The Dark Tower

All that afternoon they took turns ski

“You look like a fella in a minstrel show,”she said at one point. “Rastus Coon.”

“Who’s that?”

“Nobody but the white folks’ fool,” shesaid. “Do you suppose Mordred’s out there, watching us work?” All day she’dkept an eye peeled for him.

“No,” he said, pausing to rest. He brushedhis hair back from his forehead, leaving a fresh smear and now making her thinkof penitents on Ash Wednesday. “I think he’s gone off to make his own kill.”

“Mordred’s a-hungry,” she said. And then:“You can touch him a little, can’t you? At least enough to know if he’s here orif he’s gone.”

Roland considered this, then said simply:“I’m his father.”

Eight

By dark, they had a large heap of deerskinsand a pile of ski

When they were done eating, Roland wipedhis greasy fingers on his shirt and said, “That tasted fine.”

“You got that right.”

“Now let’s get the brains out. Then we’llsleep.”

“One at a time?” Susa

“Yes—so far as I know, brains onlycome one to a customer.”

For a moment she was too surprised athearing Eddie’s phrase

(one to a customer)

coming from Roland’s mouth to realize he’dmade a joke. Lame, yes, but a bona fide joke. Then she managed a tokenlaugh. “Very fu

Roland nodded. “We’ll sleep one at a timeand stand a watch, yes. I think that would be best.”

Time and repetition had done its work;she’d now seen too many tumbling guts to feel squeamish about a few brains.They cracked heads, used Roland’s knife (its edge now dull) to pry open skulls,and removed the brains of their kill. These they put carefully aside, like aclutch of large gray eggs. By the time the last deer was debrained, Susa

“Lie over,” Roland said. “Sleep. I’ll takethe first watch.”

She didn’t argue. Given her full belly andthe heat of the fire, she knew sleep would come quickly. She also knew thatwhen she woke up tomorrow, she was going to be so stiff that even sitting upwould be difficult and painful. Now, though, she didn’t care. A feeling of vastcontentment filled her. Some of it was having eaten hot food, but by no meansall. The greater part of her well-being stemmed from a day of hard work, nomore or less than that. The sense that they were not just floating along but doingfor themselves.

Jesus, she thought, I think I’mbecoming a Republican in my old age.

Something else occurred to her then: howquiet it was. No sounds but the sough of the wind, the whispering sleet (nowstarting to abate), and the crackle of the blessed fire.

“Roland?”

He looked at her from his place by thefire, eyebrows raised.

“You’ve stopped coughing.”

He smiled and nodded. She took his smiledown into sleep, but it was Eddie she dreamed of.

Nine

They stayed three days in the camp by thestream, and during that time Susa

By casting a mile or so in either directionalong the stream they found a couple of logs, one for each of them. While theylooked, they used their makeshift pot to soak their hides in a dark soup of ashand water. They set their logs at an angle against the trunks of two willowtrees (close, so they could work side by side) and used chert scrapers todehair the hides. This took one day. When it was done, they bailed out the“pot,” turned the hide liner over and filled it up again, this time with amixture of water and mashed brains. This “cold-weather hiding” was new to her.They put the hides in this slurry to soak overnight and, while Susa

“I want you to whop this goddam thing off,”she said.

Roland shook his head. “We’ll give it alittle longer to heal on its own.”

“Why?”

“Cutting on a sore’s a bad idea unless youabsolutely have to do it. Especially out here, in what Jake would have called‘the boondogs.’”

She agreed (without bothering to correcthis pronunciation), but unpleasant images crept into her head when she laydown: visions of the pimple begi

On their second day in what Susa

The third day they spent “making,” and hereSusa

By the time their third night in Hide Camphad come, they each had a vest, a pair of leggings, and a coat. They also had apair of mittens each. These were large and laughable, but would keep theirhands warm. And, speaking of hands, Susa