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file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Stephen%20King%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htmthat way for some time, a faint, despairing noise coming from his throat.At last he opened the bag again and began to look through it.Downstairs again.The sound of the pantry door being opened. The sound of a cupboard being opened, then slammed shut.The busy whine of the can opener. Last the sound of the garage door opening and closing. And then thehouse stood empty in the May sunshine, as it had stood empty on that August day the year before,waiting for the new people to arrive . . . as it would wait for other new people to arrive at some futuredate. A young married couple perhaps, with no children (but with hopes and plans). Bright youngmarrieds with a taste for Mondavi wine and Löwenbräu beer—he would be in charge of the NortheastBank’s credit department perhaps, she with a dental hygienist’s credential or maybe three years’experience as an optometrist’s assistant. He would split half a cord of wood for the fireplace, she wouldwear high-waisted corduroy pants and walk in Mrs. Vinton’s field, collecting November’s fall grassesfor a table centerpiece, her hair in a ponytail, the brightest thing under the gray skies, totally unawarethat an invisible Vulture rode the air currents overhead. They would congratulate themselves on theirlack of superstition, on their hardheadedness in snaring the house in spite of its history—they would telltheir friends that it had been firesale-priced and joke about the ghost in the attic, and all of them wouldhave another Löwenbräu or another glass of Mondavi, and they would play backgammon or MileBourne.And perhaps they would have a dog.61Louis paused on the soft shoulder to let an Orinco truck loaded with chemical fertilizer blast by him, andthen he crossed the street to Jud’s house, trailing his shadow to the west behind him. He held an opencan of Cab catfood in one hand.Church saw him coming and sat up, his eyes watchful.“Hi, Church,” Louis said, surveying the silent house. “Want some grub?”He put the can of catfood down on the trunk of the Chevette and watched as Church leaped lightly downfrom its roof and began to eat. Louis put his hand in his jacket pocket. Church looked around at him,tensing, as if reading his mind. Louis smiled and stepped away from the car. Church began to eat again,and Louis took a syringe from his pocket. He stripped the paper covering from it and filled it with 75milligrams of morphine. He put the multidose vial back in his jacket and walked over to Church, wholooked around again mistrustfully. Louis smiled at the cat and said, “Go on, eat up, Church. Hey-ho,let’s go, right?” He stroked the cat, felt its back arch, and when Church went back to his meal again,Louis seized it around its stinking guts and sank the needle deep into its haunch.file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20St...20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm (320 of 333)7/28/2005 9:21:50 PM