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ook stuff, she’s a different lady. That she takes personal.” “You love her a lot, don’t you, Mr. Frati?” “Like the moon and the stars, cuz. Like the moon and the stars.” Marjorie had been reading that day’s paper, and it was still on the glass-topped counter containing the rings and things. The headline read HUNT FOR MYSTERY KILLER GOES ON AS FRANK DUNNING IS LAID TO REST. “What do you reckon that was about?” I asked. “Dunno, but I’ll tell you something.” He leaned forward, and the smile was gone. “He wasn’t the saint the local rag is makin him out to be. I could tell you stories, cuz.” “Go ahead. I’ve got all day.” The smile reappeared. “Nah. In Derry, we keep ourselves to ourselves.” “So I’ve noticed,” I said. 14 I wanted to go back to Kossuth Street. I knew the cops might be watching the Dunning house to see if anyone showed an unusual interest in the family, but the desire was very strong, just the same. It wasn’t Harry I wanted to see; it was his little sister. There were things I wanted to tell her. That she should go out trick-or-treating on Halloween no matter how sad she felt about her daddy. That she’d be the prettiest, most magical Indian princess anyone had ever seen, and would come home with a mountain of candy. That she had at least fifty-three long and busy years ahead of her, and probably many more. Most of all that someday her brother Harry was going to want to put on a uniform and go for a soldier and she must do her very, very, very best to talk him out of it. Only kids forget. Every teacher knows this. And they think they’re going to live forever. 15 It was time to leave Derry, but I had one final little chore to take care of before I went. I waited until Monday. That afternoon, the thirteenth of October, I threw my valise into the Sunliner’s trunk, then sat behind the wheel long enough to scribble a brief note. I tucked it into an envelope, sealed it, and printed the recipient’s name on the front. I drove down to the Low Town, parked, and walked into the Sleepy Silver Dollar. It was empty except for Pete the bartender, as I had expected. He was washing glasses and watching Love of Life on the boob tube. He turned to me reluctantly, keeping one eye on John and Marsha, or whatever their names were. “What can I get you?” “Nothing, but you can do me a favor. For which I will compensate you to the tune of five American dollars.” He looked unimpressed. “Really. What’s the favor?” I put the envelope on the bar. “Pass this over when the proper party comes in.” He looked at the name on the front of the envelope. “What do you want with Billy Turcotte? And why don’t you give it to him yourself?”
“It’s a simple enough assignment, Pete. Do you want the five, or not?” “Sure. Long as it won’t do no harm. Billy’s a good enough soul.” “It won’t do him any harm. It might even do him some good.” I put a fin on top of the envelope. Pete made it disappear and went back to his soap opera. I left. Turcotte probably got the envelope. Whether or not he did anything after he read what was inside is another question, one of many to which I will never have answers. This is what I wrote: Dear Bill— There is something wrong with your heart. You must go to the doctor soon, or it will be too late. You might think this is a joke, but it is not. You might think I couldn’t know such a thing, but I do. I know it as surely as you know Frank Dunning murdered your sister Clara and your nephew Mikey. PLEASE BELIEVE ME AND GO TO THE DOCTOR! A Friend 16 I got into my Sunliner, and as I backed out of the slant parking slot, I saw Mr. Keene’s narrow and mistrustful face peering out at me from the drugstore. I unrolled my window, stuck out my arm, and shot him the bird. Then I drove up Up-Mile Hill and out of Derry for the last time.
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Thank you for downloading this Scri
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It is virtually not assimilable to
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11/22/63
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uddy who had demonstrated the true
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PART 1 WATERSHED MOMENT
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those little squiggles he put on th
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3 Al’s Diner was housed in a silv
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“Long story short, I went to a do
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with all that stupid talk about Al
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toward him. He leaned on the stack
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CHAPTER 2 1 I took another step for
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where all the women have big bazonk
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a style I recognized (from old movi
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off the rest of my beeyah and stood
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narrow lane unless they happened to
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get-together?’” “Always the s
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CHAPTER 3 1 The gnome did indeed ha
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But I sat down. 3 “Do you know th
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—” He started coughing again, t
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down at the backs—that he didn’
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I mean.” “Would it have to be k
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over again. “I plugged her name i
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Stephanie Routhier.” “Just anot
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CHAPTER 4 1 Al let me help him into
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student work, no teacher does—you
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was trying to crawl under the bed.
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eyebrows even at a convenience stor
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my sorrow. But he’s not dead wher
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PART 2 THE JANITOR’S FATHER
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hunched his thin shoulders all the
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Sabattus? I think that’s it. Do y
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the bank. That made me remember the
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6 I got the clothes Al had recommen
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The taxi driver was a fat man who w
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CHAPTER 6 1 The same chain-smoking
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monocle in one eye and a school pen
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Lemkes, some of them siblings, most
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crocodile. If it keeps up, this bur
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Late that afternoon, hopes dashed (
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clasped. He stoops a little and kic
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seconds, maybe. It was the sort of
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and saw Derry hulking on the west b
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CHAPTER 7 1 How should I tell you a
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He’s a nice man. Always joking ar
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4 On the following Tuesday, I rente
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passing off fantasies like the murd
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oom from the large table where Dunn
Page 99 and 100: Chaz saw me looking. “Frank knows
Page 101 and 102: 10 I got used to the planes coming
Page 103 and 104: CHAPTER 8 1 In the weeks before Hal
Page 105 and 106: One of the people I spoke to was Do
Page 107 and 108: Trust me on the sickness part. I kn
Page 109 and 110: smoke, and eye-watering chlorine. T
Page 111 and 112: Had Tugga given him shit about that
Page 113 and 114: At first that didn’t compute. The
Page 115 and 116: That’s a laugh. You want to hear
Page 117 and 118: If I told him just the right way—
Page 119 and 120: here like a rabbit in a hole.”
Page 121 and 122: and dislocated her shoulder as well
Page 123 and 124: He smiled and closed his eyes. 14 I
Page 125 and 126: Chevron. I crossed the street towar
Page 127 and 128: PART 3 LIVING IN THE PAST
Page 129 and 130: again. “You look like you’ve lo
Page 131 and 132: throat like a playing card in the s
Page 133 and 134: 6 I made it home, and this time it
Page 135 and 136: to say. But halfway through the fou
Page 137 and 138: Sorry, buddy, couldn’t wait. Too
Page 139 and 140: CHAPTER 10 1 I crossed the employee
Page 141 and 142: 3 I drove up the Mile-A-Minute High
Page 143 and 144: He and the large lady (Frati looked
Page 145 and 146: athroom medicine cabinet, and my ne
Page 147 and 148: stop in spite of a green light, my
Page 149: 13 There was plenty about the World
Page 153 and 154: of the land around Bowie Hill, wher
Page 155 and 156: kind of loony I am, Cullum will be
Page 157 and 158: CHAPTER 12 1 I took US 1 south. I a
Page 159 and 160: gossip in the billiard parlor next
Page 161 and 162: eal BS degree), I heard a psycholog
Page 163 and 164: protective cover—7 DAYS ONLY, BE
Page 165 and 166: You’d put your foot on it and cru
Page 167 and 168: father in his nakedness, and God cu
Page 169 and 170: his father’s gearshift. I’d jer
Page 171 and 172: “You come on back around six. Tha
Page 173 and 174: certain students, and at the librar
Page 175 and 176: 19 We’re going to take another le
Page 177 and 178: CHAPTER 13 1 It was seven forty-fiv
Page 179 and 180: Gorgeous girl? Check. Blonde? Check
Page 181 and 182: was thinking of nothing but this bi
Page 183 and 184: Three weeks later, just before scho
Page 185 and 186: “Deke first popped the question a
Page 187 and 188: working on either of my manuscripts
Page 189 and 190: I want you to meet. This is—” S
Page 191 and 192: “He seems to be bearing up,” El
Page 193 and 194: 9 At the game, practically everybod
Page 195 and 196: PART 4 SADIE AND THE GENERAL
Page 197 and 198: y a trim little man who wore horn-r
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“Yes, ma’am.” “That ain’t
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would be seven or eight years from
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The Stroll was the first step Chris
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my Ford steamed up. Then she pushed
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CHAPTER 15 1 At ten o’clock on th
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the grass. Now she picked up a Tupp
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“But keep them handy, honey.” A
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She smiled and kissed the corner of
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“I love you, too. No maybe or mis
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little hysterically. “Mama probab
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tighter, as if hugging could make i
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her jeans, then fumbled in the brea
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“Sadie? Are we all right?” “Y
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“I’ll always listen.” But she
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“The play, then. At least do the
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ever came right out and said so. An
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8 Everybody in town did turn out, a
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was looking for a cheap rent becaus
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“I won’t. Not anymore. So don
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CHAPTER 17 1 A few days before the
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It was the last day of school. The
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you care about it, when you feel li
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something on it. She took it back a
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“I was stupid to come to Fort Wor
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closest thing to fireworks came jus
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I looked at my watch and said, “I
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13 It was almost dark when I got to
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students were wont to say, but West
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“Will you give us a minute?” Ro
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June. I thought Marina might point
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I fought against the temptation to
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one that wasn’t swollen). There w
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I wondered if I were mad. Surely th
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14 There was a moment of silence lo
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good dancer.” “Then let’s go
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“What do you want?” the younger
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ack. I listened to the comment twic
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“I sort of like Kennedy,” Lee s
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ut no takers. Until the Oswalds mov
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Browder Street coffee shop. There t
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cocksuckers right now!” There wer
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I ignored her. This wasn’t the fi
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assumption that people were going t
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She looked at me doubtfully, turned
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CHAPTER 20 1 So in the end it only
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“That turkey looks absolutely won
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it. Then he slugged her. She fell d
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8 The day after Sadie’s Boxing Da
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Walker closed his eyes and raised h
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2 That was on a Friday afternoon, a
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Marina invited her in. I waited unt
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Lee’s footfalls crossed above my
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I looked down and saw a fresh drag-
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I liked George de Mohrenschildt bet
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CHAPTER 22 1 The afternoon of April
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It made a rough trail from the livi
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light, I will kill this bitch and t
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casserole delivery.’ And raise th
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Her eyes widened. She was looking o
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CHAPTER 23 From the Dallas Morning
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“I don’t think I’m quite read
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more. “When this young woman’s
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him wink. Marina and Jeanne lapsed
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then taking a bus or train. And if
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eason for it.” 9 She wasn’t ove
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I moved into Deke’s Spanish-style
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Hunch-think: that again. I paid the
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lock?” “Of course not. Although
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“Only one problem. They’re aski
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“What’s wrong?” she asked.
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Ellen took Sadie—who was exhauste
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“Yes, honey.” “Can you predic
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his house, and I’d attended a few
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DALLAS’S WHITE KNIGHT! According
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CHAPTER 25 1 I stayed with Sadie on
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There was silence on the line while
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He got in and shut the door. “Abo
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Gavery was putting out fresh loaves
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She blushed, except for around the
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“I don’t think that would work,
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Tiger bounded happily to meet him,
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“Yes!” Sadie chirruped, resetti
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For a moment as I sat there in my c
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was me, panting. “I hope he fucki
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I fumbled the .38 out of my pocket
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“Puddentane,” I said. “Ask me
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murder his whole family.” She loo
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I shook my head. “Honey, you’ve
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We were coming into Dallas now. I m
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Yes. He still is. But you’re clos
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“That’s it, and I will.” I ha
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asked after Deke, wished her a good
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again before I got out of his sight
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(Parkland) while O works. Rifle sto
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een a success. According to newscas
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November 20, 1963 Dear Sadie, I hav
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play before the curtain goes up on
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CHAPTER 28 1 11/22/63 (Friday) I sa
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Lee’s murder—we’d simply have
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Cadillac Street. Only you knew that
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Sadie was standing on the curb and
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laid hold of the chrome doorhandle
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scraped her knees. “What time is
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I hurried to it and tried the passe
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“Because it was a girl’s,” I
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stacked book cartons. The overhead
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PART 6 THE GREEN CARD MAN
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exactitude because there was no clo
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happened, Mr. Amberson. I won’t s
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had to stretch my savings. When I g
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“—but he was a world-class fuck
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that dreamlike conversation while t
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something. He would pass it on to E
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“Where you did exactly what?”
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I wrote carefully, but it didn’t
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He offered me the three tickets lik
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CHAPTER 30 1 I stepped off my final
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“They’re saying seven thousand
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“Who are you?” I asked. “And
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“Buying meat over and over again
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painted on the remains of the floor
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good-sized rock in it. That explain
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CHAPTER 31 1 He still lived on Godd
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“Ayuh. That was taken on our twen
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Sure it was. Maybe a Police Special
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“Yes.” The cannula had come ask
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The world well lost for love—was
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Here’s another thing I do know. T
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egin to come. They ache, they burn.
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ex-wife for months. The staff at De
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arber shop is gone, and the Cities
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gone, you can never get it back. Pa
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I’d put the probability at ninety
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Jack, I’m sure you’d understand
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10. If you could pick any other per
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it’s just one of the places where
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20. “In the Mood,” Glenn Miller
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top edge, or just pat back into the
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for 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife
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© SHANE LEONARD STEPHEN KING is th
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The Colorado Kid Cell Lisey’s Sto
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We hope you enjoyed reading this Sc
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