Black House

by Stephen King

  Bees are coming out onto the porch of Black House. Bees, and the children the bees are leading. They come in droves, laughing and crying and holding hands. Jack Sawyer has a brief, brilliant image of animals leaving Noah’s Ark after the flood.

  “Holy Mary, Mother of God,” Dale whispers again. The yard is filling with laughing, crying, murmuring children.

  Jack walks up to Beezer, who turns to him with a brilliant smile.

  “After all the children come through, we have to close the door,” Jack says. “For good.”

  “I know we do,” says Beezer.

  “You happen to have any brilliant ideas?”

  “Well,” Beezer says, “let me put it this way. If you promise me, and I mean promise me, not to ask any awkward questions or say anything about it later, before midnight tonight I might find it possible to lay my hands on a substantial quantity of something pretty damn effective.”

  “What? Dynamite?”

  “Please,” Beezer says. “Didn’t I say effective?”

  “You mean … ?”

  Beezer smiles, and his eyes become slits.

  “I’m glad you’re on my side,” Jack says. “See you back on the road before midnight. We’ll have to sneak in, but I don’t think we’ll have any trouble.”

  “Sure won’t have any on the way out,” Beezer says.

  Doc claps Dale on the shoulder. “I hope you’ve got some on-the-ball child-welfare organizations in this part of the world, Chiefy. I think you’re going to need them.”

  “Holy …” Dale turns stricken eyes to Jack. “What am I going to do?”

  Jack grins. “I think you better make a call to … what does Sarah call them? The Color Posse?”

  A gleam of hope dawns in Dale Gilbertson’s eyes. Or maybe it’s incipient triumph. John P. Redding of the FBI, officers Perry Brown and Jeffrey Black of the Wisconsin State Police. He imagines this trio of bungholes faced with the appearance of a medieval children’s crusade in western Wisconsin. Imagines the Dickensian piles of paperwork such an unheard-of event must certainly generate. It will keep them occupied for months or years. It may generate nervous breakdowns. Certainly it will give them something to think about other than Chief Dale Gilbertson of French Landing.

  “Jack,” he says. “What exactly do you suggest?”

  “In broad strokes,” Jack says, “I suggest that they should get stuck with all the work and you should hog all the credit. How does that sound to you?”

  Dale thinks about it. “Very fair,” he says. “What do you say we get this kiddo to his dad, then both of them up to Arden to see his mom?”

  “Good,” Jack says. “I only wish Henry was here, too.”

  “That makes us a pair,” Dale says, and slides back behind the wheel. A moment later, they are rolling up the lane.

  “What about all those kids?” Ty asks, looking out through the back window. “Are you just going to leave them?”

  “I’ll call WSP as soon as we’re back on the highway,” Dale says. “I think they should get on this right away, don’t you guys? And the Feebs, of course.”

  “Right,” Beezer says.

  “Fuckin’ A,” Doc says.

  “An excellent administrative call,” Jack says, and sits Tyler down on his lap. “In the meantime they’ll be fine,” he says in the boy’s ear. “They’ve seen a lot worse than Wisconsin.”

  Let us slip now from the driver’s window like the breeze we are and watch them go—four brave men and one brave child who will never be so young (or so innocent) again. Behind them, the now harmless and unmagicked yard of Black House is alive with children, their faces dirty, their eyes wide with wonder. English is a minority tongue here, and some of the languages being spoken will puzzle the world’s best linguists in the years ahead. This is the beginning of a worldwide sensation (Time’s cover story the following week will be “The Miracle Children from Nowhere”) and, as Dale has already surmised, a bureaucratic nightmare.

  Still, they are safe. And our guys are safe, too. All of them came back in one piece from the other side, and surely we did not expect that; most quests of this type usually demand at least one sacrifice (a relatively minor character like Doc, for instance). All’s well that ends well. And this can be the end, if you want it to be; neither of the scribbling fellows who have brought you this far would deny you that. If you do choose to go on, never say you weren’t warned: you’re not going to like what happens next.

  XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX

  FRENCH LANDING PD CHIEF REFUSES TO CANCEL PRESS CONFERENCE, CITES SUPPORT OF TOWN OFFICIALS; SOURCES CONFIRM CELEB L.A. COP WILL ATTEND; FBI, WISC S.P. EXPRESS STRONG DISAPPROVAL

  **Exclusive**

  One of them, Tyler Marshall, is from French Landing itself. Another, Josella Rakine, is from Bating, a small village in the south of England. A third is from Baghdad. All told, 17 of the so-called Miracle Children have been identified in the week since they were discovered walking along a rural highway (Rte 35) in western Wisconsin.

  Yet these 17 are only the tip of the iceberg.

  Sources close to the joint FBI/WSP (and now CIA?) investigation tell the Drudge Report that there are at least 750 children, far more than have been reported in the mainstream press. Who are they? Who took them, and to where? How did they get to the town of French Landing, which has been plagued by a serial killer (now reported deceased) in recent weeks? What part was played by Jack Sawyer, the Los Angeles detective who rose to stardom only to retire at age 31? And who was responsible for the massive explosion that destroyed a mysterious dwelling in the woods, reputedly central to the Fisherman case?

  Some of these questions may be answered tomorrow in French Landing’s La Follette Park, when P.D. Chief Dale Gilbertson holds a press conference. His longtime friend Jack Sawyer—reputed to have broken the Fisherman case singlehandedly—will be standing next to him when he takes the podium. Also expected to be present are two deputies, Armand St. Pierre and Reginald Amberson, who participated in last week’s rescue mission.

  The press conference will take place over the strong—almost strident—objections of an FBI/WSP task force headed by FBI agent John P. Redding and Wisconsin State Police Detective Jeffrey Black. “They [task force leaders] believe this is nothing but a last-ditch effort on the part of Gilbertson to save his job,” a source said. “He botched everything, but luckily has a friend who knows a lot about public relations.”

  French Landing town officials sing a different tune. “This summer has been a nightmare for the people of French Landing,” says town treasurer Beth Warren. “Chief Gilbertson wants to assure the people that the nightmare is over. If he can give us some answers about the children in the process of doing that, so much the better.”

  Interest focuses on Jack “Hollywood” Sawyer, who got to know Chief Gilbertson and the town of French Landing during the case of Thornberg Kinderling, the so-called Prostitute Killer. Sawyer was urged by Gilbertson to take an active role in the Fisherman case, and apparently played a large part in the events that followed.

  What events, exactly, were they? That is what the world is waiting to find out. The first answers may come tomorrow, in La Follette Park, on the banks of the mighty Mississippi.

  Developing …

  29

  “YOU GUYS READY?” Dale asks.

  “Aw, man, I don’t know,” Doc says. This isn’t the fifth time he’s said it, maybe not even the fifteenth. He’s pale, almost hyperventilating. The four of them are in a Winnebago—kind of a rolling green room—that has been set up on the edge of La Follette Park. Nearby is the podium on which they’ll stand (always assuming Doc can keep his legs under him) and deliver their carefully crafted answers. On the slope running down to the broad river are gathered nearly four hundred newspeople, plus camera crews from six American networks and God knows how many foreign stations. The gentlemen of the press aren’t in the world’s best mood, because the prime space in front of the podium has been reserved for a representative sampli
ng (drawn by lottery) of French Landing’s residents. This was Dale’s one ironclad demand for the press conference.

  The idea for the press conference itself came from Jack Sawyer.

  “Mellow out, Doc,” Beezer says. He looks bigger than ever in his gray linen slacks and open-collared white shirt—almost like a bear in a tuxedo. He has even made an effort to comb his acres of hair. “And if you really think you’re going to do one of the Three P’s—piss, puke, or pass out—stay here.”

  “Nah,” Doc says miserably. “In for a penny, in for a fuckin’ pound. If we’re gonna give it a try, let’s give it a try.”

  Dale, resplendent in his dress uniform, looks at Jack. The latter is if anything more resplendent in his gray summerweight suit and dark blue silk tie. A matching blue handkerchief pokes from the breast pocket of his coat. “You sure this is the right thing?”

  Jack is completely sure. It’s not a matter of refusing to allow Sarah Gilbertson’s Color Posse to steal the limelight; it’s a matter of making certain that his old friend is in an unassailable position. He can do this by telling a very simple story, which the three other men will back up. Ty will do the same, Jack is confident. The story is this: Jack’s other old friend, the late Henry Leyden, figured out the Fisherman’s identity from the 911 tape. This tape was supplied by Dale, his nephew. The Fisherman killed Henry, but not before the heroic Mr. Leyden had mortally wounded him and passed his name to the police. (Jack’s other interest in this press conference, understood perfectly and supported completely by Dale, is to make sure Henry gets the credit he deserves.) An examination of French Landing property records and plats uncovered the fact that Charles Burnside owned a house on Highway 35, not far out of town. Dale deputized Jack and two widebodies who just happened to be in the vicinity (that would be Messrs. Amberson and St. Pierre), and they went on out there.

  “From that point on,” Jack told his friends repeatedly in the days leading up to the press conference, “it’s vital that you remember the three little words that lead to most acquittals in criminal trials. And what are those words?”

  “ ‘I can’t remember,’ ” Dale said.

  Jack nodded. “Right. If you don’t have a story to remember, the bastards can never trip you up. There was something in the air inside that place—”

  “No lie,” Beezer rumbled, and grimaced.

  “—and it messed us up. What we do remember is this: Ty Marshall was in the backyard, handcuffed to the clothesline whirligig.” Before Beezer St. Pierre and Jack Sawyer slipped through the police barricades and vaporized Black House with plastic explosive, one reporter got out there and took numerous pictures. We know which reporter it was, of course; Wendell Green has finally realized his dreams of fame and fortune.

  “And Burnside was dead at his feet,” Beezer said.

  “Right. With the key to the handcuffs in his pocket. Dale, you found that and released the boy. There were a few other kids in the backyard, but as to how many—”

  “We don’t remember,” Doc said.

  “As to their sexes—”

  “A few boys, a few girls,” Dale said. “We don’t remember exactly how many of each.”

  “And as for Ty, how he was taken, what happened to him—”

  “He said he didn’t remember,” Dale said, smiling.

  “We left. We think we called to the other kids—”

  “But don’t exactly remember—” the Beez chips in.

  “Right, and in any case they seemed safe enough where they were for the time being. It was when we were putting Ty into the cruiser that we saw them all streaming out.”

  “And called the Wisconsin State Police for backup,” Dale said. “I do remember that.”

  “Of course you do,” Jack said benevolently.

  “But we have no idea how that darn place got blasted all to hell, and we don’t know who did it.”

  “Some people,” Jack said, “are all too eager to take justice into their own hands.”

  “Lucky they didn’t blow their heads clean off,” said Dale.

  “All right,” Jack tells them now. They’re standing at the door. Doc has produced half a joint, and four quick, deep tokes have calmed him visibly. “Just remember why we’re doing this. The message is that we were there first, we found Ty, we saw only a few other children, we deemed their situation secure due to the death of Charles Burnside, also known as Carl Bierstone, the South Side Monster, and the Fisherman. The message is that Dale behaved properly—that we all did—and he then handed the investigation off to the FBI and WSP, who are now holding the baby. Babies, I guess in this case. The message is that French Landing is okay again. Last but far from least, the message is that Henry Leyden’s the real star. The heroic blind man who I.D.’d Charles Burnside and broke the Fisherman case, mortally wounding the monster and losing his own life in the process.”

  “Amen,” Dale says. “Sweet old Uncle Henry.”

  Beyond the door of the Winnebago, he can hear the surflike rumble of hundreds of people. Maybe even a thousand. He thinks, This is what rock acts hear before they hit the stage. A lump suddenly rises in his throat and he does his best to gulp it back down. He reckons that if he keeps thinking of Uncle Henry he will be okay.

  “Anything else,” Jack says, “questions that get too specific—”

  “We can’t remember,” Beezer says.

  “Because the air was bad,” Doc agrees. “Smelled like ether or chloro or something like that.”

  Jack surveys them, nods, smiles. This will be a happy occasion, on the whole, he thinks. A love feast. Certainly the idea that he might be dying in a few minutes has not occurred to him.

  “Okay,” he says, “let’s go out there and do it. We’re politicians this afternoon, politicians at a press conference, and it’s the politicians who stay on message who get elected.”

  He opens the RV’s door. The rumble of the crowd deepens in anticipation.

  They cross to the jury-rigged platform this way: Beezer, Dale, Jack, and the good Doctor. They move in a warm white nova glare of exploding flashbulbs and 10-k TV lights. Jack has no idea why they need such things—the day is bright and warm, a Coulee Country charmer—but it seems they do. That they always do. Voices cry, “Over here!” repeatedly. There are also thrown questions, which they ignore. When it comes time to answer questions they will—as best they can—but for now they are simply stunned by the crowd.

  The noise begins with the two hundred or so French Landing residents sitting on folding chairs in a roped-off area directly in front of the podium. They rise to their feet, some clapping, others waving clenched fists in the air like winning boxers. The press picks it up from them, and as our four friends mount the steps to the podium, the roar becomes a thunder. We are with them, up on the platform with them, and God, we see so many faces we know looking up at us. There’s Morris Rosen, who slipped Henry the Dirtysperm CD on our first day in town. Behind him is a contingent from the now defunct Maxton Elder Care: the lovely Alice Weathers is surrounded by Elmer Jesperson, Ada Meyerhoff (in a wheelchair), Flora Flostad, and the Boettcher brothers, Hermie and Tom Tom. Tansy Freneau, looking a bit spaced out but no longer outright insane, is standing next to Lester Moon, who has his arm around her. Arnold “Flashlight” Hrabowski, Tom Lund, Bobby Dulac, and the other members of Dale’s department are up on their feet, dancing around and cheering crazily. Look, over there—that’s Enid Purvis, the neighbor who called Fred at work on the day Judy finally high-sided it. There’s Rebecca Vilas, looking almost nunnish in a high-collared dress (but cry no tears for her, Argentina; Becky has stashed away quite a nice bundle, thank you very much). Butch Yerxa is with her. At the back of the crowd, lurking shamefully but unable to stay away from the triumph of their friends, are William Strassner and Hubert Cantinaro, better known to us as Kaiser Bill and Sonny. Look there! Herb Roeper, who cuts Jack’s hair, standing beside Buck Evitz, who delivers his mail. So many others we know, and to whom we must say good-bye under less than h
appy circumstances. In the front row, Wendell Green is hopping around like a hen on a hot griddle (God knows how he got into the roped-off area, being from La Riviere instead of French Landing, but he’s there), taking pictures. Twice he bumps into Elvena Morton, Henry’s housekeeper. The third time he does it, she bats him a damned good one on top of the head. Wendell hardly seems to notice. His head has taken worse shots during the course of the Fisherman investigation. And off to one side, we see someone else we may or may not recognize. An elderly, dark-skinned gentleman wearing shades. He looks a little bit like an old blues singer. He also looks a little bit like a movie actor named Woody Strode.

  The applause thunders and thunders. Folks cheer. Hats are thrown in the air and sail on the summer breeze. Their welcome becomes a kind of miracle in itself, an affirmation, perhaps even an acceptance of the children, who are widely supposed to have been held in some bizarre sexual bondage linked to the Internet. (Isn’t all that weird stuff somehow linked to the Internet?) And of course they applaud because the nightmare is over. The boogeyman died in his own backyard, died at the foot of a prosaic, now vaporized aluminum clothes whirligig, and they are safe again.

  Oh how the cheers ring in these few last moments of Jack Sawyer’s life on planet Earth! Birds are startled up from the bank of the river and go squawking and veering into the sky, seeking quieter environs. On the river itself, a freighter responds to the cheers—or perhaps joins in—by blasting its air horn over and over. Other boats get the idea and add to the cacophony.

  Without thinking about what he’s doing, Jack takes Doc’s right hand in his left, Dale’s left hand in his right. Dale takes Beezer’s hand, and the Sawyer Gang raises their arms together, facing the crowd.

  Which, of course, goes nuts. If not for what is going to happen next, it would be the picture of the decade, perhaps of the century. They stand there in triumph, living symbols of victory with their linked hands in the sky, the crowd cheering, the videocams rolling, the Nikons flashing, and that is when the woman in the third row begins to make her move. This is someone else we know, but it takes us a second or two to recognize her, because she has had nothing at all to do with the case we have been following. She’s just been … sort of lurking around. The two hundred seats up front have been awarded by random drawing from the French Landing voter rolls, the lucky lottery winners notified by Debbi Anderson, Pam Stevens, and Dit Jesperson. This woman was No. 199. Several people shrink from her as she passes them, although in their happy frenzy they are hardly aware of doing it; this pale woman with clumps of straw-colored hair sticking to her cheeks smells of sweat and sleeplessness and vodka. She’s got a little purse. The little purse is open. She’s reaching into it. And we who have lived through the second half of the twentieth century and have through the miracle of TV witnessed a dozen assassinations and near assassinations know exactly what she is reaching for. We want to scream a warning to the four men standing with their linked hands raised to the sky, but all we can do is watch.