"Like I always say, two's better than one." " Where do you want me to brand him?" " Pick a spot." "You weren't aiming to drive that buggy across my property, were you?" "I asked you a question, boy!" "You got something to say, lady, say it in English." " About time you folks started to" " Bert." " Trouble, Hadley?" " Them... cutting' across my land." "Well, now, that is funny." "Last time I looked, this was Barkley land." "Another 20 yards, and it's ours." "It is only because we are late, senor... because we come from the railroad, and Don Alfredo will worry." "That's not my problem, lady." "That's yours." "And Montero ain't gonna use my place for no road just like he stole it already." "Well, now, he won't be stealing it if the court rules it's his, now, will he?" "Well, the court ain't ruled for him yet... and it won't make any difference if it does... because Mel and Dave and the rest of us, we bought our land." "It's ours, and it's gonna stay that way." "And we don't want no Spanish on it." "You're welcome to cut across our land." "That might save you some time." "That's right." "This road goes right through our north pasture." "You can use it if you like." "Luis?" "Sí, senorita." "Let's go." "I would thank both you gentlemen if I knew your names." " Nick." " And Heath." "Barkley." "Thank you both." "Thank you very much." "We'd be glad to say you're welcome if we knew your name." "Maria Montero." "Don Alfredo is my father." "Heath?" "Heath?" "Hey." "Come on." " Mr. Heath?" " I'll be ready." "Mrs. Barkley?" "I know." "Dinner in 10 minutes." "Thank you, Silas." " Going my way?" " Indeed, I am." "What puts you in such low spirits this evening?" "Low s" "Well, Nick, you seem to be in a particularly good mood tonight." " Is that so?" " Thank you." " Mother, may I?" " Yes, please, a little sherry." " Audra, you finish your book?" " Almost." "Just one more chapter." "Well, how nice to have you all down so early." "You know, your father always believed that the family... should have a few minutes of relaxation together before dinner." " Thank you." " This was his favorite time of day." "Mm-hmm." "Oh, Heath, you should've been here." "It was wonderful." "I used to sit on his lap, and the boys on the floor... and he'd tell us all about the old days." "Things you simply couldn't believe." "Remember how you got your first fur coat?" " For a dozen cabbages." " Cabbages?" " Mm-hmm." " Really." "The Russians brought their boat up the river and traded furs for cabbages." "Well, they were sick and needed greens... and the Spaniards wouldn't have anything to do with them." "Father said that Don Alfredo was the worst, being descended from royalty and all." "I, uh, never knew Don Alfredo had a daughter." "Well, it seems to me I remember hearing something about an only child." "Yes" " Maria." "He sent her back east to school when her mother died." "She was only four years old." "Don't you remember?" "She- No, no, I don't suppose you would." "He never brought her to town." "Why do you ask?" " Is she back?" " Uh, well" "Uh-huh." "She's back." " Have you met her yet?" " Well, I wouldn't exactly say we met her." "Um, Bert Hadley stopped her carriage." " Wouldn't let 'em cross his land, and" " Bert Hadley's a fool." " I'll buy that, for sure." " Why?" "Is she that pretty?" "Well, uh" "Is she really?" "Is she, Nick?" "Well, if you-That is, if you cotton to someone that's all skin and bones." "Is she tall?" "Short?" "Dark?" "Fair?" "And what kind of clothes?" "From the east?" "Oh, are they beautiful?" "I don't know where they came from, but they look real good to me." "Well, Mother, aren't you curious?" "Of course." "But it's like a petticoat." "A lady never lets it show." "Was Bert Hadley nasty with the girl?" " He had his ruff up real good." " Which will upset her father, of course." " Does it matter?" " Well, it might." "If his case holds up in court, we might have to deal with him." "You don't think his case can hold up, do you?" "I don't know." "His lawyers keep hinting about some new evidence." "But I'll find out about all that when I get back to San Francisco." "In the meantime, I wish Hadley hadn't done anything to antagonize Don Alfredo." "Why don't we pay Don Alfredo a visit just to smooth things over?" " Good idea." " Oh, now, wait a minute." "It was Hadley that got out of line, not us." "Why not him?" "Well, still, it wouldn't do any harm." "I'll ride over in the morning." "You may have something there." "I'll tell you what." "We'll, uh, both ride over in the morning, get an early start." " But I wouldn't wanna take you from your work." " Oh, I can manage." "Well, there's all that mesquite to burn" "It's better to take care of that in the afternoon." "It's too windy in the morning." "And, like you said, two's better than one." "Well, I'm glad that's settled." "Shall we have dinner?" "Dave come and told me." "No question, huh?" "Found him this morning with them heifers." "Must've jumped the fence last night." "I sent all the way to Ohio for them Holsteins." "Breed 'em true." "Start a dairy herd." "And one lousy "off" bull from Montero's range could set us back a whole year." "Dave, go get me a rifle." " Good mornin'." " Good morning." "Must be a burr, Nick." "You go ahead." " Don Alfredo, por favor." " Un momento, senor." "Just plain, good manners to say hello." "Oh, forgive me." "Hello." "If I remember, your name would be Maria Montero." " Ah, my good, young friend." " Don Alfredo." "It has been too long." "I'm afraid you take all this little business too seriously." "Some others do too, I'm afraid." "You mean yesterday?" "Those men?" "Yeah, I'd, uh- I'd like to apologize." "For what, senor?" "You only helped." "So why should you take this long ride for them?" "Well, I guess we feel kind of responsible." "You see, Hadley and those men, they used to work for us." "And my father sold him that section of land." "But that particular section was not his." "And so, of course, it's not theirs." "Ah." "But he sold it then." "They bought it in good faith." "My father had a very deep feeling for that land." "Your father felt very deeply about everything... even when he was wrong." " Sontebona." " Sontebona." " Montero." " Montero." " YValea." " YValea." "Maria Lopez Sontebona Montero y Valea." "Boy howdy." "And I was just gettin' used to Montero." "We only use Montero now." "We're Americans." "Lucky for you, and lucky for me." "After all, it is a lot easier just to say Miss Maria Montero." "Take a name like mine." "You couldn't do much with that." "Well, a name like yours, you would never touch." "You keep it the way it came to you." " My father says the Barkleys are" " Look." "Will you be coming into Stockton Saturday?" "Well, I mean, you being American and all, I figure you might wanna cut loose a little." " "Cut loose"?" " For the 4th." " The 4th ofJuly." " Oh, yes, of course." "There'll be fireworks and games and supper and dancin'." "Be real fun if you can steer clear of the speech-makin'." "Be fun for me too if you could come along." "I'd like to." "I really would." "I'll ask my father." "I am saying, senor, how many are there, this Hadley and the rest?" "Seven?" "Eight?" "1,600 acres at most, and we are talking about thousands." "Those 1,600 acres... are more important to them than the thousands we might lose." "Of course." "And I tell you, they will not lose them." "I have no wish to hurt these men." "If the court rules for me, I will make some arrangement." "You still figure to win after two years, huh?" "My lawyer still looks for the original grant." "But I think that in any case, I cannot lose... as long as our families remain good friends." "Well, now, you can just count on that." " Saturday?" " I'll try." " Father, this is Heath, the other one who helped us." " How do you do, sir?" "Senor." "He, uh, came to live with us." "He's been away." "Yes, I have heard." "But if you will excuse us now, senor." "Montero.!" "Montero!" "We brung you one of your bulls." "I am grateful, senor, but I think he'd be happier on the range." "Why don't you keep him there, not let him jump no fence into somebody's corral?" " Yours?" " His." " But I'm partners in them two heifers." " Heifers?" "Holsteins, purebred, all the way from Ohio." "Took close to three years to put by the money for 'em." "We're aimin' to breed 'em for milk, build up to somethin'." "A fella in Napa's got a blooded bull." "And this lousy mixed breed got to him first." "I am sorry about that." "But, uh, why do you bring him here?" "We're gonna leave him here." "We're gonna teach you a lesson." "That will not be necessary." "I'll have your rifle, senor." "Senor.!" "I understand how you feel, senor." "To keep a line pure is a sacred trust." "Come on." "Father, it isn't like it used to be." "The world changes." "This is new." "This isn't Mexico or Spain." "You make me out to be blind or unfeeling?" "I didn't mean that." "I only mean that things are different now." "Girls aren't held under lock and key... with some fat, old duenna to report every breath." "Well, what can she report if you do nothing wrong?" "She is only there so you will not forget." "You have an old and honored name." "The Barkley name is honored too all through the valley." "And they're rich." "They may even be richer than" "Querida, there are more important things than riches." "When the Barkleys first moved in and settled their lands... our family had been here for 50 years." "But that's what I mean." "It doesn't make any difference... who was here first or last or how long." "It's not important now." "We're all the same." "We are not the same!" "Aren't we Americans?" "Isn't that why you sent me east?" "All that long, lonely time away... wasn't it so I could learn how the Americans spoke and lived and thought?" "So I could be like them." "Isn't that what you wanted?" "Of course." "Of course I wish that for you... just as my father wished it for me." "You should've seen him that night, Maria." "When Fremont's rabble swarmed over the house like ants... they ate my father's food, they drank his wine... and then they pointed their guns and said, "Sign the surrender. "" "He had to write it for them." "They did not know how." "And when he signed his name, they just made their marks." "But he signed his name to the future that night." "He knew that the old times were gone, and he was glad." "He knew that better times were coming." "He knew how great and how strong this country would be." "Then shouldn't we celebrate with the others?" "Shouldn't we go to Stockton on Saturday?" "Perhaps, if it means so much to you." "Father, I know you'll enjoy it." "I love you very much." "Senor, por favor." "Uh" "On your mark!" "Get set!" "We've got two winners!" "Nick and Heath Barkley!" "Come on, Nick!" "Come on, Nick!" "Ladies and gentlemen!" "Ladies and gentlemen!" "Quiet now." "Now, I hardly need tell you what's comin'next." "It's the match you all been lookin'to." "The championship.!" "Now, it's one fall, winner take all... including' lumps, bumps, and buy your own arnica!" "Now, here they are, sorta keeping' it in the family this year." "The Barkley brothers, Nick and Heath!" "All right." "All right." "Gentlemen... come to the center of the ring for your instructions." "Now, I want clean holds, no finger-bendin'... and both shoulders to the boards for a count of three." "There be no thumbing', gouging', chewing' or chawin'... or I'll tell your ma and she'll take a broom to the both of ya." "Now, lads, have a go at it, and the winner has to buy me a beer." " Don Alfredo." " Senora." "Heath, you got him!" "One!" "Two!" "Three!" "And we got a winner!" "Here's our champion!" "Here's our grand finalist." "Well done, the two of you." "Are you all right, lads?" "If you'll excuse me, senora." "I thought for a moment Heath was going to win." "Perhaps he has." "I thought we'd eat with Nick and Heath." "Oh, I think we might crowd them." "Oh!" "What a lovely day it's been." "There's nothing like the 4th ofJuly." "There's nothing like this 4th ofJuly." " Something wrong?" " I don't have a fork." "Oh, I'll fix that." "Here, take mine." "I'll be right back." "Take good care of her, huh?" "I was sure I picked up a fork." " Heath, you didn't." " About the only chance I had." "You were going to tell me something." "It's about the wrestling." "I feel so guilty." "I know I made you lose." "If I hadn't called to you" "I'm kind of glad you did." "Just knowing you worried is worth the fall." "You been doing any riding lately?" "Every chance I get." "Almost every day." "Steering clear of Hadley's place?" "Yes." "I usually take the north route." "For a fact?" "Now, that's a funny thing." "I have to be riding over that way myself." "Say about 2:00?" "I don't know." "Perhaps." "I wasn't planning on taking a ride." " Maria." " Father." "Well, uh, where is Anjelina?" "She was to be with you." "I am too fat, senor." "There was no room for me at the table." "Tell your friends adios." "We are leaving now." "Now?" "But she hasn't finished eating." "She will not go hungry, senor." "Father, just a little while." "We haven't seen all the fireworks." "Maria!" "Don Alfredo, you're not leaving already?" "I must be up very early tomorrow." "I may be called to San Francisco." " On pleasure, I hope." " No." "On business, senora." "I've just had a telegram from my lawyers." "They have secured a copy of the original land grant." " They found it finally in Monterey." " And?" "It supports my claim." "The land is mine, senora." "Maria." " Are they, uh- they leaving already?" " So are we." "Would you and Heath get the carriage, please?" "All right." "Thank you, Luis." "He's wonderful." "I like him more every day." "That is obvious, but perhaps dangerous." "Dangerous?" "To like something too much." "Where will you ride today?" "On the north ridge." "Again?" "Your fourth day in a row." " I enjoy it, Father." " Querida, you are all I have in this world." " You must know how much you mean to me." " I love you too." "Then think of the trust that rests with you... all the generations that have gone before." "If you love me, think what you do to me... if you continue to see this young man." "I don't know what you think or why." "I've done nothing wrong." "I will do nothing wrong." "You'll have to take my word for it." "Querida." "I know who I am." "I know what we are." "But in these times, you must realize... there are other families such as the Barkleys... that are as honored and respected as ours." "You don't have to try and look inside." "I'll tell you anything you want." "I don't know anything about you, really." "Anything." "Well, you call it, I've been there." "You name it, I've done it." "Like what?" "Oh, like diggin' for wages on the mother lode." "Fishin' for salmon and crab off the Golden Gate." "Jehu-ed a down-country stage for six months." "And then, scattered Apaches for a wagon train." "Of course, after that, I had some tough jobs, like" "Why?" "Your father was rich." "Yeah, he was rich, all right." "Then why did you have to work so hard?" "Heath?" "I'd rather talk about you." "There isn't much." "Oh, no, you don't." "You don't sell me that." "Back east somewhere in some la-dee-da school... all those dudes in fancy coats... and all those parties and things." "And loneliness... and crying yourself to sleep... and feeling lost because you didn't belong someplace... to someone." "Waiting for someone to come along... someone big and strong." "Well, I'm big, and I'm strong." "And handsome, I'd say... if the light's not too strong." "Well" "You know, you look like your mother." "You do." "You really do." " It's the eyes, I think, or" " You never saw my mother." "But Mrs. Barkley" "Is not my mother." "Tom Barkley and my mother were never married." "And you don't have to look if the light's too strong." "The light's just right, and I find you very attractive." "A bit short-tempered, perhaps." "Please." "It's too new." "It's too quick." "It's all the way right." " Mrs. Barkley said won't you come in, please." " Ah." "Gracias." " Don Alfredo." "How very nice." " Senora." "As my husband used to say, something to settle the dust?" " Thank you, nothing." " Well, then." " No, if you don't mind." " All right." "I've had word from my son Jarrod in San Francisco." "He confirms what you told me about the land grant." " He said the court will enter formal judgment today." " Yes." "Well, then we have nothing to discuss if you're so sure to win." "There are other things." "The land we sold to Mr. Hadley and the others?" "Well, you always led us to believe you'd sell the homesteads back to us." "And I hope you don't drive too hard a bargain." "Oh, perhaps we don't have to bargain at all." "Perhaps you need not lose, and I need not win." "This is a lesson we learned from history." "Sometimes, the threat of war... can be resolved by diplomacy, a strategic union." " A marriage?" " Why not?" "Our properties are close together." "They would be joined someday in one great holding." "And it would take care of so many other problems- the 1,600 acres and the rest of the disputed land... which has caused so much trouble between us." "I see." "You've, uh, discussed this with Maria, of course?" "I assure you, senora, she will do as I say." "And not find it too difficult." "It's obvious she was attracted to Heath." "She will marry the other." "And if she wants Heath?" "Well, this can be arranged." "I know that your family has interests all over the state." "You could send him south, shall we say, on business." "Keep him away for a year." "Young people, believe me, they-they soon forget." "Thank you for coming." " You do not approve?" " What made you think I would?" "But why do you risk so much for him?" "He is not yours." " As much as the others." " But he does not carry your blood." "He carries my husband's." "Senora, I beg you to consider the consequences." " Not just for yourself, but for the others." " Mr. Hadley and the rest?" "You've committed yourself to some sort of arrangement." "We will talk arrangements after the boy has gone." "Forgive me, Don Alfredo." "I always rest at this time." "Silas will see you out." "Why did Nick go into town tonight?" "To send a telegram toJarrod." "It's certainly taking him long enough." "Oh, perhaps he stopped to socialize." "You mean have a drink?" " No, Mother, it's my turn." " Oh." "I wish Heath hadn't gone to bed so early." "He always gives me a better game." "Well, Heath gets up somewhat earlier than you do." "Perhaps he feels that sleep is more important than cards." "Come on.!" "Open up.!" "Open up in there.!" "You'd better open up.!" "I ain't goin'away.!" "Open up.!" "I got somethin'to say." "Mr. Hadley, this is hardly the proper time" "I ain't got time for manners, ma'am." "Tom Barkley always kept tellin' us to plant today and harvest tomorrow." "Always figure ahead." "Okay." "We figured ahead." "You know what we harvest?" "A notice to vacate!" "Don Alfredo has the right if the land is his." "It ain't his!" "It's still with the court." "Are you sayin' that... it's finished?" "That he's won?" "But you won't lose." "We'll give you other land." "Who's gonna give us back 10 years of sweat and cold and doin' without?" "Fightin'the land like you was fightin'somethin'alive?" "Breakin'it to seed and bush and tree." "We'll give you help." "I don't want no help." "I just want what's mine." "We don't know that it's final." "We'll have a telegram from Jarrod tomorrow." "Nick said that everything was gonna be all right." "He said that Montero had promised to work somethin'out." " He did." " Well, then why did he do this?" "There gotta be some reason." "I don't hear you sayin' nothin'." "You don't have to say it." "We all know what it is." " What did he mean, Mother?" " Does it matter?" "Well, of course it matters!" "I'll tell you why." "It's on account of Maria and me." "This wire came from Jarrod this morning." " Do we got any chance?" " Jarrod says the land grant goes back a hundred years." "No way for us or anybody else to know when we settled in this valley." "Ain't that just fine." "We take the short end." "Ten years of hard work... ground into the dust on account of the Spanish wants to hit Heath." "Now, wait a minute, Hadley." "That ain't too hard to figure." "It's all over town." "Montero wants to keep him away from the girl... and we're all he's got to bargain with." " I said, wait a minute." " Eight of us, and one of him!" "A nobody waltzing' in here out of nowhere." " Shut up." " A nothin'.!" "A mongrel pup sire when your pa was drunk!" "Hold it!" "Hold it!" "The Spanish takes his land... but he gets it just the way it come to us- bare and dry and nothin' on it." " Where's Montero?" " I'm sorry, senor." "Wait" " Montero!" "Montero!" " Por favor, senor." "Miguel, Guillermo, I will not need you." "Luis." "Last night, those notices to vacate... they were on account of me, weren't they?" "I knew you would not listen to me." "I thought you might be concerned for them." "That's a mean thing to do- to hurt good men for a personal grudge." "I assure you, senor, this is not personal." " Then what?" " When a matter of family is concerned" "Don't talk family to me!" "I've got blood in me as good as any." "My dear, young friend, I wonder if Maria has told you... that her family goes back almost 800 years... to men who rode in the Crusades... sailed the great ships, ruled half the world in the name of Spain." "Maria owes something to them... to all who came before and to all who will come after." "She owes it to them to pass on her heritage... as pure as it was when she received it herself." "Let her go." "All I ask is that you let her go, senor... if she really means something to you." "And what about her?" "If I mean something to her?" "What can you give her?" "Love?" "Yes." "But love soon passes with youth." "Wealth?" "I'm afraid she will have all she needs from me." "A name?" "A name that is only half yours... and only through the kindness of Senora Barkley." "No, no, senor." "You must let her go." "I will send her away." "She is very young." "She will soon forget." "And when she has been in the east for a while" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "I'm not going east." "I'm going... to the north ridge to ride." "I'm going with you, now." "Oh, no, Maria." "Please, Heath?" "If you've meant what you've said to me" "Please?" "It could've been so good." "I loved you so much." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure." "Are you?" "Heath!" " Your father home?" " Why?" "I just saw Hadley and the rest of'em all pure out of their minds." "They're gonna burn off their places." "You got some kind of notion you can get Montero to change his mind?" " I can give it a try." " You're gonna have to yell across 800 years." "Then let's see what we can do with Hadley." "Come on." "About gettin' on to finish." "We'll fire your place next." "That the last?" "I don't remember sending' out any invitations." "We just can't sit by and watch a man eat poison, now, can we?" " We know what we're doin'." " It makes about as much sense as a five-legged mule." " Right now, I'd say" " We're not askin' you... or her." "You two done a bang-upjob, all right... leavin' eight decent, hardworking' families with no roof over their head." "Wipin'out 10 years of dreams... just like there never was." "Suppose you get on with your business." "Let us get on with ours." "I'm sorry, but right now, it looks like we've got the same business." "I told you to get." " Now I'm ordering' you." " Wait a minute, Hadley." "Hold it." "You burn your place, there's a chance a good part of this valley goin' with it." "That so-called brother of yours should've thought of that." " You can't do it, Hadley." " You aiming' to stop me?" "We're aimin' to try." "Either one of you swing one leg off your horse, and you are dead." "Bert." "You hear me, Spanish." "I'm gonna tell you what I told them." "If you try to stop me, there's gonna be fireworks." "Senor?" "Wait." "I gambled, senor, and I lost." "I will make arrangements." "You will keep your places." "And you... do what you will." "Heath" "All right, come on." "Let's go." "Luis, stop." "It would be wrong not to say good-bye." "I have to go." "I want to go." "Heath, he's my father." "I can't destroy him." "You will forget." "You must, because I want you to forget." "Because I love you so much."