Page 10 (1/2)

Part Two

Bolvangar

Chapter Ten

The Consul And The Bear

John Faa and the other leaders had decided that they would make for Trollesund, the main port of Lapland The witches had a consulate in the town, and John Faa knew that without their help, or at least their friendly neutrality, it would be impossible to rescue the captive children

He explained his idea to Lyra and Farder Corahtly The sun was shining brightly and the green waves were dashing against the bows, bearing white streams of foam as they curved away Out on the deck, with the breeze blowing and the whole sea a-sparkle with light and movement, she felt little sickness at all; and now that Pantalaiull and then a stor the wave tops, Lyra was too absorbed by his glee toin landlubberly misery

John Faa, Farder Coram, and two or three others sat in the stern of the ship, with the sun full on the about what to do next

"Now, Farder Coram knows these Lapland witches," John Faa said "And if I en’t ation there"

"That’s right, John," said Farder Cora to a witch Some of ’em live tothis obligation about, Farder Cora troop

"I saved a witch’s life," Farder Corareat red bird like to nothing I’d seen before She fell injured in the , and I got her on board and shot that bird down, and it fell into a bog, toas a bittern, and flame-red"

"Ah," the other men murmured, captured by Farder Coraot her in the boat," he went on, "I had thewoman had no daemon"

It was as if he’d said, "She had no head" The very thought was repugnant The men shuddered, their daemons bristled or shook themselves or cawed harshly, and the men soothed them Pantalaiether

"At least," Farder Cora as she’d fell out of the air, I more than suspected she was a witch She looked exactly like a young wo that daeot daemons then, the witches?" said the other man, Michael Canzona

"Their daemons is invisible, I expect," said Adam Stefanski "He was there all the time, and Farder Cora, Adam," said Farder Coram "He weren’t there at all The witches have the power to separate their-selves froht further’n e can If need be, they can send their daemons far abroad on the wind or the clouds, or down below the ocean And this witch I found, she hadn’t been resting above an hour when her dae back, because he’d felt her fear and her injury, of course And it’s reat red bird I shot was another witch’s daeht of that I’d have stayed my hand; I’d have taken any measures on sea or land; but there it was Anyway, there was no doubt I’d saved her life, and she gave me a token of it, and said I was to call on her help if ever it was needed And once she sent s shot me with a poison arrow We had other connections, tooI haven’t seen her from that day to this, but she’ll remember"

"And does she live at Trollesund, this witch?"

"No, no They live in forests and on the tundra, not in a seaport a men and women Their business is with the wild But they keep a consul there, and I shall get word to her, make no doubt about that"

Lyra was keen to know more about the witches, but the men had turned their talk to the rew i the deck toward the bows, and soonat him the pips she’d saved from the apple she’d eaten at breakfast He was a stout and placid man, and when he’d sworn at her and been sworn at in return, they becauidance she found out that having so seasick, and that even a job like scrubbing a deck could be satisfying, if it was done in a seamanlike way She was very taken with this notion, and later on she folded the blankets on her bunk in a seamanlike way, and put her possessions in the closet in a seamanlike way, and used "stow" instead of "tidy" for the process of doing so

After two days at sea, Lyra decided that this was the life for her She had the run of the ship, froe, and she was soon on first-nanal to a Hollands frigate by pulling the handle of the stea plum duff; and only a stern word fro the foremast to inspect the horizon from the crow’s nest

All the tirew colder daily The ship’s stores were searched for oilskins that could be cut down for her, and Jerry showed her how to sew, an art she learned willingly froh she had scorned it at Jordan and avoided instruction fro for the alethiometer that she could wear around her waist, in case she fell in the sea, she said With it safely in place she clung to the rail in her oilskins and sou’wester as the stinging spray broke over the bows and surged along the deck She still felt seasick occasionally, especially when the wind got up and the ship plunged heavily over the crests of the gray-green waves, and then it was Pantalai the waves as a storlee in the dash of wind and water, and forget her nausea Fro a fish, and once joined a school of dolphins, to their surprise and pleasure Lyra stood shivering in the fo’c’sle and laughed with delight as her beloved Pantalaimon, sleek and powerful, leaped froray shapes He had to stay close to the ship, of course, for he could never go far from her; but she sensed his desire to speed as far and as fast as he could, for pure exhilaration She shared his pleasure, but for her it wasn’t simple pleasure, for there was pain and fear in it too Suppose he loved being a dolphinwith her on land? What would she do then?

Her friend the able seaman was nearby, and he paused as he adjusted the canvas cover of the forward hatch to look out at the little girl’s dae with the dolphins His own dae on the capstan He knehat Lyra was feeling

"I remember when I first went to sea, , and she loved being a porpoise I was afraid she’d settle like that There was one old sailoro ashore at all, because his daemon had settled as a dolphin, and he could never leave the water He was a wonderful sailor, best navigator you ever knew; could have , but he wasn’t happy at it He was never quite happy till he died and he could be buried at sea"

"Why do daemons have to settle?" Lyra said "I want Pantalaie forever So does he"

"Ah, they always have settled, and they alill That’s part of growing up There’ll co about, and you’ll want a settled kind of form for him"

"I never will!"

"Oh, you will You’ll want to grow up like all the other girls Anyway, there’s compensations for a settled for what kind of person you are Take old Belisaria She’s a seagull, and that rand and splendid nor beautiful, but I’ and I can survive anywhere and always find a bit of food and co, that is And when your daemon settles, you’ll know the sort of person you are"

"But suppose your daemon settles in a shape you don’t like?"

"Well, then, you’re discontented, en’t you? There’s plenty of folk as’d like to have a lion as a daemon and they end up with a poodle And till they learn to be satisfied hat they are, they’re going to be fretful about it Waste of feeling, that is"

But it didn’t seerow up

Onethere was a different s oddly, with a brisker rocking fro Lyra was on deck a reedily at the land: such a strange sight, after all that water, for though they had only been at sea a few days, Lyra felt as if they’d been on the ocean for reen flanked and snow-capped, and a little town and harbor lay below it: wooden houses with steep roofs, an oratory spire, cranes in the harbor, and clouds of gulls wheeling and crying The smell was of fish, but mixed with it ca ani else that was cold and blank and wild: it ht have been snow It was the smell of the North

Seals frisked around the ship, showing their clown faces above the water before sinking back without a splash The wind that lifted spray off the white-capped waves was ap in Lyra’s wolfskin, and her hands were soon aching and her face numb Pantalaimon, in his ermine shape, warmed her neck for her, but it was too cold to stay outside for long without work to do, even to watch the seals, and Lyra went below to eat her breakfast porridge and look through the porthole in the saloon

Inside the harbor the water was calan to feel unsteady from the lack of motion She and Pantalaimon avidly watched as the ship inched ponderously toward the quayside During the next hour the sound of the engine died away to a quiet background ruangways lowered, hatches opened

"Co packed?"

Lyra’s possessions, such as they were, had been packed ever since she’d woken up and seen the land All she had to do was run to the cabin and pick up the shopping bag, and she was ready

The first thing she and Farder Coram did ashore was to visit the house of the witch consul It didn’t take long to find it; the little toas clustered around the harbor, with the oratory and the governor’s house the only buildings of any size The witch consul lived in a green-painted wooden house within sight of the sea, and when they rang the bell it jangled loudly in the quiet street

A servant showed theht thereet them He was a fat man with a florid face and a sober black suit, whose name was Martin Lanselius His dsreen as his eyes, which were the only witchlike thing about hi a witch to look like

"How can I help you, Farder Coram?" he said

"In tays, Dr Lanselius First, I’et in touch with a witch lady I lia Her name is Serafina Pekkala"

Dr Lanselius o was yourwith her?" he said

"Must be forty years But I think she would remember"

"And what is the second way in which you seek yptian faot reason to believe there’s an organization capturing these children, ours and others, and bringing them to the North for some unknown purpose I’d like to knohether you or your people have heard of anything like this a going on"

Dr Lanselius sipped his coffee blandly

"It’s not iht have come our way," he said "You realize, the relations between my people and the Northlanders are perfectly cordial It would be difficult forthem"

Farder Coram nodded as if he understood very well

"To be sure," he said "And it wouldn’t be necessary for et the information any other way That hy I asked about the witch lady first"

Now Dr Lanselius nodded as if he understood Lyra watched this gas going on beneath it, and she saw that the witch consul was co to a decision

"Very well," he said "Of course, that’s true, and you’ll realize that your name is not unknown to us, Farder Coraion of Lake Enara As for your other question, it is of course understood that this inforh me"

"Quite so"

"Well, in this very town there is a branch of an organization called the Northern Progress Exploration Co forcalled the General Oblation Board of London This organization, I happen to know, ienerally known in the town; the Norroway government is not officially aware of it The children don’t re They are taken some distance inland"

"Do you knohere, Dr Lanselius?"

"No I would tell you if I did"

"And do you knohat happens to thelanced at Lyra She looked stolidly back The little green serpent daemon raised her head froly in his ear

The consul said, "I have heard the phrase the Maystadt process in connection with thiswhat they do by its proper name I have also heard the word intercision, but what it refers to I could not say"

"And are there any children in the town at thehis daemon’s fur as she sat alert in his lap Lyra noticed that she had stopped purring

"No, I think not," said Dr Lanselius "A group of about twelve arrived a week ago and moved out the day before yesterday"

"Ah! As recent as that? Then that gives us a bit of hope How did they travel, Dr Lanselius?"

"By sledge"

"And you have no idea where they went?"

"Very little It is not a subject we are interested in"

"Quite so Now, you’ve answered all my questions very fairly, sir, and here’s just one more If you were me, what question would you ask of the Consul of the Witches?"

For the first time Dr Lanselius smiled

"I would ask where I could obtain the services of an armored bear," he said

Lyra sat up, and felt Pantalaimon’s heart leap in her hands

"I understood the armored bears to be in the service of the Oblation Board," said Farder Coraress Co themselves"

"There is at least one who is not You will find hilokur Street He earns a living there at the enders in the dogs, his e"

"Is he a renegade, then?"

"It seems so His name is lorek Byrnison You asked what I would ask, and I told you Now here is what I would do: I would seize the chance to employ an armored bear, even if it were far more remote than this"

Lyra could hardly sit still Farder Coras such as this, and took another spiced honey cake from the plate While he ate it, Dr Lanselius turned to Lyra

"I understand that you are in possession of an alethioreat surprise; for how could he have known that?

"Yes," she said, and then, prompted by a nip from Pantalaimon, added, "Would you like to look at it?"

"I should like that very antly in the oilskin pouch and handed hireat care, gazing at the face like a Scholar gazing at a rare manuscript

"How exquisite!" he said "I have seen one other example, but it was not so fine as this And do you possess the books of readings?"

"No," Lyra began, but before she could say any reat pity is that although Lyra possesses the alethio it whatsoever," he said "It’s just as much of athe future And the nearest book of readings I know of is in the Abbey of St Johann at Heidelberg"

Lyra could see why he was saying this: he didn’t want Dr Lanselius to know of Lyra’s power But she could also see soitation of Dr Lanselius’s daeood to pretend

So she said, "Actually, I can read it," speaking half to Dr Lanselius and half to Farder Coram, and it was the consul who responded

"That is wise of you," he said "Where did you obtain this one?"

"The Master of Jordan College in Oxford gave it to me," she said "Dr Lanselius, do you knoho inate in the city of Prague," said the consul "The Scholar who invented the first alethio the influences of the planets, according to the ideas of astrology He intended to make a device that would respond to the idea of Mars or Venus as a compass responds to the idea of North In that he failed, but the , even if no one knehat it was"

"And where did they get the symbols from?"