Hugh drove home at better than sixty, came to a stop four inches from his rickety porch in a squash of gravel and a cloud of dust, and ran up the steps two at a time. He burst in, ran to the closet, and yanked the door open. He stood on his toes and began to explore the high shelf with his panicky, fluttering hands.
At first they felt nothing but bare wood, and Hugh sobbed in fright and rage. Then his left hand sank deep into that rough plush that was neither silk nor wool, and a great sense of peace and fulfillment slipped over him. It was like food to the starving, rest to the weary... quinine to the malarial. The staccato drumroll in his chest finally began to ease. He drew the fox-tail down from its hiding place and sat at the kitchen table. He spread it across his fleshy thighs and began to stroke it with both hands.
Hugh sat like that for better than three hours.
7
The boy Hugh saw but failed to recognize, the one on the bike, was Brian Rusk. Brian had had his own dream last night, and had his own errand to run this morning in consequence.
In his dream, the seventh game of the World Series was about to start-some ancient Elvis-era World Series, featuring the old apocalyptic rivalry, that baseball avatar, the Dodgers versus the
Yankees. Sandy Koufax was in the bullpen, warming up for Da Burns. He was also speaking to Brian Rusk, who stood beside him, between pitches.
Sandy Koufax told Brian exactly what he was supposed to do. He was very clear about it; he dotted every I and crossed every t. No problem there.
The problem was this: Brian didn't want to do it.
He felt like a creep, arguing with a baseball legend like Sandy Koufax, but he had tried, just the same. "You don't understand, Mr.
Koufax," he said. "I was supposed to play a trick on Wilma jerzyck, and I did. I already did."
"So what?" Sandy Koufax said. "What's your point, bush?"
"Well, that was the deal. Eighty-five cents and one trick."
"You sure of that, bush? One trick? Are you sure? Did he say something like'not more than one trick'? Something legal like that?"
Brian couldn't quite remember, but the feeling that he'd been had was growing steadily stronger inside him. No... not just had.
Trapped. Like a mouse with a morsel of cheese.
"Let me tell you something, bush. The deal-" He broke off and uttered a little unhh! as he threw a hard overhand fastball. It popped into the catcher's mitt with a rifleshot crack. Dust drifted up from the mitt, and Brian realized with dawning dismay that he knew the stormy blue eyes looking at them from behind the catcher's mask. Those eyes belonged to Mr. Gaunt.
Sandy Koufax caught Mr. Gaunt's return toss, then glanced at Brian with flat eyes like brown glass. "The deal is whatever I say the deal is, bush."
Sandy Koufax's eyes weren't brown at all, Brian had realized in his dream; they were also blue, which made perfect sense, since Sandy Koufax was also Mr. Gaunt.
"But-" Koufax/Gaunt raised his gloved hand. "Let me tell you something, bush: I hate that word. Of all the words in the English language, it is easily the worst. I think it's the worst word in any language. You know what a butt is, bush? It's the place shit comes out of."
The man in the old-fashioned Brooklyn Dodgers uniform hid the baseball in his glove and turned to face Brian fully. It was Mr.
Gaunt, all right, and Brian felt a freezing, dismal terror grip his heart. "I did say I wanted you to play a trick on Wilma, Brian, that's true, but I never said it was the one and only trick I wanted you to play on her. You just assumed, bush. Do you believe me, or would you like to hear the tape of our conversation?"
"I believe you," Brian said. He was perilously close to blubbering now. "I believe you, but-"
"What did I just tell you about that word, bush?"
Brian dropped his head and swallowed hard.
"You've got a lot to learn about dickering," Koufax/Gaunt said.
"You and everyone else in Castle Rock. But that's one of the reasons I came-to conduct a seminar in the fine art of dickering.
There was one fellow in town, a gent named Merrill, who knew a little something about it, but he's long gone and hard to find." He grinned, revealing Leland Gaunt's large, uneven teeth in Sandy Koufax's narrow, brooding face. "And the word 'bargain,' BrianI have some tall teaching to do on that subject, as well."
"But-" The word was out of Brian's mouth before he could call it back.
"No buts about it," Koufax/Gaunt said. He leaned forward. His face stared solemnly at Brian from beneath the bill of his baseball cap. "Mr. Gaunt knows best. Can you say that, Brian?"
Brian's throat worked, but no sound came out. He felt hot, loose tears behind his eyes.
A large, cold hand descended upon Brian's shoulder. And gripped.
"Say it!"
"Mr. Gaunt. Brian had to swallow again to make room for the words. "Mr. Gaunt knows best."
"That's right, bush. That's exactly right. And what that means is you're going to do what I say... or else."
Brian summoned all his will and made one final effort.
"What if I say no, anyway? What if I say no because I didn't understand the whatdoyoucallems... the terms?"
Koufax/Gaunt picked the baseball out of his glove and closed his hand over it. Small drops of blood began to sweat out of the stitches.