Chase Tinker & The House of Magic (19 page)

Janie sidled close to Chase and caught his
arm, letting the adults move ahead of them. "So what happened?" she
asked the moment they were out of earshot. "Who were you running
after?"

Andy and Persephone leaned in closer to hear
his answer.

"I thought I saw Doctor Dan in the crowd,"
said Chase. He went on to explain about the animals sensing magic,
and how he thought that's why they were acting so strange. "I ran
into that building and slammed into crazy-ponytail-guy. I thought
he was going to pulverize me right then and there."

He glanced at Janie and sensed what she was
about to say. "And yes, I told Grandfather about the intruder. That
bunch of losers came in right when I know he was finally going to
tell me what's going on!"

Janie nibbled on her bottom lip and stared at
a laughing group of kids snapping pictures of each other. "You
know, I think whoever captured Uncle Ben must now be coming for
you."

"What! But why—?"

"Hey, kids! Hurry it up," called Anne.

As they ran to catch
up with the adults, Chase finished his question in his head.
But
why
me?

"S
o why do you think
they're after just me?" asked Chase when the kids were finally able
to talk alone again.

They had teleported home from their day's
trip to the city and were now hanging out on the deck outside
Grandfather's study. The late evening air felt warm and breezy, and
the orange and red setting sun was reflecting on the Sound, making
it look like flames were rippling across the surface.

"After Uncle Ben, you are next in line for
Keeper, you know," said Janie.

"Like I can forget that," said Chase, rolling
his eyes "But I would think they'd want our Relic more than
anything else. I bet it's the most powerful magical object in the
whole world."

"Don't forget our house is pretty special
too," said Persephone.

"Yeah," said Andy. "I bet they wouldn't mind
getting their mitts on this awesome place."

Chase nodded as he gripped the handrail and
stared out toward the water. While the others continued to talk,
his mind buzzed with thoughts and questions. No matter how hard he
tried, he couldn't shake the uneasiness that had been bothering him
all afternoon. Who was the man he'd crashed into at the zoo? Was he
part of all the Dark Enemy stuff? And what did he mean by "the
worst is coming?" Just thinking about it made Chase's blood turn to
ice water.

"We
have
to get to the Relic and find
out what's going on," he murmured.

He turned and leaned against the railing.
Through the open French doors he watched Grandfather walk to the
middle of the room, raise his arms and spin. Silvery light poured
from his fingertips. It flowed through the house, through the walls
and out into the night.

Chase hurried to his side. "What magic was
that?"

"It's an extra-fortified, enchanted shield
that will let in or out only the people I want it to," said
Grandfather, brushing imaginary dust from the palms of his hands.
"From what you told me, it sounded as though we needed much
stronger security."

Clair limped into the room. "Oh!" she said.
"I didn't know you were home."

"Mom! What are you doing out of bed?" asked
Janie. "You need to rest."

"Yeah," said Andy as everyone crowded around
Clair. "You could've died, you know."

"I'm tired of being in that room. And I'm
feeling much better with Mrs. Periwinkle taking such excellent care
of me." She tottered across the room. "See, I'm a big girl now who
can walk by herself."

"Let's see you walk through a wall,"
challenged Chase.

"I—I don't know if I'm ready for that," she
murmured.

Grandfather clasped Clair's arm. "We do not
issue challenges to our sick aunt, Chase," he said, steering Clair
to the sofa. "She's recuperating and we don't want any
relapses."

Clair flopped back onto the pillows. "I know.
I need to rest. Janie, maybe you can get me a few snickerdoodles?
They'll help me feel better. And some aspirin too." She looked at
Chase and winked. "It's a cool power, though. By the way, how was
the zoo?"

C
hase woke up two
minutes after midnight on July 8
^th
. He glanced at the
clock on the bedside table. All right! He was now officially
thirteen years old; the same age as Persephone—at least for a
couple of months.

Rolling drowsily onto his side, he rested his
head on his bent arm and stared out the sliding-glass door as he
recalled the day before. He figured it was okay to relax a bit now
that he'd told Grandfather about the intruder, and now that the
house had the extra-protection spell around it, so he and Andy had
spent most of the day showing their mom some of the house.

He smiled when he remembered how she'd been
just as revolted as Janie and Persephone by the
Shoot-Stuff-Out-Of-Your-Nose Room. They'd also found an incredibly
cool room where they had the ability to play any musical
instrument, like they were experts at it. He and Andy had rocked
out with guitars and drums so loudly their mom had sprinted from
the room with her hands clamped over her ears.

Chase sat up. He was wide awake now, and
feeling restless.
I do believe it's time for that trip to
the attic
, he thought, tossing aside his blankets. In fact,
it would be the perfect birthday present to himself. He hopped from
the bed, tip-toed across the room and slipped out the door. Of
course, he had to bring Janie, or she would kill him.

Sneaking down the hall, he tapped on Janie's
door. Hearing nothing, he eased the door open a bit and squeezed
through. The room was fairly dark, but a big, shadowy lump in the
bed looked like a sleeping person.

He had just taken a step to go wake her when
something hard bashed him on the head. Whack! Whack! Whack!

"Take that!" yelled Janie. "How dare you
break into our house!"

Whack! Whack!

"Janie!" he hollered, ducking and swinging
his arms to fight off the wild blows. "Ow! It's me! Ow!"

She stopped. "Chase? I thought you were the
guy from the other night," she said, panting. "Sorry."

He rubbed his injuries and glared at her. "Do
intruders usually knock?"

"I guess not," she said, looking
sheepish.

Chase grabbed a thick, hardback book from
her. "You're a maniac! You could've put my eye out."

Janie jerked the book back and tossed it on
the bed. "Don't exaggerate. I'm pretty sure you'll live. Why are
you sneaking around like some thief in the night anyway?"

"I wanted to go to the attic while everyone
else was asleep, and I knew you'd kill me if I didn't take
you."

"You bet I would've. Just don't make me knock
on any doors," she said, grabbing her robe. "But keep it down. We
don't want the whole house knowing what we're up to."

"Don't attack me again and I will," he
grumbled.

A little bit later, Chase and Janie, with
Maxwell perched on her shoulder, crept up the attic stairs. When
they reached the painting of doors, Chase took a deep breath. His
stomach was twisted and tied in knots. What if, after all of this,
the Relic wouldn't help them, or couldn't tell them what they
needed to know?

"What are you waiting for?" said Janie
impatiently. "Do it already."

"Okay, okay." He stared at the painting.
"
Door, show yourself!
" he yelled in his mind. The glowing,
lemon-yellow car door popped to the middle of the huge canvas.

"Ohmygosh!" breathed Janie, gazing at Chase
with total admiration. "If you weren't my cousin, I'd kiss
you."

"Gross!"

"Wait a sec, is that a
car
door?" she
blurted, finally noticing what the tiny door looked like. "I
know
we didn't walk through a car door to get in there."

He tapped the secret knock and, seconds
later, the car door morphed into a tall, plain door.

"Amazing! I mean, I seriously thought those
other doors were meant to fool everyone. That's why I only knocked
on the regular ones."

Chase smiled sympathetically. "Live and
learn. Anyway, it's good those other doors fooled you. I hope they
do the same thing if anyone else tries to break in here."

He opened the door. The attic was
pitch-black. Chase gulped as they slunk through the doorway and
edged along the wall. The door swung shut by itself.

"Ouch! You're squishing my foot," whispered
Chase.

"Sorry," murmured Janie. "But I can't see a
darn thing."

"Shh! I think I heard something."

They both froze. Goosebumps popped up all
over Chase's body.

Creak! Crack! Squeak!

"What's that?" Janie clutched Chase's arm in
a death grip.

"How am I supposed to know? And you're
cutting off my circulation."

"Oops," she said, releasing his arm. "It's so
creepy in here without Grandfather."

Chase had to silently agree with her on that
one. As they inched their way farther into the attic, the hairs on
the back of his neck began to stand on end. Janie was so close, her
loud breathing practically drowned out the pounding of his
heart.

Just as he thought that it might be a really
good idea to sneak back out, a dazzling, brilliant light lit up the
whole attic. Even the floor glowed like a pool of warm, liquid
sunshine.

They both scrambled backward, falling over
each other. Huddled together, they peered around the attic. Nothing
was there but the Relic sitting in its usual spot; no intruders,
ghosts or ghouls hiding in the corners. The kids clambered to their
feet.

"Uh, those noises must've been the house
settling," said Chase, with an embarrassed half-smile. "Houses do
that, you know." He would rather eat fried liver and onions than
admit how scared he'd been.

"Yes, of course," said Janie, trying to look
as cool and unruffled as possible as she straightened her pajamas
and robe. "I knew that."

Walking across the floor, Chase felt the
warmth of it flowing into his toes, through his veins and out the
top of his head. "Feel that?"

Janie nodded. "The floor's making me all warm
and tingly."

They sat cross-legged in front of the magical
entity. Chase glanced at his cousin out of the corner of his eye.
She was staring wide-eyed at the Relic. He jabbed her arm. "Any
suggestions on how to work it, Miss Know-Everything?"

"Ask it a question," she whispered.

"Okay." He licked his dry lips. "Uh, Relic,
what is the Dark Enemy?"

The Relic remained silent.

"Maybe you need to pass your hand across the
front of it," said Janie.

"And how will that help?" asked Chase.

"I remember Grandfather doing it." She gave
him a push. "Just do it."

Chase did as she suggested and repeated his
question. The Relic's toffee-colored face turned to smoky-gray and
the deep, rich voice began speaking.

"
The Dark Enemy is a family of dark souls
who wish to control all magic and rid the world of good and
light
."

Chase and Janie glanced at each other. Chase
cleared his throat before asking, "So, Relic, do you know what
happened to the lost Shard?"

"
The Dark Enemy possesses the lost Shard
of Magic. Recently, these evil beings have discovered a way to use
it to help them find and then steal other's magic. They desire this
house and this Relic because these are the ultimate of all magical
powers.
"

The two kids watched in fear and awe as
scenes began to flash across the face of the Relic. It showed the
Dark Enemy as they stalked elves, witches, wizards—anyone they
could find who had the magic they hungered for. They didn't look
like what many would think of as evil. They looked like regular
people, blending in with the crowds, until you saw their eyes:
cold, ice-blue, heartless.

The scene changed, showing several more of
the beings.

"Hey, it's him. The guy from the zoo!" yelled
Chase.

The beings shimmered and swirled like dark,
rippling water, and magicked into deep-purple, fog-like mist, then
drifted away like phantoms in the night.

"
The Dark Enemy is able to metamorphose
into a vaporous substance and travel great distances in this form.
They also have the ability to discharge powerful energy beams from
their fingertips.
"

Chase jumped to his feet and raked a hand
through his hair. "That vapor thing must be how he disappeared from
my room and the zoo so fast."

"And powerful energy beams? Out of their
fingertips?" cried Janie. "We don't have powers anything like
that."

Chase squatted in front of the Relic. "Relic,
is there anything else you can tell us about this Dark Enemy?"

"
Two hundred and seventy-nine years ago,
assisted by the Shard of Magic, they discovered this house and the
true source of its power, this Relic. They desperately wanted to
take possession of both. After gathering their forces, the Enemy
attacked the Tinker house and a long battle ensued, each side
suffering casualties. Even after receiving a terrible injury
herself, Augusta Tinker finally managed to triumph over the dark
souls, though unfortunately, the Tinkers were unable to recover the
Shard
."

"Look at Aunt Augusta," said Janie. "Oh!
That's how she lost her eye." She winced and turned away for a
moment. "How awful. And painful!"

As the Relic showed them more frightening
images, Chase was unable to peel his eyes away from the wild,
supernatural war happening around the smaller Tinker house. The air
in the attic seemed to crackle and sizzle with magical energy, even
though the battle was only scenes flowing across the Relic's
face.

"
Defeated and dispirited, the surviving
Dark Enemy went into hiding as they worked to regain their lost
power. They show themselves more freely now because they have
discovered how to use the Shard to steal free will, thereby
enabling them to enslave and control people. They have done this to
the populace of Blackshire, England. These dark beings plan to use
this new ability to gain more power than ever.
"