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“My father,” Eddie murmured under hisbreath just before Roland opened the passenger door and climbed in.
“Did you speak, Eddie?” Roland asked.
“Yes,” Eddie said. “ ‘Just a littlefarther.’ My very words.”
Roland nodded. Eddie dropped thetransmission back into Drive and got the Ford rolling toward Turtleback Lane.Still in the distance—but a little closer than before—thunderrumbled again.
Chapter IV:
Dan-Tete
One
As the baby’s time neared, Susa
There was Sayre, the man in charge. The lowman, with one of those red spots pulsing in the center of his forehead. Therewas Scowther, the doctor between Mia’s legs, getting ready to officiate at thedelivery. Sayre had roughed the doc up when Scowther had displayed a little toomuch arrogance, but probably not enough to interfere with his efficiency. Therewere five other low men in addition to Sayre, but she’d only picked out twonames. The one with the bulldog jowls and the heavy, sloping gut was Haber.Next to Haber was a bird-thing with the brown feathered head and vicious beebeeeyes of a hawk. This creature’s name seemed to be Jey, or possibly Gee. Thatwas seven, all armed with what looked like automatic pistols in docker’sclutches. Scowther’s swung carelessly out from beneath his white coat each timehe bent down. Susa
There were also three pallid, watchfulhumanoid things standing beyond Mia. These, buried in dark blue auras, werevampires, Susa
Also present was a nurse with the head of agreat brown rat. The pulsing red eye in the center of her forehead madeSusa
Eleven in all. Eleven in this vast andmostly deserted infirmary that wasn’t, she felt quite sure, under the boroughof Manhattan. And if she was going to settle their hash, it would have to bewhile they were occupied with Mia’s baby—her precious chap.
“It’s coming, doctor!” the nurse cried i
It was. Susa
Susa
And then, before the horrorbegan—something so terrible she would remember each detail as if in theglare of a brilliant light until the day of her entry into theclearing—she felt a small hot hand grip her wrist. Susa
I’d free you, if chance allows, herkidnapper had said, and the word Susa
Susa
I hear you very well, Susa
And you understand our compact?
Aye. I’ll help you get away from thesewith your chap, if I can. And…
Kill us if you can’t! the voicefinished fiercely. It had never been so loud. That was partly the work of theco
I’ll kill you both if you—
She stopped there. Mia seemed satisfied,however, and that was well, because Susa
Another pain, but this one not as severe.She could feel her thighs hardening, pushing, but that seemed far away. Notimportant. What mattered was whether or not she was really seeing what shethought she was seeing. Could it be that her over-stressed mind, wishing forrescue, had created this hallucination to comfort her?
She could almost believe it. Wouldhave, very likely, had they not both been naked, and surrounded by an oddcollection of floating junk: a matchbook, a peanut, ashes, a pe
“Doctor, I can see the hea—”
A breathless squawk as Dr. Scowther, nogentleman he, elbowed Nurse Ratty unceremoniously aside and bent even closer tothe juncture of Mia’s thighs. As if he meant to pull her chap out with histeeth, perhaps. The hawk-thing, Jey or Gee, was speaking to the one calledHaber in an excited, buzzing dialect.
They’re really there, Susa
“Push, you gods-damned lazy bitch!”Scowther almost howled, and Roland and Eddie suddenly disappeared through theceiling for good, as if blown away by the force of the man’s breath. For allSusa
She turned on her side, feeling her hairstuck to her head in clumps, aware that her body was pouring out sweat in whatcould have been gallons. She pulled herself a little closer to Mia; a littlecloser to Scowther; a little closer to the crosshatched butt of Scowther’sdangling automatic.
“Be still, sissa, hear me I beg,” said oneof the low men, and touched Susa