Where could Derek have gone? He was there just a minute ago. Did he go down to the lobby? Why wouldn’t he have told Sam before he left? Didn’t he care that there was a wild alligator roaming around?
Sam went back to his room. He opened the door, sticking his head out. The hall was silent, except for a low hum and a crunching sound around the corner to his right.
“Derek?”
He quietly stepped into the hall in his bare feet. The crunching sound grew louder with each step down the hallway. Sam slowed, his mind filling with images of alligators.
“Derek?” he whispered again, but there was no answer.
Just the sound.
Crunch, crunch, hum.
THIRTEEN
Sam reached the corner of the hall. The crunch, crunch, hum sound seemed to be just on the other side of the wall. Maybe it was the alligator meticulously chomping Derek to pieces.
Sam tried to be brave. It couldn’t be an alligator...could it?
Slowly he slipped his head past the edge of the wall, eyes wide with expectation. All at once, he leaped into the opening. “Kiai!” Sam screamed with a dramatic karate chop.
The small side room was empty. No alligators with sharp teeth. No Derek. Just a tall, brown machine with the word ICE written on it. Crunch, crunch, hum, it ran, as ice cubes fell inside it.
Sam smacked his forehead with his hand. He felt stupid. Again. He glanced around casually to make sure no one had seen him.
“Well where the heck did he go then?” Sam said out loud. He turned back down the hallway to his room. It was just like Derek to run off and leave him alone in the room with no warning and a wild alligator on the loose.
Sam turned the door handle to his room and pushed. It didn’t budge. He pushed harder. It must have locked by itself. He patted down the pockets of his flannel pajamas, but he didn’t have the key card to his room. “That’s just great.”
He couldn’t just stand there in the hall waiting for Derek. Someone else might come along. Or something. He ran toward the elevator, then stopped short. What if something was already in it when the doors opened? He didn’t want to get trapped. He wasn’t that high up. He would take the stairs.
Sam gripped the railing tightly as he inched down the marble steps in the side stairwell that led toward the lobby. He felt ridiculous in his bare feet and pajamas and was glad that Caitlin had already gone home so she wouldn’t see him. The balcony of the Grand Ballroom was at the bottom of the flight of stairs. He kept his eyes peeled for Mom or Dad. Derek had to be around here somewhere too. Maybe Mo could help him, although Sam really didn’t trust him.
He looked around the balcony. The only people watching him were the former American presidents that lined the walls in stately old paintings. As he tiptoed across the carpet, a voice called out softly.
“Nice pajamas.”
Sam spun around in the direction of the sound. Derek was crouched against the side of the balcony behind a large potted palm tree. Sam sighed loudly and walked over to his brother, who was staring down into the ballroom.
“What are you doing down here?”
“Shh,” whispered Derek from his position behind the plant. “Get down.”
Sam gritted his teeth and tried to have patience. He knelt down next to Derek. “What are you doing?” he repeated.
“I’m staking out the ballroom,” said Derek.
“Staking it out for who?” He looked over the railing but didn’t see anyone. The hotel seemed to have mostly gone to bed.
“Not who,” said Derek, pointing toward the staircase. “What.”
Sam shook his head. “What are you talking about?” He leaned forward to get a better view. “I don’t see anything.”
“The alligator,” said Derek, motioning again toward the stairs. “It’s down there. It keeps walking around the staircase.”
Sam’s eyes lit up. “What?” He stood up quickly. “We need to tell somebody.”
Derek shook his head.
“What do you mean, no? Are you crazy?”
“No,” answered Derek. “It vanished.”
“Vanished? Like disappeared?”
Derek grinned. “Vanished like under the wall.”
“What wall?”
Derek pointed to the spot near the stairs where they’d been looking before the rehearsal dinner. “It must have found a way down into the tunnels like Mo was saying.” He stood up and headed down the staircase.
“Where are you going?” asked Sam.
“To check it out. Where else?”
Sam’s heart raced. “Wait!” He tugged at Derek’s shirt. “What if it gets us? We’d be trapped. We should call Mo.”
Derek paused, crouching down. “Hmm. For once, Sam, you’re actually right. We should call Mo.” He looked around the balcony, then snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it.”
“Got what?”
“Stay here.” Derek casually walked over to an antique black phone on a table against the wall. He put the large receiver up to his ear and pushed a button.
He began talking in a deep voice. “Yes, I need a bellman to help me with my bags...can you send that nice man, Mo Peterson, up to my room?” He paused to listen to the person on the other end of the line. “Yes, Room 515. Thank you.”
Derek walked back over to Sam with a big smile on his face. “That should keep him busy for a little while.”
“But our room isn’t 515...” said Sam.
“Exactly. It’s on the other side of the hotel. It will take Mo a long time to get there and back, so we have time to check out the passageway.”
Sam shook his head. “What? We need his help, not to send him away!”
“He’ll never let us go down there. We need time to find the passageway. Besides, they already think you’re the one who opened the cage.”
Sam frowned at his brother. “They do not! You know I didn’t do it.”
Derek grinned. “I know it, but I’m not the one who can put you in the slammer.” He ran down the staircase, staying close to the side to keep out of view.
“This is ridiculous,” groaned Sam, a bead of sweat gathering on his forehead.
Sam watched Derek move his hands carefully over the section of the wall next to the stairs. He knocked on it lightly like their dad did when he was trying to find a wall joist. Sam turned away from Derek to look up at the entrance to the Palm Court. There was no sign of Mom and Dad. The place seemed to be deserted.
He looked back at the wall, but Derek wasn’t there. He was gone. He’d vanished.
FOURTEEN
Sam hustled over to where Derek had been, next to the grand staircase.
“Derek!” he said in barely a whisper. He looked at the wall for some kind of opening. “He did it again...” Sam muttered.
He moved forward, feeling with his fingers for some kind of crack. The wall seemed rock solid. His bare feet felt cold on the tile floor. Really cold.
He bent down and felt along the bottom of the wall. A cool breeze was flowing out from a gap between the wall and the floor. It was like there was an empty space behind it. He noticed two small squares, indented into the wall. They were even with his shoulders, about a foot across from each other. Sam put a hand on each square and pushed. All at once, a section of the wall sprung open like a narrow door. Sam stared into the dark space under the staircase. He caught his breath as the cool air poured out over him. He felt chill bumps down his arms. “This is it.”
Sam glanced over his shoulder into the ballroom. He couldn’t imagine a good reason to go in the passage, but he knew he would. He always seemed to follow his older brother, even when it ended up getting him in trouble. Which was most of the time.
Before he could think about it any longer, a radio squawked from around the corner. It was Mo! Now he didn’t have a choice. Sam leaped into the opening and pushed the doorway closed. He stood frozen inside the wall, listening, as Mo’s footsteps walked past him. He must not have seen.
Sam turned around in
side the wall and realized that he couldn’t see anything either. It was pitch black.
“Derek?” he whispered, pressing his hands against the closest wall. He didn’t want to think about what could be in the dark with him, but he couldn’t help it. From what Mo had said, it had been a hundred years since they rebuilt the hotel after the fire. Had anyone else been down here since then?
He calmed himself by remembering that Derek had to be nearby. He’d only entered the passageway a few minutes before. How far could he have gone? Unless the alligator already had him.
Sam pushed such thoughts out of his mind and moved forward. His foot slipped over a step leading down and he nearly fell. The concrete was hard underneath his feet. He gathered his balance and slowly descended a staircase.
“Derek!” he whispered again in the darkness. He reached the bottom of the stairs without hearing a reply. He groped along the wall, looking for a light switch. Suddenly his fingers landed on something soft. Fleshy. Like a body. Sam’s heart leapt.
“Took you long enough,” said Derek, through the darkness, pushing Sam’s hand away from his arm.
Sam let out a long breath. “What are you doing? You nearly scared me to death.”
“I’m channeling my inner gator, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. You can see pretty well after a while.”
“What is this place?” Sam asked, the darkness gradually turning into shadows. He could now make out a long hallway, but it only seemed to end in more darkness. A very faint glow came from dim lights spaced every so often near the ceiling. They were so old and covered with dirt that the light hardly shined through.
“I don’t know,” said Derek. “It must be one of those passages under the city that connects all the buildings.”
“So what are we going to do now that we’re down here?” asked Sam.
Derek crouched down. “Check this out.” The cement floor was covered with a thick layer of dust and dirt. That wasn’t surprising after being hidden away for a hundred years.
“What is it?”
“Tracks,” said Derek.
Sam bent down. Sure enough, there were marks in the dirt. They looked like scrapes. Or claws. Like something was being dragged along the floor. He gulped, picturing an alligator dragging him along.
Sam hopped up. “Okay. Time to go.”
“What? We just got here. We have to follow them.”
Sam shook his head. “No way. That’s enough for me. I’m out of here.”
Derek put his hand on Sam’s arm. “Shh.”
“Quit it. You already scared me once.”
“No, seriously.” Derek held still and listened. “I heard something.”
Sam strained to listen through the darkness. He didn’t want to hear anything, but he did. A noise was coming from the top of the stairs where they’d entered the wall. Someone, or something, was coming from the hotel!
“Come on, we have to hide,” said Derek.
They scrambled down the hall until they came to a metal door on one side. Derek pointed to a small sign mounted on the wall beside the doorframe. He brushed at the dust with his hand.
Sam gasped. “L. Ginter.”
Derek put his finger up to his lips.
Lewis Ginter? Why would he have had a secret room built this far below the hotel? The footsteps coming down the stairs were growing closer. They needed to get into this room, whatever it was.
Derek carefully turned the doorknob. Surprisingly, it opened. Without knowing exactly what they were walking in to, they slid into the room. The door let out a loud creak as it closed behind them. Surely anyone coming down the stairs would have heard that. Sam scooted against the wall until he found something that felt sturdy enough to hide behind. Derek pushed himself up against the wall behind where the door would open.
Sam held his breath. Listening. Someone was walking toward them. The footsteps stopped right outside the door. He heard the handle turn.
The door slowly opened.
FIFTEEN
A figure stood in the doorway. It seemed short, like a kid. A hand reached up to the wall, feeling for a light switch. Suddenly the room was filled with brightness.
“It’s you!” Derek exclaimed.
Sam’s eyes opened wide as he peered up from behind an old desk. “Nathan? What are you doing down here?”
Nathan looked down at Sam on the floor. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“We’re following the alligator,” said Derek. “We think it came down the passageway in the wall.”
“And I’m following you,” said Nathan, a smirk on his face. “I was watching you two bumble around in the ballroom.” He folded his arms and frowned at Sam. “I’m keeping my eye on you so I can prove what you did.”
Sam shook his head. “Give me a break.” He crawled out from under the desk and looked around the small room. It was about half the size of his bedroom at home. It looked like an old supply room that had been converted into an office. Or maybe it was an old office that had been converted into a supply room. It was hard to tell. Whatever it was, it didn’t look like anyone had been in there for years.
The metal desk he’d hidden under was pushed against one wall next to a small bookshelf. A green cot on the other side of the room looked like it might collapse if he sat on it. It had more holes than fabric. There were piles of rolled-up paper, like the kind architects use for building plans or maps, on every surface. The whole place had a very lived-in – but deserted – feel. Who would want to be down here? It didn’t look like a very nice place to stay.
“Do you think this room was really Lewis Ginter’s, like it said on the sign by the door?” asked Sam.
“What’s that?” asked Nathan, pointing to a large map on the wall above the desk. It looked like the whole world. The old paper had an assortment of red lines drawn back and forth, most of them across the oceans.
“Who knows,” replied Derek. “Maybe it’s a map of where he bought his alligators.”
Sam stared closer. There was writing on top of each red line. June 14, 1888.
He followed that line with his finger. It started in Richmond, went to Chicago, then San Francisco, then across the ocean to Hawaii, then to Australia. Sam leaned back. There were lines like that all over the map. There had to be at least thirty of them, all across the world. “Wow…he was an explorer.”
Derek stepped up next to Sam and looked at the map. “Or maybe an adventurer. Like us!” He smiled.
Sam tried to think about crossing the ocean thirty times. It must have been by boat back then, too. He shook his head. He didn’t really want to go anywhere in a boat, let alone across the ocean. He felt seasick just thinking about it. Sam stepped away from the map and frowned. “We need to get out of here and go back to the hotel. We’re never going to find anything.”
“How ‘bout my game? Did you find that yet?” asked Nathan, staring accusingly at Sam across the room.
“Nathan, I didn’t take it,” said Sam.
“I thought you were going to check the zoo?” said Derek, smiling.
“The loo,” barked Nathan. “And I did. It wasn’t there.”
“Maybe you dropped it in,” said Derek.
Nathan shook his head.
“Did you ask Mo?” said Sam, walking back to the doorway. He peered out into the darkness.
“No, not yet,” said Nathan.
“We think maybe he stole the wedding rings,” said Derek.
“What’s this thing?” Nathan said, picking up an object made of metal and glass from the bookshelf.
“It’s a lantern, I think,” said Sam. It reminded him of the one that their dad brought along when they went camping. They usually hung that one from a tree while they sat around the campfire. This one looked a lot older though.
Derek wiped dust off a section of the glass. “I think you’re right. It looks like it runs on oil.” He unscrewed a small round cover. “See? Here’s the tank on the bottom.”
“Oil?” asked Nathan. “L
ike the black stuff in the tanker ships?”
Derek shook his head. “No, lantern oil. It’s more like gasoline.”
Nathan scrunched his eyebrows together. “Oh, you mean petrol.”
“Uh...no,” answered Derek. “I mean gas. Like for your car. You do have cars in England, don’t you?”
“Shove off,” muttered Nathan. “Yes, we have cars. We call gas petrol.”
Sam shook his head. These English words were so strange.
“Now if we are lucky...” Derek began searching through the desk drawers. “Aha!” He pulled out a dirty box of matches.
“Those will never work,” said Nathan.
“Dude, have a little faith,” Derek replied, opening the top of the lantern. He pulled out a match from the box and struck it quickly against the desk.
Nothing happened.
“Told you,” said Nathan.
Derek nodded and pulled out another match, flicking it on his pants this time. Still nothing happened.
“He’s probably right,” said Sam. “They’ve been down here a long time, maybe they got wet.”
Derek’s face grew more determined. He pulled out a third match and struck it against the concrete wall. Instantly, a spark burst into flame at the end of the matchstick. He quickly lowered the match into the top of the glass panel, holding it still to light the wick.
“Ouch!” He jerked his hand back from the flame, dropping the match and shaking his fingers. He bent down to watch the wick slowly begin to burn, turning the knob on the base of the lantern until the flame was steady.
Derek looked at Nathan, raising his eyebrows in delight. “You were saying?” He lifted the lantern by a wire handle and walked to the doorway. “You ladies can stay here and argue about video games if you want. I’m following the gator tracks.”
Sam sighed and stepped toward the doorway.
“I thought you were scared,” said Nathan.
“I am,” said Sam, nodding. “But I’m not staying here with you!”
Secret of the Staircase (The Virginia Mysteries Book 4) Page 6
