"Telegram for Mr. Paladin." "Hey." "Hey Boy, are you trying to cut in?" "Very important telegram, Mr. Paladin." "How do you know it's important?" "What is it?" ""Little Billy has shot a man." "I'll pay you to find him." "Guy Lamport."" "Who's he?" "He's the federal marshal in Hobson, New Mexico." "Hey Boy, pack my gear." "But what about me?" "As Robert Burns once rather obviously remarked," ""Best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley."" "Robert?" "But why can't that nasty ol' marshal in New Mexico go find Little Billy himself?" "Little Billy is his son." "You looking for the marshal?" "That's right." "What's your name?" "Paladin." "Marshal tried to wait for you, but he couldn't stall them others off no longer." "Had to take the posse out after the kid." "You had some coffee?" "Where'd they go?" "Don't fret, you'll likely catch him." "Marshal's gonna go as slow as he can so you could catch him by noon." "They're followin' the river, for a start." "About, uh, ten horse." "I got eggs in that coffee!" "¶ ¶" "Taking us on another wild-goose chase again this afternoon, Marshal?" "We lost the trail this morning." "You sure we ever found it?" "We followed it." "Just what do you plan to do now?" "I'll take five men southeast along the Arroyo." "Cal, you take the rest of them." "Head on toward the border." "Uh-huh." "I think I'll go that way." "He wouldn't be in the mountains." "He couldn't last three days up there." "There's no water." "No?" "You can't go face him alone." "Well, if that's what's worrying you, then why don't you come along with me?" "Can't waste my time." "No, no, that ain't it." "You reckon your kid's up there, all right." "And I reckon the best way to find him is to look where his old man don't." "Well, I'm cutting out." "Any here with me?" "Gulley." "So help me, if you hurt my boy, I'll kill you." "My boy's lying back there with a bullet in him." "I don't know if he's alive or dead!" "Turnabout, Lamport, fair play, ain't it?" "What is this?" "My kid shot Frank Gulley's boy." "They don't know if his boy will live or die." "I don't know why he did it, Paladin." "He come home scared, tried to tell me what happened." "Said he did it to keep" "Gulley's boy from shooting him." "I told him I'd have to lock him up." "Find out if he was lying or not in court." "Makes no difference, does it, when the father's a marshal?" "Billy didn't seem to think it did." ""Thank you, Marshal," he said." "Got mad and he ran." "I couldn't stop him." "Not without shooting him." "Shooting him?" "You mean like just another escaping prisoner?" "You believe his story?" "I don't know." "He's been a wild kid ever since his mother died." "Gulley swears he saw the shooting." "He swears Billy had no cause." "What do you want me to do?" "Bring him in for me." "Well now, you don't think that's something you should do?" "If Billy saw that posse out there coming for him, there's no telling what he might do." "No telling what Gulley would do." "Where is he?" "There's a spring up in the mountains." "It's not hard to get to." "Not many people know about it." "Hardly anybody ever goes up there." "Billy found it." "Used to hide there when he was in trouble as a little boy." "What about them?" "I'll keep them away from the mountains." "You'll have enough time to get Billy safe in jail before we come back to town." "And what then?" "Then about the only thing I can hope for is a fair trial for him." "Paladin, if that boy dies then we're stuck with Frank Gulley's word about what really happened." "Not much of a choice, I know." "It's the only chance Billy has." "He's young and inexperienced." "He wouldn't last very long up there." "Somebody, Gulley or some bounty hunter would get him sooner or later." "That's your deputy." "Who's with him?" "That's Howard, the town barber." "Nearest thing we have to a doctor in this town." "The boy is dead." "I tried, Mr. Gulley, but I just couldn't save him." "I'm sorry, Gulley." "That's not enough." "Mount up!" "Wait a minute." "Who's this man?" "I'm a friend of the family." "That kid's got too many friends in his posse already." "Why don't you go back and wait for the law?" "I'm staying to watch Lamport's kid die." ""Vengeance is mine," so saith Frank Gulley." "Not vengeance, mister." "Justice." "Well, what if the shooting had turned out the other way?" "I wonder if you'd be such a strong advocate of justice." "Who are you, anyway?" "Justice is a two-edged sword, Mr. Gulley." "Cut both ways." "Mount up." "Keep the coffee hot, Jason." "¶ ¶" "¶ ¶" "¶ ¶" "Billy!" "Billy Lamport!" "What do you want?" "It's Paladin, Billy." "I want to talk to you." "You want to get shot?" "I'm gonna have to take that chance." "¶ ¶" "Billy." "No-account rifle jammed on me." "Yeah." "You think you could shoot me like that?" "Why not?" "I'm supposed to be a regular mad-dog gunman." "You told your father that was self-defense." "Well, what difference does it make?" "Makes a difference to that boy you shot." "How is he?" "He died this morning." "So, now, besides being a liar," "I'm a killer." "Great." "I don't believe that." "Well, everybody else does." "So I might just as well not disappoint them." "Wait a minute." "What are you gonna do?" "Do I have a choice?" "What?" "Well, you can go on just like you have been, running and hiding, convincing everybody that you are a killer and eventually get yourself killed." "They wouldn't find me." "Billy, I found you." "Did my father send you out here?" "Yes, he did." "Boy, he's a real gem, he is." "I should enter him in a contest." "He's out on a limb for you." "What about Mr. Gulley?" "What about him?" "Well, he saw the shooting." "So?" "So, he'll swear it wasn't self-defense." "Now, why would Gulley want to do that?" "Because he doesn't want anyone to know what really happened." "He doesn't want anyone to find out what kind of a thing his son really was." "He said if Bert died, he'd hang me for it." "He won't." "Billy, the law might." "If my father knew where I was, why didn't he come for me himself?" "He was afraid." "Of me?" "For you." "That'll be the day." "All right." "You stay here." "You stay here and wait for Gulley or some bounty hunter to hunt you down like a possum." "You do that." "Wait a minute." "Is this the way you always keep your promises?" "Hold your fire, Gulley!" "Come on out!" "Lamport's hurt!" "He needs a doctor!" "You come out." "Keep your hand away from that gun!" "I told you not to interfere." "There was no need to shoot him!" "I got a need, Paladin." "That boy needs a doctor!" "Doctor?" "There was no doctor." "That town barber was all there was." "What could he do?" "His life just dripped right out of him." "Let me ask you." "I've cleared brush and dug wells, and hauled lumber and stone like a work mule, all of my life." "And what do I do with what I got left?" "What was the point to it?" "I only had one son." "I ain't likely to have another." "I just hope that barber can do for Billy what he done for my boy." "Giving himself up, huh?" "Now, Gulley, you and I are going after that boy together." "And you'd better hope we don't get to him too late." "Because if Billy dies, Gulley," "I'm gonna kill you." "Doesn't look like anybody's been through this way." "Maybe Cal'll have better luck." "So we better get back to base camp." "Yeah, uh-huh." "Whatever you say, Marshal." "Look, if you can find a track, we'll follow it." "You're the boss." "Paladin?" "Gulley?" "Headed out toward the mountains." "Where you going?" "I've gotta find my boy." "¶ ¶" "¶ ¶" "Billy!" "I'm sending Gulley up to see you." "You wouldn't do that." "Here's your witness, Billy." "He's unarmed." "Do with him what you want." "I'll make you a present of him." "Paladin!" "Now, you can stand here and let me kill you or you can go on up there and take your chances with Billy." "He's all yours, Billy!" "Go on, get up there!" "Get up there!" "Don't shoot, Billy." "Paladin." "Please!" "What's going on?" "Now, you stand up there and you listen." "Go on, Gulley!" "Don't shoot." "Billy..." "I'll tell it." "My boy was no good." "He was no better alive than... than he is dead." "All right?" "Is that what you wanted to hear me say?" "That he's better off dead?" "Well... he's dead." "Well, he'll be all right." "He's too mean or too evil to die, I guess." "Too mean?" "!" "Too mean!" "I heard, boy." "I saw it." "You know..." "I told you the truth?" "Yes." "You know something?" "I didn't always believe you either." "¶ ¶" "¶ "Have gun will travel," reads the card of a man ¶" "¶ A knight without armor in a savage land ¶" "¶ His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind ¶" "¶ A soldier of fortune is the man called... ¶" "¶ Paladin ¶" "¶ Paladin, Paladin ¶" "¶ Where do you roam?" "¶" "¶ Paladin, Paladin ¶" "¶ Far, far from home. ¶"