“Jericho and Port Meadow.”
“You’re a liar. I saw you on the roof only yesterday.”

She bit her lip and said nothing. He was watching her sardonically.

“So, you play on the roof as well,” he went on. “Do you ever go into

the library?”

“No. I found a rook on the library roof, though,” she went on.

“Did you? Did you catch it?”

“It had a hurt foot. I was going to kill it and roast it but Roger

said we should help it get better. So we gave it scraps of food and

some wine and then it got better and flew away.”

“Who’s Roger?”

“My friend. The kitchen boy.”

“I see. So you’ve been all over the roof-”

“Not all over. You can’t get onto the Sheldon Building because you

have to jump up from Pilgrim’s Tower across a gap. There’s a skylight

that opens onto it, but I’m not tall enough to reach it.”

“You’ve been all over the roof except the Sheldon Building. What about

underground?”

“Underground?”

“There’s as much College below ground as there is above it. I’m

surprised you haven’t found that out. Well, I’m going in a minute. You

look healthy enough. Here.”

He fished in his pocket and drew out a handful of coins, from which he

gave her five gold dollars.

“Haven’t they taught you to say thank you?” he said.

“Thank you,” she mumbled.

“Do you obey the Master?”

“Oh, yes.”

“And respect the Scholars?”

“Yes.”

Lord Asriel’s daemon laughed softly. It was the first sound she’d

made, and Lyra blushed.

“Go and play, then,” said Lord Asriel.

Lyra turned and darted to the door with relief, remembering to turn

and blurt out a “Goodbye.”

So Lyra’s life had been, before the day when she decided to hide in

the Retiring Room, and first heard about Dust.

And of course the Librarian was wrong in saying to the Master that she

wouldn’t have been interested. She would have listened eagerly now to

anyone who could tell her about Dust. She was to hear a great deal

more about it in the months to come, and eventually she would know

more about Dust than anyone in the world; but in the meantime, there

was all the rich life of Jordan still being lived around her.

And in any case there was something else to think about. A rumor had

been filtering through the streets for some weeks:runescape gold farming a rumor that made

some people laugh and others grow silent, as some people scoff at

ghosts and others fear them. For no reason that anyone could imagine,

children were beginning to disappear.

* * *

It would happen like this.