Chase Tinker & The House of Magic (25 page)

No one was happier than Chase when they
finally popped back into their own time, and back into their
regular clothes. He looked at his watch. 11:34. Almost exactly on
time.

"I have to say I'm not sad to be out of
there!" said Persephone grumpily.

"Run, you guys!" yelled Andy when he felt
tickling on the back of his neck.

They made a mad dash for the doors,
scrambling over each other to escape the snuggle-crazy plant.

"Some things never change," said Andy as he
picked himself up off the hallway floor. He touched his sore lip.
"Now I have to go put ice on my wound."

"At least we didn't screw up everything,"
said Chase as he looked up and down the hall. "Our house is still
here, looking the same. We need to go check the Relic."

"You guys go ahead," mumbled Janie, staring
at the floor and clutching Maxwell to her chest. "You can tell me
about it later." She turned and wandered away.

Chase, feeling slightly sick, watched Janie
until she was out of sight. Would things ever be the same between
them? He still felt the hate and coldness that had flashed from her
eyes when she'd been screaming at him and beating him to a
pulp.

He turned to say something to Persephone, but
she was already striding off in the other direction. "Wait!
Persephone, don't you want to go to the attic?"

She stopped. "I don't know," she said. Chase
flinched at the wintery chill in her voice. "I'm…tired." She
crossed her arms and stared at the wall. "All right! I suppose I am
curious."

"Andy?"

"I guess," he answered. "But don't tell me to
shut up if I want to say something!"

Grandfather, Aunt Clair and Mrs. Periwinkle
were nowhere to be found, so they hiked up the stairs and Chase
conjured the door. He paused with his hand on the knob. "What do we
do if it's still broken off?"

"Just open the door, Chase, and we'll cross
that bridge when we come to it," said Persephone impatiently.

Pushing the door open, Chase half-expected
the attic to be dark like the last time, but it was as warm and
glowy as ever. Closing his eyes and crossing his fingers, he made a
quick wish that their quest had been successful.

They circled to the back of the Relic with
its jagged protrusions. Like one big, deflating hot-air balloon,
Chase and Andy dropped to the floor.

"It's gone!" whispered Andy as he stared at
the spot where the Shard should have been. "I can't believe it. All
that, and it's still gone."

"It was all for nothing," said Chase, his
voice filled with bitterness.

"When did it break off?" wondered Andy.
"Quick, Chase, let's ask the Relic what happened. We have to try to
fix it again."

For one brief moment, Chase's eyes flashed
brighter than one of Grandfather's magical fireworks. "Yeah!" His
shoulders slumped. "No. We can't chance traveling there again. With
our luck, we'll mess things up even more." He was completely
disgusted with the whole thing. "I don't want to know when it broke
off, either. It would only make things even more depressing."

Persephone gave a huge sigh. "You know,
sometimes things are just meant to be and they can't be changed, no
matter how hard you try."

"What do we do now?" asked Andy.

"We'll have to find another way to stop
them," answered Chase. He had a bad feeling this was going to be a
heck of a lot easier said than done.

"Okay. Since we've seen that our grand
adventure was a great big bust," said Persephone, edging toward the
door. "I need to go." Before Chase could say anything to stop her,
she was gone.

"Can we get some pizza now, Chase. Huh?"

"C
hase, would you
please come to my study?" asked Grandfather. "I need to speak with
you and Andy."

Chase's stomach did a wild back flip. Oh,
crap! Did Grandfather know about their time-travel trip? Or maybe
he found out about them breaking into the attic? Was it possible he
knew Chase had tried to pick the lock of the forbidden room? Chase
searched his mind for some good excuses, and came up with
absolutely nothing.

Andy was already seated in front of
Grandfather's desk when Chase dragged himself into the study.
This must be what it feels like to be brought in front of a
firing squad,
he thought as he hauled over another chair and
dropped onto it. He sent Andy a questioning look, but Andy just
stuck his nose in the air and acted like his brother was invisible.
Chase shook his head and stared at his tapping foot.

Grandfather circled the desk and sank into
his chair. "So, have you two been enjoying your summer here?" he
asked, placing his folded hands on the desk top.

"It's been great!" said Chase.

"Yeah!" said Andy.

"Excellent," said Grandfather. "Your
enthusiasm warms me. You boys have had a lot of new information and
experiences thrown at you and I wanted to let you know that I'm
proud of you. Andy, I know in the beginning you didn't like having
a magical power, but you've come around splendidly. And, Chase, you
have shown strength and courage in several frightening
situations."

Chase ducked his head as guilt raced through
him. "Thanks, Grandfather," he mumbled.

Grandfather leaned back in his chair. "I wish
Benjamin had been as eager to learn as you boys have been. Maybe
things would be different." He paused and gazed across the room as
if gathering his many thoughts. "I've come to a decision. I
believed I would be protecting you by keeping some important
matters from you. I find I have been remiss. I was too busy
thinking like an old man; thinking you were too young to know these
truths concerning the life you were born into." He took a deep
breath. "But in our world ignorance cannot be bliss. Not when it
involves magic and evil."

Chase's head jerked up. Was Grandfather about
to tell them things they had discovered on their own? Or was there
even more they needed to know?

"Wait. Where's Janie? Shouldn't she hear this
too?"

"Janie's not feeling well," said Grandfather.
"I'll talk with her later."

Chase felt the sick rolling feeling in his
stomach again. He had to go see her and try to fix things between
them. He wasn't speaking to Persephone either and it looked like
Andy was still mad at him too.

Grandfather narrowed his eyes. "Did something
happen between you three, or four, I should say?"

"Uh, no. Maybe. Sort of," mumbled Chase.
"It's a long story."

"All right," said Grandfather, giving them
each a piercing look, making Chase feel as if he'd been
x-rayed.

"I know you both know about the missing piece
from our Relic," said Grandfather after a few seconds of tense
silence. "What you don't know is that it was found by some beings
who through the years, and centuries, have been determined to
destroy us and steal the Relic—dark beings who won't stop until
they control every bit of magic in the world. We call these beings
our Dark Enemy. They are also known as the Marlowes."

He took another deep breath and let it out
slowly. "This Shard doesn't have the magic our Relic does, but it's
still
very
powerful. And they are making it more powerful by
taking the magic of other magical beings. This is giving them more
power and strength than they have ever had."

"How do you steal magic?" asked Andy. "Are
they, like, sucking it out of them?"

Grandfather nodded. "I don't want to go into
the gruesome details, but I will say that I believe they found
Benjamin by using the Shard of Magic."

At the mention of his dad's name Chase sat up
straighter. "What do you mean?"

"Because our powers are linked to the Relic,"
answered Grandfather, "this Shard, as it gets more powerful, is
able to sense Tinker magic. My hypothesis is they came to America
and were shrewd enough to find your father. I believe this is how
they found Clair as well."

"Did they steal Dad's power?" asked Andy.

"I have no idea. I am sure they wanted
to...persuade him somehow to tell them the secrets of the
house."

Chase sat forward and stared into
Grandfather's eyes. "And did they?"
Please don't say they
tortured him,
he thought, holding his breath.
At least, not
in front of Andy.

Grandfather nodded, as if he understood
Chase's silent message. "That I don't know either. He was there for
a long time, however."

Chase let his breath out and slumped back in
his chair.

"I believe it's the Marlowes who have been
pursuing you and breaking into the house," said Grandfather. He
removed his glasses and polished them on his handkerchief. "The
Shard must have led them here."

Chase started to ask a question he wasn't
sure he wanted to know the answer to. "If that piece had never
broken..."

"Magic, both good and dark, is extremely
ancient," said Grandfather. "But before they found the Shard, the
Marlowes were nothing more than a well-to-do family. Perhaps they
were a bit corrupt and underhanded, but they weren't evil, or
magical."

The significance of these words swept through
Chase, along with the frustration of their failed time-travel trip.
Just as the Relic had created good magic in the Tinkers, the Shard
had created dark in the Marlowes.

Grandfather picked up a six-inch replica of
the Space Needle from a desk corner and moved it to another. "I
hate to imagine what the world would be like if the whole Relic
fell into the hands of such evil as they have become. This is why
we need to stick together more than ever; to protect what belongs
to us. Now that they are becoming bolder in their endeavors, we
must be more vigilant in ours."

He looked deeply into Chase's eyes and then
into Andy's. "I don't want you two to be afraid, and I want you to
understand I'm doing everything in my power to keep us safe." He
stood and moved to the front of the desk. "You boys are free to go.
But remember, if you need to discuss anything, I'm here," he said
firmly, looking particularly at Chase. "Tomorrow I'm taking a trip
to Chicago to get your cousin, James, and bring him for a visit. It
should be fun for all of you to have another young person in the
house."

With Grandfather's words whirling through
their minds, Chase and Andy got to their feet and wandered from the
room.

"I wonder if Janie knows about James," said
Andy, heading toward the staircase. "I'll go tell her."

"No, that's okay, you don't need to," said
Chase, catching his arm. "I'll go. I have to talk to her
anyway."

Andy jerked away. "Fine! Go ahead. You always
have to be in charge anyway!" he snapped. "Maybe I'll go ask
Grandfather if I can change rooms. I don't want to steal anymore of
your precious premonitions."

"Andy, I'm—" Andy was already running down
the hall.

Chase stared after him. Man! He so didn't
need this right now! He stomped off in the other direction. A few
minutes later, he took a deep breath and knocked on Janie's door.
He listened for a moment, but didn't hear anything from inside.
Putting his head close to the door, he called, "Janie? It's me,
Chase. Let me in so we can talk."

He knocked again, and still no answer.
Shoulders drooping, he backed against the wall and slid to the
floor. He stared at the closed door. Either she was sleeping, or
ignoring everyone. Or maybe she was ignoring only him.

He brushed his hands through his hair. The
words "very serious consequences" kept running though his mind. If
it had been only his choice, would he have left Maxwell behind?
Would he have been that heartless? He'd never know for sure, but he
hoped it wouldn't have been the case. He wondered if Janie knew
their mission to save the Relic had failed miserably. At this
point, he didn't know if it would matter to her or not.

As he sat there, Chase went over everything
Grandfather had told them, especially the part about the broken
piece of Relic being the true source of the Marlowes' powers. The
thought of having any sort of connection to those creeps made his
skin crawl. But the one thing Grandfather hadn't mentioned was how
they'd learned to steal people's free will. As usual, he was
probably leaving stuff out so he wouldn't scare his grandkids even
more. No wonder he looked as if he had the weight of the magical
world on his shoulders. Chase was beginning to feel the same
way.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head
against the wall.
If I somehow did get the Shard of Magic
back
,
would the Marlowes then become good?
Is there
hope for that? Or, is it way too late?

Sighing, he pushed himself to his feet. As he
took one last look at Janie's door, it began to fade, until it
vanished. Great! The whole room had the ability to become invisible
too.
I guess it's
her way of saying get lost
, he
thought grumpily. Sticking his hands into his pockets, Chase turned
and wandered down the hall.

J
ames arrived the
next evening and Chase and Andy had their first look at another
cousin they hadn't known existed until that summer.

The fifteen-year-old wasn't what Chase had
expected from someone who was Janie’s brother. His shaggy hair was
the color of gold and his eyes were blue. He was dressed in faded,
torn jeans and a black t-shirt with a rock band pictured on the
front, and he was stocky instead of skinny like Chase and Andy. And
even though he was two years older, James wasn't much taller than
Chase.

James was friendly and polite as Grandfather
introduced them. "Nice to meet you, Chase, Andy," he said. "What
about that teleporting, huh?"

Chase grinned. "Yeah, it's an amazing way to
travel."