something had changed in that bathroom. Whoever was behind those eyes now was cold fucking sober.
And horribly strong.
Rose! Rose, I need you!
“I don’t think she can hear,” the voice that wasn’t Abra’s said. “You may have some talents, you son of a bitch, but I don’t think you have much in the way of telepathy. I think when you want to talk to your girlfriend, you use the phone.”
Exerting all his strength, Crow began to turn the Glock back toward the girl. Now it seemed to weigh fifty pounds. The tendons of his neck stood out like cables. Drops of perspiration beaded on his forehead. One ran into his eye, stinging, and Crow blinked it away.
“I’ll . . . shoot . . . your friend,” he said.
“No,” the person inside Abra said. “I won’t let you.”
But Crow could see she was straining now, and that gave him hope. He put everything he had into pointing the muzzle at Rip Van Winkle’s midsection, and had almost gotten there when the gun started to rotate back again. Now he could hear the little bitch panting. Hell, he was, too. They sounded like marathoners approaching the end of a race side by side.
A car went by, not slowing. Neither of them noticed. They were looking at each other.
Crow brought his left hand down to join his right on the gun. Now it turned a little more easily. He was beating her, by God. But his eyes! Jesus!
“Billy!” Abra shouted. “Billy, little help here!”
Billy snorted. His eyes opened. “Wha—”
For a moment Crow was distracted. The force he was exerting slackened, and the gun immediately began to turn back toward him. His hands were cold, cold. Those metal rings were pressing into his eyes, threatening to turn them to jelly.
The gun went off for the first time when it was between them, blowing a hole in the dashboard just above the radio. Billy jerked awake, arms flailing to either side like a man pulling himself out of a nightmare. One of them struck Abra’s temple, the other Crow’s chest. The cab of the truck was filled with blue haze and the smell of burnt gunpowder.
“What was that? What the hell was tha—”
Crow snarled, “No, you bitch! No!”
He swung the gun back toward Abra, and as he did it, he felt her control slip. It was the blow to the head. Crow could see dismay and terror in her eyes, and was savagely glad.
Have to kill her. Can’t give her another chance. But not a headshot. In the gut. Then I’ll suck the stea—
Billy slammed his shoulder into Crow’s side. The gun jerked up and went off again, this time putting a hole in the roof just above Abra’s head. Before Crow could bring it down again, huge hands laid themselves over his. He had time to realize that his adversary had only been tapping a fraction of the force at its command. Panic had unlocked a great, perhaps even unknowable, reserve. This time when the gun turned toward him, Crow’s wrists snapped like bundles of twigs. For a moment he saw a single black eye staring up at him, and there was time for half a thought:
(Rose I love y)
There was a brilliant flash of white, then darkness. Four seconds later, there was nothing left of Crow Daddy but his clothes.
7
Steamhead Steve, Baba the Red, Bent Dick, and Greedy G were playing a desultory game of canasta in the Bounder that Greedy and Dirty Phil shared when the shrieks began. All four of them had been on edge—the whole True was on edge—and they dropped their cards immediately and ran for the door.
Everyone was emerging from their campers and RVs to see what the matter was, but they stopped when they saw Rose the Hat standing in the brilliant yellow-white glare of the security lights surrounding the Overlook Lodge. Her eyes were wild. She was pulling at her hair like an Old Testament prophet in the throes of a violent vision.
“That fucking little bitch killed my Crow!” she shrieked. “I’ll kill her! I’LL KILL HER AND EAT HER HEART!”
At last she sank to her knees, sobbing into her hands.
The True Knot stood, stunned. No one knew what to say or do. At last Silent Sarey went to her. Rose shoved her violently away. Sarey landed on her back, got up, and returned to Rose without hesitation. This time Rose looked up and saw her would-be comforter, a woman who had also lost someone dear on