1 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:14,679 Speaker 1: The Devil's Not by Nilma finn Well, I can't say 2 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,039 that me and Bobby Domeier we was buddies. I don't 3 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:22,839 reckon anyone was buddies with Bobby, but we's classmates. The 4 00:00:22,879 --> 00:00:26,280 old man leaned forward and injected a long stream of 5 00:00:26,519 --> 00:00:30,519 spit into a can between his feet. Then he closed 6 00:00:30,519 --> 00:00:33,079 his eyes and wrinkled his forehead in an effort to 7 00:00:33,079 --> 00:00:37,280 pull something from deep inside his memories. A quick smile 8 00:00:37,399 --> 00:00:41,280 creased his old cheeks, and he continued, Bobby lived over 9 00:00:41,359 --> 00:00:44,119 on the other side of the Devil's Knot. Most of 10 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,920 us boys stayed away from there. We have legends about 11 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:52,679 that place, stories kids tell around the camp fire. He 12 00:00:52,799 --> 00:00:55,320 leaned into the young man sitting beside him on the 13 00:00:55,359 --> 00:00:59,439 park bench and said, now listen here, I won't deny 14 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,679 that kill blow anything up to scare each other, but 15 00:01:03,159 --> 00:01:07,079 there really was something wrong with that holler. For one thing, 16 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,599 it may not be at all that wide, but they 17 00:01:09,599 --> 00:01:12,040 say it goes all the way from here to Canada 18 00:01:12,079 --> 00:01:15,920 without a single break in the woods. The young man's 19 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,319 stifled to grin. Google Maps would have put an end 20 00:01:19,359 --> 00:01:22,079 to the old man's belief in that myth, but he 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,079 was right about one thing. The hollow may have only 22 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,040 been a mile and a half wide by three miles long, 23 00:01:28,519 --> 00:01:30,879 but it did spill into a patch of land that 24 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,879 was more than two hundred and forty square miles of 25 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:38,920 nothing but trees, brambles, gullies, vines, undergrowth, snakes and spiders 26 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:43,040 and blood sucking insects. The sun never saw the floor 27 00:01:43,079 --> 00:01:47,799 of that forest. Bobby's daddy disappeared into that place, you know. 28 00:01:48,239 --> 00:01:52,920 The old man said, I understand that story, mister high Tower. 29 00:01:52,959 --> 00:01:55,680 But all the police reports state that he ran off 30 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,000 and left his wife and kids fin for themselves. The 31 00:01:59,079 --> 00:02:02,680 young man offered he had been to the courthouse and 32 00:02:02,719 --> 00:02:05,359 gone through all the old reports that he could find. 33 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,439 Back in the nineteen forties, when Truman County was a 34 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:13,240 lot less populated, reports were written without as much as 35 00:02:13,319 --> 00:02:17,479 official language as they are today, and several times the 36 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,280 man found notes indicating that the woman was crazy and 37 00:02:21,319 --> 00:02:25,439 that the husband probably couldn't take anymore. That's not so, 38 00:02:25,879 --> 00:02:29,280 the old man growled, and miss Dumeyer was a good woman. 39 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,120 She grew up with my mama, and not a better 40 00:02:32,159 --> 00:02:36,719 woman ever lived. And that's my mama's word, not mine. 41 00:02:36,879 --> 00:02:39,639 He gave his companion a side eyed stare, as if 42 00:02:39,759 --> 00:02:43,680 challenging him to question his mother. What's your name, boy, 43 00:02:44,479 --> 00:02:47,199 he asked, for what the young man thought was probably 44 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,879 the eighth time. Martin Chesterfield, he answered as politely as 45 00:02:51,879 --> 00:02:55,120 a man who was running out of patience could. But 46 00:02:55,159 --> 00:03:00,879 you can call me Chig. Everyone does. Chig, old Man grumbled, 47 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,240 as if the name didn't sit well on his tongue. Well, 48 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,639 my name's Gordon high Tower, he said, having forgotten that 49 00:03:07,719 --> 00:03:11,120 he had already introduced himself a half a dozen times. 50 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,439 Chig worried that the story he was getting wasn't going 51 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,800 to be very accurate, given the advanced age of the 52 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:23,840 man and his inability to remember simple facts. However, there 53 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:28,080 weren't many people left who knew Bobby Dumyer personally, and 54 00:03:28,199 --> 00:03:31,039 most of those who did were already too far gone 55 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,120 with dementia to get any facts out of them at all. 56 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,800 Now you wasn't here, and you don't know, mister high 57 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,400 Tower spoke resentfully. Mister Dumier wasn't a bad man and 58 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,719 his wife was a good woman. Now that's a fact. 59 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,080 Their farm was over on the other side of Devil's Knoight, 60 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,280 it siddled right up alongside it. Most folks around here 61 00:03:54,319 --> 00:03:57,080 wouldn't go near that place, so the Dumayers were left 62 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:01,280 pretty much to themselves. That suited mister Dumer just fine. 63 00:04:01,719 --> 00:04:05,680 He liked being left alone, and he was fearless as 64 00:04:05,719 --> 00:04:08,800 all get out. He hunted that holler all the time. 65 00:04:09,319 --> 00:04:11,800 He'd take his gun and head down into those woods 66 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,199 and bring out some of the finest bucks you ever 67 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,879 laid eyes on. One of the few pictures I own 68 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,879 of my own daddy was of him standing next to 69 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:24,199 Will Dumar and a ten point buck he killed and 70 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,959 devils not mister high Tower set up a little straighter 71 00:04:29,079 --> 00:04:31,800 with those words, as if it was his father who 72 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,600 had shot the deer. Yes, but the police reports say. 73 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,959 I don't give a one eyed jack what those reports say. 74 00:04:39,759 --> 00:04:43,519 Will Dumer would not have run out on his family. Now, 75 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,360 I know Miss Dumier wasn't quite right in the head, 76 00:04:46,759 --> 00:04:50,279 but that wasn't until after her husband disappeared. Of course, 77 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:54,279 she lost her mind. Then that holler swallowed him up, 78 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,439 and not one member of this community was willing to 79 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,079 go in there looking for him. What about the reports, 80 00:05:01,399 --> 00:05:05,720 Chig asked, what reports? Oh, you mean the ones when 81 00:05:05,759 --> 00:05:10,160 she complained that something was attacking their livestock, taking their chickens, 82 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,959 getting in the barn and tearing it up. Well, yes, 83 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,240 those reports all state that she wasn't I know what 84 00:05:17,319 --> 00:05:21,000 those dang reports saying. I'm telling you she wasn't wrong. 85 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,639 I won't say she was right. Like I said, the 86 00:05:24,639 --> 00:05:27,959 woman's husband had up and vanished. I don't blame her 87 00:05:27,959 --> 00:05:30,480 for being a little squirrely, but that don't mean there 88 00:05:30,519 --> 00:05:33,160 ain't something in those woods and that it didn't get 89 00:05:33,199 --> 00:05:37,480 her husband. And then later mister high Tower let his 90 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,879 voice trail off. He wasn't ready to share the latter 91 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:43,959 half of the story yet, and Chig didn't push it. 92 00:05:45,519 --> 00:05:48,360 They sat for silence for a few minutes, and the 93 00:05:48,439 --> 00:05:52,519 old man was lost in his memories. His eyes already 94 00:05:52,519 --> 00:05:56,120 clouded with cataracts, welled with tears as he remembered you 95 00:05:56,399 --> 00:05:59,399 spent with his friends, swimming in the cold water creeks, 96 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:04,800 green hills and valleys, and hunting patches of timber. Chigg 97 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,560 used the time to mul over the information he already 98 00:06:07,639 --> 00:06:12,720 knew about Bobby Dumyer and his family. In nineteen forty five, 99 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:17,000 will Dumeyer returned from World War II to resume running 100 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,759 the farm that he and his wife had started shortly 101 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:24,079 after their marriage in nineteen thirty three. The farm was 102 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,800 a two hundred acre stretch of land that bordered the 103 00:06:26,879 --> 00:06:30,480 infamous Long Hollow on the west and Cinder Creek on 104 00:06:30,519 --> 00:06:34,000 the north, the Edward River on the east, and Postal 105 00:06:34,079 --> 00:06:39,399 Route forty four hundred north on the south. Several decades later, 106 00:06:39,639 --> 00:06:44,639 the road was renamed one seventh Avenue North. The nearest 107 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:48,399 town to the Dumyrs was winter Rest. It sat on 108 00:06:48,439 --> 00:06:51,399 the other side of a holla and had a booming population, 109 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,920 with a grand total of five hundred and seventeen people, 110 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,360 half of which were the rural farmers that lived all 111 00:06:58,399 --> 00:07:03,360 around it. In every direction. No larger towns existed for miles. 112 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,040 The Dumayers had two children, Bobby, who was born in 113 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:12,120 nineteen thirty six and Cassandra, who came along in nineteen 114 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:17,600 forty one. Georgia Dumayer was from all reports a good farmer. 115 00:07:17,839 --> 00:07:21,600 While her husband was away fighting the war, she never 116 00:07:21,639 --> 00:07:23,759 missed putting in a crop in the three and a 117 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:28,519 half years her husband was away. She maintained the livestock, 118 00:07:28,959 --> 00:07:32,759 kept milk production, raised enough chickens to sell eggs at 119 00:07:32,759 --> 00:07:36,399 the market, managed a large victory garden, from which she 120 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,000 was able to give produce to some of the less 121 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,600 fortunate people in town, and did all of this while 122 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:47,360 keeping her house clean and the children in order. Chig 123 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,680 could not argue with mister high Tower's assertion that Georgia 124 00:07:50,759 --> 00:07:55,360 Dumer wasn't crazy before her husband vanished, but once he 125 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,199 was gone, there was more than enough evidence that she 126 00:07:58,519 --> 00:08:02,720 was insane. It all happened on a cold November morning 127 00:08:02,759 --> 00:08:06,759 in nineteen forty seven. It was the opening day of 128 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,879 deer season, and because no one else was willing to 129 00:08:09,959 --> 00:08:13,399 so much as passed through the devil's knot, Will Dumar 130 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,199 had the veritable paradise of hunting opportunities. He left the 131 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,279 house that morning, certain that he would be successful on 132 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:25,800 the first day. As he crossed the hayfield that separated 133 00:08:25,839 --> 00:08:28,399 his house from the hollow, he might have been thinking 134 00:08:28,439 --> 00:08:32,840 about the strange events that had taken place recently. It 135 00:08:32,879 --> 00:08:35,000 had been only a week ago that he had been 136 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:38,399 startled awake by the sound of the animals in the barn. 137 00:08:39,399 --> 00:08:43,639 Clearly something was attacking them. Without a second thought, he 138 00:08:43,759 --> 00:08:48,399 jumped up, dressed and grabbed his gun, and he ran outside. 139 00:08:48,519 --> 00:08:51,279 As he crossed the barnyard. He could hear the milkcows 140 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,759 bleeding in a high pitched frenzy of anxiety and panic, 141 00:08:55,159 --> 00:08:58,960 and hogs screamed in fright, and geese honked and cackled 142 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:03,080 in alarm. Will was almost there when the door flew 143 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,279 open and something ran across the opening between the barn 144 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,360 and the tractor shed that his mind would not allow 145 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,639 him to accept. Inside the barn, he found a mass 146 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,000 of carnage that tore his heart out of his chest. 147 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,039 One of his best sous was lying on the ground, 148 00:09:20,399 --> 00:09:23,279 her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she struggled 149 00:09:23,279 --> 00:09:27,120 to inhale enough air to breathe. The entire contents of 150 00:09:27,159 --> 00:09:30,879 her abdominal cavity were spilled out on the ground around her. 151 00:09:32,159 --> 00:09:34,799 Will looked down into poor thing, who stared back in 152 00:09:34,879 --> 00:09:38,159 wild disbelief, and with a tear in his eyes, he 153 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,879 placed the barrel of his rifle behind her ear and 154 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:45,840 pulled the trigger. Two nights later, Will found himself running 155 00:09:45,879 --> 00:09:49,080 back out into the night, this time to his chicken house, 156 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,879 where he discovered a half a dozen hens torn to pieces. 157 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:57,720 Another half dozen were missing. Whatever got to them tore 158 00:09:57,759 --> 00:09:59,960 the door off the pin like it was a cardboard 159 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,840 flap on a box. This time he noted the tracks 160 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:08,120 that it left behind. The large, padded footprints were a 161 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,919 solid twelve inches in length and just as wide, and 162 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,759 the nailmarks at the end of each toe print indicated 163 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:21,000 non retractable claws. K nine. Will muttered, except this canine 164 00:10:21,159 --> 00:10:26,000 walked on two legs. The night before hunting season, Will 165 00:10:26,159 --> 00:10:29,120 sat in his front parlor reading a book while his 166 00:10:29,159 --> 00:10:32,919 wife mended socks in her chair. Beside him. At a 167 00:10:32,919 --> 00:10:36,080 small table in front of the window, Bobby and Cassie 168 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:39,600 were engaged in a game of dominoes. It was a 169 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:43,120 kind of family scene that Norman Rockwell might have painted 170 00:10:43,159 --> 00:10:47,600 for the Saturday Evening Post. There was nothing special about 171 00:10:47,639 --> 00:10:52,320 this night. Will's preoccupation with his anticipated hunt in the 172 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,080 morning might have required him to reread a page or 173 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,200 two of his book, but aside from that, it was 174 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,919 a peaceful evening. Then something thumped hard on the front porch. 175 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:06,600 Georgia looked up from her sewing and asked, what's that. 176 00:11:07,879 --> 00:11:11,120 I don't know, Will answered as he slipped a bookmark 177 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:13,200 into the pages of the book he was reading and 178 00:11:13,279 --> 00:11:17,080 laid it down. Bobby jumped up and crossed the room 179 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,879 ahead of his father, anxious to see who or what 180 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,279 was outside their front door. Georgia was right behind him, 181 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,159 calling for him to wait for his father. Everyone was 182 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:32,279 in motion at that moment except for Cassie. She sat 183 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,039 quietly staring out the window. Her eyes grew wide and 184 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:40,759 her little body trembled. Before stepping into the front hall, 185 00:11:40,799 --> 00:11:44,000 Will decided to stop at his guncase and grab his rifle. 186 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,240 He had no answer for the inquisitive look on George's face, 187 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:53,080 so he only shrugged. Bobby was at the door, already 188 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,279 wrenching it open when Will grabbed his shoulder and pulled 189 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,480 him backward. Georgia reached over and flipped on the switch 190 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,080 that sent power to the small light that hung beside 191 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:08,399 the front door. The porch was empty. Will stepped out 192 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,519 onto the board and walked first to his left across 193 00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:14,320 the long stretch of wooden planks to that end of 194 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:18,399 the house. Here the porch terminated into a set of 195 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:22,039 steps that led to the side yard. He saw nothing. 196 00:12:23,159 --> 00:12:25,840 He then turned and retraced his path to the front 197 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,080 door and beyond to the other end of the house. 198 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,720 Here the porch turned and wrapped around the parlor without 199 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,200 a flashlight, something he had not thought to grab. He 200 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,759 couldn't make out much in the dark shadows beyond the 201 00:12:38,799 --> 00:12:43,039 white picket fence that surrounded the yard. At the end 202 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,320 of the side porch, where another set of steps led 203 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:50,840 down into the night, Will turn and faced the house. There, 204 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,480 sitting silently in the window, her eyes full of images 205 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:59,679 too frightening to describe, was Cassie. Her little mouth was 206 00:12:59,759 --> 00:13:04,320 formed into an oh, but nothing was coming out. Will 207 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,720 tapped at the window, bringing her from her trance. She 208 00:13:07,759 --> 00:13:10,960 glanced at her father for only a moment before pouring 209 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,039 into the yard, and finally, with a kind of exquisite 210 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:17,240 agony that can only be achieved when every limit has 211 00:13:17,279 --> 00:13:22,960 been reached, she released a long, ear piercing scream. It 212 00:13:23,039 --> 00:13:26,480 was a long night, and Cassie couldn't voice what she saw. 213 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:29,559 Georgia had tried to put her to bed, but she 214 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:33,799 refused to be left alone. In the end, Georgia was 215 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,480 only able to soothe her daughter by crawling into the 216 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:40,039 bed beside her and holding her until she fell asleep. 217 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,840 Even that wasn't enough. She tried to go back to 218 00:13:43,879 --> 00:13:46,919 her own bed several times in the night, and every 219 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:49,759 time Cassie woke up, crying and begging not to be 220 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:54,679 left alone with the monster. Will had slept a little better, 221 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,919 but not much. Several times he had gotten up and 222 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,039 gone downstairs to pace the front poor with his rifle, 223 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:06,639 certain that whatever was there earlier was still lingering near Bobby, 224 00:14:06,879 --> 00:14:11,879 unfazed by any of it, slept like a baby. After 225 00:14:11,919 --> 00:14:16,600 a few nights of peace, Will woke up early that morning. Georgia, 226 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:19,799 exhausted and sore from several nights of sleeping in her 227 00:14:19,879 --> 00:14:23,039 daughter's cramp bed, managed to put on a pot of 228 00:14:23,039 --> 00:14:25,440 coffee and fry up some eggs and bacon for her 229 00:14:25,519 --> 00:14:30,200 husband while he prepared himself for his hunt. Together, they 230 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:32,720 ate and talked about the sort of things that most 231 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:36,320 couples discuss at the breakfast table. The events of the 232 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:41,440 previous week were pushed out of mind. Will hadn't told 233 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:45,440 his wife everything yet. He thought maybe he would eventually, 234 00:14:46,039 --> 00:14:49,480 but first he had to find the right words. How 235 00:14:49,519 --> 00:14:52,000 does a man tell his wife that he had seen 236 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,279 something that looked like a cross between line Cheney and 237 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,679 the wolf Man and an actual wolf with a snout 238 00:14:58,799 --> 00:15:03,720 and large canine. Furthermore, it was nearly seven feet tall. 239 00:15:05,039 --> 00:15:08,000 All Georgia knew was that some wild animal was getting 240 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:11,840 at their livestock. For now, he figured that's all she 241 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:16,360 needed to know. All of these things might have been 242 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,559 on Will's mind as he crossed the hayfield and entered 243 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,080 the Devil's Knot. There would be much to consider and 244 00:15:23,159 --> 00:15:26,440 a lot to take care of, But first he needed 245 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:30,159 to put a deer in the freezer. Venison was always 246 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,720 an excellent alternative to beef during the long winter months 247 00:15:33,759 --> 00:15:38,679 of the year. That night, Georgia Doomera contacted the Truman 248 00:15:38,759 --> 00:15:42,320 County Sheriff's office. It was almost ten pm when she 249 00:15:42,399 --> 00:15:46,080 made the call. Her husband had not come back from hunting. 250 00:15:47,039 --> 00:15:51,080 The sheriff's deputy came out to investigate the situation. She 251 00:15:51,159 --> 00:15:54,639 explained that her husband had left shortly before daylight. She 252 00:15:54,759 --> 00:15:57,840 pointed out the route he took across the hayfield into 253 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,840 the woods, showed the deputy where she had stood on 254 00:16:01,879 --> 00:16:05,159 the porch, drinking a cup of coffee and watching him 255 00:16:05,279 --> 00:16:09,159 until he had vanished behind the tree line. The deputy 256 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:13,679 took notes positive theories and offered assurances that will Wood 257 00:16:13,759 --> 00:16:16,320 come walking back out of those woods at any moment, 258 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:21,240 maybe dragging with him a record buck. The next morning, 259 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,559 Georgia made another call. Her husband was not back. Yet 260 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,559 another deputy came to the house. He wrote all the 261 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,759 same things the first deputy wrote. He formed all the 262 00:16:32,799 --> 00:16:36,320 same theories the first deputy form, and he provided the 263 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:40,720 encouragement the first deputy gave. But like the first deputy, 264 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:43,360 he did not go down into the woods to search, 265 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:46,919 nor did the next deputy who came out to the house, 266 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:52,720 nor the next When Will Dumayer was reported missing, a 267 00:16:52,759 --> 00:16:55,159 lot of the men in Truman County got together to 268 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:59,639 form a search party for him. They searched every meadow field, 269 00:16:59,639 --> 00:17:03,440 pass patch of timber Lake and pond in the county, 270 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,119 but they did not search the devil's knot. Some of 271 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,519 the men even walked around town, thinking maybe they'd find 272 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:14,720 him hiding in an alley or drunk at the only 273 00:17:14,799 --> 00:17:20,319 town bar. He wasn't there either. A few days after 274 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:25,319 Will Dumyer disappeared, Georgia Dumar made one more frantic phone 275 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,599 call to the Sheriff's department. This time she claimed some 276 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,000 sort of animal was in her barn, tearing up her livestock. 277 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:36,960 She was hysterical as she screamed into the phone that 278 00:17:37,039 --> 00:17:39,400 someone needed to come out to the house and kill 279 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:43,160 it before it killed everything else. And in the background, 280 00:17:43,279 --> 00:17:46,279 a dog could be heard growling and snarling and barking. 281 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,839 A pounding could be clearly heard that sounded like something 282 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,000 was trying to tear the doors off the house. And 283 00:17:54,079 --> 00:17:58,599 suddenly Georgia screamed, Oh my god, it's a were wolf, 284 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:03,519 and the phone went silent. No one can say for 285 00:18:03,559 --> 00:18:06,880 sure what happened after that night. Her claim that the 286 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,960 house was being attacked by a werewolf gave the sheriff's 287 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,880 department a reason to dismiss her claim as being delusional. 288 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,680 After all, the poor woman's husband was missing. It was 289 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:21,599 then that people began to formulate the theory that Georgia 290 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:25,799 Dumarer was insane, and that perhaps her husband had secured 291 00:18:25,799 --> 00:18:29,440 his own disappearance to get as far from her as possible. 292 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:34,119 Additional calls to the sheriff's office for protection from the 293 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:39,640 werewolf went unanswered. You wanted to know about Bobby, the 294 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:45,160 old man said, interrupting Jiggs's thoughts. Yes, I did. His 295 00:18:45,319 --> 00:18:50,079 reply sounded as flustered as he felt at the moment. Well, 296 00:18:50,079 --> 00:18:52,559 I'll tell you about him. He was a kind of 297 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:56,039 kid who never had to find trouble. Trouble just seemed 298 00:18:56,039 --> 00:18:59,160 to find him. Back in those days, if you was 299 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,599 a boy, you owned the world. When we wasn't in 300 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,000 school or doing chores, we were free to roam and ways. 301 00:19:06,079 --> 00:19:10,680 These young people today would never understand. Rivers and creeks 302 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:14,039 were for swimming and fishing. Woods were for hunting and 303 00:19:14,079 --> 00:19:18,160 making forks. We all had bicycles, and those bikes took 304 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,119 us everywhere we wanted to go. Mister high Tower felt 305 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,799 silent again, wondering down the roads that no longer existed, 306 00:19:26,519 --> 00:19:28,880 or that had changed so much that they were no 307 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:35,319 longer recognizable. After a minute, Chig said softly, mister high Tower. 308 00:19:36,519 --> 00:19:39,480 The old man turned and stared at the youth beside him. 309 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:44,839 What was your name again, he asked, I'm Chig. Chig answered, 310 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,440 no longer capable of the patients to provide his whole name. 311 00:19:49,279 --> 00:19:53,640 That's an odd name for a boy, Mister high Tower said, yes, sir, 312 00:19:54,279 --> 00:19:59,279 you were saying about Bobby Dumier. Oh yeah, Bobby. He 313 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:01,960 didn't have the free them the rest of us boys had. 314 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,200 With his daddy gone, He had all the chores of 315 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,279 a grown man to tend to you before and after school. 316 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,759 If that wasn't bad enough. He couldn't never sit still 317 00:20:11,839 --> 00:20:15,400 in school. If he wasn't squirming in his chair, he 318 00:20:15,519 --> 00:20:19,200 was wandering around the room, couldn't hold his attention for 319 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,880 five minutes. You'd have thought he'd be too tired for 320 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,839 shenanigans with all the work he had done at home. 321 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:30,359 But no, not Bobby and the trouble he got into. 322 00:20:30,519 --> 00:20:32,880 If there was a frog in the teacher's desk, I 323 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,319 guarantee it was Bobby put it there. The old man 324 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:40,240 chuckled to himself. He likeed kids in the outhouse put 325 00:20:40,279 --> 00:20:43,680 glue on their hair and filled the water jugs with minnas, 326 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,319 and he would soak the chalk in water. Chick didn't 327 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,680 understand the last two statements, so mister high Tower had 328 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,160 to describe the big stoneware jugs of water that stood 329 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:58,799 in the hallway with ten cups hanging on hooks beside them, 330 00:20:58,799 --> 00:21:00,960 where kids could get a t drink before the water 331 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,200 fountains were installed. He then had to explain that chalk, 332 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:09,920 when soaked in water, becomes soft and unusable. When Chig 333 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,240 explained that the schools he had gone to as a 334 00:21:12,319 --> 00:21:16,640 kid didn't have chalkboards, but dry erase boards, Gordon felt 335 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:21,480 confused and uncomfortable. Yeah, it's a different world we live 336 00:21:21,519 --> 00:21:25,920 in now, he muttered, Yes, Sir Jigg said, before adding 337 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:31,559 now about Bobby. Bobby, Gordon echoed, trying to focus. Now. 338 00:21:31,559 --> 00:21:34,400 He was a handful, and that meant that Bobby spent 339 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,119 most nights after school writing his penance out on the chalkboard. 340 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,480 Because he spent so much time paying for his sins 341 00:21:41,519 --> 00:21:44,799 after school, he rarely made it home before dark once 342 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,759 winter set in. Gordon took a hard look at Chig 343 00:21:48,799 --> 00:21:53,279 before continuing. The tall young man seated beside him could 344 00:21:53,279 --> 00:21:55,480 not have been more than twenty two or twenty three 345 00:21:55,559 --> 00:22:00,359 years old. His pink face, splattered with apricot freckles, was 346 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,599 a harsh contrast to the carrot red hair that wouldn't 347 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,200 lie flat on his head. He was tall, with very 348 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,359 little meat on his bones. As perhaps a misguided attempt 349 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,440 to wear his profession like a badge, he had chosen 350 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:18,240 a dark corduroy jacket with leather sleeve patches to wear 351 00:22:18,279 --> 00:22:22,079 over his button collar shirt and khaki pants. It only 352 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:25,160 served to make his shoulder blades look more angular and 353 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,640 his stomach punched to appear more prevalent and his long, 354 00:22:28,759 --> 00:22:32,920 bony fingers to look more skeletal. It occurred to Gordon 355 00:22:33,039 --> 00:22:36,480 that were this young man's hair a darker shade of red, 356 00:22:37,039 --> 00:22:40,920 he might have been Bobby dumer all grown up. Are 357 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,519 you related to Bobby? He asked, No, sir, not that 358 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,240 I know of. And what do you want to know 359 00:22:47,319 --> 00:22:50,920 so much about them? For? Well, my editor asked me 360 00:22:51,039 --> 00:22:54,480 to do a Halloween piece on odd legends in this area. 361 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:57,920 It was not the first time that Chig had explained this. 362 00:22:59,079 --> 00:23:01,960 I remember hearing about Bobby Dumier when I was a kid, 363 00:23:02,319 --> 00:23:04,559 so I decided to find out if it was a 364 00:23:04,599 --> 00:23:08,880 real person. Well he was real, the old man assured him, 365 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:12,759 before leaning forward and sending another stream of spit into 366 00:23:12,759 --> 00:23:17,519 the can, real as you and me. Well, if Bobby 367 00:23:17,559 --> 00:23:20,240 had to stay after school every night, how did he 368 00:23:20,319 --> 00:23:23,279 manage to get home to his family's farm clear over 369 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:27,240 on the other side of Devil's Knot, Jig asked, Well, 370 00:23:27,279 --> 00:23:31,079 he walked, Gordon answered, matter of factly. I guess the 371 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:33,599 better way to say it is that he ran the 372 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,640 road there where Devil's Knot starts, curves around hard to 373 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,440 the south, and then back again to the north in 374 00:23:40,519 --> 00:23:43,880 a great, big s curve. Now Bobby knew if he 375 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,799 cut off the road there ran down through the hollow 376 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:49,519 and then follows cinder Creek to where he could jump 377 00:23:49,599 --> 00:23:52,200 over it before the waterfall and scramble back up the 378 00:23:52,279 --> 00:23:54,880 hill to the other side, that he'd come out in 379 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,400 the hayfill that separated his house from the Knight and 380 00:23:58,559 --> 00:24:02,799 himself saved twenty men. It would still take him more 381 00:24:02,839 --> 00:24:05,000 than half an hour, but he had a lot of 382 00:24:05,039 --> 00:24:07,480 work to do when he got home. He used to 383 00:24:07,519 --> 00:24:09,759 brag about it to us boys, who were afraid of 384 00:24:09,799 --> 00:24:14,079 that place. As the old man Chig found it easy 385 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:17,440 to imagine Bobby Dumer walking down the gravel road that 386 00:24:17,559 --> 00:24:20,759 took him to the Devil's Knot. As it made the 387 00:24:20,799 --> 00:24:23,680 first turn to the south, it rose up and crawled 388 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,960 along the edge of a bluff. An open meadow covered 389 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,119 the top of that hill. The grass that grew there 390 00:24:30,279 --> 00:24:33,720 was dotted with tall prairie flowers, and blues and pinks 391 00:24:33,759 --> 00:24:37,440 and yellows and whites. Patches of clover spread across it 392 00:24:37,519 --> 00:24:40,920 in drifts of purple, and here and there the large, velvety, 393 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,680 soft blossoms of thistle reached upward and burst out of 394 00:24:44,759 --> 00:24:49,400 deep green pineapple shaped cones. The northern side of the 395 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:53,799 road was a devilish contrast, with massive trees draped in 396 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,279 vines that hung over the world beneath them, like crippled 397 00:24:57,279 --> 00:25:02,359 old teachers hovering over classrooms full of children. The undergrowth 398 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,759 of that hollow was stick with poisonous plants, thorny bushes, 399 00:25:06,799 --> 00:25:10,359 and anemic looking saplings that beg for their chance at 400 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,920 the sun. But there was no shoulder between the road 401 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,400 and the hollow, just to drop off that fell quickly 402 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,279 into the black mire of green hell. Here and there 403 00:25:21,279 --> 00:25:25,160 a small gap revealed a game trail. Those gaps were rare, 404 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:30,359 it was otherwise impenetrable, and then the road would turn 405 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,440 sharply and make its way back to the north. As 406 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,079 it did so, it fell well below the bluff on 407 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,319 its right and slid through the portal of tree branches 408 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:43,440 and vines into the hollow itself. This was as close 409 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:47,119 as anyone ever came to entering the Devil's Knot, and 410 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,920 even here it wasn't truly inside. After a quarter mile 411 00:25:52,039 --> 00:25:54,480 looping in and out of the knot, it turned again 412 00:25:54,799 --> 00:25:58,880 and went due east past du Meyer's farm. Those who 413 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:03,359 rode their horses do here held their breath and prayed. Later, 414 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,039 when people drove their cars through, they did so as 415 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:10,160 quickly as the curves would allow. It was on the 416 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,160 first curve where the occasional game trail opened small gateways 417 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:18,240 into the primordial world of Devil's Knot that Bobby would 418 00:26:18,319 --> 00:26:21,359 slip into the mire. He had to pick his way 419 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:25,880 carefully down that first hillside. Rocks jutted out here and 420 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,319 there that he could place a foot on or grab 421 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,160 with a hand to slow his descent. With each step forward. 422 00:26:32,519 --> 00:26:36,960 The world grew darker during the second half of November 423 00:26:37,079 --> 00:26:40,119 and all of December and January. In the first part 424 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,720 of February, he was nearly always making his trek in 425 00:26:43,799 --> 00:26:47,200 the dark. He didn't like it. There were chores to 426 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,440 be done at home. He had no choice. At the 427 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,599 bottom of the hill lay a flat expanse divided in 428 00:26:54,759 --> 00:26:59,000 two by cinder creek. Although the stream was never deep, 429 00:26:59,039 --> 00:27:03,000 there was always fresh water running here. Rocks and stones 430 00:27:03,079 --> 00:27:06,000 provided ledges for it to trip over and gurgle out 431 00:27:06,039 --> 00:27:09,960 a natural melody. Bobby liked to stop when he could 432 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,960 and looked for minnows in the occasional hole where the 433 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,160 water would get two or three feet deep. He never 434 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,039 lingered long, but he wasn't really afraid either, and in 435 00:27:20,079 --> 00:27:24,720 his mind his father lived here, he felt protected by him. 436 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:27,400 The eyes that he always felt were on him when 437 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,519 he walked through this place he attributed to being the 438 00:27:30,559 --> 00:27:34,759 eyes of his father. The long walk down the creek 439 00:27:34,799 --> 00:27:37,880 bed ended where the world dropped off and a small 440 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,240 waterfall trickled down into a pool of water stretching a 441 00:27:41,279 --> 00:27:45,759 dozen feet in diameter. Here, Bobby always liked to stand 442 00:27:45,839 --> 00:27:48,640 on the ledge and look down into the black water below. 443 00:27:49,759 --> 00:27:52,079 It was too dark to make out anything down there, 444 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,720 but he often suspected that someone or something was looking back. 445 00:27:57,519 --> 00:28:01,279 He liked to imagine that it was his dad. After 446 00:28:01,319 --> 00:28:03,839 a minute, he would then turn and head back up 447 00:28:03,839 --> 00:28:07,000 the hill on a zig zagging pattern through the trees 448 00:28:07,559 --> 00:28:10,720 and pass the boulders until he reached the fence that 449 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,880 formed the barrier between the farm and the hollow. Then, 450 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,480 and only then would Bobby feel the need to run. 451 00:28:18,559 --> 00:28:20,640 He always felt that he had to get as far 452 00:28:20,799 --> 00:28:23,440 from that tree line as possible because he was sure 453 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,359 that something was back there, waiting for the exact moment 454 00:28:26,559 --> 00:28:28,720 when it could reach out and pull him back in. 455 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:35,039 Like his father, forever. Halfway across the pasture, he would stop, 456 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,799 his lungs burning for fresh oxygen and his legs cramping 457 00:28:38,839 --> 00:28:41,680 from the climb and then the run, he would double 458 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,279 over and hold his gut for a second, silently reassuring 459 00:28:45,359 --> 00:28:49,559 himself that he was safe always. He turned his head 460 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:52,920 at that moment and looked to the house. He knew 461 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,440 his little sister, Cassie would be sitting on the front 462 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,480 porch waiting for him, or maybe she'd be playing in 463 00:28:58,519 --> 00:29:01,640 the grass in the house yard, surrounded by the white 464 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,640 picket fence. No matter how cold it was, no matter 465 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:10,599 what the weather was like, Cassie was always there. Bobby 466 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,039 walked Cassie to school every morning, but his eternal bad 467 00:29:14,079 --> 00:29:17,599 behavior left her to walk home alone at night. In 468 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:20,440 the twenty first century, that might seem like an awful 469 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,880 thing to ask a child so young, after all, she 470 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:28,640 was only seven, but this was a different time. Back then, 471 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,599 most children were expected to walk themselves to and from school, 472 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,759 whether they had an older sibling to take them or not. 473 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:40,119 Traversing the road that passed through the hollow terrified her. 474 00:29:41,359 --> 00:29:44,680 Unlike her brother, she had seen what lived there, so 475 00:29:44,759 --> 00:29:47,119 once she got home, she waited for him and prayed 476 00:29:47,119 --> 00:29:49,920 that he would be safe, and when she spotted him 477 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,480 crossing the hayfield, her eyes would always light up, and 478 00:29:53,559 --> 00:29:56,240 she'd come to the gate and wait there for him. 479 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,759 Then came the night that Bobby stood in the middle 480 00:29:59,759 --> 00:30:02,759 of the field and looked for his sister, but she 481 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:07,039 wasn't there. He would never have admitted it out loud, 482 00:30:07,079 --> 00:30:09,880 but he was deeply disappointed that he had lost his 483 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,920 importance to her. Trying not to feel too bad, he 484 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:18,039 reminded himself that she wasn't a baby anymore. She was 485 00:30:18,079 --> 00:30:20,839 in the first grade. Now. He should have expected this 486 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,319 day to come, but even so, as he opened the gate, 487 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,279 he couldn't help but look around to see if maybe 488 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:29,480 she had chosen to hide from him and jump out 489 00:30:29,519 --> 00:30:34,160 and scare him. Bobby was still reeling in the disappointment 490 00:30:34,279 --> 00:30:36,920 of a sister who was growing up when the front 491 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:40,559 door opened and his mother stepped out. A year had 492 00:30:40,599 --> 00:30:44,400 passed since his father disappeared, it looked more like ten 493 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,400 years on his mother's face. Her hair was graying, and 494 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,640 her eyes were bathed in dark circles, and her frown 495 00:30:51,759 --> 00:30:55,880 lines were becoming permanent. She was showing signs of mental 496 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:00,240 distress as well. Sometimes she would wake up up in 497 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,000 the middle of the night calling for her husband, and 498 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,079 then she would run out into the yard and stare 499 00:31:05,119 --> 00:31:07,480 at the hollow like she was going to run in 500 00:31:07,559 --> 00:31:11,319 there and find him. Bobby would always catch up with 501 00:31:11,359 --> 00:31:14,720 her by then and direct her back inside. He was 502 00:31:14,759 --> 00:31:17,480 afraid that she was slipping away from him, and he 503 00:31:17,599 --> 00:31:20,160 worried about what he and Cassie would do when the 504 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:24,799 day came that their mother was gone too. Where is 505 00:31:24,839 --> 00:31:31,119 your sister, Georgia yelled, huh, Bobby stupidly answered, isn't she home? No, 506 00:31:31,319 --> 00:31:35,039 she isn't home. She didn't come home from school. I 507 00:31:35,119 --> 00:31:37,720 was hoping that she was with you. Georgie said, not 508 00:31:37,839 --> 00:31:41,559 bothering to mask her fears. She always comes straight home. 509 00:31:42,759 --> 00:31:45,960 Bobby turned and looked back at the hollow. Cassie would 510 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,799 never have taken his shortcut. She wouldn't have known the route, 511 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,519 and even if she had, she wouldn't have gone into 512 00:31:52,519 --> 00:31:56,880 that hollow alone. She was terrified of it. He looked 513 00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,480 back at his mother, who was now visibly trembling and 514 00:31:59,519 --> 00:32:02,079 staring at the dark patch of timber on the other 515 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,680 side of the hayfield. The memory of that day when 516 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,559 his father didn't come home washed over him. The thought 517 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,799 of all those men from all over the county being 518 00:32:12,839 --> 00:32:16,039 too afraid to search inside the Devil's Not hit him hard. 519 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,400 If Cassie was in there, he was going to have 520 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,960 to find her himself. Mama, he said, with the most 521 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:27,680 grown up voice he could muster. Call the sheriff's office. 522 00:32:28,039 --> 00:32:31,319 Tell them that Cassie didn't come home from school. Tell 523 00:32:31,359 --> 00:32:33,720 them I went into the Devil's Not to find her, 524 00:32:33,799 --> 00:32:36,440 so they don't have to. But they need to search 525 00:32:36,519 --> 00:32:39,759 the roads and everywhere else while I'm looking, in case 526 00:32:39,799 --> 00:32:44,359 she isn't in there. Georgia Dumayer looked at her son 527 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:48,559 in disbelief. Tormented by the loss of her husband, the 528 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,240 possibility that her daughter may have also been swallowed up 529 00:32:52,319 --> 00:32:56,319 by that horrible place, and the unimaginable choice of letting 530 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,519 her son enter that place of hell or keeping him 531 00:32:59,559 --> 00:33:03,039 with her as her last remaining piece of happiness tore 532 00:33:03,119 --> 00:33:07,880 at her from all directions. She didn't move, Mama, do 533 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,359 what I said, Do it now, Bobby ordered as sternly 534 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,920 as he could. For a minute, he thought that his 535 00:33:15,039 --> 00:33:17,720 mother wouldn't move at all. He thought he was going 536 00:33:17,759 --> 00:33:20,839 to have to waste time making that phone call. But 537 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:24,400 he couldn't do that. There wasn't any time. He had 538 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,039 to find Cassie and Mama had to make the phone call. 539 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:30,640 Just as he was about to open his mouth and 540 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:35,480 scream at her, Georgia turned and ran inside, taking one 541 00:33:35,519 --> 00:33:39,039 deep breath to help bolster his courage. Bobby turned and 542 00:33:39,079 --> 00:33:43,160 faced the woods. Of course, no one knows for sure 543 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:47,119 what happened that night, mister high Tower said, breaking through 544 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,599 Chig's reverie. I suppose this is as close to the 545 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:55,079 events as anyone can get. Jigg answered politely, mister high 546 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:59,000 Tower was right, It was all conjecture. He made a 547 00:33:59,039 --> 00:34:01,799 mental note to Clara that when he wrote the story, 548 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,599 didn't missus Dumer know that Bobby used the Devil's Knot 549 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:10,760 as a shortcut every day. He asked, Mister high Tower 550 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,320 only shrugged and continued his tale. She had closed his 551 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:19,320 eyes and followed the story with his imagination. Bobby had 552 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:22,519 turned and faced the dark hollow, knowing that he was 553 00:34:22,559 --> 00:34:26,360 going to have to enter it unarmed. Somewhere in there 554 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,840 was a rifle that belonged to his dad. He doubted 555 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,639 that anyone would ever find it now. Unfortunately, it was 556 00:34:33,679 --> 00:34:37,320 the only gun the Dumayer family owned. He had expected 557 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,519 to get a shotgun for Christmas the year's father disappeared. 558 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:43,880 Most boys his age got one for Christmas or a 559 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:48,559 birthday back then, but by Christmas his father was gone. 560 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,199 Eyes appeared at Bobby from inside the tree line that 561 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:56,320 glowed brilliant and red, as if lit from within. He 562 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:59,639 didn't see them. His focus was on entering where he 563 00:35:00,159 --> 00:35:05,239 it Each day. These eyes were farther down as he walked. 564 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:07,760 He set a silent prayer that his father would be 565 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:12,360 with him and protect him. The eyes blinked and moved away. 566 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,679 By the time the sheriff arrived with some deputies, Georgia 567 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:21,280 Dumer was inconsolable. She was crying that her children were 568 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,199 in the knot and that they were going to be 569 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:27,199 eaten by the werewolf. A doctor was summoned to administer 570 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:32,000 sedatives to keep her calm. Two deputies volunteered to follow 571 00:35:32,039 --> 00:35:36,199 Bobby's path into the hollow, and although they were clearly terrified, 572 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,039 how could they refuse to go when a twelve year 573 00:35:39,039 --> 00:35:43,199 old boy had so bravely gone in alone. They were 574 00:35:43,199 --> 00:35:47,039 in there for nearly three hours. Others who had gathered 575 00:35:47,039 --> 00:35:50,239 at the Dumayer farm stood in small groups around the 576 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,519 barnyard or warm their hands on the fire someone had 577 00:35:53,559 --> 00:35:57,880 started in the burning barrel. And while Georgia Dumyer laid 578 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:01,880 in her bed under the influence of heavy medication, other 579 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,840 women from the area arrived with food for the men 580 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:08,960 and boiled coffee on the stove. Every minute that ticked 581 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:11,199 by on the clock felt like a hammer blow to 582 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:17,360 Bobby and Cassie's chances of survival. Inside the knight, Bobby 583 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,920 searched for his little sister in the dark, Cassie. He 584 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:27,480 called as he walked up and down cinder Creek, Cassie. 585 00:36:27,559 --> 00:36:31,239 After each call, he stopped and listened. Sometimes he thought 586 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:33,880 he heard her frightened voice answer back, and he would 587 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:38,119 move in that direction. Other times he heard footsteps snapping 588 00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:42,039 twigs and crushing nearby leaf matter, and he would turn 589 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:46,320 and he would follow that sound. Wasn't long before he 590 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:48,719 heard the deputies in the hollow, looking for both him 591 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:51,599 and his sister. He tried to call back to let 592 00:36:51,599 --> 00:36:54,920 them know where he was, but sound plays a devilish 593 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:59,159 game in places like that. The dampness from the underbrush 594 00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:03,960 and the thousand captured rainstorms will absorb sound and deaden 595 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,679 it before it has time to travel. What little noise 596 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:12,119 that escapes bounces around on petrified bark jutting stones until 597 00:37:12,159 --> 00:37:15,840 it's difficult to tell the direction of its origin. And 598 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:19,079 Bobby knew this even as he turned again and tried 599 00:37:19,119 --> 00:37:24,559 to follow his sister's pleading cries. Fear is the only 600 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:29,880 true enemy of courage. It always outweighs it. It is 601 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:35,039 louder and more convincing, and it never relents. Courage is fleeting. 602 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,880 It stands strong against the task before it, but often 603 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:43,639 crumbles in the undertaking. Bobby felt his courage struggling to 604 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:46,920 leave him, and again and again he had to remind 605 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:49,559 himself that this was his baby's sister that he was 606 00:37:49,599 --> 00:37:53,840 looking for. She relied on him. Her father was gone, 607 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:58,039 their mother was losing her mind. She was all that 608 00:37:58,119 --> 00:38:02,880 he had He had to push forward. Lord. No atheists 609 00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:06,960 ever entered the Devil's Knot, or if they did and survived, 610 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,840 they came out knowing God. The deputies saw things and 611 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,599 heard things inside that patch of woods that they would 612 00:38:13,639 --> 00:38:16,159 spend the rest of their lives talking about to their 613 00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:20,679 children and their children's children. Red eyes glowed at them 614 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:24,559 from behind trees. Footsteps followed them up and down the 615 00:38:24,599 --> 00:38:28,840 creek bed. Growling sounds from animals too big to be 616 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:32,239 the wolves they sounded like, came at them from every direction. 617 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:36,239 The smell of blood and death burned in their nostrils, 618 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:40,440 and neither spoke except to give direction. But both men 619 00:38:40,599 --> 00:38:44,039 held one thought in his mind. As frightened as they 620 00:38:44,079 --> 00:38:48,199 were here together, what those two children were feeling alone 621 00:38:48,559 --> 00:38:53,119 must have been unbearable. As the moon rose over the 622 00:38:53,159 --> 00:38:56,119 hollow and the hope slipped away, the deputies turned and 623 00:38:56,159 --> 00:38:59,320 headed back to the house. They knew that neither of 624 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:03,039 those children, whatever come out of that hollow alive. The 625 00:39:03,079 --> 00:39:06,719 batteries on their flashlights were losing power, and their legs 626 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:10,119 ached from climbing up and down the slippery, rocky hillsides. 627 00:39:11,119 --> 00:39:14,079 The moonlight reflecting on the hay stubble of the field 628 00:39:14,119 --> 00:39:18,199 before them was a welcome sight to their shame. Each 629 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:21,400 was proud that he had survived that place, despite not 630 00:39:21,519 --> 00:39:27,079 finding Bobby or Cassie. Less than two steps outside of 631 00:39:27,119 --> 00:39:30,480 that hollow, they froze in their tracks as a crack 632 00:39:30,519 --> 00:39:33,840 of a rifle shot followed by a long, menacing howl, 633 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:38,400 split the night. People in the barnyard turned and stared. 634 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:43,199 The two deputies turned and stared. Georgia Dumer sat up 635 00:39:43,199 --> 00:39:47,079 in her bed and screamed her own tormented howl. Afterwards, 636 00:39:47,079 --> 00:39:51,199 the sound of a child's cry could be heard. Everyone watched, 637 00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:56,519 No one breathed. Then little Cassie, her long red hair 638 00:39:56,559 --> 00:39:59,760 having come loose from its braids and now tumbling down 639 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:06,440 her back, stepped out of the Devil's Not alive, Cassie 640 00:40:06,519 --> 00:40:10,440 was covered in blood. The doctor who was attending Georgia 641 00:40:10,519 --> 00:40:14,320 Dumayer gave her a full examination. Some of the neighbor's 642 00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:18,079 women helped to wash her up. She was bruised and scratched, 643 00:40:18,119 --> 00:40:21,519 but no major cuts existed to account for that much blood. 644 00:40:22,679 --> 00:40:26,599 Her frightened blue eyes swam and unshed tears that spilled 645 00:40:26,639 --> 00:40:29,079 out only when they laid her beside her mother on 646 00:40:29,119 --> 00:40:33,639 the bed. She never spoke again, except to utter one sentence, 647 00:40:34,559 --> 00:40:39,280 He saved me. When the morning came, most of those 648 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:41,719 who had gathered at the du Meyer farm went home, 649 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:44,639 a few of the ladies stayed to care for Georgia 650 00:40:44,679 --> 00:40:47,880 and Cassie, but most people, seeing that they had no 651 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:51,519 real duties to fulfill, now decided that they would do 652 00:40:51,679 --> 00:40:55,039 better to go home and get out of the way. Besides, 653 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,360 they might accidentally stick around so long that someone might 654 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,639 ask them to go into the devil's for one more look. 655 00:41:03,199 --> 00:41:06,920 A dozen local farmers in the sheriff himself did exactly that. 656 00:41:07,679 --> 00:41:10,519 They searched the woods in daylight, not that it made 657 00:41:10,519 --> 00:41:14,000 any difference. They still had the use of their flashlights 658 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,119 in the dense foliage, informed a grid pattern to ensure 659 00:41:18,159 --> 00:41:22,480 that they covered everything. No sign of Bobby was ever found. 660 00:41:24,639 --> 00:41:27,760 Over the years, many have questioned the events at that night. 661 00:41:28,559 --> 00:41:32,159 Did Bobby perhaps find his father's rifle and rescue his 662 00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:35,840 sister by killing something that was chasing her? Could a 663 00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:37,840 rifle that had been left in the woods for a 664 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:41,880 year even work Everyone who was there that night swore 665 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,960 that they heard the rifle shot. Was it Bobby who 666 00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:48,639 pulled the trigger? Likewise, they all knew they heard a 667 00:41:48,679 --> 00:41:52,320 wolf's howl. No wolves were known to be in that area. 668 00:41:53,519 --> 00:41:58,960 Had every person there, lifelong hunters, experienced lawmen and farmers alike, 669 00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:02,519 mistaken the sound of a tree branch cracking for that 670 00:42:02,639 --> 00:42:05,800 of a rifle shot? And how did Cassie come out 671 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:09,039 of those woods alive when her brother was never seen again? 672 00:42:10,679 --> 00:42:13,440 It wasn't long after that night that the Welfare of 673 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:17,840 People came and took Cassie away. Chigg found evidence that 674 00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:21,480 she lived out her life in a sanitarium, a mute 675 00:42:21,519 --> 00:42:26,519 with haunted eyes who lived in a tormented past. Georgia 676 00:42:26,599 --> 00:42:30,639 Dumayer was taken away as well. Her mind snapped that night. 677 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:33,880 The loss of her husband and son was more than 678 00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:38,000 she could mentally accept. The farm was sold and new 679 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:41,920 people moved in. Legends about the night grew over time. 680 00:42:42,679 --> 00:42:44,920 There had always been the stories, but now they had 681 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:49,320 names to put with them, Bobby, Cassandra, will and Georgia 682 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:54,320 the Dumyer family. By the time Chigg was a kid 683 00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:58,199 growing up in Truman County, there was another legend. It 684 00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:01,480 was the one he was most familiar with. It was 685 00:43:01,519 --> 00:43:05,360 the reason he chose this story to write about. Children 686 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:08,519 whispered about the terrors of the Devil's Knot at sleepovers 687 00:43:08,559 --> 00:43:12,119 and around campfires. They said, if you enter that place, 688 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:15,599 something will chase you. They say it's a wolf, but 689 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:19,440 not a wolf. But not to worry. If Bobby Dumer 690 00:43:19,519 --> 00:43:23,639 knows that you're there, he'll chase it away. So when 691 00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:26,599 you enter the Knot, you called out the greeting to Bobby. 692 00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:30,880 Don't look at him because he's covered in blood. Just 693 00:43:31,039 --> 00:43:33,480 know that he'll get you safely to the other side. 694 00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:37,840 It was a legend that Chig knew better than most 695 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:42,440 because Chig tested it out. He was twelve, the exact 696 00:43:42,519 --> 00:43:45,519 age that Bobby was when he entered the Knot and 697 00:43:45,599 --> 00:43:49,519 never came out. It started as a dare when he 698 00:43:49,559 --> 00:43:51,840 and some of his friends were camping out in a 699 00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:55,639 pasture of his family's farm. In the middle of the night. 700 00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:58,280 The boys got on their bicycles and rode over to 701 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:03,199 that same place where Bobby's supposedly always entered the Knot. There, 702 00:44:03,559 --> 00:44:07,480 Chig got off his bike and walked inside, flashlight in hand, 703 00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:12,440 and called out a greeting to Bobby Dumar. It was 704 00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:15,920 a full hour before the other boys would see Chig again. 705 00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:19,400 They had ridden their bikes to the other side and waited. 706 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:22,639 When he came out, his face was pale and his 707 00:44:22,719 --> 00:44:26,920 body shook violently with fear. He never told them what 708 00:44:27,039 --> 00:44:30,880 he saw. Who would have believed him? How do you 709 00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:34,519 tell your friends that a bloody, torn to piece's ghost 710 00:44:35,079 --> 00:44:38,679 carrying a rustic rifle led you through a little piece 711 00:44:38,719 --> 00:44:42,719 of hell on earth? Inhabited by creatures that should exist 712 00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:44,599 only in the movies.