The Secret Stair

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Speaker 1 Welcome

Speaker 1 to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good,

Speaker 1 and then

Speaker 1 you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I read and write all the stories you hear.

Speaker 1 And nothing much happens

Speaker 1 with audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim. Wittercheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week. And this week, we are giving to greater good

Speaker 1 on the ground in Florida and North Carolina,

Speaker 1 delivering emergency relief in the devastating aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Speaker 1 You can learn more in our show notes.

Speaker 1 We couldn't make this show without our premium premium subscribers.

Speaker 1 So please let me thank you if you're one of them.

Speaker 1 You're helping this vital resource continue to exist

Speaker 1 freely and if I may say so, prolifically for millions.

Speaker 1 If you're interested in subscribing, we'll trade you our entire catalog of this show.

Speaker 1 as well as our daytime version, Stories from the Village of Nothing Much,

Speaker 1 all ad-free,

Speaker 1 as well as monthly bonus episodes, we have over 35 now,

Speaker 1 and our supersized Much More Happens apps, all for about a dime a day.

Speaker 1 And if it's not in your budget, please know you're helping by listening, by sharing the show with friends, and by rating and reviewing.

Speaker 1 Go to nothingwatchhappens.com or click on the link in our show notes to learn more.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 this is where I usually tell you that I have a simple story for you

Speaker 1 where not much happens to keep your mind cozily occupied while your body drops off.

Speaker 1 But I'm gonna be honest, I wrote

Speaker 1 a really

Speaker 1 long,

Speaker 1 involved Halloween story for you tonight.

Speaker 1 I went a little crazy.

Speaker 1 It's longer than the big wedding story from last year.

Speaker 1 I think Sycamore put a spell on me.

Speaker 1 Still,

Speaker 1 you're going to fall asleep.

Speaker 1 Just listening to the sound of my voice

Speaker 1 and resting your attention on the shape shape of the story.

Speaker 1 As always, I'll tell it twice

Speaker 1 and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 If you wake later in the night, turn it back on,

Speaker 1 nestle back into it,

Speaker 1 you'll fall right back to sleep.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called The Secret Stair.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about a costume party on Halloween night at the inn.

Speaker 1 It's also about the bonfire down by the lake,

Speaker 1 a whiskered face at the window, a mystery waiting in the library, and a reminder of what is sacred and worth your attention,

Speaker 1 and what is not.

Speaker 1 Okay,

Speaker 1 snuggle down, my dears.

Speaker 1 Get as comfortable as you can.

Speaker 1 You are exactly where you're supposed to be right now.

Speaker 1 There's nothing else needed from you today.

Speaker 1 Whatever you got done,

Speaker 1 it was

Speaker 1 enough.

Speaker 1 It was plenty.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 take a deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh from your mouth.

Speaker 1 Do that again. Breathe in

Speaker 1 and out.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 The secret stare

Speaker 1 My breath fogged the air

Speaker 1 as I stood outside the inn

Speaker 1 The Halloween party was in full swing.

Speaker 1 I stopped what I was doing to sidle closer to a window

Speaker 1 and peer in at the flickering candle light

Speaker 1 and the guests arriving

Speaker 1 climbing the great staircase in their costumes.

Speaker 1 I felt the silliness,

Speaker 1 heard the laughter and chatter,

Speaker 1 and smelled good scents from the treats waiting up in the ballroom.

Speaker 1 They washed over me like sunshine on a cold winter day,

Speaker 1 and I smiled in the dark,

Speaker 1 eager to join them.

Speaker 1 But first,

Speaker 1 I had a job to do.

Speaker 1 I felt into the pockets of my robe.

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 not a witch's robe, though I see how you got there.

Speaker 1 I was

Speaker 1 playing into the stereotype a bit

Speaker 1 and making making fun of it at the same time by wearing my fuzziest bathrobe

Speaker 1 pink bunny slippers

Speaker 1 and a head full of rollers rather than a spidery patched witch's hat

Speaker 1 it was honestly the most comfortable halloween costume i'd ever worn

Speaker 1 and i decided that

Speaker 1 every October the 31st,

Speaker 1 from here on out,

Speaker 1 I'd be elevating comfort over fashion.

Speaker 1 From my pocket, I took out a glass jar

Speaker 1 that was a third full of salt

Speaker 1 and a wooden spoon

Speaker 1 with a long handle.

Speaker 1 I stepped away from the window

Speaker 1 and started down a stone path toward the back of the inn.

Speaker 1 Glad the moon was full tonight.

Speaker 1 The light felt like company as I walked.

Speaker 1 I slunk past the inn's back porch,

Speaker 1 where several carved pumpkins watched me with hollow eyes and toothy grins.

Speaker 1 I followed the stairs down toward the lake and stopped at the fire pit.

Speaker 1 The chairs were gone at this point in the year,

Speaker 1 put away in one of the sheds till next summer.

Speaker 1 But that was fine.

Speaker 1 I wasn't here to stargaze or warm my feet at a fire.

Speaker 1 I squatted down to where bonfires had burned for decades or longer

Speaker 1 and using my wooden spoon scooped ashes into my jar with my salt.

Speaker 1 I screwed the top back on the jar

Speaker 1 and cleaned my spoon off in the dewy grass

Speaker 1 before tucking it back into my robe pocket

Speaker 1 and standing tall

Speaker 1 shook the jar to mix the ash and salt together

Speaker 1 I was making a simple protection spell

Speaker 1 It was one of the first ones I'd read from my grandmother's book when it had come to me

Speaker 1 mix salt it said

Speaker 1 in even part with ashes

Speaker 1 from any sacred fire

Speaker 1 and sprinkle them around doors and windows

Speaker 1 to keep those inside safe

Speaker 1 and at ease

Speaker 1 and what was sacred here at the inn

Speaker 1 Oh, many

Speaker 1 things.

Speaker 1 I could have taken ashes from the fireplace in the library,

Speaker 1 or from the charcoal grill where Chef cooked zucchini and veggie burgers for the guests.

Speaker 1 But my first thought had been about all the people who sat round the flames here,

Speaker 1 pleasantly worn out after a day of sun and swimming,

Speaker 1 making memories with their friends, sweethearts or children,

Speaker 1 wishing on shooting stars,

Speaker 1 and telling stories as the moon rose.

Speaker 1 I carried the jar around the inn,

Speaker 1 sprinkling the salt at each window sill or door frame.

Speaker 1 When I came to the library, a face met me at the window and I jumped.

Speaker 1 With my hand over my heart and my breath caught in my chest,

Speaker 1 I looked up at the grey face and yellow eyes of Cinder.

Speaker 1 My cat,

Speaker 1 who,

Speaker 1 not wanting to to get her paws wet in the dew,

Speaker 1 had gone into the party without me.

Speaker 1 I hissed her name as I came down from the fright.

Speaker 1 Sender,

Speaker 1 and she meowed at me through the glass.

Speaker 1 Beside her, a second cat,

Speaker 1 this one black as night, appeared.

Speaker 1 Sycamore, who lived in the inn

Speaker 1 and had become fast friends with Cinder,

Speaker 1 meowed as well.

Speaker 1 Their breath fogged against the glass,

Speaker 1 and Cinder leaned forward

Speaker 1 and left a nose print on it.

Speaker 1 It reminded me of the sigils carved into the door frame at my shop.

Speaker 1 spells hewn into the wood

Speaker 1 this was cinder's spell calling me into the house

Speaker 1 i decided to work smarter and sprinkled the rest of the black salt into my hand

Speaker 1 I opened my palm

Speaker 1 and called on the evening breeze

Speaker 1 to carry it all around the inn.

Speaker 1 I closed my eyes

Speaker 1 and felt the wind whirling around me.

Speaker 1 The lop ears of my bunny slippers were buffeted in it.

Speaker 1 And soon my palm was empty

Speaker 1 and the night calm

Speaker 1 and quiet again.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 that's one thing done, I said to myself as I turned toward the front of the old house.

Speaker 1 Renewing protection and prosperity spells were something

Speaker 1 all of us in the village circle did regularly.

Speaker 1 But tonight I had another chore on my list,

Speaker 1 though it was still a bit of a mystery to me,

Speaker 1 shrouded even from my keen sight.

Speaker 1 There was a puzzle here at the inn that needed me and Cinder,

Speaker 1 who met me as I came through the door.

Speaker 1 The entry of the inn

Speaker 1 was absolutely stunning,

Speaker 1 especially to a witch on Halloween.

Speaker 1 A hundred small pumpkins marked each step of the grand central staircase,

Speaker 1 and the old crystal chandelier was wrapped in grey cobwebs.

Speaker 1 From somewhere far off, a bone-rattling jazz band played,

Speaker 1 and the place teemed with flickering candlelight

Speaker 1 and the scent of caramel.

Speaker 1 I stood for a moment, taking it all in,

Speaker 1 looking up through the stairs and breathing in the air of the old house.

Speaker 1 This was sacred to me too.

Speaker 1 It was something I thought of often,

Speaker 1 a part of how I lived and made decisions,

Speaker 1 reminding myself

Speaker 1 what mattered to me,

Speaker 1 what was worth working or fighting for,

Speaker 1 and what were the things that didn't deserve my precious energy?

Speaker 1 Places like this

Speaker 1 were worth it.

Speaker 1 They filled my cup,

Speaker 1 as did, of course,

Speaker 1 the people I found here.

Speaker 1 I looked around for the innkeeper,

Speaker 1 my eyes sweeping over guests as they mingled and climbed the stairs.

Speaker 1 There were plenty of spooky folk out to night,

Speaker 1 and plenty more, just dressed as such.

Speaker 1 I saw a few sisters from my circle,

Speaker 1 and I saw the baker from the shop downtown,

Speaker 1 and laughed as I realized that

Speaker 1 seeing her out of her apron felt wrong in some way.

Speaker 1 She wore an elaborate gown and elf ears that suited her very well indeed.

Speaker 1 I scooted past the man who owned the bicycle shop, dressed in an old-fashioned baseball uniform.

Speaker 1 His front was dusted with dirt, like he'd just slid into home base.

Speaker 1 And in one hand, he held a drink, and with the other, a worn mitt.

Speaker 1 A masked pirate with a saber, dressed all in black,

Speaker 1 took me by the arm,

Speaker 1 and I recognized our newest witch.

Speaker 1 She guided me past the staircase and into the hall.

Speaker 1 Cinder says

Speaker 1 you have a mystery to solve?

Speaker 1 She whispered.

Speaker 1 Blabber mouth, I said as I frowned down at the cat.

Speaker 1 A stay-puffed marshmallow squeezed past us, and I giggled as I recognized Cheff

Speaker 1 under the disguise.

Speaker 1 Thought you'd go as a pickle this year.

Speaker 1 Nah, two on the nose.

Speaker 1 I contain multitudes, they said as they moved past us.

Speaker 1 Just then

Speaker 1 a woman turned a corner down the hall,

Speaker 1 and something in my awareness hiccupped.

Speaker 1 She wore a pale,

Speaker 1 old-fashioned dress

Speaker 1 with full sleeves and a dark apron.

Speaker 1 Her hair was pinned up at the back of her head

Speaker 1 and though I recognized her

Speaker 1 she was the innkeeper

Speaker 1 I also

Speaker 1 didn't

Speaker 1 there was a haze around her

Speaker 1 I brought my hands up in front of my face

Speaker 1 as if I were holding an old fashioned spy spyglass,

Speaker 1 peering through them.

Speaker 1 I rotated my hands

Speaker 1 till she came into focus,

Speaker 1 and I saw that the mist was a dreamy purple, spangled with stars, like the night sky.

Speaker 1 She was carrying my mystery.

Speaker 1 I leaned over to the masked pirate

Speaker 1 and asked her to ask Sycamore

Speaker 1 to herd the innkeeper into the library.

Speaker 1 As you wish.

Speaker 1 She tilted her head.

Speaker 1 Her eyes closed under the mask.

Speaker 1 And though I listened intently, I couldn't tune in to her frequency.

Speaker 1 But Sycamore,

Speaker 1 who'd been wandering by the front door,

Speaker 1 obviously could.

Speaker 1 He turned toward us and tilted his head as well,

Speaker 1 then sloped toward the innkeeper

Speaker 1 and rubbed his cheek against her ankle.

Speaker 1 She bent down to pet him,

Speaker 1 but he inched away.

Speaker 1 She reached again, taking a step forward,

Speaker 1 and he took one back.

Speaker 1 This way,

Speaker 1 step by step,

Speaker 1 he ushered her down the hall and into the library.

Speaker 1 We stepped in after them

Speaker 1 and closed the door with a quiet snap.

Speaker 1 At the sound,

Speaker 1 the innkeeper looked up at us,

Speaker 1 a puzzled smile on her face.

Speaker 1 Cinder sat at her feet and purred in a calm, reassuring way.

Speaker 1 I

Speaker 1 think I've come to grant you

Speaker 1 a Halloween wish, I said,

Speaker 1 with a chuckle in my voice.

Speaker 1 Is there some mystery about the house?

Speaker 1 Or

Speaker 1 my eyes roved over her face,

Speaker 1 and I was struck with a sudden knowing

Speaker 1 that my talents sometimes gifted me.

Speaker 1 The other innkeeper?

Speaker 1 I asked, with awe in my voice.

Speaker 1 I had a vague memory of hearing that

Speaker 1 before this place

Speaker 1 had fallen into disrepair

Speaker 1 Before the decades when it had sat empty

Speaker 1 there had been another

Speaker 1 who watched over the guests and walked the halls

Speaker 1 She smiled broadly and reached for my hands

Speaker 1 Yes

Speaker 1 Can you tell me anything about her?

Speaker 1 I feel like she's my sister from another century.

Speaker 1 As she spoke, I let my mind quiet and my senses sharpen.

Speaker 1 There was a reason we were in this room,

Speaker 1 the library,

Speaker 1 where I'd looked in earlier

Speaker 1 and seen Cinder and Sycamore looking out.

Speaker 1 I focused on my breath, coming and going,

Speaker 1 listened to the sounds in the room,

Speaker 1 and felt for an answer.

Speaker 1 In a flash,

Speaker 1 I was drawn to the old fireplace mantle,

Speaker 1 and I ran my hands over the marble,

Speaker 1 looking for

Speaker 1 I knew not what

Speaker 1 I was about to give up

Speaker 1 when I felt something under a bracket

Speaker 1 on the side of the mantle.

Speaker 1 I ducked down and squinted at it,

Speaker 1 and the others,

Speaker 1 cats and all,

Speaker 1 looked with me.

Speaker 1 Is that?

Speaker 1 I asked.

Speaker 1 A keyhole, said the pirate witch.

Speaker 1 The innkeeper fumbled her keychain from her pocket

Speaker 1 and looked for one that matched the slot.

Speaker 1 No, I

Speaker 1 don't think I have a key for that.

Speaker 1 I know where all these go already.

Speaker 1 From over her shoulder came an arm,

Speaker 1 swathed in silky black material,

Speaker 1 and clutched in the fingers was an old, rusty key.

Speaker 1 The innkeeper and I turned, both of us,

Speaker 1 with mouths agape,

Speaker 1 to look at the newest witch.

Speaker 1 Who what?

Speaker 1 Where?

Speaker 1 I started.

Speaker 1 She smiled and said

Speaker 1 The crows gave it to me a few weeks ago.

Speaker 1 I thought it was just a trinket they found, but

Speaker 1 I've kept it in my pocket

Speaker 1 in case it was more than that

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 now I think it is.

Speaker 1 With a gulp, the innkeeper took it and fitted it into the hole.

Speaker 1 It took both hands to turn,

Speaker 1 but when she did,

Speaker 1 a piece of paneling beside the bookcase slid open,

Speaker 1 and a dark hallway appeared from behind it.

Speaker 1 We could make out the bottom step of a staircase

Speaker 1 that ascended to somewhere unknown.

Speaker 1 The lights in the room flickered,

Speaker 1 and I felt the house itself

Speaker 1 sighing contentedly

Speaker 1 as its last unknown space

Speaker 1 was finally unlocked.

Speaker 1 We edged up to the secret doorway,

Speaker 1 my pink bunny slippers beside the sensible shoes of the innkeeper,

Speaker 1 the black boots of the pirate,

Speaker 1 and the gray and midnight paws of the cats.

Speaker 1 Sycamore lifted his face to sniff the air.

Speaker 1 I could smell old paper,

Speaker 1 and with another flash of understanding,

Speaker 1 I knew that among many other treasures in this hidden space,

Speaker 1 we would find something

Speaker 1 that the other innkeeper

Speaker 1 had left

Speaker 1 for safekeeping.

Speaker 1 maybe

Speaker 1 even knowing

Speaker 1 that when the time was right,

Speaker 1 the panel would slide back

Speaker 1 and the trove would be found.

Speaker 1 As the band played above us,

Speaker 1 I conjured a candle from my pocket,

Speaker 1 lit it from my fingertip,

Speaker 1 and handed it to the innkeeper.

Speaker 1 Her face lit with the glow of excitement and adventure

Speaker 1 and we stepped onto the secret stair.

Speaker 1 The secret stair

Speaker 1 My breath fogged the air as I stood outside the inn.

Speaker 1 The Halloween party was in full swing,

Speaker 1 and I stopped what I was doing

Speaker 1 to sidle closer to a window

Speaker 1 and peer in at the flickering candle light

Speaker 1 and the guests arriving.

Speaker 1 climbing the great staircase in their costumes.

Speaker 1 I could feel the silliness,

Speaker 1 hear the laughter and chatter,

Speaker 1 smell good scents

Speaker 1 from the treats waiting up in the ballroom.

Speaker 1 It washed over me like sunshine on a cold day,

Speaker 1 and I smiled in the dark,

Speaker 1 eager to join them.

Speaker 1 But first,

Speaker 1 I had a job to do.

Speaker 1 I felt into the pockets of my robe.

Speaker 1 No, not a witch's robe,

Speaker 1 though I can see how you got there.

Speaker 1 I was

Speaker 1 playing into the stereotype a bit

Speaker 1 and making fun of it at the same time

Speaker 1 by wearing my fuzziest bathrobe,

Speaker 1 pink bunny slippers,

Speaker 1 and a head full of rollers

Speaker 1 rather than a spidery patched witch's hat.

Speaker 1 It was honestly the most comfortable Halloween costume I'd ever worn.

Speaker 1 And I decided that

Speaker 1 every October the 31st,

Speaker 1 from here on out,

Speaker 1 I'd be elevating comfort over fashion.

Speaker 1 From my pocket, I took a glass jar

Speaker 1 that was a third full of salt

Speaker 1 and a wooden spoon with a long handle.

Speaker 1 I stepped away from the window

Speaker 1 and started down a stone path

Speaker 1 toward the back of the inn.

Speaker 1 Glad the moon was near full to night.

Speaker 1 The light felt like company as I walked.

Speaker 1 I slunk past the inn's back porch,

Speaker 1 where several carved pumpkins watched me

Speaker 1 with hollow eyes and toothy grins.

Speaker 1 I followed the stairs down toward the lake

Speaker 1 and stopped at the fire pit.

Speaker 1 The chairs were gone at this point in the year,

Speaker 1 put away in one of the sheds

Speaker 1 till next summer.

Speaker 1 But that was fine.

Speaker 1 I wasn't here to stargaze

Speaker 1 or warm my feet at a fire.

Speaker 1 I squatted down to where bonfires had burned for decades or longer

Speaker 1 and used my wooden spoon

Speaker 1 to scoop ashes

Speaker 1 into my jar with my salt.

Speaker 1 I screwed the top back on the jar

Speaker 1 and cleaned my spoon off and the dewy grass

Speaker 1 before tucking it back into my robe pocket

Speaker 1 and standing tall.

Speaker 1 I shook the jar

Speaker 1 to mix the ash and salt together.

Speaker 1 I was making a simple protection spell.

Speaker 1 It was one of the first ones I'd read

Speaker 1 from my grandmother's book

Speaker 1 when it had come to me.

Speaker 1 Mix salt, it said,

Speaker 1 and even part

Speaker 1 with ashes

Speaker 1 from any sacred fire

Speaker 1 and sprinkle around doors and windows

Speaker 1 to keep those inside safe and at ease

Speaker 1 What was sacred here at the inn

Speaker 1 Many things

Speaker 1 I could have taken ashes from the fireplace in the library

Speaker 1 or from the charcoal grill

Speaker 1 where Chef cooked zucchini and veggie burgers for the guests

Speaker 1 but my first thought

Speaker 1 had been about

Speaker 1 all the people

Speaker 1 who sat round the flames here

Speaker 1 pleasantly worn out

Speaker 1 after a day of sun and swimming

Speaker 1 making memories with their friends,

Speaker 1 sweethearts or children,

Speaker 1 wishing on shooting stars,

Speaker 1 and telling stories as the moon rose

Speaker 1 I carried the jar around the inn,

Speaker 1 Sprinkling the salt at each window windowsill or door frame.

Speaker 1 When I came to the library,

Speaker 1 a face met me at the window and I jumped

Speaker 1 with my hand over my heart

Speaker 1 and my breath

Speaker 1 caught in my chest.

Speaker 1 I looked up

Speaker 1 at the grey face

Speaker 1 and yellow eyes of Cinder,

Speaker 1 my cat,

Speaker 1 who,

Speaker 1 not

Speaker 1 wanting to get her paws wet in the dew,

Speaker 1 had gone into the party without me.

Speaker 1 I hissed her name as I came down from the fright.

Speaker 1 Cinder

Speaker 1 and she meowed at me through the glass.

Speaker 1 Beside her, a second cat,

Speaker 1 this one black as night, appeared.

Speaker 1 Sycamore, who lived at the inn and had become fast friends with Cinder, meowed as well.

Speaker 1 Their breath fogged against the glass,

Speaker 1 and Cinder leaned forward and left a nose print on it.

Speaker 1 It reminded me of the sigils

Speaker 1 carved into the door frame at my shop.

Speaker 1 Spells hewn into the wood.

Speaker 1 This was Cinder's spell

Speaker 1 calling me into the house.

Speaker 1 I decided to

Speaker 1 work smarter and sprinkled the rest of the black salt into my hand.

Speaker 1 I opened my palm

Speaker 1 and called on the evening breeze to carry the salt all all around the inn.

Speaker 1 I closed my eyes

Speaker 1 and felt the wind whipping, whirling around me.

Speaker 1 The lop ears of my bunny slippers were buffeted in it,

Speaker 1 and soon my palm was empty,

Speaker 1 and the night calm and quiet again.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 that's one thing done,

Speaker 1 I said to myself as I turned toward the front of the old house.

Speaker 1 Renewing protection

Speaker 1 and prosperity spells

Speaker 1 were something

Speaker 1 all of us in the village circle did regularly.

Speaker 1 But tonight I had another chore on my list,

Speaker 1 though

Speaker 1 it was still a bit

Speaker 1 of a mystery to me,

Speaker 1 shrouded even from my keen sight.

Speaker 1 There was a puzzle here at the inn

Speaker 1 that needed me, Ansender,

Speaker 1 who met me at the door as I came through.

Speaker 1 The entry of the inn

Speaker 1 was absolutely stunning,

Speaker 1 especially to a witch on Halloween.

Speaker 1 A hundred small pumpkins marked each step of of the grand central staircase,

Speaker 1 and the old crystal chandelier

Speaker 1 was wrapped in grey cobwebs.

Speaker 1 From somewhere far off,

Speaker 1 a bone-rattling jazz band played,

Speaker 1 and the place teemed with flickering candlelight

Speaker 1 and the scent of caramel.

Speaker 1 I stood for a moment,

Speaker 1 taking it all in,

Speaker 1 looking up through the stairs

Speaker 1 and breathing in the air of this old house.

Speaker 1 This was sacred to me too.

Speaker 1 It was something I thought of often,

Speaker 1 a part of how I lived

Speaker 1 and made decisions,

Speaker 1 reminding myself of what mattered to me,

Speaker 1 what was worth

Speaker 1 working or fighting for,

Speaker 1 and which were the things that

Speaker 1 didn't deserve my precious energy.

Speaker 1 Places like this

Speaker 1 were worth it,

Speaker 1 filled my cup,

Speaker 1 as did, of course,

Speaker 1 the people I found here.

Speaker 1 I looked around for the innkeeper,

Speaker 1 my eyes sweeping over guests

Speaker 1 as they mingled and climbed the stairs.

Speaker 1 There were plenty of spooky folk out tonight,

Speaker 1 and plenty more,

Speaker 1 just dressed as such.

Speaker 1 I saw a few sisters from my circle.

Speaker 1 I saw the baker

Speaker 1 from the shop downtown,

Speaker 1 and laughed as I realized that

Speaker 1 seeing her out of her apron felt wrong in some way.

Speaker 1 She wore an elaborate gown

Speaker 1 and elf ears that suited her

Speaker 1 very well indeed.

Speaker 1 I scooted past the man who owned the bicycle shop,

Speaker 1 dressed in an old-fashioned baseball uniform.

Speaker 1 His front was dusted with red dirt,

Speaker 1 like he'd just slid into home base,

Speaker 1 and in one hand he held a drink,

Speaker 1 and the other

Speaker 1 a worn mitt.

Speaker 1 A masked pirate

Speaker 1 with a sabre dressed all in black

Speaker 1 took me by the arm,

Speaker 1 and I recognized our newest witch.

Speaker 1 She guided me past the staircase and into the hall.

Speaker 1 Cinder says you have a mystery to solve?

Speaker 1 she whispered.

Speaker 1 Blabber mouth, I said, as I frowned down at the cat.

Speaker 1 A stay-puffed marshmallow squeezed past us,

Speaker 1 and I giggled as I recognized Chef Chef

Speaker 1 under the disguise.

Speaker 1 I thought you'd go as a pickle this year, I said.

Speaker 1 Nah,

Speaker 1 two on the nose.

Speaker 1 I contain multitudes, they said back

Speaker 1 as they moved past us.

Speaker 1 Just then,

Speaker 1 a woman turned a corner down the hall,

Speaker 1 and something in my awareness

Speaker 1 hiccupped.

Speaker 1 She wore a pale, old-fashioned dress

Speaker 1 with full sleeves and a dark apron.

Speaker 1 Her hair was pinned up at the back of her head,

Speaker 1 and though I recognized recognized her

Speaker 1 she was the innkeeper

Speaker 1 I

Speaker 1 also

Speaker 1 didn't

Speaker 1 there was a haze around her

Speaker 1 I brought my hands up in front of my face

Speaker 1 as if I were holding an old-fashioned spyglass

Speaker 1 Peering through them,

Speaker 1 I rotated my hands till she came into focus,

Speaker 1 and I saw that the mist

Speaker 1 was a dreamy purple

Speaker 1 spangled with stars,

Speaker 1 like the night sky.

Speaker 1 She

Speaker 1 was carrying my mystery.

Speaker 1 I leaned over to the masked pirate

Speaker 1 and asked her

Speaker 1 to ask Sycamore

Speaker 1 to herd the innkeeper into the library

Speaker 1 as you wish.

Speaker 1 She tilted her head.

Speaker 1 Her eyes closed under the mask.

Speaker 1 and though I listened intently,

Speaker 1 I couldn't tune into her frequency.

Speaker 1 But Sycamore,

Speaker 1 who had been wandering by the front door,

Speaker 1 obviously could.

Speaker 1 He turned toward us

Speaker 1 and tilted his head as well,

Speaker 1 then sloped toward the innkeeper

Speaker 1 and rubbed his cheek

Speaker 1 against her ankle.

Speaker 1 She bent down to pet him,

Speaker 1 but he inched away.

Speaker 1 She reached again,

Speaker 1 taking a step forward,

Speaker 1 and he took one back.

Speaker 1 And this way,

Speaker 1 step by step,

Speaker 1 he ushered her down the hall and into the library.

Speaker 1 We stepped in after them

Speaker 1 and closed the door with a quiet snap.

Speaker 1 At the sound,

Speaker 1 the innkeeper looked up at us,

Speaker 1 a puzzled smile on her face

Speaker 1 cinder sat at her feet and purred

Speaker 1 in a calm reassuring way

Speaker 1 I think I've come to grant you

Speaker 1 a Halloween wish I said

Speaker 1 with a chuckle in my voice

Speaker 1 Is there

Speaker 1 some mystery

Speaker 1 about the house or

Speaker 1 my eyes roved over her face

Speaker 1 and I was struck with the sudden knowing

Speaker 1 that my talents sometimes gifted me

Speaker 1 the

Speaker 1 other

Speaker 1 innkeeper?

Speaker 1 I asked,

Speaker 1 with awe in my voice.

Speaker 1 I had a vague memory of hearing that

Speaker 1 before this place

Speaker 1 had fallen into disrepair,

Speaker 1 before the decades

Speaker 1 when it had sat empty,

Speaker 1 there had been another

Speaker 1 who watched over the guests

Speaker 1 and walked the halls.

Speaker 1 She smiled broadly and reached for my hands.

Speaker 1 Yes,

Speaker 1 can you

Speaker 1 tell me anything about her?

Speaker 1 I feel like she's my sister

Speaker 1 from another century.

Speaker 1 As she spoke,

Speaker 1 I let my mind quiet

Speaker 1 and my senses sharpen.

Speaker 1 There was a reason

Speaker 1 we were in

Speaker 1 this room,

Speaker 1 the library,

Speaker 1 where I'd looked in earlier and seen Cinder

Speaker 1 and Sycamore looking out.

Speaker 1 I focused on my breath,

Speaker 1 coming and going,

Speaker 1 listened to the sounds in the room,

Speaker 1 and just felt for an answer.

Speaker 1 In a flash

Speaker 1 I was drawn to the old fireplace mantle,

Speaker 1 and I ran my hands over the marble,

Speaker 1 looking for

Speaker 1 I knew not what.

Speaker 1 I was about to give up

Speaker 1 when I felt something under a bracket

Speaker 1 at the side of the mantle.

Speaker 1 I ducked down and squinted at it,

Speaker 1 and the others,

Speaker 1 cats and all,

Speaker 1 looked with me.

Speaker 1 Is

Speaker 1 that?

Speaker 1 I asked.

Speaker 1 A keyhole

Speaker 1 said the pirate witch.

Speaker 1 The innkeeper fumbled her keychain from her pocket

Speaker 1 and looked for one

Speaker 1 that matched the slot.

Speaker 1 Um

Speaker 1 no, I

Speaker 1 I don't think I have a key for that.

Speaker 1 I know where all these go

Speaker 1 already.

Speaker 1 From over her shoulder

Speaker 1 came an arm

Speaker 1 swathed in silky black material

Speaker 1 and clutched in the fingers was an old rusty key.

Speaker 1 The innkeeper and I turned,

Speaker 1 both of us with our mouths agape,

Speaker 1 to look at the newest witch.

Speaker 1 What?

Speaker 1 Where?

Speaker 1 I started.

Speaker 1 She smiled and said,

Speaker 1 The crows gave it to me a few weeks ago.

Speaker 1 I thought it was just a trinket they found, but

Speaker 1 I've kept it in my pocket

Speaker 1 in case it was something more than that.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 now I think it is.

Speaker 1 With a gulp,

Speaker 1 the innkeeper took it and fitted it into the hole.

Speaker 1 It took both hands to turn,

Speaker 1 but when she did,

Speaker 1 a piece of paneling beside the bookcase slid open,

Speaker 1 and a dark hallway appeared from behind it.

Speaker 1 We could make out the bottom step of a staircase

Speaker 1 that ascended to somewhere unknown.

Speaker 1 The lights in the room flickered,

Speaker 1 and I felt the house itself

Speaker 1 sighing

Speaker 1 contentedly as its last unknown space

Speaker 1 was finally unlocked.

Speaker 1 We edged up to the secret doorway,

Speaker 1 my

Speaker 1 pink bunny slippers

Speaker 1 beside the sensible shoes of the innkeeper,

Speaker 1 the black boots of the pirate,

Speaker 1 and the gray and midnight paws of the cats.

Speaker 1 Sycamore lifted his face

Speaker 1 to sniff the air.

Speaker 1 I could smell

Speaker 1 old paper.

Speaker 1 And with another flash of understanding,

Speaker 1 I knew that

Speaker 1 among many other treasures in this hidden space,

Speaker 1 we would find something

Speaker 1 that the other innkeeper

Speaker 1 had left here

Speaker 1 for safekeeping.

Speaker 1 Maybe even knowing

Speaker 1 that when the time

Speaker 1 was right,

Speaker 1 the panel would be slid back

Speaker 1 and the trove

Speaker 1 would be found.

Speaker 1 As the band played above us,

Speaker 1 I conjured a candle from my pocket,

Speaker 1 lit it from my fingertip,

Speaker 1 and handed it over

Speaker 1 to the innkeeper.

Speaker 1 Her face lit

Speaker 1 with the glow of excitement and adventure,

Speaker 1 and we stepped

Speaker 1 on to the secret stair.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.