Song of Susannah

THE DARK TOWER VI: SONG OF SUSANNAH

THE DARK TOWER VI: SONG OF SUSANNAH

Copyright © 2004 by Stephen King

http://www.stephenking.com

Illustrations © 2004 by Darrel Anderson

http://www.braid.com

Book design by Darrel Anderson and Robert K. Wiener

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Excerpt from Peace Like a River by Leif Enger used by permission.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2004103870

ISBN 0-7432-6637-4

eISBN: 978-0-743-26637-6

FIRST TRADE EDITION

Distributed by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

SCRIBNER

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

DONALD M. GRANT, PUBLISHER, INC.

Post Office Box 187, Hampton Falls, NH 03844

http://www.grantbooks.com

Visit us on the World Wide Web:

http://www.SimonSays.com

Dedication

For Tabby, who knew when it was done

“Go, then. There are other worlds than these.”

John “Jake” Chambers

“I am a maid of constant sorrow
I’ve seen trouble all my days
All through the world I’m bound to ramble
I have no friends to show my way …”

Traditional

“Fair is whatever God wants to do.”

Leif Enger Peace Like a River

CONTENTS

1st Stanza: Beamquake

2nd Stanza: The Persistence of Magic

3rd Stanza: Trudy and Mia

4th Stanza: Susannah’s Dogan

5th Stanza: The Turtle

6th Stanza: The Castle Allure

7th Stanza: The Ambush

8th Stanza: A Game of Toss

9th Stanza: Eddie Bites His Tongue

10th Stanza: Susannah-Mio, Divided Girl of Mine

11th Stanza: The Writer

12th Stanza: Jake and Callahan

13th Stanza: “Hile, Mia, Hile, Mother”

Coda: Pages from a Writer’s Journal

Wordslinger’s Note

ILLUSTRATIONS

… BURSTS OF GREEN LIGHTNING

HE SAW THE DOORS, AT LEAST A THOUSAND OF THEM.

HUGE ROCK FORMATIONS SAWED AT THE SKY.

“DOWN!” ROLAND BELLOWED.

… SIGNED HIS NAME IN A QUICK SCRAWL

SUSANNAH CLOSES HER EYES….

INTO A FOREST OF WATCHING FACES

… KA COMES TO ME.

TWO HAMMARSKJÖLD PLAZA

EMERGING FROM THE SHIRT’S COLLAR WAS THE HEAD OF A BIRD.

REPRODUCTION

19

THE DARK TOWER VI: SONG OF SUSANNAH

1ST STANZA
BEAMQUAKE

ONE

“How long will the magic stay?”

At first no one answered Roland’s question, and so he asked it again, this time looking across the living room of the rectory to where Henchick of the Manni sat with Cantab, who had married one of Henchick’s numerous granddaughters. The two men were holding hands, as was the Manni way. The older man had lost a granddaughter that day, but if he grieved, the emotion did not show on his stony, composed face.