The Talisman Trilogy, #3
Other Worlds Than These
by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Contents
Chapter 7
Overview
Pay finds roadbed kimberlite glittering with diamonds, but Jack convinces him the wealth is illusory here and a distraction. Pay then reveals George Elgin’s perilous periscope test through Youngblood’s garden door, glimpsing a living void and vast red eyes. As night nears, Jack leads them to an abandoned Depot for safer shelter approaching Riven.
Summary
On Riven Road, Pay discovers stones laced with glittering crystals and excitedly declares they are diamonds. Jack restrains him, arguing the gems are common here and likely worthless in the Territories, and possibly even unstable in value across worlds. Their exchange broadens into what does and doesn’t change when flipping between worlds, with examples from Coke, books, a phone, and a duffel turned totesack.
As they leave the diamond-strewn stretch behind, Pay recounts George Elgin’s secret experiment while Youngblood was away: at Rosewood’s walled garden, Ryall Connors opened the Door of the Worlds and George inserted a long, Mary-crafted ceramic periscope into the static beyond. George reported a living darkness and immense red, inhuman eyes before the periscope was yanked away and Ryall slammed the door, warning George never to try again.
Jack recalls Sophie’s tales of Roland and the Artist erasing the Crimson King, leaving only floating red eyes in todash space, and wonders if George truly saw the same thing. With daylight fading and Riven ahead, Jack diverts to an abandoned train Depot he knew as a boy, deciding to shelter there rather than camp exposed on the road.
Who Appears
- JackProtagonist; dissuades Pay from diamond frenzy, weighs cross-world changes, recalls Sophie’s tale, chooses the Depot for safety.
- PayFinds kimberlite diamonds, briefly obsessed with wealth; recounts George Elgin’s periscope experiment and its terrifying result.
- George ElginScientist; during Youngblood’s absence, inserts a periscope into the garden door’s static, glimpsing living darkness and red eyes.
- Ryall ConnorsEnforcer; opens the garden door, steadies George, then slams it shut and forbids any repeat.
- Larry Magruder (the Spinner)Witness to the experiment; panics and spins, offering no help during the door test.
- MaryCraftsman and drinker; helped George build the ceramic periscope used in the door experiment.
- YoungbloodRuler absent during a rancher–sheeper dispute; his door rules are quietly challenged by George’s test.
- HestinYoungblood’s ally; away with him during the ranchers’ meeting, tied to the door’s restricted-use myth.
- Buzzy the DusterRosewood housekeeper; admits the men to the garden, warns them to avoid the door.
- SophieJack’s lost love; her story of the Artist and the Crimson King’s eyes frames Jack’s interpretation.