WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:14.679 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