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"God, I hope so But how could he not be here when he was here and we remember it?"

"Paradox," Bobby said, as if he hi explanation "So what do we do?"

"Burn it, anyway," I concluded

"To be safe, you mean?"

"No, just because I’m a pyromaniac"

"Didn’t know that about you, bro"

"Let’s torch this du rooht I heard soaloalls Every time I listened, the elusive sound stopped

"Rats," Bobby said

This alar, too, then the furtive noises weren’t the work of -scratching-squeaking of rodents; it was a liquid slithering

"Huous rats," he said with more force but less conviction

I fortified uasoline fumes and, therefore, couldn’t trust our senses Nevertheless, I expected to hear voices echoing inside aloithout being asoline, I poured a fuse across the front porch, down the steps, and along the ay

Doogie pulled the Huht mantled Dead Town, and every silent structure see the empty fuel can on the porch, I hurried out to the Huie to back it up until one of the rear tires eighing down the manhole The monkey manhole

When I returned to the front yard, Bobby lit the fuse

As the blue-orange flame raced up the ay and climbed the front steps, Bobby said, "When I died…"

"Yeah?"

"Did I screanity?"

"You were cool Aside fro your pants, of course"

"They’re not wet now"

The fuse fla roo recklessly in the orange light, I said, "When you were dying…"

"Yeah?"

"You said, I love you, bro"

He grimaced "Lame"

"And I said it was "

"But now here I areed

"What we need here is a custo else but forget ements with the church, the reception hall, and the florist"

"I’ll hite," Bobby said

"That would be a travesty"

We turned away froalow and walked out to the street Harried by the witchy firelight, twisted tree shadows capered across the pavery squeal tortured the night, followed by a score of other shrill voices, and I looked left to see the troop of Wyverntoward us

The Mystery Train and all its associated terrors one as if they had never been, but the life’s work of Wisteria Jane Snow still had its consequences

We piled into the Huie locked all the doors with a master switch on the console, just as the rhesuses swaret outta here!" everyone was shouting, though Doogie needed no encourage part of the troop screa in frustration as the rear bu hands

We weren’t in the clear yet Monkeys were clinging tenaciously to the luggage rack on the roof

One nasty speciate, shrieking whatits hands against theOrson snarled to warn it away, face-to-face at the glass, while struggling to stay on his feet as Doogie resorted to slalom maneuvers to try to shake the primates loose

Another monkey slid down fro in at Doogie, blocking his view With one hand it gripped the ar off the Hummer, and in its other hand was a sainst the windshield, but the glass didn’t break, so it swung again, and this time the stone left a starburst scratch

"Hell with this," Doogie said, switching on the wipers