Free The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman Page A

was a name that would bring to mind a parallel case, and which would make the Church hate and fear her.”
    “And did the witch reveal that name?”
    “No. Before she could utter it, another witch, who had been present under a spell of invisibility, managed to kill her and escape.”
    “So on that occasion, the woman Coulter will not have heard the name?”
    “That is so.”
    “And shortly afterwards Mrs. Coulter left?”
    “Indeed.”
    “What did you discover after that?”
    “I learned that the child had gone into that other world opened by Lord Asriel, and that there she has acquired the help of a boy who owns, or has got the use of, a knife of extraordinary powers,” said Fra Pavel. Then he cleared his throat nervously and went on: “I may speak entirely freely in this court?”
    “With perfect freedom, Fra Pavel,” came the harsh, clear tones of the President. “You will not be punished for telling us what you in turn have been told. Please continue.”
    Reassured, the cleric went on:
    “The knife in the possession of this boy is able to make openings between worlds. Furthermore, it has a power greater than that—please, once again, I am afraid of what I am saying . . . It is capable of killing the most high angels, and what is higher than them. There is nothing this knife cannot destroy.”
    He was sweating and trembling, and his frog dæmon fell from the edge of the witness stand to the floor in her agitation. Fra Pavel gasped in pain and scooped her up swiftly, letting her sip at the water in the glass in front of him.
    “And did you ask further about the girl?” said the Inquirer. “Did you discover this name the witch spoke of?”
    “Yes, I did. Once again I crave the assurance of the court that—”
    “You have it,” snapped the President. “Don’t be afraid. You are not a heretic. Report what you have learned, and waste no more time.”
    “I beg your pardon, truly. The child, then, is in the position of Eve, the wife of Adam, the mother of us all, and the cause of all sin.”
    The stenographers taking down every word were nuns of the order of St. Philomel, sworn to silence; but at Fra Pavel’s words there came a smothered gasp from one of them, and there was a flurry of hands as they crossed themselves. Fra Pavel twitched, and went on:
    “Please, remember—the alethiometer does not
forecast;
it says,
‘If
certain things come about,
then
the consequences will be . . . ,’ and so on. And it says that if it comes about that the child is tempted, as Eve was, then she is likely to fall. On the outcome will depend . . . everything. And if this temptation does take place, and if the child gives in, then Dust and sin will triumph.”
    There was silence in the courtroom. The pale sunlight that filtered in through the great leaded windows held in its slanted beams a million golden motes, but these were dust, not Dust—though more than one of the members of the Court had seen in them an image of that other invisible Dust that settled over every human being, no matter how dutifully they kept the laws.
    “Finally, Fra Pavel,” said the Inquirer, “tell us what you know of the child’s present whereabouts.”
    “She is in the hands of Mrs. Coulter,” said Fra Pavel. “And they are in the Himalaya. So far, that is all I have been able to tell. I shall go at once and ask for a more precise location, and as soon as I have it, I shall tell the Court; but . . .”
    He stopped, shrinking in fear, and held the glass to his lips with a trembling hand.
    “Yes, Fra Pavel?” said Father MacPhail. “Hold nothing back.”
    “I believe, Father President, that the Society of the Work of the Holy Spirit knows more about this than I do.”
    Fra Pavel’s voice was so faint it was almost a whisper.
    “Is that so?” said the President, his eyes seeming to radiate his passion as they glared.
    Fra Pavel’s dæmon uttered a little frog whimper. The cleric knew about the rivalry between the