"On a cold winters night, two art collectors are settled before a fire in the senior common room of a college in Oxford, discussing two new unusual pieces--a portrait of a striking young woman and a bronze sculpture of a fearsome monkey. How could they imagine that they are about to be caught in the cross-fire of a story that has traveled across time and worlds." --In this darkly delicious sliver of a tale, Philip Pullman offers a glimpse of the enigmatic girl who will become the sinister Mrs. Coulter. On a cold winters night, two art collectors are settled before a fire in the Senior Common Room of a college in Oxford, discussing the unusual pieces one has recently added to his collection. What the two men dont know is that the portrait of a striking young woman and the bronze sculpture of a fearsome monkey are connected in mysterious ways. How could they imagine that they are about to be caught in the cross-fire of a story which has traveled time . and worlds.