ebEpvI

file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Stephen%20King%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htmThe porch was long and narrow, furnished with rattan chairs and sofas. Louis sank into one and wassurprised at how comfortable it was. At his left hand was a tin pail filled with ice cubes and a few cansof Black Label. He took one.“Thank you,” he said and opened it. The first two swallows hit his throat like a blessing.“More’n welcome,” Crandall said. “I hope your time here will be a happy one, Doc.”“Amen,” Louis said.“Say! If you want crackers or somethin, I could get some. I got a wedge of rat that’s just about ripe.”“A wedge of what?”“Rat cheese.” Crandall sounded faintly amused.“Thanks, but just the beer will do me.”“Well then, we’ll just let her go.” Crandall belched contentedly.“Your wife gone to bed?” Louis asked, wondering why he was opening the door like this.“Ayuh. Sometimes she stays up. Sometimes she don’t.”“Her arthritis is quite painful, isn’t it?”“You ever see a case that wasn’t?” Crandall asked.Louis shook his head.“I guess it’s tolerable,” Crandall said. “She don’t complain much. She’s a good old girl, my Norma.”There was a great and simple weight of affection in his voice. Out on Route 15, a tanker truck dronedby, one so big and long that for a moment Louis couldn’t see his house across the road. Written on theside, just visible in the last light, was the wordORINCO.“One hell of a big truck,” Louis commented.“Orinco’s near Orrington,” Crandall said. “Chemical fertilizer fact’ry. They come and go, all right. Andthe oil tankers, and the dump trucks, and the people who go to work in Bangor or Brewer and comefile:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Ste...%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm (13 of 333)7/28/2005 9:21:49 PM