Unseen Academicals (Discworld 37)

'Perhaps it is very bad,' said Nutt.

'What would you say if it was me?' said Glenda. 'I want the truth, now.'

'Well,' said Nutt, stuttering slightly, 'I think I would say that you should look behind the door to face the things that you do not want to know so we may confront them together. That would certainly be the advice of Von Kladpoll in Doppelte Ber¨¹hrungssempfindung. Indeed, doing so would almost be a fundamental part of the analysis of the hidden mind.'

'Well then,' said Glenda, standing back.

'But what sort of bad things could possibly be in your head, Miss Glenda?' said Nutt, managing gallantry even in the fetid circumstances of the vats.

'Oh, there's a few,' said Glenda. 'You don't go through life without picking up a few.'

'I've had dreams in the night,' said Nutt.

'Oh, well, everyone has bad dreams,' said Glenda.

'These were more than dreams,' said Nutt. He unfolded his arms and held up a hand.

Trev whistled.

Glenda said, 'Oh,' and then, 'Should they be like that?'

'I have no idea,' said Nutt.

'Do they hurt?'

'No.'

'Well, maybe that sort of thing 'appens when goblins get a bit older,' said Trev.

'Yes, perhaps they need claws,' said Glenda.

'Yesterday was wonderful,' said Nutt. 'I was part of the team. The team were around me. I was happy. And now... '

Trev held up a piece of grubby string and the battered but shiny tin can. 'Perhaps you should find out?'

'I might be getting all this wrong,' said Glenda, 'but if you don't want to know what the things are that you don't want to know, then that means that there are going to be even more things that you don't want to know and I imagine that sooner or later, if that goes on, your head will cave in around the hole.'

'There is something in what both of you say,' said Nutt reluctantly.

'Then give me a hand to put him on the couch,' said Trev. 'Should he be covered in sweat like that?'

'I don't think so,' said Glenda.

'I would be happier if you chained me down,' said Nutt.

'What? Why do you think we should do that?' said Glenda.

'I think you should beware. Some things leak around the door. They may be bad.'

Glenda looked at the claws. They were a shiny black and, in their way, quite neat, but it was hard to imagine them being used for, say, painting a picture or cooking an omelette. They were claws, and claws were for clawing, weren't they? But this was Mr Nutt. Even with claws it was still Mr Nutt.

'Shall we get started?' said Trev.

'I insist on the chains,' said Nutt. 'There are all sorts of metal things in the old storeroom four doors down. I saw chains there. Please hurry.'

Automatically Glenda looked down at the claws and saw they had grown longer. 'Yes, Trev, please hurry.'

Trev followed her gaze and said brightly, 'I'll be back before you know I've gone.'