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—quot;
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—tials 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—I 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—quot;
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;