“I’ll show what I can, sure,” Zalia said, and gave Susannah a shy look.

“Then, in nine days’ time, you and Margaret and Rosalita and Sarey Adams will come to the Old Fella’s house and we’ll see what we’ll see.”

“You have a plan?” Tian asked. His eyes were hot with hope.

“I will by then,” Roland said.

Four

They rode toward town four abreast at that same ambling gait, but where the East Road crossed another, this one going north and south, Roland pulled up. “Here I leave you for a little while,” he told them. He pointed north, toward the hills. “Two hours from here is what some of the Seeking Folk call Manni Calla and others call Manni Redpath. It’s their place by either name, a little town within the larger one. I’ll meet with Henchick there.”

“Their dinh,” Eddie said.

Roland nodded. “Beyond the Manni village, another hour or less, are a few played-out mines and a lot of caves.”

“The place you pointed out on the Tavery twins’ map?” Susannah asked.

“No, but close by. The cave I’m interested in is the one they call Doorway Cave. We’ll hear of it from Callahan tonight when he finishes his story.”

“Do you know that for a fact, or is it intuition?” Susannah asked.

“I know it from Henchick. He spoke of it last night. He also spoke of the Pere. I could tell you, but it’s best we hear it from Callahan himself, I think. In any case, that cave will be important to us.”

“It’s the way back, isn’t it?” Jake said. “You think it’s the way back to New York.”

“More,” the gunslinger said. “With Black Thirteen, I think it might be the way to everywhere and everywhen.”

“Including the Dark Tower?” Eddie asked. His voice was husky, barely more than a whisper.

“I can’t say,” Roland replied, “but I believe Henchick will show me the cave, and I may know more then. Meanwhile, you three have business in Took’s, the general store.”

“Do we?” Jake asked.

“You do.” Roland balanced his purse on his lap, opened it, and dug deep. At last he came out with a leather drawstring bag none of them had seen before.

“My father gave me this,” he said absently. “It’s the only thing I have now, other than the ruins of my younger face, that I had when I rode into Mejis with my ka-mates all those years ago.”

They looked at it with awe, sharing the same thought: if what the gunslinger said was true, the little leather bag had to be hundreds of years old. Roland opened it, looked in, nodded. “Susannah, hold out your hands.”

She did. Into her cupped palms he poured perhaps ten pieces of silver, emptying the bag.

“Eddie, hold out yours.”

“Uh, Roland, I think the cupboard’s bare.”

“Hold out your hands.”