The Truth

.”
    “I suppose so—”
    “So it works for dogs, too. Got to work for dogs if it works for ratbag moggies. I know everyone, I do. Lord de Worde used to get his butler to put down poisoned meat for the street dogs.”
    “But he wouldn’t hurt William, would he?”
    “I’m not a betting man,” said Gaspode. “But if he does, right, we still get the hundred dollars, yes?”
    “We cannot stand by and let him do zis,” said Otto. “I like Villiam. He was not brought up nice but he tries to be a nice person, vithout even cocoa and a singsong to help him. It is hard to go against your nature. Ve must…help him.”

    Death placed the final hourglass back onto the air, where it faded away.
    T HERE, he said. W ASN’T THAT INTERESTING ? W HAT NEXT , M R . T ULIP ? A RE YOU READY TO GO ?
    The figure sat on the cold sand, staring at nothing.
    M R . T ULIP ? Death repeated. The wind flapped his robe, so that it streamed out a long ribbon of darkness.
    “I…got to be really sorry…?”
    O H YES . I T IS SUCH A SIMPLE WORD . B UT HERE…IT HAS MEANING . I T HAS … SUBSTANCE .
    “Yeah. I know.” Mr. Tulip looked up, his eyes redrimmed, his face puffy. “I reckon…to be that sorry, you got to take a —ing good run at it.”
    Y ES.
    “So…how long have I got?”
    Death looked up at the strange stars.
    A LL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.
    “Yeah…well, maybe that’ll —ing do it. Maybe there won’t be no more world to go back to by then.”
    I BELIEVE IT DOES NOT WORK LIKE THAT . I UNDERSTAND REINCARNATION CAN TAKE PLACE ANYWHEN . W HO SAYS LIVES ARE SERIAL
    “You sayin’…I could be alive before I was born?”
    Y ES .
    “Maybe I can find me and kill myself,” said Mr. Tulip, staring at the sand.
    N O, BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER KNOW. . A ND YOU MAY BE LEADING QUITE A DIFFERENT LIFE.
    Death patted Mr. Tulip on the shoulder, which flinched under the touch.
    I SHALL LEAVE YOU NOW—
    “That’s a good scythe you got there,” said Mr. Tulip, slowly and laboriously. “That silver work’s craftsmanship if ever I saw it.”
    T HANK YOU , said Death. A ND NOW , I REALLY MUST BE GOING . B UT I WILL PASS THROUGH HERE, SOMETIMES . M Y DOOR, he added, IS ALWAYS OPEN.
    He strode off. The hunched figure disappeared into the darkness, but a new one appeared, running madly across the not-exactly-sand.
    It was waving a potato on a string. It stopped when it saw Death and then, to Death’s amazement, turned to look behind it. This had never happened before. Most people, upon coming face-to-face with Death, ceased worrying about anything behind them.
    “Is there anyone after me? Can you see anyone?”
    E R…NO . W HERE YOU EXPECTING ANYONE?
    “Oh, right. No one, eh? Right!” said Mr. Pin, squaring his shoulders. “Yeah! Hah! Hey, look, I’ve got my potato!”
    Death blinked, and then took an hourglass out of his robe.
    M R . P IN? AH. T HE OTHER ONE. I HAVE BEEN EXPECTING YOU .
    “That’s me! And I’ve got my potato, look, and I’m very sorry about everything!” Mr. Pin was feeling quite calm now. The mountains of madness have many little plateaus of sanity.
    Death stared into the madly smiling face.
    Y OU ARE VERY SORRY?
    “Oh, yes!”
    A BOUT EVERYTHING?
    “Yep!”
    A T THIS TIME ? I N THIS PLACE? Y OU DECLARE YOU ARE SORRY ?
    “That’s right. You got it. You’re bright. So if you’ll just show me how to get back—”
    Y OU WOULD NOT LIKE TO RECONSIDER?
    “No arguing, I want what’s due,” said Mr. Pin. “I’ve got my potato. Look.”
    A ND I SEE . Death reached into his robe and pulled out what looked to Mr. Pin, at first sight, like a miniature model of himself. But there was a rat skull looking out from under the tiny cowl.
    Death grinned.
    S SY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND , he said.
    The Death of Rats reached out and snatched the string.
    “Hey—”
    D O NOT PUT ALL YOUR TRUST IN ROOT VEGETABLES . W HAT THINGS SEEM MAY NOT BE WHAT THEY ARE , said Death. Y ET LET NO ONE SAY I DON’T HONOR THE LAW . He snapped his fingers. R ETURN, THEN, TO WHERE YOU SHOULD GO…
    Blue light flicked for a moment around the astonished Pin, and then he vanished.
    Death sighed and shook his head.
    T HE OTHER ONE…HAD SOMETHING IN HIM THAT COULD BE BETTER , he said. B UT THE ONE …He sighed deeply. W HO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN?
    The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of the potato.
    S QUEAK , he said.
    Death waved a hand dismissively.
    W ELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE