that has a bit of an effect on a girl, you know.'
'It's not important!' Victor managed. 'We got it wrong! Look, they'll keep on coming now! You've got to come back to Holy Wood! They'll be coming through there, too!'
'Gook!' the Librarian agreed, jabbing the book with a purple fingernail.
'Well, they can do it without me,' said Ginger.
'No, they can't! I mean, they will anyway! But you can stop them! Oh, stop looking at me like that!' He nudged the Librarian. 'Go on, tell her,' he said.
'Gook,' said the Librarian, patiently. 'Oook.'