"Sai King-" Eddie began.

"Steve."

"Steve, then. We ought to transact our business now. Matters of trust aside, we're in a ripping hurry."

"Sure, sure, right, racing against time," King said, and laughed. The sound was charmingly goofy. Eddie suspected that the beer was starting to do its work, and he wondered if the man was maybe a juice-head. Impossible to tell for sure on such short acquaintance, but Eddie thought some of the signs were there. He didn't remember a whole hell of a lot from high school English, but he did recall some teacher or other telling him that writers really really liked to drink. Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, "The Raven" guy. Writers liked to drink. liked to drink. Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, "The Raven" guy. Writers liked to drink.

"I'm not laughing at you guys," King said. "It's actually against my religion to laugh at men who are toting guns. It's just that in the sort of books I write, people are almost always racing against time. Would you like to hear the first line of The Dark Tower The Dark Tower?"

"Sure, if you remember it," Eddie said.

Roland said nothing, but his eyes gleamed bright under brows that were now threaded with white.

"Oh, I remember it. It may be the best opening line I ever wrote." King set his beer aside, then raised his hands with the first two fingers of each held out and bent, as if making quotation marks. "'The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.' The rest might have been puff and blow, but man, that was clean." He dropped his hands and picked up his beer. "For the forty-third time, is this really happening?"

"Was the man in black's name Walter?" Roland asked.

King's beer tilted shy of his mouth and he spilled some down his front, wetting his fresh shirt. Roland nodded, as if that was all the answer he needed.

"Don't faint on us again," Eddie said, a trifle sharply. "Once was enough to impress me."

King nodded, took another sip of his beer, seemed to take hold of himself at the same time. He glanced at the clock. "Are you gentlemen really going to let me pick up my son?"

"Yes," Roland said.

"You ..." King paused to consider, then smiled. "Do you set your watch and your warrant on it?"

With no smile in return, Roland said, "So I do."

"Okay, then, The Dark Tower, The Dark Tower, Reader's Digest Condensed Book version. Keeping in mind that oral storytelling isn't my thing, I'll do the best I can." Reader's Digest Condensed Book version. Keeping in mind that oral storytelling isn't my thing, I'll do the best I can."

NINE.

Roland listened as if worlds depended on it, as he was quite sure they did. King had begun his version of Roland's life with the campfires, which had pleased the gunslinger because they confirmed Walter's essential humanity. From there, King said, the story went back to Roland's meeting with a kind of shirttail farmer on the edge of the desert. Brown, his name had been.

Life for your crop, Roland heard across an echo of years, and Roland heard across an echo of years, and Life for your own. Life for your own. He'd forgotten Brown, and Brown's pet raven, Zoltan, but this stranger had not. He'd forgotten Brown, and Brown's pet raven, Zoltan, but this stranger had not.

"What I liked," King said, "was how the story seemed to be going backward. From a purely technical standpoint, it was very interesting. I start with you in the desert, then slip back a notch to you meeting Brown and Zoltan. Zoltan was named after a folk-singer and guitarist I knew at the University of Maine, by the way. Anyway, from the dweller's hut the story slips back another notch to you coming into the town of Tull ... named after a rock group-"

"Jethro Tull," Eddie said. "Goddam of course! I knew knew that name was familiar! What about Z.Z. Top, Steve? Do you know them?" Eddie looked at King, saw the incomprehension, and smiled. "I guess it's not their when quite yet. Or if it is, you haven't found out about them." that name was familiar! What about Z.Z. Top, Steve? Do you know them?" Eddie looked at King, saw the incomprehension, and smiled. "I guess it's not their when quite yet. Or if it is, you haven't found out about them."

Roland twirled his fingers: Go on, go on. Go on, go on. And gave Eddie a look that suggested he stop interrupting. And gave Eddie a look that suggested he stop interrupting.

"Anyway, from Roland coming into Tull, the story slips back another notch to tell how Nort, the weed-eater, died and was resurrected by Walter. You see what buzzed me about it, don't you? The early part of it was all told in reverse gear. It was bass-ackwards."

Roland had no interest in the technical aspects that seemed to fascinate King; this was his life they were talking about, after all, his life, life, and to him it had all been moving forward. At least until he'd reached the Western Sea, and the doors through which he had drawn his traveling companions. and to him it had all been moving forward. At least until he'd reached the Western Sea, and the doors through which he had drawn his traveling companions.

But Stephen King knew nothing of the doors, it seemed. He had written of the way station, and Roland's meeting with Jake Chambers; he had written of their trek first into the mountains and then through them; he had written of Jake's betrayal by the man he had come to trust and to love.

King observed the way Roland hung his head during this part of the tale, and spoke with odd gentleness. "No need to look so ashamed, Mr. Deschain. After all, I was the one who made you do it."

But again, Roland wondered about that.

King had written of Roland's palaver with Walter in the dusty golgotha of bones, the telling of the Tarot and the terrible vision Roland had had of growing right through the roof of the universe. He had written of how Roland had awakened following that long night of fortune-telling to find himself years older, and Walter nothing but bones. Finally, King said, he'd written of Roland going to the edge of the water and sitting there. "You said, 'I loved you, Jake'"

Roland nodded matter-of-factly. "I love him still."

"You speak as though he actually exists."

Roland looked at him levelly. "Do I exist? Do you?"

King was silent.

"What happened then?" Eddie asked.

"Then, senor, senor, I ran out of story-or got intimidated, if you like that better-and stopped." I ran out of story-or got intimidated, if you like that better-and stopped."

Eddie also wanted to stop. He could see the shadows beginning to lengthen in the kitchen and wanted to get after Susannah before it was too late. He thought both he and Roland had a pretty good idea of how to get out of this world, suspected Stephen King himself could direct them to Turtleback Lane in Lovell, where reality was thin and-according to John Cullum, at least-the walk-ins had been plentiful of late. And King would be happy to direct them. Happy to get rid of them. But they couldn't go just yet, and in spite of his impatience Eddie knew it. suspected Stephen King himself could direct them to Turtleback Lane in Lovell, where reality was thin and-according to John Cullum, at least-the walk-ins had been plentiful of late. And King would be happy to direct them. Happy to get rid of them. But they couldn't go just yet, and in spite of his impatience Eddie knew it.

"You stopped because you lost your lineout," Roland said.

"Outline. And no, not really." King had gone after his third beer, and Eddie thought it was no wonder the man was getting pudgy in the middle; he'd already consumed the caloric equivalent of a loaf of bread, and was starting on Loaf #2. "I hardly ever work from an outline. In fact ... don't hold me to this, but that might have been the only time. And it got too big for me. Too strange. Also you you became a problem, sir or sai or whatever you call yourself." King grimaced. "Whatever form of address that is, I didn't make it up." became a problem, sir or sai or whatever you call yourself." King grimaced. "Whatever form of address that is, I didn't make it up."

"Not yet, anyway," Roland remarked.

"You started as a version of Sergio Leone's Man With No Name."

"In the Spaghetti Westerns," Eddie said. "Jesus, of course! I watched a hundred of em at the Majestic with my brother Henry, when Henry was still at home. I went by myself or with this friend of mine, Chuggy Coter, when Henry was in the Nam. Those were guy guy flicks." flicks."

King was grinning. "Yeah," he said, "but my wife went ape for em, so go figure."

"Cool on her!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Yeah, Tab's a cool kitty." King looked back at Roland. "As The Man With No Name-a fantasy version of Clint Eastwood-you were okay. A lot of fun to partner up with."

"Is that how you think of it?"

"Yes. But then you changed. Right under my hand. It got so I couldn't tell if you were the hero, the antihero, or no hero at all. When you let the kid drop, that was the capper."

"You said you made me do that."

Looking Roland straight in the eyes-blue meeting blue amid the endless choir of voices-King said: "I lied, brother."

TEN.

There was a little pause while they all thought that over. Then King said, "You started to scare me, so I stopped writing about you. Boxed you up and put you in a drawer and went on to a series of short stories I sold to various men's magazines." He considered, then nodded. "Things changed for me after I put you away, my friend, and for the better. I started to sell my stuff. Asked Tabby to marry me. Not long after that I started a book called Carrie. Carrie. It wasn't my first novel, but it was the first one I sold, and it put me over the top. All that after saying goodbye Roland, so long, happy trails to you. Then what happens? I come around the corner of my house one day six or seven years later and see you standing in my fucking driveway, big as Billy-be-damned, as my mother used to say. And all I can say now is that thinking you're a hallucination brought on by overwork is the most optimistic conclusion I can draw. And I don't believe it. How can I?" King's voice was rising, becoming reedy. Eddie didn't mistake it for fear; this was outrage. "How can I believe it when I see the shadows you cast, the blood on your leg-" He pointed to Eddie. "And the dust on your face?" This time to Roland. "You've taken away my goddam options, and I can feel my mind ... I don't know ... tipping? Is that the word? I think it is. Tipping." It wasn't my first novel, but it was the first one I sold, and it put me over the top. All that after saying goodbye Roland, so long, happy trails to you. Then what happens? I come around the corner of my house one day six or seven years later and see you standing in my fucking driveway, big as Billy-be-damned, as my mother used to say. And all I can say now is that thinking you're a hallucination brought on by overwork is the most optimistic conclusion I can draw. And I don't believe it. How can I?" King's voice was rising, becoming reedy. Eddie didn't mistake it for fear; this was outrage. "How can I believe it when I see the shadows you cast, the blood on your leg-" He pointed to Eddie. "And the dust on your face?" This time to Roland. "You've taken away my goddam options, and I can feel my mind ... I don't know ... tipping? Is that the word? I think it is. Tipping."

"You didn't just stop," Roland said, ignoring this last completely for the self-indulgent nonsense it probably was.

"No?"

"I think telling stories is like pushing something. Pushing against uncreation itself, maybe. And one day while you were doing that, you felt something pushing back."

King considered this for what seemed to Eddie like a very long time. Then he nodded. "You could be right. It was more than the usual going-dry feeling, for sure. I'm used to that, although it doesn't happen as often as it used to. It's ... I don't know, one day you just start having less fun while you're sitting there, tapping the keys. Seeing less clearly. Getting less of a buzz from telling clearly. Getting less of a buzz from telling yourself yourself the story. And then, to make things worse, you get a the story. And then, to make things worse, you get a new new idea, one that's all bright and shiny, fresh off the showroom floor, not a scratch on her. Completely unfucked-up by you, at least as of yet. And ... well ..." idea, one that's all bright and shiny, fresh off the showroom floor, not a scratch on her. Completely unfucked-up by you, at least as of yet. And ... well ..."

"And you felt something pushing back." Roland spoke in the same utterly flat tone.

"Yeah." King's voice had dropped so low Eddie could barely hear him. "NO TRESPASSING. DO NOT ENTER. HIGH VOLTAGE." He paused. "Maybe even DANGER OF DEATH DANGER OF DEATH."

You wouldn't like that faint shadow I see swirling around you, Eddie thought. Eddie thought. That black nimbus. No, sai, I don't think you'd like that at all, and what am I seeing? The cigarettes? The beer? Something else addictive you maybe have a taste for? A car accident one drunk night? And how far ahead? How many years? That black nimbus. No, sai, I don't think you'd like that at all, and what am I seeing? The cigarettes? The beer? Something else addictive you maybe have a taste for? A car accident one drunk night? And how far ahead? How many years?

He looked at the clock over the Kings' kitchen table and was dismayed to see that it was quarter to four in the afternoon. "Roland, it's getting late. This man's got to get his kid." And we've got to find my wife before Mia has the baby they seem to be sharing and the Crimson King has no more use for the Susannah part of her. And we've got to find my wife before Mia has the baby they seem to be sharing and the Crimson King has no more use for the Susannah part of her.

Roland said, "Just a little more." And lowered his head without saying anything. Thinking. Trying to decide which questions were the right questions. Maybe just one right question. And it was important, Eddie knew it was, because they'd never be able to return to the ninth day of July in the year 1977. They might be able to revisit that day in some other world, but not in this one. And would Stephen King exist in any of those other worlds? Eddie thought maybe not. Probably Probably not. not.

While Roland considered, Eddie asked King if the name Blaine meant anything special to him.

"No. Not particularly."

"What about Lud?"

"As in Luddites? They were some sort of machine-hating religious sect, weren't they? Nineteenth century, I think, or they might have started even earlier. If I've got it right, the ones in the nineteenth century would break into factories and bash the machinery to pieces." He grinned, displaying those crooked teeth. "I guess they were the Green-peace of their day." factories and bash the machinery to pieces." He grinned, displaying those crooked teeth. "I guess they were the Green-peace of their day."

"Beryl Evans? That name ring a bell?"

"No."

"Henchick? Henchick of the Manni?"

"No. What are the Manni?"

"Too complicated to go into. What about Claudia y Inez Bachman? That one mean anyth-"

King burst out laughing, startling Eddie. Startling King himself, judging from the look on his face. "Dicky's wife!" he exclaimed. "How in the hell do you know about that?"

"I don't. Who's Dicky?"

"Richard Bachman. I've started publishing some of my earliest novels as paperback originals, under a pseudonym. Bachman is it. One night when I was pretty drunk, I made up a whole author bio for him, right down to how he beat adult-onset leukemia, hooray Dickie. Anyway, Claudia's his wife. Claudia Inez Bachman. The y y part, though ... that I don't know about." part, though ... that I don't know about."

Eddie felt as if a huge invisible stone had suddenly rolled off his chest and out of his life. Claudia Inez Bachman Claudia Inez Bachman only had eighteen letters. So something had added the only had eighteen letters. So something had added the y, y, and why? To make nineteen, of course. Claudia Bachman was just a name. Claudia y Inez Bachman, though ... and why? To make nineteen, of course. Claudia Bachman was just a name. Claudia y Inez Bachman, though ... she she was ka-tet. was ka-tet.

Eddie thought they'd just gotten one of the things they'd come here for. Yes, Stephen King had created them. At least he'd created Roland, Jake, and Father Callahan. The rest he hadn't gotten to yet. And he had moved Roland like a piece on a chessboard: go to Tull, Roland, sleep with Allie, Roland, chase Walter across the desert, Roland. But even as he moved his main character along the board, so had King himself King himself been moved. That one letter added to the name of his pseudonym's wife insisted upon it. Something had wanted to make Claudia Bachman been moved. That one letter added to the name of his pseudonym's wife insisted upon it. Something had wanted to make Claudia Bachman nineteen. nineteen. So- So- "Steve."

"Yes, Eddie of New York." King smiled self-consciously.

Eddie could feel his heart beating hard in his chest. "What does the number nineteen mean to you?"

King considered. Outside the wind soughed in the trees, the powerboats whined, and the crow-or another-cawed. Soon along this lake would come the hour of barbecues, and then maybe a trip to town and a band concert on the square, all in this best of all possible worlds. Or just the one most real.

At last, King shook his head and Eddie let out a frustrated breath.

"Sorry. It's a prime number, but that's all I can come up with. Primes sort of fascinate me, have ever since Mr. Soychak's Algebra I class at Lisbon High. And I think it's how old I was when I met my wife, but she might dispute that. She has a disputatious nature."

"What about ninety-nine?"

King thought it over, then ticked items off on his fingers. "A hell of an age to be. 'Ninety-nine years on the old rock-pile.' A song called-I think-'The Wreck of Old Ninety-nine.' Only it might be 'The Wreck of the Hesperus Hesperus' I'm thinking about. 'Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, we took one down and passed it all around, and there were ninety-eight bottles of beer.' Beyond that, nada. nada."

This time it was King's turn to look at the clock.

"If I don't leave soon, Betty Jones is going to call to see if I forgot I have have a son. And after I get Joe I'm supposed to drive a hundred and thirty miles north, there's that. Which might be easier if I quit with the beer. And that, in turn, might be easier if I didn't have a couple of armed spooks sitting in my kitchen." a son. And after I get Joe I'm supposed to drive a hundred and thirty miles north, there's that. Which might be easier if I quit with the beer. And that, in turn, might be easier if I didn't have a couple of armed spooks sitting in my kitchen."

Roland was nodding. He reached down to his gunbelt, brought up a shell, and began to roll it absently between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. "Just one more question, if it does ya. Then we'll go our course and let you go yours."

King nodded. "Ask it, then." He looked at his third can of beer, then tipped it down the sink with an expression of regret.

"Was it you wrote The Dark Tower The Dark Tower?"

To Eddie this question made no sense, but King's eyes lit up and he smiled brilliantly. "No!" "No!" he said. "And if I ever do he said. "And if I ever do a book on writing-and I probably could, it's what I taught before I retired to do this-I'll say so. Not that, not any of them, not really. I know that there are writers who a book on writing-and I probably could, it's what I taught before I retired to do this-I'll say so. Not that, not any of them, not really. I know that there are writers who do do write, but I'm not one of them. In fact, whenever I run out of inspiration and resort to plot, the story I'm working on usually turns to shit." write, but I'm not one of them. In fact, whenever I run out of inspiration and resort to plot, the story I'm working on usually turns to shit."

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," Eddie said.

"It's like ... hey, that's neat!"

The shell rolling back and forth between the gunslinger's thumb and forefinger had jumped effortlessly to the backs of his fingers, where it seemed to walk along Roland's rippling knuckles.

"Yes," Roland agreed, "it is, isn't it?"

"It's how you hypnotized Jake at the way station. How you made him remember being killed."

And Susan, Eddie thought. Eddie thought. He hypnotized Susan the same way, only you don't know about that yet, sai King. Or maybe you do. Maybe somewhere inside you know all of it. He hypnotized Susan the same way, only you don't know about that yet, sai King. Or maybe you do. Maybe somewhere inside you know all of it.

"I've tried hypnosis," King said. "In fact, a guy got me up onstage at the Topsham Fair when I was a kid and tried to make me cluck like a hen. It didn't work. That was around the time Buddy Holly died. And the Big Bopper. And Ritchie Valens. Todana! Ah, Discordia!"