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had found it. And it looked like he was now firmly part of Violet’s nasty little gang. She decided that she would try and have as little to do with him as possible on the journey, and she was definitely not going to give him any chance to be ‘nice’ to her.
    They got to Bridbury, a small market town on the edge of the forest, just before dark. In the bustle of finding a place to stay and organising food, there was little time for conversation. Dora began to hope that if she simply rolled herself up in her blanket and pretended she was asleep, she might be able to get through the first day without exchanging more than a dozen words in total. But she’d reckoned without Jem. He was dying to show off his discoveries about the shiny new object.
    â€œIt’s a magic fortune-telling book,” he announced with a flourish as soon as the door to their room was shut. “I’ve worked out how to use it – look!”
    He opened the book, and pressed a few buttons. The dark window lit up with stars and moving patterns which slowly became a picture of a castle with strange symbols scattered across it.Jem’s fingers flew over the buttons once more, and a number of recognisable characters started to flick across the screen.
    â€œThere!” said Jem, triumphantly, as the pictures stopped moving. A small, fierce-looking knight was standing in front of them, waving his sword.
    â€œIt’s Sir Roderick,” said Jem, and Dora had to agree, it looked very like him.
    â€œNow watch,” said Jem, and pressed a few more buttons. The figure marched up and down and round a few corners. Stars appeared, then gold coins. After a frenzied minute or two more of Jem’s fingers and thumbs dancing over the buttons, the picture froze again and Sir Mortimer stood next to an enormous pile of gold.
    â€œYou see?” said Jem proudly. “It’s a fortune-telling book. Sir Roderick is going to get a pile of gold. He’s obviously going to win the Autumn Joust.”
    Dora looked at the peculiar object, frowning. Something didn’t seem quite right about this explanation. If the shiny book was from another world, like the other objects seemed to be, how could it tell them anything real about their world? But on the other hand, the figure did look ratherlike Sir Roderick, and it was quite likely that he would win the Autumn Joust.
    Curious, she moved closer, forgetting her vow to have as little to do with Jem as possible. She peered over Jem’s shoulders at the pictures in the dark window.
    â€œDoes it show anyone else’s fortune?” she asked.
    Jem’s fingers flickered across the buttons, and a new set of characters paraded across the little window. He stopped at an image of a stocky boy with a shock of red hair.
    â€œThat’s me,” he said. “I found myself earlier. Now – watch this!”
    The boy on the screen set off at a pace, with strange objects whizzing past him in a way that made Dora feel quite dizzy. When the picture finally stopped moving, the boy was flat on his back with stars floating above his head, and a fat knight with an axe was standing over him grinning.
    Dora couldn’t help giggling. Jem frowned.
    â€œThat didn’t happen last time. Last time I got a pile of gold, just like Sir Mortimer. Rats! What’s wrong with the stupid thing?”
    â€œMaybe you’re going to get a pile of gold, and then a fat knight is going to whack you over the head and steal it?” suggested Dora, with a bubble of laughter in her voice.
    Jem snorted, and fiddled again, till he’d got a picture of a girl with dark hair in what looked very like the dress of an apprentice witch.
    â€œLet’s see what’s in store for you, then,” he said. Dora watched the girl whizzing over the picture and held her breath. She was pretty sure the red book couldn’t tell the future, but she still felt quite anxious that her small copy