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'Worse how? I wish you'd look at me, Swan.'

She raised her eyes. 'He's really upset.'

The Doctor realised that this conversation could go on for an hour if he didn't take the lead. 'What do you want me to do?'

'Please come to the Nightmare of Horror. He thinks if you see his work lit properly and -'

'I'm not going to change my mind.'

She looked down again. 'I know.'

'So there really isn't much point.'

'Please.' She gripped his hand. 'Please.'

They stood there for a moment.

She said, 'Your hand is cold.' He didn't respond. 'Please,' she whispered.

'Oh, all right,' said the Doctor.

Mr Bleney turned out to have his uses. He unearthed - and in under half an hour - a portfolio of maps commissioned by the Historical Society over the years. One of these was of graveyard locations in the area.

'Bit morbid, that; Fitz had commented.

'These graveyards are of prime historical importance, not only as representing the history of local families, but as representing the social history of this part of Vermont. Not to mention their artistic value. Several excellent examples of the work of the eighteenth-century memorial carver Zerubbabel Collins.

Now, Fitz and Anji were sitting in the sun on a bench on the town green going over several of the maps. Bleney's oration on the importance of graveyards had finally narrowed down to the information that the Browne family had been an Irish clan that had lived on the same farm for more than a century, ever since an ancestor came over to work in the quarries that had been the area's first industry. They had buried their people on their own land, and even though that land now belonged to another owner, who had been fighting against fierce local opposition for permission to divide it into lots for condominiums, the Browne family cemetery was still intact. And likely to remain so, according to Bleney, since the historical preservation people were very keen on protecting it, besides which it was too small to build anything on.

The graveyard map itself wasn't particularly helpful, being large-scale with little crosses marked here and there, often off the road with no indication of the exact distance. The Browne cemetery looked as if it were very off the road, and Anji had started trying to co-ordinate the maps to get a better idea of its location. This too was proving troublesome, as the maps were of different sizes, drawn to different scales and variable as to detail.

'Oh, why are we even bothering with the bloody cemetery anyway?' Fitz said finally. 'Too many cemeteries already on this trip.'

'I am bothering,' said Anji coolly, 'because the officer who could give us permission to view the police records isn't in till tomorrow, the Historical Society is closed, and the historical collection of the college library down in Bennington is in temporary storage owing to library renovations. We spent the morning finding all that out. This -' she shook the map she was holding - 'is all we can do right now.'

"That still doesn't mean it's worth doing.'

'Please don't let me detain you from whatever fascinating pursuit you're missing.'

Fitz sighed. In feet, there wasn't anything else for him to do except take a walk and look at the scenery, which appealed to him about as much as spending the rest of the day flossing his teeth.

'It looks as if it might be within walking distance,' Anji said thoughtfully.

'How do you define "walking distance"?'

'Maybe four miles at the outside.' Fitz groaned. 'All right, fine, stay here.

Sit on this bench and watch the grass grow.'

'Well, I have to come of course,' said Fitz with a martyred air, 'because otherwise who'd protect you? Got you!' he crowed as she glowered at him.

'You're such a funny guy, Fitz, it's amazing I haven't died laughing before now.'

'Not a bad way to go.'

'No,' she said. 'Considering some of the ways we've seen, not bad at all.'

Anji finally decided she had a fairly precise idea of where