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15

"COME ON," ROLAND SAID as soon as Gasher had turned tail

"How could you do it?" Eddie asked "How could you let that freak have hi the wheelchair We&039;re going to need it"

They had reached the concrete on the far side of the gap when an explosion shook the bridge, spraying rubble into the darkening sky

"Christ!" Eddie said, and turned his white, dismayed face to Roland

"Don&039;t worry yet," Roland said calh-explosive toys" They reached the tollbooths at the end of the bridge Roland stopped just beyond, at the top of the curving ra, didn&039;t you?" Eddie said "I- you knew"

"He&039;s a walking dead man, and such men don&039;t need to bluff" Roland&039;s voice was calh, but there was a deep undertone of bitterness and pain in it "I knew so like this could happen, and if we&039;d seen the fellow earlier, while ere still beyond the range of his exploding egg, we could have stood hiine he thinks our real reason for bringing a boy in the first place was to pay for safe conduct through the city Da

"Well, let&039;s go get him!"

Roland shook his head "This is where we split up We can&039;t take Susannah where the bastard&039;s gone, and we can&039;t leave her alone"

"But - "

"Listen and don&039;t argue - not if you want to save Jake The longer we stand here, the colder his trail gets Cold trails are hard to follow You&039;ve got your own job to do If there&039;s another Blaine, and I am sure Jake believes there is, then you and Susannah must find it There must be a station, or as once called a cradle in the far lands Do you understand?"

For once, blessedly, Eddie didn&039;t argue "Yeah We&039;ll find it What then?"

"Fire a shot every half hour or so When I get Jake, I&039;ll come"

"Shots may attract other people as well," Susannah said Eddie had helped her out of the sling and she was seated in her chair again

Roland surveyed them coldly "Handle them"

"Okay" Eddie stuck out his hand and Roland took it briefly "Find him, Roland"

"Oh, I&039;ll find hih And remember the faces of your fathers, both of you"

Susannah nodded "We&039;ll try"

Roland turned and ran light-footed down the raht, Eddie looked at Susannah and was not very surprised to see she was crying He felt like crying hiht little band of friends Their comfortable fellowship had been smashed to bits in the space of just a few one after him Even Oy had run away Eddie had never felt so lonely in his life

"I have a feeling we&039;re never going to see either of theain," Susannah said

"Of course ill!" Eddie said roughly, but he knehat she meant, because he felt the same way The premonition that their quest was all over before it was fairly begun lay heavy on his heart "In a fight with Attila the Hun, I&039;d give you three-to-two odds on Roland the Barbar-ian Coot a train to catch"

"But where?" she asked forlornly

"I don&039;t know Maybe we should just find the nearest wise old elf and ask hi about, Edward Dean?"

"Nothing," he said, and because that was so goddarasped the handles of her wheelchair and began to push it down the cracked and glass-littered ramp that led into the city of Lud

16

JAKE QUICKLY DESCENDED INTO a foggy world where the only land hand, the place on his upper ars, his burning lungs Before they had gone far, these pains were first joined and then over stitch in his left side He wondered if Roland was following after the Oy would be able to live in this world which was so unlike the plains and forest which were all he had known until now Then Gasher clouted hiht was lost in a red wash of pain

"Come on, yer little bastard! Move yer sweet cheeks!"

"Runningas fast as I can," Jake gasped, and just lass which jutted like a long transparent tooth from the wall of junk to his left