Chase Tinker & The House of Magic (26 page)

"Boys," said Grandfather, "will you please
show James to his room? He's in the green room next to Janie's. And
could you come to the kitchen when you're finished?"

"Sure, Grandfather," Chase said, gesturing to
James to follow. "It's this way. It can be confusing until you
learn your way around. Andy and I were lost a lot when we first got
here."

As James reached for his suitcase, Chase
noticed a picture of a running leopard tattooed down his left
forearm.

"Cool tattoo," he said as they headed up the
closest staircase.

James shrugged. "All my friends in Chicago
have them."

"Yeah, I have a couple older friends in New
York with them too," said Chase. "My mom would kill me if I got
one."

"A mama's boy, huh?" murmured James.

"What?" said Chase, wondering if he'd heard
right.

James paused to check out a tall vase
streaked with gold and silver. "Oh, nothing."

"So I wonder what power your room is," said
Andy. "Ours is the Premonition Room." He glanced at Chase, who just
nodded. He'd had a feeling Andy didn't really want to change
rooms.

"What do you mean?" asked James, running his
hand along the smooth banister.

"Each room has its own special power,"
explained Chase. "I'm sure Grandfather will fill you in the way he
did for us."

"Wait, I remember. He rambled on about
something," said James, curling up his lip. "The Keeper of the
House, blah, blah, blah. I lost interest around the time I heard
the chances of me ever becoming the head dude in this lifetime were
slim to nothin'."

"It's fun learning the magical rooms,
though," said Andy. "And Janie helps us a lot."

"That's right, Janie's here too," said James.
"Why isn't she part of the welcoming committee?"

"I don't know," answered Chase as they ducked
through a hidden doorway and climbed another staircase before
reaching James's bedroom.

"Here you go," said Andy, stopping in front
of an open door.

As with most of the bedrooms, James's had a
huge four-poster bed and its own old-fashioned bathroom. He
swaggered in and dropped his bag on the bed. "Nice digs. The old
man must be loaded."

"Yeah, I guess," said Chase. He crossed his
arms and leaned on the door jamb. "I never gave it much
thought."

Andy wandered into the room and studied the
wallpaper. "I'm not sure what power your room is. This picture
looks like some flat, shadowy guy."

"Don't worry about it," said James. "I'm sure
Janie can help me out."

"What's your power, James?" asked Andy,
turning away from the wall.

"Well, kid—" he said, "—it's this!"

Before Chase or Andy could even blink,
James's arm stretched across the room, bashed Andy in the stomach
and rammed him into the wall.

"What're you doing?" yelled Chase, running to
his brother. "You might've hurt him!"

"Sorry, four-eyes," said James. He pulled his
arm back to his side. "Guess I don't have the hang of all the
stretchiness yet."

Chase helped Andy to his feet as he clutched
his stomach. "You should've just said what it was," gasped
Andy.

"I said I was sorry," said James. "Don't be a
whiner."

Chase stared at the other boy's sneering
face. "Okay. Then how 'bout this." In the next moment, he whipped
James's feet out from under him, flipped him upside down, and
dangled him in the air.

"What the hell?" yelled James, flapping his
arms wildly. "Put me down!"

Chase shrugged. "Whatever you say."

He whirled James in a sweeping somersault
before dropping him to the floor in a heap.

"Owowowow!"

"Oh, man, sorry, dude," said Chase
insincerely. "Guess I don't have the hang of all the floatiness
yet."

With his face glowing purple, James avoided
Chase's gaze and pushed himself to his feet.

"Come on, we better get going," said Chase,
walking to the door. "Grandfather asked us to go to the kitchen.
That is, if you want to,
James
."

"Sure, I could use some food," answered James
as he straightened his hair and clothing, pretending like he hadn't
spent the last few moments hanging upside down. "Lead the way."

All the way to the kitchen, Andy snuck
nervous glances at James, who sauntered behind with his hands in
his pockets, minding his manners. He didn't even complain when
Chase led them down the slithering S-shaped staircase and through
the magical hallway where they had to walk on the ceiling.

When the three boys pushed open the kitchen
door, they were greeted by the aroma of barbecued chicken and a
welcoming cheer.

"James! It's great to see you," said Clair,
giving him a quick hug.

"It's good to see you too, Mom," said James.
"Hey, Janie," he added, ruffling his sister's hair. "You're getting
to be pretty darn tall."

She grinned. "I'm so happy you're here at
last."

"Me too. Mm, what smells so good?"

"Our delicious welcoming dinner for you,"
said Grandfather. "The ladies have been working on it the entire
afternoon. By the way, this is Mrs. Periwinkle, our excellent chef
and housekeeper, and her lovely daughter, Persephone."

Mrs. Periwinkle smiled, and Persephone waved
as she took plates from the cupboard.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said James,
with a charming smile. "If the food tastes as good as it smells,
your cooking must be out of this world."

Chase's and Andy's eyebrows shot up as they
exchanged glances.
Wow,
thought Chase,
he's like Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

"It's all ready," said Mrs. Periwinkle,
gesturing at the platters of food on the counter. "Grab a plate and
take as much as you want. It's such a beautiful evening we're
having dinner on the deck."

As they ate barbecued chicken, mashed
potatoes, broccoli and biscuits, and enjoyed the cooling breeze,
Chase snuck peeks at Janie, trying to catch her eye, but she talked
with everyone but him. Once in a while, Maxwell's head bobbed up
from her lap and nabbed bites of chicken from her hand. Frustration
burned inside him. He had the urge to fling a blob of potatoes at
her head.

He would've liked to lob some broccoli with a
little cheese sauce at James and Persephone too. They were sitting
close together, talking and laughing. He wanted to jump up and yell
at Persephone that Janie's brother was nothing but a big jerk; that
his niceness was all an act. And yet, who would believe the
friendly boy was the same person who'd punched Andy? And, of
course, Persephone would probably yell at him for charging in where
he wasn't wanted.

As if feeling Chase's eyes boring into him,
James glanced down the table. He winked and raised his drink in a
mocking toast then took a sip and turned back to Persephone. Chase
scrunched his eyebrows into a dark scowl and slouched deeper into
the shadow cast by the table umbrella. His eyes moved to Andy, who
stared at James in disgust.

"Knock, knock," said Doctor Dan's voice from
across the deck.

Terrific,
thought Chase, rolling his
eyes,
another jerk to spoil the evening.
He'd been so lost
in his thoughts, he hadn't heard the doctor's car pulling up.

"Sorry for the intrusion, folks," said Doctor
Dan, his chilly blue eyes sweeping the table and coming to rest on
Chase's aunt. "I thought I'd drop by and check on Clair. Mind if I
join you?"

"Of course not, Daniel," said Grandfather,
smiling and waving him over. "Miranda, would you be kind enough to
get the good doctor a plate of dinner? If you haven't eaten, of
course."

"No, I haven't," said Dan. He flashed a wide
smile at the group as he pulled a chair across the deck and
squeezed in between Janie and Clair. "Thank you, Hiram."

Her face mirroring Andy's look of disgust,
Janie squeezed over as far as possible to avoid touching the
doctor. She glanced across the table and for a brief moment her
eyes met Chase's. A look of understanding passed between them, but
when she turned to James, who was asking her to pass the salt, the
moment was gone.

Chase thought the meal would never end. Not
only did he have to watch James and his fake-nice act, but now he
had to see Doctor Dan putting the moves on Clair. It made him sick
to think they might be sharing a meal with their worst enemy. He
watched the adults talking and laughing with Dan. Why didn't
Grandfather sense anything suspicious in the fawning doctor? There
must be a way to find out for sure if he was one of
them
.
Staring at his plate, Chase wondered when would be the best time to
escape back inside.

His chance came when Mrs. Periwinkle stood
and began clearing the table. He jumped up to help.

"Thank you, Chase," said the housekeeper as
he piled the dirty dishes in the sink and began rinsing them. "Your
cousin James is a sweet boy."

"Yeah, everyone sure likes him," he said,
wildly scrubbing the dishes. "He's great. Just great!" A real
barrel of laughs.

After he was finished, Chase stomped from the
kitchen thinking he might check out a few magical rooms to take his
mind off his troubles. Unfortunately, while passing Grandfather's
study, he bumped into James, Janie and Persephone, trailed by a
sullen Andy.

Janie jerked to a stop. "Chase!" She glanced
at the others. "We're, um, showing James around. Do you…want to go
with us?"

He opened his mouth to say no. He wasn't in
the mood for getting the cold shoulder from any of them, but
James's smirking face made him change his mind. "Sure. I've nothing
better to do."

"We haven't seen any rooms on the sixth
floor," said Persephone. "Let's go there."

"So, Janie," said James as they hiked through
the house, "you haven't asked about Dad. Don't you want to know how
dear old Zane is doing?"

"Your dad's name is Zane?" Chase was unable
to stop himself from breaking in, even though he wanted to act like
he couldn't care less about hanging out with them. "I don't suppose
he's that painter, Zane Marler?"

"The one and only," she answered.

"Your dad paints houses?" asked Andy.

"No, Andy," said Janie, rolling her eyes, "he
paints on canvases. How do you know about him, Chase?"

"My art teacher at school was a big fan. She
had posters of some of his paintings hanging in her classroom. Wow!
His paintings are awesome! I can't believe he's your dad!"

"Yeah, the famous, golden-boy artist who
prefers painting dark, meaningful masterpieces to spending time
with his only daughter," she muttered.

"Why don't you tell us how you really feel,
sis?" said James, with a biting tone in his voice.

"Shut it, James!" she yelled, stomping up the
stairs. "I don't want to talk about Dad anymore. Oh, forget this!
I'm missing my TV show." With one last glare at her brother, Janie
turned and tromped back down the stairs. Maxwell hissed at James
from his spot on her shoulder.

"I better see if she's okay," said
Persephone, hurrying after Janie. "She hasn't been herself
lately."

The three boys stood undecided on the
staircase.

"You flaking out on me too?" asked James,
glaring at them.

"Lead the way," said Chase, staring boldly
into his eyes.

"All right, stinker!"

"Where do you get that?" asked Chase,
clenching his fists.

James snickered. "Your name. Chase
Tinker."

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Chase Tinker. Say it fast, Chasetinker.
Stinker. Get it now?" said James, looking proud of his
cleverness.

"Yeah, I get it. Real funny." Chase moved
closer to Andy. "Leave it to lame-brain to think of that one," he
murmured in Andy's ear.

"Just be happy he didn't punch you," Andy
grumbled, rubbing his bruised stomach.

When they reached the top of the stairs,
James wandered into the first room they came to.

Not sure if they wanted to trust him with any
power, Chase and Andy held back. "That's okay, you can go first,"
said Andy, with a polite wave of his hand. "In fact, I'll just wait
out here."

"Chicken," Chase muttered as he passed
through the doorway.

The room was as unusual as others Chase had
been in. Long mirrors hung on the walls and under the mirrors sat
shiny vanity tables; next to each table stood red and white
spinning barbershop poles that looked like glowing candy canes. The
tables' surfaces were covered in combs, brushes, curlers, bows,
hairpins and every type of hair stuff imaginable. Without looking
for clues, he knew what room they were in.

"What's this?" asked James, waving his hands.
"The beauty queen room?"

"It's the Hair-Growing Room," said Chase. He
picked up a long object and studied it, not sure what it was
exactly. Nose hair trimmers, maybe? Eeew! Rubbing his nose, he
tossed it back onto the table.

"And what's the point?"

Smiling slyly, Chase turned to James. "It'd
be a great way to blind your enemies." He pointed a finger at his
cousin. "
Grow eyebrows!
"

Two seconds later, James's eyebrows hung past
his knees. "Hey! What'd you do that for?"

Parting the long blond hair, he whirled to
face a mirror and peered at his strange reflection.

"Trim those eyebrows!" snarled the mirror.
"You're a scruffy mess!"

"Fix it!" snapped James as he glowered at his
unruly brows. "Or you'll be sorry."

"I'm, uh, not sure how," said Chase, trying
hard not to laugh. "Come on. It was a joke."

James narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yeah?" He
whipped around, pointed his finger at Chase and yelled, "
Grow a
crazy mustache!
"

The next thing Chase knew, hair had sprouted
from his face and he was tripping over the ends of a thick
mustache. It looked more like two long, fat snakes crawling from
his nostrils. "Hey, I'm not old enough to shave!" he yelled, the
words sounding garbled through the bushy hair.