The Missing Stairs

Previously

…She stepped back from the opening, a wide smile spreading across her face. She would have to return, of course, better prepared. But for now, the knowledge itself was a treasure. Eleanor’s cryptic rhyme had led her here, to this hidden passage, to the first tangible proof of a secret that had been waiting, patiently, to be discovered. The truth was no longer just a whisper; it was a tangible opening, a silent invitation into the heart of her family’s past. The sun had finally dipped below the horizon, leaving the west wing in a deep twilight, but for Clara, the world had suddenly become a great deal brighter.