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"Put it down, Gasher," Tick-Tock said in a reasonable tone of voice "You brought the boy as I asked; if anyone else gets pricked over this, it&039;ll be Hoots, not you Just showand understood two things: what the humbler meant to do and who had put him up to it
"Oy, no!" he screamed
All of the the fli it free The Tick-Tock Man wheeled toward die sound, and Oy fell onto his upturned face, biting and slashing
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ROLAND HEARD IT FAINTLY even through the twin doors - Oy, no! - and his heart sank He waited for the valve-wheel to turn, but it did not He closed his eyes and sent with all his ht: The door, Jake! Open the door!
He sensed no response, and the pictures were gone His coin with, had now been severed
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THE TICK-TOCK MAN blundered backward, cursing and screa on his face He felt Oy&039;s claws punch into his left eye, popping it, and a horrible red pain sank into his head like a flae overwhelmed pain He seized Oy, tore hi to twist hiot about the button which unlocked the doors and seized the gun hanging from the back of the chair
Tilly shrieked The others scattered Jake levelled the old Gerun at the Tick-Tock Man Oy, upside down in those huge, strong hands and bent al point, writhed ony - a horribly human sound
"Leave hier
He had enough presence of mind left to ai in the enclosed space, although it fired only five or six rounds One of the lighted tubes popped in a burst of cold orange fire A hole appeared an inch above the left knee of the Tick-Tock Man&039;s tight-fitting trousers, and a dark red stain began to spread at once Tick-Tock&039;s mouth opened in a shocked O of surprise, an expression which said more clearly than words could have done that, for all his intelligence, Tick-Tock had expected to live a long, happy life where he shot people but was never shot himself Shot at, perhaps, but actually hit? That surprised expression said that just wasn&039;t supposed to be in the cards
Welcoht
Tick-Tock dropped Oy to the iron grillework floor to grab at his wounded leg Copperhead lunged at Jake, got an ar shrilly and chewing at Copperhead&039;s ankle through the black silk pants Copperhead screa Oy back and forth at the end of his leg Oy clung like a li toward him He had retrieved his knife and the blade was now clamped between his teeth
"Goodbye, Ticky," Jake said, and pressed the Sch happened Jake didn&039;t know if it was empty or jammed, and this was hardly the ti further retreat blocked by the big chair which had served the Tick-Tock Man as a throne Before he could slip around, putting the chair between therabbed his ankle His other hand went to the hilt of his knife The ruins of his left eye lay on his cheek like a glob of lared up at Jake with insane hatred
Jake tried to pull away fro on the Tick-Tock man&039;s throne His eye fell on a pocket which had been sewn into the right-hand ar from the elasticized top was the cracked pearl handle of a revolver
"Oh, cully, how you&039;ll suffer!" the Tick-Tock Man whispered ecstati-cally The O of surprise had been replaced by a wide, trerin "Oh how you&039;ll suffer! And how happy I&039;ll be toWhat - ?"
The grin slackened and the surprised O began to reappear as Jake pointed the cheesy nickel-plated revolver at hirip on Jake&039;s ankle tightened until it seemed to him that the bones there must snap
"You dasn&039;t!" Tick-Tock said in a screarier of the Tick-Tock Man&039;s runout gun There was a Hat crack, much less dramatic than the Schh up on the right side of Tick-Tock&039;s forehead The Tick-Tock Man went on staring up at Jake, disbelief in his re eye
Jake tried to ain and couldn&039;t do it
Suddenly a flap of the Tick-Tock Man&039;s scalp peeled away like old wallpaper and dropped on his right cheek Roland would have knohat this ht A dark, panicky horror was spinning across hischair as the hand on his ankle fell away and the Tick-Tock Man collapsed forward on his face
The door He had to open the door and let the gunslinger in
Focusing on that and nothing but, Jake let the pearl-handled revolver clatter to the iron grating and pushed hiain for the button he thought he had seen Tick-Tock push when a pair of hands settled around his throat and dragged him back-ward, away from the podium
"I said I&039;d kill you for it, my narsty little pal," a voice whispered in his ear, "and the Gasherman always keeps his promises"
Jake flailed behind hi but thin air Gasher&039;s fingers sank into his throat, choking relentlessly The world started to turn gray in front of his eyes Gray quickly deepened to purple, and purple to black
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A PUMP STARTED UP, and the valve-wheel in the center of the hatch spun rapidly Gods be thanked! Roland thought He seized the wheel with his right hand al and yanked it open The other door was ajar; fro and Oy&039;s bark, now shrill with pain and fury
Roland kicked the door open with his boot and saw Gasher throttling Jake Oy had left Copperhead and was now trying todouble duty: protecting its owner fro Oy from the virulent infection which ran in Gasher&039;s blood Brandon stabbed Oy in the flank again in an effort toGasher&039;s ankle, but Oy paid no heed Jake hung fros have been cut His face was bluish-white, his swollen lips a delicate shade of lavender
Gasher looked up "You," he snarled
"Me," Roland agreed He fired once and tin; left side of Gasher&039;s head disintegrated Thebackward, bloodstained yellow scarf unravelling, and landed on top of the Tick-Tock Man His feet drurillework for a er shot Brandon twice, fanning the haht hand Brandon, who had been bent over Oy for another stroke, spun around, struck the wall, and slid slowly down it, clutching at one of the tubes Green swaers
Oy li his pale, still face
Copperhead and Hoots had seen enough They ran side by side for the set the dipper of water It was the wrong time for chivalry; Roland shot them both in the back He would have towaylaid by these two if they should chance to rediscover their guts
A cluster of bright orange lights came on at the top of the capsule-shaped enclosure, and an alaro off: in broad, hoarse blats that bartered the walls After a an to pulse in sync with the alarm
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