Grandfather’s eyes narrowed behind his wire-rimmed glasses. “Does anyone wish to explain Chase’s earlier statement?”
Oh man, thought Chase as he looked at Nori out of the corner of his eye. This is way harder than I thought it would be.
Nori sent Chase a you’re-in-charge-so-do-something look.
Chase flicked his head to the side and mouthed, “Quit hiding.”
She shrugged, slipped around the others, and stepped forward.
“And who do we have here?” asked Grandfather. He glanced around at the other kids’ nervous twitches: Chase, scuffing the toe of his sneaker on the floor; Persephone, clicking her barrette open and closed; Andy, hopping from foot to foot as if his shoes were on fire. “You know your friends are always welcome here,” Grandfather added with a smile.
Chase swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, making it hard to get the words out. “She’s…um…not…um. We—uh—” he stammered.
“Oh for heaven’s sake!” said Nori, glaring over her shoulder at Chase. “It’s not rocket science.” She approached Grandfather with her hand extended and a huge smile lighting up her face. “Hi, Uncle Hiram. I’m Nori. Thomas’s granddaughter.”
“Wait!” said Chase. Sheesh! What was the matter with this girl? Blurting it out like she was only discussing the weather? What if Grandfather had another heart attack and passed out? What if the shock was too much for him and he …died? He was turning an awful shade of green, and then pasty white. “Call Doctor Dan! Quick!”
Nori jerked her hand back and swung her wide-eyed gaze to the others. “What’s happening?” she asked anxiously.
“No need to panic. I’m quite fine. I think,” Grandfather croaked out, holding up his hand. But it didn’t stop Anne, Persephone, and Andy from gathering around him like a flock of worried hens. Persephone grabbed a magazine and fanned him while Andy shoved Grandfather’s glass of iced tea into his face. Anne clasped his wrist and checked his pulse. “Please, everyone, quit hovering. Would you just sit down and let me speak with…Nori, is it?” rasped out Grandfather. He swished them away and pointed at the extra armchairs. They reluctantly backed away and plopped into the chairs.
Nori nodded and looked relieved that she hadn’t caused her great-uncle to pass out. “I met Chase and Persephone and Andy this afternoon and they—we—talked, after Chase slammed me to the floor—”
“Not slammed!” Chase flinched as Nori sent him another glare. “But I didn’t mean to.” He looked sheepish. “We only wanted to meet you.”
“And what makes you think you’re Thomas’s grandchild?” asked Grandfather kindly.
“She can do magic!” exclaimed Andy, who had perched himself on the arm of Grandfather’s chair.
Grandfather’s eyebrows shot up. “What sort of magic?”
“She has a real cool power!” Andy piped in again.
Chase shot him an exasperated look. “Let her talk, okay?”
So, between Andy’s excited interjections, Persephone’s helpful comments, and Chase’s extra two cents worth, Nori was finally able to get her story told. She even grabbed one of Grandfather’s books off a shelf and demonstrated her ability.
Chase’s eyes never left Grandfather’s face the whole time. He’d never seen him so shaken up. Sure, Grandfather had been devastated last summer when he’d heard about James trying to drown Chase, but this was different. This was honesty and trust between brothers. Chase knew Grandfather and Uncle Thomas had been close, especially since they’d shared the same birthday. And now learning that his brother had kept something this important from him...well, it had to hurt.
Grandfather closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of his chair. “I had no idea,” he murmured. “I never even suspected Thomas was involved with anyone, and then to be married? I can’t believe he didn’t trust me enough to tell me.” His hand trembled as he pulled off his glasses and polished them absentmindedly on his handkerchief.
“And you never felt any other magical family members out there?” asked Chase, frowning.
Grandfather shook his head as he slipped his glasses back on. “Keepers can be quite powerful, Chase, as you’ll find out one day, and we are sensitive to others’ magic, but unless we know what to look for...” He paused to reach under his glasses and rub the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Maybe if I had known they were out there, I could have sent out magical streamers to search for their Tinker magic. But it never entered my mind that Thomas had a wife and child somewhere in the world.”
“He did teleport all over,” added Persephone. “Remember?”
Grandfather gave her a sad half-smile. “He loved his magical ability.”
“My mom hates hers,” said Nori flatly. “She thinks it’s some sort of deadly affliction, so she never uses it.”
Grandfather frowned. “Never?”
Nori shook her head.
“Then I most likely wouldn’t have been able to sense her. When we continually use our magic, it becomes a part of our essence, a part of our souls. If she’s keeping hers locked deep inside, then it’s not truly a part of her yet. This can also cause side effects.”
“Like green and purple stripes popping up all over her body?” asked Nori.
“Indeed,” said Grandfather. “The magic is fighting to be released.”
Nori sighed. “No wonder the doctor didn’t know how to fix her.”
Chase touched his face and grimaced. Thank goodness he would never have to worry about looking like a circus act, since he used his magic all the time.
“Will Mika be joining us today?” asked Grandfather.
“She won’t come over here because she doesn’t want to be around even more magic,” said Persephone. “She acts scared to death of it.”
A worried frown creased Grandfather’s forehead. “I can understand that. No one was there to explain things to her.” He sighed and murmured, “Oh, Thomas, lad, why didn’t you say something to me when you had the chance?”
Andy patted Grandfather’s shoulder. “At least we know all about them now.”
Nori cleared her throat and stared at the floor. “Uh…Uncle Hiram? It is okay if I call you that, isn’t it?”
“Uncle Hiram. I never thought I’d hear those words,” said Grandfather. “And yes, I’d like it very much if you called me your uncle.”
“So does that mean you think I’m—part of the family?” Nori asked, looking worried as she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.
“Oh yes, I believe so.” He smiled. “From your story and from what I’ve seen, you’ve got all the Tinker symptoms.”
Nori gave him a relieved smile. “Whew! This is awesome. I’m so happy those guys found me today. Uh…sorry for punching you, though, Chase.”
Chase gingerly rubbed his sore eye and grinned. “Hey, no big deal. What’s a few bruises between family members, anyway?”
Benjamin appeared in the doorway. Chase snickered when he saw the girly, flowered apron tied around his dad’s waist. “Very manly.”
Ben sent his son an annoyed glance before announcing, “I have a delicious stew, Caesar salad, and fresh homemade bread ready for anyone around here who wants some.”
Andy jumped to his feet. “Nori, too?”
“Nori? Who’s Nori?”
“Here we go again,” muttered Chase. He opened his mouth to start explaining, but once again, instead of words, a huge sneeze burst out. “AAACHOOOOOO!” A split second later, Chase had magicked himself into a lovely blue and gold teapot.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Portraits and Other Crazy Things
“A teapot!” Chase groaned, managing to look both indignant and horrified at the same time. “I can’t believe I transformed myself into a ridiculous teapot. Right there in front of everybody.”
“Might’ve been worse,” said Andy as he, Chase, Nori, and Persephone headed up one of the house’s many staircases on their way to the Hall of Portraits. Nori wanted to see a picture of h
er grandfather, Thomas.
“Oh yeah?” said Chase. “And how’s that?”
“You could’ve changed the rest of us, too.”
Chase glared at his brother. “Sure, that would’ve been much worse.”
“Well I certainly don’t want to be a goofy teapot.”
“If you think I—”
“Are they always like this?” Nori asked Persephone.
Persephone nodded. “Pretty much.”
Chase and Andy stared at her as if they had no idea what she was talking about. “Nothin’ wrong with talking,” said Andy. “We’re just having a conversation,” said Chase.
Persephone grinned at Nori. “Fine, anything you say,” said Persephone, holding up her hands.
At last, they came to the long hallway where the walls were plastered with hundreds of portraits of the Tinker family through the years.
“Holy shmoly!” exclaimed Nori. She ran her hand along one of the old ornate frames. “Every Tinker is pictured here?”
Andy squinted down the hallway, which looked as though it stretched across the whole house. “I don’t think Chase and I are here yet.”
“Yes you are. Right there next to your Grandmother Sierra,” said Persephone, pointing to the three large pictures of Chase and Andy that now hung on the wall.
One was the boys together, both grinning from ear to ear. Another was Andy wrapped up snuggly in the cuddleupus’s long tendrils. His face was scrunched up like a prune as one of the tendrils tickled his ear. The last one was Chase receiving his embarrassing spanking from the door that had been enchanted to protect Clair’s magical power room.
Nori snorted while Persephone stifled a giggle. “Nice pictures, guys,” said Nori. “Is this what you’ve been doing since you got here?”
“They do say a picture is worth a thousand words,” teased Persephone. “And these ones say a lot.”
“But I don’t remember them being taken,” said Andy, squinching his eyebrows together.
Chase’s eyes bulged as he stared at himself frozen forever in time in the painting, his arms flailing and his mouth wide open as he yelled to be let loose. “Where did they come from?”
“Beats me,” answered Andy, “but this one’s coming down.” He seized the picture of himself and the hugging plant and pulled with all his might. It didn’t budge. Panting and gasping, he tugged and yanked on the frame until his face turned purple. He stepped back and swiped his arm across his forehead. “Whew! That thing’s stuck there forever.” Looking as though he’d just lost his favorite plastic bugs, he sighed. “Now everybody’s gonna laugh at us, like they do Zelda and Fiona.”
Chase twisted his face into a grimace. “The humiliations keep piling up.”
While he and Andy glared at their pictures, Nori wandered down the hall. “Hey!” she hollered. “Who’s this lady?”
Chase glanced over his shoulder to see who she was talking about. It was Aunt Augusta.
“She sure is—” Nori began.
“Don’t—” Chase began.
“—ugly,” she finished.
“—insult her!” he finished.
A hand shot from the painting and smacked Nori. “Ow! Something hit me!” She rubbed the top of her head.
Chase rushed over and pulled Nori away. “You gotta watch what you say around Aunt Augusta. She’s sensitive about her looks.” He cringed as Aunt Augusta glared down at them with her one good eye. “But she really knew her magic. Grandfather said she was one of the most powerful Keepers in the family.”
“Hey, you guys, I think this is what we’re looking for,” called Persephone from farther down the hallway.
The others quickly joined her in front of the portrait of two handsome, brown-eyed, dark-haired young men. One of the men had his hair brushed back from his face, with one lock falling across his forehead. He wore a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a black leather jacket, and he had a pair of dark-rimmed eyeglasses hooked over the neckline of his shirt.
The other man looked completely different, with his hair combed carefully to the side. He looked neat and proper in his navy-blue suit, green bow-tie, and horn-rimmed glasses. Both men were smiling as if they shared some sort of secret joke between them. It was definitely a picture of Grandfather and Great-Uncle Thomas from long ago.
“Wow! Uncle Thomas almost looks like a movie star or something,” said Andy.
Nori nodded and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “I wish I’d’ve had the chance to meet him,” she said softly.
“I’m sure we all do,” said Persephone, patting Nori’s shoulder.
After a few moments, Chase cleared his throat to get their attention. “Hey, why don’t we show Nori the library before she has to leave? Then she can come back tomorrow morning and stay all day.”
“If you want to show her the magic chests,” said Andy, “you’ll need the key. I was up there the other day and they’re all locked up tight again.”
“I put it back in my drawer,” said Chase. “Let’s go get it.”
Nori glanced back over her shoulder at the portrait one last time before following the others from the hallway.
“Too bad we can’t travel back in time and meet him or maybe save him,” said Andy.
“There’s no such thing as time-travel,” said Nori.
“Sure there is,” said Andy. “We’ve done it.”
“You can time-travel?” exclaimed Nori.
“Nah. Not anymore,” Chase answered. He went on to tell her about their first and only time-traveling disaster and what the Relic had done afterward.
“Besides,” said Persephone when he was finished, “Mr. Hiram would never go for changing anything like that. You know, what’s meant to be—”
“We know,” said Chase with a wave of his hand. “But sometimes it would be nice to have that power, just in case…”
They stopped by several magic rooms on the way to get the key, and Chase was happy to see that Nori was nothing like her mom. She was as intrigued by all the magic as the other kids were. She loved the Shoot-Stuff-Out-of-Your-Nose Room and was good at it right away. Then she didn’t even mind when the Clothes-Changing Hallway transformed her jeans, sweater, and jacket into a wacky clown outfit, complete with frizzy, rainbow hair and a big red nose.
When they reached the boys’ room, Chase turned to the girls before opening the door. “Uh…don’t mind the mess.”
“Yeah, but it’s only his side of the room,” said Andy with a smirk.
Chase pushed the door open and entered the room with the others trailing. “I have too many important things to do to be a neat freak like you,” he said as he kicked aside a shirt and several socks. “I seriously gotta clean this place up,” he muttered to himself.
“How do you find anything?” asked Persephone. “This would drive me—Nori!”
Chase swung around in time to see Nori’s eyes rolling back into her head. Two seconds later, she tumbled to the floor. Luckily, a pile of clothing broke her fall. The other kids dropped to their knees next to her. They watched in horror as she thrashed back and forth and began mumbling some things that were impossible to understand. In fact, it was so jumbled, Chase wondered if she was speaking in a foreign language. Her arm jerked up and grasped Chase’s shirt. Twisting the fabric around her fist, she yanked him closer. For a moment he thought she might flip him on his head, but then she whispered so quietly he had to strain to hear, “Save him!” She relaxed her grip and her arm fell limply to the floor. Chase lurched back.
“What’s wrong with her?” cried Persephone.
“I don’t know!” he said. Save who? he thought.
“We have to do something!” wailed Andy. He jumped to his feet and ran wildly around the room as if searching for some secret remedy that might be hidden in the corners. “We need Grandfather!”
Nori’s eyes popped open. “Where am I?” she rasped out. Her face was so pale, it was almost the same color as the white t-shirt underneath her head.
&
nbsp; “Don’t you remember? My messy room,” Chase answered while gesturing at his unmade bed and the clutter on the floor.
She blinked several times, and looked as if she was searching her mind for her lost thoughts. “Oh—oh yeah. For a while there I was…” Her voice trailed off.
“What?” said Persephone, looking concerned. “You can tell us.”
Nori sat up and rubbed her head. “I—I don’t want you to think I’m totally crazy.”
She gave a lopsided smile when Chase said, “Are you kidding? We live in an out-of-this-world magical house. I think we’re used to a little craziness.”
Nori’s eyes darted from Chase to Persephone to Andy, where they lingered for a long moment. “Well…it was as if I was having a dream…but it was a lot more real. I don’t know how else to explain it. It was like I was there, but still here.”
Chase and Andy looked at each other. They knew exactly what had happened. “You were having a premonition,” said Chase, nodding knowingly.
“Premonition? But I’ve never had anything like that.”
“It’s the power of the room,” he answered. “Both Andy and I have had them in here, but we were asleep at the time. Whoa! That’s pretty powerful if you’re having them just walking into the room.”
“So what was it about?” asked Persephone.
Nori shivered and rubbed the goosebumps popping out on her arms. “It was spooky, and cold…it was nighttime. The moon was out…and—and that’s it!”
Chase squinted at her. “Are you sure?”
Nodding, she pushed herself to her feet. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember any more. Um…I think I better go home now.” She darted from the room and down the hall.
“Wait!” called Chase, leaping up and running after her. “You’re going the wrong way!”
“And, besides, you need our help to get home,” called Andy as he and Persephone dashed out behind Chase.
Nori stopped and turned. Crossing her arms tightly across her chest as if to protect herself from something, she said, “I need to go see how my mom is doing. I’ll come back tomorrow, okay?”
Chase Tinker and the House of Secrets Page 17