"[Soft instrumental music]" "[Soft instrumental music continues]" "[Horse neighs]" "I'm looking for John Russell." "Tres hombres." "Ish-kay-nay, or whatever you call him." "I guess you must be John Russell." "Unless one of them is." "I can't tell you apart." " I'm Russell." "Who are you?" " Billy Lee Blake." "I work for Henry Mendez." "If he sent you for horses all we got is greens." "We won't need any more horses." "The stage line is being closed." "You're a bit out of touch here, ain't you?" "Then, what do you want?" "Mr. Mendez wants to see you." "He's waiting at Delgado's Station." "He told me to tell you." "All right." "You've told me." "Give me my horse, so I can get out of here before dark." " Are you afraid of it?" " I don't like what I see in the daylight here." "Go ahead." "[Soft instrumental music]" "MENDEZ: ¡Hombre!" "Which name today, which do you want?" "RUSSELL:" "Anything but "bastard" will do." "We'll use John Russell." "No Apache names, no symbol names." "All right." "Come inside." "We'll have some mescal." "RUSSELL:" "You get home all right?" "RUSSELL:" "I hear you're out of work." "I've bought my last horse from you." "The notices go up this week." "After twenty years, the railroad is coming to Sweetmary." "It's progress, my friend." "Change." "It's the law of life." "Anyway, I brought you here about something else." "I thought you'd want to know that Mr. Russell died three nights ago." "He went in his sleep." "Doesn't that affect you?" "He raised you." " Seventy-eight years is a long life." " He was an old man, not a bad one, either." "He left you his watch, and a boarding house in Sweetmary." "It's two stories high." "I live there myself." "This is something big to think about." "Why?" "You can live among white men again, on land that a white man has given you." "You've been up in the mountains too long." "It's time to come down, speak English... no matter what language you think in." "And get a haircut." "Why?" "There's something to be gained." "Something to your advantage." "At least, go look at it." "But I think that if you see it, you'll keep it." "And there's a woman running it." "A good-looking woman." "Do I inherit her, too?" "No, my friend." "That's up to you." "You can be white or Indian or Mexican." "It pays you to be a white man for a while." "Go to Sweetmary." "Say, "How are you?" "I am John Russell, I own the Russell place."" "Put yourself on the winning side, for a change." "Is that where you are?" "A Mexican is closer than a white man to an Apache." "I can say that." "How old is she?" "Hey, Mexico." "You got a bottle back there?" "EARLY:" "I guess anybody can come in here." "LAMAR:" "Yeah, if they allow Indians." "EARLY:" "When did they start letting Indians drink?" "Maybe they been drinking that Apache slop made from cactus juice." " Tiswin?" " Yeah, that's right, tiswin." " Maybe it gave them the nerve to come in." " It would take a week with tiswin." "They have time." "What else have they got to do?" "That ain't tiswin." "That's mescal." "Yeah, that's mescal." "That's still not allowed." "Not even sticky, sweet Mex drinks." "Not for Indians." "LAMAR:" "Look at that." " They just can't hold their liquor." " They sure can't." "Nobody knows why." "It's just a fact of nature." "No more." "Before you leave, put money on the bar for a mescal." "Next time, I'll drop you!" "I talk about bringing you to a house with flowerpots in the window... and napkins on the table." "A savage." "I don't know why you say that." "I was thinking about it in English." "It's so hot out there, that wash dried while I was hanging it." " I don't think this meat is fresh." " Don't think about it, just cook it." "It smells funny." "Do you think it'll be all right?" "JESSIE:" "If you put a lot of chili peppers into it." "I wouldn't eat it myself on a bet." " What's going on?" " I'm moving you out." "I want you to take your socks, your cigar stubs, your long johns... and sheriff's badge, and amble back down the hall to your own room." "I like it here." "I can't remember how you got squatter's rights in here." "Seems you came by to get an extra blanket, and stayed a year." " You're worried about public opinion?" " My public is getting bigger than usual." " The new owner is coming today." " What the hell is he, a preacher?" "He might not understand this arrangement." " I'm not sure I do." " I don't like this." " I didn't think you'd be crazy about it." " I don't like it at all." "Humor me." "I just want to keep up appearances for a while." " Nothing to get sulky about." " You can't move me around like furniture." "I might not come back." "Sure you will, Frank." "Where else will you put your big, cold feet?" "Are you kids up?" "JESSIE:" "Coffee's on!" "BILLY:" "All right." "She wants us down." " So what?" "We're paying the rent." " Are you going to lie here all day?" "I might." "I calculate you spend about 17 hours out of 24 in bed." "I need a lot of sleep." "Will you come out to see your shadow on Groundhog Day?" "What is there to get up for?" "I don't have anybody to talk to, or visit." "The only excitement here is watching Jessie kill a chicken for dinner." "BILLY:" "If you want something to do, why not darn the holes in my socks?" "Darns raise blisters." "Buy some new ones." " You must think I'm made of money." " If you are, I never see any of it." " Now I'm cheap?" " This isn't what you promised me." "I promised to do my best." "What did you think married life would be?" "Getting away from a hardscrabble ranch on the Rogue River." "Away from my old man who never raised anything but kids and bad luck." " The love-making is fine, isn't it?" " No, it isn't fine!" "It's mostly something you want to do, without even taking a shave." "You don't want kids, or to keep house, or even to sleep with me." "BILLY:" "I'd do better to get a yellow dog to keep me company!" "I'd like to see these forks just once without yesterday's dried egg on them." " The walls of this house are paper thin." " What's that supposed to mean?" "It means you can hear everything through them." "And I mean everything." "BILLY:" "We fight a lot." " What's wrong with you two?" " What isn't?" "What did you get married for?" "So you could share the same bed?" "I guess." "That part of it won't last, believe it or not." "She'll get fat." "You'll get old." "Then, what?" "I'm not worried about then, I'm worried about now." "You try living with 24 hours of bellyaching." "See how you like it." "That's the price if you want it where you can nudge it in the night." "Time to go to work." "Well." "I see the silver is being polished for Mr. Russell." "What's wrong with that?" "Who are you doing all this for?" "A man who was carried off by the Apaches as a child... raised among red devils to be a red devil." "Is that what will sleep in the brass bed in my front bedroom?" "I'll tell you more about him." "When old Russell found him among some Army prisoners at Fort Thomas... and took him home, gave him his name, this ingrate ran away." "He returned to the Apache." "He had no use for the white man and his ways." "So, don't waste your time with this." "He eats with his fingers." "JESSIE:" "When I'm done with him he'll eat out of my hand." "You think so?" "JESSIE:" "Mr. Russell?" "I'm Jessie Brown." "I've been expecting you." "Your gate is off the hinge." "JESSIE:" "I know." "I've been meaning to do something about it sometime or other." "Well, come in." "We can't talk here." "[Door hinge squeaks loudly]" "I hear it." "The roof's got a nice, big leak, too." "If it were raining, you'd drown where you're standing." " But it's not raining." " Doesn't appear to be." "JESSIE:" "This house has ten rooms, two flights of stairs... and one woman to keep it all nailed down." "That's me." "All right." "Would you like to see the rest of the house?" "There's nothing else to see, except me and the books." "You've already had a fairly critical look at me." "Then, show me the books." "You might like to know that old man Russell had a fine funeral." "Everyone in the house chipped in to buy a horseshoe of red carnations." "They didn't last long in the heat, but they were pretty." "And we got him a marble headstone." "It has his name on it." "And underneath, "In the fullness of his years." Is that all right?" " I'd settle for that on my own slab." " What do you figure yours will read?" ""Shot dead."" " Don't people like you?" " It only takes one of a dozen." "Let's assume you'll have a future." "How about going into business with me?" "I'll make the same arrangement as with old man Russell." "These are the accounts." "You'll clear $300 a year without lifting a finger." "And you'll have a place to hang your hat, besides." "I've had an offer on this house for a herd of horses down in Contention." "I'm going to take it." "You knew that when you walked in here." "Tell me, this house that you're so hot about, it's mine, isn't it?" "Yes, it's yours." "And I can sell it, or not sell it." "Right?" "You can do what you want to." " Did the will make any provision for you?" " Not a line." "Then I don't have any responsibility toward you, do I?" " You don't owe me a thing." " No, the fact is, I don't." "I'm not one to quarrel with the facts, Mr. Russell." "[Door opens]" " Is anybody in there?" " Just one." "I've got something to say." "I'd just as soon nobody heard." "BRADEN:" "Why?" "Something wrong?" "Russell is selling the house." "I'm high and dry." " Sudden, isn't it?" " It's his house, and my luck." "If you're hurting for money, I can give you some." " You can let me have more than that." " Like what?" "You could make an honest woman of me." "Jessie, you're already that." "I need an answer, and you appear to be it." " That's romantic!" " You could do a whole lot worse." "I don't turn your pants pockets inside out." "I don't say, "No," in the middle of the night." "When your stomach aches, I get you the bicarbonate." "When you catch cold, I bring you a croup kettle." "I know I'm not 20, but that's not too bad, either." "Over the years I have learned how to control my temper." "All that's true." "So?" "Yes or no?" "Not a chance." "I've gone this far, so if it's not too undignified to ask, why not?" "You could be the Queen of Sheba with a rose in your teeth." "Or velvet-skinned Annie out of a Frisco hook shop and I'd still say, "No."" "You've got me in classy company, anyhow." "I started working when I was 10, Jessie, cleaning spittoons at a dime a day." "Thirty years later, all I see out there is a dirt road going nowhere." "The only thing that changes the view is a dog lifting his leg by that wall." "Saturday nights, I haul in the town drunks." "They get their 25-cent dinners and their rotgut all over my one good shirt." "I wear 3 pounds of iron strapped to my leg." "That makes me fair game for any cowboy who's had one too many." "No, Jessie, I don't need a wife." "I need out." "Doesn't seem to be my day, does it?" "I'm doing you a favor." "Any time a man weasels out on you, turns out he's doing you a favor." "Well, maybe you are, Frank." " Are you in charge here?" " Henry Mendez." "My husband and I must get to Bisbee urgently." "We want to leave tonight." " The line is closed." " I know." " I'm prepared to hire a rig." " We don't have any." "AUDRA:" "What do you have?" "MENDEZ:" "Nothing at all." "We have a mudwagon." " Who will drive it?" " I could." "He hasn't enough experience." "The company will not allow it." "I'm willing to let him drive." " You might sue us if something happens." " If I bought the wagon?" " It's not mine to sell." " If I paid for more than our fares?" "Well, you'd need a driver and horses." "Four, maybe six horses." "And the relay stations are not working anymore." "The same horses would go all the way." "Who'll pay if they don't make it?" "I'll buy the horses." "So, there's no other problem, is there?" " You want to get there pretty bad." " Settle it." "We'll go to the hotel and have dinner." "That should give you time to find the man and get ready." " I don't know, lady." " You'll earn a month's wages in three days." "You'll be ready." "Me and Doris want to get out of here, too." "So does Jess." "That's three more of us." " Russell's looking for a ride, too." " That's four." "Why can't we do it?" "Did I say we couldn't?" "BILLY:" "Everybody ready?" "SOLDIER:" "I saw Mendez." "I'm going with you to Bisbee to get married." " What do you think of that?" " Not much, but that's up to you." "Here's your ticket." "Show it when we stop for meals." "Drinks are extra." "And you hand it in at your destination." "Hey." "This one is for him." " Would you hand it to him?" " Sure." "SOLDIER:" "I see you're going to Contention." "I change there for Bisbee." "Yesterday, I was in the Army." "Next week, I'll be a mining man." "By the week after, I'll have a wife, all arranged for and waiting." " Isn't that something?" " Yes, it is." "Where's my houseplant?" "I don't see it." "I stuck it in the boot." "It's okay." "It better be." "I've nursed that thing along for six years." "[Door bursts open]" " Cicero Grimes." " Yes, sir." "Write it down for the coach out front." "BILLY:" "It's a special run." "GRIMES:" "That's why I'm going on it." " I'm afraid it's full up." " You can get one more on, up top." "No one is allowed to ride with the driver." "It's the company rule." "GRIMES:" "They going?" "BILLY:" "Yes, both of them." "You got a ticket for that stage out front?" "Well, that's it." "Give me your ticket, and you can take the next stage." " That's a funny idea." " No, not a funny idea, it's a good idea." "You could stay here, get drunk, have some fun." "How's that sound?" " But I'll be traveling tonight." " No, I don't think so." "Leave him alone." "You came late, find your own way." " What did you say?" " I said, "Leave him alone."" "Let him take this stage if he wants to." "Suppose I take your ticket, instead." " You just walk in and take someone's seat?" " Looks like it." "Somebody's pulling a joke on somebody." "You think so?" "What kind of a business do you run?" "You let a man walk in and take your seat?" "After paying the fare and all?" "And the company does nothing?" "Friend." "This business is between you and me... and we don't want anybody else poking their nose in, do we?" "You wearing a gun?" "You better get one." "You can't threaten a man." "There are witnesses here." " They heard you call me a dirty name." " I didn't call you anything." "And even if they didn't, I did." "I didn't say a word." "Now, friend..." "I'm going to step out into the street... and if you don't come out in one minute..." "I will have to come back in here." "JESSIE:" "You should have done something." " You talking to me, lady?" " Yes, to you." "It wasn't my business." " What if he'd taken your ticket?" " He didn't." " That soldier would have helped you." " I didn't ask him for help." "He didn't even have a gun." "That's his business if he doesn't carry one." "It takes a lot to light a fire under you, doesn't it?" "If it's all right with you, I didn't feel like bleeding for him." "And even if it isn't all right with you." "[Soft instrumental music]" "Maybe the Apaches are out there now, watching us." "Don't alarm yourself, young lady." "The wild, free ones are in the mountains." "The wild, caught ones are at San Carlos." "I've heard about what the Indians do to white women." "They do to white women what they do to Indian women." "And they don't mind it much, red or white." "The ladies don't enjoy such talk." " What talk?" " About what Apaches do to women." " You saying I got a loose mouth?" " If he wasn't saying it, I am." "Right!" "That lady speaks right up, don't you?" "If you want to know if I'm carrying a gun, I'm not." "My tongue is my only weapon, Mr. Grimes." "And it's deadly." "I've lived among the Apaches, on a reservation." "The women grinding corn and rubbing skins." "The men, almost naked, some quite striking." "Just when they seem almost beautiful... they squat and pick at themselves while dogs sniff them." "I can't imagine eating a dog and thinking nothing of it." "Have you ever been hungry, lady?" "Not just ready for supper." "Hungry enough so that your belly swells?" "No matter how hungry I was, I wouldn't eat one of those dogs." "You'd eat it, and fight for the bones." " Have you ever eaten a dog, Mr. Russell?" " Eaten one and lived like one." "Dear me." "Mr. Russell obviously feels sympathy for the Indians' plight." "If you're a humane man, you do." "But you have to live on a reservation like San Carlos... to see that caring for them is not j ust giving food and clothing." "My name is Favor." "I am the Indian agent at San Carlos." "As the agent, I see the problems the Interior Department is faced with." "The natural distrust and resentment of the Indians." " Their reluctance to cultivate the soil." " They live where they don't want to live." "That, too, which can't be helped for the time being." " Do you know anyone at San Carlos?" " Most of them." "FAVOR:" "You've visited the agency?" "RUSSELL:" "I lived there." "I don't recognize you." "Did you work for one of the suppliers?" "No, for the police." "The police are all Apache." "[Soft instrumental music]" "MENDEZ:" "Delgado's Station." "DELGADO:" "Mendez!" "MENDEZ:" "Who else?" "MENDEZ:" "You can wash near the kitchen door." "Follow the path for the other things." "MENDEZ:" "You have horses?" "DELGADO:" "Few more days." "Change them for these." " I thought you'd closed down." " That's a long story." "Get your woman to make coffee." "FAVOR:" "Mr. Mendez." "MENDEZ:" "Yes?" "I am in an awkward situation, and I must rely on your tact." "You mean, you have a dirty job for me to do." "Giving as little offense as possible, arrange for Mr. Russell to ride on top with you." "How do I offend him without offending him, Dr. Favor?" "My wife finds it disturbing, having him inside with us." " What is there about him that bothers her?" " You know his history better than I do." " I leave it in your hands." " And wash yours." "It's for the dust." "Or whatever reason you want." "Dr. Favor says you shouldn't ride in the coach." "Do they all say that?" "I don't know what they say, but he's paying for it." " I don't think he wants to argue." " What do you say?" "I say, why make people unhappy?" "It's not a big thing." "Why should we let it worry us?" "And if I decide to stay inside?" "A man could catch his death of cold riding up on top." "But is that worth arguing about?" "Making trouble, getting people angry?" "Or is it easier to forget it?" "Which?" "You may ask... why I lend myself to this." "It's a habit." "A lifetime of it." "I didn't ask." "Against the cold." "I want you to hear this." "You're not the first through here this afternoon." "Three men came by here an hour ago." " You knew them?" " Just some riders." " But did you know them?" " They may work around here." " Why did they come to a closed station?" " People pass by." "What did they look like?" "Did they say where they were going?" "It can't be a holdup." "No one knew the stage was going today." "I want to go another way." "Is there one?" "There's a road past the old mine." "It hasn't been used in years." "It's wild and hard to travel, but it goes to the same place." "We'll take it." "We have women." "If we might be stopped we must take precautions." "Let's start without delay." "[Soft instrumental music]" "Does smoke bother you?" "Would you put it out if I said it did?" "Yeah." "My momma taught me to remove my hat and my cigar in the presence of a lady." "Whatever else I take off depends on how lucky I get." "JESSIE:" "It's stuffy in there." "RUSSELL:" "I noticed." "I had nothing to do with you getting thrown out." "Right." "Although I wouldn't care if you had to walk all the way to Bisbee." "Wouldn't bother me, either, lady." "[Soft instrumental music]" "MENDEZ:" "All right, everybody out." "Billy, take care of the horses, and get a water bag." "Why are we stopping?" "If you're thinking of us, we're not tired." "MENDEZ:" "No, I'm thinking of the horses and me." "I'm tired." "We'll rest here awhile." "I need sleep." "You should do the same." "GRIMES:" "Hey, amigo." "This isn't the stage road." " We took a different way." " Different way?" "You just take any road you feel like?" " You'd better talk to Dr. Favor." " No, I'm talking to you." "We all agreed." "You were asleep." "I thought, if he's so anxious to go, he won't mind." " Where's it go?" " Same place." "We'll be in Benson tomorrow, if the road is all right and nothing happens." "GRIMES: [Chuckles] What could happen?" "[Soft instrumental music]" "Stop right there... or I'll know all there is to know about you." "You could have cleared your throat." "I couldn't." "My heart was in it." "It's hot." "These are heavy." "So, you've seen my legs." "Well, there are worse walking around." "Some worse, some better." "You won't have much to do with them, so don't worry." "RUSSELL:" "You're very thorny." "Has anyone ever gotten within range of you?" "Not that it's any of your business, but I was married once." "I've been a widow since I was 19." "My husband was a sweet Missouri boy." "One night, he was brought home on a kitchen door." "He'd been shot eight times." "There had been an argument over the price of a Mexican saddle." "He had a comic valentine for me in his pocket." "The dead are dead." "You should bury them." "I'm sure that's good advice." "The trouble is, Mr. Russell..." "I think you feel the same way about the living." "What do you want?" "I hope I'm not bothering you, but it's so hot, I was just cooking." "There's a nice breeze up here, isn't there?" "Everybody's gone to sleep." "I can't sleep when it gets this hot." "I just wake up dizzy." "Is that a fact?" "This place sure is spooky." "All those buildings and nobody in them." "I'm glad you're along with us." "If anything happened... it's nice to know there's someone who could do something." "That's what you think." "I saw you at the station, and you frightened everyone there." "Did you like that, little lady?" "I like to see a man act like a man." "Well, you should have what you like." "[Doris screams]" "You scared?" "You never had it like this?" "You get hurt a little bit, and then you... get loved a little bit." "[Howls with laughter]" " Where are you going?" " I'm going to get my husband!" "Why?" "So he can get his head blown off?" "Let go of me!" "He's got to do something!" "That man hurt me!" "You wagged your tail in his face, and you got his attention." "You're disgusting, you know that?" "You talk so dirty." "Wipe your nose and shut your mouth." "Tell everyone you fell and skinned your knees... going to the public convenience." "Here, mop up." "[Soft instrumental music]" "BILLY:" "We're missing a water bag." "We started with three." "I must have left it behind at San Pete." "Mendez will skin me." "RUSSELL:" "Right down to the bone." "DORIS:" "That's an awfully pretty kit." "AUDRA:" "Yes." "It's made of Spanish leather." "DORIS:" "Geranium?" "AUDRA:" "Jasmine." "Would you like some?" " It's cooling." " Thank you." " What's a bottle like this cost?" " The best years of your life." "I like Dr. Favor." "He has lovely manners." "I noticed his hands." "He keeps his nails so clean." "He is proud of his hands and feet." "They're so small." "But I am proud of his brain." "It's very large." " He reads a lot?" " Far into the night, which is just as well." "Because when he removes his trousers and folds them neatly... and hangs them over a chair... that sharp, exciting intelligence of his doesn't count for much." "Because you see all we're left with are his thin, spindly legs... with little blue veins on them." " And all the knots and bumps." " A love match, huh?" "When I was 18, and his student, and I heard him read Robert Browning." "But now I'm 35, and I hear him cough up phlegm." "They all make those noises." "Bathroom noises and bedroom noises." "I suppose we've all felt the same chill." "Not me." "I like men." "They may have put some gray in my hair, but I keep coming back for more." "JESSIE:" "So, they must have something." "RUSSELL:" "Hear, hear." "[Soft instrumental music]" "[Mendez shouts encouragement to the horses]" "MENDEZ:" "Everybody take a walk to the top of the brae." "I'm getting tired of this trip." "I want a bath, I want to sleep twelve hours... and I want a big, rare steak." " And then what?" " I don't know." "I never know what's next." "Whatever it is, I know I'll have to scratch for it." "I wish I could find a rich, old man and rest for a while." " Where, out to pasture?" " I'm ready." "Let someone else work, for a change." "Let someone else put meat on the table." "Glad to buy you dinner." "There are a lot of men who'll do that." " I'd just as soon make it breakfast." " No, thanks." "I just have coffee in the morning, nothing with it." "LAMAR:" "We liked not to have made it." "GRIMES:" "You had some catching up to do." "When you didn't come by the main road we went to Delgado's." "He told us you'd come this way." "He didn't want to tell us, but he told." "I tell you, we've done some riding." "Well, look who we have here!" "Hello, Jessie." " Feeling ornery, Frank?" " Don't start asking questions." "Just one:" "What are you doing here?" "Going bad, honey." "All right, break out that luggage." "LAMAR:" "Doc Favor's pretending he don't see us." "Things close in on you, don't they?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "My wife and I are going to Bisbee to settle some affairs." "We'll be there two days, at most." "No, that's not where you're going." "You're going to hole up in Mexico." "Or you will get on a boat in Vera Cruz and head out." "Lamar, you know something?" "He should be over here with a gun." "He don't need a gun to pull off a robbery." "No, just pen and ink." "GRIMES:" "No." "LAMAR:" "Yeah." "LAMAR:" "He claims a higher beef tally than comes in." "Then he pays the trail driver for what's delivered... and charges the government for extra meat." "And pockets the difference." "Right, Doctor?" "The Indians go hungry, but you don't." "All right, let's get to it." " What is up in the boot?" " A shotgun." "Is this worth your while?" "You won't be able to show your face again." "I appreciate that." "But don't give me any more advice, please." "I bet you're dead or arrested in two weeks." "You'll have nothing to bet with." "There are witnesses." "I don't see any witnesses." "Lamar, you see any?" "No." "Not here." "He don't look like no witness." "Hey, mister!" "Are you a witness?" "I've seen you before." "That bothers me." "Help me out." "Where was it?" "BRADEN:" "Cicero!" "GRIMES:" "How much did you steal?" "Tell us, so we don't have to count it." " He's helped enough without giving a tally." " About $12,000, I figure." " Just about." " Get it loaded." "You did well and we did better." "Boy, get up there." "Throw those two saddles down." "You and you, saddle those two horses." "I figured you'd ride with us a way." "I'd better not." "You'll be all right." "I'll be all right here." "You're coming." "One way or the other, you're coming." "Thanks for the ride." "We'll do it again sometime." "Kid, get down." " What?" " Just get down from there." "LAMAR:" "Hey, Braden!" "LAMAR:" "Wait a minute." "I forgot something." " What are you doing up there?" " I'm getting my things." " You think you're going someplace?" " Why stay here?" "How far can you get?" "That's to find out." " Now, how far did you say you'd get?" " Leave us some water!" "Now, how far?" "About as far as Delgado's." "What does that mean?" "We could all go to Delgado's for some mescal." "Jessie, shall I do something about Braden?" "There's nothing to be done about him." "Russell!" "Where are you going?" "MENDEZ:" "Russell, wait for us!" "JESSIE:" "Russell!" "MENDEZ:" "Russell, wait!" "[Instrumental music]" "Why didn't you wait?" "What for?" "We want to get away before they come after us." " Who's stopping you?" " What is the matter with you?" "This thing happened to all of us." " You want me to lead you?" " Sure!" "You show us the way, we follow." "MENDEZ:" "We are all together." "RUSSELL:" "We're together?" "I flatter myself that I understand Mr. Russell." "We affronted his dignity, and a man needs his dignity." "We asked him not to ride with us." "Now he says we can't walk with him." "Maybe we don't walk the way you walk." "That's fair, but harsh." " But you're no longer in a hurry, are you?" " No, I'm not." "You may go on, but without the saddlebags and the gun." "I thought you'd mention that." "You forgot something: the money." "An odd oversight for a man who thinks of everything." "I was a little busy." "He's thinking he'll take my money here, where there's no law." "Your money?" "You starved Indians to death at San Carlos for that money." "And now you want it." "Meanwhile, Grimes has all the time he needs." "Enough of this." "We have to move." "Why move?" "Why not wait here, maybe finish it?" "Finish it?" "You mean kill him?" " If they catch you, they'll kill you." " They didn't hurt us before." "Why now?" "They'll run out of water." "Will you give them yours?" " No." " Then they'll kill you for it." "If we don't finish it, what then?" "You have no say in this." "You can either go on or stay... but you must leave the saddlebags and gun here." "You're not a figure to command much confidence." "What if everyone says no?" "Then you can show them the way." "It's the frying pan or the fire, but at least Russell knows the way." "Everybody, stay here." "You got one thing to do, kid." "Watch him." "You can leave him till they come." "After that, no." "If he tries to leave, shoot once." "If he takes the money, shoot twice." "And if he picks up the water, empty your gun." " You understand?" " I don't understand any of this." "Mendez, can you do this?" "I'll try." "Right there." "RUSSELL:" "Use the shotgun first, when they're close... and I mean close enough to touch them." "Then the pistol, if you need it." "I'll be over there." " Where?" " Right there." "RUSSELL:" "So, if one of us doesn't get a good shot, the other will." "Hit something, Mendez." "First the men, then the horses." "I don't know." "Just to sit here and wait to kill them." "There's no other way." "We could try to outrun them." "They would catch you and kill you." "Believe that more than anything." "All right." "And try not to puke." "You may have to lay in it for a long time." "Hey, hombre!" "A compliment on your shooting." "You have put a hole in me." "I haven't had bellyache like this since I was a boy." "Hey, amigo!" "Friend." "I am going to give you back this bullet." "RUSSELL:" "Not while the sun is up." " Why not?" " You'll sweat a lot and want more." "BANDIT:" "Hey, hombre!" "Look, amigo, how close you came!" "I tried to do better." "You moved." "You can be sure I moved!" " How do you prefer them?" "Tied to a tree?" " That would be nice." "You like to pull the trigger?" "I can do it again for you." "You could." "But first I must talk to this Favor." "He can hear you." "BANDIT:" "Tell him this:" "If he gives us the money and some of the water... we will give him his wife, and everybody goes home." "Ask him how he likes that." "You're out of water?" "This Grimes, he doesn't bring a canteen, only whisky." "He thinks it is going to be easy." "RUSSELL:" "It will get harder." "BANDIT:" "Not if Favor gives us the money." "He hasn't got it." "He gave it to me." "You stole the money!" "All right, we'll trade with you, then." "You give us the money, or we shoot the woman." "All right." "Shoot her." "That nice, little, soft woman?" "You don't care if we shoot her?" "She's nothing to me." "How about the others?" "What do they say?" "They say what they want." "I say what I want." "Tell Grimes how things are up here." "Tell him, he better think some more." "All right." "I talk with Grimes." "Mr. Russell, I'm getting more and more worried about you." "If you can tell them to shoot Mrs. Favor without flicking an eyelash..." "I wonder how you feel about the rest of us." "You're a lot of trouble." "Then why do we keep following you?" "Because I can cut it, lady." "[Somber instrumental music]" "BILLY:" "There's no more cover." "It's just open country." "FAVOR:" "If we cross in daylight, they'll ride us down with their horses." "Then we leave when it's dark." "Can we have some water now?" "RUSSELL:" "Tonight." "FAVOR:" "Do you object to our eating?" "The biscuits, not the beef." "It's packed in salt." "We'll probably get back to San Pete tomorrow." "And with luck, Delgado's the day after." "And then home." "It doesn't seem so far when you look ahead." "The trouble is, you have to keep looking back." "Don't let that get away from you." "I'm going to have a look at things." "My friend." "I want you to know you did very well back there." "It took a lot of nerve to lie there waiting for them." "He shouldn't have made me do it." "You didn't have to, you know." "He makes sense, even if you disagree with him." "You mean, he makes sense, even if it kills you." "I'd never shot at a man before." "It's not easy." "By no means." "But it seems easier to him." "And if you can kill two people, you can kill five." " For what reason?" " For my money." "No, I know him better than that." "Where money is concerned, I'm afraid you don't know anyone." "All right, wake up!" "Wake up!" "Come on, wake up!" "Get over there." "Throw me my gun, please." "And the saddlebags and the water." "Leave us your blessings, since you're taking everything else." "RUSSELL:" "Do you think you can carry all that?" "FAVOR:" "I think so." "You better put down that gun." "You got two ways to go." "Put it down or use it." "Even if you tie me you'll be dead." "You've persuaded me." "Will that do?" "You wanted to go someplace, keep going." "I see, you're driving me out, is that it?" "RUSSELL:" "Looks like it." "What may I take with me... if anything?" "Your life." "How's that?" "Not overly generous." "They are probably out there, waiting for one of us to show himself." "You might make it." "If I don't, it's the same as murder." "If you get there, look me up." "We'll drink on your luck." "If you get there." "FAVOR:" "Goodbye, my friends." "Take care of yourselves." "It's getting cold." "You haven't moved a muscle in the last hour and a half." "You don't get tired." "You don't get hungry." "You don't get thirsty." "Are you real?" "RUSSELL:" "More or less." "I've known many men, but I never met one like you." "There's always been something that could rattle or shake them up a little." "You, maybe?" "JESSIE:" "I've done it to a couple of them in my time." "Where are they now?" "Oh, they're all gone." "I've been wedded and bedded... and loved and let down." "It's not always been nice, but at least it was natural." "And you?" "Do you toss a girl over the back of your horse and ride off into the piñon trees?" "You asking for a demonstration?" "I think I'm asking for trouble." "[Somber instrumental music]" "[Distant gunshots]" "What does that mean?" "I don't know." "A signal maybe." "Maybe they found Favor." "Yes, maybe that, too." "RUSSELL:" "We'll hole up in that shack during daylight and hope they pass us by." "MENDEZ:" "Why stop now?" "If we keep going, we get home." "MENDEZ:" "We are so close there." "RUSSELL:" "So are they." "DORIS:" "There's blood in my shoe." "BILLY:" "You always bought them one size too small." "JESSIE:" "Doctor Favor!" "It's Doctor Favor!" "He doesn't remember that we left water behind." " We have to tell him." " Don't do anything." "What do you mean?" "Take a look at him." "He's dying of thirst!" "What do you think would happen?" "You just thought you'd never see him again, so it was all right." "No!" "I should have said something yesterday." "Well, I'm saying it now." "RUSSELL:" "Lady." "They could be anywhere out there." "Don't press our luck." "Doctor Favor." "Doctor Favor." "JESSIE:" "We left water behind in the mine shaft!" "In the mine shaft!" "[Soft instrumental music]" "You will learn something about white people:" "They stick together." "They'd better." "GRIMES:" "I think I will take me a little hike up that hill and parley." "Any message you want to send to your husband?" "Tell him I'm being well looked after." "That's real wifely." "GRIMES:" "I'm coming up to talk, so hold your fire!" "Wait a minute." "Wait!" "He wants to talk." "It's no trick." "Let's see what he has to say." "You don't know what he wants." "You have to find out what he wants!" "Doesn't that make sense to you?" "All right." "GRIMES:" "Anybody home?" "MENDEZ:" "We can hear you." "Come on out." "We'll talk some." "You say what you want." "How'd you like to go home?" "MENDEZ:" "What else?" "GRIMES:" "It's looking at you." "We can stay here as long as we please." "I can send a man for more water, chuck, but you people can't move." "You can't move unless I let you, right?" "What's your offer?" "You leave the money." "We leave the woman." "We have to talk." "You do that." "We'll let you look at the woman." "That may help." "When you're ready, bring the money down and you take her." "Suppose." "But suppose nobody wants this woman?" "That's all right." "But you're not leaving here with the money and that's the main thing." "Hey." "I got a question." "GRIMES:" "What's that?" "How will you get down that hill?" "I'm going down this hill the same way I came up it." "Do you hear me now?" "You just hold on." "Just you hold on there, hold on." "[Gunfire]" "Cicero Grimes, meet John Russell." "BILLY:" "Where's he going?" "RUSSELL:" "Up behind us, to close the back door." "Then, how do we get out?" "[Suspenseful instrumental music]" "BANDIT:" "Hey, hombre!" "How'd you like that woman?" "If you want that woman, hombre, you'd better hurry... or maybe there will be nothing left in the sun!" "AUDRA:" "Alex." "Please... help me!" "Alex!" "Help me!" "Alex!" "Alex!" "[Audra's cries for help continue]" "We have to give them that money." "I think you know that." "Like you had to give him water?" " People help each other." " And kill each other." " I've seen that." " You'll see some more." "If you want to say it's my fault we're stuck up here, go ahead." "All I want to know is why you helped." "Because he needed it, just like that woman needs it." "It's not up to us to decide whether she deserves to live or not." "We only help, huh?" " Do we have another choice?" " Not help." "Just let her die?" "That's up to Grimes." "You mean you'd sacrifice her life for that money?" "You go down there and you ask that lady what she thinks of life." "Or what it's worth to the Indians at San Carlos when they run out of meat." "She didn't take the money." "Favor did." "She said, "Those dirty Indians eat dog."" "But she could never eat dog, no matter what." "Ask her if she will now." "I don't know what your gripe is against the world." "JESSIE:" "Maybe you got a real one." "RUSSELL:" "Lady." "Up in those mountains there's a whole people who have lost everything." "They have no place left to spread their blankets." "They've been insulted, diseased, made drunk and foolish." "You call the men who did that Christians, and you trust them." "I know them as white men, and I don't." "Russell." "If nobody ever lifted a finger until people were deserving... the world would go to hell." "We better deal with each other out of need and forget merit... because none of us have too much of that." "Not me, you, or anybody." "If it bothers you, why talk about it?" "BANDIT: [Shouts] You hear me?" "Come on down here." "I got something for you!" "Hey, hombre, whatever your name is." "Do you hear me?" "[Audra's cries for help intensify]" "Alex!" "Please help me!" "God sees this." "And if we live we must live in fear of him." "That's what they frightened me with as a child." "Don't be frightened, Mr. Mendez." "There is no God." "Not in either of us, perhaps." "Not anywhere." "Nothing, Dr. Favor?" "Nothing." "You're sure?" "No reward in Heaven?" "FAVOR:" "Why lie to ourselves?" "Hell?" "A little bit of Hell, maybe?" "Oh, yes." "There is Hell." "[Audra's cries continue]" "DORIS:" "By dark, she'll be dead." "DORIS:" "Isn't somebody going to do something?" "RUSSELL:" "All right." "If somebody wants to go down there, go ahead." "Just one thing:" "You walk down there and you won't walk back." "Leave the bags, start up with the woman, they'll kill you both." "You're saying that so nobody will take the money and try it." "I'm saying it because they'll kill both of you." "It's your wife down there." "Are you going to cut her loose?" "Mendez, are you going to save her?" "Billy Lee, what's your last name?" "Are you going to go down there?" "This one won't." "It's his woman, but he won't do it." "He doesn't care enough about her, but maybe somebody else does." "All right." "You, lady." "You worry about his wife more than he does." "Go on down there." "Cut her loose, then get shot in the back or the front... if the Mexican by the trough does it." "In the back or in the front, one way or the other." "Just give me your knife." "That's all I want from you." "You want a lot more than that from me, lady." "Come here, kid." "I'm not looking to get myself killed." "Do you know how to use this?" "BILLY:" "I guess so." "Ejects and loads." "It's ready now." "I hope you only need the one." "RUSSELL:" "Watch the Mexican." "After I go past him, he'll come out with his back to you." "If he touches his gun, you shoot him." "In the back?" "I'll ask him to turn around." " And something else: the money." " What about it?" "You may have to take it to San Carlos after." "That's easy enough." "I thought you took it for yourself." "You can think what you want, that's up to you." "All of us thought so." "It belongs to those Indians." "I grew up and hunted on their land." "So, maybe you take the money back." "I owe it." "I'll see that it gets back." "Tell them to cut you a plain, $10-horse by way of thanks." "All that trouble you went to, huh?" "It's a shock to grow old, Mr. Russell." "RUSSELL: [Shouts] Hey!" "I got something for you." "GRIMES:" "You got a lot of hard bark on you, walking down here like this." "Now, I owe you." "You put two holes in me." "That's usually enough for most." "GRIMES:" "Don't try it again." "That vaquero is more than a fair hand." "You got the money?" "I guess I brought my dirty laundry by mistake." "Let me see it." "Look for yourself." "Come on, hurry up." "BILLY:" "Get out of the way!" "Please, get out of the way!" "Well, now." "What do you suppose Hell's going to look like?" "We all die." "It's just a question of when." "Mr. Mendez!" "BILLY:" "This one is still alive." "I would like, at least, to know his name." "He was called John Russell." "[Soft instrumental music]" "English SDH"