Chapter 26 Chapter 25 Cooperation

one The house in Beaumont was off Route 5, a mile up Lakeside Road, but Ted stopped less than a tenth of a mile away, wide-eyed, in disbelief. Sparrows are everywhere. Every branch, every rock, every clearing was full of sparrows.The world before him was strange and unreal: it seemed that this part of Maine had grown feathers.The road ahead is gone, completely gone, The original road is now full of crowded sparrows. Somewhere a branch broke off.Other than that, the only sound was Luo Li's car.The muffler hadn't worked since it first started going west and now it doesn't seem to be working at all.The roar of the engine, and the occasional explosion, should startle the sparrows, but they don't move.

The sparrow was less than twelve feet in front of Tad's car, clearly defined as if drawn with a ruler. "No one has seen so many sparrows in many years, he thought, not since the homing pigeon hunt at the end of the last century. Like something out of a Dainne du Moriah novel." A sparrow hopped on the hood and seemed to spy on him, and Tad felt a terrible, cold curiosity in the bird's black eyes. "Where do they go all the way?" he thought. "All the way to the house? If that's the case, George's already seen them...that's bad. Even if they don't line up that far, how do I get on? They don't just stop on the road, they're the road."

But of course he knew the answer: if he wanted to go to the villa, he would have to run over the sparrow. No, he groaned inwardly.No, you can't.A terrifying scene appeared in his mind: thousands of small bodies made the sound of being crushed, blood spurted from under the wheel, and balls of blood-covered feathers turned with the wheel. "But I've got to go," he whispered, "I've got to." He grinned and his face went into a horrible convulsion, looking as weird as Stark for a moment.He pushed the gear lever into first gear and began humming "John Wesley Harding" under his breath.Luo Li's car shuddered and nearly stopped, then made three explosions and started moving forward.

The sparrows on the hood flew down, and Tad waited, holding his breath, for them to rise at the same time, just as he had seen in his trance: a black cloud rising with a sound like a storm. Instead, the road in front of the car began to flip, and a flock of sparrows backed away, opening two lanes... that just happened to allow the wheels to pass. "My God!" Ted whispered. At this time he was already among the sparrows.Suddenly, he came to a strange world from the familiar world, these sparrows are the guardians between the two worlds of life and death. "This is where I am now," he thought as he drove slowly down the passage the Sparrow gave way to. "I've come to the place of the living dead, God bless me."

The road opened up before him, always twelve feet ahead without a sparrow, and as he drove that distance, another twelve feet opened up before him.The body of the car passed over the heads of sparrows congregating between the ruts, but it didn't seem to kill them, at least he didn't see a dead sparrow in the rearview mirror.But it's also hard to say, because as soon as the car passed the sparrow, it closed again and became a feather again. He could smell them—a faint scent.As a child he stuck his head into a bag of rabbit shit and took a deep breath.This smell is like that.It's not dirty, but it's strong, and it's foreign.He began to worry that the large flock of sparrows would suck the oxygen out of the air and suffocate him before he could reach his goal.

Now he can hear the rattling overhead and imagine the sparrows standing on the roof of the car, communicating with their mates, telling them when to get out of the way and when it's safe to get back in place. He drove up the first hillside, and saw sparrows everywhere—sparrows covered every object, every tree, and turned this place into a nightmarish bird world, which he couldn't even imagine, And it's hard for him to understand. Tad felt a little dizzy and slapped himself hard.Compared with the roar of the car, it was only a small sound, but he saw a wave in the flock of birds, like a cold war.

"I can't go down, I can't." "You have to go down. You know. You own." And—where else could he go?He remembered Luo Li's words: "Be careful, Ted. No one can control the messenger after death, not for a long time." What if he retreated to Route 5?The birds made a way in front of him... but he didn't think they would make a way behind him.He believed it was unthinkable to change his mind now. Tad started to drive down...the Sparrow got out of the way in front of him. He never remembered the rest of the journey accurately, and as soon as this one was over he mentally veiled it.He just remembers thinking over and over, "They're just sparrows, my God...they're not tigers or crocodiles or piranhas...they're just sparrows!"

Even so, to see so many sparrows all at once, to see sparrows everywhere, to see every branch full of sparrows...it affects your mind, it hurts your mind. He turned a sharp bend half a mile from Lakeside Road, and a lawn appeared to the left...but it wasn't a lawn, it was a black patch of sparrows. hurt your soul. how many?How many millions?Or billions? Another branch snapped in the woods with a snap that sounded like distant thunder.When he passed William's house, he saw that it was full of sparrows, and the house was about to be crushed.What he didn't expect was that Pangbo's patrol car was parked in William's driveway, and all he could see was a bump covered with sparrows.

He passed several others.Four hundred yards from his own house the sparrows were gone.On one side was a world of sparrows, and there wasn't a single sparrow six inches away.It was more like someone drew a straight line on the road, and the bird flapped its wings and jumped aside, revealing the bare and hard lakeside road. Ted pulled into the clearing, stopped abruptly, opened the door, and threw up.He groaned, wiping the perspiration from his brow with his hands.There are woods on both sides of the front, and the blue lake on the left is sparkling. He looked back and saw a black, silent, waiting world.

"Soul Ferryer," he thought. "If something goes wrong, if he controls those birds, God bless us all." He slammed the door shut and closed his eyes. "Calm down, Ted. You didn't go through all this to fail, calm down, forget about the sparrow." "I can't forget them!" he cried inwardly.This cry is almost crazy. "I can't forget! I can't forget!" But he can, he will. The sparrow is waiting, and he will wait, he will wait until the time comes.He would wait until the time came, if not for himself, then for Liz and the children.

"Pretend it's a novel, a novel you're writing, a novel without sparrows" "Okay," he whispered, "I'll try." He started the car again, singing "John Wesley Harding" under his breath. two Stark turned off the car, got out of the car slowly, and stretched himself.George Stark came out of the house, took Wendy with him, stepped up the corridor, and faced Ted. Stark also stretched. Standing beside Pangbol, Liz felt a scream coming from her forehead instead of her throat.She tried desperately to take her eyes off the two, but couldn't. Watching the two of them is like doing gymnastics alone in front of a mirror. The two looked nothing alike—even without the fact that Stark was rotting.Tad was slender and dark, Stark was broad-shouldered and fair, albeit tanned.Even so, they are still alike.The resemblance was strange, beyond the eyes of fear.It is deeply buried, yet real, and thus noticeable: stretching with legs crossed, fingers stretched out against the sides of the thighs, eyes slightly squinted, all the same habits. They relax at the same time. "Hello, Ted." Stark sounded almost shy. "Very well, George," said Thad coldly, "how's home?" "Fine, thanks. What do you want to do? Are you ready?" "yes." Behind them on Highway 5, a tree branch snapped.Stark's eyes flicked in that direction. "what is that?" "A branch," Ted said. "There was a tornado there four years ago, George. The dead trees kept falling. You know that." Stark nodded: "How are you, old man?" "I'm very good." "You look a little skinny." Stark's eyes fell on Tad's face, and Ted could feel them trying to probe the thoughts in his head. "You don't look too well yourself." Stark laughed, but there was no humor in it: "I don't think so." "Will you let them go?" Ted asked. "If I do what you say, will you really let them go?" "real." "I want you to swear." "Okay," Stark said, "I can swear to it. Southerners keep their word." His false southern accent was gone, and he said it in a tone that was austere and dignified.The two looked at each other in the setting sun, and the golden sunlight made it all seem like a dream. "Okay," Tad said after waiting a moment, thinking, "He doesn't know, he really doesn't know about the sparrows, I'm the only one who knows the secret." "Okay, let's do it." three As the two stood by the door, Liz realized she had missed a great opportunity to tell Pangbo about the knife hidden under the cushion. Is it okay now? She turned to Pumble, and just then Tad called, "Liz?" His voice was high-pitched, a rare command tone, as if he knew what she wanted to do...don't let her do it.Of course, this is impossible.Yeah?He doesn't know, he doesn't know anything anymore. She looked at Tad and saw Stark handing Wendy to him.Ted hugged Wendy tightly, and Wendy hugged her father's neck affectionately, just like she hugged Stark just now. Now!Liz cried out inwardly.Tell him now!Let him run!While the baby is in our hands! However, Stark has a gun, and she thinks no one can escape the bullet.Besides, she knew Ted so well that, though she would never say it, it dawned on her that he could very well trip himself up. Now that Ted was so close to her, she couldn't lie to herself and pretend she didn't understand the message in his eyes. Come on, Liz, watch me.His eyes said so. Then Tad put his free arm around Liz, and the family stood together in an awkward but passionate embrace. "Liz," he said, kissing her cold lips, "Liz, Liz, I'm sorry. I didn't expect this to happen, I didn't. I thought it was... harmless, a joke." She hugged him tightly and kissed him, letting his lips warm hers. "It's all right," she said, "it's going to be all right, isn't it, Ted?" "Yes," he said, taking a step back so he could meet her eyes. "Will be fine." He kissed her again, then looked at Pangbo. "Hi, Pangpo," he said with a slight smile, "have you changed your mind?" "Changed. Today I talked to an old acquaintance of yours." He looked at Stark, "also an old acquaintance of yours." Stark raised the remaining eyebrows. "I don't think Ted and I have a mutual friend, Sheriff Pombo." "Ah, you and this guy used to be very close," said Pangbo. "In fact, he killed you." "What are you talking about?" Thad said sharply. "I spoke to Britchard, and he remembers you both very well. It was an extraordinary operation, and it was him that he took out of your head." He nodded at Stark. "What are you talking about?" Liz asked, her voice hoarse at the last word. So Pombo told them both what Dr. Britchard had told him...but he ended up cutting out the part where the sparrows attacked the hospital.He did it because Ted didn't mention sparrows at all... Ted must have been driving past William's house.There are two possibilities: either the sparrow had flown away when Ted arrived, or Ted didn't want Stark to know there was a sparrow. Pang Bo looked at Ted carefully and found that he was thinking, hoping it was some good ideas. After Pang Bo finished speaking, Liz was stunned.Ted is nodding.Stark seemed unmoved, and Pangpo thought his reaction would be the strongest. The only expression on that rotten face was joy. "That says a lot," Ted said. "Thank you, Pangbo." "That doesn't mean anything to me!" Liz screamed, and the twins cried out in terror. Thad looked at George Stark. "You're a ghost," he said, "a queer kind of ghost. We're all standing here facing a ghost. Isn't that amazing? Not only is this a telepathic event, it's unprecedented!" "I don't think it matters," Stark said lightly. "Tell them about William Burras, Tad. I remember it well. Of course, I was still in there...but I was listening." Liz and Pangbo looked at Ted suspiciously. "Do you know what he's talking about?" Liz asked. "Of course I do," Ted said. "As twins, we all think the same." Stark looked back and laughed.The twins stopped crying and laughed along with him. "Excellent, old chap! Very good!" "I—maybe I should say us—was on a panel with Burroughs in 1981, at the New School in New York. During one of the responses, several kids asked Burras if he believed in the resurrection from the dead. , Burroughs says he believes—he thinks we're all dead and back." "That guy's smart," Stark said, smiling. "He can't handle a pistol at all, but he's smart. Now—do you get it? Do you see it doesn't matter?" But it matters, Pangbol thought as he studied Tad.It's very relevant.Ted's face says it...and so does the sparrow you didn't know. Pangbol suspects that Ted holds more dangerous secrets than he knows, but maybe they both have.He thought he was right not to say those last words from Brichard...but he still felt like he was standing on the edge of a precipice, juggling too many torches. "Enough talk, Tad," said Stark. Ted nodded. "Yeah, that's enough." He looked at Liz and Pangbol. "I want you two not to do anything... er... out of line. I'm going to do what he says." "Ted! No! You can't do that!" "Hush," he pressed a finger to her lips, "I can, and I will. It's not a crime, and there will be no particular consequences. Words on paper produced him, and only words on paper to get rid of him." He tilted his head at Stark, "Do you think he's sure it's going to work? He doesn't know, he just hopes." "That's right," said Stark, "hope is born of human nipples." He laughed, a maniacal laugh, and Pangpo knew that Stark was playing with torches on the edge of the cliff, too. The corners of his eyes twitched suddenly, Pang Bo turned his head slightly, and saw a sparrow standing on the platform railing outside the glass window on the west side of the living room, and then two more flew over.Pangbol looked back at Tad and saw the writer's eyes roll slightly.Did he see it too?Pangbol thought he saw it.Then he was right, Ted knew...but he didn't want Stark to know. "The two of us are just going to write something and say goodbye," Tad said, looking into Stark's rotting face. "That's all we're going to do, isn't it, George?" "You're right, man." "So you tell me," Tad said to Liz, "are you hiding something? Is there anything on your mind? Any plans?" She stood there, looking desperately into her husband's eyes, unaware that, between them, William and Wendy were holding hands, looking at each other happily, like long-lost relatives suddenly reunited. "You're not telling the truth, are you, Tad? It's just a ruse to lull him, isn't it?" her eyes asked again. "No, I'm totally telling the truth, and I really want to know," Ted's gray eyes answered. There is also other information in this eye, a deeply hidden information that only she can see. "Honey, I'll kill him, I know how to do it, I can do it." "Ah, Ted, I hope you're right." "There's a knife under the sofa," she said slowly, looking into his face. "I took it out of the kitchen when Pangbo and...and him...were on the phone in the front hall." "Liz, my God!" Pang Bo almost screamed.Startled the kids.Actually, he wasn't as disturbed as he appeared to be.He has gradually understood that if he wants to prevent everyone from dying together, he can only rely on Ted.Ted created Stark, and he had to destroy Stark. She turned to Stark and saw that hideous smirk on his rotten face again. "I know what I'm doing," Thad said. "Trust me, Pump. Liz, get the knife out and throw it over the balcony." Pangbol thought, "I'm going to play a part, and it's a small part, but remember what that guy in college drama class used to say: There are no small parts, only bad actors." "You think he's going to let us go? asked Pangbo suspiciously, "Will he wag his tail and go over the hills like Mary's lamb? You're crazy, man." "Yeah, I'm crazy," said Thad, laughing, a laugh that was very much like Stark's laugh just now—the laugh of a man on the verge of madness. "He's crazy, and I made him, right? Like a cheap Patronus out of the head of some third-rate Zeus. But I know what to do." He turned, staring seriously for the first time. Looking at Pangbol, "I know what to do." He said slowly, pacing each word, "Go, Liz." Tad let out a groan of rude disgust and turned away as if to disown them all. Liz crossed the living room dreamily, knelt down, and fished the knife from under the sofa cushions. "Watch out for that," Stark said, sounding very wary, very serious. "If your kids could talk, they'd talk too." She turned her head, brushed the hair off her face, and saw that his gun was pointed at William and Wendy. "I'll be careful!" she said in a trembling, reproachful voice, on the verge of tears.She opened the floor-to-ceiling windows and walked onto the platform.Now there were six sparrows standing on the railing, and when she approached the railing, the sparrows stepped aside in groups of three, but did not fly away. Pang Bo saw her stop for a moment, looking at the sparrow, pinching the handle of the knife with her fingers, with the tip of the knife pointing down, like a plumb weight.He glanced at Tad and saw that he was watching her nervously.Finally, Pang Bo glanced at Stark. Stark was staring at Liz, but there was neither surprise nor suspicion on his face.A thought flashed through Pangbol's mind: "He didn't see the sparrows! He didn't remember what was written on the wall of the apartment, and now he didn't see the sparrows! He didn't know they were there!" That's when he realized that Stark was watching him too, staring at him with those cold, rotten eyes. "Why are you looking at me?" Stark asked. "I want to remember what's really ugly," Pangpo said, "and maybe someday I'll tell my grandkids." "If you don't pay attention to your foul mouth, you don't have to worry about having grandchildren at all," Stark said. "Don't stare at me, Sheriff Pombo, it's very unwise." Liz threw the cleaver over the twenty-five-foot platform railing.She literally started crying when she heard the sound of the knife falling. Four "Go upstairs, everybody," Stark said. "Ted's office is up there. I think you'll need some typing, won't you, old man?" "Not this time," Thad said. "You know better than I do." There was a smile on Stark's parted lips: "Really?" Ted pointed to the row of pencils in his coat pocket: "These are the ones I use when I'm connecting with Alex Massin and Jack Langley." Stark looked very happy: "Yes, that's right. I thought you would be different this time." "It's no different, George." "I brought my pencils," he said, "three boxes in total. Sergeant Pombo, why don't you do a good deed and get them in my car? The pencils are under the dash. The rest of us watch the kids here." He looked at Tad, laughed maniacally, and shook his head, "You're a dog!" "That's right, George," said Tad, smiling slightly. "I'm a dog, and so are you. You can't teach an old dog new tricks." "You want to write, don't you, old chap? Whatever you say, deep down you want to write. I see it in your eyes. You want to write." "Yes," Ted said succinctly, and Pangborn didn't think he was lying. "Alex Massin," Stark said, his yellow eyes shining. "Yeah," said Tad, his eyes sparkling now, "'Cut him, I'm going to stand here and watch.'" "That's right!" cried Stark, and began to laugh, "'I want to see the blood flow. Don't make me say it a second time.'" Now they both started laughing. Liz looked at Tad, then at Stark, then at her husband, all of a sudden pale because she couldn't tell the two apart. Suddenly the edge of the cliff was much closer. Fives Pang Bo went out to get his pencils.His head was only in the car for a moment, and it felt like a long time, so he was glad when he pulled his head out of it.There was a cold, foul smell in the car that made him sick.Rummaging around in Stark's car was like poking your head into the attic of an overturned bottle of chloroform. "If this is the smell of dreams," thought Pangbo, "I don't want to dream anymore." He stood for a moment beside the black sedan, three boxes of Belore pencils in hand, looking up into the driveway. The sparrow has come. The driveway was obscured by sparrows and out of sight.As he watched, more sparrows flew down.The woods are full of sparrows.They fell and stared at him, silently, like a living riddle. "They're coming for you, George," he thought, and started toward the house.Halfway, he stopped suddenly with a terrible thought. "Perhaps they came for us?" He looked back at the flock of birds for a while, seeing nothing, so he went into the house. six "Go upstairs," Stark said, "you go first, Sergeant Pombo. Go to the back of the guest bedroom. There is a glass case against the wall full of photographs, glass paperweights, and small keepsakes. Push your hand to the left. Close the cupboard door, and it will swing in, and Tad's study is in there." Pangbo looked at Ted, who nodded. "You know this place well," said Pangbol, "though you've never been here before." "I've been here," said Stark gravely, "I've been here often in my dreams." seven Two minutes later, they were all standing outside the distinctive door of Tad's study.The glass cabinet turned inward, revealing two entrances to the study, separated by the cabinet.There were no windows, and Ted had offered to Liz to open a window on the lake side so he could write a few words and then look out for a couple of hours at the passing boats. A lamp cast a circle of white light on the desk.There is an office chair and a folding chair side by side behind the desk, and there are two blank notebooks side by side on the desk, each with two sharpened Belor Black Beauty pencils.An IBM computer typewriter that Ted sometimes used was unplugged and tucked away in a corner. Tad himself brought folding chairs out of the living room closet, and now there was a symmetry in the room that surprised and displeased Liz.It was a rehash of the similar behavior she had seen between them when Ted first arrived.Where there had been a chair, there were now two chairs; where there had been a set of stationery, there were now two sets side by side, with Ted's normal writing implements tossed aside.The confusion came to a head when Stark sat in Tad's office chair and Tad sat in the folding chair, and Liz felt dizzy for a while. They each had a child on their lap. "How long will we be available before someone becomes suspicious and comes to search this place?" Tad asked Pangbol, who was standing in the doorway with Liz. "Tell the truth and try to be as accurate as possible. Believe me, this is our only chance." "Ted, look at him!" Liz yelled suddenly. "Can't you see what he wants? He doesn't just want you to help him write a book! He wants to steal your life! Can't you see ?" "Shh," he said, "I know what he wants, I've known it from the beginning. It's the only way. I know what I'm doing. How long is it available, Pangbo?" Pang Bo thought about it carefully.He'd told Sheila he was going out to dinner and had called, so she wasn't worried for the time being.If Norris Rijwick had been around, he might have worried quickly. "Maybe until my wife calls and asks where I'm going," he said. "Maybe longer. She's been a cop's wife for a long time and she's used to waiting.” He hated himself saying it, it was nothing like what he had imagined. Thad's eyes forced him to speak.Stark didn't seem to be listening at all. He picked up a stone paperweight from a stack of old manuscripts at the corner of the table and fiddled with it. "I think at least four hours," then Pumble added grudgingly, "maybe all night. I put Clutter on duty, he's not very bright. If anyone doubts it, it's Harrison—the one you dumped." man—or Henry Burton." Ted looked at Stark: "Is there enough time?" The eyes in Stark's rotting face were like shining pearls, cold and bleary, and the bandaged hands were absently fiddling with the paperweight.He put down the paperweight and smiled at Ted: "What do you think? You understand as well as I do." Ted thought about it. "We both know what we're talking about, but I don't think either of us can put it into words. We don't really want to write here, writing is just a ritual. We're talking about handing over the baton, exchanging power. Or more precisely Say, a deal: the lives of Liz and the twins in exchange for... what? What the hell?" But of course he does.No wonder he didn't know, because he was thinking about it a few days ago.What Stark wanted—no, wanted—was his eye, that weird third eye buried in his brain, the eye that could only peer into the depths of his mind. He felt that creeping sensation again and fought against it. "It's not fair to snoop like that, George. And I've only got a flock of sparrows, so it's not fair to snoop like that." "I guess that's enough," he said. "We'll know when it starts, right?" "yes." "It's like a seesaw, when one end is up, the other end is down." "Ted, what are you full of me? What are you full of me?" The room suddenly fell silent, and the room suddenly seemed too small to accommodate the boiling emotions inside. "I might ask you the same question," Ted finally said. "No," Stark replied slowly, "all my cards are on the table. Tell me, Tad." His cold, rotting hands gripped Tad's wrist like handcuffs. , "What are you hiding?" Tad turned sharply and looked into Stark's eyes.The squirming sensation is now all over the body, but it is mainly concentrated in the wound on the hand. "Do you still want to write this book?" he asked. Liz saw for the first time that the expression on Stark's face—not on the outside, but on the inside—had changed.A look of bewilderment, and perhaps fear, or something close to it, appeared suddenly on his face. "I didn't come here to eat with you, Thad." "So what do you say it's about," Thad said.Liz heard a gasp before realizing it was her own. Stark glanced up at her, then fell back on Tad. "Don't lie to me, Tad," he said softly, "don't try to lie to me, old chap." Tad laughed, cold and hopeless...but not without humor.It was the worst, and Liz heard George Stark's voice in the laughter, just as she saw Ted Beaumont in Stark's eyes when he teased the children. "Why not, George? I know what I've got to lose, and that's obvious. Now do you want to write or do you want to walk?" Stark stared at Ted with cold and evil eyes, and studied him for a long time.Then he said, "Ah, forget it, let's do it." Ted smiled slightly: "Why not?" "You and the police leave," Stark said to Liz, "this is a man's business, we're going to get to it." "I'll take care of the baby." Liz blurted out, and Stark laughed. "That's funny, Beth. The child is insurance, like the write-proof notch on a floppy disk, isn't it, Ted?" "But—" Liz began. "It's all right," Tad said. "They'll be all right. George'll take care of them when I start writing. They like him. Don't you notice?" "Of course I noticed," she whispered hatefully. "Remember, the boy's with us," Stark said to Pumble. "Remember this, Sergeant Pumble, don't be smart. If you play tricks, it doesn't end well, and we're all screwed. Got it? ?” "Understood." Pang Bo said. "Close the door when you go out." Stark turned to Ted. "Time to start." "Yes," Thad said, picking up a pencil.He turned to Liz and Pumble, and George Stark's eyes moved from Tad's face to them. "Go, get out." Eight Liz stopped halfway down the stairs, and Pombo almost ran into her.She stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room. The outside is full of sparrows.The platform has been covered by sparrows; in the gradually dimming light, the downhill road leading to the lake is full of sparrows; the sky above the lake is completely covered with sparrows, and there are more and more sparrows flying from the west , to the lake house in Beaumont. "Oh my God!" said Liz. Pang Bo grabbed her arm. "Be quiet," he said, "don't let him hear you." "but what--" Holding her arm tightly, he led her down the stairs.They went into the kitchen, and Pombo told Liz the rest of what Britchard had said. "What does that mean?" she whispered, pale. "Pangpo, I'm very frightened." He put his arms around her, and though he too was afraid, he realized that the gesture was a bit mother-in-law. "I don't know," he said, "but I know Tad or Stark called them. I'm sure Tad did it, because he must have seen the sparrows when he came in, but he didn't mention it. " "Pang Bo, he has changed." "I know." "He loves Stark deep down... loves Stark's evil." "I know." They walked to the window by the telephone table in the vestibule and looked out.The driveway was full of sparrows, and the woods and trails around the equipment shed where the guns were hidden were also full of sparrows. Luo Li's car had been covered by sparrows. However, there were no sparrows in George Stark's Toronado car, and a lane was neatly vacated around the car, as if it had been isolated. A sparrow bumped lightly against the window.Liz gave a low cry.The rest of the sparrows fluttered restlessly, their feathers fluttering up the hill in waves, and then calmed down again. "Even if Tad summoned them," Liz said, "he couldn't use them against Stark. The Dean is kind of crazy, Pangbol. He's always kind of crazy, and he...he likes it. " Pangpo didn't say anything, but he knew it too, he felt it. "It's all like a nightmare," she said. "I wish I could wake up, and I wish I could wake up and it would be the same. Like it was before Clausen came, like it was before Stark came." Pang Bo nodded. She shook her head and looked at him: "so what shall we do now?" "The hardest thing we do," he said, "is to wait." Nine As the sun set over the mountains west of the lake, the sky gradually darkened and night fell. Outside, the last flock of sparrows descended to join the main flock.Pombo and Liz could feel the sparrows on the roof like a grave mound, but they were quiet, waiting. As they moved about the room, their heads turned like radar dishes picking up signals.They were listening to the sounds in the study, and the most unbearable thing was that there was no sound at all, not even the voices of the children talking to each other.She hoped the children were asleep, but a voice insisted: Stark killed two of the children, and Tad. Kill them quietly. Killed with the razor he carried. If that happened, she told herself, the sparrows would know, they would respond, and it would help, but only a little.The sparrow is unfamiliar with the surroundings of the house.God knows what they'll do...or when. It was getting dark when Pangbol said suddenly, "If it's long enough, they'll be upside down, won't they? Tad will start to get sick...and Stark will start to heal." She was so taken aback that she almost dropped the cup of coffee she was carrying. "Yes, I think so too." 一只潜鸟在湖面上鸣叫，那声音孤独、痛苦。庞波想起楼上的两对双胞胎，一对在休息，另一对正在挣扎着把他们的想象力合而为一。 屋外，天色渐渐暗下来，麻雀在观望等待。 “那块跷跷板已经在动了，”庞波想。“泰德那头翘起来，斯达克那头降下去。在楼上那扇一开便形成两个入口的门后面，已开始发生变化。” “无论如何，快结束了。”丽兹想。 好像这个念头导致的，她听到开始刮风了——一种奇怪的旋风。只是湖面像碟子一样平。 她站起来，睁大眼睛，双手摸着喉咙，透过落地玻璃窗向外看。她想喊庞波，但说不出来。it does not matter. 楼上传来奇怪的哨声，像是从变形的笛子中吹出的声音。突然斯达克厉声喊道：“泰德？你在干什么？你在干什么？”随后砰地一声，像是枪声。片刻之后，温蒂开始哭起来。 屋外，暮色之中，成千上万只麻雀拍打着翅膀，准备起飞。