Disclaimer: I do not own the His Dark Materials series.
A/N: Bonjour, everyone! Here is the 17th installment of the story. Wow! I can't believe how far this story has come. As promised, there will be more Lyra and Mrs. Coulter scenes to come, and I hope you all like the story so far! Thank you so much for reading! :)
17.
Tracking Trouble
"Lyra, wake up." Dimly, Lyra felt something pull at her left arm. It wasn't overly rough, but it wasn't particularly soft either, which annoyed her. Thinking it was Pan kicking in his sleep again, she ignored it and tried to slip back into sleep. "Lyra. Get up. Now."
Whatever that thing was, it was insistent. Lyra finally opened her eyes as the pressure grew firmer. Something was really digging into her left shoulder, and it kind of hurt. Yawning and expecting to see Mrs. Coulter standing over her with some kind of bossy request, Lyra instead blinked up at Lord Asriel, who was dressed in freshly-cleaned traveling clothes. "Uncle Asriel?"
"Good grief. You would sleep through a Tartar attack!" As Lord Asriel turned away to fumble through the nightstand, Lyra watched her father throw some of her things into a bag before grabbing a few pairs of her clothes. "Now get into your good traveling clothes. We're leaving immediately."
As Lyra watched him scuffle around, something just didn't feel right. Glancing over at Pan, who emerged from under the covers as a tabby cat, she felt a sense of tension in the air. Lord Asriel was moving very quickly, and he almost seemed nervous. In all of her years of life, Lyra had never known Lord Asriel to be nervous. He was the toughest and bravest man she knew, and he wasn't afraid of anything – not even Dust and the Magisterium.
So seeing him act so tensely was something Lyra wasn't prepared for. And as she looked around the room and searched for Mrs. Coulter, who had been there when Lyra had fallen asleep, she felt herself grow more and more uneasy.
This isn't right thought Pan, turning into a sparrow and pecking at her ear. Mrs. Coulter wouldn't leave us alone like this. We need to stall.
"My gear is downstairs in the laundry."
Looking over at her, Lord Asriel stopped. "It is? Why?"
"I dunno. Mrs. Coulter wanted to wash it."
A scowl crossed his face, and Lord Asriel let out a deep breath and then dropped her rucksack. "I'll go get it. Stay here, and don't cause any trouble."
Why is everything so urgent? Pan fluffed his feathers, and Lyra shook her head slightly. She had no idea what was going on.
When he left the room, clicking the lock behind him, Lyra moved over to the nightstand. She gazed down at the assembly of her and Mrs. Coulter's things, and she noticed that Mrs. Coulter's wallet was gone. Did she take it with her wherever she had gone? Or… Did Lord Asriel put it in his bag?
It all was quite confusing. Mrs. Coulter had told Lyra they were leaving just the night before, yet here Lord Asriel was, collecting her things and demanding that she get her traveling clothes. Mrs. Coulter made it quite clear that they would be leaving to get away from Lord Asriel, but Lord Asriel didn't say a word about where or why they were going.
Maybe he's trying to get away from Mrs. Coulter? A slight chill ran through her as she remembered the last time she had tried to leave Mrs. Coulter. Pan had been bitten and scratched by the golden monkey, and Lyra had only narrowly escaped Mrs. Coulter's clutch. Mrs. Coulter wasn't one to let things go, and if Lord Asriel really was trying to get away from her, Lyra honestly felt frightened of what Mrs. Coulter would do.
"Lyra, look!"
Sudden movement came from the window, and as Lyra jumped back from the nightstand, her adrenaline rushing up to the back of her neck, she saw a shimmering gold pelt and then a white, curved face peering at her from outside. Mrs. Coulter!
From the look on her mother's face, Lyra understood at once. She swooped the rest of Mrs. Coulter's things into her own rucksack, and she then went over to her traveling clothes under the bed, struggling to get them on properly.
Mrs. Coulter tapped on the window, her hand waving, and Lyra slipped into her boots and went over to the window, her coat unbuttoned and her hat flat on her face. She unlocked the hinges and pushed the frame up, and she then felt Mrs. Coulter's hand reach through to touch her cheek. "Are you alright, darling? Where's Asriel?"
"He's in the laundry room looking for my clothes," Lyra explained, handing over the rucksack. "I told him you was washing it."
"Good girl," said Mrs. Coulter, pausing to smile at her. "Now hurry up and come out. I don't have time to explain, but we need to leave…"
The golden monkey jumped back inside and went over to a chair, dragging it towards the door. Catching on, Pan changed into a grizzly bear and went to the other side, pushing it up against the door and placing the top beneath the doorknob.
"Let's go!" As the two daemons rushed back to the window and through the threshold, Mrs. Coulter slammed the frame shut and then turned towards the darkness, taking Lyra's hand. "We need to be quick, Lyra. We have someone waiting for us."
Just then, they heard an echoing pound. Looking back, Lyra could imagine Lord Asriel banging on the door, trying to get in, and the thought of him so angry and so close to them as they were running away made her insides lurch. Mrs. Coulter pulled on her hand, and Lyra ran with her and tried to keep up as they raced through the darkness.
He's gonna catch us! Pan thought, howling as he ran beside the pair as a sleek panther. He'll be so mad!
Just run! Lyra thought back, trying to fight back her own hysteria. Glancing over at Mrs. Coulter, who was staring straight ahead with a sort of detached, cool expression on her face, Lyra felt a little better. If Mrs. Coulter wasn't worried, then they must be safe. Like she had said back at Bolvangar and even back in London, she would always make sure Lyra was safe.
But Lord Asriel had always protected her too, though, and Lyra frowned at the thought.
Reaching the edge of town, they neared the beginnings of a forest adorned with tall, looming pines and wild, rampant bushes. A man with a dark hood was standing by a sledge, and with Lyra and Mrs. Coulter's arrival, he whipped at the dogs and helped them inside, his hands cold and rough as they placed Lyra inside the belly.
"We're being followed, so hurry!" There was a bit of desperation in Mrs. Coulter's voce now, and as she took the whip from the man and began lashing, the sledge slowly gaining speed, Lyra looked back toward North Gorvsy.
She'd only been there a few days, but she rather liked the little town. Besides Trollesund, she'd never been to a town in the North. The Gyptians insisted on traveling through the arctic with their tents and their supplies, and Lyra had inwardly wished they could detour through an actual town and talk to actual people from the North. She liked seeing all the travelers with all of their things and all of their stories, and if she could, Lyra thought that she'd like nothing more than to go from town to town for the rest of her life.
And as they raced away, the trees starting to thicken and their eyes starting to water from the acceleration, a figure appeared from beside the man with a hood. In a flash, he pulled out a knife and held it to the man's throat, the silver glinting in the moonlight.
"Where are they heading?" Lord Asriel asked. Stelmaria growled, her paws pressed on the wolf daemon's throat, and the man let out a hiss.
"To the northwest of Trollesund by the docks," he grunted, hatred oozing out of his eyes as he stared at Asriel. "Look for Emerson."
"You sure?" Lord Asriel pressed the balde against the man's skin, and a few drops of blood erupted from the surface. "I'm sure the lady paid you a fair amount and requested that you lie if asked where she was going. But I might add that the very same beautiful lady is kidnapping a child and is responsible for all the murders in the North."
"What?" said the man, gaping at Lord Asriel. "Sick joke. That lady looks like she comes from royalty. And the child wasn't exactly being dragged against her will."
Lord Asriel deepened his cut so that a small, steady trickle of blood trailed from the man's neck. Two pairs of dark eyes met, and Lord Asriel slowly started to sneer. "That's exactly the point, isn't it? What would an attractive, kind young woman and a child have to do with such a treacherous thing as kidnapping children and ripping apart their souls? I don't have time to explain to this to the likes of you. Tell me where they'll be and I'll leave you alone."
"To the east of Trollesund," the man snarled, glancing down. "Ask for Dawson. If you ask for Emerson, they'll think you're smuggling drugs and will drag you down to the Magisterium office."
Stelmaria stepped away from the wolf, and Lord Asriel put down his knife. As the man swung his arm back, Lord Asriel sent a punch of his own to the man's face and watched as he stumbled back and fell, tripping over a rock.
"I hope she paid you enough for a hospital visit," he laughed, turning to Stelmaria and nodding his head back towards town. "Let's go."