He tied back a section of the drop cloth, creating a tent flap to allow in more light. The feather from the office definitely contained a slight shade of yellow. Other than that, there was nothing different about it magnified than he had observed before.

The falcon feather, however, was so unusual he got chills. Each tiny filament bristled with life. They moved in a harmonious wave, as if this single feather were capable of flight all on its own! The movement was not visible to the naked eye, but when the feather was magnified, the effect was remarkable.

In his excitement, he bumped the other feather, nudging it closer to the falcon’s. The reaction was that of a stray cat meeting a mean dog. Tiny pinpricks of light danced along the outer edges of the falcon feather as it recoiled in an effort to push away from the other feather. Henry tried a small test. The closer he brought them together, the more severe the reaction—like two positive magnetic fields repelling each other with invisible force.

“It has to be magic!” Henry whispered in awe.

“What’s magic?” Henry flinched as Brianna managed to sneak up on him yet again.

“Brianna,” he warned. “Stay out of here. I want to be alone, okay?”

She ducked beneath the flap and stepped inside. “What’s magic?” she repeated.

He was about to yell at her to get lost when he noticed something peculiar about her. She had not made a move toward him. Instead, she stood to the side—stiff and straight, and … confused? This wasn’t the typical meddling, interfering, annoying little-sister behavior. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

She thought about that briefly and shrugged.

He decided he would need to pay closer attention to his sister. In the meantime, he offered to show her the feathers, but without the magnifying glass. Just because he was being nice didn’t mean he trusted her.

It turned out she didn’t need it.

“That one’s from the pretty bird,” she stated, pointing to the falcon’s feather.

How could she know that? “What about this one?” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

“That one is bad.” Her face puckered as if she got a whiff of curdled milk.

Henry nodded. He had a hunch she was right. “Brianna, if I show you my bird book, can you tell me which bird the bad one came from?”

It was like he pushed a magic button. Her face lit up with a smile and her eyes sparkled with the surprise of a long-awaited birthday present. The transformation caught Henry off guard. “Um … wait a minute … ”