It was a lengthy walk to Farleigh Hall, but the three of them covered it in short order. All of them walked speedily, anxious to get their mission accomplished, and Lyra naturally knew a couple of short cuts. As before, Asriel strode on ahead, and Lee and Lyra walked alongside each other, chatting casually, until a grim grey stone building loomed up before them.

'That the place?' Lee asked Lyra. She nodded.

'Though it didn't have all that fencing when I visited,' she said.

Lee had already noted the metal fence, over two metres high and topped with barbed wire, surrounding the property. Up ahead, Asriel had slowed his pace and was sauntering along casually, Stelmaria crouched low so as to remain concealed by fences and hedgerows.

'Okay,' he said to Lyra. 'Act casual. Don't look at the building too much, just keep walking as if we're headed somewhere else. Let's go and catch your father up, see if he's got something planned.'

They speeded up, Lyra doing as instructed, flicking occasional glances at Farleigh Hall as she chatted with Lee about innocuous things – the weather, the best bakeries in Oxford, how to skip stones. They drew level with Asriel in a couple of minutes and continued on for a short while till Asriel veered off down a narrow dirt lane to their right.

Lee and Lyra followed, and found that the track ran parallel to the front of Farleigh Hall. Asriel walked on a bit further before ducking down behind a hedgerow. He signalled to Lee and Lyra to join him, and they hunkered down on the grass verge. Asriel dug in his pockets and extracted a pair of binoculars. Lee, seeing this, pulled out his own spyglass, and together they surveyed the hall.

What Lee saw wasn't encouraging. The chain link fence encircled the entire hall, copious amounts of barbed wire curling atop it. Round the perimeter there were guards, private security judging from their dark green fatigues, but plenty of them, all of them carrying rifles. Lee noted their calm, fluid movements, their focus. Decent private security, not the bored, overweight time-killers he'd encountered time and again at various ports and trading towns. A little further inside the perimeter was another chain link fence, and the house itself, an ugly grey chunk of a building, was sealed up tight as a clam. Bars on all the windows, and Lee was willing to bet every door into the property was locked, and only a very few people would have a key.

He sensed Lyra growing restless beside him and stopped his surveillance. He wanted a word with Asriel anyhow.

'Here, kid, take a look,' he said, handing her his spyglass. 'That little wheel there adjusts the focus.'

Lyra accepted the spyglass and pressed her eye to it, gazing keenly at their target. Lee stepped round her and tapped Asriel on the shoulder.

'We got a problem,' he said.

'We're not going to be able to get in directly, even if we employ stealth,' Asriel acknowledged, not taking his eyes from his binoculars. 'Too many guards, and too much fencing. And even if we do gain access to the hall, they will have stringent security protocols. We'd be gunned down within five minutes if we don't have identification, code words, and so forth.'

'Could we don disguises – pretend we're making deliveries or something?' Lee enquired. Asriel finally lowered the binoculars and looked thoughtful.

'It would be tricky,' he said at last. 'A research institute such as this won't have facilities on site for things like laundry, and they'll probably have hired cleaners from Oxford. But it's going to take valuable time to find out who they've employed and what security measures we'll need to get round.'

He glanced down at his daemon, waiting patiently at his side.

'What about a direct assault, Stelmaria?' Asriel asked.

'We haven't enough men or weapons,' she replied.

'But the Gyptians might help.'

'Not on a suicide mission, they won't,' Lee said with surety.

'Hmm,' said Asriel.

For a long moment everyone stood in silence, thinking.

'What about your balloon, Lee?' asked Lyra, lowering the spyglass and turning to face him. Pantalaimon, an ermine at her side, did the same.

'Whatcha got in mind, kid?'

'There's no guards on the roof,' Lyra pointed out. 'If you could fly over the hall, you could jump onto the roof and get into the hall that way.'

'They'd be spotted miles away, though,' pointed out Pan.

'Not if we had a distraction,' murmured Lee, a vague plan beginning to take shape in his mind. He glanced at Asriel, who nodded, a pirate's smile beginning to unfurl itself over his features.

'We make a big song and dance somewhere on the outskirts of the property, make the guards and everyone else look in one direction, while we sneak in via another route,' Asriel mused out loud. 'Scoresby, could you steer your balloon over Farleigh Hall?'

'Provided the wind is in our favour, and I'm sure Serafina Pekkala would help with that,' Lee answered. Asriel's smile widened.

'So long as you can drop me off on the roof,' he said fiercely.

'Lee could do that, no problem,' Lyra interrupted eagerly. 'He told me all about how he rescued Iorek Byrnison during something called the Tunguska Campaign when a load of Tartars were shooting at them.'

'Looks like we have a plan, or at least the beginnings of one,' said Lee, ruffling Lyra's hair affectionately. 'Good thinking, Lyra.'

'Yes, good thinking,' agreed Asriel, raising his binoculars once again. He spoke rather absently, but Lyra beamed at this rare praise. It made something twist in Lee's chest to see it, and he was thankful when Hester tugged at his trouser leg to get his attention.

'Lee!' she hissed as soon as he looked down. 'Someone's coming!'

Lee heard the footsteps a moment later. Asriel whisked his binoculars out of sight, and Lyra stuffed Lee's spyglass inside her coat. Lee sat down on the grass verge and lent back, adopting the air of a walker talking a breather. Lyra did the same and began poking at the grass, adopting the guise of a bored child with such swiftness that even the haughty Stelmaria looked impressed. Asriel remained standing but shoved his hands in his coat pockets and sauntered to the other side of the road, pretending to look at the sky.

A moment later, a large, long-legged heron daemon came swooping along the path to land just in front of them, her human following close behind.

'Bram!' exclaimed Lee. 'Good to see you.'

'Mr Scoresby, Lyra,' nodded Bram Garrod. 'I'm glad I found you. Lord Faa sent me and a few of the others to scout for you. You need to come back to St John's Lock at once – there's been some trouble in Badbury Forest.'

Lee was on his feet before Bram had finished speaking. Lyra sprang up and clutched at his arm. Lee brought his gloved hand up to cover Lyra's smaller one, offering what little comfort he could.

'Then let's go,' Lee said. 'You can fill us in on the way, Mr Garrod.'

It wasn't until they had set off, Bram striding ahead and Lee and Lyra following, that Lee recalled Asriel. He glanced back to see the man, completely unperturbed, strolling along after them, chatting coolly with his daemon.

Lee looked down at Lyra. She still had a tight hold on his arm and didn't seem inclined to let go. Lee briefly wondered what it meant that Lyra would turn to some disreputable aeronaut that she'd known for barely a week for comfort, rather than her own father. And then he pushed that frightening thought away and walked on.

'You can't hide from it forever, Lee,' whispered Hester, so softly that Lee felt it best to pretend he hadn't heard her.

#

'The Council sent hunters into the forest this afternoon,' Bram explained as they walked. 'Every man they've got left – apparently a few have resigned since last night. But they sent in Magisterium forces as well, to comb the woods and find out exactly where the wolves were hiding.'

'Did they find them?' Lee demanded.

Bram nodded. Lee's stomach clenched.

'No!' cried Lyra.

'Don't worry, the wolves and your armoured bear friend made it out okay,' Bram said at once. 'Serafina Pekkala came to tell us she got them out. But the Council and its hired men know where your hideaway is and according to Serafina Pekkala, they've torn it to shreds.'

'My research?' Asriel asked sharply. Bram shook his head.

'I'm sorry, but everything you left behind is in the hands of Danvers and the City Council,' he said plainly.

Asriel swore violently. Lee silently thanked his lucky stars for Derrick and Tony and their disguise – losing his Winchester would have been a real gut-punch. As it was, he'd left nothing in the den that couldn't easily be replaced.

'Lyra, honey?' he asked. 'Have you lost anything important?'

'Nah,' she answered, quite firmly, though her expression was dejected. 'I didn't take much with me to the den. I just… it's horrible to think of them men swarming all over our den, picking it apart.'

Lee cursed himself for an idiot. Of course, Lyra had lost something important. The den had been her home for a year, the place where she lived and sheltered and played with her funny surrogate wolf family.

'It's a damned shame,' he agreed, Pantalaimon, still an ermine, leapt from Lyra's shoulder to walk alongside Hester. 'That place was your home and those idiots have invaded it. Hester and me can't get it back for you, but you can be damned sure Danvers will pay for what he's done.'

'Preaching revenge, Scoresby?' remarked Asriel from up ahead, just a tinge of bitterness in his voice. 'I thought you were above all that.'

'I ain't above much,' Lee answered honestly. He wasn't in the mood for a discussion on ethics. 'But I don't count it revenge to strike back against someone who's injured you first. That strikes me as only fair, especially if there's no-one else to dole out justice on your behalf.'

Asriel huffed and walked onwards, picking up his pace.

'How do you tell the difference between revenge and being… fair?' Lyra asked. She was addressing Lord Asriel, but he didn't respond. After a moment of silence, Lyra turned to look up at Lee.

'Well, far as I can tell, revenge is about making yourself feel better,' Lee answered, deciding on honesty. 'And it doesn't work all that well. Standing up against someone who's hurt you, who's unjust… that's about something bigger than you and what was done to you.'

'Hear, hear,' murmured Bram. Asriel snorted. Lyra looked thoughtful.

'But I thought you weren't interested in things that are bigger than you,' she ventured. 'Back in the forest…'

'On the contrary, honey, a man needs to believe in something greater than himself sometimes,' Lee said. 'What I ain't necessarily in favour of is doing something you think is wrong for a cause.'

'Even if the cause is a good one?' Lyra queried.

'Even then.'

Lyra was quiet for a moment, while she considered this. Bram strolled along, a small smile on his face that faded when he glanced at Asriel just in front of them.

'So, how will I know the right thing to do when it's time?' Lyra asked at last.

Lee groaned inwardly. What the hell was he supposed to say in response to that? Did all kids ask these impossible, unanswerable questions or had the universe just seen fit to blindside him with Lyra? Floundering, he looked to Hester for counsel. She felt his gaze and glanced up at him, a glint in her golden eyes.

'Just be honest with her, Lee,' she told him, before turning back to the chat she was having with Pantalaimon.

'Great,' grumbled Lee. 'Well, if I am being honest Lyra, I've always gone with my gut. Whatever my instincts are telling me at the time. If something deep down is telling you it's wrong, it probably is. Now, that ain't a failsafe. You'll make mistakes along the way sometimes. I certainly have. But it's better to make your own judgements than let someone gull you into something you know in your heart ain't the right thing to do.'

'I'd listen to him, Lyra,' chimed in Bram. 'For a man with his head in the clouds, he talks some sense.'

'First time I've ever heard you accused of that,' said Hester to Lee.

Lyra giggled, and she and Lee and Bram strode along in companionable silence as they walked back to St John's Lock and their friends.

Author's Notes: A short chapter today, but more on the way. I promise there will be loads of action, a bit of angst and Lee wondering if he can live up to Lyra's belief in him (spoiler: he can).

Till next time, dear readers...