Go on, Wayne,Eddie thought, get it out. You can do it.

“…which is to say of Eld’s line.”

“Gods be praised!” some woman shrieked. “Gods’ve sent em to save our babbies, so they have!”

There were shushing sounds. Overholser waited for quiet with a pained look on his face, then went on. “They can speak for themselves—and must—but I’ve seen enough to believe they may be able to help us with our problem. They carry good guns—you see em—and they can use em. Set my watch and warrant on it, and say thankya.”

This time the murmur from the crowd was louder, and Eddie sensed goodwill in it. He relaxed a little.

“All right, then, let em stand before’ee one by one, that ye might hear their voices and see their faces very well. This is their dinh.” He lifted a hand to Roland.

The gunslinger stepped forward. The red sun set his left cheek on fire; the right was painted yellow with torchglow. He put out one leg. The thunk of the worn bootheel on the boards was very clear in the silence; Eddie for no reason thought of a fist knocking on a coffintop. He bowed deeply, open palms held out to them. “Roland of Gilead, son of Steven,” he said. “The Line of Eld.”

They sighed.

“May we be well-met.” He stepped back, and glanced at Eddie.

This part he could do. “Eddie Dean of New York,” he said. “Son of Wendell.” At least that’s what Ma always claimed, he thought. And then, unaware he was going to say it: “The Line of Eld. The ka-tet of Nineteen.”

He stepped back, and Susannah moved forward to the edge of the platform. Back straight, looking out at them calmly, she said, “I am Susannah Dean, wife of Eddie, daughter of Dan, the Line of Eld, the ka-tet of Nineteen, may we be well-met and do ya fine.” She curtsied, holding out her pretend skirts.

At this there was both laughter and applause.

While she spoke her piece, Roland bent to whisper a brief something in Jake’s ear. Jake nodded and then stepped forward confidently. He looked very young and very handsome in the day’s end light.

He put out his foot and bowed over it. The poncho swung comically forward with Oy’s weight. “I am Jake Chambers, son of Elmer, the Line of Eld, the ka-tet of the Ninety and Nine.”

Ninety-nine?Eddie looked at Susannah, who offered him a very small shrug. What’s this ninety-nine shit? Then he thought what the hell. He didn’t know what the ka-tet of Nineteen was, either, and he’d said it himself.

But Jake wasn’t done. He lifted Oy from the pocket of Benny Slightman’s poncho. The crowd murmured at the sight of him. Jake gave Roland a quick glance— Are you sure?it asked—and Roland nodded.