The Body

Clouds gather, though the rain is light as they reach the Royal at half past three. The storm brings a lot of lightning. Vern screams that he “sees it.” A hand, covered in ants, sticks out of the earth at the bottom of a washout. The rain becomes heavy. They go down to the body and see blood in Ray’s hair. The train knocked him out of his shoes. Ants cover his face and neck, and a beetle comes out of his mouth. The rain masks the sound of approaching cars. During a lull in the storm, they hear Ace Merrill’s voice. 

Eyeball Chambers sees that his brother Chris is there. Chris says that they have dibs on the body. The others arrive. They argue about who will report it. Ace tries to reason with Gordie, appealing to him having some of Dennis’s sense. Instead, Gordie insults him. Ace says he’ll break Gordie’s arms. The older kids come forward, but Chris fires a gun that he’s taken out of his bag. Eyeball recognizes their father’s gun. When he steps forward, Chris shoots into the water at his feet. Gordie is terrified; he believes that Chris will shoot Ace if he won’t leave them alone.