hands on it, they're shaking so badly she spills it and CRIES OUT when the liquid scalds her. MOLLY takes a handkerchief from her pocket, sits down beside her, and wipes the hot broth from her fingers. ANGIE looks at her gratefully and takes MOLLY'S hand. She grips it hard. It's comfort she needs, not a cleanup.
CHAPTER 26
ANGIE
I was just standing there, you see, watching the lighthouse. And then ... I was his.
MOLLY
Shhh. It's over.
ANGIE
I feel like I'll never be warm again. I've burned my fingers . . . see, they're red . . . but they're still cold. I feel like he turned me to snow.
MOLLY Mike's got to ask you some questions, but it doesn't have to
282 STEPHEN KING
be here do you want to go somewhere more private? Because you can, if you want to.
She looks to MIKE for confirmation, and MIKE nods. ANGIE, meanwhile, gathers herself with an effort.
ANGIE
No . . . this is for everyone. Everyone should hear.
Fascinated and frightened at the same time, the ISLANDERS move in closer.
REV. BOB RIGGINS What happened to you, Angie Carver?
During what follows, THE CAMERA PUSHES SLOWLY IN ON ANGIE, moving to CLOSE-UP. Intercut with this, let us see as many ISLANDER FACES as possible. On each we see the horror, the terror, and the growing belief in what she's saying, strange as it is. There are supposedly no atheists in the foxholes, and maybe no disbelievers when the Storm of the Century is huffing and puffing and threatening to blow the house down. This is a quasi-religious experience, and by the end we see one solidified idea that really doesn't need verbal expression: when LINOGE shows up, they'll give it to him. Whatever it is he wants, they will give it to him. "Ayuh, deah shoah!" as the ISLANDERS themselves might say.
ANGIE
We were watching the lighthouse fall down, and then I went flying backward into the snow. At first I thought it was somebody's idea of a joke, but then I turned around and what had me ... it wasn't a man. It wore a man's clothes and had a man's face, but there was just blackness where its eyes should have been blackness and little red twisting things, like snakes on fire. And when it smiled at me and I saw its teeth ... I fainted. First time in my life. I fainted.
She sips from the cup. The room is completely silent. MOLLY and JACK sit with their arms around her. ANGIE is still clutching MOLLY'S hand.
STORM OF THE CENTURY 283
ANGIE
When I came to, I was flying. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. Me and George Kirby, we were both flying. It was like Peter Pan, with me as Wendy and old George as John. That . . . that thing had us, one under each arm. And right ahead of us, as if it was leading us or holding us up, there was a cane. A black cane with a silver wolfs head. As fast as we flew, that cane always stayed ahead of us.
MIKE and HATCH lock eyes.
ANGIE (continues)
It was the island we saw. The storm was over and the sun was out, but there were cops on snowmobiles everywhere. Mainland cops, state cops, even game wardens. News people, too, from the local stations and the networks. They were all looking for us. Only we were gone . . . gone where nobody could ever find us ...
ORV BOUCHER
Like in the dreams . . .
ANGIE
Yes, like that. Then it got dark again. At first I thought it was night, but it wasn't. It was the storm clouds. They were back and the sunshine was gone. Pretty soon it started snowing again, and I understood what was happening. I said, "You showed us the future, didn't you? Like the last ghost showed Mr. Scrooge the future in A Christmas Carol." And he said, "Yessum, that's very smart of you. Now you best hang on tight." We started to go up, and the snow got thicker, and old George started to cry and talk about how he couldn't stand it because of his arthritis, he had to get down . . . although it wasn't cold a bit; at least it didn't seem that way to me. And then the man laughed and said that was fine, George could go down right away if he wanted to, and by the express route, too . . . because he only needed one of us, really, to come