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FOUR DAYS AFTER EDDIE had yanked hiinal pair of pants and his sneakers but still in possession of his pack and his life, Jake aith so at his face

If he had come around to such a sensation on any of the three previous s, he undoubtedly would have wakened his companions with his screams, for he had been feverish and his sleep had been haunted by nightmares of the plaster-man In these drearip, and it tucked him into its unspeakablea castle keep Jake awoke fro helplessly

The fever had been caused by the spider-bite on the back of his neck When Roland examined it on the second day and found it worse instead of better, he had conferred briefly with Eddie and had then given Jake a pink pill "You&039;ll want to take four of these every day for at least a week," he said

Jake had gazed at it doubtfully "What is it?"

"Cheflet," Roland said, then looked disgustedly at Eddie "You tell him I still can&039;t say it"

"Keflex You can trust it, Jake; it caood old New YorkRoland sed a bunch of it, and he&039;s as healthy as a horse Looks a little like one, too, as you can see"

Jake was astonished "How did you getstory," the gunslinger said "You&039;ll hear all of it in time, but for now just take the pill"

Jake did The response was both quick and satisfying The angry red swelling around the bite began to fade in twenty-four hours, and now the fever was gone as well

The warain and Jake sat up with a jerk, his eyes flying open

The creature which had been licking his cheek took two hasty steps backward It was a billy-bumbler, but Jake didn&039;t know that; he had never seen one before now It was skinnier than the ones Roland&039;s party had seen earlier, and its black�C and gray-striped fur was y There was a clot of old dried blood on one flank Its gold-ringed black eyes looked at Jake anxiously; its hindquarters switched hopefully back and forth Jake relaxed He supposed there were exceptions to the rule, but he had an idea that so to - was probably not too dangerous

It was just past first light, probably around five-thirty in the ital Seiko no longer workedor rather, orking in an extrelanced at it after coh, the Seiko claimed it was 98:71:65, a tier look showed hi backward If it had been doing this at a steady rate, he supposed it ht still have been of some use, but it wasn&039;t It would unwind its nuht speed for awhile (Jake verified this by saying the word "Mississippi" between each number), and then the readout would either stop entirely for ten or twenty seconds - host - or a bunch of numbers would blur by all at once

He had mentioned this odd behavior to Roland and had shown hi it would amaze him, but Roland exa in a dis clock, but as a rule no tiood work these days So the Seiko was useless, but Jake still found himself loath to throw it away because, he supposed, it was a piece of his old life, and there were only a few of those left

Right now the Seiko claimed it was sixty-two minutes past forty on a Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday in both Decey; beyond a radius of fifty or sixty feet, the world simply disappeared If this day was like the previous three, the sun would show up as a faint white circle in another two hours or so, and by nine-thirty the day would be clear and hot Jake looked around and saw his travelling companions (he didn&039;t quite dare call them friends, at least not yet) asleep beneath their hide blankets - Roland close by, Eddie and Susannah a larger hump on the far side of the dead campfire

He once more turned his attention to the animal which had awak-ened him It looked like a combination raccoon and woodchuck, with a dash of dachshund thrown in for good measure

"How you doin, boy?" he asked softly

"Oy!" the billy-bu at him anx-iously Its voice was low and deep, allish footballer with a bad cold in his throat

Jake recoiled, surprised The billy-bumbler, startled by the quick movement, took several further steps backward, seeround Its hindquarters wagged back and forth old-black eyes continued to regard Jake nervously The whiskers on its snout trembled

"This one remembers men," a voice remarked at Jake&039;s shoulder He looked around and saw Roland squatting just behind hi hands dangling between his knees He was looking at the anireat deal more interest than he had shown in Jake&039;s watch

"What is it?" Jake asked softly He did not want to startle it away; he was enchanted "Its eyes are beautiful!"

"Billy-bumbler," Roland said

"Umber!" the creature ejaculated, and retreated another step

"It talks!"

"Not really Bumblers just repeat what they hear - or used to I haven&039;t heard one do it in years This fellow looks ale"

"He was licking et rid of it if you do," Roland said, then sers "Hey! Billy!"

The creature ers soainst the roof of its mouth "Ay!" it called in its hoarse voice "Ay, Illy!" Now its ragged hindquarters were positively gagging back and forth

"Go ahead and give it a bite I knew an old grooood luck This looks like a good one"

"Yes," Jake agreed "It does"

"Once they were ta around the castle orthe children and keeping the rat population down They can be quite faithful - or were in the old days - although I never heard of one that would reers Not dangerous, but a pain in the ass"

"Ass!" cried the bumbler Its anxious eyes continued to flick back and forth between Jake and the gunslinger

Jake reached into his pack, slowly, afraid to startle the creature, and drew out the reer burrito He tossed it toward the billy-bumbler The bumbler flinched back and then turned with a s its furry corkscrew tail Jake felt sure it would run, but it stopped, looking doubtfully back over its shoulder

"Come on," Jake said "Eat it, boy"

"Oy," the bumbler muttered, but it didn&039;t move