Once again, the piece of wood goes up, and once again it flings D’Southy to the ground. And then, before he can recover, the plank hits him in his ribs. Again and again. He suddenly feels a cutting pain in his side. It is as if one of his ribs is broken and pushed through his flesh.
At the same time, Gibbons furiously throws the piece of wood away from him, grabs the oil lamp, and steps towards the stairs.
As he pulls the iron door shut from the outside a few moments later, a movement to his right catches his eye. He swings around and looks in that direction, just in time to see the figure of a man running out of the narrow corridor. Gibbons swears. Things are starting to look ugly now.
He slams the heavy crossbar into position and quickly presses the lock shut. Then he storms down the
