"Which one are you, frazier?" "Are you the one that put the rope around aaron bell's neck," "Or did you just cheer and yell for the trap to fall?" "Ah, hey boy." "I thought you were tryin' to starve me to death." "Mr. Paladin, I'm like a wily panther." "He never find me." "Thank you very much, hey boy." "That'll be all." "Mr. Warren, I have warned you." "I have tried to avoid this." "But if you interfere with hey boy or me again..." "And I don't want your money!" "It's not from me, paladin." "I wanna hire you to protect aaron bell from me." "He's been out of prison one week" "And the first thing he did was buy a horse and gun." "He's come back to kill one of us or all of us." "He's not gonna live long enough to do it." "Eight years ago, your town hanged aaron bell's brother." "A man guilty of nothing more than fighting for what he believed in." "Now you tell me they're going to murder aaron?" "No, sir." "Kill him in self-defense." "I'm not gonna stand still while he tries to kill me." "I know." "Now, now, maybe..." "Maybe aaron has a point." "Maybe he should kill me." "But..." "If he tries, I'm going to shoot first." "What do you want me to do?" "Protect aaron." "Keep me from killing him." "Keep us all from killing him." "Get back." "Put the gun away, frazier." "Sorry." "I..." "I thought you was aaron." "I..." "How did you know my name?" "Warren told me about you." "And your store." "You're paladin, man he hired to kill aaron." "Honey, pour mr." "Paladin some coffee, huh?" "He don't catch me napping', young aaron don't." "Sugar's on the table." "Thank you." "You're penelope frazier, huh?" "She's shy." "She don't get to see many strangers." "How you gonna do it?" "Now, which one are you?" "You just said my name." "Yes." "I know your name." "But which one are you?" "Are you the one that..." "Put the rope around his neck," "Or did you cry out for the trap to be sprung, huh?" "There were a lot of hands on the rope that night." "Where's warren and the others?" "They're comin'." "Well, now, you..." "You got a funny kind of attitude." "You come in here like..." "Like you was workin' for aaron." ""you hung him," you says. "you put the rope around his neck."" "I didn't say that." "Stop it, frazier!" "You gonna get yourself killed acting like that." "Warren..." "This fella come in here like he was accusing' me." "Like I did it myself." "ah." "Where are the others?" "They're comin'." "Except sayer." "I couldn't find sayer." "I've been here all along." "Mm-hmm." "Some gunfighter." "I could've shot him 12 times over and you with him, frazier." "How are you gonna help us against aaron?" "He'll slide up like me, and the next thing you know is..." "Bang!" "They're all dead." "You would be sayer?" "That's right." "Warren told you about me, eh?" "Did he ever tell you my old man was 85 year old when I was born?" "And he died when I was 15 in a gunfight over a woman?" "Yes, sir." "Hmm." "You pick on frazier..." "While he was back in the shadows hollerin', fit to kill." "I put the rope on paul bell's neck." "There weren't a man around had stomach for it but me." "You must be very proud." "Proud?" "He's a traitor, weren't he?" "Outta uniform?" "The army'd shot him if they caught him." "But you couldn't wait." "Ah, war's war." "Your gunfighter's got warm milk in his veins, warren." "My old man wouldn't have let him on his place." "No, sir." "Sheriff and mrs." "Howard, paladin from san francisco." "How do?" "Not sheriff." "That job died like everything else around here." "He ain't no good, freida." "I'll probably have to shoot aaron myself." "That's what you're here for, isn't it?" "To kill aaron?" "Nope." "Mr. Paladin." "Why are you here?" "To try and keep aaron bell" "From throwing away the rest of his life." "It's like a confession." "Like we admitted we did something wrong." "She's the only one of you's got enough steel to strike a light." "Mrs. Howard, you and your friends hanged an innocent man," "Burned his farm, and caused his brother" "To spend eight years in a federal prison." "Aaron was a rotten boy." "Spoiled rotten." "He didn't have to spend eight years." "He kept trying to escape." "Wouldn't you if you were in prison for something you didn't do?" "Aaron was guilty of treason." "He gave aid to the enemy..." "The "enemy" he gave aid to was his brother!" "He was out of uniform!" "He was out of uniform?" "She didn't mean that." "You speak for yourself." "Warren, you said you was gonna get us some protection." "Now, what's he gonna do?" "Better question, mr." "Frazier..." "Aaron bell's been here for a week." "What's he waiting for?" "Where's he likely to go?" "Likely out at the old bell farm." "Be some wild stuff hangin' on the vegetable patch." "Probably sleepin' in the storm cellar," "Starin' at a burned-out ruin," "Just waitin' to get mad enough to come for us." "Directly out the east road," "There's an old split elm." "The house is back of it." "That's the elm I hung him from." "You tell aaron, mr." "Paladin..." "You tell him we did nothing wrong." "Tell him to go away." "Mm." "Or we'll kill 'im." "Gun." "Drop it." "No, aaron." "You want this gun?" "You take it and you keep it clean." "Well, aaron, what are you planning to do?" "You gonna kill all those people back there in that town," "Or do you have a particular one in mind?" "Special one?" "I don't know." "Week ago I was gonna kill them all." "I may still kill them all." "That's my brother." "They didn't even hang him right." "They left him chokin' and kickin' in the air." "And you want sayer." "Sayer?" "sayer." "That old fool claimin' he hung paul?" "Just like him" "With his stories about his old man and how tough he was." "He's a liar." "Not sayer." "Why not?" "I didn't say he wasn't guilty." "He yelled loud enough." "That mob just started with talk and holler and dare," "And that's a picture of ol' sayer, ain't it?" "Warren?" "What's it matter to you?" "He hired me to protect you." "Protect me?" "You tryin' to tell me they're sorry?" "No, they're not sorry." "Some of them think they were right to hang paul." "Right?" "When my brother was still swingin' in that tree," "The mob quieted down because they got a little sick about what they'd done." "And I heard a man say, "god, forgive me."" "While paul was still swingin' and the light was on his face," "He was askin' forgiveness." "Well, if that man's allowed to live out his days," "There ain't no god." "There ain't nothin'!" "Now, that's the only way you're gonna stop me." "Reach for it." "Your hand's your livin'." "I'll blow it off." "Aaron." "Ah!" "Now give it to me." "Give it to me!" "Mr. Sayer," "I hear you've been doin' some bragging'." "Smart words, boy." "aaron?" "Aaron, we know how you feel." "You do?" "sheriff!" "There's our sheriff!" "I'm not sheriff." "You finally know that." "Do ya?" "You finally know that?" "They burned us out last." "They rode through the hills the whole night" "Burnin' out rebel farms before they got to us." ""only three miles to town," I kept tellin' myself." "Three miles!" ""sheriff howard'll be here in time."" "And you." "You was paul's friend." "He thought you was." "Penny frazier." "She was in pigtails- ten years old- when I went to prison." "Look at her now." "Why did he bring you here?" "Ask him." "Very simple." "He's going to kill one of you." "Problem is to find out which one." "yeah." "Yeah." "And then what?" "Then why you wanna kill him." "What'll that solve?" "Then I decide whether or not to let him." "You people asked me to protect you against aaron." "The only way I can protect you from having him kill all of you" "Is to stay with you day and night, year after year." "And even if I were willing, not one of you" "Would wanna live that kind of life" "Never knowing when the bullet was coming." "I could kill aaron right now" "Or let him satisfy himself on the one who really is guilty." "Which one of us?" "Mrs. Howard, I don't think there'll be any volunteers." "Aaron, which one?" "Your faces looked different the night you hung paul." "I didn't know if you were laughin' or crying'." "Warren!" "Wait a minute." "I remember one time you had my pa whip me" "Because I forgot to tip my hat and call you "sir."" "Did he plan the whole thing, mr." "Frazier?" "Why, sure." "That's an out-and-out lie!" "It was the same." "You with your talk about rebel settlers runnin' the town if we didn't drive 'em off." "Did I tell you to burn 'em out?" "Did I tell you to hang 'em?" "Aaron, as god is my judge, I never said that." "You didn't have to tell anybody anything." "You had 'em all filled up with fear" "With your threats of pulling' out and movin' on." "Half the town owing' you one way or another." "I was right." "The army ran the confederate towns after the war." "We'd have been strangled with taxes." "Is that worse than what happened?" "Now, you just wait a minute." "You can't do this to me." "Aaron's got no cause to hurt me." "And the rest of you..." "You're not gonna use me to hide behind." "Aaron?" "He's had enough punishment just livin' with himself." "Try another." "he's not a bad candidate." "They'd never miss him." "Oh, aaron." "Aaron?" "You know him?" "You've been out to his farm." "You knew he was there all this time?" "I go out there for the wild roses that grow in the garden." "Aaron, mr." "Bell was there." "I'm back, mr." "Frazier." "Oh, no." "Not her, aaron." "Me." "You leave her alone." "I don't even care about you, mr." "Frazier." "You haven't got the backbone to keep up a friendship that..." "That started to be a trouble to you." "What did paul have to take a stand for?" "Principles?" "All right." "But you believe in somethin'." "You don't have to tear the world apart for it." "I was a confederate." "Yes, I was." "I..." "I just never told anybody about it." "I minded my own business." "Paul, he had to fight." "Now, why did he..." "Cut!" "I had done that..." "Who'd taken care of penny?" "All right, mr." "Frazier." "When I first saw her, I was on my way to kill you all." "I was gonna stop by the old place and let the hate boil up," "But she sorta changed things." "She came out every afternoon." "She told me what had happened to you all." "Till finally I begin to realize" "It was only one of you that acted on his own that night," "That planned the whole thing in cold blood." "Hold it, old man!" "Hold it right there." "Don't." "Don't shoot." "Shoot?" "You just tried to kill a man." "Aaron..." "I told that story all these years, you know..." "I put the rope on and all." "I can understand how you'd start to thinkin' I must've planned." "But I didn't." "It was..." "It was..." "Lies." "Who were you lyin' to?" "His ol' man." "Sayer," "Everybody knows you're still afraid of your pa" "Even though he's been dead 40 years." "It ain't you." "Ah." "Thank you." "Thank you, paladin." "You accuse him?" "Let him speak for himself." "Where was you, sheriff?" "I was in redding serving a warrant." "What was the man's name, sheriff?" "All this time..." "This is no court." "You have no right to plague him." "No, no, freida." "Let him alone." "I've got nothing to hide." "Where did you go?" "It was the saloon in redding." "Wasn't it?" "That's where they said he was." "Whoever was in that warrant, that's where they said he'd be." "He did have a warrant." "Let him say it!" "I didn't find the man." "That's right." "Then I came back." "You stayed on in the saloon and you got drunk," "And then you came back." "I came back and I saw the fire and..." "Paul was dead." "You went to redding because you knew what was gonna happen." "You poured whiskey into yourself" "Because you knew what you were gonna find when you come back." "And you wanted to be drunk when you saw him." "No!" "You stood in front of that saloon" "Yellin' a man's name that didn't even exist!" "No." "That is not true." "Some trail hand signed that warrant." "I remember that." "Never saw him because..." "Because what, mr." "Howard?" "Freida?" "Mrs. Howard?" "Well..." "Your brother was killed by a mob" "Who would've killed to get to him." "My husband was the kind of fool who would've tried to stop 'em." "Aaron, you lost your brother." "You know what it's like." "Look at me." "I was like an old woman already eight years ago." "How does a woman like me find another man?" "How do you live?" "Find some cousin..." "Who lets you sleep in the attic and do the scrubbing." "I love this man." "I'd do it again." "I'd do it again." "You..." "You go ahead, aaron." "You play god if you want to." "Give me the gun." "No." "I just wanna get outta here." "Roses?" "I'll take care of them." "They only need a little care." "Yeah." "Well..." "Maybe." "Aaron." "If you're not gonna be livin' on the place..." "No!" "Maybe I'll fix the old place up..." "And leave that split elm out front." "When you ride by, you remind yourself of it." "Maybe I'll..." "Grow me some wild roses." "Well, you certainly have a peculiar way of doing things." "Yeah." "¶ "have gun, will travel" reads the card of a man ¶" "¶ a knight without armor in a savage land ¶" "¶ his fast gun-for-hire heeds the calling wind ¶" "¶ a soldier of fortune is the man called ¶" "¶ paladin ¶" "¶ paladin, paladin where do you roam ¶"