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Chapter 16

Golden Auroras

"Lyra!"

Mrs. Coulter and Will were turning the corner of the park when they saw Lyra coming out of a tall, handsome building, checking behind her and to the side of her as she moved. She's safe, Mrs. Coulter thought over and over again as she watched Lyra pause and then come over to them, her pace quickening. She made it. Nothing happened to her.

It was quick thinking on the monkey's part, to send her to the college. They knew she'd be safe out of the public eye at a place like that. Goodness knows that academics have their own problems to busy themselves with, making it much less likely they notice a random child wandering about. It's the perfect hiding place, as Asriel had concluded all those years ago. Their only hope now was that Boreal didn't have a spy in the college, or in this very park, or tailing their every move…

"Mrs. Coulter!" The girl came to a stumbling stop as she practically ran into the woman with the cardigan and large handbag. But Mrs. Coulter didn't mind. On the contrary, she felt herself lean into Lyra. It was an impulse, almost. Maybe an… Instinct. She put her hands on Lyra's shoulders and then moved them to her cheeks, looking her over closely. Searching her face and her eyes and her demeanor. Lyra's eyes widened in surprise as Mrs. Coulter continued to just gaze down at her, taking in her entire presence. Mrs. Coulter didn't know what she was doing, really, but the mere sight of Lyra brought a deep sense of relief Mrs. Coulter hadn't realized she was waiting for. She was safe. And she came back.

For the first time, Lyra had come back to her.

"I found a scholar!" Lyra blurted out, twisting away from Mrs. Coulter's embrace now to address both her and Will. "It was so interesting, but oh, Will…"

Her face fell, and she ushered the two over to a nearby bench and began to tell them everything she had seen and done while Will and Mrs. Coulter were away with Boreal. She went on and on about a scholar named Mary Malone, and "dark matter," and Dust, and government funding, and strange people waiting for her…

"What did you tell her?" Mrs. Coulter demanded when Lyra had gotten to the part where she operated a Dust particle machine. Her tone was sharp, she knew, but she couldn't help it. What was Lyra thinking, speaking so freely with people in this strange world? What was she telling them about their world, and about Dust, and about all the connections in between? Fear shot through Mrs. Coulter just then, remembering what Carlo had told her back at the house before Will had arrived: they know about it here, too. And they are watching it.

This was bad. Although Lyra insisted that it was okay, Mrs. Coulter was too suspicious of this world and of humankind. If this world and government was studying Dust in the way theirs was, there's no way research on it would go unchecked and unmonitored. There were likely five different agencies observing all research activity, with spies placed in labs and in colleges to make sure no ambitious scientist crossed too far away from the approved-upon line. So what would they make of a young girl coming into a laboratory alone, and then suddenly whirling up a previously-dormant machine? And talking follies of a truth-telling device and of multiple worlds and of animal companions?

The golden monkey growled from inside the handbag, his claws stretching out.

Lyra didn't understand, and Mrs. Coulter supposed she couldn't blame her. She was still just a child, after all. The delicacies of things were naturally more obscure to her. But Mrs. Coulter was an adult, and she knew better. So she could do better, for Lyra's sake. For all of their sakes.

"I told her I'd come back tomorrow," Lyra continued, "and then I can–"

"No," Mrs. Coulter interrupted. This time it was she who bristled, too, along with her daemon. "Absolutely not! Lyra, it's not safe to–"

"You don't understand!" Lyra insisted. "Just listen to me. The alethiometer said she's important, and her work matters for Dust, and that she can help us."

"Help us with what?"

"With the overall…plan!" Lyra's face was flushed. "Look, the alethiometer doesn't always tell me the details, alright? So I don't know what , but I…I know that ."

"Is that a fact," Mrs. Coulter huffed, moving to press her hand to her temple. Lyra could say that, and Mrs. Coulter had no way of confirming it. Lyra could say anything she wanted and back it up with the alethiometer; she could do whatever she pleased and Mrs. Coulter would be none the wiser.

That's what I've been saying, the golden monkey agreed, anxious to be free of the bag and to pace around as he urged to do. We have no way to control her or that damned machine. She can't be trusted, and we both know that!

But Mrs. Coulter didn't want to feel that. She did want to trust her daughter. It was so confusing, in that moment on the park bench...

At the same time, the golden monkey was aware that people were beginning to stare at them now. He could see through the thin material of the bag and through the gap by the handles. It was unusual for two children to be out of school in the middle of the day. And it was unsettling, perhaps, for one to be so passionately engaged in an argument with an adult.

"We need to quiet down now," Mrs. Coulter whispered to them, "but we will continue this conversation. It's just not safe right now. We have a lot to tell you, too, Lyra. Will, can you take us a different route back to the portal, so we can finish our conversation away from here?"

He'd been very quiet up until this point, per usual. Mrs. Coulter couldn't help but feel judged whenever Will watched her like this. His gaze was so penetrating, but not in the way Mrs. Coulter was used to with all the men she had to deal with. It wasn't intrusive, greedy, overbearing, possessive. It was genuine. A sincere evaluation of what she was up to and if he could trust her, and beneath that, the hope that he could. Even the golden monkey couldn't argue his harmlessness, although they both felt uncomfortable at the conclusions he'd probably be making of them.

Will led them to safety, once again, this time through a crowded shopping plaza with people busy moving to and from different shops and market booths. "It can be safer in broad daylight," he'd explained to them, and Mrs. Coulter could understand. She'd done the same herself, with her work on the Oblation Board. She knew how to hide in plain sight.

Cittàgazze was safe at the moment. The spectres had moved on, the alethiometer had assured them, and wouldn't be back for some time. It would be safe for Mrs. Coulter to at least spend the night back at the house they'd come to inhabit, which was still abandoned for reasons Lyra wouldn't explain.

What a disaster, the golden monkey groaned as they made their way back in, jumping to sit in a kitchen chair as the humans shuffled inside. Here we are, exactly where Boreal wants us. How ironic, for us to view this world as safe.

As pressing as that was, Mrs. Coulter didn't want to think about that. She turned away from her daemon just then. Boreal was an annoying snake who weaseled his way into her business, as he had done time and time again back home. He was a problem, to be sure, but right now Lyra presented the most immediate problem. And that had to be dealt with first.

"Tell me again, Lyra," Mrs. Coulter said, sitting down beside the monkey and gesturing for Lyra to sit down, too. "Tell me what you saw, and what she said, and what you're supposed to do tomorrow."

Lyra sat down and explained, running out of breath as she did, and Mrs. Coulter let out a heavy sigh. It was important to Lyra, to learn more about Dust. And this woman led her on whatever path the alethiometer seemed to want her to be on, which Mrs. Coulter still couldn't determine if she liked or not.

"Very well," Mrs. Coulter finally resigned, standing up and ushering for Lyra and Will to get away from the kitchen so she could start to prepare dinner. "You can go back and see her, but I'm coming with you. No objections," she added as Lyra opened her mouth to protest. "It's the only way I can keep you safe. We'll discuss more later."