Doctor Sleep

earthquake. And there’s really no downside. The damage was minor, and hey, we got a terrific party out of it.”
    (Andrew Gould)
    Rose read it twice, then looked up, eyes bright. “Good catch, Jimmy.”
    He grinned. “Thanks. I’ll leave you guys to it, then.”
    “Take Nut with you, he needsto check on Grampa. Crow, you stay a minute.”
    When they were gone, he closed the door. “You think the girl caused that shake in New Hampshire?”
    “I do. Not a hundred percent certain, but at least eighty. And having a place to focus on—not just a town but a street —will make things a hell of a lot easier for me tonight, when I go looking for her.”
    “If you can stick a come-along worm in her head,Rosie, we may not even need to knock her out.”
    She smiled, thinking again that Crow had no idea how special this one was. Later she would think, Neither did I. I only thought I did . “There’s no law against hoping, I suppose. But once we have her, we’ll need something a little more sophisticated than a Mickey Finn, even if it’s a high-tech one. We’ll need some wonder drugthat’ll keep her niceand cooperative until she decides it’s in her best interest to cooperate on her own.”
    “Will you be coming with us when we go to grab her?”
    Rose had assumed so, but now she hesitated, thinking of Grampa Flick. “I’m not sure.”
    He didn’t ask questions—which she appreciated—and turned to the door. “I’ll see that you’re not disturbed again.”
    “Good. And you make sure Walnut gives Grampa a completeexam—I mean from asshole to appetite. If he really is cycling, I want to know tomorrow, when I come out of purdah.” She opened the compartment under the floor and brought out one of the canisters. “And give him what’s left in this.”
    Crow was shocked. “ All of it? Rose, if he’s cycling, there’s no point.”
    “Give it to him. We’ve had a good year, as several of you have pointed out to me lately.We can afford a little extravagance. Besides, the True Knot only has one grampa. He remembers when the people of Europe worshipped trees instead of time-share condos. We’re not going to lose him if we can help it. We’re not savages.”
    “The rubes might beg to differ.”
    “That’s why they’re rubes. Now get out of here.”
    3
    After Labor Day, Teenytown closed at 3 p.m. on Sundays. This afternoon, atquarter to six, three giants sat on benches near the end of the mini–Cranmore Avenue, dwarfing Teenytown Drug and the Teenytown Music Box Theater (where, during tourist season, you could peek in the window and see teeny film clips playing on a teeny screen). John Dalton had come to the meeting wearing a Red Sox hat, which he placed on the head of the teeny Helen Rivington statue in the teeny courthousesquare. “I’m sure she was a fan,” he said. “Everybody up this way is a fan. Nobody spares a little admiration for the Yankees except exiles like me. What can I do foryou, Dan? I’m missing supper with the family for this. My wife’s an understanding woman, but her patience only stretches so far.”
    “How would she feel about you spending a few days with me in Iowa?” Dan asked. “Strictly on my dime,you understand. I have to make a Twelfth Step call on an uncle who’s killing himself with booze and cocaine. My family’s begging me to step in, and I can’t do it alone.”
    AA had no rules but many traditions (that were, in fact, rules). One of the most ironclad was that you never made a Twelfth Step call on an active alcoholic by yourself, unless the alkie in question was safely incarcerated ina hospital, detox, or the local bughouse. If you did, you were apt to end up matching him drink for drink and line for line. Addiction, Casey Kingsley liked to say, was the gift that kept on giving.
    Dan looked at Billy Freeman and smiled. “Got something to say? Go ahead, feel free.”
    “I don’t think you got an uncle. I’m not sure you’ve got any family left at all.”
    “Is that it? You’re just notsure?”
    “Well . . . you never talk about em.”
    “Plenty of people have family and don’t talk about them. But you know I don’t have anyone, don’t you, Billy?”
    Billy said nothing, but looked uneasy.
    “Danny, I can’t go to Iowa,” John said. “I’m booked right into the weekend.”
    Dan was still focused on Billy. Now he reached into his pocket, grabbed something, and held out his closed fist. “What haveI got?”
    Billy looked more uneasy than