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Chapter Text

Mrs Coulter was at the manor sitting in the living room, she sat at the window seat which was a favourite spot of hers, as she would watch as the sun was setting and admired the beautiful colours, she sighed softly to herself as she stroked her Golden Monkey dæmon, wishing she could sneak out and see Asriel.  She hadn't seen him since the party a few nights ago, where she’d sneaked off with him after he had watched her being threatened by Edward for not doing as she was told and being 'ladylike', Mrs Coulter remembered all too well that evening's event;

After Edward had walked away, Asriel came up to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, she gasped and turned around, Asriel smiled at her "You saw?" she asked worriedly, he nodded "Why do you stay with him Marisa?" he asked her, using her first name, for they were alone and he was safe to do so, Mrs Coulter looked down and sighed, "He gave me everything I'd always wanted; a home, a name and protection" she said, Asriel put his hands on her face and lifted her head, he then leaned in and kissed her, Mrs Coulter was surprised and shocked, but she kissed him back. Once Asriel withdrew she looked at him, into his pale-blue eyes and was lost, he then took her hand and brought her away from the party to somewhere they could be alone.

Mrs Coulter had nodded off at the window and only awoke when she heard Edwards voice above her, "GET UP!" he shouted and slapped her hard across the face - her cheek red and sore, Edward's dæmon bit the Golden Monkey hard, Mrs Coulter gasped and she stood up, "I'm...I'm sorry...I drifted off...I was just..." she said but Edward cut her off, "I don't want your excuses! Now come to bed!" he exclaimed angrily then he turned and went upstairs. Mrs Coulter put her hand to her cheek and held it there for a moment, she closed her eyes wishing this would help to ease the pain, but it did not, she sighed as walked towards the stairs.

Suddenly she heard a yell from outside, startled and curious, she ran to the door, grabbed the first footwear she could find - a pair of black boots and took her coat from the coat rack, she then picked up a flashlight from the table and ran out into the garden switching on the light. She wandered around the huge garden not finding anything, and then she saw it - there was a figure lying on the ground up ahead, with a gasp she ran over, she saw that it was a young woman, younger than herself by the looks of it; with shoulder-length brown hair and she was wearing silk, sleeveless dress - it was freezing outside but the women did not seem to be cold, this puzzled Mrs Coulter, she then gasped as she saw the women had an arrow in her arm, she knelt beside the women.

She took hold of the arrow and with great difficulty she pulled it out of the woman's arm, the woman was screaming and crying in pain, once the arrow was out Mrs Coulter took a handkerchief from her pocket and began wrapping it tightly around the wound to keep pressure, the women's screams gradually subsided and she looked at Mrs Coulter, giving her a kind smile "Thank you" she said in a soft voice, "Whatever happened?" she asked her, the women lay still, letting her energy come back, "I was flying with my clan, when we were ambushed" she said "I was hit...and I fell to the ground, luckily I managed to stop myself from crashing just in time, but the rest of my clan hadn't seen me fall, so they kept on flying" Mrs Coulter's eyes widened "You're...a witch?" she asked in amazement, the women nodded. She lay still for a moment and then slowly she raised herself from the ground and sat up, she looked at Mrs Coulter, "I thank you gratefully" she said, Mrs Coulter smiled "It was nothing really, I heard a scream and I came out to see...and when I saw you lying there with that arrow in your arm I couldn't just leave you" the women nodded, she then stood up slowly, picking up a thin piece of cloud pine from the ground - Mrs Coulter hadn't noticed before "I must find my clan to let them know I am alright" she said, Mrs Coulter stood up, "Will I see you again?" she asked, the women faced Mrs Coulter and smiled, "I hope so, I shall tell my clan of your good deeds and you will become a good friend to the witches, we will all be truly grateful to you" she said.

The women poised, ready to take off into the air "Wait!" Mrs Coulter called to her, the women turned her head, "What's your name?" the women smiled "My name is Ariana" she replied, Mrs Coulter, smiled "I'm Marisa Coulter" she said, Ariana smiled "Farewell Marisa Coulter" she said "I do so hope we meet again" and with that she turned around swiftly and flew off into the sky, disappearing into the night. Mrs Coulter watched as the women vanished before turning back to the house and heading into the warmth.

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A few weeks had passed and Mrs Coulter could help but think about Ariana, she wondered if she really would see the witch again, she hoped so.  She would stay up at night staring out at the starry skies, hoping to catch sight of her but she never did. Though she soon had other troubles to deal with.

It all started with her feeling notorious all the time and she would get killer headaches. She eventually went to the doctors while Edward was at work and got the most shocking news. She was pregnant! The doctor gave her some advice on how to deal with the pains, but Mrs Coulter was more worried about what she would tell Edward, for she knew it was not his child. She thought about it the entire day and finally made up her mind - she would lie. Lie and tell him that the child was his.

When Edward came home Mrs Coulter was sitting in the living room reading a book, she heard the door open and close and placed the book down looking around just as Edward came into the room, she smiled at him "Good day?" she asked him politely, he frowned slightly "Yes!" he said simply, Mrs Coulter sighed, "Edward, I have to tell you something" she looked away from him not wanting to meet his gaze, he stood there staring at her. Waiting. "I...I'm pregnant" she waited for a reaction but there was silence. Finally, she looked up and saw he was just staring at her, "Are you sure?" he asked, Mrs Coulter, nodded "Yes, I went to the doctors today and he told me" she replied.  There was silence for a moment, "Well, so long as it's a boy you can keep it" Edward said simply and then turned and went out of the room, Mrs Coulter stared in shock, not believing what she had just heard, she looked down and sighed, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

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Mrs Coulter was lying in bed, she had her hand laid upon her now heavily pregnant stomach. Then she felt it, gasping she sat bolt upright and turned her head, "Edward!" she cried "Edward, its time!" he woke up and frowned, "What?!" he said annoyed, "The baby... it's coming!" she exclaimed as she held her stomach, Edward helped her to her feet. He then carried her downstairs and placed her into the car and they headed off as fast as they could to the hospital. Once they had arrived Mrs Coulter was taken straight to the delivery room. She screamed in pain as the doctors stood around her, "Come on now Miss, you can do it, push now" the doctor said, Mrs Coulter did and let out another loud scream, she managed to look round at Edward "Please...." she said, almost yelling now, "Wait outside..." she then closed her eyes tight as she pushed again.

Finally, it was over, and she heard the crying of a baby, Mrs Coulter relaxed and breathed deeply, her face red hot and dripping with sweat, her usual beautiful, sleek brown hair was wet and stuck against her face. The nurse brought the baby over, wrapped in a blanket and passed her to Mrs Coulter, "It's a girl" the nurse told her, Mrs Coulter took the baby in her arms and looked down into the little face, she knew instantly that she could not keep her; for one thing, it was a girl and Edward had made himself perfectly clear that he had only wanted a boy, and also the baby definitely favoured her true father and not Edward. Mrs Coulter felt tears in her eyes and then turned her head to the midwife, "Ma Costa, you must take the child, he will never let me keep her" she said "Please take care of her, take real special care of her" she looked once more at her little girl and then placed a gentle kiss on the child's forehead before handing her over to Ma Costa, "I must pretend to Edward that the baby died. I must forget about her" she said and then looked up at Ma Costa - who was rocking the baby gently in her arms, "Promise me you will care for her?" she said, Ma Costa nodded "I promise, she'll be safe with me ma'am" she said, Mrs Coulter smiled, "Her name will be Lyra, like the star – Lyra Belacqua" she said, she then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Mrs Coulter got through the next few weeks trying not to think about her daughter - although it was almost impossible. She would often wander on down to the docks and watch her daughter from a distance; Ma Costa would be holding her, rocking her and kissing her softly. Mrs Coulter longed to hold her child again, just once, but she did not approach, it would be too painful to give the girl back again.

One night, Mrs Coulter was sitting at the window seat, thinking about her daughter. She then looked up at the sky and Ariana came into her mind, she had not thought about her in months and wasn't quite sure how it had suddenly came to her, when she saw something fall from the sky and land right in her front garden, she gasped and got up right away, she slipped on her shoes and a jacket and ran out into the night. There was a figure lying on the grass and knew straight away who it was, "Ariana!" she cried, "Are you alright? What happened? Are you hurt?" the witch looked at Mrs Coulter, "I...I am dying..." she said weakly, "Yambe-Akka will come for me...but first...I must...I must ask a favour of you Marisa...." she said, Mrs Coulter nodded "Yes, of course" she said hastily. Ariana let her arm dropped slightly and there, wrapped in a think blanket was a baby, fast asleep, the dæmon curled up at her neck, mouse formed. Her skin looked so soft and smooth and from the little hair, the baby had it was obvious it would be the same brownish tint as Arianas. Mrs Coulter looked at the baby in surprise, "You...is this yours?" she asked in a whisper now, Ariana nodded "Yes...but I...I am going to die...and she will never survive without someone to care for her...please...please Marisa...will you take care for my child?... She is in grave danger, there are people who will come after, who will want to use her and the only way to keep her safe is for her to be brought up around humans" she said, her voice growing weaker and quieter all the time.

Mrs Coulter looked at the child asleep in the blankets and then at Ariana, "I...Edward would never allow it..." she said regretfully, she sighed wishing she could help, Ariana closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again, "Marisa...please...I beg of you...she needs a mother's care...there is no one else I can turn to...no one else I can trust..." Mrs Coulter looked at the child again, she then held out her arms and picked up the baby girl, holding her close she stared down at the small child, fast asleep in her arms and sighed to herself. She knew she could never get away with it...but maybe...just maybe she could find a way of granting Ariana's wishes, she looked back at the witch and smiled softly, she gave a small nod "I promise, I will find a way to make sure your child is well cared for and protected" she said to her, and with one hand she took hold of Ariana's, "Rest now" she said, the witch smiled, "Her name is Sarah. The dæmon is Alfie" she said to Mrs Coulter and at that, Ariana closed her eyes and her hand dropped to the ground as she lay motionless and still, her head fell sideways against the grass and her dæmon faded away to nothing.

Mrs Coulter felt a tear trickle down her cheek, she kissed her own hand and then placed it onto the women's forehead, she then stood up, still holding the sleeping baby close to her and she headed into the house. Once inside she paced up and down the hallway for a bit, wondering what on earth she was going to do, and then she had it. If she could somehow persuade Ma Costa to take Sarah, that way the girl would be safe and she and Lyra could grow up together. Yes. That is what she would do, but how could she convince them. A thought struck her.

It took some time but finally, she arrived at her destination, Sarah had stayed asleep the entire way to her relief. She came to the door and knocked briskly. It was a few moments until he answered but when he did he was surprised and shocked to see her, "Marisa?" he asked, "I'm sorry for calling so late Asriel, but I need your help" she said, Asriel stepped aside and Mrs Coulter came in, "What it is? What's wrong?" he asked, Mrs Coulter, turned to him and dropped her arm slightly, revealing the sleeping Sarah, "Is this Lyra?" he said, "I thought she was with Ma Costa?" Mrs Coulter shook her head, "No, this is Sarah. She is a witch's child. Her mother died and asked me to take care of her, but I can't Asriel. For one Edward would never allow it" she paused a moment, Sarah had shifted slightly and gave a soft gurgle, Mrs Coulter rocked her gently until the child had settled again and then looked back at Asriel, "I need your help to persuade Ma Costa to take her” she told him, "You're friendly with the Gyptian's, I thought maybe you could speak to her" Asriel was silent for a moment, he stared at Mrs Coulter, then looked down at the baby in her arms and then back the women, "What of her mother?" he asked, "Still lying in my garden" she explained, Asriel nodded.  He then turned away and paced for a moment, before finally saying, "Alright, I will arrange for the women to be moved. We can go down to the Gyptian's now and talk" he told her, Mrs Coulter nodded, Sarah stirred again and gave a little mew, Mrs Coulter made hushing sounds to soothe her back to sleep. Asriel meanwhile had turned away to make arrangements, after a bit he came back, "Alright, it's sorted, not let us head down to the docks" he said.

 They arrived at the docks and Asriel led the way to Ma Costa's barge, Mrs Coulter stayed behind him, still holding the sleeping Sarah close to her breast. Once they were on deck, Asriel knocked on the cabin door and waited. After a moment Ma Costa herself answered, "Lord Asriel?" she said, "I'm sorry to call so late, but I'm afraid this is urgent" he told her, he then stepped aside and Ma Costa spotted Mrs Coulter, she stared, puzzled for a moment and then Mrs Coulter dropped her arm slightly to reveal the baby. Ma Costa ushered them inside and into the galley. She poured them both a drink then one for herself, once she was sat down she began to speak, "What on earth is this about?" she asked. Asriel and Mrs Coulter both looked at each other for a moment, then Mrs Coulter spoke, "I know I ought not to ask this, you have already done a great favour for me but...I must ask one more of you" she said and then stopped and glanced down, Asriel looked at her and then at Ma Costa, "This child is a witches child" he told her, "Her mother has just died and she has no one else in the world" he explained, Ma Costa glanced at the baby and then back at Asriel, "I know you have already done a huge deed taking on our daughter, Lyra" Asriel added, "The child could be in danger" Mrs Coulter said, Ma Costa looked at her, "Danger? From what?" she asked, "I don't know exactly, but her mother told me that she was to be kept safe and that the only way that would happen, is if she was to be raised away from the witches and with humans" Mrs Coulter explained. There was silence then, as Ma Costa contemplated what to do, after a moment she gave a soft sigh, "Alright if it is this important, I will take in the child. Besides, I'm sure when they grow up, the child and Lyra will become good friends with my Billy" she said, Mrs Coulter smiled gratefully, "Thank you" she said. Both women stood up and Mrs Coulter passed the baby over to the boat mother, "I promise ya, both children will be safe with me" she said, Mrs Coulter smiled and nodded, then a thought struck her, "Please...may I see Lyra?" she asked, "She's asleep now," Ma Costa said, "Just a quick look?" Mrs Coulter said, Ma Costa, let out a deep breath but nodded, "Alright, you can come in while I settle this little one" she told her.

Both women walked out the room and into another smaller cabin, "Luckily I have a spare crib" Ma Costa whispered, as she placed Sarah down into the empty crib and laid some blankets over her. Mrs Coulter came over and placed a kiss on the child's forehead, Ma Costa then took her over to another crib where her child, Lyra lay fast asleep. Mrs Coulter felt a tear run down her cheek as she watched her daughter for a moment, then she leaned down and kissed her softly and whispered, "I love you, Lyra" before turning away and heading back out the room with Ma Costa. Asriel and Mrs Coulter both left the boat and headed back into town.

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Over the next few days, Mrs Coulter tried to keep her mind off the events that had happened, for whenever she thought about her daughter and Sarah she felt herself fill with regret. She felt she had let Ariana down by giving up her daughter, but then she would say to herself not to be stupid. It had to be done, not just for the children's safety but her own, if Edward were to find out about any of it, there's no knowing what he would do.

One day Mrs Coulter was sitting at home on the sofa reading a book when suddenly the front door burst open, Mrs Coulter jumped up in fright and spun around. Standing in the doorway was Edward. He looked furious, his dæmon growled at the Golden Monkey, Mrs Coulter tried to remain calm, though there was the sound of fear in her voice, "Is...Is something wrong...Edward...?" she said, he frowned, still saying nothing, then he stormed over to her and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head backwards, his dæmon bit the Golden Monkey "When were you going to tell me about your secret affair and children!" he said angrily, Mrs Coulter gasped and she cried out in pain from the tug on her hair, "I...what...do...you mean...?" she exclaimed, Edward frowned, he brought her head up and hit her hard across the face making her fall to the floor "DON'T LIE TO ME!" he yelled now "I know everything!" Mrs Coulter lay on the floor saying nothing, she held her face, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Please...please...listen..." she said weakly, but Edward was too angry to listen, he pulled Mrs Coulter up by her hair and dragged her out the room, his dæmon carrying the Golden Monkey harshly in her mouth. Edward brought her over to a closet and threw her in, the Golden Monkey was thrown in after her, Edward then slammed the door and locked it, there was then the sound of the front door slamming and silence. Mrs Coulter got up, "Where are you going?! No! Not my children! Please! NO! NO!" she cried hammering on the door, her knees then gave way and she fell to the floor and cried hysterically.

A few days later, Mrs Coulter was still getting over the shock of what had happened. Her husband was dead, she couldn't believe it, though it was true, the hardest part to believe was who had killed him - Asriel. She couldn't ever believe that Asriel could have done something like this, but he did and had paid the price. He had lost everything, his home, his wealth and his title – all of it gone.  Mrs Coulter couldn't be seen with someone like that, someone who had nothing while she tried to clear her name; she needed a title of her own and she couldn't have a poor, worthless man in the way of that, so she turned her back. As for the children, she couldn't be looking after babies while she was busy getting her life in order, they would just get in her way and make her life even harder.

So Mrs Coulter restarted her life; obtaining her own wealth, created a brand new title and became a beautiful, rich, feared and demanding women – a person who didn't take no for an answer, I person who would always have her way. She even managed to create her own organisation within the church. It was, in fact, her connections with the church that she discovered the prophecy that involved her daughter. This is what triggered the determination to get her back. Then there was Sarah, she gathered there was something special about the girl. She discovered both children had been placed in the care of the nuns - after the Gyptian's lost them, but Asriel had got in there first - even though he had been forbidden from seeing either of them. Now the girls were under the protection of The Master at Jordan College. Well, there was nothing Mrs Coulter could do about that now, but she was determined all the same. One way or another, she would get those girls.

Chapter Text

11 Years Later

Sarah was walking along the rows of seats at one end of the dining hall. She was eleven now and the spitting image of her mother. Her long, brown hair lay perfectly on her shoulders; her eyes were the same shade of brown as Arianas had been and she was tough just like her mother. Alfie was in his sparrow form flying beside her, "What you up to now Sarah?" he said to her, Sarah looked round at him "Exploring" she said as she got to the end of the row and jumped down, she went on over to the high table and sat down in the seat opposite the Masters, Lyra was at the other side behind The Master's chair, she flicked one of the tall glasses with a finger nail, making it ring through out the room, Sarah smirked slightly - Alfie however wasn't amused "You're not taking this seriously!" he said, "We'll be caught and you know what happens then" Sarah rolled her eyes, "They're making to much noise to hear from the kitchen, stop making a fuss" she replied and then looked round at Lyra, "Ever wondered what goes on in The Retiring Room?" she asked her, Lyra shrugged "Probably they just talk about boring stuff" she replied, Sarah smirked "Come on let's go see" she insisted, Lyra shrugged "All right then" Lyra said and they both rushed off.

They got to the door to The Retiring Room and Sarah peered in first, then seeing the room was empty she went in and Lyra followed behind, their dæmons were both in the form of moths - this made it easier to stay hidden, Sarah explored around the room and Lyra went to examine a strange-looking instrument with a little magnifying glass attached, she was making faces at her dæmon through the glass.  Then at the sound of footsteps outside, Lyra quickly rushed to the wardrobe and closed the door, Sarah looked around and just had time to duck underneath the large table before the doors to The Retiring Room opened. Luckily the table was draped with a table cloth, so there would be less chance of Sarah being spotted. She just managed to see two pairs of feet enter, one of which was the Master’s shiny black ones, the others she guessed must be the Butlers.

Sarah tried to stay as still and silent as she could, then the Master spoke, "Has Lord Asriel arrived yet?" he asked the Butler, "No, Master" the Butler replied, "No word from the Aërodock, either" Sarah listened closely, her heart leapt at the mention of her uncle's name, "I expect he'll be hungry when he arrives, show him straight into Hall, will you?" the Master said, "Very good Master" the Butler replied, "And you've decanted some of the special Tokay for him?" the Master asked, "Yes, Master. The 1898, as you ordered. His Lordship is very partial to that, I remember" said the Butler, "Good. Now leave me, please" the Master ordered, "Shall I leave the lamp, Master?" the Butler asked, "Yes, leave that too. Look in during dinner to trim it, will you?" said the Master.

Sarah heard feet moving and a door opening as the Butler left the room. She then heard the Master walk over the carpeted floor, she peered under the table cloth and with a jolt saw he was walking over to the wardrobe - where Lyra was hidden, Sarah bit her lip nervously, praying he didn't spot her, he took out a gown and placed it over himself, he then closed the wardrobe and walked back over to the table, where he pulled out one of the chairs, Sarah shuffled back slightly as the Master sat down at the table. She wished she could see what was happening; all she could hear was the slight rustling of paper, there was silence for a moment and then there was the sound of an object tapping glass, then the Master stood up and pushed the chair back in. Nothing happened for a moment, then she heard the Master's footsteps walk away and a door opened as he left.

Sarah gave a sigh of relief as soon as she heard the door close, she wondered if Lyra had seen anything of what had just happened, but any thought of going over to the wardrobe was swiftly abandoned at the sound of the door opening again, she saw two pairs of shoes entering, and then a servant spoke, "Ah, Lord Asriel" he said, Sarah felt her heart fly up into her mouth and she tensed herself. As much as she did admire her uncle she still feared him, he could be very stern, "Good evening Wren" Lord Asriel said, "I arrived too late to dine. I'll wait in here" there was silence for a moment, "Shall I let the Master know you've arrived, my Lord?" the servant asked, "No harm in that. You might bring me some coffee" Lord Asriel replied, "Very good, my Lord" Sarah then heard the servant leave the room and Lord Asriel's feet moved across the room, Sarah shuffled forward as silently as she could and just managed to peer through a gap in the tablecloth, Lord Asriel sat down in one of the armchairs and Sarah could see him now. He looked just the same as last time, though a little tired, but he still frightened her all the same, if he were to catch either Lyra or herself in here they would be severely punished.

There was a knock on the door, and the Butler came back in with the tray of coffee, "Thank you Wren" Lord Asriel said, "Is that the Tokay I can see on the table?" he asked, "The Master ordered it decanted especially for you, my Lord. There are only three dozen bottles left of the '98" the Butler told him, "All good things pass away. Leave the tray here beside me. Oh, ask the Porter to send up the two cases I left in the Lodge, would you?" Lord Asriel said, "Here, my Lord?" the Butler asked, "Yes, here, man. And I shall need a screen and a projecting lantern, also here, also now" Lord Asriel ordered, there was silence for a moment, "Wren, you're forgetting your place" said Lord Asriel, "Don't question me; just do as I tell you" another silence then the Butler spoke, "Very good, my Lord. If I may suggest it, I should perhaps let Mr Cawson know what you're planning, my Lord, or else he'll be somewhat taken aback if you see what I mean" then the Butler left, and Sarah saw her uncle pour himself a coffee and drain it in one. Sarah was puzzled, she was curious about what Lord Asriel was going to show the Scholars.

She then watched as Lord Asriel got to his feet and made his way over to the table and sat down in the seat that had just previously been occupied by the Master, Sarah then heard the tinkle of glass and guessed he had just taken the stopper of the decanter of wine. Suddenly, without warning Lyra hurled herself out of the wardrobe and sped over to Lord Asriel, a glass smashed onto the ground, the contents splashing Sarah, "Lyra!" Lord Asriel said firmly, Sarah listened, horrified, wondering what on earth Lyra had been thinking, "Lyra! What the hell are you doing?" Lord Asriel said, "Let go of me and I'll tell you" Lyra cried, "I'll break your arm first. How dare you come in here" Lord Asriel said firmly, "I've just saved your life!" Lyra cried, Sarah couldn't just sit there, she crawled out from under the table and stood beside Lyra, "It's wasn't her fault, it was my idea" she pleaded, Lord Asriel glanced at Sarah with a firm look and Sarah felt her stomach turn, he then looked at Lyra again, "What did you say?" he asked, more quietly "That wine is poisoned" Lyra muttered, "I saw the Master put some powder in it" Lord Asriel let Lyra go and she sank to the floor, Sarah crouched down beside her, laying her arms around Lyra, Sarah glanced up at Lord Asriel and saw him staring down at them with restrained fury, "We just came in to see what the room was like" Sarah began to explain, "We know we shouldn't of. But then we heard the Master coming and got trapped, the only thing we could do was find a place to hide" Lyra then stood up again and Sarah followed suit, "And I saw him put the powder in the wine. If I hadn't..." Lyra began

There was then a knock on the door, "That'll be the Porter" Lord Asriel said, "Back in the wardrobe, both of you. If I hear the slightest noise I'll make you wish you were dead" he told them. Instantly both Sarah and Lyra rushed over to the wardrobe and had just closed the door when Lord Asriel called, "Come in" Lyra was peering through the gap in the wardrobe, there was no room for Sarah to do the same, she had to go on what she could hear.

"In here, my Lord?" the Porter asked, "That's right, Shuter" Lord Asriel replied, "Bring them both in and put them down by the table" something was wheeled into the room, then after a minute there was the sound of breaking glass, "Damn you, Shuter, you careless old fool! Look what you've done!" Lord Asriel exclaimed, Sarah, frowned wondering what had happened, she could only guess that Lord Asriel had somehow managed to knock the decanter of wine of the table and blame it on the Porter, "I'm truly sorry, my Lord - I must have been closer than I thought..." the Porter stammered, "Get something to clear this mess up. Go on, before it sinks into the carpet" Lord Asriel ordered, Sarah heard hurried footsteps and then her uncle's voice came from right next to the wardrobe, "Since you're both in there, you can make yourselves useful. Watch the Master closely when he comes in. If you tell me something interesting about him, I'll keep you from getting further into the trouble your both already in. Understand?" she said in an undertone, "Yes uncle," they both said, "Make a noise in there and I won't help you. You're on your own"

Sarah heard him move away from the wardrobe, she gave a small sigh of relief, it was up to Lyra to watch the Master and try and find out what he was up to. A moment later she heard footsteps, the Porter had obviously come back in, "I can only say once again, my Lord, I do most earnestly beg your pardon, I don't know what..." the Porter began, but Lord Asriel interrupted him, "Just clean up the mess" he ordered, there was the sound of glass being swept up, then Lord Asriel spoke again, "Yes, it was the Tokay. Too bad.  Is that the lantern? Set it up by the wardrobe, Thorold, if you would. I'll have the screen up at the other end" Asriel told them. Sarah knew Thorold was Lord Asriel's manservant, he was a pleasant enough man, she certainly got on with him much better than her uncle.

Sarah felt herself starting to get very uncomfortable and cramped up in the wardrobe. Carefully as she could she stood up and unhooked a couple of cloaks from the hangers and spread them out on the floor, making it a little comfier for the two of them. Then Thorold spoke for the first time, "Shall I send for a technician to operate it?" he asked, "No. I'll do it myself. Thank you, Thorold. Have they finished dinner yet, Wren?" Lord Asriel said, "Very nearly, I think, my Lord" the Butler replied, "If I understand Mr Cawson all right, the Master and his guests won't be disposed to linger once they know you're here. Shall I take the coffee tray?" he said, "Take it and go" Lord Asriel replied, "Very good, my Lord." There was silence for a bit after that, Sarah looked up at Lyra who was still staring through the gap in the wardrobe, then there was the sound of the door opening, an intake of breath, then Lord Asriel said, "Master. Yes, I'm back. Do bring in your guests; I've got something very interesting to show you" 

"Lord Asriel" came the Master's voice, "Master. I came to late to disturb your dinner, so I made myself at home here. Hello, Sub-Rector. I've only just landed. Yes, Master, the Tokay's gone. I think your standing in it. The Porter knocked it off the table, but it was my fault. Hello, Chaplain. I read your latest paper with great interest..." his voice then died away, presumably, he had gone away to talk to the Chaplain. There was a murmur of voices as the guests greeted the visitor, and then it was all just talk about Politics for a while, which Sarah found extremely dull, so she let her mind wander, while there was nothing interesting being said and then she heard someone rap on the table, the voices fell silent and then the Master spoke, "Gentlemen. I feel sure I speak for all of us when I bid Lord Asriel welcome. His visits are rare but always immensely valuable, and I understand he has something of particular interest to show us tonight. This is a time of high political tension, as we are all aware; Lord Asriel's presence is required early tomorrow morning in White Hall, and a train is waiting with steam up ready to carry him to London as soon as he has finished the conversation speaking to us, I imagine there will be some questions. Please keep them brief and to the point. Lord Asriel, would you like to begin?" the Master explained, "Thank you, Master" Lord Asriel began, "To start with, I have a few slides to show you. Sub-Rector, you can see best from here, I think. Perhaps the Master would like to take the chair near the wardrobe?"

There came the sound of shuffling chairs as people shifted around, then the Master's voice could be heard right beside the wardrobe, "The devil! He knew about the wine. I'm sure of it" he said in a hushed whisper, "He's going to ask for funds. If he forces a vote..." the voice of the Librarian said, "If he does that, we must just argue against it, with all the eloquence we have" the Master told him, "Could someone turn down the lamp?" Lord Asriel's voice said, then after a few moments, he began his presentation, "Some of you know, I set out for the North twelve months ago on a diplomatic mission to the King of Lapland. At least, that's what I pretended to be doing. In fact, my real aim was to go further north still, right onto the ice, to try and discover what had happened to the Grumman expedition. One of Grumman's last messages to the Academy in Berlin spoke of a certain natural phenomenon only seen in the lands of the North. I was determined to investigate that as well as find out what I could about Grumman. But the first picture I'm going to show you isn't directly about either of those things"

Sarah wished she could see what was going on in the room as Lyra could. She heard a soft click, Lord Asriel was obviously placing a slide in the projector, "That photogram was taken with a standard silver nitrate emulsion" Lord Asriel explained, "I'd like you to look at another one, taken from the same spot only a minute later, with a new specially prepared emulsion" there was the sound of Asriel swapping the slides in the projector, "That light. Is it going up or coming down?" the Chaplain asked, "It's coming down, but it's not light, It's Dust" Lord Asriel explained.

Sarah frowned slightly, the way the word 'Dust' was mention she got the impression he wasn't just talking about ordinary dust, and giving the reaction of the Scholars she felt she was right. As soon as Lord Asriel said this, there was a murmur of incredulous voices, "Gentlemen! Let Lord Asriel explain" came the Chaplains voice above the murmuring, "It's Dust," Lord Asriel said simply, "It registered as light on the plate because particles of Dust affect this emulsion as photons affect silver nitrate emulsion. It was partly to test it that my expedition went North in the first place. As you see, the figure of the man is perfectly visible. Now I'd like you to look at the shape to his left" another silence, "I thought that was the man's dæmon" came the Enquirer's voice, "No. His dæmon was at the time coiled around his neck in the form of a snake. That shape you can dimly see is a child" Lord Asriel told them, "A severed child?" someone asked, silence again, "An entire child. Which, given the nature of Dust, is precisely the point, is it not?" Lord Asriel said calmly, "Ah. And the streams of Dust..." the Chaplain said, "Come from the sky and bathe him in what looks like light. You may examine this picture as closely as you wish; I'll leave it behind when I go. I'm showing it to you now to demonstrate the effect of this new emulsion. Now I'd like to show you another picture" 

There was the sound of Asriel once again changing the slide, then there were intakes of breath from around the room, "What is that?" the Sub-Rector asked, "It's a picture of the Aurora. A very fine photogram. One of the best I've seen" a voice said, Sarah wished she could see, she'd heard about the Aurora, which she knew was also referred to as the Northern Lights, she has always wanted to see it in person, "It has many names" Lord Asriel explained, "It's composed of storms of charged particles and solar rays of intense and extraordinary strength - invisible in themselves, but causing this luminous radiation when they interact with the atmosphere. If there'd been the time I would have had the slide tinted to show you the colours; pale green and rose, for the most part, with a tinge of crimson along the lower edge of that curtain-like formation. This is taken with ordinary emulsion. Now I'd like you to look at a picture taken with the special emulsion" 

As Lord Asriel changed the slide again, Sarah heard the Master mutter under his voice, "If he forces a vote. we could try to invoke the residence clause. He hasn't been a resident in the College for thirty weeks out of the last fifty-two" "He's already got the Chaplain on his side" the Librarian replied, there was another sudden intake of breath from around the room, "That looks like...a city" the Cassington Scholar said, "Exactly so" Lord Asriel said, "A city in another world, no doubt?" the Dean said, "Is this the Bernard-Stokes business? It is, isn't" the Palmarian Professor said, "That's what I want to find out" Lord Asriel explained, "You said you were searching for news of the Grumman expedition, Lord Asriel. Was Dr Grumman investigating this phenomenon too?" the Chaplain asked, "I believe he was, and I believe he had a good deal of information about it. But he won't be able to tell us what it was, because he's dead" Lord Asriel told them, "No!" the Chaplain exclaimed, "I'm afraid so, and I have the proof here" 

Sarah shifted slightly, trying to get to a more comfortable position, she was getting more and more cramped in the wardrobe and in a small way just wanted the presentation to be over. It was fine for Lyra, she was actually getting to see what was going on, but it as all just talk to Sarah and it was getting rather annoying not being able to actually witness anything. Lord Asriel then spoke again, "If you remember, Grumman's expedition vanished eighteen months ago. The German Academy sent him up there to go as far north as the magnetic pole and make various celestial observations. It was in the course of that journey that he observed the curious phenomenon we've already seen. Shortly after that, he vanished. It's been assumed that he had an accident and that his body's been lying in a crevasse all this time. In fact, there was no accident" he explained, "What have you got there? Is that a vacuum container?" the Dean asked  There was no answer, instead, Sarah heard the sound of clips snapping and then there was the sound of confused babble, cries of horror and loud protests, "Lord Asriel, what in gods name have you got there?" the Master said, "This is the head of Stanislaus Grumman" Lord Asriel said simply, "I found his body preserved in the ice off Svalbard. The head was treated in this way by his killers. You'll notice the characteristic scalping pattern. I think you might be familiar with it, Sub-Rector" Sarah felt herself suddenly feeling a little drowsy, possibly because it was rather warm cooped up in the wardrobe. Her eyes drooped slightly and her head fell to the side and slowly she began to drift off to sleep, Alfie - mouse formed, curled up at her neck and they both fell fast asleep.

She woke with a start when someone shook her shoulder. It was Lyra, she looked around at her and then looked forward and found Lord Asriel couching in front of them both, "Quiet" he ordered. The wardrobe was open, "They've all gone, but there are still some servants around. Go to your bedroom now, and take care that either you say nothing about this" he told them, "Did they vote to give you the money?" Lyra asked, sleepily, she too had obviously fallen asleep, "Yes," Lord Asriel said simply, "What's Dust?" Lyra asked, both she and Sarah struggled to their feet and came out of the wardrobe, "Nothing to do with you" Lord Asriel said, "It is! If you wanted me and Sarah to spy in the wardrobe you ought to tell us what we're spying on. Can I see the head?" Lyra went on, Lord Asriel laughed, "Don't be disgusting. Did you watch the Master?" he said, "Yes, and he looked for the wine before he did anything else" she told him, "Good. But I've scorched him for now. Do as you're told and go to bed" Sarah then piped up, "Can I see the photogram of the Aurora?" she asked him, she stared up at him, not quite meeting his eyes but looked at him in her pleading way, he stared back for a moment and then turned to the projector and placed one of the slides into it. At once the image of the Aurora flashed onto the screen with the shimmering outline of a city suspended in it, Sarah stared transfixed at the image, even though the real thing would be more spectacular, she still thought it was more beautiful than she ever imagined, "But where are you going?" Lyra pushed on, "Back to the North. I'm leaving in ten minutes" Lord Asriel replied, "Can we come?" she asked, "You both belong here" he said simply, "But why? Why is our placed here?" Lyra complained, "Why can't we come to the North with you?" Sarah then turned away from the image and looked over at Lord Asriel, "We want to see the Northern Lights and the Ice bears and icebergs and everything" Sarah said, "We want to learn about Dust" Lyra added, "And that city in the sky. Is it another world?" Lord Asriel frowned slightly, "You're not coming, either of you," he said firmly, "Put it out of your heads; the times are too dangerous. Do as you're told and go to bed, and if you're good girls I'll bring you both back a walrus tusk with some Eskimo carvings on it. Don't argue any more or I shall be angry" he told them,  his dæmon growled slightly at both their Dæmons, and Sarah knew it was useless to pursue the matter. Lord Asriel then turned away to pack up the equipment, given the impression that he had already forgotten they were both there. So Sarah and Lyra both turned and headed out of the room, there Dæmons following along behind them

Chapter Text

One afternoon Sarah and Lyra were up on the roofs of the college with their friend Roger - the kitchen boy at Jordan, their dæmons flying around in the sky above them. They sat on the edge of the roof, chatting to one another, all the while spitting plum stones down onto heads of passing Scholars, Sarah looked out over Oxford to Zeppelin coming towards the college, "Strange" she said, interrupting Roger and Lyra's discussion about Lord Asriel, "Why would the Zeppelin come and land here instead of the landing dock in town?" Lyra shrugged, "Maybe it's a guest of the Master’s." she said, not really sounding bothered, "Anyway, heard about them Gobblers," Roger said, changing the subject, Sarah took her eyes away from the Zeppelin, "Yeah, I heard they came to Oxford, apparently four kids have been taken. All gone without a trace" Sarah said, "What do you suppose they do with them, kids?" Roger asked and Sarah was about to answer when Lyra spoke first, "They're cannibals. They fatten you up and eat you" she said convincingly, Sarah rolled her eyes slightly.

Sarah looked at them both, "If I were taken by the Gobblers, you'd both rescue me right?" she asked them, they both nodded "Course" Lyra said, "And if we were taken, you'd rescue us?" Sarah nodded, Roger smirked "Yeah, but anyone would go looked for you two if you were taken, your ladies," he said, Sarah and Lyra both frowned, "Says who!" Sarah said stubbornly, "Cook" Roger said, "He says that's why your uncle left you both here, to make you ladies" Lyra then threw the rest of her plum to the ground in anger "Nobody can make us ladies!" she said firmly "Not the Master, or Scholars, or forces combined right! Take it back, or ain't best mates no more!" Roger went wide-eyed "Alright, Alright," he said quickly "You ain't ladies"

Just then there was a shout from below, "Lyra! Sarah! Come inside this instant!" it was Mrs Lonsdale, Sarah looked at Lyra and rolled her eyes slightly, they bid farewell to Roger and climbed down to the window. Mrs Lonsdale was running some water into a little chipped basin, there was the sound of groaning and humming coming from the pipes, "The number of times you two have been told about going out there...Look at you both, your clothes are filthy! Take them off at once and wash while I look for something decent that ain't torn. Why you can't keep yourselves clean and tidy..."

Neither of them was in no mood to argue or even ask why they were having to wash and dress, and no grown-ups ever gave reasons of their own accord. Sarah let Lyra wash up in the little basin first and then went over herself, all the while Mrs Lonsdale continued to complain, "Look at the state of this wardrobe! You ain't hung nothing up for weeks! Look at the creases in this!" Sarah rolled her eyes as she splashed some water on her face and scrubbed at her hands, getting as much of the dirt off as she could, "You'll have to wear these as they are, there's no time to take an iron to them" Mrs Lonsdale said, as she straightened up from the wardrobe with a couple of dresses, "God bless me, girls, your knees - look at the state of them. Wash!" she told them both, "Why?" Lyra said, "We don't have to wash our knees usually. No one's going to be looking at our knees” “What're we got to do all this for?" Sarah added, Mrs Lonsdale seized the flannel and began to rub down their knees, first Lyra's and then Sarah's. She rubbed so hard the skin became bright pink and sore, but clean, "The reason for this is you're going to have dinner with the Master and his guests. I hope to God you both behave. Speak when you're spoken to, be quiet and polite, smile nicely and don't ever say dunno when someone asks either of you a question" Mrs Lonsdale then dragged the dresses over the both of them, tugged them straight, she then fished some ribbon out of a drawer and began to brush both their hair. She did Sarah first and tied one piece of ribbon into her hair, so it went up into a ponytail. She then turned to Lyra and began to tug the tangles out, "If they'd let me know earlier, I could have given both your hair a proper wash. Well, that's too bad. As long as they don't look too close...There. Now stand up straight. Where are those best patent-leather shoes?"

Five minutes later both Sarah and Lyra were standing outside the Master’s Lodging, they knocked on the door and waited. It was opened by the Master's manservant Cousins, "Mrs Lonsdale said we were to come" Sarah told him, "Yes. The Master's in the drawing-room" he said briefly and stepped aside and showed them into a large room, overlooking the Library Garden. Sarah looked around and suddenly realized why they weren't dining in the hall, three of the Master's guests were women. The Master spotted them and came over, "Ah, Lyra. Sarah" he said "I'm so glad you could come. Cousins, could you find some sort of soft drinks?" he said, the Master then ushered them over to the guests, "Dame Hannah, I don't think you've met these girls. Lord Asriel's niece's" he said to the first women they came to. Each of them shook the woman's hand as politely as they could and were then introduced to the other guests, who seemed to both of them very uninteresting. Then the Master came to the final guest, "Mrs Coulter, this is Sarah and Lyra. Girls come and say hello to Mrs Coulter" he called to them, "Hello, Lyra. Hello, Sarah" the woman greeted. Sarah stared at the women, she was beautiful and young. Her sleek black hair framed her cheeks and beside her was a Golden Monkey dæmon.

Mrs Coulter moved up the sofa for the girls to sit down, "I hope you'll sit next to me at dinner" she said, "I'm not used to the grandeur of the Master's Lodging. You'll have to show me which knife and fork to use" Lyra sat down beside the woman and Sarah sat beside Lyra, all the time never taking her eyes off Mrs Coulter, "Are you a female Scholar?" Lyra asked, Sarah knew this woman was not like any female Scholar she had met before, and she certainly wasn't like the other two women present, "Not really. I'm a member of Dame Hannah's College, but most of my work takes place outside Oxford" Mrs Coulter explained, "Tell me about the two of you. Have you always lived at Jordan College?" she asked them. Sarah let Lyra do the talking; she listened as Lyra told her everything about their half-wild lives; their favourite routes over the roof-tops, the battle of the Claybeds with the towns kids, the time they and Roger had caught and roasted a rook, their intention to capture a narrowboat from the Gyptian's one time and sail it to Abington. She even told her about the time they played a trick on the skulls in the Crypt and how these ghosts came into their bedroom that night, the next day they went and put the coins back, "So you're not afraid of danger then?" Mrs Coulter said admiringly. To the girls' delight, they were sitting next to Mrs Coulter at dinner, they completely ignored the Librarian sitting next to them and spent the whole meal talking to her.

Afterwards, the ladies withdrew for coffee, Dame Hannah suddenly became interested in the girls, "Tell me, girls, are they going to send you to school?" she asked them, Sarah glanced at Lyra and then looked back at Dame Hannah, "Probably not" Sarah said, "We wouldn't want to put them to any trouble. Or expense. It's probably better if we just go getting educated by the Scholars here when they've got a bit of spare time. Being as they're here already. they're probably free" Sarah explained, "And does your uncle Lord Asriel have any plans for the pair of you?" she another woman, "We expect so. Not school, though. He's going to take us to the North next time he goes" Lyra told them, "I remember him telling me" Mrs Coulter said, Sarah turned her head to look at her, "I met him at the Royal Arctic Institute. As a matter of fact, it's partly because of that meeting that I'm here today" she explained, "Are you an explorer too?" Sarah asked, "In a kind of way. I've been to the North many times. Last year I spent three months in Greenland making observations of the Aurora" After that nothing and no one else mattered to Sarah, she gazed at Mrs Coulter with awe as she went into great lengths explaining about her adventures up north; from igloo-building, seal-hunting, of negotiating with the Lapland witches and even her encounter with the bear king Iofur Raknison. Both Sarah and Lyra ignored the other two woman completely now, so they both sat in silence until the men came in.

Later on, when everyone was preparing to leave, the Master called out "Girls, stay behind a moment. Go in my study and wait for me" he told them, Sarah frowned but they did as they were told, Cousins the manservant showed them in and pointedly left the door open so he could see what they were up too from the hall, where he was helping people on with their coats. Sarah peered through the door, looking for a sign of Mrs Coulter, but she didn't see her and then the Master came in and closed the door behind him. He went and sat down behind his desk, his Dæmon perched on the back of his chair, Sarah and Lyra both sat down in front of the desk, "So girls, you've been talking to Mrs Coulter. Did you like hearing what she had to say?" he asked them, Sarah beamed and Lyra said, "Yes!" the Master smiled slightly, "She's a remarkable lady," he said, "She's wonderful. She's the most wonderful person we ever met" Sarah said excitedly, "I should have made time before now to talk with you both. I was intending to do so in any case, but it seems that time is further on than I thought. You have both been safe here in Jordan. I think you've been happy. You haven't always found it easy to obey us, but we are very fond of you both, and you've never been bad the pair of you. There's lots of goodness and sweetness in your natures and a lot of determination. You're going to need all that. Things are going on in the wide world I would like to have protected you both from - by keeping you here in Jordan, but that's no longer possible"

Sarah stared in shock, were they going to be sent away? "You knew that someday we would have to send you both to school" the Master went on, "We have taught you some things here, but not well or systematically. Our knowledge is of a different kind. You need to know things that elderly men are not able to teach you, especially at the age you both are now. You must have been aware of that. Your not servants children either; we couldn't put you out to be fostered by a towns family. They might have cared for you in some way, but your needs are different. What I'm saying is that the part of your lives that belongs at Jordan College is coming to an end" Sarah sat, too shocked to speak, "No. No, we don't want to leave Jordan. We like it here. We want to stay here forever" Lyra said, almost pleadingly, "When you're young, you do think that things last forever. Unfortunately, they don't. Girls, it won't be long - a couple of years at most - before you will become young ladies and not children any more. And believe me, you'll find Jordan College a far from easy place to live in then" the Master told them, "But it's our home..." Sarah said at last, "It was your home. But now you need something else" the Master said, "Not school. We're not going to school" Lyra said a little firmly, "You need female company. Female guidance" the Master explained. Sarah frowned slightly, that to her sounded like it referred to female Scholars and that was certainly not what she wanted. Obviously, Lyra was thinking the same for the Master then said, "But, suppose it was Mrs Coulter?" he said, Sarah's frowned disappeared at once and she sat up in her seat, alert, "Really?" she said excitedly, "She is by way of being acquainted with Lord Asriel. Your uncle, of course, is very concerned about the welfare of both you, and when Mrs Coulter heard about the two of you she offered at once to help" the Master said, "There is no Mr Coulter by the way; she is a widow, her husband died very sadly in an accident some years ago, so you might want to keep that in mind before you ask" he told them, they both nodded, "And she's really going to look after us?" Sarah asked eagerly, "Would you like that?" the Master asked, "Yes!" Lyra said excitedly.

Sarah could hardly sit still, and neither it seemed could Lyra, they couldn't believe their luck. The Master smiled again, "Well, we had better ask her in to talk about it" he said. He left the room and moments later entered again, followed by Mrs Coulter, both Sarah and Lyra got to their feet excitedly, smiling at the woman, she smiled back. As she passed them both she touched both their heads gently and Sarah could have sworn she felt a current of warmth run through her. Once the Master her poured her a glass of wine, she turned to them, "So girls, I'm to have some help am I?" she said, Sarah smiled brightly, "Yes!" Lyra said, beaming, "There's a lot of work I need help with" Mrs Coulter went on, "We can work," Sarah said, "And we might have to travel," Mrs Coulter said, "We don't mind, we'd go anywhere," Lyra told her, "But it might be dangerous. We might have to go to the North" Sarah's eyes went wide, "Soon?" she asked, hopefully, "Possibly. But you know you'll both have to work very hard. You'll have to learn mathematics, and navigation and celestial geography" Mrs Coulter explained, "Will you teach us?" Sarah asked, "Yes. And you'll have to help me by making notes and putting papers in order and doing various pieces of calculations and so on. And because we'll be visiting some important people, we'll have to buy you both some pretty clothes. There's a lot to learn" she said, "We don't mind, we want to learn it all" Lyra said, "I'm sure you will. When you both come back to Jordan College you'll be famous travellers. Now we'll be leaving really early in the morning, by the dawn Zeppelin, so you two better run along and go straight to bed, I'll see you at breakfast. Good night" she said, Sarah beamed brightly still, "Good night!" they both said, then remembering their manners Sarah turned to the Master, "Good night Master," she said, "Sleep well," he said, "And thanks!" Lyra added to Mrs Coulter. They both hurried out of the room and to bed.

When the girls had left the room, Mrs Coulter turned to the Master, who in response looked anxious, "This is not Lord Asriel's wishes for their education" he told her, Mrs Coulter merely smiled, "Let me deal with Asriel. You mustn't deny me, my daughters, you really mustn't" she said coldly to him, "Now if you'll excuse me. I shall be off to bed" she then stood up and with the Golden Monkey walking by her side, she made her way out of the study. Feeling very pleased indeed.

Chapter Text

"Sarah!" someone called in the dark, Sarah woke not fully remembering how or when she fell asleep, she opened her eyes and saw Lyra leaning over her, "What?" she asked as she sat up, "The Master wants to see us in his study, I dunno why, Mrs Lonsdale just told me and I was to tell you," Lyra said, confused and curious, Sarah got up and went with Lyra. As they made their way to the Master's study Sarah looked around; she took in the sights of the magnificent buildings around her, this had been her home her whole life and now that she was leaving she wondered how much she would miss it.

They got to the study door and Sarah stood behind Lyra as she knocked, Sarah glanced at the window and saw the Master's crow dæmon watching them, the crow flapped her wings slightly and a moment later the door was opened by the Master, Sarah noticed he looked anxious, "Good girls, come inside quick and close the door" he said as he stepped aside and Sarah walked in after Lyra, they both stood by the Master's desk as they watched him search through a cabinet, "Aren't we going after all?" Lyra asked him, "Yes, I can't prevent it," the Master said, Sarah, frowned, realizing what a strange thing that was to say.

When the Master came back over Sarah saw he was carrying something wrapped in a velvet cloth, "Girls. I'm going to give you something, but you must promise to keep it private" curious Sarah tried to see the thing in the Master's hands, which he started to unwrap. Once he had removed the cloth they saw a golden object lying in his hands; it was very much like a large pocket watch with three little wheels around the edge, the Master handed it to Lyra, "This is an Alethiometer, it is one of only six that were ever made" the Master explained, Sarah looked over Lyra's shoulder at the object and then at the Master "What's it for?" she asked him, "It tells the truth" he replied “How to use it you will have to learn for yourselves" Sarah looked at the object again, Lyra began turning it over in her hands, the Master continued "Girls, I urge you both, you must not let anyone know you have it, not even Mrs Coulter" he said "Promise me that" Sarah frowned, puzzled "Promise me girls" the Master repeated a little more forcefully, they both nodded, "Good, now go back to your room quickly" he said, "And remember. Keep. It. Private" he said once again, the girls nodded again and they headed back towards the door, Sarah watched as Lyra wrap the Alethiometer up in its velvet cloth, Lyra opened the door and went out, Sarah looked back at the Master once more and smiled slightly at him before following Lyra and they both ran all the way back to their bedroom, as they did Sarah saw the sun was beginning to rise, the servants would be getting ready for their work any moment now.

They arrived back at the bedroom to find Mrs Lonsdale closing two suitcases, Sarah glanced over at the wardrobe and saw it was now completely empty, the beds were made – with clean sheets and the room looked pristine, Mrs Lonsdale noticed the covered object in Lyra's hand "What's that then?" she asked her, "The Master gave it to us, can't it go in the suitcase?" Lyra asked but Mrs Lonsdale shook her head "Too late, you'll just have to put it in your coat pocket" she said "Now get yourselves ready and hurry on down to the Buttery; don't keep them waiting" Sarah picked up the dress that had been laid out and got herself changed, she then went into the bathroom and washed her hands and face.

Once they were both ready they made their way down to the kitchen and said goodbye to the few servants who were up. As she looked around Sarah noticed there was no sign of Roger, she turned towards the cook, "Where's Roger?" she asked him, "Dunno Miss Sarah" he told her, "But that boys gonna get when he turns up" Sarah bit her lip slightly, it wasn't like Roger to be late for his duties, her stomach twisted slightly as she began to wonder what on earth had happened to him, she looked around at Lyra worriedly, she returned the same expression and Sarah ran on through to the laundry room, “Is Roger here?” she called out to the chambermaids, “Has anyone seen him?” they shook their heads, “No, Miss Sarah” one of them replied, Lyra came up behind Sarah, “We gotta look for him, you check the west side, I’ll check the east” Sarah told her, Lyra nodded and rushed off in one direction and Sarah ran in the other.

“Roger! Roger!” she called as she ran through the corridors, she would ask anyone she came to if they had seen him but always got the same response, “No, Miss Sarah” Alfie was in his owl form and flew a little ahead of Sarah, keeping a keen eye around the place. Once she had searched every inch of the building inside, she clambered over the roofs and checked in all the usual places they hung out. Then she hurried on down to the crypt below the college, “He hates it down here, this would be the last place he’d be” Alfie said, “It’s the only place left to search, Alfie!” Sarah said frantically, “Roger! Roger! You down here?!” she cried out. Once she got into the heart of the crypt she found Lyra already there, “Anything?” Lyra asked, Sarah shook her head, “Nothing…” she said, then bit her lip, “Lyra…you…you don’t think the Gobblers got him…do you?” she said nervously, Lyra stared at her, “The Gobblers are a myth, just children's stories, you know that Sarah” Lyra replied, Sarah glanced down slightly, “What…what if they aren’t though…” both girls looked at each other, the same worried expression on their faces.

They both made their way back up from the crypt and into the entrance hall of the college. Sarah was on the verge of tears now, Alfie was in his puppy form, whimpering softly, showing Sarah’s sadness and desperation. Suddenly a voice came from the other end of the hall, “Ah, good you're early, I like early” Sarah looked round to see Mrs Coulter walking towards them, the women then frowned curiously, “What’s wrong dear?” she asked, obviously noticing the tears in Sarah’s eyes, “Our friend, Roger, who works in the kitchens. He’s missing, we can’t find him anywhere, this isn’t like him, somethings wrong” Sarah said frantically, “What do you mean, you seem, worried girls, tell me” Mrs Coulter said to them. Sarah glanced at Lyra and then looked back at the women, “We know the Gobblers are just children stories…” Sarah began, but Mrs Coulter cut her off by hushing her, “Not here girls” she whispered, she then guided them both over to the side as Lyra began to explain, “We heard one of the Gyptians children’s gone missing, they're saying it’s the Gobblers….so…” she trailed off, “In every child’s nightmare, there's an element of truth” Mrs Coulter said, Sarah, bit her lip, “So…you’re saying…the Gobblers could be real, they could have Roger?” Sarah asked, “It is possible,” Mrs Coulter said, “Then we should call the state police,” Lyra said as she turned to walk away, but Mrs Coulter held her back, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, “No, no. They will be no use what so ever. The state police wouldn’t care about a kitchen boy, he’ll be miles away by now” Mrs Coulter explained, Sarah glanced down feeling the tears running down her cheeks now, “Girls, listen to me” Mrs Coulter said as she walked then right over to the side and she sat down on a window ledge, both Lyra and Sarah stood in front of her, “Do you care for this boy?” she asked, Sarah nodded, “Does he care for the two of you?” she went on, again Sarah nodded, “Yes” Lyra answered, “Right, then we will have to take the matter into our own hands. The Gobblers would have taken him to London, I’ll set down tracks as soon as we arrive” Mrs Coulter told them, Sarah frowned, “The Gobblers are in London?” Lyra said, surprised, “Of course. Oxfords too small, in London children can just disappear” Mrs Coulter said, “In Oxford, there’s nowhere to hide, in London, there's everywhere” “You’ll help find him?” Sarah asked, “Girls, look at me. I won’t just help, I won’t just try, I’ll succeed” Mrs Coulter told them.

There was silence for a moment, Sarah looked down at the floor, trying to hold back the tears still running down her cheeks, “Right, I’m on the 8oclock airship, I expect to see you both there” Mrs Coulter said as she stood up, “For your sakes and for Rogers” she then walked off along the corridor, leaving the girls, Sarah then turned to Lyra, “Lyra! That thing the Master gave to us” she whispered, Lyra nodded and they both rushed off back to their bedroom. They got back to the bedroom and Lyra took out the Alethiometer, “What did he say this did? Tells the truth” Lyra said, she opened the device and leaned over it, “Tell me were Roger is” she said into it. Nothing. Sarah was looking over Lyra’s shoulder, “Tell us where we can find Roger” Sarah said, again nothing. Sarah bit her lip, “The ferry’s about to leave, if we’re going we have to go now, Sarah” Alfie said, Sarah, looked at Lyra, “If the Gobblers have taken him, she’s our best chance of getting him back. Isn’t she?” Sarah said, Lyra glanced round at her, “Maybe…” she replied, Sarah nodded and both girls rushed out of the room.

They came out into the grounds of Jordan College and ran full sprint towards the sky ferry that was ready for take-off, “Wait!” Lyra cried. She reached the platform first and Sarah sped after her, both girls now completely out of breath, a man opened the door and they both went in. Sarah instantly began looking around for Mrs Coulter as they walked up the aisle, she then spotted her, “Lyra! Sarah!” she said happily, “I’m so glad you decided to join me, come take a seat” Lyra and Sarah both sat down in the seat opposite Mrs Coulter, “I think it’s the best decision for us” Mrs Coulter went on. Sarah leaned forward slightly, trying to catch her breath, “So when do we start looking for Roger?” Lyra asked, “Lyra, airships aren’t the best places to talk” Mrs Coulter whispered back, “But we got to figure out where to start…” Sarah began but Mrs Coulter cut her off, “We’re together now, we’ll have plenty of time to discuss whatever you want” Sarah nodded slightly and glanced down slightly, “A bit of quiet now would be best” Mrs Coulter said before starting to read some letters. Sarah looked around the airship, taking in everything, she then heard Lyra whisper, “The Gyptians, they're leaving too” Sarah shuffled over to the window and peered over Lyra’s shoulder. She was right, what looked like every single Gyptian boat was sailing upriver, Sarah frowned slightly, she glanced at Lyra, who shrugged in response and Sarah then sat back in her seat and began to play with her dæmon.

Mrs Coulter sat and worked through some papers for a good part of the journey, but she soon put them away and talked. Both Lyra and Sarah were in intoxicated, not by the north this time but of London, and the restaurants and ballrooms, the soirées at Embassies or Ministries, the intrigues between White Hall and Westminster. They were almost more fascinated by this than by the changing landscape below the airship. What Mrs Coulter was saying seemed to be accompanied by a scent of grown-upness, something disturbing but enticing at the same time; it was the smell of glamour.

They landed in Falkeshall Gardens and got a boat ride across the wide brown river and docked on the grand mansion block on the embankment, where a stout commissioner saluted Mrs Coulter and winked at the girls who both seized him up expressionlessly. A car ride later they arrived outside a massive, grand looking building. The driver came round to Mrs Coulter’s side and held out his hand to her, she took it and climbed out and then looked around, “Girls, this is your new home” she said brightly, Lyra shuffled out first, followed by Sarah and both girls could only gasp. Sarah stared up at the massive building in awe, “Is this...all yours?” Lyra asked just as much in awe as Sarah felt, Mrs Coulter gave a small laugh, “Goodness no, just the one floor” Mrs Coulter told them.

They headed over to the building and got into a lift, Mrs Coulter pressed the top floor button and they felt the lift move up. There was a ding and the lift door opened onto a long hallway and both girls gasped, Sarah looked up at Mrs Coulter, “Go on” she said and both Lyra and Sarah walked into the flat. They had both seen a great deal of beauty in their short lives, but it was Jordan College beauty and Oxford beauty - grand and stony and masculine. In Jordan College, much was magnificent, but nothing was pretty. In Mrs Coulter flat everything was pretty, “I can’t believe this is our new home, Alfie...” Sarah whispered to her dæmon.

Mrs Coulter then came over to the girls, “Let me show you around” she said, as she led them to the closest room, “This is the living room” Sarah looked around in awe, you could fit the girl's bedroom back at Jordan plus the retiring room in this one room. They came back out into the hall, “Now down there to the left is my bedroom and ahead is my study, which I like to keep to my personal space” Mrs Coulter told them, they then veered to the right, “Here is where I prepared rooms for you two” they turned to the door on the left first, “Lyra, you’re in here” Mrs Coulter said as she opened the bedroom door, Lyra gasped and Sarah’s eyes went wide. The room was massive, with a queen-size bed in the middle of the room, “I’ll let you get settled” Mrs Coulter said, Lyra ran into the room and immediately launched herself onto the bed, Sarah smirked and Mrs Coulter laughed slightly, the women then took Sarah’s hand and led her over to the door opposite, “Sarah, you’re in here” she said kindly as she opened the other door. Sarah gasped as she looked into the huge room, she then walked in slowly, staring around mesmerised by it all, “There’s such a lot to show you both, now get yourself settled, then you can freshen up in the bathroom, I thought we could go to the Royal Arctic Institute for lunch, I am one of the very few female members, so may as well use the privileges I have” Mrs Coulter said, Sarah smiled back at the women then Mrs Coulter walked away. Sarah went over to the window and looked out onto the busy street below, “This place is a lot more comfortable than Oxford” Alfie said, “And it’s our new home” Sarah said brightly, “Rogers too of course when she finds him” as she said this Sarah felt a sicking lurch in the pit of her stomach, she only hoped that Roger was safe wherever he was right now.

A minute or so later Mrs Coulter came back, “Ready?” she asked, Sarah looked around and nodded, “Have you washed up?” the women asked, Sarah, shook her head, “Come along to the bathroom” she held out her hand and Sarah walked over and took it. Mrs Coulter led the girl to the room between the two-bedroom. The bathroom was another wonder altogether. Both she and Lyra were used to washing with a yellow bar of soap in a chipped basin, where the water that came out of the taps was warm at the best of times and more often than not flecked with rust. But here the water hot, the soap rose-pink and fragrant, and the towels were thick and cloudy-soft and around the mirror Sarah noticed, were tiny little lights so when the girl looked into it she saw a softly illuminated figure quite unlike herself. Sarah rubbed herself dry with the soft towel and walked back out the bathroom just as Lyra came out of her own bedroom. Lyra then went to wash up also and once she was done they set off out of the flat with Mrs Coulter.

A twenty-minute walk took them to a grand stone building. They entered into a wide dining room there were tables with snowy cloths and bright silver cutlery. Though it was not these that lightened then girls hearts it was the exhibits around the room, both girls rushed to examine them all. Sarah was standing beside a case that held all sorts of expedition equipment, Mrs Coulter came up behind her, “Come sit down, girls” Sarah slowly followed her over to a table, still staring about in awe, Lyra was at the other side of the room, “Oxford only had so much...but this” Lyra said, clearly as awestruck as Sarah herself. Sarah sat down at the table with Mrs Coulter, “Now, what will you have to eat?” Mrs Coulter said as she picked up the menu, “I don’t care about food” Lyra said, still wondering about aimlessly, “You might care about food if you were starving” Mrs Coulter replied, Lyra then rushed over to one of the glass cases, “Is that an Armoured bear skull?!” she gasped, “I’ve read so much about them, it’s huge” Sarah made to get up but Mrs Coulter held her there and turned her head, “Lyra, come here” she said simply, sheepishly Lyra wandered over and sat down beside Sarah. Mrs Coulter picked up the menu again, “Now, how about Calves’ liver” she said, “That and seal liver are the two best things to eat in the Arctic, but if you're ever stuck for food you must never eat bear liver. That’s full of a poison that will kill you in minutes” Mrs Coulter explained.  

As they eat Sarah began to pounder over Roger again, she finished her mouthful of food and looked over at the women, “Mrs Coulter, I’ve been thinking about Roger, and maybe Lyra and I should help you with the search, a child’s eyes can be useful” the girl said, Mrs Coulter looked up at Sarah, she was silent for a moment, “Sarah, look around this room. How many women do you see?” She began, Sarah glanced around and only now realised it was entirely all men, “There are people who would belittle you, with my help they won’t lay a scratch on you. I can teach you to wielded power over all of them, but you must let me mould you, you must trust me” Sarah blinked once or twice, “I trust you” she said timidly, “Then will you let me find Roger for you?” The women asked, “But he’s our friend...” Sarah began, “I won’t let you down, I promise” Mrs Coulter interjected, Sarah glanced down slightly and nodded.

Mrs Coulter began to point out a few of the famous explorers; there was Colonel Carborn. The man who made the first balloon flight over the North Pole. Then there was a man called Dr Broken Arrow, “Is he the man who mapped the currents of the great northern ocean?” Sarah asked, and Mrs Coulter nodded. Sarah felt in awe at these great men, they were scholars but explorers too. She knew Dr Broken Arrow would know that fact about bear liver, she doubted the Librarian at Jordan College would.

After lunch, Mrs Coulter took them both shopping. Everything on this day had been a new experience for the pair of them, but shopping was the most dizzying. You would go into buildings full of beautiful clothes, people would let you try them on and you would look at yourself in mirrors and everything was so pretty. Most of the clothes Sarah and Lyra acquired had been handed down through Mrs Lonsdale and much had been mended. They rarely had anything new and the odd occasion they did it was picked for wear and not looks, and they had never picked anything for themselves. Now Mrs Coulter was suggesting this, and praising that and paying for it all. Most of the shopping Mrs Coulter had packed up and delivered but they did take one or two things with them, and by the time they arrived back at the flat, the girls were flushed and bright-eyed with tiredness.

Mrs Coulter had a bath drawn for them, “Sarah, how about you go first, dear” Mrs Coulter said, Sarah, nodded and went into the bathroom. The tub was hot with think scented foam. Sarah picked up a handful of bubbles and blew them playfully at her dæmon - who was perched on the side of the tub in his ermine form. Mrs Coulter then came in, she sat down in the seat beside the bath and began to wash Sarah’s hair. She didn’t rub and scape as Mrs Lonsdale would, she was gentle. Alfie watched this with curiosity but Mrs Coulter looked at him sharply and he knew he would have to turn away and avert his eyes like the golden monkey was doing. He’d never had to look away from Sarah before. Once she was done Sarah got herself dried and went into her bedroom.

Sarah dressed in the new flannel nightdress with printed flowers and dyed blue, sheepskin slippers. There was a knock on the door and Sarah turned her head just as Mrs Coulter appeared in the doorway, “My, don’t you look lovely” she said kindly, “Come along to the living room, there’s supper waiting” Sarah nodded and followed Mrs Coulter out and towards the living room where she found a warm drink of milk and a plate of biscuits. Sarah sat down on the sofa and began to sip slowly at the milk, occasionally blowing to cool it. Moments later Lyra came in, all washed and dress too, she sat next to Sarah and both of them were silent as they finished their supper. Mrs Coulter then instructed them to run along to bed and she would be there in a moment to wish them goodnight, Lyra rushed off almost immediately, Sarah, however, sat for a moment.

Her mind suddenly became hazy and she could have sworn she could see a blurry image in front of her eyes. Slowly it came more in focus and she could soon make out the form of a person. They appeared to be holding something in their arms, rocking it back and forth, then it turns its head sharply as if it had heard something but before anything could happen Sarah came back to her senses and was once again looking at Mrs Coulter sitting on the sofa opposite. She was staring curiously at the girl, “Is everything okay, dear?” She asked, concerned. Sarah shook herself slightly and nodded, “Yeah, just...tired probably,” she said, Mrs Coulter smiled, “Well, you run along to bed, I’ll be there in a moment,” she told her, Sarah nodded and hurried out of the room.

She came to the space between her and Lyra doors but rather than going into her own room she went into Lyra’s, deciding to tell her what had just happened. As soon as she walked in she saw Lyra lying on her front in bed, her hand under the pillow, Sarah frowned as she walked over, “What’s up?” Sarah asked, in answer, Lyra slipped her hand out from under the pillow bring out the compass object the Master had given them. Sarah looked down at it curiously, “What did he call it?” Sarah asked, “An Alethiometer,” Lyra said, “Dunno what that’s supposed to mean though” Sarah puzzled curiously, “Well...Alethia is Greek for truth” Sarah began to explain “And meter means to measure” Lyra looked around, “How do you know that?” She asked and Sarah raised her eyebrows, “Just because you never paid attention in our classes doesn’t mean I didn’t” Sarah said. She took the device from Lyra and opened it to find symbols round the face, 36 in counting. There was an anchor; an hourglass surmounted by a skull; a chameleon; a bull: a beehive and many others and she couldn’t even guess what they meant. “There are three little wheels on the side” Sarah noticed and turned one of them, it turned one of the hands-on the device, she turned another and then the last one so that they pointed at three different symbols. Sarah found no way of moving the forth, more slender needle, it aimlessly swung where it wanted almost like the needle of a compass except it didn’t settle. Both girls spent some time changing the three needles to different symbols and then watched as the long needle swung around the dial, finally, Sarah spoke, “Why do you think the Master gave it to us?” She asked and Lyra shrugged, “Maybe we’ve got to keep it safe and give it to uncle Asriel” Lyra suggested, “But the Master tried to poison him. Maybe it’s the opposite, maybe he meant not to give it to him” Sarah said, “No, it was her he told us to keep it safe from” Lyra said.

Just then there was a soft knock on the door, Lyra snapped the device shut and stuffed it under the pillow, just at Mrs Coulter came in, “Time for bed, girls” she said softly as she came over to the bed so she was standing beside Sarah, “ You’re both tired and we’ve got a busy day tomorrow” the girls nodded, Mrs Coulter bent over and tucked Lyra into bed, kissing her gently on the cheek, “Good night, dear” she said, “Night” Lyra replied, Pantalaimon in his cat form curled up beside her. Mrs Coulter then took Sarah’s hand and led her out of the room and into her own, the women drew back the covers and Sarah climbed in, Mrs Coulter then proceeded to tuck the duvet around her, she then sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Sarah’s cheek softly with her finger, “Good night” she whispered, Sarah smiled back “Night” and the girl turned on her side and cuddled into her dæmon who was ermine formed.

Mrs Coulter stood up and smiled down at the girl, she then turned and walked back out of the room with her dæmon. She stood in the hallway between the two doors and looked from one to the other, “My darling daughters” she whispered softly. She then proceeded along the hallway, to her own bedroom.

Chapter Text

The days that followed were a whirlwind of activities. The girls went everywhere with Mrs Coulter as if they were both dæmons. It turned out Mrs Coulter knew a great deal many important people in London and they would meet in all kinds of different places; there might be a meeting of geographers at the Royal Arctic Institute, or Mrs Coulter would be meeting a politician or a cleric for lunch in some smart restaurant. Lyra and Sarah would both sit by and listen and they would all be very taken with the girls and order special dishes for them, they learned how to eat asparagus and what sweetbreads tasted like. In the afternoons Mrs Coulter would perhaps meet some ladies for tea, and both girls would be dressed up pretty for these occasions and the ladies would pamper them and include them in their delicate talk, which was mostly all about people; this artist, or that politician, or those lovers. In the evenings Mrs Coulter might take the girls to the theatre, and there would be many important and glamorous people to talk here and be admired by.

The intervals between these events Mrs Coulter would teach them both the rudiments of geography and mathematics. During one lesson they were reading a book on elementary particles - well Sarah was reading Lyra she knew would be daydreaming, when it came to studies Sarah found it easier to pay more attention than Lyra could, “Lyra, your still not concentrating” Mrs Coulter said, Sarah looked over at Lyra, “Books aren’t what I’m best at” she said, “What are you best at?” Mrs Coulter asked, “Can’t you mould us into people who read some books, but who travels mostly, who adventures” Lyra began, “Who looks for people when they're lost...” Sarah added, “Sarah, did you not agree to trust me,” Mrs Coulter said, a little firmly, Sarah backed off and looked back down at her book, “Right, now where were you? Ah electrons, now the thing about electrons...” Mrs Coulter began to explain but Lyra interjected, “There negatively charged particles, sort of like Dust, though Dust might not be charged,” Lyra said expertly.

Suddenly Sarah felt the atmosphere change in the room, Mrs Coulter suddenly went slightly rigid and Alfie noticed the Golden Monkeys fur stand on end as if it were charged itself, “Dust?” Mrs Coulter asked, trying to keep her voice calm, though Sarah sensed a little irritation, Lyra obviously was oblivious to this, “Yeah, you know from space. That Dust” Lyra went on, “What do you know about Dust, Lyra?” Mrs Coulter asked, “That it come from space, and it lights people up if you have a special sort of camera to see it by and...oh yes, it doesn’t affect children” Lyra replied, “Where did you learn this from?” Mrs Coulter asked, but before Lyra could answer Sarah replied, “Just someone in Jordan. Can’t really remember who” she explained. Alfie was a moth and was whispering to Pantalaimon to tell Lyra to watch what she said and made him aware of the Golden Monkey. Now Mrs Coulter was holding his fur so tightly her knuckles were almost white, “Was this in one of your lessons?” Mrs Coulter asked, again Sarah answered, “It might have been, or it might have of been just in passing,” she said, Lyra then continued, more cautiously now, obviously now aware of the situation, “I think it was a Scholar from New Denmark, he had been talking to the Chaplain about it and we happened to be passing and found it interesting so couldn’t help stopping to listen,” she said, Mrs Coulter only nodded this time, “Is it right, what he said? Did I get it wrong?” Lyra asked, “Well I don’t know, I’m sure you know much more than I do. Now let’s get back to those electrons” Mrs Coulter said simply. Sarah stared at the women for a moment, she seemed to take some time to calm down fully after that.

Sarah felt exhausted after all these events, not just because of the busy days but because she was finding it hard to sleep at nights. This would sometimes happen at Jordan. Every now and again she would go through periods where she would have horrid dreams and would wake up panting and sweating. Lyra had always told her not to worry about it, that they were only dreams and they couldn’t harm her but Sarah was not so sure. She hadn’t told Lyra this but a few of the dreams she had had actually came true. The first time she realised this was when she had dreamt they had stolen the narrowboat from the Gyptians and sailed it upriver - then a few days later Lyra had suggested this very thing.  At first, Sarah brushed it off as a coincidence until it happened again when their uncle Asriel had turned up unexpectedly earlier than planned. These dreams scared Sarah, not only because they seemed to come true, but because there was no way knowing which ones would come to pass and there were certain dreams she really hoped would never happen. It was these dreams Sarah always awoke from feeling frightened.

One night Sarah had once again been woken by her nightmare. She sat bolt upright breathing heavily, her mouth dry and beads of sweat dripping from her head. After regaining some control she decided to go get a glass of water. Pushing back the duvet she made her way out of the room and along the corridor. She had only got halfway to the kitchen when she heard scraping and rattling noises, frowning Sarah looked all around but saw nothing, she began to walk on and heard it again, “In the walls” Alfie said to her, Sarah walked over to the wall and placed her ear to it, her dæmon was right, “Maybe it’s just the pipes” she suggested, “I don’t think so, it appears to be moving” Alfie said, Sarah frowned still and realised again he was right, the noise was travelling, she walked on, following the scratching and banging noises until she finally stopped outside the door to Mrs Coulter's study.

Sarah bit her lip, hesitating. Then slowly she reached up and turned the handle of the door, she threw it open and gasped at what she saw. The Golden Monkey was sitting on a desk in the office, but what made Sarah horrified was that Mrs Coulter was nowhere to be seen, “Sarah?” a voice said behind her and Sarah spun round to find Mrs Coulter herself at the other end of the corridor.  Sarah stood frozen in shock as Mrs Coulter began to walk towards her, “What are you doing out of bed? It’s really late” Mrs Coulter said, as she walked towards Sarah, the Golden Monkey suddenly appeared from behind her, Sarah forced her herself to talk, though she was still in shock at what she’d seen, “I..can't sleep...so I was going to get a glass of water...I heard a noise and...Mrs Coulter...how are you able to be so far away from your dæmon?” Sarah said timidly, by this time Mrs Coulter was standing in front of Sarah, “I’m not” she replied, “It’s too painful...it’s not natural. He was in the study and you were down the hallway” Sarah said, Mrs Coulter gave a sweet smile, “You’re mistaken, he was with me the entire time” Mrs Coulter told the girl. Sarah just stood, still in shock, “Oh darling, your sleepy” Mrs Coulter said as she came over to Sarah and placed her arm over the girl's shoulders, “You run along back to bed and I’ll fetch you some water” the women said as she led Sarah back down the corridor towards her bedroom. Sarah walked into the bedroom as Mrs Coulter headed off to go get a drink for the girl, she sat on the edge of her bed and stared down at the floor, “What should we do Sarah, maybe we should ask her again, explain how we.…” Alfie began but Sarah cut him off, “No! We said we’d never tell anyone about that Alfie” she retorted back, “But if she can do it too” Alfie said. Sarah bit her lip, remembering;

It had happened not long after her twelfth birthday, Sarah and Alfie, when they were younger had always liked to play the game that all kids played of how far away from your dæmon you could go, they never managed to get more than a few feet without it starting to hurt and Alfie would fly back immediately. On this particular day however they discovered Alfie was able to go right to the other end of the room and the strangest thing was it didn’t hurt at all. She could feel he was yards from her but it didn’t bother her. This was the other big secret she was keeping from Lyra, she had not told a single person about that event.

Mrs Coulter suddenly came into the room, she walked over to the bed and placed the glass of water on the bedside table, she then sat down on the edge beside Sarah, “Are your alright dear?” She asked the girl, sounding concerned. Sarah said nothing, she wanted to tell the women everything, but she was afraid, she just didn’t understand why all of this was happening. Eventually, she nodded and looked up at Mrs Coulter, “Yes, I’m fine. I’m probably just tired like you said” she explained, Mrs Coulter smiled gently and stroked the girl's hair briefly, she then stood up and tucked Sarah back into bed and kissed her cheek, “Sleep tight, dear” she said softly, Sarah forced a smile and then lay on her side and closed her eyes trying to make herself fall back to sleep.

After a few weeks staying with Mrs Coulter, she had decided to host a cocktail party. There were flowers to order, canapés and drinks to sort with the caterers and the girls spent a whole night with Mrs Coulter going through the list of whom to invite. Neither Sarah nor Lyra knew who any of the people Mrs Coulter was suggesting were but they enjoyed giving their opinions. They would write down the names that were said, spelling them atrociously and then crossing them out when Mrs Coulter decided against them.

Later that night Sarah lay in bed exhausted, Alfie was in his mouse form on the pillow, “She’s never taking us to the North, she’s going to keep us here forever. When are we going to run away?” He said to her, “She will! You just don’t like her, well hard luck because I do. Anyway, why would she be teaching us everything we need to know if she wasn’t taking us?” She said, “Stop you and Lyra getting impatient. Can’t you see she’s just making a pet out of the two of you, you don’t really want to stand around at the cocktail party looking all sweet and pretty” Alfie retorted, Sarah said nothing to this and turned away from her dæmon. She knew deep down Alfie spoke some truth, it was a very polite and confined life however luxurious it was, she would give anything to be back at Jordan with Lyra and Roger, running over the roof, battling with the towns kids and racing along the canal. The one thing that kept her polite and attentive was the amazing notion of going North.

On the afternoon of the cocktail party, Mrs Coulter took them both to a hairdresser where their hair was softened and waved, and they had there nails filed and polished, they have even applied a little makeup to their lips and eyes to show them how to do it. Then they collect the new dresses Mrs Coulter had ordered for them and bought some patent-leather shoes to match and then headed back to the flat to make the final arrangements and get dressed.

Sarah was in her room getting ready, she gazed at herself in the mirror; the dress she was wearing was pale white and silk, nothing to fancy,  she actually began to think of herself as quite pretty. Just as she was clipping a strand of her hair back, she heard voices outside her door, “Not the shoulder bag, dear” said Mrs Coulter, Sarah frowned and went over to the door to listen, “Oh, please, Mrs Coulter, I do love this bag” came Lyra voice, “Not indoors Lyra. It looks absurd to be carrying a shoulder bag in your own home. Take it off at once, and come help check these glasses” Mrs Coulter replied almost in a snappish tone, “But it won’t be in the way. And it’s the only thing I really like wearing” Lyra retorted back. Suddenly there was a snarling sound and a cry from Lyra. Sarah pulled the door open and gasped at what she saw. The Golden Monkey had Pantalaimon pinned to the ground and Lyra was on her knees crying in pain. Instinctively, Alfie turned into a wildcat and sprang to Pan’s defence, but as soon as he got close to the Golden Monkey he was pushed back forcefully and smacked against the wall. Sarah, feeling this too fell to the floor and cried out in pain. Lyra was sobbing now from the pain she was in, “Don’t! Please! Stop hurting us!” She cried, Mrs Coulter was mindlessly sorting some flowers, she looking at calmly, “Do as I tell you then” she said simply, “I promise!” Lyra sobbed

The Golden Monkey let go of Pantalaimon and he fled to Lyra, she scooped him up to her face and kissed him. Sarah shuffled over to Lyra and put her arm around her, being careful not to touch Pan’s fur, Sarah looked up at Mrs Coulter and frowned, “Why did you do that?!” She said firmly, Mrs Coulter stared down at them both, a cold, icy stare, “Girls, if you behave in this coarse and vulgar way, then we will have a confirmation which I will win. Lyra take off that shoulder bag this instant! Sarah control that unpleasant frown. Now the first guest will be arriving in a few minutes and they will find you both perfectly behaved, sweet, charming, innocent, attentive, delightful in every way. I particularly wish for that girls, do you understand me?” Mrs Coulter said sternly, Sarah looked down at the floor, her arm still around Lyra, “Yes, Mrs Coulter” both Lyra and Sarah said, almost in unison, “Then kiss me” Mrs Coulter said, and leaned down to them, offering her cheek, Lyra reached up and kissed it first and then Sarah followed suit, noticing how smooth the women’s cheek was, and the slightly perplexing smell of Mrs Coulter skin, scented, but somehow metallic.  Lyra stood up and went back into her room, Sarah followed and went over to Lyra as she laid the shoulder bag on the bed, “You okay?” Sarah asked in a whisper, Lyra just shrugged and Sarah hugged Lyra gently, just then Mrs Coulter came into the room, “Sarah, dear, go check if the caters brought enough ice, warm drinks are horrid” she told the girl, Sarah glanced at Lyra and then did as she was told and went back out of the room.

Sarah found it was quite easy to pretend to be light-hearted and cheerful, as she wandered among the guests, offering drinks and canapés to everyone.  She could feel Mrs Coulter watching her the whole time which put her on edge, “We got to find out about her” Alfie said to her, Sarah smiled to someone as they took a drink from her tray, “How? What we supposed to do?” Sarah said, “Her study, there’s bound to be something in there that will tell us something,” Alfie told her, “How do you suppose we do that, we can barely get near that place when this place isn’t full of people,” Sarah said to him, “We just need a distraction, let me go talk to Pan,” Alfie told her. Sarah moved as close to Lyra as she could, without causing suspicion and Alfie turned into a moth and fluttered over, he rested on to of Pan’s head, “You and Lyra have got to cause a distraction somehow, while Sarah and I sneak into her study and see if we can find out anything about Mrs Coulter” Alfie explained, “How?” Pan asked, “Use your imagination, just make sure she is only paying attention to you while Sarah and I sneak away,” Alfie said. Of course, Lyra was getting all this information too, Sarah made eye contact with her and nodded slightly and Lyra responded with a slight nod back, Alfie then fluttered back over to his human and settled on her shoulder, “We just got to wait for the signal” Alfie said, Sarah, nodded and began wandering among the guest again, making a point to stay close to the doorway to make a quick exit.

She had just offered someone a glass when suddenly there was a smashing sound from the other side of the room, everyone looked over, all except Sarah who quickly made her escape out of the room. She hurried up the corridor and stopped outside the study door, she pushed against, it was locked, “Did you really expect her to leave it open during a party?” Alfie said, “Then what am I supposed to do?” Sarah said, a little irritated, “Look there!” Alfie said and Sarah looked towards the wall by the door. There was a vent a few feet away, she went over and examined it, she found it opened easily to reveal a small passage, “This must be how the monkey gets around, he can go far away from her, he’s been spying on us the whole time” Sarah said bewildered, “Well, let’s use it ourselves” Alfie said, Sarah then slid headfirst into the vent and began to slide her way through. It was a good thing she is small for her age, this made it easier to manoeuvre.

She got to the end of the passage and pushed the vent open, finding herself in the study. She jumped down into the room and began to search around. She checked through bookshelves, under chairs, pillows and even behind picture frames. The last place she checked was the desk itself. She opened up every drawer she found but nothing essential seemed to be jumping out at her. Then she had an idea, carefully as she could, she pulled one of the drawers out fully and shoved her hand in and felt around. Bingo! Her hand clasped some paper, she pulled it out and found it was a folder. Lying it on the desk she began to flick through; there were several papers labelled “The General Oblation Board of London” Sarah frowned, “What’s the General Oblation Board?” She said aloud, “Dunno” Alfie replied, Sarah continued to shuffle through the papers. She came to some papers that looked like plans for something, “This looks like plans to build something in the North...” Sarah said, feeling a little scared now, “I don’t understand...that looks like...a human and his dæmon...”

Just then there was the sound of footsteps outside, Alfie crawled under the door to look and then came back in, “Sarah quick, she’s coming!” He said hurriedly. Panicking, Sarah hesitatingly put the papers back into the folder and shoved it back into the desk, and quickly as she could put the drawer back in place. She had just straightened up when she heard the key in the lock. Realising she had no time, Sarah ducked under the desk and held her breath just as the door opened and she heard heels on the floor. They walked into the room and then stopped. Sarah tried to steady her breathing and she closed her eyes. There was silence for a moment and then, “Sarah? I know you're here, come out now” Mrs Coulter said firmly, Sarah’s eyes widened, she hesitated, not moving, “Sarah!” Mrs Coulter said again, sounding a little angrier this time. Slowly Sarah came out from under the desk and stood up. Mrs Coulter was standing in the middle of the room, she and Sarah both stared straight at each other, “What do you think you're doing, I specifically told you and Lyra not to come in here” Mrs Coulter said, Sarah just stood, petrified.

Mrs Coulter seemed to be charged with some kind of anbaric force. She even smells different, a hot smell, like heated metal came from her body, Sarah remembered feeling a whiff of it earlier but now she was sure of it. Sarah stayed silent and just stared back at Mrs Coulter, the women scowled, “We’ll discuss this later young lady” she said in a low voice, “Now, come here at once!” Sarah reluctantly did as she was told and Mrs Coulter took hold of the girls arm a little firmly and half dragged, half ushered her out of the room. She locked the study door behind them and brought Sarah back into the living room.

As they walked in Mrs Coulter hesitated a moment as if she’d seen something, still holding Sarah’s arm she walked over towards a tall man, around late 50s and said in a hushed voice, “Who’s that with Lyra?” Sarah frowned and turned her head to where they were looking. She spotted Lyra out on the balcony, speaking to young women, probably in her mid to late 20s, “She’s a journalist” the man replied quietly, “We have to get her out of here” Mrs Coulter said in an urgent whisper, Sarah frowned slightly, she looked back over towards the balcony to see Lyra heading back into the living room, looking quite shocked. Mrs Coulter let go of Sarah’s arm and walked over towards Lyra, “Lyra?” Mrs Coulter began, “I’m alright, I’m just getting some ice,” Lyra said hurriedly and rushed out of the room. While Mrs Coulter was distracted Sarah managed to slip out of the room and back into the hallway. She rushed over to Lyra, she looked utter shocked, “Lyra, what happened?” Sarah asked, there was a distant look in Lyra eyes, almost like she’d seen a ghost or something, “We got to get out of here, Sarah” Lyra said finally. Sarah didn’t even bother to ask why, she just nodded, “Lyra, look! She’s forgotten to lock the lift” Sarah said. They both rushed over and got in the lift, Lyra was about to press the button when she gasped, “We can’t leave without it!” She said and rushed back out the lift and along the corridor to her bedroom, Sarah followed and dashed in the bedroom just as Lyra had retrieved the Alethiometer from under her pillow, “We can’t risk going back to the lift” Sarah said, “Then we’ll just have to climb down” Lyra replied and went over to the window.

She opened it up and carefully climbed out, Sarah hurried over and followed. They both slowly and carefully began to make their way along the ledge until they reached a fire escape and quick as they could they hurried down it until they’d reached the ground and both of them sped off up the street, away from the flat. They would liaise later on what they had both found out, but for now, they just wanted to get as much distance as they could from themselves and that flat.

Chapter Text

Both Sarah and Lyra ran until they had given as much distance between themselves and the flat as they possibly could. Finally, they stopped to catch their breath and discuss what they were going to do next. Sarah regained her strength first and looked around at Lyra, "What do we do?" She asked her, Lyra looked around, trying to work out where they knew close by that they could go too, "I wish we knew London like we know Oxford. That way we would know what streets to avoid, and where we can find food and shelter" Lyra replied, Sarah sighed as she too looked all around, "I think I could find my way to the Arctic Institute from here, it's the only place we really properly know" she suggested, Lyra nodded and they set off.

Both their dæmons were wildcats, walking in front of them and scanning the dark all around with their night-piercing eyes. The night was full of noises; bursts of drunken laughter, two raucous voices raised in song, the clatter and whine of some badly oiled machine. Both girls walked delicately through it all, their senses magnified and mingled with their dæmons, keeping to the shadows and the narrow alleyways.

They both felt glad to be free again in the open air, even it was murky London air laden with fumes and soot and clangorous with noise. They knew that sometime soon they'd have to discuss everything they'd both discovered at Mrs Coulter's, but not yet and they would have to find someplace to sleep.

They soon arrived at the street they'd been aiming for and found a small coffee shop. Yellow lights glowed inside, and the fragrance of coffee drifted out. Sarah looked into the building and saw the owner leaning on the counter talking to two or three customers. It was so tempting and they had been walking for hours now, and it was cold and damp. Both in agreement they wandered into the cafe, their dæmons both sparrows perched on their shoulders. Lyra went to grab a seat at the back of the cafe while Sarah went up to the counter to gain the owner's attention, "Two cups of coffee and two ham sandwiches, please" she asked, "You're both out late, are you not" one of the customers commented, "Yeah" was all Sarah replied, a few minutes later the owner laid the cups and plates on the counter, "Here you are, love" he said, "Two shillings" Sarah fished in her pocket and took out some of the money Mrs Coulter had given them and placed the right amount on the counter, she then picked up the cups and placed both sandwiches onto one plate to make it easier and walked on over to where Lyra was sitting.

They bit into their sandwiches in silence for a while, "What are we gonna do? Did we do the right thing?" Sarah said, "Course we did. I learned from that journalist, that Mrs Coulter's one of them Gobblers" Lyra explained, Sarah's eyes went wide and then she thought back to the letters she'd found in the study. The General Oblation Board. GOB! Sarah gasped, "Gobbler!" She cried, Lyra hushed her, "Those letters I found in the study" Sarah went on, in a hushed voice, "They said, General Oblation Board, that must be what the Gobblers stand for" Lyra nodded, "See, we had to run away," Lyra said, Sarah sat back in her seat and sipped slowly at her coffee, "I bet she wasn't looking for Roger at all, she lied to us, Lyra," Sarah said, "Then we got to find him" Lyra replied, Sarah, frowned, "How on earth are we gonna find him, on our own," she said doubtfully, "I dunno, but we got to try," Lyra said, determined.

"What's your names then?" a voice came from beside them, the man from the counter had wandered over to their table, "Alice" Lyra replied, "Katie" Sarah said, "They're pretty names. Let me pour a drop of this into each of your coffees...warm you up" he said, as he took a silver flask out of his pocket and unscrewed it, "We don't like that, we just like coffee" Lyra said, "I bet you've never had brandy like this before" the man replied, "We have. We were sick all over the place. We had nearly a whole bottle" Sarah told him, "Well, just as you like" the man said, as he tilted the flask over his own cup, "Where are you two going, all alone this time of night?" He asked Sarah glanced at Lyra, hoping she'd have a good response, "We're going to meet our father" Lyra replied, "And who's he?" The man asked, "He's a murderer" Lyra added, Sarah gave a small smirk, she could always count on Lyra to come up with good lies, she herself was not as equipped at lying so easily, she could when she had to but not as effectively as Lyra. The man looked dumbfounded, "He's what?" He said, "I told you, he's a murderer. It's his profession. He's doing a job tonight and we got to meet him after he's done to bring him clean clothes, cause he's usually all covered and blood when he's finished a job" Sarah always marvelled at how well Lyra could make up stories, "You're joking" the man asked, "I ain't" Lyra told him.

The man's dæmon, a lemur uttered a soft mewing sound and clambered slowly up behind the man's head, to peer out at the girls. They both drank the last of their coffees and eat their sandwiches, "Well, goodnight" Lyra said, "I can see our father coming now. He looks a bit angry" they both left the shop and headed towards the large crowd that had just emerged from the underground station. They both would have liked to of seen the railway - as Mrs Coulter had told them it was not intended for people of their class, but it would be foolish to go underground, much better to stay in the open, where they could run if they had too.

On and on they walked, the streets became darker and emptier and it was drizzling, and even though there were no clouds the city sky was too tainted with light to show the stars. Sarah tried to look for the North Star but it was so difficult to make out, she just had to hope they were heading in the right direction. The streets were full of sleeping figures, all bundled up as best they could in thin sleeping bags, the girls walked as fast as they could, "Where are we going to sleep?" Sarah said, a little yawn escaping her, "A doorway?" Lyra suggested, "Don't want to be out in the open though" Sarah replied, "I think there's a canal down there" Lyra pointed ahead.

Sarah looked ahead and was just about to suggest going to take a look when suddenly she caught a glimpse of something out the corner of her eye. Frowning she turned her head slightly to look but saw nothing there. She looked away, after a minute she glimpsed it again, this time she turned her head only slightly and she saw something or someone in the shadows. She leaned close to Lyra too whispered, "Don't look, but there's someone behind us" she said. There was silence a moment and then Lyra said, "Alright, on three. Run" Sarah gave a slight nod, "1....2....3!" Lyra cried the last number and they both sprinted up the road.

Sarah looked behind and saw not one, but two men chasing them, each holding what looked like a throwing net. They ran as fast as they could until they came to a fork in the road, "You go that way, I'll go this way. Once we lost them find your way back to the Arctic Institute!" Lyra cried hurriedly, Sarah nodded and rushed down the left path while Lyra ran down the right. The two men did the same.

The man following Sarah was hot on her trail. Her legs were beginning to hurt and she was becoming more and more out of breath by the minute. She glanced back at the man, he looked like he wasn't wavering at all. How on earth was she going to dodge this guy? She was focused so much on this man, that she never even noticed the man running towards her. She ran right into him and he grabbed her tightly before she could get away. Sarah struggled against his grip, but by this time the first man had caught up and he flung the throwing net over the girl. Sarah screamed but the second man slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the screams. She pulled and pulled trying to get away, Alfie was now being held in the mouth of one of the dæmons, he struggled like his human but they were no match against the two full-grown men.

She was dragged off to another street where a van was parked and the second man threw her into the back and slammed the door. The net round Sarah came loose and she threw it off herself and ran to the door. It was locked. She then ran to the other end of the van and peered through the small window that looked into the front, "Let me out! Let me out!" She cried, her lungs fit to burst. The men ignored her as they clambered into the van and they drove off.

Sarah was hammering on the van, she could dimly hear the men talking in the front, "We should take her straight to the ship" the first man was saying, "Won't she want to see the child?" The other man asked, "No time, the ships about to embark. We waste time taking her to the warehouse we'll have to wait till the next shipping" the first man replied, Sarah was panicked now. She knew the 'she' the man had mentioned must be Mrs Coulter herself. For a moment Sarah considered shouting to the men that she knew the women, and for them to take her to her. But then the thought of going back to that flat and that horrid monkey drove the thought from her mind. She would just have to deal with where they took her.

They drove on for some time and eventually the van came to a sharp stop and Sarah was thrown backwards onto the floor. The two men got out and came round the back of the van, Sarah braced herself, she would try and fight if she had too. The doors were opened and before Sarah had the chance to even begin to fight back the two men had her. They pulled her forcefully out the van, her mouth covered so she couldn’t scream or cry out. Sarah saw they had arrived at a ship's port, the two men were hulling her towards a large ship at the end of the docks. There was steam coming from the chimneys, it looked ready to set sail any moment. There were men lingering about by the ramp, ready to raise it up when they caught sight of the figures coming towards them. They stopped what they were doing and turned, "One more for boarding," the first man said, the men sized the girl up closely, "Has she seen her?" One of them asked, "No, we thought it would be best to bring her straight here. Save waiting for another ship" the man frowned, "You know she likes to see them all before they are taking aboard" Sarah looked between the men, her panic rising, "One child's not going to make a difference" the man replied "Her dæmon is unsettled. I saw for myself" Sarah frowned at this, what had that got to do with anything, she wandered.

The man looked her Sarah closely for a moment and then nodded, "Very well, I shall take her from here" he said and took hold of Sarah by the shoulder, "You may leave" he ordered, and the other two turned and walked off back down the pier. The man now holding Sarah ushered her up the ramp of the ship and onto the deck, where a woman was standing, "Hello there, what's your name?" She asked Sarah. The girl said nothing for a moment, "Don't tell them who we are" Alfie said to her, "Sasha...Sasha Banks" she told the women, who smiled in return, "Well Sasha, you come on with me and I'll fetch you a nice hot drink," the women said, she then took Sarah from the man, much gentler and ushered her below deck.

They came to a small galley and the women sat her down at a table, while she prepared a hot drink of chocolate for her, "So Sasha, how old are you then?" The women asked, as she finished the drink and brought it over to Sarah, "Eleven" she said, deciding to lie about her age also, "And who are your parents?" Sarah thought about this for a moment, then decided to tell the truth, well part of the truth, "I don't have parents, I'm an orphan" she explained, "How awful" the women said. There was silence for a bit, while Sarah sipped on her hot chocolate, after a moment Sarah spoke again, "Where are we going?" She asked the women, who smiled in return, "We're going on a lovely trip. To somewhere wonderful. Somewhere to help you grow up" the women explained, Sarah didn't know what to say to that so she sipped at her drink again.

When she finally finished, the women took the cup away and placed it into a sink, "Now dear" she said turning back to the girl, "I'll take you somewhere to sleep, you look exhausted" she then got Sarah to her feet and began to usher her out of the cabin. Sarah was going to say she didn't feel tired at all when suddenly a huge yawn escaped her and she felt her eyes grow suddenly heavy, that is was hard to keep them open. She got the brief glimpse of a small cabin, a little wooden bed that she was ushered onto, and thin, scratchy blankets covering her before she felt herself fall fast asleep.

Chapter Text

Sarah came round to muffled voices above her. Her head felt foggy and she struggled to open her eyes, she could dimly make out what the voices were saying, she caught things like; “Must have drugged her” and “Odd they brought her straight here” Sarah forced her eyes open and found everything completely out of focus, “She’s awake!” A voice said, Sarah tried to push herself up but was so weak she fell back down onto the bed, “Careful! Don’t get up to fast” the same voice said again, “Wonder who she is” another voice commented, “Maybe she knows something” someone else suggested.

Gradually Sarah felt her strength coming back, she pushed herself up again and this time she did not fall down, she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands and tried to focus. She could just make out about half a dozen figures crowded around her, “You okay?” The first voice asked it was a girls voice, “Yeah...where am I.” Sarah said, her voice sounding dry and husky, “Don’t you know? You were caught. The Gobblers got you” another girl said, “They must have drugged you with hot chocolate. Make you drowsy” Sarah rubbed her eyes again and finally, everything came into focus.

She was surrounded by half a dozen girls, they were all looking at her with concerned, curious faces, “Where are we going?” Sarah asked, “We dunno,” the first girl said, “They just told us we’re going on a trip, well that women did anyway. I’m Annie by the way, what’s your name?” Sarah gave a slight yawn, “Sasha” she said, deciding to use the false name she had given, “What women?” She added, “The women with the monkey dæmon. Didn’t you meet her?” Sarah’s stomach turned at the mention of Mrs Coulter, she shook her head, “No, these two men got me and brought me straight here” she explained, a thought then struck her, “Are there boys on this ship too?” She asked and Annie nodded, “Yeah, they're in a different cabin. We’ll see them when we go for food” Sarah nodded slightly, wondering if Roger was here too.

Suddenly the cabin door opened and all they looked around, the women from before, the one who had given Sarah the hot chocolate stood there, she smiled at the girls, “I hope everyone is well-rested. Come, there is breakfast for you all” she told them. She walked back out of the room and the girls began to follow, Annie waited behind to help Sarah up and both them took up the rear. The women-led girls, not to the galley Sarah had been taken to the other night, but to a slightly bigger dining room. They walked in and found the boys were already seated at the tables. Sarah looked around, desperately trying to catch sight of Roger if he was here. She sat down with the other girls at a separate table from the boys, Alfie became an owl and scanned the room eagerly for Roger and his dæmon. Then he spotted them, “Over at the back!” He said to Sarah, she glanced over and felt her heart fill with joy at the sight of her friend. He was sitting with Billy Costa - the Gyptian boy who had gone missing from Oxford, “Go talk to Salcilia, Alfie” she told her dæmon “Tell him I’m here, but not to react.  I’ll talk to him later” Alfie turned into a moth and fluttered over to Roger. He was a fair bit away, and too anyone else this would have pulled the bond between them and their dæmon, but Sarah felt no pain. She supposed it was useful for some things but she still couldn’t understand how she was able to do it.

Alfie came up to Salcilia and whispered in her ear, “It's me, Alfie. Don’t react and tell Roger to stay calm. Sarah and I are here, she’s over at the other table. Says she’ll see him later, and he’s got to call her Sasha” he told the dæmon, “Oh, Alfie! It’s so good to see you” Salcilia cried, “Good to see you too, I better go before anyone notices I’m away from Sarah,” he told her, “But how are you...” Salcilia began, “Not now, explain later” Alfie interjected and he fluttered back over to his human. Sarah glanced over at Roger and they made eye contact, she gave a slight nod and a smile and he returned the gesture before they both turned away again and began eating their porridge. She didn’t care what would happen now, she was just so happy to have found her best friend.

Sarah thought she’d get a chance to speak to Roger after breakfast, but no such luck. Both the girls and the boys were ushered back to their own cabins, where there were games and things for them. Sarah could see why they were apart, most of the children on the ship were at the age when they rarely mixed with the opposite gender - this was going to make it more tricky to try and get Roger alone. Sarah kept to herself in the room, Annie did come over a couple of times to offer her to join in with the game but Sarah shook her head, she had to figure out a plan. She turned to her dæmon, “Do you think you could fly off and try and find out where Roger is? Maybe we can make a plan to meet” she said, “I could try, but it will be risky. You couldn’t let yourself be seen without me” he told her, Sarah nodded. She knew it was a risky plan, but she couldn’t think of any other way they would be able to talk, “Let’s do it” she said, “Just be careful” she added, Alfie nodded and became a moth, he flew over to the door of the cabin and slipped underneath it. Sarah felt him leaving but still felt no pain. One of these days she would find out why she was able to do this and why she kept having all those strange dreams. One day...

Alfie took to staying right up at the roof, to keep himself hidden and would only come down to peer into one of the rooms. It felt like hours he’d been flying around this ship before he finally found the room Roger was in. He was sat at the back of the cabin, talking to Billy Costa. Carefully as he could, Alfie slipped into the room and fluttered over to their dæmons, “Hey, it’s me” he said to Salcilia and Ratter, they both looked around instantly, “Alfie! How on earth...” Salcilia began but Alfie cut him off, “No time! We got to think of a plan to get our humans together” he told them. Roger and Billy, of course, now aware of this interaction and listened to what their dæmons were being told, Alfie noticed this, “Tell Roger and Billy to keep talking like nothings happening, don’t want anything to look suspicious” he told them, Roger and Billy got the message and retreated slightly, pretending to be talking to one another, but all the time still concentrating on their dæmons, “You need to find some way of getting out of this cabin, come up with an excuse to leave and meet Sarah up on deck. There’s a stack of barrows by the gangway, I noticed them when we came on board, go behind them and wait” Alfie told them, “But Alfie...how can you be so far from your human...doesn’t it hurt?” Salcilia asked, “I can’t explain now! Just do what I said and we’ll talk soon” he said, the dæmons both nodded, “I better go. I’ve been to long away from Sarah already” he told them, “See you soon” and with that Alfie fluttered away from them and back out of the cabin.

Once he was back at the girl's cabin, he fluttered over to Sarah - who was lying on the bed, she sat up almost immediately when she sensed him close to her again, “All sorted, now all we need to do is come up was an excuse to get out of the cabin” he told her, Sarah nodded and began to think. Only one thing came to her mind, she just hoped she was good enough to make it look convincing.

There was a small bathroom attached to their cabin, Sarah went into it and stood at the small basin, she looked at herself in the grubby mirror and bit her lip, thinking about what she was going to attempt, “We can do this Sarah. We just need to make it look convincing” Alfie said, she nodded  Sarah stuffed her hand into her pocket and pulled out a case of dark eye shadow. She’d completely forgotten she’d put this in her pocket back at Mrs Coulter’s, seeing it gave her an idea. Opening the case she dabbed her finger into the darkest shade and began to smear it lightly under her eyes, making them look baggy and tired, she then dabbed another finger into the paler shade and smeared it over her face, giving her a pale complexion.

Once she was done she looked at herself in the mirror - well it wasn’t great but it almost looked convincing. She then began to make retching noises, making it sound like she was being sick, knowing it would be heard from the bedroom. It worked, the door to the washroom opened and Annie stood there, Sarah turned her head, “Sasha! You look awful” Annie said. Sarah did her best pretend she ever done in her life, “I feel awful...” she said, holding her stomach, “I’ll go get someone” Annie said hurriedly and rushed out of the room again, some of the other girls came to investigate.

Annie came back a few minutes later, the women followed in behind her, “My goodness. What on earth do we have here?” She said, Sarah continued to hold her stomach and leaned forward, gagging as she did, as if to be sick. The girls moved back slightly, “Come along dear, well get you some fresh air” the women said and began to usher Sarah out of the cabin and up on deck. Sarah felt her heart leap, she couldn’t believe that worked so well, maybe too well. The women brought her over to the side of the ship and Sarah leaned over and retched, pretending to be sick, “One-moment dear, I’ll get you some water” the women said and hurried off below deck. Sarah looked around and as soon as she had gone the girl hurried over to the large stack of barrows and ducked behind them, now all she had to do was wait.  She only hoped Roger and Billy managed to find a way out too.

Sarah watched as the women came back on deck and froze when she saw Sarah wasn’t where she left her, “Sasha?!” She called, Sarah stayed ducked behind the barrels, staying as silent as she could, in a panic the women rushed off to find the girl, Sarah sighed in relief. A few minutes later a small figure crept out on the deck and Sarah almost leapt for joy noticing it was Roger. He looked around for a moment, then spotting the barrels he dashed over and almost yelled in surprise when he saw Sarah, he crouched down beside her. Instantly Sarah launched forwards and hugged him tightly, “Oh, Roger! I’m so glad to see you. I was so worried you were hurt” she said, “Good to see you too, but what’s happened? How’d you get here? Where’s Lyra?” He asked as they broke apart, “We were staying in London with this lady, we ran away and got separated, I dunno where Lyra is now but I just hope she’s safe” Sarah told him, “The lady I saw you both with at Jordan?” He asked, “Sarah, I seen her too. She came to the warehouse place they’d been keeping us in. She said she was going to write to our parents, I wrote to you and Lyra, I bet she never sent them letters” Roger explained, Sarah shook her head, “She never” Sarah said, “Them Gobblers took me that night, the night she was at Jordan” Roger went on, “Oh Roger, you must have been so frightened” Sarah said, “A little, but I kept hoping you or Lyra would come and safe us. I think Billy’s more frightened” he said, Sarah nodded again, “Wherever Lyra is, I bet she’s thinking of a plan,” Sarah said, more to herself than to Roger.

A sound came from beyond and they both stayed quiet and watched. A few men rushed over the deck, looking everywhere, obviously searching for the two stray children. Sarah bent close to Roger and whispered, “We better not stay long” she said, “Don’t know how long this will keep us hidden for. I’ll send Alfie from time to time and check on you and Billy” Sarah explained, “And if you're around me with others you got to call me Sasha” Roger nodded, “Sarah...how can Alfie go so far from you?” He asked her, Sarah glanced down slightly, “I’m not sure...exactly...I haven’t worked that out yet, it just...somehow happened one day” she told him, “I never told anyone, not even Lyra. Your the only one that knows and Billy” Roger then had an idea, “Maybe you could send Alfie away for help” he suggested, but Sarah shook her head, “It’s too risky, besides I don’t what this lot” she nodded her head towards the grown-ups, “To know about it. Who knows what they’ll do, probably experiment on me or something” Roger nodded, “Okay, just a thought” he said, “We just have to hope, Lyra found help” Sarah said, “But doesn’t mean we can’t try and find out things for ourselves”

There was the sound of feet crossing the deck again, Sarah watched as two men went below deck, “You better go back first” she whispered, she hugged him once more and then he hurried off below deck. Sarah waited a few minutes and then went back to the side of the ship and leaned over again, “Where on earth did you go?” Came the women’s voice behind her, Sarah looked around at her, “I was here...the...whole time...” she said, putting on her fake, unwell pretence again. The women frowned for a moment but said nothing more, “How are you dear?” She asked, “A little better...still feel quite sick,” Sarah said, “Well perhaps some rest will help,” the women told her, “Come now, you can have a lie down” she then ushered Sarah back below deck and to the girl's cabin.

Days passed, Sarah would try and talk to Roger whenever she could, if not in person then through their dæmons, she was becoming quite adept at being subtle when sending Alfie away from her, but they always made sure he was never away for too long, as not to arouse suspicion.

One morning, when all the girls were just waking up the women came into the room with an announcement, “We will be docking in Trollesend today, the port to the North and from there we will go by sledge to a lovely place, where you will all stay and be well looked after” the women explained, Sarah frowned as she listened to this, not believing one word, but she learned that blending in was always the better option when it came to finding out things, that way you could snoop around and not be easily recognised as no one paid you much attention, so she kept quiet as the women went over what would happen when they docked.

An hour or so later the ship docked, and they were all given think woolly coats, hats and gloves and were ushered onto the deck. Sarah kept close to Annie and Bridget - another girl who she had become quite close with and kept her head down as they were herded off the ship. They were then sorted into lines and the women did a roll call, to make sure everyone was there. Sarah glanced around trying to catch a sign of Roger, she only spotted him when he responded to his name being called and saw he was right in the middle of the group of boys, standing with Billy.

After the roll call, the women told them to follow and they did so. Marching on after her, and over to where around a dozen motorised sledges where parked, “Now, four or five to a sledge, no more than that” the women explained, Sarah climbed onto one of the sledges along with Annie, Bridget, and a girl called Sadie. It took some time to get all the children safely onto the sledges, once all the kids were in, one adult went on each sledge, they powered up and set off. It’s funny, all her life Sarah had wanted to go North, she had dreamed about it millions of times, and was happy she was finally getting the chance, she only wished it was in better company than these adults.

Hours passed and they were still travelling further North. The four girls on the sledge with Sarah were bundled under warm thick, blankets fast asleep, Sarah, however, was too nervous to sleep. She stared down at the girls wrapped thickly under the blankets, they were much further north now and the temperature must have dropped below zero, but strangely it didn’t seem to bother Sarah. Even though she was wrapped up in the big coat the adults had given her, she felt like if she took off her jacket right now she would feel perfectly fine. She wanted to test this theory, but she knew it would look suspicious if one of the adults seen her, Alfie, who was currently in the form of an Arctic fox, put his paws up onto her knee, “We can test it later Sarah” he said, seeing what she was thinking, Sarah nodded and sat further down onto the sledge, then after a moment, she felt her eyes start to close, as she slowly fell fast asleep.

With a jolt of the sledge, Sarah was forced awake. She yawned and stretched as she sat up and looked around. They had stopped now and the other girls were awake also and being ushered off the sledge, Sarah followed, they were heading towards a huge building. Just the sight of it terrified Sarah to her bones, Alfie became a mouse and scurried up to her neck and nestled there. The children were ushered over to the front of the building and a pair of double doors opened before them. A man stood there; he was wearing a white lab coat and his dæmon was a lizard on his shoulder. The man gave a smile to the children, which Sarah found rather unsettling if she was perfectly honest, “Come in, we must get you out of the horrid cold” he said as he stood aside and the children were ushered into the building. Sarah first impression, as she stepped through the doors, was a dull, gloomy, industrial building. It was definitely the last place that would feel warm and homey and welcoming.

Once all the kids were inside and the double doors were closed behind them, the kids were then divided into boys and girls and two men ushered the boys off and a couple of women dressed liked nurses brought the girls to another room and handed them all a change of clothes,  “Leave your things where they are and they will be collected and stored away for you” one of the nurses said. Sarah picked up the clothes they had been issued; plain, ordinary clothes, certainly nothing like the dress she was currently wearing that Mrs Coulter has bought her. All the girls changed in silence, no one had said they couldn’t talk to one another but there was an eerie feeling in the room that made them reluctant to make a sound.  Sarah was the last ready, most of the kids had already been ushered out by one of the nurses and only Sarah and Bridget remained. Once they were both ready the other nurse brought them out of the room and towards a dining room, where the rest of the girls and all the boys were. Sarah and Bridget seated themselves with Annie - who had left a space for them, and they began gorging on the plates of food in front of them, except for Sarah, who stared down at the plate, suddenly not feeling so hungry.

Once all the kids were finished, they were all told to follow one of the nurses to their dormitories. Sarah tried to catch Roger's eye but she was swept away to quickly and once in the corridor, both boys and girls were taken off in opposite directions. Sarah walked with the group of girls along the dimly lit corridor and into a small dormitory, where around a dozen beds were lined up neatly against both walls, all ready-made for the children. Sarah went to a bed right at the back of the room, Annie took the one next to her, Bridget going to the one opposite Sarah. The nurse stood at the door, her hand poised over the light switch, “Sleep well, girls” she said, in a sweet voice before turning off the light and they were left in darkness. Sarah huddled under the thin blanket and held her dæmon close, who was currently in the form of a cat, “Don’t worry, Lyra will find us. She’ll get us out” Alfie said to her, “I hope so...Alfie, I’m just so frightened...” she said, Alfie cuddled close to her, trying to give her comfort.  It took some time but Sarah finally fell fast asleep.

Chapter Text

Life at the station - as the grown-ups would call it, was very much like a school. Each morning the children would get up, dress, they would all have breakfast together and then boys and girls would be divided again and be set several different activities to do; there might be drawing, or writing or toys to play with. Sarah would hang out with Annie and Bridget, but she would mostly keep to herself a lot of the time. With the boys and girls being divided, this made it almost impossible to speak to Roger or Billy. She would try and catch them in the dining room, though cautiously, as there were always grown-ups stand around, keeping a close eye on the children. Sarah would send Alfie over, and all interactions would be made through their dæmons.

Every so often the kids would get taking away on their own for some sort of tests. Sarah had not been taken yet but Annie did on the second day, Sarah instantly began asking her questions about it as soon as Annie had returned, “It was strange, I had to stand on a metal plate thing and then there was a flash. When I asked him what he was doing all he said was he was taking measurements, wouldn’t tell what of, then he said he wanted to see how far my dæmon and I could go away from each other” Annie explained, Sarah felt her stomach twist, “He made you separate?” She asked, “To as far as we could until it hurt” Annie replied. Sarah glanced away and bit her lip slightly, feeling anxious now, “Don’t worry” Alfie whispered to her, “We’ll just pretend it hurts, they don’t have to find out the truth” Sarah nodded slightly but still felt nervous.

It was a week later before Sarah was called for these tests. She was in the dormitory with Annie and Bridget, when one of the nurses came into to fetch her. Nervously she followed the women out of the room and along the corridor. As they went, Sarah studied the nurse curiously. She had begun to notice that all the nursing staff acted in exactly the same way, almost like they were in a trance or something, they were ever so obedient, and rarely did anything without being instructed first, and their dæmons were strange too, they acted almost like ghosts. The sight of them sent shivers down Sarah’s spine.

They came into a small examination room, there was a doctor already in here, “Ah, Sasha Banks, is it?” He asked, checking something on a clipboard, Sarah nodded without saying anything, “Good, hop onto that metal plate over there” he instructed, “Shoes off if you please” Sarah walked over, took off her shoes and stepped onto the plate. The metal was cold on her feet, “Right now, I’m going to take a couple of pictures, face forward for me” the doctor said, Sarah stood facing him, there was a flash and Sarah blinked in surprise, “And to the right” the doctor said, Sarah turned, another flash, “And left” Sarah turned saying nothing, another flash, “Right, step down and place your dæmon up onto the table here” he told her, Sarah came over and placed Alfie, who was mouse formed onto the table. The doctor stood on the other side of the table, “Now, can you get him to change a couple of times for me” Sarah frowned slightly but looked at Alfie, he went through a variety of different forms; he was a mouse, then a cat, then a butterfly and a rabbit, an Arctic fox and then finally stopped on a dog form.  Sarah watched as the doctor noted something down on his clipboard, “Right, now I want you to slowly move away from your dæmon, as far as you can until it starts to hurt” Sarah stared at the man, “Why?” She asked him, “Just a routine check” Sarah bit her lip, she looked down at her dæmon, who nodded to her and slowly she began to back away, counting in her head the steps she took, so as to have some idea to when she should start to wince. At about five or six feet she screwed up her face, pretending it was hurting her, Alfie gave a little squeal, “Is that hurting there?” The doctor asked, Sarah, nodded, trying to keep the painful look on her face, the doctor frowned slightly but said nothing and scribbled on his clipboard again, “Come back again, and do that once more” he told her, Sarah did as she was told and once again got to five or six feet and put on her act again. There was silence for a moment and then the doctor put down the clipboard, “Very well Sasha, you may go” he said, Sarah picked up Alfie and headed back out of the room.

She headed along the corridor and back into the dormitory, where she was immediately swooped on by the rest of the girls, all asking what had happened. Sarah was overwhelmed for a moment, “Same as everyone else” Sarah explained, “They did these measurement things and then they made me and Alfie separate from each other” Sarah went and sat down near the back of the room. She wasn’t really paying attention to what the other girls were saying until she heard one of them mention Mrs Coulter’s name and she became alert at once, “I overheard one of the doctors mention to the nurse, that she’s coming here” a girl called Lily was saying, Sarah felt her stomach lurch, “Did they say when?” Annie asked, Sarah listened closely, “Not sure, a couple of days maybe” Lily replied, “They said something about a bigger test happening, then I was out of earshot” Sarah bit her lip slightly and looked away from the others, “Don’t worry Sarah, she won’t find us” Alfie said, “What if she does?” Sarah replied, “Then we’ll get away again,” he told her, Sarah picked him up and held her dæmon close, Annie then came over to her, “You okay, Sasha?” She asked Sarah nodded, “Yeah...I’m fine, just tired probably,” she said, Annie smiled and then went away again, leaving Sarah alone with her worries.

A few days later, Sarah was glad to find Mrs Coulter had not arrived, but that relief was short-lived, for the very next morning they were woken to the sound of the low rumble of a gas engine. Sarah got up instantly and peered out the window to see a steel airship landing by the station, “Is it her?” One of the girls called, “Yes, I can see the golden monkey” another answered. Sarah felt her heart beating fiercely in her chest as she saw a tall figure in a fur coat, exit the airship and knew it could only be Mrs Coulter. She ducked down from the window and sat hunched on her bed, Annie then came over to her, “You okay, Sasha?” She asked, Sarah, looked up at her, “I need to go to the bathroom” she said hurriedly and rushed over towards the toilet joint onto the girl's dormitory, “You need to be here for the inspection” Annie called, but Sarah ignored her and rushed into the toilet and locked the door. As she sat down on the toilet seat, she could hear Annie instructing the other girls.

Sarah was breathing sharply, she felt like she was having a panic attack, “We could stay in here Sarah” Alfie said, “Until she leaves the room” Sarah looked at him, “What if she notices someone is missing?” She replied, but before anything else could be said there was the sound of a door being opened in the room beyond and then that soft, sweet voice travelled towards her, “Hello girls, how are we all?” Sarah swallowed, she got up from the toilet and crept over to the door, placing her ear to it. There was the sound of heels on the concrete floor as Mrs Coulter walked around the room, “Empty bed?” Mrs Coulter said, “Sasha, went to the bathroom” Annie voice said.

There was silence for a moment and then the sound of heels again and with a jolt Sarah heard them stop right outside the door she was behind, “Sasha?” Came Mrs Coulter's voice through the door, Sarah said nothing, and slowly back away, her heart beating a mile a minute, “What do we do?” Sarah said to Alfie, “Above the toilet, look!” He said, Sarah, looked up and saw a small vent, just big enough for her to crawl through. Quick as she could she climbed up onto the toilet seat and pulled the vent open, she then hoisted herself up and slid into the vent, just as she heard Mrs Coulter call again, “Sasha? Come on out dear, it’s alright”

Once she was in the vent, she let the opening shut quietly. Suddenly there was the sound of banging from the room beyond, Mrs Coulter had obviously called someone in to get the door open, Sarah panicked, unsure of what to do. There was an almighty crash as the door was broken off its hinges, Sarah lay, curled up in the vent, staying as quiet as she could, not even daring to breath. There was the sound of Mrs Coulter’s heels entering the room, silence for a moment and then; “Find the girl, bring her to me once you do” Mrs Coulter said before she turned and left the room again, Sarah sighed in relief but now she had an even bigger problem, every grown up in the station would be looking for her now, and once she was found she’d been taken straight to Mrs Coulter and...Sarah didn’t even want to think of what would happen after that.

Suddenly there was a small voice from inside the room, “Sasha?” It was Annie, Sarah stayed silent, she couldn’t risk coming out, not now everyone would be looking for her. Ignoring Annie, Sarah began to shuffle her way through the vent, trying to find a good place to come out to, where she can stay hidden. It definitely wasn’t an easy journey through the vents, it was lucky Sarah was small for her age or she would feel much more cramped, Alfie was currently in his moth form so there was more room. Sarah would occasionally stop at an opening and peer through to see if it was safe to climb down, but there always seemed to be either several adults in a room or kids. She soon came to an opening where she could hear murmured voices behind. Slowly and carefully she opened the vent and peered into the room beyond.

There were a couple of nurses and doctors in here, they seemed to be having some kind of meeting, Sarah stayed as silent as she could, listening hard; “This not what we wanted for her arriving” one of the doctors was saying, “We have to find that child” Sarah bit her lip, knowing it was herself they were talking about, “I didn’t think she was coming until a few days” the other doctor said, “Apparently she was ahead of schedule” the first man said, “At least we do have some good news, the new process it coming on, it should be ready within the next few days” the second man said, “Yes, at least that’s something” the first man replied. Sarah frowned as she listened to this, confused by the whole thing, “To be honest, I think she was intrigued by the old procedure” the second doctor said, “The tearing” Sarah let out a slight gasp and her foot slipped, hitting against the side of the vent. She froze.

“What was that?” The first man said, “In the ceiling, quickly!” Sarah was too scared to move and she had very little room to do so anyway. Suddenly the vent was opened and she was staring into the startled face of a man. Sarah stared back at him in fear, “It’s a child!” The man cried, he then reached up and grabbed hold of Sarah, pulling her head fast out of the vent. Both she and Alfie came sliding out and the man’s dæmon got hold of Alfie. Sarah struggled, trying to pull away from the man but his grip was too firm, “No!” Sarah cried, “Let me go!” The doctor then slapped a hand over her mouth to silence her, “It’s the missing child” the first man said, “What do we do, she wants the girl brought to her” the man holding Sarah replied, the girl was beyond terrified now, “We can’t risk her going back to the other children, not after what she heard” the first man said, “You mean…we should...” the man holding Sarah said, “Have to” the first man replied, “Give me her dæmon”

Suddenly Alfie was taken by the first man and started moving away from Sarah. To her surprise, she felt like she wanted to scream in pain, both from the man touching her dæmon and by the pull, which she couldn’t understand - perhaps if was because Alfie was being forced away from her rather than going willingly. Sarah could have screamed the walls of the room, but the hand over her mouth prevented her. She felt herself getting weaker every second, “What is going on here?” A little musical voice, her voice. Everything stopped, “Who is this child....” Mrs Coulter began to say but stopped suddenly, Sarah turned her head slightly, her vision was becoming more and more out of focus, “Sarah...” Mrs Coulter said in surprise, Sarah felt herself fall limp against the man holding her, she could dimly hear Mrs Coulter talking, but couldn’t make out what was being said, then she felt herself being lifted off her feet and carried out of the room and along a corridor. She had a brief sense of a dimly lit room, being laid on something soft, a hand stroking her hair and a soft voice whispered, “My sweet girl, however, did you come to be here...” and then Sarah felt her eyes close completely as she let the darkness take her.

Chapter Text

Sarah woke with a start, panting and sweating, completely oblivious to where she was and what had happened. All she could think of at that moment was her dream; it had involved Lyra and a strange, horrifying machine. Sarah reached over to Alfie, who was currently in the form of an Arctic fox, she cuddled him close to her as she remembered what had happened. Slowly she sat up and looked around the room; it was dimly lit, spacious, with a desk across from her and she was currently lying on a double bed with think, cosy blankets, “What do we do Alfie?” Sarah said, “Dunno, but we’ll think of something” he replied.

Suddenly she heard a key turn in the door opposite, it opened and Mrs Coulter came in, Sarah tensed herself as the women shut the door behind her and walked over to the girl, smiling sweetly, “Sarah, I’m so happy you’re awake” she said as she sat down on the bed, Mrs Coulter then held up a glass of something and placed it to the girl's lips, “Hear, darling. Drink this” she said, Sarah glanced down at the glass and then back at Mrs Coulter, keeping her mouth tight shut, “If I was trying to drug you, there are many other means to do so, other than a drink. This will make you feel better” Mrs Coulter told her, Sarah parted her lips slightly and let Mrs Coulter pour a little of the liquid into her mouth, she felt it start to refresh her, Sarah then took hold of the glass and Mrs Coulter let go, nodding, “Good” she said, the women then began to stroke the girl's hair, “I thought I’d lost you forever darling” Mrs Coulter went on, “I’m so happy to have found you again. Your safe now dear, no ones ever going to harm you” Sarah kept her eyes down, still saying nothing, sipping at the drink, “Where is Lyra, dear? Is she here also?” Mrs Coulter asked, Sarah, said nothing for a moment and then shook her head, “We...we separated...back in London...” she said quietly, Mrs Coulter nodded slightly, “Well, at least you’re safe darling” she said, her hand now resting on the side of Sarah’s face, her thumb gently rubbing her cheek.

Sarah continued to sip at the drink, not saying anything and keeping her eyes towards the blankets, the golden monkey jumped up onto the bed and was reaching out to Alfie, who - still in his Arctic fox form edged away timidly, Mrs Coulter noticed this and lifted Sarah’s head to look at her, “It’s alright darling, you’re safe with me” she said softly, Sarah stared at the women for a moment, then without warning, she felt tears fill her eyes, “They...they were...trying to...” she said weakly, Mrs Coulter hushed her, “Don’t worry, they won’t ever harm you again” Mrs Coulter told her, as she wiped the girls tears, “But...they do it to the others...why” Sarah said, then a thought struck her, “It’s Dust....isn’t it?” Mrs Coulter hushed her again, the women then sat up straight, “Dust is not a good thing. Grown-ups and their dæmons are infected so deeply, that’s it's too late for them, but catching it before children reach puberty will help” she explained, Sarah frowned slightly, “If it’s so good, then you should of let me do it to me” Sarah said, Mrs Coulter smiled softly at the girl, “Every boundary in experimental theology, requires the sacrifice of the few for the many. Once we figure out the errors, this will change the world. Until then, this process is not meant for you or for Lyra” Mrs Coulter explained, “Why, what makes us different than the other kids” Sarah said.

There was silence then, “Sarah, there are things you are better off not knowing,” Mrs Coulter said gently. Sarah was about to say something else when there was a knock at the door and they both looked over to see one of the doctors peer into the room, “Mrs Coulter, you are required in the meeting room” he said, the women nodded and then turned back to Sarah, “Now, dear” she said to the girl, “You stay here and drink up your chamomile. I’ll be back in a little while with some food” she ran her hand once more through the girl's hair before standing up and walking out of the room and before she walked away Mrs Coulter locked the bedroom door again. Sarah heard the key in the lock and sighed to herself, “What do we do Alfie?” She said, “We should let Roger and Billy know what’s happened, I can fly through the vents to tell them,” he replied, Sarah nodded, she pushed back the covers and got off the bed, looking around for an air vent. She eventually found one inside a walk-in wardrobe, “Go on Alfie, I can see if I can find out anything here” she told him, Alfie nodded as he became a moth and flew on into the vent.  Once he was out of sight, Sarah turned to the room again and began to look around. She went over to the little desk against the wall and found some papers lying upon it. They were nothing interesting, just official-looking documents with the Magisterium seal stamp along the top. She began to shuffle through the papers when her eyes caught sight of a familiar document. It was a picture of a human and their dæmon in some kind of cage…

She was standing in a dimly lit chamber. There was a large machine in the middle of the room and a control panel on one side. A few of the doctors hurried passed her, they seemed to be carrying someone. She squinted and could just make out a mane of messy, dirty blond hair and realised with a jolt that it was Lyra. She tried to run over to her, but she couldn’t move from her spot, she then tried to call out but nobody heard her. She watched as one of the doctors threw Pan into one side of the machine and Lyra was about to be placed into the other but she managed to throw herself out of the arms of the doctor and tried to run away but was caught again and pinned to the ground. Sarah watched in fear, wanting desperately to help but there was nothing she could do. Lyra was then picked up by two adults and was carried back towards the machine, struggling all the time, and crying out in fear. She was placed into the machine and the door was locked. Nothing happened for a moment, except Lyra shouting at the top of her lungs, then the machine was activated and a great, silver blade raised in the middle between Lyra and Pan. Sarah felt tears in her eyes as she watched, helplessly, listening to Lyra's pleas…

“Sarah! Sarah, darling wake up” came a distant voice, Sarah was thrashing and crying, “No…no please…” tears leaking from her closed eyes, “Sarah!” Mrs Coulter said worriedly. Sarah’s eyes snapped open, her breathing heavy and sharp, sweat pouring down her forehead. She was lying on the bedroom floor, in Mrs Coulter’s arm, the women hushed her, smoothing the girl's hair back from her face, which was damp with sweat, “Sarah…are you alright?” Mrs Coulter said in a worried tone.  It took a few second for Sarah to regain some control, slowly her breathing slowed down and she closed her eyes, letting tears run down her cheeks, Mrs Coulter then held the girl close to her, hushing her, stroking her hair, “Shh...It’s okay…It’s okay…” she whispered softly, Sarah sobbed uncontrollably, she tried to force herself to stop but it was so hard, “What happened dear, tell me everything,” Mrs Coulter said gently. Sarah couldn’t bring herself to speak, the vision of what she had seen was still clear in her head.

After a moment Mrs Coulter helped Sarah to her feet and led the girl over to the bed and sat her down, she then knelt in front of her, “Speak to me Sarah, what happened?” she asked again, she laid her hands on top of Sarah’s, holding them gently. Sarah stared at the ground, her eyes red from her tears, still sobbing but coming out in small hiccups now, “Where is Alfie? Darling, where is your dæmon?” she asked her. Sarah took a few sharp breaths and rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, but said nothing to this. Suddenly, Alfie appeared at Sarah’s side, in the form of an ermine, he rubbed himself against Sarah’s side, she then picked him up and held him close to her, “What happened, Sarah?” Mrs Coulter asked again. The girl stared at the women, her eyes still glazed with tears, she then shook her head and looked away again.

Mrs Coulter sighed, deciding not to press the girl further, “Very well, are you hungry dear? Shall I have some food brought in?” she asked her, Sarah said nothing for a moment, she wanted to say no but at that moment she felt her stomach start to rumble, so she nodded slightly, still keeping her head down.  Mrs Coulter arranged for one of the nurses to bring in some food, it was placed on the desk and the nurse bowed her head slightly before leaving again, Mrs Coulter then led Sarah over to the desk and sat her down, “Eat up dear, you’ll feel better” she said softly, Sarah hesitated for a moment and then she picked up the fork and began to eat slowly. She could sense Mrs Coulter watching her like a hawk the whole time. As Sarah eat, Mrs Coulter had some of the staff make up another bed, Sarah sighed slightly as she watched, ‘Don’t worry Sarah, we’ll find a way out’ Alfie told her, though Sarah was starting to doubt this notion, she was beginning to think that Mrs Coulter was never going to let Sarah out of her sight again. The women seemed to always be either hoovering close to the girl or continuously glancing over at her while she conversed with the staff.

Later on, Mrs Coulter ran a bath for the girl, once Sarah was in the tub, the women came in and washed the girl's hair; her soft hands massaging and running gently through Sarah’s hair. Then Mrs Coulter got her a nightdress to wear and arranged for some warm milk and biscuits to be brought in, then Mrs Coulter tucked the girl into the newly made bed and sat on the edge, smiling softly down at her, she then leaned forwards and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead before rubbing the girls cheek gently with her finger, “Goodnight dear” she whispered softly. Sarah said nothing in response but turned on her side so her back was now facing the women, her arms around her dæmon - who was currently in the form of a tabby cat, she heard Mrs Coulter sigh slightly as the women got up and walked away from the bed. Sarah shut her eyes, her arms tight around her dæmon as she slowly fell asleep…

She is standing in some kind of fielded area, there’s a river nearby with boats moored, suddenly there is a shout from ahead, Sarah turned to see Lyra running along the field, being followed but Ma Costa, “I’ll never be safe!” Lyra cried, “Where are you going?” Ma Costa called after her, “Away from you, away from all this, to find Sarah!” Lyra cried, “I’m sorry we had to keep you hidden…” Ma said, “It’s her! It’s all her, and Farder Coram said she won’t find me but I don’t think she’ll stop until she does, and she may have already found Sarah!” there was silence for a moment, “You're right…she won’t stop until she finds you both” Ma told her, “Why! Why are we so important to her!” Lyra cried. Again there was silence, Sarah looked from Lyra to Ma Costa, her breath caught in her throat, “She’s your mother, Lyra!” Ma shouted. Sarah felt her jaw drop as she stared in shock at the words she heard.…

Sarah woke with a start, she realised she was holding her breath and she exhaled deeply as she stared at the ceiling in complete and utter shock. She looked over towards the other bed to see Mrs Coulter fast asleep, she then looked down at her dæmon, “Alfie…” she said fearfully, “I know…” he said, “What do we do?” she asked him, “Maybe…its time we told someone…about the visions” he said, “I don’t want to, Alfie...I’m scared…” she admitted, “I know…but maybe it will be for the best” he told her, Sarah cuddled Alfie close to her, tears leaked from her eyes, into his fur.

Suddenly a light went on across the room, and moments later Mrs Coulter was by her side, sitting on the edge of the bed - the golden monkey had obviously seen she was awake, “Sarah..darling, are you alright?” she asked softly. Sarah stared up at the ceiling, contemplating whether to tell the women everything, the shock of what she’d heard in the dream was still lingering on her mind, Mrs Coulter was Lyra’s mother. No, she couldn’t be, her parents and Lyra’s had both died in an airship accident in the north. Sarah finally looked over towards the women, her eyes meeting Mrs Coulter’s, her lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out, she tried again, “You…you’re…” she tried to say but couldn’t find the strength to form the words, “What is it dear?” Mrs Coulter asked, “You’re Lyra’s mother…” she said quietly, almost in a whisper.

This shocked the women as she straightened up and stared down at the girl, “Who told you that dear?” she said, Sarah stared at the women, “So…it’s true…” Sarah said, still in a whisper, the women sighed as she looked down. Sarah then pushed back the covers and shuffled out of the bed, heading towards the door, “No..no, Sarah!” the women cried, the golden monkey sprang into action and grabbed hold of Alfie, Sarah gasped at the firm hold, she then spun around, “Let go!” she cried, “Let me explain, Sarah” Mrs Coulter said as she walked towards the girl, Sarah stared up at her, “It’s all been a lie!” she said, her eyes glazed with tears, “Come and sit down, dear” Mrs Coulter said, she held out her hand towards the girl, Sarah stared at her, then she glanced towards her dæmon who was still being held by the golden monkey, she then looked down as she walked back over to Mrs Coulter and went with her back to the bed, Mrs Coulter sat the girl down and then knelt in front of her, Sarah kept her eyes on the floor.

There was silence for a moment, then Mrs Coulter took hold of Sarah’s hands and held them gently, “Sarah…I didn’t want you to find out like this” Mrs Coulter began to explain, “But…I suppose it’s time you knew” Sarah glanced up slightly and the women sighed before continuing, “Yes. Lyra is my daughter. Mine and Lord Asriel’s” Sarah frowned in disbelief at this, Mrs Coulter then reached up and pushed the girl’s hair back from her face, “And as for you darling, you are…in a way mine also” she paused, “When you were a baby, your mother…she died and you were left in my care…but the circumstances around me made it impossible for me to take care of you, or Lyra, so you were both placed in the care of a Gyptian nurse”

“And so you stayed there until my husband found out about you both and went to where you were being kept, in an attempt to do you harm. Asriel then turned up, there was a fight and my husband was killed.  Asriel lost everything after the trial” she paused again as she looked up at the girl, “Sarah…I wanted to keep you both, but it wouldn't have been good for us, I would never have been able to handle everything, but once I had sorted my life out, I was determined to get you back, but by then Asriel had gotten to you and Lyra, placing you in the care of Jordan College, where I could not touch you. Until now that is…”

Sarah frowned, trying to process the whole story, “Who was my mother?” she asked curiously, Mrs Coulter smiled, “Her name was Ariana” she told her, “There is so much of her in you” the women put her hand on the side of the girls face and rubbed her thumb on her cheek, Sarah glanced down again, “I know this is a lot to take in” Mrs Coulter said, "It’s late and you’re tired, get some sleep and we can talk more in the morning, I promise”

Mrs Coulter then stood up and pulled back the covers for Sarah to crawl under. The girl didn’t move for a moment until the golden monkey - who was still holding Alfie gripped the dæmon a little firmly as a warning and Sarah shuffled over and let Mrs Coulter tuck her into bed, the women then leaned over the girl and stroked her hair back from her face, “I love you darling” she whispered softly, she leaned down and kissed the girl on the forehead. Alfie finally got out of the golden monkeys hold and scurried over Sarah - mouse formed and cuddled in, Sarah placed her hand over him and closed her eyes, her face rubbing against his fur. Mrs Coulter then walked away from the bed and turned out the light. Sarah lay, wide awake, staring up the ceiling for some time, all the information whirling around in her head, she was sure no sleep would reach her tonight…

Chapter Text

Chapter 10 ~ Cutting

Sarah woke next day to find herself alone. She sat up and pushed back the duvet, then wandered over to the door, she pulled the handle. Locked, “Did you really expect her to leave it open?” Alfie said, Sarah sighed and went back over to the bed, she began to puzzle over what Mrs Coulter had told her last night; Lyra was Mrs Coulter’s daughter, her own mother was someone called Ariana, it was all to much to take in. 

Suddenly the door opened and Sarah looked round to see Mrs Coulter enter, followed by one of the nurses, carrying a breakfast tray.  The nurse placed the tray onto the little dresser, gave a slight bow and then went out again, Mrs Coulter walked over to Sarah and sat beside her on the bed, “Good morning dear, did you sleep well?” She asked kindly, her hand ran through the girls hair, Sarah said nothing to this and just stared down at the floor, Mrs Coulter sighed gently, she rested her hand on Sarah’s shoulder for a moment and then stood up, “Come have a spot of breakfast” the women said, she took hold of Sarah’s hand, got the girl to her feet and walked her over to the dresser, sitting her down on the chair while she herself went to find something for Sarah to wear.

Sarah picked up her fork and began prodding at the bacon on her plate, not really feeling hungry. She glanced over at Mrs Coulter who had her back to Sarah as she searched through the wardrobe, the golden monkey however was watching both Sarah and Alfie intently, Sarah looked back at her food, “Mrs Coulter…can you tell me more about…about my mother?” Sarah asked, still looking at her plate.  There was an eerie silence, Sarah chanced at glance over at Mrs Coulter who had turned around from the wardrobe, an outfit in her hands, she was staring blankly at the wall, and Sarah could of sworn she glimpsed a tear in the woman’s eyes. Then Mrs Coulter shook herself and went and laid the outfit on the bed before turning to Sarah, “Eat up and get dressed” she told the girl, “I have somewhere to go later and you will be coming with me” Sarah stared at the woman for a moment, slightly annoyed she had just brushed the question off like a speck of dirt on glass, but she said nothing and turned away again and slowly began to eat up her breakfast.

After a moment there was a knock at the door and one of the doctors came in, “Mrs Coulter, we’re all set up” he said, Mrs Coulter nodded and the doctor backed out of the room, the woman came over to Sarah, “Now dear, you stay here and eat up your breakfast, then get dressed. I will be back soon” she told the girl, then kissed the top of her head before walked to the door and out, locking the door behind her.

Sarah watched as Mrs Coulter went out then she looked over at Alfie, “What do we do?” She asked him, “Maybe we should look around, that vent I went through yesterday would be big enough for you to crawl through” Alfie suggested, Sarah looked towards the closet and bit her lip, debating and then got up and went over. The vent was quite high up, so Sarah dragged the chair from the dresser over and placed it below the vent, she then lifted the opening of the vent and managed to heave herself up and through.

The vent was small, but luckily Sarah herself was small and had just enough room to crawl through comfortably. Alfie was in his moth form and started to flutter on ahead, Sarah began to follow, shuffling her way along the vent. It was a far from easy journey, she felt herself begin to feel a little claustrophobic, but she pushed on after her dæmon. When she came to an opening she would stop and peer through to see where she was, but all she usually saw were either kids playing, nurses in their common room or doctors milling about, there was never anything of interest.

After what felt like hours she finally came to a opening that look into a large chamber. It was dimly lit and looked very familiar. There was a large metal machine in the middle of the room and a control panel at one end. Then Sarah remembered, this was the room from her dream. She felt her heart beat quicken. There were doctors all around the room and Sarah caught sight of Mrs Coulter at the control panel, she was watching as a nurse and a doctor carried someone over to the machine. Sarah strained her eyes to see who it was and with a jolt realised it was Billy Costa!

Sarah watched as the nurse placed something into one side of the machine which Sarah suddenly realised was Billys dæmon, and the doctor placed the unconscious Billy into the other. The doors were then shut and they stepped back. The doctor behind the control panel was saying something to Mrs Coulter but Sarah couldn’t hear, then she flicked a few switches and the machine hummed to life. She watched as a pale, sliver blade hung poised between the human and dæmon. The doctor then placed a hand onto a leaver and pulled. The blade fell with one quick swipe.

Sarah was holding her breath as she stared in horror at what she had just witnessed. The doctor who had placed Billy into the machine hurried over to the machine and opened it. There was an eerie silence as everyone watched, then he turned around, “He’s alive, but very weak” he told the room, “I am not sure if he will survive”

Sarah felt a jolt in her heart as he heard this, she picked up her own dæmon and held him close, “Alfie….” She said, tears leaking from her eyes, “I know…” was all he could say, what could you say to something as horrifying as this. Sarah watched as Billy was lifted out of the machine, he was so limp you would of thought he was died, when Ratter was brought out, it was as it she was a ghost; vacant and timid.

Sarah had to control herself not to let a sob escape her, she saw Mrs Coulter walk out from behind the controls and over to Billy, Sarah felt a fury in her heart as she stared at the women – how could she do that to Billy, to her friend. There was silence for a moment as Mrs Coulter inspected Billy, “Take him to the isolation room, don’t let anyone see him” she told the doctor, who nodded and walked off, “As for the dæmon, keep her separate and observe her” Mrs Coulter added, the nurse who was holding Ratter nodded also and went out too.

The main doctor – the one behind the control panel came out and over to Mrs Coulter, “It’s still in the first stages, but with a little work I’m sure we can have it working well” the doctor said, Mrs Coulter only nodded as she stared at the machine in front of her. After a moment she turned to the doctor, “I have some busy to attend to elsewhere, when I return I will expect to see some progress” she told the doctor, who nodded and Mrs Coulter gave a slight smile before heading towards the door.

Sarah gasped as she saw this and let the opening down gently before hurrying as fast as she could backwards through the vent, towards the bedroom. The journey seemed shorter than before, as she soon found the opening into Mrs Coulters bedroom, she jumped back down onto the chair and then closed the vent again, before dragging the chair back to the dresser and sitting down, trying to calm her breathing. No sooner had she sat down when she heard a key in the door. Sarah took one more deep breathing, keeping her eyes focused on the plate in front of her, but she had no intention of eating, she felt like she would be sick at any moment.

The door opened and Sarah didn’t even glance round as Mrs Coulter walked into the room, “Not finished yet?” Mrs Coulter asked as she walked up to the back of Sarah, the girl was silent for a moment, making sure she had her breath back, “I’m not hungry” she said in a small voice, still not looking at the women, she felt Mrs Coulter touch her hair briefly, “Right then, go get dressed and we’ll be off” the woman said as she walked away from Sarah and picked up the clothes laid out for her, Sarah turned slightly, “Can’t I stay here?” She asked, finally looking at Mrs Coulter, the woman looked round at the girl, “No dear” she said pointedly, “I have some work to do and could use your help, wouldn’t you like that?” Sarah glanced down at the floor saying nothing, “Sarah?” Mrs Coulter said, with a little sharpness in her tone, “Yes, Mrs Coulter…” the girl said softly, then she got up and took the clothes from the woman and went to the bathroom to change.

As she changed into the clothes, Alfie sat on the side of the bathtub, in his ermine form, “We could try and sneak away while we’re out” he suggested, “Where would we go Alfie? We don’t know the North and there’s no one here we can go to” she said, “We could find Lord Asriel” Alfie suggested, “We don’t even know where he is” Sarah pointed out, “He could be miles away” she finished dressing and sat down on the toilet seat and put her head in her hands, “It’s hopeless Alfie…” she said, “Don’t give up Sarah, we’ll think of something” Alfie told her. She looked up at her dæmon and smiled slightly, she could always count on him to see the bright side, when all else seemed lost.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, “Sarah? Are you ready?” Came Mrs Coulters voice through the door, Sarah sighed slightly, “Coming…” she said, a little half heartedly. She sat a moment longer before standing up again and heading to the door.  When she came out Mrs Coulter smiled at her, she came over to the girl and brushed down her dress, straightening it up, “There, don’t you look lovely” she said before going to the wardrobe and getting a coat for Sarah to wear, she then placed it on the child and fastened it up, before taking her hand and leading her out of the room.

They headed down the corridor, towards the front door where they were greeted by the doorman who promptly got up as they approached and held the door open for them, “Ma’am” he said, Mrs Coulter nodded briefly to him as she lead Sarah out of the building and over towards an awaiting airship. As they entered Sarah noticed straight away that this one was far different from the airship they boarded at Jordan College. It was comfortable looking, the main room was very much like a living area – this must be one of Mrs Coulter private ships.  Mrs Coulter brought Sarah to one of the seats and sat her down before taking the seat opposite. Sarah shuffled over to the window and looked out at the frozen landscape and building of Bolvangar below, she stayed like this all through take off until they were high in the air, she then turned her head to Mrs Coulter, who was busy with some papers, “Where are we going?” Sarah asked curiously, Mrs Coulter looked up and smiled at the girl, “I have some business to take care off” she explained, “In Svalbard”

Sarah felt her heart rate quicken slightly when she heard this, she knew Svalbard was home to the armoured bears and she felt a slight excitement creep over at the idea of seeing one of these amazing, fascinating creatures for the very first time.

Chapter Text

Sarah spent a good part of the journey looking out the window, she barely looked round at Mrs Coulter at all – who was busy with some paperwork. Eventually, Sarah lay herself down on the sofa and curled herself into a ball, Alfie became a tabby cat and cuddled beside her, she then felt herself fall fast asleep. Mrs Coulter looked over at the girl and smiled softly, she then stood up and walked over to Sarah’s side, she picked up a throw from the back of the sofa and laid it gently over the girl, she then leaned over her and gently stroked the girl's hair back from her face and kissed her cheek before going back to the other sofa to continue with her work, glancing now and then at the sleeping girl.

Sarah was standing a little behind Lyra and Roger, “We know the rules Pan!” Lyra was saying to her dæmon, “You don’t obey the rules” Roger said, “Just count us down” Lyra said, Pan began to count. He hadn’t even finished saying two, when Sarah darted passed both Lyra and Roger and sprinted down the corridor, “Oi! Cheat!” Lyra cried after her, Sarah smirked as she kept on running, hearing Lyra and Roger beginning to catch her up.

They ran all through the college, getting in the way of the chambermaids – who huffed and scowled at them in disapproval. They sprinted passed the Master who tried to catch their attention but Sarah was too intent on the race to hear. Sarah then ran to an open window and hurled herself through and began running along the roofs, determined to reach the finishing point first. The flag pole was in sight, she was so close. She urged herself to go faster, “Come on Sarah!” Alfie cried, who was a bird beside her, almost there, almost. Suddenly Lyra came out of nowhere and just reached the flag pole before she did, Sarah groaned as she stopped, completely out of breath, “No…fair…” she said through pants, “You took a shortcut…” Sarah leaned forwards, trying to catch her breath; just as Roger ran up to the pole, “Lyra won then?” He said, “Yip! Lyra Belacqua, champion of all!” Lyra said triumphantly, Sarah rolled her eyes and then went to sit on the edge of the roof, where there was a basket of plums, she picked one of up and began to eat.

As Sarah woke, it was calmly for once, there was a smile spread across her face. It had been such a wonderful dream for a change, though it felt more like a memory. She had liked it and tried to force herself back into a slumber, but it was no use. Slowly she opened her eyes. It was blurry for a moment and then the room of the zeppelin came into focus and she found she was alone. Sarah rolled over onto her back, the throw Mrs Coulter had placed over her fell to the floor. She then realized the engine was no longer running. She sat up and shuffled over to the window.

There wasn’t much to see, there was a large cliff in front of the window and below all, she could see was fresh, white snow. Sarah longed to go out into it, she thought to herself, maybe she could just go outside for a few minutes. She got off the sofa and made her way out of the room and over towards the door of the zeppelin, where a man was stood. She made to go passed him, but he stopped her, placing his hand on her shoulder, “Sorry Miss, Mrs Coulter has ordered me to keep you on the zeppelin” he told her, Sarah looked up at him, ”Please…can’t I just go out quickly for some fresh air. I won’t be long, honest, and I’ll be back before Mrs Coulter returns” Sarah pleaded, giving him a cute, eyelash battering stare – this usually worked on the scholars at Jordan. The man sighed and nodded, “Alright Miss, but be quick and stay close to the zeppelin” he told her, Sarah nodded and made to leave, “Don’t forget a jacket” he called, Sarah turned and took the jacket he was offering her, “Thanks” she said and she threw the jacket over herself and departed the zeppelin.

As she stepped out she felt the cold air hit her at once, but it did not bother her as much as she thought it would. Slowly she began to descend the steps and then stopped on the bottom one, looking out over the fresh blanket of snow. There were only one other set of footprints – which Sarah assumed were Mrs Coulters. Those were headed off to the left towards a smallmouth in the cliff. She frowned, wondering whether to go investigate, to find out what Mrs Coulter was up too but she thought better of it, if Mrs Coulter caught her there would be big trouble.

So as Sarah stepped down from the zeppelin and her feet sank into the fluffy snow, she began walking off to the right. She kept her promise to the guard and stayed within sight of the zeppelin. As much as she would of love to run away right now two things held her back; one, she didn’t want to get the guard into trouble with Mrs Coulter and two, there was nowhere for her to go.

Sarah stopped at the end of the zeppelin and without thinking about it she fell backwards into the snow and laughed; as she began spreading her arms and legs about. Alfie became an Arctic fox and rolled around in the snow beside her. Her head fell to the side and she closed her eyes lightly, feeling the breeze hit her face and somehow liking it, “It’s strange Alfie, I feel at ease out here…like…this is where we’re meant to be…” she said to her dæmon, “Yeah, it’s strange” Alfie replied.

They lay in the snow for some time, her eyes closed, Sarah felt the happiest she been in such a long time. When she opened her eyes she frowned and squinted up into the sky. There was something large flying in her direction. Sarah sat up and had the immediate urge to get up and run, but something held her still. The bird came closer and closer and suddenly Sarah realized it wasn’t a bird, but a dæmon. Sarah sat stock still as it flew towards her.

The bird landed in the snow beside her, Alfie went to stand in front of his human, protectively, “Greetings child” the dæmon said. Sarah didn’t know what to say, it felt odd speaking directly to another person’s dæmon, “Hello…” she said uncertainly, “Who are you, and what are you doing out here all alone?” the bird asked. Again Sarah hesitated, “I’m Sarah Bela….” She stopped, “I’m Sarah” she finished. Ever since Mrs Coulter had told her the story, she was starting to question everything about her life, was she even remotely related to Lord Asriel? “And what are you doing here all alone?” the bird said again, “I…I was brought here by the Gobblers, but now this lady has me…I don’t know what to do now, I’ve got nowhere to go…I don’t know anyone” she explained, “You were at Bolvangar?” the bird asked, “Is that what it’s called? Yes, yes I was” Sarah said “And you got away?” the bird asks, “That lady…she…she took me from there, she’s says she’ll look after me but…I’m not so sure…” Sarah explained, “Where’s your human?” the bird ruffled his feathers slightly; “My human is a witch, and we can separate very far from each other,” the bird told her.

At this Sarah’s eyes went wide, “Can all witches do this?” she asked eagerly, the bird nodded, “Why do you ask?” he said, “Because…me and my dæmon can do it to” she told him, “You can separate?” Sarah nodded, “How long for?” Sarah thought back, “Since…since I turned 12…I think,” she said, “What is your name again?”

“Sarah”

“Sarah, what?”

“Well…I used to think it was Sarah Belacqua…now I’m not so sure”

The bird was silent for a moment, “I must speak to my human, but I shall find you again Sarah Belacqua. The witches will be most interested to meet you” the bird told her.

Suddenly someone was crying her name from the other end of the zeppelin. Mrs Coulter had returned and seen Sarah was missing, Sarah glanced back and then looked at the dæmon again, “You’d better go, but I will see you again? How will you find me?” she asked, “Fear not Sarah, witches have their ways,” the bird told her and with that, the bird flew up into the air and was out of sight in moments.

Sarah watched the bird disappear, not even noticing the golden monkey rushing up to them. He grabbed hold of Alfie and held him tightly, Sarah gasped and looked around just as Mrs Coulter walked up to her, “Let go!” she cried in pain. Mrs Coulter stood above her, “You were to stay on the zeppelin, Sarah!” she said firmly, the golden monkey was pinning Alfie to the ground, “I…I just wanted to come out for a moment…I didn’t mean to be away so long" Sarah cried, almost in tears from the pain now, Mrs Coulter scowled, “You are not to disobey me again, do you understand?” she said firmly, “Anything could have happened to you, Sarah!”

Mrs Coulter reached down and grabbed hold of Sarah’s wrist and dragged her back to the zeppelin, the golden monkey now carrying Alfie, his firm grip never loosening. They climbed back aboard the zeppelin and Mrs Coulter dragged Sarah into the main area, where she finally let go of the girl’s wrist, but the golden monkey kept a firm hold on Alfie, Sarah frowned at Mrs Coulter, “You can’t treat me like this! You’re not my mother!” she cried, tears in her eyes, Mrs Coulter stared firmly back at the girl, Sarah could have sworn she saw a hint of sadness in the woman's eyes, but only for a moment. Mrs Coulter said nothing, although the monkey's grip on Alfie loosened slightly, Mrs Coulter then walked slowly over towards the girl, Sarah thought for a moment she was going to hit her, but the women stopped in front of her and knelt, taking girls hands, “Sarah…I made a promise to your mother, I would make sure you were safe. Maybe I haven’t lived up to that in the past, but I promise you, Sarah, as long as you are with me, no one is ever going to harm you” Mrs Coulter told her, she then reached up and pushed the girl's hair back from her face.

Sarah said nothing in response, but she couldn’t hold back the tears now, they rolled down her cheeks and she looked down at the floor. Then before anything could be said or done, she tore away from Mrs Coulter and hurried out of the room, “Sarah…” Mrs Coulter called out, but the girl ignored her. She found another room, she went in and locked the door.

She heard heels coming along the corridor, “Sarah?” Mrs Coulter called out; the girl said nothing, tears still streaming down her face. She heard Mrs Coulter stop outside the door, there was a knock and Mrs Coulter tried to open it, “Sarah...please let me in” the women said, Sarah, frowned, “Leave me alone!” she cried out. There was silence for a moment, and then she heard the heels walk away again, Sarah let herself fall to the floor and she sobbed, Alfie came over to her, she picked him up and cuddled him, “What do we do Alfie?” she whispered into his fur, “We sit tight. That dæmon said he’d find us again” he told her, Sarah laid herself down onto the floor and shut her eyes tight, letting the tears still flow down her cheeks. The whole situation seemed completely hopeless.

Chapter Text

Sarah must have cried herself to sleep because when she woke she found she was no longer on the floor but in the bed, she sat up and looked around. The door to the room was wide open – obviously, Mrs Coulter had someone unlock it. Sarah pushed back the covers and crawled on over to the side of the bed, she saw her shoes on the floor. The girl slid off the bed and slipped her feet into her shoes; she went to the door and began to head down the corridor.

She came to the main room and peered in, she saw Mrs Coulter sitting on the sofa, with her back to her. Sarah thought she might be able to back away without being seen – no such luck the golden monkey had spotted her. Mrs Coulter turned her head and smiled kindly at her, “Sarah, come sit down” she said patting the seat beside her, “I had some chamomile made for you. It will make you feel better” Sarah hesitated a moment, she didn’t want to sit beside Mrs Coulter but then she didn’t want another fight to occur, she knew that monkey would be tense to spring. So Sarah walked on over and sat on the very edge of the sofa, her feet tucked right against the seat, her head down.

Mrs Coulter reached over and picked up the glass and moved closer to Sarah, “Here darling” she said softly, Sarah glanced over at the glass, then took it from Mrs Coulter and began to sip, Mrs Coulter smiled and ran her hand through the girl's hair. Sarah kept her eyes down, as she sipped at the tea, “Sarah, I wish you would see, I just want to keep you safe” Mrs Coulter whispered, Sarah, glanced at Alfie as he thought to her, ‘Maybe we should soften up to them, might catch them off guard’ Sarah glanced down again, thinking, she’d have to be smart about it.

After a moment she finally looked round at Mrs Coulter, “I didn’t mean what I said” she began, “I just…it’s hard to take it all in” she saw the women smile slightly, “I know dear, it’s a lot” she said to her. Alfie – who was in his ermine form, timidly edged his way towards the golden monkey, who in response reached out his hand and began to stroke the dæmons hand, Alfie didn’t resist. Encouraged by this, Sarah moved a little closer to Mrs Coulter and without thinking flung her arms around her waist, pressing herself into the women.

Mrs Coulter did nothing for a moment, and then she wrapped her arms around Sarah and held her close, one hand on the girls head, stroking hair. Sarah couldn’t help feel a little gleeful – it was working, she was beginning to bring the woman’s guard down, she would just have to keep this up a little longer. Sarah felt Mrs Coulter kiss the top of her head, she then glanced over at Alfie who was now being held in the monkey’s hands, one paw stroking down his little ermine back.

They stayed like this for a moment or two, then Mrs Coulter finally withdrew and she cupped Sarah’s face with her hands, smiling at the girl, “You’re a real special child, Sarah” she whispered, Sarah looked at her for a moment, looking deep into her eyes for probably the first time;

Mrs Coulter stood in the doorway of the living room, staring in at the scene in front of her; Asriel was standing in the middle of the room, pistol in hand, and at his feet – limp on the ground was Edward. Mrs Coulter was frozen in shook as she looked from her husband’s body to her lover standing over him. Her eyes then caught sight of a woman at the far end of the room, coming out from a nearby closet; two babies held tightly to her chest. Mrs Coulter felt tears come to her eyes as she slowly back out of the room, “Marisa?” came Asriel’s voice, but she ignored him and turned around sharply and fled.

Sarah flashed back to reality, she stared at the woman, trying not to look shocked but failing, “What is it dear?” she asked worriedly. Sarah said nothing for a moment, trying to take in what she’d seen. This hadn’t been her memory, it was Mrs Coulters. She shook her head as she moved away slightly from Mrs Coulter and sat back on the sofa, “I’m fine…” she said, still not want to talk about her visions, she kept her head down as she went back to sipping at the tea, the memory still buzzing round in her head.

It was sometime later when the zeppelin finally began to descend; Sarah was now sat opposite Mrs Coulter, by the window seat. She looked out to see they were landing back at Bolvangar. As the zeppelin got into position, Sarah noticed the kids were grouped outside, all huddled together, she frowned wondering what was going on. Mrs Coulter was packing away all her paperwork and then got to her feet, “Come along, Sarah” she said holding out her hand to the girl, and Sarah got up and came over to the woman, taking her hand.

As they exited the zeppelin, Sarah felt that all eyes turned in their direction. The girl bowed her head slightly, feeling slightly uneasy. Mrs Coulter walked up to one of the doctors and chatted in a low voice to him, even Sarah couldn’t hear. The girl chanced a glance around and saw the kids were being ushered back into the building, ‘Can you see Roger?’ Sarah asked her dæmon, Alfie was an owl on her shoulder and he scanned the group of kids closely, looking for any sign of him, ‘No…but I thought I saw…no it can’t be…’ he said, ‘What?’ Sarah asked him, ‘Not now’ he told her.

Once all the kids were in, Mrs Coulter proceeded to head in with Sarah. As soon as they entered another doctor walked towards them, “Mrs Coulter” he greeted, “Are there any developments?” Mrs Coulter asked, “We seem to have made quite a bit of progress in your absence,” the doctor said, “It’s ready for another test” Mrs Coulter nodded, “Good, I shall like to see it,” she said, “We’ll set something up,” the doctor said. Mrs Coulter then turned to one of the nurses, “Take this child to my quarters and have some food brought to her” she ordered, the nurse obeyed at once and came over to take Sarah, she noticed Mrs Coulter hand over a key which Sarah knew was to lock the bedroom door. The nurse took hold of Sarah’s shoulders to guide her away, Sarah looked back at Mrs Coulter, putting on a longing look as if to say ‘don’t leave me’ Mrs Coulter saw this and smiled, “I’ll be along shortly, dear” she assured her. As the nurse-led Sarah away, the girl kept her eyes on Mrs Coulter; this was all part of her plan, of course, to coax Mrs Coulter into thinking Sarah was warming to her.

The nurse brought her to Mrs Coulter’s private quarters, “In you go dear” the nurse said to Sarah, as she opened the door; Sarah glanced up at the nurse. She remembered her from before, she made Sarah feel uneasy; she would always stare directly at you with an intense stare and she would talk like a robot most of the time. Her dæmon acted almost like he was sleepwalking; not really there but still conscious.

Sarah walked into the room and the nurse instantly closed the door, Sarah heard a click and knew that she had locked it, Sarah sighed and went and sat down on the bed, Alfie scurried over to her in his ermine form, “Sarah, earlier…when we were outside, I thought…I can’t be sure…but I thought I saw…Lyra” Sarah’s headshot around and her eyes went wide, “How certain are you?” she asked, “forty per cent” he told her. Sarah bit her lip slightly, “Can you go through the vents, see if you can find her?” she asked, Alfie, nodded and changed into his moth form, “Be careful” she whispered, as he flew over to the closet and slipped into the vent.

Some time passed and Alfie still hadn’t returned. Sarah was getting nervous now, he had never been this long away from her; she knew nothing bad had happened to him because she would feel it after all, but all the same, she was scared. Only one person entered the room in the time he was away, but it was just the nurse, with the food Mrs Coulter had ordered her to bring, and she was so vacant in herself that she didn’t even notice the absence of the girl’s dæmon. Sarah sat at the little table and prodded the food with her fork, her anxiety for her dæmon had taken over and she didn’t feel hungry at all.

Suddenly she heard a little voice beside her, “Alfie!” she cried and he became an ermine and landed on the table, “What happened? Where have you been?” she asked him, frantically,  “I must have been all over the building, and I came to that room again” he began to explain, “And they had someone in there, it was…” he was cut off by the sound of the key in the door. Sarah spun around just as the door opened, and Mrs Coulter came in, but she was not alone.

Sarah could have cried out in surprise if the shock of seeing Lyra with the women hadn’t overcome her. Both girls made eye contact and Lyra pulled free from Mrs Coulter's hold and ran to Sarah, Sarah flung her arms around Lyra and held tight, never wanting to be parted from her again, being away from Lyra, was like being away from her dæmon. Alfie sprung onto the floor and rushed to Pantalaimon, they rubbed their heads together. Sarah then glanced over at Mrs Coulter who was getting two glasses handed to her at the door, she then turned to the girls again, “Come along girls, sit down and drink these” she told them, Sarah glanced at Lyra and she gave a slight nod, taking each other’s hand, they went over to Sarah’s bed and sat with their backs against the headboard. Mrs Coulter came over and sat on the edge of the bed, closest to Lyra, she gave both the girls a glass, Lyra sipped slowly at the contents, Sarah, however, placed the glass on her lap, her other hand still in Lyra’s.

There was a long silence, Sarah watched Mrs Coulter closely, she looked as if she was debating something, “I know you must have questions” Mrs Coulter said finally, “I can guess the first, and the answer is…I didn’t keep you…because it wouldn’t have been good for us…” Sarah looked from Lyra to Mrs Coulter, frowning slightly, Lyra knows the truth too, “Asriel had ideas about what was best, so I let him pursue those ideas, but it wasn’t because I didn’t care…I just wasn’t equipped at the time” Sarah glanced down slightly, thinking about Mrs Coulter’s memory - the vision she had, “I never meant to harm either of you” Mrs Coulter went on, “No harm? Then what are you doing here?” Lyra said firmly, “Nothing to you! No one is going to harm you Lyra, or Sarah. You have my word on that” Mrs Coulter said firmly, Sarah glanced up again, “They were about to cut Pan from me…” Lyra whispered.

Sarah snapped her head around at this, her eyes wide, her vision…it had come true, she felt her heart rate quicken at the thought, “Because they didn’t know who you are, and I saved you” Mrs Coulter replied, her hand now in Lyra’s hair, stroking her gently, “Until we iron out the teething problems, that equipment is not suitable for either of you” Sarah frowned, “But others…Billy Costa…Roger…” Lyra said, saying what Sarah had been thinking, “If they are friends of yours, I can guarantee you, they will not get hurt,” Mrs Coulter told her, “Billy Costa…is dead” Lyra said firmly. At this Sarah felt tears come to her eyes, she of course had seen Billy in the machine but had no idea what had become of him, the thought that he had perished as a result of this horrible thing was too much for her to take, “Well that is unfortunate. Well, I will find those people responsible” Mrs Coulter said simply and Sarah felt rage grow inside her; how dare she just brush it off like that, like Billy meant nothing, “That’s you!” Sarah cried out, letting out her anger, “Girls, you have to understand. I have taken on this extraordinary, hard job for the benefit of all. This is what I can do, this is my calling, and I am sorry if me being who I am has done you both…damage…”

Sarah just stared at her, how Mrs Coulter could not see how inhumane the whole thing was. She was a monster. She couldn’t believe she’d ever found this woman to be so charming and clever, “I’m sorry...I never meant to do you any harm…” Mrs Coulter whispered, tears now in her eyes, Sarah still frowned, she wasn’t going to let Mrs Coulter turn her head, not again.

There was silence for a moment, then Mrs Coulter gave a small smile as she wiped her tears, “Girls, I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you both again” she whispered, “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be found” Lyra said back, Sarah looked around at Lyra curiously, what was she doing, she must have some kind of plan, surely she wouldn’t be swayed so easily.

“Girls, I believe the Master gave you something before you left Jordan College,” Mrs Coulter said, “An Alethiometer?” Sarah glanced down slightly, after all, that had happened, she’d completely forgot about the device, she shifted a glance at Lyra – who looked passive, “The trouble is, it wasn’t his to give, I believe he gave it to you in the hopes it would fall into Lord Asriel's hands” Mrs Coulter went on, “I know he told you both not to tell me about it, and I know you’re not the sort to break your word” Sarah glanced back at Mrs Coulter, “Now’s the time to choose aside. Now’s this time to choose who you belong to, once and for all” Mrs Coulter reached over and cupped both Lyra and Sarah’s cheek, they both looked up at her, “Why shouldn’t Lord Asriel have it?” Lyra asked, “Because of what he’s doing. He’s got something dangerous and heretical in mind and needs the Alethiometer to finish his plan, but the last thing anyone should do is let him have it” Mrs Coulter explained, Sarah looked around at Lyra again who was still staring, unblinkingly at Mrs Coulter, “You saved me. He didn’t, and you’re my mother” she said, Sarah looked back at Mrs Coulter, who was on the verge of tears, “I am your mother…” she whispered.

Lyra then slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out a square, shaped tin. Sarah frowned, wondering what on earth she was thinking, Mrs Coulter, reached over and gently took the tin from Lyra, “What a funny old tin” she said softly, “You have been careful, haven’t you…soldered” Mrs Coulter then got up from the bed and went over to the table, picking up a small knife.

Lyra nudged Sarah and nodded her head at the door, mouthing, ‘Get ready’ Sarah frowned, confused. Mrs Coulter was too intent on opening the tin, as was the golden monkey to notice anything. Suddenly there was a rattling sound, coming from the tin and then suddenly something hurled out and attacked Mrs Coulter. The woman screamed and fell to the floor, “Come on!” Lyra cried as she rushed off the bed, Sarah didn’t need to be told twice. Just before she ran to the door she caught sight of the key on the table, quickly she grabbed it and ran out after Lyra, they slammed the door shut and Sarah locked it, “Let’s go!” Lyra cried and they both ran down the corridor.

“What was that?” Sarah cried as they made their way along the corridors, “A spy fly!” Lyra told her, “She’d sent it after us, and we captured it” they stopped and Lyra kicked as hard as she could at a button on the wall. Suddenly a high pitched ringing filled the building, Sarah covered her ears for a moment, “What’s happening?” she shouted, “Fire bell, it’s the signal to escape. Come on!” Lyra told her and they set off again.

They soon caught sight of the kids ahead of them, getting on warm coats and hats, they saw Roger at the front of the crowd and ran up to him, they both hugged him tightly, “I was so worried, I thought I never see you both again” he said, “We need to get the kids out of here Roger” Lyra said, “What are you going to do?” Roger asked, “What we’re best at. Cause come chaos” she said smugly, Sarah smiled and she ran with Lyra back along the corridor, “That machine, we have to destroy it Lyra,” Sarah said, “I’ll go handle that, you help get the other kids out and I’ll catch up,” she said, Lyra nodded, “Be careful,” Lyra said, Sarah nodded and they split, Lyra going down one corridor, Sarah another, she raced along the corridor trying to figure out where the room with the machine is, suddenly realizing she had only seen it from inside a vent, “What do we do Alfie?” she said, feeling hopeless, “Keep looking, we’ll find it,” he said. Finally, she came across a door marked ‘private’ she stopped, “This must be it!” Sarah cried and raced over, the door was heavy but she just managed to push it open.

Thankfully the room was empty, she instantly ran over to the control panel and began turning on every switch she could reach, “The leaver” Alfie said, Sarah, saw it and pulled it down. The machine hummed into action, but nothing else was happening, she then picked up a large instrument and launched it at the machine. It hit the blade midway down with a massive crash. Suddenly the machine began to vibrate violently, “It’s gonna blow! Sarah come on!” Alfie cried, Sarah turned and darted out of the room. She runs a little down the corridor and turned a corner, there was an explosion and Sarah covered her ears and ducked her head, her eyes shut tight.  She waited a moment before turning her head to see the damage. The machine was well and truly destroyed; she smirked and then ran on down the corridor, towards the front door.

She ran out straight away, not even realizing she hadn’t picked up a jacket until she got outside. She stopped, feeling the cold breeze on her arms, and it felt nice. Almost like a pleasant, tingling feeling, “Do you feel that Alfie?” she asked him, “Yeah, but we’ll think about that later, look” he said, Sarah looked ahead and saw the kids all grouped, not moving, frowning she ran over.

She pushed her way to the front and found Lyra standing a little ahead, facing a whole line of Tartar guards. One of them had drawn their weapon and was pointing it at Lyra; he said something in his native language that Sarah could not understand. Lyra stood her ground. Sarah then walked forward and came to stand by Lyra, she took her hand and smiled at her, then looked at the guards, the man said something to another guard and one of the wolf dæmons sprang towards the girls. Sarah shut her eyes tight, ready for the impacted, but it never came. There was an almighty roar, Sarah looked up and gasped. Standing beside them was a real armoured bear, towering over them, “Iorek!” Lyra cried in delight, “Run, Lyra!” the bear shouted back as he charged at the tartar guards. Lyra then turned to the kids again, “Let’s go!” she cried and with Lyra and Sarah in the lead, all the kids began to run away from Bolvangar and the battle.

The Tartar guard split into two groups; one group to fight the bear and the other to round up the kids. Sarah was trying to best to guide the kids away from the battle, but they were all spreading out every direction. Suddenly she screamed as someone grabbed her from behind, she kicked backwards, trying to make them release her, but the grip held fast. Then an arrow shot past Sarah, missing her by inches and hit the guard holding her, his grip slackened and she just managed to dodge away as he fell to the ground. Sarah then looked up and gasped. Hundreds of dark shapes were flying through the air, arrows shooting downwards towards the Tartars, “Witches!” Alfie cried in her ear, Sarah could only stare in wonder. After a moment she shook herself and began to round up the kids again, she found Lyra, “We gotta get them away from here” Sarah cried, “The Gyptians must be close, Iorek was with them, so they won’t be far behind, we get the kids to them and they’ll be safe” Lyra explained, Sarah nodded and began herding the kids together.

Once she was certain they were all gathered she and Lyra led them away from the battle, Sarah started walking among the kids, “We gotta getaway, there’s a rescue party coming, they’ll take you home” she explained to them, “How do you know Sasha?” that was Annie, Sarah turned her head to her, “It’s Sarah. I only said my name was Sasha so that women wouldn’t find me” she explained, “It doesn’t matter now, the main thing is we got to keep moving” she remembered the one thing that she learned about being in the north was; you had to keep moving, no matter what.

It felt like they had been walking for hours, Sarah noticed a few of the kids starting to struggle in the cold, Sarah was going round them all, encouraging them – Alfie would nag at their dæmons to change into bigger forms and warm their humans. Sarah soon felt tired herself, but continued to push herself on – she then thought she could see lights in the distance and for a moment she panicked, thinking they had circled back round to Bolvangar. Then she realized the lights were coming towards them, and then she suddenly found herself surrounded by a dozen sledges and Gyptians were crowding round them all, ushering the kids onto sledges and wrapping them up in blankets. Sarah then felt warm arms around her and a voice says, “Sarah love, it’s good to see you” it was Ma Costa, Sarah smiled, tears of relief in her eyes and she hugged the Gyptian mother, she then withdrew and Ma Costa placed a blanket around her, but Sarah handed it back, “I’m fine” she said, “Give it to one of the other kids” Ma Costa frowned, “You’re barely wrapped up at all, Sarah” she said confused, “I’m fine, honest” she told her, Ma Costa smiled and placed her hand on the girl's cheek, “Come on then” she said, “I’m staying with Lyra” Sarah said and then turned her head to look for her.

Just then she heard something in the distance, she looked back in the direction they had just come and strained her eyes, trying to see. It sounded like a motorized sledge, she looked around her at the Gyptians sledges but none of them was motorized, she looked back again. There was a light coming towards them. She felt herself being pushed aside, she gasped as she was knocked to the ground, “Take cover Sarah” one of the Gyptians cried, as they prepared to fight. Suddenly they were surrounded by dozens of Tartars; they had managed to break away from the battle at Bolvangar. Sarah tried to shuffle away as the fight broke out, she felt a huge blow to the back of her head and she landed face down in the snow.

When she came round, she felt dizzy; she half-opened her eyes and found her vision blurry. She was lying on something hard and vibrating, she tried to push herself up but her head was thumping, suddenly she felt someone beside her, gently pushing her back down, “Stay still dear” came a low whisper, Sarah recognized the voice, but her head was too foggy to register it, then she heard someone shouting her name. Sarah tried to focus her eyes but she felt so weak from the blow to the head. She could dimly make out someone running towards her, only to be struck down and then picked up and carried over to the sledge, the person beside her moved away. Sarah tried to sit up again but her head was still thumping, she felt someone else at her side now, they shook her, trying to make her come too, “Sarah? Sarah?” it was Lyra’s voice, Sarah groaned and tried to focus her eyes again.

She could now hear the sound of guns firing, a roar – which she assumed was Iorek and then all of a sudden she felt her hand being gripped tightly and she was lifted off the sledge and into the air. She looked up and could just make out the blurred outline of a dark shape, pulling them upwards. They were placed down onto a hard surface and a voice somewhere above her said, “hold tight!” and then she let the darkness take over and she fell once again unconscious.

Chapter Text

Sarah woke some time later, the ground swayed beneath her. She was lying on something solid but soft, and there was something heavy lying over her stomach. She rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up properly. She found the thing she was lying against was the armoured bear; Iorek and it was Lyra’s arm across her, Roger lay next to Lyra. Carefully as she could she lifted the arm off and sat up.

She appeared to be in some sort of airship. As she moved the two people up front turned, one was a man and the other a woman, “Howdy Miss Sarah” the man said, he had a thick Texan accent, “Where am I?” Sarah asked curiously, “You’re on board my ship, names Lee Scoresby” the man answered, Sarah then looked over at the woman, she was staring back at the girl with such interest, “Hello Sarah, I have been very much looking forward to meeting you” the woman greeted, “My name is Serafina Pekkala. I am clan queen of the witches of Lake Enara” Sarah’s eyes went wide at this, “You’re a witch?” she asked excitedly, “Yes, I am child”

Sarah was grinning brightly, she’d always wanted to meet a witch, but never in her life had she thought it would really happen, “Why have you wanted to meet me?” Sarah asked curiously, the woman smiled, “You had an encounter with a dæmon, did you not?” she asked, Sarah nodded excitedly, “Was he yours?” the girl asked eagerly, the woman shook her head, “No, he is not, but I know the witch he belongs to, I heard about his encounter with a young girl in the north and after what he said, I knew I had to find you and meet you myself” Serafina explained.

Sarah just stared at the woman, unable to take her eye off her, “Why did you want to meet me?” She asked curiously, Serafina smiled gently. She was staring at Sarah so intently, that the girl felt herself begin to blush, the woman said nothing for a moment, “What do you know of your past, Sarah?” Serafina asked, Sarah frowned, startled for a moment, unsure of what to say. Alfie was perched on her knee and tilted his little ermine head to the side, “I….I was raised at Jordan with Lyra….that’s all I’ve ever known. Our uncle Asriel…” she stopped and looked down.

Ever since she’d found out from Mrs Coulter the truth about her mother she wondered if she was even related to Lord Asriel now. She felt lost and alone. Who was she? She took a deep breath before going on, “Mrs Coulter…told me my mother was a woman named Ariana. She said that my mother gave me to her before she died, is that true?” Serafina smiled sadly, “In all honesty child, I do not know myself” she said, “No one knew what happened to Ariana or yourself after she fled” she stopped and was silent for a moment, “When word finally got back of her passing, it was assumed you had died as well. It wasn’t until a few years ago, when a rumour formed of your being”

Sarah listened closely, trying to take it all in, unsure if she was truly following what the witch was saying. She said nothing however and let Serafina talk on, “We remembered Ariana mentioned a human who had once saved her life, a woman by the name of Marisa Coulter. So using our counsel, we traced back the tracks and discovered about the child Lyra Belacqua, born from Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter, the very woman who had saved your mothers life . Then it was discovered your mother went to Mrs Coulter the night she died, leaving yourself in the woman’s care. Then after the scandal, it took a while to figure out what became of the children, until we heard about two girls being raised at Jordan College. We sent a counsel to Oxford to confirm this and they have been watching over you ever since”

Sarah shook her head, trying to obtain all this, “But…why are you so interesting in me? I’m nothing special…” she said, Serafina smiled, “Oh my dear child, you are more special than you think. Your mother was no ordinary witch, she had a special talent, one only a few witches have ever had” she explained to the girl, Sarah frowned, curious “What kind of talent?” She asked. There was a pause then before Serafina spoke again, “I will tell you, but not now child, now you must sleep” she said, Sarah was about to say she didn’t feel sleepy at all when suddenly she let out a mighty yawn and she rubbed her eyes, she then felt herself fall back against the mighty bear and slowly she fell fast asleep.

She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep but it felt like no time at all when she was jolted awake by a sudden lunge on the side of the balloon, Sarah screamed as she was thrown forwards, “What’s happening?” She cried over the loudness of the wind, “Cliffghasts!” Lee shouted from the controls, “Hold on tight!” Sarah scrambled over to the side of the ship and clung on for dear life, she then screamed as she felt something pull at her hair, trying to drag her up. There was a loud roar, the grip was released and the most horrible looking creatures fell limp at Sarahs feet. She tried to kick it away but it was heavy, Lee then came over and hoisted it up before throwing it over board. Sarah struggled to her feet and looked out over the side. Clinging onto the side of the basket were more of those foal creatures, “There’s hundreds of them!” She cried, she then spotted Iorek swiping his massive paws at any of the creatures that came near, “Stay down! We got this!” Lee cried to her and Sarah crouched low in the basket. The ship gave another mighty lunge and she heard a deafening scream, Sarah looked over and saw Lyra dangling from the side of the ship, clinging onto a metal bar, “Lyra!” She shouted, she and Lee then went over to where Lyra was, “Lyra! Hold on!” Lee shouted down to her, “Lee! Help!” Lyra cried, Sarah could see her fingers were beginning to slip off the bar, Lee then lowered the barrel of his gun down to Lyra, “Lyra, grab on!” She shouted, but before Lyra had a chance to even reach for it there was another massive lunge and a scream as Lyra lost her grip entirely and began to fall towards the ground, “Lyra!” Sarah and Lee both shouted in unison.

Sarah stared in horror as she watched Lyra falling through the air. Suddenly there was another jolt against the balloon and they were blown further of course, Sarah screamed again as she was thrown backwards into the basket. Lee meanwhile had managed to get up and hurried back to the controls, “I’m gonna find somewhere to drop ya all off” he shouted back to them, “Iorek! You’re to look after the kids!” He called to the bear and Sarah heard an agreeing grunt from behind her. Lee began trying to regain control of the balloon, to find a save space to drop them.

They soon came to a cliff edge and Lee managed to hover the balloon just close enough for them all to get off, Iorek was the last to disembark, “I can’t land ‘er ‘ere!” Lee cried, “I’ll find ya” suddenly the balloon was half blown away, half flown. Sarah looked up at Iorek, “We got to find Lyra, Iorek!” She called up to the bear, “I know child, but first we must get to lower ground, there could still be Cliffghasts around these parts” he said, “Stay close, both of you” Sarah nodded, she then put her hand on Iorek’s side and took Rogers hand with her other as the slowly made they’re way down the cliff, towards flat ground.