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"But you did try to stop him?"

"Of course, of course, but Amber was so frightened that Granite would kill Cedar, she said she'd go back to the Rock if she could take her child with her."

"Her child? Do you mean
me?"

Uncle Greenwood nodded.

Copper smiled. "Only if she could take me?"

She didn't want to say anything to her new uncle, she could hardly admit it to herself, but all these years she had wondered whether her mother had abandoned her and not wanted her. Now she was hearing the truth, and the truth was that her mother
had
wanted her, had agreed to go with this horrible Granite so long as she could have Copper with her. Another knot seemed to untangle itself in her insides and she sighed.

"Good," she said. "Then what happened?"

"Then we never saw her again. That was it. Of course we tried to get her back, we did everything possible, but she has never been seen since that day. Nor have you. We don't know how you got away from Granite, who this aunt Ruby is or whether Amber is alive or dead."

"And my father? Did he die then?"

"Your father, no ..." Uncle Greenwood hesitated. "He was a ghost of a man after Amber left. No wife, no child—nothing except a hatred for Granite. So Cedar went away. He left."

"You mean he's still alive? He's out there somewhere? All I have to do is find him?"

Uncle Greenwood looked at her strangely. "I suppose that's all," he said.

11. More Clues

After that, Copper
felt so unraveled she had to do some knitting. She sat in the corner of the kitchen in the rocking chair and knitted and knitted and knitted. A tiny wren hopped and flittered round her shoulders.

"Knit, knot, knit, knot," whispered Ralick.

"Shh. I'm thinking."

She knitted the toe of a sock and pulled it out, then the tail of a bird and pulled that out. In a temper she chucked down her needles and took out her crochet hook and began making a circular mat. Round and round sped her needle, bigger and bigger grew the mat.

"You're making me dizzy," said Ralick.

A mother and a father with names and faces, Copper thought wildly. Maybe alive. Maybe waiting for me. Parents, real parents who didn't leave me, but wanted me. She saw her thoughts like a slithering, knotted mass of tangling spaghetti that she couldn't grab hold of quickly enough to unravel and understand. Did Amber knit? Was Cedar kind? Was he alive?

Granite, the baddie ... Greenwood ... The horrible men up at the Rock ... relations? So? So what? My mother was one of them and I think poor Questrid is and I'm starting to think dear Aunt Ruby is too.

"Lunch is ready," called Oriole, coming into the room. "Hello, Copper. My goodness, your needle flies!"

The bell rang for lunch and everyone came in and sat down at the big table. They ate vegetable soup from wooden bowls with wooden spoons, and fresh bread and cheese cut with a rather blunt old knife.

Silver was sitting beside Copper's chair, her big eyes following her spoon on its journey to and from Copper's mouth. The dog settled her chin on Copper's knee and sighed. "I think Silver's hungry," said Copper a little nervously. "More than ever. She's going to have puppies," Robin told her. "See how swollen her tummy is? They're due in the next few days, I'd say."

Copper stroked the dog's head shyly and
gazed
into Silver's yellow eyes. What a strange dog she was. She hardly ever barked, and when she did it was more like a howl. Her shaggy fur was silver tipped and both rough and silky to touch.

I would love one of her puppies for my very own, Copper thought.

After the meal, Uncle Greenwood disappeared downstairs to the Root Room again and Robin went out to feed the birds. Questrid went to the horses, leaving only Oriole and Copper in the kitchen.

"I'll help you," said Copper.

"There's really nothing to do," said Oriole.

"There must be. I'll do anything. Isn't there some brass to polish or something?"

"Not in this house!" said Oriole, laughing. "You go and sit in the sitting room now, that's the door with the chairs on it. I'll bring you a drink. Go on."

"But I could help you make the drinks."

"That's all right, off you go."

Puzzled, Copper went.

Am I imagining things, she wondered, or is Oriole eager to get me out of the kitchen?

Copper was three paces down the hall when she remembered Ralick. Heck! She'd hardly spoken to him all day, and now she'd left him behind.

For some reason she didn't want to admit to herself, Copper tiptoed back to the kitchen and peeped in.

Oriole was setting a tray with what appeared to be somebody's lunch. She poured soup into a blue bowl and placed cheese and bread and fruit beside it. Even a mug and a pot of tea.

Who was it for?

Copper watched in astonishment as Oriole put the tray into the dumbwaiter, closed the door and pushed a button to send it upward.

Robin had shown her the dumbwaiter earlier that morning. It was a small lift for carrying food up to the other floors, to save people from having to trudge up and down the narrow spiral stairs.

But who was she feeding? Not Uncle Greenwood in the Root Room; he had just eaten, and anyway the lift only went up ... so it must be someone
upstairs.

Copper remembered the bird she had seen going into the window at the very top of the house. Hmm, something funny's going on here, she decided, and I'm going to find out what.

She crept away with only the slightest feeling of guilt, made her way to the door with the carved chairs and sofas on it and found the sitting room.

As she opened the door a delicate smell of sandalwood and lilac wafted out. Copper hesitated, breathing in the scent, then stepped into the room. It was like walking into a garden. The colors were all earthy brown and green, honey and golden. There was the faintest gentle sound, like wind ruffling the leaves on a mild summer's day, and yet the air was still.

Copper chose a large, low chair with a high back and wide arms. It was very comfortable, padded with cushions, and when she leaned back and closed her eyes, the chair began to buzz quietly beneath her and move, like shifting sand on a beach, until it was perfectly comfortable.

Brilliant chair! Copper thought dreamily, and the chair responded, with a stronger buzz, as if the smallest electric current were running through it and into her.

Then the chair began to sway.

A little alarmed, Copper opened her eyes. Nothing was moving, and yet beneath her the chair seemed to bend and
sway as if she were high in the branches of a tree, being lulled to sleep by the wind.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Copper had no idea how long she slept in the special chair, but she woke with a start, aware that something had disturbed her.

She looked around. What was it?

The curtains in the alcove were moving. Someone was there! That mysterious snooper again!

She got up very slowly, tiptoed across the room and flung back the curtain.

Nothing. No one. But behind the curtain was a small door, and she was sure that on the other side of the door she could hear the sound of footsteps, hurrying away.

Then Oriole came in with Silver and a tray with a pot of tea, and she didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything.

"I brought Ralick for you," said Oriole. "You left him in the kitchen."

"Thanks. I take him everywhere usually, but somehow it's not the same here, is it? I mean, this isn't normal."

Copper sat down again, carefully avoiding the sleeping chair.

"Don't you like that chair?" asked Oriole, smiling.

"It sent me to sleep," Copper told her.

"It was made with palm tree wood and still sways in the wind. Here, come and sit in this oak chair. It's a good solid chair and won't play any tricks on you. Your father made it."

"He made things, like Greenwood?"

"Yes. Look, I'm sure you want to see this," said Oriole, pointing to a picture on the wall. "It's a painting of Greenwood and Cedar when they were little."

"But they're identical!" cried Copper. "Identical twins! So I've sort of seen my father already, haven't I? Weird. Did
you
ever know Cedar?"

"No. Robin and I came up here to help only a couple of years ago."

"I wonder if Cedar ever wrote to Greenwood. Where would
you
go after such a thing? I wonder if he ever thinks of me. Or Amber."

"I wonder," said Oriole absentmindedly as she poured the tea.

Copper didn't sit down for long. She jumped up and began looking round the room at the carved mirrors and carved mantelpiece, cupboards and shelves.

"I love all this stuff," she told Oriole. "I've never tried carving wood, only stone, but I think I should start soon. Aunt Ruby was so good at sculpting things—you've no idea. But I was hopeless. Now I know why. I love knowing why. You see, my life is like a bit of knitting in a way, a bit of knitting that was started but not finished. No, I know, started and then done wrong, dropped stitches and things, and then left. I've got to get myself finished somehow."

Silver padded into the room and came to stand beside her, rubbing against her legs, and together they stared out the window at the fading light.

"Draw the curtains, Copper," said Oriole. "It keeps in the warmth and it's gloomy out there."

Copper tugged and pulled at the long, heavy curtains. "They're jammed." She yanked them hard. Something small and shining dropped down beside her.

It was a tiny gold charm, just like the ones on her secret charm bracelet.

Silver growled quietly.

"What is it?" called Oriole.

"It's a little gold tree charm," said Copper, taking it over to show her. "But it's not lovely, not like the ones I've got... I mean,
seen."
Her heart raced, realizing she'd nearly told about her bracelet. Aunt Ruby had said to keep it secret and she must. "There's nothing charming about this charm—look."

It was a tiny fir tree, beautifully made with every pine needle clear, but the tree was bent over, cut almost in half by a long ax thrust into its side.

The message was plain.

"Now, how on earth did that thing get up there?" said Oriole. "D'you think someone threw it there? It's certainly not very nice."

"It's horrid. Who made it?" whispered Copper in a quivering voice. Because surely, she thought, surely whoever made it made my lovely charms too. "Do you know who made it?" she asked again.

"Why, of course," said Oriole. "I'd recognize that style of metalwork anywhere. That charm was made by
Granite."

12. Sledding

The next morning,
Copper was awakened by birdsong again. This time it was a fat robin. Copper lay quietly, watching him, remembering everything that had happened yesterday. The sense of excitement, of things yet to come, still absorbed her, and she couldn't help grinning to herself.

"What's that racket?" said Ralick.

"Just the robin," said Copper. "And he's got a message for us." She gently removed the tiny roll of paper from a container on the bird's leg.

Good morning! Breakfast is ready.

The robin flew away and Copper flew out of bed.

"Questrid said he'd take me sledding today," she told Ralick, propping him up on the pillows. "I've never gone sledding before. I'd better not take you, though, it's so cold out there."

"Cold? Bah!" said Ralick. "You're bored with me. You like Questrid better than me."

"Silly creature. I love you, but sledding really isn't suitable for ... for a .. ."

"Go on, say it. A
cuddly toy!
That's all you think of me now, isn't it?"

"But think, if you fell into the snow you'd get wet and your fur is ... a bit worn and it's so cold and then there's the bracelet. We mustn't lose that."

"Huh, so I'll stay at home all on my own—maybe I'll take up knotting. You've almost stopped doing that too."

"Knitting,"
said Copper. "I know I have. I don't feel the need at the moment."

"Bah!" said Ralick again.

Despite Ralick's complaints, Copper left him snug and cozy in the kitchen.

Outside the air was gray and very still and heavy as if clogged with snow just hanging in it and waiting to fall. Copper pulled her hat firmly down over her ears, thrust her hands deep into the pockets of her big, borrowed coat and walked over to the stables.

Silver bounded out from her warm bed beside the horses to greet her.

"Good girl!" said Copper, stroking her luscious fur. "You stay here in the warmth and don't catch cold. You must look after yourself and your puppies."