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;