by Robin Furth
CAVERRA, DIANE: Diane Caverra is Reuben’s wife. CALLAHAN names her as another possible CHILD-MINDER. However, due to her husband’s illness, she does not participate either. V:483
CAVERRA, RUTH: See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: ROONTS, listed below
ESTRADA, JORGE: Like many of the other smallhold farmers, Jorge Estrada has children young enough to be taken by the WOLVES. He acts as one of the CHILD-MINDERS during the EAST ROAD battle. See also CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN’S HIDDEN HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATES: MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS (ILLEGAL). V:16–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 222), V:488–92 (present), V:656, V:662–67 (present), V:677, V:689 (folken), V:693–97 (folken)
ESTRADA, DEELIE: She is the wife of Jorge Estrada. V:488–92 (present)
FARADAY, NEIL: Squat, cynical Neil Faraday owns a smallhold rice patch far to the South’ards. He is a hard worker but an even harder drinker, a fact easily discerned from the dark circles under his eyes and the burst of purplish veins on his cheeks. When TIAN JAFFORDS calls a meeting to discuss fighting the WOLVES, Faraday (holding his filthy sombrero) counsels caution. Later, during the Calla meeting where Roland tells everyone to bring their children to the PAVILION on the eve of the Wolf attack, Faraday refuses. He will not allow his three children (or his wife) to take part in Roland’s plan. V:18–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 222), V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 611–12, 614)
GEORGE: See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: ROONTS, listed below
GEORGINA: Faraday’s daughter. Her twin became ROONT. V:18
THREE CHILDREN: V:612
WIFE: V:612
HAYCOX, LOUIS: Haycox is a dark-skinned man with a black mustache. His farm is just west of TIAN JAFFORDS’s, near the edge of the Calla. He has four-year-old twins. He is afraid of the WOLVES, but willing to fight for his family. V:19–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 222, 227), V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 606, 608)
TWINS: V:19
JAFFORDS FAMILY: See JAFFORDS FAMILY, listed separately
JAVIER, BUCKY: Bucky Javier has bright little blue eyes in a small head that seems to slope back from his goateed chin. Although he is not the most landed of the smallhold farmers, he is powerful. He owns eighty acres; the rest he gave to his younger sister ROBERTA as a wedding present. His ROONT twin was named BULLY. He and his wife ANNABELLE are both CHILD-MINDERS during the final battle against the WOLVES. See also CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN’S HIDDEN HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATES: MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS (ILLEGAL). V:17–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:159 (owns eighty acres), V:483, V:489–92 (present), V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 602), V:654, V:662–67 (present), V:689 (folken), V:693–97 (folken)
JAVIER, ANNABELLE: She is Bucky’s wife. She and her husband are two of the CHILD-MINDERS during the final battle against the WOLVES. V:483, V:489–92 (present), V:601–17 (not yet named, but present and mentioned on 602), V:654, V:662–67 (present), V:689 (folken), V:693–97 (folken)
JAVIER, BULLY: See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: ROONTS, listed below
JAVIER, ROBERTA: Roberta is Bucky’s younger sister. She and her twin were only a year old when the WOLVES last invaded the Calla, so the two of them were passed over. Since his own twin died, Bucky dotes on his younger siblings. When Roberta married, Bucky gave her half of what he owned. V:159
HUSBAND (UNNAMED): V:159
ROSARIO, FREDDY: Freddy Rosario owns the farm closest to TIAN JAFFORDS’s land. He has fathered one set of twins, but since the children are still nursing, they are probably safe from the WOLVES. V:24–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 222, 225), V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 602)
TWINS: V:24
STRONG, GARRETT: Garrett Strong is a smallhold farmer with the face of a pug dog. During the men’s meeting at the Calla GATHERING HALL at the beginning of Wolves of the Calla, he is outraged by the MANNI’s suggestion that the people of the Calla should kill their children and kill themselves rather than face the WOLVES. His farmhand’s name is ROSSITER. V:17–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 222), V:486, V:601–17 (Strongs)
ROSSITER: Garrett Strong’s farmhand. V:20–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 602)
MANNI: See MANNI, listed separately
RANCHERS:
ADAMS, DIEGO: Diego Adams has intense black eyes. Like OVERHOLSER and EISENHART, he is a wealthy man and so has much to lose should the WOLVES burn down the town. He does not want to fight the Wolves, though his own children are prepubescent and at risk. His wife, on the other hand, is one of the SISTERS OF ORIZA. She wants to fight alongside Roland during the EAST ROAD battle, but is not accurate enough with the plate to take part in the ambush. Instead, Roland puts her in charge of the CHILD-MINDERS and the twins they guard. V:17–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 214, 230), V:489–92 (present)
ADAMS, SAREY: See ORIZA, SISTERS OF
EISENHART, VAUGHN: Vaughn Eisenhart is one of the most important men of the Calla. His ranch, called the ROCKING B, is located south of town. Eisenhart’s foreman is BEN SLIGHTMAN, whose son, BENNY, becomes a close friend of JAKE’s. Unfortunately, Slightman the elder turns out to be a traitor to his town.
Unlike most of the other men of the BORDERLANDS, Eisenhart owns three guns, all of which have been in his family for seven generations. The best of the shooting-irons is an ancient rifle, which he brings to important meetings, such as the one TIAN JAFFORDS calls at the GATHERING HALL at the outset of Wolves of the Calla. The other two are barrel-shooters, and only one of them is in good enough condition to fire.
Although Eisenhart, like the other wealthy men of the Calla, is initially skeptical about our tet’s ability to best the WOLVES, he eventually has a change of heart. This change comes about because of his wife, MARGARET (originally of the MANNI clan), who is one of the SISTERS OF ORIZA. Margaret wants to stand with Roland’s tet and fight the Wolves, and her husband, who knows how much she has given up for him and their six children, agrees to let her take part in the EAST ROAD battle. During the Calla’s final stand against the invaders from THUNDERCLAP, Vaughn acts as one of the CHILD-MINDERS. Unfortunately, his wife does not survive the fray, but is decapitated by one of the Wolves’ light-sticks. In our last glimpse of Vaughn, he is cradling his dead wife’s head. V:13–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:153, V:158, V:169, V:205, V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 219, 223, 224), V:234, V:244, V:294, V:302, V:313, V:318–25 (321—shrewder than Overholser), V:328–42, V:345, V:404 (countryman’s sense of humor), V:407–8 (heathen man), V:495, V:497–98, V:572, V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 602, 605, 608–9, 613), V:655, V:662–67 (present; mentioned directly on 666), V:677, V:689, V:690–94, VI:9, VI:17, VI:25 (indirect)
COOKIE: The cook at ROCKING B. V:553
EISENHART, MARGARET: See ORIZA, SISTERS OF
EISENHART, VERNA: See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: ROONTS, listed below
EISENHART CHILDREN (TOM AND TESSA, SECOND SET OF TWINS, FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD TWINS): There are six Eisenhart children. The eldest two—Tom and Tessa—were born less than a month before the last WOLF invasion. The youngest pair is fifteen. Although none of the Eisenhart children have been made ROONT, all have left the Calla in search of a place free from THUNDERCLAP’s marauders. In MARGARET’s opinion, she and her husband didn’t lose three children to the Wolves—they lost all six. V:328–29
EISENHART’S DA: V:319
EISENHART’S GRAND-DA: V:319
RANCH COWPOKES: V:321, V:334, V:336–37, V:489, V:495, V:553 (hands)
SLIGHTMAN, BEN (EISENHART’S FOREMAN): Ben Slightman is the father of BENNY, also called BENNY THE KID (listed below). We are told that Slightman, an earnest-looking man in spectacles and farmer’s clothes, does not suffer fools lightly.
In the GATHERING HALL meeting where TIAN JAFFORDS suggests that the Calla folken stand up to the WOLVES, Slightman counsels caution. Later we learn the true reason for Slightman’s fears.
Four years before the beginning of our story, Slightman (a widower) lost Benny’s twin sister to a disease called hot-lung. The child was probably infected by ANDY, but grieving Slightman didn’t know this. He agreed to betray his fellow townsfolk for a pair of spectacles, a music machine which he hides in his saddlebag, and a promise that his one remaining child would be kept safe from the Greencloaks. Slightman’s secret is discovered by JAKE CHAMBERS while he is hiding in the CALLA DOGAN. Jake informs Roland, who then feeds false battle information to Slightman and Andy so that the two of them will misdirect the coming Wolves. Roland’s plan works, but during the EAST ROAD battle Benny is killed. A distraught Slightman (also one of the CHILD-MINDERS) blames Roland for his son’s death, screaming that Roland wanted vengeance on him. Roland manages to silence him before others can hear his confession of guilt. V:19–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:44 (follows ka-tet), V:45 (follows ka-tet), V:47 (follows ka-tet), V:88 (new friends), V:92 (indirect), V:106 (indirect), V:109, V:111–13, V:116, V:122, V:142–60, V:165, V:166, V:167, V:201–10, V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 211, 216, 218), V:234, V:294, V:302, V:313, V:323 (da), V:340–42, V:384–86, V:391, V:495–96, V:533 (indirect), V:534, V:551, V:552, V:553, V:554, V:555, V:558, V:559, V:561, V:567–77, V:578, V:579–80, V:581, V:585, V:586, V:590, V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 602, 607, 608, 610, 611, 614–16), V:637, V:638, V:641, V:654, V:655–61, V:662–67, V:683, V:687, V:689, V:690–97, V:704, VI:17, VI:25, VI:67, VI:167 (or Benny), VI:168 (or Benny), VI:205, VII:191, VII:508
SLIGHTMAN, BENNY (BENNY THE KID): Although Benny Slightman is a few years older than JAKE CHAMBERS, Jake is the more experienced of the two boys. Hence, the pair become well-matched friends. Ben’s twin sister died of hot-lung four years before our story takes place, and so no one knows if he counts as a twin or a singleton. (We find out later that Benny’s twin was probably infected by ANDY.) Benny does not know that his father is a traitor, a fact which saves brave young Ben a lot of pain. During the final stand against the WOLVES, Benny, along with the TAVERY twins, hides in the fighter’s ditch located on the front line of the East Road battle. After MARGARET EISENHART’s death, Benny is killed by one of the Wolves’ flying sneetches.
When Eddie returns to NEW YORK 1977 via BLACK THIRTEEN, he finds out that in our world, Ben Slightman Jr. (or “Benny the Kid,” as Eddie tends to call him) had a namesake who grew up to be a cowboy novelist. This other Ben Slightman Jr. settled in MONTANA, but was killed during an argument with some Indians in front of a local general store. In The Dark Tower, we find out that this Ben Slightman also wrote science fiction under the pen name DAN HOLMES, a name shared by SUSANNAH DEAN’s father. V:29, V:44 (following ka-tet), V:45 (following ka-tet), V:47 (following ka-tet), V:88 (new friends), V:92 (indirect), V:106 (indirect), V:109 (indirect), V:109 (indirect), V:111–13, V:116, V:122–37, V:142–60, V:165, V:169, V:201–10, V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 212, 216, 218, 221, 225 as Jake’s friend, 227, 228, 233, 234), V:235, V:238, V:294, V:302, V:313, V:318–24, V:328, V:332–34 (watches Margaret Eisenhart throw), V:340, V:341, V:381, V:385, V:386, V:487, V:495, V:496, V:501, V:532–34 (namesake author; nineteen letters), V:552, V:553–56, V:557, V:558, V:559, V:568, V:571, V:572, V:574, V:575, V:577, V:578, V:579–80, V:586, V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 602, 614, 615, 616), V:636–38, V:654, V:656, V:657 (Jake’s friend), V:658, V:660, V:661, V:662–73, V:675–76, V:679–82 (hiding, killed on 682), V:683, V:687, V:688–97, V:700, V:705 (friend), VI:3, VI:11, VI:24, VI:25, VI:27, VI:32, VI:167, VI:168, VI:205, VI:269, VI:340, VII:137, VII:191, VII:396, VII:398, VII:403, VII:473, VII:508
TWIN SISTER: Benny’s sister died of hot-lung four years before our story begins. Both she and Benny were ten at the time. At the end of Wolves of the Calla, we find out that she was probably purposefully infected by ANDY, who needed one vulnerable parent to become an informer for the WOLVES. V:112–13, V:204, V:385, V:495, V:554, V:580, V:660
SLIGHTMAN, EDNA: Benny’s aunt. V:323
TELFORD, GEORGE: George Telford, owner of BUCKHEAD RANCH, is silver-haired, tanned, weather-beaten, and handsome. (In EDDIE DEAN’s opinion, he strongly resembles Pa Cartwright from the television program Bonanza.) Although his ranch is not as large as EISENHART’s, Telford is gifted with both a silver tongue and a smooth voice, powerful weapons which he uses against TIAN JAFFORDS in the GATHERING HALL battle for hearts and minds. Like the other wealthy men of the Calla, Telford does not want the Calla folken to stand up against the WOLVES. He is afraid of losing his home and his land. Unlike Eisenhart, who stands with Roland in the end, Telford remains staunchly opposed to our tet’s battle plan. After their victory, he probably has a change of heart. V:24–31 (Town Gathering Hall; present), V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 214, 218, 221, 223–26, 227, indirect, 230), V:244, V:509, V:553 (Buckhead Ranch), V:601–14 (present; mentioned directly on 602, 606–7, 608–9, 611, 612, 614), V:619
ELDEST SON: V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 608)
TELFORD, MRS.: George Telford’s wife. She is described as a plump but hard-faced woman. V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 602, 606)
TELFORD FAMILY: V:606
ROONTS: In Calla Bryn Sturgis, as in the other Callas of the CRESCENT, twins are the norm and singletons are rarities. However, this birthing anomaly has a hidden horror. Once a generation, the WOLVES sweep out of THUNDERCLAP and take one of every pair of prepubescent twins over the age of three. The stolen children are almost always returned (they make the journey back to the Calla upon two flatcars drawn by a train), but when they come back from Thunderclap, they are ruined (roont). No matter how clever they were before they were taken, they return intellectually devastated. Few have the ability to do physical labor and even fewer can speak. Though they grow to prodigious size (some are as tall as seven feet), they are sexually dead. Those who understand at least part of what has happened to them, or who were old enough when they were taken to comprehend some of what they have lost, suffer from terrible depression. Some even commit suicide.
At the end of Wolves of the Calla, we learn that the Calla’s twins are taken to Thunderclap so that the chemical (or perhaps enzyme) which causes “twin-telepathy” can be extracted from their brains. The servants of the CRIMSON KING transform this substance into pills and feed it to the psychic BREAKERS who are eroding the BEAMS. Hence, it seems that ka, not random chance, has brought Roland and his friends to the BORDERLANDS.
Upon reaching their thirties, the roonts grow old with shocking rapidity. They die in terrible physical agony. V:2, V:3, V:11, V:14, V:23, V:24, V:139 (ruined), V:143–47, V:152, V:220, V:319, V:589, V:609, V:630, V:658, V:660, VI:152 (Cullum speaks of roont walk-ins), VI:238 (indirect), VII:173, VII:206, VII:339, VII:532
CAVERRA, RUTH: Twin of REUBEN CAVERRA. V:15, V:483
DOOLIN, MINNIE: Minnie Doolin was the twin sister of MOLLY DOOLIN, the only person in the Calla ever to have killed one of the WOLVES. When Molly hurled that deadly ORIZA, she called out Minnie’s name. V:361, V:363
EISENHART, VERNA: VAUGHN EISENHART’s twin. V:319
FARADAY, GEORGE: Son of NEIL FARADAY, twin brother of GEORGINA FARADAY. V:18
HOONIK, ZALMAN: Twin of ZALIA JAFFORDS. He lives with the JAFFORDS FAMILY. Zalman is seven feet tall. V:10–11, V:146, V:147, V:150, V:344–46, V:349, V:351–57, V:489–92 (present), V:649, V:681 (indirect; brother)
JAFFORDS (GRAN-PERE’S TWIN): V:11, V:362
JAFFORDS, TIA: Tia is TIAN JAFFORDS’s roont twin. She is six and a half feet tall and has enormous breasts. Unlike many of the roonts, she is able to talk. Although she functions at the mental level of a young child, Tia has the uncanny ability of avoiding holes in “loose ground.” She wears one of FATHER CALLAHAN’s Jesus-trees. V:2–9, V:10–11, V:144, V:147, V:150, V:344–46, V:349–50, V:351–5
7, V:368, V:489–92 (present), V:649
JAVIER, BULLY: Twin of BUCKY JAVIER. He died. V:159
OVERHOLSER, WELLAND: Twin of WAYNE OVERHOLSER. V:144, V:147, V:150
SLIDELL (POKEY SLIDELL’S SON): V:362
