"Well, how you doing today, young fella?" " All done." "Just getting ready to leave." " Fine." " You're egg and a Coca-Cola." " No, sir." "Egg and make it a beer today." "Fine." "That must be pretty interesting work you have there." "Traveling around the country, meeting all manners of people." "Well, it's not a regular job." "I'm a sociology major in college." "Just took this for the summer." "Still, it's a good job." "Getting three days wages for counting noses in a no-place town like this." "I took longer than I thought." "But then I had to fight off the tiger." "I believe I know what you mean." "Did you know that there are, as far as the US Census Bureau is concerned... 789 people alive in Coldiron, Texas, at this moment?" "That sounds about right." "But of those 789 people, 48 are named Jonas... 36 are named Jessie, 53 are named Maria... and 33 have the Christian name of "Reprisal"... which I didn't even know was a Christian name." "Didn't you?" "You know, at first it seemed like they took me for a reporter... instead of a census taker." "Most of them kept wanting to tell me a story." " Did they?" " Well, I had a job to do." "Well, I guess every place and everybody has got to have something." " Yellowstone has Old Faithful..." " And New York's got the Yankees." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Well, Coldiron, it's got its violent and tender memories." "The Mexicans, they call it La Noche del Tigre." "To us it's known as the Night of the Reprisals." " Can I buy you a beer, sir?" " Well, thank you, son." "What happened?" "The Reprisals." "I didn't think you cared to hear." "Well, not on the job." " Like drinking?" " Yeah." " See that old Mexican boy over there?" " Yeah." "Well, he can't see you." "He's blind." "His name is Raul Y Reprisal Mendoza." "He was born on that night." "August 16, 1884." "Born blind." "At the sight of Jonas Trapp, the Tiger, his mother started a-running... and she fell in an alley in back of the saloon... and he was born right there... while Jonas Trapp went on with his killing in the front." "The first sound that he heard was the bark of the Tiger's gun." "That gun right there." " But it sounds like the end of the story." " Maybe." "Where does it start?" "Why... nobody can really say." "I guess it really started when Jonas Trapp was finally coming home." "It wasn't the land that was drawing him back... the land that God stomped the dust off his feet on." "After 11 years, Jonas was coming back to his wife, Jessie." "Only Jessie didn't know it." "He was a man high and wide, Jonas Trapp." "Buffalo hunter and freighter." "He was frost-bitten, famined." "Shot at by the whiskey-mad killer, Clay Allison, and by Indians." "And now, after 11 years, he was uncertain and impatient." "He was juiced-out by the sun and gut-lonesome for his wife." "Eleven years, and not once he had written her." "But he wasn't coming back any common hoe-hand on a dirt farm." "He was coming back a rich man, though he didn't look it." "And he didn't want to, yet." "In his saddlebags, the ghosts of untold buffalo... and 11 years hard labor." "As men count it, $17,000." "Jonas Trapp got what he went after." "And now he'd find out if he still had what he left behind." "Damn it." "Well, horse..." "looks like you've got to go barefoot the rest of the way." "Too much distance for tonight." "I shouldn't ought to let Jessie see me all whiskered and smelly, anyway." "But morning, new clothes... a clean shave, and a hot tub bath." "Yeah." "You know, I been talking to you for six years now, but come morning..." "You know, I keep forgetting." "You ain't never seen this no-creation place before, have you?" "Coldiron's only a couple, three hours away... and over that rim yonder runs the Little Dirty." "Me and Jessie used to picnic there and swim, and..." "Hey, horse, look." "Looks like we found us our camp partner for tonight." "And maybe a razor." "And maybe some fresh coffee." "Not for you, for me." "Come on, you three-legged cayuse." "Hello to camp!" "Hello to camp!" "If you don't mind, I'll help myself to some coffee... trade you tobacco." "Moonlighter." "All right, thief!" "Just wiggle, I'll blow your shaggy head off smack into the crick!" "We got him cold, by God." "Cold." " You're kind of crossed up." " Yeah, we are?" "Hey, Johnsy Boy, come take a look." "He is a stud, ain't he?" " I was just passing, I..." " Like hell." "What I aimed to say, I just now rode up." "Wanted me a hot water shave, and some coffee." "That's a Circle "C" calf you got your pigging string on." " Mister, that ain't no string of mine." " Hold up, you two." "Let's have a look." "Now look, if it's a thief you're looking for, you ain't found him." " Now, I seen someone light out..." " What'd he look like?" " Well, like I said, sir, he was lighting out." " He's lying." " Coates, shut him up." " Hell, yes." "Shut up!" "Lift his iron, Johnsy Boy." "What is that stink?" "Buffler." " What?" " Buffler, damn it." "This one's a hunter." "Buffalo hunters always smell that way." "They smell like old guts all the time." " I had enough, I'd better be..." " All right." "Just as long as you can do it without moving." " That is a Circle "C" heifer, ain't it, Brooks?" " That's right." "Well?" "Being as I'm Circle "C" foreman, I'd reason I got to say-so here then?" "That's right." "You call the shots, Coates." "He may be calling your shots, Johnsy Boy, but not mine." " Mr. Brooks, what I've been trying to..." " The name is Durham." "Brooks Durham." " Well, I come up off the trail..." " Look at him!" "Who'd believe anybody who look like that?" "Well, I may not be laced up and doused with toilet water... but I'm getting damned sick of being put on as a thief." "Well, a thief's what you are and we hang thieves." "Now hold up, Coates." "I bargained to ride out here for a game of poker, nothing like this." "Now you may not want to turn him loose, but hanging's another thing." "Hey, Durham... why don't you just ride back on into town?" "Me and Johnsy Boy can take care of him..." " Coates, you're drunk and he's a..." " Why, yes, I'm drunk, I..." "That sets me at my best." "You're not hanging a man for stealing one miserable..." "Why, I wager he stole more than that." "The Circle "C"s been missing a lot of cows lately." "Why, I'm foreman!" "It's two days ride to Hudlow and the Ranger station." "I say just here and now, we string him up." "Coates, there's a rifle on that horse." "Now if you want to do any hanging, you'd better kill me before I get to it." "Now what's all the hassle?" "I catch me a thief, I aim to bring him to his milk." "Mister, you ain't caught no thief." "You are one dirty, filthy, smelly thief, aren't you?" "Johnsy Boy, you make me sick!" "A man don't steal no $4 calf when he's got money enough to buy..." "No, don't!" "No, don't shoot him!" "We'll burn him." " Burn him!" " No hanging." "We'll burn him, that's what we'll do." "No hanging, Coates." "We're going to burn him." "But, no hanging." " That'll take care of him." " I'm gonna kill him." "But, no hanging." "Come on, Johnsy Boy." "We'll burn him." "But, no hanging." "Listen, the horses are spooking." "Get them." "Good boy, Johnsy." "I'll fix him." "Now, Johnsy Boy, you're gonna burn him, ain't you?" "Burn him." "Brand him?" "He's going to brand him, now." "He's going to brand a "T" on you." ""T" for thief." ""T," Johnsy, for thief." "Cut that out!" "God, you'll burn him through." "Now, stop it or I'll kill the both of you." "Jessie." "Jessie." "Jonas?" "Jonas, you just stop your teasing." "Jonas, I'm never coming out here with you again." "Now you know how fierce Aunt Gussie gets when I get home after dark." "Your Aunt Gussie was born fierce." "But I got a present for her." "You do?" "What?" "Jonas Trapp, come on now." "Doesn't Aunt Gussie like frogs?" "No, she doesn't like frogs." "Now get your shirt on." " Do you like frogs?" " Jonas." "Having some fun around the crick's one thing... but fooling yourself into thinking something serious can come... with you and that gal is something else again." "You're a mite tardy with the father talk." "Adopted or no, you ain't been that to me since your wife died." "You never mind about her." "Ten years now, Dub, you and me still can't talk." " She was the only mother I ever knew." " Sure she was." "When she keeled over from the sun pounding clothes in Dirty Crick... and I fished them clothes out, every last piece belonged to you." "Not even a sock of mine." "Well, I been washing your socks for 10 years now, and... working this nothing patch." "Still not a fair swap." "Not for her." "You don't want to lose me either, do you, Dub?" "'Cause then who'd work this place... and how'd you go chasing your town women... and drinking yourself into a fog every night?" "It's not that, Jonas." "You'll see, she just won't have you." "Jessie, I've come to call at your house." "Well, come in, Jonas." "Jessie..." "I want to talk to you for a moment." "In private." "You stay in here." "I'll be back in just a minute." "Jonas, thank you." "Jessie, I want you to get..." "To get him out of this house." "Aunt Gussie..." "Jonas and I are going to be married." "I'll tell you why." "Goodbye!" "Where they gonna live?" "With you or at the mansion?" "Come in." "You may use the first room to the right of the stairs, rent free... for as long as you like." " Good morning, missus." " Jonas." "Coffee?" "Put the cup down, Jonas." "Well, what do you need to work for?" "You married rich and right, didn't you?" "Was I you, I'd just stay in the mansion and service that filly." "Jessie." "Jessie, we're moving out of here." "We are?" "Whatever for?" "So we can make it on our own, or bust in a furrow of our own choosing." "Isn't it nice enough here?" "It may be nice for you, Jessie, but months now, I been cleaning slops... swamping bars part-time." "Doing a boy's work for a boy's wages." "Well, out of them wages, I saved enough to get us to Kansas." "My mind's set." "It is?" " Shouldn't we have talked it over?" " Well, that's what we're doing." "You see, in Kansas, there's men who'll stake you to an outfit." "You kill buffalo, fetch in the hides, and split the profits." "I shoot good, Jessie." "I know you do." "But those hunting camps, they're just filthy." "Now where would we live?" "Maybe we can get you a room in Dodge." "And every time I come in with a load of hides..." "I'll come and be with you." "You know what?" "You're not letting me discuss it with you." "I decided." "We're leaving Monday." "Oh, Jonas." "We don't have to just go packing out of here like beggars... just because things are a little unsteady right now." "There's time." " No, I ain't waiting." " There's time." "Dub says a man'll wear out or rust out." "And it ain't my bend to rust." " I think you meant to say, "isn't."" " Damn it, I said what I meant." "But, Jonas, I can't leave Aunt Gussie." "Don't you see?" "She's taken care of me all these years." "She's been heartbroken too many times." "She's hurt now." "She doesn't understand about us." "We can wait." "We have to." "Somebody else can take care of her." "She can afford it." "Well, it's not the same." "Well, maybe not, Jessie, but you think about us." "Don't think about her all the time with that pity begging look she puts on." "Good lord, Jonas, stop blaming her." "She wasn't always this way." "She's sick now, and she doesn't understand about us." " I've had to lie to her." " Well, Aunt Gussie, hell." "Everything for Aunt Gussie and this damn house." "Well, this is a big house... but you hear me, Jessie, it's a heap bigger world outside." "Oh, you!" "You just never see anything about my Aunt Gussie, do you?" "Do you?" "You want to know why she's the way she is?" "Why she changed her mind and gave us the wedding?" "Well, I'll just tell you, Mr. Trapp, I'll just shout it at you." "It's because of what I did to her." "I told her we had to get married." "You told her that..." "Well, Jonas... see it how it was." "I love you." " I had to have you." "There was no other way." " I reckon not." "Jonas, I had to." "I told her that we..." "Down at the crick, we..." "I had to." "Can't you see?" "I see, all right." "Why, I almost killed my Aunt Gussie..." "No, I mean..." "Now, pretty soon she's going to see." "Well, pretty soon she's going to know I've lied to her." "And then maybe she'll like you better and..." "I see what I am to you... and to your Aunt Gussie." "To this town." "I know my place." " Are you coming to Kansas, Jessie?" " I can't." "Yeah, I guess you know your place, too." "Jessie." "Easy does it, big hoss." "You ain't dead yet." "You was sent for, but you didn't go." "Now this here's a poultice." "Mostly lard." "Now easy, easy does it, big hoss." "Might just keep mortification from setting in." " Who in the hell are you?" " Nobody much." "Name's Hanley." "I got me a shack up in them hills." "My, this Jessie woman, must be some heap of girl." "This Jessie you been moaning about." "Aye, my..." "They must have laid that iron to you a half a dozen times." "You poor cooked hoss." "Just take it easy now." "You ought to stay easy, son." "Hey, hoss, that there is mine!" "Why y'all getting into my stuff?" "Them there's my belongings." "Hey, you gone loco, big hoss?" "Eleven years..." "Eleven freezing, grubbing... fly-bitten... butchering years." "All that was in them saddlebags?" "A buffalo man, ain't you?" "I mean, a hunter by trade?" "I was." "Here, eat." "All right, suit yourself." "I'm telling you, a man ought to eat, every chance he gets." "Hey, you." "You know who done that to you?" "I know." "By God, I know the three of them." "Well, now, you take my advice, big hoss." "You take it easy, or you'll go to festering." "I am festering." "Inside." "Thanks." " Jessie." " Whoa!" "Don't touch me!" "You get away from me, you filthy, smelly..." "Get away!" "I seen him, honey, and I ran as fast as I could." "Oh, my God, Mrs. Lavender." "That awful man." "I'm going home before they all come out and look at me." "Straightaway, honey." "Now, you're all snug and safe." " Where's the brandy?" "You need it." " It's over there in the cupboard." "Filthy rag of a man." "Smelled awful." "Smelled like he had the rot or something." "God love you, child, that's awful." "Did he hurt you?" "No." "Oh, well, it's not the first time." "Johnsy Hood stopped me once, and he tried to..." "Did you tell Brooks?" "No, I didn't want to cause any trouble." "You ain't the only one's been molested." "Some time back, I was in the john, and a drunken cowboy... threw his rope around the entire privy and started dragging." " I heard about that." " You did?" "I guess everybody has." "Nobody gives a hoot about us business women." "What we need is our own men folk." "You know, Mrs. Lavender, Brooks Durham asked me to marry him." "He did?" "What'd you say?" "Did you say yes?" "No, not yet." "You grab him, child." "Grab him any old place you can get him." "I'm not sure." "I love Brooks, but there's my husband." "Oh, him." "What's his name?" "Jonas?" "How long's he been dead?" "I'm not sure that he is, but he's been gone 11 years." "Then he's dead, buried, legal." "Anyway, there's the money that Brooks loaned me for the house, and the shop." "Now, if I was to marry him, you know what people would say." "They'd say..." "The good ones would say, "Hurray."" "Well, I'd better get back to my bread." "Tell him you'll marry him." "Tell him tonight." "Good night, Jessie." "Whiskey." "A bottle." "$2." "My tongue's growed hair on it." "Well, that's $2." "I'll bring you the money by, in a day or two." "Here it's cash money." "Look, you." "See that man over yonder?" "Now, that there's Mr. Kratz." "Keeps the deals right around here." "You can hand over, else I call him." "You call your Mr. Kratz, and we'll see if his rind is made of iron." "So, Mr. Iron Man?" " Sometimes..." " Now, I need this!" "I'm going out that door... and maybe I need to kill somebody tonight." "Sometimes I make an exception." "Furry cat!" "Come on, kitty." "Kitty?" "Here, kitty." "Come on, kitty." "Well, okay, I guess you're all right." "But look, next time, don't get on my clothes... because that coat is worth a lot more than your hide." "Who're you talking to, Johnsy?" "Never mind." " Will you be gone long, querido?" " No longer than I have to." "You think I like her fat, scratchy hands pawing all over me?" " I know." " No, you don't know!" "She has pores like a pig, and she sweats... and she thinks we're playing Romeo and Juliet." " Who?" " Never mind." "Hand me the coat." "There will be much money, Johnsy." "Plenty. $5,000 tomorrow." "Long before her bent-over old husband gets back." "But, by that time, we'll be well on our way." " Enough for a ring for Maria?" " Yeah, sure." "Before we leave." "Well, what's the difference?" "You'll get it in San Francisco." "No, Johnsy, my heart, you promised Maria." "You promised." "A ring with green lights inside, like I told my mother." "She must see the ring on my finger before we leave." "All right." "But I don't have the money yet." "Tomorrow." "Can't you remember that my ribs hurt?" "Now I told you 40 times that a horse kicked me." "Sorry, querido." "All right." "All right." "Johnsy!" "Brooks!" "I just thought I'd be sociable and walk with you aways." "I had enough of your society last night." "Don't be like that." "I may be a big depositor in your bank some day." "Then you can see me during business hours." "Hey, senor Johnsy." " Did you curry him?" " Si." "I myself, I brushed him down this afternoon." " Senor, you need help." " No, never mind about that." "I want to ask you about somebody." "Mrs. Shelley?" " Anything you'd like me to do tonight?" " No." "Nothing, Tod." "You can turn in." "I think I'll go for a little walk." "It... sure is a nice night." "Yep." "Good night, Mrs. Shelley." "Oh, Johnsy." " What's wrong, Bonnie?" " It's Track!" " Good God, he's not home?" " No." "But this letter came today." "He got somebody to write it." "He'll be here in three weeks." " Well, that's a lot sooner..." " Bonnie, nothing's changed." "Now look, you go to the bank tomorrow before it closes... and you tell Brooks you want to withdraw the $5,000." " But what if..." " Honey, look, it's a joint account." "Now you just say you got this letter... and you need the money for Track 'cause he's making an investment." "Now, I'll be here tomorrow night, at the same time, to pick the money up." "And then you take off for St. Louis, and I'll meet you there in two weeks." "I'm sick with thinking of it." " Suppose Track..." " Track is a burnt out old man." " He's 70 years old." " He's 62!" "All right, 62." "But, Bonnie, he never was a husband to you." " You said that." " Please, Johnsy." "Bonnie, you told me, you told me yourself." "You said you needed a man, one who could love you half to death." "I know." "I know it's you I love!" "Haul them horses in." " What is this?" " Down." "Look, mister, I've only got a dab of cash on me, but..." "Down, Johnsy Boy." "And fast." "Well, you're just full of all sort of games, ain't you?" "Now... down." "If it's the horses and rig you want, you take them." "No, Johnsy Boy, that ain't what I want." "I want what's mine." " Get down." " Yes, sir." "You call me by name." "I ain't never seen you before." "You ain't, huh, pretty thing?" "Well, maybe you've seen this before." "You seen that before, Johnsy Boy?" " Look, I'll tell you what happened." " Yes." "Yes, you will tell me what happened." " Now, walk, over there." " Please." "Please." "Walk, posy water, or else get yourself blowed clear to hell." "I don't think I can." "My legs..." ""My legs!"" "All right!" "God, man, don't kill me, please!" "God, man, don't kill me." "I'll tell you." "True, on my mother's grave." "It wasn't me." "It wasn't me, sir, it was Coates." "Elwood Coates and Brook Durham." "He was the other one." "And you see, they got together to play cards... and me, I just joined them, to play cards." "Well, Durham, he wouldn't play in town because... well, his being a banker and all." "And then we find you." "They're talking about hanging." "Hanging!" "And me, I'm against it." "I'm completely against it, I was." "Hell, I told them, I'd take a calf, too... was I hungry, and one come along." "But Coates and Durham... they thought up this thing... about the iron." "And I was against that, too, but..." " they'd have got a rope." " All right, stop here." "See, if I hadn't gone with them." "I knew you'd see it, sir." "Coates." "Coates!" "Hell, he's a crazy man." "He's drunk crazy." "He talks to himself." "He talks to himself." "He's just a mean, crazy drunk." "I don't blame you, mister." "I don't blame you for hitting me, but..." "No!" "Please!" "You're getting my clothes all dirty." "What are you going to do?" "I'm going to put a mark on you, beauty." "No!" "No, you can't burn me!" "Coates!" "Durham!" "It was their fault!" "I couldn't help it." "I just went along to play cards." "Damn you, you fancy plaything." "You look at me, and you tell me straight." "I can't." " What went with my money?" " Money?" "I swear to God, I don't know about any money!" "Please, don't do it!" "I don't know!" "When you brand, it's usual to earmark... and geld." "Now... what went with my $17,000?" "I never seen it." "I don't know." "Don't..." "Last time, Johnsy Boy." "Where is my $17,000?" "No." "No." "No." "Please." "Please!" "No, don't!" "Don't hurt me!" "Don't do it." "Please." "Please." "Yes, do it!" "Do it!" "Turn it loose, man!" "Good god, man, turn it loose!" "Turn it loose!" "But, Jessie, dear, I hope you don't believe in long engagements." " Anytime you say, Brooks." " It's not too late to get the reverend tonight." "We can't do that." "We've got to wait at least a month." " Why?" " Because there's plans, arrangements." "What will I do with the shop?" " Get rid of it, give it away." " Oh, Brooks." "Jessie, you're marrying a very successful man." " I know I am, but I can't do that." " All right, all right." "One month from today." "Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" "I used to live here." "Jonas." "Jonas, I thought you was dead." "Did you mourn much, Dub?" "Drink a little less whiskey, maybe." "Or a little more?" "Son, what happened?" "Son?" "I figure I owe you for a shave, Dub." "About two bits is all." "I'll pay you before I leave these parts." "Does Jessie know?" "Have you seen Jessie?" "I seen Jessie this morning, Brooks." "Congratulations!" "Thank you, Mrs. Lavender." " I was for you all along!" " Thank you, Mrs. Lavender." " Congratulations, sir." " Best of luck." "Thank you very much." "Thank you." "Whiskey for everybody." "Congratulations, Mr. Durham." "News is all over town." "Thanks to Mrs. Lavender, no doubt." "We got our own bottle, ain't we, Whiskey Man?" "We don't need none of Brooks Durham's wedding whiskey." "Get that horse out of here." "This ain't no stable!" "Man, give me a drink, quick." "Come on, now!" "Blast your damp ears, boy, what's eating you?" "Come on now get away, give me some room, will you?" " All right, calm down." " Give me some whiskey." "I want whiskey." "Give that boy some whiskey!" "What happened, Tod?" "Johnsy Boy Hood." "Every night now since old man Shelley's been away, I just..." "I seen Johnsy's rig out in the cottonwoods." "Last night he come back about midnight." "And his hands..." "His hands was burnt awful." "Lord Almighty, and his belly..." "His belly clean through his clothes..." "Somebody had done it with a branding iron." "Hear that, Whiskey Man?" "Hear what that big buffler did to Johnsy Boy?" "And he was laughing." "That's right, he was laughing like a loony." "Laughing and swearing that he didn't take this $17,000 from some buffalo hunter." "And me and Mrs. Shelley, we took him inside and she got him... a basin of water, but Johnsy Boy didn't want no water." "He batted it away from her... and he commenced to calling Mrs. Shelley all kinds of names... and then she took it up and they was going back and forth." "Damn near had a fit!" "They're talking about San Francisco and $5,000, St. Louis... and how he was seeing a gal named Maria." "Then he give her a hit and knocked me away... and then next thing I knew... he's in front of the looking glass... gawking at his self and crying... saying he didn't take no $17,000." "And in his hand he's got this gun... pointing it at his self... off it goes." "Bam." "There's $17,000, Whiskey Man." "Where's our share?" "You ever seen a man's guts hanging out?" "They look like... crawling blue snakes." " Here, have another one!" " You damn bet you!" " Is he crippled?" " No." "Just lost a shoe." "Man ought to feed a horse." "Even this kind." "He's old." "$20." " Saddle, too." " $40." " You want the Winchester?" " Look, man, I ain't no pawn shop." " Are you throwing in the bridle?" " I will." "$100 for the whole lot." "What's his name?" "No name." "Just "horse."" "Just found out a few minutes ago I got a vacancy." "Old Johnsy Boy Hood." " Can you wait while I clean out his room?" " Yep." "Oh, boy!" "Somebody sure caught Johnsy Boy somewheres... branded him square in the middle." "Ain't seen his body, but Tod Wisdom said..." " He dead?" " Sure, mighty right he's dead." "Shot his self right in Mrs. Shelley's bedroom." " Say, mister?" " Yeah." "Can you send somebody out for a box of.44 shells?" " Sure." " Thank you." "And maybe a shirt?" "Buckskin shirt?" "And I'll be needing a hot tub bath." "Yeah." "Hey, Tod." "Tod, hey!" "Is that all Johnsy Boy said about that $17,000?" "Yeah, he... said he didn't have it." "We know who does, don't we, Whiskey Man?" "We gonna go fetch it, come on." "Hanley!" "You in there, Hanley?" "Damn it all, don't go ripping through that orchard!" "Can't you see I got me some peppers planted?" "Peppers." "How about that!" " You sure do raise one hell of a fuss." " I'm in a hell of a hurry." "You know, you could kill a pony that way." "Ain't you noticed the heat?" "Never you mind." "You got any cows penned?" " A few." "About seven head." " Shoo them out." " Do what?" " Turn them out." "We're quitting." "Old man Chester's been nosing over his tally count too close." "Worse than before, after what happened at the Little Dirty." "Coates, you ride a fat horse half to death... to come out here to tell me I'm out of business?" " I come out for my money." " Money?" "Hell, Elwood, we're all square." "I split up every last cent I got from them cows." "Cows?" "I'm talking about money, you old crud!" "My share of that $17,000." " You're babbling drunk." " Suffering hell, yes." "And I'm after my share, partner, of what you took from that big buffler." "Skunk drunk that night, too, weren't you?" " My, you sure did for that poor devil." " Ain't it some pity?" "Now what about the money?" "I didn't take to what you did to that poor man." "I was laying up in the brush and seen it all." "Hell, you knowed whose iron that was." "It ought to have been you!" "Making a fire in sight of the trail." "You caused the whole gutting mess!" "Well, you know me, I could've easy shot down all three of you." "I studied on it, too... you putting my iron to that human man that way." "Yeah, and you could have stopped the whole thing." "But you didn't, you yellow crud, and now the fat's in the fire!" "I seen him, bub, I seen him afterwards... and I sure wouldn't want to be in your boots." "No, sir." "He's the kind that..." "Well was I you, Elwood, I'd get damned seldom in a hurry." "Hurrying?" "That's what we're doing." "Where's the money?" " Myself, I didn't get no money." " Yeah?" "You don't mind if we take a look-see inside?" " Now why do that, Elwood?" "I just told you!" " You don't mind if we take a look anyway?" "Well, now, well maybe I do mind, 'less you put it some better way." "You got it hidden yonder." "You crazy drunk bastard, you leave me alone." "Get out of here and keep the hell out of my pepper patch!" "Lying woman-haired old crud!" "Now we're gonna get that money, Whiskey Man." "We won't have to share it with nobody." "Yeah, Whiskey Man." "Old Simon-pure, pious Brooks Durham." "Man of mercy and goodness." "Everything all right?" "Did that shirt..." "Sounds like a woman sick upstairs." "You might want to see about it." "Well, it's Johnsy's Mex girl." "Ain't let up squalling since I told her." " She'll be moving along." " You putting her out?" " Happens this is Saturday, rent day and..." " How much?" " Her rent." "How much?" " Well, for her $5 the week." " We don't cater to that type." " Have I got some change coming?" " Yeah." " Use it for her rent, huh?" "Mister, you know anybody by the name of Coates or Brooks Durham?" "Sure." "In one breath you just named the town's sorriest and best." "Whereabouts?" "Well, Coates is foreman of Circle "C," he'll be at the saloon sooner than later." "Brooks Durham?" "Runs a bank." "I expect he'll be at it right now." " Thanks." " Yeah." " Excuse me, ma'am." " Why don't you..." "Jessie." "Oh, no!" "You." "That was you last night." "I..." "The filthy, smelly tramp." "Jonas." "My God." " Oh, my God." " Jessie, stop it." "Why?" "Why did you, for God's sakes, Jonas, why?" "I didn't mean to scare you." "Thought you'd know me day or night." "I didn't mean that." "I meant, why did you come back?" "Goodbye, Jessie." "Wait." "Wait, damn you!" "It's not that easy." "We have to talk." " No reason to talk." " Well, then you just listen." "Come into the shop." "Lord, Jessie." "It's after 10:00." "Well, I'm not going to open until..." "Till 11:00." "Oh, Great Hannah!" "Shut the door." "I thought you were dead." "There was a story..." " they said somebody at Dodge, and..." " Clay Allison?" "He had poor ammunition." "You look pretty." "You look butchered." "But I just rose up from hell with my hair on fire." "I ain't staying long." "Then why did you come back at all?" "For me to kiss your filthy sores?" "I was coming back to make it up, Jessie." " I wasn't like this." "I had money." " Oh, money?" " I'm sorry, Jessie." " You're sorry?" "Don't you care to hear how it's been for me, Mr. Sorry?" "How I lived while you were off with your guns and your stinking buffalo?" "Jessie, what good..." "Do you know that Aunt Gussie wasn't shamming?" "She died the month after you left and took your precious pride with you." "She owed everybody in town, even for the wedding." "The money had run out, Jonas." "I mortgaged the house to the rooftop... and I've been trying to scratch out a living in this shop." " Well, this ain't getting nowhere..." " Well, where would you like us to get?" "For all you knew, I could have ended up in the back room of some saloon." "I started to have a letter wrote..." "Well, what stopped you then?" "Your pride or your love of the buffaloes?" "Or maybe you had somebody else, Jonas, somebody better suited to you!" " Nobody else." " Well, I have!" "So go on now." "Go on and murder your buffalo." "That's what I want you to do." "I've got somebody else now." "Somebody better suited to me." " Who, Jessie?" " What difference does it make to you?" " Just get out." "I'm getting married." " Tell me." "I am through being a widow." "It's my right." "You're dead, Jonas." "You are dead!" " Am I?" " Yes." "Am I dead, Jessie?" "Yes!" "I want to marry..." "I want to marry Brooks just as soon as I can." " Brooks?" " Brooks Durham." "He's everything that you're not and can't be!" " Brooks Durham?" " You leave him alone!" "I love him." "Something I don't abide." "Seems you got them joshing about me." "You owe the Bulls $2." "Pay now." "You picked a no-good time." "I dislike killing a man for $2, but kill you I will." "Well, you're too late, mister, because I'm already dead!" "Dead!" "Jonas." "Now cool off." "Get off the street and think things over." "Before somebody gets killed." "Go on!" "Who is it?" "Better get the women and kids out of here." "This ain't pretty." "Can you tell who it is?" "You can't tell it from looking, but I know who it is or was." "I sold that sorrel to Lee Hanley a short time back." "Hanley?" "Yeah, I guess it could be." "In heaven's name, can't someone cut him loose?" " Yeah, come on, let's unhitch him." " When it rains, it sure does pour." "Howdy, partner." " What do you want here, Coates?" " Stud, when you getting out?" " Say what you mean." "I've no time for riddles." " Trailing, that's what I, by God, mean." "Before that buffalo-stink catches up to us the way he done to Johnsy Boy." "I come by for my traveling money." " You've got no money here." " You're wrong." "I got my share of that $17,000 you took off that horse." " Damn you, Coates!" " Hold on, I been figuring." "Now Johnsy Boy, he didn't get it." "Me, I didn't get it." "Hanley, he didn't get it..." " Hanley?" " So..." " What has he got to do with this?" " Well, nothing now." " You killed him." " Well, I didn't mean to." " Was Hanley out at the creek that night?" " Sure, that was his fire." "Him and me's been gathering a few of old man Chester's steers on the side." "Coates, you are not human, you are filth." "Branding that man when you knew he..." "Now there wasn't no choice." "I had to make a showing." "You and me wasn't partners then." "I figured you a good witness." "I didn't know that stinking tramp was gonna come chasing after us." "Coates, there was a time when I didn't keep this locked in a drawer... it was lashed to my leg." "And I used it on better men than you." "Now get out." "All right for now, Reverend." "But don't you think that big buffler-stink is gonna leave town chasing me." "It ain't me that's got his money or is messing with his wife." " His wife?" " Yeah, Miss Jessie." " How does that set with you?" " You're a lying." "He's dead." "Don't you just wish." "I seen him coming out of her house." "You wasn't in these parts in them days, but I was." "I recollect old Dub Stokes' boy, big as a bull." "I said, get out." "Now part of that money is mine, and the woman's his." "It's like a friend of mine once said:" ""I wouldn't care to stand in your boots, bub."" "You are the one?" "The one what?" "The one who has paid for Maria, for her room." "Why?" "Here is why." "You think I am a hotel woman and I must pay you." "Fix your dress." "Aqui!" "It is the pay you thought for, is it not?" "Cover yourself up." "Then why?" "You knew my Johnsy?" " You were friends?" " No." "You got somebody?" "Family?" " Si." "My mother and sisters." " In Coldiron?" " Go to them." " No." "I promised I would not go back without a ring." "A ring with green lights." " You smoke?" " Only a little." "When I'm hungry." "When have you ate?" "I had some goat's milk and panocha from the street yesterday." "Here, come here." "Get yourself something today." " And you, Senor?" " I'm not hungry." "Thirsty." " He belong to you?" " Was Johnsy's." "You want me to get rid of him?" "Leave him." "He ain't hurt nothing." "He's just a cat." "Thank you, Senor." "Kitty, kitty." "Here, cat." "Come here, cat." "Come here." " Who is it?" " It's me, son." "It's Dub." " What do you want?" " I want to talk to you, son." "Did you bring a rifle to talk with?" "I had to put on that show out there or somebody might have killed you, son." "Will you quit calling me "son"?" "Still stubborn as Bernard's mule?" "Look, boy, I just came from talking with Jessie." "She's in an uproar." "She says she told you something she hadn't ought to." "She's afraid you'll do something about it." "You mean about Brooks Durham?" "It ain't only Jessie." "You got the whole town jiggling in its boots." "I ain't guilty of nothing, yet." "Many years as I can remember this has always been a quiet kind of town." "You come back and blow that quiet all to blazes." "Kratz, Hanley, Johnsy Boy." "Ain't you guilty?" "Somebody busted into the blacksmith's shop last night... and made off with a branding iron." " Maybe you ain't guilty of that?" " Maybe." "Any more trouble around here and that council of Durham's... is gonna slap on some taxes and hire us some law." "Well, there's a lot of us around here ain't geared to taxes." "Dub, you telling me nice-like to clear out?" "Look, Jonas, there's a committee meeting tonight." "A lynch talk?" "I'd like to tell them you're gonna pay your respects to your family's grave... and my Helena's early in the morning, and then be gone." "So my wife can marry Brooks Durham?" "Huh, Dub?" "You being the way you are." "You know how I got this way?" "Why, she'd be better off with him." "Well, look, boy, I know you're afoot." "I'll buy you back your horse and your gear, and I'll have them here in the morning." "Yeah, Dub, I guess you kind of do owe me at least a horse, don't you?" "That's sense, boy." "I'll have that horse here first thing in the morning." "Now you just..." "You just spend the evening peaceful." "I'll spend the evening." "If your man come home all busted and half-butchered, would you..." "What would you do?" "I think I would kiss him." "I would have no money to give him... but I would kiss him many times and embrace him." "Because he's home." "Home." "I don't know, Jessie." "I flat don't know." " He won't go?" " I'm telling the committee he will." "Committees." " They hang people." " It's not as likely in broad daylight." " We can keep things quiet tonight." " It's all right." " I've just got to tell Brooks about him." " Don't, Jessie." "I just don't like the way he kept saying "Brooks Durham."" " Well, what then?" " You keep Brooks with you." "Take him up to the mansion." "Likely Jonas won't go there." "I'll stop by the bank and tell Brooks you want to see him at 8:00." "You keep him there with you, till you hear from me." "But if he knows there's a meeting, how am I going to keep him with me?" "If you love Brooks and you want Jonas to stay alive... you just keep him there." "Who's going to be at the meeting?" "Well, they've got some of the hard ones." "Kratz, if he's able." "And the word's out for that crazy Elwood Coates." "Oh, Dub." "Don't let them hurt him." "Doesn't look like there's much more you can do to one like that." " It's all been done before." " He is your son." "Not according to him." "Is he still at the hotel?" "You ain't thinking of seeing him?" "I don't know." " lf I thought it would help, I..." " Don't, Jessie." "He's got a girl with him." "I'll go to the bank." "Could I get you anything while you wait for the stagecoach, Mrs. Shelley?" "A drink of water, maybe?" "Got dark early." "Summer storm close by." "Maybe heading this way." " Are you sure you understand who I mean?" " Si, Senora." "El Tigre." "The Tiger?" "That's what they've named him?" "All right." "You take this to El Tigre." "To kill, is that a thirst with you, too?" "I should have told you something right off about Johnsy. I..." "El Tigre." "Sure, Jessie." "Bless you and Brooks Durham, too." "This letter, it puts a wrath on you." "You will be killed." "I know it." "You never did get your ring, did you?" "I didn't have to tell you, Jessie." "Yes, you did, because you knew I'd find out." "What you didn't have to do was steal his money... brand him and turn him into an animal." " I thought he was a thief." " And what were you?" "Jessie, I want you to be the first to know..." "I'm going to find him and give him his money back." "And what about the brand?" "Will you just peel that off?" "They were going to hang him." "Do you know there's a committee talking about hanging him right this minute?" "Then I'll stop them." "Jessie, I love you." "I love you more than the bank, or the money, or the house, or anything." "I'll never leave you." "Do you know what I'm thinking, Brooks Durham?" "I'm thinking Jonas was right about me all the time." "This house and being a Larkin, was all I've ever cared about." " He was the one who left you for 11 years." " Maybe not." " Jessie, I love you." "Together we can..." " Together!" "He's alone out there." "He's wounded, he's gut-mad." "Now, he's going to end up killing somebody, or they'll end up killing him." " I'll find him." "I'll give him his money back..." " Money." "Money." "Why does everything boil down to money?" "Do you realize I have seen my husband twice since he's been home?" " And both times I've hit him." " That's not your fault or mine." "Jessie, I'll do everything I can to straighten this out." "Just promise me one thing, that you'll stay here until I get back." "Where else would I be, Brooks?" "Durham!" "Here we come, Reverend, the Whiskey Man and me!" "Here's where you get yours, Reverend!" "You best all stand back." " You hit, Mr. Durham?" " No." "You're Jonas Trapp." "You got a gun?" " I want to tell you something." " Then you're gonna die talking." "I want to tell all of you." "All of you, listen." "We thought this man was a thief." "He's not." "Johnsy and Coates and me, we marked him with a branding iron." "I took your money." "I stole it." "And Jessie knows all about it." "I'm sorry." "Go to hell." "Mr. Trapp..." "Look out!" "Whiskey Man... he's killed us both." "There's worse guns." "It'll swap for a ring." "Jonas... there's no need to leave." "None to stay." " Your money." " No." "It belongs to you." "It did belong to us." "I don't know who it belongs to now." " Don't you want it?" " No." " I'm asking you to stay." " Yesterday you begged me to go." "All right, I'll beg." "You act as if you don't even remember me." "I remember, Jessie." "You and... me and this place." "Where will you go with nothing, nobody?" "Here, there." "Where, Jonas, please?" "There's still some buffalo to the south." "Not many, but some." "Jonas." "He didn't even look back." "No." "He wouldn't." "Go after him, child." "He came after you." "He doesn't want me." "No, it's this town." "And what's happened here he doesn't want." "Go after him." " Well?" " Well, what?" " Did she go after him?" "Did she find him?" " I don't know." "Nobody knows." "How's that?" "She left in a while." "But neither she nor Jonas Trapp were ever heard of." "Or from." "She never wrote to Dub or Brooks Durham?" "Never." "How much do I owe you?" "A dollar even." "I don't think she ever found him." "And if she did, they didn't stay together." "Why say that?" "Well, like the song says..." ""You can't ever go home again."" "Well, that's just a song." "And "home" is just a word."