Stairs to Where?

“What are you doing in my cottage? ” the witch demanded as she stepped inside.

But when she saw the bubbling brew her eyes popped wide open!

“Cheese and crackers! ” the witch exclaimed. “How did that happen? ”

“You mean you don’t know? ” Nancy asked.

The witch shook her head.

“I’ll bet you know what happened to Lester! ” Katie said bravely.

“Lester? ” the witch cried. “You mean that bird who bit my honker? ”

“Nipped! ” Katie corrected.

“Do you know where he is? ” Nancy asked the witch.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, ” the witch said.

But Nancy wasn’t finished asking questions.

“Can you tell us where you were in the last hour? ” Nancy asked the witch.

The witch pointed to her bandaged nose. “After cracker-breath bit my nose, I went straight to the River Heights Hospital emergency room, ” she said.

“You were there all this time? ” Nancy asked.

The witch nodded. “You should have seen all the people in the waiting room, ” she said. “But after I turned them into toads, the doctor took me right away.”

Silence.

“Kidding! ” the witch said.

Nancy believed the witch. Only a doctor could wrap such a big nose so neatly.

The cauldron finally stopped bubbling. Nancy remembered the feather.

“You said you needed a parrot feather for your brew, ” Nancy told the witch. “So what was a red feather doing inside your cauldron? ”

The witch cackled.

She reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out a key. She walked to the cabinet and unlocked it.

The witch pulled the door wide open. Inside the cupboard Nancy saw a feather duster. A big red feather duster!

“A feather must have fallen into the cauldron while I was dusting it! ” the witch explained.

Nancy believed the witch again. The feather in the brew was the same color as the feathers on the duster.

The witch planted her hands on her hips. “Any other questions? ” she asked.

“Just one, ” Mari said. “Is that nose of yours… for real? ”

“What do you think it is, girlie? ” the witch sneered. “A salami? ”

“Lester must have thought so.” Katie sighed. “He loves salami.”

“Well, I hope you find your bird, ” the witch said. “If not, try dropping some bread crumbs. It worked for Hansel and Gretel.”

The girls said good-bye to the witch and left the room. Nancy opened her notebook and crossed out the witch’s name.

“Did you see how surprised she was when she saw the ooze? ” Amara asked.

“Someone is doing weird things in this house, ” Nancy said. She checked out her suspect list. Her only two suspects were Ernest and the troll.

“Can we go to the library? ” Katie asked. “Maybe Lester flew back to his cage in the meantime.”

But when the girls returned to the library, Lester wasn’t there. Instead there were two women in the middle of the room. One was tall. The other one was short.

“They’re Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters! ” Amara said with a smile.

More villains! Nancy thought.

“So! ” the short sister said. “Thought you could sneak off to the prince’s ball? ”

Nancy shook her head. “We were just looking for a parrot, ” she said.

“Next you’ll be telling us you were looking for your glass slipper! ” The tall sister laughed.

“You girls are not going anywhere until you clean this room! ” the short one said.

Nancy glanced around the library. The books were back on the shelves. The pizza slices were back in the box.

“Clean what? ” Nancy asked.

The sisters stepped aside. They pointed to a trail of white powdery footprints on the carpet.

“Ta-daa! ” the tall one sang. She took a handful of brushes from a blue pail. She gave one to each of the girls. “Now stop gabbing and start scrubbing! ”

The girls got down on their hands and knees. They began to brush the footprints.

“Smile, ” Amara whispered. “This is supposed to be funny.”

“Ha, ha, ” George grumbled.

The footprints brushed off easily. When they were done the girls stood up.

Nancy folded her arms and leaned against the bookcase. Then something strange happened. She felt the bookcase move! Nancy stepped forward and the bookcase sprang back. Too weird!

“Nice job, girls, ” the tall sister said. “Those footprints are history! ”

But they weren’t history for long. After a few seconds the footprints began to reappear — one by one!

“Those are trick footprints right? ” Bess asked.

“If it’s a trick it’s a good one, ” the tall sister gulped. “I’ve never seen that happen before.”

“Me neither! “The short one said. “Forget about working overtime. I’m outta here! ”

The stepsisters lifted the hems of their skirts and bolted out the door.

“Did you see how they flipped when those footprints came back? ” George asked.

“Hey! ” Bess called. She pointed into the blue bucket. “This bucket is filled with sheets of stickers. Glittery ones! ”

“And here’s a note from my aunt Ellen, ” Amara said. She pulled out a piece of paper. “It says: ‘You glow, girls! ’”

Nancy liked stickers. But she couldn’t wait to show everyone what she found.

“Look everybody! ” Nancy called. She gave the bookcase a push. This time it swung open like a door. A secret door!

“Neato-mosquito! ” George exclaimed.

Everyone ran to look inside.

Nancy saw a staircase leading downstairs. “Where does it lead, Amara? ” she asked.

“Don’t know.” Amara shrugged. “I never saw this staircase in my life! ”

“Then there’s only one way to find out, ” Nancy said.

She took a deep breath. And she stepped through the secret door!