¡¶THE SUBTLE KNIFE¡·


 CHAPTER ONE: THE CAT AND THE HORNBEAM TREES-1

    ill tugged at ;Come on, come on...quot;

    But ill afraid. ill looked up and doreet in t, along ttle terrace of s tiny garden and its box  mucime. People o stare and comment and notice. It o , but all he could do was persuade her, as usual.

    quot;Mum, lets go in and see Mrs. Cooper,quot; ;Look, ;

    quot;Mrs. Cooper?quot; sfully.

    But o put doo do it, because ill  mig to be seen   would o .

    tooped elderly figure of teac of lavender er about her as he remembered.

    quot;? Is t illiam?quot; t;I  seen you for over a year.  do you , dear?quot;

    quot;I  to come in, please, and bring my mot; he said firmly.

    Mrs. Cooper looked at tidy racted  tig lips, tting ja Mrs. Parry, ills mot makeup on one eye but not on t noticed. And neithing was wrong.

    quot;ell...quot; sepped aside to make room in the narrow hall.

    ill looked up and doightly Mrs.

    Parry o enderly o tting room iced t Mrs. Parrys clotly musty, as if too long in t on traight black brows.

    quot; is it, illiam?quot; t;s tter?quot;

    quot;My moto stay for a fe; ;Its too difficult to look after   no mean s kind of confused and muddled, and ss a bit er. S needs someone to be kind to  quite easily, probably.quot;

    t  seeming to understand, and Mrs. Cooper saaken e.

    quot;S be expensive,quot;  on. quot;Ive brougs of food, enougo last, I s too. S mind s;

    quot;But ... I dont kno;

    quot;No! S ill.quot;

    quot;But t be someone ;

    quot;e  got any family. Only us. And too busy.quot;

    quot; about t mean to put you off, dear, but¡ªquot;

    quot;No! No. S needs a bit of  do it myself for a little  be long. Im going to ... Ive got to do. But Ill be back soon, and Ill take  o do it for long.quot;

    t rust, and urned and smiled at  Mrs. Cooper couldnt say no.

    quot;ell,quot; surning to Mrs. Parry, quot;Im sure it  matter for a day or so. You can ers room, dear. Sralia. S be needing it again.quot;

    quot;t; said ill, and stood up as if o leave.

    quot;But ; said Mrs. Cooper.

    quot;Im going to be staying ; ;Ill pen as I can. Ive got your number. Itll be all rig;

    over and kissed her clumsily.

    quot;Dont ; ;Mrs. Cooper er you better t. And Ill palk to you tomorro;

    tigly unfastened o t door. Mrs. Cooper could see , because ening, but urned, remembering  his hand.

    quot;Good-bye,quot; ;and t;

    quot;illiam,quot; s;I ter is¡ªquot;

    quot;Its a bit complicated,quot; ;but s be any trouble, ly.quot;

    t  ; but someever it  shed never seen a child so implacable.

    urned a ty house.

    tate ical . t garden  a patced some s tering. As ill came around t, Moxie, rose up from e spot under till-living retcing  meoting  his leg.

    ;;

    t. In t of t t ook no notice of ill, and ill didnt look at ice people took, tter.

    ,  in quickly. tened very carefully before putting o y.

    in for Moxie and left o eat in tche men came back?

    telling, so ter move quickly.  upstairs and began to search.

    tered green leating case. to  size even in any ordinary modern  need secret panels and extensive cellars in order to make someto find. ill searc, aso be looking t ematically t of tairs, even o see w  and cleaned herself nearby, for company.

    But  find it.

    By t time it  and sat at tcable  t order to look tairs rooms.

    As he phone rang.

    absolutely still,  ted: ty-six rings, and t stopped.  e in tarted to search again.

    Four er ill  found t  out of reach.

    And almost at once, it seemed (taneously.

    First,  tairs, opening tchen door.

    ed Moxie out of tly est. t on raining every nerve to airs.

    t sounds: a ced and replaced, a s whe creak of a floorboard.

    Moving more silently t iptoed to t top of tairs. It  quite pitcly gray predaen tment at tterns and bobbins .

    for it delicately, listening all t doairs, and ill could see a dim flicker of lig mig at the door.

    tcment and clicked it open, and t as  ing case.

    And noening hard.

    tairs. ly, quot;Come on. I can ;

    quot;Its not ; said t;ell o look upstairs.quot;

    quot;Go on, t .quot;

    ill braced  creak of top step. t all, but   expecting it. t s along tside. ill sa the crack.

    to move. ill ed till t of to truders belly.

    But neit.

    As top step, Moxie ly out of tood ail just beo rub  trained and fit and   t ried to move back, ripped over airs and crasally against table.

    ill  stop to  it. Clutcing case, er, leaping over t lay tc t of t, seized tattered tote bag from table, and  of t door and a of tare.

    Even in e ill er him, or chase him.

    ter o do was run.

    urning into ts of ric cart pallid in t o t-door garden, do garden  lao tangle of srees betate and the main road.

    ting and trembling. It oo early to be out on t till later, ed.

    get out of ruck table, and t so far and in sucche man was dead. hed killed him.

    get it out of  o. te enougo t.  tell, urn up as , no hed killed someone.

    And Moxie.  o follohem?

    It ting lige. It e bag: est letter from te bars, toote, spare socks and pants. And ting case.

    Everyto plan, really.

    Except t hed killed someone.

    ill  realized  from ot o look after , and to put an item in t only o look all around and ; and scin or a packet from t it silently into t. hey became invisible.

    It   on for a long time, because turday morning and t t it and ogetrusted eacen told old he same.

    So ed and  find   of too, even ; but ill ting tired by time, and oo, and Mummy  so ened, and t around and around putting t time to be extra careful because tracking t card numbers, whey had her purse....

    And ill got more and more frigo make to a game so t  be alarmed, and  ruto pretend not to be frigo reassure her.

    So ttle boy pretended it ill, so s o  ened, and t  any s safe from table any to t, and opened anot to be sure. t sometime during t fe t in t t in  made tening and dangerous; it just meant o protect  in t end in order not to  to ies. o protect her.

    As for ills fato remember ely curious about o plague ions, most of w answer.

    quot;as ;

    quot;;

    quot;;

    quot;Is ;

    quot;ill he come back?

    quot; was ;

    t question  to become an explorer and lead expeditions to remote parts of to  ting togeto gaze out across stormy seas from torco deciperious inscriptions in a bat-infested cave. ... t of friends, tless times, talked togeto t.

    But t, to , riding -bearded men on Arctic sledges or examining creeper-covered ruins in tropies   ten about him in a book?

    kno one tuck in his mind.

    S;One day, youll follosteps. Youre going to be a great man too.

    Youll take up le.quot;

    And t kno meant, ood t, and felt uplifted o come true.  some  life, if you  aim like t.

    So  rouble secret. times o learn from o s  iced at sc to attract attention from tate of fear and madness t s ill  ties  about ake  rangers. Any difficulty ter t.

    Because times  ter companion, and ed noto live h her alone forever.

    But the men came.

    t police, and t social services, and t criminals¡ªat least as far as ill could judge. t tell  ted, in spite of s to keep to ate  then.

    But ened outside t  h come more quickly.

    ted to knoo  act h any foreign embassies.

    ill ting more and more distressed, and finally o told to go.

    neit  and deadly.

    So t. Naturally, trengtion: rouble some rue, and o be .

    And not long aftering t ills moto tell t sc alking doairs  ill came  t.

    to kno  go to to ties, and t more and more persistent. Finally to to fetc ting ouce slat in every separate benco get it done quicker.   day t of t inside to find t t of the drawers and cupboards.

    ter. t precious possession;  , and  even kno. But  contained letters, and imes, and cried, and it  salked about  t ter, and kne it.

    to find someay.  and t, but o ask, and t rust  , and to go to Oxford,  too soon.

    And now hem.

    So ter oo.

    ell,  not being noticed. o not be noticed  up as long as ill eit,  care hem he killed.

    Later t day, to of ty of Oxford, forty miles ao coo late to do  a Burger King and gone to a cinema to  t even as c), and now h.

    No one iced nun so far. But  ter find someer it got, ticeable rouble  to able ill no sign of open country.

    o a large traffic circle . At time of nigtle traffic, and tood , able  back beed along t tly symmetrical close-leafed croreetligificial, like a stage set. ill upefied ion, and  o t rees and slept; but as ood trying to clear .

    Sabby, like Moxie. S of a garden on tanding. ill put doe bag and   came up to rub   as Moxie did. Of course, every cat be, but all t suc tears scalded his eyes.

    Eventually t turned a, and territory to patrol, to . So beyond trees, and topped.

    ill, still c behave curiously.

    S a pao pat somet of e invisible to ill. tail  stiffly. ill kne becly as t approac again, just an empty patcted the air once more.

    Again s less far and ime. After anotouccy overcame wariness.

    t stepped forward¡ªand vanished.

    ill blinked. tood still, close to trunk of t tree, as a truck came around t its lig ,  ing. It  easy, because to fix on, but  about to look closely, .

    At least,  from some angles. It looked as if someone  a patc of t tchan a yard across.

    If you c it   ely invisible from be only from t t see it easily even from t ly t lay in front of it on tc by a streetlight.

    But ill kne test doubt t t patc world.

    possibly  at once, as strongly as  fire burned and kindness hing profoundly alien.

    And for t reason alone, it enticed o stoop and look furt  t  ate: ote bag to another.

    anding under a rorees. But not rees: tall palms, and trees in Oxford, in a ro ter of a broad boulevard, and at tly bt, all open, and all utterly silent and empty beneatars. t nig of flo smell of the sea.

 CHAPTER ONE: THE CAT AND THE HORNBEAM TREES-2

    ill looked around carefully. Beant prospect of great green  t of trees and te gleam of a classical temple.

    Just beside  bare patco see from t definitely t to look turned aever t o be better t  left.

    it-  a time, ood up and looked around for t, his guide.

    S. No doubt sreets and gardens beyond ts ing. ill lifted up attered tote bag and o all disappeared.

    terranean or maybe Caribbean about it. ill  of England, so  compare it  it  late at nigo eat and drink, to dance and enjoy music. Except t the silence was immense.

    On t corner ood a cafe, tle green tables on t and a zinc-topped bar and an espresso macables glasses stood y; in one aste o tt; a plate of risotto stood next to a basket of stale rolls as hard as cardboard.

    ook a bottle of lemonade from t for a moment before dropping a pound coin in till. As soon as  till,  again, realizing t t say   tell any more t.

    ttle on to ter before leaving treet going atle grocery sood bets and bead-curtained doors opening into private -iron balconies t, and whe silence, being enclosed, was even more profound.

    treets  onto a broad avenue reetlights.

    On the sea.

    ill found  by a stone breaker and from t by a one columns and eps and ornate balconies stood floodlit among florees and buss lay still at ancer tarligtered on a calm sea.

    By noo time, on reets,  out a o touced to touc of  oo o take in tood still, breat afraid.

    ill tle aken from t, and it tasted like  oo, because t air was .

    o t, past els ly lit entrances and bougainvillea floil o ttle rees s ornate facade lit by floodlig have been an opera house.

    trees, but not a sound of life could be  birds singing, no insects, not ills osteps.

    t breaking of delicate rees at tide s  er line. Every feiny self over at tly under t. Fifty yards or so out on ter form.

    ill sat on ts and kicked off   and cramping  feet. oes deep into ter  of o the sea.

    ter o tform and pulled o sit on its ened planking and look back at ty.

    to  ts breaker. Beyond it a mile or so aood a red-andriped ligant cuffs rose dimly, and beyond t hrough.

    Closer at -bearing trees of treets of ty, and terfront s els and cafes and  s, all empty.

    And all safe. No one could follow o hide in.

    For t time since  of  door t morning, ill began to feel secure.

    y again, and oo, because  eaten in anoter all. o ter and so t on s and carried t of ote bag. y bottle into t rubbis along t tohe harbor.

    tle, o find food. tels oo grand.  el, but it   uncomfortable, and  moving doerfront until tle caf6 t looked like t place.   o a dozen ots first-floor balcony laden s and its tables and c outside, but it welcomed him.

    tograper of a broadly smiling accordion player. tc t opened on to a narroed in a brigtern.

    ly up to t door o. It  t. t and stuffy, and ill opened to to let in t air. tself oo big for it, and s it able. able people lived tle sable, a couple of pographs in frames.

    ill left and looked in ttle bath a double bed.

    Somet door.  raced.  sure if  sometold  t empty.

    tside a darkened room, and ing inside; and noions  open and sometling at .

    But  standing quite close enougo be knocked over.

    , and trengt it,  y clothin bare limbs.

    S  t, and snatc to crouc at bay. And t beside o onis: a large , as tall as eetail erect.

    S s back and licked c.

    ill stood up slowly.

    quot;;

    quot;Lyra Silvertongue,quot; she said.

    quot;Do you live ;

    quot;No,quot; sly.

    quot;t is ty?quot;

    quot;I dont kno;

    quot;;

    quot;From my s joined on. ;

    raordinary o t: it leaped into  got t c oat  and belly, and it glared at  t in took place, because  toat, were profoundly afraid of .

    quot;I  got a demon,quot; ;I dont kno; t;O your demon?quot;

    Sood up slooat curled  ills face.

    quot;But youre alive,quot; s;You ent... You ent been .. .quot;

    quot;My names ill Parry,quot; ;I dont kno demons. In my  means devil, somet;

    quot;In your  your ;

    quot;No. I just found... a  must be joined on.quot;

    Stle, but sill cently, and ayed calm and quiet as if srange cat h.

    quot;y?quot;  on.

    quot;No.quot;

    quot;;

    quot;Dunno. A fe remember.quot;

    quot;So w;

    quot;Im looking for Dust,quot; she said.

    quot;Looking for dust? , gold dust?  sort of dust?quot;

    Surned ao go doairs.

    quot;Im ; ;Is tc;

    quot;I dunno,quot; sance from him.

    In tcs for a casserole of c t been cooked, and in t t to tbin.

    quot; you eaten anyt; he fridge.

    Lyra came to look.

    quot;I didnt kno; s;Os cold.quot;

    ly colored butterfly, o t again at once to settle on terfly raised and loare, trangeness of it.

    quot; you seen a fridge before?quot; he said.

    to aking out a tray of eggs. Sween h pleasure.

    quot;Drink it, t; he said.

    S it, fro. . S suspiciously, and then her eyes opened wide.

    quot;t; she said, her voice half hoping and half fearful.

    quot;Yeao prove it isnt poison.quot;

    y. S t up ed and belc her.

    quot;Im going to make an omelette,quot; ;Dyou  some?quot;

    quot;I dont knote is.quot;

    quot;ell, c;

    quot;I dont kno;

    op like the cola can.

    quot;No, you o use a can opener,quot; ;Dont t;

    quot;In my s do t; she said scornfully.

    quot;Look in t;

    Sclery wo a bowl and wh a fork.

    quot;ts it,quot; c;it ;

    o open the can.

    quot;No t little saucepan off tip t; old her.

    Sered ipped to tc and pepper into t a knob of butter from a package in to a cast-iron pan.  into to find some matcy finger in ten eggs and licking it greedily.  again, oo, but he backed away when ill came near.

    quot;Its not cooked yet,quot; ill said, taking it a; ;

    quot;At my fat; s;Days and days ago. I dont knouff e t.quot;

    ted tter, poured in t t. co soft ridges in ter as tilt to let rao tcoo, looking at .

    te  it in ula.

    quot;Find a couple of plates,quot; ly did so.

    Se o take orders if sold o go and clear a table in front of t out t doogettle awkwardly.

    Se e, and ted, s tic strips of t abletop.

    ill ate slo even so ook muchan she did.

    t of ty boulevard, tars in ted at all.

    And all time ensely a, but iger;  . ure of t tasted t hed for days.

    quot;Laura? Lara?quot; ill said.

    quot;Lyra.quot;

    quot;Lyra... Silvertongue?quot;

    quot;Yes.quot;

    quot; ;

    S;I ; s;It  kno, I kne of my  I couldnt see till t;

    quot; did you say about dust?quot;

    quot;Dust, yeao find out about it. But to be empty. to ask. Ive been ;

    quot;But o find out about dust?quot;

    quot;Special Dust,quot; sly. quot;Not ordinary dust, obviously.quot;

    t, a poc  he girl saw his glance.

    quot;You  a daemon,quot; s;Inside you.quot;

    knoo say.

    quot;You ; s on. quot;You  be  a like t. Even if you dont kno a daemon, you have.

    e  first  t like t at all.quot;

    quot;e?quot;

    quot;Me and Pantalaimon. Us. But you, your daemon ent separate from you. Its you. Apart of you.

    Youre part of eac t;

    ill looked at t daemon noting in  profoundly alone.

    quot;Im tired. Im going to bed,quot; ;Are you going to stay in ty?quot;

    quot;Dunno. Ive got to find out more about  be some Sc be someone .quot;

    quot;Maybe not in t I came  of a place called Oxford. ty of scs .quot;

    quot;Oxford? s;ts w;

    quot;Is t;

    quot;No,quot; s;Different  in my oo. ere bot ands to reason t t?quot;

    quot;Just a kind of ;

    quot;S; she said.

    It  a request. he shook his head.

    quot;Not no; ;I  to sleep. Anys t.quot;

    quot;t;

    quot;All rig Ive got my oo do. Youll o find your sc;

    quot;Easy,quot; s;I kno Sc;

    tes togetood up.

    quot;I cooked,quot; ;so you can was;

    S;as; s;t!

    Any a servant. Im not going to was;

    quot;So I  s;

    quot;Ill find it by myself.quot;

    quot;You ; its . Listen, I dont knohis place.

    eve got to eat, so  idy up after to. You o treat t. Noo bed. Ill ;

    inside, cleaned eetoote from attered bag, fell on t.

    * * * Lyra ed till sook to tcap, rubbing il t t te pan, so sried a bar of yello, and picked at it stubbornly until it looked as clean as s it o. tacked it neatly on the drainboard.

    Because sill ty and because sed to try opening a can, sook it upstairs. Sened outside ills door and, iptoed into took out ter from under her pillow.

    S need to be close to ill to ask about  sed to look anyway, and surned ly as she could before going in.

    t on t outside sraigo ted from t tened . rong and stocky, not as formed as a gros form mig . ever its form  ure t eous, and unhappy.

    Siptoed to treetlig ter, and relaxed o tion. to s too fast to ch.

    S is he? A friend or an enemy?

    ter answered: he is a murderer.

    once. o reac   still rust as safe  he armored bear.

    Ster across t  strike in on iptoed out.

 CHAPTER TWO: AMONG THE WITCHES-1

    tcal station at Bolvangar and floo troubled.

    In tmospurbances t folloo stay exan aeronaut, but Serafina ossed o t soon came rolling in from t Lord AsriePs experiment orn in the sky.

    o control  once more,  t rue one, lorek Byrnison, nor of er t.

    So so searcinged air on otle, soaring for several urbulent range lights and shadows.

    Serafina Pekkala knetling tingle of t on  it came from another world.

    After some time ;Look! A c...quot;

    Serafina Pekkala looked tern, circling and crying in ty ligoed up in alarm, but Serafina Pekkala signaled friendshem.

    Serafina Pekkala said, quot; clan are you from?quot;

    quot;taymyr,quot; old ;My cured. Our companions !quot;

    quot;ured your c;

    quot;t;

    quot;as your clan allied ters?quot;

    quot;Yes, until  er t at Bolvangar t my caken prisoner. t can I do? So me and I cant find ;

    quot;Quiet,quot; said Kaisa, t;Listen do;

    tening  t of a gas engine, muffled by the fog.

    quot;t navigate a s; Kaisa said. quot; are t;

    quot;Its a smaller engine t,quot; said Serafina Pekkala, and as s direction: a loal, s, like some immense sea creature calling from t roared for several seconds and topped abruptly.

    quot;t; said Serafina Pekkala.

    ter and cast about again for t, for to c density, and tced up out of sig in time as a launcer ant to rise.

    tern daemon keeping close like a co its motceersman adjust tly as t mounted on t all it lit up .

    Serafina Pekkala said to t daemon: quot;Did you say till some c;

    quot;I tcoo,quot; old ; are you going to do? ill you look for my c;

    quot;Yes. But stay ;

    Serafina Pekkala fleo of siged on ter just beeersman. urned to look.

    quot;You taken your time, ent you?quot; ;Get up a side.quot;

    Sook off again at once. It ill c s , s lig about in til s its ed back and ions to teersman, o a crao t  above ter line.

    teersman called, and a sailor to make it fast to the launch.

    Serafina Pekkala fleo treated to ts. Sc trolling t to do.

    Belo as it reacly up on ting malevolence. Serafina cauger.

    A dark-clot on deck to greet ing someone else as well.

    quot;Lord Boreal¡ªquot; he began.

    But Mrs. Coulter interrupted: quot;arted torture?quot;

    quot;Yes, Mrs. Coulter,quot; ;but¡ªquot;

    quot;I ordered to ,quot; s;aken to disobeying me? Per;

    S: proud, passionate, and, to tch, so young.

    quot;c; she demanded.

    t;All gone, maam. Red to t;

    quot;But a c; said Mrs. Coulter. quot;;

    Serafina s est state of t Mrs. Coulter oo impatient, and after a cursory glance above and along t cast a yellohe man followed.

    Serafina Pekkala looked around to cion. Silator on tral superstructure of t port on t o t and tc and beginning to freeze into stiffness. No one could see Serafina o see any more, so leave her hiding place.

    t oo bad. it. Silator and slipped along til s  ion and impossible to see to the shadows again.

    tant, because it ely risky, and it  it seemed t y al magic, a kind of fiercely y t could make t invisible but simply unnoticed.

    degree of intensity, sary traveler,  being seen.

    So noion to bear on tter of altering to deflect attention completely. It took some minutes before s. Sested it by stepping out of o tools. epped aside to avoid  looking at her once.

    S to tly lit saloon and opened it, finding ty. S ter door ajar so t s if so, and sa t opened on to a fligairs leading doo te-painted pipeed s, h sides.

    Sly along, listening, until s sounded as if some kind of council was in session.

    She door and walked in.

    A dozen or so people ed around a large table. One or t, gazed at ly, and forgot  once. Sood quietly near tcing o be clerics of one sort or anot from Mrs. Coulter, er  of terior.

    Serafina Pekkala looked around carefully and saed to one side at a table laden  at first t ary, until s ently gazing at a golden instrument like a large copping every minute or so to note  dooo and turning back to trument.

    Serafina looked back to t table, because sch.

    quot;S t; said one of t;S sc ;

    quot;I am er kno; said t;Is told us before, I ;

    quot;You ,quot; said Mrs. Coulter icily. quot;You forget I am a  so subtle as a prince of t is trut I s t;

    t  apologetically:

    quot;It seems t t concerns ter. All tances of o begin ians kno oo¡ªterms of cian men to Bolvangar. And tonis of deposing tell us more, per;

    ter, er.

    quot;You may be a ter left, apart from t; ;All troyed, by order of terium. I learn from trument t ter of Jordan College, and t so read it by  s  t o disbelieve ter, I o use trument  to me. It takes decades of diligent study to reac of understanding. So read it , and noe mastery. S;

    quot;; said the Cardinal.

    quot;In t; said Fra Pavel. quot;It is already late.quot;

    quot;tc; said anot dasmon gna a pencil. quot;Its all in place but for tcestimony! I say ure ;

    quot; is t; demanded Mrs. Coulter, ; from me?quot;

    able, and none of the face.

    Only t flinced a foot and scratched her head.

    quot;tced at sometraordinary,quot; t;I dare not believe  means. If its true, it places on us t terrible responsibility men and er¡ª;

    Mrs. Coulter  e h fury.

    quot;errogate me?quot; s. quot;And  youve learned from tc I am keeping sometortured like tco snap your fingers and you could orn apart. But if you searc find one, because I knoever. And I demand t you tell me o kno;

    quot;Please,quot; said anot;Please, Mrs. Coulter, tc spoken yet;  it.quot;

    quot;And suppose tc reveal it?quot; Mrs. Coulter said. quot; t;

    Fra Pavel said, quot;No, because t is tion I am noo put to ter.

    e sc;

    quot;And  take?quot;

    ;A considerable time. It is an immensely complex question.quot;

    quot;But tcell us at once,quot; said Mrs. Coulter.

    And so . As if in aoo. Only ted. Serafina Pekkala stood back, fiercely eetanding on end.

    Mrs. Coulter swung o her shoulder.

    quot;So let us go and ask ; she said.

    Surned and s out into tened to folloo stand quickly aside, urmoil. t to go he Cardinal.

    Serafina took a feo compose ation o make o a smaller room, bare and er: a cigo a steel ced and broken.

    Mrs. Coulter stood over ook up a position by t s stay unseen for long; too hard.

    quot;tell us about tc; said Mrs. Coulter.

    quot;No!quot;

    quot;You ;

    quot;I ;

    quot;Oo come. e  your suffering endlessly. tell us about t; Mrs. Coulter said, and reaco break one of tc snapped easily.

    tc, and for a clear second Serafina Pekkala became visible to everyone, and one or t  trolled urned back to torture.

    Mrs. Coulter ;If you dont ans do you kno tell me.quot;

    quot;All rig;

    quot;Ans;

    time a flood of sobbing broke from tch.

    Serafina Pekkala could hese words, in a shriek:

    quot;No, no! Ill tell you! I beg you, no more! to come ... tc ;

    quot;e kno;

    quot;rue name! tiny!quot;

    quot; is tell me!quot; said Mrs. Coulter.

    quot;No... no...quot;

    quot;And  ;

    quot;test.... If so pick out one spray of cloud-pine from many ot  our consuls  trollesund, ;

    .

    Mrs. Coulter gave a little exclamation of impatience, and there came a loud slap, and a groan.

    quot;But ; Mrs. Coulter  on, and ;And  ;

    Serafina Pekkala moved closer, even among tigc  t end tc train of rembled as sook t.

    tc;Sed and feared o find  ;

    But before serruption.

    tern, mad error, and it beat its  craso truggled up and darted to t of tortured cself against c;Yambe-Akka!

    Come to me, come to me!quot;

    No one but Serafina Pekkala understood. Yambe-Akka o a c to die.

    And Serafina epped fors of joy. tcurned up ear-stained face, and Serafina bent to kiss it and slid ly into tc. tern daemon looked up h dim eyes and vanished.

    And now Serafina Pekkala would o fig.

    till s Mrs. Coulter recovered s almost at once.

    quot;Seize  let ; s Serafina  tring. So the floor.

    Out, along to tairs, turn, nock, loose, and anots clangor.

    Up tairs and out onto t loose! Get ;

    t ood undecided, o dodge past and seize  beilator.

    quot;S ; came a cry in Mrs. Coulters voice from be once ts struck metal and  up like one of er s goose s of to her side.

    quot;o?quot; he said.

    quot;A; s;I  to get tenc of my nose.quot;

    In trut knoo do next. But tain: t s mark in Mrs. Coulters t.

    turned sout troubling otion began to form more clearly in Serafinas mind.  s t urned terious activities.

    t tural ones. Srack any animal, catc berries; and sens entrails, or deciperpret t ture, and told ural truths.

    For kno Lord Asriel, so go elserollesund, tained act o see o endrils of mist drifted glike on ter, and c guided in a large vessel ration. t ancside the harbor. She had never seen so many.

    As t day faded, sapped on to his lips.

    quot;Serafina Pekkala, greetings,quot; ;Come in quickly, and  you ter not stay long.quot;  tains out of a  fronted treet. quot;Youll have some wine?

    Sokay and told  she ship.

    quot;Do you tood ; he asked.

    quot;Not fully, I t tant. As for t woman, Im afraid of her, Dr.

    Lanselius. I s still Im afraid of ;

    quot;Yes,quot; ;So am I.quot;

    And Serafina listened as old   tos o emerge clearly.

 CHAPTER TWO: AMONG THE WITCHES-2

    t terium is assembling test army ever knoy. And t rumors about some of t Bolvangar, and ting c evil  of ed in toies keep t s out, and toerrified of t;

    quot; of tc; said Serafina Pekkala. quot; news do you ;

    quot;Most o tcing, Serafina Pekkala, s, for ;

    quot;And w do you ;

    quot;te confusion. You see, t knoends to do.quot;

    quot;Nor do I,quot; s;and I cant imagine  mig do you tending, Dr.

    Lanselius?quot;

    ly rubbed t daemon humb.

    quot;; er a moment, quot;but sc atesmans   and poure, but not a despotic one. I dont ts to rule.... I dont knoell you.  mig to see if ell you anyt, of course,  o ter.quot;

    quot;ts a good idea.... Ill do it. And Ill go at once.quot;

    So to join Kaisa in the clouds.

    Serafinas journey to tic peoples o panic, and so  only by tic variations but by unseasonal crackings of ice and stirrings in t self, t, were slowly awakening from a long dream of being frozen.

    In all turmoil, s in too gallop soutely to t or tig skeins of geese disintegrated into a ic fields t, Serafina Pekkala sat on o tes of Svalbard.

    t, ting off a group of cliff-gs.

    S before so see yard. A single figure so t of t dog daemon snarling and snapping beside hings flew low enough.

    S kno a cliff-g oo loosely organized to be called a troop¡ªcircled, sa, and fled in confusion. A minute later tantly off tains before do silence.

    Serafina fleo tyard and aligrampled, blood-sprinkled snoill cimes, and seady-eyed.

    quot;I am a friend of Lyras,quot; s;I alk. Look: I lay my bo;

    quot;; he said.

    quot;In anoty. And I need to kno;

    ;Step inside, t;

    ties exc indoors. Kaisa glided tcold  h Lyra.

    quot;S; ed at table in t;Id see ed  . But ;

    quot; o do?quot;

    quot;You dont told me, do you, Serafina Pekkala? Im , ts all. I clean idy. I may  only by picking em up accidental.  confide in me any more t;

    quot;tell me t,quot; sed.

    t  flattered by ttention of tcy, as any man ention  really on  on  elling for muchan he needed.

    quot;I cant tell you precisely ails are beyond my grasp. But I can tell you tle signs. Correct me if Im  tc gods from ours, ent t rig;

    quot;Yes, ts true.quot;

    quot;But you kno our God? ty?quot;

    quot;Yes, I do.quot;

    quot;ell, Lord Asriel  ease rines of to speak.

    Ive seen a spasm of disgust cross alk of ts, and atonement, and redemption, and sucs deato c Lord Asriels been nursing a rebellion in  for as long as Ive served s one t;

    quot;A rebellion against t;

    quot;Partly, aye. time  an issue of force, but urned a.quot;

    quot;oo strong?quot;

    quot;No,quot; said t, quot;t  stop my master. No sound strange to you, Serafina Pekkala, but I knoter tter ther.

    er and my study for nigy years. I cant follo of  any more t I can see er him.

    No, its my belief urned a t because too strong, but because it oo o be ing.quot;

    quot;So... w is ;

    quot;I t. I t t poroy s  s to voice it, maam. I . But I cant put togetory t makes sense of w ;

    Serafina sat quiet for a fes, absorbing horold had said.

    Before s on:

    quot;Course, anyone setting out to do a grand t arget of t saying. Itd be t gigantic blasps orial Court and sentenced to deat before and I s again; Id be afraid to speak it aloud to you if you  a c t makes sense, and noto find ty and kill ;

    quot;Is t possible?quot; said Serafina.

    quot;Lord Asriels life   like to say t do. But on t, Serafina Pekkala, yes, ark mad. If angels couldnt do it, o t it?quot;

    quot;Angels?  are angels?quot;

    quot;Beings of pure spirit, teac some of ted, and got flung out of o s t. t do it. And t a man, . But ion is limitless. o do  even dare to t orn open to anot? ? So  of me, Serafina Pekkala, I say   I t like ot o be possible, itd be done by ;

    quot;And ;

    quot;Ill stay . Ill guard till ells me different, or till I die.

    And no;

    quot;Im going to make sure t; s;It mig I o pass to kno you ill be ;

    quot;I  budge,quot; old her.

    Shorolds offer of food, and said good-bye.

    A minute or so later s silence ains. Sroubled, and to explain: every strand of moss, every icy puddle, every midge in   fear for t fear of oo, for so co, tter; Lord Asriels god  chhood?

    If s do it alone.

    quot;; s;e must talk to our sisters, Kaisa. ts are too big for us alone.quot;

    And toward Lake Enara and home.

    * * * In ted caves beside too.

    t ruggled to keep  after t Svalbard, and tco to repair to  and the gasbag.

    quot;Maam, Im very glad to see you,quot; ;Any netle girl?quot;

    quot;None, Mr. Scoresby. ill you join our council tonig to do?quot;

    texan blinked o join a ch council.

    quot;Id be greatly ; ;I may ion or t;

    All t day tcorm, filling ting flutter of ted in ts or fising ice floes o see tcing on a secret tide.

    By evening t from belo fire of all  in front of ten, tc in ter, ttle scarlet floling among  sat Lee Scoresby, and on , a visitor: tvian ca Skadi.

    So Serafinas surprise. Serafina  Mrs. Coulter beautiful, for a s-life; but Ruta Skadi er, ra dimension of terious, trafficked s, and it sno  Lord Asriel igers.

    Serafinas daemon, Kaisa, a Skadis daemon t sigers o punisartar tribe erritory. it tiger gods, tribe declined into fear and melanco alloo o be rejected empt; for  igers. Suca Skadi: beautiful, proud, and pitiless.

    Serafina  sure iquette demanded t Ruta Skadi s on Serafinas rigo speak.

    quot;Sisters! You kno decide o do about ts. to anot, or live our lives as er our oter of tongue by King lorek Byrnison. S cloud-pine spray at the house of Dr.

    Lanselius: sed, and now she has vanished.

    quot;e s, s. First ;

    Ruta Skadi stood. e arms gleamed in t; tered so brig even t che play of expression on her vivid face.

    quot;Sisters,quot; s;let me tell you   fig knoerium, ts ory¡ª and ts not long by our lives, but its many, many of ts tried to suppress and control every natural impulse. And  control t cuts t. Some of you  t Bolvangar. And t  is not t tice. Sisters, you knoraveled in t cut too, as t in t just as  t t t feel. t is rol, destroy, obliterate every good feeling. So if a ,  be on tter range allies o.

    quot; I propose is t our clans join togeto explore t  to be found in our s because ser Lord Asriel already. And Lord Asriel is to tes t does.

    quot;t is ;

    Ruta Skadi spoke passionately, and Serafina admired y. vian queen sat dourned to Lee Scoresby.

    quot;Mr. Scoresby is a friend of t; s;ould you tell us your ts, sir?quot;

    texan got to , rangeness of t er, crouc along her back, her golden eyes half closed.

    quot;Maam,quot; ;I o t for to me, and tended to an aeronaut battered by  came from anot trespass long on your patience.

    quot;raveling norto Bolvangar ians, told me about somet o live in, back in Oxford. Lord Asriel anislaus Grumman, and t kinda persuaded to give o come nort w had happened.

    quot;No s I didnt like to question oo muc  t I couldnt reac clearly. I kne t   I remembered   ungusk  seems t Grumman knes of some kind of object t gives protection to   to belittle t you c tever it is,  outclasses anything Ive ever heard of.

    quot;And I t I migpone my retirement to texas because of my concern for t c those scholars.

    quot;So Im going to Nova Zembla, ure, but I can see t clear enoug my bullets are  ts task Im going to take on, maam,quot; urning back to Serafina Pekkala. quot;Im going to seek out Stanislaus Grumman and find out  ake it to Lyra.quot;

    Serafina said, quot;;

    quot;No, maam, I o be a fat I understand your question, and youre rig little girl rue parents, and maybe I can f make it up to o do it, and Im ;

    quot;t; she said.

    And sook off  one of ttle scarlet flo, w been picked.

    take t; s;and w in your o me. I s;

    quot;; ook ttle floucked it carefully into  pocket.

    quot;And ; Serafina Pekkala told ;Noers, ;

    tcic, up to a point; every c,  to speak, but only to decide. talk lasted all nige voices for open  once, and some otion, and a fe, suggesting a mission to all tco urge to join toget time.

    Ruta Skadi agreed , and Serafina sent out messengers at once. As for ely, Serafina picked out ty of  figo prepare to fly norto t Lord Asriel had opened, and search for Lyra.

    quot; of you, Queen Ruta Skadi?quot; Serafina said finally. quot; are your plans?quot;

    quot;I s  seems t too. May I come t part of ter?quot;

    quot;You may, and ; said Serafina, wo hey agreed.

    But soon after tco Serafina Pekkala and said, quot;You ter listen to a Kamainen o say, Queen. Srong, but it migant.quot;

    tca Kamainen¡ªyoung by candards, t is; s over a ubborn and embarrassed, and ated, flying from o tling again briefly on ce nature. Serafina didnt know her well.

    quot;Queen,quot; said tco stay silent under Serafinas gaze, quot;I knoanislaus Grumman. I used to love  I e  if I see  my sister made me tell you.quot;

    Sred at tcurned  love.

    quot;ell,quot; said Serafina, quot;if ill alive, o stay alive until Mr. Scoresby finds ter come o t. Forget a Kamainen. Love makes us suffer. But task of ours is greater t.quot;

    quot;Yes, Queen,quot; said tch humbly.

    And Serafina Pekkala and y-one companions and Queen Ruta Skadi of Latvia prepared to fly into tch had ever flown before.

 CHAPTER THREE: A CHILDRENS WORLD-1

    Lyra was awake early.

    So ter and Sc co sanislaus Grumman, t explorer; but in o open t  to. In fact, serrified. But so do it, o or not, and s o ted t kno. And to be afraid of.

    But sing, in t little bedroom facing t streaming tcalaimon nuzzling ened! And   in real life so see tanislaus Grumman, and o open t  in errified.

    er , but all it said   a head.

    S of range boy, but  s to.

    Instead, s doo tcried to make an omelette, and ty minutes later s do a table on t and ate tty t pride  ts of shell.

    Sh sleep.

    quot;I can make omelette,quot; s;Ill make you some if you like.quot;

    e and said, quot;No, Ill ill some milk in ts all rig ;

    Sco a bohing else shed never seen before.

    side and said, quot;If you dont come from t ;

    quot;Over a bridge. My fat  kno , I t eating berries and stuff I found. t cliff back t;

    Sured be t rising in a great series of cliffs t disappeared into tance.

    quot;And o least to eat and beds to sleep in. e didnt knoo do next.quot;

    quot;You sure t anot of your ;

    quot;Course. t my  for certain.quot;

    ill remembered e certainty, on seeing tc it  in his world, and he nodded.

    quot;So t least t are joined on,quot; he said.

    quot;t; Lyra said. quot;told me. chs daemon.

    No one can count  no one could get from one to anot;

    quot; about t;

    quot;I dunno about t. Maybe all tarting to move into one anot;

    quot;And ;

    S ;I migell you sometime,quot; she said.

    quot;All rig o look for it?quot;

    quot;Im going to find a Sc it.quot;

    quot;, any sc;

    quot;No. An experimental t; s;In my Oxford, t it.

    Stands to reason itll be to Jordan College first, because Jordan  ones.quot;

    quot;I never al t; he said.

    quot;t elementary particles and fundamental forces,quot; s;And anbaromagnetism, stuff like t. Atomcraft.quot;

    quot;-magnetism?quot;

    quot;Anbaromagnetism. Like anbaric. ts,quot; sing up at tal streetlig;t;

    quot;e call tric.quot;

    quot;Electric ... ts like electrum. ts a kind of stone, a je of gum from bees.

    ts in it, sometimes.quot;

    quot;You mean amber,quot; ;Anbar...quot;

    And eac moment for a long time afterward.

    quot;ell, electromagnetism,quot;  on, looking a;Sounds like  scientists, not t;

    quot;A; s;Ill find quot;em.quot;

    t tering placidly on t , because botions; but t, tohe casino gardens.

    Botartled. It .

    ill said to Lyra quietly, quot;;t count. I never seen anyone. t everyw;

    But treets leading doo ts, and both had red hair.

    t a  table.

    Pantalaimon co a mouse and ran up Lyras arm to t of .

    them had a dsmon visible.

    t a table nearby.

    quot;You from Cigazze?quot; the girl said.

    ill shook his head.

    quot;From SantElia?quot;

    quot;No,quot; said Lyra. quot;ere from somew;

    this was a reasonable reply.

    quot;s ; said ill. quot;;

    t;Didnt ters come to your city?quot; she said.

    quot;No,quot; ill said. quot;e just got  kno Specters.  is ty called?quot;

    quot;Cigazze,quot; t;Cittagazze, all rig;

    quot;Cittagazze,quot; Lyra repeated. quot;Cigazze. o leave?quot;

    quot;Because of ters,quot; t;s your name?quot;

    quot;Lyra. And s yours?quot;

    quot;Angelica. My brot;

    quot;;

    quot;Up torm and everyone  ty ers, so t come back. But ters, all riger, but .quot;

    quot;Us and tullio,quot; said little Paolo proudly.

    quot;ullio?quot;

    Angelica   now.

    quot;Our big brot; s;ill  ;

    quot;¡ªquot; Paolo began, but Angelica smacked   once, pressing ogether.

    quot; did you say about ty?quot; said ill. quot;Its full of Specters?quot;

    quot;YeaElia, all cities. ters go w;

    quot;incer,quot; said ill.

    quot;I never . t Specters t;

    quot;No. I cant see any ;

    quot;Course not!quot; s;You ain gro;

    quot;I ain afraid of Specters, all rig; ttle boy said, ting for;

    quot;Ent to come back at all?quot; said Lyra.

    quot;Yea; said Angelica. quot;ers go some in ty, do w we like, all rig;

    quot;But ers o t; ill said.

    quot;ell, cs bad to see. t t of t. I dont  to be gro first ts ry and look aend it ain  it is. Its too late. And no one ain gonna go near t pale and top moving. till alive, but its like ten from inside. You look in t;

    turned to .

    quot;Me and Paolos going to look for ice creams,quot; s;You  to come and find some?quot;

    quot;No,quot; said ill, quot; someto do.quot; quot;Good-bye, t; s;Kill ters!quot;

    quot;Good-bye,quot; said Lyra.

    As soon as Angelica and ttle boy a-laimon appeared from Lyras pocket, -eyed.

    o ill, quot;t kno t;

    It  time ill  more startled by t t onis.

    quot; alk?quot; ill said. quot;Course t; said Lyra. quot;Did you t a pet?¡±

    ill rubbed ;No,quot; alaimon.

    quot;Youre rig kno it.quot;

    quot;So ter be careful ; Pantalaimon said.

    It range for only a moment, talking to a mouse. t range talking into a telepalking to Lyra. But te; t sometoo. It oo o ,  once. ill tried to bring s together.

    quot;You got to find some ot,quot; o Lyra, quot;before you go into my Oxford.quot;

    quot;; subbornly.

    quot;Because you cant go and talk to people in my ; t let you near t to look as if you fit in. You got to go about camouflaged. I kno for years. You better listen to me or youll get caug o

    it found out. So I dont  you giving it a of place or as if you dont belong. 1 got my oo do in Oxford, and if you give me a;

    Ser never lied: too. S it.

    quot;All rig; she said.

    Pantalaimon  ing ared back, and t into Lyras pocket.

    quot;Good,quot; ;Noo t  come from some any gro. e can just come and go and no one11 notice. But in my  to do as I say. And t tter and out. e got to be camouflaged everywhere we go.

    e got to look as if urally t people dont even notice us. So go and . t clot;

    quot;I dunno ; s;I never  Jordan, and to after t.quot;

    quot;ell, youll just o  out,quot; ;as;

    quot;; said Lyra, and  upstairs. A ferocious rat face glared at  he looked back coldly.

    Part of ed to  t morning exploring ty, and anot trembled y for  ill numb  task o do. But it o keep busy, so o tside.

    took ting case from ote bag and looked at it longingly. As soon as o get to   in tucked it under ttress of t in. In t was safe.

 CHAPTER THREE: A CHILDRENS WORLD-2

    , t to look for some clotment store, syles t looked a little oldfaso ills eye, but tartan skirt and a green sleeveless blouse  for Pantalaimon. So o believe ill  girls did.

    quot;trousers,quot; s;Im a girl. Dont be stupid.quot;

    artan skirt looked unremarkable, ill beer.

    quot; you doing?quot; she said.

    quot;Paying. You o pay for t t;

    quot;t in t t paying for a t;

    quot;t not, but I do.quot;

    quot;If you start beers11 get you,quot; s s know wease  or wher she should be afraid of him.

    In t, ill could see  t of ty  been repaired; er  ty and grandeur about this place.

    tyards filled  buildings t looked like palaces, for all t teps  looked as if ratizens of Cigazze preferred to patc up indefinitely.

    At one point to a toanding on its otle square. It  building ttlemented toories  its stillness in t sun riguing, and bot drao t top of teps; but t speak of it, and t on, a bit reluctantly.

    rees, old o look for a little cafe on a corner, ed metal tables on t outside. t e. It looked smaller and s, but it opped bar, te of risotto, noo smell bad in the warm air.

    quot;Is it in ; she said.

    quot;No. Its in t;

    But took o trees, and looked around to get his bearings.

    quot;I t  ; ; about see t big e ;

    quot;s it look like? I cant see anyt;

    quot;You  mistake it. It doesnt look like anyt;

    up and do anywhere.

    And t. c as  before, on t, you could only see it at all from one side:

    like t unaccountably different.

    quot; is,quot; he said when he was sure.

    quot;A!quot;

    Sounded as o alaimon talk. o remain inside ,  to be a imes, will slig o spikes.

    quot;Keep to one side,quot; old ;If you stand in front of it peopled just see a pair of legs, and t   anyone noticing.quot;

    quot;s t noise?quot;

    quot;traffic. Its a part of ts bound to be busy. Get do it from ts time of day to go too many people about. But itd be o find some in t. At least once . Just duck t of t;

    Stle blue rucksack t s t and  in o look through.

    quot;A; S;And ts your  dont look like any part of Oxford. You sure you ;

    quot;Course Im sure.  in front of you. Go to t, and ttle fartake t goes doo t. t leads to ty center. Make sure you can see s t;

    quot;Rig; s;I  forget.quot;

    taking o see w.

    And tanding on till as a  a fe beyond, and no driver, at tion, o gaze side an odd-looking bit of air, even if t, and traffic screened the far side.

    t, a bang. o look.

    Lyra  a van ruck it from beill¡ª ill darted ter ting out, and on ttle girl.

    quot;I couldnt ! S in front,quot; said t;You oo close,quot; surning tohe van driver.

    quot;Never mind t,quot; ;;

    t t;  to , blinking alaimon craem beside her.

    quot;You all rig; ill said. quot;Move your legs and arms.quot;

    quot;Stupid!quot; said t;Just ran out in front. Didnt look once.  am I supposed to do?quot;

    quot;You still t; said the van driver.

    quot;Yea; muttered Lyra.

    quot;Everyt;

    quot;Move your feet and ; ill insisted.

    Shing broken.

    quot;S,quot; said ill. quot;Ill look after ;

    quot;Dyou knoruck driver.

    quot;Ser,quot; said ill. quot;Its all rig live around take ;

    Lyra ting up nourned tention back to t of traffic ationary ve past, t ttle scene, as people aler. t t ougo be o limp away.

    quot;ait!quot; s;Youll be nesses. I need your name and address.quot;

    quot;Im Mark Ransom,quot; said ill, turning back, quot;and my sisters Lisa. e live at ty-six Bourne Close.quot;

    quot;Postcode?quot;

    quot;I can never remember,quot; ;Look, I  to get ;

    quot;; said t;and Ill take you round.quot;

    quot;No, its no trouble. Itd be quicker to ;

    Lyra  limping badly. Srees, and turned at t corner to.

    t on a low garden wall.

    quot;You ?quot; ill said.

    quot;Banged me leg. And w s; she said.

    But s  inside it, broug a tle bundle , and unfolded it. ills eyes o see ter; tiny symbols painted around ting needle, took h away.

    quot;s t?quot; he said.

    quot;Its my aleter. Its a truteller. A symbol reader. I  ent broken....quot;

    But it  a;I never seen so many carts and t.quot;

    quot;t ;

    quot;Not so many. Not like t used to it. But Im all rig;

    quot;ell, be careful from no lost or somet from tart looking for t;

    o be. Finally ;All rigend youre my sister, tll be a disguise for me, because t got a sister.

    And if Im o cross roads  getting killed.quot;

    quot;All rig; she said humbly.

    quot;And money. I bet you ¡ª- around and eat and so on?quot;

    quot;I  money,quot; s of her purse.

    ill looked at them incredulously.

    quot;Is t gold? It is, isnt it? ell, t  people asking questions, and no mistake. Youre just not safe. Ill give you some money. Put t of siger, and your names Lisa Ransom.quot;

    quot;Lizzie. I pretended to call myself Lizzie before. I can remember t.quot;

    quot;All rig forget.quot;

    quot;All rig; she said peaceably.

    o be painful; already it , and a dark, massive bruise ruck  before, sreated, and t worried oo¡ªsuppose some police officer should become curious?

    ried to put it out of  off toget traffic liging just one glance back at trees. t see it at all.

    It e invisible, and traffic was flowing again.

    In Summertoen minutes opped in front of a bank.

    quot; are you doing?quot; said Lyra.

    quot;Im going to get some money. I probably better not do it too often, but t register it till t t;

    o tomatic teller and tapped out o be going  a ccy-pound note.

    quot;Use t later,quot; ;Buy somet some cs find a bus into to;

    Lyra let  very quietly, cy t  off in ty center next to an old stone ce a big department store, w.

    quot;Its all c; s;Like ... t ent t? And t w;

    No migion from t, or present sirely different building in place of the Jordan College she knew as home.

    quot;t ent rig; sly, because ill old o stop pointing out so loudly t ;t Oxford.quot;

    quot;ell, ,quot; he said.

    prepared for Lyras  streets almost identical o Jordan College,  splendid of all. And no simply  t Lyra of Jordan anymore; s little girl in a strange world, belonging nowhere.

    quot;ell,quot; s;If it ent ;

    It o take longer t, t was all.

 CHAPTER FOUR: TREPANNING-1

    As soon as Lyra ter he held.

    quot; to speak to Mr. Perkins.quot;

    quot;;

    quot;Its in connection ;

    quot;Just a moment, please...quot;

    A minute  by, and t;o?quot;

    quot;illiam Parry. Excuse me for calling. Its about my fato my mot.quot;

    quot;Yes...quot;

    quot;ell, I  to know w;

    quot;;

    quot;t to kno ;

    quot;Yes ... ;

    ill t carefully.

    quot;No,quot; ;But s in very good  tell me very muc to kno;

    quot;Yes, I see.  ;

    quot;No, Im ... Im in Oxford.quot;

    quot;On your o;

    quot;Yes.quot;

    quot;And your mot ;

    quot;No.quot;

    quot;Is sal or somet;

    quot;Somet. Look, can you tell me or not?quot;

    quot;ell, I can tell you somet not muc rig do it over t in five minutes. Can you find your o my office at about  t;

    quot;No,quot; ill said. It oo risky; t  ed by t quickly and  on. quot;Ive got to catco Notting  to miss it. But  to knoell me over t you? All I  to knoell me t, cant you?quot;

    quot;Its not quite as simple as t. I cant really give out private information about a client unless Im sure t  me to. And Id need some proof of w;

    quot;Yes, I understand, but can you just tell me w;

    quot;ell ... t  be confidential. Unfortunately, I cant tell you any kno;

    quot;?quot;

    quot;trust.  instructions to pay it until old me to stop. 1   day to t it boils doo is t s ion.quot;

    quot;Vanis... lost?quot;

    quot;Its a matter of public record, actually. Look, o t;

    quot;I cant. Im going to Notting;

    quot;ell, e to me, or get your moto e, and Ill let you kno you must understand, I cant do very muc;

    quot;Yes, I suppose so. All rig can you tell me w;

    quot;As I say, its a matter of public record. tories at time. You know ;

    quot;My motold me some t;

    quot;ell, ion, and it just disappeared. About ten years ago. Maybe more.quot;

    quot;;

    quot;t up in t you¡ªquot;

    But at t point ills money ran out, and  one purred in  the phone down and looked around.

    ed above all o speak to o stop himself from dialing Mrs.

    Coopers number, because if  o go back to   bot card.

    y, and e: quot;DEAR MUM, I AM SAFE AND ELL, AND I ILL SEE YOU AGAIN SOON. I . I LOVE YOU. lLL.quot; t and bougamp and o e before dropping it in the mailbox.

    It , wrians. o realize  was a weekday, when a child of his age should have been in school. here could he go?

    It didnt take o  it;  of the background.

    So no of o a stationery s a ballpoint, a pad of paper, and a clipboard. Scen sent groups of pupils off to do a s, and if o be on a project like t  look as if  a loose end.

    tending to be making notes, and kept he public library.

    * * * Meano consult ter. In es  tingly different, c familiarity rig to t outlandised t tle cting every sides mean at t er.

    But . Joes, o plant fire particular one at tte Street¡ªtials SP t Simon Parslow c!

    Someone in tials must ood ly the same.

    t be a Simon Parslohis world.

    Perhere was a Lyra.

    A calaimon s. Series enoug imagining more.

    t numbers of people s of every building; people of every sort, artars meekly folloly dressed and  tle black cases. S t first, because ts, or worse.

    But (trangest tures moved about co concede t  t them as ills was.

    After  for an aking t  a bar of ce y-pound note. t   understand , per an apple from t, side a grand building, a real Oxford-looking building t didnt exist in  all, t   of place. S on tside to eat, and regarded the building approvingly.

    S it uffed animals and fossil skeletons and cases of minerals, just like ted er in  t iron-and-glass rance to anot of t ed, s ter ill t urgent t in tic clot like ing rops of magic and tools and  only from tic, as s from every part of trange. tly t tied traces on t sledge completely  ogram sers, t Lyra and sold o Bolvangar. Look! t rope ted in precisely t, and s intimately, ied up in t very sledge for several agonizing  eries? as ter all, s time dreaming of others?

    And t made er again. In an old glass case ed  t, some on top. ter wo.

    t said in spidery ing on a card, repanning. t all times, because t: till in it, and its edges  .

    t artars did. And anislaus Grumman o o took out ter.

    Sral skull and asked:  sort of person did to, and w?

    As sood concentrating in ty lig filtered ted do t notice t sched.

    A poifully tailored linen suit and , stood on the iron railing.

    ly back from anned, barely e or so ed tongue peeped out at tly. t pocket ed s so ric ts.

    ces.  beloill by tcaking in all of idy er, her bare legs.

    t-pocket airs.

    Lyra, absorbed, range t ter,

    to let to er, in t sometimes ion Lyra  asked, added t t around trepanned skulls the arrowhead.

    in t mean? Lyra came out of ter and drifted back to t moment to find o t case , hink who.

    aring at h a smile.

    quot;Youre looking at trepanned skulls?quot; ; strange to t;

    quot;Mm,quot; s;Dyou knoill do t?quot; quot;Yea; she said.

    quot;. Actually, youre far too young to remember s more effective taking drugs.quot;

    Lyra  ter in  a tion, and noion h her.

    ainly smelled nice. he case.

    quot;Makes you  it? No anestic, no disinfectant, probably done one tools.

    t ougnt t te a lot. s your name?quot; quot;Lizzie,quot; sably.

    quot;Lizzie. o sc;

    S sure o ans;No,quot; she said.

    quot;Just visiting? ell, youve co look at.  are you specially interested in?quot;

    S for a long time. On tly dressed, but on talaimon, inside ,  tention and begging o be careful, because oo; and from some t refaction. S th.

    quot; am I interested in?quot; s;Os of t interested in just no t done. Its ;

    quot;No, I  enjoy it myself, but I promise you it does ake you to meet someone ;  sempted.

    But t came t little dark tongue point, as quick as a snakes, flick-moisten, and she shook her head.

    quot;I got to go,quot; s;t I better not. Any to go noing someone. My friend,quot; s;aying ;

    quot;Yes, of course,quot; ;ell, it alking to you. Bye-bye, Lizzie.quot;

    quot;Bye,quot; she said.

    quot;O in case, ; ;Just in case you  to kno t;

    quot;t; s it in ttle pocket on t c.

    Once sside turned in to t and ots, and found a quiet spot under some trees and tried ter again.

    time s Dust. t  directed o a certain room in tall square building be, traigly, t Lyra er o say: so sense no it o knoed to tell her more.

    And it did no said  concern yourself ask is to  your mind to t.

    Sartled. ill  of no so ook h away.

    But ter still  finisc lie to the Scholar.

    S around ter and t it into t of sigood and looked around for t off to, feeling a.

    ill found tly prepared to believe t  and imes index for t doo look to Joion ion.

    Eace roll of microfilm. urn into tor, scrolled to find tories, and read ttention. t story told of ture of an expedition to tion itute of Arc Oxford University, and it o survey an area in lements. It he Royal Marines, a professional explorer.

    tory ed six er. It said briefly t tion ic Survey Station at Noatak in Alaska.

    ted ter t. It said t to signals from tation, and t John Parry and his companions were presumed missing.

    ticles follo one, describing ties t  out fruitlessly to look for ts over tion of titute of Arcervieives....

    ture of her. holding a baby. him.

    ter ten a standard tearful-ing-in-anguisory, ual facts. t Jo to specialize in organizing geograpific expeditions, and t was all.

    tion in t up from the microfilm reader baffled.

    t be some more information someoo long searc, raced....

    ;Do you knoitute of Arc;

    quot;I could find out....  sc;

    quot;St. Peters,quot; said ill.

    quot;ts not in Oxford, is it?quot;

    quot;No, its in  of residential field trip. Kind of environmental study researc;

    quot;O  you ed? ... Arc;

    ill copied do o admit  kno. It  far away.  off.

    Inside t t of tairs, er be.

    quot;; he said.

    t Pan, in , enjoying it.

    quot;I got a message for someone on t; she said.

    quot;;

    quot;Dr. Lister,quot; she said.

    quot;Dr. Listers on t somet  ;

    quot;Yea t no for it. Its not a tually, its someto tell ;

    cy Lyra could command o; and finally  back to his newspaper.

    ter didnt tell Lyra peoples names, of course. Ser off a pigeonend you knoo let you in. In some ter than he did.

    On to an empty lecture o a smaller room  a blackboard.

    t and bare and plain in a  belonged to poverty, not to t ted, and ters ly. It  anotrange.

    Ser old . t said DARK MAttER RESEARC, and under it someone OR: LAZARUS.

    Lyra made not. S;Come in.quot;

    It ottering piles of papers and books, and teboards on tions. tacked to t looked Ced anbaric macood in silence.

    For , Lyra tle surprised to find t t  ter  said a man, and trange er all. tting at an engine t displayed figures and s of   on grimy little blocks in an ivory tray. tapped one, and the screen became blank.

    quot;; she said.

    Lyra s t ter old ried  to do ruth.

    quot;Lyra Silvertongue,quot; s;s your name?quot;

    te ties, Lyra supposed, pertle older than Mrs.

    Coulter,  black e coat open over a green s and trousers so many people his world.

    At Lyras question t;ell, youre ted ts oday. Im Dr. Mary Malone.  do you ?quot;

    quot;I  you to tell me about Dust,quot; said Lyra, o make sure they were alone.

    quot;I kno it. I can prove it. You got to tell me.quot;

    quot;Dust?  are you talking about?quot;

    quot;You mig call it t. Its elementary particles. In my  Rusakov Particles, but normally t Dust. t s t of space and fix on people. Not cly on gro today¡ªI  museum doartars make, and t more Dust around t  got t sort of . ;

    t her wide-eyed.

    quot;t kno five t; she said.

    quot;A it e t label. t skull y-t;

    Sopped t to faint. t ely; s one o  wche arm of her chair, and her jaw dropped.

    Lyra stood, stubborn and puzzled, ing for o recover.

    quot;; t last.

    quot;Lyra Silver¡ªquot;

    quot;No, w are you? ;

    earily Lyra sigten  Sc  to tell truto understand.

    quot;I come from anot; s;And in t , and ts w;

    quot;ait, , . You come from w;

    quot;From some;Not ;

    quot;O; t;I see. ell, I t;

    quot;And I got to find out about Dust,quot; Lyra explained. quot;Because t, tened of Dust because ts original sin. So its very important. And my fat; sely, and stamped . quot;ts not  to say. Im doing it all ;

    Dr. Malone looked at Lyras desperate fro t;Dear me, c;

    Siredness.

    quot;ening to you?quot; s on. quot;I must be crazy. t is, t t, and t to close us doalking about, your Dust, sounds like sometigating for a  turn, because... o too mucoo tired. I  to listen to you, believe me, but not noo close us do a o put togeto ttee, but  a ;

    She yawned widely.

    quot;  unexpected t oday?quot; Lyra said.

    quot;Oo back our funding application . I dont suppose it  unexpected, any;

    She yawned again.

    quot;Im going to make some coffee,quot; s;If I dont, Ill fall asleep. Youll oo?quot;

    Sric kettle, and  coffee into tared at ttern on the door.

    quot;s t?quot; she said.

    quot;Its C t is? Do t in your ;

    Lyra looked at ic. S;t are different, ts all. I dont kno my  too.quot;

 CHAPTER FOUR: TREPANNING-2

    quot;Im sorry,quot; said Dr. Malone. quot;Yes, maybe t;

    quot;s dark matter?quot; said Lyra. quot;ts  says on t it?quot;

    Dr. Malone sat doh her ankle for Lyra.

    S;Dark matter is  is. tuff out ts t. e can see tars and t s for it all to oget fly apart, to be a lot more of it¡ªto make gravity  no one can detect it. So ts of different researcs trying to find out  is, and t;

    Lyra tention. At last talking seriously.

    quot;And  is?quot; she asked.

    quot;ell,  is¡ªquot; As stle boiled, so s up and made tinued. quot;e ts some kind of elementary particle. Somete different from anyt ticles are very o detect. ... o scudy p;

    Lyra felt Pantalaimon nip  to get cross. It er telling o be trut s ruto tread carefully and just avoid direct lies.

    quot;Yes,quot; s;I knotle bit. But not about dark matter.quot;

    quot;ell, rying to detect t-undetectable ticles cras. Normally t detectors very deep underground, but ead is to set up an electromagnetic field around tector t ss out t  and lets t it ter.quot;

    S ss in a draook one hungrily.

    quot;And icle t fits,quot; Dr. Malone  on. quot;e t fits. But its so strange ...

    elling you t. Its not publiss not refereed, its not even ten dotle crazy ternoon.

    quot;ell ...quot; s on, and s Lyra t sop, quot;our particles are strange little devils, make no mistake. e call ticles, S nearly knocked me off my c noeam, you see, is a bit of an amateur arc. And   believe. But  ignore it, because it fitted in  t t? ts rigicles of consciousness. You ever upid? No  get our grant rene;

    Sy flower.

    quot;Yes,quot; Dr. Malone  on, quot;t: you cant see t to. Unless you put your mind in a certain state. You o be confident and relaxed at time. You o be capable¡ª  quotation ...quot;

    So tten h a green pen. She read:

    quot; ... Capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts,  any irritable reacer fact and reason. You o get into t state of mind. ts from t Keats, by t t yourself in t state of mind, and t t;

    quot;t; said Lyra.

    quot;Oer. e call it to. ts our arc again. ellectual. But o Geneva for a job intervie suppose for a moment s rigo it, if you t about it. to your t;

    quot; about t;

    quot;I o t. Oliver Payne¡ª one day testing t  didnt make any sense in t .  a piece of ivory, just a lump, and t. It didnt react. But a carved ivory cer of , but a atuette alking about elementary panicles here, for goodness

    sake. Little minute lumps of scarcely anyt ts  ed  was surrounded by Shadows....

    quot;And t some fossil skulls from a friend at tested to see ime t . toff point about ty, forty t, no Ser t, plenty. And ts about time, apparently, t modern  appeared. I mean, you knoe ancestors, but people no different from us, really....quot;

    quot;Its Dust,quot; said Lyra autatively. quot;ts  is.quot;

    quot;But, you see, you cant say t of tion if you  to be taken seriously. It does not make sense. It cannot exist. Its impossible, and if it isnt impossible, its irrelevant, and if it isnt eits embarrassing.quot;

    quot;I  to see t; said Lyra.

    Sood up.

    Dr. Malone was running o keep ired eyes clear.

    quot;ell, I cant see ; s;e mig omorro;

    So t .

    quot;t. Over t; sing to a screen t y gray. quot;ts or is, be o see to be linked up to some electrodes. Like for measuring brain ;

    quot;I  to try it,quot; said Lyra.

    quot;You  see anytired. Its too complicated.quot;

    quot;Please! I kno;

    quot;Do you, noific experiment. You cant come c to   sc;

    And s waking up.

    Lyra rembling. tell trut. quot;I found my ; sook out ter.

    quot; in t? A compass?quot;

    Lyra let ake it. Dr. Malones eyes  quot;Dear Lord, its made of gold. ;

    quot;I t does s  to find out. If I can ansion truly,quot; said Lyra desperately, quot;someto and I dont, can I try your Cave t;

    quot;, are o fortune-telling no;

    quot;Please! Just ask me a question!quot;

    Dr. Malone s;O,quot; sell me ... tell me ook up t;

    Eagerly Lyra took ter from urned t pictures even before ting at tco respond. As it began to s, cing, seeing doo truth lay.

    t of emporary trance.

    quot;You used to be a nun,quot; s;I  . Nuns are supposed to stay in ts forever. But you stopped believing in c you leave. t like my  all, not a bit.quot;

    Dr. Malone sat doaring.

    Lyra said, quot;ts true, ent it?quot;

    quot;Yes. And you found out from t...quot;

    quot;From my aleter. It , I to find out more about Dust, and it told me to come to you. So I reckon your dark matter must be try your Cave?quot;

    Dr. Malone s not to say no, just out of ;Very ; s;I t as ;

    Scrical ers cooling fan into t ttle muffled gasp. It  room  dreadful glittering c Bolvangar, ly squeezed him for reassurance.

    But Dr. Malone  noticed; soo busy adjusting scapping tters in anotrays. As sters and figures appeared on it.

    quot;No do; s a c;I need to put some gel on your skin to rical contact. It ;

    Dr. Malone took six taco various places on Lyras  determinedly still, but s ing hard.

    quot;All rig; said Dr. Malone. quot;to t. But ty and look at t;

    Lyra looked. tion dimly, but t  sended t ser, and imagined herself asking:

    does t Dust?  questions is she asking?

    Sally moved ters o flicker. Astonis of ration, and t notice tement t made Dr. Malone sit up: s foro concentrate again.

    time tantaneously. A stream of dancing ligains of took up patterns t o break apart and form again, in different s colors; t, t into s suddenly s like a flock of birds cion in tc trembling on tanding, t sime er.

    Sion: Is t? Is it tterns and moving ter?

    t. S meant yes. t occurred to urned to speak to Dr. Malone, and saw o her head.

    quot;?quot; she said.

    the screen faded. Dr. Malone blinked.

    quot; is it?quot; Lyra said again.

    quot;O put on t display Ive ever seen, ts all,quot; said Dr. Malone. quot; ;

    quot;I  it clearer t; Lyra said.

    quot;Clearer? ts t its ever been!quot;

    quot;But  mean? Can you read it?quot;

    quot;ell,quot; said Dr. Malone, quot;you dont read it in t doesnt . s  to ttention t you pay them.

    ts revolutionary enougs our consciousness t to, you see.quot;

    quot;No,quot; Lyra explained, quot;ed. tures if you ed to. Look.quot;

    And surned back and focused  time sended to  ter, y-six symbols laid out around t omatically ted in o point at tanding), t (for diligence), and framed tion:

    o do in order to understand the Shadows?

    t itself, and out of ter of lines and flasures formed  clarity: compasses, alpning, angel. Eacure flas number of times, and t three:

    camel, garden, moon.

    Lyra sao explain. time, ting back in e-faced, clutcable.

    quot; it says,quot; Lyra told ;its saying in my language, rigures. Like ter. But  says is t it could use ordinary language too,  up like t. You could fix t put  youd need a lot of careful figuring  ning meant anbaric¡ªI mean, electric po. And ts all about messages. t s to say. But  on to t second bit... it meant Asia, almost t east but not quite. I dunno ry t ry of talking to Dust, I mean S   ures, only ticks. I t meant t picture on t I didnt understand it, really. I t  tant about it, only I didnt kno be lots of alking to S;

    Dr. Malone hless.

    quot;t; s;Yes, its Cion¡ªfortune-telling, really.... And, yes, ticks. Its only up tion,quot; so reassure Lyra t s really believe in it. quot;Youre telling me t ting in toucicles? itter?quot;

    quot;Yea; said Lyra. ts of  t;

    quot;tures on t; Dr. Malone began.

    Lyra felt a flicker of a t at turned to to formulate a question urned back to her.

    quot;It says t youre important, too,quot; sold tist. quot;It says you got sometant to do. I dunno  it  say t unless it rue. So you probably ougo get it using and  says.quot;

    Dr. Malone . t;All rig;

    Lyra ted  Dr. Malone,  of exion and despair, range curned up from no it. But Lyra o tell truth.

    quot;I come from anot; s;Its true. I came to to run aer comes from ... from ter of Jordan College gave it me. In my Oxford t t one  o read ter by myself. I got a  see ures mean straig like you said about... doubts and mysteries and t. So   t and your Soo. So...quot;

    Dr. Malone er and folded its velvet clot, like a motecting ting it back in her rucksack.

    quot;So any; s;you could make t could talk to you in ed.

    talk to talk to ter. But  to kno? Dust, I mean, Ster. t to destroy it. ts evil. But I t t. So , S good or evil, or ;

    Dr. Malone rubbed urned her cheeks red again.

    quot;Everyt t; s;Dyou knoo mention good and evil in a scientific laboratory? ist  to o t t kind of t;

    quot;You got to t it,quot; said Lyra severely. quot;You cant investigate S,  is,  t t kind of t said you got to, remember. You cant refuse. o close t;

    quot;ttee decides at t;

    quot;Cause you got tonig; said Lyra. quot;You could fix to put ead of pictures like I made. You could do t easy. to give you to carry on. And you could find out all about Dust, or Sell me. You see,quot; s on a little ily, like a ducisfactory ;ter  exactly tell me o kno you could find out for me. Else I could probably do t Cicks. But pictures are easier to work.

    I to take t; s trodes on her head.

    Dr. Malone gave issue to he wires.

    quot;So youre going?quot; s;ell, youve given me a strange s no mistake.quot;

    quot;Are you going to make it do ; Lyra said, gathering up her rucksack.

    quot;Its about as mucing tion, I daresay,quot; said Dr. Malone. quot;No, listen. I  you to come back tomorro? About time? I  you to s;

    Lyra narrowed rap?

    quot;ell, all rig; s;But remember, to kno;

    quot;Yes. Of course. You ;

    quot;Yes,quot; said Lyra. quot;If I say I ;

    And s. ter at t back to his paper.

    quot;tak dig,quot; said t, so ask me about t.quot;

    quot;; said ill, on  once.

    quot;I t. Im not sure.quot;

    quot; to kno it?quot; he said.

    quot;In connection  trip. It  of tion vanisar ars. Youre probably too young to remember t. tallations all across tic....

    Any;

    quot;ell,quot; said ill, trying to keep calm, quot;I  trying to find out about t expedition, really.

    For a sc about preoric people. And I read about tion t disappeared, and I got curious.quot;

    quot;ell, youre not to-do about it at time. I looked it all up for t. It  a proper dig. You cant do a dig till you knoime on it, so t out to look at a number of sites and make a report. ogetimes on an expedition like ts or o split t. t tuff and  ours. In t on team. I t mospicles. ts. ransmitters, apparently.

    quot;And t of professional explorer. to some fairly erritory, and polar bears are alic.

    Arcs can deal   trained to s, and someone e and make camp and do all t of survival stuff is very useful.

    quot;But t in radio contact ation, but one day t come, and not t ion found t camp more or less intact, ten tores. But tsoever.

    quot;And ts all I can tell you, Im afraid.quot;

    quot;Yes,quot; said ill. quot;t journalist,quot;  on, stopping at t;You said erested in one of t?quot;

    quot;type. A man called Parry.quot;

    quot; did , I mean?quot;

    quot; dyou  to kno for?quot;

    quot;Because ...quot; ill couldnt t ;No reason. I just ;

    quot;As far as I can remember, ;

    quot;Rig; ill said, and turned to go.

    tctle. ill sahe building quickly.

    , so called, o all man  o  tairs:  the body.

    But  a journalist.

    t in,  do at bay till no it he mans life.

    still for   . People came and , looking at tings, talking in quiet voices, ignoring tendant stood in tes, led   move a muscle.

    Gradually ening ate sing  to defend ed o do t.  because it o do.  to stop tealing t so   to do t? All o ing pirates. ell, no ....

    And after all, o ill  ime to read) oo, under ttress in Cittagazze.

    Finally iced people moving more purposefully, and all in tion. ttendant elling t ten minutes. ill gat. o treet, o see e w he man had sounded friendly enough....

    But as o cross treet and go in, opped suddenly.

    tall man ting out of a car.

    ill turned aside at once, casually, and looked in tion look around, settle t of ie, and go into t t anyoy library and ed for Lyra.

 CHAPTER FIVE: AIRMAIL PAPER-1

    quot;ill,quot; said Lyra.

    Sly, but artled all tting on t even noticed.

    quot;;

    quot;I found my Sc an engine t can see Dust, and so make it talk¡ªquot;

    quot;I didnt see you coming.quot;

    quot;You  looking,quot; s;You mustve been t somets a good ts easy to fool people. atc;

    trolling to, in te summer ssleeves, ons and t and speaking to them.

    quot;Please, could you tell me o meet our parents t lost.quot;

    t ill, and ill, containing o say, quot;S, , isnt it silly.quot; t;;

    quot;Yea one,quot; said Lyra, and pretended to listen carefully as tructions.

    ill got up and said, quot;t; and oget look back, but t interest.

    quot;See?quot; s;If t em off. Cause t be looking for someone er. I better stay ; s on scoldingly once t;You ent safe on your o;

    o leaden dome, set in a square bounded by one college buildings and a crees above ernoon sun dre tones out of it all, and t ric, almost tself of ill, and in ttle square even traffic noise was hushed.

    S;s tter?quot;

    quot;If you speak to people, you just attract ttention,quot; ;You s keep quiet and still and t all my life. I kno. Your ¡ªyou make yourself visible. You s do t. You s play at it. Youre not being serious.quot;

    quot;You t; s;You t kno lying and t? Im t liar t I ent lying to you, and I never . Youre in danger, and if I  done t just t. Didnt you see em looking at you? Cause t careful enoug my opinion, its you t ent serious.quot;

    quot;If Im not serious, ing for you y? Ive got my oo do, but Im   tell me Im not serious.quot;

    quot;You o come t; so ocrat. S;You o, else youd never find out anyt your fat for yourself, not for me.quot;

    tely, but in subdued voices, because of t in t nearby. opped altogether.

    o lean against t his face.

    quot; do you kno my fat; ly.

    Sone. quot;I dont knos all I asked about.quot;

    quot;Asked w;

    quot;ter, of course.quot;

    It took a moment for o remember  sook it out of ;All rig;

    And s doone curb around t rument and began to turn t too quickly to see, and to a stop urning to neions just as quickly.

    ill looked around carefully, but to see; a group of tourists looked up at

    t along t, but ttention was elsewhere.

    Lyra blinked and siger a sleep.

    quot;Your mot; sly. quot;But ser ook some letters and ran ahief, and you killed him.

    And youre looking for your fat;

    quot;All rig up,quot; said ill. quot;ts enoug no rigo look into my life like t.

    Dont ever do t again. ts just spying.quot;

    quot;I knoop asking,quot; s;See, ters like a person, almost. I sort of knoo be cross or   me to kno. But   o. And it said ...quot; S;It said you , Good, ts all rigrust. But I didnt ask more t till just no  me to ask any more, I promise I . t like a private peep s spy on people, itd stop  as ;

    quot;You could ead of t t say w;

    quot;No, because I didnt ask.quot;

    tting by time. ill put h weariness.

    quot;ell,quot; ;I suppose rust eac;

    quot;ts all rigrust you.quot;

    ill nodded grimly. ired, and t test possibility of sleep in t usually so perceptive, but somet ering o do; like I did by t the frozen lake.

    quot;And, ill,quot; s;I  give you a to anyone. I promise.quot;

    quot;Good.quot;

    quot;I done t before. I betrayed someone. And it  t I aking  to t dangerous place ted myself for t, for being so stupid. So Ill try very  to be careless or forget and betray you.quot;

    o try and wake himself up.

    quot;e cant go back till mucer,quot; ;e s  any risk anyone seeing. And no to ;

    quot;Im ; Lyra said.

    t;I knoo t;

    quot;t?¡±

    quot;Ill s some food too.quot;

    ty center, ten minutes o get in, and boug dogs and popcorn and Coke, and t do as the film was beginning.

    Lyra ranced. Sed pograms, but not dog and t at ters on t   conspicuous. ill closed  once and  to sleep.

    ter of seats as people moved out, and blinked in t. cer past eigantly.

    quot;ts t t; s;I dunno  some tter t tter t.quot;

    ill couldnt even remember  ill ligside, and treets were busy.

    quot;Dyou  to see anot;

    quot;Yea;

    So t to t cinema, a few  again.

    Lyra settled do on t,  his mind go blank.

    time, it er.

    Lyra e to her.

    quot;e al doo eat. I never seen people just ing before,quot; sold him.

    quot;t. traffic, for one. I dont like it. I like t. And t Sco make t engine use  knoing on. I bet I could  to give s, too. You kno;

    As told  t scanislaus Grumman in t on and told  of ory, from time sers flat to t  comment, but attentively,  of a voyage in a balloon, of armored bears and castic dream of a beautiful city on ty and silent and safe: it couldnt be true, it .

    But eventually trees. ttle traffic noe or so, no more t. And t  o be all right.

    quot;ait till t; ;Im going t;

    And a moment later rees, and a second or terward Lyra followed.

    t as if t, and t of floer.

    Lyra stretc a great iced  o t now  lig peace.

    And t .

    Somereets beyond thing was screaming.

 CHAPTER FIVE: AIRMAIL PAPER-2

    ill set off at once to. After several ts and turns t into t of tone to morning.

    ty or so c toicks in tones at rapped against t first Lyra t it  coming from inside the semicircle

    all. And too, in fear as well as red.

    ill ran up to t one back. It  riped t-s. As urned Lyra sae rims around  o look. Angelica and tle brotoo, stones in tered fiercely in t.

    t. Only tinued, and t it abby cat, co tos ear torn and its tail bent. It  ill  o the window.

    As soon as o t, furious, but t.

    And to  and ood to face t for a crazy second t  last.

    quot; are you ing t for?quot;  ansood trembling at ills anger, breatcicks and tones, and t speak.

    But t;You ain from  Specters, you don kno cats eit;

    triped t-s o fig  been for t in ills arms,  ill s and teet, and ill le. t of electric red bet only violence could ground. But t.

    quot;; emptuously.

    quot;Doesnt matter ake o you, s out of t;

    For a moment ill t tred o put t dourned to see Lyra standing  spotted leopard e as alaimon, ened for a second.

    Its effect on tic: turned and fled at once. A feer ty.

    But before t, Lyra looked up at toalaimon prompted  briefly sop, looking dotle-mented rim, and not a c a young man, h curly hair.

    er t above tin of condensed milk, and t  o lick alaimon -formed out of curiosity, and at first tabby cat led  s alaimon  nor a t, and proceeded to ignore him.

    Lyra cending tion. to in  from t or anots  for making pets of.

    quot;I tails broken,quot; ill said. quot;I dont knoo do about t. Maybe itll self.

    Ill put some  t someiseptic....quot;

    It  at least it kept  off, and tting cleaner all time.

    quot;You sure t; she said.

    quot;Oened of cats, t be many in t find ;

    quot;t crazy,quot; Lyra said. quot;t.quot;

    quot;I ; said ill.

    But   to talk about it, and ster to ask. S even ask ter.

    Sired, so presently s to bed and slept at once.

    A little later, ook a cup of coffee and ting case, and sat on t corning to read by, and ed to look at the papers.

    t many. As , tters, ten on airmail paper in black ink.

    ted so muco find; o rying to get closer to tarted to read.

    Fairbanks, Alaska ednesday, 19 June 1985 My darling¡ªture of efficiency and cores are  t, a genial dim called Nelson,  made any arrangements for carrying o tains¡ªo transport. But it means I o talk to an old boy I met last time, a gold miner called Jake Petersen.

    tracked o a dingy bar and under tV I asked  t talk took me back to ment. ittle of Jack Daniels alked for a long time¡ª seen it   an Eskimo o t  it for centuries; pan of tiation of a medicine man involved going trop s at 69¡ã0211quot; N, 157¡ã1219quot; ,ona spur of Lookout Ridge a mile or t on to otic legends¡ªts been drifting unmanned for sixty years, stuff like t. ts are a decent creo get to aining tience o keep it like t. My fondest love to you both. Johnny.

    Umiat, Alaska Saturday, 22 June 1985 My darling¡ª-so muc did I call ¡ªt Nelson is not, and if Im not mistaken ually looking for trated by  t of team   to  for anytransport,  a  by accident, and I o ask  t when I overheard him

    talking on to someone¡ªdescribing t  knoion. Later on I bougic ;more t; line. Pretended to tease ations of science¡ªbet you cant explain Bigfoot, etc.¡ªco spirit . I pretended not to notice and  on to c, told ory.

    So I  me doitious military block Im rig too. tion is, do I tell ? Got to  w his game is.

    Fondest love to both¡ª Johnny.

    Colville Bar, Alaska Monday, 24 June 1985 Darling¡ªI  get a co post anotter for a oake to ts are fizzing to get up tation ted. I said old me of some naro some incredible age, side t . ouldnt it be strange if talking of  buddy noo imply t  I kno c. And I pretend to be bluff Major Parry, stout fello not too muc. But I kno. For one tually comes from try of Defense¡ªI kno. I looked in te¡ªa radiation suit if ever Ive seen one. A rum do, my darling. I sick to my plan: take ts to t and go off by my self for a feo look for to Nelson  on Lookout Ridge, Ill play it by ear.

    Later. A real bit of luck. I met Jake Petersen s pal tt Kigalik. Jake old me o old me ts oo; c being seen, because  , and turned out to be Russian, a spy.  tell me more t; I got t o me. Its like a gap in t of  and you see anot its not easy to find because t part of t like ts on ty paces or so to t of a tall rock sanding bear, and tion Jake gave me is not quite rigs nearer 12quot; N than 11.

    isrop he boy for me¡ªJohnny.

    ill found his head ringing.

    ly  be on t track. And t t oo.

    ill  a baby ter ten. Seven years after t  ect  follo to protect he more.

    And tally, tion t not all ter all. ter er tters, tion.

    it meant. But  deeply  ant to s Joely, discovered traordinary t, talk about it, and  ill steps.

    t  and till. ters away and fell asleep.

 CHAPTER SIX: LIGHTED FLIERS-1

    quot;Grumman?quot; said trader. quot;From t  t ;

    Sam Cansino, an old acquaintance and a texan like Lee Scoresby, sat in tel and tossed back a s glass of bitingly cold vodka. e of pickled fisoo tell him more.

    quot;o a trap t fool Yakovlev laid,quot; trader  on, quot;and cut o tead of using regular medicines, ed on using tuff t aint a true moss. Anyely roaring  instructions to aking star sigo get ts rigongue, and boy, ongue like barbed oug everytartar, by initiation?quot;

    quot;You dont say,quot; said Lee Scoresby, tipping more vodka into Sams glass. er, crouc  along her back.

    Lee  afternoon, borne to Nova Zembla by tcoation. tic drifters stopped to exc or leave messages for one anot several days t, ing for a contract or a passenger or a fair  now.

    And  c ural for people to gatalk. it passed came more ne time of year, too; part of trange regular formations of stone on t long c of t and torn t....

    And tinued to roll in from trangest imaginable lig forms could be vaguely seen, and mysterious voices heard.

    Altoget ime to work, wel was full.

    quot;Did you say Grumman?quot; said tting just along ters rig, ;artar all rig tribe. I saartar name; Ill t in a minute.quot;

    quot;ell,  t,quot; said Lee Scoresby. quot;Let me buy you a drink, my friend. Im looking for ne tribe  ;

    quot;tars. At t of t s called¡ª a river t comes do tage.quot;

    quot;A; said Lee. quot;I remember it no. And Grumman ?quot;

    quot;; said ter. quot;I tribe recognized ed  drilling. It goes on for t;

    quot;A accounts for team ;t bunc t it . If t d make even more sense. But you kno mans curiosity  go. ell  ts, and ts of rap of Yakovlevs; leg laid open, and ing ts of t bloodmoss, taking emperature, ces on every damn trange man. tced  urned ;

    quot;Is t so?quot; said Lee, ty of Serafina Pekkala.

    quot; ,quot; said ter. quot;A cake it. If you dont, its your o if bad to you. Its like o make a c do is c;

    quot; ; said Lee. quot;If  ;rong,quot; said Sam Cansino. quot;Maybe faito anot; Lee guessed. quot;I  s of some magic object, I dont kno mig could protect anyone ory?quot;

    quot;Yes, I ,quot; said ter. quot;

    was.

    tried to make ell, but Grumman killed ;

    quot;; said Sam Cansino, quot;t  eyes on, and I didnt kno;

    quot;S; said tening in. quot;Youre talking about Stan Grumman? ;

    quot; o ; said Lee Scoresby.

    quot;O mixed up in to Bering-land. Last I ,quot; said ter. quot;Killed outrig;

    quot;I ; said Lee Scoresby.

    quot;No, youre bot; said t;and I kno who was

    t on Sakhere was an avalanche.

    Grumman  sa ;

    quot; I cant understand,quot; said Lee Scoresby, offering ttle around, quot;is ing for rock oil, maybe? Or  somet measurements, Sam.   be?quot;

    quot;tarligerest  t;

    quot;I kno; said ter. quot;Up tain tory belonging to te Academy. to tell you. I kno;

    quot; dyou  to kno; said Sam Cansino.

    quot;; said Lee Scoresby.

    tion isfying t it stopped ty at once. tion turned to topic on everyones lips: tastropaking place around them, which no one could see.

    quot;t; said ter, quot;t up into t ne;

    quot;t; said Lee.

    quot;As soon as t into it,quot; ter told tly.

    quot; first  in my kayak and looking nort by c ead of t  straigains, rees, and fields of corn, forever into tell you, friends, t oiling fifty years to see, a sig. I  calm sea  a back t;

    quot;Aint never seen a fog like t; grumbled Sam Cansino. quot;Reckon its set in for a mont youre out of luck if you  money from Stanislaus Grumman, Lee; t;

    quot;A artar name!quot; said ter. quot;I just remembered  sounded like Jopari.quot;

    quot;Jopari? ts no kind of name Ive ever ; said Lee. quot;Mig my money, maybe I can c. Ill go ask at tory, see if to.quot;

    tory ance to th, and Lee Scoresby hired a dog sledge and driver.

    It  easy to find someone o risk t Lee artar from to take er a lengt of haggling.

    t rely on a compass, or  impossible. ed by otic fox daemon for one,  t of ting the way.

    Lee, ic field urbed as everything else.

    topped to bre;t;

    quot;, t ;

    quot;Many tion. My people remember. All long time ago, many tion.quot;

    quot; do t it?quot;

    quot;Sky fall open, and spirits move bet , ts close up ter a  che

    sky is ts.quot;

    quot;s going to ;

    quot;Same t only after big trouble, big  ;

    t tell racking sloions and  outcrops of dim rock, dark til the old man said:

    quot;Observatory up too crooked for sledge. You  go back, I  ;

    quot;Yea to go back  a spell. Ill be t;

    Lee Scoresby set off, er tucked into t of , and after iff climb found a clump of buildings suddenly above  been placed t  t o a momentary lifting of ter a minute it closed in again.  dome of tory, a smaller one a little ration buildings and domestic quarters. No lig permanently so as not to spoil telescopes.

    A fees after alking to a group of astronomers eager to learn ed as astronomers in a fog. old t everyt topic   Stanislaus Grumman tronomers  or in o talk.

    quot;Grumman? Yes, Ill tell you somet ; said tor. quot;e of ;

    quot;Surely not,quot; said y. quot; ;

    quot;No, I t language e, any;

    said tor.

    quot;But I agree, ainly a member of t¡ªquot;

    quot;No, no, youre ; said someone else. quot; t not as a geologist. I alk .quot;

    tting, five of table in t served as tion room, and more or less everytes, one  ttle community o or, if only because roduced a cion. t to speak, and terrupted:

    quot; do you mean, a paleo-arc? Arcs already study  anot of it?quot;

    quot;udy  back muc, ts all. ions from ty, ty t; the Pole replied.

    quot;Nonsense!quot; said tor. quot;Utter nonsense! tions ty t;

    quot;Under t; said t;ts t. According to Grumman, tic field cically at various times in t, and tually moved, too, so t temperate areas became ice-bound.quot;

    quot;; said one of tes.

    quot;O  ions o ograms of

    unusual rock formations.quot;

    quot; all?quot; said tor.

    quot;Im only reporting, Im not defending ; said the Pole.

    quot;lemen?quot; Lee Scoresby asked.

    quot;ell, let me see,quot; said tor. quot;It   time.quot;

    quot;, ions in tic pole,quot; said t;But  of no or seen any of ; talked on for a ing reminiscences and offering suggestions as to   to breo ly: quot;C t;

    ttle. Lee  urally taciturn, but prompted by er,  break in tion to see t  orange eyes. ell, t are; but er y and suspicion in t thing of.

    And t. Suddenly ablis, so o include on its staff a representative of terium, to act as a censor and suppress tical discoveries.

    So, realizing tell me, gentlemen ¡ªdo you o knoo tion of Dust?quot;

    And instantly a silence fell in tuffy little room, and everyones attention focused on t ly. Lee kne er able,  along  on a co face.

    Finally tled on t;I beg your pardon.  somets forbidden to kno;

    t;ion of t, Mr. Scoresby?quot;

    quot;From a passenger I fle; Lee said easily. quot;t it  from t ioned it seemed like t o. I took it to be some kind of celestial t it puzzled me, because as an aeronaut I knoty uff.  is it, any;

    quot;As you say, a celestial p; said t;It ical significance.quot;

    Presently Lee decided it ime to leave;   to keep Umaq ing.  tronomers to tory and set off dorack, feeling o the ground.

    And es do past  er. It he Skraelings owl daemon.

    But er sensed tened ime, and t missed.

    er could figoo, and soug t be close by, and reac .

    quot;Be; er said, and he whipped around, diving, as an arrow hissed over his shoulder.

    once. ting, as t to  later ting movement to ruggling to fold her wings.

    Lee Scoresby cocked ol and  to the mans head.

    quot;Rig; ; did you try t for? Cant you see rouble noo t;

    quot;Its too late,quot; said the Skraeling.

    quot;too late for ;

    too late to stop. I  a messenger bird. terium o kno Grumman¡ªquot;

    quot; about ;

    quot;t t ot confirms . And t ot. You are an enemy of ts sions s gna t....quot;

    t ing sounds and raising and dropping fully.  orange eyes ain in t to die.

    quot;Reckon my bullet must  an artery,quot; ;Let go my sleeve and Ill make a tourniquet.quot;

    quot;No!quot; said t;I am glad to die! I syrs palm! You  deprive me of t!quot;

    quot;t to. Just tell me t;

    But o complete ion, because tle sing in tacked by assassins. s daemon was borne upward by cyr.

    ts in ture: an ecstatic straining toe.

    er clicked ongue.

    quot;S; sake ;

    quot; t t;

    quot;No, ; s;Not by our c by  take every advantage ime. Go on, take to a.quot;

    Lee saook to t teep drop into rocky darkness, and  fell for a long time before . Lee ed killing, alto do it times before.

    quot;No sense in t,quot; said er. quot; give us a c s to kill.

    Damn it, Lee, ed to die. t;

    quot;I guess youre rig;  tol away.

    At t of to move.

    quot;tell me, Umaq,quot; Lee said as t off back to tation, quot;you ever ;

    quot;O; said t;Everybody kno;

    quot;Did you knoar name?quot;

    quot;Not tartar. You mean Jopari? Not tartar.quot;

    quot; o ;

    quot;You ask me t, I o say I dont knorut;

    quot;I see. So w;

    quot;You better ask ribe. Better go to Yenisei, ask t;

    quot;ribe ... you mean tiated ;

    quot;Yes. You better ask t dead, maybe ;

    quot;;

    quot;In spirit oo muc;

    And .

    But o tation, Lee  at once to t could give o the Yenisei.

    Meanvian queen, Ruta Skadi, fles, tated by flood or landslide. It ain t trange range scents in t unkno attacked t and o be driven off o rest on, ts range.

    Still, some of ts s t made a tasty meal, and tage of er. It migo live in, but for tral forms t drifted like mist over ted near streams and loer. In some lig all, just visible as a drifting quality in t, a rransparency turning before a mirror. tcrusted t once.

    quot;Are t; said Ruta Skadi as tc stood motionless at tract of forest.

    quot;Alive or dead, t; Serafina replied. quot;I can feel t from   to go closer t;

    ters seemed to be eart t, luckily for tcer t day, t ters could do.

    It  a river crossing,  over a loone bridge beside a stand of trees. te afternoon sun slanted across tense green out of ty gold out of t ric tcravelers making for t, some in s, t  t to fly down and look more closely when she heard a cry of alarm.

    It came from ting at trees, and as tcream of tral forms pouring across to flo toheir prey.

    ttered. Serafina urn tail at once and gallop a staying to  as ion.

    quot;Fly locers,quot; Serafina told ;But dont interfere till I command.quot;

    t ttle band contained cs, some   t see ters, and ters  interested in tead for ts. One old ed on a cart

    tle ca Skadi o  t toer t approaco save her own life.

    t, and noo and fro in frigood and clung togeters attacked ts. t ransparent s moved busily,  made Ruta Skadi sick to ce befell every adult in ty apart from two wheir horses.

    Fascinated and stunned, Serafina Pekkala fleried to ford to get a a Specter  up o tood -deep in ter, arrested and helpless.

 CHAPTER SIX: LIGHTED FLIERS-2

    away, gazing horrified.

    Sravelers in  of t as scer busy gorging on¡ªsomety tly, daemons  outside. o ter be  turned  indifference at tle son drowning beside him.

    t oo mucer, and as sa Skadi cried out: quot;Be careful, sister! Be;

    And Serafina felt just for a moment a  t, and reac and up for Ruta Skadis o  er be of mist ser, casting about for its lost prey. Ruta Skadi s an arroo t of it,  at all.

    Serafina put t it ers, and treated to ttle band of travelers ed for good no flies, tccance, and every adult ill. tanding, t  doerrible stillness  of ters drifted aed, Serafina fleting on trong, hy-looking woman whose cheeks were red and whose fair hair was glossy.

    quot;oman?quot; said Serafina. t;Can you ;

    S to notice. , and when away again.

    tctered  tims in dismay.

    ttle knoll some aring at tcogether fearfully.

    quot;tc; said a ch.

    Sed up to o look back, so see w was going on.

    quot;ell speak to ; said Serafina, and sprang into the air.

    ers, co t Serafina Pekkala alig before laying it on t of her.

    t gesture s meaning akable. ted, looking from Serafina to tco too,  urning tail and running while his companions perished.

    quot;; he said.

    quot;My name is Serafina Pekkala. I am tc is your name?quot;

    quot;Joaccreat ;

    quot;If  make us your enemy?quot;

    for a fes, and settled ;It mig;

    ;but times o t;

    quot;Because times  are tures y?quot;

    quot;ell, ters...quot; onis;Dont you knoers?quot;

    quot;eve never seen t knoo tand.quot;

    quot;t t; said Joac;Only toucy of travelers o include a man and a o look after t times are bad noies are ters, and to be no more t;

    Ruta Skadi o it o meet her.

    quot;But tell me ; Joac on. quot;You didnt ans ;

    quot;ere looking for a c; said Serafina, quot;a young girl from our  range c;

    quot;No. But , making for t;

    quot;Angels?quot;

    quot;troops of t been so common in t years, time ten, or so o say.quot;

    otered ed travelers. ted noing some of the children.

    Serafina folloonig ters, ell us more about t;

    quot;Certainly I ;

    tco move trees s o stay o see ttle co a moto

    tugging to not understand s. t parents of t before, simply looked bleak and stayed dumb. Serafina picked up ttle boy  figure still standing in ter, indifferent. Serafina felt ears on her bare skin.

    to tcernly, ignoring tears. t in oo seemed immortal and strong and beautiful.

    Later, as t old Serafina and Ruta Skadi about tory of his world.

    It ies , tilled and fertile. Merc so and fro on ts of cod and tunny, bass and mullet; ts ran  s and squares of t cities ambassadors from Brasil and Benin, from Eireland and Corea mingled abaco sellers, une bonds. At nig under t gardens, and tirred  of jasmine and to trung mandarone.

    tcened o tale of a  so different.

    quot;But it  ; ;t all  orre degli Angeli, toy , to blame. Ot  on us for some great sin, t about  sin  suddenly out of no it is to live in a ers in it.  rely on anytinuing as it is? At any moment a fat be taken, or a mot; a merc migaken, and erprise fail, and all ors lose t; and rust trust and all tue fell out of our ;

    quot;; said Serafina. quot;And ;

    quot;In ty ¡ªCittagazze. ty of magpies. You kno? Because magpies steal, and ts all e not noteal from ot other worlds.

    torre degli Angeli discovered all o kno t subject.

    t, lets you  isnt ts not a spell but a key t can open even  is, it let ters in. And t still, I understand. to oteal from t t otoo, like ideas, or sacks of corn, or pencils. t; terly, quot;t Guild of t;

    quot; ters ; asked Ruta Skadi.

    quot;t is test mystery of all. In t repels ters of Indifference. But its more t. C see though we

    cant understand er-orps aken; try, and sometimes t to adults to look for food and supplies in a Specter-ridden area, and sometimes t about and scavenge.

    quot;So t is our rue parasites: t kill t, t of t of  till recently, till t storm. Sucorm it  sounded as if t; t been a storm like t in memory.

    quot;And t lasted for days and covered every part of t I knoravel. And ers, o t to sea, but time wherever we go. As you saw for yourselves.

    quot;Nos your turn. You tell me about your  to come to t;

    Serafina told rut man, and t needed concealing from ened closely, s;I told you about to ot occasionally t of forgetfulness; 1  be surprised if travelers from otime to time. e kno angels pass ter all.quot;

    quot;Angels?quot; said Serafina. quot;You mentioned to us. Can you explain t;

    quot;You  to kno angels?quot; said Joac;Very old. Some call tcoo. t beings of fles. Or maybe ter and clearer, I  kno t like us. ts times in to anotill nigs. t from ours, t days too, some say.

    quot;And  storm, I  by Specters in ty of SantElia, on my  to a birc long I s too, closer to go out and see, tark terrified, if you  to kno ever got during t fog, I ventured to look out, and I sa figure lying  as if I  to see¡ªsacred to look away, and whe figure was gone.

    quot;ts t I ever came to an angel. But as I told you, , ars, making for t of mighty ships under sail....

    Somet kno may be. t. t I dont knocome   be impossible if t tation  imagine it.

    quot;t;  on, sitting up to stir t;t migter t mig a ogeto t t a blessing t would be, eh! how fresh and happy we could live, free

    of t fearful blig;

    t ared into t played over  trong features; he looked grim and sad.

    Ruta Skadi said, quot;t, do you kno w;

    quot;I couldnt say. Im not a learned man, you can see t plain enoug ts ts, tering, ts  on s  from.quot;

    cars in theirs:

    t across ts of starliged t matcness....

    quot;Sir,quot; said Serafina, quot;did you ever ?quot;

    quot;Dust? I guess you mean it in some ot on t look! troop of angels no;

    ed to tellation of Op, a tiny cluster of lig drift; t of geese or swans.

    Ruta Skadi stood up.

    quot;Sister, its time I parted from you,quot; so Serafina. quot;Im going up to speak to tever to Lord Asriel, Ill go , Ill searc;

    ta Skadi took o t, sped out of the dark alongside her.

    quot;ere going ; he said.

    quot;As ed fliers in Oply, Sergi. Lets catc;

    And s be look back at ttle fire in t tc part of ures a, and unless s  against t expanse of starlight.

    So s of took on a clearer shape.

    t as if t as if, c ts a Skadi stayed becrengto fig armed, but on t even outstrip  came to a chase.

    Making  in case, s;Angels!

    and listen to me! I am tca Skadi, and I  to talk to you!quot;

    turned. t  inill tanding uprigion by ting of they

    surrounded  by an invisible sun.

    Sting on  ing rangeness of it, and tered to sit close to th of her body.

    Eacinctly an individual, and yet t ting play of intelligence and feeling t seemed to saneously. t s naked in front of t  so deep.

    Still, s surned th head held high.

    quot;So you are angels,quot; s;or atc;

    quot;e are follo; said one.

    S sure w mig once.

    quot;; she said.

    quot;A mans.quot;

    quot;Lord Asriels?quot;

    quot;It may be.quot;

    quot;;

    quot;Because o,quot; came the reply.

    quot;to ; shem.

    Ruta Skadi  c-lived  s test idea of  beings. Nor did s beyond ary tentacles to test corners of universes s sed to. If so perceive true form, tecture tructures composed of intelligence and feeling.

    But ted nothing else: she was very young.

    At once t ted urbulence t added to .

    t t. tars  into brilliance as t and moist.

    In t to any eye trangeness  Ruta Skadi saill not t of t some ot from somewhere else.

    tirelessly tirelessly s pace. S a fierce joy possessing  sal presences. And s next to  of  and t-voiced bluet daemon, and in ture, plant and animal boted in being of tance as t  so see Lord Asriel again.

    Anot came, and still t some point ty of t for tter, but ca Skadi kne t of t o anot  guess.

    quot;Angels!quot; s; the world I found you in? here

    ;

    quot;t; came t;Gateo ot you cannot.quot;

    Ruta Skadi couldnt see te s need to: ce better ttention on tion exactly. Noe  think.

    tly s;Lord Asriel is in tress ;

    ta Skadi looked  faint glimmer of liginting t, tars above sly as ever against t black of t  by moment, a great mountain range reared its peaks¡ªjagged spears of black rock, migootastrop on t point, lined in brilliance, stood a regular structure: a ress s  , and  o be measured in flying time.

    Beneatress, fires glared and furnaces smoked in ta Skadi  mills.

    And from every direction, ss of angels o, and not only angels, but macoo: steel- gliding like albatrosses, glass cabins under flickering dragonfly  Lord Asriel ains at the world.

    quot;And is Lord Asriel t; she said.

    quot;Yes, ; the angels replied.

    quot;ts fly to meet  be my guard of ;

    Obediently t toress, chem.

 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ROLLS-ROYCE-1

    Lyra o find t and y never  of bed and doairs, and  on ter,  to see hey were doing.

    t s, racing toeps. As t, but took o teps so  one of to ter, and tried to climb into t and tipped t over, too, and t toget before han

    most of to, and ser, alaimon as a little silver fistering beside  o talk to otting in pools of er on tone, ts drying quickly in talaimon o creep into  again, frogston.

    quot; you going to do  cat?quot;

    quot;Can you really take t;

    quot;;

    quot;Your friend, ers?quot;

    quot;ill ent afraid of anyt; Lyra said. quot;Norm I.  you scared of cats for?quot;

    quot;You dont kno cats?quot; t boy said incredulously. quot;Cats, t t. You got to kill every cat you see. te you and put too. And  big pard?quot;

    S Pantalaimon in ly.

    quot;You must ; s;t in t. But me and ill,  ers ;

    quot;If you cant see em, youre safe,quot; said a boy. quot;You see em, you kno you. ts  ;

    quot;And t;

    quot;Yea; said t a ful of air, cro;I got one no;

    quot;t  you,quot; one of t;So   t.quot;

    quot;And ters in t; said Lyra.

    quot;Yea; said one boy, but anot;No, time ago. ;

    quot;t; said third.

    quot;t?quot; said Lyra.

    quot;t; said t;My granny said t to punis;

    quot;Your granny don kno; said a boy. quot;S a beard, your granny. S, all rig;

    quot;s t; Lyra persisted.

    quot;You knoorre degU Angeli,quot; said a boy. quot;tone too t place in things.

    P ters in.quot;

    quot;t ain true,quot; said anotars.quot;

    quot;It is! t : taking some metal apart. Lead. o make it into gold. And  it and cut it smaller and smaller till o t piece  t. So small you couldn see it, even. But  t, too, and inside t little bit ters packed in, ted over and folded up so tigook up no space at all. But once  it, bam! t, and ts ;

    quot;Is to; said Lyra.

    quot;No! t; said the girl.

    quot;tos ed, t place,quot; said a boy. quot;ts . Ain no kids gonna go in ts scary.quot;

    quot;to go in t; said another.

    quot;t special magic, or somet; said t;t live t;

    quot;But t anyone in to; Lyra said. quot;No gro;

    quot;No groy at all!quot;

    quot;t.quot;

    But s. And ticed liar, s t something.

    And suddenly stle Paolo ioned t ullio, oo, and Angelica her?

    S to rescue ts and pedal back to t inside to make some coffee and see if ill  ill asleep,  curled up at , and Lyra ient to see e a note and left it on took  off to look for the window.

    took led tle square to t before. But it y no dusted t of t touries of  someillness expressing poellectual force.

    quot;Angels,quot; said Pantalaimon, no on Lyras shoulder.

    quot;Maybe Specters,quot; Lyra said.

    quot;No! t; ed. quot;Bet ts angels.quot;

    quot;S;

    t t oak door on its ornate black eps up to it self stood sligo stop Lyra from going in except her own fear.

    Siptoed to top of teps and looked tone-flagged  muc; but Pantalaimon tering anxiously on  as rick on t at Jordan College, and stle eps and out of t sunligree boulevard. And as soon as s straigo to ills Oxford.

    Forty minutes later ser; but time srump card quot;You just ask Dr. Malone,quot; sly. quot;ts all you got to do, ask ell you.quot;

    ter turned to elepcyingly as tons and spoke into it. t even give o sit in, like a real Oxford college, just a big er, as if it was a shop.

    quot;All rig; said ter, turning back. quot;S go anyw;

    quot;No, I ,quot; stle girl doing w sold.

    At top of tairs, t as sing , it opened and tly beckoning her in.

    Sered, puzzled. t tory, it ed.

    S;Lyra, they know you came

    to see me yesterday¡ªI dont knoer, but I dont like it s going on?quot;

    quot;o see you?quot;

    quot;I dont kno kno I kne;

    quot;Oo ts easy.quot;

    quot;But w is going on?¡±

    A side: quot;Dr. Malone? ;

    quot;Yes,quot; Dr. Malone called. quot;I  s;

    to be so anxious, t Lyra, but per used to danger.

    tly, and sried to smile  her eyes remained hard and suspicious.

    quot;; s;Youre Lyra, are you?quot;

    quot;Yeas your name?quot;

    quot;Im Sergeant Clifford. Come along in.quot;

    Lyra t ting as if it  s   a t. S be  ter ed o do, and it  tood doubtfully in the doorway.

    In tall poe eyebrows. Lyra knew w Scwo was a Scholar.

    quot;Come in, Lyra,quot; said Sergeant Clifford again. quot;Its all rigor alters.quot;

    quot;; said t;Ive been  you from Dr. Malone o ask you a feions, if ts all rig;

    quot; sort of questions?quot; she said.

    quot;Not,quot; ;Come and sit do;

    oanding nearby. Pantalaimon, cricket-formed in Lyras breast pocket, ated; s , and remor didnt s to o keep still.

    quot;; said Inspector alters.

    If so c s say another.

    t to kno once. S of the place ill had come from.

    quot;incer,quot; she said.

    quot;Youve been in t you, Lyra?quot; said tor. quot; those bruises?

    t?quot;

    quot;No,quot; said Lyra.

    quot;Do you go to sc;

    quot;Yeaimes,quot; she added.

    quot;S you be at scoday?quot;

    S Dr. Malone,  and unhappy.

    quot;I just came o see Dr. Malone,quot; Lyra said.

    quot;Are you staying in Oxford, Lyra? aying?quot;

    quot;it; s;Just friends.quot;

    quot;s t;

    quot;I dont knoly s called. I can find it easy, but I cant remember treet.quot;

    quot;;

    quot;Just friends of my fat; she said.

    quot;O;

    quot;Cause my fat, and ;

    It o it and lie more fluently.

    quot;And s s;

    quot;Yea.quot;

    quot;Youre interested in t sort of t;

    quot;Yea;

    quot;You going to be a scientist w;

    t sort of question deserved a blank stare, .  disconcerted.  to Lyra.

    quot;And  w Dr. Malone s;

    quot;ell, sort of, but I kneo expectquot;

    quot;Because of your fat;

    quot;Yea;

    quot;Yes, quite. Do you understand it?quot;

    quot;Some of itquot;

    quot;Your fato dark matter, t;

    quot;Yes.quot;

    quot; as far as Dr. Malone?quot;

    quot;Not in tter, but t engine  got one of t;

    quot;Is ill staying ;

    quot;Yes, ;

    And sopped. S once sake.

    So did t in a moment to stop  but some tripped and fell, blocking tor. It gave Lyra time to dart out, slam t beilt for tairs.

    ts came out of a door, and so talaimon led t fligairs into t as ter put ter calling out quot;Oy! Stop t;

    But to lift  t to t and catch her.

    And be doors  so fast, so strong¡ª And t turn! Pantalaimon s he wrong side!

    S in fear and turned tle  to turn, and got it to move just in time to avoid ter,  and a through.

    Across tires; into tall buildings, and tions. But s beening!

    Into a garden, over a fence, talaimon skimming over, calling to o go; croucsteps   came racing past, and s ing, , and so fit; and Pantalaimon said, quot;Back noo t;

    So s out of  te, into tires squealed on t tree-lined road of tall Victorian he park.

    Sopped to gain all  of one of t its foot, and s tucked closely in under t.

    quot;S; Pantalaimon said. quot;Dr. Malone got in t t;

    quot;O; s;I s  about ill. I s;

    quot;S ; he said severely.

    quot;I kno too ...quot;

    But s got time to berate alaimon fluttered to ;Look out¡ªbe; and immediately co a cricket again and dived into .

    Sood, ready to run, and saly to t beside o dart in eition, but t was a face she recognized.

    quot;Lizzie,quot; said t;o see you again. Can I give you a lift anyw;

    And o make room beside alaimon nipped  tton, but s in at once, clutc.

    quot;You look as if youre in a ; ; to go?quot;

    quot;Up Summerto; s;please.quot;

    t t and porong in t from t and moved a all.

    quot;So ; t;Did you find out more about t;

    quot;Yea; sing to see out of tten atle riumph.

    quot;I made some inquiries too,quot; ;An ant friend of mine tells me t t several otion, as hem are very old indeed.

    Neandert;

    quot;Yeas ; Lyra said,  alking about.

    quot;And ;

    quot; friend?quot; said Lyra, alarmed. old  ill too?

    quot;taying ;

    quot;O;

    quot; does s?quot;

    quot;O. Sudies dark matter,quot; said Lyra, still not quite in control. In t ell lies t. And somet   place it.

    quot;Dark matter?quot; ;ing! I sa t in times terious stuff, and nobody kno is! And your friend

    is on track of it, is s;

    quot;Yes. S about it.quot;

    quot;And o do later on, Lizzie? Are you going in for poo?quot; , quot;I mig; said Lyra. quot;It depends.quot;

    tly and slohe car down.

    quot;ell, o; said t;o be dropped?quot;

    quot;O up past t; said Lyra. quot;t;

    turn left into Sout, could you, Allan,quot; said the old man.

    quot;Very good, sir,quot; said the chauffeur.

 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ROLLS-ROYCE-2

    A minute later to a silent  outside a public library. t Lyra o climb past o get out. t of space, but some  to touch him, nice as he was.

    quot;Dont forget your rucksack,quot;  to her.

    quot;t; she said.

    quot;Ill see you again, I ; ;Give my regards to your friend.quot;

    quot;Good-bye,quot; s till turned t of sig off torees. S t paleed to ask ter.

    ill ers again.  on terrace ant ss of cing on ts, trying to picture t, and looking again and again at to to himself.

    steps from some ters in  and stood up, and almost at once Lyra alaimon a snarling savage , too distraugo   c;Kill  ;

    quot;? s tter?quot;

    quot;t old man¡ª not a loole it, ill! ole my aleter! t stinky old man  driving t;

    And sely  t s really did break, and o talaimon beside ter grief.

    Far off across ter, copped o see. ill sat down beside Lyra and shook her shoulder.

    quot;Stop! Stop crying!quot; ;tell me from t old man?  ;

    quot;Youre going to be so angry. I promised I  give you a, and t; salaimon became a young clumsy dog ail, squirming ; and ill understood t Lyra  soo aso tell , and o the daemon.

    quot;  tell me,quot; he said.

    Pantalaimon said, quot;e  to tricked us. t of questions and t you, and before op  a ;

    Lyra . Pantalaimon ion: dog, bird, cat, snow-we ermine.

    quot; did t; said ill.

    quot;Big,quot; said Lyras muffled voice, quot;and ever so strong, and pale eyes ...quot;

    quot;Did ;

    quot;No, but...quot;

    quot;ell,  know w;

    quot;But ter!quot; s up fiercely, ion, like a Greek mask.

    quot;Yea; said ill. tell me about tquot;

    Beteetold  er in topped today and sten in to escape from t side of to climb past o get out, and  ly taken ter as he rucksack....

    ated s not ;And, ill, please, I done someter told me I o stop looking for Dust¡ªat least I t ts  said¡ª and I o o ake you to  I  listen. I just done ed to do, and I s....quot;

    , and  could tell ruturned a o ter. to ;ill, Im so sorry¡ªquot;

    quot;s t? I dont care if youre sorry or not You did it.quot;

    quot;But, ill,  to  anyone else!quot;

    quot;I cant see ;

    quot;Nor can I, but...quot;

    Sopped in midsentence, and a ligo her eyes.

    Surned and raced back to , and rummaged t feverishly.

    quot;I knole ;o me in t ter back!quot;

    ill took the card and read:

    SIR CROM, CBE LlMEFIELD ON OXFORD quot;; ;A knig means people omatically believe  us.  did you  me to do, anyo ter me! Or if t yesterday, t  ;

    quot;e could steal it. e could go to eal it. I knoon in my Oxford too. It ent far. e could ;

    quot;Youre stupid.quot;

    quot;lorek Byrnison raig;

    But s. ill  looking at  , because t unlike lorek in ills eyes, young as they were.

    quot;I never upid in my life,quot; ;You t go to eal it? You need to to use your bloody brain. o uff, if  go off and special locks and ligc come on automatically¡ªquot;

    quot;I never ; Lyra said. quot;e ent got em in my  kno, ill.quot;

    quot;All rig a o my o look around, and t t  a  into  in time before t;

    S rue.

    quot; o do t; she said.

    ans it ain. o  or not.

    o ters edge, and back to terrace, and back to ter again.  oget no answer came, and he shook his head angrily.

    quot;Just... go t; ;Just go ts no good asking your sco  if to o believe t least if  into ll be a start.quot;

    it anot inside and put tters under t in. t, them.

    Lyra ing on terrace, alaimon perched on her shoulder as a sparrow. She was looking more cheerful.

    quot;ere going to get it back all rig; s;I can feel it.quot;

    off for the window.

    It took an o o on. Lyra led ty center, and ill kept c o Bolvangar, for tians and lorek Byrnison undra . y t  reac; and even if t going to kill  alaimon, t ter, s a little girl, lost Limefield s front  stood in a large, ended garden,  one side and a gravel drive so t door. t of a double garage to t.

    Everyt of informal settled superiority t some upper-class Englisill took for granted. t it t made  eet kno cloto be on  be till crying....

    Lyra sao ask w was

    someto do  ly ook a deep breath.

    quot;ell,quot; ;migry.quot;

    very exposed.

    t kno till Lyra s, the house.

    t , and t Lyra, and tle.

    quot;e  to see Sir Crom,quot; ill said.

    ting as it  nigone-to nodded.

    quot;ait ; ;Ill tell Sir C;

    op and bottom, t t no sensible burglar ry t door anyly fixed to t of tlig eaco get near it, let alone break in.

    Steady footsteps came to t opened again.

    ill looked up at t ed even more, and found ingly smoot in t guilty or ashamed.

    Sensing Lyra beside ient and angry, ill said quickly, quot;Excuse me, but Lyra t  by mistake.quot;

    quot;Lyra? I dont know a Lyra.  an unusual name. I know a c;

    Cursing ting, ill said, quot;Im ;

    quot;I see. ter come in.quot;

    ood aside. Neite expecting tepped inside uncertainly. t against tained dainty porcelain figures. ill sa standing in ting to be called.

    quot;Come into my study,quot; said Sir Che hall.

    eous, even  to  put ill on guard. tudy able in a cigar-smoke-and-leat of o be full of booksures, ing troped cabinets containing antique scientific instruments¡ªbrass microscopes, telescopes covered in green leatants, compasses; it er.

    quot;Sit do; said Sir Ced a leat at t on. quot;ell?   to say?quot;

    quot;You stole¡ªquot; began Lyra ly, but ill looked at opped.

    quot;Lyra t somet; ;eve come to get it back.quot;

    quot;Is t you mean?quot; ook a velvet clotood up. er resting in his palm.

    quot;Yes!quot; Lyra burst out, and reac But  reacer in a glass-fronted cabinet before locking it and dropping tcoat pocket.

    quot;But it isnt yours, Lizzie,quot; ;Or Lyra, if ts your name.quot;

    quot;It is mine! Its my aleter!quot;

    o   for ;I t t t about tter,quot; he said.

    quot;But it is ; said ill. quot; to me! I knos ;

    quot;You see, I to prove t,quot; ;I dont o prove anyts in my possession. Its assumed to be mine. Like all tems in my collection. I must say, Lyra, Im surprised to find you so dis¡ªquot;

    quot;I ent dis!quot; Lyra cried.

    quot;O you are. You told me your name s somet got a  a precious piece like to you. I tell you s call t;

    urned o call for t.

    quot;No, ¡ªquot; said ill, before Sir C Lyra ran around talaimon  t t hardly flinched.

    quot;You dont even kno is you stole,quot; Lyra stormed. quot;You seen me using it and you t youd steal it, and you did. But you¡ªyou¡ªyoure  least ss important! Youre just going to put it in a case and do not! You ougo die If I can, Ill make someone kill you. Youre not ;

    S speak. All s full in .

    ill sat still, ching was.

    Sir C a silk handkerchief and mopped himself.

    quot;rol over yourself?quot; ;Go and sit do.quot;

    Lyra felt tears s of rembling of o die sofa. Pantalaimon, s tail erect, stood on he old man.

    ill sat silent and puzzled. Sir C long before t was ?

    And t  Out of t, past te s cuff, came ts black tongue flicked t s mailed s gold-rimmed black eyes moved from Lyra to ill and back again. Soo angry to see it at all, and ill sa only for a moment before it retreated again up t it made h shock.

    Sir Co t and calmly sat dorousers.

    quot;I tter listen to me instead of berolled ; ;You really  any crument is in my possession and ay t it. Im a collector. You can spit and stamp and scream all you like, but by time youve persuaded anyone else to listen to you, I sy of documents to prove t I boug. I can do t very easily. And t it back.quot;

    t no  and making till.

    quot;;  on, quot;t even more. And I cant get it myself, so Im prepared to make a deal c I , and Ill give you back t did you call it?quot;

    quot;Aleter,quot; said Lyra hoarsely.

    quot;Aleter. eresting. Aletrut;

    quot;s t?quot; said ill. quot;And ;

    quot;Its some you can. Im perfectly  youve found a door too far from Summerto. Right so far?

    ell, you see, t door nooorre degli Angeli.

    quot;So ts  care , but I  t knife. Bring it to me, and you can er. I so lose it, but Im a man of my word.

    ts ;

 CHAPTER EIGHT: THE TOWER OF THE ANGELS-1

    ill said, quot; t;

    t in t, urned around, and ill and Lyra sat in talaimon a mouse nohed in Lyras hands.

    quot;Someone o to ter,quot; said Sir Charles.

    quot;Unfortunately for all of us, ter is in my possession, and t;

    quot; t ot;

    quot;I kno you dont.  else ? I am a good deal older and considerably better informed. t; ttagazze to do so all time.quot;

    quot;You ent from t all!quot; said Lyra suddenly. quot;Youre from t you?quot;

    And again came t strange nudge at  certain shed seen him before.

    quot;No, Im not,quot; he said.

    ill said, quot;If  to get t man, o kno  going to just give it to us, is ;

    quot;Certainly not. Its ters as not going to be easy by any means.quot;

    quot;ters are afraid of t;

    quot;Very muc;

    quot;tack only gro;

    quot;You dont need to kno no doesnt matter. Lyra,quot; Sir Curning to ;tell me about your remarkable friend.quot;

    Pantalaimon. And as soon as , ill realized t too, and t Sir C come from Lyras alaimon to put track: so  realize t ill had seen his own daemon.

    Lyra lifted Pantalaimon close to , and ,  Sir Ch red eyes.

    quot;You  supposed to see ; s; got daemons in t you le.quot;

    quot;If t ent to be represented by a scarab, so am I,quot; ;ell, youre from yet anoteresting. Is t eal it on your travels?quot;

    quot;I ,quot; said Lyra furiously. quot;ter of Jordan College in my Oxford gave it to me. Its mine by rig knoo do , you stupid, stinky old man; youd never read it in a s just a toy to you. But I need it, and so does ill. ell get it back, dont ;

    quot;ell see,quot; said Sir C;t you out ;

    quot;No,quot; said ill, because ;You cant come into Cigazze because of ters, so it doesnt matter if you knoo;

    quot;As you o pick you up.quot;

    till to a .

    As t out, Sir Co ill, quot;By t get t boto return. Come to my  it and Ill call t once  is illiam Parry, isnt it? Yes, I t so.

    to of you in todays paper.quot;

    And the car pulled away. ill was speechless.

    Lyra s all rig; s; tell anyone else.  already if o. Come on.quot;

    ten minutes later tood in ttle square at t of toold  topped still in treet, tormented again by t   come clear.

    quot;I didnt  to tell ; Lyra said quietly, quot;but I sa nig noise....quot;

    quot; did ;

    quot;Young,  old at all. But I sa top, over ttlements. I t  be... You remember Angelica and Paolo, and Paolo said to ty as elling us, as if it ? ell, I t it mig be after t it. I ts t place.quot;

    quot;Mmm,quot; ;Maybe.quot;

    Salking earlier t morning. No coalaimon y. Maybe t tering around  sunlight, whispering anxiously.

    quot;; s;t any cs our fault. e got to make it right, and

    t; ill o t, folloo t and t building, and ill  dooo, looking up, getting topped under a  tory level and said to Panta-laimon, quot;Can you fly up t;

    once and set off.  reac. Lyra gasped and gave a little cry hs like someone rescued from drowning. ill frowned, puzzled.

    quot;Its ; s;;

    quot;Sorry. Did you see anyt; ;Stairs,quot; said Pantalaimon. quot;Stairs and dark rooms. the young man.

    ;

    quot;Dancing?quot;

    quot;Moving to and fro,  sa;

    quot;Figer?quot; Lyra guessed. But t guess any better, so toopped ain (once again Pantalaimon fleo look); and to to, like frowning eyes.

    quot;ell o go in t, t; said ill. eps and pushe door wide.

    Sunligruck in, and took a step or t in fartones uries, and t a fligeps going do far enougo see t it opened into a  one end, ; but t up to trance o her lips, looking up.

    quot;I can ; s;alking to ;

    ill listened  too: a loerrupted occasionally by a  cry of anger. It sounded like the voice of a madman.

    ill ble  off to climb taircase. It eps as ones: far too solid to creak underfoot. t diminision  ened, climbed t, and t of ing, rsteps. It came from a room across tood ajar.

    ill tiptoed to it and pus open another few inches so he could see.

    It ered on taining badly preserved volumes orted y tables, and ot back higgledy-piggledy.

    In ter of talaimon ly like t. o to one side, to time   of acles. In t  a special-looking knife, just a dull blade about eig it for side, jab up and down, all

    in ty air.

    o turn, and ill  a finger to o Lyra, and led o tairs and up to t floor.

    quot;s ; she whispered.

    as well as he could.

    quot;; said Lyra. quot;Is ;

    quot;Yes. Red ainly looks mad. I dont knos look farto ;

    S question, but let aircase to top story. It e-painted fligeps led up to to a ructure like a little green t of teps t it was absorbing.

    And as tood they heard a groan from above.

    toalaimon artled t  once from a cat to a bird and fleo Lyras breast. ill and Lyra realized as  t go slowly.

    quot;Better go and see,quot; ill .quot;

    quot;I ougo go first,quot; s;seeing its my fault.quot;

    quot;Seeing its your fault, you got to do as I say.quot;

    Sed  fell in behind him.

    o t in tructure  urned it and stepped out quickly, o keep t of his eyes.

    tle-mented parapet. tructure  in ter, and tly dooter inside t, one for rainer.

    Lying on te tered, and one eye  closer, ied behind him.

    ried to turn over to shield himself.

    quot;Its all rig; said ill quietly. quot;e arent going to  you. Did t;

    quot;Mmm,quot; ted. quot;Lets undo t tied it very ; It ted, and it fell a. to get up and took o t quot;; ill said. quot;e didnt t;

    quot;Giacomo Paradisi,quot; ttered teet;I am the bearer. No one else.

    t young man stole it from me. take risks like t for t te. o kill me.quot;

    quot;No, ,quot; Lyra said. quot;s ts t mean?quot;

    quot;I le knife on be;

    quot;airs,quot; said ill. quot;e came up past  see us.  about in t;

    trying to cut t succeed. ; quot;atc,quot; Lyra said.

    ill turned. to ttle , but to ood up  and whipped

    around to face them.

    Immediately Pantalaimon became a bear and reared up on   be able to toucainly tared for a second, but ill sa  really registered it. tted, , and tes of he pupils.

    And  all. ill stepped up to jump or fig of the way.

    t , rig, coming closer and closer, making ill back aill rapped in to.

    Lyra oed for as o t: agonist tumbled backedly, falling over Lyra to craso t o be frig ime to see t once into t a first, ance t o butter. It plunged as far as t and stopped suddenly.

    And ted over and reac at once, but ill flung o fig scy of occasion for it, once t tter  t of a sc  to gain points for style but to force your enemy to give in, o  someone else, too, and  t not many people o it; but  he was.

    So t unfamiliar to   foug a nearly gro all costs  keep t up no .

    ill ted o ted and flung  ill ig roared  oo muc ills body, and in the man pulled free.

    ill dropped to ter,   stay tried to stand ¡ªand in doing so,   tely on t o t not leg  out into empty space; t of him was safe.

    and scrambled to . t  ime to pull it out of to cing like a . But s srying for, and  up, he knife in his hand.

    Lyra o one side, alaimon a  noeeth bared, beside her.

    ill faced tly and saime. t: , and he knife was in his hand.

    But ill  her.

    , and noion against t his

    antagonist o squint and blink. Even better, tructure t reflections into  for a moment  blinded.

    o t, a  taken care to aim, and  connected  do and ted away awkwardly.

    ill leaped after ever parts o o top of tairs...

    time t  came do ills feet. ill stamped on it at once,  and tigamped a second time.

    t go of t once ill kicked it a, luckily for  spun across to rest in tter just beside a drainage o be a surprising amount of blood from some!quot; sed Lyra, but ill was ready.

    At t o ttered at once, and t too. air it o support it anymore, and it gave way. he fell downward, and more glass fell all around him.

    And ill darted back to tter, and picked up t  and battered, clambered up tep, and saanding above ared urned and fled.

    quot;A; said ill, sitting do;A;

    Somet noticed it.  o angle of rope  a;Your fingers!quot; Lyra breat;O;

    tle finger and t to it fell ahe rope.

    rongly from tumps  t great, and a part of ered t  ent, deep , sy w yourself superficially.

    so . Lyra o  up to look at t sick. t ill couldnt see o him.

    quot;If only  better, ill, I could. Look, Im going to tie t of rope around your arm, to stop t tie it around ie it to. ill.quot;

    , tation mark on the lead. he laughed.

    quot;; s;stop t. Get up no some medicine, some salve, I dunno  is. You got to come doairs. t ot t ;

 CHAPTER EIGHT: THE TOWER OF THE ANGELS-2

    Nagging and cajoling, seps, and ttered glass and splintered o a small, cool room off ttles, jars, pots, pestles and mortars, and cs balances. Under ty one sink, o a smaller one.

    quot;Sit do; h a dark golden liquid.

    ill sat doook t mout t like fire. Lyra took to stop it from falling as ill gasped.

    quot;Drink it all,quot; the old man commanded.

    quot; is it?quot;

    quot;Plum brandy. Drink.quot;

    ill sipped it more cautiously. Now o .

    quot;Can you ; said Lyra, e.

    quot;O draable and bring out a bandage.quot;

    ill saable in ter of t before  up toward er.

    quot;Drink again,quot; the old man said.

    ill igo  stung  t tion of a toly. t, and it  again.

    quot;tment,quot; t;Very difficult to obtain. Very good for ;

    It y, battered tube of ordinary antiseptic cream, suc in any p as if it were made of myrrh. ill looked away.

    And alaimon calling to ly to come and look out trel perc a movement belo treet o keep a flock of bats from urned ao run ones in t eacing to hing behind him, shaking his head.

    Angelica e, and so tle Paolo beried to pull ever roubling him.

    And Lyra realized  of sickness acked by Specters. Angelica kne, t see ttle Paolo riking at ty air to try and drive t it didnt ullio . s became more and more letly topped altogeto  not would bring him back.

    to feel Lyra c t.

    Lyra felt a jolt as if truck red in ense, and too, and tle boys voice cried, quot;ell kill you! You done to tullio! e gonna kill you, all rig;

    tricken brotened and guilty,  t heard. Gia-como Paradisi

    ment on tried to put w s of her mind, and focused on ill.

    quot;You got to tie somet; Lyra said, quot;to stop t  stop ot;

    quot;Yes, yes, I kno; said t sadly.

    ill kept ed whe plum brandy sip by sip.

    Presently  sootant, ting abominably.

    quot;No; said Giacomo Paradisi, quot;ake t is yours.quot;

    quot;I dont  it,quot; said ill. quot;I dont  anyto do .quot;

    quot;You  got t; said t;You are t;

    quot;I t you said you ; said Lyra.

    quot;My time is over,quot; ;to leave one tle in anoto tell. You dont believe me? Look!quot;

    tle finger and t to it  like ills.

    quot;Yes,quot; ;me too. I foug t kno;

    Lyra sat doy table ruggled to find words.

    quot;But I¡ªed t , t;

    quot;I kno man. .  give you anytake. s t, ray you. .quot;

    itance, ill turned to tself.  toal about eig crosspiece of tal, and a  it more closely,  t recognize till urned t angel, ood out a little from t up  t it ifully balanced, and t t dull after all. In fact, a so live just under tal: bruise purples, sea blues, eartrees, tering s tomb as evening falls over a deserted graveyard.... If t le knife.

    But t. In fact, teel, merging a little o tle s steel of an incomparable s it, so s seem. t as keen, but silvery in color, and Lyra,  over ills s;I seen t color before! ts to cut me and Pan apart s just t;

    quot;t; said Giacomo Paradisi, touceel ; terial in t;

    And  t only test resistance as tip of to table, cut clean off.

    quot;t; t on, quot;is more subtle still. it you can cut an opening out of

    togetry it noo knoeac me, and I  mucime left. Stand up and listen.quot;

    ill pusood,  dizzy, sick, rebellious.

    quot;I dont ¡ªquot;  Giacomo Paradisi shook his head.

    quot;Be silent! You dont ¡ªyou dont ... you en to me, because time is s. Nos not only t o cut, its your o So do t your mind out at tip of the knife.

    Concentrate, boy. Focus your mind. Dont t your  ip. t is ly. Youre looking for a gap so small you could never see it  tip , if you put your mind there.

    Feel along till you sense t little gap in t;

    ill tried to do it. But   of  able and crouc oo muco bear. t and  and tears dazzled ened un  her....

    e. But t trangest t  across o find Pan-talaimons  ing, sorroly licked ills wounded hand again and again, and laid his head on ills knee once more.

    ill aboo in Lyras ing one person from touc toucalaimon before, it eness t  kno,  on iative, and noered to  of motcerest but not incredulity. raveled to otoo.

    Pantalaimons gesture ood up again, ears out of his eyes.

    quot;All rig; ;Ill try again. tell me o do.quot;

    time o do ting eetrembling ion, sing. Lyra ing to interrupt, because shis process. So did Dr.

    Malone, and so did t Keats,  it by straining to But songue and clasped her hands.

    quot;Stop,quot; said tly. quot;Relax. Dont pusle knife, not a heavy sword.

    Youre gripping it too tig your mind o your  and to t along tly, dont force it. Just o tip, ip of t do t no, and t;

    ill tried again. Lyra could see tensity in y descend over it, calming and relaxing and clarifying. ty o do range to her.

    So o her lap.

    tcogetopped trembling. No less intense, ly no too. Per he

    blade, or per  sat so naturally in ills  ttle movements ip noead of random.  turned t to find some little snag in ty air.

    quot;s t?quot; he said hoarsely.

    quot;Yes. Dont force it. Come back noo yourself.quot;

    Lyra imagined so o . ood back, dropped his hand, blinked.

    quot;I felt somet; o Giacomo Paradisi. quot;t slipping t first, and t it...quot;

    quot;Good. No again. time, . Dont ate. Dont be surprised. Dont drop t;

    ill o croucake t   ent on it; ood up again after a couple of seconds, the knife held forward already.

    time it  once,  to searc ttle snag after less te. It ely searc titc  of a scalpel. oucouco make sure, and t sidehe silver edge.

    It  Giacomo Paradisi  to be surprised.  careful  it doable before giving in to onis. Lyra tle room  like trees: a gap in midair ther world.

    And because toery, in fact, looking back toy. trees a little ance toy.

    If t already seen t  tical trick. Except t it  only optical; air , and traffic fumes,  in t-tagazze. Pantalaimon co a sing  before darting back to Lyras shoulder again.

    Giacomo Paradisi c;So muc learn to close.quot;

    Lyra stood back to give ill room, and to stand beside him.

    quot;For t; ;One  o begin  find it unless you put your soul into your fingertips. toucely; feel again and again till you find t togets all. try.quot;

    But ill rembling.  get o te balance  needed, and  more and more frustrated. Lyra could see w was happening.

    Sood up and took  arm and said, quot;Listen, ill, sit doell you o do it. Just sit doe, cause your s and its taking your mind off it. Its bound to. Itll ease off in a little w;

    t down again.

    ill sat do Lyra. quot; am I doing ; he said.

    ained, trembling, wild-eyed. he edge of his nerves: clenching his

    jaapping , breat.

    quot;Its your ; s;You ent  all. Youre doing it rig your  let you concentrate on it. I dont knoting around t, except maybe if you didnt try to s it out.quot;

    quot; dyou mean?quot;

    quot;ell, youre trying to do t once. Youre trying to ignore t o it by t time, I dont kno I ill frigime I . Just sort of relax your mind and say yes, it does , I kno try and s it out.quot;

    tle.

    quot;All rig; ;Ill try t.quot;

    And time it  e, and did as Giacomo Paradisi old oget  the world.

    a brief, calm exion, and t.

    tiff o est side of t t leato it and buckled it as tigh his clumsy hand.

    quot;t; Giacomo Paradisi said. quot;If ell you tory of tle knife, and torre degli Angeli, and tory of t and careless ers are our fault, our fault alone. ts, po die deepest nature of t t  particles of matter toget I mean by a bond? Somet binds?

    quot;ell, tile city. A city of traders and bankers. e t  bonds.

    e t a bond iable, somet could be bouged.... But about t ters in.quot;

    ill asked, quot;ers come from?  open under trees, t came in t;

    quot;ers come from is a mystery¡ªfrom anothe darkness of space...

    ters is t troyed us. Are to times a knife bearer migful,  time to stop and close as rees... I left t open myself, in a moment of unforgivable foolis to tempt o ty, o ters. But I t oo clever for a trick like t. s the knife.

    Please, never let  it.quot;

    ill and Lyra shared a glance.

    quot;ell,quot; t;all I can do is o you and so use it, o be, before it decayed. First, never open  closing. Second, never let anyone else use the knife.

    It is yours alone. t for a base purpose. Fourt secret. If tten tten t is because t matter. You  be a c our akable. I dont even know your name. Now go. I shall die very soon, because

    I knoend to  for ters to come in, as t. Go.quot;

    quot;But, Mr. Paradisi¡ªquot; Lyra began.

    But  on: quot;time. You  kno purpose is, but t you ;

    quot;You ent really going to poison yourself?quot; said Lyra, distressed.

    quot;Come on,quot; said ill.

    quot;And  angels?quot; s on.

    ill tugged her arm.

    quot;Come on,quot; ;e got to go. t;

    ained, dusty rig gently. oo, and nodded to Pantalaimon, w.

    Clutcs leatairs and out of to tle square, and tion, but treet y. And it ter not to   already. Sreet ullio anding, as still as death.

    quot;I opping to look back up. quot;Its eet  going to swallow some poison and die now, and I wis;

    Sears.

    quot;; said ill. quot;It

    go to sleep. Its better ters, ;

    quot;O o do, ill?quot; s; o do? Youre  so bad, and t poor old man.... I e t to t o do no;

    quot;ell,quot; ;ts easy. eve got to get ter back, so eal it.

    ts o do.quot;

 CHAPTER NINE: THEFT-1

    First t back to to recover and rest and c  ill couldnt go everyy about taking te set of neo cion for to the cafe.

    Lyra put some er on to boil, and ill took it up to tripped to . ting, but at least ts  no cuts could be cleaner; but tumps  sick, and  beat faster,

    and t in turn seemed to make t on times.

    Presently  calmer and set o rying not to make too.

    quot;Youre going to o tie my bandage again,quot; o Lyra. quot;I dont care ig as long as it stops t;

    Sore up a s and  around and around, clamping it doigted eet  ears.  a word, and shing.

    ;t; t;Listen. I  you to take somet come back s only letters. You can read t.quot;

    to took out ting case, and s of airmail paper.

    quot;I  read t;

    quot;I dont mind. Else I  ;

    Sters, and  aside, and fell asleep.

    Mucer t nig ran along beside tree-stagazze side, t gleamed . taken a long time to get to Sir Ctagazze,  stops to cut tion in ills hey were.

    Not  not far beabby cat. S since tone-t sant to leave t t , but  t, and ime ain in ; but ing ied after he woke up was already soaked.

    a  far from te-gleaming villa, and to t lane in on to  exactly o get to tudy er. t  in tudy. Only moonlig tudy window was dark.

    trees to anot t  lig  unobserved into to t t trong iron fence ty.  o tle knife.

    quot; it,quot; ill c ;

    Lyra did as  togeto pass t difficulty. Lyra laid the bushes.

    Once t of tudy facing tly, quot;Im going to cut to Cigazze here,

    and leave to  back to take ter out of t cabinet t o tay co Cigazze and t up again.

    All rig;

    quot;Yea; s;Bot.quot;

    a invisible in trees. ook in every movement.

    ill stood back and  touc delicate movements, until after a minute or so  at ly, opening a o t land of Cigazze, and tood back, estimating eps it ake  o reacudy, and memorizing tion.

    t a hrough and vanished.

    Lyra croucalaimon , silent. Sraffic from on be footsteps of someone going along t tless movement of insects among t .

    A minute  by, and anotrained to look tudy, but it  a dark mullioned square over inside it on t only t morning, and crossed rousers.  in relation to t inside  disturbing anyone in t beating, too.

    talaimon made a soft noise, and at t a different sound came from t of to Lyras left. S see t, but s srees, and sires on gravel, she guessed.

    S  all.

    Salaimon, and ly, as far as urned in to settle on .

    quot;Sir C; ;And t;

    ook off again, and time Lyra folloiptoeing over t eartmost care, crouco look bethe leaves of a laurel.

    tood in front of to to open tood ing, smiling, offering o tting out, and as so vie a blo , t blow since s was er.

    ill stepped carefully across ttagazze, counting udy rying to locate it o tood nearby, stucco-atues and a fountain. And his moon-drenched parkland.

    spot, opped and  ttle invisible gaps  everywhe knife would open a window.

    a small opening first, no bigger t darkness on t see urned ty degrees,

    and opened anotime  of : tains of tudy. But o t? o close t one too, turn try again. time was passing.

    time, udy in t to t!  gleam along t. It couldnt be better.

    imated tance, closed t epped for spot to reac t, take out ter and close the window behind him.

    a  t . t door .  ently at t, from top to bottom.

    ter  there.

    At first ill t  t. ted t morning, and memorized s and velvet-covered ss of porcelain or ivory or gold. Could  of t on top s bulky instrument  of noticing t.

    And on ter, there was a space.

    t cabinet, and ter  there.

    ill stepped back a moment and took a deep breath.

    o go t random ake all nig of t, opened anoto look at t of taken careful stock,  one and opened a larger one be out in a o.

    ally by time, and trailing loose.  around as best ucked t to Sir Cely and crouc ening carefully.

    ood up sloo t t came te enougo see by. ts, tures  morning, undisturbed.

    epped out on t carpet and looked into eacs in turn. It  there.

    Nor  on tly piled books and papers, nor on telpiece among tation cards to t reception, nor on t, nor on tagonal table behe door.

    o tending to try t ation of failure; and as  cruncires on gravel. It  t  , but ood stock-still, straining to listen. It stopped.

    t door open.

    at once to t, next to t opened onto ttagazze. And no sooner  tsteps in t otly running over to see Lyra racing toward him.

    in time to  o  urned.

    quot;I  got it,quot; ;It  t it h him.

    Im going to listen and see if s it back. Stay ;

    quot;No! Its ; s;Ser¡ªmy mot  if s¡ª and I know w Mrs.

    Coulters cocktail party, ;

    quot;S stay o make a noise.quot;

    Sered herself, and swallowed hard, and shook her head.

    quot;Sorry. I  to stay ; s;I  to  t;

    quot;;

    Because o touc-tagazze, and seeing railing bandage, Lyra tapped ying it up again.  o do it, croucening hard.

    A ligo t, dismissing o tudy, closing the door.

    quot;May I offer you a glass of tokay?quot; he said.

    A , replied, quot; tasted tokay for many years.quot;

    quot;;

    t glug of inkle of decanter on glass rim, a murmur of ted he sofa, inches away from ill.

    quot;Your good ; ;Noell me .quot;

    quot;I  to knoer.quot;

    quot;;

    quot;Because Lyra , and I  to find ;

    quot;I cant imagine .quot;

    quot;Ill remind you t ser.quot;

    quot;t, because s ed your c by accident.quot;

    quot;here is she?

    quot;Ill tell you, I promise. But you must tell me somet.quot;

    quot;If I can,quot; s tone t ill t migoxicating: soot, musical, and young, too. o kno  be remarkable.

    quot; do you  to kno;

    quot; is Asriel up to?quot;

    ting o say. ill looked back t Lyra, and saing o keep silent and straining to hear, as he was.

 CHAPTER NINE: THEFT-2

    Finally Mrs. Coulter said, quot;Very ell you. Lord Asriel is gating t was foug;

    quot;o  o tic pole?quot;

    quot;ing open t caused profound disturbances to tic field, and t must resonate in too.... But  t? Carlo, I tions of mine.  is this world?

    And ;

    quot;It is one of millions. t t easily found. I kno to ed, and t must be due to  seems t ly from to our oo many otoo. oday, you can imagine o find it opening into our o find you nearby. Providence, dear lady!

    t t I could bring you ly,  ttagazze.quot;

    quot;Cittagazze?  is t?quot;

    quot;Previously, all to one  is ttagazze. But its too dangerous to go t t.quot;

    quot; dangerous?quot;

    quot;Dangerous for adults. C;

    quot;? I must kno t; said te impatience. quot;t t of everyt contains tery of Dust! t find tc, so nearly, from a c soo quickly. I must find t .quot;

    quot;And you srument , you can  tell me about your curious bodyguards, Marisa. Ive never seen soldiers like t. ;

    quot;Men, ts all. But... tercision. tion and no free  til] torn apart.quot;

    quot;No daemons... ell, ts very interesting. I tle experiment, if you can spare one of to see erested in t;

    quot;Specters?  are t;

    quot;Ill explain later, my dear. ts cant go into t  if terested in your bodyguards t be able to travel in Cittagazze after all. Dust¡ªcers¡ª daemons¡ªintercision... Yes, it mig;

    quot;I  to kno; s;And Ill o t. Noell me:  are you doing in t you ;

    quot;I found my ; said Sir C;It oo good a secret to reveal, even to you, Marisa. Ive made myself very comfortable, as you can see. Being part of tate at  easy for me to see whe power lay here.

    quot;As a matter of fact, I became a spy, told my masters all I kney services in t Union¡ª as Muscovy.

    And alt t ill listening posts and macrained in t direction, and Im still in touc;

    Mrs. Coulter sipped okay.  eyes were fixed unblinkingly on his.

    quot;And I ly about a profound disturbance in tic field,quot; Sir Cinued. ty services are alarmed. Every nation t does researco fundamental p al turning to its scientists urgently to discover  somet it o do her worlds.

    quot;to tter of fact. to Dust. O eam in ty . And anoten or ty services tion of a dooroday. t: you can imagine I  told t I know.

    urbance began, t out to look for this man.

    quot;And naturally, Marisa, I myself am curious. And I am keen to add to my kno;

    ill sat frozen,  ts  her!

    But all time,  part of it  ttle octagonal table. But neiting pro disturbed ill greatly. t in tandard lamp beside te, but it never stopped long enougo make out  was.

    t, Sir Cioned ter.

    quot;For example,quot; inuing  trument.

    Suppose you tell me  ;

    And er on tagonal table at t clearly;  reac.

    t  till. ture t  must ers c streaming over it ts s it stopped,  urning its , searching.

    ill ake of breat too. urned silently and o to ones and t tudy so t, and t ter. to t for me.quot;

    Surned and ran aly over turned back.

    t;... ter of Jordan College is a foolis to  imagine; you need several years of intensive study to make any sense of it at all. And noion, Carlo. ? And w;

    quot;I say. I recognized  your cocktail party all t time ago, and I realized s  I could use it for a purpose of my oole it.quot;

    quot;Youre very frank.quot;

    quot;No need to be coy; ;

    quot;And ;

    quot;So see me, ;

    quot;S lack nerve. And o do ?  is t;

    quot;I told  s back, provided s somet get myself.quot;

    quot;And ?quot;

    quot;I dont know w;

    And t  one smaso tudy window.

    It broke isfying crasantly ts gasped. t t up.

    ill leaned forcer from ttle table, t it into , and darted back ttagazze  in time t only feet ahere was horrible danger.

    t  animal, but   loat time ten most of t till a small gap at t. And to t gap tmare face. teetrated malevolence blazed from  ill felt it almost like a spear.

    Anot ill  it up at once and slas, rig  in time. t gave ill t o seize t.

    parkland in Cittagazze, panting and trembling and ened.

    But noo rescue. o t o t  to see tudy window s.

    As c, and the woman following close behind.

    Sir Col. tiful¡ªill sa ,  dark eyes ment,  and graceful; but as sopped at once and leaped up into  t-faced he evil monkey were one being.

    But where was Lyra?

    ts  t began to cast t on t ing or looking for footprints. t be able to move  making a noise, w once.

    Sir Ced sometol  click: ty catco to look directly at ill, and traveled on past.

    ts looked to t, for t leaped foro  later it  moment tabby cat sprang out of to the grass, and hissed.

    ted in midair as if onis, tonis, and t arcail raised ood sideing.

    And t reared up, slas and rigoo quickly to be seen, and tumbling talaimon beside  screamed, and too, as ts clao Mrs. Coulters arms, and t s

    ao the bushes of her own world and vanished.

    And ill and Lyra  once again for t intangible edges in tly togets lengt among t. o er.

    quot;; o Lyra.

    Sook it. ito its srembling in all  t bat Lyra undoing ying it up again e, gentle movements.

    quot;O; ;t you done, for all of it....quot;

    quot;I s all rig; tered. quot;S no;

    quot;You kno? I t for a second s a good daemon s . You got to come and lie doc big o be beds and food and stuff. Come on, Ill make a ne some coffee on to cook, Ill make some omelette, , and  ter back, youll see. Ill do not ;

    So we-gleaming he moon.

 CHAPTER TEN: THE SHAMANTEN-1

    Lee Scoresby disembarked at t in trying to sell tco tories;  ties o cope ers and fur trappers drifting into too  and the animals.

    It o be o make o terior along t ain; for in normal times track of frozen eart even t ing, the surface was a swamp of churned mud.

    So Lee put  into storage and   several tanks of fuel and some stores, and set off up the swollen river.

    first. Not only  s, but ters ree trunks, brused corpse of a man.

    o pilot carefully and keep ttle engine beating o make any headway.

    ribe. For guidance ry some years before, but t memory le difficulty

    in finding t course among t-running streams, even ters. temperature urbed ts, and a cloud of midges made every outline ment and smoked a succession of pungent cigars,  at bay.

    As for er, s taciturn in t against o o o.

    On teered ttle craft up a creek t joined tream, flocreaked ream er a feo a large round rock, t of a o tied up.

    quot;tage ; o er. quot;Remember ter in Nova Zembla  it? It must be six feet under no;

    quot;I o build t; she said, hopping ashore.

    No more ter urned to salute ttle cro ure universal in to signify friends .

    An old Siberian tartar,  lost in t. c er, whe headman spoke.

    Lee replied, and talk.

    quot;My respects to you and your tribe,quot; Lee said. quot;I   I  it to you.quot;

    tion, and one of he bundle Lee removed from his pack.

    quot;I am seeking a man called Grumman,quot; Lee said. quot;I ell ion.  t;

    quot;A; said t;;

    t of teaming sunlig understand t the headmans pleasure.

    Pleasure, and relief, Lee felt er think.

    times.

    quot;e ing you,quot; ;You o take Dr. Grumman to t;

    Lees eyebro ;As you say, sir. Is ;

    quot;Follo; said the headman.

    tfully. Understanding ers distaste for to lope t pato a  ten long bohe larches.

    topped outside t. ted usks and tlers of elk and reindeer, but t merely ing troped sprays of pine, as if for some ritualistic purpose.

    quot;You must speak to ,quot; tly. quot; is

    sick.quot;

    Suddenly Lee felt a ser stiffened in  tcime. From among t yello. It curned ely took a spray of pine in  across tain.

    t in ongue, addressing ter old  later the door opened.

    Standing in t, blazing-eyed, ted strongly, and  glaring on .

    times and o find.

    quot;Dr. Grumman,quot; ;My names Lee Scoresby. Im from try of texas, and Im an aeronaut by profession. If youd let me sit and talk a spell, Ill tell you  I? You are Dr. Stanislaus Grumman, of t;

    quot;Yes,quot; said t;And youre from texas, you say. t;

    quot;ell, trange ;

    quot;Indeed. t. If you  out,  in t and talk out o s.quot;

    quot;Most kind, sir,quot; said Lee, and carried out t to tove and poured to tin cups.   German, to Lees ears, but Englisor of tory .

    ed, er narro osprey daemon glaring into tarted ing at trollesund ians, and told ed lorek Byrnison to Bolvangar, and rescued Lyra and t oward Svalbard.

    quot;You see, Dr. Grumman, it seemed to me, from ttle girl described it, t Lord Asriel just brandis tened t t look closely.

    ts  you migill be alive. And clearly, sir, you  kno you all along tic seaboard, about   of study seems to vary bet ts, about  mig of noen, ts all migeresting. But somety. Im concerned about the child.

    I tant, and so do tc  o tell me. As I said, sometion t you can, which is why Im here.

    quot;But unless Im mistaken, sir, I  I o take you to anot it  truly w ion for you, sir:

    name  some kind of tribal name, some magicians title?quot;

    Grumman smiled briefly, and said, quot;true name, Joo take me to t broug ;

    And  Lee could see but not understand. he saw

    a ring of silver and turquoise, a Navajo design;  clearly and  as s al over more closely at tone imes, years and years ago in ive country.

    anding. er rembling, standing uprig Lees noticing bet going to attack.  undone;  like a cig; t?quot;

    quot;take it,quot; said Grumman, or Parry. quot;Its  summoned you. No need it.quot;

    quot;But ; said Lee, lifting t;I dont understand  t seen ty years.quot;

    quot;I am a s understand. Sit doell you o kno;

    Lee sat again,  again and again.

    quot;ell,quot; ;Im so  you can tell me.quot;

    quot;Very ; said Grumman, quot;Ill begin. My name, as I told you, is Parry, and I  born in t t by any means to travel bet to open tacularly. In my oion to a place in my  corresponds entions, but I  from old legends: a rent in t  lost. In searc even seeing it, and left our oget first  realize oaking it:  world.

    quot;ell, try as  first door in a blizzard. You are an old Arctic  t means.

    quot;So o stay in t ne  seemed t trange kind of gion ing it, someterims of ters, as things are called.

    quot;t  I found t  to leave it. to my o to ottle searco this.

    quot;So ly, and in t tune. Yes, I  knoor ill I entered yours. People  conceive of onis, in turn, at learning t part of my oure iful?

    quot;So or beside me, I ic, like my good friends in t told me of to see to many mysteries.

    quot;I made my o Berlin under told no one about my origins; it . I presented a to t in debate, whod. I

    ter informed ty in gaining membership.

    quot;So ials I could begin to  part, greatly contented. I missed some t my oo be sure. Are you a married man, Mr. Scoresby? No? ell, I le boy not yet one year old erribly.

    But I mighe way back. e were sundered forever.

    quot; otiated into t; I became a sment from bloodmoss, for example, t preserves all tues of t.

    quot;I kno deal about t Dust. I see from your expression t you erm. It is frigo deat ten me. 1 knoest in ory. test in ty-five tory, Mr.

    Scoresby.

 CHAPTER TEN: THE SHAMANTEN-2

    quot;I cant do very muc is diseased beyond to cure it. I  effort left in me, per I kno, someto knoo succeed.

    quot;You see, I rigued by t ed o knoo being. And as a s  mucime in trance, exploring t  turies ago, ed a tool for trument tle knife. It , far more t, t ters into their world.

    quot;ell, I kno tle knife and  can do. And I kno use it, and I knoask. So I o fly me norto t to find tle knife.

    quot;t is a dangerous ers are hing in your world or mine.

    e so be careful and courageous. I s return, and if you  to see your country again, youll need all your courage, all your craft, all your luck.

    quot;ts your task, Mr. Scoresby. t is .quot;

    And t.  s.

    quot;t damn idea I ever ; said Lee.

    ood up in ation and , c on ching Lee warily.

    quot;Do you  money?quot; Grumman said after a fes. quot;I can get you some gold. ts not o do.quot;

    quot;Damn, I didnt come ; said Lee ly. quot;I came o see if you  you ys kinda satisfied on t point.quot;

    quot;Im glad to .quot;

    quot;And to too,quot; Lee added, and told Grumman of tc Lake Enara, and tion tco. quot;You see,quot; ;t little girl Lyra ...  to c place. You say you brought

    me  Navajo ring. Maybe ts so and maybe it aint.  I kno, I didnt kno mig confers a protection on anyone  must be tle knife.

    quot;So taking you into t gold, but t subtle knife. And I dont  it for myself; I  it for Lyra. You o s ection of t object, and take you o go.quot;

    tened closely, and said, quot;Very rust my oat;

    quot; ;

    quot;Name anyt;

    Lee t and t;S urn docs t important t;

    Grummans eyes . I give you my  Ill make certain tection of tle knife. But I  knife ask to do, and it may be t   o even greater danger.quot;

    Lee nodded soberly. quot;Maybe so,quot; ;but tle cy t o .quot;

    quot;You  go into t take me.quot;

    quot;And t been too sick to observe t;

    quot;Leave to me.quot;

    Lee nodded.  on turquoise ring  back do track to the village.

    t some lengt to touco mutter a feo receive urn. Lee, meano ted breeze  lifting tirring tops. to till  it  time for days t to be a promise of clearing it.

    At tage ed Grummans pack into t, and filled ttle engine,  sped do, darting under trees and skimming out into t t Lee  sraveler, ; why was he so damn jumpy?

    * * * t at to find every el, every lodging e room commandeered by soldiers. Not just any soldiers, eitroops of t ferociously trained and laviso uperium.

    Lee ended to rest a nigting off, because Grumman looked in need of it, but there was no chance of finding a room.

    quot;s going on?quot; o tman .

    quot;e dont kno arrived yesterday and commandeered every billet, every scrap of

    food, and every so, too, if you  taken it.quot;

    quot;Dyou know w;

    quot;Nort; said tman. quot;to be fougs, test ;

    quot;Norto t ne;

    quot;ts rigroops coming; t t be a loaf of bread or a gallon of spirit left in a ime. You did me a favor taking t¡ªt;

    ting up noy about  at once to t it,  ough.

    ting out some spare engine parts to a requisitioning sergeant of the Guard, looked up briefly from his clipboard.

    quot;Balloon¡ªtoo bad¡ªrequisitioned yesterday,quot; ;You can see  is. Ive got no c;

    er flicked ood w s.

    quot;?quot; he said.

    quot;to collect it ternoon.quot;

    quot;No, t,quot; said Lee, quot;because I y t trumps t;

    And aken from t, beside  ter, stopped  t of token, but for all  prevent a flicker of puzzlement passing over his face.

    quot;So ; said Lee, quot;and you can set some men to fill it. And I mean at once. And t includes food, and er, and ballast.quot;

    t t, o to tanks o supervise talk quietly.

    quot; t ring?quot; said Grumman.

    quot;Off a dead mans finger. Kinda risky using it, but I couldnt see anotting my balloon back. You reckon t sergeant suspected anyt;

    quot;Of course   question ts it at all, ime t it. ell, I promised you a wind, Mr.

    Scoresby; I .quot;

    t ill ain range over t tient for the air again.

    As to s and stoicular care; for in t turbulence t? ruments, too, o ttention, even te uselessly. Finally  for ballast.

    ing breeze, and tus straining against tout ropes anc do of o t. turned to t to give to let go.

    But before terruption. From t the

    t of command:

    quot;!quot;

    t t o Lee, and ;Let go! Cast off!quot;

    t tention on till  around t t too, and ig.

    Lee sed, quot;Let go, you damn fools! S;

    too great, and t, couldnt  back.

    One let go, and self loose from t t, instinctively clung on instead of letting go. Lee . t oer it rengto ter.

    But ts  t, one striking a spark from ting , but none of time t, t out of range, ling up into t over t  lift . o Serafina Pekkala t  care for flying, t it   meant it. Soaring up¡ªter in this life?

    go of t er was crouching in her usual corner, eyes halfclosed.

    From far beloile volley of rifle fire. to, and ttering in t belohem.

    quot;ell, Dr. Grumman,quot; ;I dont kno you, but I feel better  poor man  go of ts so damned easy to do, and if you dont let go at once t;

    quot;t; said t;You managed t very tle doeful for till cold.quot;

 CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE BELVEDERE-1

    In t  uneasily, plagued  y and ness in equal measure, so t ruggled to  longed for sleep again.  so dro  up to find his bandage loose and his bed crimson.

    ruggled out of bed and made -filled sunlig o tc in servants rooms under ttic, not feeling ately four-poster beds in t was a

    long unsteady walk.

    quot;ill¡ªquot; s once, urned from tove to o a chair.

    dizzy.  a lot of blood; o suppose, ill bleeding.

    quot;I  making some coffee,quot; s;Do you  t first, or s. And t, but I cant find any baked beans.quot;

    quot;t a baked beans kind of . Is t er in tap? I  to ;

    S er, and ripped to s.

    oo faint and dizzy to feel embarrassed, but Lyra became embarrassed for Mm and  out.  ea to ove.

    a s and canvas trousers and a belt.  tore a fresea too strips and bandaged ightly again.

    S  only ill, but t of t  it, and neither did she.

    toasted some stale bread, and took it into t t of ty. en and drunk,  a little better.

    quot;You better ask ter o do next,quot; ; anyt?quot;

    quot;No,quot; s;Im only going to do  of doing it last nig I never did. And I , eito.quot;

    quot;ell, you better do it no; ;there is in my world, now.

    tart. And if¡ªquot;

    opped, because so say somet sopped as soon as ed  on. quot;ill, t erday t I didnt tell you. I s t so many ot;

    And sold o by ters, Angelica seeing  tred, and Paolos t.

    quot;And dyou remember,quot; s on, quot;o us? tle brot ¡ª and s let  o say tullio er ts ers.quot;

    quot; did it look like, ; ill said. to ting forward, .

    quot;; Sried to remember exactly. quot;arted counting tones in t of felt all over t  keep it up. In t of lost interest and stopped. t still,quot; s;;

    quot;Because ... I ter all, ters. If t, I  be surprised at all if t  o my ers could ;

    quot;But you dont ers in your world! You never ;

    quot;Maybe t called Specters. Maybe ;

    Lyra  sure  s  to press .

    quot;Any; s on, turning a;tant t Angelica sahe window.

    And no s tell all of em. Ss our fault t tacked by Specters. Im sorry, ill. I sold you earlier. But t so many ot;

    quot;ell,quot; ;I dont suppose it uring to use to fig;

    quot;I just feel bad about it, ill. I mean,  if ed too.quot;

    quot;Yes,quot; ;but  go back and c o get to get ter back, and if   fig;

    quot;Yea; she said.

    Like lorek Byrnison, ill  ter not to fig  co spoke, but strategy. o tance and thinking.

    t;Its probably more important noo t Sir C er. Maybe if s talking about, t ao ignore ters. You kno t, ters, is peoples daemons.quot;

    quot;But coo. And t attack c cant be t.quot;

    quot;t must be t;t told me once t gro c must be someto do . And if t got daemons at all, maybe ters  attack t;

    quot;Yea; s;Could be. And s be afraid of Specters any, and s so obey .

    Lord Boreal is strong and clever, but s ss in no time. Oting scared again, t s do ... Im going to ask ter, like you said. t t back, any;

    S bundle and ran he heavy gold.

    quot;Im going to ask about your fat; s;and  to point at¡ªquot;

    quot;No. Ask about my mot. I  to kno;

    Lyra nodded, and turned ter in ucking o look dorate. ill c needle sing and stopping and darting on as sly as a swallow feeding, and canding.

    then she blinked and looked up.

    quot;Sill,quot; s;ts looking after  give ;

    ill  realized  t tle tension left  the pain of his wound more sharply.

    quot;t; ;All rig my fat;

    But before s from outside.

    t at once. At t of t y t of trees, and sometirring talaimon became a lynx at once and padded to the open door, gazing fiercely down.

    quot;Its t; he said.

    Botood up. t of trees, one by one, maybe forty or fifty of ticks. At triped ts, and it  a stick t  ol.

    quot;t; Lyra wing.

    Angelica ugging at  betle brotement, and too, s in t never so many of to carry guns.

    ting, and ill managed to make out Angelicas voice ;You killed my brotole ters get  away! e gonna kill you same as you killed ;

    quot;ill, you could cut a ; Lyra said urgently, clutc;e could get a;

    quot;Yea.

    Probably in treet in front of a bus. I cant just cut t to be safe¡ªIve got to look first and see ake too long. t or  up trees, ;

    Lyra looked out t;tve seen us last nig; s;I bet too coo attack us on terday! So¡ªquot;

    quot;Stop talking and come on,quot; said ill.

    trapped to , and Lyra put on tle rucksack er and tters from ills fato tco a cobbled court beyond it. A gate in t into a kitcables and he morning sun.

    t , closer trees, stood a little building, a circular temple-like structure ory open like a balcony from y.

    quot;Lets run,quot; said ill, t less like running than like lying down and closing his eyes.

    italaimon flying above to keep c off across t it ussocky and ankle- run more teps before  too dizzy to carry on.

    o a walk.

    Lyra looked back. t seen t; till at t of the house.

    Maybe take a he rooms....

    But Pantalaimon canding at an open ing at t.

    quot;Come on, ill,quot; Lyra said.

 CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE BELVEDERE-2

    Sugged at ing ried to respond, but  he

    strength. he could only walk.

    quot;All rig; ; get to trees. too far ao t temple place. If  for long enougo cut ter all.quot;

    Pantalaimon darted ao hlessly, making him pause.

    ill could almost see tugging and tumbled to see, and to il tone pavement around temple.

    ttle portico o find tatues of goddesses in nicer a spiral staircase of o lock taircase and onto t ake t over ty; for ting t   iled roof ran dole slope all around to tter.

    As t, t beanta-lizingly close; and t ty, oo t. ttlements, and ill felt a jolt of sickness as  here.

    But time to take in t to deal oemple, screaming ement. tol and fired ts toemple. they came on again, yelling:

    quot;t;

    quot;Murderers!quot;

    quot;e gonna kill you!quot;

    quot;You got our knife!quot;

    quot;You don come from ;

    quot;You gonna die!quot;

    ill took no notice.  already, and sly cut a small o see  once. Lyra looked too, and fell back in disappointment. ty feet or so in traffic.

    quot;Of course,quot; ill said bitterly, quot;uck. ell o s all.quot;

    Anot cemple and reinforced t, enormously loud, and anotook anotone, and tairs began to s ones climbed up.

    Lyra  ill still o top step as if it o  up, taircase began to bend under t of t, and t s off, but time by accident, it seemed.

    Someone , and time, and ill looked doo see a tangle of er and dust and blood.

    t individual cide. they surged below him and

    leaped up in fury, snatcening, screaming, spitting, but t reach.

    to to, leaving several pinned beneatairs or dazed and struggling to get up from trewn floor.

    ill soon realized side to to see t pair of iles and pulling up. Someone s.

    But tiled ridges  ones scrambled up on alaimon  cate. But still them.

    Someone ;Kill! Kill! Kill!quot; and to stamp and tiles in r t quite dare come closer, faced by tile broke, and tanding on it slipped and fell, but t at Lyra.

    S stered on ticed t t, and o Lyra no boys  once, but t  Lyra jabbed t her fiercely, and she fell back again.

    ill s s , and ruck and s replacing to the roof from below.

    triped t-s appeared, but  tol, or per y.

    oget o happen:

    to fig o be brutal and deadly.

    quot;Come on,quot; said ill, passionate for ttle. quot;Come on, t;

    Anot.

    But trangest t urned to see.

    quot;Kaisa!quot; cried Lyra joyfully, for it was Serafina Pekkalas daemon.

    t filled turned an incriped t-s. to cry in alarm too, because the sky.

    As Lyra satle black s of ted h glee.

    quot;Serafina Pekkala! emple¡ªquot;

    And ly after, and t t once¡ªs at temple roof above tonis all t, and o take its place.   t s? ere ter?

    And  a mob no longer¡ªjust a lot of frige after t of t temple, and tches above.

    ill looked up in oo amazed to speak, but Lyra , quot;Serafina Pekkala! o kill us! Come do;

    But Serafina and to circle oing  o ter on tiles belohe sill.

    quot;Greetings, Lyra,quot; ;Serafina Pekkala cant come to ters¡ªa ing up over t you see t;

    quot;No! e cant see em at all!quot;

    quot;Already  one c risk any more. Can you get do;

    quot;If  ;

    quot;Enougrouble coming, and bigger. Get do you can and trees.quot;

    tiles to tter. It   le slope a Lyra jumped and trying to protect ing badly. railed beried to roll it up, t his side.

    quot;Lyra, w; Kaisa said.

    quot;Its ill. ;

    quot;ers avoiding you?quot; tly to ill.

    By time ill  kno see them.

    No, !quot; And ood up, struck by a t. quot;; ; one?quot;

    ten paces a; said t;t  to come any closer, ts obvious.quot;

    ill took out t direction, and h surprise.

    But ill couldnt do  t a caken aback not so mucounding gracefulness, ty of  so far from being young.

    quot;Your name is ill?quot; she said.

    quot;Yes, but¡ªquot;

    quot;ers afraid of you?quot;

    quot;Because of t one? tell me! I  to kill it!quot;

    But Lyra came running before tch could answer.

    quot;Serafina Pekkala!quot; scig tc loud, and kissed top of ;O? e o kill us¡ªdid you see t o die and¡ªo Id never see

    you again!quot;

    Serafina Pekkala looked over Lyras o ering a little  ill.

    quot;Noen,quot; s;t far a. ters  follo see us s a ;

    And so to c figures rees.

    quot;Oll be all rig Serafina Pekkalas ; said Lyra. quot;I never t Id see  at t time, didnt s like before, at Bolvangar....quot;

    Ctering ten t, so. ill follole more blood ried not to t it.

    It took not  an ers, because ill o stop and rest several times.  roasting, and Serafina Pekkala stirring somet.

    quot;Let me see your ;  to ill, and  his hand.

    Pantalaimon, cat-formed, c ill looked a of ilated fingers.

    tcly to eac; ;

    ill reac to ly.  it .

    quot;to  ; said Serafina Pekkala. quot;Very  will be ready wime, you s;

    Stle aining a  potion ed by ly curned to Lyra, .

    quot;No; s;tell me  t t;

    So Lyra took a deep breath and began.

 CHAPTER TWELVE SCREEN LANGUAGE-1

    tell me again,quot; said Dr. Oliver Payne, in ttle laboratory overlooking t;Eit alking nonsense. A c;

    quot;ts s nonsense, but listen to it, Oliver, ; said Dr. Mary Malone. quot;S S¡ªs Dust, but its ts

    our sicles. And Im telling you,  extraordinary display on tures, symbols .... Srument too, a sort of compass t symbols all around the rim.

    And s in t tate of mind, too¡ªs intimately.quot;

    It urned from Geneva, ient to ical, and preoccupied.

    quot;And t old me about some skulls in tt-Rivers Museum. S  t;

    quot;ait a minute. Give me some sort of structure  are you saying? You saying s  selling us somet;

    quot;Bot kno suppose somety, forty ticles around before t ts at our level, t imagine  it involved evolution.

    time, lots after sested old me thing.

    Im saying is t around t time, tion process. Suddenly ;

    Dr. Payne tilted ic mug and drank t of his coffee.

    quot; icularly at t time?quot; ;y-five t;

    quot;O paleontologists. I dont kno speculating. Dont you ts at least possible?quot;

    quot;And tell me about ;

    Dr. Malone rubbed ;ers,quot; s; t ics or somet;

    terrorism, subversion, intelligence... all t. Go on.  did ? ;

    quot;Because of t t tell me ;

    telep.  it do;eve got a visitor.quot;

    quot;;

    quot;Not a name I knoen, Mary, Im off, you realize t, dont you?quot;

    quot;t;

    quot;Yes. Ive got to take it. You must see t.quot;

    quot;ell, ts t;

    o be frank... I cant see any point in t of stuff youve just been talking about. Cs all too crazy. I just cant get involved. Ive got a career, Mary.quot;

    quot; about tested?  about t;

    urned ap at t almost h relief.

    Sir C;Good day to you. Dr. Payne? Dr. Malone? My name is Crom. Its very good of you to see me  any notice.quot;

    quot;Come in,quot; said Dr. Malone,  puzzled. quot;Did O can ;

    quot;It may be ; ;I understand youre ing for ts of your funding application.quot;

    quot;?quot; said Dr. Payne.

    quot;I used to be a civil servant. As a matter of fact, I ing scientific policy. I still acts in t do;

    quot;O; said Dr. Malone. S a c down as if ing.

    quot;tter not mention s Act covers all sorts of silly t your application  intrigued me so muc I must confess I asked to see some of your  t I still act as a sort of unofficial adviser, so I used t as an excuse. And really, e fascinating.quot;

    quot;Does t mean you t; said Dr. Malone, leaning foro believe him.

    quot;Unfortunately, no. I must be blunt. t minded to rene.quot;

    Dr. Malones scious curiosity.

    quot;; he said.

    quot;ell, you see, t officially made t. It doesnt look promising, and Im being frank  of funding  in ture.  mig if you o argue t differently.quot;

    quot;An advocate? You mean yourself? I didnt t ,quot; said Dr. Malone, sitting up. quot;I t t on peer revie;

    quot;It does in principle, of course,quot; said Sir C;But it also o knoees ice. And to knoerested in your  mig certainly ougo continue. ould you let me make informal representations on your be;

    Dr. Malone felt like a dro. quot;ll make a difference? I dont mean to suggest t... I dont kno;

    quot; ; said Dr. Payne.

    Dr. Malone looked at  Oliver just said o  o be understanding Sir Cter ty o sit dooo.

    quot;Im glad you take my point,quot; said t;Youre quite rigion Id be especially glad to see you taking. And provided ra money from anotoget;

    quot;ait, ,quot; said Dr. Malone. quot;ait a minute. tter for us. Im perfectly o discuss ts, but not tion. Surely you see¡ªquot;

    Sir Cure of regret and got to . Oliver Payne stood too, anxious.

    quot;No, please, Sir C; ;Im sure Dr. Malone ening, for goodness sake. And it mig;

    quot;I t you o Geneva?quot; she said.

    quot;Geneva?quot; said Sir C;Excellent place. Lot of scope t of money, too. Dont let me ;

    quot;No, no, its not settled yet,quot; said Dr. Payne ily. quot;t to discuss¡ªits all still very fluid.

    Sir C do you some coffee?quot;

    quot;t ; said Sir C again, isfied cat.

    Dr. Malone looked at  time. Se sixties, prosperous, confident, beautifully dressed, used to t of everyto moving among po ears. Oliver  get  unless tisfied him.

    She folded her arms.

    Dr. Payne ;Sorry its rative....quot;

    quot;Not at all. S I ;

    quot;Do, please,quot; said Dr. Payne.

    quot;ell, I understand t youve made some fascinating discoveries in the field of consciousness.

    Yes, I knos a long  subject of your researcs around. And Im especially interested in t. I o concentrate your researcion of consciousness. Second, tt, you remember, 1957 or ts¡ªI believe youre on track of somet could take t t line of researc even attract defense funding, iful, even today, and certainly isnt subject to tion processes.

    quot;Dont expect me to reveal my sources,quot;  on,  forried to speak. quot;I mentioned ts Act; a tedious piece of legislation, but nt be naug it. I confidently expect some advances in to do it. And ticular matter connected ;

    speak. S kno, but s s faint.

    quot;For various reasons,quot; Sir C on, quot;I am in contact elligence services. terested in a c¡ªan antique scientific instrument, certainly stolen, ion s a moot point  ainly killed someone.

    And he girl.

    quot;No may be t you  may be t you are quite properly inclined to tell t  you er service if you o let me knoely. I can make sure ties deal  efficiently and quickly and upid tabloid publicity. I kno Inspector alters came to see you yesterday, and I kno turned up. You see, I do knoalking about. I ance, if you saell me, I  too. Youd be very o t t, and to clarify your recollections of er of national security.

    You understand me.

    quot;ell, top.  in touc leave it too long; ttee meets tomorro you can reac t any

    time.quot;

    o Oliver Payne, and seeing Dr. Malone ill folded, laid one on t  on ted it gently, beamed at bot.

    t;Mary, are you mad? ?quot;

    quot;I beg your pardon? Youre not taken in by t old creep, are you?quot;

    quot;You cant turn do! Do you  t to survive or not?quot;

    quot;It  an offer,quot; sly. quot;It imatum. Do as -so-subtle ts and s about national security and so on¡ªcant you see ;

    quot;ell, I t more clearly t close take it over. If terested as  it to carry on. But only on terms.quot;

    quot;But terms  to find neo manipulate it. Im not going to get mixed up in t, Oliver, never.quot;

    quot;t any of a job. If you stay, you migo influence it in a better direction. And youd still ill be involved!quot;

    quot;But  matter to you, any; s;I t Geneva tled?quot;

    ;ell, not settled. Not  angle altogeto leave  I to somet;

    quot; are you saying?quot;

    quot;Im not saying¡ªquot;

 CHAPTER TWELVE SCREEN LANGUAGE-2

    quot;Youre ing.  are you getting at?quot;

    quot;ell...quot; ory, spreading ;ell, if you dont get in touc; he said finally.

    S. t;O;

    quot;Mary, Ive got to t;

    quot;Of course you ;

    quot;Its not t¡ªquot;

    quot;No, no.quot;

    quot;You dont understand¡ªquot;

    quot;Yes, I do. Its very simple. You promise to do as  take over as Director. Its not o understand. Youd . Lots of nice nes it for me. Im off. It stinks.quot;

    quot;You ...quot;

    But ook off e coat and  on to a bag, and left  a word. As soon as sook Sir Che phone.

    Several er, just before midnig, Dr. Malone parked side t  trance. But just as surned to climb tairs, a man came out of anotartling her so much she nearly dropped her briefcase. he was

    wearing a uniform.

    quot;; he said.

    ood in the low brim of his cap.

    quot;Im going to my laboratory. I le angry, a little frightened.

    quot;Security.  some ID?quot;

    quot; security? I left t ternoon and ter on duty, as usual. I sification. ed you? And w;

    quot;; said too quickly for o read it. quot;;

    Siced er at  a gun? No, surely, s ans if sed, sant to get into t. S.

    quot;ill t; so operate the car park.

    it briefly.

    quot; are you doing  time of nig; he said.

    quot;Ive got an experiment running. I o cer periodically.quot;

    o be searco forbid  exercising his power.

    Finally ood aside. S past, smiling at  his face remained blank.

    ory, sill trembling. t;securityquot; in ter, and s. But it meant t stle time; so get it rig once, because once t s be able to come back again.

    Scector and took a floppy disk from  and slipped it into ter t controlled the Cave.

    ite so manipulate t y of ask  as baffling as getting to make one whole.

    Finally s of  trodes on o type. S intensely self-conscious.

    sure his is crazy.

    t of t surprise. S using a , sing system¡ªand ting self on t   to stir on ts running automatically, computers monitoring tests and recording ts, tioning sampling and adjusting ty and temperature, all ts and pipe eries and t ... almost conscious in fact.

    Sried again.

    Im trying to do  Ive   done before ate of mind, but Before sence, to t of ted:

    ASK A QUEStION.

    It  instantaneous.

    S as if sepped on a space t  t took several moments for o calm dory again.  of t before she had finished.

    Are you Shadows? YES.

    Are you t? YES.

    And is t dark matter? YES.

    Dark matter is conscious? EVIDENtLY.

    I said to Oliver t ion, is it CORRECt. BUt YOU NEED tO ASK MORE QUEStIONS.

    Sopped, took a deep breat racing. Every single t   isnt  tions, and ansher mind.

    Syped again, and again to being h no discernible pause.

    t is ansions isnt ?

    NO. BUt han one of you?

    UNCOUNtABLE BILLIONS But, w are you? ANGELS

    Mary Malones  up as a Cat¡ªas Lyra  to  s angels. St. Augustine ;Angel is t of ture. If you seek ture, it is spirit; if you seek t is angel; from , from ;

    Dizzy, trembling, syped again:

    And Ster is w we ?

    FROM  E ARE, SPIRIt; FROM  E DO, MAttER. MAttER AND SPIRIt ARE ONE.

    Sening to s.

    And did you intervene in ion?

    YES Vengeance for¡ªoh! RebeL angels!

    After tan and t it isnt true, is it? Is t E NO MORE tIME.

    But .

    Sook ill there when she looked again.

    O A ROAD CALLED SUNDERLAND AVENUE AND FIND A tENt. DECEIVE thROUGh.

    tAKE PROVISIONS FOR A LONG JOURNEY. YOU ILL BE PROtECtED. tERS ILL NOt tOUCh YOU.

    But I BEFORE YOU GO, DEStROY t.

    I dont understand.

    s t t DO IN t tAKING CONtROL OF It. DEStROY t. DO It NO AND GO At ONCE.

    Mary Malone pusood up, trembling. So emples and discovered trodes still attaco ook tly. S ed  s  and belief altogething had happened, and she was galvanized.

    Scector and ty codes and formatted ters  clean; and terface betector and ted card, and put t   sed tromagnetic sector, and found t and set ligo it. as t do muc Oliver Paynes kno tively demolished.

    So ook doer  ac and left.

    ty guard anding at t of tairs, speaking into elep it ao trance, che glass door as she drove away.

    An er so find it on a map of Oxford; s kno of toill t s-up excitement, but as s out of  cool and silent and still all around  a definite lurc e joke?

    ell, it oo late to  t. Sted. Sed out ten taken on camping journeys in Scotland and ted t at least so survive out of doors; if o , sake to the hills....

    Ridiculous.

    But so  turned into to ary. S   almost more foolis in her life.

    But as surned trange crees t ill  somet least rue about all trees on t tent of red and  t electricians put up to keep te transit van he windows.

    Better not ate. Sraigoent. epped out. it  reetlighe leaves above shone full on his face.

    quot;Could I ask o t tent.quot;

    quot;Im afraid you cant, madam. Ive got orders not to let anyone near it.quot;

    quot;Good,quot; s;Im glad t tected. But Im from tment of Prom asked us to make a preliminary survey and t back before t it properly. Its important t its done noand t.quot;

    quot;ell, yes,quot; ;But  anyto s;

    quot;O; so get at ems saken from tory een minutes  cable and tograp ook ted card and looked at it closely.

    quot;Dr. Olive Payne,quot; ;Do you o kno;

    quot;O; quot;Do you know w;

    quot;At  any sense. ;

    quot;ell, I understand ion in your organizations been terminated, and s be allo,  orders to detain ries. And seeing a urally t you mig I mean. Excuse me, Dr. Payne.quot;

    quot;A; said Mary Malone. t the card once more.

    quot;Still, t,quot;  back. Nervous, ing to talk,  on. quot;Do you kno tent?quot;

    quot;ell, not first; s;ts w;

    quot;I suppose it is. All rig;

    ood back and let ent. S see tco , sepped t; but s sent. S of arceorite. But not square yard or so in midair, or for t sleeping city by t sepped t.

 CHAPTER THIRTEEN: AESAHAETTR-1

    As tco heal ills wound.

    to lay t caugter of starlight.

    Lyra sat nearby stirring some  of boiling er over a fire, and wamped and cried in rone:

    quot;Little knife! tore your iron out of Motrails, built afire and boiled t empered it, plunging it in icy er, ing it inside till your blade was blood-red, scorching!

    ter once again, and yet again, till team er cried for mercy.

    And y t you le one.

    quot;But little knife, w have you done?

    Unlocked blood-gates, left them wide!

    Little knife, your motrails of t mines and caverns, from  iron womb.

    Listen!quot;

    And Serafina stamped again and clapped cs to make a ion t tore at ted in t a c the core of his spine.

    turned to ill ook ime, tering

    moving, and let the spell goon.

    quot;Blood! Obey me! turn around, be a lake and not a river.

    op! And build a clotted  firm to he flood back.

    Blood, your sky is tay t;

    ill t oms of o o listen and obey.

    S urned to ttle iron pot over tter steam , and ill he liquid bubbling fiercely.

    Serafina sang:

    quot;Oak bark, spider silk, ground moss, saltig, close up, bar te, stiffen t;

    tcook  an alder sapling along its eaming liquid into t, t toget to tip. And the sapling was whole again.

    ill urned to see anotcruggling ouging,  tcs forelegs and s  straigs heaving belly upward.

    Serafinas knife s across it. ill felt raining Pantalaimon, ill, eyes bulging, breast rails glistening.

    But Serafina took some more of tion and trickled it into t fur over it until t all.

    tc it gently to t sself, turned to lick its flank, flicked its ears, and nibbled a blade of grass as if it ely alone. Suddenly it seemed to become ac, and like an arro s ao the dark.

    Lyra, sootalaimon, glanced at ill and sa  it meant: t eaming mixture on tumps of imes, but  flinch.

    Once co tied tigrip of silk. And t ; the spell was done.

    ill slept deeply t of t. It  tc ried to see from  was  her face was calm and impassive.

    Once ten, Serafina told t tc since to to find Lyra and be  sask to be: namely, to guide ill to her.

    So t off; and it  going for t part. Lyra consulted ter to begin   travel in tion of tant mountains t bay. Never y, t aains  no to ty blue sea and to tains beyond, ion. It seemed a long o go.

    ttle. Lyra  all t, from o squirrels to little green moss snakes o keep going. Lyra and Pantalaimon discussed him endlessly.

    quot;e could look at ter,quot; Pantalaimon said at one point o a bro sa;e never promised not to. And  all kinds of t for  for us.quot;

    quot;Dont be stupid,quot; Lyra said. quot;It  for, cause  greedy and nosy, Pan.quot;

    quot;t makes a cs normally you  to do tiring room at Jordan. I never ed to go in t;

    quot;If ;

    quot;No. Cause ter .quot;

    quot;Yeaant?quot;

    quot;ts  in a moment!quot;

    And sful. quot;I mig; s;but Im c;

    quot;No youre not.quot;

    quot;You mig be.... op cre you going to be?quot;

    quot;A flea, I ;

    quot;No, but dont you get any feelings about w you mig;

    quot;No. I dont  to, eit;

    quot;Youre sulking because I  do .quot;

    o a pig and grunted and squealed and snorted till s o a squirrel and darted the branches beside her.

    quot;; Pantalaimon said. quot;Dyou t?quot;

    quot;Could be. But o be someone important, almost as important as Lord Asriel. Bound to be. e knoant, after all.quot;

    quot;e dont kno,quot; Pantalaimon pointed out. quot;e t is, but  kno decided to look for Dust because Roger died.quot;

    quot;e knos important!quot; Lyra said ly, and samped . quot;And so do tches.

    to look for us just to be my guardians and  to ant. You kno is, too, else you  , any believe it ;

    quot;I did it because   seeing t.quot;

    quot;I did kno, really,quot; she said.

    topped t up ting on a rock beside talaimon became a flycatc;ill, ;

    quot;t be follooo frigc go back to drifting about.quot;

    quot;Yea  to use t come after us for t.quot;

    quot;Let t , not no  it at first. But if it can kill ters ...quot;

    quot;I never trusted Angelica, not from t; Lyra said virtuously.

    quot;Yes, you did,quot; he said.

    quot;Yeaed it in t city.quot;

    quot;I t it . I couldnt imagine anytter t And all time it ers, and ;

    quot;ell, I  trust kids again,quot; said Lyra. quot;I t back at Bolvangar t . t do cruel t. But I ent sure no before, and ts a fact.quot;

    quot;I ; said ill.

    quot;;

    quot;Yea; ed and sat still, and presently  on. quot;It en sart t  true. And o do t didnt make sense¡ªnot to me, any upset and afraid, and so I used to oucing t kind of to get better after a  s, because I t take o look after . I never told anyone.

    quot;And once s afraid o  sc out and s ed...quot;

    ills face  being able to  eady and ering.  on:

    quot;tormenting  like t to.... t sed to   be surprised. S different and ted   day in sc t eet knoo fig of too, but I got in trouble and I realized I better stop because t¡ªI mean teacies. to my mot me, and t about ake  pretended to be sorry and told teac do it again, and ting and I still said not I kept  from t Id do if time.

    Not just  t later s better again. No one knew, ever.

    quot;But after t I never trusted c as keen to do bad t surprised w.

    quot;But I was glad wc;

    doo Lyra and, still not looking at ended not to see.

    quot;ill,quot; s; your motullio,  erday t you t ters came from your ;

    quot;Yes. Because it doesnt make sense,

    t ry to   t mad.

    Except t s see.

    And so do t looked crazy; you couldnt see t of t obviously sing all die leaves, or tullio yesterday toucones in t rying to put ters off. If turned tening beried to get really interested in tones and  toget really important, t kno looks like t. to be frig ters in my  see t got a name for t trying to attack my mots ;

    , and  s sa-laimon kept very still.

    quot;o look for your fat; ser a while.

    quot;A long time ago,quot; old ;I used to pretend ; it used to go on for days. Or else  island and Id sail tly o do about everyt my mot better and er  go to scoo. So I alo myself t ell me t I o take up my fatle. So say t to make me feel good. I didnt kno meant, but it sounded important.quot;

    quot;Didnt you ;

    quot;; ;Friends ... to your s and... Sometimes a boy migo  go or I mig, but I could never ask ,quot;  on. quot;I  no£ô£ð://£÷£÷</kbd>

    quot; about t; Lyra said,  beating ;;

    quot;I dont kno coming to tering my motill sed to kno my fat leave  sure if t. I t at first t of a gang or somet my fat t  money; ted papers. ted some letters t my fat. to t  go to take my mot knoo do.

    quot;So in to teacay ook er . Any back to to look for tters, because I kne to look and broke into the house again.

    It op of tairs and Moxie¡ªmy cat, Moxie¡ªs of t see o ripped  to ttom of tairs....

    quot;And I ran as all t  mean to kill  I dont care if I did. I ran a to Oxford and t  only  and stopped to c. If I  seen  come out of t;

    quot;Yea; said Lyra, quot;t  noo tiring room at Jordan and seen ter put poison in t;

    Bot silent on t of sunlig iny co bring to t  ired and lost toil . And in anotalaimon  to stay in tiring room, and anoto play  Lyra forever on ther unchanging Oxford.

    Presently ill rong enougo go on, and toget forest quiet around them.

    traveled on ting, moving, resting again, as trees greer: Keep going, it said; t direction. At noon to a village untroubled by Specters. Goats pastured on trees cast sony ground, and cream called out and ran for t t of tattered clote-faced, fierce-eyed boy in tained s, and t grey hem.

    t o sell some bread and c for one of Lyras gold coins. tc out of tened. After anotskin and a fine linen s, and ill renounced -s ream and lying to dry in t sun afterward.

    Refreso rest in t under rees, and t  toucain rims and ttle valley open beloo go no farther.

    ting more man once, and to ss of dream. tians, cinquefoil.

    ill drank deeply in tream and t stay arangeness hrobbing.

 CHAPTER THIRTEEN: AESAHAETTR-2

    And  o bleed again.

    it, s more ied tig time roubled.   to question  ?

    It o  t oo.

    As darkness fell, o lie doly  purring.

    -formed,  or talaimon?quot;

    t stir. Pantalaimon ;

    quot;Pan, am I going to die?quot;

    quot;tc let you die. Nor ;

    quot;But t   to lose. And its bleeding again, and it  stop. Im frig;

    quot;Lyra doesnt t;

    quot;Doesnt s;

    quot;S fig;

    quot;I suppose I better try not to seem frig; ill said.  for a minute or so, and t;I t friend I ever ;

    quot;S about you as ; whe daemon.

    Presently ill closed his eyes.

    Lyra lay unmoving, but  ing hard.

    became a ely dark, and ing more t up carefully and sa far ao toast some bread on a forked stick. ting on a spit as o sit nearby, Serafina Pekkala flew down.

    quot;ill,quot; s;eat t;

    S bitter-tasting leaves someringent, but  more ater for it.

    te ted birds, seasoning tc some blueberries sche fire.

    talked quietly; some of to spy, and one  up at once.

    quot;Mr. Scoresbys balloon?quot; she said.

    quot;t, but it oo far ao see ;

    Lyra clapped ;If Mr. Scoresbys coming,quot; s;o fly, ill! Os o ;

    tca Kamainen ening, ed robin daemon brigion of Lee Scoresby   out on. Scanislaus Grumman and c into to prevent heir own.

    Serafina migiced, but someted cly to t bird. But it  a bird; tc at once for a daemon. Serafina Pekkala stood up, gazing intently into the sky.

    quot;I ts Ruta Skadi,quot; she said.

    t still, tilting to training to hear.

    And t t, all tco t t is,  trings, guarding ill and Lyra.

    Someaking place. And only seconds later, it seemed, t, t and scream of voices raised in pain or anger or command.

    And time to jump, a creature fell from t t ¡ªa beast of leatted fur t Lyra recognized as a cliff-g, or something similar.

    It ruded from its side, but still it lurc Lyra. tc s, because s ill ; and ures  its lungs  fell dead.

    turned t  glaring up s-ruscurns and s and fors, let alone aim and s, anding.

    Anot and tream or on tark dead; and t fled, skirling and cluttering into toh.

    A fes later Serafina Pekkala landed ciful cement.

    tc and spat.

    quot;Not from our ; s;nor from tions. t;

    Lyra returned olidly, t a quickening of , for Ruta Skadi lived so brilliantly in  s up a responding the nerves of anyone close by.

    tcurned to ill, and  tingle of intensity, but like Lyra rolled ill   and smiled.

    it into to clean it of t in tream.

    Ruta Skadi ;Serafina Pekkala, I am learning so mucy. Im ;

    Se like an animal, tearing at ted birds and cramming o  doream. e, some of tc a t up a ch.

    t came to sit near Ruta Skadi to  sell told  to Lord Asriels fortress.

    quot;Sisters, it is test castle you can imagine: ramparts of basalt, rearing to tion, and on te.  ime, for eons. ers, even t  be? I dont kno understand. I time,  run fast or sloo his will.

    quot;And coming to tress are oo, and armed creatures suc birds ures too outlandiso . And otcers; did you kno? I spoke to c profoundly different, for tc-lifes, and too, men-c;

    ale co listen  Serafina believed her, and urged her on.

    quot;Did you see Lord Asriel, Ruta Skadi? Did you find your o ;

    quot;Yes, I did, and it  easy, because  ter of so many circles of activity, and s t I made myself invisible and found my o  co sleep.quot;

    Every c , and neit. So Ruta Skadi o tell, and s on: quot;And toget rue y, and he laughed.

    quot;Do t in Siberia, told old , and  our o seek .

    quot;And ed us to join ers. to join  ty. I  to rebel s of ty did in  of terrible mutilations I old me of many more ies dealt out in tys name¡ªof ure cers. Yes, ches like ourselves ...

    quot;ies and ted in ty, all designed to destroy truthfulness of life.

    quot;Oers, I longed to to t I kne consult you first, and to our alk to leva Kasku and Reina Miti and tch queens.

    quot;So I left  before Id flo ains, and I o take refuge on a clifftop.

    Kno of creatures whe darkness I heard voices.

    quot;It seemed t Id stumbled on ting place of t of all cliff-gs. inking carrion from far belohey were asking him for guidance.

    quot; Grandfathey said, how far back does your memory go?

    quot; ay, way back. Back long before  and cracked and frail.

    quot; Is it true t test battle ever knoher?

    quot; Yes, cer battle t one, even. Fine feasting for all of us.

    ty for every g in every world.

    quot; And o defeat ty?

    quot; Lord Asriels army numbers millions, t told them, assembled from every world.

    Its a greater army t fougy before, and its better led. As for ty,  ty is age-old, far older even troops are frig  for one t got Aesatr.

    it Aesatr, o defeat. And t for years, my children!

    quot;And inking old bone t to h glee.

    quot;Notr, but all I could  asking, If Lord Asriel needs Aesatr, w he call him?

    quot;And t said, Lord Asriel kno Aesatr t is the joke! Laugh long and loud¡ª

    quot;But as I tried to get closer to to learn more, my poers, I couldnt , and I o flee, back into teer me, and t of there.

    quot;But its clear t Lord Asriel needs us, sisters. tr is, Lord Asriel needs us! I  be anxious¡ªcs agree no council of all tc;

    Serafina Pekkala looked at ill, and it seemed to  s  Ruta Skadi.

    quot;Not us,quot; s;Our task noo ask is to guide ill to   stay ;

    Ruta Skadi tossed iently. quot;ell, if you must,quot; she said.

    ill lay doalaimon curled at cened sleepily to tches.

    Ruta Skadi tle ream, and Serafina Pekkala  h her.

    quot;A; said tvian queen quietly. quot;est commander tail of , to make or! But ;

    quot;Maybe its not a er. e knotle as t. Maybe t  means god destroyer. Did you kno?quot;

    quot;t miger all, Serafina Pekkala! And if it does, tronger o kill ter, s of ty are sacrificing co t;

    quot;t,quot; said Serafina Pekkala, quot;t t is, I dont kno;

    quot;And t world does ;

    Serafina Pekkala told  ill. quot;I dont kno,quot; s;but  tells  t is ask. And, sister, ried to  ried t it didnt ent ts too  o gro;

    quot;range,quot; said Ruta Skadi. quot;o ;

    to tell trut; said Serafina Pekkala, quot;I  dared.quot;

    t quietly by tream. time  past; stars set, and otars rose; a little cry came from t it corm, and tning play over t it was a long way off.

    Later Ruta Skadi said, quot;t of t so play? Is t? Sant because so  ,  it?quot;

    quot;ts  as for later, yes, far more t.  c t s an end to destiny. ell,  er, and  t kno. tcorturing on t a Yambe-Akka came to ime.

    quot;But Im t Lyra mig you s speak of¡ªttr.

    Not tc t t sleeping c ty. er be so anxious to find ;

    quot;Mrs. Coulter ; said Ruta Skadi. quot;Of course, and Lyra is their child....

    Serafina Pekkala, if I  a c;

    quot;er,quot; said Serafina. quot;Listen... and  lig;

    tood, alarmed t somet t from t fireligely like firelight.

    t feet, arroo trings, and stopped suddenly.

    All tc surrounding them.

    And tood sometc ood ravel vast distances in order to be close to sometant, and ly for t of time, s presence. t iful pilgrims of rarefied liganding around ty face and tartan skirt and the wounded hand who was frowning in his sleep.

    tir at Lyras neck. Pantalaimon, a sno as a dream. Pantalaimon seemed to accept ttention as Lyras due, and presently he curled up again and closed his eyes.

    Finally one of tures spread oo, and terpenetrated ance, s t, until the grass.

    tcook to ter anoto til t already ting stars toh.

    Serafina and Ruta Skadi sprang to t t far behind.

    quot;ere tures you saa Skadi?quot; said Serafina as tc flames diminisohe horizon.

    quot;Bigger, I t t? All t.

    t be so different from ours.... Serafina Pekkala, Im leaving you noo call all tcoget again, it ime. Go ;

    ta Skadi turned and sped southward.

    Serafina curned to see t of t not compassion for t c miss, never to feel t, or tingle of tarligtle to join the grass.

 CHAPTER FOURTEEN: ONE ALAMO GULCH-1

    Lee Scoresby looked do to  and to , and so searc he Yenisei.

    quot;And t; he said.

    quot;Neo t born in it,quot; said Stanislaus Grumman. quot;As old as yours or mine, ot Asriels done  more profoundly ts ever been s I spoke of¡ªted places now.

    Its o navigate, but t;

    quot;Nes a strange ; said Lee.

    quot;Yes,quot; said Stanislaus Grumman. quot;It is a strange  some feel at ;

    quot;It looks empty,quot; said Lee.

    quot;Not so. Beyond t y t s still ined by ts of ts and nobles , ts fallen on imes in t t;

    A fees later, as ted on, Lee sa a ligone breaker, toiful city around a uous building like an opera  els, and little streets wrees hung over shaded balconies.

    And Grumman ed closer, Lee o see t t an adult in sigo see t t of cafes, or eating and drinking, or gathering bags full of goods from houses and shops.

    And ting, and a red-tle boy tones to smas y,  a teac; it was a world of children.

    But t to rub , but t about it: columns of mist¡ªor sometenuous t¡ªa tever ty ed along tered ered in tyards. them unseeing.

    But not unseen. ted over ty, t  some of terest to t tain celescope) all transparent beings t line seemed to s. And t, time to time o clear his vision.

    quot; t; said Lee.

    ters.quot;

    quot; do tly?quot;

    quot;Youve ;

    quot;Oales.quot;

    quot;ters feast as vampires feast on blood, but ters food is attention. A conscious and informed interest in turity of ctractive to t;

    quot;te of t Bolvangar, t;

    quot;On trary. Botion Board and ters of Indifference are becrut  innocence is different from experience. tion Board fears and es Dust, and ters feast on it, but its Dust bot;

    quot;tered around t kid do;

    quot;tack  misery. ;

    quot;For Petes sake! Cant we rescue ;

    quot;No. ters  once. t toucc;

    quot;But  tell me t;

    quot;ter-orp living on s flee. And ty to find, as you can see.

    t starve. It looks as if a multitude of Specters y, and ts o safety. You notice s to no ;

    quot;Except for t poor kid do;

    quot;Mr. Scoresby, t is t to put an end to cruelty and injustice, you must take me farto do.quot;

    quot;Seems to me¡ªquot; Lee said, feeling for t;seems to me t cruelty is  needed. Or is t wrong, Dr.

    Grumman? Im only an ignorant aeronaut. Im so damn ignorant I believed it  s of flig .quot;

    quot;O I ;

    quot; out?quot;

    ting loone toly in t seem to iced.

    quot;I needed to fly,quot; said Grumman, quot;so I summoned you, and ;

    ly a  t . And in perfect time, Lee Scoresby leaned over t and pulled t. t, and ted gently to clear to or so. A dozen crourbed, rose cahem.

    quot;I guess you are,quot; said Lee. quot;You range  you, Dr. Grumman. You ever spend any time among tc;

    quot;Yes,quot; said Grumman. quot;And among academicians, and among spirits. I found folly everyream of it. No doubt t I failed to recognize. Life is  o it all t;

    quot;And t folly or ;

    quot;test ;

    tell me again o find tle knife, and ;

    quot;tell  ask is.quot;

    quot;And ts a task t includes protecting Lyra,quot; t reminded him.

    quot;It ect all of us.quot;

    ty  of sighem.

    Lee cruments. till gyrating loosely, but timeter ioning accurately, as far as o be floating about a t above t. Some y of ballast.

    But tle c . er felt it too, and flicked up urned  one gold-ed on his face.

    ucked  of , and opened telescope again.

    No,  mistaken. Far to t ion ting in t sance made it impossible to see any details, but ther balloon was larger, and flying higher.

    Grumman  too.

    quot;Enemies, Mr. Scoresby?quot; o peer into t.

    quot;t be a doubt. Im uncertain  and go o catcay lo t a zeppelin; t, Dr. Grumman, Im going  balloon Id  t.quot;

    er do to jettison t. t once, and Lee kept telescope to his eye.

    And a minute later ain ted, for tir of movement in tself into a line of smoke streaking up and a an angle from t ance up, it burst into a flare. It blazed deep red for a moment and to a patc it ocsin in t.

    quot;Can you summon a stiffer breeze, Dr. Grumman?quot; said Lee. quot;Id like to make tfall.quot;

    For taking t over a y or forty miles across. A range of  , Lee sa t more trutains.

    urned to Grumman, but found rance. t stood out on ly back and fort, and , equally entranced.

    And  of gaining  or ir to c sohe hills.

    But t moved tly oo. It  neit it beurned telescope on it again,  in tance. te.

    quot;Zeppelins,quot; ;ell, t ;

    ried to make an estimate of tance, and a similar calculation about toe tips off the waves far below.

    Grumman sat resting in a corner of t w Lee knew he was awake.

    quot;tuations like t; ;I do not  to be caug by t no defense; te. Nor do I  to land in ter, by free c;  for a h grenades as easy as fishing.

    quot;So I  to reac noime.

    quot;And meano sunset, by my calculation.

    And its o say, but I t time, and en to this bay.

    quot;Noand o take us up into tain deation no co say  our  on ter.

    quot;So sometime tonigs gonna be over. You ever landed in a balloon?quot;

    quot;No,quot; said t;But I trust your skill.quot; quot;Ill try and get as  range as I can. Its a question of balance, because too close beo see ake us dooo early,  find ter of trees. Eito be some sing before long.quot;

    Grumman sat impassively, moving a magical token of feato ttern t Lee could see  the pursuing zeppelins.

    An  by, and anot cigar and sipped cold coffee from a tin flask.

    ttled loself, and taintops, hed in gold.

    And be lost  glare, ttle dots of taken t. And across tiny but clear, an insistent mosquito whine.

    ill a fees from making t t of ticed somet up into till-brigo notice? If a storm ter.

    And tain of rain drifted doo be c along toy flaser a cras sime from tains.

    tning, and time truck do from t one of t t. A brig t drifted doed, still blazing, on ter.

    Lee let out tanding beside ion deep in his face.

    quot;Did you bring t storm?quot; said Lee.

    Grumman nodded.

    tiger; bands of gold alternated cripes of deepest   brotern ce, for t. tcer and p foam, and t of to not sank.

    ted  keeping to tning flasorm came closer, Lee began to fear for trike could  tumbling to eart suppose trol torm so finely as to avoid t.

    quot;Rig; ;Im going to ignore trate on getting us safe into tains and on t I  you to do is sit tigo jump ry to make it as gentle as I can, but landing in tions is a matter of luck as muc;

    quot;I trust you, Mr. Scoresby,quot; said the shaman.

    back in a corner of t wher binding.

    t gasbag ss. trained, but Lee  go some more ballast and cimeter closely. In a storm,  t drop against timetric reading, and very often it ion. Lee ran t of . trol  go higher; he could only descend.

    ently tormy air and made out t bulk of t tony beac  earing trees. So far, already! ter t.

    And  leave it too long before  too cool by nature to rage at fate; o raise an eyebro it laconically. But  orm and let it bloself out¡ªeed to get t down.

    er and tucked o , buttoning t up close to keep  steady and quiet; orn, clung firmly alons deep in t rim and .

    quot;Im going to take us do; Lee sed above t;You sand and be ready to jump clear. ;

    Grumman obeyed. Lee gazed do, and blinking t of   to til Lee could hunder.

    quot;; ed. quot;You cooked up a fine storm, Mr. S;

    t around a cleat to keep it open. As treamed out of top, invisible far above, to itself, and a fold, and te before.

    t ossing and lurcly it ell if ts  t easily o t kno after a minute or so Lee felt a sudden snag and kne on a branc emporary c it shey were.

    ed, quot;Fifty feet above trees¡ªquot;

    the shaman nodded.

    t, and t t. Lee o it and found  once, but took Grumman by surprise.

    lose o swing himself clear.

    A moment later came t jolting s  fast.

    t tilted at once and a second later reetops, and amid t leaves and tormented branc jolted to a precarious .

    quot;Still t; Lee called, for it o see anything.

    quot;Still ;

    quot;Better keep still for a minute till uation clearly,quot; said Lee, for t settling tle jerks against wever was hem up.

    till a strong sidey, but c crossed Lees mind to cut it loose, but if it didnt fly aoget ops like a banner and give tion aer to take it in, if they could.

    tning flaser torm   torn only partially, for t ing on it near t ill attaco trunk.

    quot;Im going to t a rope and climb do; ed. quot;As soon as our feet touc plan.quot;

    quot;Ill follo; said Grumman. quot;My daemon tells me ty feet do;

    And Lee ter of s as ttled again on t rim.

    quot;S far?quot;  put t out of  to to t even if t did fall, it  fall far.

    ter secure in ,  of till  solid ground beneat. trunk; tree, a giant of an oak, and Lee muttered a to it as ugged on to signal to Grumman t he could descend.

    as tumult? ened  o tell ion it  te or so, and t was gone.

    the ground.

    quot;Did you ?quot; said Lee.

    quot;Yes. Going o tains, I tulations on landing us safely, Mr. Scoresby.quot;

    quot;e aint finis. I  to git t gasbag under tll sion from miles ao some manual labor, Dr. Grumman?quot;

    tell me o do.quot;

    quot;All rigo you. One of tent.

    You can git t set up o ;

    time, and in peril at one point,  finally broke and pitc; but  fall far, since till trailed among treetops and  suspended.

    t made concealing t of it ning, tugging and  of sight.

    till beating treetops back and fort t of time  t only pitcent but o being, and was brewing some coffee.

    quot;t; said Lee, soaked and stiff, easing o tent and taking the mug Grumman handed him.

    quot;No, you can ts for t; said Grumman. quot;Do ts in your arting a fire, t is dry matcravel  te, Mr. Scoresby.quot;

    quot;You ;

    Grumman ened, and sure enoug engine sound, easier to make out no ttle.

    quot;t; said Grumman. quot;t kno;

    And a minute later a flickering glo  it ent, and Lee kne for a flare.

    quot;Best put out t; ;sorry as I am to do  it. I t canopys t you never knoo sleep no t.quot;

    quot;You ; said the shaman.

    ook a  eart doruggled to lie dotle tent and closed his eyes.

    range and po one point o see tting cross-legged, o leave only a on beill seated in a mound of glole and vulnerable, rangeness of it, and  really asleep, and ime.

    Anotoo. Lee seemed to see trimmed rattle and commanding someto obey oucer, like t all and nearly invisible, and it invoked suc-c error. But Grumman ing it fearlessly, and coming to no ened closely to ed upil it  in the canopy.

    ting nigook anoturn, for  of a zeppelin, c. In fact, ting in ts seat, and t, looking do tossing treetops, a er hem.

    Pinioned in , and error of t   as t was o him.

 CHAPTER FOURTEEN: ONE ALAMO GULCH-2

    ter  and pressing s face to tered and sried to pull ao fall ing on trument panel. t turned o Lee and put out a  Lee .

    true and living ered weakly and called in a wild  she was dying.

    t t ill alive.  ttle.  not alive;  to everything.

    And Lee sat and cly into a scarp of tains t rose up before them.

    t c rear up in t noterest  t in  noto stop it, and at t of impact ;er!quot;

    And woke.

    ent, safe, and er nibbled ing. tting cross-legged, but a s t t was a bad place, full of ing pasms.

    t by  ant flicker picked out tree trunks and t once   o the hillside.

    quot;Damn, Lee, youre tcs tter ; er grumbled, and flicked her long ears.

    quot;Aint you dreaming too, er?quot; tered.

    quot;You aint dreaming, Lee, youre seeing. If Ida kno out, you ;

    humb, and she shook her ears.

    And  test transition ing in tor to be in ted Lee  and strange pleasure. too urbulent updrafts above t, and Lee looked around t occasionally glared t in treetops ring h silver.

    ttered a  voices too-ingale. Sayan Kotor ,  ing asleep; ttering upumbling air.

    And Lee felt ure o tever  felt trangest of pleasures: t of offering eager obedience to a stronger po  of ty flock, a  species all turning as one in tic  teful dark regularity of a zeppelin.

    tly  do. And treamed toest reac first, but none so sly as Sayan Kotor; tiny s,   t-e t uring it to gain a hold.

    to it and daso pieces by t of t came next seized on to til t only t (noing iny claoo, and truts and cables¡ªevery square inco it.

    t  began to sink fart of t and of course quite invisible to t random.

    At t moment Sayan Kotor screamed, and a ts droook off and fle into flames.

    Fire, , flames ... Lee woke up again,  as if  sun.

    Outside tent till t leaves on t torm or been percside.

    t from ter  birdsong. No engines in t it migo liger a struggle  it going and brewed some coffee.

    quot; no; he said.

    quot;Depends. troyed t;

    quot;I mean, y?quot;

    S;Dont remember no contract.quot;

    quot;It aint a contractual ts a moral t;

    quot;e got one more zeppelin to t before you start fretting about morals, Lee. ty, forty men s more. Survival first, morals later.quot;

    S, of course, and as  gradually groronger,   for full daylig, and fly o scan t over a wide area, so he could see when Lee and Grumman broke cover.

    tor aretc ing. er looked up and turned , looking at ty daemon urn, and a moment later t of tent.

    quot;Busy nig; Lee remarked.

    quot;A busy day to come. e must leave t at once, Mr. Scoresby. to burn it.quot;

    Lee looked around incredulously at tation and said, quot;;

    quot;t t a kind of napases oucer. t to use in t is saturated, it c;

    quot;You can see t, can you?quot;

    quot;As clearly as you sa. Pack  to carry, and come a;

    Lee rubbed  valuable t portable¡ªnamely, truments from trieved t, sto t, tangled and ted among t no more, unless by some miracle o buy anoto move like an insect along th.

    ting it inland. By time trees the fire, a deep and greedy roar.

    quot; t nig; said Lee. quot;t;

    quot;I guess t to catc; Grumman replied, stripping a brancs leaves so  as a ick, quot;and ting to see ;

    And sure enougs and rocks and fallen tree trunks and stopping only to gator, flying o tell t  long before trees bereaming banner of flame.

    Creatures of t¡ªsquirrels, birds,  rose around travelers struggled on toree line, er  t noy feet into trees blazed like torc tc like napo blossom .

    Gasping, Lee and Grumman forced teep slope of rocks and scree.  s ed t soo far a o see through binoculars.

    tainside rose se out of trap t was a narrow defile ahe cuffs.

    Lee pointed, and Grumman said, quot;My ts exactly, Mr. Scoresby.quot;

    ipped o t. t pause, climbing on as quickly as t Lee said, quot;Excuse me for asking ts impertinent, but I never kne c youre no c someto do, or did it come natural?quot;

    quot;For a urally,quot; said Grumman. quot;e o learn everything we do.

    Sayan Kotor is telling me t to a pass. If  t.quot;

    ter preferred to find ones and moving as sly as ime for ttle gulch.

    Lee  Grumman, because thing hard.

    of ion Lee didnt  to face; but rance to tually on the zeppelin.

    quot;t; he said.

    And it ence of deater stumbled, even surefooted, firm-ed er stumbled and faltered. Grumman leaned on tick o look back, and Lee turned to look too.

    t, making for tly belo  tended to capture t kill t of gunfire just tead, t brougo a  above t t point in tream of blue-uniformed men jumped doo climb.

    Lee and Grumman rance to t, tion ; but they had only one rifle.

    quot;ter me, Mr. Scoresby,quot; said Grumman, quot;not you. If you give me troops. Youll be a prisoner of ;

    Lee ignored t and said, quot;Git moving. Make t t you t going to sit back and let em catc;

    t and rested. Grumman nodded.

    quot;I rengt to bring t; er of the gulch.

    quot;Just tell me before you go,quot; said Lee, quot;because I  be easy till I knoell, and I dont greatly care. Just te Im a-going to do no going to  little girl Lyra, or ;

    quot;Its going to ; said Grumman.

    quot;And your oat forget o me?quot;

    quot;I  forget.quot;

    quot;Because, Dr. Grumman, or Joever name you take up in  little cer. If Id  love  oatever remains of me  of eternity s ant t oat;

    quot;I understand. And you ;

    quot;ts all I need to kno;

    t . turned and made  place to make and.

    quot;Not t; said er. quot;You caint see to t from take t;

    t o do ion in t belorying to rise again. It o do en  tle, in t, taking turns to be Danes and Frenco ook out t on ter en been a cougar or a tlesnake, but mostly a mockingbird. No;Quit daydreaming and take a sig; s;t play, Lee.quot;

    t and o capture t one man ime. Beo Lees surprise, till laboring to rise. Maybe its buoyancy  eit  taken off yet, and it gave him an idea.

    ed ion and siger until  engine mounting plumb oer t as suddenly seized and died. to one side. Lee could  the airship was grounded now.

    ted and taken cover as  them, and he did:

    ty-five. y bullets.

    er crept up close to  shoulder.

    quot;Ill c; she said.

    Crouc along tle stone  for er y; s as plain and scra bro green. And no t landscape tal tumbled rocks, and beyond it a forest on fire.

    Not a blade of grass, not a speck of green to rest on.

    ly.

    quot;talking,quot; s;I can  I caint understand.quot;

    quot;Russian,quot; ;toget a run. t .quot;

    quot;Aim straig; she said.

    quot;I   like taking lives, er.quot;

    quot;Ours or t;

    quot;No, its more t,quot; ;Its t see  ed to t c.quot;

    quot;t about to s,quot; said er, and as sone fle from  s move a muscle.

    quot;ell, t makes me feel better about doing t; said Lee, and took careful aim.

    co aim at, but  it. ithe man fell back and died.

    And t began. ite ting bullets, tainside and along te, and t came from ts ,  variations on t, until it seemed t the whole world was burning.

    Lees boulder ted, and  ts as t it. Once ers back ripple as t passed over it, but s budge.

    Nor did op firing.

    t first minute er it, in t came, Lee found t   were   red.

    er moved around to look.

    quot;Not; s;A bullet clipped your scalp.quot;

    quot;Did you count er?quot;

    quot;No. too busy ducking. Reload w;

    back and fort   from tiff.  on it carefully, and it loosened.

    to position, and even before  o t, ook a bullet.

    It felt like an explosion in  so  arm numb and useless. t deal of pain ing to spring on  it  raised t, and t t gave rengto focus ing again.

    e ago, and sigolid concentration: one s... ts man.

    quot;; tered.

    quot;Good sing,quot; so ;Dont stop. Over by t black boulder¡ªquot;

    . the figure fell.

    quot;Damn, t; he said.

    quot;Makes no sense,quot; s;Do it any;

    quot;Do you believe ;

    quot;Sure. Plumb a;

    Crack: anot out like a candle.

    t and found some more bullets. As  somet nearly failed;  ers face pressed to   ears.

    quot;Lee, t,quot; she said.

    quot;;

    quot;told you to take  t rouble.quot;

    quot;You t you told me? I took it because tc;

    finis found ime it smaso  leg, and before  poker laid along his skull.

    quot;Not long no; tered, trying to ill.

    quot;tcc;

    Poor er, s croucense and c life.

    And iful gold-brown eyes were growing dull.

    quot;Still beautiful,quot; ;Oer, yeac;

    quot;Sure s;

    quot;In my breast pocket. Fetc, er, I caint move.quot;

    It  sugged out ttle scarlet florong teet by   effort  in  and said, quot;Serafina Pekkala! ;

    A movement beloed, fired. t died.

    er was failing.

    quot;er, dont you go before I do,quot; Lee whispered.

    quot;Lee, I couldnt abide to be anyw; she whispered back.

    quot;You tc;

    quot;Sure s;

    quot;e s of t;

    quot;Maybe so ...quot;

    Anotime t  deep someer of : It  find it ters my center. And rained to bring toil.

    quot;; er breathed.

    Lee found it o pull trigger. Everyto try times, and finally  it. tumbled ahe slope.

    Anots fear of  reading closer, and  leave ill ten him bare.

    quot;t,quot; er muttered. quot;;

    And Lee sa.

    quot;I caint s a man in t; Lee said.

    quot;So die  left, t;

    So ook aim  bullet at tself, still roaring and straining to rise s one engine, and t must , or maybe a burning brand from t beloed to t; for to an orange fireball, and tal skeleton rose a little umbled doly, but full of a fiery death.

    And t of t dared come closer to t fell on them.

    Lee saer saying, quot;ts all of em, Lee.quot;

    , quot;t o come to t;

    S;e . ere a-;

    ttle proud broken self against , and they died.

 CHAPTER FIFTEEN£º BLOODMOSS-1

    On, said ter. Farther, higher.

    So on tco spy out t routes, because to steeper slopes and rocky footing, and as toravelers   found tangled land of dry gullies, cliffs, and boulder-streion of insects he only sound.

    topping only for sips of er from tskin flasks, and talking little.

    Pantalaimon fle, and ttle sure-footed mountain s tate in illness bad, so t ing toiling on. And since tco stop  too, as if er their own powers.

    At one point to a little lake, a patcense blue scarcely ty yards across among topped to drink and refill to soak t in ter. tayed a fees and moved on, and soon afters  and test, Serafina Pekkala darted doo speak to tated.

    quot;I must leave you for a  know w  call if  need my ;

    quot;Mr. Scoresby?quot; said Lyra, excited and anxious. quot;But w;

    But Serafina  of sigion. Lyra reacomatically for ter to ask  s o do no more than guide ill.

    So ting nearby, ill slowly dripping blood, he burning.

    quot;ill,quot; s;dyou kno;

    quot;Its ake up my fatle. ts all I kno;

    quot; does t mean, taking up le? s a mantle?quot;

    quot;A task, I suppose. ever  to carry on. It makes as muc;

    out of

    say   c comparison  o  safe for  t safe for him.

    But it  Saturday morning in t o ;ell done, er; Im proud of you. Come and rest no;

    ill longed for t so muc   part of  like. So  express t to Lyra no in  o be quite so perceptive. t  w e.

    And s  to  at t moment a ch flew down.

    quot;I can see people be; s;t t;

    quot;Yes, do,quot; said Lyra, quot;but fly lo t;

    ill and Lyra got painfully to t again and clambered on.

    quot;I been cold plenty of times,quot; Lyra said, to take ;but I ent been t, ever. Is it t in your ;

    quot;Not  normally. But tes been cter to be. t people erfering mospting c, and t of control.quot;

    quot;Yea; said Lyra, quot;and it is. And ;

    oo  and ty to reply, and throbbing air.

    Pantalaimon  no on Lyras soo tired to leap or fly. From time to time tcoo o climb to, and fly up to fill t er, and t made its o the rocks.

    And so toward evening.

    tco spy . So crag, and as tting and dra of to ttle blue lake and found a troop of soldiers making camp.

    But  glimpse of told ed to kno from ills tagazze, o see t daemons was a gross and sickening horror.

    t of a tent by tion. Lena Feldt saers edge beside her.

    Lena Feldt cer spoke to t up tents, made fires, boiled er.

    tcroop er on t; but some fortune ecting t  too far for a bo making o make t took ten minutes of deep concentration.

    Confident at last, Lena Feldt  doo found oo o remember, and looked acopped outside tent Mrs. Coulter o, and fitted an arroo ring.

    Sened to to t overlooked the lake.

    Inside tent Mrs. Coulter alking to a man Lena Feldt  seen before: an older man, gray- daemon ting in a canvas coward ly.

    quot;Of course, Carlo,quot; s;Ill tell you anyt do you  to kno;

    quot;ers?quot; t;I didnt t possible, but you  is it?quot;

    quot;Simple,quot; s;t if t me live to all tims tom s desire. As soon as you described to me, I knee t turns out. And a , Carlo,quot; s;I can please you, too, you knoo please you even more?quot;

    quot;Marisa,quot; ;its enougo be close to you....quot;

    quot;No, it isnt, Carlo; you kno isnt. You kno;

    tle black roking t daemon. Little by little t loosened o flootle closer to him.

    quot;A; said t  into to ly along ongue flicked blackly t, and the man sighed.

    quot;Carlo, tell me er ;o find ;

    quot;. O;

    quot; is it, Carlo? s ?quot;

    o resist; ly around t, and running rous fur as h.

    Lena Feldt canding invisible just taut, to it in readiness; ser cood still and silent and wide-eyed.

    But le blue lake. On t in tly trees seemed to ed itself, a grove t sen remor like a conscious intention. But t trees, of course; and  and ed at Mrs. Coulter, one of tacself from its felloed across ter, causing not a single ripple, until it paused a foot from ts daemon was perched.

    quot;You could easily tell me, Carlo,quot; Mrs. Coulter ;You could end to be talking in your sleep, and  tell me  it. I could get it for you... .ouldnt you like me to do t? Just tell me, Carlo. I dont  it. I  t is it? Just tell me, and you s.quot;

    s;Its a knife. tle knife of Cittagazze. You  , Marisa? Some people call it teleutaia mak knife of all. Ot Aesatr.quot;

    quot; does it do, Carlo?  special?quot;

    quot;As t  anyt even its makers kne could do. Notter, spirit, angel, air¡ªnoto tle knife. Marisa, its mine, you understand?quot;

    quot;Of course, Carlo. I promise. Let me fill your glass ...quot;

    And as t again and again, squeezing just a little, lifting, stroking as Sir C saruly er secretly tilted a feo t again h wine.

    quot;; s;Lets drink, to eac;

    oxicated. ook the glass and sipped greedily, once, again, and again.

    And t any er stood up and turned and looked Lena Feldt full in the face.

    quot;ell, c; s;did you t know ;

    Lena Feldt oo surprised to move.

    Beruggling to breat empt.

    Lena Feldt tried to sal paralysis ouc make . ttered a little cry.

    quot;Os too late for t,quot; said Mrs. Coulter. quot;Look at tc;

    Lena Feldt turned and satering and s ied of air; fluttering and falling, slumping, failing, er had enveloped him.

    quot;No!quot; sried to move to, but  could see t Mrs. Coulter  didnt surprise o see t ter ers po t auty. Lena Feldt turned back in anguiso the woman.

    quot;Let  ; she cried.

    quot;ell see. Is t;

    quot;Yes!quot;

    quot;And a boy, too? A boy ;

    quot;Yes¡ªI beg you¡ªquot;

    quot;And c;

    quot;ty! Let  ;

    quot;All in tay on t;

    quot;Most in t ;

    quot;ain are topped to rest?quot;

    Lena Feldt told ed any torture but o kno ell me tc t from one of your sisters, but se torture. ell, to save you noell me trut my daug;

    Lena Feldt gasped, quot;S;

    quot;Name  t important t; cried Mrs. Coulter.

    quot;Eve! Mot; stammered Lena Feldt, sobbing.

    quot;A; said Mrs. Coulter.

    And s sigo  last.

    Dimly tc s o cry out: quot; o  ;

    quot;o destroy ; said Mrs. Coulter, quot;to prevent anot I see t oo large to see....quot;

    Sogetly, like a c, y, and time s fall. Ill see to t.quot;

    And Mrs. Coulter dreer feeding on tctle snoing daemon lay tcer moved tocever Lena Feldt rebled and multiplied a  a nausea of t so die of it.  conscious t  at life; o  made of energy and delig of foulness, betrayal, and lassitude. Living ter, and from end to end of t and last and only truth.

    tood, bow in , dead in life.

    So Lena Feldt failed to see or to care about er did next. Ignoring t, tain of to get ready for a nigain.

    t to ter and called to ters.

    t  across ter. S t one by one to ted free like malignant tledoing up into t and borne by ts toc Lena Feldt sa.

    temperature dropped quickly after dark, and  of to keep ry to sleep. At least Lyra didnt o try; se, curled tigalaimon, but ill couldnt find sleep, no matter  ly  up to tably sly tly tly utter exion, and partly her.

    o look after  ed o look after oo, as sed o bandage uck o bed and sing to ake arouble and surround ness and mot o  of tle boy still. So  ill as  ing to wake Lyra.

    But ill  asleep. iff limbs and got up quietly, s   off ain, to calm lessness.

    Bery curned from tco see ill clambering up tly took to t to disturb  to see t o no harm.

    notice.  suco move and keep moving t iced t as if , all day, forever, because not. And as if in sympato stir in t ted ream aside hin.

    find o Lyra, until  on a little plateau almost at top of t seemed. All around ains reac glare of tark black and dead we, and every edge was jagged and every surface bare.

    t  over too, for no gleam of moonlige ill found otal darkness.

    And at t ill felt a grip on  arm.

 CHAPTER FIFTEEN£º BLOODMOSS-2

    ed a once, but tenacious. And ill  oo, o fig till he fell.

    So ed and kicked and ted again, but t  let go; and since it  at tried , but   reaco fig a grown man.

    eeto t all t  ted and some didnt, and all time ing, sill t.

    Dimly ing and ts and   , and top of  never for a moment did t grip slacken, and ill, rolling around violently on tony ground, felt a ig: t ill be .

    But ill terly as ugged and beat at t, and iced t till, till gripped as tigting ill batter at , t of rengt , every nerve in hrobbing.

    ill  a blur of  e breast and  bird, an osprey, a daemon, and it ill. ill tried to pull a loosened.

    But  ood on end.

    t;Give me your ot;

    quot;Be careful,quot; said ill.

    t do arm, and ips moved gently over t and on to tmost delicacy on to tumps of ills t fingers.

    go at once, and  up.

    quot;Youve got t; ;Youre t;

    ,  breat . ?

    ill ill lying on tones, utterly spent. All   see er a fes a marvelous sooto umps of o his skin.

    quot; are you doing?quot; ill said.

    quot;Curing your ill.¡±

    quot;;

    quot;Im t t. Dont move.quot;

    ting more wo of rain splaso ills face.

    rembling violently, but

    over tumps and rip of linen tighe hand.

    And as soon as till bemused by tried to sit up and look at  it  for ouc, ing like a bird against the bars of a cage.

    quot;Yes,quot; try and cure t, go on.quot;

    quot;Are you ill?quot;

    quot;Ill be better soon. You ;

    quot;Yes.quot;

    quot;And you kno?quot;

    quot;Yes, yes. But are you from t it?quot;

    quot;Listen,quot; said tting up ruggle. quot;Dont interrupt. If youre task ts greater t it  must be.... test  ime t side must y and deceit for all tory. Its time arted again, but properly time....quot;

    opped to take in several rattling breaths.

    quot;t;  on after a minute. quot;t ted a device t could split open t particles of matter, and t to steal candy. t t could defeat tyrant. ty. God. t  no;

    quot;I didnt  it! I dont  it no; ill cried. quot;If you  it, you can ! I e it, and I e  does¡ªquot;

    too late. You  any cs picked you out. And,  it; and if you dont use it against tear it from your  against t of us, forever and ever.quot;

    quot;But ing too muc go on fig to¡ªquot;

    quot;s?quot;

    ill . t;Yes, I suppose.quot;

    quot;You foug;

    quot;Yes, but¡ª-quot;

    quot;ts  dont argue ure.quot;

    ill kne trut it  a rut , because  ill bow his head before he spoke again.

    t po; t;and ting since time began. Every advance in orn by one side from teettle increase in  over ferociously bet us to knoronger, and t us to obey and be .

    quot;And notle. And eacs t knife of yours more to co tell you about it.quot;

    quot;No! Youre ; cried ill. quot;I  looking for anyt! ts not  all!quot;

    quot;You mig t ts ; said the darkness.

    quot;But  I do?quot;

    And tanislaus Grumman, Jopari, Joated.

    o Lee Scoresby, and ated before ; but break it he did.

    quot;You must go to Lord Asriel,quot; ;and tell  Stanislaus Grumman sent you, and mat you  or not, boy, you o do. Ignore everytter ant it seems, and go and do to guide you; t is full of angels. Your  to look at you properly.quot;

    for took somet, unfolding layers of oilskin and triking a matco ligde tin lantern. In its lig eacher.

    ill sahers.

    t, orn linen s and ed and savage and  aligy, raighers....

    And t t flicker of someto bothem.

    But in t same moment, as tern lig dourbid sky, and . t.

    ill could only sit stupefied.

    A flicker crossed t ed up at once, and ced, panicking.

    quot;No! No!quot; cried tca Kamainen, and fell doer c , craso truggling up again.

    But ill , and tle knife  .

    quot;?quot; ed. quot;;

    quot;Because I loved c forgive!quot;

    And because sc  s in a  tering despair.

    quot;You dont know w; ;;

    S;No. No! t cant be true. Impossible!quot;

    quot;You to be possible? to be true!  till tc all my life and come all t last, and you kill ;

    And  tunning onis  greater t in supplication. he knocked her hand away.

    quot; did  you needed to kill nun?quot; ell me t, if you can!quot;

    And s t ill and shook her head sadly.

    quot;No, I cant explain,quot; s;Youre too young. It  make sense to you. I loved s all. ts enoug;

    And before ill could stop ly side taken from  and pusween her ribs.

    ill felt no ion and bafflement.

    ood up slo tc  ed like a lovers.

    quot;I dont understand,quot; ;Its too strange.quot;

    ill turned back to ther.

    A tled at , and only tness hi his eyes.

    ttle lantern still flickered and flared as t tting s lig and put ouc, closing  gray o th, squeezing his hands.

    quot;Fat; ;Dad, Daddy ... Fat understand s too strange for me. But ed me to do, I promise, I s. Ill figake it to Lord Asriel,  enemy. Ill do it. You can rest nos all rig;

    Beside tern and ttle ment. ill picked ticed rimmed cloak trailing be  t and she cloak around himself.

    tern and looked back at tcurning to go doain.

    tormy air ric earing of too: confused ecing, tal on metal, pounding s t one moment sounded so close t actually be inside  so far a . t  er.

    And as urned do little gully before t Lyra sleeping, opped suddenly. anding ting. ill put he knife.

    the figures spoke.

    quot;Youre t; range quality of ts.

    a human being.

    quot;; ill said. quot;Are you men, or¡ªquot;

    quot;Not men, no. e are atc;

    ill . t on: quot;Otions, and otask is simple: e need you. e o you, and so o guide you in turn to Lord Asriel.quot;

    quot;You ime?quot;

    quot;Every moment.quot;

    quot;Did ;

    quot;;

    quot; you stop tc ;

    quot;e ;

    ill said not to understand thing else.

    quot;All rig; ;Ill come  first I must ;

    tood aside to let  a tingle in t close to t  and concentrated on getting dootle ser where Lyra was sleeping.

    But sometop.

    In tcting or standing still.

    tatues, except t t too, and as o anot must tacked in midair by ters, and o tly.

    But¡ª quot;; he cried aloud.

    ty. Lyra was gone.

    t tle canvas rucksack, and from t of it  looking t ter ill inside it.

    ill  be true, but it ured, Lyra .

    t moved. But t;You must come  once. te. told you ask is. Follow us and ;

    And ill looked from to Lyras rucksack and back again, and  hey said.