Leslie, crouched next to him and balancing on the balls of her feet, looked over and found his face very close to hers. For a moment, her thoughts hitched as she became aware of his warmth and the pleasant scent of him, then went on full steam ahead. “Yes, you do—if you grew up reading Nancy Drew and Lois Duncan and the Chronicles of Narnia! I mean, I always wanted to find a wardrobe that led to a secretworld.”
“Apparently I missed out on all the fun.” His voice was wry and tinged with humor, and he graciously moved out of the way so she could get a better look, steadying her by the arm when she nearly lost her balance in her eagerness. “I wasn’t much of areader.”
“No wonder the wall patch was so small and low to the ground—it’s just the top of a spiral staircase, right beneath the main stairway!” She shined her light down inside a hole the size of a trapdoor. The iron-railed steps curled down into the darkness like a strand of DNA. “Do you think it’s safe? I want to go downthere.”
“Not afraid of what you might find?” he asked in that same amused voice. “There might bespiders.”
“I’m sure there’ll be spiders.” She hesitated, warring with herself. It was one thing to encounter spiders in the light, where she could see and avoid them…but it would be a totally different ballgame to be climbing down a stairway in the dark and potentially walking into spider-laden cobwebs. Or having the arachnids lowering themselves onto her head orshoulders—
“Want me to check the stairs first and make sure they’re sturdyenough?”
Leslie fairly sang out with relief. “Yes, but don’t look at anything,” she told him, scooting back. “I want to see it formyself.”
“Kinda hard to test out the steps all the way down without looking around,” he muttered, but she saw his mouth continuing to twitch in a barely restrained smile. “I’ll do my best tofeelmy way down, and hope I don’t miss astep.”
“Well, of course you can look—but don’t tell me anything.” Leslie peered around his shoulder as he carefully stepped down into the opening, using the edge of the hole they’d revealed to help lever himself in. “And get rid of any spiders in theway.”
“So mice and rats and snakes are okay?” he asked with a teasing challenge. “How aboutbats?”
“It’s only spiders and Orbra that scare me,” she reminded him with a grin. “I can handle anything else.” Evenghosts.
Leslie waited, watching impatiently as he took his time testing his weight on the steps and then slowly, very slowly, made his way down. Just before his head disappeared through the hole, he looked up and their eyesmet.
“I have to admit, thisispretty cool,” he said, then ducked below before she could react to the heat dancing in hiseyes.
So he was having fun too. Leslie smiled.If I’d stayed in Philly, this would never have happened tome.
At that moment, she decided to add “Discover hidden treasures and secret rooms” to her life-improvementlist.
“Well?” she called down, shining her light after him. The top of his auburn head was just out of her reach, moving slowly down in a tight spiral. His broad shoulders fit—but just barely—within the width of the tight stairwell, which, from her angle, appeared to be closed on twosides.
“I’m on the ground. Oh my God! You won’t believethis!”
“What?” Leslie nearly threw herself down the stairs, then she realized he was looking up at her from the bottom, laughing. “You’re teasing me.” She was grinning now too, and began to ease her feet through theopening.
“I’m trying not to look around too much, so hurry down. I got rid of all the spider webs, so it should be clear sailing.” He came back up a few steps. “Here, let me help you.” His hand closed around her ankle, then stopped. “Put some shoes on, Leslie. Who knows what’s downhere.”
“Ugh.” She pulled back. “You’re right. Holdon.”
She moved away quickly and slipped on her clogs with the thick wooden soles, then was back at the hole and easing her feet through it, holding on to the edge just as he had. Once again, Declan’s hand gripped her ankle, this time helping her to blindly find the step below. His fingers were warm and strong on her skin, and Leslie felt that same physical awareness as yesterday when they shook hands for the firsttime.
He had his cell phone out and its flashlight on, and she was holding the real flash as she made her way down thestairs.
“I’m pretty sure it was a speakeasy,” he said as she reached thebottom.
“A speakeasy!” As she descended, her eyes had grown progressively wider, and her excitement spread from a small flutter to a full-blown stomach ofbutterflies.
“Wow. It’s like they were interrupted or something.” Leslie stepped onto the ground, Declan steadying her as she gawked at the space spread out before them. “And never cameback.”
“Maybe it was the announcement that the votes had passed, and Prohibition wasending.”
“Or maybe it was a raid, and they all got carted off tojail.”
“Nice and optimistic, aren’t we?” he muttered, but loudly enough for her tohear.
Their lights didn’t illuminate the area all that well, but Leslie could see the makings of what looked like a lounge and bar. Sofas and club chairs, torn up and frayed by the rodents—which had been disturbed and were now scurrying around in the shadows—were arranged in a large U-shape. Two low tables sat in the center, covered with drinking glasses, bottles, and a large crystal decanter. Some of the vessels were broken or lying vertically, others still upright but filled only with dust and dirt. On one wall was a counter with cupboards below it and glasses on shelves above. Corks, bottles, a corkscrew, even small pieces of cloth that looked like napkins were strewn all over thecounter.
Leslie turned in a slow circle, shining the beam of light around to illuminate the walls. Two sides were paneled with heavy, solid wood—maple, she thought with delight—and the other two walls appeared to be drywall or plaster, and wallpapered. A huge painting with a gilt frame at least six inches thick hung on the largest expanse of wall, as if to be the focal point. It depicted a young woman of twenty or so, with boyishly short blond hair and large brown eyes. She wore feathers in her hair, jutting from a jewel-encrusted headband that cut across her forehead, a fur scarf the length of a boa, and a shift-like dress that appeared to be sewn with more gems: diamonds, sapphires, and pale blue gems that were probably topazes oraquamarines.
