Chapter 25 Chapter 24 The Sparrow Arrives

one Ted avoided the main road (which Stark ordered Liz to do, saving half an hour), so he either took the Lewiston-Auburn or the Lewiston-Oxford road, and the State Police were at Oxford. He chose the Lewiston-Auburn route. He stopped at a traffic light in Auburn and kept checking his rearview mirror for a police car.At this moment, the thought that he felt clearly for the first time when he talked with Luo Li at the junkyard came to him again.This time it wasn't an itching, but a slap in the face. "I am the knower, I am the owner, and I am the creator." "We're dealing with magic," Thad thought. "Any real magician must have a wand. Everyone knows that. I'm lucky enough to know where there are such wands. They're sold by the dozen, in fact." .”

The nearest stationery store was on Court Street, and Tad was turning in that direction now.He was sure the stationer's in Castle Rock had Belloir Black Beauty pencils, and he was sure Stark had pencils, too, but he didn't want to use those.He wanted a pencil that Stark had never touched. Ted found a park half a block from the stationery store, turned off the ignition, and got out of the car.It was nice to get out of the smoky car in Raleigh and get some fresh air. He bought a box of Belore Black Beauty pencils at the stationery store.He asked the salesman if he could use the pencil sharpener on the wall, and the salesman told him to use whatever he wanted.He sharpened six pencils with a pencil sharpener and placed them side by side in his coat pocket, with the pencil heads poking out like deadly missile heads.

All set, he thought, the party begins. He walked back to Rawley's car, got in, and sat for a while, sweating from the heat, singing "John Wesley Harding" in a low voice, recalling almost all the lyrics, under pressure, people Memories can do wonders. This could be very dangerous, he thought.He didn't really care much about himself.After all, he created Stark and he is responsible for it.It didn't seem fair, he didn't think he created George with malice, he didn't think he was a notorious doctor like Jekel and Frankensburg, even though his wife and children might have been in trouble.He didn't write a series of novels to make a lot of money, let alone create a monster.He was just groping his way through obstacles in writing, just trying to write a good novel because it made him happy.

Instead, he had some kind of supernatural disease.Many people who shouldn't have the disease have strange diseases, such as stroke, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, etc. Once you have it, you have to deal with it.What's that radio quiz show called?Guess the prize? Although he thought it was reasonable in his heart, it was very dangerous for Liz and the children. right.Brain surgery can be dangerous too...but what options do you have if you have a tumor in your brain? "He'll look, he'll peek. Pencils are fine, he might be smug. But if he senses what you're going to do with a pencil, or finds a bird whistle... if he finds a bird whistle... hell, if he guesses something Guess...then you're done."

"But it's going to work," whispered another part of him. "Fuck it, you know it's going to work." Yes, he did, because deep down he insisted there was no other way, so Tad started the car and drove to Castle Rock. Fifteen minutes later, he was out of Auburn and was racing through the country again, heading west toward the Lake District. two During the final forty miles of the journey, Stark talked incessantly about the Iron Marcin's book.After arriving at the destination, he helped Liz hold the baby and made Liz obedient.At the same time, Liz opened the villa door and let them in.She kept hoping for a car parked on the road to the lake, or to hear voices or a chainsaw, but there was only the hypnotic hum of insects and the roar of the Toronado's engine.Looks like the bastard got lucky.

Stark kept talking as they unloaded from the car into the house.He didn't even stop talking when he cut through the phone jack with the pocket razor.This book sounds good, very thrilling, and sounds as good as "Macin's Way"—maybe even better. "I have to make it easy." She interrupted him after unpacking. "Okay," he said kindly, turning to look at her.As soon as they arrived, he took off his dark glasses, and she had to turn her face away in a staring, rotting look that was too much for her to bear. "I will go with you." "I like someone when I can. Don't you?"

"I don't care." Stark said calmly and cheerfully.He had been in a good mood since turning off the road at Gates Falls—he had the air that everything was going to be all right. "But I don't care," she said, as if she were talking to a particularly stinky child.She felt her fingers curl up.She imagined tearing those staring eyeballs out of their slack sockets... when she stole a glance at him, saw his smiling face, and realized he knew what she was thinking. "I'll just stay at the door," he said modestly. "I'm a good boy, and I won't peep."

The twins were crawling around on the living room rug, very excited and barking like they were happy to be here.They'd only been here once before, for a long winter weekend. "They can't be left here alone," Liz said. "The bathroom is far from the bedroom, and they'll be in trouble if they're left here." "No problem, Beth." Stark said, picking up the two children effortlessly, one in each hand.Until this morning, she had been convinced that William and Wendy would scream if anyone but herself and Ted did this.But when Stark did it, they giggled with delight, like it was the funnest thing in the world. "I'll take them into the bedroom and take care of them for you." He turned and glanced at her, with a hint of indifference in his eyes, "I will take good care of them, I don't want them to be hurt, Baisi, I like them .If something happens, it's not my fault."

She goes into the bathroom.He stood at the door with his back to her as he had promised.She lifted up her skirt, took off her shorts and sat down, hoping he would keep his word.If he turned around and saw her squatting on the toilet, it wasn't a big deal, but if he saw the scissors in her underwear, then she was finished. As usual, the more anxious she became, the less she could urinate.Come on, come on, she thought terrified.what happened?Do you want to keep that thing to earn interest? Finally spilled out. "But when they wanted to come out of the barn," Stark said, "Marcin lit the oil they'd poured in the ditch around the barn at night. Wouldn't that be nice? It'd be good for a movie, Beth— Fools who make movies love fire."

She used the toilet paper and carefully lifted the shorts.She fixed her eyes on Stark's back as she straightened her clothes, begging him not to turn his back.He is lost in his own story. "Westman and Jack Langley dodged inside, ready to drive out of the fire. But Ellington panicked, and—" He stopped suddenly, tilted his head to one side, then turned around, and she was straightening her skirt. "Come out," he said suddenly, becoming nasty. "Come out the hell right now." "what--" He grabbed his arm roughly and pulled her violently into the bedroom.He went into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet: "Someone is here, Ted can't be here so early."

"I do not--" "Car engine," he said succinctly, "high horsepower engine, probably a police interceptor car. Do you hear me?" Stark slammed the medicine cabinet shut, opened the drawer on the right side of the washstand, found a roll of adhesive tape, and pulled off the tin ring on the adhesive roll. She said she heard nothing. "It's all right," he said, "I'll just hear it. Put your hands behind your back." "What do you want to do--" "Shut up and put your hands behind your back!" She complied, and her wrists were immediately bound.He wound the adhesive tape crosswise, left and right, and tightly wound it into a figure-eight shape. "The car stalled," he said, "about a quarter of a mile. The guy was playing tricks." She thought she might have heard the engine at the last moment, but that might just be her imagination.She knew that if she didn't listen with all her attention, she wouldn't hear anything.God, he has really good ears. "The tape has to be cut," he said. "Forgive me for taking the liberty, Beth. Time is running out, and there's no time to be polite." Before she understood what he was doing, his hand was already in the front of her skirt.In the blink of an eye, he had pulled out the scissors without even touching her skin. He reached behind her, cut the tape, and glanced at her, seeming to cheer again. "You see," she said, "you still see the bump." "Scissors?" he laughed. "I see them, but not the protrusion. I see them in your eyes, Beth dear. I saw them at Ludlow, and I'll know when you come downstairs." their existence." Holding the tape, he knelt before her like a suitor, which was both absurd and dangerous.Then he looked up at her: "Don't you try to kick me, Beth. I'm not sure, but I think it's the police. I don't have time to touch you, though I want to. So don't move." "children--" "I'll close the door," Stark said. "They can't reach the doorknob even if they stand up. The best they can do is bite the dusty kitten under the bed. I'll be right back." The tape crossed her ankles again.He cut the tape and stood up again. "You're very well, Beth," he said, "don't make a fool of yourself, I'll make you pay for it...but first I'll make you see your children pay for it." Then he closed the bathroom and bedroom doors and left, disappearing as quickly as a magician. She thought of the .22 rifle locked in the equipment shed.Are there any bullets there?She believed there were more, half a case of ammunition on the high shelf. Liz started twisting her wrist back and forth.He had wrapped the tape so tightly that she began to think that she would not be able to loosen it, let alone break free. Then she felt a little looser, and began to twist her wrists faster, panting. William crawled over and put his hands on her lap, looking questioningly into her face. "It's going to be all right," she said, smiling at him. William smiled at her too, and crawled off to find his sister again.With a jerk of her head, Liz shook a lock of wet hair from her eyes, and began twisting her wrist again. three Alan Pangpo saw that the lakeside road was quiet, and there was no one there...at least until he stopped the car.He parked in the sixth lane on the side of the road.He believed that at least he could safely drive a little further. The Beaumont house was two hills away from his car, but it was better to be on the safe side.He drove to William's A-frame cabin, parked under an old needle-laden pine tree, turned off the ignition, and got out. He looked up and saw the sparrow. Sparrows stood on the roof of William's house, on the surrounding branches, and on the rocks by the lake.They were fighting for space on William's dock - so many that they covered the logs that made up the dock.There are hundreds of sparrows. They said nothing, just stared at him with their little black eyes. "My God!" he whispered. Crickets chirped in the grass that grew along the base of William's wall, the lake lapped gently on the pier, and an airplane buzzed west to New Hampshire.Other than that, there was silence, not even the sound of motor boats on the lake. Only those birds. all birds. Pang Bo felt terrified.He had seen sparrows flock together in spring or autumn, sometimes by a hundred or two, but never in his life had he seen so many. "Are they here for Tad... or for Stark?" He looked back at the intercom again, wondering if he should call.It was just too weird and too unruly. "What if they all fly up at once? If Stark is there, if he's as sharp as Tad said, he'll hear it, he'll hear it very clearly." He starts to walk.The sparrows didn't move...but another flock of sparrows came and landed on the tree.They surrounded him now, staring at him as a merciless judge gazes at a murderer in the dock.Only the woods by the lakeside road behind me have no sparrows. He decided to return by that road. He had an idea, almost a hunch, that this might be the biggest mistake of his police career. "I'm just going to scout the terrain," he thought. "If the sparrows don't fly -- and it looks like they won't -- I'll be fine. I can walk down this driveway, across the lakeside drive, from the woods to the Beaumont house. If Toronado The car is there, I'll see it. If I see the car, I'll probably see him, and if I do, at least I'll know who I'm dealing with. I'll know if it's Ted ... or someone else." There was another thought that Pangpo hardly dared to think about because it would ruin his luck.If he had actually seen the owner of the Toronado, he could have fired a single shot that would have killed him on the spot.If that was the case, he'd get a serious reprimand from the State Police for disobeying orders...but Liz and the kids would be saved, and they're his main concern now. More and more sparrows fell silently, covering the asphalt of William's entire driveway.A sparrow landed within five feet of the hem of Pangbo's boot.He made a kick at it, but immediately regretted it, fearing to drive the sparrow and the whole flock back into the sky. The sparrow only jumped once, that's all. Another sparrow landed on Pangbol's shoulder.He couldn't believe it, but it was there.He waved his hand, and it jumped on his hand again, lowered its mouth, as if to peck his palm...but stopped again.Pang Bo's heart was pounding and he put down his hand.The sparrow hopped away, flapped its wings, and landed on the driveway with the rest of its companions.It gazed at him with bright, uncomprehending eyes. Pang Bo swallowed his saliva, and his throat clicked. "What are you?" he whispered. "What the hell are you?" The sparrow just stared at him.Every pine and maple on this side of Castle Rock Lake is now covered with sparrows.He heard a branch snap under the weight. Their bones are empty, he thought, and they weigh almost nothing. How many sparrows would it take to break a branch? He doesn't know, and doesn't want to know. Pangbourne holstered his .38 pistol, left the sparrows, and walked up William's sloping driveway.Lakeside Road was just a dirt road with rows of grass growing between the ruts, and he was sweating as he walked there, his shirt sticking wet to his back.As far as I could see, the road was full of sparrows—on the roof of his car, on the hood, on the trunk, on the lights—but none ahead. They don't seem to want to get too close... at least not yet.As if, he thought, this is their stage now. He looked up and down the road from behind a clump of tall sumac trees, and there was no one in sight--only sparrows, and they were all parked on William's hillside.There was silence save for the chirping of crickets and the buzzing of a few mosquitoes near his face. great. With his back arched and his head lowered, Pangbo ran across the path like a soldier in an enemy battle zone, jumped into the ditch overgrown with weeds and rocks on the other side, and disappeared into the woods.As soon as he reached the hiding place, he made his way to Beaumont Villa as quickly as possible. Four On the east side of Castle Rock Lake is a very steep hill.Lakeside Road is on the hillside, and most of the houses are below it.Pang Bo was on a hill twenty yards from Lakeside Road, and he could only see the roofs of houses, some of which he couldn't see at all.But he could see the side roads, and the branching lanes, and as long as he didn't forget to count them, he'd be fine. When he came to the fifth fork after William's house, he stopped and looked back to see if the sparrow was following him.It was a strange thought, but he couldn't shake it.He couldn't see a sign of it, so he thought maybe he was too nervous and it was all just his imagination. Forget about it, he thought.It's not your imagination.They're there...and they're still there. He looked down the Beaumont driveway, but he couldn't see anything from his position.So he bent over and moved slowly down.He was congratulating himself on the lightness of his movements when George Stark put the gun to his left ear and said, "If you move, man, your head will fall on your right shoulder." Fives He turned his head very slowly. When he saw clearly, he wished he had been born blind. "I don't think they'll put me on a magazine cover, huh?" Stark asked.He was grinning in such a way that he showed most of his teeth and gums, which were gone, just empty cavities.His face was covered with sores, and the skin seemed to be falling off, but it was more than that--it wasn't what made Pangpo so horrible and disgusting.The subcutaneous tissue of this man's face is out of order, and he's not just rotting, he's mutating horribly. However, he still recognized the man with the gun. Scarecrow-like hair and blond hair, shoulders as broad as a rugby player in a chest protector.He stood there haughtily, with a kind of quickness even when he was still.He looked at Pang Bo kindly. This is the one who shouldn't exist, who never was. This is Mr. George Stark, a noble bastard from Oxford, Mississippi. All this is true. "Welcome to the carnival, old man," Stark said kindly. "You're so big and nimble. I almost missed you at first. I've been looking for you. Let's go down to the room, I'm going to introduce you to a little woman who, if you make a move, you're dead, and she, too, and those two lovely children. I have nothing to lose in this world. Do you believe it?" Stark's rotting, deformed face grinned horribly at him.The crickets continued to chirp in the grass, and far away on the lake the sweet cry of the loon pierced the sky.Pangbol wished with all his heart that he was the bird, because when he looked into Stark's staring eyes, he saw only one thing but death... and that was nothingness. It was suddenly clear to him that he might never see his wife and son again. "I believe it," he said. "Put the gun away, then, and go." Pang Bo complied.Stark followed him, and they walked up the lane, across the lane, up the steep drive of the Beaumonts' drive, toward the house.The house jutted from the side of the hill, like the houses on the Malibu beach, built on thick wooden piles. Pang Bo saw no sparrows around, not even one. The Toronado was parked by the door, looking like a black and shiny poisonous spider in the evening sun.The car looked like a bullet, and Pangpo looked at the slogan on the bumper with a little surprise, and all his emotions became peaceful at once, as if this was a dream from which he would wake up soon. Don't think like that, he told himself, it will kill you. That's funny, because he's already a dead man, isn't he?Just now he was quietly approaching the driveway of the Beaumont house, watching carefully, preparing to run quietly... But Stark put the gun to his ear and ordered him to drop the pistol. I didn't hear his footsteps, I didn't even feel him approaching, people thought I was moving lightly, but this guy made me dwarf. "Do you like my car?" Stark asked. "I think every cop in Maine loves your car right now," Pangbol said, "because they're all looking for it." Stark smiled happily. "I believe it's true." He put his gun against Pangbo's back. "Go in, my old man. We're waiting for Ted. When Ted arrives, there will be a lot of fun." Pangbo looked back at Stark's hand without the gun, and found a very strange thing: there were no fingerprints on the palm of that hand, not a single one. six "Pump!" Liz yelled. "Are you all right?" "Ah," said Pangbo, "if a person thinks he's a shit and still thinks he's okay, then I'm fine." "You won't believe it." Stark said kindly, pointing to the scissors he found in Liz's underwear, which he put on the bedside table next to the double bed, out of the reach of the twins. "Cut the tape off her feet, Sergeant Pombo. Leave her wrists alone, she looks like she's about to untie herself. Maybe call you Commissioner Pombo?" "Sheriff Pombo," he thought, and at the same time: He knows me because Ted knows me.But even if he had the upper hand, he wouldn't reveal what he knew, he was as cunning as a weasel. For the second time, he felt that his death was imminent, and his heart was very desolate.He tried to remember the sparrow, because the sparrow was the only thing Stark didn't know about this nightmare.Then tell yourself not to think about it, this guy is too shrewd, if he lets himself hope, Stark will see it in his eyes... Stark will guess the meaning. Pangbol picked up the scissors and cut the tape off Liz's leg, and at this moment she had freed a hand and began to remove the tape from her wrist. "Are you going to hurt me?" she asked Stark cautiously, holding up her hands as if hoping the blood on his wrists would stop him from doing so. "No," he smiled, "it's natural for you to do so, and I won't blame you, dear Beth." She gave him a look of disgust and horror, and went to the children.She asked Stark if she could take the children into the kitchen and give them something to eat.The kids were sleeping all the way until he cleared the Volvo into the parking lot, and now they're active and squawking. "Of course," Stark said, seeming to be in a good mood...but he kept his gun in his hand and kept moving his eyes back and forth between Liz and Pombo. "Why don't we go out together? I'm going to Talk to the Sheriff." They went to the kitchen together, and Liz started cooking for the twins, while Pangbo looked after the twins.They were as cute as a pair of bunnies, and looking at them, Pombo thought of when he and Annie were young, when Toby was a baby (he was in high school now) and Todd was not yet born. The twins crawled happily around, and every now and then Pangbo had to reorient them lest they pull over a chair or table leg. Stark talked to him while he took care of the baby. "You think I'm going to kill you," he said. "You don't have to deny it, Sheriff. I can see it in your eyes. I'm familiar with that look. I could lie and say it's not true, but I I don't think you'll believe it. You've got a lot of experience in these things, haven't you?" "I suppose so," said Pangbol, "but this kind of thing is a little... outside the scope of official police duties." Stark chuckled.The twins looked at him and laughed along.Pangbol glanced at Liz, and saw that her face was full of fear and hatred, besides, there were other expressions, which Pangbol thought were jealousy.He wondered secretly if there was anything George Stark didn't know.Did Stark realize how dangerous this woman was to him? "You're right!" Stark laughed.Then he became serious and leaned closer to Pangbo, who could smell the waking smell of rotting flesh. "But it doesn't have to be that, Sheriff. I assure you, it's very unlikely that you'll make it out alive, but it's not absolute. I've got something to do here, something to write. Ted's going to help me— His role is to kick things off. I think we'll do it all night, he and I, but by the time the sun comes up tomorrow morning, I'll be able to do it alone." "He asked Ted to teach him how to write," Liz said from the stove. "He said they were going to write a book together." "That's not quite right," Stark said, glancing at her with a scowl across his kind face. "He owes me, you know. Maybe he knew how to write before I showed up, but I Teach him how to write something that people will read. What good is it if no one reads it?" "No—it's not true, is it?" Liz asked. "What I need," Stark told Pangble, "is some kind of switch, and I seem to have a certain gland that's going to fail, and I think Ted knows how to make that gland work. He should, because He raised me, if you know what I mean. I guess you could say he created most of my organs." "Oh, no, my friend," thought Pangbol. "It's not like that, you probably don't know it, but it's not like that. You two created you together, because you've always been, and you've been stubborn. Ted tried to finish you before you were born, but wasn't very successful. In the end, Ted brought you in again, and he didn't know what he was doing when he did it... because he didn't know you, Brichard never told him. So you were born, right? You were him The ghost of a dead brother...but that's not quite the relationship between the two of you." Pangbol grabbed Wendy, and she was standing by the fire, almost fell into the wooden box on her back. Stark looked at William and Wendy, and his eyes fell back on Pangbo: "Ted and I have always been twins, you know. Of course, I was formed after the first pair of twins died, which can be called twins. Some sort of transcendent balancing act." "I think it's incredible," Pangpo said. Stark laughed: "Actually, I thought so too, but it happened. Words became flesh you could say. How it happened doesn't really matter - what matters is that I'm here .” "You're wrong," thought Pangbo. "How it happened, that's the most important thing right now, at least for us ... because it might be the only way to save us." "Once I got to a certain point, I created myself," Stark continued. "It's not really surprising that I have trouble writing, is it? Creating one's self . . . it takes a lot of work. energy. You don’t think this is normal, do you?” "For God's sake," said Liz. It was like a blow to the head, and Stark jerked his head at her, not a little annoyed this time. "I think you'd better keep your mouth shut, Beth," he said softly, "you'll give your child trouble." Liz looked down at the pot on the stove.Pangpo thought her face had turned pale. "Pangbo, will you bring them here?" Liz said calmly. "The meal is ready." She held Wendy on her lap to feed her, and Pang Bo picked William up.While feeding the chubby little guy, he was amazed at how quickly his feeding skills recovered.Put the spoon into your mouth, tilt it up, and wipe it from your chin to your lower lip briskly when you take it out, trying to prevent the soup and saliva from flowing out.William kept reaching for the spoon, clearly feeling that he was old enough to eat by himself.Pang Bo gently stopped him, and the little guy quickly calmed down and began to eat seriously. "I can use you," Stark told him, leaning against the kitchen cabinet, rasping lazily against his vest with the pistol sight. "It was the state troopers who called you up here to check, didn't they?" Pangbol considered whether to lie, and finally decided to play it safe by telling the truth, because he believed that this man—if he was human—was a good lie detector. "Not exactly," he said, telling him about Martin Beard's phone call. Stark nodded without waiting for him to finish. "I think I saw the windows of that house flicker," he giggled, seeming to be in a better mood. "Well, rednecks are always meddling, aren't they, Sheriff? They ain't got a lot to do, they're nosy! So what did you do when you hung up?" Pangbol also told him that he was not lying now because he believed that Stark knew what he had done - and that he was here alone said it all.Pangbol thought what Stark really wanted to know was whether he was stupid enough to lie. When he had finished, Stark said, "Very well, it increases your chances of survival. Now listen, I'm going to tell you what to do after feeding the baby." seven "Do you really know what to say?" Stark asked again.They stood by the telephone in the vestibule, the only working telephone in the house. "Know." "You're not trying to hint something to the dispatcher, are you?" "Won't." "Very well," Stark said, "it's a terrible thing to forget that you're an adult and play a child's game, and someone will be hurt by it." "I want you to stop making threats for now." Stark grinned even harder, looking very sinister.He hugged William to make sure Liz didn't mess around, and now he scratched under the baby's tuck. "I'm not good at threats," he said. "It's not good for a man to go against his nature, Sheriff Pombo." The phone was on a table by a large window.When Pang Bo picked up the phone, he looked to see if there were sparrows in the woods on the slope outside the driveway.Not a single one in sight, at least not yet. "What are you looking for, old chap?" "Huh?" He glanced at Stark, whose eyes were fixed on him from their rotten sockets. "Listen," Stark pointed to the driveway and the Toronado, "you didn't look out casually. Your expression tells you what you're looking for. I want to know what you're looking for." Pang Bo felt creepy. "Ted," he said calmly, "I was looking for Ted, like you. He should be here soon." "You'd better tell the truth," Stark said, lifting William a little higher, and began rubbing the barrel of the gun slowly up and down William's fat belly, tickling him.William giggled and patted Stark's rotting cheek as if to say stop it, stop teasing me...but don't stop completely, because it's interesting. "I understand." Pang Bo said, swallowing dryly. Stark moved the barrel of the gun to William's chin again, poking at the sagging flesh.The child laughed. If Liz came in to see this, she would be mad, Pumble thought calmly. "Are you really telling the truth, Sergeant Pangbo? Is there nothing to hide from me?" "No," said Pangbo.Only the sparrows in William's woods were concealed. "I'm not hiding anything." "Okay. I trust you, at least for the time being. Now get on with your business." Pumble dialed the number for the Fort Rock Sheriff's Office.Stark leaned over to listen, the pungent smell on his body made Pangpo want to vomit. When the phone rang, Sheila answered it. "Hi, Sheila—I'm Pangbo, I'm at Castle Rock Lake. I'd like to radio you, but you know the signal is weak." "There's no signal at all," she said with a laugh. Stark smiled. Eight As soon as Stark and Pangble rounded the corner, Liz opened the drawer under the kitchen cabinet and took out the largest cleaver.She glanced around the corner, knowing Stark would look over at her any moment.But so far she was doing as usual, and she could hear them talking, Stark asking Pangbol what he was looking out the window. I have to do it, she thought, and I have to do it alone.He's staring at Pangpo, and even if I could talk to Tad, it would only make things worse... because he could read Tad's mind. She held Wendy with one hand, quietly took off her shoes, and quickly walked into the living room barefoot.There is a sofa there, from which you can see the lake.She stuffed the knife under the sofa cushion...but not too far in.If she sits, she can reach it. If she sat with the cunning George Stark, she could have him too. I might get him to sit here, she thought, hurrying back to the kitchen.Yes, maybe I can, he's obsessed with me, it's scary...but it can be exploited. She walked back to the kitchen, expecting to see Stark standing there, grinning at her strangely, but there was no one in the kitchen, and Pangpo could be heard talking on the phone in the vestibule.She could picture Stark standing aside, listening intently.That's good, she thought: with luck, George Stark would be dead by the time Tad got here. She doesn't want them to meet.She didn't quite understand why she tried her best to prevent them from meeting, but at least she understood that she was afraid that their cooperation would really succeed, and she was even more afraid of the consequences of this success. In the end, only one person can have the dual natures of Ted Beaumont and George Stark, and only one person can be lucky from this split.If Ted can provide the impetus Stark needs, if Stark can write on his own, will his wounds and abscesses begin to heal? Liz thought it would, and she even thought Stark would become like her husband. So how long would it be before the first abscesses appeared on Ted's face? She didn't think it would be long, thought Stark would be happy that Tad was rotting away. Liz quietly slipped on her shoes and started packing up the twins' leftover meals.You bastard, she thought, wiping the counters and filling the sink with hot water.You are a pseudonym, you are illegal, not my husband.She put the pot into the pool and went to the living room to see Wendy.Wendy was crawling around on the living room floor, probably looking for her brother.Outside the glass door, the evening sun cast a beam of golden light on Lake Castle Rock. She looked at the sofa, and there was a long, sharp knife hidden under it, within reach. "I can do it, God willing, I can kill him." Nine Pang Bo felt that Stark's stench was too bad, and he might spit it out at any time, but he resisted it, not letting it show in his tone. "Norris Rijwick isn't back yet, Sheila?" 在他身边，斯达克开始用枪管胳肢威廉。 “还没有，庞波。很抱歉。” “如果他回来，叫他值班。在此之前，让克拉特值。” “他的班——” “对，他值过班了，我知道。会给他加班费的，基顿会为此责备我，但有什么办法呢？破电台和一辆老熄火的破巡逻车把我困在这儿了。我实在波蒙特家打的电话。州警察局叫我来查一下，但什么也没查到。” “太糟了，你要我告诉州警察局吗？” 庞波看着斯达克，后者似乎正集中注意力逗兴高采烈的威廉。斯达克漫不经心地冲庞波点点头。 “好吧，替我给牛津警察局打个电话。我先去吃点儿炸鸡，然后再回来检查一遍。当然，那是说我的车子能够发动起来的话。如果发动不起来，我就得去看看波蒙特家食品储藏室有什么好吃的。你能为我做个记录吗，舍拉？” 他感到而不是看到身边的斯达克有点紧张，枪管不动了，枪口指着威廉的肚脐。庞波感到冷汗顺着肋间流下。 “当然可以，庞波。” “这是个很有创造力的家伙，我想他不会把钥匙藏在门口的垫子下面的。” 舍拉笑了：“我明白了。” 在他身边，枪管又开始移动，威廉又开始笑了。庞波放松了一点儿。 “我应该找亨利·白顿汇报吗，庞波？” “嗯。如果亨利不在，找丹尼·伊蒙斯也行。” "Ok." “谢谢，舍拉。又多了一点费用。多保重。” “你也一样，庞波。” 他轻轻挂上电话，转向斯达克：“好了吗？” “很好，”斯达克说，“我特别喜欢门口垫下放钥匙那句话，他意味深长。” “你真多心。”庞波说。在目前情况说这话不太明智，但他太生气了，脱口而出，自己都觉得吃惊。 “没有人喜欢我，是吗，庞波警长？” “是的。”庞波说。 “很好，我很喜欢自己，不在乎别人的看法。我是个真正的新时代的人。重要的是现在这里一切正常。”他一把抓住电话线，从电话座上扯下来。 “我想是的。”庞波说，但并不相信这话。斯达克认为警察都是一群废物。牛津的丹·伊蒙斯可能什么也没意识到，但亨利·白顿呢？他会相信庞波在单独寻找杀豪默·加马齐的凶手前去买炸鸡这种说法吗？不太可能，亨利可能意识到出事了。 庞波看着斯达克用枪管逗孩子，不知道自己想不想让这事发生。 “现在干什么？”他问斯达克。 斯达克深吸一口气，高兴地望着窗外洒满阳光的树林：“让白丝给我们做点儿吃的，我饿了。乡间生活真不错，是吗，庞波警长？他妈的！” “好吧。”庞波说，开始向厨房走去，斯达克一把抓住他。 “汽车熄火的话有什么特别含义吗？”他说。 “没有，”庞波说，“那又是一句……你怎么叫它的？一句意味深长的话。今年我们的不少车都有毛病。” “但愿那是真话。”斯达克死盯着庞波说，粘粘的脓液从眼角沿着脱落的鼻子两侧流下来，像鳄鱼的眼泪。“如果因为你的缘故而不得不伤害一个孩子，你要为此感到羞愧。如果泰德发现由于你不老实而蹦了他的一个孩子，他可不会饶了你。”他咧着嘴笑，把枪管伸到威廉的胳肢窝里，威廉边笑边挣扎。“他像只小猫一样可爱，是吗？” 庞波觉得好像喉咙里有一团刺：“你这么干让我非常紧张，伙计。” “那就紧张吧，”斯达克微笑着对他说，“我就是那种让人紧张的人。吃饭吧，庞波警长。我相信这小家伙想他妹妹了。” 丽兹用微波炉给斯达克热了一碗汤。她先给了他一份冷饭，但他摇摇头，微微一笑，然后把手伸进嘴里拔一颗牙，牙齿很容易地从腐烂的牙龈上拔了出来。 他把它扔进废纸篓时，她把头扭到一边，紧抿着嘴唇，满脸厌恶。 “别担心，”他平静地说，“它们很快就会好的。很快一切会好的。爸爸很快就会到了。” 十分钟后，泰德开着罗立的车到了，这时斯达克还在喝汤。