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file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Stephen%20King%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm“Come over here, Rachel,” he said, and that night they slept back-to-stomach in Louis’s bed, and whenshe woke up trembling in the middle of the night, the Valium worn off, he soothed her with his handsand whispered in her ear that everything was okay, and she slept again.33“For man—and woman—is like the flowers in the valley, which bloom today and are tomorrow cast intothe oven: the time of man is but a season; it cometh, and so it passeth away. Let us pray.”Ellie, resplendent in a navy blue dress bought especially for the occasion, dropped her head so abruptlythat Louis, sitting next to her in the pew, heard her neck creak. Ellie had been in few churches, and ofcourse it was her first funeral; the combination had awed her to unaccustomed silence.For Louis, it had been a rare occasion with his daughter. Mostly blinded by his love for her, as he was byhis love for Gage, he rarely observed her in a detached way; but today he thought he was seeing whatwas almost a textbook case of the child nearing the end of life’s first great developmental stage; anorganism of almost pure curiosity, storing up information madly in almost endless circuits. Ellie hadbeen quiet even when Jud, looking strange but elegant in his black suit and lace-up shoes (Louisbelieved it was the first time he had ever seen him in anything but loafers or green rubber boots), hadbent over, kissed her, and said: “Glad you could come, honey. And I bet Norma is too.”Ellie had gazed at him, wide-eyed.Now the Methodist minister, Reverend Laughlin, was pronouncing the benediction, asking God to lift upHis countenance upon them and give them peace.“Will the pallbearers come forward?” he asked.Louis started to rise, and Ellie halted him, tugging his arm frantically. She looked scared. “Daddy!” shestage-whispered. “Where are you going?”“I’m one of the pallbearers, honey,” Louis said, sitting down beside her again for a moment and puttingan arm around her shoulders. “That means I’m going to help carry Norma out. There are four of us thatare going to do it—me and two of Jud’s nephews and Norma’s brother.”“Where will I find you?”Louis glanced down front. The other three pallbearers had assembled there, along with Jud. The rest ofthe congregation was filing out, some of them weeping.“If you just go out on the steps, I’ll meet you there,” he said. “All right, Ellie?”file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20St...20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm (169 of 333)7/28/2005 9:21:49 PM