The Shining 原版小说-第44章
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shirt undone? A place where both she and Danny were excluded and the boogie went
on endlessly?
Wendy was worried about him; the old; helpless worry that she had hoped was
behind her forever in Vermont; as if worry could somehow not cross state lines。
She didn't like what the Overlook seemed to be doing to Jack and Danny。
The most frightening thing; vaporous and unmentioned; perhaps unmentionable;
was that all of Jack's drinking symptoms had e back; one by one 。。。 all but
the drink itself。 The constant wiping of the lips with hand or handkerchief; as
if to rid them of excess moisture。 Long pauses at the typewriter; more balls of
paper in the wastebasket。 There had been a bottle of Excedrin on the telephone
table tonight after Al had called him; but no water glass。 He had been chewing
them again。 He got irritated over little things。 He would unconsciously start
snapping his fingers in a nervous rhythm when things got too quiet。 Increased
profanity。 She had begun to worry about his temper; too。 It would almost e as
a relief if he would lose it; blow off steam; in much the same way that he went
down to the basement first thing in the morning and last thing at night to dump
the press on the boiler。 It would almost be good to see him curse and kick a
chair across the room or slam a door。 But those things; always an integral part
of his temperament; had almost wholly ceased。 Yet she had the feeling that Jack
was more and more often angry with her or Danny; but was refusing to let it out。
The boiler had a pressure gauge: old; cracked; clotted with grease; but still
workable。 Jack had none。 She had never been able to read him very well。 Danny
could; but Danny wasn't talking。
And the call from Al。 At about the same time it had e; Danny had lost all
interest in the story they had been reading。 He left her to sit by the fire and
crossed to the main desk where Jack had constructed a roadway for his matchbox
cars and trucks。 The Violent Violet Volkswagen was there and Danny had begun to
push it rapidly back and forth。 Pretending to read her own book but actually
looking at Danny over the top of it; she had seen an odd amalgam of the ways she
and Jack expressed anxiety。 The wiping of the lips。 Running both hands nervously
through his hair; as she had done while waiting for Jack to e home from his
round of the bars。 She couldn't believe Al had called just to 〃ask how things
were going。〃 If you wanted to shoot the bull; you called Al。 When Al called you;
that was business。
Later; when she had e back downstairs; she had found Danny curled up by the
fire again; reading the second…grade…primer adventures of Joe and Rachel at the
circus with their daddy in plete; absorbed attention。 The fidgety distraction
had pletely disappeared。 Watching him; she had been struck again by the eerie
certainty that Danny knew more and understood more than there was room for in
Dr。 (〃Just call me Bill〃) Edmonds's philosophy。
〃Hey; time for bed; doc;〃 she'd said。
〃Yeah; okay。〃 He marked his place in the book and stood up。
〃Wash up and brush your teeth。〃
〃Okay。〃
〃Don't forget to use the floss。〃
〃I won't。〃
They stood side by side for a moment; watching the wax and wane of the coals
of the fire。 Most of the lobby was chilly and drafty; but this circle around the
fireplace was magically warm; and hard to leave。
〃It was Uncle Al on the phone;〃 she said casually。
〃Oh yeah?〃 Totally unsurprised。
〃I wonder if Uncle Al was mad at Daddy;〃 she said; still casually。
〃Yeah; he sure was;〃 Danny said; still watching the fire。 〃He didn't want
Daddy to write the book。〃
〃What book; Danny?〃
〃About the hotel。〃
The question framed on her lips was one she and Jack had asked Danny a
thousand times: How do you know that? She hadn't asked him。 She didn't want to
upset him before bed; or make him aware that they were casually discussing his
knowledge of things he had no way of knowing at all。 And he did know; she was
convinced of that。 Dr。 Edmonds's patter about inductive reasoning and
subconscious logic was just that: patter。 Her sister 。。。 how had Danny known
she was thinking about Aileen in the waiting room that day? And
(I dreamed Daddy had an accident。)
She shook her head; as if to clear it。 〃Go wash up; doc。〃
〃Okay。〃 He ran up the stairs toward their quarters。 Frowning; she had gone
into the kitchen to warm Jack's milk in a saucepan。
And now; lying wakeful in her bed and listening to her husband's breathing and
the wind outside (miraculously; they'd had only another flurry that afternoon;
still no heavy snow); she let her mind turn fully to her lovely; troubling son;
born with a caul over his face; a simple tissue of membrane that doctors saw
perhaps once in every seven hundred births; a tissue that the old wives' tales
said betokened the second sight。
She decided that it was time to talk to Danny about the Overlook 。。。 and
high time she tried to get Danny to talk to her。 Tomorrow。 For sure。 The two of
them would be going down to the Sidewinder Public Library to see if they could
get him some second…grade…level books on an extended loan through the winter;
and she would talk to him。 And frankly。 With that thought she felt a little
easier; and at last began to drift toward sleep。
* * *
Danny lay awake in his bedroom; eyes open; left arm encircling his aged and
slightly worse…for…wear Pooh (Pooh had lost one shoe…button eye and was oozing
stuffing from half a dozen sprung seams); listening to his parents sleep in
their bedroom。 He felt as if he were standing unwilling guard over them。 The
nights were the worst of all。 He hated the nights and the constant howl of the
wind around the west side of the hotel。
His glider floated overhead from a string。 On his bureau the VW model; brought
up from the roadway setup downstairs; glowed a dimly fluorescent purple。 His
books were in the bookcase; his coloring books on the desk。 A place for
everything and everything in its place。 Mommy said。 Then you know where it is
when you want it。 But now things had been misplaced。 Things were missing。 Worse
still; things had been added; things you couldn't quite see; like in one of
those pictures that said CAN YOU SEE THE INDIANS? And if you strained and
squinted; you could see some of them the thing you had taken for a cactus at
first glance was really a brave with a knife clamped in his teeth; and there
were others hiding in the rocks; and you could even see one of their evil;
merciless faces peering through the spokes of a covered wagon wheel。 But you
could never see all of them; and that was what made you uneasy。 Because it was
the ones you couldn't see that would sneak up behind you; a tomahawk in one hand
and a scalping knife in the other 。。。
He shifted uneasily in his bed; his eyes searching out the forting glow of
the night light。 Things were worse here。 He knew that much for sure。 At first
they hadn't been so bad; but little by little 。。。 his daddy thought about
drinking a lot more。 Sometimes he was angry at Mommy and didn't know why。 He
went around wiping his lips with his handkerchief and his eyes were far away and
cloudy。 Mommy was worried about him and Danny; too。 He didn't have to shine into
her to know that; it had been in the anxious way she had questioned him on the
day the fire hose had seemed to turn into a snake。 Mr。 Hallorann said he thought
all mothers could shine a little bit; and she had known on that day that
something had happened。 But not what。
He had almost told her; but a couple of things had held him back。 He knew that
the doctor in Sidewinder had dismissed Tony and the things that Tony showed him
as perfectly
(well almost)
normal。 His mother might not believe him if he told her about the hose。 Worse;
she might believe him in the wrong way; might think he was LOSING HIS MARBLES。
He understood a little about LOSING YOUR MARBLES; not as much as he did about
GETTING A BABY; which his mommy had explained to him the year before at some
length; but enough。
Once; at nursery school; his friend Scott had pointed out a boy named Robin
Stenger; who was moping around the swings with a face almost long enough to step
on。 Robin's father taught arithmetic at Daddy's school; and Scott's daddy taught
history there。 Most of the kids at the nursery school were associated either
with Stovington Prep or with the small IBM plant just outside of town。 The prep
kids chummed in one group; the IBM kids in another。 There were cross…
friendships; of course; but it was natural enough for the kids whose fathers
knew each other to more or less stick together。 When there was an adult scandal
in one group; it almost always filtered down to the children in some wildly
mutated form or other; but it rarely jumped to the other group。
He and Scotty were sitting in the play rocketship when Scotty jerked his thumb
at Robin and said: 〃You know that kid?〃
〃Yeah;〃 Danny said。
Scott leaned forward。 〃His dad LOST HIS MARBLES last night。 T