Della and the Singing Staircase

Della climbed twelve steps, hummed one note, and found thirteen waiting for her.

She stopped and counted again. The spiral staircase curled up through the moonlit castle tower, its stone steps winding around a tall, quiet center. At the top, in a little nook beneath the roof, Pip the bat waited beside an empty hook.

“I promised you a lantern,” Della called. “Just a little farther!”

Pip lifted one pointed ear.

Della was the castle’s young musician. She played a small wooden flute at supper and knew how to keep a tune steady, even when the wind rattled the tower windows. She had carried the lantern carefully all the way from the music room. Its handle bumped her knee as she climbed.

She tried again. One step, two steps, three—

At the top of her count, another step appeared with a quiet puff of dust.

Della blinked. “That’s not helpful.”

Pip peeped from above. The nook still looked far away.

Della set the lantern on a broad step and rested her hands on her knees. Then she started up again, counting slowly. The staircase curled left, then right, then left. When Della reached the place where she thought the last step should be, a new one slid into view.

She looked down. The steps behind her seemed to have grown, too. The tower was still peaceful, but the staircase was playing a puzzling game.

Della hummed a little refrain as she climbed: “Round and round, up we go; step by step, the lantern glows.”

She reached ten steps. Then eleven. Then twelve.

A thirteenth step appeared.

Della sat down beside the lantern. “Maybe you don’t want me at the top,” she told the staircase. “But Pip needs a light in his nook.”

The stone beneath her palm felt cool and smooth. Somewhere above, Pip gave a tiny squeak. Della glanced at her flute, tucked into her belt, then at the broad step beside her.

The staircase had kept her from climbing. Perhaps it was trying to tell her something.

Della tapped the step with one finger.

Ting!

She tapped the next one.

Tong!

Della’s eyes widened. Each step had its own clear, musical note.

Della tapped three steps in a row. Ting, tong, ting! The notes floated up the tower and curled around the stone walls.

Pip leaned out of his nook. “Peep?”

“I hear you,” Della said. She tapped another step. This one made a low, warm plunk. The step beside it answered with a higher ting.

Della tried the notes again, slowly. “Low, high, middle,” she murmured. “The staircase has a song.”

She stood, holding the lantern in one hand, and began to climb. Each time a new step appeared, she tapped it. Each step rang with a different note. Soon Della was climbing and playing at once, making a tune that wandered up the tower.

But the notes began to tumble together. Della hurried to keep up. A step appeared, then another, then two more. Her tune grew bumpy and loud. The lantern swung from her hand.

“Wait,” Della whispered. She stopped. The staircase stopped growing, too.

She looked at Pip. He had tucked his wings close and was waiting quietly. Della remembered how she played for the castle’s sleepy babies: never too fast, never too loud. She set the lantern on a step and placed both hands on the stone.

“Let’s try a calmer song,” she said.

Della tapped one low note. She waited until it faded. Then she tapped a higher note, and a third note that rested between them. She let each sound have room.

“Round and round, up we go; step by step, the lantern glows,” she hummed. This time, the refrain moved slowly, like a lullaby.

She tapped the notes in the same gentle order and climbed one step at a time. The staircase answered with a quiet tune. A step appeared beneath her foot, then another. But none came rushing in front of her. The tower seemed to listen.

At last Della reached the top. No new step appeared. The staircase gave one small, satisfied chime.

“There you are!” Della said.

She lifted the lantern and hung it on the hook beside Pip’s nook. Its warm light spread across the little shelf and the stone around it. Pip scooted into the nook, turned in a small circle, and settled beneath the lantern.

Della tapped the final three steps, softly: low, high, middle. The staircase answered, then fell still. Pip tucked his head beneath his wing as Della smiled at the tune they had made together.

Della stayed beside the nook for a little while. The lantern’s light rested on the stone ledge, and the moon laid a pale stripe across the tower floor. Pip’s tiny claws curled around the edge of his shelf.

“Is that a good spot?” Della whispered.

Pip gave a sleepy peep without lifting his head.

Della picked up her flute. She did not need to play a grand castle song now. She played only the little tune from the stairs: one low note, one high note, and one in between. The notes rose gently and settled near the lantern.

The staircase remained quiet. Its steps made a twisting path below her, no longer stretching away whenever she climbed. Della looked down the spiral and remembered how the extra steps had surprised her. She smiled. They had not been trying to trick her. They had been waiting for her to listen.

She hummed the refrain once more, so softly that it was almost a whisper: “Round and round, up we go; step by step, the lantern glows.”

At the last word, the lantern seemed to shine warmly against the stone. Della rested her flute across her lap and watched Pip settle deeper into his nook. His ears relaxed. One small wing folded over his back like a blanket.

Below, the castle was quiet. A clock ticked somewhere beyond the tower door. Far off, a night breeze moved along the roof, but it brought no fuss to the staircase. The stones held their places, and the lantern stayed on its hook.

Della carried the tune down inside her thoughts. She pictured each note resting on a step, with room for the next note to follow. She pictured Pip’s cozy nook and the little pool of light beside him.

Then she rose and began her descent. She went slowly, touching a step now and then with one fingertip. Each answered with a soft, clear note. The notes made a quiet trail behind her, and the spiral carried them down through the tower.

At the bottom, Della paused and listened. From high above came one last tiny chime. Then the tune faded, the lantern glowed beside Pip, and he tucked his head beneath his wing.