Pet Sematary - Stephen King [45]
Its going to be awfully late for her, Louis.
Well take the car, he said. Come on, Rachel. Shes been looking forward to this for a month.
Well She smiled. Ellie saw it and shouted again. She ran for the coat closet. Is Norma all right?
I think so. He felt good. Tired but good. It was a small one. Shes going to have to be careful, but when youre seventy-five you have to recognize that your pole-vaulting days are done anyway.
Its lucky you were there. Almost Gods providence.
Ill settle for luck. He grinned as Ellie came back. You ready, Witch Hazel?
Im ready, she said. Come on-come on-come on!
On the way home with half a bag of candy an hour later (Ellie protested when Louis finally called a halt, but not too much; she was tired), his daughter startled him by saying: Did I make Missus Crandall have the heart attack, Daddy? When I wouldnt take the apple with the bruise on it?
Louis looked at her, startled, wondering where children got such funny, half-superstitious ideas. Step on a crack, break your mothers back. Loves me, loves me not. Daddys stomach, Daddys head, smile at midnight, Daddys dead. That made him think of the Pet Sematary again and those crude circles. He wanted to smile at himself and was not quite able.
No, honey, he said. When you were in with those two ghosts-
Those werent ghosts, just the Buddinger twins.
Well, when you were in with them, Mr. Crandall was telling me that his wife had been having little chest pains. In fact, you might have been responsible for saving her life or at least for keeping it from being much worse.
Now it was Ellies turn to look startled.
Louis nodded. She needed a doctor, honey. Im a doctor. But I was only there because it was your night to go trick-or-treating.
Ellie considered this for a long time and then nodded. But shell probably die anyway, she said matter-of-factly. People who have heart attacks usually die. Even if they live, pretty soon they have another one and another one and another one until
boom!
And where did you learn these words of wisdom, may I ask? Ellie only shrugged-a very Louislike shrug, he was amused to see.
She allowed him to carry in her bag of candy-an almost ultimate sign of trust-and Louis pondered her attitude. The thought of Churchs death had brought on near-hysteria. But the thought of grandmotherly Norma Crandall dying that Ellie seemed to take calmly, a matter of course, a given. What had she said? Another one and another one, until boom!
The kitchen was empty, but Louis could hear Rachel moving around upstairs. He set Ellies candy down on the counter and said, It doesnt necessarily work that way, Ellie. Normas heart attack was a very small one, and I was able to administer the
treatment right away. I doubt if her heart was damaged much at all. She-
Oh, I know, Ellie agreed, almost cheerfully. But shes old, and shell die pretty soon anyway. Mr. Crandall too. Can I have an apple before I go to bed, Daddy?
No, he said, looking at her thoughtfully. Go up and brush your teeth, babe.
Does anyone really think they understand kids? he wondered.
When the house was settled and they were in their side-by-side twin beds, Rachel asked softly, Was it very bad for Ellie, Lou? Was she upset?
No, he thought. She knows old people croak at regular intervals, just like she knows to let the grasshopper go when it spits like she knows that if you stumble on the number thirteen when youre skipping rope, your best friend will die like she knows that you put the graves in diminishing circles up in the Pet Sematary.
Nope, he said. She handled herself very well. Lets go to sleep, Rachel, okay?
That night, as they slept in their house and as Jud lay wakeful in his, there was another hard frost. The wind rose in the early morning, ripping most of the remaining leaves, which were now an uninteresting brown, from