"Jonathan," "I don't know how I'm gonna explain this to you." "You already have, Mark." " I don't wanna do this." " I know." "But you don't know how much I don't wanna do this." "Oh, I know, Mark." "I mean, I really, really, really don't wanna do this." "I really, really, really know you don't." "I mean, I really, really, really" " Mark." "Mark." " What?" " I know you don't wanna be a cowboy." " Right." "But it's our assignment." "Let it be somebody else's assignment." "The boss wanted a cowboy, why didn't he get Tom Mix?" "He wants us." " What about Randolph Scott?" " Mark." "Or Gabby Hayes." "When's the last assignment Gabby Hayes worked?" "Mark, it's us." "He got Trigger." "He could use Trigger." "Trigger loves horses." "You know why?" "Trigger's a horse." "Damn, it's a flat." "What is it?" "A flat?" "Yeah, it's a flat, Dad." "Can I give you a hand with it?" "No, I don't want you to give me a hand, Dad." "I don't need you to give me a hand." "Just let me change the dang thing." "Hey, can I give you a hand?" "No, it's just a flat." "I'd be happy to help you change it." "Well, thanks, I appreciate it." "But it's just a flat." "It's no big deal, okay?" "Oh, that's wonderful." "Oh, that's just wonderful." "The spare's flat too." "What's flat?" "The spare is flat?" "Yeah, Dad, the spare is flat too." "You ought to check it, then it wouldn't be flat when you need it." "I did check it, Dad." "I just checked it just last week." "It was okay." "I don't know how it got flat." "Not much use in carrying a spare around if it's flat when you need it." "Look, I'd be happy to give you a lift." "I'd appreciate that," "Mr.--?" "Smith." "Jonathan Smith." "I'm Billie Harwood." "This is my dad, Jed Sanders." "Pleased to meet you." "Come on, jump in." "Well, I'm telling you, you don't prepare for stuff, life will get you." "Yeah, life will get you, Dad." "Trust me, I know all about that one." "I know how life can get you." "The ranch is just up the road a ways." "If you could drop us off," "I can get one of the boys to come back and deal with the flat." "Yes, ma'am." "You wouldn't have an opening for a couple of cowboys at your place, would you?" "Not me." "I don't know of any of the ranchers around here that do either." "What a shame." "Isn't that a shame?" "Would you mind stopping?" "I gotta relieve myself." "Dad, we just stopped" "We'll be home in a second." "What happened, Jake?" "How'd they get loose?" "Oh, damn mustangs again." "They broke the fence down." "I'd have got one but your boy got in the way." "We had about a dozen heads broke before we could stop them." "We'll go after them after we get these back in." "I'm telling you, Mrs. Harwood, we've got to get rid of them horses." "Oh, then Earl quit this morning so we're short-handed too." "All right." "All right, Jake, thanks." "We gotta get rid of them horses, Mrs. Harwood." "It wasn't their fault." "They were thirsty and Foxtail River's dry." "They were just trying to get to the troughs." "If you'd just stick a trough outside the fence for them." "Then they'd be down here every day, causing even more trouble." "This isn't a game reserve, Richie." "It's a business." "Well, they've got a right to live too." "Not if it costs me money, they don't." "I'm telling you, I gotta do something about those horses." "I cannot support you and your granddad and this ranch and them too." "Do you understand me?" "And you can't be interfering." "But Jake was gonna shoot them." "Well, maybe Jake was right." "Well, I'm not gonna let him shoot them." "You're gonna do what I tell you to do, or there's gonna be some other kind of trouble around here." "If Pa was alive, he wouldn't let you hurt those horses." "You're looking for work, right?" "Yes, ma'am, that's right." "Well, you just heard." "One of my hands quit." "I could use one of you if you know your way around a ranch." "You two work it out and I'll hire whoever wants the job." "Yeah, well, we both do." "No, no, Jonathan." "That's just fine." "You take it." "No, no." "I can't do that." "We're a team, remember?" "Well, all right." "I've been thinking about hiring somebody on to help out with my dad." "Most mornings, he gets up so stiff, it's all he can do to get his clothes on." "Perfect." "That's perfect." "I was looking to get him some kind of an attendant but he puts up such a fuss." "He just won't hear of it." "I'll tell him you're the new cook." "That's a good idea." "Great." "Listen, your dad and I are gonna get along just fine." "I'll show you where you'll bunk." "No horses." "Oh, hi, Jericho." "Oh, boy, you could have got yourself shot today." "I know you were thirsty." "I gotta figure out a way to get you water." "My mom won't listen to me." "I'll think of something." "Okay, I'll race you." "Get along little dogie" "I'm not a cowboy" "Got dishpan hands" "Freeze." " Sir, I'm" " I said, freeze." "Frozen." "Just what the heck do you think you're doing in here?" "Me?" "Well, you're the one I'm pointing this gun at." "Yes, sir." "Well, I was doing the dishes, see?" "I'm the new cook." "Miss Harwood hired me and my friend Jonathan." "Billie hired you?" "Billie?" "Billie, Billie, Billie." "Miss Harwood." "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir." "Yes." "Well, it's my ranch, not hers." "Did she tell you that?" "No, sir, I don't believe that came up in the conversation." "Sir, I was wondering if maybe you could, you know, point that somewhere else?" "It's my gun too." " Point it where I want to." " Yes, sir." "She runs the ranch but I own it." "You understand that?" "Where is she?" "Billie." " Billie." " Sir, sir," "I think she went to see somebody about a load of hay." "I need her to help me take my boots off." "I wanna take a nap." "I can't get my boots off." " Well, look, I can help you with that." " I don't need your help." "Oh, well, then I'll just go on back to my cooking." "No salt." "No salt." "No salt, no butter, no fried foods, no sodium and no cholesterol." "And will you help me take my boots off?" "I wanna take a nap." "Oh, sure, I'll help you as soon as you put that gun somewhere else." "Don't worry, it ain't loaded." "Oh, God." "You all right, sir?" "I could've killed somebody." "Don't you understand?" "I didn't know this gun was loaded." "I could've killed somebody." "Hey, don't worry, young people can make mistakes like that." "I'm no good to nobody." "Everybody would be better off if I was dead." "How you doing, Richie?" "My name's Jonathan Smith." "I'm a new hand." "Your mom sent me out looking for you." "It's getting kind of late." "It's a nice spot you got here." "Great place for daydreaming." "What do you know about daydreaming?" "Well, plenty." "What do you think, only kids daydream?" "I know my mom doesn't." "She don't abide my daydreaming." "I wouldn't be so sure." "All grownups have dreams." "It's a little tougher to share them when you're grown." "Afraid other grownups will laugh at you." "Grownups don't laugh at grownups." "They just laugh at kids." "Not true." "They don't laugh at them in front of them the way kids do." "Kids are a little more honest." "Boy, that's a fine-looking horse." "Yeah." " His name's Jericho." " Oh, yeah?" "Well, that's what I call him." "Sounds like you two are old pals." "We are, sort of." "Sometimes when I ride home from school on my bike," "I see him and we kind of race." "I brought apples for him once and he took them." "So I bring apples all the time." "He likes them." "Hey, did you ever ride him?" "Oh, no, sir." "Why not?" "Scared?" "No, sir." "Well, maybe a little." "But I don't think I'd wanna ride him." "How come?" "Well, it's kind of stupid but he's not like you or me or ranch horses or anything like that." "What do you mean?" "He's wild." "Wild and free and so beautiful." "I mean, maybe he'd let me ride him but then" "Then he wouldn't be free anymore." "I told you it was kind of stupid." "No, I don't think it's stupid." "I don't think it's stupid at all, son." "People need that." "It restores the soul to see something wild and free." "People need that just like they need sunsets and fresh water and daydreams." "The important thing is to balance that out with the other stuff people need." "What other stuff?" "Well, work, for instance." "A friend of mine used to say that's how a boy becomes a man, through work." "Yeah, that's what my dad said." "Dreams are where you wanna go and work is how you get there." "Sounds to me like your dad was a pretty smart man." "Yeah, he was." "Mr. Smith?" "We better be getting back." "I got some chores." "Richie, where the heck have you been?" "Just riding, Mom." "I lost track of the time." "Yeah, well, take Jonathan's horse." "We gotta go find Grandpa." " What happened?" " He's gone, that's what happened." "My fault, Jonathan." "He went in his room." "I thought he was asleep." "He must have snuck out the back." "I don't think he snuck out." "I don't think he knew what he was doing." "Jake, you and the boys take the south end." "I'll go along the creek with Richie." "Jonathan, you and Mark take the jeep." "Check out the north end." "Jonathan, this is all my fault." "It's not your fault." "Stop worrying, we'll find him." "You know, I don't think he just wandered off." "All he's been talking about is about having an end to it all." "He came out here to die." "There he is." "You all right, Mr. Sanders?" "Why'd you come after me?" "Why don't you leave me alone?" " Leave you alone to do what?" " Die, damn it." "So I can die." "Everybody's gonna die, Mr. Sanders." "You don't have to go looking for it." "When your time comes, it'll find you." "I'm a useless old man." "I'm no good to nobody." "Only if you wanna be." "You think I want it like this?" "My mind don't work anymore." "My body don't work no more." "Nothing works." "Nobody gives a damn, nobody cares." "Everybody's looking for you." "Does that sound like they don't give a damn?" "Well, I don't care anymore." "My wife's dead and gone." "I never thought that she'd go before me." "And Sam, Billie's husband, he wasn't just a son-in-law to me." "He was like my own son." "He was my son." "Why didn't God take me?" "I've lived my life." "Why did Sam have to die?" "You think you're the only one who's lost somebody?" "You've got a daughter there who lost her husband who's carrying more weight on her shoulders than she can handle." "You've got a grandson who lost his father, who needs somebody to help him learn how to be a man." "You think I don't know that?" "But I'm just too damn old to help him, to teach him anything." "And neither one of them want whatever I got to give them anyway." "When's the last time you tried?" "I try all the time." "She don't wanna listen to me." "She treats me like I'm a kid." "Well, maybe she wouldn't if you'd stop acting like one." "Come on, it's kids that run away." "I'm tired, don't you understand?" "I got nothing to give to anybody no more." "You are really giving your grandson one hell of a lesson right now:" "When the going gets tough, you get a little tired, just quit, run away." "Is that the final lesson you wanna teach him?" "No." "I figure you for more of a man than that." "We've looked all over the place, Mrs. Harwood." "I don't see how we can do much more till morning." "I guess I better call the police." "Gramps." "Gramps." " Are you okay?" " I'm okay." "Then what the hell was this all about?" "What are you trying to do to me, Dad?" "Billie, I don't wanna talk about it now." "I'm still trying to sort this out." "Well, I wanna talk about it now." "I wanna talk about it right now." " I cannot" " Mom." "Don't interrupt, Richie." "I can't deal with this, Dad." "Don't you understand?" "Mom, he said he was trying to sort stuff out." "A person's gotta do that sometimes." "I said not to interrupt." "This is none of your business." "Well, he's my grandfather too." "And you're always shouting at him." "You're always shouting at everybody." "I am trying to do the best I can for this family." "No matter what I do, it's not enough for either one of you and I'm sick of it!" "Come on, Gramps, I'll help you with your boots." "What are you all standing around for?" "Far as I know, they didn't declare a holiday tomorrow." "Go get some sleep." "It's still a workday." "Smith." "Yes, ma'am?" "I wanna talk to you." "You want one?" "No, thanks." "Beer's all I've got." "I don't keep anything harder." "No, I don't drink." "Some kind of reformed alcoholic or something?" "Or something." "What did my dad say to you out there when you found him?" "Oh, I think that's something you better ask him." "Well, I'm asking you." "I may not be able to get my son and my dad to pay any attention to me but by God, you work for me." "Oh, damn." "Hey, it's okay." "It's okay." "What are you doing?" "You're crying." "You could use a shoulder to lean on." "Well, I'm not some little kid, Mr. Smith." "But even adults need someone to lean on once in a while." "Nobody can make it alone, you know." "I don't understand it." "I just don't understand any of it." "Richie and I used to be so close." "And now it's" "It's more like he hates me." "When Sam died," "I just thanked God that I had Richie and my dad and I thought we would pull closer together." "But, no, instead, we're just pulling apart, all three of us." "I feel like..." "What am I telling you this for?" "I don't even know you." "You're some stranger." "At least you're not paying me $75 an hour to listen." "Oh, that's true." "My God, look at my hands." "I don't even recognise them." "I used to have pretty hands, Mr. Smith." "You wouldn't know it now." "I used to be happy and, oh, just easygoing and now it's just bills and mending fences that those crazy horses of Richie's breaks down." "And cleaning up after him." "Cleaning up after my dad." "I feel more like a jailer for the both of them." "Instead of somebody who just loves them." "Half my life is over and I just don't even know how that happened." "I'm looking at middle age and I can't believe it." "What's that song?" "Some song." ""This Is Not Exactly How I Planned It."" "Boy, is that true." "Your boy's at a tough age too." "He's too big for toys, too little for cars." "His childhood's just about over and his manhood hasn't started yet." "Same with your dad." "He's at an age where he feels his life is over." "You said it yourself, he was the strongest man you ever saw." "He spent most of his life being the man of the house and he's not anymore." "No," "I am." "Because you felt you had to be." "Oh, you were gonna show him." "You took the bit in your teeth and started running." "Why don't you try slowing down, Billie?" "Let your family catch up to you." "What?" "What--?" "Damn." "God." "God, look at this place." "I'm telling you right now, Mrs. Harwood, you got to get rid of those horses once and for all." "Or you ain't gonna have a ranch left to run." "What do mean get rid of them?" "The other ranchers will help us." "They're a plague to them as they are to us." "We'll round them up and sell them to slaughterhouse." " No." " Mrs. Harwood, now, you can fire me if you want but your husband left you a decent spread here, and you're running the damn thing into the ground." "Shut up, Jake, I'll do what has to be done." "It's not their fault, Mom." "They were thirsty." "You can't do what he's talking about." "I don't have any choice, Richie." "I won't let you." "Jake, you call the other ranchers tomorrow." "Set up a meeting." "We'll plan this thing out and get it done." " Yes, ma'am." " I hate you." "I hate you." "We'll mount up in the morning and go after the strays." "Get Henry to mend that fence." "And if you see any of those horses on my land, shoot them." "Morning, Richie." "Hey, how about an omelette à la Gordon?" "I'm not hungry." "How about some biscuits?" "Biscuits and gravy." "You don't even have to be hungry to eat this stuff." "Is my mom around?" "No, no, she left earlier." "Probably to see some of the other local Nazis to plan out how to kill the mustangs." "Come on, your mom's doing the best she can." "No, she's not." "She's just trying to prove that she's right or that she's the best man around or something." "She won't even listen." "Well, you know, it is real hard to listen to somebody who talks like they hate you." "She's got no right to kill them." "None of them do." "I'm not gonna be around to see it." "Now, what are you gonna do?" "You're gonna run away?" "Come on, Richie, that isn't gonna do any good." "Sure isn't gonna help them horses you care so much about." "Well, what can I do about it?" "I don't know." "Why don't you talk to your grandpa?" "It won't do any good to talk to him." "Why's that?" "Because he's old?" "Look, Richie, let me tell you something." "Old folks know stuff." "You know why?" "Because they've been around for a long time." "They've been around almost everything you're going through right now." "And you know what?" "They can be like road signs for you." "Help you get to where you're going." "But the thing is you have got to stop long enough to talk to him." "You know, he's just sitting out there right now." "Just waiting." "You've got some time before you have to get to school." "What do you say?" "Gramps." "Gramps." "Nothing." "I just" "Nothing." " Richie." " What?" "What's on your mind, bub?" "I don't know." "I just..." "What's wrong, son?" "I don't know." "I just..." "I don't know why I'm crying." "That's okay, son." "I cry too sometimes and I don't know why I do it." "Kids and old folks, guess we got a lot in common like that." "It's just that nobody listens, you know?" "Like I said, kids and old folks got a lot in common." "Seems like the older you get, the more they treat you like a kid." "I'm not even toilet broke no more." "I'm listening now, son." "It's about the mustangs." "They're gonna round them up and they're gonna kill them." "Oh, now, you don't know that." "Yes, I do." "We gotta stop them, Gramps." "Mark said that you know stuff." " Me?" " Yeah." "What should we do?" "Well, I'd sure like to help you but I can't." "Why?" "I'm just too old." "I'm just too old, son." "Where's Richie?" "Oh, he hasn't come down yet." "Well, make sure he's not late for school." "Smith, you were supposed to be ready to ride at 6." "I'm not going." "What?" "I think what you're doing is wrong." "I'm not going." "You don't go and you're fired." "Fair enough." "I'll have your cheque ready tonight." "Mrs. Harwood, it's a shame you can't fire your father and son when they disagree with you." "I better get Richie." "Come on, Rich, I got your breakfast ready." "Your mom doesn't want you late for school." "I'm not going to school." "What are you talking about?" "Mark, I gotta try to stop them." "Oh, please." "Richie, listen to me." "You can't." "Why?" "Because I'm too little?" "No, not just that." "Mark, you told me to go to my grandfather because he would know what to do." "Well, he didn't." "Maybe because he's too old or he's too scared." "Well, I'm not." "I know it's not right to kill wild things just for money" " or because they get in your way." " Richie, I understand how you feel but you can't win." "Sometimes in life, you have to face that." "Mark, if you loved someone and 100 men were gonna kill them right there in front of you, would you try to stop them?" "Well, I" "Would you?" "Yeah, I would." "Well, I love those horses and I gotta try to." "Mark," "I can keep an eye on Grandpa." "We can get to them better with the jeep." "Let's go." "Why aren't you out with the vigilantes?" "I got fired." "For what?" "For refusing to help them round up the mustangs." "If Sam were alive, he wouldn't have let it happen." "He loved the land and the wild things on it." "He'd have stopped them." "It's a shame you're not a little more like him." "What's that supposed to mean?" "When Sam was ill, he never stopped fighting." "He didn't sit around the house feeling sorry for himself like you do." "Why don't you get out of here and just leave me alone?" "Oh, you bet." "Your grandson was right." "You're too old and too scared to do anything to help." "That's why he's out there trying to stop them by himself." "What do you mean?" "Where's Richie?" "He's out there trying to stop the round up." "At least Sam can be proud of his son." "Goodbye, Mr. Sanders." "Smith." "Smith." "Yeah?" "Saddle my horse." "Yes, sir, Mr. Sanders." "Couldn't find them in a better spot." "We can run them right up the wash into that box canyon." "Let's do it." "Charlie, work your way around to the other side." "But keep your distance." "That stallion's no dummy." "You got it." "They're all set." "You better follow us on up, Mrs. Harwood." "You're not the only one who can ride, Jake." "Yes, ma'am." "All right, boys, let's ride." "Come on, Jericho." "Come on." "Come on, boy." "Come on." "Jericho, come on, boy." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on, Jericho, I'll race you." "Come on, Jericho." "Come on, boy." "Damn it." "Well, you can forget about trying for them today." "That kid of yours ought to get what for for this." "Richie, you wanna try and explain this?" "I told you I wasn't gonna let you try to do it." "It was none of your business." "It's all right, Jake." "I can handle this." "Mark, you take Richie back to the house." "I'll talk to you about this there." "It won't do you any good." "Every time you try to round them up, I'll be there to stop you." "Well, you won't have Mr. Gordon to drive you around anymore." "Don't make no never mind." "I'll come on horseback and if you take my horse, I'll come on foot." "Because they're wild things, Ma, and you got no right to kill them." "He's right, Billie." "Dad." "The boy is right." " Mrs. Harwood, we" " Shut up, Jake." "You're on my land so you're working for me." "When you're working for somebody, you don't interrupt them." "Billie, when Sam died, the heart just went out of me." "I quit living and I shoved everything onto you." "And damn it all, I shouldn't have done it." "But this was my daddy's land and his daddy before him." "Someday it'll pass on down to my grandson." "So he's got just as much say-so as anybody." "I was ranching before most of you was even born and half of what I remember is gone now." "When the horses are gone, there won't be no more to take their place." "And a piece of God's great plan will be missing." "Now, we're the custodians of this land and all that's on it." "And if we don't take care of it, nobody will." "My grandson has seen the horses running wild." "He's stood out there on the mesa with his eyes and his heart wide open, touched by the beauty of it." "And he's looked up to his maker, struck dumb with awe and reverence." "You can't buy that feeling." "You can't put a price on it." "Well, I can put a price on what those horses are costing me." "And I'm telling you, they come on my land," "I'll do as I please with them." "They won't come on your land, C.T., I'll see to that." "I'll fence them in on my place in Grace Canyon." "Dad, that's some of our best grazing land." "It won't support the cattle and the horses too." "Well, we'll just cut down on the size of the herd." "We'll make do, Billie." "Mrs. Harwood, are you going along with this?" "I have to." "He's my father." "Climb up, son." "We're going home." "You coming, Ma?" "Yeah." "When those mustangs are gone, there won't be no more of them." "A piece of God's great plan will be missing." "Now, we're the custodians of this land and everything that's on it." "If we don't take care of it, nobody will."