"Hey!" "Harry!" "Come on, else I'm gonna fry up some bread!" "Hey!" "Harry!" "God damn!" "How long have you been boiling these grounds?" "Tastes awful sour to me." "Well, you can throw 'em away after this." "We'll be in Del Norte by noon." "We'll buy some fresh." "Arch, these fish aren't bad." "Need some salt, though." "We ain't got none." "That's something else we going to get." "You setting to coast, Dan?" "What the hell?" "We got nothing but time." "And I tell you something." "That is where it's really good, out there in California." "You got your... got your weather." "Your women are half Mex, half American." "And you got your gold." "And oranges." "And the ocean." "They say that ocean looks like a great blue prairie." "I ain't never seen that much water." "Me neither." "This here's the most water I ever saw." "Hey!" "Harry." "You leave the line set?" "Well, never can tell." "You might have something." "He's all right, Harry." "He's just young, full of piss and vinegar, like you was." " Was I like that?" " Near enough." "He's always wanting to go some place he hasn't been." "You really want to go to the coast, don't you?" "Good as anywhere." "Better than most." "What's your fancy, Harry?" "Arch!" "Harry!" "Come here quick!" "Harry!" "What'd you let it go for?" "What the hell are you at, anyway?" "Hey, what does he think he's doing, letting her float away like that?" "Been dead a while, whatever it was." "Whatever it was?" "What do you mean, whatever it was?" "It was a little white girl!" "It was a little blonde white girl!" "She'd have come to pieces in your hand, the moment you started to pull her in." "Hi." "Hi." "You fellers know where I can find a man to shoe my horse?" "Threw a front plate a mile or so back." "Uh... tell me something, boy." "You always ride around in your combinations?" "Well, I..." "I got wet, crossing the river." "Thought I'd dry out." "Any of you fellers a blacksmith?" "Ain't no blacksmith lives here now." "You want any horseshoeing done, you're gonna have to get it done yourself." "Well... much obliged." "I'm out." "Hey, Luke, looks like we got a gift for Sam." "Well, think I'll have a cold beer." "Well, they ain't got no beer and even if they did have, wouldn't be cold." "They got three kinds of tequila and one of whisky and they're all green and bad." "What kind of town is this, anyway?" "Ain't no blacksmith." "Ain't no cold beer." "Don't see no girls." "Ain't changed much." "That's for sure." "You mean you've been here before?" "Yeah, three years ago we was here." "Arch had a bad foot." "Yeah, damn horse stepped on it." "Broke all my toes." "You fellers made up your mind?" "Yeah, give us a bottle of Double Eagle and three glasses." "One Eagle, three glasses." "Well, here's to us." "Here's to the coast." "Here's to California." "I ain't going." "How's that, Harry?" "I ain't going to the coast." "Where you gonna go, then?" "Home." "Now, look, Harry, if it's 'cause of me being so touchy this morning..." "Ain't to do with that, Dan." "Home." "Maybe there ain't no such colour." "We get to the coast, it won't be like this." "Where I come from, there's a guy who knew a feller who was on the coast." "Said it was different from anything you ever saw." "Home is just a place you start from, Arch." "There'll be something there." "Think maybe your wife and your little girl are still there?" "Didn't know you was married, Harry, or had kids." "Why don't you go to the coast, make something, send for 'em?" "You go to the coast, Dan, and when in three or four years you find yourself sitting here and drinking this rat lotion" "you remember how you thought it was gonna be." "The hell with him." "The hell, I say." "We don't need him." "We can go to the coast without him, can't we, Arch?" "You know how long me and him rid together?" "I forget." "Long time." "Seven years, near on." "Seven years." "It's a long time." "You mean you ain't gonna go to the coast?" "You're gonna go with Harry?" "No, Dan, I ain't gonna go with Harry." "Didn't recognise this place until I saw that peak." "Then I remembered." "Guess I decided then." "It's just a waste, living like this, Arch." "It's been building up a long while." "Well, I'm going with the boy." "Ha." "Always wanted to see that ocean." "Come on." "It's a real good 'un, Sam." "It's a real good 'un." "Let's have a look at that bottle." "Hey, boy." "There ain't hardly a mouthful left in here." "Have to get another one." "Gonna ride out in the morning?" "Not the way I'm drinking this whiskey, I won't." "How long is it gonna take you to ride back?" "A week, thereabouts." "How you know there's anything for you there?" "I mean, what if she's married?" "Haven't thought on it." "Well." "Well." "You come on out to the coast, maybe we'll meet up again." "Maybe, Arch." "Maybe so." "Well, looks like Dan's already been here and cut himself something out." "Well, what'll you have?" "Same as your partner?" "Well, what did he have?" "Well, he had a bit of prime." "Three dollars' worth, to be exact." " Well, that's Dan for the night." " Mm." "You might as well give us a couple of shots of that Double Eagle there." "Oh, Mother!" "Mother!" "Mother, I'm sick." "I'm..." "I'm sick." "Is he dead?" "You shoot him?" "This is my wife." "I found him in our house." "He was attacking her." "I called him and I thought he went for his gun." "But I guess he was just pulling on his pants." "I'll take care of the burying." "That's all right." "We'll see to it." "How did he find your wife?" "Why, I guess he just saw her outside and followed her home." "When I got there, he was all over her." "You mind if I ask her about that?" "Well, she don't speak any American." "Won't do you any good." "Don't seem to me there's much to ask." "The woman's all messed up." "Your friend's got his pants half off." "Seems pretty plain to me." "Where can we bury him?" "Why don't you just let that go till the morning?" "I'll close my canteen and you can let him rest here for the night." "We'll bury him now." "Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you," ""'See, the Kingdom is in heaven'," ""then the birds of the heaven would precede you." ""If they say to you, 'It is in the sea'," ""then the fish will precede you." ""But the Kingdom is within you and it is without you."" "The disciples said to Jesus" ""Tell us how our end will be."" "Jesus said, "Have you, then, discovered the beginning," ""that you enquire about the end?" ""For where the beginning is, there shall be the end." ""Blessed is he who shall stand at the beginning" ""and he shall know the end and not taste death."" "His disciples said to Him, "When will the Kingdom come?"" "Jesus said, "It will not come by expectation." ""They will not say, 'See here' or, 'See there.'" ""But the Kingdom of the Father is spread upon the earth" ""and men do not see it."" "We can find out from the kid where he lives." "Let's go!" "God!" "Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!" "What do you mean, what's she like?" "Well, I mean, is she tall, thin, fat, round?" "Brown hair, blue eyes?" "What's she like?" "Medium." "Red hair." "Brown eyes, I guess." "I think I know her." "She had a nice voice." "How old is she?" "How old, hm?" "Well, she was 30 when we was married." "And how old was you?" "20, just turned." "Hell, boy, you didn't stand a chance." "No, it weren't her fault." "I wasn't ready, that's all." "Too hot to ride and too hot to walk." "Well, it ain't far now." "Wonder what your wife's gonna say to you when she lays eyes on you, Harry." "What I mean is, what kind of nature does she have?" "Well, I don't rightly recall." "Only lived with her about a year and nine month." "Well, if I had a horse for a year and nine months," "I'd sure know how many teeth he had." "Well, she had three teeth." "I remember that." "Come on." "Hello?" "What can I do for you?" "Go on inside, Janey." " I don't want to, Mama." " Go on." "Do like I told you." "How have you been, Hannah?" "Why did you come back?" "Got tired of the life." "What are you hoping for, coming round here?" "Work." "You don't have any right to come back this way." "You think I can't send you away, think you're still married to me, but that ain't so." "Look, Hannah." "Just let me work the place for a bit like a hired hand." "No difference." "See how it runs." "I'm asking you, Hannah." "I don't want Janey upset." "As far as she knows, her father is dead." "I don't want you saying no different." "Sure." "Come on, Muscatel." "Get ready for bed." "Shout me when you're in." "That wasn't a hundred, Mama." "I counted." "Off you go." "I'll add them to tomorrow night." "There's some sacks in the shed and some clean straw in the rack." "Should be a lamp there, too." "Tomorrow we'll talk about what you're gonna do." "Needs some thinking, what to put you to." " Mama, I'm in." " Coming, Janey." "All right, see you in the morning." "Don't mind me asking, ma'am." "How come you don't have a dog?" "I noticed when we rode up there wasn't one." "Had one but it ran away." "Never bothered to get another." "Hm." "Good night, ma'am." "Welcome home, Harry." "Yeah." "Straw smells good." "Beats sleeping on the ground." "Hm." "What do you think, Harry?" "You think you'll stay?" "Harry's turned in." "Ha-ha." "He's so tired, he can't see proper." "By your leave, ma'am, I'll just finish my smoke." "Surely." "What are you getting out of this, Mr Harris?" "Ma'am, if I wasn't doing this, I'd be doing something else." "You've more prospects in something else." "Well, me and Harry, we rid around together a long time." "He's keen to try this for a while so I'll just string along." "Why did he come back?" "Just got tired of drifting around." "He'll go." "Just a matter of time." "Well, most things are, ma'am, one way or the other." "Ask Mr Marshall at the store if that lead paint's come yet." "We can paint the house before winter comes." "And don't forget the jars for preserving fruit." "And don't forget my candy." "Candy?" "You don't eat candy, do you?" "Look there." "It's written down, candy for Janey." "Huh?" "Ha-ha-ha-ha!" " Ha-ha-ha." " Come on." "Hey." " Goodbye, Janey." " Goodbye." "Whoa." "I'll go on over the general store." "You go set up the beers." "Sounds like a reasonable division of labour." "Go." "Give me two beers." "Hello there." " You riding on through?" " No, sir, we picked up a job." "You and somebody else?" "Yes, sir." "We're working for Miss Collings." "Oh, both of you?" "Yes, sir, that's right." "Well, now, she's really getting down to some serious business." "She's a fair woman to work for, all right." "Fair?" "Why, the widow Collings is more than fair." "She's downright generous." "Can always tell a man's got something on his mind." "He keeps talking to people he don't know." "Well, what is it you're trying to tell me?" "What I'm trying to tell you, mister, is that most men who work for the widow Collings get paid in more than cash and keep." "I'll sure remember that." "Save me getting a lot of fancy notions." "And you can tell her when you get back, that Ed Plummer might take a ride out to see her, one of these moonshine nights." "What's he talking about, Arch?" "Ah, there's your partner." "How do you work it, boys?" "Night about?" "Or do you each do a week?" "He was talking about Hannah, wasn't he?" "Was he?" "You know he was." "That's why you hit him." "Stopped him from saying something about her." "What was it, Arch?" "Said she slept with the hired help." "Now, I'm warning you, Harry, if you're gonna swing at me," "I'll take a great deal of pleasure in kicking the living shit out of you." " Do you believe him?" " He was a mouth-off." "It's the kind of story you find in any saloon." " You really believe that, Arch?" " Of course I do." "I ain't saying your Hannah never looked the side a man was on." "But I sure don't believe what that feller was saying." "If I was you, Harry, I wouldn't be putting no questions to her." "She ain't gonna take too kindly to you setting up judgment on her." "Get up." "Ah." "Did I get the feeling your friend Harris made himself scarce?" "Could be." "Why could that be, now?" "I guess he knows I want to talk to you." "What about?" "I hope you ain't getting ready to propose." "In town today, someone said..." "They made some remarks about you." "What sort of remarks?" "About you and the men that worked here." "Go on." "What did they say?" "You know what they said." "They said you slept with all your hired hands." "You hired men to sleep with." "God, what do you know about it?" " How many?" " Does it matter?" "Of course it matters." "You were long gone before anybody got into my bed." "And don't think that's 'cause I was hankering after you." "I wasn't." "That was as long as I could stand it." "I walked about this room on nights like this, going crazy for a man." "Any man." "Didn't matter." "And sometimes when there was a man out there, he knew about it and he'd come in and sometimes I'd have him or he'd have me, whatever suits you." "But not all of them and not every time I wanted to." "And when the season's work was over I'd pay him off, no matter how well he'd worked or how well he'd pleased me, 'cause the man that's in a woman's bed thinks he's her boss" "and sooner or later they'd have tried to move their tackle out of the shed and in here, and I didn't want that, 'cause I'd already had one man in here and I didn't want another." "Is that all you want to ask me?" "Mrs Collings?" "Mrs Collings?" "Oh, I was just passing." "Thought I'd drop by." "I never seem to catch you in town, somehow." "Hello, Mrs Sorenson." "It's not often I get visits from your good self." "I was so glad to hear the news." "I'm sure you're very pleased." "Oh?" "Well, I saw the paper with my very own eyes." "Carl said he recognised him in town today, but I said that wasn't possible, because we hadn't even come to town in those days." "But I'm sure you're very pleased." "Janey, you go on outside and play for a bit." "And I'll bet you're pleased too, aren't you, little Janey?" "Go on, Janey." "Go on outside, like I told you." "I assume you're talking about the fact that Harry's come back?" "Oh, yes, of course." "Maybe we'll see you in town at the quiltings and all." "Folks are always saying what a pity you never get into town." "Mrs Sorenson, I didn't know that he was coming back and I don't know how long he'll stay." "I don't want Janey upset." "She thinks her father's dead." "If she finds out different and if he goes off again..." "He's not going anywhere." "Didn't he show you what he wrote?" "He had it up all over town." ""No further need of hired help," it said." "Man that does that isn't thinking of going nowhere." "Your husband isn't around?" "I'd so like to meet him." "You know, Carl and I were still in Philadelphia then." "No." "He's out on the farm." "Oh, I see." "Well, I just dropped by to say hello." "We'll be looking for you in town." "Folks'll be looking out, now that your man's come home." " Goodbye, Mrs Sorenson." " Goodbye, Mrs Collings." "Oh, and give my very best to Mr Collings." "Thank you." "You know that he wants to stay here?" "I gathered that." "What do you think about it?" "Well, that ain't for me to think." "You don't have to worry about me hanging around." "You probably think I'm pretty hard." "Now, ma'am, that's not for me to decide." "Well, I am." "Don't want to be, but I am." "I don't know how many nights I sat on the porch, rocking myself back and forth" "watching the shed, hoping whoever was in there would come out, hoping and terrified in case he did." "It was all right at the time out in the field or in the hay, sometimes just down on the dirt." "That's right." "You can tell, can't you?" "Wouldn't really matter whether it was you or him tonight." "You think he'll be happy here?" "There'll be times when he'll be happy." "If you really want him, ma'am you're gonna have to tell him" "and you're gonna have to tell yourself too." "What are you talking, Arch?" "What's this about heading west?" "Well, you're settled in here now, Harry." "I thought I'd go back to our old plan and go on out to California." "But you like it here." "I know you do." "He suits it here, doesn't he?" "Reckon if Arch wants to go on, we shouldn't argue with him." "It's better this way, Harry." "Best thing." "You really want to go to California, Arch?" "See that ocean?" "Sure do." "I wouldn't say so if I didn't." "OK, Arch, that's what you wanted." "I think this is how it has to be, Harry." "Did you ask him to go?" "No, I never did." "But you want him to, don't you?" "I want you to stay." "That's what I want." "But I will stay." "I told you so." "With me." "Because of me, me and Janey." " That's why I came back, ain't it?" " Partly." "Partly because you were tired, sick and weary of having no place but the ground to sleep." "Harry, I'm all aching and sore from these last six years." "I feel I'm gonna split open." "I'm scared to think it might all come right again, after all this time." "I don't believe it." "But I want it to be." "Can you understand that?" "I guess so, Hannah." "That man out there." "He's a decent man, I'm sure." "But he's had more of you than I've ever known." "He's what you left me for, Harry." "I know you didn't know him when you left." "But he's what you went looking for." "A man don't ask for things of another man like a woman does." "He's easier to please and he don't get bitter about the same things." "Each time you and me didn't get along, each time you got weary, he'd be there and I'd wonder if you were planning to go off with him or if he'd be telling you not to be a fool." "Don't you see, Harry?" "It'd be just like you came home with some woman you'd been living with and said, "I want her to stay in the spare room."" "Out there, where he's going, Hannah, it's cold on your own." "Don't you think it's about time you started practising being a husband again, Harry?" "I'll pick it up OK." "Good night, Harry." "Sure is a good morning for it." "You make it back this way..." "Sure." "Arch?" "If it gets, uh... you know, the way it can out there, you just turn around." "I'll bring him back a bottle of that ocean water." "Goodbye, Mr Harris." "Goodbye, Janey." "I hope I'll be all right for you, Harry." "Just checking Janey." "She's all right." "Wind didn't waken her." "I love you, Harry." "I love you too, Hannah." "Harry!" "Harry." "There's a funny man and he brought Mr Harris's horse back." "Where did you get this horse?" "Sam sent me with him." "Where's Harris?" "He wants you to come see him." "Where is he?" "Waiting for you." " What is it, Harry?" " It's Arch." "Something's wrong." "Is he sick?" "Not exactly." "He sent you this." "Sam says, each week you don't show up, he's gonna take off another." "And if you don't show up ever, he's gonna cut off his toes and all." "Ha!" " Harry, what are you doing?" " They cut off one of Arch's fingers." "One each week, they say, till I get there." "How do you know it's his finger?" "It sure as hell is somebody's finger and, seeing as they got Arch, I reckon it's his, OK?" "Yeah." "Harry, you can't." "You came back." "You said..." "You said you'd come back." "You can't go away." "You can't." "The longer I wait, the worse it'll be for him, Hannah." "I don't care about him!" "I care about me and Janey and you!" "You never meant to stay." "You never." "You planned it, the two of you!" "You planned it!" "It's your way of getting away again!" "You planned it!" "That's not true, Hannah." "I have to go." "Arch is in this trouble because of me." "I have to get him out of it." "Now, when that's done, I'll be back and things'll be right." "You won't come back." "I know it." "Your discard, you know." "'Agua." "'Por favor.'" "Está bien." "Come on." "Come on!" "Come on, come on." "Give me..." "Give me a little water." "Yeah, that's it." "That's all right." "Get me a gun." "Pistol." "No." "Me mata." "No." "I'll kill him." "Me mata." "Vete de aquí." "Pistol?" "You can count your fingers now." "Your friend's come to get you." "Mighty good to see you." "I've been looking pretty hard for you and that's difficult, seeing as it's very hard for me to get about." " Where's Harris?" " He's here." "You rid hard." "You saved him a finger." "They were bad ones, Harry." "Knew it." "First time we was here... had a feeling." "Then when we rode out... thought it was all left behind." "Hold me, Arch."