"Shoo, now!" "Shoo!" "Ain't you got no better manners than to eat at the top of a house?" "You, Guipago!" "You!" "Rachel!" "What day is today?" "Tuesday, I think, Mama." "I'm not sure." "Butter tastes kind of wild to me." "Must be the green in springtime grass." " Guipago!" " Rachel!" " Guipago!" " Rachel, the bread!" "Rachel, the bread!" "Tuesday's bread day!" "You gotta make the bread!" "You ain't friends with me yet, are you?" "Well, neither am I." "Guipago... grey-haired old grass-eater." "You're only half-horse, you know that?" "The other half is mean old Kiowa Indian." "Yeah." "Rachel, honey, you'll break your neck!" "Both of you!" "Whoa." "You ain't gonna let no skein of geese scare you?" "They're only human." "Just fly a little higher than us folk, that's all." "Giddup, Guipago." "Howdy, mister." "We got food down to the soddy, if you care to partake." " What's your name, girl?" " Rachel." " Rachel what?" " Why, Rachel Zachary." "You're no Zachary." "Not a Zachary born, but Ma says it's no different than if I were flesh and blood." "How do you know who I am?" "I never seen you before." "I am the sword of God." "The fire and the vengeance, whereby the wrong shall be righted and the truth be told." "Well, I declare!" "Just what did he look like, Rachel?" "Like something blowed in by the wind." "He had a sabre." " Who is he, Mama?" " I don't know." "Some crazy old hunter, I suppose." "But he knows us." "Or about us - me being a foundling and all." "Nothing so wonderful about that." "Everybody in Texas knew your ma and pa." "Or heard about them, anyway." " But the way that he talked..." " Prairie fever." " What's that?" " The worst thing you can get." "Loneliness." "I was touched by it myself once or twice." "If it wasn't I had a daughter to talk to..." "Go in the root cellar and get me some carrots and potatoes for the stew." "You!" "How do, Miz Zachary?" "I'd have come sooner, but I had a long way to ride." "Seven years." "You can't kill me." "The god of vengeance will blind your eye." "Death for death and blood for blood." "Mama?" "Mama, who you talking to?" "Git!" "How many times must I tell you to get off my house?" "Sorry-looking carrots." "Mama, what's the matter?" "You got tears in your eyes." "No, I ain't." "I don't feel much like cooking with no men in the house." "And your brother Ben away so long." "I wish Ben were here right now." "Right now!" "It's a long ride to Wichita." "And even longer back." "I can't wait, Mama." "I just can't." "Look at your bread." "It's rising just beautiful, Mama." "Take it out before it gets too beautiful to eat." " Shall I take some out to the boys?" " No." "If those big lumps Cash and Andy want fresh bread, let 'em ride home for it." " 25, 26, 27." "Which counts up to 81 so far!" " All we need is 150." "If I don't have them when Ben arrives, I'll strap a saddle to my back." "Ben promised to take me on the drive to Wichita and show me how to live." "You got a way to go." "You ain't even shaved yet." "Ben says they have girls there which only have first names." "Ben says..." "That'll be brother Ben." " I see you made it." " Looks that way." " How's Ma and Rachel?" " Fine." " How you doing?" " Pretty good, brother." "I don't know about pretty, but you didn't go to Wichita to be good." "Whoo!" "What's her name, Ben?" " Tell the truth, I don't recall." " Don't recall?" "By gee, if that ain't the way to live!" " Fine-looking bunch of riders." " I hand-picked 'em." " Off the barroom floor." " They're sober now." "Boys, you can set down here." "No better shade within six miles." "The water is drinkable if you don't put nothin' in it." "Cash!" "Cash!" "The one with no whiskers, is he Injun or ain't he?" "When I hire a man, I don't generally start out by insulting him." "What does he call himself?" " Johnny Portugal." " They change their names." "All I know, he's the best horse-tamer in Texas." "If the wind's right, I can smell Injun a mile off." "I hate to disappoint you, Cash." "That smell's comin' off of me." "I ain't changed my duds since Wichita." " What did you pay for the fancy soap?" " One silver dollar." "Ain't nothing in Wichita less than one silver dollar." "Don't matter, though." "Beef at the railhead's 30 cents." "30 cents!" "We must have a million pounds out there with our brand on it." "For the first time we're gonna be rich!" " Ben." " Rachel." "Ben!" "Ben!" "Oh, Ben!" "I'm so happy to see you!" "Oh, Ben!" "Don't you cheat, you two." "Cash." "You can look now." "Well, what do you think?" "I'm dreaming, ain't I?" "Ain't I, Ben?" " You must have paid a fortune." " Not a red cent." "Nothing at all." "I made a bet with a man I could lift it off the floor by myself." "Cash." "Andy." "Easy, now." "Must be getting weak." "Did that in Wichita with one finger." "Look here, Rachel." "See how it opens." "You're playing the wrong end, daughter." "What makes you so happy, Mama?" "Because you ain't sick or dead or scalped or something worse." "Nothing could kill me except lightning - and then it'd have to hit twice." "I believe that." "What tune is that, Mama?" "Mozart." "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." " Sounds like angels." " What is it, Ma?" "A pi-anna." "Lord of mercy, a pi-anna!" "Hallelujah, amen!" "Ben Zachary must be counting on a golden year to buy a pi-anna." " Giddy-up!" " Pa!" "I wanna change my dress!" " What's the matter with that one?" " Don't you want her to get married?" "Take more than a fancy dress to catch a Zachary." "Go ahead." "Papa!" "Papa!" "Papa!" "Give me that gun." "Papa!" " What's the matter, child?" " You snakebit?" " An old man." " What old man?" "He had only one eye and he wore a sabre." "A long sabre." "Get back in the wagon." "Put your hat on." "I seen him and he sure seen me, cos he got that one eye full, Mama!" "~ Down in the valley you hear the wind blow" "~ Roses like sunshine, violets like dew" "~ Angels in heaven know I love you" "God love you, Ben, for staying partners with a man like me." "It's been a burden doing business with an honest, decent man." " And crippled." " Indian knife done that, Mattilda." "Indian squaw, Rachel, honey." "While he was tied captive by them Kiowa devils!" "We licked 'em good last time." "Us and our picayune neighbours." " Four years ago Christmas, down there." " You flushed 'em and I shot 'em." " Ain't showed a feather in four years!" " Four good years for buzzards!" "Groundhog, blue potatoes and all the alkali salt you can eat!" "Froze to the saddle!" "A sunburn right through your clothes!" "That twister two years ago, like a big black dog chasing his tail!" "And the turnaround down in the spring, when the crick dried up and they all died!" "Great God in the morning!" "But now, this year, Mother, fat!" "By the grace of God!" "Fat as ever I've seen 'em in all my days!" "Hallelujah!" "Hallelujah!" "We did it together, Ben." "Us Rawlins and you Zacharys." "What sayeth the Lord?" "The Lord sayeth "Be fruitful and multiply. "" "Multiply!" "We old folks done all the multiplying we can!" "You say." "Therefore, Ben, Mattilda," "I'd like to see our two families joined together." " Keep talking, Papa." " I don't mean you." "Not yet, anyway." "Pull your dress down." "Who then, partner?" " He means me." " You?" "Charlie?" "Charlie, come here." "Speak up, Charlie." "Tell my brother what you want." "Me?" " Nothing, sir." " You're a liar, Charlie." "Yes, ma'am." "I supposing' I am." "Tell him, Charlie, or I'll tell him." "Ben Zachary, sir, I want to come courting." " Courting who?" " Rachel." "My baby sister?" "She's a pretty big baby." "And big enough, soon enough!" " Hush!" "You're getting drunk." " Drunk!" "Drunk don't tell lies." "Well, Ben, what say you?" " I'll think on it." " Huh!" "You'll think on it!" "And that's all he'll ever do too, Papa." "The same goes with Cash Zachary." "I'm 20 years old and I've been waiting 20 years to get married!" "Maybe you ain't asked the right Zachary." " Do you love me, Andy?" " I do, except you're tearing my coat." " Do you want to marry me, Andy?" " I'd like that just fine." "Except I promised myself I'd go to Wichita first." "What in the world for?" "Well, I ain't never in my life had... a glass of beer." "Oh." "How long will that take, Andy?" " A month or two." " I can't wait." "I just can't." "I found a grey hair in my head this morning." "Cash, you know you love Georgia." " Do I?" " He don't." " Don't I?" " I don't want him." "I hate him." "Come here, Georgia." "No, not in a million years." "I said come here." "Dust him good, Georgia." "Closer." "Georgia, you just spoiled the best chance you ever had of getting me married." "I hate you!" "I'll kill him!" "I'll kill all the men in the whole world!" "Honey, pretty, you'd just be sorry tomorrow." "Honey, pretty, if you're that anxious to get married, there's an old man in the brush..." "What old man?" "Georgia?" "He didn't mention his name." "Mama, that's the old hunter." "The one I told you about." "What old hunter?" "Mama, was anybody here?" "Nobody, Cash." "Nobody at all." "But, Mama, that crazy old man." "The one with the sabre." "Oh, him." " Did you see him, Mama?" " Yes." "Many a time." "I've seen a hundred if I've seen one." "They all look alike to me." "Lonely." "Lonely men are riding all over this country." "Buffalo hunters, only the buffalo's gone." "I feel sorry for 'em." "No home, no family." "Sorry for 'em, I tell you." "Yahoo!" "Will you do something for me, Cash?" "Stay home." "It's a dirty job." "I'm coming along." "~ Glory, glory, hallelujah" "~ Glory, glory, hallelujah" "Zacharys are finished!" "Cash?" "Seen him?" " You hear him shout something?" " Was it him or the wind?" " I saw the flash of his sabre." " Where?" "First over there and then over here." " Maybe there's two of him." " Well, there's two of us." "Arrows of God upon them!" "He can't get far on a dead horse." " Cash?" " Yeah." "I can't see for nothing, Ben." "Couldn't see a standing mountain in this storm." "It's hopeless, Cash." "Hopeless for now." "Be three or four days till this norther blows itself out." "Three or four days, he'll be dead." "He'll dry up and blow away." "Kelseys don't die." "They got to be killed." "Ben!" "Get him!" "Hang on, Ben!" "OK." "OK." "Hang on, boy!" "Hang on, now!" "Look at him!" "He'll never make it!" " Hold him!" "I'll ride him!" " You can get him, Charlie!" "Come on!" "Ride him, Charlie!" "Ride him!" "Stay with him, Charlie!" "Charlie!" "You don't hurt me none!" "You didn't ride him long enough to get warm." "I'm right proud of you, Charlie." "Don't feel bad." "Ain't a man that can't be thrown." "Or ain't a horse that can't be rode." "Why don't you give her a try, paleface?" "Easy, girl, easy." "Easy." "Ain't you the prettiest devil I ever did see?" "I'm going to ride you now." "Easy and slow." "It ain't going to hurt much." "Not after the first time, anyway." "You've got a bur in your pretty hair, ma'am." "Finish him, Ben." "One less redhide." "You shut up, Cash." " Ben's a mite touchy about Rachel." " Yeah." "I got pay coming." "And a bonus for every horse I busted so far." " We pay off in Wichita." " I ain't fired?" "What for?" "You're the party done all the suffering." "Anybody else see a bur in my sister's hair?" "You, Rachel." "What reason you got to come smiling and sashaying round here other than female?" "Am I so different from the other women?" "They stick to their wagons." "Maybe they're just not interested in finding a husband." "Get on your horse and go home to Mama." "Ben!" "Ben!" " What?" " He's gone!" " Who?" " Guipago's gone." "Guipago gone?" "He wouldn't run away with his reins down." "I know he'd stand." "Who could have been so mean as to steal him?" " Maybe he run away." " Not with his reins down." "He'd stand." "If that don't beat all!" "We ought to put up 100 dollars for that horse and a dollar for the thief." "We both know who stole the horse." "We'll have to find him." "Only an Injun would be crazy enough to steal him." "Like Zeb's saying, Ben, I think it's Injun work." " It's Injun work, all right." " Maybe." "Come on, Rachel, honey." "Get on behind me." "We're going home." "Ben, I never seen you so oddly thoughtful." "I don't care about that old horse if it's gonna worry you." "It ain't the horse, exactly." " Tell me." "It must be something dreadful." " It's nothing." "Are you mad at me for sashaying around?" "When I get you home, I'm gonna whup you." "Tell me again, Ben." "Tell you what?" "About the night Papa brought me home and the stars were falling." "Yes." "You were the prettiest baby I ever did see." " Am I still pretty?" " Nope." "Old age has overtook you." "I saw blue butterflies down by the crick this morning." "About a million of them." "They were flying in twos, like sweethearts." "With four wings apiece." "That ain't a ladylike thing to say, is it?" "Hang on to these days, Rachel." "Don't grow up too fast." "I got a big choice in this country, Ben." "I could marry that handsome, winsome Charlie." "Or that baby Jude." " I could even marry you." " Watch your language, girl." "Why not?" "We're not cousins." "We're not even relatives." "We're not even friends." "Ben, if you met me in Wichita, and had never saw me before, would you take after me hat in hand, mouth open, drunk or sober?" "I just made up my mind." "Have you, Ben?" "Have you?" "I'm gonna tell Charlie he can come courting if he wants to." "I already told him that." "Wake up, Cash." "We got company." "What is it?" "What is it, Ben?" "Kiowas!" "Dirty stinking Kiowas!" " What do they want, Ben?" " I don't know." "But we'd better fort up." "Rachel, stay away from that window." "May the Lord bless this food." "Andy." "And may the Lord deliver us from evil, red or white." "Amen." "Turn your plates over and hop to." " Fill up, Andy." " I'm a little off my feed this morning." "Ain't this something?" "We sit here eating with the smell of those killers comin' through that window." "There's only three of them." "We can kill 'em before breakfast!" "All right, Cash." "Let's first make sure they're after our scalps." "I'm gonna waste one." "They don't scare for nothing." "Medicine!" "They think they've got bulletproof medicine." "I'm going to parley." "Don't shoot unless you have to." " When is that?" " When they break the peace and kill me." "No, Ben!" "You ain't to go out there!" "Mama, I got some shirts need fixing." " You ain't to go out there!" " Mama." "I'd hate to have to shut you in your room." "Rachel, get away from that window." "Now." "I come in peace." "My land." "My sky." "You are welcome." "Young horses." "Good for fighting." "Good for hunting." " You take." " I am ashamed." "I have nothing as good to give you in return." "You have in your house... woman." "One of our woman." " Who told you this?" " Man of your tribe." "Old man." "Carry long knife." "Him crazy." "Crazy man." "Sun... speak through him." "Dead people speak through mouth." "He speak." "Woman... my sister." "I her brother." "He lies." "How much woman worth?" "There are not enough horses to pay for her." "Not all you can own or all you can steal." "We want see." "You show her to us." "The woman in my house is white." "Father white." "Mother white." "They burned to death by you." "Kiowa!" "You scared them." "They're running." " I told you to stay away from the window." " I ain't afraid." " I am." " What did he want, Ben?" "He wanted to buy a woman." "You." " Did you sell me?" " I held out for more horses." " Why would they want to buy me?" " Because you're a girl, my pretty." "Horses and women are all the same to a Kiowa." "To be bought or traded." " How did they hear about me?" " They must have seen you." "Kiowas are like panthers." "Always sneaking about when you can't see 'em." "The one in the white buckskin, I'll never forget him." "He was beautiful." "A Kiowa?" "You're daft, child." "Look!" "He's coming back." "Just like the one that killed Papa." "He's out of range, Cash." "Save your lead." "Cash!" "Cash!" "Ben, we could have killed him!" "We could have killed him!" "Cash." "I reckon you'd better take the drive to Wichita." "I'd like that fine, Ben, but if trouble's coming I want to be here for it." "We got 6,000 cows." "A lifetime's work." "I'd take it most kindly if you'd take the drive to Wichita." "Put it that way, I guess I gotta." "Pa!" "Injuns!" "Kiowas!" " Injuns!" " Kiowas!" " Red Injuns, Papa!" " Kiowas." "Come down out of the hills." "A whole passel of 'em." "Running across the swale!" "We come on 'em sudden." " Charlie?" " Yes, Papa?" " You two been drinking?" " No, Papa." "That's the truth, Papa." "We could have lost our hair." " I even seen war paint." " You get back on them irons." " But, Papa..." " Git!" "Come on, Charlie." "How many were there?" "If I was to guess, it'd be anywhere..." "To tell the truth, they were four, but they were taking the time of day, brazen as can be." "They see you?" "They must have seen our dust." "Paid us no heed." "Hunting party, most likely." "Probably back in the hills already." "I told you, Zeb." "Indian sign all over the range." "You spent more time with cattle instead of sign, we could get this drive started." "All right, Charlie, let's run 'em through." "Come on." "Why don't that old man come round us instead of sidling up to our womenfolk when we're away?" " If there be truth..." " It's gotta be faced up." "We gotta go to Zeb, tell him what..." "Keep those brands high on the hip so we can see them from a long way off." " Did you hear me, Tom?" " I heard you." "Ben!" "Ben!" "The word is out, Ben." " Kiowa scare talk." " No, they've heard the lie." "It's sitting on their stomachs." "It's still a lie." "We got nothing to be ashamed of." "Ben." "What are you gonna do when they say it?" "What will you do when they say it to Rachel's face?" "Kill 'em, I guess." "Or anyone else who says it." "That's all I wanted to hear." "Well?" " What's on your minds?" " We want to talk to you, Zeb." " Later." " Now, Zeb." "While they ain't here." " Oh." "Who ain't here?" " The Zacharys." "Well?" "Don't it seem queer them Kiowas pick right now to move out of the hills?" "Maybe the old man be loony, and maybe they be lies he be telling our womenfolk." "But we got a stake here in this land, in these cattle." "Maybe not as big as you, but still a stake." "Got our families to think of, Zeb." "Wives, children." "Them red devils move down on us now because..." "Well, because..." "Say it." "Go ahead, say it." "Well, speak up, why don't you?" "Anyone here just say she be Injun blood, you'll get from me what her brothers'd give you." "You wait till Ben's back's turned." "Ben!" "Who put you hog-high for four years when you might have had nothing to chew on but buffalo grass." "You take this filth, you believe this filth from an old man, and then you take it up with me instead of Ben." "Jude!" "Take over here." "Hiya!" "We'll make two more tonight, huh, Ben?" "Ought to finish branding before daylight." "If the weather holds out, we could start the drive to Wichita tomorrow." " You hear something, Ben?" " Get back, Rachel." "Andy." "You there!" "Put your hands on your hat!" " Both of them." " It's me, Ben." "I ain't fooling you." "It's only me." "What in hell are you doing out here?" "I saw Rachel standing in there." "I guess I'm too shy to come forward." " Does your old man know you're here?" " Sure." "He gave me his courting hat." " Claims he has no more use for it." " You can put your hands down." "Thank you, sir." " Go home." "It's getting late." " No, sir, I can't do that." "I come to ask the question, hoping she'll say yes." "If she don't, I ain't coming back here no more." "I'm gonna leave home." "Go to San Francisco, get a job on the first vessel I see." "Maybe go to China." "I ain't thought that far ahead yet." " Rachel." " I'm right here." "You ain't about to shoot Charlie, are you, Ben?" "I've been thinking about it." "But as long as I'm so short-handed, no." "Aren't you gonna kiss me, Charlie?" "Ain't he kinda close?" "You're gonna kiss me, not him." "Ben!" "I just kissed Charlie!" " So I'll have to marry him, I suppose." " How do you say, Ben?" " I'll think on it." " No." "Say yes or no right this minute, Ben Zachary." " Well, it's come to pass, Mama." " What, Ben?" "There's gonna be the biggest, noisiest, most devilish, glorious drinking and dancing wedding ever celebrated in this godforsaken part of the world." " Wedding?" "Cash and Georgia!" " Not me, Mama." " I'm talking about Rachel." " Rachel?" "Oh..." "Give me some!" "That's Wichita whisky." "Aged four minutes." "Not long enough to cure whatever's in it." " I know, but I need it." " So do I." "My own little baby." "My own little baby getting married!" "Charlie, he said yes!" " Rachel..." " Yippee!" "Now tell me truth, girl." "Do you love him, Rachel?" "Of course I do." "Wouldn't any girl?" "Ain't he the handsomest man walking?" "I kissed her!" "I kissed her." "No, it ain't possible." "I did kiss her." "By God I did, baby!" "I kissed her!" "I kissed her!" "It's true I kissed her!" "Whoa!" "Ma thanks you kindly for coming." "There, there!" "Zeb." "She don't seem to know me, child." " I've got to put my arms around her." " Yes, dear." "Don't touch me!" "Don't touch me!" "Get out of this house!" "Dirty Injun, with your Injun ways!" " Ain't you done enough?" " Miz Rawlins..." "Wound yourself around my son Charlie to get yourself a litter of half-breeds to run around my Charlie's cabin!" "Squaw!" "Kiowa squaw!" "Red nigger as ever was!" " What does she mean?" " It's her grief." "You killed him." "You killed him!" " You killed him!" " Woman..." " You killed him!" " Be quiet." "I've got to know the why of it, Ben." "It's the last thing I want to ask you, but I've got to know." "All right, Zeb." "There'll be no branding cattle, no drive to Wichita till we settle this thing between us." "I'll take every man who can sit a horse." "I'll bring him before you to admit his lies before I hang him." "Pray God they be lies, Ben." "I want every man jack of you to ride with me." "It ain't his." " That's Guipago all right." " He's an hour ahead of us." "On that white stallion, that's as good as a week." "~ Glory, glory, hallelujah" "~ Glory, glory, hallelujah" "Look at him." "Damn his ugly soul!" "Sitting up there laughing at us." "~ Glory, glory, halle..." "I want the man who rides lightest to take my horse and two others and go after him." "That'll be you, Portugal." "Where are you?" "How much are you paying?" "Nothing." "Give me that horse." "Giddup!" "Ha-ha!" "Here they come!" "It's a welcome sight!" "I say it in my heart, it's a welcome sight to see you folks here gathered." "How do, Mr Rawlins, sir?" "You think you've got a horse thief here." "Well, you ain't." "That horse I took from an Injun girl." "A redhide Injun." "And you can't do a man hurt for that, now, can you?" "Mr Rawlins, I want you to know how sorry I am about your son, Mr Rawlins." "There's nobody here knows better than me what it is to lose a son." "How did you know my son was dead?" "Someone told me, of course." " Who told you?" " Must have been somebody here." "Whoever it was, would you step forward, please?" "I ain't gonna die." "Put it around his neck, boys." "Devils!" "You all turned to devils, devils!" "You're all gonna burn on the day, devils." "Look at that book, Mr Kelsey." "Touch your hands to it!" "It's the Holy Bible, Mr Kelsey." "Your last chance to cleanse your soul before you meet your maker." "God, O God, have them hearken unto me." "To me, O God, whose own son was took by the Kiowas." "Rachel Zachary." "I want to know about Rachel Zachary." "Injun." "Redhide whelp as ever was." "True." "It's true." "His papa knew." "Go on, old man." "And he knew my boy." "His name was Aaron." "He had blue eyes." "Young as he was," "I taught him to hold and fire a gun." "Tell us about Rachel Zachary." "It was raining." "Long ago." "We saddled up, Will Zachary and me and many others." "Riding against the Kiowas for a massacre they done." "We come to an Injun camp." "We killed and we killed" "and we had to lay down tired of the killing." "I heard a baby cry." "I went and found her." "A little baby strapped to a Kiowa cradle board." "She had Injun paint on her belly, on the flat of her hands and the soles of her feet." "I had my hand on her throat and Will Zachary said to me "There'll be no more killing. "" ""No more killing today. "" "And he took her from me." "I swear it." "I swear it as I know I'm about to die." "I swear it to you, God." "And he took her to Mattilda and they kept her as theirs." "Kept her in their own house." "And when the Kiowas captured my boy," "I come to Will Zachary and I said "Give me that redhide baby for to trade, to take to the Kiowas for to get back my boy. "" "Will Zachary wouldn't do it." "He wouldn't do it." "And my boy stayed captive." "His son is dead." "Killed by the Kiowas." "The very day my papa found Rachel - in a settler's wagon, wrapped in a Boston blanket." "Her parents were killed by the same Kiowas that killed his son." "But he wouldn't believe that." "He came to my papa and he said "Will Zachary, swap her. "" ""Swap Rachel. "" ""She's white, but she's a foundling. "" ""Give her to the Indians so I can get my son back. "" "That's what he said to my papa, and my papa ran him off the land." "And Abe Kelsey rode vengeance on us till the people in each town turned against us." "Till my papa was killed by a Kiowa lance." "And that old man made you run." "That poor old man chased you from town to town." "That poor old man with his lies." "No." "You run from the truth." "She knows." "She that washed off that Kiowa paint." "Washed it all off!" "Though she still be as brown as the bark of a tree." "I hanged him!" "I hanged him!" "Abe Kelsey won't go on to destroy no-one else with his lies." "It's finished, and high time." "Jude!" "Boys, lift me up." "I want to look at the man's face." "Can a man lie when he goes to meet his creator?" "He wasn't lying, Zeb!" "I told you that!" "And now you know it." "Rachel!" "Come here." "Come on, child." "I ain't gonna hurt you." "Rachel!" "No!" "I ain't scared, Mama." "You're dark." "Darker than most." "But that could be the sun." "We have to look at your body." " You leave her be." " Strip her down!" "Strip her down naked!" "Let the women take her in the house and undress her." "Anyone touches her, I'll put a bullet through their God-fearing gut!" "Ben, I've loved you as well as I've loved my own sons, but we're finished." "Unless you pack this girl back to the Kiowas, we're partners no more." "Cash." "Andy." "We're leaving." "Five years' work gone for nothing." "You'll lose every cent tied up in the cattle." "That's what you're doing, Ben." "Not a man here'll stand up with you." "Not one, Ben." "Early in the morning we'll cut out your herd." "May God help you, Ben." "Nobody here will." "Ben." "I smell Injun." "Rachel, Mama, don't move." "Let in some light, Cash." "What is it?" "It's Kiowa." "A page out of their Bible, like." "Like chronicles." "This is old, Ben." "Feel it." "30-odd years recorded here." "Winter by winter." "What does it say?" "Falling stars." "The year of the falling stars." "Baby girl strapped to a cradle." " Burn it!" " Don't touch it, Mama." "Burn it, Ben!" "I won't have it in my house!" "Please, Mama." "Read what it says, Ben." "Read it, Ben." "Kiowa baby girl stolen from their camp." "By white men, with rifles." "Did Abe Kelsey paint this, Mama?" "Did he do this?" "Did he put these lies down year by year?" "Did he, Mama?" "Did he?" "That man you hanged last night in Rawlins' yard." "You tell me, Mama." "Answer him, Mama." "Answer him, Mama." "All right!" "It's the truth." "My sister's an Injun?" "Yes." "Yes." "Yes!" "If we could only raise some decent flowers instead of these scrawny things." "Your papa brought me the little girl child." "He put her in my arms as I lay crying." "I'd just lost my own little girl baby with yellow curls." "Not old enough to be named when she died." "So I gave her promised name to Rachel." "My ownest Rachel." "My beautiful little Indian baby." "My breasts were hurting with all that milk." "I wish we could raise nasturtiums." "Then we could have a yardful, like when I was a girl." "I just love nasturtiums." "What you fixing to do, Ben?" "Get this wood in." "I mean about everything." "We can't stay here no longer, Ben." "We got to pull up stakes." "Or else send Rachel away." "A man sets down roots, Cash." "He don't like 'em cut off - by Kiowas or anyone else." "With her out of here we could at least get our cattle to market." "Cash, you want the cattle that bad, you take them." "All of them." "You tell Zeb you and me don't see eye to eye." "And that's for truth." "Take that cattle drive and keep the profits." "Don't twist my words around, Ben." " We've got to get her out of here." " Where to?" "An Injun camp?" "Or to squat outside the garrison at Wichita and pick up silver dollars from the troopers, huh?" "Why don't you say it, Cash?" "Damn you, why don't you say it?" "It's not Kiowas or cattle!" "It's the Injun in the house!" "Get her out of here!" "I don't care how!" "Get her out of here!" "I'm staying, Cash." "She's staying." "We're all staying." "I'm not staying." "Not with a redhide nigger!" "Get going, Cash." "Here, piggy, piggy, piggy, piggy!" "Here, piggy, piggy, piggy!" "Piggy, piggy!" "Here, piggy, piggy!" "Cash!" "Cash!" " Cash!" " I left my family." " Why?" " They turned." "Indian lovers!" "Injun lovers!" "Can't stay there no more." "Can't stay there no more." "I'm a little bit drunk, Georgia." "You can sleep it off in there." "Or there's the bed in my room, if you marry me." "I'm drunk, but I ain't that drunk." "Oh, Cash, come on!" "Ben!" "Ben!" "They're coming." "The same three, it looks like." " Only three?" " That's all that's coming up." "But I figure there's 40 strong across the river." "You figure they came to parley, Ben?" "They'll ask for her first." "Then they'll try to take her." "Rachel?" " Rachel." " I'm going out there, Ben." "There won't be any fight." "I'm going out to my people, where I belong!" "You're staying here." "You can stop me now, but I'll go out to them first chance I get." " Andy?" " Sir?" "They still out there?" " They're still there." " Kill one." "Kill one?" "They're under a sign of peace, Ben." " Kill one!" " No!" "No!" "Go ahead, Andy." "It's done, Ben." " They'll never turn back now." " You can bet on it." "Not till you're all dead." "Ain't much point in going out now, is there?" "Why didn't you let me go?" "Why did you stop me?" "When Mama told the truth this morning I wanted to die." "And you wanted to die too." "I could see it in your faces." "You had to turn away." "Why let yourselves be killed on account of me?" "Little Injun." "Little redhide Injun." " Andy." " Sir?" "Turn out that light." "That gun shoots a little high, Rachel, so draw a fine bead." "When they get so close you want to scream, don't scream, just shoot." "What if I can't do it, Ben?" "You can." "I've never killed anybody before." "The gun does the killing." " My own kind." " By blood, yes." "But not by anything else." "Funny." "I don't remember all them bushes out there." " There wasn't." " How's that, Ben?" "One of them's moving." "Slow down, Andy." "You're shooting too fast." "Sister!" "We did it." "We beat 'em off!" "Just like I said." " I did what you told me." " You did fine." "Real fine." "The music of their flutes." "Magic." "To make them bulletproof." "We'll give them some magic of our own." "Lend a hand, Andy." "Mama!" "Play something, Mama." "Make it loud." "Good and loud." "Mama, that's enough magic for tonight." "Andy, you take over Mama's gunport." "Here they come." "Andy!" "To the side port!" "Still on its hinges, Ben?" "Still holding." "What is it?" "I hear gunfire." " In your head." " No, I hear it, I tell you." "You couldn't, Cash." "Your house is ten miles away." "Yeah." "It's stopped now." "I didn't hear anything even before it stopped." " Could be they ran out of ammunition." " Forget about that." "Don't think about anything but me." "I know I could make you happy." "I know it, Cash." "Now, Cash." "Right now." "Georgia, get me some ammunition." "Rim-fires, if you've got 'em." "All you can spare." " Papa has 'em locked up." "He wouldn't..." " I know!" "He wouldn't lift his little finger off his Bible to save a Zachary." "Stay here, Cash." "Don't think about anything in the whole world except me." " Andy?" " Sir?" "How's the ammunition holding up?" " Not too many, Ben." " No more firing till they go to break in." "And here." "Give this to Mama." "Rachel." "Just in case." "Ma!" " You've been hit." " My arm." "Nothing much to it." "Get back to your gunport, Andy." "Mama." "Mama, you better get some rest while you can." "Stop fussing." "I've hurt myself worse with a kitchen knife." "You just lie here a while." "I'll be all right, I tell you." "Keep this by you." "Oh, Mama." "My poor baby." "My baby." " I'm sorry if I did wrong." " Hush, Mama." "About Cash..." "Don't mind." "He was always fiery-tempered, even as a little boy." "You don't have to explain Cash to me." "Andy, you still got those lead soldiers?" " I ain't played with them since..." " I know where they are, Ben." "Ain't a very big army coming to our rescue." "There's one thing I sure regret." "That I ain't never got to Wichita and had me... that glass of beer." "Is it pain to die, Ben?" "We ain't gonna die, Rachel." "We're gonna live." "We're gonna lick those Kiowas." "We've got to take a trip to Wichita." " Me too?" " All of us." "You, me, Mama, Andy, all of us." "We'll do it up real good." "Yeah?" "We're gonna fit you out in a fancy dress." "A white one, with veils." " Veils?" " That's what they wear for the occasion." " We gonna have a wedding, Ben?" " We're gonna get a town preacher." "We're gonna hire some music." "We're gonna have a fine old time." "Ben." "Oh, Ben." "Hear that, Mama?" "Hear that?" "We're going to Wichita and have ourselves..." "Get in the root cellar, Rachel." "Mama!" " Andy." " Mama!" "Back in the root cellar." "Hurry!" "Hole in her side." "Never said a word." "Mama?" "Mama!" "More coal oil, Andy." "He's coming to, Ben." "The fire won't hold them off much longer." " How's your arm, Andy?" " Fine." " Can you handle your gun?" " I guess so." "Never was much good left-handed." "It's a six-gun!" "Could it be Cash?" "Could it?" "It's gotta be Cash!" "I knew he'd come back!" " I told you, Ben!" " Whoa, hoss." "Stay here with Rachel." "Andy!" "Andy!" "Andy."