James was friendly and polite as Grandfather introduced them. "Nice to meet you, Chase, Andy," he said. "What about that teleporting, huh?"
Chase grinned. "Yeah, it's an amazing way to travel."
"Boys," said Grandfather, "will you please show James to his room? He's in the green room next to Janie's. And could you come to the kitchen when you're finished?"
"Sure, Grandfather," Chase said, gesturing to James to follow. "It's this way. It can be confusing until you learn your way around. Andy and I were lost a lot when we first got here."
As James reached for his suitcase, Chase noticed a picture of a running leopard tattooed down his left forearm.
"Cool tattoo," he said as they headed up the closest staircase.
James shrugged. "All my friends in Chicago have them."
"Yeah, I have a couple older friends in New York with them too," said Chase. "My mom would kill me if I got one."
"A mama's boy, huh?" murmured James.
"What?" said Chase, wondering if he'd heard right.
James paused to check out a tall vase streaked with gold and silver. "Oh, nothing."
"So I wonder what power your room is," said Andy. "Ours is the Premonition Room." He glanced at Chase, who just nodded. He'd had a feeling Andy didn't really want to change rooms.
"What do you mean?" asked James, running his hand along the smooth banister.
"Each room has its own special power," explained Chase. "I'm sure Grandfather will fill you in the way he did for us."
"Wait, I remember. He rambled on about something," said James, curling up his lip. "The Keeper of the House, blah, blah, blah. I lost interest around the time I heard the chances of me ever becoming the head dude in this lifetime were slim to nothin'."
"It's fun learning the magical rooms, though," said Andy. "And Janie helps us a lot."
"That's right, Janie's here too," said James. "Why isn't she part of the welcoming committee?"
"I don't know," answered Chase as they ducked through a hidden doorway and climbed another staircase before reaching James's bedroom.
"Here you go," said Andy, stopping in front of an open door.
As with most of the bedrooms, James's had a huge four-poster bed and its own old-fashioned bathroom. He swaggered in and dropped his bag on the bed. "Nice digs. The old man must be loaded."
"Yeah, I guess," said Chase. He crossed his arms and leaned on the door jamb. "I never gave it much thought."
Andy wandered into the room and studied the wallpaper. "I'm not sure what power your room is. This picture looks like some flat, shadowy guy."
"Don't worry about it," said James. "I'm sure Janie can help me out."
"What's your power, James?" asked Andy, turning away from the wall.
"Well, kid—" he said, "—it's this!"
Before Chase or Andy could even blink, James's arm stretched across the room, bashed Andy in the stomach and rammed him into the wall.
"What're you doing?" yelled Chase, running to his brother. "You might've hurt him!"
"Sorry, four-eyes," said James. He pulled his arm back to his side. "Guess I don't have the hang of all the stretchiness yet."
Chase helped Andy to his feet as he clutched his stomach. "You should've just said what it was," gasped Andy.
"I said I was sorry," said James. "Don't be a whiner."
Chase stared at the other boy's sneering face. "Okay. Then how 'bout this." In the next moment, he whipped James's feet out from under him, flipped him upside down, and dangled him in the air.
"What the hell?" yelled James, flapping his arms wildly. "Put me down!"
Chase shrugged. "Whatever you say."
He whirled James in a sweeping somersault before dropping him to the floor in a heap.
"Owowowow!"
"Oh, man, sorry, dude," said Chase insincerely. "Guess I don't have the hang of all the floatiness yet."
With his face glowing purple, James avoided Chase's gaze and pushed himself to his feet.
"Come on, we better get going," said Chase, walking to the door. "Grandfather asked us to go to the kitchen. That is, if you want to, James."
"Sure, I could use some food," answered James as he straightened his hair and clothing, pretending like he hadn't spent the last few moments hanging upside down. "Lead the way."
All the way to the kitchen, Andy snuck nervous glances at James, who sauntered behind with his hands in his pockets, minding his manners. He didn't even complain when Chase led them down the slithering S-shaped staircase and through the magical hallway where they had to walk on the ceiling.
When the three boys pushed open the kitchen door, they were greeted by the aroma of barbecued chicken and a welcoming cheer.
"James! It's great to see you," said Clair, giving him a quick hug.
"It's good to see you too, Mom," said James. "Hey, Janie," he added, ruffling his sister's hair. "You're getting to be pretty darn tall."
She grinned. "I'm so happy you're here at last."
"Me too. Mm, what smells so good?"
"Our delicious welcoming dinner for you," said Grandfather. "The ladies have been working on it the entire afternoon. By the way, this is Mrs. Periwinkle, our excellent chef and housekeeper, and her lovely daughter, Persephone."
Mrs. Periwinkle smiled, and Persephone waved as she took plates from the cupboard.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," said James, with a charming smile. "If the food tastes as good as it smells, your cooking must be out of this world."
Chase's and Andy's eyebrows shot up as they exchanged glances. Wow, thought Chase, he's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
"It's all ready," said Mrs. Periwinkle, gesturing at the platters of food on the counter. "Grab a plate and take as much as you want. It's such a beautiful evening we're having dinner on the deck."
As they ate barbecued chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli and biscuits, and enjoyed the cooling breeze, Chase snuck peeks at Janie, trying to catch her eye, but she talked with everyone but him. Once in a while, Maxwell's head bobbed up from her lap and nabbed bites of chicken from her hand. Frustration burned inside him. He had the urge to fling a blob of potatoes at her head.
He would've liked to lob some broccoli with a little cheese sauce at James and Persephone too. They were sitting close together, talking and laughing. He wanted to jump up and yell at Persephone that Janie's brother was nothing but a big jerk; that his niceness was all an act. And yet, who would believe the friendly boy was the same person who'd punched Andy? And, of course, Persephone would probably yell at him for charging in where he wasn't wanted.
As if feeling Chase's eyes boring into him, James glanced down the table. He winked and raised his drink in a mocking toast then took a sip and turned back to Persephone. Chase scrunched his eyebrows into a dark scowl and slouched deeper into the shadow cast by the table umbrella. His eyes moved to Andy, who stared at James in disgust.
"Knock, knock," said Doctor Dan's voice from across the deck.
Terrific, thought Chase, rolling his eyes, another jerk to spoil the evening. He'd been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn't heard the doctor's car pulling up.
"Sorry for the intrusion, folks," said Doctor Dan, his chilly blue eyes sweeping the table and coming to rest on Chase's aunt. "I thought I'd drop by and check on Clair. Mind if I join you?"
"Of course not, Daniel," said Grandfather, smiling and waving him over. "Miranda, would you be kind enough to get the good doctor a plate of dinner? If you haven't eaten, of course."
"No, I haven't," said Dan. He flashed a wide smile at the group as he pulled a chair across the deck and squeezed in between Janie and Clair. "Thank you, Hiram."
Her face mirroring Andy's look of disgust, Janie squeezed over as far as possible to avoid touching the doctor. She glanced across the table and for a brief moment her eyes met Chase's. A look of understanding passed between them, but when she turned to James, who was asking her to pass the salt, the moment was gone.
Chase thought the
meal would never end. Not only did he have to watch James and his fake-nice act, but now he had to see Doctor Dan putting the moves on Clair. It made him sick to think they might be sharing a meal with their worst enemy. He watched the adults talking and laughing with Dan. Why didn't Grandfather sense anything suspicious in the fawning doctor? There must be a way to find out for sure if he was one of them. Staring at his plate, Chase wondered when would be the best time to escape back inside.
His chance came when Mrs. Periwinkle stood and began clearing the table. He jumped up to help.
"Thank you, Chase," said the housekeeper as he piled the dirty dishes in the sink and began rinsing them. "Your cousin James is a sweet boy."
"Yeah, everyone sure likes him," he said, wildly scrubbing the dishes. "He's great. Just great!" A real barrel of laughs.
After he was finished, Chase stomped from the kitchen thinking he might check out a few magical rooms to take his mind off his troubles. Unfortunately, while passing Grandfather's study, he bumped into James, Janie and Persephone, trailed by a sullen Andy.
Janie jerked to a stop. "Chase!" She glanced at the others. "We're, um, showing James around. Do you…want to go with us?"
He opened his mouth to say no. He wasn't in the mood for getting the cold shoulder from any of them, but James's smirking face made him change his mind. "Sure. I've nothing better to do."
"We haven't seen any rooms on the sixth floor," said Persephone. "Let's go there."
"So, Janie," said James as they hiked through the house, "you haven't asked about Dad. Don't you want to know how dear old Zane is doing?"
"Your dad's name is Zane?" Chase was unable to stop himself from breaking in, even though he wanted to act like he couldn't care less about hanging out with them. "I don't suppose he's that painter, Zane Marler?"
"The one and only," she answered.
"Your dad paints houses?" asked Andy.
"No, Andy," said Janie, rolling her eyes, "he paints on canvases. How do you know about him, Chase?"
"My art teacher at school was a big fan. She had posters of some of his paintings hanging in her classroom. Wow! His paintings are awesome! I can't believe he's your dad!"
"Yeah, the famous, golden-boy artist who prefers painting dark, meaningful masterpieces to spending time with his only daughter," she muttered.
"Why don't you tell us how you really feel, sis?" said James, with a biting tone in his voice.
"Shut it, James!" she yelled, stomping up the stairs. "I don't want to talk about Dad anymore. Oh, forget this! I'm missing my TV show." With one last glare at her brother, Janie turned and tromped back down the stairs. Maxwell hissed at James from his spot on her shoulder.
"I better see if she's okay," said Persephone, hurrying after Janie. "She hasn't been herself lately."
The three boys stood undecided on the staircase.
"You flaking out on me too?" asked James, glaring at them.
"Lead the way," said Chase, staring boldly into his eyes.
"All right, stinker!"
"Where do you get that?" asked Chase, clenching his fists.
James snickered. "Your name. Chase Tinker."
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Chase Tinker. Say it fast, Chasetinker. Stinker. Get it now?" said James, looking proud of his cleverness.
"Yeah, I get it. Real funny." Chase moved closer to Andy. "Leave it to lame-brain to think of that one," he murmured in Andy's ear.
"Just be happy he didn't punch you," Andy grumbled, rubbing his bruised stomach.
When they reached the top of the stairs, James wandered into the first room they came to.
Not sure if they wanted to trust him with any power, Chase and Andy held back. "That's okay, you can go first," said Andy, with a polite wave of his hand. "In fact, I'll just wait out here."
"Chicken," Chase muttered as he passed through the doorway.
The room was as unusual as others Chase had been in. Long mirrors hung on the walls and under the mirrors sat shiny vanity tables; next to each table stood red and white spinning barbershop poles that looked like glowing candy canes. The tables' surfaces were covered in combs, brushes, curlers, bows, hairpins and every type of hair stuff imaginable. Without looking for clues, he knew what room they were in.
"What's this?" asked James, waving his hands. "The beauty queen room?"
"It's the Hair-Growing Room," said Chase. He picked up a long object and studied it, not sure what it was exactly. Nose hair trimmers, maybe? Eeew! Rubbing his nose, he tossed it back onto the table.
"And what's the point?"
Smiling slyly, Chase turned to James. "It'd be a great way to blind your enemies." He pointed a finger at his cousin. "Grow eyebrows!"
Two seconds later, James's eyebrows hung past his knees. "Hey! What'd you do that for?"
Parting the long blond hair, he whirled to face a mirror and peered at his strange reflection.
"Trim those eyebrows!" snarled the mirror. "You're a scruffy mess!"
"Fix it!" snapped James as he glowered at his unruly brows. "Or you'll be sorry."
"I'm, uh, not sure how," said Chase, trying hard not to laugh. "Come on. It was a joke."
James narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yeah?" He whipped around, pointed his finger at Chase and yelled, "Grow a crazy mustache!"
The next thing Chase knew, hair had sprouted from his face and he was tripping over the ends of a thick mustache. It looked more like two long, fat snakes crawling from his nostrils. "Hey, I'm not old enough to shave!" he yelled, the words sounding garbled through the bushy hair.
Andy laughed so hard, he fell to the carpet out in the hallway.
"Let's go check out another room," said Chase as he kicked the slithering mustache out of the way and tried wrapping it around his arms. "When we leave, we should go back to normal."
"I better!" Clutching his eyebrows, James stalked to the door.
But James's eyebrows didn't return to normal and Chase's mustache didn't disappear. They had to go back to the room and figure out the counterspells. Chase was relieved when they only had to say, "Shrink eyebrows" and "Remove mustache."
"What a lame power!" grumbled James when they were finally walking hair-free down the hall.
Chase shrugged. "It was okay," he said, feeling his upper lip, thankful the hideous mustache was gone. "Maybe the next ones will be better."
But James hated the Any-Age Room, and the Gibberish Room. "Where are the fighting powers?" he demanded, after spending way too much time trying to leave the Slow-Motion Room. "Why don't you show me those?"
"Fighting powers?" said Andy. He cocked his head to the side and squinted at his cousin. "What do you mean?"
"You know!" said James, waving his arms. "The powers used to hurt and destroy."
"What? You're crazy!" exclaimed Chase. "We haven't seen any rooms like that. And we don't want to hurt or destroy anyone."
He paused, remembering the locked room. Grandfather said it had a dangerous power, but that was only one. James was talking about a lot more. He thought of saying something, but decided not to, even though, if anyone needed a spanking, it was James.
"There's Maxwell's room," said Andy. "The one with the fireballs."
"Take me to it!" said James, lighting up like a flashy Christmas tree.
"But those don't hurt," said Chase, rolling his eyes. "They blow up things, not people."
"Forget it then. Only you two would think that's cool," scoffed James. "The old man must have the fighting rooms hidden somewhere." He wandered down the hallway. "This house probably has a lot of secret places. Those rooms might be through a secret passage or doorway or closet, somewhere hard to get to. Or maybe they're being protected somehow. I'll have to give this a lot more thought."
"And what do you plan on using these powers for, if you find them?" asked Chase warily.
"Afraid I'm going to use them on you?" James said, glancing back at Chase.
"I wouldn't be surprised," he shot back. "You haven't proven yourself
to be the nicest guy on the block."
"Whatever."
"If Grandfather wanted us to know those things," said Andy. "He would tell us."
James turned. "Who asked you, four-eyes?" He stretched out his arm, looking ready to punch Andy again.
This time Andy was ready. He jumped to the side and flicked his fingers. James never knew what hit him as he instantly stopped, his arm stretched at least six feet, the sneer on his waxy face frozen as solidly as the rest of him.
"Don't call me four-eyes!" Andy yelled. He swung around and stomped away.
Grinning, Chase jogged after his brother. "If we're lucky, when he unthaws, he'll be lost up here until either his vacation or ours is over."
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Let's Forgive and Forget
"That's cheating!" yelled Andy. "You can't jump backwards unless you've been kinged."
"Are you sure?" asked Chase as he bounced his checker pieces across the huge checkerboard in the spiral staircase room. "I don't remember that rule."
"Yeah, right," muttered Andy. He wandered to the middle of the board and poked the black piece he wanted to move, making it jump itself over one of Chase's red ones. The captured piece scuttled off the board. "How convenient is that?"
"You're just mad you're losing."
"That's because you aren't playing by the rules," said Andy, standing with his arms crossed. "You can't jump over your own checkers, only mine."
"Cheating, stinker? Tsk, tsk," said a voice behind Andy.
Spinning, Andy saw James leaning against the wall, his face wearing its usual sneer.
"James," said Andy flatly, turning back to the game. "What do you want?"
"Oh, nothing," he answered, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Well…maybe one thing." He pushed away from the wall and sauntered across the floor. "Cool trick; disappearing in front of my nose last night. I don't know how you did it. I might've been wandering around all night if Janie hadn't come looking for me."
Chase Tinker & The House of Magic Page 19