Chase Tinker & The House of Magic (10 page)

"Who the heck is this scary-looking hag?" he
called over his shoulder. A hand shot from the painting and
walloped him on the head. "Hey! It hit me."

Grandfather came to stand beside his
grandson. "Why she's your
Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great...Great Aunt Augusta. She
was very sensitive about her looks."

"She
is
ugly," said Chase, rubbing the
side of his head. Whack! She smacked him again. "Ow! That hurt! How
is she
doing
that?"

"She was a very powerful Keeper during her
lifetime," said Grandfather, with a knowing nod. "Plus, her special
power was making inanimate objects come to life. I believe that's
why her picture does that. She never married."

"No wonder. Look at her," said Chase, ducking
so he wouldn't be clobbered again.

Andy and Persephone hurried over. "Oh, wow!"
said Andy. "What happened to her eye?"

"You know, I'm not sure. She was always
quarreling with someone," said Grandfather vaguely.

Chase looked at him out of the corner of his
eye. Something in Grandfather's voice didn't sound right. For the
first time, he wondered if their grandparent was hiding something
from them.

"Anyway," said Grandfather, clearing his
throat again and moving on, "I wanted to show you this family
photograph."

Staring out of the poster-size picture,
looking prim and proper, and much younger, was Grandfather and
Clair and Benjamin. Ben looked to be around Chase's age and he had
his hand behind Clair's head, giving her a pair of rabbit's ears.
"He sure could be a rascal," Grandfather said, with a reminiscent
smile.

"He looks like Chase and me!" said Andy.

The backs of Chase's eyes burned and his
throat tightened as he gazed at the younger version of his missing
dad.
He has to be alive,
he thought.
He just has to
be.

"Oh, man, what's with these two,
Grandfather?" called Andy from farther down the hall.

Chase and Grandfather joined Andy and
Persephone in front of a large portrait of two scowling ladies.
Hands down, they had to be the weirdest looking people Chase had
ever seen. One had long, black hair growing out of her nose, and
her eyelashes were so long she had to tuck them behind her ears.
The other had thick, curly hair sprouting from her ears and a
snow-white beard hung to the tips of her old-fashioned shoes. As if
this wasn't strange enough, they also had extra arms and hands
sticking out everywhere on their bodies.

"Sisters Zelda and Fiona Tinker," said
Grandfather, shaking his head sadly. "They spent practically every
moment of their lives fighting about all sorts of things. One day
Zelda caught Fiona wooing Zelda's beau out behind a tree in the
garden. It became a dreadful battle after that. They hexed each
other for months. One day the Relic took away their ability to do
any magic at all and left the ladies looking this way for the rest
of their lives. And, even though they were the two oldest, they
lost all their rights to ever becoming Keeper of the House."

"Must've been hard to buy clothes," said
Persephone, "what with all those extra appendages."

"They probably had to have things special
made," said Chase.

"Why didn't they at least cut that yucky
hair?" asked Andy, wrinkling his nose.

"They tried," answered Grandfather. "It
sprouted right back." He glanced at his watch. "We better get on to
dinner, kids. I'm sure Mrs. Periwinkle has done something most
delicious with our fish from the market."

Frowning, Chase stared at the strange
portrait for another few seconds. He was finding out that not only
was magic dangerous, but it looked as though it also had a very
disturbing side to it. A small shudder raced through him before he
turned and hurried after the others.

W
hen they reached
the dining room, they found Mrs. Periwinkle and Janie there talking
with a pompous-looking man in a neatly pressed suit. He looked to
be in his mid-thirties. He had thick blond hair brushed back from
his face, a smooth, square jaw, and a wide smile filled with
brilliant white teeth that he flashed at them when they appeared in
the doorway.

"Doctor Dan's staying for dinner," said Janie
as soon as she saw them.

"That's fine, Janie," said Grandfather.
"Daniel's always welcome. By the way, I would like you to meet my
grandsons, Chase and Andy. And this is Dr. Daniel Brown, boys.
He'll be looking after Clair."

A sudden chill shot through Chase's body as
the doctor's eyes swept over him. "Uh, nice to meet you," Chase
mumbled. He shivered and slipped into a chair, which he was happy
to see was behaving itself this time.
I wonder if this guy knows
about our magic
, he thought as he gave Doctor Dan a sideways
glance.

"More grandkids, Hiram?" Chase heard Doctor
Dan murmur to Grandfather while everyone else seated
themselves.

"I thought it was time for a visit,"
Grandfather answered, with a quick smile.

"Mmm, smells good, Mom," said Persephone.
"I'm starving."

The table was loaded with dishes piled high
with mashed potatoes, gravy, green salad, biscuits and vegetables.
Grandfather's fish, grilled to perfection, its spicy scent wafting
through the room, rested on a platter next to him.

"We're anxious to hear your prognosis of the
patient," said Grandfather, frowning as he offered the platter to
the doctor.

"Clair's been through a lot," said Dan as he
scooped a chunk of fish onto his plate. "I've given her antibiotics
for the pneumonia, but she's also been through some mental and
emotional trauma. We'll have to see how she's doing in a week or
so."

"Does Aunt Clair have amnesia?' asked Chase.
He poked his fork inside a bowl of broccoli and cauliflower.

"Until she's conscious and coherent, there's
no way to tell," answered the doctor. "I'm sorry I can't be of more
help, but for now, it's wait-and-see time."

"Is she suffering from a head injury?" asked
Grandfather, watching Chase. "I don't believe it has any onions,"
he whispered out of the side of his mouth.

"No, nothing I could see," said Doctor Dan.
"She's muttering some crazy things, though. Where has she
been?"

Grandfather glanced at Daniel. "As far as we
know, she was on vacation to England."

"I guess the one person who knows what
happened is Clair," said Doctor Dan. "She should make a full
recovery, at least physically."

"The kids found a motorboat down on the
beach," said Grandfather. "It must be what she arrived in."

"She's lucky she made it here in the storm
considering how sick she is," said Mrs. Periwinkle. "I'll stay with
her tonight and keep an eye on her."

"Me too," added Janie.

"Good," said Doctor Dan. "I want you to call
me immediately if she worsens."

As soon as everyone finished eating, Mrs.
Periwinkle slipped into the kitchen and brought out a large,
triple-decker chocolate cake. She placed it on the table right as
Doctor Dan's cell phone jingled.

"Sorry, everyone," he said, "but I have to
skip dessert. It's my emergency service. Thanks for dinner, Hiram,
Miranda, kids. I'll swing by in a couple days to check on
Clair."

Chase watched the doctor leave the room. He
couldn't put his finger on it, but for some strange reason, he
didn't trust the man. Although Dan had a friendly smile, it never
reached his icy, rather sinister, light-blue eyes.

"So does Doctor Dan know we have magic?"
Chase asked Grandfather when he was sure the doctor was gone.

Grandfather shook his head. "Even though he
comes to the house often just to visit, I always use special
enchantments to keep him from seeing or knowing about anything
magical."

"He's so nice and polite," said Mrs.
Periwinkle while taking packages from a drawer in the sideboard.
"Andy, I made this cake in honor of your half-birthday. And here
are a few gifts for you."

"Wow!" said Andy. "A cake and presents for
me
?"

"A boy doesn't have his
Dimidiatus
Anniversarium
every day," said Grandfather proudly.

Andy tore open the first package. Out popped
a green bow-tie and a pair of matching suspenders. "Um, thanks,
Grandfather. It's just what I wanted."

Chase and Persephone grinned at each other as
Andy reached for another gift. In this one he found a basket full
of golden caramels.

"Made from my special secret recipe," said
Mrs. Periwinkle.

"Yum! Thanks." Andy ripped the paper from the
last package and pulled out a black baseball cap with
Tinker
written across it in white letters.

"Put it on," said Grandfather, "and say
'
Invisible
'."

Looking puzzled, Andy slipped on the hat.
"
Invisible
." He vanished.

"Cool!" said Chase.

"What do you mean?" asked Andy.

"Look down and you'll see, dork."

"I can't see myself!" Andy cried. "How do I
change back?"

"You say the opposite," said Grandfather,
chuckling.

"
Visible!
" He reappeared. "Whew, I'm
back!" he said as he patted his arms and chest.

Andy passed the cap around, giving everyone a
chance to try it on. Even Mrs. Periwinkle gave it go, giggling
girlishly when she disappeared.

All through dessert, Chase couldn't stop
yawning, while Andy almost went to sleep right in the middle of his
cake.

"It appears to be bedtime for some of us,"
said Grandfather. "Remember, Chase and Andy are still on New York
time."

"Yeah, but I think I need some help finding
our room," said Chase sheepishly.

Grandfather led the way as they hiked through
the house to the boys' bedroom on the fourth floor. It had two
large, four-poster beds, a dresser and mirror and its own
old-fashioned bathroom. The high ceiling was speckled with
twinkling stars and shimmering planets circling on the
midnight-blue surface, and a sliding-glass door opened onto one of
the outside walkways.

"Here you go, boys," said Grandfather. "I
thought you would feel more at home bunking together. Sleep well."
He gave a quick wave before leaving them on their own.

Chase hoisted his bag onto his bed and
unzipped it. "Whoa, baby!" he said as he pawed through the clothes.
"Wait just a darn minute. Would you look at this?" He yanked
shirts, shorts and jeans from the bag and tossed them onto the bed.
Every bit of clothing he'd packed was now completely brand new;
even his underwear, his dad's shirts and the socks Maxwell had
stolen.

His eyes bulging, Andy checked his own
suitcase and found the same thing. "Wow! How do suppose this
happened?" Using his fingertips, he gingerly pulled a blue t-shirt
from the case.

"It's—it's...magic," answered Chase as he
gathered his new pajamas, picked up his toothbrush and wandered
into the bathroom. "What else can it be?"

When he returned to the bedroom a few minutes
later, it was empty. "Andy? Now where in the heck did he go?"
Dropping to his knees, he peered under Andy's bed. Something
crawled up his arm. "Argh!" he shouted, jumping onto the bed. "Big
spider!"

He heard laughter and the sound of someone
rolling on the floor.

"Andy!"

"
Visible
," said Andy. "Spider! What a
crack-up!"

"Very funny!"

"This hat is the best," said Andy while
admiring his new headgear. "I can sneak around and people won't
even know I'm there."

"Oh…so all this magic is cool now," said
Chase, a knowing look in his eyes. He hopped off Andy's bed and
climbed into his own. "I thought you were freaked out by it."

Andy ducked his head and shrugged. "It took a
little getting used to, is all."

"Well if you ask me, what we need most is a
map of the house," said Chase as he pulled the blankets up to his
chin. "Or we're gonna spend tons of time wandering around
lost."

He closed his eyes. Even though he was
bone-tired, he thought he'd never be able to fall asleep with so
much new stuff on his mind; especially the part about maybe
becoming the next Keeper of the House, and having all the magical
powers too. He had a hard enough time even controlling
one
power! And it was so quiet here without all the city noise he was
used to hearing. His mind drifted away...

He groped his way down a long, dark hallway.
"I knew I needed a map," he muttered as he wandered into a large,
shadowy room. He jerked to a stop and squinted into the gloom. The
whole place was crammed with all sorts of plants. This was
definitely the wrong way. He turned to leave, and was grabbed from
behind. He struggled to escape, but the squirming only caused him
to be held tighter and tighter.

Everything changed.

He now strolled down a shady sidewalk with
Andy, Janie and Persephone. Laughing and talking, they paused in
front of an ice cream parlor.

"Hey, let's get some ice cream," said Andy.
Not paying any attention as he yanked open the door, he crashed
right into someone coming out. SPLAT! Andy was dripping from head
to toe in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream. Chase looked
straight into the cold, blue eyes of Doctor Dan...

Chase jerked awake, sweat beading on his
forehead. Never in his life had he dreamed such vivid dreams. It
was as if he actually had been there. He stared at the starry
ceiling, remembering every detail. Man, what an imagination he had
sometimes. It must've been something he ate. Thinking of food made
him realize he was kind of hungry. He decided to sneak down to the
kitchen for a midnight snack.

Slipping from his bed, he glanced over at
Andy's bed. Soft snores were coming from beneath the blankets.
Chase tip-toed across the floor, eased the door open and crept out
into the hallway. He made his way to the stairs, straight down and
to the left, no, the right.