Caravaggio The Seven Acts of Mercy

Caravaggio The Seven Acts of MercyCaravaggio The Lute PlayerCaravaggio The Inspiration of Saint Matthew
They climbed over the sill and moved sideways down through the broken tiles to the gutter. It wasn't high, and below it was grass, with a gentle slope away from the building. First Lyra jumped and then Will followed, rolling over a thought. "Where are they now?" he said. "Where's the nearest one?"
"Ten paces away, down the slope," said the daemon. "They don't want to come any closer, that's obvious."
Will took out the knife and looked in that direction, and he heard the daemon hiss with surprise.
But Will couldn't do what he intended, because at the same moment a witch landed her branch on the grass beside him. He was taken aback not so much by her flying as by her astounding gracefulness, the fierce, cold, lovely clarity of her gaze, and by the pale bare limbsand trying to protect his hand, which was bleeding freely again and hurting badly. His sling had come loose and trailed behind him, and as he tried to roll it up, the snow goose landed on the grass at his side."Lyra, who is this?" Kaisa said."It's Will. He's coming with us—""Why are the Specters avoiding you?" The goose daemon was speaking directly to Will.By this time Will was hardly surprised by anything, and he said, "I don't know. We can't see them. No, wait!" And he stood up, struck by