The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972)

1. What do you boys think about going turkey hunting this year?

2. Think you ought to go... Mr. Willie, my momma

3. wanted me to ask you would you come down to our house?

4. There's some kind of wild man

5. down there in the woods by the creek.

6. Now, Boy,

7. I want you to go back down there and tell your momma

8. there ain't a thing in the world to be afraid of.

9. I'll come down there tomorrow and check it out.

10. Go ahead.

11. Yes, sir.

12. Thank you, Sir.

13. You know that's the third time

14. that ol' lady's sent that kid up here to tell me

15. there's a big ol' hairy monster down in my field.

16. I guess I'll have to get down there tomorrow and see about it.

17. I was seven-years-old when I first heard him scream.

18. It scared me then, and it scares me now.

19. This is Fouke, Arkansas.

20. I grew up here.

21. The population was about 350 when I was a boy.

22. It still is.

23. Fouke is way down in the southwest corner

24. where Arkansas joins Texas and Louisiana.

25. If you've ever driven from Shreveport to Texarkana,

26. you'll pass right through Fouke.

27. Even if you don't remember seeing it.

28. Aside from homes,

29. Fouke has several stores,

30. a couple of gas stations,

31. a post office and school,

32. garage and motel,

33. and two cafes for the men folk to stop by

34. for coffee and conversation

35. on the fish they've caught, or the duck, quail, squirrel,

36. or deer they've hunted.

37. Fishing and hunting take up a lot of almost everybody's time.

38. Maybe Smokey Crabtree, who lives way back down

39. on the edge of the Bottoms will tell about

40. a mink or beaver he or his son Travis caught.

41. Smokey raises beef cattle and traps part time

42. and works as a pipeline welder

43. when the good jobs come along.

44. Travis walks and paddles for miles every morning,

45. running his trap lines before school starts.

46. Most of the people who live around Fouke

47. are farmers or ranchers.

48. This country is rich and fertile

49. with plenty of grass and water.

50. Our land is veined with a great network of

51. branches, creeks, river and lakes.

52. Fouke is a right pleasant place to live...

53. Until the sun goes down.

54. That day in the store,

55. Willie Smith didn't believe me when I told him

56. about a wild, hairy creature in the woods.

57. He believes me now.

58. And he ran on East,

59. jumped over the fence.

60. It just seemed like he just, sort of, pushed it down

61. with his left hand, just stepped over.

62. It was wounded and was holding that right chest.

63. It had that right hand on his chest

64. all the time that it was in sight.

65. Maybe if it hadn't been hurt pretty badly,

66. why, it might have ran on all four legs, I don't know.

67. But it wasn't.

68. It was running on two legs at all times.

69. That was about all I saw of this thing.

70. Something came through here last night

71. and killed my two prized shoats.

72. Found one of them lying right here

73. deep gashes,

74. cuts and his tongue was hanging out.

75. Looked like something had strangled him.

76. I keep them off down here by the creek in this pen.

77. And whatever it was, got in the pen,

78. lifted both them 200-pound hogs over the fence.

79. I couldn't find no place where they'd been dragged under.

80. I couldn't find no tracks, so I figured whatever it was,

81. came and left travelling up and down that creek.

82. Not knowing what had killed them hogs,

83. I just threw them away.

84. I carried them way off out there in the bushes

85. so the smell wouldn't get back up to the house.

86. Next day,

87. I got up and looked out there

88. and thought it kind of funny

89. not seeing any buzzards circling or anything.

90. So, came down here and both hogs were gone.

91. That thing, whatever it was, must've come back,

92. and the grass wasn't even disturbed, where the hogs was.

93. What kind of thing can pick up 200-pound hogs

94. and walk off with them.

95. I doubt if you could find a lonelier,

96. spookier place in this country

97. than down around Boggy Creek.

98. It twists and winds its way across the Fouke countryside,

99. widening and narrowing,

100. sheltering within its thickly wooded banks

101. a multitude of creatures

102. that run, fly, swim, creep and crawl.

103. Eventually, Boggy empties into Days Creek

104. and flows onward into the Sulphur River.

105. Heavy rainfall half the year

106. causes our creeks and rivers to flood

107. and spread over wide sections

108. of densely thicketed and forested bottomland.

109. In the Sulphur River Bottoms,

110. the water spreads out for miles across the bottomland.

111. A lot of which is so densely thicketed

112. that only a few hunters and trappers have the skill

113. to make their way deep into this wild, swampy country.

114. A lot of people believe

115. the creature prowls back in here most of the time.

116. But every now and then,

117. drawn to civilization like a moth to flame,

118. he creeps out about dusk.

119. These nighttime visits have set off waves of terror

120. around Fouke for over 15 years.

121. What in the world is this creature?

122. "Where did he come from, and what does he eat?"

123. Are questions I've heard discussed a thousand times

124. around winter fires and on hot summer evenings.

125. When the creature, whom the newspapers quickly named.

126. "The Fouke Monster," was first seen,

127. he didn't seem to make any special effort

128. to hide from people.

129. At least, Fred Crabtree,

130. a farmer who hunted a lot, had that opinion.

131. He just didn't look like anything I'd ever seen.

132. I thought at first, it might be some kind of a wild man.

133. I couldn't tell under all that hair just what it was.

134. I changed the shells in my shotgun

135. from my squirrel shot to my buck shot.

136. More for my protection than anything else.

137. If I'd have had my rifle,

138. I believe I could have knocked him down easy.

139. But I doubt if I would have.

140. 'Cause I kept thinking there's just a chance

141. he might be a man.

142. And if I had shot that thing,

143. and it turned out to be a man,

144. I'd have had to live with that for the rest of my life.

145. Although he was never sure,

146. Fred got the impression

147. the creature had been washing his feet in the icy water.

148. A few months later,

149. James Crabtree was squirrel hunting.

150. Only a short distance from the spot

151. where Fred Crabtree had seen it.

152. I've spent a lot of my life in these woods,

153. and there was something strange about that evening

154. that I couldn't put my finger on it.

155. It was just a feeling I had.

156. There didn't seem to be as many birds

157. and little small animals out as usual.

158. In fact, they seemed mighty scarce.

159. It stepped right out in plain sight.

160. Right out there in front of me.

161. And he was... It was some kind of thing

162. that I've never come across before.

163. Well, he stared at me for a little while

164. and just slipped out of sight.

165. I never saw him again.

166. Neither Fred Crabtree, nor his uncle James

167. told anyone about their experience for years.

168. They figured nobody would believe them.

169. He always travels the creeks.

170. That was one of the first things we figured out.

171. This little branch feeds into Boggy Creek.

172. The Searcy Family lives here.

173. Mary Beth Searcy is a teenage student.

174. Right now, her older married sister

175. and her baby are visiting.

176. Her father's working in another town,

177. and her younger brother is spending the night with a friend.

178. So, this evening, just the two girls,

179. their mother and the baby will be alone in this house.

180. They have no phone

181. and the nearest neighbor is a mile or so across the woods.

182. Mary Beth?

183. Mary Beth, would you please hang something over the window?

184. There's a draft on the baby.

185. Yeah. Okay. Just a minute.

186. Come here, Kitty.

187. Come here, Kitty. Come here.

188. Come, Kitty.

189. Mary Beth,

190. would you please hurry up!

191. This draft's gonna give the baby a cold.

192. Okay! Okay!

193. Mary Beth, what's the matter with you?

194. What happened? Tell me. Answer me...

195. It was a long night of terror.

196. In a few minutes, Mary Beth was revived,

197. and the three women, shaking in fear,

198. freezing at every sound in the darkness,

199. waited out the long hours of blackness.

200. The baby slept peacefully through it all.

201. Next morning, they would discover their dead kitten

202. completely unmarked.

203. Apparently, she had simply been scared to death.

204. The beauty of the Bottoms under soft moonlight

205. is transformed into dark and menacing danger.

206. And the shadows of the night trigger your imagination

207. into being places, where possibly, the creature is lurking.

208. Because you know he's out there somewhere.

209. If, like this 13-year-old boy,

210. you've grown up as a woodsman and hunter,

211. you never miss an opportunity to get yourself a deer.

212. Yes, there's no doubt about it,

213. the dogs are hot on the trail

214. chasing the deer in this direction.

215. Later, they found two-inch saplings

216. broken down by the creature in his pain and fury.

217. They saw crushed underbrush and blood stains,

218. which in the excitement,

219. no one thought to gather a sample of.

220. But they did not find the creature.

221. The terrifying stories

222. of face to face encounters with the creature

223. triggered the Fouke community into action.

224. A big hunt was organized

225. with some of the best hunting dogs

226. in Arkansas and Texas involved.

227. They even brought in some famous dogs from Tennessee.

228. I got to go along.

229. And I still vividly recall how I was trembling with excitement.

230. We'd heard that earlier, some other dogs

231. had refused to trail the creature,

232. cowering in fear and running back

233. at the first whiff of his sour pig-pen smell.

234. But we were confident our dogs would get the job done.

235. Hey, Earl, where did that ol' boy go that brought them dogs in here.

236. While several groups hunted on foot,

237. others scouted designated areas on horseback.

238. While we made our way along the dirt road he had been crossing,

239. the men on horseback swept across the woodlands

240. along the creek areas.

241. About this time, our dogs struck his trail where he'd crossed the road.

242. Go get him. Spot, go get him!

243. They found his trail.

244. Go get him! Atta boy! Trail him now. Get him.

245. You've never seen a more embarrassed

246. and angry group of dog owners.

247. Neither one of these famous hunting dogs

248. would trail the creature's scent.

249. They whined, tucked their tails,

250. and came running back obviously scared.

251. I was sure disappointed.

252. Despite the failure of the dogs to trail the creature,

253. several groups of hunters kept going far into the night.

254. Later, we got word

255. that one hunting party had got the creature

256. to scream angrily back at a wounded rabbit call,

257. but moved deeper into the forest

258. when they tried to get closer.

259. Not too many of the hunters were interested in plunging

260. into thick woods in pitch darkness

261. knowing he was out there.

262. Often I've tried to imagine how the creature must feel.

263. Since his very appearance and the sounds he makes frightened us,

264. our immediate reaction was to try to kill him.

265. I suppose if a strange-looking creature

266. from another world showed up,

267. he'd get the same reception.

268. Actually, at first,

269. the creature didn't try to harm anybody,

270. but now, after being hunted and hurt,

271. he suddenly disappeared.

272. So, far as we know,

273. he wasn't seen again for eight years.

274. Where did he go?

275. Well, we believe he simply headed back

276. deeper and deeper into the Bottoms,

277. beyond the reach of men.

278. Only the alligator and wolf,

279. crane and possum,

280. and a thousand other wild creatures

281. heard his occasional, lonely cries

282. ringing out over his watery domain.

283. The seasons passed,

284. summers into falls,

285. winters into springs.

286. And somewhere in the remote wilderness of the Bottoms,

287. the creature spent his days.

288. Now, none of us Fouke Boys would admit it,

289. but for a long time,

290. knowing the creature might be around

291. had put a damper on our pack trips back into the wilderness.

292. But as time passed, and stories and conversation

293. about the Fouke Monster died down,

294. teenage boys again began to go off

295. on long camping trips in the Bottoms.

296. Travis Crabtree is the kind of fearless,

297. outdoor kid that would have gone anyway,

298. even knowing the creature was around.

299. There's nothing Travis likes better

300. than to spend the weekend camping

301. on one of the hilltop islands

302. created by high water deep in the Bottom land.

303. When he's down in the Bottoms,

304. Travis always stops off

305. for a visit and a cup of coffee with Herb Jones.

306. Herb Jones is a man who likes a lot of privacy.

307. He's been living alone in these Bottoms for the past 20 years.

308. Hey, Herb!

309. Well, Travis.

310. Travis always enjoys these visits with Herb,

311. and never fails to bring him tobacco and other supplies.

312. Herb can spin yarns for hours

313. about his experiences

314. with the wild creatures of the Bottomland.

315. Herb tells Travis to be on the look out

316. for a big ol' wild boar with double curled tusks

317. he spotted a day or two earlier.

318. Herb limps because he once accidentally shot

319. part of his foot away in a boating accident.

320. Although he was all alone,

321. he made it out of the Bottoms to a doctor.

322. I've been living down here by myself for a long time.

323. About 14-miles by boat

324. from my place to the nearest road,

325. then it's a pretty good walk to town.

326. Them Crabtree boys,

327. especially that Travis,

328. always drop by to see me

329. when they come hunting and fishing.

330. They always brung me tobacco and sugar

331. and stuff like that.

332. Even a bottle of wine every once in a while.

333. Did you notice my bottle tree on the way in?

334. I use them bottles as hooks on my trout lines.

335. I catch some mighty big catfish and buffalo on them lines.

336. And an old crane flies over every day.

337. Looks at my place.

338. I don't know what he's looking for.

339. Once you get to know these Bottoms,

340. you never lack for something to do.

341. People always ask me why I stay down here.

342. I tell them I stay 'cause I like it better here

343. than I would anywhere else.

344. Looks like they could figure that out for themselves.

345. And another thing,

346. people always ask me

347. have I seen the Fouke Monster.

348. Let me tell you something,

349. there ain't no such thing.

350. I've been living here in these Bottoms

351. for better than 20 years.

352. I ain't never seen nor heard no monster.

353. What was that?

354. I don't know, but let's get out of here.

355. The creature was back.

356. Once again, the lure of civilization

357. had brought him out of the wilderness.

358. Soon, newspaper headlines would herald,

359. "The Return of the Fouke Monster."

360. And people would get together around Fouke to relate

361. the latest rumors on the creature.

362. Every dead animal found in the forest

363. was blamed upon him.

364. This dog and others found dead,

365. might well be his victims.

366. Excitement in the community reached a new peak

367. when a farmer named O.H. Kennedy

368. discovered these strange three-toed footsteps

369. in Willie Smith's bean field.

370. Radio, newspaper and television coverage

371. resulted in nation-wide publicity.

372. Must not be over four inches wide.

373. Mr. Kennedy,

374. you say you found these tracks late Sunday.

375. Now, was that late yesterday afternoon?

376. Yes, Sir. Just about sundown.

377. My wife and I went out for a ride,

378. she's been feeling poorly lately.

379. And we decided to stop by the bean field

380. to see if the ground was too wet to plow.

381. We called Willie Smith right away.

382. Mr. Kennedy, do you think

383. this creature could be a Sasquatch?

384. A... A Sasquatch?

385. I don't believe I know what that is, Sir.

386. Well, the Sasquatch was

387. the Indians' word for a legendary giant tribe

388. of very shy people.

389. They live mostly in the woods

390. up in the Pacific Northwest.

391. Well, I didn't see anybody.

392. All I've seen, Sir, is these tracks.

393. Well, now, doesn't the Sasquatch

394. have a normal five toes?

395. This thing here has only three toes.

396. Yes, and the adult Sasquatch footprint is bigger, too.

397. It's 18 inches long on the average.

398. Could these be gorilla tracks?

399. No, I don't think it's a gorilla.

400. A gorilla has five toes,

401. and very seldom moves upright on two legs for very long.

402. This thing, it had to drop down on all fours

403. to travel this far.

404. What about an orangutan?

405. This is the same thing people around here

406. reported seeing over the past few years.

407. He's reddish-brown,

408. that's the same color as an orangutan.

409. Well, I don't think this could be orangutan.

410. The number of the toes are wrong.

411. Now, excuse me, Mr. Kennedy,

412. you spend a lot of time working in this field, right?

413. Did you ever see tracks like this

414. when you were here before?

415. No, Sir. Can't say that I have.

416. There's a lot of fresh animal tracks around this field all the time.

417. Deer, wolf, bobcat,

418. and all kinds of other tracks.

419. But I've never seen anything like these before.

420. Well, Mr. Kennedy, did you ever hear anything

421. out of the ordinary down here?

422. Well,

423. I've heard some pretty peculiar things down here,

424. but I've never seen anything unusual like this before.

425. I wonder what moves the creature

426. to pick a particular patch of woods

427. and return to it again and again.

428. These woods next to the bean field

429. must be one of his favorite haunts.

430. More than what I heard, I guess it was

431. what I didn't hear that made it kinda spooky.

432. Even when that tractor is running

433. and you can't hear nothing,

434. you get a funny feeling that

435. something's wrong.

436. Then, I think, wasn't sure,

437. but I think I'd hear a low growl, a hoot, a grunt or something

438. from back at the trees.

439. And you know that someone out there is watching you.

440. I tell you, there's some kind of animal

441. hanging around this field, all right.

442. And he's no animal

443. from this part of the country.

444. He always travels Boggy Creek.

445. That's Bessie Smith's children

446. playing at the edge of the woods over there,

447. where Kennedy heard the creature.

448. Grandpa! Grandpa!

449. Grandpa! Grandpa!

450. Be quiet. You're gonna wake up your grandpa.

451. I saw him, I saw that monster.

452. You're getting filthy down there...

453. Grandpa! Grandpa! We saw the monster.

454. Be quiet! You're gonna wake up your grandpa.

455. If you don't be quiet, you'll get a switch.

456. Well, Mom, will you come down and see it if I show you?

457. Show me what?

458. Show you... The Fouke Monster.

459. Oh, you know there isn't anything there.

460. Yes, there is!

461. Come on, hurry. He might go.

462. He's over there.

463. Let's go back home!

464. Come on!

465. Where now? Where did you see it?

466. It was right over there.

467. Right over there.

468. See, there isn't anything over there.

469. Well, there was. He was.

470. He was.

471. That's where we saw him last.

472. Run! Go! Run!

473. Go! Run!

474. Run!

475. That's Charlie Walraven coming down the road.

476. This road runs along the north side of the woods.

477. It was long about dark.

478. I was heading into town that evening.

479. When I seen this thing coming out across the road

480. in front of my car.

481. I just couldn't even believe what I was watching.

482. You know, I reckon there's a lot of folks

483. that don't believe anything

484. until they see it for themselves.

485. Of course, if they're like me,

486. they'd be wishing they hadn't seen

487. what they did.

488. You know, that thing's gonna

489. up and kill somebody one of these days,

490. sure as the world.

491. On a bright, moonlight night like this one,

492. you'd figure he'd stay out of sight.

493. But nothing seems to worry him

494. when the urge to prowl comes over him.

495. It could've been a fatal mistake

496. if the man who lives here

497. had been home tonight.

498. He has a high-powered rifle handy,

499. and knows how to use it.

500. His daughter, Nancy,

501. has invited two girlfriends over

502. for a bunking party.

503. No, our team's much better than Arkansas High.

504. You know that. Arkansas High had a win.

505. I know, but they're defensive.

506. Yeah, look at their offense.

507. Nancy, I like the way they cut your hair.

508. I think it's cute.

509. Well, Frank liked it long.

510. He's been sulking all week.

511. Now, don't pay any attention to him,

512. he doesn't know anything about it.

513. Did y'all hear something?

514. That's the wind.

515. I can't see anything. Do you?

516. No, I don't see anything.

517. Then it must've been the wind.

518. I hope.

519. Let's all have a Coke.

520. Do you all want one?

521. Yeah, get me one. Yeah.

522. Nancy, there's somebody moving around

523. outside this trailer.

524. Do you... Do you think it could be some of the guys?

525. If it is, I'll kill 'em.

526. I can't believe it's them.

527. They went to that game in Texarkana.

528. Listen.

529. I hear something breathing.

530. I can hear it, too.

531. Get the gun! Get the gun!

532. Where are the shells?

533. Where are the shells?

534. Go away!

535. Go away!

536. Shh. Shh. Hey, shh. Shh.

537. I don't hear it anymore.

538. I don't either.

539. Be still, I'm gonna look out.

540. No.

541. Next morning when her parents returned,

542. they would find the girls still half hysterical with shock.

543. Before the creature finally wandered off,

544. he smashed flower pots

545. and over turned everything in sight.

546. These radical changes

547. in his usually cautious behavior

548. may be caused by lonely frustration,

549. for he apparently is the only one of his kind.

550. Normally, he never comes out of the woods before dusk,

551. and then moves very cautiously,

552. staying within quick return

553. to the shelter of the trees.

554. But tonight, he's on the rampage.

555. It wasn't the first time the creature had

556. prowled in the vicinity

557. of Howard Walraven's mobile home,

558. which is located only a couple of hundred yards

559. from where Boggy Creek flows across Highway 71.

560. We heard him lots of nights.

561. Sometimes, it sounded like

562. he was right outside of the window,

563. it was so loud.

564. And I had my two good dogs

565. tied up right there behind the house.

566. And they'd always get excited

567. and scared, you know, whenever he'd come around,

568. we heard him,

569. but, heck, I never figured he'd attack them.

570. It just looked to me like he grabbed my dog

571. and ripped the hide right off his back.

572. Now let me tell you something.

573. He killed the finest dog that I ever had.

574. But I'm gonna get him one of these days

575. and that's gonna be all she wrote.

576. Sometimes, the creature sticks to one patch of woods

577. for a long time.

578. Then, impulsively works his way

579. far up the creeks

580. before being heard from again.

581. The creeks...

582. He always travels the creeks.

583. When he next showed up,

584. it was several miles upstream.

585. In the spring, this house was rented to two young couples

586. who moved in together to save money.

587. They were Charles Turner,

588. his wife, Anne,

589. and Don Ford,

590. who was Anne Turner's brother.

591. And Don's wife, Sue.

592. Each couple had a small child.

593. Don and Charles had just been hired

594. by a big cattle ranch in the Fouke area.

595. Since both men would be required

596. to work late at night,

597. the girls would be company to each other.

598. Thank you. Thank you.

599. The two families moved in on Monday.

600. Thursday night,

601. the first of a series

602. of hair-raising incidents occurred.

603. What's the matter?

604. Did you hear that? Yeah.

605. That chair... Put that chair under the door.

606. Who do you suppose that was?

607. I don't know.

608. Let's take the kids and go to the landlord's.

609. I had a pretty good look around

610. and I couldn't find a thing.

611. Are you sure you don't want to go back to my place

612. till the men get here?

613. No, no. That's okay

614. if you checked and you're sure there's nothing here,

615. then we'll be okay, I think.

616. I couldn't find a thing.

617. But I'll come back in a little while and check on you.

618. Okay, listen, Mister,

619. we sure do thank you and we appreciate it

620. so much... Well, you're welcome.

621. I'll wait here till you get in the house.

622. Okay. Buh-bye.

623. Bye.

624. The next day, Friday,

625. the Fords and Turners had visitors.

626. Don Ford's younger brother, Bobby Ford,

627. and a cousin, 12-year-old Corky Hill,

628. arrived for the weekend.

629. They'd heard about the great fishing around Fouke

630. and were anxious to wet a hook.

631. Y'all be back before dark.

632. Yeah, yeah. We're gonna bring back some supper.

633. Bobby.

634. Who told you the fishing was good here?

635. They're here. Just have patience.

636. Bobby, come here. Come here!

637. What do you want?

638. Just come here. Come here!

639. Boy, look at the size of that guy's footprint!

640. That ain't no footprint.

641. That's funny.

642. What's so funny about that?

643. He's only got three toes!

644. Well, it's getting kinda late,

645. and the fish aren't biting anyway,

646. so I think we oughta go.

647. Sure is spooky down here.

648. I still say, that's the biggest foot that I've ever seen.

649. No.

650. Shh. I think I hear something.

651. Go get Annie and Sue.

652. Get up, get up. Bobby heard something.

653. Oh, my gosh. It's back.

654. Shh. I heard something.

655. Is that him back?

656. It's gotta be.

657. Corky, go get the kids.

658. I seen him! He's coming around the porch!

659. Bobby, put that chair under the door.

660. I think I heard a car.

661. Phew! It's Don and Charles.

662. Hey, Don. Hey, Don. Listen, listen. I swear...

663. You wouldn't believe what happened.

664. You wouldn't believe what happened.

665. I've never seen nothing like this.

666. All right. Hold it. Hold it. You wouldn't believe it.

667. You wouldn't believe what happened.

668. I just can't believe what happened.

669. I just can't... I'm sorry, I ain't...

670. Calm down. Everybody's talking at once.

671. That's right. I saw it.

672. All right, just calm down.

673. He's been around this house.

674. We can't all talk at one time.

675. I told you there was something funny

676. about that footprint I found.

677. I just told you there was.

678. Charles, this is the second time in two nights

679. that someone has been around this house.

680. I think you oughta get some protection, man.

681. Think we oughta go to the landlord's to get the gun?

682. That'd be a great idea.

683. Why don't you go down and get the gun

684. I'll stay here with them... Be careful.

685. And everything will be a little quieter.

686. Okay, I'm going to go with you.

687. We're have a gun here so y'all don't be scared.

688. Go on in the house.

689. No way. No.

690. I'm just glad Charles and Don are home.

691. Yeah, me too.

692. Listen, Corky, you gotta get some sleep

693. and so do you.

694. I'm gonna go on the bed.

695. Okay.

696. What happened? What happened?

697. I saw him!

698. I swear, I ain't ever seen nothing like it in my life.

699. He just came through there. I saw him.

700. He was long and hairy.

701. It was like a bear or something. Hold it, hold it, hold it.

702. Hold it. Don, go get the light

703. and we'll go see what this thing is.

704. All right, once more.

705. If he's out here, let's get him now.

706. I'll look back here, just a minute.

707. Keep your eyes open.

708. Say, I ain't scared, this ain't no thing.

709. What's that right there?

710. That right over there?

711. Is that him right there?

712. Yeah, that's him.

713. You better say something out there.

714. You better say something. Hey, Man.

715. Gonna shoot. Shoot him. He's not saying anything.

716. Shoot him. Shoot him!

717. Shoot him!

718. See, right there.

719. Get him? I don't know.

720. Hey, I think you got him. I don't see a thing.

721. Shine your light over here.

722. I don't see anything.

723. Nothing out there either.

724. I think that you got him.

725. Hey, let's go get the sheriff.

726. Hey, let us through, will you?

727. All right, leave the gun here with me.

728. Did you shoot him?

729. We don't know. We don't even know if we hit it.

730. He's going after the sheriff. I'm gonna stay here.

731. I'm gonna go with him, all right? Go inside.

732. Hurry back.

733. There's something here outside of the house.

734. What did it look like?

735. Well, best I can tell,

736. the thing was tall and had a lot of hair. Red eyes.

737. Find anything, Constable? Not yet.

738. This piece been like this the whole time?

739. No, Sir, it hasn't.

740. Have you looked in under there?

741. No, Sir, we haven't looked down there.

742. This is a panther track and her little cub

743. with it under this house.

744. You mean a panther's been living under the house?

745. That's what it is. It's a panther track.

746. That wasn't any panther we shot at, Constable.

747. That's what that track is.

748. You keep this shotgun and this light, these shells,

749. and if you need me, you come ask.

750. Okay, Sir, we sure will.

751. I'm gonna drive up the highway

752. to see if I can see anything.

753. We'd sure appreciate it. Yeah.

754. And I'll pick the gun up tomorrow sometime.

755. I sure do thank you for coming by.

756. You're welcome. Thank you, Sir.

757. You're welcome. If you need me, give me a call.

758. Okay, we sure will.

759. We're damn glad you came. Yeah.

760. Good night. Good night.

761. What kind of place is this?

762. I mean, we have a panther living under the house,

763. somebody trying to break in?

764. Well, we've got the flashlights, we've got the guns.

765. Now let's all go to bed

766. and get some rest. I'm with you.

767. Let's go to bed. Come on, Annie.

768. Let's go. Come on, Annie.

769. I gotta stay here with the thing coming in through the window?

770. Don't worry about it. We got the guns.

771. I don't wanna stay here no more with that thing...

772. I gotta go to the bathroom.

773. What's the matter?

774. Back there. Tried to come through the window.

775. What's the matter?

776. Oh, my God!

777. Right there. Right there.

778. Tried to come in through the window.

779. Get your gun, Charles. Let's go.

780. There he is!

781. Hold this, Bobby.

782. Bobby, take the light.

783. You got him. That's it! He fell.

784. I think you got him, Man.

785. I think I saw him fall over there.

786. Let's go see.

787. Be careful.

788. Be careful!

789. Don't get too far. Come back!

790. Somebody come back here!

791. Bobby, will you go back and take care of the girls?

792. Charlie...

793. Help! Bobby!

794. When Bobby could not be aroused

795. from the state of shock he was in,

796. everyone piled into the car

797. and raced to Constable Walraven's house for help.

798. Walraven took one look at Bobby,

799. arranged a police escort

800. and sent them on to the hospital in Texarkana.

801. Nurse, what do you think's wrong with him? He hasn't said a thing in the car on the way here.

802. Let's check him up.

803. Doesn't move. Hasn't said a word. Breathing's kinda funny.

804. You think he'll be all right?

805. Let's check. We'll let you know.

806. Blood pressure's 60 over 40. I think we better start an IV.

807. He's in a state of shock.

808. Bobby recovered swiftly,

809. and the Fords and Turners moved away.

810. They don't plan on coming back.

811. What the creature was after inside the Ford house

812. is perhaps the biggest mystery of all.

813. I was thinking about it today

814. when I decided to drive out

815. to our old home place,

816. now run down and abandoned.

817. Standing out in this field,

818. it all comes rushing back.

819. And an icy tingle starts down my spine

820. when I recall that

821. terrible, lonesome cry.

822. It was so long ago that

823. it seems incredible that the creature is still out there

824. somewhere right this minute,

825. maybe even watching me.

826. Of course, you may not believe that,

827. or any of this story.

828. You may think the whole thing is a hoax.

829. And that's your privilege.

830. But if you're ever driving down

831. in our country along about sundown,

832. keep an eye on the dark woods

833. as you cross the Sulphur River Bottoms,

834. and you may catch a glimpse

835. of a huge, hairy creature

836. watching you from the shadows.

837. Yes, he's still here.

838. And you know, I'd almost like to hear

839. that terrible cry again

840. just to be reminded

841. that there is still a bit of wilderness left.

842. And there are still mysteries that remain unsolved,

843. and strange, unexplained noises

844. in the night.

845. Where he searches, where he goes,

846. this, of course, nobody knows.

847. But once you've heard his lonely cry,

848. you can guess the reason why.

849. Whether he's a beast or man,

850. what drives him wandering across the land?

851. His love for others of his clan,

852. and loneliness, he cannot stand.