Emily Feather and the Chest of Charms by Holly Webb Page B

Can’t we use it against him somehow?”
    Robin frowned, his huge eyes narrowing. “Can you remember it?”
    Emily laughed out loud, and then slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry. Yes, of course I can! I heard it often enough, didn’t I? She played it over and over. I could probably sing you the whole thing!”
    Robin nodded. “All right. Go on then. But quietly! And come to the edge of the trees. I reckon he’s hiding somewhere close to Lory – we need to be able to see if he reacts.”
    Emily nodded and looked out across the clearing, fixing her eyes on the tiny crimson bird. Robin and Sasha stood beside her, close enough to touch. She took a breath and started to sing, waveringly at first. She liked to sing, but usually only to herself, or singing along to music with Rachel. It was odd to sing on her own – and especially this song with the sugary lyrics she hated. But after a couple of lines, Emily forgot to be shy. She could almost see the words coming out of her mouth, twining round each other and spiralling out into the sunlit clearing. Her eyes widened and she kept singing, glancing round at Robin.
    He nodded eagerly at her – he could see it too. It was like the golden thread of Lory’s magic that they’d followed. The song became a soft, greenish mist, trailing through the bars of green-gold light, looping its way over to the pink and white blossom of the tree.
    It wreathed itself around the glittering cage, and the scarlet bird lifted its head, sitting up on its perch, its tail feathers twitching.
    Emily caught her breath. Lory knew that they were here. From across the clearing, she saw the little bird’s dark eyes glint and her beak open. Lory began to sing, adding a chirruping trill to the song, changing it a little, making it stronger.
    â€œShe’s adding to the spell!” Robin whispered. “Dan never thought of that when he made her a bird. Singing’s about the only thing she can do to fight back.”
    â€œLook!” Sasha pointed. “In the tree, just above her.”
    The greenish mist was shot through with golden lights now, and it was gathering closely around the branch above Lory, where a glittering chain secured the cage. And over it lay a white figure, stretched out along the branch, one paw wrapped around the chain.
    â€œA cat!” Robin hissed, as Emily sang the last few words of the song. “Why’s Dan disguised himself as a cat?”
    â€œBecause they’re the best way to catch a bird? And because that white fur is hidden in the blossoms, I suppose. We didn’t see him before, did we? Emily shrugged, still catching her breath from the song. “I think he’s asleep,” she added, leaning out from behind the huge tree. “His eyes are closed, anyway.”
    â€œNo wonder Gruff couldn’t stand him,” Robin muttered, as he trod softly out into the clearing, the starry flowers hardly crushed at all under his feet. The two girls followed, creeping closer and closer to the tree – close enough that the sweet scent of the blossom seemed to wrap itself all round them. It was too sweet.
    At last they were right under the tree, the heavy branches drooping down. Lory was in her cage, hopping agitatedly on the perch, just above their heads.
    â€œHe is asleep,” Emily said, in the merest breath of a whisper, trying not to gag as the sickly scent of the flowers stuck in her throat.
    Robin and Sasha nodded, and Emily stood on tiptoe, reaching up to the door of the cage. The mist of green magic was still wrapped round the white cat, who was stretched dozing on the branch, but his paw was over the chain – if the cage shook, he was sure to wake.
    Sasha gently placed both hands around the bottom of the cage, holding it steady while Emily reached for the catch. It was a fiddly little thing, a loop of wire that had to be unhooked. All the while Lory was perched just on the other