There Is A Way – Chapter 3

Hi everyone, I've decided to rewrite (retype) some of this chapter because in my personal opinion it was really crappily done. I've decided to change the plotline a little bit and I've decided to stall the reunion of Will and Lyra for just a little longer… Anyway, I do not own any of the characters in this chapter.

Mary Malone was on her way back home; her mind preoccupied with ideas of people that Lyra, Will and she actually knew. But there were a select few that they knew, like the Mulefa and the Gyptians, but, 'Could it possibly have been one of us?' she asked herself. Would she tell Will; how would Will react to this sudden yet strange development. After much consideration on her way home, she decided not to tell Will yet. Slowly her mind drifted back to driving as a horn blared at her for not moving on a green light. She gave a heavy sigh and drove off.

Mary arrived back home at about 9pm, she found Will cooking dinner for the both of them. Will could tell something had happened, Mary seemed to be flushed and excited, but by what? All Will could say was, 'How was work?'

Mary replied, 'It was okay, I'm still working on my speech for the conference down in Sydney.'

'Do you need help?' Will asked.

'No, I'm quite fine, what are you cooking?' asked Mary.

'Steak and chips,' Will replied, glancing pointedly at the oven, where the chips were being cooked.

'Ah I see,' Mary nodded. They ate dinner in silence and she asked, 'How was school?'

'It was okay, the new girl tried to make friends with me but I kindly refused,' Will said.

'You really should stop doing that Will,' Mary said , 'it's becoming a bit of a habit, you've kept your head down for as long as I can remember, you have studied hard and your mother would have been proud of what I could see, but please you must at least try.'

'I can't,' Will said, 'because there is no way that anyone could ever replace…' Will trailed off. Using Lyra's name was terribly painful for Will, using her name brought back all the happy memories he could remember, but it also pained him, because he knew he would never see her again. 'Or would he?' he thought but his trail of thought was interrupted as Mary said…

'I know… I know…' she said, 'but please try to have at least some friends; friends will do you good.' Will did not try to make friends, most avoided him because of his mutilated left hand but it wasn't just that. Some people tried to be friends with him, but Will would just look at them with two eyes open instead of one.

'I still can't,' Will said, 'a lot of people avoid me because of my hand, and they all think I'm a freak or something.'

'You know very well they don't all think of you that way,' Mary said

'Of course not…'Will said. He paused for a moment and then said, 'So… What really happened to you today?'

Mary was taken aback and said, 'Like I said, I was working on my speech for the conference at Sydney.'

'You know you are a terrible liar,' Will said, 'its pretty obvious, I've seen you come home everyday seemingly dull and bored. Today, when you came in, you seemed excited and preoccupied. There's no use hiding it, you might as well fess up.'

Mary sighed and said, 'Well, I suppose there's no use hiding it.' And she began recounting all that had happened in the lab. Will was very excited to have heard the news and all he could say was…

'That means I am going to see Lyra again!' Will shouted, he gave a huge cry of joy, but then he calmed down and said, 'How would I even see Lyra again?'

'I am not sure, but I am very sure you or Lyra will find a way,' Mary said.

They both finished up dinner and washed the plates and the cutlery. Will walked up to his room and tossed himself on the bed, with Kirjava jumping into a basket next to him. Will gave a sigh. Will began thinking of how they he and Lyra would meet up again. But after some hours of thinking, his mind floated over to the world of the Mulefa, where their love had first began. He thought of the grove where they had kissed each other and confirmed their love for each other.

Will suddenly regained control of his thoughts as he noticed the sounds of swaying trees and calm, moving waters. He slowly opened his eyelids and found Kirjava next to him. 'I must be going mad Kirjava, now I'm dreaming about the grove'

'Umm… I don't think we are quite in a dream,' Kirjava said; saying that as she dipped her paws in the water, 'the water seems quite too real.'

Will quickly dipped his hands in the water, to his surprise the water was too real; he tried splashing some water onto his face. He was still in the grove. 'That's not possible,' Will said, 'how?' Then a sudden burst of thoughts rushed through his head, uses the faculty of what you call imagination. a form of seeing…This way is hard, but much truer. What is worth having is worth working for… a friend who has already taken the first steps, and who could help you… no more travel; the same words that Will had been trying to decipher for years. Is this for real, is this what Xaphania meant? Will wanted to leap with joy of the possibility of visiting Lyra's world, but stopped almost suddenly when he said, 'How exactly did we get here in the first place?'

'I don't know, we were just thinking about the grove for a moment and then we just happen to be here,' said Kirjava.

'Then how do we get back?' Will asked.

'I don't know, we think of our bedroom,' Kirjava said.

Will then slipped into a calm trance. Almost the same trance he would enter if he were to use the subtle knife only a little slippery, because he had not tried to slip into the trance for a very long time now. Will thought about every detail in his bedroom. It was a plain room with no posters hung on the walls. It was plain and simple with only a desk where all his homework lay.

'Will?'

Will broke his concentration to find himself in his bedroom again, and noticed Mary was outside his bedroom knocking on the door. Will burst out of the door and said to Mary, 'I've found a way into Lyra's world!'

'That's impossible…' Mary said in utter bewilderment.

Will then recounted what had just taken place, and Mary cried for joy along with Will as they've just realized how to travel. However, the mood died down as Mary said, 'This may take a lot of practice to actually work, you may end up somewhere you don't want to be if this backfires.'

'You don't have to worry,' Will said with a smile on his face, 'after all, what is worth having is worth working for… and I sure am gonna work hard for this.'

Will had practiced very hard. He began 'imagining' his way all around the house and any other place he could remember seeing. Will continued to practice until Midsummer Day, where he would finally see Lyra for sure.

(Time Warp)

It was Midsummer Day, it was about 11:00 and Will had rushed out running with Kirjava at his heels to the Botanic Gardens and Mary watched how happy and excited he had become. For once in all the five years, 'Will is truly happy,' Mary thought.

Will ran over to sit at the bench. He could feel Lyra's presence, Kirjava could also feel Pan's presence as well and sat almost too excited on the bench. The watch had just rang for midday. Will tried to slip into the trance, and thought about the garden and how he longed to be next to Lyra to hold her in his arms and taste her lips once more. Will had snapped out of the trance when he realized he had gone nowhere at all. In a concerned tone he said 'It didn't work Kirjava.'

'Take it easy,' Kirjava said in a calm voice, 'you must think of Lyra's world and not Lyra herself. You must think of her world and ONLY her world.'

'Right,' Will said, and slipped back into the trance. He opened his eyes once more to find himself sitting on the bench in the same garden. But strangely enough, the garden seemed different. Instead of an array of exotic species of plants, it was filled with only roughly some exotic plants but not as many. Will did not notice this change and stayed at the bench just for the hour.

After the hour passed, Will decided to leave the garden, he had only noticed that the gate seemed to have more vines or was it just his imagination. He turned around only to bump into an old man wearing a black robe and he had a raven on his shoulder. 'Wait a minute…' he thought.

'Excuse me young man,' the old man said, 'may I ask if you have seen a young lady exit the Botanic Gardens?'

'Sorry, a young lady?' Will asked in almost amazed bewilderment.

'Yes, yes, a young lady about your age with a pine marten daemon.' the old man described.

'Excuse me, did you say daemon?' Will asked.

'Yes, I did and who are you anyway in the grounds of Jordan College,' asked the old man.

Will was partially listening and remembered Lyra mentioning about an old man who was the caretaker of Jordan College and in his growing excitement he said, 'Are you the Master?'

The Master said, 'Yes I am, but I don't see…' And the Master was shocked to hear a shout of excitement. It echoed around Jordan College and the Botanic Gardens and only just then did he notice the young boy's daemon was a large cat with many deep shades of colours. Then the Master remembered Lyra's tale of her adventure and remembered that she mentioned Will had a cat with the same colours as this cat had. In the Master's realization, he said, 'Are you Will?'

Will calmed down and said, 'Yes I am Will, but how would you know it was…' and then Will paused wondering what had just happened. In shock, confusion, and a slight touch of amazement, Will asked, 'Where's Lyra?'

And so the plot thickens my readers. Like I said, I've decided to stall the reunion just for a few chapters more. I remind you all, I do not own any of the characters in this chapter. I have to say that I cannot be more pleased with how this chapter when. Question is… Where's Lyra? I'll let your imaginations hold on for a while cus I have stacks of homework to do -- Until then, Love triumphs over all!