“More,” Roland said. He saw three figures coming toward them: Rosalita, shepherding the Tavery twins, Frank and Francine. The girl had a large sheet of paper in her hands and was carrying it out in front of her with an air of reverence that was almost comic. “Wandering’s the most addictive drug there is, I think, and every hidden road leads on to a dozen more.”

“You say true, I say thankya,” Callahan replied. He looked gloomy and sad and, Roland thought, a little lost.

“Pere, we’d hear the rest of your tale, but I’d have you save it until evening. Or tomorrow evening, if we don’t get back until then. Our young friend Jake will be here shortly—”

“You know that, do you?” Callahan asked, interested but not disbelieving.

“Aye,” Susannah said.

“I’d see what you have in there before he comes,” Roland said. “The story of how you came by it is part of your story, I think—”

“Yes,” Callahan said. “It is. The point of my story, I think.”

“—and must wait its place. As for now, things are stacking up.”

“They have a way of doing that,” Callahan said. “For months—sometimes even years, as I tried to explain to you—time hardly seems to exist. Then everything comes in a gasp.”

“You say true,” Roland said. “Step over with me to see the twins, Eddie. I believe the young lady has her eye on you.”

“She can look as much as she wants,” Susannah said good-humoredly. “Lookin’s free. I might just sit here in the sun on these steps, Roland, if it’s all the same to you. Been a long time since I rode, and I don’t mind telling you that I’m saddle-sore. Not having any lower pins seems to put everything else out of whack.”

“Do ya either way,” Roland said, but he didn’t mean it and Eddie knew he didn’t. The gunslinger wanted Susannah to stay right where she was, for the time being. He could only hope Susannah wasn’t catching the same vibe.

As they walked toward the children and Rosalita, Roland spoke to Eddie, low and quick. “I’m going into the church with him by myself. Just know that it’s not the both of you I want to keep away from whatever’s in there. If it is Black Thirteen—and I believe it must be—it’s best she not go near it.”

“Given her delicate condition, you mean. Roland, I would have thought Suze having a miscarriage would almost be something you’d want.”

Roland said: “It’s not a miscarriage that concerns me. I’m worried about Black Thirteen making the thing inside her even stronger.” He paused again. “ Boththings, mayhap. The baby and the baby’s keeper.”

“Mia.”

“Yes, her.” Then he smiled at the Tavery twins. Francine gave him a perfunctory smile in return, saving full wattage for Eddie.