Needful Things Part 25

"I'm glad I did it. Doubly glad, now that I see you." She reached the hall doorway and looked back. A bar of sun fell across her face, and in that moment Polly might have seen how drawn and tired Nettie looked, if her own pain had not been so large. "Don't you move, now!"

Polly burst out laughing, surprising them both. "I can't! I'm trapped!"

In the kitchen, the refrigerator door opened and closed as Nettie put the lasagna away. Then she called, "Shall I put on the coffee? Would you like a cup? I could help you with it."

"Yes," Polly said, "that would be nice." The gloves were humming louder now; they were very warm. And either they were actually helping, or the pill was taking hold in a way the one at five o'clock hadn't. More probably it was a combination of the two, she thought. "But if you have to get back, Nettie-"

Nettie appeared in the doorway. She had taken her ap.r.o.n out of the pantry and put it on, and she held the old tin coffee pot in one hand. She wouldn't use the new digital Tos.h.i.+ba coffee-maker... and Polly had to admit that what came out of Nettie's tin pot was better.

"I've no place to go that's better than this," she said. "Besides, the house is all locked up and Raider's on guard."

"I'm sure," Polly said, smiling. She knew Raider very well. He weighed all of twenty pounds and rolled over to have his belly scratched when anyone-mailman, meter-reader, door-to-door salesman-came to the house.

"I think she'll leave me alone anyway," Nettie said. "I warned her. I haven't seen her around or heard from her, so I guess it finally sank in on her that I meant business."

"Warned who? About what?" Polly asked, but Nettie had already left the doorway, and Polly was indeed penned in her seat by the electric gloves. By the time Nettie reappeared with the coffee tray, the Percodan had begun to fog her in and she had forgotten all about Nettie's odd remark... which was not surprising in any case, since Nettie made odd remarks quite often.

Nettie put cream and sugar in Polly's coffee and held it up so she could sip from the cup. They chatted about one thing and another, and of course the conversation turned to the new shop before very long. Nettie told her about the purchase of the carnival gla.s.s lampshade again, but hardly in the breathless detail Polly would have expected, given the extraordinary nature of such an event in Nettie's life. But it kicked off something else in her mind: the note Mr. Gaunt had put in the cake container.

"I almost forgot-Mr. Gaunt asked me to stop by this afternoon. He said he might have an item I'd be interested in."

"You're not going, are you? With your hands like they are?"

"I might. They feel better-I think the gloves really did work this time, at least a little. And I have to do something." something." She looked at Nettie a trifle pleadingly. She looked at Nettie a trifle pleadingly.

"Well... I suppose." A sudden idea struck Nettie. "You know, I could walk by there on the way home, and ask him if he could come to your your house!" house!"

"Oh no, Nettie-that's out of your way!"

"Only a block or two." Nettie cast an endearingly sly side-glance Polly's way. "Besides, he might have another piece of carnival gla.s.s. I don't have enough money for another one, but he he doesn't know that, and it doesn't cost anything to look, does it?" doesn't know that, and it doesn't cost anything to look, does it?"

"But to ask him to come here-"

"I'll explain how it is with you," Nettie said decisively, and began putting things back onto the tray. "Why, businessmen often have home demonstrations-if they have something worth selling, that is."

Polly looked at her with amus.e.m.e.nt and love. "You know, you're different when you're here, Nettie."

Nettie looked at her, surprised. "I am?"

"Yes. "

"How?"

"In a good way. Never mind. Unless I have a relapse, I think I will will want to go out this afternoon. But if you do happen to go by Needful Things-" want to go out this afternoon. But if you do happen to go by Needful Things-"

"I will." A look of ill-concealed eagerness shone in Nettie's eyes. Now that the idea had occurred to her, it took hold with all the force of a compulsion. Doing for Polly had been a tonic for her nerves, and no mistake.

"-and if he does does happen to be in, give him my home number and ask him to give me a call if the item he wanted me to see came in. Could you do that?" happen to be in, give him my home number and ask him to give me a call if the item he wanted me to see came in. Could you do that?"

"You betcha!" Nettie said. She rose with the coffee-tray and took it into the kitchen. She replaced her ap.r.o.n on its hook in the pantry and came back into the living room to remove the thermal gloves. Her coat was already on. Polly thanked her again-and not just for the lasagna. Her hands still hurt badly, but the pain was manageable now. And she could move her fingers again.

"You're more than welcome," Nettie said. "And you know what? You do do look better. Your color's coming back. It scared me to look at you when I first came in. Can I do anything else for you before I go?" look better. Your color's coming back. It scared me to look at you when I first came in. Can I do anything else for you before I go?"

"No, I don't think so." She reached out and clumsily grasped one of Nettie's hands in her own, which were still flushed and very warm from the gloves. "I'm awfully glad you came over, dear."

On the rare occasions when Nettie smiled, she did it with her whole face; it was like watching the sun break through the clouds on an overcast morning. "I love you, Polly."

Touched, Polly replied: "Why, I love you, too, Nettie."

Nettie left. It was the last time Polly ever saw her alive.

6.

The lock on Nettie Cobb's front door was about as complex as the lid of a candy-box; the first skeleton key Hugh tried worked after a little jiggling and joggling. He opened the door.

A small dog, yellow with a white bib, sat on the hall floor. He uttered his single stern bark as morning sunlight fell around him and Hugh's large shadow fell on him.

"You must be Raider," Hugh said softly, reaching into his pocket.

The dog barked again and promptly rolled over on his back, all four paws splayed out limply.

"Say, that's cute!" Hugh said. Raider's stub of a tail thumped against the wooden floor, presumably in agreement. Hugh shut the door and squatted beside the dog. With one hand he scratched the right side of the dog's chest in that magic place that is somehow connected to the right rear paw, making it flail rapidly at the air. With his other he drew a Swiss Army knife out of his pocket.

"Aw, ain't you a good fella?" Hugh crooned. "Ain't you a one?"

He left off scratching and took a sc.r.a.p of paper from his s.h.i.+rt pocket. Written on it in his labored schoolboy script was the message the fox-tail had given him-Hugh had sat down at his kitchen table and written it even before he got dressed, so he wouldn't forget a single word.

He pulled out the corkscrew hidden in one of the fat knife's slots and stuck the note on it. Then he turned the body of the knife sideways and closed his fist over it so the corkscrew protruded between the second and third fingers of his powerful right hand. He went back to scratching Raider, who had been lying on his back through all of this, eyeing Hugh cheerfully. He was cute as a bug, Hugh thought.

"Yes! Ain't you just the best old fella? Ain't you just the best old one?" one?" Hugh asked, scratching. Now both rear legs were flailing. Raider looked like a dog pedaling an invisible bike. "Yes you are! Yes you Hugh asked, scratching. Now both rear legs were flailing. Raider looked like a dog pedaling an invisible bike. "Yes you are! Yes you are! are! And do you know what I've got? I've got a fox-tail! Yes I do!" And do you know what I've got? I've got a fox-tail! Yes I do!"

Hugh held the corkscrew with the note pinned to it over the white bib on Raider's breast.

"And do you know what else? I'm gonna keep it!" I'm gonna keep it!"

He brought his right hand down hard. The left, which had been scratching Raider, now pinned the dog as he gave the corkscrew three hard twists. Warm blood jetted up, dousing both of his hands. The dog rattled briefly on the floor and then lay still. He would utter his stern and harmless bark no more.

Hugh stood up, his heart thumping heavily. He suddenly felt very bad about what he had done-almost ill. Maybe she was crazy, maybe not, but she was alone in the world, and he had killed what was probably her only G.o.ddam friend.

He wiped his b.l.o.o.d.y hand across his s.h.i.+rt. The stain hardly showed at all on the dark wool. He couldn't take his eyes off the dog. He had done that. Yes, he had done it and he knew it, but he could hardly believe it. It was as if he had been in a trance, or something.

The inner voice, the one that sometimes talked to him about the A.A. meetings, spoke up suddenly. Yes-and I suppose you'll even be able to make yourself believe it, given time. But you weren't in any f.u.c.king trance; you knew just what you were doing. Yes-and I suppose you'll even be able to make yourself believe it, given time. But you weren't in any f.u.c.king trance; you knew just what you were doing.

And why.

Panic began to race through him. He had to get out of here. He backed slowly down the hall, then uttered a hoa.r.s.e cry as he ran into the closed front door. He fumbled behind him for the k.n.o.b, and at last found it. He turned it, opened the door, and slid out of Crazy Nettie's house. He looked around wildly, somehow expecting to see half the town gathered here, watching him with solemn, judicial eyes. He saw no one but a kid pedaling up the street. There was a Playmate picnic cooler propped at an odd angle in the basket of the kid's bike. The kid spared Hugh Priest not so much as a glance as he went by, and when he was gone there were only the church-bells... this time they were calling the Methodists.

Hugh hurried down the walk. He told himself not to run, but he was trotting by the time he reached his truck, just the same. He fumbled the door open, slid in behind the wheel, and stabbed the ignition key at the slot. He did this three or four times, and the f.u.c.king key kept going astray. He had to steady his right hand with his left before he could finally get it to go where it belonged. His brow was dotted with fine beads of sweat. He had suffered through many hangovers, but he had never felt like this-this was like coming down with malaria, or something.

The truck started with a roar and a belch of blue smoke. Hugh's foot slipped off the clutch. The truck took two large, snapping jerks away from the curb and stalled. Breathing harshly through his mouth, Hugh got it started again and drove away fast.

By the time he got to the motor pool (it was still as deserted as the mountains of the moon) and exchanged the town truck for his old dented Buick, he had forgotten all about Raider and the horrible thing he had done with the corkscrew. He had something else, something much more important, to think about. During the drive back to the motor pool he had been gripped with a feverish certainty: someone had been in his house while he was gone, and that someone had stolen his fox-tail.

Hugh drove home at better than sixty, came to a stop four inches from his rickety porch in a squash of gravel and a cloud of dust, and ran up the steps two at a time. He burst in, ran to the closet, and yanked the door open. He stood on his toes and began to explore the high shelf with his panicky, fluttering hands.

At first they felt nothing but bare wood, and Hugh sobbed in fright and rage. Then his left hand sank deep into that rough plush that was neither silk nor wool, and a great sense of peace and fulfillment slipped over him. It was like food to the starving, rest to the weary... quinine to the malarial. The staccato drumroll in his chest finally began to ease. He drew the fox-tail down from its hiding place and sat at the kitchen table. He spread it across his fleshy thighs and began to stroke it with both hands.

Hugh sat like that for better than three hours.

7.

The boy Hugh saw but failed to recognize, the one on the bike, was Brian Rusk. Brian had had his own dream last night, and had his own errand to run this morning in consequence.

In his dream, the seventh game of the World Series was about to start-some ancient Elvis-era World Series, featuring the old apocalyptic rivalry, that baseball avatar, the Dodgers versus the Yankees. Sandy Koufax was in the bullpen, warming up for Da b.u.ms. He was also speaking to Brian Rusk, who stood beside him, between pitches. Sandy Koufax told Brian exactly what he was supposed to do. He was very clear about it; he dotted every i i and crossed every and crossed every t. t. No problem there. No problem there.

The problem was this: Brian didn't want to do it.

He felt like a creep, arguing with a baseball legend like Sandy Koufax, but he had tried, just the same. "You don't understand, Mr. Koufax," he said. "I was supposed to play a trick on Wilma Jerzyck, and I did. I already did. did."

"So what?" Sandy Koufax said. "What's your point, bush?"

"Well, that was the deal. Eighty-five cents and one trick."

"You sure of that, bush? One trick? Are you sure? Did he say something like 'not more than one trick'? Something legal like that?"

Brian couldn't quite remember, but the feeling that he'd been had was growing steadily stronger inside him. No... not just had. Trapped. Trapped. Like a mouse with a morsel of cheese. Like a mouse with a morsel of cheese.

"Let me tell you something, bush. The deal-"

He broke off and uttered a little unhh! unhh! as he threw a hard overhand fastball. It popped into the catcher's mitt with a rifleshot crack. Dust drifted up from the mitt, and Brian realized with dawning dismay that he knew the stormy blue eyes looking at them from behind the catcher's mask. Those eyes belonged to Mr. Gaunt. as he threw a hard overhand fastball. It popped into the catcher's mitt with a rifleshot crack. Dust drifted up from the mitt, and Brian realized with dawning dismay that he knew the stormy blue eyes looking at them from behind the catcher's mask. Those eyes belonged to Mr. Gaunt.

Sandy Koufax caught Mr. Gaunt's return toss, then glanced at Brian with flat eyes like brown gla.s.s. "The deal is whatever I say say the deal is, bush." the deal is, bush."

Sandy Koufax's eyes weren't brown at all, Brian had realized in his dream; they were also blue, which made perfect sense, since Sandy Koufax was also also Mr. Gaunt. Mr. Gaunt.

"But-"

Koufax/Gaunt raised his gloved hand. "Let me tell you something, bush: I hate hate that word. Of all the words in the English language, it is easily the worst. I think it's the worst word in that word. Of all the words in the English language, it is easily the worst. I think it's the worst word in any any language. You know what a b.u.t.t is, bush? It's the place s.h.i.+t comes out of." language. You know what a b.u.t.t is, bush? It's the place s.h.i.+t comes out of."

The man in the old-fas.h.i.+oned Brooklyn Dodgers uniform hid the baseball in his glove and turned to face Brian fully. It was Mr. Gaunt, all right, and Brian felt a freezing, dismal terror grip his heart. "I did did say I wanted you to play a trick on Wilma, Brian, that's true, but I never said it was say I wanted you to play a trick on Wilma, Brian, that's true, but I never said it was the one and only the one and only trick I wanted you to play on her. You just a.s.sumed, bush. Do you believe me, or would you like to hear the tape of our conversation?" trick I wanted you to play on her. You just a.s.sumed, bush. Do you believe me, or would you like to hear the tape of our conversation?"

"I believe you," Brian said. He was perilously close to blubbering now. "I believe you, but-"

"What did I just tell you about that word, bush?"

Brian dropped his head and swallowed hard.

"You've got a lot to learn about d.i.c.kering," Koufax/Gaunt said. "You and everyone else in Castle Rock. But that's one of the reasons I came-to conduct a seminar in the fine art of d.i.c.kering. There was one fellow in town, a gent named Merrill, who knew a little something about it, but he's long gone and hard to find." He grinned, revealing Leland Gaunt's large, uneven teeth in Sandy Koufax's narrow, brooding face. "And the word 'bargain,' Brian-I have some tall teaching to do on that subject, as well."

"But-" The word was out of Brian's mouth before he could call it back.

"No buts about it," Koufax/Gaunt said. He leaned forward. His face stared solemnly at Brian from beneath the bill of his baseball cap. "Mr. Gaunt knows best. Can you say that, Brian?"

Brian's throat worked, but no sound came out. He felt hot, loose tears behind his eyes.

A large, cold hand descended upon Brian's shoulder. And gripped. "Say it!" it!"

"Mr. Gaunt... Brian had to swallow again to make room for the words. "Mr. Gaunt knows best."

"That's right, bush. That's exactly right. And what that means is you're going to do what I say... or else."

Brian summoned all his will and made one final effort.

"What if I say no, anyway? What if I say no because I didn't understand the whatdoyoucallems... the terms?"

Koufax/Gaunt picked the baseball out of his glove and closed his hand over it. Small drops of blood began to sweat out of the st.i.tches.

"You really can't say no, Brian," he said softly. "Not anymore. Why, this is the seventh game of the World Series. All the chickens have come home to roost, and it's time to s.h.i.+t or git. Take a look around you. Go on and take a good look."

Brian looked around and was horrified to see that Ebbets Field was so full they were standing in the aisles... and he knew them all. and he knew them all. He saw his Ma and Pa sitting with his little brother, Sean, in the Commissioner's Box behind home plate. His speech therapy cla.s.s, flanked by Miss Ratcliffe on one end and her big dumb boyfriend, Lester Pratt, on the other, was ranged along the first-base line, drinking Royal Crown Cola and munching hotdogs. The entire Castle Rock Sheriffs Office was seated in the bleachers, drinking beer from paper cups with pictures of this year's Miss Rheingold contestants on them. He saw his Sunday School cla.s.s, the town selectmen, Myra and Chuck Evans, his aunts, his uncles, his cousins. There, sitting behind third base, was Sonny Jackett, and when Koufax/Gaunt threw the bleeding ball and it made that rifleshot crack in the catcher's glove again, Brian saw that the face behind the mask now belonged to Hugh Priest. He saw his Ma and Pa sitting with his little brother, Sean, in the Commissioner's Box behind home plate. His speech therapy cla.s.s, flanked by Miss Ratcliffe on one end and her big dumb boyfriend, Lester Pratt, on the other, was ranged along the first-base line, drinking Royal Crown Cola and munching hotdogs. The entire Castle Rock Sheriffs Office was seated in the bleachers, drinking beer from paper cups with pictures of this year's Miss Rheingold contestants on them. He saw his Sunday School cla.s.s, the town selectmen, Myra and Chuck Evans, his aunts, his uncles, his cousins. There, sitting behind third base, was Sonny Jackett, and when Koufax/Gaunt threw the bleeding ball and it made that rifleshot crack in the catcher's glove again, Brian saw that the face behind the mask now belonged to Hugh Priest.

"Run you down, little buddy," Hugh said as he threw the ball back. "Make you squeak."

"You see, bush, it's not just a question of the baseball card anymore," Koufax/Gaunt said from beside him. "You know that, don't you? When you slung that mud at Wilma Jerzyck's sheets, you started something. Like a guy who starts an avalanche just by shouting too loud on a warm winter day. Now your choice is simple. You can keep going... or you can stay where you are and get buried."

In his dream, Brian finally began to cry. He saw, all right. He saw just fine, now that it was too late to make any difference.

Gaunt squeezed the baseball. More blood poured out, and his fingertips sank deep into its white, fleshy surface. "If you don't want everybody In Castle Rock to know you were the one who started the avalanche, Brian, you had better do what I tell you."

Brian wept harder.

"When you deal with me," Gaunt said, winding up to throw, you want to remember two things: Mr. Gaunt knows best... and the dealing isn't done until Mr. Gaunt says says the dealing's done." the dealing's done."

He threw with that sinuous all-of-a-sudden delivery which had made Sandy Koufax so hard to hit (that was, at least, the humble opinion of Brian's father), and when the ball hit Hugh Priest's glove this time, it exploded. Blood and hair and stringy gobbets of flesh flew up in the bright autumn sun. And Brian had awakened, weeping into his pillow.