Oy

He once more turned his attention to the animal which had awakened him. It looked like a combination raccoon and woodchuck, with a dash of dachshund thrown in for good measure. “How you doin, boy?” he asked softly. “Oy!” the billy-bumbler replied at once, still looking at him anxiously.

The billy-bumbler responds Oy to Jake in their encounter.

Jake stroked Oy’s fur lightly, avoiding the bloody tangles where the bumbler had been stabbed. They waited while Blaine—the real Blaine, now far behind them, living his quasi-life beneath a city where all the inhabitants lay dead by his hand—considered Roland’s proposal. “YES,” Blaine said at last. “I AGREE.

Jake strokes Oy’s fur during the confrontation with Blaine.

Callahan may have, she thought. Because Callahans from our side. He- The boy said, “Is that a bumbler?” “Hush, do ya,” Slightman said, sounding almost shocked that his son had spoken. “That’s okay,” Jake said. “Yeah, he’s a bumbler. Oy, go to him.” He pointed at Ben the Younger.

Jake directs Oy toward Benny and the animal moves around the campfire.

Beside him, cross-legged on the floor, was Jake Chambers. He had pulled Oy into his lap, a thing Roland had never seen before and would not have believed the billy-bumbler would allow. Both Eddie and Jake were splattered with blood. That on Jake’s shirt belonged to his friend Benny Slightman.

Jake pulls the billy-bumbler Oy into his lap.

Jake’s companion Oy trots toward the Dixie Pig.

They investigated inside for supplies—Jake and Oy had still been with them then—and had found nothing but dust, ancient cobwebs, and the skeleton of what had been either a large raccoon, a small dog, or a billy-bumbler.

Oy investigates the old store with Jake and Roland’s companions, then sniffs back along the road.