Chase Tinker & The House of Magic

by Malia Ann Haberman

  "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?"

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Relic in the Attic

  Chase woke up two minutes after midnight on July 8th. 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 p
ossible 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."

  "They can steal free will?" squeaked Janie.

  Chase rubbed his sweaty palms on his pajama pants as an unpleasant prickling sensation spread all the way down to his toes. "Relic, what would happen to the house if you were taken from it, or—or destroyed?"

  "If the Tinkers fail to keep safe what they are destined to protect, this house would die and all Tinker magic in it would then be lost forever."

  "What about our powers?"

  "Your powers would be lost forever as well."

  "And—and what if the Dark Enemy had control of you and the house?"

  "Their dark magic would strengthen and increase until they had the ability to control every fragment of free will, magic and goodness in the world."

  "But what can we do to stop them?" asked Chase, desperation in his voice.

  "The lost Shard of Magic is the key."

  He flopped back and gazed at the thick beams stretching across the ceiling. He felt dazed, and queasy, and he had a funny ringing in his ears. It sounded like the object they had to protect was much more powerful and terrifying than he ever could have imagined. And if the bad guys were in charge, the whole world was in huge trouble.

  Would it be better to just destroy the Relic so it would never fall into the wrong hands? No. He didn't want to even think about that. Now that he'd discovered that magic was the coolest thing since—well, since magic, he sure as heck didn't want to lose it forever; especially because of some selfish, disgusting creeps.

  Janie shivered and her face was pale as she watched her cousin.

  "It sounds kind of hopeless, doesn't it?" she whispered.

  "Yeah it does," said Chase, shutting his eyes as he let the relaxing warmth of the floor seep into him. "If they get their hands on the Relic, we're finished. Argh! If only there was a way…if only..."

  Wait! He had an idea! It was risky, but if it worked it would mean everyone, and the Relic, would be safe.

  "We need to travel back in time and stop the Relic from being damaged. That way, there won't be a Shard of Magic for those creeps to find."

  "Travel back in time!" exclaimed Janie. "Something dreadful might happen."

  "Something dreadful is happening already," he answered, sitting up again, feeling a little better now that he had some sort of plan. "You heard it. The Shard is the key to stopping them. So, we'll need to read up on the time period, get some costumes, learn how to get to the time we want, and most important, how to get back home."

  Janie twisted her fingers together. "I don't think that's a good idea at all. When Grandfather showed me the Time-Travel Room he told me traveling through time can be tricky and changing the past can have some very serious consequences for the future. Which is the present for us. I think. It's way too confusing!"

  "And," said Chase, his face lighting up, "if we save the Relic, the Dark Enemy won't even exist and then my dad will never have been kidnapped! I say it's worth a shot."

  "Didn't you hear anything I said? Besides, if it were that easy, don't you think someone else would've thought of it and tried it before this?"

  Chase shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Or maybe they weren't as desperate to fix things as we are."

  "But—"

  They whipped around as a scratching noise came from the closed attic door. It swung open.

  "Ch—Chase? Are you in there?"

  "Whew!" said Janie. "It's only Andy."

  Andy shuffled into the attic, his hair tousled and his robe on inside out. "I woke up and you were gone. I was worried you were kidnapped!"

  "We're in here listening to some stuff. You scared the daylights out of us," said Chase, hoping the slight shake in his voice wasn't noticeable.

  Andy plopped down between them. "Did you find out anything good? Chase, you promised to tell me how you knew what door to knock on."

  They took a few minutes to fill Andy in on Chase's premonitions and what the Relic had told them.

  "They take away people's free will?" said Andy. "What does that mean? Do they bec
ome like zombies or something?"

  "Maybe," said Janie. "After all, free will is where you can decide for yourself how to live your life and if it was taken away, you would spend your time waiting for someone else to tell you what to do."

  "I don't want that to happen to us," said Andy.

  "Neither do we, shrimp," Chase answered grimly.

  They sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

  "So, Chase," said Andy, after a few moments, "how did you know you were having a premonition dream?"

  "At first I wasn't sure, but now it's usually pretty easy to tell the difference," he said. "They're a lot more real than your regular dreams."

  "You know," said Janie, "if we're going to be time-traveling—"

  "You mean you're in?" asked Chase, leaning forward eagerly.

  "You know, you're probably going to do it anyway, so I might as well help," said Janie, shrugging one shoulder. "As I was saying, we need to ask the Relic the exact time and place to go back to. We don't want to be lost in time or wandering around searching for Jedadiah."

  "And we need to ask it about our dad," said Andy.

  "Good idea, Andy!" exclaimed Chase. "Why didn't I think of that? Relic, where is Benjamin Tinker?"

  "Benjamin Tinker is the next Keeper of the House," said the Relic.

  "I know," said Chase impatiently. "But where is he?"

  "Benjamin Tinker is the next Keeper of the House."

  "Yes, but, how do we find him?"

  "Benjamin Tinker is the next Keeper of the House."

  "We know!" yelled Andy, looking as though he wanted to bounce the Relic across the floor. "Chase, why does it keep saying that?"

  "I don't know," said Chase, shaking his head.

  "At least it means your dad is alive somewhere," said Janie. "If he was dead, wouldn't it say Chase was the next Keeper?"

  "Yeah, that makes sense." Chase was ready to grasp at anything to help ease his mind. "Shouldn't it have some idea where he is, though?"

  "It records the history of the house, helps take care of it, controls and keeps track of the magical powers, and knows the dangers to it so we can help keep it safe," she said, ticking the abilities off on her fingers. "That doesn't mean the Relic keeps track of our every move. After all, your dad has been away from the house for over eighteen years."