Chase Tinker & The House of Magic (31 page)

"That Persephone sure is hot," said James
nonchalantly. "Don't you think?"

"She's okay," said Chase, ducking his head to
hide his blushing face.

James snorted. "Okay? Yeah, right. You think
she's more than okay." He sent Chase a sly glance out of the corner
of his eye. "I'd go out with her."

Chase didn't answer.
I hope she has better
taste,
he thought.

"So sounds like you're a fan of my dad's
work," James continued in the same friendly tone. Chase nodded. "He
paints some pretty cool pictures."

"I can introduce you sometime."

"That'd be great! Maybe Grandfather can ask
him to visit too."

Several minutes of silence passed as James
tossed pieces of shrimp over the side of the boat. "You know what
doesn't seem right to me?"

"What's that?"

James stared at a passing seagull. "That I'm
older than you, but you get to be the next Keeper of the
House."

"I didn't make the rules," said Chase, his
relaxed mood turning sour as he yanked his fishing line from the
water and tossed it back in. "Anyway, my dad is the next
Keeper."

"From what I hear, your dad's dead," said
James. "So that makes you next in line."

"I don't know who you've been talking to,"
said Chase, his hands tightening around his pole's handle, "but my
dad is not dead!"

"He's been missing for a long time, so he
might as well be," James taunted. "And with the old man getting on
in years, it won't be long 'til he's pushing up daisies too."

"Grandfather's fine!" snapped Chase. "And
what if you did become the next Keeper? Our magic is supposed to be
used for good. Would you do that? Or would you use it against
people?"

"I'd use it any way I want," said James,
sitting up. "Janie told me that if someone doesn't want the
position, they can pass it on." He pulled his fishing line into the
boat and fiddled with the hook. "Four-eyes and my mom will be easy
enough to handle. But
you
…"

"What are you talking about?"

"This!" James dropped his pole and began
rocking the boat violently back and forth. Waves rolled over the
sides, soaking Chase's sneakers.

"James! What are you doing?"

A split second later, James's arm stretched
out, bashed Chase on the shoulder and flipped him from the
boat.

He hit the water with a loud splash. James's
stretchy arm shoved him under, deeper and deeper. He struggled
wildly, pulling at the ghostly-green hand that pressed him farther
into the darkness and silence of the murky water. He had to get
away from the numbing coldness seeping into his skin and bones. He
needed air. He was seriously starting to panic when he saw
something: a huge, shadowy form moving toward him.

"Help me!" he screamed in his mind.

Chase wasn't sure how deep he was when the
pushing stopped. He flailed his arms and legs, lost and confused.
Fear tore at his insides. He felt light-headed and he barely had
the strength to swim back to the top. Feeling a nudge from behind,
he turned. Reaching out blindly, he grasped what felt to be smooth,
strong, satiny cloth.

Chase and his rescuer sped through the cold,
dark water. Just as he thought he would surely pass out, his head
broke the surface and he was able to gulp in the fresh summer air.
Coughing and gasping, he blinked the salty water from his eyes.
James and the motorboat were nowhere in sight, but a large orca
whale was. It bobbed its large black and white head playfully.

"Thank you," Chase panted as he paddled
weakly in the rippling water and tried his hardest to stay afloat.
He didn't know if the animal understood, but it sure acted like it
did. "You saved my life." Feeling sick to his stomach, he didn't
want to even think about how close he'd come to dying, or how
unbelievably stupid he'd been to think it would be okay to go
fishing with James.

"Can—can you take me home?" he asked the
whale.

It turned and offered its long fin. Chase
grabbed on with both hands. They skimmed across the water at an
exhilarating speed, water spraying behind them like a giant
rooster's tail.

Chase's arms felt ready to fall out of their
sockets when he saw the house in the distance, growing larger with
each passing second. Never in his life was he so happy or relieved
to see a stretch of sandy beach. He let go of the fin, but he
didn't want to swim to shore until the whale knew how grateful he
was for its help. As he reached up to brush back his wet hair, he
noticed he no longer had his sunglasses. "Oh no! I lost my new
sunglasses."

The orca opened its mouth. Lying on its huge,
pink tongue was a pair of black and green sunglasses.

"You found them!" Chase exclaimed, lifting
them gingerly from the whale's mouth. He wasn't sure if whales had
saliva or not, but he took a second to rinse the glasses off before
slipping them on. The huge animal turned and winked. Chase grinned.
This had to be the same whale they'd seen their first day in
Seattle.

"Thanks for your help," he yelled, waving to
the whale as it swam away.

The motorboat was nowhere in sight as Chase
splashed to shore. He flopped to the ground and lay there like a
limp jellyfish. Most of the clouds had drifted away and the sun
felt good on his chilled body.

A flame of anger started to burn inside him.
Did James really want to be Keeper of the House badly enough to
attack Chase for it? He rubbed his wrist, wishing he had his watch.
When it came time to face James it would be great to have a little
extra protection. He smiled grimly as he pictured James tied up
tighter than a Christmas package and roasting under the hot summer
sun.

Chase wasn't sure how long he lay sprawled on
the beach before he heard the sound of an engine. He jerked up and
gazed across the water. He was looking forward to seeing the look
on James's face when he saw his wicked plan hadn't worked.

As the craft sailed nearer to the shoreline,
something odd began to happen. It started to rock crazily from side
to side. James scrambled to his feet. He grabbed an oar and swung
it at a tall black dorsal fin as it skimmed close to the boat
before disappearing beneath the water. The boat tipped far to the
side. James teetered on the edge for a second, waving his arms,
then tumbled into the water. The boat continued to putter toward
the beach.

A moment later, James bobbed to the surface.
His arms paddled and whipped around like a windmill in a hurricane
as the dorsal fin followed close behind. "Shark! It's a shark and
it wants to rip my leg off!" He splashed wildly until he reached
the shallow water and was able to stumble onto the beach where he
tripped and fell face first into the sand.

If Chase hadn't been so furious, he probably
would have laughed at how ridiculous James looked. He did crack a
small smile when the orca leaped into the air, flapped its fins and
with a big splash, disappeared from sight.

The boat bumped against the shore. Using his
telekinesis, Chase switched off the engine and pulled it onto the
beach. He remembered how, not too long ago, he'd thought moving
something that big was way too difficult. He'd certainly come a
long way.

"H—how did you get here?" sputtered
James.

Chase turned to face him. His insides twisted
as he thought of the numbing fear he'd experienced when he was
alone and struggling deep beneath the cold, dark water.

"You tried to drown me!" he snarled through
clenched teeth, his voice low and deep in his throat. Several small
tornados began whirling along the ground, sucking up the sand and
rocks. James cowered as they whistled around him, whipped against
him, and grew stronger the angrier Chase became.

"Stop! Stop it!" James yelled, shielding his
face with his arms as the tiny rocks cut into his skin, leaving red
nicks and long scratches. "It was an accident!"

"An accident? You pushed me out of the boat
and shoved me underneath the water!" Chase roared. "How is that an
accident? Is being Keeper of the House so important to you that
you'd kill for it?"

"I was only playing around. When you didn't
come back to the surface, I came to get help."

Chase gave a short bark of laughter. "Help to
search for my lost body, huh?" He took a deep breath and then
continued, "If you even
try
to hurt Andy…"

James glared at Chase through the flying
dirt. "So what're you going to do, take me out there and leave
me
to die, stinker?" he said, his voice sounding dry and
hoarse.

"Tempting as that is," Chase answered, "I
don't plan on stooping to your sick level. I do think Grandfather
should hear all about our little fishing trip. Let him decide what
your punishment should be."

With one last scornful look, he turned and
sprinted across the beach toward the house. He left James sprawled
on the ground, recovering from the swirling tornados, which had
vanished as swiftly as they had started.

C
hase stormed across
the deck toward Grandfather's study. The doors whisked open as if
they were yanked by invisible hands. He charged inside, but it was
empty, as was the kitchen, the garden and the dining room. He found
Andy curled up in front of the television in the den and munching
potato chips.

"Where is everyone?" snapped Chase.

Not taking his eyes from the screen, Andy
answered, "Grandfather went to town and Aunt Clair and Mrs.
Periwinkle took the girls shopping in the city."

Chase strode up and down the floor. The
pictures and other furnishings shook and bounced each time he
passed them. He'd never felt so wound up.

"Would you sit down?" said Andy. "You're
ruining the show." He turned to look at Chase. "Is something wrong?
You're looking green…and red…and green. And you're going to knock
the pictures off the walls."

"I need to talk to Grandfather," said Chase,
his mind whirling. If he waited until Grandfather came home, James
would be back to tell more lies. "I'm going to town to find him,
but first I need something from our room." He darted out the
doorway.

"Hey wait!" shouted Andy, hopping off the
sofa. "What's going on?" He caught up with Chase as they reached
their bedroom. "What happened? Why do you need to talk to
Grandfather?"

Chase grabbed his watch and strapped it
around his wrist. "James tried to drown me," he said flatly.

"What!" exclaimed Andy. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am!" said Chase. "He threw me
out of the boat and left me there."

"But…
why
?" asked Andy.

"He wants to be the next Keeper of the
House."

"Dad is."

"James thinks he's dead."

"And you're next Keeper," said Andy. "So, he
thinks if Dad's gone and you're not here anymore…wait…
I'm
after you, and Aunt Clair." His mouth dropped open.

"It sounds like, after getting rid of me, he
plans on doing something bad to you guys too."

"But—but…we need to tell Grandfather!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" said
Chase, kicking a shoe across the room and heading back into the
hallway. "He claims what happened was an accident. I hope
Grandfather doesn't fall for that one."

"How'd you get away?" asked Andy, hurrying
after him.

"You remember the orca from the ferry ride?
It saved me," answered Chase. "It was really cool. Somehow it knew
what was going on."

"Do you think the whale sensed your
magic?"

"It must have," said Chase. "How else would
it have gotten there so quickly to help me? It's like it was
following us or something." He slid to a stop in front of Uncle
Thomas's bathroom.

"Why didn't you use our bathroom?" asked
Andy.

"I'm teleporting there," he answered as he
entered the room. "It'll be quicker. I've never teleported that far
by myself, though. I hope I don't get stuck in a chimney."

"I'm coming with you," said Andy, jumping
inside and pushing the door closed.

"That's a good idea," said Chase, grasping
Andy's arm. "You shouldn't be here alone with James."

"Maybe I'll go freeze him and—and…" Andy
racked his brains for a brilliant way to torture James. "No wait,
I'll lure him to the Shrinking Room and jinx him until he's
two-inches tall. That way, I can stick him in a jar and leave him
there forever."

"Forget it," said Chase, smiling at Andy's
plans. "He's not worth the trouble." He closed his eyes and
pictured the place where Grandfather's dirt road met with the
town's paved one. "
The outskirts of Islandtown, Blackberry
Island.
"

Whoosh! They were gone in a rush of wind and
a swirl of blackness.

"We made it!" exclaimed Andy when they landed
in the deep shadows of the tall evergreen trees next to the road to
town. "You're getting pretty good at magic."

"Just lucky, I guess." Chase didn't let on
how relieved he was that they'd ended up in the right spot. "Come
on, let's go."

The boys jogged along the road until they
reached the main street. Not much was going on. A few kids were
seated around the small, round tables in front of the ice cream
parlor; the sheriff was busy ticketing someone he caught speeding
through town; while a family of fat ducks waddled across the
road.

"Where do you suppose Grandfather is?" asked
Andy as they walked down the sidewalk.

"He could be anywhere," answered Chase,
peering into each large, storefront window.

At the hardware store, he thought he saw
someone dodge behind a bin of nails. He looked closer, but saw only
a clerk stocking shelves. "I wish we knew what he came to town
for," said Chase as they began walking again. Stopping abruptly, he
whipped around and caught a glimpse of a dark trouser leg and shoe
disappearing into a doorway.