Doctor Sleep

asses. One fellow, a meth-addled veteran of George Bush’s splendid Iraq adventure, had actually waveda pistol at them. Heading back from the Chocorua hole-in-the-wall shack where the vet was denned up with his terrified wife, Dan had said, “ That was a waste of time.”
    “It would be if we did it for them,” Casey said, “but we don’t. We do it for us. You like the life you’re living, Danny-boy?” It wasn’t the first time he had asked this question, and it wouldn’t be the last.
    “Yes.” No hesitationon that score. Maybe he wasn’t the president of General Motors or doing nude love scenes with Kate Winslet, but in Dan’s mind, he had it all.
    “Think you earned it?”
    “No,” Dan said, smiling. “Not really. Can’t earn this.”
    “So what was it that got you back to a place where you like getting up in the morning? Was it luck or grace?”
    He’d believed that Casey wanted him to say it was grace, butduring the sober years he had learned the sometimes uncomfortable habit of honesty. “I don’t know.”
    “That’s okay, because when your back’s against the wall, there’s no difference.”
    5
    “Abra, Abra, Abra,” he said as he walked up the path to Rivington House. “What have you gotten yourself into, girl? And what are you getting me into?”
    He was thinking he’d have to try to get in touch with her byusing the shining, which was never completely reliable, but whenhe stepped into his turret room, he saw that wouldn’t be necessary. Written neatly on his blackboard was this:
    [email protected]
    He puzzled over her screen name for a few seconds, then got it and laughed. “Good one, kid, good one.”
    He powered up his laptop. A moment later, he was looking at a blank email form. He typed in heraddress and then sat watching the blinking cursor. How old was she? As far as he could calculate by their few previous communications, somewhere between a wise twelve and a slightly naïve sixteen. Probably closer to the former. And here he was, a man old enough to have salt speckles in his stubble if he skipped shaving. Here he was, getting ready to start compu-chatting with her. To Catch a Predator, anyone?
    Maybe it’s nothing . It could be; she’s just a kid, after all.
    Yes, but one who was damn scared. Plus, he was curious about her. Had been for some time. The same way, he supposed, that Hallorann had been curious about him.
    I could use a little bit of grace right now. And a whole lot of luck .
    In the SUBJECT box at the top of the email form, Dan wrote Hello Abra . He dropped the cursor,took a deep breath, and typed four words: Tell me what’s wrong .
    6
    On the following Saturday afternoon, Dan was sitting in bright sunshine on one of the benches outside the ivy-covered stone building that housed the Anniston Public Library. He had a copy of the Union Leader open in front of him, and there were words on the page, but he had no idea what they said. He was too nervous.
    Promptlyat two o’clock, a girl in jeans rode up on her bike and lodged it in the rack at the foot of the lawn. She gave him a wave and a big smile.
    So. Abra. As in Cadabra.
    She was tall for her age, most of that height in her legs. Masses of curly blond hair were held back in a thick ponytail that looked ready to rebel and spray everywhere. The day was a bit chilly, and she was wearing a light jacketwith ANNISTON CYCLONES screen-printed on the back. She grabbed a couple of books that were bungee-corded to the rear bumper of her bike, then ran up to him, still with that open smile. Pretty but not beautiful. Except for her wide-set blue eyes. They were beautiful.
    “Uncle Dan! Gee, it’s good to see you!” And she gave him a hearty smack on the cheek. That hadn’t been in the script. Her confidencein his basic okayness was terrifying.
    “Good to see you, too, Abra. Sit down.”
    He had told her they would have to be careful, and Abra—a child of her culture—understood at once. They had agreed that the best thing would be to meet in the open, and there were few places in Anniston more open than the front lawn of the library, which was situated near the middle of the small downtown district.
    She was looking at him with frank interest, perhaps even hunger. He could feel something like tiny fingers patting lightly at the inside of his head.
    ( where’s Tony? )
    Dan touched a finger to his temple.
    Abra smiled, and that completed her beauty, turned her into a girl who would break hearts in another