“O t ruso her mind:
it as boat s day. Suppose he remembered?
“Better come along h us,” he said. “You alone?”
“Yeah. I was running away....”
“All rig talk no keep quiet. Jaxer, move to the shadow. Kerim, look around.”
Lyra stood up s Pantalaimon to . ing to look at sometanding and suddenly curious too: ing aoms of smoke, for all t tried to cling to talaimon er tony Costa.
“ are you doing here?” she said.
“Quiet, gal. trouble a stirring more. ell talk on t.”
tle o t of tly after tony turned along terfront and out onto a ty, from and so the cabin.
“Get in,” he said. “Quick now.”
Lyra did so, patting go of, even in t) to make sure ter ill t of a lantern on a out poting at a table her.
“s never Lyra?”
“ts rig to move. e killed t in t t I reckon turk traders. t Lyra. Never mind talk— on the move.”
“Come a.
Lyra obeyed, a sured t mot gently to lick Pantalaimons a folded arms around Lyra and pressed o .
“I dunno . You can a drink in you. Set you dohere, child.”
It looked as if least forgotten. Lyra slid onto table top as t.
“here we going?” Lyra asked.
Ma Costa ting a saucepan of milk on tove and riddling te to stir the fire up.
“Aalk in the morning.”
And s o move, exced a corner of to c. A minute or ter she was sound asleep.
S comforting engine rumble deep belo up more carefully. A t sy and neatly made, one beloiny cabin. So find folded at togeter ill there.
S t to find ove, w was warm.
t migrees.
Before s on deck, ter door opened and Ma Costa came do on iny pearls.
“Sleep t. Dont stand about; t room.”
“here are we?” said Lyra.
“On tion Canal. You keep out of sig to see you topside. trouble.”
So to go hem.
“ sort of trouble?”
“Not cope ay out the way.”
And s say any more till Lyra en. t slo one point, and somet t t moved on.
Presently tony Costa so t over tove to make t.
“ o tell her, Ma?”
“Ask first, tell after.”
o a tin cup and sat down. s, Lyra saw a sad grimness in his expression.
“Rigell us he Gobblers.”
“I ...”
Lyra clumsily collected ory and s into order as if stling a pack of cards ready for dealing. Sold t about ter.
“And t nig tail party I found out er o use me to c they do is—”
Ma Costa left t out to t. tony ed till t, and cut in:
“e kno, of it. e kno come back.
taken up nort ts on em. At first ried out different diseases and medicines, but to start t all of a sudden t about tartars, maybe t deal tartars to move nort as muc, for t and tartar cartars eat em, dont they?
t “em.”
“they never!” said Lyra.
“ty of oto be told, and all. You ever he Nalkainens?”
Lyra said, “No. Not even er. are they?”
“ts a kind of g ts. Same size as a c no at nig in t t a not go. Nalkainens, ts a nortoo. t about in ted togetimes, or caugoucrengt of you. You cant see em except as a kind of shless Ones...”
“hey?”
“arriors being cant die, and living is altoget forever. ts been done to em.”
“And ?” said Lyra, wide-eyed.
“tartars snap open t t to it. t killing em, but t t is t to pump and pump all day and nigoon of Breat sometimes, Ive means armored bears. t we bears, and—”
“Yes! I nig my uncle, Lord Asriel, ress guarded by the armored bears.”
“Is was here?”
“Exploring. But talking I dont they were glad he was in prison.”
“ell, get out if t I mean by t? trengto eoric iron mostly, and t ss and plates of it to cover turies. tely pitiless. But t.”
Lyra considered th awe.
“Ma dont like to tony said after a fes, “because of ook h, see.”
“?”
“e caugalk. ts tle about nig Gobblers; too clumsy. If took em alive. See, tian people, by togeto decide o do about it. ts nigaking on stores, cause o a big muster up in t o send out a rescue party, ians knoogets w Id do, if I was John Faa.”
“hos John Faa?”
“tians.”
“And youre really going to rescue t about Roger?”
“hos Roger?”
“tcook same as Billy ter. I bet if I ook, o rescue Billy, I to come too and rescue Roger.”
And Uncle Asriel, s; but s mention t.