Doctor Sleep: A Novel

up the board, Abra excused herself to use the toilet. She did need to go, but first she made a quick detour into the living room and peeked out the bow window. Billy’s truck was parked across the street. He saw the curtains twitch and flashed her a thumbs-up. Abra returned the gesture. Then the small part of her that was here went to the bathroom while the rest of her sat in the cab of The Helen Rivington .
    We’ll eat our picnic, pick up our trash, watch the sunset, and then we’ll go back.
    ( eat our picnic, pick up our trash, watch the sunset, and then)
    Something unpleasant and unexpected broke into her thoughts, and hard enough to snap her head back. A man and two women. The man had an eagle on his back, and both women had tramp stamps. Abra could see the tattoos because they were having naked sex beside a pool while stupid old disco music played. The women were letting out a lot of fake moans. What in hell had she stumbled across?
    The shock of what those people were doing destroyed her delicate balancing act, and for a moment Abra was all in one place, all here . Cautiously, she looked again, and saw the people by the pool were all blurry. Not real. Almost ghostie people. And why? Because Barry was almost a ghostie person himself and had no interest in watching people have sex by the—
    Those people aren’t by a pool, they’re on TV .
    Did Barry the Chink know she was watching him watch some porno TV show? Him and the others? Abra wasn’t sure, but she didn’t think so. They had taken the possibility into account, though. Oh, yes. If she was there, they were trying to shock her into going away, or into revealing herself, or both.
    “Abra?” Emma called. “We’re ready to play!”
    We’re playing already, and it’s a much bigger game than Scrabble .
    She had to get her balance back, and quickly. Never mind the porno TV with the crappy disco music. She was in the little train. She was driving the little train. It was her special treat. She was having fun.
    We’re going to eat, we’re going to pick up our trash, we’re going to watch the sunset, and then we’re going to go back. I’m afraid of the woman in the hat but not too afraid, because I’m not home, I’m going to Cloud Gap with my dad .
    “Abra! Did you fall in?”
    “Coming!” she called. “Just want to wash my hands!”
    I’m with my dad. I’m with my dad, and that’s all.
    Looking at herself in the mirror, Abra whispered, “Hold that thought.”
    3
    Jimmy Numbers was behind the wheel when they pulled into the Bretton Woods rest stop, which was quite close to Anniston, the town where the troublesome girl lived. Only she wasn’t there. According to Barry, she was in a town called Frazier, a little further southeast. On a picnic with her dad. Making herself scarce. Much good it would do her.
    Snake inserted the first video in the DVD player. It was called Kenny’s Poolside Adventure . “If the kid’s watching this, she’s gonna get an education,” she said, and pushed PLAY.
    Nut was sitting beside Barry and feeding him more juice . . . when he could, that was. Barry had begun to cycle for real. He had little interest in juice and none at all in the poolside ménage à trois. He only looked at the screen because those were their orders. Each time he came back to his solid form, he groaned louder.
    “Crow,” he said. “Get with me, Daddy.”
    Crow was beside him in an instant, elbowing Walnut aside.
    “Lean close,” Barry whispered, and—after one uneasy moment—Crow did as he was asked.
    Barry opened his mouth, but the next cycle started before he could speak. His skin turned milky, then thinned to transparency. Crow could see his teeth locked together, the sockets that held his pain-filled eyes, and—worst of all—the shadowy crenellations of his brain. He waited, holding a hand that was no longer a hand but only a nestle of bones. Somewhere, at a great distance, that twanky disco music went on and on. Crow thought, They must be on drugs. You couldn’t fuck to music like that unless you were .
    Slowly, slowly, Barry the Chink grew dense again. This time he screamed as he came back. Sweat stood out on his brow. So did the red spots, now so bright they looked like beads of blood.
    He wet his lips and said, “Listen to me.”
    Crow listened.
    4
    Dan did his best to empty his mind so Abra could fill it. He had driven the Riv out to Cloud Gap often enough for it to be almost automatic, and John was riding back by