第61部分

請關閉瀏覽器的閱讀/暢讀/小說模式並且關閉廣告遮蔽過濾功能，避免出現內容無法顯示或者段落錯亂。

younger；　but　according　to　this。。。〃

〃I　was　forty　the　year　John　walked　the　Green　Mile〃；　I　said。　〃I　was　born　in　1892。　That　makes　me　a　hundred　and　four；　unless　my　reckoning's　out。〃

She　stared　at　me；　speechless。

I　held　out　the　rest　of　the　manuscript；　remembering　again　how　John　had　touched　me；　there　in　his　cell。

You　won't　'splode；　he'd　said；　smiling　a　bit　at　the　very　idea；　and　I　hadn't　。。。　but　something　had　happened　to　me；　all　the　same。　Something　lasting。

〃Read　the　rest　of　it〃；　I　said。　〃What　answers　I　have　are　in　there。〃

〃All　right〃；　she　almost　whispered。　〃I'm　a　little　afraid　to；　I　can't　lie　about　that；　but　。。。　all　right。　Where　will　you　be？〃

I　stood　up；　stretched；　listened　to　my　spine　crackle　in　my　back。　One　thing　that　I　knew　for　sure　was　that　I　was　sick　to　death　of　the　sunroom。　〃Out　on　the　croquet　course。　There's　still　something　I　want　to　show　you；　and　it's　in　that　direction。〃

〃Is　it　。。。　scary？〃　In　her　timid　look　I　saw　the　little　girl　she　had　been　back　when　men　wore　straw　boaters　in　the　summer　and　raccoon　coats　in　the　winter。

〃No〃；　I　said；　smiling。　〃Not　scary。〃

〃All　right。〃　She　took　the　pages。　〃I'm　going　to　take　these　down　to　my　room。　I'll　see　you　out　on　the　croquet　course　around。。。〃　She　riffled　the　manuscript；　estimating。　〃Four？　Is　that　all　right？〃

〃Perfect；〃　I　said；　thinking　of　the　too…curious　Brad　Dolan。　He　would　be　gone　by　then。

She　reached　out；　gave　my　arm　a　little　squeeze；　and　left　the　room。　I　stood　where　I　was　for　a　moment；　looking　down　at　the　table；　taking　in　the　fact　that　it　was　bare　again　except　for　the　breakfast　tray　Elaine　had　brought　me　that　morning；　my　scattered　papers　at　last　gone。　I　somehow　couldn't　believe　I　was　done　。。。　and　as　you　can　see；　since　all　this　was　written　after　I