Emily Feather and the Chest of Charms by Holly Webb

out.
    Emily blinked at him. “No, you’re not.”
    â€œI would be if I lived there. By right of birth. Lark and Lory would be too.” He smirked at Emily. “You don’t know what I could do if I didn’t have Mum and Dad hovering around, making sure I don’t start any magic and break all our rules.”
    Emily eyed him uncertainly. “Really?” He was still her littler brother, even if she had seen him with wings…
    â€œMmm-hmm. And I’m used to living in the human world. I always have. Not like him.” Robin flexed his fingers and grinned wolfishly.
    Emily nibbled her bottom lip. Robin being boastful was nothing new, but was he really as strong as he thought? “Let’s just go,” she muttered. “But promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”
    Robin shrugged and smiled. “I can’t help it, Emily. I can’t do any magic over here. Once we go through that door I can do anything I like… It’s exciting!”
    â€œLory…” Lark wheezed, trying to reach for his foot. “Remember you’re there for Lory!”
    â€œI know.” Robin crouched down next to her. “We’ll get her back, don’t worry.” Then he sprang back up, grabbing Emily’s hand, and Sasha’s. “Let’s go. We don’t want to give Dan any more time than we have to. And remember, we stick together as we go through.”
    Emily nodded. She had no intention of going off on her own, however wonderful it was to be going back to that entrancing world. Now that they were really about to step through the door, she wasn’t sure if her stomach was jumping because she was excited, or terrified. Sasha’s face looked pale and pinched but Robin truly seemed not to be scared at all. He was dancing on tiptoe as he walked around the chest, and then slowly he delicately stepped inside.
    Emily felt a sharp tug on her arm and stepped hurriedly after him, scared to be left behind. There was a strange moment of blackness and cold, and then she was there, up to her knees in bright, curled ferns, the gaping hole of the hollow tree at her back. She couldn’t see home through it, but then she supposed that wasn’t really surprising. It was a secret door, after all.
    Robin’s wings had grown, she realized. She hadn’t seen them spring out of his shoulders. She glanced at Sasha and caught her breath. The water fairy glittered in the sunlight, her hair rippling down her back in a green-gold stream. Her bare toes were scrunched in the damp ferns, as though even that faint touch of water was breathing new life into her.
    Emily shook herself. “Where is he?” she whispered to Robin and Sasha. The wood seemed to stretch on for ever, full of hiding places. And then she felt the feather twitch in her hand. “Look!” She held it out, watching it quiver and curl on her palm. If she squinted sideways a little, she could almost see a thin, golden trail, like a thread, leading away through the trees.
    Treading as softly as they could, they crept between the huge trees. Emily found it hard to concentrate on the thin, thread-like trail – there was so much else to see. And to be seen by. A tiny butterfly creature swooped down from the branches above them, its wings fluttering and blurring in the sunlight. It – she? – hovered in front of Emily, staring at her curiously, until Robin flapped her away with one sweep of his huge wings.
    â€œWhat was that?” Emily breathed, watching the tiny thing twirl away, chittering angrily. It hadn’t been just a butterfly – it had had a face, and bright, greedy little eyes.
    â€œSomething that could be off telling Dan we’re here. Hurry up. Where’s the thread?” Robin frowned down at the feather, trying to see the trail against the bars of shadow and light falling down through the trees.
    â€œLook…” Sasha pointed between two trees,