"# See, saw, sacradown" "# Which is the way to London town?" "# One foot up and the other foot down" "# This is the way to London town #" "Who's up there?" "Come on." "No." "Ah." "Would you like to play with these children?" " Shall I bring them?" " Yes, please." "# See, saw, sacradown" "# Which is the way to London town?" "# One foot up and the other foot down This is the way to London town #" "'All irregularities will be handled 'by the forces controlling each dimension." "'Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life." "'Medium atomic weights are available." "'Gold, Lead," "'Copper," "'Jet, Diamond, Radium," "'Sapphire, Silver and Steel." "'Sapphire and Steel have been assigned. '" "You mustn't go." " What is this?" " The side door." "The front door was simple, so was the alarm." " Good." "There were children." " Where?" "In the yard, playing on the step." "They disappeared." " I thought they'd gone inside." " No." "No one came through the door." "There doesn't appear to be anyone in the bottom part of the building." "How many children?" "Seven." "What did they look like?" "I don't know, they were just children." "It wasn't clear." "Were they real?" " I didn't really see enough..." " From what you did see." "No, I don't think they were real." "Nor do I think they were images." "I think they were something in-between." "Is this the place?" "Maybe." "Some kind of shop." "Lost property." " That's what they sell?" " And buy." "You mean people lose these things?" "The purpose of this place, and places like it, is to trade lost property." "This is a cross between a second-hand bargain shop and a pawnbroker's." "There's nothing new here." "No." "A room full of triggers." "Thousands of them." " It could be any one of them." " No." " Time has broken through, hasn't it?" " Yes." "And we, as usual, have been told too late." "We're not too late to stop it." "But too late to have prevented it in the first place." "We should have been here before things break through." " Someone should be here waiting." " That's impossible." " It's not." " There aren't enough of us." "There are more than enough of us." "Well, who would volunteer?" " Volunteer?" " Yes." "To sit and wait." "Maybe for hundreds of earth years." "Would you?" "Well, that depends." "You wouldn't." "I know you." "There are those of us who are good at sitting about and doing nothing." "They do it nonstop." "The specialists." "The specialists?" "!" "Well, what are we?" "What am I?" "You're an operator." "We're all operators." "Oh, those." "This particular operator has made up his mind about something and in his expert opinion, this room is loaded with active triggers." "Any one of them could cause a breakthrough." "Some of them even speak for themselves." "Well, this one has nothing to say." " What?" " No one's ever died by this sword." "Not even been hurt by it." "Ever." " It's a depressing place, isn't it?" " Yes." "Nothing here but the belongings of the poor, the hopeless and the dead." "That's right." "But it is in here." "No." "In this building, yes." "In this room, no." "You mean it hasn't had to use any of this?" "How can you be so sure?" "It hasn't needed to." "But wherever the time-break is, it's very close by." "I do know that much." " 'Steel?" "' - 'Yes?" "'" "'Move to the door." "'Tell me what you see. '" " 'What am I looking for?" "' - 'A child." "'Somewhere in here with us, hiding. '" " 'I don't see any child. ' - 'Just stay by the door," "'I'll try to find her. '" "# See, saw, sacradown" "# Which is the way to London town?" "# One foot up and the other foot down This is the way to London town #" " 'Did you hear that?" "' - 'Hear what?" "'" "'A child's voice." "Chanting a rhyme." "A kind of skipping song. '" "'No, I didn't hear it. '" "'I think I've found her." "'Stay where you are." "Watch the door." "'I've found her." "Whatever she is, I've found her. '" "Steel!" "'This is the way to London town. '" " That was it." " The time-break, it was part of it." " You said it wasn't this room..." " I said it didn't start here." " It's using things from here." " "It"?" "The child - or what appeared to be a child." "I saw you, from here." "I could see." "I couldn't move but I could see." " I could see you." " Yes?" "It was..." "It was as if you were part of a photograph." "You were the same." "What did the child look like?" "She looked like she was from a photograph." "Her hair, clothes, colour quality, as if she was part of an old photograph." "Except that she was three-dimensional." "Yes." "And for a short time, we weren't." "Photographs!" "Is that how it's being done?" "Is that how time's broken through?" "With a little help and encouragement, maybe." "Let's look upstairs." "I'm sorry..." "I just wanted to play, that's all." "Anyway, I'm sorry." "I have said I'm sorry." "And I think you'd better come home." "Now." "Please come home." "# Eenie, meanie, nacaracca... #" "Steel!" "Look." "Can you see them?" "Yes." "Yes, this time I do." "It's children again." "It always seems to be children." "Yes." "Well, somebody's at home." "Someone isn't too bothered about opening their mail." ""Mr H Williamson. " "H Williamson, Esquire. "" " "H Williamson. "" " How far back do they go?" "Several months." "No food, no provisions." "Whoever he is, he appears to live here above his shop." "He appears to sleep here but he doesn't eat or read his mail." "He reads books, though." "There are more here on the same subject." "Tumbler and spring." "The wards are here, the bolt there." "He does more than just read about it." " Old photographs again." " Yes." "When somebody's hobby is photography, doesn't that mean they take new photographs?" "Usually, yes." "Especially with this kind of equipment." "Why aren't there any new photographs?" " Well, can you see any?" " No." "Steel." "There's something wrong with this photograph." "The balance is wrong." "Things are missing." " What things?" " People." "Whose mistake was that?" "The photographer?" "No, the balance was there when it was taken - the people were there." "Four..." "Four small figures." "Children." "Four children were in this photograph." "They were part of it." "They belong to it." "You mean it's been faked?" "Been worked on?" "No." "The background's intact, so is where the children were standing." " And the water's still there." " What water?" "The water they spilt when they were drinking at the fountain... in 1884." "96 years ago." "All right, children." " Children taken from photographs." " Or lost." "Or stolen." "I suppose you could call it a different kind of lost property." "I think the same thing's happened to that one." "And this." "And to all of them." "Do you remember the child in the shop below?" "I think she belongs there." " So these children are not alive?" " No." "And you said they're not ghosts or images." "But something in-between." "# See, saw, sacradown... #" " What about these?" " # One foot up and the other... #" "I expect they're waiting to be brought here." " This..." " This is the way to London town." "How quaint." "There's someone in there - alone." "What the?" "Look, if you want the landlord, he isn't in." "And if you want me, I'm not in either." "So... out." " The landlord?" " He isn't in." " He lives below?" " Yes." " He owns the shop?" " The whole building." "I pay my rent." " So, would you mind?" " We haven't finished." "Well, I have." "Look, tell your boyfriend, will you?" "Doors are for knocking on, you don't just barge in." "Just a minute!" "Who are you anyway?" "Police?" "Creditors?" "What?" " We're visitors." " I'm sorry but..." " Do you live alone?" " Of course I live alone." "Turn that thing off." "Now, just a minute!" "Here!" "I can't move." "For God's sake..." "If you live alone, why are there two beds in this room?" "Why are there another person's clothes in the cupboard?" "They belong to my friend." "Now, let me move, you're scaring me." " Where's your friend now?" " She hasn't been home for a while." " For how long?" " For several months." " She left without any of her things?" " Yes." " Have you heard from her since?" " No." "Bring her with you." "Look, I said I have to work." " The old landlord left." " When?" "Several months ago." "I suppose he must have sold out." "He left all his furniture, his photographic gear." " Have you seen him since?" " No." " What about the new landlord?" " He's marvellous." "Well, he doesn't bother me." "He doesn't even ask for his rent." "I just leave it on the stairs when I feel like it." "All right, so he can't be earning much." "He wouldn't, would he?" "He never opens the shop." "A man who earns his living in a shop that's never open?" "Maybe he's waiting." " Waiting?" "What for?" " I don't know." "Do some work on the place?" "Get rid of the ghosts." "Ghosts?" "Here!" "You can't go in there." "It's private." "These... ghosts..." "Oh, they don't bother me." "Well, not so far." "All right, the place is haunted." "But the rent's cheap." "Anyway, they're only little ghosts." "About that high." " You've seen them?" " Glimpses, that's all." "This new landlord..." "Oh, he's all right." "He's always talking about his kids." "Children!" "The way he talks about them, he must have dozens of them." "I've not seen them, though." "Not yet." " Describe him." " What?" " The new landlord." " Describe him." "Well, he's..." " That's weird." " What is?" "Well, I've known the man a few months, talked to him like I'm talking to you now..." " That's crazy!" " Tell us." "Well, I..." "I don't know what he looks like." "There are some people here." " People?" " Yes." " What kind of people?" " A man and a lady." "Can we hurt them?" "Oh, please!" "Let's hurt them." "What's wrong?" "They haven't come to send us back, have they?" "Because we don't want to go back, we want to stay here with you." "No one's come to send you back, my children." "I brought you here, brought you with me." "No one else on this world can send you back." "You just remember that." "I mean, that really is crazy!" "I've talked to the man, talked to him face to face and... yet I can't remember his face." "Be still, my children." "Be still."