Chapter Forty

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Chapter Forty

            “Well Kiri, go with that young nurse over there will you?  She’ll get you all cleaned up,” Mastiff smiled.

            “Kaye will!” Kiri grinned, happily receiving a pat on the head.  With that, she ran after the young smiling woman wearing a tight uniform and disappeared through a doorway, leaving Lycurgus, Saubre and the Mai Shashi in the waiting room with mismatched furniture, presumably donated by people wishing to show their thanks.

            “We’ll go upstairs so we can talk in private,” Mastiff said, guiding them up a flight of stairs behind a hidden door.

            “What’s this hidden for?” Lycurgus asked.

            “This is the part for those hunted and seeking help.  There is another stairway for others, but this is a special part of the clinic.  Here I bring thieves, people from underground organizations and such.”

            “You haven’t changed,” Lycurgus smiled faintly.

            “You have, last time I saw you, you were this tall,” Mastiff made a motion with his arm before opening the locked door at the top of the narrow flight of stairs.  “And frail and you were bitter.  You’ve changed, and you’re much older.”

            “You barely seemed to have aged,” Lycurgus frowned.

            “Now that can be explained,” Mastiff grumbled, pushing the little door open.  The secret stairway was very narrow, and Mastiff’s broad shoulders brushed against the sides.

            “Here we are,” Mastiff grinned, bringing them into a dead end.  Only in the last moment did Saubre realize the trapdoor in the ceiling.

            “That’s clever,” Saubre let out a sigh of admiration.

            “So little miss, I see you’ve a sharp set of eyes,” Mastiff chuckled, stretching up and pushing the door in the ceiling open, pulling down a ladder and securing it into place.

            The procession climbed up, the Mai Shashi still on Lycurgus’ back, the ladder not making a single sound as they ascended to the attic.

            “This is the attic,” Mastiff grinned, waving them into a space only a little wider than the secret hallway.  Now here we also have a secret door,” he gestured to their left.  “And in the back we have an elevator pulley system to get to the underground clinic.”

            “This is very secretive, but what if the patient is fat?” the Mai Shashi asked bluntly, her arms almost choking Lycurgus.

            “Well, our organization runs in secret rooms underground, and literally.  We use the maze of sewers to our advantage and we have numerous entrances and pathways--all concealed--and all easy to travel on.  But that was a very good question, my injured friend.”

            “Who said I was your friend?” the Mai Shashi pushed, testing her limits.

            “Now if you weren’t, I’m afraid I’d have to kill you all, but since an old friend of mine, Lycurgus is here and that sweet child Kiri, who truly seems happy, I can’t,” Mastiff said darkly.  “Now if I were you, I’d hold my tongue, or the doctor might make a mistake while at work and hurt you more.”

            Saubre exchanged a quick glance with Lycurgus, who seemed to have suddenly gone pale.

            “You really haven’t changed,” Lycurgus swallowed audibly.

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