The Madrona Heroes Register: Underneath It All

Chapter 36 - The Speakeasy

“We’re trapped!” Zoe whispered. She felt Gabe’s grip tighten around her arm and gave him a reassuring glance.

“What about this way?” Penny poked her head behind the velvet curtain at the back of the little hallway. “There’s a staircase.”

The small group tried to wend their way down the ornate wrought iron circular staircase in as quiet a fashion as possible. But Gabe and Cassie’s nervous whispering, and the shushing from the others made that an impossibility. It didn’t help that the further they descended, the darker it got.

Zach felt around on the wall and found a switch. A dozen light fixtures hanging at regular intervals from the vaulted ceiling buzzed into action.

“What is this place?” Penny asked to no one in particular.

“I think it might be a bar.” Binny said as she ran her hand on the heavy and ornate wooden surface that ran the length of the left wall. Covered with shelves, a very long mirror ran behind the bar. Every few feet the mirror and shelves were interrupted by decorative columns.

“It’s a concert hall!” Cassie had already covered the relatively large space and was on a raised platform at the other end of the room. An old upright piano was collecting dust on the stage.

“Don’t play that.” Binny interceded before Cassie was about to plunk out a few notes. “He’ll hear us.”

“Don’t break that.” Zoe instructed her brother who was tapping on the keys of a fancy old cash register at the other end of the bar.

Gabe stuck his tongue out at his sister but was more gentle going forward.

“Why is there a bar underneath Soul Repair?” Penny asked.

“It’s not just under Soul Repair. I think it stretches underneath a bunch of the stores.” Zoe said.

“And I think I know why it’s here.” Zach had been absorbed in reading signs and articles framed and posted on the right hand wall above several banquettes. 

The headlines read: “Prohibition A Shock To Seattle”, “U.S. is Voted Dry”, and “Prohibition Officials Search Puget Sound for Rum-Running U-Boat”. And there were official looking signs as well. “Closed for Violation of National Prohibition Act” and “Keep and Enforce Prohibition” among them.

“It’s a speakeasy.” Zach rendered his judgment.

“What’s that?” Penny said.

“It’s a secret bar.” Zoe added. “The government banned alcohol in this country like a million years ago, and so adults had secret clubs where they could drink.”

“Even though it was against the law?” Binny asked.

“Especially because it was against the law.” Zoe said.

“It’s weird. Madrona has so much secret stuff underground that nobody knows about.” Penny mused.

“Seattle has a lot of that. Not just Madrona.” Zach added.

“I love a good secret underground discovery as much as the next person, but right now we’re trapped. I thought Xander was the boss at Luce Labs and was going to stop that guy” Zoe pointed back up the circular staircase “from following us around.”

“Maybe he didn’t get a chance yet.” Binny added. “We were just there this morning.”

“Well, that doesn’t help us now, does it?” Zoe snapped. “Every minute that we’re trapped down here is a minute that we’re not finding Rembrandt.” Zoe was getting more and more agitated.