"You're traveling through another dimension- a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind, a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination." "Your next stop, the twilight zone." "Pinto!" "You're covered on all sides." "Raise your hands." "He's still alive." "Let's get him into the old jail." "Well, they did it." "They shot him down." "I never thought they'd do that- not to pinto sykes- not that easy." "He's ain't got more than a few minutes left to live, johnny rob." "You go fetch his paw and sister." "All right, mothershed." "Yes, sir." "That's the end of that!" "Normally, the old man would be correct- this would be the end of the story." "We've had the traditional shootout on the street, and the badman will soon be dead, but some men of legend and folktale have been known to continue having their way even after death." "The outlaw and killer pinto sykes was such a person." "And, shortly, we'll see how he introduces the town- and a man named conny miller, in particular- to the twilight zone." "Who's that?" "It's me, conny." "Jasen." "Why'd they fence off that piece of street down there?" "It's his blood." "If you could see down under all that dust, you could see his blood down there." "Whose blood?" "Pinto sykes'." "They shot and killed him day before yesterday." "Well, well." "Lookee what the wind blowed in." "Hello, conny." "Jim." "Same, conny?" "That's... that's all for me." "Did you notice our little fence out in the street, conny?" "That i did... and i know what's in it, too." "The blood of pinto sykes." "Who shot him?" "We did." "Who is "we," mothershed?" "Us." "The whole town." "Not me." "I don't believe in gunfire myself." "Only eight of us actually fired, but the whole town was behind it." "We'll have to admit the whole town ain't much of a marksman." "Out of eight shots fired, only one of them hit him." "We don't even know who it was that got him." "Bullet passed right through him." "No one's bragging that they did it." "No, sir." "No one's taking credit for that piece of gunplay." "You know something, mr." "Mothershed?" "Maybe, by now, pinto knows who it was that killed him." "Reckon you're some disappointed, conny, being as how you spent so much time trying to find him for yourself." "That i am, ira." "Four months wasted looking for him, and i could have found him here." "That ain't the way pinto tells it." "He claimed you didn't even try to catch up to him." "Hello, johnny rob." "Still as big a blabbermouth as ever, i find." "You do spout off a lot, johnny rob." "But no need to get riled, conny." "Us here ain't saying that you didn't actually try to catch him, but it is a fact that pinto claimed that on his deathbed." "He talked before he died?" "He lived a half hour after he was shot." "Talked a blue streak right up to the very end." "What did he say about me?" "I reckon that conny deserves to hear it all." "We got a new circuit judge, conny- a young fellow named ed thackeray." "He was through here last week, and we went to him with our complaints." "We told him how one pinto sykes is wanted by the law in three states, but treats this town like it was his personal property just because he was born and raised here." "And we tell how we hired you- conny miller- to track him down, but we ain't had much results." "Well, sir... this thackeray gets mad at us- tells us to grow up and act like men, or else leave town and move to where men can protect us." "He gets us kind of fired up." "So we hold a meeting, and we all agree to work as one so that the next time pinto rode in we all join in, and we take him." "Day before yesterday, he rode in." "Now, do you want to tell it, ira?" "That's about all there is to tell." "He rode in." "Eight of the town gunned him down out in the street." "That's all there is." "No, that is not all there is." "All right, you tell it." "We sent for his paw- dan sykes- and for his sister lone... i know the names of his family." "I was born here, too." "He spent the last few minutes talking to them." "He told his paw how sorry he was that he hadn't turned out better, and his paw allowed as to how he'd turned out right well." "He told lone how he wished she'd marry a fine man and move away." "Asked to be buried near his maw, only 20 feet away, as she's too true a woman to have the likes of him any closer." "What did he say about me?" "He got real riled when he mentioned you." "He said, the slower he ran away, the slower you chased him." "He said he waited for you in albuquerque." "Even sent word where he was." "You never showed up." "He said you ought to be able to catch him now but, that if you ever come anyways close to his grave, he'll reach up and grab you." "He lied... even on his deathbed." "I searched all over albuquerque- every saloon, hotel." "He wasn't even in that town long enough to rent himself a room for the night." "Hello, ione." "Give me a bottle of rye, mr." "Bodley." "Seems your paw is hitting the drinking a might heavy, ione." "Maybe you ought to try to get him to tone it down." "He's a fine man." "Now, the folks here in town, they don't hold it against him that he's pinto's paw." "This ain't for my paw, mr." "Bodley." "It's for me." "Well, look what the wind blew in." "Hello, ione." "And how are you?" "Fine." "Just fine." "How's yourself?" "Just tolerable." "You know, my brother and i were just talking about you just the day before yesterday." "He's real sorry he's been missing you." "We told him, ione." "Even about how pinto's going to reach up and grab him?" "We told him that, too." "You been chasing him for so long, conny, you ought to feel lucky tonight." "You know right where he is." "All you got to do is walk out there." "Isn't that nice?" "That whole sykes family- they never was real bright." "Tell me something, conny." "Are you afraid of pinto's grave?" "The rest of us are." "Now, how about you?" "Are you afraid?" "No." "I'm going to tell you something, johnny rob." "I was never afraid of pinto when he was alive, and i sure ain't afraid of him now that he's dead." "I don't believe that." "I ain't armed!" "Hold it, conny." "Let's not have any bloodshed." "Nobody calls me a coward." "Now, you didn't let me finish what i was going to say, conny." "I don't think you're a coward." "Leastwise, i don't think you're afraid of anybody in this room." "Especially not me." "I'm just a poor old boy." "I work hard for not too much." "But dogs and kids like me." "They follow me around all the time." "Sure is windy tonight, ain't it?" "No, sir, i don't think there's anybody afraid of me." "Whether you were afraid of pinto alive- only you know that." "But what i was going to say before you hit me and hurt me was... well, now, i'll bet- i'm not accusing, you understand- but i'll bet that you won't call on pinto tonight." "Why don't you shut up before you really get hurt?" "It's almost midnight." "Now, i'll bet you you won't walk out of here at midnight sharp... and visit pinto's grave." "Now, i got a $20 gold piece." "Now, i'll bet you... i'll bet you this $20 gold piece it took me 20 weeks to save that you won't do what i just said." "I'm going to tell you something, boy." "I don't like you." "I never have, and i never will." "So old blabbermouth got hisself a $20 gold piece, huh?" "Well, i just happen to have one, too and it just covers yours." "I guess, in a little while, one of us will have $40 instead of $20." "That's right." "And, when i get back, i don't want you hanging around here where i can see you." "You understand?" "Conny." "You don't want to put up another $20, do you?" "Are you saying that you want to bet against me, too, steinhart?" "Betting's my business, conny." "You don't think i got the nerve?" "I didn't say that." "I just said i'd bet $20 you don't go." "There." "Keep an eye on the bets, ira." "Sure, conny." "I still got some betting money left." "I can't afford to bet tonight." "Steinhart just took all i can afford to lose." "Well, if steinhart hadn't hadn't taken all your money, whose side would you be on?" "I reckon i'd bet aging you, conny." "What's wrong with you?" "You people know me." "How come now you think i'm afraid?" "Because we'd be afraid." "You can draw your gun real fast, conny." "We've seen you." "But, out in that graveyard, that gun won't be worth a copper cent." "I don't get my nerve from this gun, mothershed." "I had it long before i could pick one of them up." "Conny... before you go, we've got to work out a little detail." "Since you're doing this job by yourself, how will we be sure you've done it?" "What do you mean?" "What's to keep you from going to the edge of the graveyard, then telling us you've gone all the way?" "You saying you don't trust me, steinhart?" "Business is business, conny." "And, with me, this is business." "Then, in that case, i guess you'll have to keep me company so you can protect your own interests." "I have another way." "Give me your bowie knife, ira." "What's that for?" "When you arrive at your destination, simply stick it into the grave." "Then, at daylight tomorrow, we'll see the proof of your visit." "If we see it within five feet of the fresh earth, we'll concede the wager." "One thing, conny." "Won't nobody go up there and steal that knife once you've planted it." "Keep the bottle on the bar, ira." "I won't be long." "Conny." "Hello, ione." "Come to see pinto?" "Maybe." "You're braver than i thought." "Hmm... here." "Maybe a good belt of red-eye will make it all easier." "I don't get my nerve out of a bottle, ione." "You go on up there and see pinto." "I just came from there." "He's waiting for you." "I don't understand it." "It's morning, he ain't back yet." "Maybe he didn't have the nerve to come back and face us when he didn't have the nerve to do it." "Not likely." "His horse is still here." "I just can't help feeling somehow i got a man killed." "Now, it's full daylight, johnny rob and we can all think with clear heads." "Deep down, we all know that the dead can't really hurt nobody." "Morning!" "Good morning, ione." "What are you doing with that plate?" "This is his." "He used to eat out of it when he was a little boy." "I'm going to put it on his grave." "I'll go with you." "I got to see what happened out there." "Well, i reckon we can't spend the rest of our days being afraid of a dead man." "I'll come with you." "I knowed it!" "I knowed it!" "I got a man killed." "Cut it out, johnny rob." "You're acting like a baby." "It's not your fault, boy." "What do you mean?" "What happened?" "The whole story is right there." "Look at him." "He came up here." "He had more courage than i thought." "There's his knee prints." "He knelt by the grave." "He pulled his knife from his belt and plunged it into the grave, but the wind was strong, and it blew his coattail over the grave." "Being dark, he didn't notice he'd put his knife through his own coattail, pinioning it to the grave." "Then he started to rise." "As he did so, perhaps halfway up he felt a sudden tug- the knife holding his coattail." "But, in his own mind, pinto reached out and grabbed him." "He was already scared half to death, and that finished him." "His heart gave way, that's all." "There you are, bud." "So you think conny's death was an accident?" "That he stuck the knife in his own coattail?" "Yes, ma'am." "How did his coattail get over the grave?" "For some reason, he had it unbuttoned." "The wind must have done the rest." "What direction was the wind from last night?" "The south." "Why?" "The south... same as now." "Look at my cloak." "I'm standing in the same spot conny was." "Look at my cloak." "Is the wind blowing it across the grave?" "You take this with a grain of salt or a shovelful of earth, as shadow or as substance." "We leave it up to you." "And, for any further research, check under "g" for "ghosts"..." "in the twilight zone." "Rod serling, creator ofthe twilight zone, will tell you about next week's story after this word from our alternate sponsor." "And now, mr." "Serling." "Next week, we borrow from the exceptional talent of author jerome bixby." "It's an adaptation of what has been called one of the most terrifying modern fantasies ever written." "What you'll see is, in a sense, a portrait of a monster as a young boy." "Next week's very special excursion into the twilight zone is called "it's a good life."" "I hope we see you then." "This is james arness." "You know, it's only a short hop fromthe twilight zone to dodge city andgunsmoke- saturday nights over most of these stations."