Chase Tinker & The House of Magic by Malia Ann Haberman Read Free Book Online Page A

himself
under control. "Come on, Andy! It's fun!"
    Andy scrunched his face and hopped into the
room. Paddling and kicking, he quickly reached the other side and
dropped to the floor. Chase landed beside him.
    "Quite invigorating, isn't it?" said
Grandfather.
    "Yeah!" said Chase. "Let's do it again."
    "It will have to be later, Chase," he
answered. "Lunch awaits us."
    Andy peeked into the room again. "Furniture
isn't supposed to float," he grumbled.
    Grandfather laughed as he led them down a
long hallway where they had to walk upside down on the ceiling,
which was actually the floor, through a room so tiny they had to
crawl on their hands and knees, past an enormous, floor-to-ceiling
aquarium filled with dozens of fish of all shapes and colors, and
strolled through a room made entirely of chocolate.
    Chase knew they were getting closer to the
kitchen when he caught a whiff of the chicken casserole Janie had
raved about. His stomach gave a loud rumble.
    "Here we are," said Grandfather as they
reached the dining room and gathered around the elegant dining
table. "Sit wherever you wish."
    Chase gasped and Andy squeaked with surprise
when, before they even had a chance to pick a seat, they were
forced to topple back into chairs that unexpectedly whipped behind
them and shoved them up against the table.
    A woman, who looked to be in her early
forties, bustled from the kitchen. Dressed in jeans, a yellow
sweater and a colorful, flowered apron, she had a round, friendly
face, and her wavy, light-brown hair was held back with silver
barrettes.
    "Mr. Hiram, it's great to see you. It looks
like your trip to New York was successful," she said as she placed
a large platter on the table next to Grandfather.
    "Indeed it was. Thank you, Miranda." he
answered as he began piling chicken and potatoes onto plates and
passing them to the kids. "Boys, this is Mrs. Periwinkle, our
excellent chef and housekeeper. If you need anything, she's the
lady to ask. Mmm. This looks and smells delicious."
    Chase and Andy waved hello and had just dug
into the mouth-watering food when the kitchen door burst open and
out came a girl carrying a pitcher of lemonade. She had short,
dark-red hair with longish bangs brushed across her forehead and
hanging halfway over one eye. She wore a blue denim skirt and a
pink top, which accentuated her light-olive complexion. A small
nose-ring sparkled when she turned her head.
    "Chase, Andy, this is my daughter,
Persephone," said Mrs. Periwinkle.
    Persephone set the container onto the table.
She sent the boys a quick, impish smile then swung around and
flounced back the way she came.
    "Call me if you need anything else," said
Mrs. Periwinkle before following her daughter.
    Chase stared at the door, not noticing the
chicken gravy dribbling from his fork onto the gold tablecloth.
    Janie grinned at the gaping Chase. "You can
put your eyeballs back in your head, Chase," she said, with a
teasing lilt in her voice. She leaned closer and whispered, "She's
an older woman."
    "What? Older?" he said, blinking. "What do
you mean by that?"
    "Persephone will be fourteen in September,
and you're what, twelve?"
    "I'll be thirteen on July 8 th !"
snapped Chase. "Only a few more days. What about you?"
    "I turned thirteen on April 13 th ,"
she said, sticking her nose in the air. "So there."
    Chase put his head down and shoved a chunk of
chicken into his mouth. So what , he thought scornfully. Not
wanting to give Janie another chance to tease him, he ignored
Persephone when she returned a minute later with a bowl of
asparagus.
    As they ate, Janie regaled Grandfather with a
rundown on everything she had done in the last few days, from
planting tomatoes, to baking cookies, to knitting Maxwell a new red
sweater. Outside, the threat of rain had turned into a downpour.
Chase could hear the raindrops pinging against the windows, and
even though he had to listen to Janie's constant chatter, he was
happy he wasn't out in it. Feeling stuffed at last, he