canon examination #3
They nooned in the saddle, and while they were eating popkins and
drinking cold coffee, Jake eased his mount in next to Roland's. Oy
peered at the gunslinger with bright eyes from the front pocket of the
poncho. Jake was feeding the bumbler pieces of his popkin, and there
were crumbs caught in Oy's whiskers.
"Roland, may I speak to you as dinh?" Jake sounded slightly
embarrassed.
"Of course." Roland drank coffee and then looked at the boy,
interested, all the while rocking contentedly back and forth in the
saddle.
"Ben-that is, both Slightmans, but mostly the kid-asked if I'd come
and stay with them. Out at the Rocking B."
"Do you want to go?" Roland asked.
The boy's cheeks flushed thin red. "Well, what I thought is that if you
guys were in town with the Old Fella and I was out in the
country-south of town, you ken-then we'd get two different pictures
of the place. My Dad says you don't see anything very well if you only
look at it from one viewpoint."
"True enough," Roland said, and hoped neither his voice nor his face
would give away any of the sorrow and regret he suddenly felt. Here was
a boy who was now ashamed of being a boy. He had made a friend and the
friend had invited him to stay over, as friends sometimes do. Benny had
undoubtedly promised that Jake could help him feed the animals, and
perhaps shoot his bow (or his bah, if it shot bolts instead of arrows).
There would be places Benny would want to share, secret places he might
have gone to with his twin in other times. A platform in a tree,
mayhap, or a fishpond in the reeds special to him, or a stretch of
riverbank where pirates of eld were reputed to have buried gold and
jewels. Such places as boys go. But a large part of Jake Chambers was
now ashamed to want to do such things. This was the part that had been
despoiled by the doorkeeper in Dutch Hill, by Gasher, by the Tick-Tock
Man. And by Roland himself, of course. Were he to say no to Jake's
request now, the boy would very likely never ask again. And never
resent him for it, which was even worse. Were he to say yes in the
wrong way-with even the slightest trace of indulgence in his voice,
for instance-the boy would change his mind.
The boy. The gunslinger realized how much he wanted to be able to go on
calling Jake that, and how short the time to do so was apt to be. He
had a bad feeling about Calla Bryn Sturgis.
"Go with them after they dine us in the Pavilion tonight," Roland said.
"Go and do ya fine, as they say here."
"Are you sure? Because if you think you might need me-"
"Your father's saying is a good one. My old teacher-"
"Cort or Vannay?"
"Cort. He used to tell us that a one-eyed man sees flat. It takes two
eyes, set a little apart from each other, to see things as they really
are. So aye. Go with them. Make the boy your friend, if that seems
natural. He seems likely enough."
"Yeah," Jake said briefly. But the color was going down in his cheeks
again. Roland was pleased to see this.
"Spend tomorrow with him. And his friends, if he has a gang he goes
about with."
Jake shook his head. "It's far out in the country. Ben says that
Eisenhart's got plenty of help around the place, and there are some
kids his age, but he's not allowed to play with them. Because he's the
foreman's son, I guess."
Roland nodded. This did not surprise him. "You'll be offered graf
tonight in the Pavilion. Do you need me to tell you it's iced tea once
we're past the first toast?"
Jake shook his head.
Roland touched his temple, his lips, the corner of one eye, his lips
again. "Head clear. Mouth shut. See much. Say little."
Jake grinned briefly and gave him a thumbs-up. "What about you?"
"The three of us will stay with the priest tonight. I'm in hopes that
tomorrow we may hear his tale."
"And see..." They had fallen a bit behind the others, but Jake still
lowered his voice. "See what he told us about?"
"That I don't know," Roland said. "The day after tomorrow, we three
will ride out to the Rocking B. Perhaps noon with sai Eisenhart and
have a bit of palaver. Then, over the next few days, the four of us
will have a look at this town, both the inner and the outer. If things
go well for you at the ranch, Jake, I'd have you stay there as long as
you like and as much as they'll have you."
"Really?" Although he kept his face well (as the saying went), the
gunslinger thought Jake was very pleased by this.
"Aye. From what I make out-what I ken-there's three big bugs in
Calla Bryn Sturgis. Overholser's one. Took, the storekeeper, is
another. The third one's Eisenhart. I'd hear what you make of him with
great interest."
"You'll hear," Jake said. "And thankee-sai." He tapped his throat three
times. Then his seriousness broke into a broad grin. A boy's grin. He
urged his horse into a trot, moving up to tell his new friend that yes,
he might stay the night, yes, he could come and play.
- Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King