The Dark Tower

Laughing, Sheemie imitated him, onlysnapping both sets of fingers. Susa

“I know that,” Roland said, andalthough his tone did not change very much, each member of his ka-tet knew itwas a good thing this palaver was almost over. Roland had reached the rim ofhis patience. “Keep him quiet even if he’s well and feeling fine. We won’t needhim for what I have in mind, and thanks to the weapons you’ve left us.”

“They’re good weapons,” Ted agreed, “butare they good enough to wipe out sixty men, can-toi, and taheen?”

“Will the two of you stand with us, oncethe fight begins?” Roland asked.

“With the greatest pleasure,” Dinky said,baring his teeth in a remarkably nasty grin.

“Yes,” Ted said. “And it might be that Ihave another weapon. Did you listen to the tapes I left you?”

“Yes,” Jake replied.

“So you know the story about the guy whostole my wallet.”

This time they all nodded.

“What about that young woman?” Susa

Ted and Dinky exchanged a brief, doubtfullook, then shook their heads simultaneously.

“Once, maybe,” Ted said. “Not now. Nowshe’s married. All she wants to do is cuddle with her fella.”

“And Break,” Dinky added.

“But don’t they understand…” She found shecouldn’t finish. She was haunted not so much by the remnants of her own dreamas by Sheemie’s. Now you scar me with nails, the dream-boy had toldSheemie. The dream-boy who had once been fair.

“They don’t want to understand,” Tedtold her kindly. He caught a glimpse of Eddie’s dark face and shook his head.“But I won’t let you hate them for it. You—we—may have tokill some of them, but I won’t let you hate them. They did not putunderstanding away from them out of greed or fear, but from despair.”

“And because to Break is divine,” Dinkysaid. He was also looking at Eddie. “The way the half an hour after you shootup can be divine. If you know what I’m talking about.”

Eddie sighed, stuck his hands in hispockets, said nothing.

Sheemie surprised them all by picking upone of the Coyote machine-pistols and swinging it in an arc. Had it beenloaded, the great quest for the Dark Tower would have ended right there. “I’llfight, too!” he cried. “Pow, pow, pow! Bam-bam-bam-ba-dam!”

Eddie and Susa

“Your time to help will come,” he said,“but after this first battle’s fought and won. Do you see Jake’s bumbler,Sheemie?”

“Aye, he’s with the Rod.”

“He talks. See if you can get him to talkto you.”

Sheemie obediently went to whereChucky/Haylis was still stroking Oy’s head, dropped to one knee, and commencedtrying to get Oy to say his name. The bumbler did almost at once, and withremarkable clarity. Sheemie laughed, and Haylis joined in. They sounded like acouple of kids from the Calla. The roont kind, perhaps.

Roland, meanwhile, turned to Dinky and Ted,his lips little more than a white line in his stern face.

Seven

“He’s to be kept out of it, once theshooting starts.” The gunslinger mimed turning a key in a lock. “If we lose,what happens to him later on won’t matter. If we win, we’ll need him at leastone more time. Probably twice.”

“To go where?” Dinky asked.

“Keystone World America,” Eddie said. “Asmall town in western Maine called Lovell. As early in June of 1999 as one-waytime allows.”

“Sending me to Co

“We know,” Roland said, “and when the timecomes, I’ll make the risk clear and ask him if—”

“Oh man, you can stick that onewhere the sun don’t shine,” Dinky said, and Eddie was reminded so strongly ofhimself—the way he’d been during his first few hours on the shore of theWestern Sea, confused, pissed off, and jonesing for heroin—that he felt amoment of déjà vu. “If you told him you wanted him to sethimself on fire, the only thing he’d want to know would be if you had a match.He thinks you’re Christ on a cracker.”

Susa

“Surely you realize that a dead man can’tbring you back from America-side,” Ted said in a more reasonable tone.

“We’ll jump that fence when and if we cometo it,” Roland said. “In the meantime, we’ve got several other fences to getover.”

“I’m glad we’re taking on the Devar-Toifirst, whatever the risk,” Susa

“Yes, ma’am,” Dinky drawled, and pushed upan imaginary hat. “Ah reckon that’s the word.”

The tension in the cave eased. Behind them,Sheemie was telling Oy to roll over, and Oy was doing so willingly enough. TheRod had a big, sloppy smile on his face. Susa

She thought of asking Ted if there was anyway of telling what day it was in America right now, then decided not tobother. If Stephen King was dead, they’d know; Roland had said so, and she hadno doubt he was right. For now the writer was fine, happily frittering away histime and valuable imagination on some meaningless project while the world he’dbeen born to imagine continued to gather dust in his head. If Roland was pissedat him, it was really no wonder. She was a little pissed at him herself.

“What’s your plan, Roland?” Ted asked.

“It relies on two assumptions: that we cansurprise them and then stampede them. I don’t think they expect to beinterrupted in these last days; from Pimli Prentiss down to the lowliest humeguard outside the fence, they have no reason to believe they’ll be bothered intheir work, certainly not attacked. If my assumptions are correct, we’llsucceed. If we fail, at least we won’t live long enough to see the Beams breakand the Tower fall.”

Roland found the crude map of the Algul andput it on the floor of the cave. They all gathered around it.

“These railroad sidetracks,” he said,indicating the hash-marks labeled 10. “Some of the dead engines and traincarson them stand within twenty yards of the south fence, it looks like through thebinoculars. Is that right?”

“Yeah,” Dinky said, and pointed to thecenter of the nearest line. “Might as well call it south, anyway—it’s asgood a word as any. There’s a boxcar on this track that’s real close to thefence. Only ten yards or so. It says SOO LINE on the side.”

Ted was nodding.

“Good cover,” Roland said. “Excellentcover.” Now he pointed to the area beyond the north end of the compound. “Andhere, all sorts of sheds.”

“There used to be supplies in them,” Tedsaid, “but now most are empty, I think. For awhile a gang of Rods slept there,but six or eight months ago, Pimli and the Wease kicked them out.”

“But more cover, empty or full,” Rolandsaid. “Is the ground behind and around them clear of obstacles and pretty muchsmooth? Smooth enough for that thing to go back and forth?” He cocked a thumbat Suzie’s Cruisin Trike.

Ted and Dinky exchanged a glance.“Definitely,” Ted said.

Susa

Roland sat quiet for a moment or two,gazing at the map, almost seeming to commune with it. When Ted offered him acigarette, the gunslinger took it. Then he began to talk. Twice he drew on theside of a weapons crate with a piece of chalk. Twice more he drew arrows on themap, one pointing to what they were calling north, one to the south. Ted askeda question; Dinky asked another. Behind them, Sheemie and Haylis played with Oylike a couple of children. The bumbler mimicked their laughter with eerieaccuracy.