JК
Desperation :: Кинг Стивен
Страница: 400 из 422It’s not going to be that easy for him, he had told Steve in the powder magazine, but back there he hadn’t really under-stood how hard hard could be. First his sis, then his mother; now—“Right,” he said in a voice that st5unded as dry as the ground they were standing on. “First David, then Ralph, then you, Steve. I’ll be behind you. Tonight-sorry, this morning-it’s a case of ladies last.”
“If we have to go in, I want to go in with Steve,” Cyn-thia said.
“Okay, fine,” Johnny said at once-it was as if he had been expecting this. “You and I can switch places.”
“Who put you in charge, anyway.” Mary asked.
Johnny turned on her like a snake, startling her into a precarious step backward. “Do you want to have a go.” he asked with a kind of dangerous good cheer. “Because if you do, lass, I’d be happy to turn it over to you. I asked for this no more than David did. So what do you think. Want to put-urn on Big Chiefs headdress.”
She shook her head, confused.
“Easy, boss,” Steve murmured.
“I’m easy,” Johnny said, but he wasn’t. He looked at David and his father, standing side by side, heads down, hands entwined, and wasn’t easy. He could barely believe the enormity of what he was allowing. Could barely believe. Couldn’t believe at all, was more like it. How else could he go on, except with merciful incomprehen-sion held before him like a shield. How could anyone.
“Want me to take those bags, Johnny.” Cynthia asked timidly. “You still sound pretty out of breath, and you look all in, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s not far now. Is it, David.”
“No,” David said in a small, trembling voice. He appeared not to be just holding his father’s hand now but caressing it as a lover might do. He looked at Johnny with hopeless, pleading eyes. The eyes of someone who almost knows.
Jojinny looked away, sick in his stomach, feeling simul-taneously hot and cold. He met Steve’s bewildered, con-cerned eyes and tried to send him another message: Just hold him. When the time comes. Out loud he said: “Give David the flashlight, Steve.”
For a moment he didn’t think Steve would do it. Then he pulled the flashlight out of his back pocket and handed it over.
Johnny lifted his hand to the blackness of the shaft again. Toward the dead cold smell of old fire and the faint roaring sound from deep in the middle of the murdered mountain.
He listened for some comforting word from Terry, but Terry had split the scene. Maybe just as well.
“David.
“If we have to go in, I want to go in with Steve,” Cyn-thia said.
“Okay, fine,” Johnny said at once-it was as if he had been expecting this. “You and I can switch places.”
“Who put you in charge, anyway.” Mary asked.
Johnny turned on her like a snake, startling her into a precarious step backward. “Do you want to have a go.” he asked with a kind of dangerous good cheer. “Because if you do, lass, I’d be happy to turn it over to you. I asked for this no more than David did. So what do you think. Want to put-urn on Big Chiefs headdress.”
She shook her head, confused.
“Easy, boss,” Steve murmured.
“I’m easy,” Johnny said, but he wasn’t. He looked at David and his father, standing side by side, heads down, hands entwined, and wasn’t easy. He could barely believe the enormity of what he was allowing. Could barely believe. Couldn’t believe at all, was more like it. How else could he go on, except with merciful incomprehen-sion held before him like a shield. How could anyone.
“Want me to take those bags, Johnny.” Cynthia asked timidly. “You still sound pretty out of breath, and you look all in, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s not far now. Is it, David.”
“No,” David said in a small, trembling voice. He appeared not to be just holding his father’s hand now but caressing it as a lover might do. He looked at Johnny with hopeless, pleading eyes. The eyes of someone who almost knows.
Jojinny looked away, sick in his stomach, feeling simul-taneously hot and cold. He met Steve’s bewildered, con-cerned eyes and tried to send him another message: Just hold him. When the time comes. Out loud he said: “Give David the flashlight, Steve.”
For a moment he didn’t think Steve would do it. Then he pulled the flashlight out of his back pocket and handed it over.
Johnny lifted his hand to the blackness of the shaft again. Toward the dead cold smell of old fire and the faint roaring sound from deep in the middle of the murdered mountain.
He listened for some comforting word from Terry, but Terry had split the scene. Maybe just as well.
“David.