- "His hair was black and curly and glossy; his eyes were large, with brilliant dark irises and clear whites; his features were well defined, his skin healthy and golden; it was the sort of face that would look good in a photogram, nothing blurred or smudged about it; and besides, there was a hint of laughter, or at any rate amusement, behind every expression that flitted over it."
- —Lyra Silvertongue describes Dick[src]
Dick Orchard[2] was a teenage boy. As a child, he often stood with his friends, smoking at the entrance to the Covered Market in Oxford. His dæmon was called Bindi and she settled as a vixen.[3] Dick lived on Botley Road.
He did not think that the Gobblers were real, declaring them to be an invention of the gyptians when asked by Lyra Belacqua. Dick was capable of spitting further than anyone else, for which Lyra admired him greatly.[4] She had a crush on him and would gaze at him hopelessly at the Covered Market and clumsily kiss her pillow to see what it felt like.[2]
Years later, Lyra and Dick had a passionate relationship but ended up parting although remained friends. Not long after, Lyra met up with Dick, Billy Warner, Ellen and Rachel at the White Horse. When the others had gone, Lyra and Dick talked about the Royal Mail Zeppelin Station, where Dick worked, and Dick told her about the man, Benny Morris, that she saw murdering Anthony Hassall.[3]
Dick's neckerchief
When Lyra's dæmon, Pantalaimon, left her, Lyra remembered Dick telling her about his gyptian grandfather, Giorgio Brabandt, at the White Horse and how he was in town and so went to his house. At first, Dick was horrified to see her without Pan but then invited her in, offering coffee. There, they talked and he told her to take his neckerchief, which had a knot in it, to him to show she needed help. Before she left, Lyra kissed him goodbye and told him of someone else, Malcolm Polstead, who knew about the murdered man.[5]
As Lyra travelled to the Fens with Giorgio, Dick went to the Trout Inn where Malcolm worked and, after asking Reg Polstead where he was, talked to him. Dick told Malcolm all about what had happened to Lyra and Pan before Malcolm got up to leave, promising to buy Dick a drink when he got back.[6]
Appearances[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ As of Northern Lights
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Northern Lights, Lantern Slide 6
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Secret Commonwealth, Chapter 4
- ↑ Northern Lights, Chapter 3
- ↑ The Secret Commonwealth, Chapter 11
- ↑ The Secret Commonwealth, Chapter 14