" Can I help you, pardner?" " If you please." " What do you wanna do with it?" " Right up over there." "That's it." " I guess you're leaving." " You're a good guesser." "Goodbye, Willie." "And thank you for being the only man here not to make an indecent proposal." "If I'd had my strength I might have." "Tell her to sing loud and watch out for the manager's hands." "Good luck, Billie." " Say, can a fella eat in here?" " Sure, go right on in." " Can you care for a horse?" " Sure." "Henry, got a customer." "Wants you to stable his horse." "That's just fine." " What's your name?" " Link Jones." " Link Jones?" "J-O-N-E-S?" " That's right." "Where you from?" "Oh, west of here five days..." "Good Hope." "How much do you charge?" "Two bits a day." "A dollar in advance." "Tom, take care of his horse, will you?" "Thanks." " Where can a fellow wash up around here?" " Out there in back." " Thank you." " You're welcome." " Ticket to Fort Worth, please." " Yes, sir." "That's 8.35, sir." " Here's your change." " Thank you." "Makes you want to holler right back, don't it?" "First one I saw, I let out a yap you could've heard in Arkansas." "What do you think?" "That's the ugliest thing I ever saw." "You never saw my ex-wife." "Is that man a friend of yours?" "Where are you from?" "Five days west of here, a little settlement." " What's it called?" " Sawmill." "Have I ever seen you before?" "You mind if I ask your name?" "Henry Wright." "And I don't know you?" " From a long time back, maybe?" " I said no." "Did you ever hear the name Dock Tobin?" " You're sure, now?" "Dock Tobin." " I'm sure." "All aboard!" "If I was you, I'd watch out who I was talking to." "Look after the children and have fun, dear." "Goodbye." "Aboard!" "All aboard!" "East Fork, next stop!" "El Paso, Fort Worth." "All aboard!" "Mind some company?" "Name is Sam Beasley." "That's some country we'll be going through." "Nothing but a bunch of rattlers and tarantulas." "Through that area where those important outlaws used to ride." "Johnny Beggs, Dock Tobin, and all those..." "How you doing now?" "Oh, I'm beginning to get the hang of it." "Yeah, I guess a man can get used to anything." "I remember once..." " I didn't get your name." " Jones." "You must be going to Fort Worth on a big cattle deal, Mr Jones." "I think, from the way you carry yourself, you're a cattleman." "One of my many hobbies is observing the people around me." "Keeping my eyes open for their peculiarities, so that I can..." "I'm on my way to Fort Worth to hire a schoolteacher." "Is that so?" "Well, that's pretty interesting." "What would a gent like you want with a schoolteacher?" "We're starting a school in my town." "Oh." "Well, good for you." " What town is that?" " Good Hope." "Good..." "You know you have to pay her a year in advance" " to get her to come this far west." " That's right." "Well, I guess that takes a little money." " We've raised it." " And they picked you to choose her?" "I guess that's quite an honour." "Don't say that." "You know, it's mighty interesting that you should bump into me on this train." "Tickets." "Tickets, please." "I..." "I might be able to help you find somebody when we get to Fort Worth." "Glad to have met you, Mr Jones." "See you again." "Hello, Billie." "Billie, you're looking very good." "Thanks." "I thought the only thing that looked good to you was a marked deck." "Billie, mind if I sit down?" "Thanks." "You know, it's interesting who you meet on a train." "This is East Fork." "East Fork wood stop." "All able-bodied men are requested to pitch in and give us a hand loading wood for the engine." "The more help we have, the quicker we can get started again." "The Fort Worth and Chihuahua appreciates your help." " You going out to help?" " That's right." "I don't mean to trouble you, Mr..." " Jones." " Jones!" "But there's somebody here I think you ought to meet." "Miss Ellis..." "Miss Ellis, I'd like to present Mr Jones." " How do you do, Mr Jones?" " Hello, Miss Ellis." "The reason I wanted you to meet Miss Ellis is a strange coincidence." "It's pretty unusual that the three of us are on this train." "I even get a creepy feeling about it." "You ask me why?" "I'll tell you." "Miss Ellis - that is, Miss Billie Ellis, is a singer with what you might call an operatic voice." "A lady of real culture." "But the amazing part is, she was trained as a schoolteacher." "Really?" "Now, why would Mr Jones be interested in that?" "Mr Jones is on this train looking for a schoolteacher." "You're riding to Fort Worth to find her, isn't that right?" "Wouldn't that make your hair stand up straight?" "We ought to talk this over while they're hauling that wood." "You gentlemen ought to be loading wood." "We're behind schedule." "Would you keep an eye on my bag?" "Sure thing." "I'll be right here." "Maybe we can talk when the train pulls out." "Mr Jones wants to stretch his legs... although I don't see why he'd want them any longer." "Excuse me, Miss Ellis." "Beautiful job." "Let's see if we can stay on schedule." "Let's get to the baggage car." "Let's get this thing rolling!" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Oh..." "Oh..." "Oh..." "Who is it?" "Oh, it's you." "I thought it was..." "I was running, and I fell down." "My heart feels as if it's going to jump out of my chest." "What happened here?" "Were they trying to...?" "Oh..." "Hey, listen." "I think this is busted." " They were holding up the train?" " That's right." "How could they leave us like this?" "We could starve." "Hey, Billie." "You all right?" "You hurt or anything?" " No." " I hurt my ankle." "You wouldn't leave us out here alone, would you, Mr Jones?" " Just asking." " When is the next train?" "Runs once a week." "Do you talk?" "He just gave you the answer." " You're hurt." " It's nothing." " Should have it tended to." " No, I'm all right." " Where's the nearest town?" " Maybe a hundred miles." "A hundred miles?" "What are we going to do?" "I guess we'll have to walk." "We'd better find shelter or you two will freeze." " I can't walk on this foot!" " Then I'll have to carry you." "I bet you're glad you've got company." "I wouldn't say that." "Oh, we'll be a comfort to you." "I'll sing Tenting Tonight a little off-key, and Sam can teach you how to deal off the bottom of the deck." "You'll be a richer and a happier man." " What are you looking at?" " Your shoes." "My shoes?" "That makes this trip worthwhile." "You're the first man that's looked at that part of me since I was 14 years old." "Those shoes won't last a day out here." "Then I'll walk without them." "Still standing." "How did you know about it?" "I used to live here once." "When you were a boy?" "I don't know what I was." "Who owns this place?" "It belonged to a nester but somebody shot him." "You two go into the barn." "Come in." "The man with the gun ain't got no voice, or he'd invite you his-self." "Come in!" "Stop there." "Now, what can we do for you?" "Looks like I called at the wrong time." "Close the door, Trout." "What happened to your head?" "Fellow dropped one of those on it." "That's too bad." "Where you from?" "West of here a ways." " What's the name of the place?" " Sawmill." " What do you want here?" " I got left by the train." "Just looking for a roof for the night." "I can move on." "How'd you find this place, mister?" "Just stumbled into it." "I guess you'd call it lu..." "Luck." "Good or bad luck?" "He'll be dead by tomorrow morning." "He's got a hole in his back." "Hello, Link." "Come shake hands with your Uncle Dock Tobin." "You've been gone a while." "How long has it been?" "Five years?" "A lot longer than that." "I don't keep track of time very good any more." "You look fine." "Been eating good?" " Yes." " That's the thing." "You eat good." "This is really something, seeing you again." "I remember the day you left me." "Oh, Lord, do I remember it." "You were my right arm." "You ran off and left me." "God have mercy on my black bloody soul." "I was so mad," "I could take and push your guts right out through your back and I would have done it too if you had been standing there." "I'd have opened you up wide." "My right arm, trained by me." "I put a piece of work into you." "Every last idea that shot through your head was mine." "I remember every bloody minute of it." "The glory of Uvalde and Saltillo and Black Fork." "Remember them names?" "Ha?" "Uvalde?" "God forgive us, we painted their walls with blood that time." "Oh!" "Walked out of that bank with $11,000." "You and me, Claude riding behind us." "Then we murdered old Ben Scull together." "You held him, I took off the top of his head." "$11,000." "We were big!" "Don't you remember?" "I remember." "You were my property." "What did you go off and leave me for?" "I wanted to strike out on my own." "I needed you that time." "I could have killed you." "We fell apart!" "Look at these pigs." "This morning, had a train all lined up." "Bank money riding on it." "One stinking guard!" "And they let it get away." "Oh, there's no guts any more!" "I got nobody left." "Just your cousin Claude." "He's riding over from Crosscut." "Remember Claude?" "He's a nice, quiet, cold one." "He ain't changed a bit." "That's Alcott." "He's got a hole in his back." "He's gonna die." "He wasn't much good anyway." "Why don't you go and help him out, Ponch?" "Show Link Jones here what kind of man you are." " What do you mean?" " You know what I mean." "Do it." "That's what I figured." "Trout!" "The man's gonna die anyway." "It's the charitable thing to do." "No guts." "Coaley, you show Link." "Your father and his father was brothers." "Show him what his family is like." "I'm waiting!" "Well, Link, what's gonna happen with us?" " Are you back with me?" " I'm back." " Is that the truth?" " That's the truth." "Ponch, make a fire." "I'm cold." "Dock, I've got two people with me, they've walked all day." " Coaley, bring them in." " I'll bring them in myself." "He said for me to do it." "I said I'd bring them in." "All right, cousin." "You bring them in." "Here they are, Uncle Dock." " Look at the build on her." " Yeah." "Her name is Miss Ellis." "This is Mr Beasley." "My name is Sam Beasley." "We can always use another good hand, Beasley." "There's a man outside digging a grave." "Go help him." "Wait a minute." "Here." " This your woman, Link?" " Yes, she's my woman." "I admire your taste." "Yeah." "My name's Dock Tobin." "D" " O-C-K Tobin." "Ever hear that name before?" " Yes." " Yeah?" "Your man used to be with me." "We rode together, killed together." "He ever tell you that?" "Yes." "Did you ever tell her that, Link?" "We're going to be together again, isn't that so?" "That's right." "You came back to ride with me." " That's why I came back." " Yeah." "He got left by the train." "He's lying." "I don't like having him here." "You're not big enough to shine his boots." " No?" " No." "Keep your mouth shut." " What you been doing, Link?" " Nothing much." "Moving around." "Yeah?" "Where?" "All over." " All by yourself?" " All by myself." "Are the pickings pretty good?" "Fair." "And you came all this way just to find me, huh?" "I was going to Fort Worth this morning." "I got left and figured I'd try to find you." "Remember a place called Lassoo?" "Yes." "The name makes my tired old heart pump like a young boy's." "There's a stage bank there." "Big one." "All the mines in the area ship their gold through there." "I've been wanting to take it for years." "Yeah." "It rings in my head like a bell!" "Lassoo!" "Lassoo bank." "That's the biggest one we ever went after." " Then we go to Mexico, right?" " Right." "What do you think of Lassoo, Link?" "I think the same thing you do." "Yeah?" "You're going to help me take it." "Well, Link?" "If you're with me, go take Alcott out and bury him." "I can't take no more." "He keeps standing there with that rifle." "He never says nothing." "He just keeps looking at you." "He took my pen." "He took my watch and chain." "He took everything." "Never says anything." "He'll shoot me if I stop digging." " I'll dig." " Thank you." "Don't jab me with that rifle." "Do you think we could...?" "Could we maybe... try to run away if we get a chance?" "Just the two of us?" "Just the two of us?" "Go right ahead." "They'll run you down and cut you up into little chunks." "You changed." "Since the minute you walked in that shack, you changed." "You're a different man all of a sudden." "You act like you belong with these people." "What's that?" "What's that?" "Link!" "I'd like to say some words." "Let's get this started, lady." " You're just in time." " What's going on?" " Your gal's gonna undress for us." " We saved a seat for you." "It's gonna be a big show." "Who knows?" "We might even get a yell out of Trout." "Come on in!" "All right, lady." "Do it." "Are you gonna do it or should Mr Trout do it for you?" " Start with the shoes." " Do it slow." "We got all night." "Watch this, Uncle Dock." "Well, make her do it!" "We're getting impatient!" "You see this?" "Now, start taking off your clothes!" "What's the matter with your girl, Link?" "Maybe she wants to do it another time." "It's gonna be now." "There's some things we ought to talk about." "Start taking off your clothes." "We ought to talk about Lassoo." "That's right." "When Claude comes tomorrow, we want to be ready." "Don't want to mess up Lassoo." "Link!" " Take that knife away, Coaley." " You're not talking us out of this." "Now, undress." "Start with the shoes." "Want to see me cut him, huh?" "The stockings." "Get up." "That shirt thing now." "Peel it off." "I don't have to tell you what's next, do I?" "Come on." "Come on!" "How are you enjoying this, cousin?" "Huh?" "Is this supposed to get you even for losing that train today?" " Get that petticoat off!" " Coaley!" "Come over here." "Now!" "What happened at that train?" "I told you." "A guard with a.44 was cutting us down." "I told you before." "Go to sleep." "All of you!" "He's a good boy, Coaley." "Just a little too much fire." "I'm still running the show, Link." "I just like to prove it once in a while." "She's mine." "I want you back, Link, but I want it the way it used to be." "She's mine, Dock." "It's all filled in." "You can sleep in the barn, Link." "And take your woman with you!" " Are you all right?" " You?" "I don't know how this can happen." "When he..." "When he took out that knife..." "I don't even remember what I did." "I couldn't see their faces any more." "But I could feel that old man." "How could you have been with him?" "You're not like them." "I was." "There wasn't any difference at all." "You better try and get some sleep." "Link, here are some blankets." "My bag!" "What are you looking for?" "I could cut off my arm." "All that money and... it wasn't even mine." "It belonged to a lot of poor people, and they trusted me." "It took them years to save it, and now... and now it's gone." "What's going to happen to us tomorrow?" "I don't know." "It doesn't matter." "I can't ever go home unless I get that money back." "Link!" "Get under these blankets." "Link!" "Hey, Link!" "Where are you?" "Huh?" "Thought I'd pay you a little visit." "Link?" "I got to thinking about you two and how cold it was." "You know how the wind whistles through here." "Drink?" " We're all right." " Yeah..." "Sure you are." "Sure." "A woman like that ought to be sleeping in a house." "Isn't that right, Link?" "She stays here." "All right, Link." "Claude!" "Good to see you." "What happened to the train?" " We missed it." " Who did?" "Coaley." " You know who I heard was on that train?" " Ah." "That's right." "He's here." "You better get ready." "They'll be coming for us." "Link." "I never met a man like you before." "The men I meet all think they have a right to put their hands on me." "Like it comes with the introduction." "All those lonely ones, looking for some kind of special thrill..." "I know what they're gonna say before they say it." "Funny part is, inside me, I'm just as lonely as they are." "I don't really have anybody." "We're a lot alike." "I never had any family - just that old man down there, and he took care of me." "He taught me killing and stealing, and I didn't know any better." "Then one day, I grew up." "You either become a human being or rot like that bunch." "So I busted away." "I found something better." "I made myself a home." "You have a wife?" "Yes." " Children?" " Yes." " How old?" " Eight and ten." "Eight and ten." "Your wife, is she pretty?" "Yes." "She's lucky." "You better get dressed." "Come on, now!" "Load up there!" "Come on." "Shake a leg!" "Move!" "Look at them, Claude." "Like old times, isn't it?" "We're gonna do big things." "I feel it." "Glory be to God, we're going to bust out again like we used to." "Just like a family of old settlers moving on, huh?" "Say hello to your cousin Link." "It was like tearing them away from a honeymoon." "Claude." "You've changed." "This is Miss Billie Ellis." "Claude Tobin." "Hello." "Claude, tell them what happened." "That train you were on yesterday made a special stop at Eskota." "They began burning up the telegraph wires." "A marshal in Crosscut saw you getting on." "You must have looked familiar, so he started poking through some real old wanted posters." "He found yours." "It's up again all over Crosscut." "On account of you, they know who we are." "I want to thank you for that." "Well, I guess this is your home now, Link." "Dock, I want to talk to you over here." "Coaley." "Where I live, all the people know about me, about what I did when I was with that old man." "They know everything, and they let me live it down." "It took a long, hard time, and now I've got to do it again." "You know what I feel inside of me?" "I feel like killing." "I want to kill every one of those Tobins, and that makes me just like them." "What I busted my back all those years trying not to be." "Do you know what they're talking about?" "The new one and Coaley, they want to..." "Quiet." "Shut up." "We've got a lot of ground to cover." " They'll just slow us down." " That's right." "I say we open them up." "That's what I say." "Open them up." "What about the girl?" " We'll take care of her too." " Claude." "This is still my outfit." "Link's back, and he's staying." "Get in the wagon." " Dock, do you believe him?" " I don't know what I believe." "I'm going to find out before I get home." "You and Link are taking us into Lassoo." " Lassoo?" " That's what I said." "Lassoo or no Lassoo, I say we kill them and move on." "I'm for that." "Let's do it." "Get in the wagon." "All right, let's get 'em rolling!" "Come on, Link!" "Whoa!" "I want to stop here for a while." "We're going to roll all night and all day tomorrow." "There's a secret to this thing, Ponch." "You want to learn, you've come to the right man." "You got a lot of bloodshot around the eye!" "Don't strain so." "Just listen to old Dock, and you'll find out the..." "You let the other man's strength beat him." "Right, Link?" "You want to try next?" "Why don't you let Coaley try first?" "He might give you a little tussle if you let him use his knife." "Ah, you got a real sharp sense of humour." "Yeah." "I was about to say the same thing myself, cousin." "And I think he might appreciate it if you'd let him use that gun, too." "He's got his juices flowing now." " Look at him!" " All right, say it all." "If you wanted to make it even you could let him come up on you from behind." "Let's see you do it, Coaley." "Turn around." "I want him to be comfortable." "Let's do it your way." "How's that feel, cousin?" "Now I'm gonna undress you, Coaley." "That's what you said to her, isn't it?" "Isn't that what you said to her?" "Boots first." "I'm gonna kill you!" " How does it feel, huh?" " I'm gonna kill you!" "Take the clothes off." "Take your clothes off." "I can't." "I can't do it." "Well, I never saw anything like that in all my life." "Link, that was something to make an old man's blood boil." "I thought you were gonna choke him to death!" "Just like the old days in Uvalde." "Did you see him rip the clothes off him?" "Kill him!" "I'm gonna kill him!" " Coaley, put that down." " I'm gonna kill him!" "I said put that down!" "I don't care what you say." "Stop!" "You don't mean nothing to me." "Stop it!" "I'm going to kill you, Link." "You can't make fun of me." "You can't make fun of me." "Stop!" "I don't know what's come over me lately." "I've never done a thing like this before." "I mean, I don't fight or anything like that." "I tell you, though, it was a shrewd move." "You see, I figured without you around here they'd have killed me for sure." "I'd have laid three, four to one on that." "So I..." "So I just..." "Don't you talk any more, Claude?" "We used to talk, you and me, when we were kids." "What happened?" "Things have kind of gone to hell, haven't they?" "And you're still at it." "Stealing and killing and running." "That's right." "It doesn't make any sense." "I figured you'd have grown out of it." "How can you let that old man do this to you?" "He's out of his mind." "Don't you talk about that old man." "I been with him all my life." "He's my family." "Yeah, he's going a little soft in the head, but I can say that." "You can't." "You got no rights here no more." "I'll tell you, I prayed for him to let Coaley kill you, but he didn't." "He just don't see things so clear no more." "Years ago, nobody could have done what you're trying to do now." "Not even you." "He would have known it in ten seconds and blown your head off in 20." " You like it?" " I like it." " Claude..." " Will you shut up?" "Do you know what he did the day you left?" "He cried." "That's right." "I saw him." "Big tears running down his face." "Now you're back and trying to make him think it's for real." "He wants that so bad it hurts him." "Well, you ain't got me fooled." "You see, I watch out for that old man." "I love him, and I watch out for him." "You're not gonna make it, Link." "I swear that." "You're not gonna make it." "Go on!" "Tomorrow morning, we hit Lassoo." "I've been looking off into the dark, and I saw the job happening." "It made me feel so cold," "I thought I was standing in ice water up to my neck." "I saw all there was in Lassoo... 100 yards of shacks and dust" "with the Stageline bank at the end of it." "Ha!" "There's more money in the Lassoo bank any of you ignorant dogs ever could count!" "Now, listen to me." "Got this in front of me." "Tomorrow morning, a man rides into the bank." "He carries a satchel with him." "He's polite... quiet." "Asks them at the bank to hold the satchel for him." "Then he thanks them, and he goes out, and he knows who's in the bank, how many guns they've got, whether we can take it or not." "Now, listen to me good." "If we can take it, he waits there for us." "If we can't, he rides back." "If he's not back in four hours, we know he's waiting for us, and we ride in." "He meets us outside the town, lays the whole thing out for us." "We go in, blow the place to bits." "We ride out of there rich, fat, laughing like babies!" "There's nothing to forget and nothing to go wrong." "Nothing to mess up." "All it takes to make this work is guts." "Who's got 'em?" "Which man rides in first?" "I do." "Why you, Link?" "Who else is there?" "Trout?" "He can't talk." "Ponch?" "He can't think." "You wouldn't send him on a man's job." "Claude, how many years you been riding this territory?" "They know your face in Lassoo, don't they?" "Don't they, Claude?" "And you couldn't ride five steps into that town." "They'd be lined up waiting to crack you down." "So that leaves me." "All right, Link." "You ride in first." "You take Trout along with you." "I'm going in alone." "Being with Trout is like being alone." "You start out at sunup." "Ponch and Claude go in at noon." "What will you do?" "I don't know." "We'll have to wait and see what happens." "You know, it's funny, Link." "The last two days, you've lost everything you've ever lived for, and I've found something I wanted all my life." "I love touching you... but what hurts is that I can't keep what I've found, can I?" "Can I, Link?" "You don't have to ask me that, do you?" "You know what I'll say." "Yes, I know." "If we stay alive and you get the money back, then you'll go home." "Won't you, Link?" "Yeah." "After you leave the bank... kill him." "You look good up there, Link." "That's where you belong." "I'd give my eyes to go on this one." "If it was ten years back, I'd..." "Get out of here." "If anything happens to the girl when I'm away..." "Do you hear me, Dock?" "Nothing's gonna happen, Link." "So this is Lassoo." "Who are you?" "Please, go out." "Lady, we just wanted to leave some money at the bank here." "There's no bank here." "There's nothing here." "Just me and my husband." "Please, váyase." "Go." " Where's everybody gone to?" " I don't know." "They build a new stagecoach place when the mines close." "Everybody's gone." "I don't know." "I'm afraid!" "Please, go back!" "Please!" "Lady, we're not going to hurt you!" "Link!" "I want to see you, cousin!" "Over here, cousin!" "We're gonna kill you, Link!" " That's a promise!" " You sound a little shaky, Claude." "Are you nervous?" "Agh!" "Claude?" "Claude, where are you?" "All alone now, Claude..." "Just you and me." "My leg..." "My leg's gone!" "You got to come to me, Link!" "This is the moment, Claude." "You've been planning for it all your life." "Now it's finally here." "Just like you knew it always would be." "You got to come to me!" "It could have been so different." "You coming, Link?" "Señor, ¿qué pasó?" "I'm sorry." "Juanita." "Juanita." "Mi Juanita." "Mi Juanita." "Billie." "Billie." "Link." "Link..." "Link." " Where is he?" " I don't know." "Link!" "Link, where are they?" "They're dead!" " You killed them all?" " I killed 'em!" "Claude?" "You killed Claude?" "Yes!" "Claude!" "I'm coming to get you, Dock!" "I'm gonna take you in!" "Dock!" "Listen to me, Dock!" "Claude and Ponch and Trout are lying in the street at Lassoo." "Lassoo's a ghost town, and that's what you are, Dock, a ghost." "You've outlived your kind and your time, and I'm coming to get you!" "All right, shoot me!" "I got no one left any more!" "Go ahead and shoot me!" "I'm gonna take you in, Dock." "You lost your taste for it!" "You don't like it any more!" "Shoot me!" "Come on!" "Shoot!" "Shoot!" "Shoot!" "They'll probably give you a medal." "What are you going to do now?" "What I always do, sing." " Billie..." " Link." "I never loved anybody or anything in my whole life before." "I always wondered what it felt like." "Now I know." "I know there's no hope for us." "But I wouldn't change this feeling, not for anything."