Overview

Roland’s father was very upset that Roland had become a gunslinger at the early age of fourteen just to best Marten.  Steven told Roland that Marten has sworn to kill Roland.  Steven told Roland of his plan to send him east on an errand with Cuthbert and Alain.

Marten sits in his room of potions and poisons.  Marten Broadcloak goes by many names.  Walter O’Dim who is also known as the Man in Black is one of his names.  Some think he is John Farson, the enemy of the Alliance.  Regardless he is an evil who deals with the devil himself, the Crimson King.  The Crimson King is described as the antichrist and the Lord of Spiders.  Aside from a human-like face he looks like a giant deformed humanoid/spider.  The Crimson King is surrounded by six glass balls called the Maerlyn’s Rainbow.  He keeps Black 13 closest to him.  Marten tells the Crimson King that Roland still lives and has become a gunslinger.  The Crimson King is extremely displeased with Marten for letting this happen and warns Marten to end Roland before Roland ends them.

Steven Deschain sent his military to arrest Marten Broadcloak as a traitor.  Marten turns them into dogs, chalks a door on a rock wall and exists into another dimension. 

Roland, Cuthbert and Alain receive orders from their fathers.  They are to assume new identities and inspect the region of Hambry informing everyone they are drovers looking for horses for the Affiliation.  Their true purpose is to see if the Horseman’s Association is supporting Farson.  The boys are instructed to find Pat Delgado and acquire horses from him in the Barony of Mejis.  Their other mission is to find out if they are refining oil to power weapons of the Great Old Ones.  Steven tells Roland that it is suspected that Farson carries the pink grapefruit, one of Maerlyn’s glass balls.  Roland’s instructions are to learn the facts and to communicate their progress by use of the carrier pigeons.

Roland’s mother Gabrielle is near a tree to see her son leave.  She is distraught but Roland has no feeling for her one way or another.

Eldred Jonas came into Coral Thorin’s bar and told Clay Reynolds and Roy Depape they were deputized and now they had to go deliver a package to Rhea of the Coos for Farson.

Roland, Cuthbert and Alain, the ka-tet, met a man who was a weed eater.  They gave him some money for food or weed, whatever he wanted and he told the boys about Pat Delgado’s death most likely at the hands of the Coffin Hunters.

Susan Delgado arrives at Rhea of the Coos for her inspection.  Susan pays her the coins given to her by her Aunt Cordelia.  Rhea tells her to get wood from behind the house for her fire.  Rhea takes a look at Maerlyn’s Grapefruit and she sees the three boys riding and thinks one may be a gunslinger.  Susan saw Rhea through the window looking at the brilliant, pink-glass ball.  Rhea checked Susan for her virginity and gave her the sigul designating Susan’s honesty.  Susan is to tell Thorin he cannot have her until Demon Moon rises which will be in three months.  Then she hypnotized Susan and told her to do something after she lost her virginity.

Susan ran from Rhea’s house crying for her dead father; begging for his help.  She looked up and saw a man on his horse watching her.