Chase Tinker & The House of Magic (13 page)

"It was an accident and he said we were
sorry!" said Persephone. She looked ready to clobber Doctor Dan
with her shopping bag.

"Just keep out of my way!" snapped Dan as he
shoved the kids aside and flung the smashed cups into the trash.
Leaving a trail of melted, gooey ice cream, he stomped down the
sidewalk.

"And I was thinking this
was
one of
the friendliest towns," said Chase as they entered the store. "I
guess every town has its jackass."

Persephone giggled. "He did look pretty
funny."

Andy grinned. "Thanks for saving me, Chase,
or I'd've been the one wearing all that ice cream."

"No problem, shrimp," said Chase, smiling
back at him. "Besides, we all know chocolate chip mint would've
gone much better with your shirt."

When they were finally on their way back
home, Chase remembered something important he wanted to ask his
cousin. "Hey, Janie, you don't happen to know what magical power my
bedroom is, do you?"

"Oh, Grandfather didn't tell you? You're in
the Premonition Room. It's like seeing into the future, but
Grandfather told me foreseeing the future is never exact because
circumstances can change." She sent him a sideways look. "Why do
you ask?"

"No reason," he said quickly. "I want to
learn as many rooms as possible, is all."

He didn't know why, but he wasn't ready to
share that it looked as if he actually had two premonitions that
really had happened. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of his
dreams coming true. If this kept up, how would he know what was
imagination and what was real? He glanced at Andy out of the corner
of his eye.
I wonder if Andy dreamed anything freaky last
night
, he thought.
Probably not. Andy pretty much sucks at
keeping secrets
.

"Why do you think Doctor Dan acted so mean?"
asked Andy, breaking into Chase's thoughts.

"I don't know," said Chase. "But I don't
trust the guy. Maybe it's because his creepy blue eyes are too
close and squinty."

"I always thought he was nice," said
Persephone. "Until today, that is."

"Maybe he just doesn't like kids," said Andy,
shrugging.

"As long as he helps my mom, I'll ignore any
flaws the man has," said Janie. "Even if he's the biggest jerk on
earth."

It began to rain as
they crossed the lawn to the house. Laughing, and scrambling to be
the first to get inside, the kids dashed up the back stairs and
into the kitchen. As he brushed raindrops from his hair, Chase
hoped the summer wouldn't zoom by too fast. He wasn't looking
forward to going back to New York. And, he also wasn't going let
Doctor Dan, rainy weather, or anything else for that matter, ruin
the best vacation ever.

O
ver the next
several days Chase wondered if maybe going back to New York wasn't
such a bad idea. To his dismay, Grandfather had taken charge. Like
a drill sergeant, he made Chase and Andy practice their magic day
in and day out,
and
they had to help with the chores. On top
of that, Grandfather insisted on decorating the house for the 4th
of July. Using his telekinesis, Chase had to string red, white and
blue twinkling lights all along the outside railings, and hang
balloons and streamers in the main first floor rooms. Maxwell loved
the balloons. He had a great time bouncing about popping them until
Grandfather enchanted the whole bunch and made them all
pop-proof.

And, although he complained, with so much
practice, Chase's telekinesis had improved a lot. He'd gotten much
better at whisking stuff across the room without breaking anything.
He was even pretty good now at lifting larger things, like people
and couches.

The one thing that bothered him the most,
though, was that Aunt Clair wasn't healing as quickly as they had
hoped. Grandfather didn't want anyone bothering her about her
ordeal, or the boys' dad, but every day they peeked in to see how
she was doing, just in case. Doctor Dan had been by three times to
check on Clair and each visit he ignored all four kids, which was
totally fine with Chase.

He hadn't yet told anyone about his nighttime
premonitions and he might've had at least two the night before
last. In the first one, Maxwell had been dragging off Chase's
sneakers, but in the second, Chase, Andy, Janie and Persephone had
been running through the woods, trying to escape from someone
chasing them. Feeling as though his lungs would burst from the
exertion, he woke up with his heart pounding so hard it felt as
though several people were clog dancing across his eardrums.

He'd thought about telling Grandfather, but
he still wasn't sure whether it was a premonition or not. He didn't
want to worry his grandparent for nothing. And besides, he knew he
was perfectly capable of taking care of himself if anything
happened. After all, he'd hung out on the streets of New York City
all his life.

He also liked to distract himself by
imagining the best ways to break into the locked room, but it was
almost like Grandfather had the power to read minds and knew what
his grandson was up to. Maybe that was reason why Grandfather had
been keeping him so busy.

Chase stretched his neck and tried to focus
on the babble of voices around him. He had way too many things to
think about these days. Maybe what he needed most was a brain
transplant. Yeah, maybe that would help—

"Hey, Chase! Snap out of it!" said
Persephone, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Huh?"

"Where should we sit? We want a good spot so
we don't miss any of the fireworks show."

Chase, Persephone, Janie and Andy were
standing on a low hill overlooking the beach as they searched for a
place to spread their blanket. People and flickering bonfires
dotted the silvery stretch of sand. The gray smoke from the fires
drifted out over the water. Like fog, it swirled around the boats
moored in the small bay.

"What about there?" said Andy, pointing to a
space next to a large umbrella propped in the sand.

"Looks good to me," said Chase.

They trotted down the hill and zigzagged past
holiday celebrators, picnic sites, driftwood and lounge chairs.
Tossing aside several rocks, they rolled out their blanket and
flopped down onto it.

"Whew! Good thing we're here early," said
Janie. "Or we might not have found a place to sit."

"It looks like it might rain," said
Persephone, frowning at the darkening sky.

"Nah, it'll hold off," said Chase.

He was popping open a can of soda, when out
of the blue, a strange prickling sensation on the back of his neck
made him whip around. Staring down at them from the top of the hill
was Doctor Dan. His eyes were so icy-cold Chase felt like he'd just
been turned into a giant snow-cone. He swung back to face the other
kids.

"Don't look now," he said quietly, "but the
doctor's in the house and he's not looking very friendly."

They glanced over their shoulders.

"Where?" asked Persephone.

Chase looked up the hill again. The doctor
was gone. "He was right there," he said. "And looking like he
wanted to come down here and strangle us."

"The guy can't be holding a grudge because of
a little ice cream, can he?" said Janie, helping herself to the bag
of popcorn Persephone had ripped open.

"I dunno," said Chase. He checked the hilltop
one more time. "But I sure wouldn't want to meet him in a dark
alley."

As the sun went down, turning the clouds to
shades of orange, yellow and red, deepening to purple and dark
blue, more people crowded onto the beach.

"Where the heck is Grandfather?" said Janie,
craning her neck. "He'll miss the fireworks if he doesn't
hurry."

"Why don't you call him?" asked Andy.

"I can't," she said. "I think Maxwell stole
my phone. I've searched the places he hides things, but I can't
find it anywhere."

"That ferret's a menace," said Chase, looking
disgusted.

She sighed. "Yeah, sometimes. But I love him
anyway."

The show started at 10:00. Right away the
kids knew these weren't your ordinary, everyday fireworks. These
were magical fireworks.

"Wow!" exclaimed Andy.

Chase had to second that as rockets blasted
into the sky and burst into colorful shimmering sparks that made
huge, lumbering dinosaurs, dancing bears in pink tutus, ice-skating
penguins and enormous birds that swooped toward the ground, making
everyone scream, before vanishing into puffs of smoke. At one
point, at least ten rockets exploded at the same time and turned
into a rollicking circus of elephants, tigers, clowns and
acrobats.

Besides the explosions, the only things Chase
heard through the whole show were "oohs" and "aahs" and "wows."
When it finally ended, everyone sat quietly for at least ten
seconds before bursting into wild applause. People began talking
and raving.

"I've never seen fireworks like those in my
whole life!"

"Absolutely amazing!"

"I wonder how it's done. If there were such a
thing as magic…"

The kids smiled at the loud remarks as they
waited for most of the mob to leave before gathering their
belongings and hiking up the hill.

"That was spectacular!" said Janie as she
slipped her bag over her shoulder.

"It seriously blew
me
away," said
Chase. "I had no idea fireworks could look like that." He glanced
at Persephone. "You knew, didn't you?"

She nodded. "Mr. Hiram's been doing this for
years. I didn't want to ruin it for you."

"Why didn't he show up?" said Janie.

"Beats me," answered Chase. "Let's get home
and find out."

As they jostled their way down the sidewalk,
Chase scanned the throngs of people for Doctor Dan. He gave up when
he realized that finding anyone in the jammed streets was next to
impossible.

Since the roadway out of town was well-lit by
streetlamps and headlights, everything was fine until the kids
reached their darkened, dirt road. They lurched to a stop.

Andy peered into the thick, gloomy forest.
"It sure is spooky," he said, edging closer to the other kids.
Persephone nodded in agreement as thunder crashed in the
distance.

Janie pulled flashlights from her large bag
and handed them out. "Well we can't stand here all night. We better
get going."

Hurrying down the road, Chase again had a
creepy feeling they were being watched. He waved his light behind
them and saw nothing except eerie, wavering shadows from the tall
trees. An owl hooted softly.

"What's wrong, Chase?" asked Persephone when
she caught him looking back over his shoulder every few
seconds.

"I think we're being followed," he answered
in a low voice.

"How do you know?" whispered Andy. "Is it
your spidey sense telling you?"

"Something like that," said Chase.

"It's probably just the thunder and
lightning," said Janie, flinching as it cracked and boomed.

"Maybe, maybe not," said Chase.

They stopped and strained their eyes to see
beyond the light from their flashlights. Crack! Snap! They jumped
at the sounds of crunching footsteps approaching from the direction
they had just come. The noise stopped.

Chase took a step back. "Uh, you guys? I
think we better get out of here!"

T
hey bolted down the
road, their flashlight beams bobbing. Chase grasped Andy's arm and
dragged him to help his shorter legs keep up. The sounds of pursuit
echoed behind them, and they were still a ways from home.

Chase's heart was about to pound right out of
his chest when he remembered a small building he'd glimpsed through
the trees on the way to town. "Come on, you guys," he gasped. "This
way."

Slipping into the dark woods, he shivered as
the chill from the damp ground and mossy trees surrounded him. With
the sticky blackberry vines grabbing at everyone's skin and
clothes, Chase led the way to a small clearing. A rickety old shed
was there in front of them, leaning as if ready to topple at any
moment. Chase opened the sagging door. The kids' shoulders drooped
when they saw it was crammed with cracked, splintery wood, a rusty
tricycle, several old tires and a paint-chipped door with the
hinges falling off.

"Crap!" said Chase.

"Oh, no!" said Andy. "We'll never fit in
there."

"Let me see what I can do," said Janie.
Taking a deep breath, she scrunched her face and flicked her hands.
Ribbons of silvery mist flowed from her fingertips, swirled through
the building and then vanished. "Oh my gosh! It worked!"

Brushing aside dusty webs, she climbed behind
the crusty woodpile into the space she'd created, which was much
larger than the outside of the shed. The others followed, wrinkling
their noses at the smell of rotting wood and mold. Shutting off
their flashlights, they huddled together and tried to calm their
ragged breathing.

"Won't whoever's out there fit in here too?"
Andy whispered in Janie's ear.

"I made it so it looks bigger to only us,"
she whispered back.

"
I'm
worried the whole place might
cave in on us," muttered Persephone.

"Shh!"

Everything was quiet for a few minutes, then
they heard the crunching of breaking twigs and the rustling of
leaves and brush. Chase held his breath as the door creaked open.
Persephone's hand squeezed his arm. In the moment the door hung
open, he could have sworn he saw a glint of blond hair as he peeked
through a crack in the woodpile. The door slammed shut and the
footsteps faded away.

Chase's legs began to cramp from crouching
for so long. More lightning and thunder flashed and boomed as the
storm moved closer. He now understood what his last premonition had
been about. If only he'd found out more while he was sleeping, then
maybe they wouldn't be squatting in an old, spidery shed, hiding
from some insane stalker.