"Boy howdy." "What a fine-looking paint job." "Boy howdy." "It sure is." "Did Ciego do it?" " Come to think of it, I did." " Oh, come to think of it?" "Well, I knew I'd be riding with a beautiful lady on a fine spring day." "Couldn't have a wagon that wasn't fitting'." "Well, well, going someplace?" "You didn't forget my fishing tackle." " Mm-mm." "Wrapped safely in that rug." " Ah, you think of everything." "You people know I'm not gonna be able to get up to that lodge for at least another month." " That goes for you too, Heath." " Well, I figure I could cut that down to a week..." " the way I work." " Uh-huh." "Of course, that don't apply to everybody." " What's in the sack?" " Those happen to be my decoys." "Now, when I get up there, I better not find any of them beaks broken, you hear me?" "Well, Nick, maybe you'd better stow it yourself." "Easy." "All this could have waited for another week or two." "We have all that spring plowing to do, Mother." "I know, but the thaw came early, and I thought it'd be nice to get the house open." " Just in case you could get up there." " Mm." "Well, I might be able to fit it in one day, but no more." " How soon?" " Next weekend." "Now listen." "Anything you find... over four pounds in that stream up there is mine." "Tell Audra I'll be back in plenty of time to help her with her new dress." " All right." " All set?" " See ya." " Giddap." " How'd you like to take them?" " I've just been waiting for you to ask." "Hyah!" "You know, you should do this kind of thing more than once a year, Mother." "Should I?" "Why?" "Oh, the sun, the wind, the smell of spring." "It's all right there in your eyes." "Well, now that's very sweet of you, Heath." "But I think it's more than the sun and the wind and the spring." " Well, what then?" " Oh, I don't know." "Driving this team, being useful to my family." "You know, when you're all up at the lodge... and I see how much you enjoy yourselves, why, that makes me happy too." "You think that's all we want of you, to be useful?" "Oh, no, no." "I do have other virtues." "But being useful to my family is what I want." "All right." "Why don't you quit poking' along and get this team moving'." " You wanna take all day?" " Right, sir." "Hyah-o!" "Whoa." "I was sure the roads would be dry by now." "Well, we could have gone by way of Calaveras Pass... but I reckon it's just as bad this time of year." "Yeah." "Well" " Hyah-o!" "Hyah-o!" "Come on, get up, boy!" "Come on, git!" "Pull!" "Pull!" "Come on, git!" "Git!" "Pull!" " Pull!" "Move!" " Want me to take them?" "No, I can manage." "Hyah!" "Hyah!" " Hold it." "Hold it." " Whoa." "Whoa, boy." "Whoa." "Well, it looks like it's gonna be my turn to be useful." " When I tell you, whip 'em up, keep 'em movin'." " Right." " Now!" " Hyah!" "Come on, boy!" "Come on!" "Git!" "Hyah!" "Oh, my God, Heath." "Heath." "Heath, do you feel as if anything's broken?" "I don't know." "I'm not sure." "Everything's kinda numb." "I'll get you out." "You can't lift it." "It's too heavy." "You need leverage, Mother." "You gotta have leverage." "I don't know if I can lift it." " If I can, it will only be an inch or two." " That'll be enough, Mother." "No." "No, I can't do it." "I'm not strong enough." "It's all right." "It's all right, Mother." "Someone's bound to come along." "Why couldn't I have waited?" "I should have known the trails wouldn't be dry enough." "Mother, don't!" "Listen." "There's some- There's some rope in the driver's box." "You can loop it around the wagon... and up around that- that tree... and get one of the horses to pull." "All right, I'll try." "G-Go ahead." "Come on, boy." " Knot it." "Try it again." " It's not strong enough." "I can't take the chance." "It might fall back on you." "I'm going to get Nick and some of the others." " Here." " Okay." "You think you can hold out?" "I'm all right." "It's" " It's not too clean, but it's- it's soft to lie in." "Oh, please, I need help." "Our wagon broke an axle and turned over." "My son is underneath it." "Please, we have to hurry." "Didn't you hear what I said?" "Don't climb down, lady." "You climb down off that horse, you're just gonna have to climb right back on again." " You mean you're not gonna help me?" " That's right." "I'm not your man." "You're gonna have to get somebody else." "But it would take hours for me to get home." "It'll be dark soon, and" "Well, didn't you hear what I said?" "My son is underneath that wagon." "His legs may be" "Lady, if I was in a hurry, I wouldn't waste no more time around here." "You mean you actually refuse to help me?" " That's right." " Well, all I need... is for you to help me lift the wagon." "It's only a few miles back." "I think I made myself clear." "I ain't gonna help you." " Mother?" " Yeah." "Oh!" "Yeah, it's- it's sinking." " What are you doing?" " l" "You'll just have to trust me, Heath." "In case it gets dark before I get back." "You think-You think you can hold out?" " I'm all right." " I'll be back with help." "Hurry, Mother." "It's too dark to go on now." "We'll make camp and wait till morning." "I don't know how he got this far." "If he headed east, we lost him." "He wouldn't head east." "Never make it through the pass." "I figure he's in these woods somewheres." "Yeah." "If this ground wasn't so wet... we could sure get him out of here in a hurry." "Hmm, set fire to the brush and watch it catch." "And all we'd have to do is set back and wait for him to come a-flyin'." "This is valuable timberland, Cort." "Shame it ain't dry." "Well, now I understand." "I still need your help." "Don't come any closer." "Lady, if you shoot me... you're gonna be just as far from help as you are right now." "I don't think I'm gonna have to do that." "A man who would risk his life escaping from a chain gang is too eager to go on living... to let himself be shot for any other reason." " You'd do that?" " Oh, the way I'd shoot a mad dog." "Well, I sure ain't gonna argue with that." "I wanna stay in this game too much." "There's two bounty hunters out after me." "Well, I'm sorry about that, but I need your help." "All right." "But I can't go nowhere with these on." " Lie down." " Huh?" "Lie down." "Put your feet up there." "Go on." "Put 'em up." "I think maybe you ought to let me do it though." "Now... lady, if you hit me... you're gonna have two helpless men on your hands." "Only one is helpless- my son." "Now hold still." "Wait." "Go on." "Thank you." "Let's go." "Now I said I'd kill you, and I mean it." " I said that there was two bounty hunters after me." " I'm not interested." " You know anything about bounty hunters?" " Yes, I do." "Do you know they don't care whether you're innocent or guilty?" " All they care about is getting your corpse." " Get going." "Whatever you're thinking, forget it." "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "That was a mistake." "That was no mistake, lady." "Now we're both on foot." "Evens up my position a little bit." " I still have the gun." " That's right." "And I got a little more time." "And we still got a long way to go until we get back to where your son's at." "This gun is gonna make sure we get there." "You know, if them bounty hunters catch up to us, you're gonna have to let me go." "And then you can get them to help you with your son." "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." "Move." "Doesn't my life mean anything to you?" "I'm telling you right now, as soon as they see me, they're gonna kill me." "Until they do, you're still free." "I'm not even sure they are after you." "But I am sure my son is under that wagon, and if we don't get to him quickly, he may die." "Now move!" "Help." "We might stand a better chance of catching him in these woods if we split up." "Uh-huh." "And if you catch him, you don't have to split the reward, is that it?" "We stay together." "You, uh-You don't trust me much, do ya?" "No." "No more than you trust me." "Yeah." "Slow down!" " I said slow down!" " What's the matter?" "Pace too fast for you?" "I'm just trying to pick up a little time." "Or get away, which you won't." "That's gonna be pretty hard to do with my ankle swelling up like this." " Yeah, but you'll keep trying." " That's right." " How far is it?" " No more than a mile." "You better hope it ain't no further than a mile." "It's gonna be the longest mile you ever walked in your life." "Go on." "One eye on the trail and one eye on me." "Come on, come on." "And all your thoughts on your son there, underneath that wagon... waitin' for his mama to come back to get him." "I bet he really dotes on you." "In fact, I bet he'd much rather... spend his evenings with his mama than go out with the boys." "Ain't that right?" "Matter of fact, I'll bet you make him think... he's just about the most wonderful thing there is." " You know nothing about him." " I don't need to know anything about him." "All I need to know is his mama." "How old is he?" "About your age." "Well, then that makes us just about the same." "Only difference being that I'm wanted for murder." "That's right." "Harry Dixon- professional gambler." "There's a $500 reward for me- wanted dead or alive." "There's a wanted poster on me in every town in this county." "I need to rest." "All this walkin'... isn't doing my foot any good." "Now that poster gives me the legal right to kill you... which I'll do if you keep us here any longer." "Then you wouldn't be any better than them bounty hunters." "You'd be killing an innocent man." "Now get on your feet!" "Move!" "You've gotta stay... awake." "You h-hear me?" "You'll... die if you don't... stay a-awake." "So proud of... paint job." "Should have checked... wheels." "Wh-Wheels." "Wh-Wheels brought settlers... 'cross the... prairie." "Forded the rivers." "Rolled up over the mountains." "Should know who invented the wheel." "E-Egyptians?" "Don't know half enough about the..." "world you live in, Heath Barkley." "Awful lot to learn... and study." "Jarrod studies law." "Nick studied." "Gene." "Good" " Good men." "All... fine brothers for a man to have." "All right, Silas, where's Audra?" "I believe she's on her way down, Mr. Nick." "As soon as I finish, clear this table." "She can help herself in the kitchen." " She does that anytime she's hungry." " Mm-hmm." " Oh, good evening, Miss Audra." " Good evening." "Thank you." " You're late." " I was resting." "Do you ever stop to think of all those 19 years of yours... you've just tossed out the window because you were just resting?" "I had a very good reason this time." "I was up until 5:00 this morning." "And what were you doing up till 5:00 this morning?" "Writing a very difficult letter." "And I still haven't finished it." "And who is the lucky recipient all this billy-do of yours?" "Well, he's not going to think he's very lucky when he gets it." "And I really don't wanna hurt him." "That's" " That's why it's so hard to finish." " So, you're jilting him." "Well, you can't exactly say I'm jilting him." "Why, I've only gone out with him twice." "But he seemed to think that was enough for us to get engaged." "Well, the truth is, I-I don't wanna see him again." "So, you just sit down, write a letter, you say..." ""Dear So And So, I don't wanna see you anymore." "Affectionately yours, Audra Barkley."" " Affectionately?" " Mm." "Sorry I'm late, Miss Barkley." "Well, I didn't hear you say anything toJarrod about being late." "Say, Nick, I was talking to the sheriff." "He mentioned that there's an escaped killer on the loose." " Oh?" "Where?" " Well, he broke out ofTamarackJail." " Supposed to be heading east." " Tamarack." "That's up by the lodge, isn't it?" " That's right." " Well, maybe we'd better ride up there." "Well, I don't think we could get there much before morning." " Well, not necessarily." " It'd be pretty close to it." "Besides, if anything should happen, I think Heath oughta be able to handle it." "Don't you?" "Oh, I suppose so." "Uh" "Just... stay awake." "You stay... awake." "Mine eyes have seen" "The glory" "Of the coming of the Lord" "He is trampling" "Out the vintage" "Where the grapes" "Of wrath are stored" "He hath loosed" "The fateful light" "Of his terrible swift sword" "His truth" "Is marching" "On" "Glory, glory" "Hallelujah" " All right, get up." " I can't go on." "I told you this leg was gonna start to act up." "Look here at the ankle iron." "It was loose when we started." "Look at it now." "I've looked and you can still walk." "And when you can't, you'll crawl." " Now get on your feet!" " Ow!" "That's the trouble with amateurs." "You play with 'em, you always get stung." "They don't know the rules." "You can't read their cards." "I make my own rules." "If you wanna go on living, don't try anything." "What else would you do... besides kill an innocent man for that angel boy of yours?" "Why do you hate him so much?" "Why?" "'Cause you're forcing me to give up my life for his." "That's why." "And when you got him home safe because of my help... and you turn me loose to be hunted down by them bounty hunters... ain't neither one of you gonna care about my being whipsawed." "You sure you're gonna be able to sleep all right... when you realize that you led me... right to those bounty hunters?" "I don't know." "You may be innocent." "I don't know." "But you still have a chance and my son doesn't unless you help." "Now get on your feet!" "This ain't no saddle horse." "He's had a harness on him." "Maybe it's the only one Dixon could steal." " Well, why ain't he on it?" " He's wearing the leg irons, remember?" " Oh." " Besides... he's the slickest card man I ever seen." "You could sit there with a full house... and he'll bluff you out with a pair of aces." "Now maybe- Maybe that's what he's done here." "He set up this animal as a bluff to throw us off the trail." "Looks like it was shot off, don't it?" "If he's carrying a gun, we ain't gonna take no chances." " We shoot him on sight." " Had we ever planned to do anything different?" "Get back." "Get back!" "Git!" "Git!" "Git!" "Git!" "Git!" "Git!" "Find yourself something dead." "There's nothin'- nothin' here for ya." "Git!" "Git." "Git!" "Mother." "No, no, that way." " You sure?" " I'm sure." "You know, we could be going around in circles." " In that case, your boy's probably" " Shut up and keep moving." "You look a little tuckered out to me." " You know, if you should faint on me" " I'm not going to faint." "You must have been one of them pioneer mothers." "One of them kind that fed the kids and drove the wagon... and shot off the Indians and helped her man build his shack out in the wilderness." "You talk too much, Mr. Dixon." "Save your breath." "Mr. Dixon?" "That's the first time... anybody's been that polite to me in a long time." "You sure this is the right way?" "You sure that mother instinct of yours didn't deal you a cold hand this time?" "Shh." "Shh." "Shh." "Now get over there." "I'm gonna be the one that's doing the calling from now on." "And this gun's loaded." "I know it." "One sound out of you is gonna be the last noise you ever make." "I gave you my word." " I won't say anything to those men if they find me." " Shh." "One look at you and they'd know that you was lyin'." "Now we're gonna stay right here... until I know that they ain't gonna come back." "And then you can go." "You may have been innocent before, but you're not anymore." "You deserve whatever those men do to you." "If they catch me, which they ain't gonna do." "I don't have to set here and prove to you... that I'm innocent, but I am." "They don't put a price on a man's head without good reason." "A man makes his living gambling ain't gonna be believed... when there's a bunch of witnesses around to lie about what happened." "That's the first time and the only time in my life... that I ever killed anybody." "It all happened so fast." "I couldn't help myself." "But it was in self-defense." "You don't believe that, do you?" " Do you?" " I believe any man... who's so afraid for his own skin is much better off dead." "Oh, hitting a woman should be easy for you." "You don't know much about bounty hunters, do you?" "I've sat at tables with them, and I've taken their money." "Squashing out a man's life is just as easy to them as stacking a deck." "Are you any different?" "I trimmed a few pigeons that night." "That's all." "And then they followed me outside after the game... and they tried to get their money back with guns." "And I had to shoot a man before he shot me." "And that's what happened." "And then they all jumped on me, and they took their money back." "They went and they got the sheriff, and they brought him back." "And they said that I had stolen their money." "They were well known in the town." "I was a stranger." "And no one to speak up for the stranger?" "Not even the people who saw you win." "That's right, no one." "Not one soul." "Not even my own mother." " Your moth" " Yes, ma'am." "My own mother." "She must have been an awful lot like you are at one time." "At least that's what I used to think when I was little." "Then one day she just wasn't there anymore." "I asked my daddy what happened to her, and he told me... that I was to forget that she was ever even my mother." "Like that was the easiest thing in the world for a 10-year-old boy to do." "And then he started leaving me with the neighbors... and going his own way." "I figured it was time I'd better go my own way." "So I started gambling'." "Figurin'it was the best way to forget about her... and forget about everything else." "And then the first time that I saw her in all those years... was that night in that town... in the bar." "She came up to me and asked me to buy her a drink." "She didn't know who I was." "But she was all made up to look real young." "And then I told her who I was." "She called the bartender over, and she told him to throw me out for insulting her." "I sat there in that town all those days, waiting for them to hang me." "She'd seen the shooting, and she did know who I was." "She never even came and saw me." "I sent a letter with the deputy to her." "And... she never even opened the letter." "You can go now." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry, but whatever she did to you... that's no reason for refusing to help me." "Please, just go." "Oh, you feel sorry for yourself, don't you?" "You're so full of self-pity, you even hate my son." "Because his mother happens to love him... you'd rather see him dead then raise a hand to help him!" "Wait." "It can't be a whole lot further." "If my leg can hold out" "Even though I walk... through the valley... of the shadow of death..." "I will fear... no evil... your rod and staff... they... comfort me." "They... comfort... me." "Oh, God, why doesn't somebody come?" "Why don't they c-come?" "I think we're almost there." "I couldn't even crawl." "I can't." "Let me look at it." "That ankle iron has to come off." " How?" " A bullet would break the rivet." "Yeah, but that would bring back the bounty hunters." "That's how they got on my trail in the first place was hearing that shooting'." "I seemed to remember a stream." "I don't think it's very far away." "The cold water would help the swelling go down." " Come on, Mr. Dixon." "Lean on me." " Lean on you?" "It's about time you learned how to lean on a woman." "Come on." "You won't throw in your cards, will ya?" "I can't." "I can't even make it to that stream." "No clouds in the sky at all." "It'd be too much to hope for a clap of thunder right now... to cover the sound of this." "Try and stand." "I think I'll be all right... if I can get some circulation in it." "You know, you were right." "I think I did envy your son." "Heath." "Heath!" " Heath." " Untie that rug." "All right now, we'll get the trunk." " Here, let me." "I'll lift it." " Wait a minute." " Right over here." "All right." " I'll give you a hand." "You're gonna be okay, boy." "No, no, no, no." "Come around here." "All right." "Now." "Got it?" "Got it?" " Let me get him out." " There." "Okay." "Now pull." "Pull." "All right." "Get under one of his arms." " Right." " When I lift, pull." "Okay." "Under his arms." "Get him outta there!" " The wagon fall on him?" " Yes." "If you men would help me, I'd like to get my son home as quickly as possible." "We're looking for somebody, an escaped murderer." "Maybe you seen him." " No, I haven't seen anybody like that." " Did you hear some shots?" " Yes, I heard them." " Was they close by?" "Well, I was too busy to pay any attention to it." "Is that your horse up in the woods?" "Uh-huh." "If you men would please help me" "Like I said, lady, we're lookin' for a murderer." "Now that don't leave much time to fool around with anything else." "Let's go." "Hyah!" "That man who helped you." "Is he the one they're lookin' for?" "An escaped murderer?" "I don't think so." "What kind of man was he?" "Oh, young." "A gambler." "A gambler who played his cards for love... instead of money." "I don't understand." "You will." "When I get you home, I'll tell you all about him."