Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London

‘Start of what?’ I asked.

‘I have no idea,’ said Oxley. ‘But summer is definitely in the air.’

I couldn’t even see Beverley amid the throng of Old Man’s people. Oxley drew me away from the crowd to introduce me to the other half of the hostage swap. Ash turned out to be a young man half a head taller than me, broad of shoulder, clear of eye, noble of brow and empty of thought.

‘Have you got all your things?’ I asked.

Ash nodded, and tapped the satchel that hung at his hip.

Isis emerged from the crowd long enough to give me a sisterly kiss on the cheek and to extract a promise that I would come to the theatre with her, such things now being possible in this new and glorious summer. I’d have left there and then, but it took Ash’s relatives a good part of an hour to say goodbye to him and it was almost dusk when we got away. As Ash and I walked back to the Jag, I turned and saw that Father Thames’s people had hung hurricane lamps from the branches of the ancient yew. At least two fiddles were playing, and I heard a clackety sound that I can only assume came from a washboard. There were figures loping and dancing in the yellow light, and the seductive, melancholy music that gets played at any party you haven’t been invited to. I wasn’t sure, but with a pang I thought I saw Beverley Brook among the dancers.

‘Will there be dancing in London?’ asked Ash. He sounded as nervous as Beverley had been.

‘Definitely,’ I said.

We got into the Jag and headed down the A308 for the M25 and home.

‘Will there be drinking?’ asked Ash, displaying a fine sense of priorities.

‘Have you ever been to London?’ I asked.

‘No,’ said Ash. ‘I’ve never even been in a town before. Our dad doesn’t hold with that sort of thing.’

‘Don’t worry. It’s basically just like the country,’ I said. ‘Only with more people.’

THE END

First of all, I need to thank Andrew Cartmel for all his support. No greater love can a man have than he will lay down his last five-pound note for his fellow man . This is not to slight the efforts of James, the other Andrew, Marc, Kate and Jon. Then, once the manuscript was done, came the two Johns (a.k.a. der Management) Jo at Gollancz and Betsy at Del Rey. Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone at Waterstone’s Covent Garden, past and present, for their support, even when I threatened to bore them to tears.

Ben Aaronovitch

Covent Garden

August 2010