William ducked and dodged across several blocks, making as much use as he could of the alleys and walkthroughs and noisome courts. He was sure a normal person wouldn't be able to keep track of him. But then, he'd be amazed if a normal person was following him. Mister Vimes liked to refer to himself as a simple coppter, just as Harry King thought of himself as a rough diamond. William suspected that the world was littered with the remains of those people who had taken them at their word.
He slowed down and climbed some outside stairs. And then he waited.
You're a fool, said the internal editor. Some people have tried to kill you. You're concealing information from the Watch. You're mixing with strange people. You're about to do something that's going to get so far up Mister Vimes's nose it will raise his hat. And why?
Because it makes my blood tingle, he thought. And because I'm not going to be used. By anyone.
There was a faint sound at the end of the alley, which might not have been heard by anyone who wasn't expecting it. It was the sound of something sniffing.
William looked down and saw, in the gloom, a four-legged shape break into a trot while keeping its muzzle close to the ground.
William measured the distance carefully. Declaring independence was one thing. Assaulting a member of the Watch was a very different thing.
He lobbed the fragile bottle so that it would land twenty feet ahead of the werewolf. Then he dropped from the stairs on to the top of a wall and jumped down on to a privy roof just as the glass broke with a 'pof!' inside the sock.
There was a yelp, and the sound of scrabbling claws.
William jumped from the roof on to another wall, inched along the top of it and climbed down into another alley. Then he ran.
It took five minutes, dodging into convenient cover and cutting through buildings, to arrive at the livery stables. In the general bustle no one took any notice of him. He was just another man coming to fetch his horse.
The stall that might or might not have contained Deep Bone was occupied by a horse now. It looked down its nose at him.
'Don't turn round, Mister Paper Man,' said a voice behind him.
William tried to remember what had been behind him. Oh, yes... the hay lift. And huge bags of straw. Plenty of room for someone to hide.
'All right,' he said.
'Hark, hark, the dogs do bark,' said Deep Bone. 'You must be ment'l.'
'But I'm on the right track,' said William. 'I think I've--'
"ere, you sure you weren't followed?'
'Corporal Nobbs was on my trail,' said William. 'But I shook him off.'
'Hah! Walkin' round the corner'd shake off Nobby Nobbs!'
'Oh, no, he kept right up. I knew Vimes would have me tracked,' said William proudly.
'By Nobbs?'
'Yes. Obviously... in his werewolf shape...' There. He'd said it. But today was a day for shadows and secrets.
'A werewolf shape,' said Deep Bone flatly.
'Yes. I'd be grateful if you didn't tell anyone else.'
'Corporal Nobbs,' said Deep Bone, still in the same dull monotone.
'Yes. Look, Vimes told me not to--'
'Vimes told you Nobby Nobbs was a werewolf?'
'Well... no, not exactly. I worked that out for myself, and Vimes told me not to tell anyone else
'About Corporal Nobbs bein' a werewolf...'