And the wellspring has not run dry, for with THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE King has written a sparkling contribution to the saga. Roland tells a tale from his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt-ridden year following his mother's death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape-shifter, a "skin-man," Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast's most recent slaughter. Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story that his mother used to read to him at bedtime.