"Yeah," said Andy, smiling slyly at Chase. "You wouldn't want it to know about you kissing Persephone."
"I have not been kissing Persephone," he growled back.
"But you wish you were."
"Just because you'd rather kiss a bug."
Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, Janie passed her hand across the Relic again. "So, Relic, where and when was the Shard of Magic broken off? We need the precise time and location."
"Wait," said Chase. "Maybe we should find out where those bandit dudes attacked Jedadiah and somehow stop—"
"Shush," she said, waving her hand at him. "It's talking."
"Jedadiah Tinker was on the outskirts of northern Florence, Italy when he was attacked and the damage to this Relic occurred."
They listened closely as the Relic told them what they needed to know to travel back in time to find their ancestor.
"Relic, what do we do and say to make the Time-Travel Room work?" asked Janie.
"That is for the Keeper of the House to know," said the Relic.
"Crap!" she said as she tapped her lips with her finger and stared at the wall. "Relic, what if someone needs to travel back in time and fix a terrible wrong?"
"It is unwise to tamper with time."
She sighed. "I should've known it wouldn't be that easy."
"Uh, are you guys sure we should do this?" asked Andy, with a worried frown. "It sounds like we could really screw things up. And what if Grandfather finds out? We'll be in huge trouble."
Janie twisted her robe sash around and around her fingers. "I know, Andy. And we don't want to come back and find the house gone because we caused Jedadiah to lose not only a piece, but the whole relic. Or maybe if that happened, we'd be stuck in the past for the rest of our lives. I know none of us wants that." She looked at Chase. "What do you think we should do?"
He stared at the Relic's smooth, blank surface. "You two do what you want," he said, "but I'm going. Somehow, I'll find out whatever magic I need to know to make that room work. Then I'll do what I'm supposed to do, and come straight back. I have to stop that piece from breaking off!"
"What? You still plan to go? Even with all the dire warnings?" Janie twisted and twirled her sash again before heaving a deep sigh. "I guess we can't let you go by yourself. Andy?"
Andy gazed at the ceiling as Chase and Janie stared at him. "Okay, okay. You can count on me too," he mumbled.
"So we're all in," said Janie. "But what's the point? We still don't know the secrets of the Time-Travel Room."
"What can we do about that?" asked Andy, petting Maxwell, who had curled up in his lap. "The Relic doesn't want to tell us, and I don't want to mess around and end up someplace being eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex."
"Me neither," said Chase, looking at the Relic in annoyance.
"Then you better hope you have one of your helpful premonitions, Chase," said Janie as she stood and headed for the door, "because it looks like finding the key to time-traveling is going to be a heck of a lot more difficult than figuring out how to shoot spaghetti out of your nose."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Parties, Presents and Plants
When Chase made it down for breakfast the next day, everyone was gone. He glanced at the clock. It was two minutes until noon. Maybe I missed breakfast, but it might've been nice if someone would've at least waited for me, he thought huffily as he side-stepped the broom, which was busily sweeping a pile of dust into the dustpan creeping along the floor.
"Where the heck are they?" he asked out loud, snatching a banana, peeling it and gobbling it down. "Doesn't anyone remember it's my birthday?"
He searched the kitchen and dining room, but didn't find a cake or any gifts. Wandering down the hall, he peeked into Grandfather's study. It was quieter than a library in there. He slipped through a hidden doorway, dodged past the singing plants (who were crooning "For he's a Jolly Good Fellow"), sprinted up a staircase and cut through a room where, for some crazy reason, he had the uncontrollable urge to dance.
Before he knew it, he was waltzing gracefully around the room as music filled the air and a mirror ball flashed from the ceiling. "Yikes!" he yelled as the song changed to a faster one and, without missing a beat, he found himself shaking his hips, waving his arms, spinning, shimmying and twisting across the smooth dance floor. The music changed again and he began tangoing with a coolness he didn't even know he possessed, a red rose stem clamped between his teeth. With one last spin, he moon-walked from the room.
Chase spit out the prickly flower and flopped to the floor. What a weird power! Thank goodness no one else had been here to see him wiggling around like a fool. He glanced back at the now silent and darkened room. He definitely had to bring Andy and Persephone here to show-off their crazy dancing.
Climbing to his feet, Chase headed down another hallway, while glancing into open doorways as he went along. Just as he wondered whether he would have to search the whole house to find someone, which would most likely take the rest of the summer, he saw Maxwell scampering in front of him. He took off after the speedy animal.
Zooming down more hallways and up three flights of stairs, Maxwell bounded through an arched doorway, followed a little later by a much slower Chase. He paused on the threshold, gasping for breath, and gazed around the large room.
Decorated like a café, it had a long soda bar along one wall. White chairs and tables with red and white striped umbrellas were strewn across the red-tiled floor. Two of the walls had booths with people dining painted across them; the fourth wall looked like a huge window showing a street scene with cars and pedestrians passing by. The room was empty of any real people.
"Okay, Maxwell, where the heck did you go?" He peered under several tables, but didn't spot the animal's hiding place. "Oh, forget it," he said sullenly. "Find your own way back." He turned to leave just as a loud "SURPRISE!" filled the room and everyone popped up in front of him at once. Balloons rained from the ceiling and flashing lights zipped through the air, like glittering fireflies.
"Where did you guys come from?" Chase asked as he watched the juke box dance by, playing a rock-and-roll song.
"This is the Chameleon Room!" explained Janie, excitement filling her voice. "Isn't it awesome? You can blend in with whatever décor is behind you."
"Hey, Chase!" called Andy from the soda bar where he was now perched on a tall red stool. "Look!" He pointed to the wall behind the bar. A huge, green, neon sign flashed:
"HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY CHASE!"
Chase grinned and batted at the floating balloons. "I thought you guys forgot about me."
"I'd never forget your birthday," said his mom from behind the bar. "Here's Miranda with your cake and we've made cheeseburgers and fries, so dig in!"
"Happy Birthday, Chase," said Grandfather, slapping Chase on the back as they walked toward the bar. "Ah, to be young and carefree again. I remember my 13th birthday as if it were yesterday. Thomas and I share the same birthday, you know. He was one year younger. That evening, for our birthdays, he teleported the two of us to Paris for a celebratory meal—in a quite expensive restaurant, mind you. The food was superb. Afterward, he disappeared to frolic around the city and forgot about me. While he went off to gallivant, I spent the rest of our birthday washing dishes and scrubbing floors to pay for our meals." Grandfather chuckled. "It took me quite some time to forgive him for that one. Thomas was a rascal."
Grinning, Chase took a plate and began loading it with a burger and fries. "It sounds like he did a lot of teleporting too. By the way, Grandfather, what was your one power before you became Keeper of the House?"
"I never told you? It was shielding."
"How can your study be the Shielding Room if you're alive?"
"It was your Great-Great-Great-Great Uncle Virgil's power too," said Grandfather, filling his own plate. "Through the years powers have repeated themselves. After all, the world has only so many magical abilities to go around."
"I hadn't thought about it," s
aid Chase, heaping pickles and tomatoes on his burger, "but it makes sense. Is there a Telekinesis Room?"
"No, you children, and Clair and Benjamin, have been the only ones with your powers, so far," said Grandfather.
"Does a repeated power make a new room or become part of the old one?"
"Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. If it joins with an established room, it makes the room even more powerful."
Grabbing their drinks, they joined Andy at a table next to Persephone, Janie and Clair.
"It's a good thing you followed Maxwell, Chase," said Aunt Clair, shooing away the lights zipping around their table.
"Yeah," said Janie as she slipped the ferret a bite of tomato. "Or one of us would've had to go find you and that might've ruined the surprise."
"Were you surprised?" asked Andy. He grinned, ketchup smeared across his chin. "I promised Mom I wouldn't give it away."
Chase reached into his drink and plucked out the blue twinkling light swimming in it. "Good job, shrimp. I didn't have a clue," he said, flicking it away.
Persephone leaned over and kissed Chase on the cheek. "Happy Birthday, Chase," she said sweetly.
He blushed several shades of red and smiled goofily, almost falling off his chair. "Gee, thanks, Persephone." Turning away, he glanced down at his food and silently yelled at himself. Man, what a dork I am! 'Gee, thanks, Persephone', how lame is that?
After lunch, Anne lit the candles on the cake and they sang "Happy Birthday", loudly and off-key.
"Okay, blow out your candles, and don't forget to make a wish," said Anne. "Remember, don't tell us what it is, or it won't come true."
Chase immediately wished for a way to somehow defeat their Dark Enemy, and a little side-wish for Persephone to maybe like him some day. He took a deep breath and blew out every single candle.
Andy was practically bouncing out of his seat all through cake and ice cream. "Open my present first!" he shouted when Chase finished his last bite.
"Okay, okay! Hand it over." He ripped open Andy's sloppily wrapped package. Inside, he found a pair of sunglasses. "Yes! Thanks, Andy. I wanted a pair of these."
"Put them on!" said Andy. "Say 'Now I see it' and you'll see what happens."
Chase slipped on the glasses. "Now I see it," he said, and found himself staring through the wall and into the next room. "Wow! I can see through the wall." He gazed around the room. "And that wall. And the soda bar, and the table."
"Wait a minute," said Janie, narrowing her eyes, "if you can see through the walls, maybe you can see through clothing too."
He gave her a teasing smile. "Hmm, blue underwear?"
"They're pink. Ha! So you can't," she said smartly. Then she blushed, realizing what she'd shared with the group, who were all smiling at her. "Oh, for heaven's sake! You are not funny, Chase." She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at him.
"So how do I make it stop?" he asked.
"You say 'Now I don't'," said Andy. "Aren't they cool? Grandfather helped me. I said I wanted them enchanted like my hat, but with something different."
"Yeah. Great idea, Andy."
The next gifts were a reversible beanie from Persephone, one side black and the other red (he slipped it on right away), a new watch from Janie and Aunt Clair, a purple bow-tie and matching socks from Grandfather, and a virtual reality snowboard game from his mom.
"Wow, Mom, this is fantastic!" he said, staring happily at the box.
"All right!" exclaimed Andy. "Now you can learn to snowboard without breaking any bones."
All in all, it was a pretty awesome party, thought Chase, as he and the other kids lounged on the beach two hours later. Delicious food, excellent gifts, fun family and friends. And a kiss from Persephone. He'd been beaming all afternoon.
"I can't believe you guys went to the attic without me," complained Persephone, breaking into his reverie. "I thought we were all for one and one for all."
Janie had just finished telling her how they'd been able to enter the attic without ghastly things happening, and everything they had learned from the Relic.
"They went without me too," said Andy glumly, throwing a rock into the water. "I had to go searching for them. In the dark. It was scary."
"We're sorry, guys. It was a spur of the moment decision," said Chase. He propped his arm on his bent knee and tried to look as cool as possible in his new shades. "You'll be going with us when we travel back in time. That is, if you want."
"And when will that be?" asked Persephone.
"We're hoping Chase has a premonition dream of him finding out the room's clues somehow, or maybe Andy. He is in the same room after all," said Janie, rolling to tan her back.
"That's right," said Andy, his eyes brightening. "Maybe I'll have the premonition this time."
"But I've been having them, not you," said Chase, "and I don't see any reason for me to stop."
"Have you guys gone into the room to look for the clues?" asked Persephone.
"The Relic was so secretive," said Janie, her voice muffled by her beach towel, "I doubt they're even there."
"We could still check it out," said Persephone. "Let's go now."
Chase shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."
They jumped to their feet. "Maybe we won't have to wait for a premonition!" said Andy.
On the way to the greenhouse, Chase thought of something he hadn't given a thought to before that day. He pulled his sunglasses from his pocket. "Hey, Janie, if Grandfather can enchant different things with magic, why didn't he enchant something for your mom to teleport her and my dad back here after she found him?"
"You know, I've thought about that myself," she said. "My theory is, because she wanted to be captured, she didn't want to have any extra Tinker magic for the Dark Enemy to steal and use against us."
Chase sighed as he slipped his glasses back into his pocket. "Yeah, that makes sense. We don't need them to be any more powerful than they already are. But if she could've, maybe my dad would be here too."
She patted his shoulder. "Hopefully our time-traveling trip will fix everything."
Five minutes later, the four kids pushed open the room's double doors and gazed into the Time-Travel Room. Rainbow-striped flowers the size of beach balls had bloomed along the far wall. Their bright petals cast shimmering reflections on everything.
"How do we stop the cuddleupus from attacking us?" asked Chase. At the moment, its long tendrils were sprawled on the floor, but a loud noise was coming from the huge stem.
"Is it—snoring?" asked Andy.
"I think so," whispered Chase. "Maybe we can sneak in and take a look without waking it up. Janie, you and Andy go that way." He pointed to the left. "Persephone and I will go this way."
They tip-toed into the room and crept along the one wall that wasn't made of glass. Even the high, sloped ceiling had long skylights between each beam.
"Piece of cake," murmured Chase, sneaking glances at the snoozing plant.
"I don't see any clues," whispered Persephone as she ran her hands along the wall's smooth rainbowy surface.
"Come on," he whispered back, "let's check between the windows."
They were sneaking past a tall plant with red, heart-shaped leaves when one of its long vines slithered out and tripped Persephone. She fell against Chase, who crashed into a big, blue bush. The leaves began jingling like a thousand tiny bells all ringing at once.
"Isn't there at least one normal plant in this place?" said Chase. He glanced over his shoulder at the now wriggling cuddleupus. ""Uh-oh. We better get outta here!"
They tried to dart away, but the plant was too quick for them. It yanked them across the floor and swung them into the air, as if they were as light as feathers. Scrunched back-to-back, the two kids kicked and struggled.
"Let—us—go!" screamed Persephone, pounding her fists on the fat tendril.
Chase saw Andy and Janie huddled in a corner on the far side of the room. "Run, Andy!" he yelled "Hurry! Don't let it get you!"
Andy sprinted for the door, but halfway there, he was wrapped in one of the tendrils and twirled around until he was tight against the thick stem. Two seconds later, Chase and Persephone were tossed to the floor.
Janie ran to help them to their feet. "Are you guys okay?"
Persephone rubbed her elbow and nodded. "So why'd it let us go?"
"Because it likes Andy," answered Chase, as he watched the plant rock Andy back and forth as if he were a newborn baby. It even hummed some sort of love song in between high-pitched, girlish giggles.
"Get me out of here!" yelled Andy. He twitched his arms and legs as the plant stroked his face and tickled him under the chin. "I'm suffotating!"
"That's suffocating," said Janie.
"Whatever! I don't care! Just hurry up! I'm not having fun, you guys." The cuddleupus was now making loud kissy noises. "Gross! Help!" hollered Andy, even louder this time.
Chase grinned. "I don't know. We wouldn't want to interrupt you and your new girlfriend."
"Chase! I'm gonna kill you!"
"Ha! Like I'm afraid of you."
"I'll tell Mom!"
"On second thought," Chase said, gesturing to the girls, "let's save lover boy."
They crept forward and tickled the love-struck plant. At last, it sighed and relaxed its hold. Andy rolled down its long tendrils like a plump sausage link. As soon as he hit the floor, he scrambled away on his hands and knees with the other kids following close behind him.
"That's the craziest plant I've ever seen!" said Andy from the safety of the hallway.
"But you two make such a lovely couple," teased Persephone.
"Yeah," said Chase. "You and Miss Cuddleupus can get married and have little baby Tinkerupuses."
"You guys aren't funny!" Andy snapped.
"That's okay," said Chase, "because—thanks to you, Andy—we now have a secret weapon to use against that monster." He wandered down the hall, thinking out loud. "We can use its crazy love for you to help us when we discover the room's magical words; if I ever have a premonition of me finding them out, that is."
Chase Tinker & The House of Magic Page 15