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file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Stephen%20King%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htmHe removed it from her arms, put her back in bed, brushed her hair back from her sweaty brow gently,and kissed her, On impulse he went into the small room that served as Rachel’s office, wrote a quicknote in large block letters on a sheet of paper— I WILL BE BACK TOMORROW, LOVE, CHURCH—and pinned it to the cushion on the bottom of the cat bed. Then he went into his bedroom, looking forRachel. Rachel was there. They made love and fell asleep in each other’s arms.Church returned home on the Friday of Louis’s first full week of work; Ellie made much of him, usedpart of her allowance to buy him a box of cat treats, and nearly slapped Gage once fortrying to touch him. This made Cage cry in a way mere parental discipline could never have done.Receiving a rebuke from Ellie was like receiving a rebuke from Cod.Looking at Church made Louis feel sad. It was ridiculous, but that didn’t change the emotion. There wasno sign of Church’s former feistiness. No more did he walk like a gunslinger; now his walk was theslow, careful walk of the convalescent. He allowed Ellie to hand-feed him. He showed no sign ofwanting to go outside, not even to the garage. He had changed. Perhaps it was ultimately for the betterthat he had changed.Neither Rachel nor Ellie seemed to notice.Indian summer came and went. Brazen color came into the trees, rioted briefly, and then faded. Afterone cold, driving rain in mid-October, the leaves started to fall. Ellie began to arrive home laden withHalloween decorations she had made at school and entertained Gage with the story of the HeadlessHorseman. Gage spent that evening babbling happily about somebody named Itchybod Brain. Rachelgot giggling and couldn’t stop. It was a good time for them, that early autumn.20Louis’s work at the university had settled into a demanding but pleasant routine. He saw patients, heattended meetings of the Council of Colleges, he wrote the obligatory letters to the student newspaper,advising the university’s co-ed population of the confidentiality of the infirmary’s treatment for VD andexhorting the student population to get flu boosters, as the A-type was apt to be prevalent again thatwinter. He sat on panels. He chaired panels. During the second week in October, he went to the NewEngland Conference on College and University Medicine in Providence and presented a paper on thelegal ramifications of student treatment. Victor Pascow was mentioned in his paper under the fictitiousname of “Henry Montez.” The paper was well received. He began working up the infirmary budget forthe next academic year.His evenings fell into a routine: kids after supper, a beer or two with Jud Crandall later. SometimesRachel came over withfile:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Ste...%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm (75 of 333)7/28/2005 9:21:49 PM