I Bury the Living Page #2

I'll do the best job I can.

Yes, sir.

Aw, you're kidding.

Well, sir, uh, don't worry about it.

I'll take care of it myself.

I'll be there within an hour.

Yes, sir, thank you.

Well, what about this ad?

Have to wait, I'm sorry.

Well, now, call McKee.

You don't have to go up there every time.

This is different.

Somebody prominent?

Stu Drexel and his wife.

Stu and Bethie?

No.

Hi.

Hi, Jess.

McKee, this is Mr. Jessup

of The Milford Herald.

Hi. Jessup, Jessup...

Oh, the West Slope,

between the Pattersons and the Finleys.

What else is new?

You were my big news for the day.

"Asked about plans

for the coming year,

Kraft revealed the Immortal Hills will install

a drive-in bar to stimulate additional trade."

I'm stuck with the obituary detail.

Boy, it's cold in here.

McKee, let's get that heat on

no later than tomorrow, huh?

We'd better get ready

for the interment.

Aye, that'll be done, sir.

And you better change the Drexel pins,

black instead of white.

Oh, they already

got black pins, sir.

Oh? Who changed them?

Well, now, the last I remember

was the very day

they come out here

to give you the order,

and you stuck in two pins.

Yeah, I guess that's right.

I must have picked up the wrong color.

Hmm?

Oh, nothing, it's just a little weird, that's all.

What?

Well, the kids came out here

right after they tied the knot,

and they bought a couple of plots.

Stu was complying with

some technicality in his trust.

And it was all very cute.

We had a couple of laughs,

and afterwards,

I jabbed two pins in the map...

White pins, I thought,

just to make it official.

Now I hear today they've been killed,

and the map's had them on

the blacklist all the time.

Okay, so what?

Oh, nothing, it just made me

feel a little eerie,

that's all.

I think he means

he marked the young couple

for death, sir.

Yeah, I guess that was it.

That must have been

the feeling I had.

Boy, it's funny what'll go

through a guy's mind,

isn't it?

Do me a favor, McKee.

If he starts fooling around

with those pins again,

be sure he stays away from the West Slope,

between the Pattersons and the Finleys.

Indeed, I will, sir.

Hi, Annie.

What are you doing out here?

I had a luncheon date, but I was stood up.

I know a nice little place down the street.

I just might take

you up on that.

I won't hold my breath.

Oh.

George told me about Beth and Stuart,

and I just had to see you.

Made me think how lucky we are,

just to be alive and together.

Oh, Ann, this is Mr. McKee.

This is Miss Craig, my fiance, Andy.

- How do you do?

- Miss.

Would you be wanting me

for anything else, Bobby?

No, thanks, Andy.

Bob.

Hmm?

What's wrong?

Oh, nothing.

I'm just a little depressed, that's all,

but you'll take care of that.

Ann, I kept wishing we could

keep our appointment.

Oh, rendezvous, if you don't mind.

- Your gray flannel is showing.

- Yeah.

Actually, do you know what

made me turn around

and come here instead of going home?

Mm-mm.

Well, I was driving along, feeling rejected,

and then, all of a sudden,

I saw you very clearly in my mind.

Bob, it's just that you're too attractive.

After all, president of a department store

and in charge of the Immortal Hills?

Irresistible.

I saw you and I heard you.

"Lunchtime, Annie."

That's what you said, distinctly.

"Lunchtime, Annie"?

Well, I can do better than that, I hope.

Oh, you did.

You said...

"I want you, and I need you" and...

And a whole lot of lovely things

I'd be embarrassed to repeat.

Yeah.

You know, just about the time

you were seeing me,

I had you on my mind.

That's amazing.

No, I mean it.

And I don't blame you

for not wanting to repeat

what I was thinking.

Oh.

Darling, we'd better go to lunch.

Or get married.

Or I can just as easily join Jess

at that little spot

down the road he spoke of.

We regret the management

does not permit exchanges

once the merchandise

has been purchased.

Then I'll freshen up.

Immortal Hills, Kraft.

Hi, Carl.

No, terrible.

No, I'm sorry, the funeral's been

confined to the immediate family.

Yeah, all right, Carl.

I'll see you later.

No, not...

Oh, Ann, you're right.

What?

You're right.

We are lucky to...

Lucky to be alive and...

With each other.

Come on.

Hey, ho, nobody home

meat nor drink, nor money have I none

- still I will

Hey! Bobby!

Be happy

hey, ho...

Ah, I picked this Drexel stone for class.

Fine and rich and swirly.

I'm a granite man, myself.

Bobby!

Bobby, I've got a surprise for you...

You found your replacement.

Oh, well, no, no, not yet,

but I'm scouting the countryside.

This is far sweeter.

This is what I call getting things done.

Oh, McKee, you should

have been an executive.

Ah.

Hey, best take off your coat, Bobby.

You'll be getting overheated.

Fairly quiet this week, only one passing.

Now, if you'll just sign these.

Let's get rid of these flowers.

Oh, aye, they smell a wee bit sickly.

I was hoping to keep them

for the burial this afternoon.

Oh, you need much help?

Oh, no.

This is just an average funeral.

They don't come like the Drexel doings

every day, thank the Lord.

McKee, this bill for W. Isham, what's it for?

Why, he's the lad for this afternoon, Bobby.

Oh, no need to look so sad.

Will lsham was the same aged lad as me.

Oh, there's something that

I've been meaning to tell you.

Mighty queer it strikes me, Bob.

I went to the map just after we got the news

to change Will lsham's pin to black.

It was already black.

Looks like there might be something...

creepy about that map.

Changing pin colors,

without human assistance, no less.

I changed Mr. lsham's pin, Andy.

You... but, Bob, you haven't

been here since he died.

Jessup, please.

I know, I changed his pin

before he died, not after.

Jess, it's Bob Kraft.

Can you come over

here right away?

No, I'm at the cemetery.

That map's nothing

but an old piece of paper

hanging on the wall.

All you do when you

stick pins in it

is to make holes in the paper.

White pins, black

pins, safety pins,

it doesn't make

any difference, see?

Well, look, it's unfortunate

that it worked out this way,

but coincidences are

part of everyday life.

Some are funny,

some are pretty odd,

but this one isn't even good enough

to make the back page

of the shopping news.

That's all it is, Bob, coincidence.

Yeah.

You're right, Jess.

Thanks.

That's okay.

Sometime when I've tied

on a real head-bender,

you can do the same for me.

What's your trouble?

Well, nothing, but I've...

been through all this before.

The grass and the quiet...

and that sound.

I never knew what it was.

It's the sound of a name

being cut into a headstone.

Yeah, I've... I've heard

of people who thought

they'd been through

the same bit before

in their dreams.

I think it's even

happened to me.

What would you say if I told you

this happens to me regularly,

ever since I was a child,

sometimes as often as

every other week?

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