"The road you travel leads Death." "If I can turn you back, I will." "If I can't, then I'm the end of that road for you." "Paging mr." "Paladin." "Mr. Paladin?" "Mr. Paladin?" "Hey boy." "Over here." "A gentleman wish to meet you." "He's over there." "Hey boy, tell the gentleman I'll be happy to make his acquaintance." "Mr. Paladin be happy to see you, sir." "Please excuse the formality, mr." "Paladin." "Frankly, I wanted to have a talk with you." "By all means." "And you pronounce your name...?" ""ceilbleu."" "Well, mr." "Ceilbleu," "I'm at your service." "Then may I have the pleasure of your company?" "Will you join me in a late lunch?" "I'll be delighted." "I took the liberty of ordering duck a'la range." "I hope you fancy fowl, sir?" "The stockton house is famous for that dish." "I look forward to it." "Hold it!" "In here." "Drop your purses." "Well, now you forgot this." "Oh, I'm afraid you've lost a lining." "It's no matter." "It's easily sewn." "There's $2,000 in this." "To pay for duck a'la range?" "Remind me never to order that at the stockton house." "I have an account there." "Shall we?" "Stewart, napoleon brandy, 1851," "And warm the glasses, if you please." "Very good, sir." "You order an excellent meal." "Thank you." "Now, mr." "Paladin, I wonder if I might see your card?" "My card intrigues you?" "That's one possible way to put it." "You don't seem surprised." "From the sheriff promise." "From two sulfur miners at lucifer's pit." "Florence, california, the barber." "I wonder what the history of this card will be." "At the moment, I'd suspect you know more about that than I do." "Yes, sir." "I want to hire you to try and save a man's life." "Who's the man?" "My father." "Now, you said "try."" "Is that because you believe I can't do it?" "The man who wants to kill my father," "Is the finest soldier in the world." "What's his name?" "Jotan etan." "The youngest war chief of the shoshone comanches." "Well, now I've seen you in action." "Your capabilities extend far beyond the ability to order a fine meal." "It's your father." "Why don't you fight jotan etan?" "I have fought him." "He's stronger than I am." "Why does jotan etan want to kill your father?" "My father will tell you." "I offer a rather large sum." "Mm. $2,000." "You have a good memory." "I seldom forget a face or a sum of money." "Does my proposition interest you?" "It does." "That'll be all, stewart." "Yes, sir." "Someone may try to talk you out of saving my father's life." "I understand." "To your very good health, sir." "And yours." "I come as a friend." "I'm walking away from you toward the house." "Well, you just keep walking, real friendly-like." "Now put your hands on both sides of that door." "Now get on in there." "You're william ceilbleu?" "That's right." "You said you come here real friendly-like." "You just set down and give me a couple reasons why I should believe that." "Your son hired me to come here." "John?" "Robert." "I believe you have only one son." "That's right." "Spittin' image of me, ain't he?" "No, on the contrary." "He's taller, darker, and much better looking." "That's right." "Got better manners, too, huh?" "Mm-hm." "That is right." "Much more education and maybe not as much sense." "Sir, I intend no insult," "But the difference between you and your son is absolutely astonishing." "Spent every nickel I ever made on his education." "Didn't pay off." "I wouldn't be too sure." "He's an excellent judge of good brandy." "You drank with him?" "Mm." "Where?" "At the stockton house in san francisco." "Yeah, that's funny." "Yeah, they, they might serve him there." "Why not?" "What's your name, mister?" "My name is paladin." "But you don't really know mine." "Ceilbleu." "French for "blue skies."" "You're billy blue sky." "Scout for the army during the indian campaigns." "I was a scout, but I ain't no indian." "I lived with 'em for years and fought 'em for years after that." "Your son said you'd tell me the "why."" "Just what my son pay you to come down here for?" "To try and save your life." "From what?" "From a comanche war chief named jotan etan." "That's wrong." "He'd never do that." "He did." "I don't believe you!" "Stockton house or no place else," "Is allowed to sell liquor to an indian." "He is your son?" "That's right." "And his mother...?" "I ain't making no excuses." "She was beautiful." "Why did your son come here to kill you and hire me to stop him?" "I'm billy blue sky." "I killed hundreds of comanche." "That's not the reason." "Why?" "Why?" "I'm getting sick of that word, "why."" "Why don't you go ask my son?" "I will." "I doubt it." "'less you can talk to a corpse." "Robert!" "Robert ceilbleu?" "Yes!" "I want a parley." "That seems reasonable enough, sir." "Jotan etan will speak with you." "So, jotan etan is the stronger?" "Robert ceilbleu fought hard." "Harder than ever." "But in the end, he lost." "You knew he would." "Why did you hire me?" "I didn't hire you, he did." "Why?" "I cannot say." "Then, let robert ceilbleu say." "He cannot tell you, either." "He is dead." "No, he is not dead." "Dead!" "Dying, perhaps." "But not dead." "Why did you hire me?" "My father spoke of my mother?" "Only to say that she was beautiful." "Was." "A comanche woman withers soon" "When the man she loves spits in her face," "And rips her son from her arms." "She's alive?" "In me!" "She died in the raid on the village of ashiwara." "Billy blue sky guided that raid." "Leave him." "To kill him accomplishes nothing." "I'll return your fee." "Take the money." "Go." "I'm sorry, I can't." "I made a bargain." "The bargain is off." "No." "I did not make the bargain with you." "I made it with robert ceilbleu." "Finish!" "Robert?" "The parley is over." "Wait." "Then, according to the custom of your people," "I will fight you for your father's life." "Now?" "Daybreak." "How would you fight?" "Bare-handed?" "Knives?" "Knives, then, from daybreak," "Wherever we find each other in this forest." "To the death." "What'd he tell you?" "He told me about you." "Now, it's jotan etan I have to fight." "You tell me about him." "Well, he wasted it all." "I gave him every chance I could buy." "Gave him everything a white man could ask for." "Money, schooling and clothes." "I grabbed him out of that swamp." "When I got through with him," "There wasn't nobody ever needed to know." "He never needed to tell nobody he was an indian." "But he did." "He made a point of telling them." "That was his mother." "She had him too long." "Crammed full of comanche nonsense." "I got him too late." "When did he go back to the tribe?" "I don't rightly know." "I guess maybe inside he never really left." "One day I saw him on a sortie." "When he saw me, he rode off." "Next time he saw me," "He give me this." "He wounded you at the village of ashiwara." "That's right." "But I swear to you, I didn't know she was there." "When I saw her..." "Your wife." "Yeah." "That's right." "I ain't never denied she was my wife." "She was dead." "I don't rightly know who shot her." "It could've been me." "Everybody was shooting and..." "But I swear to you," "I never would've done it on purpose." "You have any suet here?" "Yeah, right there behind you." "Thank you." "I believe you, if it makes any difference." "It makes a difference." "Not to jotan etan." "No." "I always figured he'd come back to give me worse than this." "This is not the best place to hide I can imagine." "Here in the woods all by itself," "That's far from help if you need it." "Believe me, mister." "There wouldn't be no stampede to help billy blue sky." "No matter where." "Then you should've gone someplace he couldn't get to you." "Where would that be?" "You've seen him." "He can go anyplace." "Wild or civilized." "Why, he can go anywhere." "And belongs nowhere." "Thanks to you." "Look, you're talking mighty funny" "For a man that's supposed to save my life." "Now, you think you can?" "I already have, until daybreak." "Listen, mr." "Paladin." "Helping billy blue sky ain't gonna make you popular around these parts." "And he ain't asking you for no help." "I leave you here and your life span would be just about one hour." "Yeah, yeah that's right." "The comanche don't make a war chief" "Unless the man knows how to make war." "But you ain't gonna get to spend what you earn, 'less'n you get out of here right now." "You don't really know my son." "Oh, you're wrong, billy." "It's you who doesn't know your son." "He's two people." "And that's a madness that'll never give him any peace." "It's gonna be a lovely morning." "Best don't go out there." "My son'll sure kill you." "I won't go, if I get the right answers to two questions." "Well, ask 'em." "Is there any chance your son won't kill you?" "No." "Now, what was your other question?" "If you had the chance," "Would you kill your son?" "No." "Now, I want to ask you a question." "You think you can kill my son?" "Maybe." "Will you?" "If I can." "Why?" "It ain't for what you been paid, it ain't for me." "Now, why?" "Because jotan etan won't give me any choice." "And I think he wants to die." "Jotan etan!" "The offer's still open." "Call it off..." "Words, wide eye!" "There's no way I can stop you." "One way, my friend." "Kill me!" "Robert." "Thank you, sir." "You earned your fee." "Robert ceilbleu." "I die a comanche." "You always were." "A little late, it'd say, sir..." "To learn..." "Your father?" "Not his fault." "Nor my mother's." "Mine." "Pride or madness." ""for if he lived like a madman," ""at least he died like a wise one."" "Do you know it, sir?" "Cervantes." "Don quixote's epitaph." "Paladin." "Hm?" "I die now." "Jotan etan is dead." "I knew that." "So billy blue sky's safe from his fellow man." "So long as he stays away from him." "I'll go now." "I liked your son." "Which one of 'em?" "There was only one." "In spite of you." "You still don't know the comanches." "I knew your son." "I buried him out there." "I'll leave you here to bury yourself." "¶ "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?" "¶"