It was Ed's turn to be silent. At last he whispered harshly, "If you don't take this seriously, Ralph, it would be the worst mistake-"
"Oh, I take it seriously," Ralph said. "I saw what you did today, I saw what you did to your wife last month... and I saw what you did out by the airport a year ago. Now the police know. I've listened to you, Ed, now you listen to me. You're ill. You've had some sort of mental breakdown, you're having delusions-"
"I don't have to listen to your crap!" Ed nearly screamed.
"No, you don't. You can hang up. It's your dime, after all. But until you do, I'm going to keep hammering away. Because I liked you, Ed, and I want to like you again. You're a bright guy, delusions or no delusions, and I think you can understand me: Leydecker knows, and Leydecker is going to be watching y-"
"Are you seeing the colors yet?"
Ed asked. His voice had become calm again. At the same instant, the red glow around the telephone wire popped out of existence.
"What colors?" Ralph asked at last.
Ed ignored the question. "You said you liked me. Well, I like you, too. I've always liked you. So I'm going to give you some very valuable advice. You're drifting into deep water, and there are things swimming around in the undertow you can't even conceive of. You think I'm crazy, but I want to tell you that you don't know what madness is.
You don't have the slightest idea. You will, though, if you keep on meddling in things that don't concern you. Take my word for it."
"What things?" Ralph asked. He tried to keep his voice light, but he was still squeezing the telephone receiver tight enough to make his fingers throb.
"Forces," Ed replied. "There are forces at work in Derry that you don't want to know about. There are... well, let's just say there are entities. They haven't really noticed you yet, but if you keep fooling with me, they will. And you don't want that. Believe me, you don't,"
Forces. Entities.
"You asked me how I found out about all this stuff. Who brought me into the picture. Do you remember that, Ralph?"
"Yes." He did, too. Now. That had been the last thing Ed had said to him before turning on the big game-show grin and going over to greet the cops. I've seen the colors since he came and told me...
We'll talk about it later.
"The doctor told me. The little bald doctor. I think it's him you'll have to answer to if you try to mind my business again. And then God help you."
"The little bald doctor, uh-huh, Ralph said. "Yes, I see. First the Crimson King and the Centurions, now the little bald doctor. I suppose next it'll be-"
"Spare me your sarcasm, Ralph. just stay away from me and my interests, do you hear? Stay away."
There was a click and Ed was gone. Ralph looked at the telephone in his hand for a long time, then slowly hung it up. just stay away from me and my interests.
Yes, and why not? He had plenty of his own fish to fry.
Ralph walked slowly into the kitchen, stuck a TV dinner (filet of haddock, as a matter of fact) into the oven, and tried to put abortion protests, auras, Ed Deepneau, and the Crimson King out of his mind.
It was easier than he would have expected.
Part I LITTLE BALD DOCTORS CHAPTER 6
Summer slipped away as it does in Maine, almost unnoticed.
Ralph's premature waking continued, and by the time the fall colors had begun to burn in the trees along Harris Avenue, he was opening his eyes around two-fifteen each morning. That was lousy, but he had his appointment with James Roy Hong to look forward to and there had been no repeat of the weird fireworks show he had been treated to after his first meeting with Joe Wyzer. There were occasional flickers around the edges of things, but Ralph found that if he squeezed his eyes shilt and counted to five, the flickers were gone when he opened them again.
Well... usually gone.
Susan Day's speech was scheduled for Friday, the eighth of October, and as September drew toward its conclusion, the protests and the public abortion-on-demand debate sharpened and began to focus more and more on her appearance. Ralph saw Ed on the TV news many times, sometimes in the company of Dan Dalton but more and more frequently on his own, speaking swiftly,