The Dark Tower

And—

Eleven-year-old Daneeka Rostov came out ofthe rolling smoke that now entirely obscured the lower half of Damli House,pulling two red wagons behind her. Daneeka’s face was red and swollen; tearswere streaming from her eyes; she was bent over almost double with the effortit was taking her to keep pulling Baj, who sat in one Radio Flyer wagon, andSej, who sat in the other. Both had the huge heads and tiny, wise eyes ofhydrocephalic savants, but Sej was equipped with waving stubs of arms while Bajhad none. Both were now foaming at the mouth and making hoarse gagging sounds.

“Help me!” Dani managed, coughing harderthan ever. “Help me, someone, before they choke!”

Dinky saw her and started in thatdirection. Trampas restrained him, although it was clear his heart wasn’t init. “No, Dink,” he said. His tone was apologetic but firm. “Let someone else doit. Boss wants to talk to—”

Then Brautigan was there again, face pale,mouth a single stitched line in his lower face. “Let him go, Trampas. I likeyou, dog, but you don’t want to get in our business today.”

“Ted? What—”

Dink started toward Dani again. Trampaspulled him back again. Beyond them, Baj fainted and tumbled headfirst from hiswagon. Although he landed on the soft grass, his head made a dreadful rotten splittingsound, and Dani Rostov shrieked.

Dinky lunged for her. Trampas yanked himback once more, and hard. At the same time he pulled the .38 Colt Woodsman hewas wearing in his own docker’s clutch.

There was no more time to reason with him.Ted Brautigan hadn’t thrown the mind-spear since using it against thewallet-thief in Akron, back in 1935; hadn’t even used it when the low men tookhim prisoner again in the Bridgeport, Co

(smile when you say that)

Trampas, who had always treated himdecently. But he had to get to the south end of the compound before order wasrestored, and he meant to have Dinky with him when he arrived.

Also, he was furious. Poor little Baj, whoalways had a smile for anyone and everyone!

He concentrated and felt a sick pain ripthrough his head. The mind-spear flew. Trampas let go of Dinky and gave Ted alook of unbelieving reproach that Ted would remember to the end of his life.Then Trampas grabbed the sides of his head like a man with the worst ExcedrinHeadache in the universe, and fell dead on the grass with his throat swollenand his tongue sticking out of his mouth.

“Come on!” Ted cried, and grabbed Dinky’sarm. Prentiss was looking away for the time being, thank God, distracted byanother explosion.

“But Dani… and Sej!”

“She can get Sej!” Sending the rest of itmentally:

(now that she doesn’t have to pull Bajtoo)

Ted and Dinky fled while behind them PimliPrentiss turned, looked unbelievingly at Trampas, and bawled for them tostop—to stop in the name of the Crimson King.

Finli o’ Tego unlimbered his own gun, butbefore he could fire, Daneeka Rostov was on him, biting and scratching. Sheweighed almost nothing, but for a moment he was so surprised to be attackedfrom this unexpected quarter that she almost bowled him over. He curled astrong, furry arm around her neck and threw her aside, but by then Ted andDinky were almost out of range, cutting to the left side of Warden’s House anddisappearing into the smoke.

Finli steadied his pistol in both hands,took in a breath, held it, and squeezed off a single shot. Blood flew from theold man’s arm; Finli heard him cry out and saw him swerve. Then the young pupgrabbed the old cur and they cut around the corner of the house.

“I’m coming for you!” Finli bellowed afterthem. “Yar I am, and when I catch you, I’ll make you wish you were never born!”But the threat felt horribly empty, somehow.

Now the entire population of AlgulSiento—Breakers, taheen, hume guards, can-toi with bloody red spotsglaring on their foreheads like third eyes—was in tidal motion, flowingsouth. And Finli saw something he really did not like at all: the Breakers and onlythe Breakers were moving that way with their arms raised. If there were moreharriers down there, they’d have no trouble at all telling which ones to shoot,would they?

And—

In his room on the third floor of CorbettHall, still on his knees at the foot of his glass-covered bed, coughing on thesmoke that was drifting in through his broken window, Sheemie Ruiz had hisrevelation… or was spoken to by his imagination, take your pick. In eithercase, he leaped to his feet. His eyes, normally friendly but always puzzled bya world he could not quite understand, were clear and full of joy.

“BEAM SAYS THANKYA!” he cried to theempty room.

He looked around, as happy as EbenezerScrooge discovering that the spirits have done it all in one night, and ran forthe door with his slippers crunching on the broken glass. One sharp spear ofglass pierced his foot—carrying his death on its tip, had he but knownit, say sorry, say Discordia—but in his joy he didn’t even feel it. He dashedinto the hall and then down the stairs.

On the second floor landing, Sheemie cameupon an elderly female Breaker named Belle O’Rourke, grabbed her, shook her. “BEAMSAYS THANKYA!” he hollered into her dazed and uncomprehending face. “BEAMSAYS ALL MAY YET BE WELL! NOT TOO LATE! JUST IN TIME!”

He rushed on to spread the glad news (gladto him, anyway), and—

On Main Street, Roland looked first atEddie Dean, then at Jake Chambers. “They’re coming, and this is where we haveto take them. Wait for my command, then stand and be true.”

Eighteen

First to appear were three Breakers,ru

They reached the other sidewalk and lookedaround, bewildered.

Go, Roland thought at them. Go onand get out of here, take the alley, get away while you can.

“Come on!” one of them shouted, and theyran down the alley between the drug store and the bookshop. Another appeared,then two more, then the first of the guards, a hume with a pistol raised to theside of his frightened, wide-eyed face. Roland sighted him… and then held hisfire.

More of the Devar perso

“Form two lines!” a taheen with araven’s head was shouting in a buzzing, out-of-breath voice. “Form two linesand keep em between, for your fathers’ sakes!”

One of the others, a redheaded taheen withhis shirttail out, yelled: “What about the fence, Jakli? What if they run onthe fence?”

“Can’t do nothing about that, Cag, just—”

A shrieking Breaker tried to run past theraven before he could finish, and the raven—Jakli—gave him such amighty push that the poor fellow went sprawling in the middle of the street.“Stay together, you maggots!” he snarled. “Run if’ee will, but keep somefucking order about it!” As if there could be any order in this, Roland thought(and not without satisfaction). Then, to the redhead, the one called Jaklishouted: “Let one or two of em fry—the rest’ll see and stop!”

It would complicate things if either Eddieor Jake started shooting at this point, but neither did. The three gunslingerswatched from their places of concealment as a species of order rose from thechaos. More guards appeared. Jakli and the redhead directed them into the two lines,which was now a corridor ru