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Chapter Fifteen

The Daees

It wasn’t Lyra’s way to brood; she was a sanguine and practical child, and besides, she wasn’t iht seriously that it was possible to coht it, an iinative child would immediately have co a practiced liar doesn’t ood liars have no iives their lies such wide-eyed conviction

So now that she was in the hands of the Oblation Board, Lyra didn’t fret herself into terror about what had happened to the gyptians They were all good fighters, and even though Pantalaiht have been ht not have been seriously hurt It had been bad luck that she’d fallen into the hands of the Sa soon to rescue her, and if they couldn’ther out; and then they’d fly to Svalbard in Lee Scoresby’s balloon and rescue Lord Asriel

In her , when she awoke in the dormitory, she was curious and ready to deal hatever the day would bring And eager to see Roger - in particular, eager to see hi to wait The children in their different dormitories oken at half-past seven by the nurses who looked after them They washed and dressed and ith the others to the canteen for breakfast

And there was Roger

He was sitting with five other boys at a table just inside the door The line for the hatch went right past them, and she was able to pretend to drop a handkerchief and crouch to pick it up, bending low next to his chair, so that Pantalaier’s daemon Salcilia

She was a chaffinch, and she fluttered so wildly that Pantalai her down to whisper Such brisk fights or scuffles between children’s daemons were coer went pale at once Lyra had never seen anyone so white He looked up at the blank haughty stare she gave him, and the color flooded back into his cheeks as he brimmed over with hope, excite Salcilia fir up to greet his best friend, his comrade in arms, his Lyra

But he sa she looked away disdainfully, and he followed her example faithfully, as he’d done in a hundred Oxford battles and cans No one er She rolled her eyes at her new friends, and they collected their trays of cornflakes and toast and sat together, an instant gang, excluding everyone else in order to gossip about theroup of children in one place for long without giving thear was run like a school, with tiirls were kept separate except for breaks and , after an hour and a half of sewing directed by one of the nurses, that Lyra had the chance to talk to Roger But it had to look natural; that was the difficulty All the children there were e whena conspicuous point of ignoring the opposite sex

She found her chance in the canteen again, when the children came in for a drink and a biscuit Lyra sent Pantalaimon, as a fly, to talk to Salcilia on the wall next to their table while she and Roger kept quietly in their separate groups It was difficult to talk while your daemon’s attention was soluirls Half her thoughts ith the tiny buzz of talk between the dae, but at one point she heard another girl with bright blond hair say a name that made her sit up

It was the name of Tony Makarios As Lyra’s attention snapped toward that, Pantalaier’s dae

"No, I knohy they took him," she said, as heads clustered close nearby "It was because his daeht he was older than he looked, or su kid But really his daeht e She was called Ratter"

"Why are they so interested in daemons?" said Lyra

"No one knows," said the blond girl

"I know," said one boy who’d been listening "What they do is kill your daemon and then see if you die"

"Well, how come they do it over and over with different kids?" said someone "They’d only need to do it once, wouldn’t they?"

"I knohat they do," said the first girl

She had everyone’s attention now But because they didn’t want to let the staff knohat they were talking about, they had to adopt a strange, half-careless, indifferentwith passionate curiosity

"How?" said someone

" ’Cause I ith him when they came for him We was in the linen roo hotly If she was expecting jeers and teasing, they didn’t come All the children were subdued, and no one even s quiet and then the nurse came in, the one with the soft voice And she says, Come on, Tony, I know you’re there, co to happen? And she says, We just put you to sleep, and then we do a little operation, and then you wake up safe and sound But Tony didn’t believe her He says - "

"The holes!" said someone "They make a hole in your head like the Tartars! I bet!"

"Shut up! What else did the nurse say?" someone else put in By this time, a dozen or more children were clustered around her table, their daemons as desperate to know as they were, all wide-eyed and tense

The blond girl went on: "Tony wanted to knohat they was gonna do with Ratter, see And the nurse says, Well, she’s going to sleep too, just like when you do And Tony says, You’re gonna kill her, en’t yer? 1 know you are We all know that’s what happens And the nurse says, No, of course not It’s just a little operation Just a little cut It won’t even hurt, but we put you to sleep to one quiet now The nurse who’d been supervising had left for a moment, and the hatch to the kitchen was shut so no one could hear from there

"What sort of cut?" said a boy, his voice quiet and frightened "Did she say what sort of cut?"

"She just said, It’s sorown up She said everyone had to have it, that’s why grownups’ daee like ours do So they have a cut to rown up"

"But - "

"Does that rownups’ve had this cut?"

"What about - "

Suddenly all the voices stopped as if they themselves had been cut, and all eyes turned to the door Sister Clara stood there, bland and mild and matter-of-fact, and beside her was a man in a white coat whoet McGinn," he said

The blond girl stood up tre Her squirrel daemon clutched her breast

"Yes, sir?" she said, her voice hardly audible

"Finish your drink and co and go to your classes"

Obediently the children stacked theirin silence No one looked at Bridget McGinn except Lyra, and she saw the blond girl’s face vivid with fear

The rest of that ymnasium at the station, because it was hard to exercise outside during the long polar night, and each group of children took turns to play in there, under the supervision of a nurse They had to form teams and throw balls around, and at first Lyra, who had never in her life played at anything like this, was at a loss what to do But she was quick and athletic, and a natural leader, and soon found herself enjoying it The shouts of the children, the shrieks and hoots of the daeyhts; which of course was exactly what the exercise was intended to do

At lunchtiain in the canteen, Lyra felt Pantalainition, and turned to find Billy Costa standing just behind her

"Roger told me you was here," he , and John Faa and a whole band of gyptians," she said "They’re going to take you home"

He nearly cried aloud with joy, but subdued the cry into a cough

"And you got to call ot to tell ether, with Roger close by It was easier to do this at lunchti between the tables and the counter, where bland-looking adults served equally bland food Under the clatter of knives and forks and plates Billy and Roger both told her as much as they knew Billy had heard from a nurse that children who had had the operation were often taken to hostels further south, whichin the wild But Roger had so to tell her

"I found a hiding place," he said

"What? Where?"

"See that picture" He raht corner, you see that ceiling panel?"

The ceiling consisted of large rectangular panels set in a framework of metal strips, and the corner of the panel above the picture had lifted slightly

"I saw that," Roger said, "and I thought the others ht be like it, so I lifted ’em, and they’re all loose They just lift up Me and this boy tried it one night in our dormitory, before they took him away There’s a space up there and you can crawl inside"

"How far can you crawl in the ceiling?"

"I dunno We just went in a little way We reckoned when it was time we could hide up there, but they’d probably find us"

Lyra saw it not as a hiding place but as a highway It was the best thing she’d heard since she’d arrived But before they could talk any an to speak

"Listen, children," he said "Listen carefully Every so often we have to have a fire drill It’s very iet dressed properly andto have a practice fire drill this afternoon When the bell, rings you rownup says Reo to if there’s a real fire"

Well, thought Lyra, there’s an idea

During the first part of the afternoon, Lyra and four other girls were tested for Dust The doctors didn’t say that hat they were doing, but it was easy to guess They were taken one by one to a laboratory, and of course this htened; how cruel it would be, Lyra thought, if she perished without striking a blow at the to do that operation just yet, it seemed

"We want to make some measurements," the doctor explained It was hard to tell the difference between these people: all the men looked similar in their white coats and with their clipboards and pencils, and the woe bland cal them all look like sisters

"I was measured yesterday," Lyra said

"Ah, we’redifferent measurements today Stand on the metal plate - oh, slip your shoes off first Hold your daemon, if you like Look forward, that’s it, stare at the little green light Good girl"

So flashed The doctor ht, and each ti clicked and flashed

"That’s fine Now come over to thisto harers That’s it"

"What are you ?" she said "Is it Dust?"

"Who told you about Dust?"

"One of the other girls, I don’t know her name She said as all over Dust I en’t dusty, at least I don’t think I am I had a shower yesterday"

"Ah, it’s a different sort of dust You can’t see it with your ordinary eyesight It’s a special dust Now clench your fist - that’s right Good Now if you feel around in there, you’ll find a sort of handle thing - got that? Take hold of that, there’s a good girl Now can you put your other hand over this way - rest it on this brass globe Good Fine Now you’ll feel a slight tingling, nothing to worry about, it’s just a slight anbaric current"

Pantalaihtning-eyed suspicion around the apparatus, continually returning to rub hiainst Lyra

She was sure by now that they weren’t going to perforuise as Lizzie Brooks was secure; so she risked a question

"Why do you cut people’s dae to you about that?"

"This girl, I dunno her name She said you cut people’s daeitated, though She went on:

’"Cause you take people out one by one and they never come back And some people reckon you just kill ’eirl told me you cut - "

"It’s not true at all When we take children out, it’s because it’s ti up I’ of the sort! Don’t even think about it Who is your friend?"

"I only come here yesterday, I don’t know anyone’s name"

"What does she look like?"