by Bev Vincent
His alcoholism worsens, and he hits bottom in Topeka. He dries out and continues to travel. In California, he sees an article about another friend, Rowan Magruder, who was attacked by the Hitler Brothers in New York. The assault was meant to lure him back to Manhattan, and it works. After he visits Magruder in the hospital, the Hitler Brothers attack him, too. Though they usually only maim their victims with swastikas carved into their foreheads, they mean to kill Callahan on behalf of the low men. However, two men interrupt the attack—Calvin Tower and Aaron Deepneau from the Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind. Callahan is left with a cross-shaped scar on his forehead, but he survives.
He ends up working at another shelter in Detroit, thinking that he’s fallen off the low men’s radar. However, they lure him to a meeting at Sombra Corporation’s local offices with promises of a grant. It’s another trap, set by Richard Sayre, the name Eddie saw on the memorandum of agreement Balazar was showing to Calvin Tower. Callahan commits suicide rather than fall victim to the vampires.
Like Jake Chambers, though, for Callahan death isn’t the end. He wakes up in the same Way Station where Jake arrived, greeted by Walter o’Dim, who circled back from leading Roland into the mountains. Walter doesn’t think Roland will survive their encounter, but in case he does, he plans to use Callahan as a trap. He gives the priest Black Thirteen and sends him through the Unfound Door. This magic door goes with him, ending up in the former Cave of Voices north of Calla Bryn Sturgis. The Manni find Callahan and nurse him back to health.
After Roland finishes sharing khef with his ka-tet, he thinks Callahan will be joining them when they leave Calla Bryn Sturgis. Callahan takes Roland to his church to see Black Thirteen, which sleeps beneath the floorboards except when it sent him todash to see Ben Mears’s funeral and, another time, to the Castle of the Crimson King.
Because the ka-tet splits up for maximum efficiency, they need to meet often to share information. Roland finally tells Eddie about Susannah’s pregnancy. His main concern is to make sure she isn’t distracted during the battle. Jake learns the secret on his own because of his strong sense of touch. Roland broaches the possibility of abortion to Father Callahan, who promptly threatens to raise the town against the ka-tet if Roland moves forward with that idea and if he doesn’t do everything in his power to prevent Susannah from doing it on her own.
Jake also suspects that his new friend’s father is lying, suspicions that are confirmed when he follows Ben Slightman and Andy on a late-night sojourn across the Whye to a North Central Positronics monitoring station (Dogan). Andy coerced Slightman into betraying his friends because Benny’s twin sister is dead, which makes him uniquely vulnerable to the Wolves. Jake also learns that the Calla is bugged with cameras, which is why the Wolves are always a few steps ahead of any planned resistance. Slightman and Andy make their reports to someone named Finli o’Tego in Algul Siento.
Time is moving faster in New York, and each time they cross over it will be later, because the version of reality containing the rose is special. They can’t afford to miss the July 15 deadline. Eddie comes up with a simplified version of their plan—rather than messing around with Susannah’s money, he thinks they can convince Tower to sell them the lot for a dollar. That means they have to return only to 1977.
Henchick of the Manni takes Roland to the Doorway Cave, where anyone who enters is tormented by voices from the past. The doorway is exactly like the ones on the Western Sea except it is labeled UNFOUND. Using Black Thirteen, Roland is sure they can open the door to any place or time they want. Once again, Walter’s trap fails—this time it actually proves helpful, perhaps further evidence that all things serve the Beam.
Roland and Eddie use the Unfound Door and Black Thirteen to send Eddie to New York. As long as the box containing Black Thirteen is open, the door remains open, so Roland stays behind to make sure it doesn’t snap shut on its own. The cave’s voices and the seductive voice of the ball are difficult to withstand.
Eddie shows up in time for another meeting at Tower’s store. This time it’s his old nemesis, Jack Andolini, and George Biondi, though it will be a decade before the two men know him. He catches them by surprise, disables Biondi and frightens Andolini sufficiently that he believes he will carry a message back to Balazar: Tower is off-limits. Once the men are gone, Eddie convinces Tower that he is representing the line of Eld and gets the man to agree to sell the lot to the ad hoc company, Tet Corporation, for a dollar.
Balazar’s men have already threatened to burn Tower’s books. Eddie knows Tower won’t be safe in Manhattan, so he convinces him to take a trip out of town until the deadline passes. Deepneau will leave the zip code of their destination on the fence outside the vacant lot. Before Eddie leaves, Tower makes him move a shelf containing his most valuable books through the Unfound Door. Later, when Father Callahan goes to New York to retrieve the zip code, Roland discovers a copy of ’Salem’s Lot in Tower’s collection. He can’t read much of the book, but he understands its importance. When Callahan goes to Stoneham, Maine, to deliver a message to Tower, the voices in the cave almost convince Eddie to jump off the mountain.
As the day of the Wolves approaches, Roland has Tian assemble the Calla-folken once more. He asks them the three prerequisite questions for hiring gunslingers and gets a resounding yes to each. He then lays out their plan, though much of what he says is a lie. It’s part of a disinformation campaign meant to mislead the Wolves. The night before the battle, Eddie tricks Andy and convinces the robot to shut himself down. For generations, he has been coercing someone local into betraying his own people. Those days are done, at least.
Roland’s first clue to Ben Slightman’s complicity was his glasses. Like the pocket watch worn by the salt miner in Debaria, this example of Old People technology gave him away. Even before Andy’s destruction, Slightman believed Jake knew what he was doing because the boy’s attitude toward his son changed. Roland tells him he won’t expose him to his son if he fights hard to save the children. Slightman reveals the reason behind the raids: the twins’ brains contain a special chemical used to enhance the powers of the Breakers, who are working to destroy the Tower.
Susannah’s water breaks moments before the Wolves arrive, but she makes a deal with Mia: allow her to take part in the battle and she will help Mia with the baby. Mia agrees.
The battle is brief. The children are hidden in the rice fields—not the caves, as Roland had led everyone to believe—and the best of the Sisters of Oriza join the ka-tet (forming a Magnificent Seven) in an ambush. From Jamie Jaffords’s story, they know that the Wolves are robots like the ones they dealt with near Shardik’s Portal of the Bear. The hoods cover their vulnerable satellite dishes. There is a momentary crisis when one of the children Roland sends out with Jake to leave a false trail breaks his ankle in a hole. Jake blames him for what happens after. The gunslingers and the Oriza flingers prevail, killing all the Wolves in short order, but Jake’s friend Benny Slightman and one of the Sisters of Oriza are killed.
Even if there are more Wolves back in Thunderclap, the people of the Calla know the secret to destroying them, but Roland believes they’ll never see them again. Despite the deaths, the Calla-folken believe they got off easy and begin a celebration. During the confusion, Mia takes charge of Susannah and leads her up to the Doorway Cave. She passes through, taking Black Thirteen with her, closing the door.
Thwarted in their efforts to pursue Susannah, Roland picks ’Salem’s Lot from the shelf and shows it to the others. Father Callahan is understandably mystified to learn that he’s a character in a novel written by Stephen King, a name Jake recognizes from the deli board at Tower’s bookstore.
Wolves of the Calla ends with twin dilemmas. The ka-tet needs to rescue Susannah, and they need to protect the rose, but their gateway to Keystone Earth is now firmly closed against them. And, of course, there’s the ever-present issue of the Breakers and the failing Tower.
For once, though, readers didn’t have to wait for
years to see what happened next. The sixth book in the Dark Tower series was already written and scheduled to be published in just seven months.
Characters (in order of mention): Tian Jaffords, Andy the Messenger Robot, Jamie Jaffords, Tia Jaffords, Father Callahan, Manni, Zalia Jaffords, Heddon Jaffords, Hedda Jaffords, Lyman Jaffords, Lia Jaffords, Aaron Jaffords, Zalman Hoonik, Vaughn Eisenhart, Reuben Caverra, Benito Cash, Henchick, Jorge Estrada, Garret Strong, Diego Adams, Bucky Javier, Eben Took, Neil Faraday, Georgina Faraday, George Faraday, Ben Slightman, Benny Slightman, Louis Haycox, Wayne Overholser, Rossiter, Farren Posella, Freddy Rosario, George Telford, Jake Chambers, Arthur Eld, Susan Delgado, Blaine the Mono, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Roland Deschain, Oy, Tick-Tock Man, Flagg, Marten, Maerlyn, Shardik, Lord Perth, Rhea, Greta Shaw, Moses Carver, Gasher, Hoots, Elmer Chambers, Ms. Avery, Calvin Tower, Stephen King, Aaron Deepneau, Claudia y Inez Bachman, Alain Johns, Cuthbert Allgood, Enrico Balazar, Kevin Blake, Henry Dean, Jack Andolini, George Biondi, Mia, Odetta Holmes, Detta Walker, Aunt Blue, Vannay, Wallace, Jamie DeCurry, Cort, Engineer Bob, Richard Patrick Sayre, Big Coffin Hunters, Old People, Jack Mort, Dan Holmes, Jessica Beasley, Officer Bosconi, Welland Overholser, Roberta Javier, Bully Javier, Miguel Torres, Grissom, DeMullet, John Farson, Eldred Jonas, Roy Depape, Clay Reynolds, Jimmie Polino, Tommy Fredericks, Skipper Brannigan, Csaba Drabnik, Dora Bertollo, Talitha Unwin, vagrant dead, Chris Johns, Timmy, Dahlie Lundgren, Frank, Luster, Topsy the Sailor, Maud, Winston, Rosalita Muñoz, Frank Tavery, Francine Tavery, Nort the Weedeater, Ben Mears, Matthew Burke, Daniel Glick, Susan Norton, Kurt Barlow, Straker, Mark Petrie, doorkeeper, Loretta Coogan, Hitler Brothers, Lupe Delgado, Rowan Magruder, low men, Crimson King, Dicky Rudebacher, Walter o’Dim, Verna Eisenhart, Margaret Eisenhart, Gray Dick, Lady Oriza, Marian, Lord Grenfall, Tom Eisenhart, Tessa Eisenhart, Sisters of Oriza, Sarey Adams, Hugh Anselm, Pokey Slidell, Eamon Doolin, Molly Doolin, Minni, Gabrielle Deschain, Steven Deschain, Jemmin, Rowena Magruder Rawlings, Norton Randolph, William Garton, slow mutants, Diane Caverra, Cantab, Deelie Estrada, Mr. Tubther, Cimi Dretto, Tricks Postino, Claudio Andolini, Tommy Graham, Benjamin Slightman, Jr., Stefan Toren, Finli o’Tego, Latigo, Bernardo, Haggengood, Bango Skank, Lucas Hanson, Petra Jesserling, Lord Seminon, Breakers, taheen, Annabelle Javier, Krella Anselm, Ara.
Places: Calla Bryn Sturgis; Thunderclap; Borderlands; Out-World; Our Lady of Serenity; Took’s General Store; Mid-World; In-World; Rocking B Ranch; Ayjip; Green Palace; River Whye; Devar-Tete Whye; Calla Lockwood; Gilead; Jerusalem’s Lot; Mejis; I-70; Topeka, Kansas; Dark Tower; Cradle of Lud; Kansas City Blues; Barcelona Luggage Store; Dutch Hill; Piper School; Tom and Gerry’s Artistic Deli; Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind; River Crossing; Chew Chew Mama’s; Tower of Power Records; Calla Fundy; Castle Discordia; Western Sea; Morehouse; Outer Arc; Mansion; Inner Baronies; Turtle Bay Luxury Condominiums; Detroit, Michigan; Callas; Lud; Calla Amity; Calla Bryn Bouse; Calla Staffel; Calla Sen Pinder; Calla Sen Chre; South Seas; Grand Crescent; Eastern Plains; Jericho Hill; Seven Mile Farm; Bleecker Street; Rimrocks; Salt Sea; Clean Sea; Macy’s; Dixie Pig; United Nations; MidTown Lanes; Co-Op City; Travelers’ Rest; Silk Ranch Road; Great Road; Middle Crescent; West Road; North Field; Majestic Theater; Marsten House; St. Andrew’s; Washington Square Park; Home; Lighthouse Shelter; Plaza Hotel; Marine Midland Bank; New York General Hospital; Americano Bar; Battery Park; City Lights; Gage Park; Leabrook, New Jersey; Fort Lee, New Jersey; Waydon; River Send; Calla Divine; Doorway Cave; Eyebolt Canyon; Calla Redpath; Na’ar; Turtle Bay Washeteria; Riverside Hospital; Tishman Building; Way Station; Los Zapatos; All-World; Keystone Earth; Blimpie’s; Dogan; Buckhead Ranch; Algul Siento; Gloria; Redbird Two; Station Shoes & Boots; U.N. Plaza Hotel; New York Public Library; East Stoneham, Maine.
Things: seppe-sai, madrigal, threaded stock, roont, Full Earth, Huntress Moon, New Earth, Wolves, jilly, Path of the Beam, Out-World, North Central Positronics, LaMerk Industries, killin, Reaping Night, stuffy-guys, bucka, khef, Book of the Manni, opopanax, Year-End Gathering, sneetches, dinh, ka, todash, Kansas City Monarchs, Nozz-A-La, Takuro Spirit, thinny, Peddler’s Moon, Wizard’s Glass, mystery number, nineteen, gunslinger burritos, muffin-balls, slewfeet, wheels, kammen, rose, Charlie the Choo-Choo, Sergio, Sombra Corporation, mia, slo-trans engines, dipolar computers, forspecial plates, lobstrosities, Seven Dials of Magic, binnie-bugs, Voice of the Turtle, Holmes Dental, the White, rustie, Riddle-De-Dum!, Guardians of the Beam, gunna, Tales of Arthur, trig, Black Thirteen, an-tet, sh’veen, docker’s clutch, charyou tree, sharproot, harriers, graf, Great Letters, High Speech, kennit, Grays, Pubes, Goat Moon, Directive Nineteen, delah, soh, Shardik, The Wizard of Oz, Horn of Eld, tack-see, Castles, cradle-amah, popkin, commala, “The Rice Song,” Reap Fair, folken, Maid of Constant Sorrow, Old Star, Old Mother, Points, Wickets, clouts, moit, dry twist, spriggum, rock-cats, pokeberries, Air Dance, ironwood, Leabrook Register, ghostwood, Unfound Door, Look Homeward, Angel, dead-letter, pulls, bolt and bah, Orizas, trum, slaggit, throg, cosy, drotta stick, Zn, Saita, “My Understanding of the Truth,” dan-dinh, telamei, dash-dinh, alleyo, grow bag, devil-grass, the Over, ka-tel, sigul, kai-mai, kra, Buffalo Star, fan-gon, Tet Corporation, ka-me, Dogan, Watch Me, Snugglebutt, boom-flurry, ’Salem’s Lot, mortata, blossiewood, skölpadda, language of the unformed, seminon, oggan, Beams.
Crossovers to Other Works: The basic idea behind King’s novel 11/22/63 is outlined by Father Callahan. Callahan, of course, appears in ’Salem’s Lot.
Foreshadowing and Spoilers: Eddie’s ultimate fate is foreshadowed during his meeting with Jamie Jaffords. Finli o’Tego is the head of security at Algul Siento, where the Breakers do their work.
SONG OF SUSANNAH: REPRODUCTION
Song of Susannah, one of the series’ shortest installments, was published in June 2004. The novel, which is dedicated to Tabitha King, focuses on the twenty-four hours after Susannah and Mia leave Calla Bryn Sturgis following the battle with the Wolves, though the action takes place in two different decades.
Once again, the ka-tet is split up. The fact that Mia took Black Thirteen with her stymies Roland’s plan of using the Unfound Door. The urgency of his need to solve the problem of the Breakers is underscored the morning after Mia leaves, when Calla Bryn Sturgis is rocked by seismic activity that Roland attributes to a Beamquake. One of the few remaining Beams supporting the Dark Tower yields to the Breakers’ efforts. It’s not the Beam the ka-tet has been following—the effects would have been much more dramatic if it were—but that’s of little comfort to anyone.
Roland believes that two Beams remain, though he can’t be sure. If one more goes, that may be enough to topple the Tower. However, he also believes they need Susannah to save the Dark Tower, so rescuing her is a priority, as is closing the deal with Calvin Tower for the vacant lot. They might even need Susannah’s child, demon-spawn though it may be. They have to get to East Stoneham, Maine, in 1977 to find Tower, and they need to go to wherever—and whenever—Susannah is. Because of the linear nature of time in Keystone Earth, they have to get things done right the first time. There are no do overs and no doubling back.
The big question is: how can they achieve any of these goals?
Roland knows the Manni have traveled to other worlds without benefit of magic doors and glasses from the Wizard’s Rainbow. He consults with Henchick, the Manni elder, to see what can be done. Although a large number of Manni were too shaken by the Beamquake to come, Henchick assembles a large contingent of his followers in the Doorway Cave. Sensing Jake is strong with the touch, Henchick appoints him chief sender. Roland has his plan all mapped out: Jake and Callahan will go after Tower while he and Eddie follow Susannah. Oy is to stay behind with Cantab of the Manni. Ka has a different plan. It sends Roland and Eddie to 1977 and Callahan, Jake and Oy to June 1, 1999.
The Unfound Door delivered Mia to the corner of Second Avenue and 46th Street. Where Tom and Gerry’s Artistic Deli once stood, where once there was a vacant lot containing a rose, now there is a black sky
scraper, 2 Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza. The people who work there call it the Black Tower. Mia is in the early stages of labor and barefoot. Her first order of business is to get shoes, which she does by accosting a hapless accountant named Trudy Damascus, who is returning to work after lunch. The Black Tower is still a magical place. The barely perceptible singing draws people to it, but it’s not as strong as it once was.
Susannah and Mia are forced to cooperate if they’re to survive. New York is completely alien to Mia, but 1999 is almost as foreign to Susannah, who comes from 1964. Susannah constructs a mental Dogan based on Jake’s description of the North Central Positronics monitoring station outside Calla Bryn Sturgis, using it to control her pregnancy as much as possible. Certain operations result in unbearable pain. She adds a microphone that she uses to try to communicate with Eddie, but gets no response.
During one of Father Callahan’s trips through the Unfound Door, Eddie noticed something in the bowling bag containing Black Thirteen, but he’d had no time to investigate. Susannah sees it and discovers a scrimshaw turtle: Maturin, the Guardian of the Beam of the Turtle. She finds another turtle in a pocket park near the Black Tower—a life-sized statue identical to the ivory carving.
Using the turtle’s magical powers of persuasion, she talks a Swedish diplomat into reserving her a room at a nearby hotel, where she goes to wait for a phone call. She stores Black Thirteen and Susannah’s remaining Orizas in the room safe. With time to kill, Susannah convinces Mia to take her somewhere so they can talk face-to-face. They go to the Castle on the Abyss, once known as Castle Discordia, deep in End-World. The dead town of Fedic, outside the main walls of the castle keep, was where the Wolves brought the kidnapped twins from the Callas. The Discordia side of the castle is a wasteland like the one outside Lud, with an abyss filled with monsters.