The Dark Tower

Eddie had no idea what the t-word might be,but knew Roland wanted to get going. He could feel the gunslinger’s impatiencein his head; could almost see Roland’s impatient finger-twirling gesture, theone that meant Let’s go, let’s go.

“I’m talking ‘bout terrorism,” the powerguy said, then lowered his voice. “People don’t think shit like that can happenin America, buddy, but I got news for you, it can. If not today, then sooner orlater. Someone’s go

Eddie, who had a nodding acquaintance withten more years of history than this fellow, nodded. “You’re probably right. Inany case, thanks for the info.”

“Just tryin to save you some time.” And, asEddie opened the driver’s-side door of John Cullum’s Ford sedan: “You been in afight, mister? You look kinda bunged up. Also you’re limping.”

Eddie had been in a fight, all right: hadbeen grooved in the arm and plugged in the right calf. Neither wound wasserious, and in the forward rush of events he had nearly forgotten them. Nowthey hurt all over again. Why in God’s name had he turned down Aaron Deepneau’sbottle of Percocet tablets?

“Yeah,” he said, “that’s why I’m going toLovell. Guy’s dog bit me. He and I are going to have a talk about it.” Bizarrestory, didn’t have much going for it in the way of plot, but he was no writer.That was King’s job. In any case, it was good enough to get him back behind thewheel of Cullum’s Ford Galaxie before the power guy could ask him any morequestions, and Eddie reckoned that made it a success. He drove away quickly.

“You got directions?” Roland asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good. Everything’s breaking at once,Eddie. We have to get to Susa

Turn right when you get back out toKansas Road, the power guy had told Eddie (Kansas as in Dorothy, Toto, andAuntie Em, everything breaking at once), and he did. That put them rollingnorth. The sun had gone behind the trees on their left, throwing the two-laneblacktop entirely into shadow. Eddie had an almost palpable sense of timeslipping through his fingers like some fabulously expensive cloth that was toosmooth to grip. He stepped on the gas and Cullum’s old Ford, although wheezy inthe valves, walked out a little. Eddie got it up to fifty-five and pegged itthere. More speed might have been possible, but Kansas Road was both twisty andbadly maintained.

Roland had taken a sheet of notepaper fromhis shirt pocket, unfolded it, and was now studying it (although Eddie doubtedif the gunslinger could actually read much of the document; this world’swritten words would always be mostly mystery to him). At the top of the paper,above Aaron Deepneau’s rather shaky but perfectly legible handwriting (andCalvin Tower’s all-important signature), was a smiling cartoon beaver and thewords DAM IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO. A silly pun if ever there was one.

I don’t like silly questions, I won’tplay silly games, Eddie thought, and suddenly gri

Two

His foot slipped off the gas pedal, andthat was good. If it had stayed on, both he and Roland would surely have beeninjured, maybe killed. When the wave came, staying in control of John Cullum’sFord Galaxie dropped all the way off Eddie Dean’s list of priorities. It waslike that moment when the roller coaster has reached the top of its firstmountain, hesitates a moment… tilts… plunges… and you fall with a suddenblast of hot summer air in your face and a pressure against your chest and yourstomach floating somewhere behind you.

In that moment Eddie saw everything inCullum’s car had come untethered and was floating—pipe ashes, two pensand a paperclip from the dashboard, Eddie’s dinh, and, he realized, his dinh’ska-mai, good old Eddie Dean. No wonder he had lost his stomach! (He wasn’taware that the car itself, which had drifted to a stop at the side of the road,was also floating, tilting lazily back and forth five or six inches above theground like a small boat on an invisible sea.)

Then the tree-lined country road was gone.Bridgton was gone. The world was gone. There was the sound of todash chimes,repulsive and nauseating, making him want to grit his teeth in protest… excepthis teeth were gone, too.

Three

Like Eddie, Roland had a clear sense ofbeing first lifted and then hung, like something that had lostits ties to Earth’s gravity. He heard the chimes and felt himself elevatedthrough the wall of existence, but he understood this wasn’t realtodash—at least not of the sort they’d experienced before. This was verylikely what Va

The very Beam means to speak to you,Gabby, Va

I will listen very well, Rolandreplied, and was dropped. He gagged, weightless and nauseated.

More chimes. Then, suddenly, he wasfloating again, this time above a room filled with empty beds. One look wasenough to assure him that this was where the Wolves brought the children theykidnapped from the Borderland Callas. At the far end of the room—

A hand grasped his arm, a thing Rolandwould have thought impossible in this state. He looked to his left and sawEddie beside him, floating naked. They were both naked, their clothes leftbehind in the writer’s world.

Roland had already seen what Eddie waspointing to. At the far end of the room, a pair of beds had been pushedtogether. A white woman lay on one of them. Her legs—the very onesSusa

Next to the white woman was a dark-ski

Both women wore metal hoods over theirhair. A length of segmented steel hose co

Some kind of Vulcan mind-meld, Eddiesaid, once again filling the center of his head and blotting out everythingelse. Or maybe—

Hush! Roland broke in. Hush,Eddie, for your father’s sake!