Chase Tinker & The House of Magic (12 page)

Chase smiled at her. He was feeling more
confident about hanging out with Persephone. His tongue sort of
felt normal again.

The four of them were snickering and giggling
when they rounded the next corner. "Hey! Look at Chase!" exclaimed
Andy, pointing at his brother.

"Look at
you!
" said Chase. "And Janie.
And Persephone!"

Andy's shorts and t-shirt were gone. He was
now dressed in a dashing, black and white tuxedo. Janie had on a
purple genie's outfit and shoes that curled up at the toes, while
Persephone was clad in a swashbuckling, red and black pirate's
costume, complete with sword and eye-patch.

"I'm James Bond! Cool!" said Andy. "But,
Chase, what are you?"

Chase glanced down at the long, pink granny
dress he now wore. "What the heck?"

"Nice bonnet," said Andy, grinning
mischievously. "Much better than a lampshade."

"Look, I'm a blood-thirsty pirate," said
Persephone. She swished her sword around. "Ahoy, maties! Shiver me
timbers and all that rot!"

"This sucks!" cried Chase as he yanked the
pink, flowery bonnet off his head. "Why wasn't
I
switched
into something good? Like an astronaut…or a cowboy?" A second
later, the frumpy dress magicked into blue-jeans, boots, a cowboy
hat and a red flannel shirt. "This is more like it," he said,
yanking the hat lower over his eyes. "Much cooler."

"At least you're not wearing dorky shoes,"
said Janie as she waved her foot in the air. She skipped over to
him and caught his arm. "Now come on, Wild Bill, let's head
out."

Their clothes returned to normal as soon as
they left the hallway. Chase frowned at his smirking brother. "I
should've been James Bond."

Reaching the next room, they crowded around
the doorway and peered into the shadowy space. At least twenty
tall, shiny cabinets were crammed against the walls, and they were
filled with dishes and glassware.

"Wow! It's like a china and crystal store in
here," said Janie. "This must be worth a fortune!"

"Let's see what's on the wallpaper," said
Chase, running to an empty spot between the cases. "Pictures of
people...shooting stuff out of their noses? This guy has…bananas.
And this other guy has worms. How weird is that?"

Across the room, Andy was studying another
picture. "Hmm...this person looks like he's blasting out some kind
of liquid." He opened a cabinet door, took out a tall glass and
held it under his nose. Squinting with concentration, he said, "I
want some…
root beer!
" A brown stream shot from his nose and
into the glass. Andy eyed the foamy contents then lifted it to his
mouth and drank every drop. He smacked his lips. "Yum. Tastes like
root beer."

"Sick!" cried Janie. "That came out of your
nose!"

Laughing, Chase got a glass of his own.
"
Butterscotch pudding!
" Orange goo flowed from his nose. He
grabbed a spoon and took several huge bites. "Delicious!"

The girls grabbed their throats as they
gagged and choked.

"Oh, yuck! That is
way
too gross!"
said Persephone. "How about something less revolting?
Bubbles.
" Dozens of colorful bubbles popped from her
nostrils and floated around the room. "See? Much better."

"Cool," said Andy, holding a bowl underneath
his nose. "But I'd rather have a bunch of
chocolate-covered
peanuts!
And some
gummy bears!
You should try this,
Janie. It's awesome!"

"Oh, all right," she said. "I guess I can
give it one little try." She pulled a bowl from the cabinet next to
her. "I would like…
onion soup.
" Steaming soup gushed from
her nose. Scrunching her face, she gingerly took a sip. "Hey,
you're right, Andy, this is good."

"Onions! Now
that's
what I call
gross," said Chase.

After a few more experiments, including
baseball cards, plastic bugs, hot-dogs and fries, the kids were
back in the hallway and on their way to another room.

"I like that room!" said Andy as he munched
on his candy. "I hope I remember where it is."

"Isn't it a weird power, though?" asked
Janie. She touched her nose as if to make sure it hadn't lost its
adorableness.

"Depends on how you look at it," said Chase.
"You'd never go hungry because you could always turn your boogers
into food."

Persephone punched his arm. "Ew!
Disgusting!"

"Hey, you guys! Get a load of this room,"
Andy hollered from down the hall.

Moments later, they all stood inside the
doorway with their mouths hanging open.

"Holy moly," breathed Janie.

The pitch-black walls, ceiling and floor were
dotted with hundreds of softly glowing, blinking eyeballs. They
looked as if they were floating in the darkness.

"Dude, they follow you wherever you go," said
Andy as he tip-toed around the room and tried not to step on any of
the eyes. "What do you suppose it means?"

"I don't know," said Persephone.

"
Eyes
," murmured Chase. It took a
moment for him to realize he was seeing Persephone in front of him
and—Andy in back. "Whoa baby!"

"Uh, Chase?" said Andy. "You have eyes in the
back of your head."

Chase reached back and touched the eyeballs.
Talk about weird. He could see his hand waving behind himself.
Janie and Persephone walked around and studied his extra eyes.

"How do they look?" he asked, making the eyes
wink and blink.

"Like your regular eyes," said Janie in
wonderment.

"Let's get out of here," said Persephone,
crossing her arms and shivering. "This is way too creepy."

When they left the room, Chase's spare eyes
disappeared. As they continued on their trek through the house, he
couldn't stop checking to make sure the back of his head was
eyeball free.

During the next hour, they explored the
Laughing Room, where Chase laughed so long and hard, his stomach
ached for hours afterward; the Replicating Room where they made
dozens of clones of themselves until they were packed like sardines
in a tin can; and the Goo Room where the whole room was slick and
dripping with yellowy-green goop. They spent at least twenty
minutes oozing around trying to figure out how to change from
puddles of slimy goo to back into themselves.

But they all thought one of the best rooms by
far was where they were able to change into any bird they wanted.
Like the other rooms they'd visited, this one was far from
ordinary. Its high walls were painted with colorful pictures of
birds and towering trees, while thick, green grass carpeted the
floor.

It took Chase a while to get the hang of it,
but after several wild loops around the room as a sparrow (he
thought it'd be easier to start small), he began to enjoy the
awesomeness of the wind blowing across his arms—no—his wings. He
sure wouldn't mind having this power.

"That was too cool for words!" exclaimed Andy
when they finished flying. He spread his arms wide, pretending he
was a bird again, swooping and diving. "Did you see me, Chase?"

Chase grinned as he limped along. He'd also
had a little trouble with his landings. "Yep, I saw you. And I saw
Persephone waddling around too."

"Hey, penguins are my favorite birds," said
Persephone. "It's not their fault they can't fly." She shot him a
sideways glance. "At least I didn't crash into anything."

Chase gave an embarrassed shrug. "I guess I
need more practice."

A little farther down the hall, Janie stopped
in front of another door. Clasping the brass handle, she tried to
give it a quick twist, but it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked," she said, stepping back and
gaping at the door. "I've never seen any locked doors around
here."

"Are you sure?" asked Chase. "Maybe it's just
stuck." He bashed his shoulder against it and jiggled and tugged on
the handle. "Hmm. We need to ask Grandfather about this one."

While they pondered the stubborn door,
Janie's cell phone rang. "Hello?…Yes…Okay… We'll be right
there."

"Who was that?" asked Chase.

"Grandfather," she answered, slipping the
phone back into her pocket. "Mrs. Periwinkle wants us to run some
errands for her in town."

After a few wrong turns and some
backtracking, they found the kitchen again. Grandfather and Mrs.
Periwinkle were there eating turkey sandwiches. The kids crowded
around and dug into the pile of food.

"Hey, Grandfather," said Chase around a huge
bite of sandwich. "How come one of the rooms on the fourth floor is
locked?"

"That room has a dangerous power you children
aren't ready for," he answered briskly. "It's best you stay away
from it."

Chase raised his eyebrows as his eyes met
Janie's. A dangerous power? Now that sounded interesting. What
power was so bad Grandfather needed to lock the door?

Hmm, maybe I can find a way to break in
and see,
Chase thought as he chewed his pickle and ignored
Andy's you-can't-fool-me-I-know-you're-up-to-something look.

When they finished eating, Mrs. Periwinkle
handed Janie a list. "Here's everything I need you to do. Now don't
get to goofing off and forget stuff."

"You can count on us," said Janie, tucking
the list into her pocket. She headed out the back door, followed by
the other kids.

As they crossed the yard, a dirt road wide
enough for a car appeared in front of them and cut through the
large thicket of trees. The afternoon was warm and a light wind had
the clouds dancing across the sky. With a wave to Mrs. Periwinkle,
they set off for town.

"So, what do you think Grandfather's hiding
in the locked room?" Chase asked right away.

"Maybe it's a black hole and if you're sucked
in, you're never seen again," said Andy. "Or…or…maybe it's filled
with gigantic, man-eating tarantulas. I know! It's where he keeps
the dead bodies."

"You watch
way
too much TV, Andy,"
said Chase, with a roll of his eyes. "It's definitely something he
doesn't want us to know about, though."

"Or, as Grandfather said, it's a dangerous
power we're not ready for," said Janie. She narrowed her eyes at
Chase. "You know, I bet you're one of those guys who can never
leave things alone."

"I want to know what's going on, is all,"
said Chase, kicking a rock and sending it flying into the
trees.

"Maybe we should sneak in and check it out
for ourselves," said Persephone.

"That's what I thought!" said Chase,
excitement in his voice. "We can pick the lock and break in."

"I knew it!" said Andy. "I knew you were
thinking something like that."

Janie shook her head. "I don't know. I'd hate
to see the wrath of Grandfather. He said he wants us to leave it
alone."

"We'll go without you," said Chase,
shrugging. "Unless you plan on tattling."

"I would never do that! I'm
not
a
tattle-tale. Anyway, remember, curiosity killed the cat."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked,
frowning.

"It means you might find out something you
wish you hadn't," she said as she stomped down the road, her nose
in the air.

I
t wasn't long until the dirt road met with a smooth
paved one. They passed several homes, crossed a covered bridge with
a swift stream flowing beneath it, and walked by a tall sign that
read:

Welcome to Islandtown

The friendliest town
on the island.

"The
only
town on the island,"
muttered Janie as more buildings came into view.

Islandtown looked like a town from the old
west. Most of the shops had hitching posts out front and many had
swinging, saloon-style doors; the sidewalks were made of wood and
the storefront windows were painted with gold, old-style lettering.
Even a few sleepy-looking horses were tethered between some of the
cars. Chase thought the only things missing were giant tumbleweeds
rolling down the streets.

As they strolled down a shaded sidewalk, he
began to have a funny feeling he'd been there before, but he knew
that was impossible. The strange feeling stayed with him the whole
time they were in the general store arguing about what color yarn
they should buy for the sweater Mrs. Periwinkle was knitting for
Grandfather, and while they were in the grocery store shopping for
pickles and brussels sprouts.

Ambling in and out of shops, Chase finally
decided that, as usual, the feeling had to be just a figment of his
over-active imagination.

"Hey, let's get some ice cream," said Andy
when the kids paused in front of the ice cream parlor.

Chase squinted at the huge ice cream sundae
painted on the window. It was a long canoe filled with three huge
scoops of vanilla ice cream coated in chocolate sauce and topped
with nuts and bright-red cherries. It sure looked familiar…

Looking over his shoulder at them, Andy
pushed open the door.

Chase suddenly knew why the town felt so
familiar. He'd dreamed this exact thing last night. "Andy,
wait!"

He jumped forward and shoved his brother
aside. At the same time, his arm crashed into someone coming out.
SPLAT! The next thing they knew the person was covered in
chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream. Chase looked straight
into Doctor Dan's cold, furious eyes.

Chase gulped as he watched the goop dribble
down the doctor's shirt and jacket.

"Why don't you kids watch where you're
going?" Dan snarled. He grabbed his messy tie and waved it wildly.
"Look what you've done to my brand new suit and tie!"

"We're really sorry," said Chase as he rubbed
sticky droplets from his face.

"It's my fault," said Andy, backing away. "I
wasn't watching where I was going."

"You shouldn't be allowed out if you can't
handle yourselves in public!" snapped the doctor.