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“What about the gate to the outside?”

“Let me show you” The woman hobbled a few steps to the door, stopped, and looked back at Hulan “Come!” Hulan joined her “Go ahead You open it”

Hulan tried the handle The sound ful, but the door didn’t open

“You hear that noise? Terrible! My grandson says he will oil it for me I tell him he’s a stupid turtle” She said this with pride and obvious affection “You can’t open the door without my key, which I keep in my pocket”

“And you watch this gate all day and all night,” Hulan verified

“We have a changeover between five-fifty and six everyOnce that tiate If we have a delivery, they knock and I let them in”

“Are there any other circuh here?”

The caretaker thought before answering “Maybe a worker gets sick Maybe a worker’s child gets sick But otherwise no You want to work here, you follow the rules If you are late, I don’t let you in You lose a day’s pay If you try to enter through the lobby, you’re fired on the spot”

“Tough rules”

“Tough life Not my fault”

“Could you open the door for me?”

“For you, yes” She pulled out her key and put it in the lock The hinges creaked and groaned even worse than the handle

Hulan stepped through and looked both ways down the alley She opened her umbrella and turned back to the woman “I’ll walk back around to the front”

“Just don’t coain, enjoying herself immensely, then she closed and locked the door

No one could get past that old woman unless she let them