Hogfather - Dull

When Susan turned to go up the stairs the Scissor Man was there. It wasn't man-shaped. It was something like an ostrich, and something like a lizard on its hind legs, but almost entirely like something made out of blades. Every time it moved a thousand blades went snip, snip. Its long silver neck curved and a head made of shears stared down at her.

'You're not looking for me,' she said. 'You're not my nightmare.'

The blades tilted this way and that. The Scissor Man was trying to think.

'I remember you came for Twyla,' said Susan, stepping forward. 'That damn governess had told her what happens to little girls who suck their thumbs, remember? Remember the poker? I bet you needed a hell of a lot of sharpening afterwards...'

The creature lowered its head, stepped carefully around her in as polite a way as it could manage, and clanked on down the stairs after Peachy. Susan ran on towards the top of the tower.

***

Hogfather - p288