Chase Tinker & The House of Magic Read Online Free

because
mine's been happening for a while." He paused as he chewed on the
inside of his lower lip. What else was there to say to help them
both feel better? Andy was right. It was all way too crazy for
words. "I know. This whole thing is pretty wild, but it helps I'm
learning to control it. Uh…" He glanced at the shattered penguin
mess. "…sometimes. And it's not so bad. You'll learn too, if you
give it a chance. I'll even help you practice."
    Andy turned away and looked out the window
where several pigeons roosted on the fire escape of the building
next door. He snorted. "Yeah, right. Instead of watching TV, we'll
practice our weird magical powers. Great. What's next? Zooming
around on flying carpets?"
    "At least it's good to know I'm not the only
freak in the family," Chase said lightly.
    "I don't want to be a freak!" Andy cried.
"And I don't want to joke about it either. This is serious! Do you
suppose Mom and Dad can do anything magical? I mean, if we do have
some kind of—of powers, they have to come from somewhere, don't
they?"
    "I've never seen Mom or Dad doing anything
weird so no telling where they came from."
    "But if they do have powers? Why wouldn't
they tell us?"
    Chase shrugged. "I dunno. You know as much as
I do."
    "Maybe it's why Dad's gone," said Andy. He
stuck out his bottom lip and plucked at some loose strings on his
shorts.
    Chase shrugged. "Unless he comes home, I
guess we'll never know that either."
    Andy got to his feet and stomped to the
kitchen. "I don't want to talk about Dad or dumb old magic stuff
anymore! You can do what you want. I'm eating dinner."
    "Okay, okay," said Chase, following him. "But
ignoring it won't make it go away," he mumbled to himself.
     

CHAPTER
TWO
The Other
Grandfather
    A ndy and Chase were
sitting down to eat when loud knocking at the door caused them both
to jump.
    "It's probably Mrs. Pagel and Snookie-Dork
wanting to know how we disappeared right in front of their noses,"
said Chase as he went to answer it. "I don't know how I'll explain
that one."
    But it wasn't their chatty neighbor. When he
opened the door, he saw a tall, mustached, silver-haired man
wearing a dark-blue suit, a red and white, polka-dot bow-tie and
gold wire-rimmed glasses. He also had on an old-fashioned,
bright-red driving cap, the kind Chase had seen some taxi drivers
wearing.
    "Hello. I'm looking for Mister Chase
Nathaniel Tinker and Mister Andrew Bartholomew Tinker," said the
man in a slightly accented voice. "Which one are you?"
    "Um..." They weren't supposed to talk to
strangers.
    "Don't worry, I'm not a stranger," said the
man, before Chase had a chance to tell him to get lost. "I'm your
grandfather."
    "But—but our grandpa lives in Florida
with—with our grandma," sputtered Chase, "and our other
grandparents are…dead."
    "Oh, I can assure you," said the man, his
dark-brown eyes sparkling, "I'm very much alive." He glanced into
the room and sniffed. "Spaghetti and meatballs. My favorite."
    Their visitor strolled into the apartment,
dropped his cap on the sofa arm and joined a gaping Andy at the
small, round dining table tucked into a corner of the room. Pulling
Chase's plate of spaghetti across the table, he twisted a bunch of
noodles onto the fork and gobbled it down. "Delicious," he said,
smacking his lips. "Could use a bit of onion."
    "Chase doesn't like onions," said Andy.
    "That's quite all right," said Grandfather.
"We're all entitled to our different likes and dislikes. Imagine
the world if we all liked the same things." He slurped down another
bite. "Mmm. Traveling makes me ravenous."
    "Where'd you come from?" Andy asked as he
slowly took a bite of his own dinner.
    "I—"
    "Wait just a second!" Chase cut in. "How do
we know you're who you say you are and not some weird old guy from
off the street?"
    Grandfather chuckled. "I guess you can say I'm a weird old guy. I'm also Hiram Tinker, Benjamin Tinker's
father, thereby your grandfather."
    Chase's eyes met Andy's. Was this man