"Here." "Blood starts circulating, these are going to hurt." "Who are you?" "Ah." "My name's Stryker." "I'm obliged to you." "You, uh..." "you after the old man?" "I'm after Ahab Tyson, with a warrant." "I-I got stronger reasons." "That was my only brother he killed at Benedict Pass." " The old man do this to you?" " Yeah." "Trapped me like a coyote 'cause I was too anxious." "But he made a mistake when he left me alive." "You know that weapon, Paladin?" "Buffalo gun, Sharps." "Powerful enough to knock down a bull with one shot." "Yes, mister, this one kills big." "You know, Paladin, I got more Old Testament in me than New." "I believe in an eye for an eye." "And I'm gonna get that old man." "But this time, I'll bring some help along with me." "Don't use up all your luck." "Paladin, my brother was all I had." "That old man strung me up like a butchered animal." "Now I owe you something." "And I hope I'm not gonna have to kill you over a thing like him." "He dig that grave for you?" "Yeah." "In case I was found too late, he said." "Stryker, for what that old man had in mind, it's never too late." "Well, now, air is sweet, the grass is the same, and you do have fine sheep." "You can see for yourself." "I followed a man's trail to this place." "A man named Ahab Tyson." "Will you have something cool to drink?" "No, thanks." "They say that Tyson killed a man." "When I was ten, the Boston doctor said I had a year to live." "My parents sent me here as a last hope." "Perhaps merely to die." "The good air made a liar of that doctor and made me a friend to all of those who chanced by." "Mr. Tyson made me this." "He said, "Boy, King David could use a slingshot." ""To kill a lion, a wolf..." ""...or an enemy of the Lord." "Now, you practice and do the same."" "And did you?" "Yes." "Well... you practiced well indeed." "Still, I'm surprised that Ahab Tyson would hide behind the arm of a boy." "Even a young King David." "Ahab Tyson?" "I like this boy." "I'd been hoping there would be no blood spilled on his land." "But I guess either you or I are going to make a grave in it." "Stop." "Boy, you just made a choice." "Don't force me to make one." "Put it down." "Now, go get his horse." "Well, it's got roof enough to keep us dry tonight." "Inside." "Tyson, you kill a man in Benedict Pass?" "He tried to hold me up, take my horse." "I couldn't let him do that." "Tyson, he was only a boy." "The law would have been much more inclined to listen then than now." "There was no time for explanations." "Yeah, smoke." "They're in there, all right." "When I tell you." "Paladin, you heard of Sky Blue?" "No." "Sky Blue's apple country." "Apples so hard that when you bite into them, they pop like balls of ice." "Hmm." "Well, Tyson, I am very fond of apples, but tomorrow... is a long day." "Who'd be out there?" "A man you dug a grave for, I suspect." "Paladin!" "What do you want, Stryker?" "Talk first." "The old man, Paladin." "I want him." "You can't have him." "I got to take him, is that it?" "Stryker, one more step cuts the cord." "You figure he's worth dying for?" "Do you?" "Well, I did owe you this much." "Where?" "Leg." "There a town near here with a doctor?" "Maybe." "Mining camp." "Half day's ride." "I'll get the horses." "Well, what is it?" "Oh, it's a man." "Of course it's a man." "You're a doctor, aren't you?" "Veterinarian." "Same thing." "At least the people hereabouts think so, and they might just as well." "Ain't another medical man 150 miles in any direction." "You ain't going to let no cow doctor dig into me, are you?" "Oh, now, hush up, old man." "I've patched up more human animals than the other kind." "Now, fill that kettle." "The pump's out back." "We'll get to this in just a jiffy." "This might hurt a mite." "Just... take it easy, now." "Easy will do it." "This valley reaches 200 miles to the north and 50 miles to the south." "And Stryker rules it like a kingdom." "Now, he didn't just kill a man." "He killed a prince." "I know that Sharps of his." "Stoic." "That's men for you." "But no, a cow is different." "I'll do what I can, but I don't think it's going to make much difference." "That Sharps left a dirty hole, and he's an old man." "How long?" "Well, it's already in the blood." "And the fever he's shaking with now will peak by tomorrow." "And he may have, oh, 24 hours after that." "Do you always sleep with a hand on your gun?" "No." "It's an occupational disease." "Thank you." "Will Stryker stop?" "If you kill him." "No." "No, I mean if I get Tyson out of the state, into Nevada." "10,000 horses couldn't take you far enough." "And he?" "He wouldn't be able to make it." "He's been doing a lot of wild talking about Sky Blue." "Hmm." "You mentioned that before." "What is it?" "A ghost town in the mountains, about 20 miles." "Paladin." "You... you got to get me back to Sky Blue." "What do you expect to find there?" "I got a wife there." "Brown hair and eyes... soft hands... and a... a dimple right here." "This is hers." "How long since you've seen her?" "I..." "I don't know." "Three... four seasons, maybe." "It's near winter there." "I can feel cold in the air." "Cold and... icy and... sad." "Sky Blue's been a ghost for ten years." "That's a lie!" "You got to get me there." "And there ain't much time." "Hmm?" "There's worse things than... than dying happy." "Yeah." "All right." "All right, Tyson." "Here." "I'll take you there." "Now, Stryker said he was more Old Testament than New, and I believe him." "He's not going to take kindly to you helping his enemy." "I'm an Irishman myself." "And I never did care for kings or royalty." "Still, I'd appreciate your staying close." "Well, now, I..." "I might want to see Sky Blue again myself." "Well, old man, you've come home." "What's wrong?" "Where... where is everybody?" "Mack!" "It's Ahab Tyson!" "You hear me, Mack?" "Now, quit your fooling." "You come out here." "It's Ahab!" "Mack?" "It's Ahab Tyson." "Mack?" "Where are you?" "Mack, it's Ahab." "He... he ain't there." "Annie." "Annie!" "Annie." "Annie!" "Annie!" "Annie!" "Hey!" "Annie!" "Annie." "Annie!" "Annie." "Where... where are they?" "They're all gone, old man." "Ten long years from a man remembering." "No." "No." "This rope was for me." "I remember now." "It was for me." "Why?" "Paladin..." "I killed them." "Three of them." "To make sure I did that." "To make sure of what?" "To make sure I killed the right one." "Say that for me, Paladin." "He killed my wife first." "He killed my wife first!" "You want to stay alive, turn the guns loose." "You can try it if you want." "Two of you will die right where you're standing." "Now the handguns." "Now, get on those horses and get out of here." "Friend, I don't want to kill you." "It ain't Stryker's money, mister." "It's just, that man that you killed at the shack is a friend of mine." "Or is it because you just like to use that big gun?" "Maybe it's both." "Dead?" "Yeah." "But I didn't have the pleasure." "He was already dead." "Old man cheated me all the way." "Paladin... why do you suppose animals like him are ever born?" "You the one who dressed his leg, cow doctor?" "Aye." "He who gives succor to my enemy becomes my enemy." "I had one brother..." "I'll see you, friend... in perdition." "Sky Blue." "Where it started and ended." "And in between, the bird of time had but a little way to flutter." "And the bird is on the wing." ""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" "Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?"