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file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Stephen%20King%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htmreally), Steve decided she was all right, and Jud concurred.Steve drove her into town. He stood with Surrendra Hardu in the lobby of the East Room and watchedRachel drift down the aisle toward the flower-buried coffin like a wraith.“How is it going, Steve?” Surrendra asked quietly.“Going fucking terrible,” Steve said in a low, harsh voice. “How did you think it was going?”“I thought it was probably going fucking terrible,” Surrendra said and sighed.The trouble really began at the morning viewing, when Irwin Goldman refused to shake hands with hisson-in-law.The sight of so many friends and relatives had actually forced Louis out of the web of shock a little, hadforced him to notice what was going on and be outward. He had reached that stage of malleable griefthat funeral directors are so used to handling andturning to its best advantage. Louis was moved around like a counter in a Parcheesi game.Outside the East Room was a small foyer where people could smoke and sit in overstuffed easy chairs.The chairs looked as if they might have come directly from a distress sale at some old English men’sclub that had gone broke. Beside the door leading into the viewing room was a small easel, black metalchased with gold, and on this easel was a small sign which said simply CAGE WILLIAM CREED. Ifyou went across this spacious white building that looked misleadingly like a comfortable old house, youcame to an identical foyer, this one outside the West Room, where the sign on the easel read ALBERTABURNHAM NEDEAU. At the back of the house was the Riverfront Room. The easel to the left of thedoor between the foyer and this room was blank; it was not in use on this Tuesday morning. Downstairswas the coffin showroom, each model lit by a baby spotlight mounted on the ceiling. If you looked up—Louis had, and the funeral director had frowned severely at him—it looked as if there were a lot ofstrange animals roosting up there.Jud had come with him on Sunday, the day after Gage had died, to pick out a coffin. They had gonedownstairs, and instead of immediately turning right into the coffin showroom, Louis, dazed, hadcontinued straight on down the hallway toward a plain white swinging door, the sort you seecommunicating between restaurant dining rooms and the kitchen. Both Jud and the funeral director hadsaid quickly and simultaneously, “Not that way,” and Louis had followed them away from that swingingdoor obediently. He knew what was behind that door though. His uncle had been an undertaker.The East Room was furnished with neat rows of folding chairs—the expensive ones with plushy seats and backs. At the front, in an area that seemed a combinationfile:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20St...20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm (186 of 333)7/28/2005 9:21:49 PM