The oddest customer was sitting by herself, at a small round table. She appeared to be a very old lady, in a shawl and a straw hat with flowers in it. She was staring in front of her with an expression of good-natured aimlessness, and in context looked more frightening than any of the shadowy figures.
'What is she?' Cheery hissed.
'Her? Oh, that's Mrs Gammage.'
'And what does she do?'
'Do? Well, she comes in here most days for a drink and some company. Sometimes we ... they have a singsong. Old songs, that she remembers. She's practically blind. If you mean, is she an undead ... no, she isn't. Not a vampire, a werewolf, a zombie or a bogeyman. Just an old lady.'
A huge shambling hairy thing paused at Mrs Gammage's table and put a glass in front of her.
'Port and lemon. There you goes, Mrs Gammage,' it rumbled.
'Cheers, Charlie!' the old lady cackled. 'How's the plumbing business?'
'Doing fine, love,' said the bogeyman, and vanished into the gloom.
' That was a plumber? said Cheery.
'Of course not. I don't know who Charlie was. He probably died years ago. But she thinks the bogeyman is him, and who's going to tell her different?'
'You mean she doesn't know this place is - '
'Look, she's been coming here ever since the old days when it was the Crown and Axe,' said Angua. 'No one wants to spoil things. Everyone likes Mrs Gammage. They... watch out for her. Help her out in little ways.'
'How?'
'Well, I heard that last month someone broke into her hovel and stole some of her stuff...'
' That doesn't sound helpful.'
'... and it was all returned next day and a couple of thieves were found in the Shades with not a drop of blood left in their bodies.' Angua smiled, and her voice took on a mocking edge. 'You know, you get told a lot of bad things about the undead, but you never hear about the marvellous work they do in the community.'
Igor the barman appeared. He looked more or less human, apart from the hair on the back of his hands and the single unbifurcated eyebrow across his forehead. He tossed a couple of mats on the table and put their drinks down.
'You're probably wishing this was a dwarf bar,' said Angua. She lifted her beermat carefully and glanced at the underside.
Cheery looked around again. By now, if it had been a dwarf bar, the floor would be sticky with beer, the air would be full of flying quaff, and people would be singing. They'd probably be singing the latest dwarf tune, Gold, Gold, Gold, or one of the old favourites, like Gold, Gold, Gold, or the all-time biggie, Gold, Gold, Gold. In a few minutes, the first axe would have been thrown.
'No,' she said, 'it could never be that bad.'
'Drink up,' said Angua. 'We've got to go and see... something.'
A large hairy hand grabbed Angua's wrist. She looked up into a terrifying face, all eyes and mouth and hair.
'Hello, Shlitzen,' she said calmly.
'Hah, I'm hearing where there's a baron who's really unhappy about you,' said Shlitzen, alcohol crystallizing on his breath.
'That's my business, Shlitzen,' said Angua. 'Why don't you just go back behind your door like the good bogeyman that you are?'
'Hah, he's sayin' where you're disgracin' the Old Country - '
'Let go, please,' said Angua. Her skin was white where Shlitzen was gripping her.
Cheery looked from the wrist to the bogeyman's shoulder. Rangy though the creature was, muscles were strung along the arm like beads on a wire.
'Hah, you wearin' a badge,' it sneered. 'What's a good we - ?'