Chapter Two
Not Complete
Lyra sat on the bench in the Botanical Garden and inhaled the night air and exhaled it with a calm force. Will was still on her mind. Three weeks. Three weeks had passed since she kissed Will goodbye, and swore that she would see him again. Pantalaimon, her beloved daemon, was lying on the ground as the large red ferret he had become and was now fixed as. Lyra sat on the bench, wrapped in a red afghan that the Gyptains had given her before they'd gone back to the Fens. Ma Costa wanted to take the girl back with them, but of course, the Master would have nothing of the sort. Lyra wouldn't have minded if she went with the Gyptains, but in her heart she knew that Jordan College was her home, and would be forever.
The stars were lit brilliantly above her and the fountain reflected the pale crescent moon. Lyra's mind was fixed on one thing: Will. Her love for him broke the walls between their worlds and brought them together again, forever. But reality reared its ugly head, the walls raised again, and they were apart once more. Lyra knew however, that she must move on.
"You'll never be complete without him, will you?"
It was Pan, at her feet.
Lyra nodded to her daemon, who leapt up onto the bench and nuzzled his furry head into her stomach. Lyra patted his head.
The girl returned to her room in one of the many towers of Jordan College. Pan had curled up on the windowsill as Lyra looked out onto the landscape. The stars were fading away…the dawn was coming swiftly.
Lyra awoke in the late hours of the morning. She had not removed the clothes she had worn the night before. She called for some water and, when it had arrived, she bathed. Then, she had donned a morning suit and proceeded down into the Great Hall of the College. There, the Master of Jordan College and Dame Hannah were eating a hurried breakfast. It seemed strange to Lyra, but lately the Master had been coming in very late in the morning hours of the past few days. If her own face expressed this though now, Lyra didn't know, she was too busy watching them mutter to each other, and then the Master turned to Lyra.
He stood up and walked over to her. He bowed to her respectfully, and she responded properly in kind. "You did not sleep well." The Master asked. It was not a question, it was a statement. Lyra nodded. The Master rubbed his chin and gave her a deep, thoughtful look. "Well," he said finally, "eat some breakfast and then Dame Hannah shall take you for your alethiometer lessons." He bowed to her and then turned to leave. "Wait, Master." Lyra said. The Master turned around to face her and gave her a look that showed he was listening.
"Are you leaving again?"
The Master looked as though he were suddenly in a very uncomfortably tight space.
"Yes, yes, I am."
"Will you be coming back?"
The Master understood the worry in her voice. He paused.
"We shall have to see."
Then, without another word, the Master left the hall and turned the corner. Lyra stood their, bewildered for a moment. She looked down at Pan, who gave her a look that most resembled a shrug. Then, she and her ferret daemon walked back toward the kitchen table.
Later that day, Lyra again locked herself in the Botanic Garden and basked in the memories that seemed to be of a time so long ago. Pan munched on a mouse he'd found scurrying about the pathways, not taking into accord (until he had swallowed it) that he himself had taken that form on countless occasions. Lyra would also walk along the rooftops were she, and Roger, and the children of the servants once played and had pretend wars against children of the rival colleges. Her youth seemed so far away…thousands and millions of miles away…
