so. what do you think? yes. let her go. it's cool. and buckaroo banzai. ellie, you heard your m--- anyone who can scream that loud isn't ready for intensive care just yet-- looks like she just skinned her knee. jesus, the road! yes--thanks. i'm louis creed. no-i guess not. hey--they actually found the place! well, maybe i---- yes. just a second. the movers-- i don't have the slightest idea. when i saw the house, this field was under four feet of snow. great. well, i've got a million questions about the area, and--- did you see his shirt? i really do have a million questions about the area. but the thing i'm really curious about is how come this octogenarian yankee is decorating the slumped remains of his pecs with the boss. it's me. not at all. god, that's fine. what were you listening to? what? nice. the one that goes into the woods--sure. what's at the end of it? and yours. church! god, you scared the life out of me! my god! sure. who owns the woods up ahead? paper companies? not yet. how much further is it? i think it's rather extraordinary. have you got a death-wish, ellen? for a little while. i can hardly read these. i think it is so, ellie. and that someone cared enough about that animal to mark the spot. my wife is not crazy about cemeteries of any kind. as you may have noticed. well, it's always better to take precautions--but i'm sure church will be all right, honey. lovey. church might be still alive when you're in a high school. and that's a very long time. if it was up to me i'd let church live to be a hundred. but i don't make up the rules. she was a little over-excited, that's all. poor kid. jesus, rachel, what's got into you? rachel. someday church is going to die. rachel--! he can't help it, babe. emily post is going to be beyond him for a few years. good god! where'd you hear that? according to what mr. crandall says, the road's a lot more dangerous than the operation. church will be just the same. well--almost the same--and we won't have to worry about him getting turned into catburgers by one of those damn orinco trucks. i just said-- and church will be fine. well, honey. you know that. oh, you're welcome. only if some- thing should go wrong while he's under the gas--it's a one-in-a-thousand shot, but it happens--you explain to her. --nuts cut, yes. thank you, missy, for introducing that colorful phrase into my daughter's vocabulary. you ought to see a doctor about it. steve, get the ambulance over here right now. he's got to go to emmc. --a new muffler, oh shit-- help me hold him. it wouldn't matter if we had the sst. he's going. steve, go call the motor- pool. marcy, roll out the crash wagon. i know it won't! but let's for god's sake do it by the rules! how do you know my name? steve, will you get a sheet to cover him with? he said my name. i heard it. he said my name. i want to wake up. i want to wake up, that's all. i-- please, i want to wake up. leave me alone. it's not my fault you died; you were as good as dead when they brought you in-- leave me alone! getting there. good d-- for ellie's birthday, yes. i didn't go because her old man thinks i'm a shit and the feeling is heartily re- ciprocated. they'll be back tomorrow night. jud, what's this about? church? oh. oh, jesus. it's church. ellie will, though. she'll suffer plenty. yes. bagged cat. what a mess. i don't know. maybe when they call i'll just tell ellie i haven't seen the damn cat around. you know? jud, this is crazy. it's going to be almost dark before we get back. but-- yes, but-- well, folks, here we are, in louis creed dreamland. nothing. do we plant him on the outer circle or start a new one? what do you mean? we can't climb over that. we'll break our necks! i'm not climbing that. let's go. god, this is amazing! and don't look down. right. yes. where are we going, jud? is there quicksand? you're telling me. it's funny, all right. you keep saying that. whose burying ground? why? for god's sake, why? i guess so. but. no, i'm okay. will i really be able to dig him a grave? the soil looks thin. you think so? what are those for? doesn't look like they last long. jud, why am i doing all this? pax vobiscum, church old buddy. you were a hell of a god cat. i doubt if you were worth all this aggravation, but you were a hell of a good cat. oh, shit! rachel! but-- hi, dory. it's louis-- that'd be real fine. yeah, i know. how are things out there in chicagoland? i said that's too bad. what did you get for presents from gramma and grampa? well. i guess he's just fine, ellie. i haven't seen him this evening, but-- food, church. food! come on, church! chow down! in a second. chewed his way out. jesus baldheaded christ, he ch-- ow! what did we do? what did we do, jud? i tried to tell myself i buried him alive. you know--edgar allan poe meets felix the cat. but. no. i'm a doctor. i know death when i see it, and church was dead. he smells horrible and he uses his claws, but he's alive. and i feel like i'm going crazy. it was that place, wasn't it? can i have another one? wendigo? you and this old indian rag-man-- how did your mother take it, jud? how did she take it when your dog came back from the dead? yes. a little upset is all she was? because i'll tell you, jud, my brains feel a little like a nuclear reactor on the edge of a meltdown. what? you don't understand-- promise. how the hell did you get in? hi, sugar! yes. i guess so. he was sleeping on the front porch when i left. yes. i know. i've noticed it, too. i'll cough up the money, ellen. yes--i hate it, too. yes. to honor the dead. well. a touch of the flu. that's enough, ellen. this babe has said enough. hop in, ellie. my father used to have a saying, jud-- "god sees the truth, but waits." it's ellie's cat. ellie? what's wrong? huh? what's up, sugar? what? well, i think michael mcdowell is so full of shit he probably squeaks when he walks, my dear. but don't you dare say that. i don't know, honey. different people believe all sorts of different things happen to us when we die. some believe in heaven or hell. some think we're born again as little children-- well, it's actually reincarnation, but you get the idea. and some people think we just wink out. like a candle flame when the wind blows hard. i think we go on. i'm not sure what happens after we die, but yeah-- i have faith in that. oh, faith's a little more than just believing. well, here we are, sitting in my chair. do you think my chair will be here tomorrow? then you have faith in that. but we don't know it will be; after all, some crazed chair-burglar might break in while we're away and steal it, right? but we plan on that chair. we believe in that chair. and i plan on going on somehow as louis creed, after i die. i believe i will. yes ma'am. just like i have faith that it is now time for ellen creed to get ready for bed. so buzz. i'm sure you're not. because your mother and i need the rest, sugar. now buzz. i thought maybe you did. i know you don't approve of the subject being raised-- your sister, i know. that's forgotten. yes, i guess i do. you're doing fine. hey, gage! string! you're flying it, gage--you got the hammer, my man! bet your boots. look-- see? no. squatting out there at the holiday inn like a couple of vultures. he really thinks rachel's going to go back with them. her and ellie. ellie-- yes--i suppose you can. good night, ellie. jud, i buried my son today and i'm very tired. i wonder if we could just-- i'm thinking about going to bed. shit! look at this mess! because something called a wendigo soured the ground. i'll bite--what's the bottom of the truth, jud? what happened? you better get going, hon. i told you last night--this can be the start of patching things up with your folks. if something good doesn't come of gage's death, i think i'll go crazy. i'm sure. come on, you guys--before you miss the boat. be good to your mother, darlin'. she needs you. i'll be there in three days--four at the most. i've got to get the electricity shut off and square things with your school so the truant officer ain't after you, and-- of what? i swear. it could be. it's wrong. what happened to you is wrong. i'll tell you where the ground is sour--the ground in my heart is sour. let me tell you something else, vic-baby: wrong is wrong. don't talk like an asshole even if you are just a bit of underdone potato or a blot of mustard. if it doesn't work--if he comes back like timmy baterman--i'll put him to sleep. but i'm going to try. and if it doesn't work. they don't ever need to know. oh, gage--oh, honey. it's going to be all right. i swear it's going to be all right. please god--let this work. ain't gonna stop, gage. ain't gonna look down. see? just imagination. just-- nothing. there. it was the wendigo. dear god, i think the wendigo just passed within sixty feet of me. it doesn't matter. come on, gage. come back to me, gage. come back to us. jesus! gage--? oh my god. gage! gage! hello! yes, she's fine. she. rachel's asleep. i'll call you right back. irwin, you'll just have to-- what did you do? what did you-- what you buy is what you own, and sooner or later what you own comes home to you. wasn't that what you said, jud? wasn't that pretty much it? hi, church. want some grub? don't mind me. eat it while you can. eat all you want. eat all you can. all you want. that's right. today's thanksgiving day for cats, but only if they came back from the dead. no, you don't! go on. lie down. play dead. be dead. rachel? jud? gage? gage? all right, gage. let's. i'm sorry, jud. i'm so sorry. i'm-- i'm going to set things back in order. i. i know just what to do. gage? and what you own always comes home to you.