"My mother died of pneumonia when I was just a kid." "My father had kept their wedding cake in the freezer for ten whole years." "After the funeral he gave it to the yard man." "He tried to act cheerful, but he could never be consoled by the little stranger he found in his house." "Then, one day, hoping to begin a new life away from the scene offal his memories he moved us from Texas to Fort Dupree, South Dakota." "I'll give you a dollar to eat this Collie." "I ain't gonna eat him for a dollar." "I don't think he's a Collie either." "Some kind of dog, though." "Watch your head." "Hey, Woody." "Give me a cigarette." "Woody wouldn't give me a cigarette." "Ever notice he don't talk much?" "Yeah, he's not a talker." "You got that." "Little did I realize, what began in the alleys and back ways of this quiet town would end in the Badlands of Montana." "No, they wouldn't fit." " You haven't tried 'em on." "No, no." "What size are they?" " Your size." "Come on, give me a dollar for 'em." " No." "They cost $20 new." "Why don't you see if they fit you?" "This lady don't ever pay her bills." "She's gonna get in trouble if she doesn't watch out." "I throwed enough trash for today, Cato." "I'll see you in the morning." "Catch." "What do you mean?" "Hi." "I'm Kit." "I'm not keepin' you from anything important, am I?" "No." "Just thought I'd come over and say hello to you." "I'll try anything once." "What's your name?" "I said mine." "Holly." "Well listen, Holly...." "You, I don't know...." "You want to take a walk with me?" "What for?" "I got some stuff to say." "Guess I'm kind of lucky that way." "Most people don't have anything on their minds, do they?" "Incidentally, my last name is Carruthers." "Sounds a little too much like 'druthers.'" "It's okay." "Yeah, well nobody asked me what I thought." "They just hung it on me." "You still in school?" "No, I got me a job." "Doin' what?" "Well, I don't mind gettin' up early so I got a job throwing garbage." "Holly." "I'm not in love with the stuff, okay?" "That's my father." "I gotta run." "Hey, wait." "When am I gonna see you again?" "Well, I know what my daddy's gonna say." "What?" "Can I be honest?" "Sure." "Well, that I shouldn't be seen with anybody that collects garbage." "He'll say that?" "Yeah." "Now what's he know about garbage?" "Nothin'." "There you go." "I mean, there's nothin' he wants to know." "I gotta run." "Who was that?" "Just some boy." "Is that gonna kill the grass?" "You got some on my feet." "What'd he want?" "He was just askin' if we needed any yard work done." "I said, 'No.' And for him not to bother us." "Heard the news, Kit?" "No." "Been in all the headlines." "What's that?" "You've been fired." "Ain't that a hell of a note?" "Yeah, how about that?" "I wouldn't be needin' my keys anymore." "I'll just leave 'em where they'll be nice and handy." "I've got my dog." "Have you ever held another job before?" "Yeah, I used to throw trash for the city." "And you lost that one?" "Yeah, I wouldn't be here if I hadn't." "Why did you leave?" "Just felt like it." "What kind of work do you think you'd be qualified for?" "I just gotta get this." "Well, I can't think of anything at the moment." "I want you to write me out a slip though, proving' I came down here." "I think we can get you something." "Workin' cattle over at the pens." "Yeah, what the hell." "Just hope there's a breeze." "He was handsomer than anybody I'd ever met." "He looked just like James Dean." "Hi." "Well, stop the world." "Hey, quit my job." "Great." "Seemed like the right move." "What'cha doing?" "Spanish." "How do you say:" "'Quit my job,' in Spanish?" "Something...mi trabajo." "Well, I'm goin' to work as a cowboy now." "Thinkin' about it." "It's a routine like anything." "What do you think?" "I don't know." "Yeah, well, at least nobody can get on me about wearing' these boots anymore." "You want to go for a ride?" "Well, I got homework." "Bring it along." "Somebody dropped a bag on the sidewalk." "If everybody did that, the whole town'd be a mess." "Hi." "You're a redhead." "I know." "Anybody ever call you 'Red'?" "Yeah, but I don't like it." "Why not?" "I just don't." "I got a headache." "Oh, yeah?" "Can I come around and see you tomorrow?" "Okay." "Kit went to work in the feedlot while I carried on with my studies." "Little by little, we fell in love." "As I'd never been popular in school, and didn't have a lot of personality I was surprised that he took such a likin' to me." "Especially when he could've had any other girl if he'd given it half a try." "He said that I was grand, though." "He wasn't interested in me for sex and that comin' from him, this was a compliment." "He'd never met a 15-year-old girl who'd behaved like a grownup and wasn't giggly." "He didn't care what anybody else thought." "I looked good to him and whatever I did was okay." "And if I didn't have a lot to say well that was okay, too." "What a nice place." "Yeah, the tree makes it nice." "And the flowers." "Let's not pick 'em." "They're so nice." "It's your play." "Of course, I had to keep all this a secret from my dad." "He would've had a fit since Kit was ten years older than me and came from the wrong side of the tracks, so-called." "Our time with each other was limited and each lived for the precious hours when he or she could be with the other, away from all the cares of the world." "My stomach's growling." "There's an old Fudgesicle." "You want it?" "No." "Somebody else is gonna get it." "I don't care." "Kids eat that kind of stuff in Korea." "In the stench and slime of the feedlot he'd remember how I'd looked the night before." "How I ran my hand through his hair and traced the outline of his lips with my fingertip." "He wanted to die with me, and I dreamed of being lost forever in his arms." "The whole time, the only thing I did wrong was throwing out my fish when he got sick." "Later I got a new one, but this incident kept on bothering me and I turned to Kit." "Well, he was sick, wasn't he?" "Couldn't do much about that." "I guess not." "I didn't mind tellin' Kit about stuff like this 'cause strange things happened in his life too." "And some of the stuff he did was strange." "For instance, he faked his signature whenever he used it to keep other people from forgin' important papers with his name." "And as he lay in bed, in the middle of the night he always heard a noise like somebody was holdin' a seashell against his ear." "And sometimes he'd see me comin' toward him in beautiful white robes and I'd put my cold hand on his forehead." "Did it go the way it's supposed to?" "Yeah." "Is that all there is to it?" "Yeah." "Gosh, what was everybody talkin' about?" "Don't ask me." "Well, I'm glad it's over." "For a while I was afraid I might die before it happened." "Had a wreck or some deal like that." "See where that tree fell in the water?" "Yeah." "River must've washed the roots away." "You don't care about anything I say, though." "You know what I think?" " What?" "We should crunch our hands with this stone." "That way we'd never forget what happened today." "But it would hurt." "Well, that's the point, stupid." "Don't call me, 'stupid.'" "Okay, but I'm gonna keep it for a souvenir." "Well, maybe one that's lighter." "Kit made a solemn vow that he would always stand beside me and let nothin' come between us." "He wrote this out in writing, put the paper in a box with some of our little tokens and things, then sent it off in a balloon he'd found while on the garbage route." "His heart was filled with longin' as he watched it drift off." "Something must've told him that we'd never live these days of happiness again that they were gone forever." "Then, sure enough, Dad found out I'd been runnin' around behind his back." "He was madder than I'd ever seen him." "As punishment for deceiving him, he went and shot my dog." "He made me take extra music lessons every day after school and wait there till he came to pick me up." "He said that if the piano didn't keep me off the streets maybe the clarinet would." "Sure is pretty." "What'd you come out here for?" "I wasn't aware there was any law against it." "You know, Holly well, she means an awful lot to me, sir." "You know, before I met her nobody could ask me how I was doin' with my girl." "Matter of fact, I didn't really have one." "Is that right?" "It okay me leanin' on your Willys here?" "I got a lot of respect for her, too, sir." "It's about as good a one as I know to tell you." "It's not good enough." "What do you think'll happen to her if she stuck with you, Kit?" "A guy like you?" "She'd get along okay." "And if she didn't, why she could just take off." "Just take right on off, I wouldn't mind." "I'd always tell people I deserved it." "I don't want you hangin' around anymore." "I don't want to see you again." "Understand?" "You're something." "Takes all kinds, sir." "Hi." "What are you doing?" "I got a gun here, sir." "Always a good idea to have one around." "What do you think you're doin'?" "Go on, get out of here." "I got it all planned." "And I'm takin' Holly off with me." "Okay, boy I'm turnin' you over to the authorities." "What for?" "Comin' on my property with a gun." "No, you're not either." "Yeah?" "Why not?" "'Cause I can't allow it." "Hey." "Hey, wait a minute." "Suppose I shot you?" "How'd that be?" "Want to hear what it sounds like?" "Kit." "Kit." "Where are you going?" "Wait." "Daddy?" "This is Holly." "Are you gonna be okay?" "I came in the front." "How bad off is he?" "I can look and see." "We better call the doctor." "Listen, I'll say how it happened." "Part I saw." "Well I don't think that'd work." "He don't need a doctor." "Are you sure?" "If you don't believe me, see for yourself." "I found a toaster." "Don't worry, honey, I'll" "Listen, maybe we ought to tell somebody about this." "You said that once already." "Too late now." "Why?" "They're not going to listen to me." "You either." "You kidding?" "Suppose the neighbors heard the noise?" "Wouldn't be funny." "Listen I'll be back after a while." "You want to call the police, that's fine." "Just won't be so hot for me." "My girl, Holly, and I have decided to kill ourselves." "Same way I did her dad." "Big decision." "The reasons are obvious." "Now, I don't have time to go into 'em right now." "But, one thing though:" "He was provoking' me when I popped him." "That's what it was like, pop." "Now we're sorry." "I mean, nobody's comin' out of this thing happy, especially not us." "I can't deny we've had fun though." "And that's more than I can say for some." "That's the end of the message." "I ran out of things to say." "Thank you." "My girl, Holly, and I have decided to kill ourselves." "Same way I did her dad." "Kit left the record playin' over and over for the district attorney to find." "He was gambling' for time." "'When Jesus walked into the garden..." "'And his suffering began..." "'Everything mourned that was there..." "'Even the foliage and the green grass:" "'Mary held a small bell, ringing..." "'Oh my, oh my darling child..." "'Oh how, oh how my heart is breaking..." "'My son, my son, I am losing you..." "'Mary went to the Cross..." "'She saw her dear child hanging before her..." "'There he was hanging on a cross..." "'Mary's heart was in pain'" "Kit made me get my books from school so I wouldn't fall behind." "We'd be startin' a new life, he said, and we'd have to change our names." "His name would be James, mine would be Priscilla." "We'd hide out like spies somewhere in the North where people didn't ask a lot of questions." "I could've snuck out the back or hid in the boiler room I suppose." "But I sensed that my destiny now lay with Kit, for better or for worse." "And that it was better to spend a week with one who loved me for what I was than years of loneliness." "How're you doing?" "I'm fine." "Kind of tired." "Yeah, me too." "We hid out in the wilderness down by a river in a grove of cottonwoods." "It being' the flood season, we built our house in the trees with tamarisk walls and willows laid side by side to make a floor." "There wasn't a plant in the forest that didn't come in handy." "We planned a huge network of tunnels under the forest floor." "Our first order of business every morning was to decide on our new password for the day." "Now and then we'd sneak out at night and steal a chicken or some corn or some melons from a melon patch." "Mostly, though, we just lay on our backs and stared at the clouds." "And sometimes it was like bein' in a big marble hall the way we talked in low voices and heard the tiniest sound." "They hadn't found but one set of bones in the ashes of the house so we knew they'd be looking for us." "Kit made sure we'd be prepared." "He gave me lectures on how a gun works." "How to take it apart and put it back together again in case I had to carry on without him." "He said that if the Devil came at me, I could shoot him with a gun." "One day, I carried 30 pounds of wood a distance of five miles." "Another day, while hiding in the forest, I covered my eyes with makeup to see how they'd come out." "'Love..." "'Love is strange..." "'Lot of people..." "'Take it for a game'" "We had our bad moments like any couple." "Kit accused me of only bein' along for the ride." "While, at times, I wished he'd fall in the river and drown, so I could watch." "Take a break, Red." "Life of Riley." "Mostly, though, we got along fine and stayed in love." "One of the chickens died last night." "I almost stepped on him." "'The Kon-Tiki's motion was different... '...from what it usually was in such conditions." "'We had become sensitive to changes in the rhythm of the logs." "'I thought of the suction from the coast, which was drawing near... '...and was continually on the deck and up the mast.'" "He was nervous." "'Time passed." "At dawn, just before 6:00... '..." "Terstein came hurrying down from the masthead." "'He could see a whole line of small, palm-clad islands far ahead.'" "I grew to love the forest." "The cooing' of the doves and the hum of the dragonflies in the air made it always seem lonesome and like everybody's dead and gone." "When the leaves rustled overhead it was like the spirits were whispering about all the little things that bothered them." "One day, while taking a look at some vistas in Dad's stereopticon it hit me that I was just this little girl, born in Texas whose father was a sign painter, who had only just so man-years to live." "Sent a chill down my spine and I thought:" "Where would I be this very moment if Kit had never met me?" "Or killed anybody?" "This very moment." "If my mom had never met my dad." "If she'd never died." "And what's the man I'll marry gonna look like?" "What's he doin' right this minute?" "Is he thinkin' about me now, by some coincidence even though he doesn't know me?" "Does it show on his face?" "For days afterward I lived in dread." "Sometimes I wished I could fall asleep and be taken off to some magical land but this never happened." "'I know the stars..." "'And I know the trees..." "'I know the flowers..." "'And I set the breeze'" "'The door is closed, We can't go in..." "'The door is closed, We can't go in..." "'Inside lives a rich one, We don't like him, no..." "'The door is closed, We can't go in..." "'The door is closed, We can't go in..." "'Inside lives a rich one, We don't like him, no.'" "What?" "Get out of here." "Run." "Somebody's coming." "Hide." "Holly." "Get in the car, Red." "We don't need this." "Kit felt bad about shootin' those men in the back." "But he said they came in and would have played it as down and dirty as they could." "And besides, he'd overheard 'em whispering' about how they were only interested in the reward money." "With lawmen it would've been different." "They were out there to get a job done and they deserved a fair chance." "But not a bounty hunter." "We went to hide out with a friend of Kit's from the days of the garbage route." "How you doing, Cato?" "Not bad." "Take that son of a bitch." "What you been doing?" "Runnin' this place for a fella in town." "Nothin' much to speak of." "Well, I don't notice us hustlin' trash, either." "Where'd you get them antlers?" "They come with the house." "Well, Cato I want you to meet my girl Holly Sargis." "Hi." "Did you hear about the guy at the nuthouse that walked around naked except for hat and gloves?" "And this nurse come up to him and said, 'Hey, you can't walk around that way.'" "And the guy says, 'Well, it's okay." "Nobody comes around here anyway.'" "And the nurse says:" "'Well what do you have on the hat and gloves for?" "'" "And the guy says, 'Well, you never know.'" "Isn't that funny?" "Yeah, I guess." "She plays the clarinet, too." "Don't you get bored around here?" " Well sometimes." "The other day though an old boy plowing' the field over there found some old coins." "Some old Spanish coins." "That's what he told you?" "Nope, no." "He showed me one." "What'd they look like?" "Kind of round, like so." "Gold." "Where at?" "Right over in that field over there." "I'll show you if you want." "Let me finish my supper." "Well, we're thinkin' of goin' down to Texas." "Holly wants to visit some of her people down there." "But after that, I don't know." "They say Mexico's nice." "Kit, maybe I better get a shovel." "Okay." "I'll catch up with you." "Okay." "I found a lid." "It was layin' on the ground over there." "Put that down, it's dirty." "You missed." "You're a piss-ass." "Hey, you're throwin' big ones." "Cato." "The shovel's in the truck." "Kit never let on why he shot Cato." "He said that just talkin' about it could bring us bad luck and that right now we needed all the luck we could get." "You never told me about her." "Look at all this junk." "How's he doing?" "I got him in the stomach." "Is he upset?" "He didn't say anything to me about it." "Bunch of junk." "He stole that cage." "I saw him do it." "What'cha lookin' in there for?" "Can't afford any of that." "I'm just looking." "Why don't you go in there and keep him company for a while?" "Hi." "Is that your spider in there?" "In that bottle?" "Yeah." "What did you feed him?" "Flies grasshoppers when I can catch 'em." "Does he bite?" "He never bit me." "Hi." "Hi." "Where's Cato?" "Well, he's gone." "Gone?" " Yeah." "Where?" "He said not to tell." "Yeah?" "He said for you to give us a lift into town." "You're the ones with the Studebaker, aren't you?" "I need to pick up something in the house." "I can't allow that." "What?" "If you go in there, I'll have to kill you." "What's goin' on?" "Can't afford to take chances." "Come out of there, young lady." "Let's us go out in this field here." "Come on." "Skip that." "I'm gonna have to keep my eye on you though." "Okay." "You don't mind?" "Hi." "What's gonna happen to Jack and me?" "Have to ask Kit." "He says, 'frog,' I jump." "Okay." "What's your friend's name?" "Jack." "You love him?" "I don't know." "I gotta stick by Kit." "He feels trapped." "Yeah, I can imagine." "Well, I've felt that way, hadn't you?" "Okay, come on you two, down in the cellar." "Go on." "Hey." "Promise to stay down there for an hour?" " Yeah." "You expect me to believe that?" "Yeah." "I'm gonna shut the door." "Think I got 'em?" " I don't know." "Well, I'm not goin' down there and look." "Suddenly I was thrown into a state of shock." "Kit was the most trigger-happy person I'd ever met." "He claimed that as long as you're playin' for keeps, and the law is comin at you it's considered okay to shoot all witnesses." "You had to take the consequences, though, and not whine about it later." "He never seemed like a violent person before except for once, when he said he'd like to rub out a few guys whose names he didn't care to mention." "It all goes to show how you can know a person and not really know him at the same time." "We're in for it now." "If they catch us." "What'd you put him in there for?" "Just to keep him out of the sun." "At this moment, I didn't feel shame or fear, but just kind of blah like when you're sittin' there and all the water's run out of the bathtub." "You tired?" "Yeah." "Yeah, you look tired." "Listen, honey, when all this is over I'm gonna sit down and buy you a thick steak." "I don't want a steak." "Yeah, well, we'll see about that." "Hey, look." "They're probably gonna blame that on me too." "Bastards." "The whole country was out lookin' for us, for who knew where Kit would strike next?" "Sidewalks cleared out." "Stores closed their doors and drew their blinds." "Posses and vigilante committees were set up from Texas to South Dakota." "Children rode back and forth to school under heavy guard." "A famous detective was brought in from Boston." "He could find no clues." "People left their lights on when they went to sleep." "My clarinet teacher said I probably wasn't responsible, but others said I was." "Then, on Thursday, the governor of Oklahoma sent out the National Guard to stand watch at the Federal Reserve Bank in Tulsa when word got out that Kit meant to rob it." "It was like the Russians had invaded." "We needed supplies, so we went to a rich man's house." "Kit figured it'd be safer and quicker than shopping' in the downtown." "A maid came to the door." "Hi." "I'm here to check your meter." "My tools are in here." "This is Holly." "She's from Texas." "Later we found out she was deaf and we hadn't even known it." "Excuse me." "Hi." "Yes?" "This is your place?" "Yes." "Sorry to barge in on you." "Anyone else here besides you two?" "No." "Good deal." "We're on the run." "And...." "We'd like to hang out here for a while, couple hours maybe." "How'd that be?" "Stay as long as you like." "Next time I ring that means it's time to clear out." "I left Kit in the parlor and went for a stroll outside the house." "The day was quiet and serene but I didn't notice, for I was deep in thought and not even thinking about how to slip off." "The world was like a faraway planet to which I could never return." "I thought what a fine place it was full of things that people can look into and enjoy." "Listen to your parents and teachers." "They got a line on most things, so don't treat 'em like enemies." "There's always an outside chance you could learn something." "Try to keep an open mind." "Try to understand the viewpoints of others." "Consider the minority opinion but try to get along with the majority of opinion once it's accepted." "Of course, Holly and I have had fun even if it has been rushed." "And so far, we're doin' fine." "Hadn't got caught." "Excuse the grammar." "Hi." "Kit's downstairs playin' with the dictaphone." "Sometimes he acts like there's somethin' wrong with his bean." "Hope nothin' ever goes wrong with mine." "You think he's crazy?" "I don't know, he's kind of odd." "They claim I've got him wrapped around my little finger." "But I never told him to shoot anybody." "Gosh, I like your house." " Thank you." "Hi." "Hi, Mr. Scarborough here?" "Yeah." "The thing about him, he's down with the flu." "He's sick." "Really?" "Yeah." "I'd invite you inside except it's contagious." "Don't want to start an epidemic." "No, of course not." "It's only, he called last night and asked if I'd come by." "He didn't have it last night." "What's that?" "Well, I'd like to leave a message if that's okay." "Sure." "You have to excuse me now." "I have to go back inside." "'Bye." "Hey, Tex, we're out of here." "Hi." "What'cha doing?" "Just thinking." "Good a way to kill time as any." "She okay?" "Yes." "Good." "We're gonna take the Cadillac for a while." "How'd that be?" " Fine." "Don't worry, I won't let her drive." "Here's a list of everything I borrowed." "Car's on there, too." "Okay, ma'am, let's go, out that way." "Go on." "You're my friend, aren't you?" "Okay, no monkey business now." "Groceries." "That guy could sell that list I gave him as a sample of my handwriting." "Why're you always walkin' ahead of me?" "Well, why are you always walkin' behind me?" "Don't." "Anybody ever done that to you before?" " No." "Positive?" "Yes." "Guess there's no way I'll ever know for sure." "That guy must pay through the nose to keep this place up." "Lawn, gas and electric." "Bagworms." "Plus the upkeep on the cars." "You get a little money in your pocket and you think all your problems are solved." "Well, let me tell you." "They're not." "I'd like to get out of here." "Soon as I start the car." "And fix my hat." "Fearin' there'd be roadblocks on the highways we took off across that region known as the Great Plains." "Kit told me to enjoy the scenery and I did." "'Rumor:" "Pat Boone is seriously considering giving up his career... '...so he can return to school full-time and complete his education." "'Fact:" "Pat has told intimates that so long as things are going well... '...for his career, it's the education that will have to take a back seat.'" "I don't blame him." "'Rumor:" "Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth are in love." "'Fact:" "True." "But not with each other.'" "Yeah." "Through the desert and mesa, across endless miles of open range we made our headlong way steering by the telephone lines toward the mountains of Montana." "Kit'd sometimes ram a cow to save on ammo and we'd cook it." "Once we had to eat a bunch of salt grass." "It tasted like cabbage." "For gas we used the leakage from the valves of the pipelines we found along the way." "'Drip gas' is what it's called in that part of the country." "Little by little, we approached the border." "Kit was glad to leave South Dakota behind and cursed its name." "He said that if Communists ever dropped the atomic bomb he wished they'd put it right in the middle of Rapid City." "That's Montana over there." "I never been to Montana." "Acquaintance of mine's been there, but I hadn't." "Never had any reason to." "State bird's the meadowlark." "We lived in utter loneliness, neither here nor there." "Kit said that 'solitude' was a better word, 'cause it meant more exactly what I wanted to say." "Whatever the expression, I told him we couldn't go on livin' this way." "Why not?" "I mean, I'm havin' fun." "At least I'm not bitchin'." "Well, I feel kind of like an animal living' out here." "There's no place to bathe and not any place to get anything good to eat." "Well, I'll catch you a big trout soon as we get to the mountains." "Everybody loves trout." "I'm serious." "In the distance, I saw a train makin' its way silently across the plain like the caravan in The Adventures of Marco Polo." "It was our first taste of civilization in weeks and I asked Kit if we could have a closer look." "Before we left, he shot a football that he considered excess baggage." "Afterwards, he took and buried some of our things in a bucket." "He said that nobody else would know where we put 'em and we'd come back someday, maybe, and they'd still be sittin' here just the same, but we'd be different." "And if we never got back, well somebody might dig 'em up 1,000 years from now, and wouldn't they wonder." "Maybe we should've tried to hop it." "It was goin' too fast." "I could've pulled the car up on the tracks, slowed it down some." "Yeah, then we'd be stuck here." "Well, maybe we ought to be stuck here." "I'm not saying I know." "You're crazy." "Kit took the bottle and spun it around leaving to fate which direction we should take." "Maybe the slope is throwin' it off some." "We ought to find a more flat place." "How about over here?" "Forget it, it doesn't matter." "If I'm worth a damn, I'll pick the right direction." "If I'm not, well, I don't care." "See what I mean?" "No." "Well, I shouldn't expect miracles, should I?" "We'll keep on heading' for that mountain." "Just remember, I said it wasn't such a hot idea." "We took off at sunset, on a line toward the mountains of Saskatchewan for Kit, a magical land beyond the reach of the law." "He needed me now, more than ever, but something had come between us." "I stopped even payin' attention to him." "Instead I sat in the car and read a map and spelled out entire sentences with my tongue on the roof of my mouth where nobody could read 'em." "That night we moved closer to the border." "And clear across the prairie at the very edge of the horizon we could make out the gas fires at the refineries at Missoula while to the south, we could see the lights of Cheyenne a city bigger and grander than I'd ever seen." "I felt all kind of things lookin' at the lights of Cheyenne, but most important I made up my mind to never again tag around with the hell-bent type no matter how in love with him I was." "Finally, I found the strength to tell Kit this." "I pointed out that even if we got to the far North, he still couldn't make a living." "I can get a job with the Mounties." "Northwest Mounties." "Hell, I got all the qualifications." "I can ride and shoot and I don't mind the cold." "Matter of fact, I like the cold." "What?" "Nothing." "I was just runnin' off at the mouth." "As usual." "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening." "Hey, man, don't lip it." "Well you know, they'd probably ask to see your driver's license before they'd hire you." "Well, I'm not gonna let that stop me." "You smoke Pall Mall?" " Yeah." "You haven't seen me when I'm goin' after something, honey." "Tough." "Hey, don't touch that." "Nat King Cole." "'You turned to me..." "'The gypsies say, and I know why..." "'A falling blossom..." "'Only touches lips that lie..." "'A blossom fell..." "'And very soon..." "'I saw you kissing someone new..." "'Beneath the moon..." "'I thought you loved me'" "If I could sing a song like that...." "'You said you loved me'" "If I could sing a song about the way I feel now..." "'We planned together, to dream forever' ...it'd be a hit." "'The dream has ended..." "'For true love died..." "'The night a blossom fell..." "'And touched two lips that lied'" "Kit knew the end was coming." "He wondered if he'd hear the doctor pronounce him dead or if he'd be able to read what the papers would say about him the next day from the other side." "He dreaded the idea of being shot down alone, he said without a girl to scream out his name." "Then, for an instant, the sight of the mountains in the dawn light got his hopes back up." "God, what a sight." "Hey, tell me this, hon." "What's a little Texas girl like yourself think of a sight like that?" "'The dream has ended..." "'For true love died..." "'The night a blossom fell..." "'And touched two lips that lied'" "Love this air." "Mornin'." "You got any gas?" "Maybe." "Well, I'm sorry, sir, but we got to ask you for it." "We're about out, been drivin' all night." "Actually, I don't even have time to explain it to you." "What I got I can't spare." "Just a second now." "That's your truck, isn't it?" "You didn't walk out here." "It's mine all right." "Well, listen, I'm gonna swap you my Cadillac." "Now, don't worry, you're gettin' a fair deal." "Hell, ask anybody." "What's the blue-book value on this thing, Mildred?" "Who are you?" "Name's Carruthers." "Believe I shoot people every now and then." "Not that I deserve a medal." "Kit." "Okay, friend start runnin'." "Give me a chance." " Go on, git." "I had a feelin' today was gonna be the day." "Helicopter." " Yeah." "He's not gonna take us for a ride, either." "Come on, let's make a run for the car." " I don't want to." "Have you got a better idea?" "I just don't want to go." "What?" "What is wrong with you?" "What is the matter with you?" "I don't know what to make of people like you." "I really don't." "You want a second chance, then listen." "Twelve noon, the Grand Coulee Dam, New Years Day, 1964." "You meet me there." "Now you got that?" "Hey." "Anybody here?" "Hi." "You got any shells for a Savage?" "300 Savage?" "Nope." "Damn, I pissed all mine away shooting' up bottles." "Hey, you want to fill 'er up for me?" "Please?" "You want any of that junk, it's yours." "Many times I've wondered what was goin' through Kit's head before they got him and why he didn't make a run for it while he still had the chance." "Did he figure they'd just catch him the next day?" "Was it despair?" "He claimed to havin' a flat tire but the way he carried on about it I imagine this is false." "Hi." "Hold it right there." "I could've held off an army if I'd got behind a boulder in the mountains." "Yeah?" "As long as my ammo held out." "Right there is where you caught me." "We did it, Ray." "You better not leave that Cadillac sitting' out here." "Put your hands on the back of your head." "Now put the other one on yourself." "Hell, he ain't no bigger than I am." "Look at that." "You're gonna give me a cauliflowered ear, Sheriff." "He should've thought about that before he got caught." "Shouldn't he?" "Think I'll take the juice?" "Beats me." "Say what kind of rifle was that you were shootin' at me?" "Thirty-aught six." "You ever had to open up like that before?" "Nope." "Well, you boys have performed like a couple of heroes." "Don't think I'm not gonna pass it around when we get to town." "You tossed my hat out the window." "Want to sue me?" "No." "Kit." "Kit, I gotta question for you." "You like people?" "They're okay." "Then why'd you do it?" "I don't know." "I always wanted to be a criminal, I guess." "Just not this big of one." "Takes all kinds, though." "You know who that son of a bitch looks like?" "You know, don't you?" "No." "I'll kiss your ass if he don't look like James Dean." "How you doin' there, Kit?" "Fine as can be expected." "Just locked up, can't move." "Nice little coat you got on there." "You think?" "It's leather." "Hey." "Now, lookie here, here's a real prize." "I must've had this about ten years." "Look there." "Who's gonna get it?" "Give me that son of a bitch." " There you go." "Where you from?" "South Dakota, where you from?" "Here." "Want a comb?" "Joni James is from South Dakota." "Yeah, I know." "She got out of there, too." "Kit, who's your favorite singer?" "Eddie Fisher, who's yours?" " Eddie Fisher." "Damn." "You want a pen?" "How old are you?" "Don't you read the papers?" "You ever been married?" " No, I haven't." "Hey, Kit." " Yeah?" "You afraid of death?" "I haven't thought about it much." "Say again." "I don't mean to tell you how to run your show here but these cuffs are pinching' some." "What do you say now?" "I need to get your signature on some paperwork here, Kit." "Well, I'll have to read 'em first." "Suppose I could get a coke while I do?" "Sure thing." "Come on." "You boys keep out of trouble." " Don't worry about us." "Holly's over here, Kit, if you want to see her." "Sure." "I gave him the papers to sign." "Don't let him get into trouble." "You want to give me a little slack there?" "Hi." "Don't worry now." "I'm gonna get you off these charges." "There's a whole lot of other boys out there waitin' for you." "You're gonna have a lot of fun." "Boy, we rang the bell, didn't we?" "I'll say this though." "That guy with the deaf maid?" "He's just lucky he's not dead, too." "'Course, too bad about your dad." "Yeah." "We're gonna have to sit down and talk about that sometime." "There you go, Tom." "Thank you." "Thank you very much, Chief Sims." "Sorry if I caused you any inconvenience." " You didn't cause me any trouble." "Thanks anyway." "Well...." "Kit." "Tom." "Good luck to you." " Thank you." "I mean it." " I know you do." "Good luck to you, too." "Now we'll go." "Okay." "Thank you." "Come on, Red." "Kit and I were taken back to South Dakota." "They kept him in solitary so he didn't have a chance to get to know the other inmates though he was sure they'd like him, especially the murderers." "Myself, I got off with probation and a lot of nasty looks." "Later, I married the son of the lawyer who defended me." "Kit went to sleep in the courtroom while his confession was bein' read and he was sentenced to die in the electric chair." "On a warm, spring night, six months later after donating' his body to science, he did." "Sir?" "Where'd you get that hat?" "State." "Boy, I'd like to buy me one of them." "You're quite an individual, Kit." "Think they'll take that into consideration?"