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EDDIE THOUGHT THE MEAL, he ate that day was the best he had had since the mythic birthday feasts of his childhood, when hishe liked - meatloaf and roasted potatoes and corn on the cob and devil&039;s food cake with vanilla ice cream on the side
The sheer variety of the edibles put before the but lobster reens which Roland pronounced safe - undoubtedly had so to do with the pleasure he took in the food, but Eddie didn&039;t think that was the sole answer; he noticed that the kid was packing it away by the plateful (and feeding a chunk of so to the bumbler crouched at his feet every couple of minutes), and Jake hadn&039;t been here a week yet
There were bowls of stew (chunks of buffalo etables), platters of fresh biscuits, crocks of shite butter, and bowls of leaves that looked like spinach but weren&039;t exactly Eddie had never been crazy about greens, but at the first taste of these, some deprived part of hi, but his need for the green stuff approached greed, and he saw Susannah was also helping herself to the the four of them, the travellers emptied three bowls of the leaves
The dinner dishes were swept away by the old women and the albino twins They returned with chunks of cake piled high on two thick white plates and a bowl of whipped crearant sone to heaven
"Only buffaler cream," Aunt Talitha said diso Buffaler cream ain&039;t no prize-winner, but better&039;n nothin, by Daisy!"
The cake turned out to be loaded with blueberries Eddie thought it beat by a country mile any cake he&039;d ever had He finished three pieces, leaned back, and belched ringingly before he could clap a hand over his uiltily
Mercy, the blind woman, cackled "I heard that! Someone be thankin&039; the cook, Auntie!"
"Ay," Aunt Talitha said, laughing herself "So he do"
The toain One carried a stea; the other had a number of thick ceramic cups balanced precariously on her tray
Aunt Talitha was sitting at the head of the table with Roland by her right hand Now he leaned over anda little, then nodded
"Si, Bill, and Till," she said "You three stay We are going to have us a little palaver with this gunslinger and his friends, on account of theythis very afternoon The rest of you take your coffee in the kitchen and so cut down the babble Mind you o!"
Bill and Till, the albino twins, re at the foot of the table The others formed a line and moved slowly past the travellers Each of them shook hands with Eddie and Susannah, then kissed Jake on the cheek The boy accepted this with good grace, but Eddie could see he was both surprised and embarrassed
When they reached Roland, they knelt before him and touched the sandalwood butt of the revolver which jutted from the holster he wore on his left hip He put his hands on their shoulders and kissed their old brows Mercy was the last; she flung her arms around Roland&039;s waist and baptized his cheek with a wet, ringing kiss
"Gods bless and keep ye, gunslinger! If only I could see ye!"
"Mind your nored her and bent over the blind woently but firmly in his own, and raised them to his face "See me with these, beauty," he said, and closed his eyes as her fingers, wrinkled and ently over his brow, his cheeks, his lips and chin
"Ay, gunslinger!" she breathed, lifting the sightless sockets of her eyes to his faded blue ones "I see you very well! &039;Tis a good face, but full of sadness and care I fear for you and yours"
"Yet we are well entle kiss on the smooth, worn skin of her forehead
"Ay - so we are So we are Thank&039;ee for your kiss, gunslinger From my heart I thank&039;ee"
"Go on, Mercy," Aunt Talitha said in a gentler voice "Get your coffee"
Mercy rose to her feet The old uided her hand to the waistband of his pants She seized it and, with a final salute to Roland and his band, allowed him to lead her away
Eddie wiped at his eyes, which et "Who blinded her?" he asked hoarsely
"Harriers," Aunt Talitha said "Did it with a branding-iron, they did Said it was because she was looking at eone, that was Drink your coffee, now, all of you! It&039;s nasty when it&039;s hot, but it ain&039;t nothin but roadmud once it&039;s cold"
Eddie lifted the cup to his one so fur us to call it roadmud, hut it wasn&039;t exactly Blue Mountain Blend, either
Susannah tasted hers and looked alanced at her "I know it not Dockey is all I know, and dockey-coffee&039;s all we&039;ve had since I had the wo, long ago"
"How old are you, ma&039;am?" Jake asked suddenly
Aunt Talitha looked at him, surprised, then cackled "In truth, lad, I disre a party to celebrate hty, but there were over fifty people settin out on this lawn that day, and Mercy still had her eyes" Her own eyes dropped to the hu at Jake&039;s feet Oy didn&039;t reold-ringed eyes to gaze at her "A billy-bu since I&039;ve seen a humbler in company with people seems they have lost the memory of the days when they walked with men"
One of the albino twins bent down to pat Oy Oy pulled away from him
"Once they used to herd sheep," Bill (or perhaps it was Till) said to Jake "Did ye know that, youngster?"
Jake shook his head
"Do he talk?" the albino asked "Some did, in the old days"
"Yes, he does" He looked down at the humbler, who had returned his head to Jake&039;s ankle as soon as the strange hand left his general area "Say your name, Oy"
Oy only looked up at hied, but Oy was silent Jake looked at Aunt Talitha and the twins, uess he only does it when he wants to"