«Well, I know about the subtle knife and what it can do. And I know where it is, and I know how to recognize the one who must use it, and I know what he must do in Lord Asriel's cause. I hope he's equal to the task. So I have summoned you here, and you are to fly me northward, into the world Asriel has opened, where I expect to find the bearer of the subtle knife.»
«That is a dangerous world, mind. Those Specters are worse than anything in your world or mine. We shall have to be careful and courageous. I shall not return, and if you want to see your country again, you'll need all your courage, all your craft, all your luck.»
«That's your task, Mr. Scoresby. That is why you sought me out.»
And the shaman fell silent. His face was pallid, with a faint sheen of sweat.
«This is the craziest damn idea I ever heard in my life,» said Lee.
He stood up in his agitation and walked a pace or two this way, a pace or two that, while Hester watched unblinking from the bench. Grumman's eyes were half-closed; his daemon sat on his knee, watching Lee warily.
«Do you want money?» Grumman said after a few moments. «I can get you some gold. That's not hard to do.»
«Damn, I didn't come here for gold,» said Lee hotly. «I came here … I came here to see if you were alive, like I thought you were. Well, my curiosity's kinda satisfied on that point.»
«I'm glad to hear it.»
«And there's another angle to this thing, too,» Lee added, and told Grumman of the witch council at Lake Enara, and the resolution the witches had sworn to. «You see,» he finished, «that little girl Lyra … well, she's the reason I set out to help the witches in the first place. You say you brought me here with that Navajo ring. Maybe that's so and maybe it ain't. What I know is, I came here because I thought I'd be helping Lyra. I ain't never seen a child like that. If I had a daughter of my own, I hope she'd be half as strong and brave and good. Now, I'd heard that you knew of some object, I didn't know what it might be, that confers a protection on anyone who holds it. And from what you say, I think it must be this subtle knife.
«So this is my price for taking you into the other world, Dr. Grumman: not gold, but that subtle knife. And I don't want it for myself; I want it for Lyra. You have to swear you'll get her under the protection of that object, and then I'll take you wherever you want to go.»
The shaman listened closely, and said, «Very well, Mr. Scoresby; I swear. Do you trust my oath?»
«What will you swear by?»
«Name anything you like.»
Lee thought and then said, «Swear by whatever it was made you turn down the love of the witch. I guess that's the most important thing you know.»
Grumman's eyes widened, and he said, «You guess well, Mr. Scoresby. I'll gladly swear by that. I give you my word that I'll make certain the child Lyra Belacqua is under the protection of the subtle knife. But I warn you: the bearer of that knife has his own task to do, and it may be that his doing it will put her into even greater danger.»
Lee nodded soberly. «Maybe so,» he said, «but whatever little chance of safety there is, I want her to have it.»
«You have my word. And now I must go into the new world, and you must take me.»
«And the wind? You ain't been too sick to observe the weather, I guess?»
«Leave the wind to me.»
Lee nodded. He sat on the bench again and ran his fingers over and over the turquoise ring while Grumman gathered the few goods he needed into a deerskin bag, and then the two of them went back down the forest track to the village.
The headman spoke at some length. More and more of the villagers came out to touch Grumman's hand, to mutter a few words, and to receive what looked like a blessing in return. Lee, meanwhile, was looking at the weather. The sky was clear to the south, and a fresh-scented breeze was just lifting the twigs and stirring the pine tops. To the north the fog still hung over the heavy river, but it was the first time for days that there seemed to be a promise of clearing it.
At the rock where the landing stage had been he lifted Grumman's pack into the boat, and filled the little engine, which fired at once. He cast off, and with the shaman in the bow, the boat sped down with the current, darting under the trees and skimming out into the main river so fast that Lee was afraid for Hester, crouching just inside the gunwale. But she was a seasoned traveler, he should have known that; why was he so damn jumpy?
They reached the port at the river's mouth to find every hotel, every lodging house, every private room commandeered by soldiers. Not just any soldiers, either: these were troops of the Imperial Guard of Muscovy, the most ferociously trained and lavishly equipped army in the world, and one sworn to uphold the power of the Magisterium.
Lee had intended to rest a night before setting off, because Grumman looked in need of it, but there was no chance of finding a room.
«What's going on?» he said to the boatman when he returned the hired boat.
«We don't know. The regiment arrived yesterday and commandeered every billet, every scrap of food, and every ship in the town. They'd have had this boat, too, if you hadn't taken it.»
«D'you know where they're going?»
«North,» said the boatman. «There's a war going to be fought, by all accounts, the greatest war ever known.»
«North, into that new world?»
«That's right. And there's more troops coming; this is just the advance guard. There won't be a loaf of bread or a gallon of spirit left in a week's time. You did me a favor taking this boat — the price has already doubled…»
There was no sense in resting up now, even if they could find a place. Full of anxiety about his balloon, Lee went at once to the warehouse where he'd left it, with Grumman beside him. The man was keeping pace. He looked sick, but he was tough.
The warehouse keeper, busy counting out some spare engine parts to a requisitioning sergeant of the Guard, looked up briefly from his clipboard.
«Balloon — too bad — requisitioned yesterday,» he said. «You can see how it is. I've got no choice.»
Hester flicked her ears, and Lee understood what she meant.
«Have you delivered the balloon yet?» he said.
«They're going to collect it this afternoon.»
«No, they're not,» said Lee, «because I have an authority that trumps the Guard.»
And he showed the warehouseman the ring he'd taken from the finger of the dead Skraeling on Nova Zembla. The sergeant, beside him at the counter, stopped what he was doing and saluted at the sight of the Church's token, but for all his discipline he couldn't prevent a flicker of puzzlement passing over his face.
«So we'll have the balloon right now,» said Lee, «and you can set some men to fill it. And I mean at once. And that includes food, and water, and ballast.»
The warehouseman looked at the sergeant, who shrugged, and then hurried away to see to the balloon. Lee and Grumman withdrew to the wharf, where the gas tanks were, to supervise the filling and talk quietly.
«Where did you get that ring?» said Grumman.
«Off a dead man's finger. Kinda risky using it, but I couldn't see another way of getting my balloon back. You reckon that sergeant suspected anything?»
«Of course he did. But he's a disciplined man. He won't question the Church. If he reports it at all, we'll be away by the time they can do anything about it. Well, I promised you a wind, Mr. Scoresby; I hope you like it.»