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file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Stephen%20King%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm“Hey, babe, don’t do that,” he said. “Put it on.”“Louis, we can’t afford—you can’t afford—”“Shhh,” he said. “I socked some money away off and on since last Christmas. . . and it wasn’t as muchas you might think.”“How much was it?”“I’ll never tell you that, Rachel,” he said solemnly. “An army of Chinese torturers couldn’t get it out ofme. Two thousand dollars.”“Two thousand—i” She hugged him so suddenly and so tightly that he almost fell down the stairs.“Louis, you’re crazy!”“Put it on,” he said again.She did. He helped her with the clasp, and then she turned around to look at him. “I want to go up andlook at it,” she said. “I think I want to preen.”“Preen away,” he said. “I’ll put out the cat and get the lights.”“When we make it,” she said, looking directly into his eyes, “I want to take everything off except this.”“Preen in a hurry, then,” Louis said, and she laughed.He grabbed Church and draped it over his arm—he didn’t bother much with the broom these days. Hesupposed that, in spite of everything, he had almost gotten used to the cat again. He went toward theentryway door, turning off lights as he went. When he opened the door communicating between thekitchen and garage, an eddy of cold air swirled around his ankles.“Have a merry Christmas, Ch—”He broke off. Lying on the welcome mat was a dead crow. Its head was mangled. One wing had beenripped off and lay behind the body like a charred piece of paper. Church immediately squirmed out ofLouis’s arms and began to nuzzle the frozen corpse eagerly. As Louis watched, the cat’s head dartedforward, its ears laid back, and before he could turn his head, Church had ripped out one of the crow’smilky, glazed eyes.Church strikes again, Louis thought a little sickly, and turned his head—not, however, before he hadseen the bloody, gaping socket where the crow’s eye had been. Shouldn’t bother me, shouldn’t, I’vefile:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20St...20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm (150 of 333)7/28/2005 9:21:49 PM