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handed her a coat.
    "Oh, all right," said Copper, putting it on. "But I would like to know about the Rockers."
    "Plenty of time. Now, off you go—and Questrid," Oriole added quietly, "keep your eyes peeled."
    "It's freezing out here!" cried Copper, stepping out into the snow.
    Questrid grinned. "I'm used to it. There's Thunder and Lightning," he said, indicating the two horses. "Aren't they lovely? I live up above them. I've got my own room and I look after them."
    "Don't you want to live in the house?"
    "No, I like it with the animals best, and with me not being family and everything ..."
    "I thought. . . isn't Robin your father?"
    Questrid laughed. "Of course not! He's from down the valley."
    "So?" she said.
    "Well, I couldn't be from down the valley. That's all the Partridges and the Peacocks, the Parrots and Woodcocks. Bird clans. I don't look like them, do I?"
    Copper shook her head.
    "I don't look like anyone, really. Mind you, although you've got the Beech hands, you don't look absolutely Beech."
    "How do you know?"
    "I know your uncle, don't forget, and there are pictures, portraits. The Beeches are very tall, with red or golden hair and green eyes—yours are nearly black. And they have freckles—you don't. They have long fingers and toes like you, though. They do fantastic things with wood. Do you?"
    Copper thought of her attempts at stone carving. Dreadful. Nothing had emerged except a blob. But she had never tried carving wood.
    "Come this way," said Questrid. "I want you to see Spindle House properly. You can't see the garden, it's all under snow and there's a lake too, all iced over."
    The sky was palest blue with high, thin misty clouds. A weak sunshine made the crusty edges of snow glisten and sparkle. The snow crunched under their feet as if they were treading on eggshells. Copper breathed in the fresh air greedily.
    "I love it," she said. "I feel wonderful here."
    Questrid smiled. "Of course you do. It's where you belong. Can't cut a twig off a tree then stick it in concrete and expect it to thrive, can you?"
    Copper shook her head, although she wasn't sure she understood. Still it was good to be told she belonged, to even begin to feel as if she belonged.
    They walked through an archway to the front of the house where the big double doors were. Over them, carved in great detail, was a large, long-tailed dragon.
    "That's just like Aunt Ruby's dragon," said Copper. "Did she live here? She told me she had a dragon when she was little. I can believe it now that I've seen this place."
    Questrid smiled. "Was it very boring where you've been living?"
    "Very."
    The house really was a massive tree. It was brown and tree shaped with very large, thick branches in which small windows were arranged.
    Copper ran down to the wall at the end of the garden to get a good look at it.
    "I've never seen anything like it!" she cried. "It's the weirdest house in the world, but I think it's great. Oh, look," she added. "Look up there."
    Right at the top, at the highest window, a magpie was fluttering, as if it were trying to get inside. It landed on the windowsill, tapped on the glass with its beak and, when the window opened, disappeared inside.
    "Did you see that?" Copper squeaked.
    "What? I didn't see anything," said Questrid.
    "Someone's up there! Someone let the bird inside. Oriole said Uncle Greenwood's out. Who else lives here, Questrid?"
    "No one," said Questrid. "I didn't see anything. There are birds all over this place."
    "There must be someone up there," said Copper. "Someone opened the window."
    But Questrid wasn't interested. He had his eye on Ralick.
    "I saw that funny-looking old teddy last night when you came," he said thoughtfully. "How come you take him everywhere?"
    "He's not a teddy and he's not funny-looking," snapped Copper, suddenly embarrassed. "He's Ralick."
    "Sorry," said Questrid, grinning. "Is there something wrong with his head? I mean, does he have to wear that hat thing?"
    "Hat. Just a plain hat,