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file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Stephen%20King%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm“I can’t. . . seem to help it. In my mind I know you're right, that death is perfectly natural—good, even—but what my mind knows and what happens. . . inside me. .“Yeah,” he said.“That day I blew up at you,” she said, “I knew that Ellie was just crying over the idea. . . a way ofgetting used to it. . . but I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry, Louis.”“No apology needed,” he said, stroking her hair. “But what the hell, I accept it anyway, if it’ll make youfeel better.”She smiled. “It does, you know. And I feel better. I feel as if I just sicked up something that’s poisonedpart of me for years.”“Maybe you have.”Rachel’s eyes slipped closed and then opened again .slowly. “And don’t blame it all on my father, Louis. Please. That was a terrible time for them. The bills—Zelda’s bills—were sky-high. My dad had missed his chance to expand into the suburbs, and the salesin the downtown store were off. On top of that, my mother was half-crazy herself.“Well, it all worked out. It was as if Zelda’s death was the signal for good times to come around again.There had been a recession, but then the money loosened up and Daddy got his loan, and since then he’snever looked back. But that’s why they’ve always been possessive of me, I think. It’s not just becauseI’m the only one left—”“It’s guilt,” Louis said.“Yes, I suppose. And you won’t be mad at me if I’m sick when they bury Norma?”“No, honey, I won’t be mad.” He paused and then took her hand. “May I take Ellie?”Her hand tightened in his. “Oh, Louis, I don’t know,” she said. “She’s so young—”“She’s known where babies come from for a year or more,” he reminded her again.She was quiet for a long time, looking up at the ceiling and biting her lips. “If you think it’s best,” shesaid finally. “If you think it won’t. . . won’t hurt her.”file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20St...20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm (168 of 333)7/28/2005 9:21:49 PM