Adrick became a squirrel now, clawing his way up to Isadorra's shoulder and peering at the women, making a squirrel's 'chuck-chuck-chuck' noise of curiousity. Isadorra absently reached up to stroke him, blinking uncertainly at what the tall woman with the sword had said. "Inside you...? But...." But people with their daemons cut away never asked any questions, they just did like they were told like they was sleepwalking and didn't care none for anything. They weren't afraid of anything either, but these two looked almost as scared as she, which made her braver. But having your daemon inside you? What a strange thought! How did people know what you were like, then? She wondered if she could trust these women, but, being lost in a cave with only 3 matches left, she had little choice. She would be careful. "We en't never heard of anyone who kept their daemons inside....but fron the way you're lookin' at us, it's kinda certain you never seen a daemon before." She laughed at the strangeness of it.
"I'm Isdorra," she said, "And this is Adrick. We en't seen anyone since we got lost down here. We was pretending to be famous explorers. Then we heard a horrible noise, skittering, like we was bein' chased by cave-ghasts, so we ran away. Then we got lost, and all we had was matches. Only they're mostly gone now, and we was gettin' scared we'd never get out." She crept closer, wary, one hand still touching Adrick reassuringly. "Who're you? An' what's that in your hand? An' why are YOU down 'ere, then? An' where you come from? I en't never heard of any place where people don't got daemons. Are you witches? Lyra said witches can send their daemons away farther than anyone, so maybe they can go inside too..."
It's obvious the little girl is prattling to show that she isn't as afraid of the dark and the caves as she really is, proving how clever she can be in such a dangerous situation. But it IS prattle, and eventually she gets to the important question when Adrick nips her ear impatiently. "Do you two know the way out?"
