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didn’t end up knocked out by a fat knight.
    When the picture finally settled, Dora couldn’t help clapping her hands. The small witch was now dressed in shining gold and had a crown of flowers.
    â€œI’m going to be queen of the May!” she whooped, and completely forgetting herself, punched Jem on the arm in delight. He raised one eyebrow, and she immediately felt covered in confusion. She looked at her feet.
    â€œIs that what you want to be – queen of the May?” he said scornfully.
    â€œWell, it’s better than being hit on the headby a fat knight,” said Dora, looking up crossly. “Why? What do you want? A pile of gold?”
    Jem looked at her, as if deciding whether to bother to reply. After a moment, he threw himself down on the nearby bed with a sigh, and stared up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head.
    â€œI want adventures,” he said, with a faraway look in his eyes. “I’m a commoner so I’m not allowed to be a knight. But all the squires are a bunch of stuck-up idiots who can’t see past the end of their own noses. I’d make a much better knight than any of them. I want to travel the world, see dragons in the mountains, find treasure, rescue damsels. One day, I’m going to. You wait and see.”
    And with that, he wrapped himself in his blanket and turned on his side, facing the wall. Dora slipped quietly into bed on the opposite side of the room, but they both lay awake for a while. Dora was thinking about Jem, and wondering whether he’d make a good knight if he ever had the chance. She decided he’d probably be terrible – he was far too disobedient.
    Jem was thinking about the strange book, and Dora. She was like a mouse most of the time,he thought, and quite prickly and unfriendly. But then just for a moment she had seemed like she might be quite fun, before she got all prickly again.
    Jem shoved the box under his pillow. He felt a shiver of excitement at the thought that tomorrow they would be entering the Great Forest. He wondered if the fortune-telling box had any of the forest folk in it.

Chapter Four
    Simon and Cat had argued all day over what to tell their mum about the sword. Simon had wanted to keep it secret. There was something about the strange, intricate engravings along the blade and the smooth, worn feel of the hilt that was familiar. It felt as if it had always belonged to him, and he didn’t want anyone taking it away. But Cat still half thought it might be Mum’s from work, and they would definitely have some explaining to do if it was hers and she found they’d hidden it.
    In the end, they decided to just show it to her, and if it was clear it wasn’t hers, they could say Simon had found it in the cellar. There was plenty of old junk down there, and it was all Great-Aunt Irene’s, so there’d be no need for Mum to fussabout who the sword belonged to if they’d found it there.
    Florence Arnold got back from her conference late that evening, after being stuck in a traffic jam for hours, and required two cups of tea and a large slice of fruit cake before she had recovered enough to ask Simon and Cat how their day had been.
    â€œGood,” said Cat. “But we had some weird people knock on the door saying there was a radiation leak or something in the area – and then someone called Albert Jemmet came round – he said you knew him?”
    Florence nodded, a little distractedly. “Yes, he was your great-aunt’s odd-job man. He seemed very nice when I met him, I said we’d let him know if we needed anything. Did he say there was anything wrong?”
    â€œUmm, something about electricity, I think,” said Cat. “But it seems all right now. And then… Simon found this. Do you know what it is?”
    As Simon brought the sword out and put it on the table, Florence was just picking up her third cup of tea. When she turned round and saw the