𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟱𝟮𝟱
This has been the longest chapter in Wolves of the Calla by far! Father Callahan's back-story could have served as its own separate novella.
But now we know he'll soon die in our world after having gotten the attention of the The Sombra Corporation.
“𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦,” 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦𝘯. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘱.”
Ooooh - now we get to the politics of pure evil. The alliances, the rules they play by, etc. I'm totally here for that!
𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺, 𝘶𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘥-𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴.
I do believe I've actually been in meetings like this before.
“𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦! 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦!” 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳-𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴.
Not unlike Dayna Jurgens in The Stand.
Callahan dies in this world (SPLAT) and wakes up in a Mid-World barn where...
"𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, 𝘍𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘩.”
𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘫𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘮𝘱-𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘦.
And after a few spoken sentences we KNOW it the Man in Black making a surprise appearance!
“𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺?” 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. “𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦?”
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. “𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴. “𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦."
So much backstory? Well that didn't stop King from spending half the book on Callahan's back story. Why should it stop him here?
"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘵? 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳?”
That Callahan arrived at "The Way Station" from the first book and sees the specs of Roland and Jake in the far distance...
“𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴.
“𝘕𝘰𝘱𝘦,” 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬. “𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰.” 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯. 𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘥.
And Walter just... HAND HIM a box containing Black Thirteen - the most powerful of the Wizard's Rainbow???
“𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘢, 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵,” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. “𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴.”
Whoever Mike Flanagan gets to play Walter, he'd better deliver this line... PERFECTLY!
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘥, 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘭.
What in the random heck?
That was a helluva action-packed set of subchapters I just went through. And we're STILL not done with Father Callahan's tale, which I'll have to wrap up tomorrow.
But for the moment, I'm now 66% of the way through Wolves of the Calla.
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