Chase Tinker & The House of Magic Read Online Free PDF

front door. "He's here!
Come on, dork."
    "I'm not a dork. Dork," said Andy
grumpily.
    Lugging the heavy case, Chase wrenched open
the bedroom door and stumbled down the hallway in time to hear his
grandfather say, "Anne, I know it's been a long time. It's lovely
to see you again."
    " Hiram? "
    Bursting into the room, he saw Grandfather
remove his cap and bow smartly to his mom.
    "And, Chase, awake and ready for the day, I
see," said Grandfather, placing his hat on the sofa.
"Excellent."
    Chase dropped his bag and goggled at them.
"You guys know each other?"
    Grandfather winked at his grandson as he
handed the large paper sack he carried to him and took Anne's arm.
"Why don't we seat ourselves and have some delicious muffins,
croissants and orange juice for breakfast? Fresh from the corner
bakery."
    Andy wandered into the living room, rubbing
his face and yawning. "Did someone say breakfast?"
    Anne frowned at Chase. "Did you know about
this?" she mouthed, before turning back to Hiram. She held up her
hand. "Hold it! What is going on? Why are you showing up here now?
Out of the blue? And after years of absolutely no contact! And why is Chase carrying that old bag?"
    "Grandfather came by to see us last night,"
said Chase quickly. "He invited us to come visit him for the
summer!"
    Anne pulled away from Grandfather and crossed
her arms. "I don't know if Benjamin would approve." She paused.
"And—and anyway, he's…gone right now."
    "I know. I've discussed it with the
boys."
    "So you know where he is?" she said,
narrowing her eyes. She looked even more worn-out than usual. Chase
gulped, feeling guilty again for causing so much trouble.
    Grandfather shook his head. "No, Anne, I'm
sorry I don't, but you and I need to talk."
    "I don't know what else we have to talk
about," said Anne, sticking her chin in the air. "After all this
time, I still haven't forgotten how you and Ben came very close to
completely ruining our beautiful wedding."
    "They did?" exclaimed Chase.
    Grandfather sighed as he gently nudged them
to gather around the dining table. "Your mother invited me to come
here for your parent's wedding, without speaking to Benjamin," he
said, while pulling food and cups of orange juice from the bag and
passing them around. "She thought it would be a wonderful surprise,
but instead, he was highly upset. I made matters worse by insisting
it was time for him to grow up, accept his responsibilities, and
come home. I'm quite ashamed to say we had a dreadful quarrel and I
stormed out before the wedding even began. I know it's long in
coming, Anne, but I truly am sorry for being so horribly rude. Now
that I look back, I have only myself to blame for all the trouble.
I only wanted things to be back the way they should've been
before…" His voice trailed off as he shook his head. "Too many
regrets."
    Anne sank into a chair. "So that's what you
two argued about? He never wanted to talk about it." She took a
muffin and peeled the paper from it. "I guess it's partly my fault
too for not letting Ben know I invited you."
    "Now don't start blaming yourself," said
Grandfather, patting her hand. "Ben and I had our problems long
before that day."
    "Mom? Did he tell you about his...magical
power?" asked Chase cautiously.
    "His—his power?"
    "We all have one," he said. "Grandfather said
it's part of the family heritage. I have telekinesis and Andy can
stop time. That's why Grandfather invited us to visit him. We need
to learn lots more about it."
    Anne gawked at her son. "You boys have powers too ?" she croaked, accidentally squashing her muffin.
    "Anne, how much do you know about the Tinker
family?" asked Grandfather as he popped the lid off his cup.
    She dropped the muffin and turned to him.
"Apparently, not as much as I thought." She cast a quick glance at
Chase again. "From the beginning, I knew there was something
special about Ben. One day he showed me his ability to change his
appearance to make himself look exactly like other people.