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10

A HORN BLARED, STARTLING Jake out of this story, which was as vivid as a powerful dreaton, and the light had changed He looked around wildly, expecting to see the blue Cadillac bearing down on hi behind the wheel of a yellow Mustang convert-ible and grinning at hiotten a whiff of happy-gas today

Jake waved at the guy and sprinted to the other side of the street The guy in the Mustang twirled a finger around his ear to indicate that Jake was crazy, then waved back and drove on

For a moment Jake simply stood on the far corner, face turned up to the May sunshine, s the day He supposed prisoners condemned to die in the electric chair ranted a temporary reprieve

The voices were still

The question as the parade which had temporarily diverted their attention? Was it just the unco?

Jake didn&039;t think that was all He didn&039;t think so because that sensa-tion of knoas creeping over hiain, the one which had taken possession of hio, as he approached the corner of Fifth and Forty-sixth But on May 9th, it had been a feeling of i of radiance, a sense of goodness and anticipation It was as ifas if

White This was the word that caed in his htness

"It&039;s the White!" he exclai of the White!"

He walked on down Fifty-fourth Street, and as he reached the cor-ner of Second and Fifty-fourth, he once more passed under the umbrella of ka-tet

11

HE TURNED RIGHT, THEN stopped, turned, and retraced his steps to the corner He needed to walk down Second Avenue now, yes, that was unquestionably correct, but this was the wrong side again When the light changed, he hurried across the street and turned right again That feeling, that sense of

(Whiteness)

rightness, grew steadily stronger He felt half- to be okay This tiin to see people he recognized, as he had recognized the fat lady and the pretzel vendor, and they would be doing things he remembered in advance

Instead, he came to the bookstore

12

THE MANHATTAN RESTAURANT OF THE MIND, the sign painted in theread Jake went to the d(x>r There was a chalkboard hung there; it looked like the kind you saw on the wall in diners and lunchrooms

TODAY&039;S SPECIALS

From Florida ! Fresh-Broiled John D MacDonald Hardcovers 3 for 250 Paperbacks 9 for 500

From Mississippi ! Pan-Fried Williae Library Paperbacks 75 each

From California ! Hard-Boiled Raymond Chandler Hardcovers Market Price Paperbacks 7 for 500

FEED YOUR NEED TO READ

Jake went in, aware that he had, for the first ti led overhead The mild, spicy smell of old books hit hi home

The restaurant h the walls were lined with shelves of books, a fountain-style counter bisected the room On Jake&039;s side of the counter were a number of small tables ire-backed Malt Shoppe chairs Each table had been arranged to display the day&039;s specials: Travis McGee novels by John D Mac-Donald, Philip Marlowe novels by Rayn on the Faulkner table said: Son, this one on the counter, read si just that They sat at the counter, drinking coffee and reading Jake thought this ithout a doubt the best bookstore he&039;d ever been in

The question as he here? Was it luck, or was it part of that soft, insistent feeling that he was following a trail - a land of force-bealanced at the display on a small table to his left and knew the answer

13

IT WAS A DISPLAY of children&039;s books There wasn&039;t much room on the table, so there were only about a dozen of them - Alice &039;s Adventures in Wonderland, The Hobbit, Tos like that Jake had been attracted by a storybook obviously reen cover was an anthropo its way up a hill Its cowcatcher (which was bright pink) wore a happy grin and its headlight was a cheerful eye which seemed to invite Jake Cham-bers to come inside and read all about it Charlie the Choo-Choo, the title proclaimed, Story and Pictures by Beryl Evans Jake&039;s mind flashed back to his Final Essay, with the picture of the Ae and the words choo-choo written over and over again inside

He grabbed the book and clutched it tightly, as if it rip And as he looked down at the cover, Jake found that he did not trust the smile on Charlie the Choo-Choo&039;s face YOM look happy, but I think that&039;s just the ht I don&039;t think you&039;re happy at all And I don&039;t think Charlie&039;s your real nahts to be having, undoubtedly crazy, but they did not feel crazy They felt sane They felt true

Standing next to the place where Charlie the Choo-Choo had been was a tattered paperback The cover was quite badly torn and had been e The picture showed a puzzled-looking boy and girl with a forest of question-marks over their heads The title of this book was Riddle-De-Dum! Brain-Twisters and Puzzles for Everyone! No author was credited

Jake tucked Charlie the Choo-Choo under his arm and picked up the riddle book He opened it at random and saw this:

When is a door not a door?

"When it&039;s a jar," Jakeout on his forehead his armsall over his body

"When it&039;s ajar!"