Surprised by her sudden attack, Chase tried to pry her fingers apart. The tight cloth was cutting into his neck. "He's gone, Janie. Be reasonable," he choked out.
"No! He's not gone! He's part of the family. Besides, ferrets are durable so he probably swam to shore!" Janie shoved him backward.
He stumbled and fell hard against the wall. "Yeah, but even if he did, I bet he's miles from here. The stream was flowing pretty fast. He'll never find his way back, if he's alive, that is."
Janie swung her arms wildly, hitting Chase in the face and chest. "Don't you dare say that!" she shrieked. "You probably hope he is dead! You've never liked him from the beginning!”
Chase, ducking as he tried to block Janie's blows, whispered fiercely, "But I never wished him dead!"
With one last swift kick at him, she stormed across the room. Throwing herself into the corner, she sobbed into her arms.
"I never wanted him dead," he whispered again. His chest ached as he slid to the floor. He looked up at Andy and Persephone. "You believe me, don't you?"
"We know you didn't want anything bad to happen to him," said Persephone, "but maybe he'd be okay if we would've had a better plan. Or if any of you would've listened to me."
"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it already," said Chase, feeling angry all over again. "We had a great plan involving our powers, remember? But that went down the drain, didn't it?"
Andy cast worried glances first at Janie, and then Chase and Persephone. "Maybe—"
"Shut up, Andy!" growled Chase. "This is partly your fault too!"
Andy stomped across the floor and picked up the bread. He dusted it off on his pant leg, tore off a hunk and flung the rest at Chase, who caught it before it whacked him in the head.
"I only wanted to say that maybe we should sneak away and look for Maxwell after they fall asleep," he mumbled as he chewed, wincing at the pain in his swollen lip. "After all, the bandits are out there drinking a whole bunch of wine." He sighed. "I don't understand why we're fighting."
"I wish we could time-travel out of this putrid place right now," said Chase, crumbling his bread into small crumbs.
"Janie won't leave without Maxwell," said Persephone, yanking her bread apart to make a cabbage sandwich. "And we can't leave without her!"
Chase pulled off his hat and threw it across the room. "I know! We can't leave. If we can escape, we can look for Maxwell along the stream. I don't know what else to do."
They all sat lost in their own thoughts and after a while they drifted off to sleep. Chase wasn't sure what woke him a couple hours later, but the loud snoring coming from the other room told him that the bandits were finished with their celebrating. He lifted his head from the wall. The candle in the wall sconce flickered feebly, barely cutting through the darkness.
Feeling a slight weight on his leg, he glanced down and saw that Persephone was using it as her pillow, while Andy was using Persephone's shoulder as his. He glanced across the room to check on Janie. Squinting into the gloom, all he saw was a shadowy shape, but he heard her sniffling in her sleep.
Or, maybe not. Was Janie making those noises? He listened closely. It was actually a scuffling, scratching sound, but now that he was fully awake, he realized it came from the closed door.
Being as careful as possible, he slid away from Andy and Persephone and rose to his feet. Tip-toeing to the door, he pressed his ear to the rough wood. The noise was louder here. Pulling on the handle, he inched the door open. Something streaked in and zipped up his leg.
"What the heck!"
Chase twisted and stretched as he tried to grab whatever was frantically climbing his back. At last, he grasped a handful of fur and yanked the sharp claws from his shirt. As he stared into a pair of beady black eyes, he recognized the little masked face.
"Maxwell? Man, am I happy to see you," he whispered, shutting the door and leaning against it. The ferret blinked and yawned. "And I'm sure everyone else will be too."
Tucking Maxwell beneath his arm, he rushed to Janie's side. He pressed his hand to her mouth. Janie's eyes flew open. "It's me, Chase. Look who's here." Even through his hand, Janie’s cry was enough to make Chase flinch and glance at the door, hoping the bandits were heavy sleepers.
Janie grabbed Maxwell and clutched him to her chest as he merrily licked her chin.
Chase grinned at the happy reunion. "Can we go home now?" he whispered.
She nodded as she pushed herself to her feet.
"What's all the noise about?" Andy asked around a wide yawn. He and Persephone were sitting up and rubbing their eyes.
"Maxwell's here," answered Chase, hurrying over to them.
"He is?" exclaimed Andy. "How?"
"He must have followed our scent," said Chase, helping them to their feet. "Janie said he's been acting a lot smarter since living in the house."
"I'm so happy he's okay," said Persephone.
"Now that we're all together again," said Chase. "Let's get the heck out of here."
They gathered in a circle and Janie said the words that would take them home. Right before the magic whisked them away, Chase glanced over his shoulder and chuckled to himself. Too bad they wouldn't see the looks on the faces of those scummy bandits when they woke up and saw their golden geese had somehow flown the coop.
"Here we go again," said Andy as the room and the world started spinning, forward this time. Chase shut his eyes and clung to Janie's and Andy's hands.
No one was happier than Chase when they finally popped back into their own time, and back into their regular clothes. He looked at his watch. 11:34. Almost exactly on time.
"I have to say I'm not sad to be out of there!" said Persephone grumpily.
"Run, you guys!" yelled Andy when he felt tickling on the back of his neck.
They made a mad dash for the doors, scrambling over each other to escape the snuggle-crazy plant.
"Some things never change," said Andy as he picked himself up off the hallway floor. He touched his sore lip. "Now I have to go put ice on my wound."
"At least we didn't screw up everything," said Chase as he looked up and down the hall. "Our house is still here, looking the same. We need to go check the Relic."
"You guys go ahead," mumbled Janie, staring at the floor and clutching Maxwell to her chest. "You can tell me about it later." She turned and wandered away.
Chase, feeling slightly sick, watched Janie until she was out of sight. Would things ever be the same between them? He still felt the hate and coldness that had flashed from her eyes when she'd been screaming at him and beating him to a pulp.
He turned to say something to Persephone, but she was already striding off in the other direction. "Wait! Persephone, don't you want to go to the attic?"
She stopped. "I don't know," she said. Chase flinched at the wintery chill in her voice. "I'm…tired." She crossed her arms and stared at the wall. "All right! I suppose I am curious."
"Andy?"
"I guess," he answered. "But don't tell me to shut up if I want to say something!"
Grandfather, Aunt Clair and Mrs. Periwinkle were nowhere to be found, so they hiked up the stairs and Chase conjured the door. He paused with his hand on the knob. "What do we do if it's still broken off?"
"Just open the door, Chase, and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," said Persephone impatiently.
Pushing the door open, Chase half-expected the attic to be dark like the last time, but it was as warm and glowy as ever. Closing his eyes and crossing his fingers, he made a quick wish that their quest had been successful.
They circled to the back of the Relic with its jagged protrusions. Like one big, deflating hot-air balloon, Chase and Andy dropped to the floor.
"It's gone!" whispered Andy as he stared at the spot where the Shard should have been. "I can't believe it. All that, and it's still gone."
"It was all for nothing," said Chase, his voice filled with bitterness.
"When did it break off?" wondered Andy. "Quick, Chase,
let's ask the Relic what happened. We have to try to fix it again."
For one brief moment, Chase's eyes flashed brighter than one of Grandfather's magical fireworks. "Yeah!" His shoulders slumped. "No. We can't chance traveling there again. With our luck, we'll mess things up even more." He was completely disgusted with the whole thing. "I don't want to know when it broke off, either. It would only make things even more depressing."
Persephone gave a huge sigh. "You know, sometimes things are just meant to be and they can't be changed, no matter how hard you try."
"What do we do now?" asked Andy.
"We'll have to find another way to stop them," answered Chase. He had a bad feeling this was going to be a heck of a lot easier said than done.
"Okay. Since we've seen that our grand adventure was a great big bust," said Persephone, edging toward the door. "I need to go." Before Chase could say anything to stop her, she was gone.
"Can we get some pizza now, Chase. Huh?"
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Telling Time
"Chase, would you please come to my study?" asked Grandfather. "I need to speak with you and Andy."
Chase's stomach did a wild back flip. Oh, crap! Did Grandfather know about their time-travel trip? Or maybe he found out about them breaking into the attic? Was it possible he knew Chase had tried to pick the lock of the forbidden room? Chase searched his mind for some good excuses, and came up with absolutely nothing.
Andy was already seated in front of Grandfather's desk when Chase dragged himself into the study. This must be what it feels like to be brought in front of a firing squad, he thought as he hauled over another chair and dropped onto it. He sent Andy a questioning look, but Andy just stuck his nose in the air and acted like his brother was invisible. Chase shook his head and stared at his tapping foot.
Grandfather circled the desk and sank into his chair. "So, have you two been enjoying your summer here?" he asked, placing his folded hands on the desk top.
"It's been great!" said Chase.
"Yeah!" said Andy.
"Excellent," said Grandfather. "Your enthusiasm warms me. You boys have had a lot of new information and experiences thrown at you and I wanted to let you know that I'm proud of you. Andy, I know in the beginning you didn't like having a magical power, but you've come around splendidly. And, Chase, you have shown strength and courage in several frightening situations."
Chase ducked his head as guilt raced through him. "Thanks, Grandfather," he mumbled.
Grandfather leaned back in his chair. "I wish Benjamin had been as eager to learn as you boys have been. Maybe things would be different." He paused and gazed across the room as if gathering his many thoughts. "I've come to a decision. I believed I would be protecting you by keeping some important matters from you. I find I have been remiss. I was too busy thinking like an old man; thinking you were too young to know these truths concerning the life you were born into." He took a deep breath. "But in our world ignorance cannot be bliss. Not when it involves magic and evil."
Chase's head jerked up. Was Grandfather about to tell them things they had discovered on their own? Or was there even more they needed to know?
"Wait. Where's Janie? Shouldn't she hear this too?"
"Janie's not feeling well," said Grandfather. "I'll talk with her later."
Chase felt the sick rolling feeling in his stomach again. He had to go see her and try to fix things between them. He wasn't speaking to Persephone either and it looked like Andy was still mad at him too.
Grandfather narrowed his eyes. "Did something happen between you three, or four, I should say?"
"Uh, no. Maybe. Sort of," mumbled Chase. "It's a long story."
"All right," said Grandfather, giving them each a piercing look, making Chase feel as if he'd been x-rayed.
"I know you both know about the missing piece from our Relic," said Grandfather after a few seconds of tense silence. "What you don't know is that it was found by some beings who through the years, and centuries, have been determined to destroy us and steal the Relic—dark beings who won't stop until they control every bit of magic in the world. We call these beings our Dark Enemy. They are also known as the Marlowes."
He took another deep breath and let it out slowly. "This Shard doesn't have the magic our Relic does, but it's still very powerful. And they are making it more powerful by taking the magic of other magical beings. This is giving them more power and strength than they have ever had."
"How do you steal magic?" asked Andy. "Are they, like, sucking it out of them?"
Grandfather nodded. "I don't want to go into the gruesome details, but I will say that I believe they found Benjamin by using the Shard of Magic."
At the mention of his dad's name Chase sat up straighter. "What do you mean?"
"Because our powers are linked to the Relic," answered Grandfather, "this Shard, as it gets more powerful, is able to sense Tinker magic. My hypothesis is they came to America and were shrewd enough to find your father. I believe this is how they found Clair as well."
"Did they steal Dad's power?" asked Andy.
"I have no idea. I am sure they wanted to...persuade him somehow to tell them the secrets of the house."
Chase sat forward and stared into Grandfather's eyes. "And did they?" Please don't say they tortured him, he thought, holding his breath. At least, not in front of Andy.
Grandfather nodded, as if he understood Chase's silent message. "That I don't know either. He was there for a long time, however."
Chase let his breath out and slumped back in his chair.
"I believe it's the Marlowes who have been pursuing you and breaking into the house," said Grandfather. He removed his glasses and polished them on his handkerchief. "The Shard must have led them here."
Chase started to ask a question he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to. "If that piece had never broken..."
"Magic, both good and dark, is extremely ancient," said Grandfather. "But before they found the Shard, the Marlowes were nothing more than a well-to-do family. Perhaps they were a bit corrupt and underhanded, but they weren't evil, or magical."
The significance of these words swept through Chase, along with the frustration of their failed time-travel trip. Just as the Relic had created good magic in the Tinkers, the Shard had created dark in the Marlowes.
Grandfather picked up a six-inch replica of the Space Needle from a desk corner and moved it to another. "I hate to imagine what the world would be like if the whole Relic fell into the hands of such evil as they have become. This is why we need to stick together more than ever; to protect what belongs to us. Now that they are becoming bolder in their endeavors, we must be more vigilant in ours."
He looked deeply into Chase's eyes and then into Andy's. "I don't want you two to be afraid, and I want you to understand I'm doing everything in my power to keep us safe." He stood and moved to the front of the desk. "You boys are free to go. But remember, if you need to discuss anything, I'm here," he said firmly, looking particularly at Chase. "Tomorrow I'm taking a trip to Chicago to get your cousin, James, and bring him for a visit. It should be fun for all of you to have another young person in the house."
With Grandfather's words whirling through their minds, Chase and Andy got to their feet and wandered from the room.
"I wonder if Janie knows about James," said Andy, heading toward the staircase. "I'll go tell her."
"No, that's okay, you don't need to," said Chase, catching his arm. "I'll go. I have to talk to her anyway."
Andy jerked away. "Fine! Go ahead. You always have to be in charge anyway!" he snapped. "Maybe I'll go ask Grandfather if I can change rooms. I don't want to steal anymore of your precious premonitions."
"Andy, I'm—" Andy was already running down the hall.
Chase stared after him. Man! He so didn't need this right now! He stomped off in the other direction. A few minutes later, he took a deep breath and knocked on Janie's door. He listened for a moment, but didn't hear anyth
ing from inside. Putting his head close to the door, he called, "Janie? It's me, Chase. Let me in so we can talk."
He knocked again, and still no answer. Shoulders drooping, he backed against the wall and slid to the floor. He stared at the closed door. Either she was sleeping, or ignoring everyone. Or maybe she was ignoring only him.
He brushed his hands through his hair. The words "very serious consequences" kept running though his mind. If it had been only his choice, would he have left Maxwell behind? Would he have been that heartless? He'd never know for sure, but he hoped it wouldn't have been the case. He wondered if Janie knew their mission to save the Relic had failed miserably. At this point, he didn't know if it would matter to her or not.
As he sat there, Chase went over everything Grandfather had told them, especially the part about the broken piece of Relic being the true source of the Marlowes' powers. The thought of having any sort of connection to those creeps made his skin crawl. But the one thing Grandfather hadn't mentioned was how they'd learned to steal people's free will. As usual, he was probably leaving stuff out so he wouldn't scare his grandkids even more. No wonder he looked as if he had the weight of the magical world on his shoulders. Chase was beginning to feel the same way.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. If I somehow did get the Shard of Magic back, would the Marlowes then become good? Is there hope for that? Or, is it way too late?
Sighing, he pushed himself to his feet. As he took one last look at Janie's door, it began to fade, until it vanished. Great! The whole room had the ability to become invisible too. I guess it's her way of saying get lost, he thought grumpily. Sticking his hands into his pockets, Chase turned and wandered down the hall.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Cousins
James arrived the next evening and Chase and Andy had their first look at another cousin they hadn't known existed until that summer.
The fifteen-year-old wasn't what Chase had expected from someone who was Janie’s brother. His shaggy hair was the color of gold and his eyes were blue. He was dressed in faded, torn jeans and a black t-shirt with a rock band pictured on the front, and he was stocky instead of skinny like Chase and Andy. And even though he was two years older, James wasn't much taller than Chase.
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