Secret of the Staircase Quotes

“Alligators once lived in marble ponds that surrounded the Thomas Jefferson statue in the Palm Court Lobby. The last of the alligators, Old Pompey, called The Jefferson home until his death in 1948.”
― Steven K. Smith, Secret of the Staircase

“begrudgingly”
― Steven K. Smith, Secret of the Staircase

“Sometimes he told people that he got all his gray hairs from what his boys put him through.”
― Steven K. Smith, Secret of the Staircase

“Derek crouched down and studied the dirt again under the lantern light. “Something’s in there,” he whispered. “How do you know?” asked Nathan, hesitation filling his voice. “I can sense it,” answered Derek. Sam groaned, then did something surprising. Maybe he was sick of Derek always telling him what to do. Maybe it was because his feet hurt. Maybe he was tired of always getting scared for no reason. “This is stupid,” he yelled, grabbing the lantern. He pushed past Derek and Nathan. “There’s nothing out there. It’s just the shadows playing tricks on us. You probably didn’t even see the alligator come down here. We need to get the heck out of here before we get lost.” He stepped around the corner. “See!” he proclaimed, holding the lantern up high in front of him. Light streamed into an enormous, open room. It seemed to stretch on forever, like some hidden underground cavern. Water dripped from open cracks above them. Pillars of rock hung down from the ceiling. Derek’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my gosh...” Sam’s arm turned to stone, the lantern dangling from his hand like a light post. He couldn’t move a muscle, except for his eyes, which darted around the deep room of shadows. A wide pool of water lay in the middle of the space as if it had been filled by a hundred years of rainwater working its way underground. Lying all around the pool were alligators. Dozens of them.”
― Steven K. Smith, Secret of the Staircase

“Please pass the sugar cubes.” Sam rolled his eyes as he handed the crystal bowl of white and brown sugar cubes to Caitlin. He refused to look over at his mom at the next table. She was in a deep conversation with Anita, seemingly not concerned about subjecting him to a tea party. This was terrible. What was ‘high tea’ anyhow? He looked across at Caitlin. She seemed to be enjoying herself. She was really excited about being in this fancy old hotel. “Isn’t”
― Steven K. Smith, Secret of the Staircase