“What’s the secret commonwealth?” “The world of the fairies, and the ghosts, and the jacky lanterns.” “Well, I’ve never seen a jacky lantern, but I’ve seen three ghosts, and I was suckled by a fairy.” “You was what?” “I was suckled by a fairy. It happened in the great flood twenty years ago.” “You en’t old enough to remember that.” “No. I don’t remember it at all. But that’s what I was told by someone who was there. She was a fairy out of the river Thames. She wanted to keep me, only they tricked her and she had to let me go.” “The river Thames, eh? What was her name, then?” Lyra tried to
...more
