"Do you remember?" "It is a song to remember." "Did you not say it was passed from your grandmother..." "...to your mother to you?" "lf only we knew what the words meant then perhaps we would know where we came from." "Now, Elizabeth, we both agreed the past is behind this." "What's more important is where we're going." "Where Daniel and Juliet are going." "Isn't that right, honey?" "Right, Papa." "l had hoped to see Daniel." "Can't you at least stay for supper?" "There is a man in Lordsburg I must see." "Daniel should've been back before this." "Never even started his chores." "You know where he is?" "He said he was going fishing after school." "Well, you know his favorite spot." "Go and fetch him." "Tell him Caine is here wanting to see him." "That will get him running." "Got something?" "Think so." "I think that's bigger than the one you caught last time." "Yeah." "Yeah." "How come you catch the big ones?" "Guess I got the right kind of pole." "Hey, didn't I tell you how much that one costs?" "Cost too much." "Hello." "What are you boys' names?" "My name's Daniel Brown." "I'm Jimmy Cooper." "Who are you?" "Your tread must be light and sure as though your path were upon rice paper." "It is said a Shaolin priest can walk through walls." "Looked for, he cannot be seen." "Listened for, he cannot be heard." "Touched, he cannot be felt." "This rice paper is the test." "Fragile as the wings of the dragonfly, clinging as the cocoon of the silkworm." "When you can walk its length and leave no trace you will have learned." "I sure am enjoying myself." "Wish you could stay longer." "Papa!" "I found his pole and these fish, but Daniel wasn't anywhere around." "Not like Daniel to leave a nice catch like that just sitting." "Caleb, do you think anything could've happen to him?" "Course not, honey." "Now, you know Daniel's old enough to take care of himself." "Maybe an accident." "He could've fallen in the river." "Now, you know Daniel can swim like a fish." "And the water isn't very deep there, Mama." "If it will make you feel any better, I'll go round him up." "l will go with you." "Thank you, Caine." "Horses went into the river here." "But there aren't any tracks leading up to him." "They removed them." "Went into the water so they could not be followed." "The magnifying glass you gave Daniel." "He'd never left that behind unless something happened." "We must search the riverbanks to see where the horses came out of the water." "Caleb!" "is this Daniel's fishing pole?" "Never had a store-bought pole like this." "Perhaps he was with a friend." "This pole could've been in the river for a long time." "This bait is alive." "Whoever those horsemen are, they must have ridden far..." "...before coming out of the river." "Or covered their tracks again." "We must have more horses to search the countryside." "I'd better talk to the sheriff." "If the duck is good today, I'll have it." "Better make that two orders." "Mashed potatoes, gravy, peas apple pie and cheese." "And don't forget the tea and little almond cakes." "Thank you." "What is it, Caleb?" "lt's my son." "Daniel." "He disappeared." "Disappeared?" "By magic or malice?" "He went fishing." "Didn't come back." "Boys have habit of fishing going off on their own private adventures." "There were tracks of horses and attempts to conceal them." "Someone took him." "Well, why?" "l don't know." "We need your help to find the boy." "Now, Caleb, you and I both know that you don't have any money." "So why would anyone try to kidnap Daniel?" "What does it matter why?" "It matters only the boy has disappeared." "It is your duty." "When I need someone like you to tell me my duty I'm in trouble." "And believe me, I'm not." "Now, who are you, anyway?" "And what is your interest in this?" "I am a friend." "Concerned." "Well, I'd be concerned too, if there were any danger." "Now, you go on home, Caleb. lf l know your boy, he'll be home there waiting for you full of fish stories and very hungry." "If he's not, I'm gonna keep on looking for him, sheriff." "He's not here, Caleb." "And there have been wolves lately." "Now, Elizabeth, it's a mite early to be crying wolf." "Maybe, but there's more than one kind of wolf." "You know a black boy out here alone is far different than a white boy." "Someone comes along and sees him, decide he shouldn't be there not anywhere...." "Daniel wasn't alone, Mama." "He was with Jimmy Cooper." "For heaven's sakes, why didn't you tell us sooner, child?" "l didn't think it mattered, Mama." "Do you know this boy?" "Dr. Cooper's son." "Good people." "Probably stopped off at their place on the way home." "Let's go round him up." "Someone to see you, doctor." "I thought that was our last patient for the day, Mrs. Wright." "It was. I was hoping you could get some rest." "But this is the black man, Caleb Brown, and some Chinese person." "Well, if you want, I can tell him you're busy." "Course not." "Send them in." "Dr. Cooper will see you." "Doctor." "Mr." "Brown." "This is Caine, a friend." "Have a seat." "It's about Jimmy." "Raising a boy alone has its problems." "What's he done now?" "Jimmy and Daniel went fishing this afternoon." "Daniel hasn't returned." "We are concerned." "is the boy with you?" "Frankly, I don't know." "Mrs. Wright, is Jimmy here?" "No, he isn't." "Now I am worried." "Been with patients all afternoon." "I hadn't noticed the time." "Perhaps they're here, even now." "No, they are not." "Ever since this colored man and his people came, nothing's been the same." "Mrs. Wright, could you do me a favor and just keep quiet." "What is that?" ""We have your son."" ""Get $5000 in paper money." "Wait for further instructions." "If you don't comply you will never see Jimmy again, or the colored boy, alive."" "Where did this come from?" "A man on horseback pushed it at me at the door, and then he rode away." "These crossed sabers, do they mean something to you?" "Yes." "It's the insignia of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry the regiment that I served with during the war between the States." "Perhaps the answer lies there." "How?" "I was a doctor during the war doing what I could do to help save lives." "I was a doctor." "Ain't nobody gonna hurt you." "I got him, lieutenant." "Bring the other boy." "All right, let's go." "Lift the feet up." "Sheriff, I understand that you refused Mr. Brown here action when he reported his son missing." "l didn't see any reason" "Well, here's one." "And I think it's a pretty good one." "Doctor's son has disappeared too." "No magic, no fish stories." "Oh, my. I thought it was only...." "l didn't know your son was with Daniel." "I understood the sheriff's duty was to serve and protect everyone." "Well, I can't do any tracking tonight." "I'll have a search party ready first thing in the morning." "I hope our sons are still alive in the morning." "Now, don't worry, they will be." "l do worry, sheriff." "I mean, it says right here that they'll be all right, as long as you have the money." "Do you believe the promises of men who would kidnap defenseless boys?" "And threaten to kill them if you don't have the money?" "Well, if it's any consolation, Mr. Brown, I have the money." "We'll get the boys back." "And action, sheriff." "I want action the first thing in the morning." "Major." "Mission accomplished." "Note delivered." "Well done, lieutenant." "Get yourself some coffee." "I have another job for you." "I don't know of anything more we can do now." "I best be getting on home." "Elizabeth and Juliet will be worried." "I wanna thank you, Caine, for helping." "I know you have to leave." "I will stay." "You can get all the rest you need in jail." "Get him!" "You need help?" "Daddy, I think we should unload the wagon now." "What's wrong with after dinner?" "What is it, Daniel?" "He's sick." "He needs help." "But you said you had to meet a man." "It can wait. I will stay here." "Sabers and the note speak of some wound in the past and a present revenge." "I don't know who." "Why anyone would wanna revenge himself on me through my son." "That we must discover." "With all their guns, why did they have to tie us like this?" "Why did they take us in the first place?" "You think they're gonna hurt us?" "No." "They could've already if they meant to." "I just wish they'd tell us what they want." "Yeah. lt doesn't make any sense." "On the contrary, it makes perfect sense." "Yeah?" "Why don't you explain it to us." "Just consider yourselves prisoners of war." "What war?" "There ain't no war going on." "Oh, yes, there is, young man, personal and profitable." "But to answer your question what I want is $5000 from the good Dr. Cooper." "Why should my dad give you $5000?" "Don't you think he values your life that high?" "Don't worry, Dr. Cooper will pay." "You're right." "He'll pay." "And pay." "And pay." "You Caleb Brown?" "That's right." "We've been waiting on you." "What do you want?" "For you to come with us." "Why?" "Maybe to see your son." "ls he all right?" "Oh, he's just fine so far." "All right, I'll come." "Yeah, I figured you might." "We'll have to blindfold you." "You can do what you want with me, long as Daniel's all right." "Let's mount up." "Now the $5000 is to be brought to your house by Dr. Cooper." "He'll be contacted there." "No sheriff, nobody else or no boys." "You have all that?" "l have it." "But I ain't delivering any message till I see the boys alive." "You don't think I'd harm such valuable merchandise, do you?" "They're not merchandise." "Call them whatever you like." "Show him the sprouts." "Come on." "One question:" "What made you decide on Daniel and Jimmy?" "Something you don't know about, Mr. Brown." "It's a debt of honor." "I owe Captain Cooper." "And he owes me." "Your boy just happened to be there when I decided to collect." "Daniel." "Daddy." "You all right?" "l knew you'd come." "I don't even know where we are, son." "They brought me here blindfolded." "Yeah, us too." "Your daddy's real worried about you, Jimmy." "He's working on setting you free." "Thank you, Mr. Brown." "All right, you've seen them." "Let's go." "Do you have to keep them all trussed up like that?" "The major doesn't believe in taking no chances." "Now, come on." "We'll be back for you." "All right, you can climb down there now." "Take off that blindfold." "You go home direct." "And do like the major told you." "Now, that was just a warning, Brown." "Go home or get buried here." "Your choice." "Which it will be?" "Mama..." "...it's taking an awful long time." "Dr." "Cooper is the best there is, honey." "I know, but" "Well he's gonna be all right." "With his constitution, he just might live forever." "Can we see him, doctor?" "That could be the best medicine he could get." "Oh, Daddy, we were so scared." "Thank you, doctor." "You ought to thank Caine too." "Without his emergency treatment, it would've been too late." "Caine always seems to be here when we need help." "Now you." "Well, we have to help each other." "I'm gonna to put this sling on you." "Don't want you to move your arm too much." "You know, Mr. Brown you're a very brave man." "If you don't mind my saying so, you're a very foolish one too." "Attacking two armed men." "I had to do something." "l don't trust that major." "Did he say who he is why he was doing this?" "Aside from the money." "He only said that it was a debt of honor." "Dr. Cooper owed him." "He owed Dr. Cooper." "Oh, he called you "captain."" "You know, Caine you're right about that being something of my past something about the war, though I still don't know what it might be." "Whatever it is I feel I owe you all an apology because if it wasn't for me Daniel would have been here with you and you wouldn't have got shot, almost killed." "You had no way of knowing, doctor." "You still don't know." "l guess I'd better do what he says." "What if those men come back, Mama?" "Now, I'm sure that they'll wait for the money." "If they don't, we got a shotgun." "And I'll use it if I have to." "And Caine is here, honey." "We're not alone." "And you call yourselves raiders." "You're not worthy of the name letting one unarmed man whip you." "I never saw anybody move the way that Chinaman did, major." "l wonder...." "What?" "You remember I told you about my friend Caine?" "Yeah, you always told me about him." "If he's come back, he'll free us for sure." "And did you have to shoot that man Brown?" "Didn't give us no choice, major." "All right, get some more guns and send that kid back with another message." "Sorry, Daniel." "You killed my father." "He didn't obey the orders he was given." "Now it's your turn." "Come on, get up." "And don't you try anything." "Don't even think about it." "Gonna kill me too?" "Well, that depends on you how good you can follow orders." "Dan, you do as he says or he'll kill you." "Morning, doctor." "Anything new?" "Caleb Brown was shot last night." "ls he...?" "He's recovering." "Well, I have a search party all ready to go." "Sheriff, I want you to call off the search." "But...." "l don't want anybody meddling." "ls that clear?" "But last night, you said" "That was last night." "This is day." "I decided to handle the whole thing myself." "Caine!" "Caine!" "Caine." "They shot Daddy." "But he is alive." "Alive?" "Yes." "See for yourself." "Daddy!" "That's Daniel." "You are alive." "So are you, son." "About time you got home." "How bad is it?" "Could be worse except for Caine and Dr. Cooper." "But I'll be fine now, son, now that I know you're all right." "But, Daddy, Jimmy isn't." "Daniel." "ls Jimmy here too?" "They're still holding him, Dr. Cooper." "They only let me go to tell you what you gotta do." "Well, I've got the money here." "What do they want me to do?" "To start walking down the river road away from town at 3:00." "Waiting until 3:00 is gonna seem like an eternity." "Hey, can't you take these ropes off?" "They're hurting me." "Well if your father comes, you'll be out of your misery soon enough." "So will he." "What?" "What do you mean?" "How old are you, Jimmy?" "What difference does that make?" "I had a boy once." "Be about your age." "What happened?" "He run away from you?" "No." "He was murdered by your father." "l don't believe you." "Before I'm through you'll believe." "lt's time." "God go with you, doc." "Shouldn't be any problem." "Caine, I know you wanna help, but please don't." "Just remember, it's Jimmy's life." "And perhaps yours." "I don't matter." "You both do, doctor." "Thanks, Daniel, but there's no other way." "You're right, Caine." "They're both gonna die." "How do you know that?" "I just feel it." "That man, the major, he's gonna kill Jimmy and his father." "He's alone." "You carrying any hardware?" "No." "You won't mind if I just double-check that." "So open up the bag." "All right, let's just get mounted up." "Aren't you gonna blindfold me?" "No need to." "You did the others." "Yeah, that's right." "What makes you so sure, son?" "Did the major say he was gonna kill him?" "Not right out, Daddy." "But I know it." "What are you making out to be, Daniel, a mind reader?" "I felt it too, son, short time I was with that man." "Something about him twisted, evil." "Can't we do something?" "Daniel you heard the doctor." "He want us to stay out of it." "Isn't that right, Caine?" "And yet, can we do nothing?" "Perhaps Daniel could lead me back to the camp." "No!" "I don't want Jimmy or his father hurt." "You know that." "But I don't want Daniel risking death either not when the Lord just brought him back to us." "Caleb." "It's the risk a man has to take for his friend, Elizabeth." "But the decision is one that Daniel has to make for himself." "I have to do it." "I have to try." "I'm proud of you, son." "Now, you better get going." "You be careful, you hear?" "You're not much, but you are the only brother I have." "Let's go, Caine." "Don't let anything happen to him, please." "I can't help it, Caleb, I'm afraid." "You know, there is something we can do to help." "What?" "Pray." "After they blindfolded us, they made us walk in the water." "Walk with the current or against it?" "Against. I remember it was against us." "We'll go upstream." "How far did you walk?" "l'd say it was about a mile." "Major, we got him." "I've waited a long time for this, Captain Cooper." "Captain?" "The war is over." ""Major."" "The war is long over, major." "Not for me." "He brought the money." "Could I see my son?" "Of course." "About here, I think." "Which way?" "That way." "Then they put us up on horses behind two other men." "I don't know which way they went." "Could you feel the sun on your face?" "Yeah. I remember it felt warm." "Which side did it come from?" "From the left." "Yeah." "Sergeant, bring the boy over here." "Dad." "Jimmy." "They hurt you?" "They threatened to if you hadn't come." "Dad, be careful" "All right, you've seen him." "Why can't you untie him?" "Let's see the money." "Tell me, captain which regiment did you serve in during the war?" "I believe you already know the answer to that." "You put the insignia of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry on your ransom note." "l want to be sure I got the right man." "You seem to know an awful lot about me yet I don't know anything about you." "The name Bealson mean anything to you?" "No." "Why should it?" "Let me refresh your memory." "A little place." "Macedon, South Carolina." "Your regiment, under Sherman, destroyed that town." "Now, even you should remember that." "I remember the battle." "There were a lot of casualties." "Among them, my wife and son." "He'd be about your boy's age if he were still alive." "Well, I'm sorry." "There were a lot of civilians caught in that artillery barrage." "It was a creeping barrage laid down by the Confederates on our troops but it fell short, caught their own people." "You're a liar." "It was your artillery." "My wife and boy were wounded and you the great regimental surgeon, you just left them there to die." "That's not true." "My field hospital treated every one of the survivors of that barrage." "You made a show of treating them." "But you didn't really try to cure them." "You just let the butchered rebels die, didn't you." "Women and children." "l'm telling you, Beal" "Major Bealson!" "Was Major Bealson!" "Major Bealson!" "Just where did you serve?" "ln the West. I had my own command." "Major Bealson." "Yes." "I remember the name." "You were a raider, like Quantrill, only worse." "You and your men burned and looted and raped defenseless civilians all across Kansas." "I was conducting guerilla warfare, justified and necessary." "Just as it will be an active military justice for the war crimes you committed against my family when I execute you." "And your boy." "You're insane." "Did the ground rise sharply?" "Yes. I could tell the horses were straining." "I could hear their hooves scrambling over the rocks." "Here, let's get these tied on, boys." "Here you go." "Dad, someone's coming." "lt's almost time, captain." "What's it gonna be, major bullets in the back?" "Nothing so simple." "Dynamite." "Look." "That's them." "Where is the cave?" "Below us, over to the left." "Where do you want it, major?" "Set the charge just inside the mouth." "There." "They'll have the whole mountain for a tomb." "Let me know when you're ready." "I wanna set it off personally." "What are we gonna do?" "You will stay here." "l wanna help." "You have already helped, Daniel." "I promised your mother you would be safe." "Dad." "Hey, Jimmy, you got to be proud of that man." "l had a feeling you'd be coming back." "Went to get a little help is all." "Daniel told me about you." "I just thought he was exaggerating, till now." "Guess now I've got some stories of my own to be telling." "Sure am thankful to have some of that." "Don't you two boys think you have something to be thankful for?" "We sure do, Mrs. Brown." "You say you made this yourself?" "For medicinal purposes." "And special occasions, of course." "Oh, of course." "Well, what do you think?" "Well, Mr. Brown, I think this is just what the doctor ordered." "I thought you'd like it." "Daddy, Dr. Cooper, Mama says it's time to come to table." "Bring your jug, doc." "Be glad to." "I sure do wish Caine was here to help us celebrate." "Yeah, me too." "He stayed longer than he should have." "For you, Daniel." "And you, Jimmy." "Mrs. Brown, you sure do set a beautiful table." "Why, thank you, doctor." "And you sit there." "I'd like to propose a toast." "To the future happiness and the prosperity of the Brown family." "And to that of the Coopers." "Know what Caine says?" "Whenever someone saves another's life, he's responsible for him forever." "Then I suppose we're all gonna be responsible for each other from here on out." "Hey, can I stay around to see that?"