“You can see up there,” their guide pointed,“galleries were constructed for the public to visit and watch theproceedings here below. Mr. Richardson thrilled in using importsfrom all over the world. The walls, pillars and arches are Mexicanonyx. The fireplaces were built with Siena marble. The chairs andsettees were made of Spanish leather; and Caribbean red-brownmahogany was used for the desks.”
As they began to leave through the WestSenate lobby, she moved to the side to call Bryan on her cell. Shewanted to make sure he didn’t need her back for anything pressing.There was still the staircase to view, and she didn’t want to missit.
Bryan assured her all was well and not toworry. She caught up with the procession almost immediately. Shenoticed that the odd ball, who had joined them much later, wasmissing from the group. She turned about to see, if he was lagging,and was startled, as she caught him jumping behind one of themassive marble pillars to hide himself.
That’s strange!She exclaimedsilently, making a face.Is he that shy for Pete’s sake.
For a moment, she thought his actions werejust too bizarre and thought about warning the Sergeant-of-Arms, asto his odd behavior.
The Tour Guide’s cry, “Our next stop is themillion-dollar staircase,” caught Jessica’s attention. She shruggedher concern off, and hurried to close the distance between her andthe group.
No matter how many times she had climbed thisstaircase already, she always found it to be a wondrousmasterpiece.
Melinda explained how it was a correlationbetween Moorish and Victorian Gothic, whatever that meant. WhatJessica saw, was an intricate series of elegant arches. Thecarvings in the wood, were exquisite designs. No two were alike andMelinda further explained how they depicted the scale of evolution,as the staircase ascended.
There was a nine-foot wheel, that to herlooked like a rose-window, set within the balustrade between thethird and fourth levels.
“Red Corse hill sandstone, which is afreestone commonly used for fine carving, was imported fromScotland,” Melinda explained. “When it’s first quarried, it’s softand hardens slowly the more it’s exposed to the air. After it’srubbed out, it resembles the polished wood you see here. It workedout so well on the Senate staircase, it became the principal stonefor the entire Great Western Staircase, which was popularlynicknamed the ‘Million-Dollar” Staircase,” she opened her armswide, smiling proudly. “The actual cost, fell in the neighborhood,of one-million-five-hundred thousand dollars.
This staircase measures seventy-seven feetand one-hundred-nineteen feet up to the skylight above. A steamengine in the attic hoisted the stone for construction. It tooktwice as long to build, because there were periodic layoffs due tolack of funds, lasting five and a half years.”
It was then, that Jessica noticed the mass ofcarvings, being pointed out, as they continued to climb. The factthat the Civil War was still very vivid in the minds of thecraftsmen, its hero’s faces were carved here … Lincoln, GeneralsGrant and Sherman. Melinda also pointed out John Brown, HarrietBeecher Stowe, and the mulatto abolitionist, Frederick Douglass. Apoet’s corner, also honored Whitman, Longfellow, and Whittier.”
Their guide chuckled softly, as shecontinued. “Legends have it, that the heads no one couldn’tidentify, were actually, those relatives and friends of thecarvers. A half-dozen remained unidentified. These two though,” shepointed out, “are the daughter and granddaughter of Isaac Perry,one of the major stone carvers of the staircase.”
They climbed the last final steps to thesixth-floor landing, and she counted them to herself quietly.
Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, shegasped aloud. She could tell many of the seniors were breathless,and scurried to occupy the leather benches and chairs scatteredabout for the public’s relaxation.
Melinda went from guest-to-guest, thankingthem one last time for joining the tour, and answered whateverlingering questions they might have.
Jessica heard one of the seniors tellinganother it was just one o’clock. She knew that Bryan was going tohave lunch delivered around one-forty-five. It was the first time,that she was ever up on the sixth floor and she looked about. Twoof the seniors, who stayed by her side the duration of the tour,said their goodbyes.
Jessica watched as the entire group of themmade their way onto the elevator with the guide and; she waved tothem, as the doors slowly began to close. The teens and theirchaperone decided to take the stairs back down to the mainfloor.
Jessica thought to herself,Good forthem, and watched, as they enthusiastically began to descendthe staircase, until they were out of sight.
She turned and decided to follow the corridorto her right. She had no idea where it would take her and let hercuriosity lead the way. It did not take long for the echoing soundsof the teens to disappear the further on she walked.
Soon, silence permeated around her. It becamerather obvious; the sixth floor hadn’t been used in a very longtime. It even smelled musty, the farther she walked. She didn’thear any distant chatter, or those normal noises a busy officegenerated. It was somewhat eerie in a way, and Jessica foundherself questioning her decision to be up here by herself.
A breeze wafted over her and she shivered,wondering where it may have originated from. There were no openwindows or doorways, that she could see, as she turned yet, anothercorner. It was a short walkway, that soon curved to the left. Itseemed like her shoulder bag was getting heavier and; shereadjusted it like a bullet bandolier across her chest.
“Where the heck does this lead?” She spokealoud.
She entered another chamber, which seemedvirtually endless. This floor was all unused space. She knew thatonce the Legislative Office Building was constructed, most of theSenate and Assembly offices were transferred to there, leaving, amajority, of the Capitol empty. An entire empty floor washaunting.
She tested many of the doors, and found thatthey were all locked. She couldn’t tell whether the sounds offootsteps echoing around her were still hers, or those of someoneelse.
Even the sound of her own breathing, vibratedloudly, making the hairs prickle on the back of her neck. Shestrained her ears to pick up any background noise, but it was onlythe silence that greeted her.
The more she walked, the more uncomfortableshe became. The light in the room seemed to start to fade as well.Jessica quickly glanced at her phone.
“Shit!” She muttered, as she noticed only onebar remained. She became irritated … extremely so. She should havereturned to the office, instead of venturing into the unknown likethis.
“Damn it,” she scoffed, stomping her foot inaggravation.
She knew she had just bitten through the skinof her lower lip from the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. Anunsettling feeling washed over her, and it was then, she decided toretrace her steps.
