Teatime looked thoughtfully at the door.

     'I suppose I should open it,' he said, 'after coming all this way...'

     'You're controlling children by their teeth,' said Susan.

     'It  does sound  odd, doesn't  it,  when you  put it  like  that,' said Teatime. 'But that's sympathetic magic for you. Is your grandfather going to try to rescue you, do you think? But no... I don't think he can. Not here, I think. I don't think that he can come here. So he sent you, did he?'

     'Certainly not! He...'  Susan stopped.  Oh,  he  had,  she  told herself, feeling even more of a fool. He certainly had. He was learning about humans, all right. For a walking skeleton, he could be quite clever...

     But... how clever was Teatime? Just a bit too excited at his cleverness to realize  that if DeathShe tried  to stamp on  the  thought, just in  case Teatime could read it in her eyes.

     'I don't think he'll try,' she said. 'He's not as clever as you, Mister Teatime.'

     'Teh-ah-tim-eh,' said Teatime, automatically. 'That's a shame.'

     'Do you think You're going to get away with this?'

     'Oh, dear. Do people really say that?' And suddenly  Teatime was  much  closer.  'I've  got  away with it. No more Hogfather.  And that's only  the  start. We'll  keep the teeth coming in, of course. The possibilities...'

     There was a rumble like an avalanche, a long way off. The dormant Banjo had awakened, causing tremors on his lower slopes. His enormous hands, which had been resting on his knees, started to bunch.

     'What's dis?' he said.

     Teatime stopped and, for a moment, looked puzzled.

     'What's this what?'

     'You said no more Hogfather,' said Banjo. He stood up, like  a mountain range rising gently  in the squeeze  between colliding continents. His hands still stayed in the vicinity of his knees.

     Teatime stared at him and then glanced at Medium Dave.

     'He does know what  we've been doing, does he?' he said. 'You  did tell him?'

     Medium Dave shrugged.

     'Dere's  got  to  be  a  Hogfather,'  said  Banjo.  'Dere's   always  a Hogfather.'

     Susan looked down. Grey blotches were speeding across the white marble. She was  standing in a pool  of grey. So was Banjo.  And  around Teatime the dots bounced and recoiled like wasps around a pot of jam.

     Looking for something, she thought.

     'You don't believe in the Hogfather, do you?' said Teatime. 'A  big boy like you?'

     'Yeah,' said Banjo. 'So what's dis "no more Hogfather"?'

     Teatime pointed at Susan.

     'She did it,' he said. 'She killed him.'

     The sheer playground effrontery of it shocked Susan.

     'No I didn't,' she said. 'He...'

     'Did!'

     'Didn't!'

     'Did!'

     Banjo's big bald head turned towards her.

     'What's dis about the Hogfather?' he said.

     'I don't think he's  dead,' said Susan. 'But Teatime has  made him very ill...'

     'Who cares?' said Teatime,  dancing away.  'When this  is  over, Banjo, you'll have as many presents as you want. Trust me!'

     'Dere's  got  to  be  a  Hogfather,' Banjo  rumbled.  'Else  dere's  no Hogswatch.'

     'It's just another solar festival,' said Teatime. 'It-'

     Medium Dave stood up. He had his hand on his sword.

     'We're going,  Teatime,' he said. 'Me and Banjo are going. I don't like any of  this. I don't  mind robbing, I  don't mind  thieving, but this isn't honest. Banjo? You come with me right now!'

     'What's dis about no more Hogfather?' said Banjo.

     Teatime pointed to Susan.

     'You grab her, Banjo. It's all her fault!'

     Banjo lumbered a few steps in Susan's direction, and then stopped.

     'Our mam said no hittin' girls,' he rumbled. 'No pullin' m hair...'

     Teatime rolled his one good eye. Around his feet the greyness seemed to be boiling in the stone, following his feet as they moved. And it was around Banjo, too.

     Searching, Susan thought. It's looking for a way in.

     'I  think  I know you, Teatime,' she  said, as sweetly as she could for Banjo's sake. 'You're the mad kid they're all scared of, right?'

     'Banjo?' snapped Teatime. 'I said grab her...'

     'Our mam said...'

     'The giggling  excitable  one even the bullies never touched because if they did he went insane and kicked and bit,' said Susan. 'The kid who didn't know  the  difference between chucking a stone  at  a cat and setting it  on fire.'

     To her delight he glared at her.

     'Shut up,' he said.

     'I bet  no one  wanted to play with you,' said Susan. 'Not the kid with no friends. Kids know about a  mind like  yours even if they don't  know the right words for it...'

     'I said shut up! Get her, Banjo!'

     That was it. She could hear it in Teatime's voice. There was a touch of vibrato that hadn't been there before.

     'The  kind of little boy,' she said, watching  his face, 'who  looks up dolls' dresses...'

     'I didn't!'

     Banjo looked worried.

     'Our mam said...'

     'Oh, to blazes with your mam!' snapped Teatime.

     There was a whisper of steel as Medium Dave drew his sword.

     'What'd you say about our mam?' he whispered.

     Now he's having to concentrate on three people, Susan thought.

     'I bet no one ever played with you,' she said. 'I bet there were things people had to hush up, eh?'

     'Banjo! You do what I tell you!' Teatime screamed.

     The monstrous man was beside her now. She could see his face twisted in an  agony  of  indecision. His enormous fists clenched and undenched and his lips moved as some kind of horrible debate raged in his head.

     'Our... our mam... our mam said ...

     The  grey marks flowed  across  the  floor  and formed a pool of shadow which grew  darker  and higher  with astonishing speed. It towered over  the three men, and grew a shape.

     'Have you been a bad boy, you little perisher?'

     The huge  woman towered over all three men. In one  meaty  hand  it was holding a bundle of birch twigs as thick as a man's arm.

     The thing growled.

     Medium  Dave looked up  into  the enormous face of Ma  Lilywhite. Every pore was a pothole. Every brown tooth was a tombstone.

     'You  been letting  him get  into trouble,  our  Davey? You have, ain't you?'

     He backed away. 'No, Mum... no, Mum. .

     'You need a good hiding, Banjo? You been playing with girls again?'

     Banjo sagged on to his knees, tears of misery rolling down his face.

     'Sorry Mum sorry sorry Mum noooohhh Mum sorry Mum sorry sorry...'

     Then the figure turned to Medium Dave again.

     The sword dropped out of his hand. His face seemed to melt.

     Medium Dave started to cry.

     'No Mum no Mum no Mum nooooh Mum...'

     He gave a gurgle and collapsed, clutching his chest. And vanished.

     Teatime started to laugh.

     Susan tapped him on  the shoulder and  ' as he looked round, hit him as hard as she could across the face.

     That was the plan,  at  least.  His  hand moved  faster  and caught her wrist. It was like striking an iron bar.

     'Oh, no,' he said. 'I don't think so.'

     Out  of the corner of her eye Susan saw Banjo crawling across the floor to where his brother had been. Ma Lilywhite had vanished.

     'This place gets into your head, doesn't it?' Teatime  said.  'It pokes around to find out  how to deal with you. Well, I'm in  touch with  my inner child.'

     He reached out with his other hand  and grabbed  her  hair, pulling her head down.

     Susan screamed.