"No lights." " What do you think?" " Too quiet." "Ma?" " Pa?" " Happy birthday!" " We couldn't resist." "Even Pacer jumped." " Where you been?" "It sure is a surprise, since my birthday was last week." "It's the first chance we had to come out." "Wash up." "Supper will be out." "You spent all day working." "We thought you'd never come." "I'll take care of the horses." "Eat up!" "We'll do that." "Will, play us some music." "How about this one?" "Hey, Dorothy, never mind those dishes." "May I?" " Supper's ready." " Supper!" " Sure is a fine-looking cake." " I could eat a buffalo." "You dance like one." "Supper was great, Mrs. Burton." "Will and me always say... in cooking, no one would guess you were different from... well, our ma or anybody else." "I'm really proud you liked it, Tom." "Just a little more cake?" "No, ma'am." " What have we here?" " From me." "Well, now, that..." "That sure is fine." "What is it?" "Well, you hang it on the wall... and you put hot water in here." "It's mostly for a man to shave by, but you can comb your hair in it... or anything." "It sure is fine." "Roz is trying to civilize Clint against the day he proposes." " If he gets around to it." " You wear the britches... maybe you ought to propose." "Pacer and me can look more presentable when we come to the Crossing." "I thank you all, for everything." " More coffee, anyone?" " I think we best be going." " We can make room here for anyone." " No, thanks." "We better go too, 10 miles can be long." "Ten?" "Me and Roz gotta go clear to the Crossing." "The way she rides, you'll make good time... if you can keep up with her." "We'll ride along with you a ways." " Thank you, Mrs. Burton." " Thank you, ma'am." " Good night, all." " Good night." " See you at our wedding next month." " You better see me before that." " Good night!" "Good night!" " Good night!" "Take good care of her." "We better go or we won't get home by morning." "Thanks again." " Good night, Clint." " Good night." " Good night, Roz." " Night, Pacer." " What's that look for?" " Just thinking." "With that fancy gadget to primp, you'll be the prettiest fella in Texas." "Will you be quiet?" "No use waking everybody up." " I'll put up the rig." " I'll get us some coffee." "Quiet!" "Will, I tell you... you gotta stop all this fooling around." "Making all this noise, I tell you, the old man's gonna be..." "See him?" "Hunter?" "It's hot out there." "Indian came up on that hill just now." "Pacer says he's no hunter." "Tie up the horses." " What is it, Sam?" " Not sure yet." "He looked like he was trying to figure something out." "Nobody said anything about trouble at the party the other night." "No, sir." "A lot of things can happen in three days." "Neddy, last time you saw your sister, you hear anything?" "No, it was just about like always." "Didn't you think so, Pacer?" "If trouble starts, who'll hit us first, your folks or Ma's?" "Shame on you, Clint." "It's more likely neither will bother us." "That ain't been my experience about people in the middle." "Maybe it's the new chief." " What new chief?" " The Kiowas got a new chief." " Since when?" " Maybe a month." " What about old Lame Crow?" " He's the old man of the tribe now." " How long you known this?" " Since it happened." " Don't you ever tell anybody anything?" " Not if they don't ask." "Sometimes I think you're more than half Indian." " He told me." " Maybe you're the other half." "Maybe your ma was Indian too and didn't let me know it." "One horse." " Are you my brother beyond the wall?" " Yes." "Then why light go out when friend come in peace?" "Why does a friend who comes in peace wait until the sun is gone?" "Warrior ride when stars are alive." " Only against his enemies." " In the world of white men... there are men who are not enemies nor friends." " That is why I come to talk." " Without giving your name?" "I am known from one end of earth to the other." "I have the strongest magic, and I lead many, many warriors." "I am Buffalo Horn." "Buffalo Horn!" "We cannot be enemies to the Kiowas without being enemies to ourselves." " Buffalo Horn should know that." " I must see your eyes when you tell me." " Do you come out, or do I come in?" " Neither." "We will talk to our brother only in the sunlight." "Your answer is honest." "I will return again at a time when the sun has killed the stars." " That was him." " The new chief?" " By himself?" " The others were over the hill." "What do you think?" "He was carrying a war spear with scalps on it." "They wouldn't do anything to us." "Maybe not." "I wouldn't be too sure." "Know what some of them still call you?" "A trader said they got a name for you:" ""The thin woman who deserted her own people."" " After more than 20 years." " I don't believe it." "You boys better go to the Crossing tomorrow for supplies and ammunition." "That's fine." "Fine." "Not so fine." "Won't be any time to dally with Roz." "I want you back by nightfall." "You heard Pa, no horsing around with Roz." "What do you mean "horsing around"?" " Ain't that what you're doing?" " No, it ain't." " You mean you mean it?" " What if I do?" " With a gal that wears britches?" " What's wrong with that?" "Ain't nothing wrong, but... on second thought, you might look pretty good with skirts on." "Where is everybody?" "Anybody here?" "I've been thinking about you, Clint." " What's the matter, Angus?" " I've decided that you're my friend." "But if your half-breed brother comes here, I'll kill him!" "You're not gonna kill anybody." "You!" " Don't make me shoot you!" " Put it down, Angus, he means it!" "You better get out of here, both of you." " Are you both crazy?" "!" " No, we're not crazy." " Maybe just smarter than before." " What are you talking about?" "The Kiowas hit the Howard place the night of the party." "Of the whole family, you know how much they found in the ashes?" "One hand!" " One of Dorothy's!" " Stop it!" "Now he's out making a coffin for her." "Just to bury her hand in." "Oh, my God." " They didn't hit your place, though." " No." "And you're right out the same way." "I don't know..." "Pa's out with some men now." "They'll probably get killed too." "But you don't have to worry about it." "You'll always be safe from them!" "Let's go." "No." "Not until we get our supplies and ammunition." "Everything all right?" "Nothing's all right." "What happened?" "Buffalo Horn hit the Howard place." " Killed them all." " Dear God!" "If you hadn't tended them for fever, they'd be dead four years ago." "At these times I wonder if we did the right thing." "We did exactly the right thing." "I wish you wouldn't say such things." "What does everybody want?" "There's a million miles here... room for them, us, and a million more." "It was their land, Sam." "They don't like anybody else taking part of it." "It ain't anymore." "We've worked this place for 20 years." "Nobody can tell me it ain't ours." "Did those Pierces say something about us?" " Nothing much." " Whatever they said, it's my fault... for being what I am." "Neddy, now, you listen to me." "I'm speaking for the boys and me." "We don't want to hear such things again." "Whatever happens, we'll stick together... and we'll not be swayed." "If we have to live alone or become a power unto ourselves... we'll resist whoever and whatever comes against us." " Hey, Clint!" " Dred Pierce." "We want to talk to you, Clint." "They're not gonna do anything." "What do you want, Dred?" "The Kiowas hit the Howard place Monday." "Wiped them out." "We heard about it." "It's a terrible thing." "How'd you hear about it?" "Me and Pacer was at the store this morning." " The Indians didn't tell you about it?" " I don't want to hear that." "There's gonna be trouble." "Indians coming from everywhere." "More than a hundred already, I've been told." "We've been tracking the ones that hit the Howard place..." " ...but we lost them." " Get to the point." "The point is, if it comes to a showdown, are you with us or not?" " That's a foolish question." " Not with your family." "Watch yourself." "You might open your mouth once too often." " You gonna answer the question?" " It don't need an answer." " What did I tell you?" " It does." "Yeah, I think we got all the answers already... with all the reds and half-reds in this family." "Hold it!" "The first man who tries for his gun will get a buffalo slug." "Come back here, son." "You making out that the death of old friends don't mean anything to us?" " That ain't the question." " Then what is it?" " Well, it's a question of loyalty." " Go on." "You know what I mean." "Your wife is Kiowa, full blood." "Pacer's half Indian." "Clint's the only real white man." "It's gonna be a bad war." "Everybody around will be in it sooner or later." "Are you gonna give Clint the chance to consider the situation..." " ...and decide what he ought to do?" " I don't need to consider." "I told you we wouldn't get straight answers." "Buffalo Horn's our enemy because of what he done to the Howards." "He broke God's and man's laws." "You know my family is ready to fight our enemies." " Is that straight enough for you?" " I suppose you mean us too." "That's up to you, Ben." "We're friends with anyone who's friendly with us." "This visit ain't been friendly." "Who wants to be friendly with a man with a Kiowa squaw?" "Don't shoot!" "Nobody else shoot!" " How is it?" " I'm bad hurt." " Lucky it wasn't me, you'd be dead." " Bring him in." "Maybe I can help." " I wouldn't let an Indian touch me." " We got about all the answer we need." "Then get going, all of you!" "You shoot too quick?" "No, I pulled off." "I couldn't just kill him, just like that." " What are they doing?" " Stampeding the cattle." " No use now!" " There's a couple." " Stop him, Clint." " Pacer!" "Pa don't want you to." " Why not go after them?" " Because we'd be too few out there." "Harm's done, anyway." "Come on in." "These are what we call our white friends, I suppose." "It may take more than a day, so don't worry if we don't get back tonight." "Stay close, keep everything locked." "What if the fellas from the Crossing come back?" "Think about Ma." "Take care of her regardless of who comes." "Pacer." "Watch up yonder." " What was it?" " For a second it looked like... like a man on foot, way off, up there." " Didn't you see anything?" " No." "If it's somebody, he might need help." "Maybe you should go see." "I don't see anything, Ma." "Pa said stay near the house." "You think about what Pierce said, about joining his crowd?" " I haven't paid it any mind." " Maybe you'd better think about it." "I didn't aim to, but I brought you boys to a bad situation." "It didn't matter when you were young, but now as men, you'll think about it." "So if you want to ride with Dred and them, I'll try to understand." "You'll go with my blessing." "You already said it." "There's only one side for us... you, and Ma, and Pacer and me." "Oh, no." " They shot them!" " I should've killed Matt Holcum." "We should've cut them all down." "They're worse than Indians!" "An Indian will rob you blind, but this is waste and meanness." "It's done." "Let's find the rest of the herd." "Pacer, you ought to get a little sleep at least." " I'll be all right." "Go on back to bed." " Good night, Pacer." "Ma." " What is it?" " I don't know yet." "Strangers." "Hey, in there!" "Yeah?" "Can you maybe spare a bite?" " Who are you?" " We're trappers." " We got chased out of the hills." " Too much trouble brewing." "We're getting out of this country." "We're half-starved." "Let them in." " I ain't sure." " We can't turn them away hungry." "Sure mighty neighborly of you." " Hey, you Indians?" " Yeah." " You two work here?" " This is our home." "How do you like that?" "Indians living in a house like this." " How about getting us supper, red boy?" " I'm fixing something." "Is that your ma?" " What are you making, honey?" " Meat stew." "I have to warm it up a little." "Get me another log, Pacer." "You'll sit down at the table." " Didn't you hear your ma, red boy?" " What's the matter?" " Nothing." " Then hurry up and get it." "Where's the heap big chief?" "Your husband, or whoever he is." "He'll be back soon." "But he's not a chief, he's white." "Oh?" "That's it, huh?" "You like them white?" "I like my husband." "That ain't all, is it?" "One man for a good-looking squaw like you?" "Please." "Come on." "I know you red babies." " Please, mister." " What are you afraid of?" " Joe will watch the door." " Let me go." "All right, I tell you what." "You just give me one little kiss, and see if you don't want a few more." "Pa and Clint are back." "They'll be in, in a minute." "These men can't wait." "They're leaving now." "Pacer." "If it hadn't been for that kid..." "All right." "Get off your horses." "Did you hear what I said?" "Drop your gun belts." "Come on, hurry it up." "If you're aiming to rob us, you're wasting your time." "We ain't got anything." "I might kill you, but I ain't gonna rob you." " We've had enough trouble with Indians." " All he asked for was a little kiss." "I'm telling you, now, boy." "That's a little better, red boy." "Please, I'm done!" "Stop!" " Yes?" " It's me!" "Pacer!" " I wanted to make sure they went away." " That's all?" "You're bleeding." "I tripped in the dark." "You landed awful hard on your knuckles." "Inside, Ma!" "Inside, come on!" "Two Moons is with them." " Kiowa Pacer!" " Yes?" "It is a new time." "The sun has killed the stars." "Come out and talk!" "I will not come out among your warriors." "I'm your friend." "Nothing will happen to you if you come out." "Nothing will happen to me if I stay behind my walls either." "Now you come out?" "Wait a minute!" "Give me your rifle." "Put this on!" "If anything happens, bolt the door." "This is how men talk, with their eyes seeing if words are true or false." " You talk, I will listen." " I need many, many more warriors." "The white man is thick from the rising sun to the setting sun." "We have no place to go." "We have to fight, or we die." "You understand?" "This is the great war our gods have spoken to us in our dreams." "Soon we will have the power to take whole white villages!" "You say you are not our enemy." "Then you must be friend." "Will you ride with us?" "You have many warriors." "One more warrior is not important." "You are of the greatest importance to me." "For if a half-white leaves his father's people for his mother's people... it'll make the strongest magic I can have." "If I say no?" "Not being my friend, you will be my enemy." "And this house and all in it will die!" "For I will not have a half-Kiowa against me!" " Come in here a minute, Pacer." " I must talk to my mother." " We'll go back with him." " Back where?" "To their camp." "I'll talk this over with Lame Crow." " You mean, about me?" " The whole thing, war and everything." "Lame Crow's my uncle, maybe he can stop it." "They wouldn't care about what you said." "I'll try it anyway." "I can't see all these people being killed without trying to stop it." " Write Pa where we're going." " Ma, wait and talk to Pa first." "No, he'd lock me up or something." "Tell him we'll be back by midnight." "I can't let you do it, Ma." "It's too dangerous." "But they wouldn't hurt us, Pacer." "They're our own people." "They ain't my people." "Truthfully, I don't know who's my people." "Maybe I ain't got any." "I couldn't ride with those guys, burning and killing." "I know, Pacer." " That's what he's asking me to do, Ma!" " You can say no." "I can say no here." "What if he asks me there, in the middle of them?" "But he wouldn't do that." "You'd be his guest." "You haven't seen his eyes when he talks about this war." "He'll ask me, all right, guest or not." "And if I don't say yes..." "Then I don't think you ought to go either." "I'll go alone." "This is so important, my mother thinks we should talk to her family." " You'll come to the safety of our camp?" " Yes." "Your mother is wise." "We will ride with you." " What do you think about this war?" " Buffalo Horn say it got to be." "He say if we wait any longer it will be too late." "It must be harder for you, half white, half Indian." "It is not easy." " White men treat you well?" " My father and brother do." "If anything starts, take my horse and ride out." "Welcome, N'edd'ee-pahs." " I come to you with love, and gifts." " Show me." "Take her to Lame Crow." "She wants to talk to him." "Come." "Sit." "Pacer is brother." "We make him welcome." "Speak, anyone." "Kiowa Pacer, is true Earth round like ball?" "White man live all sides?" "That is true." "Tell me, why man on bottom not fall off?" "I've never been there." "Maybe they do." ""Dear Pa and Clint, Ma took a notion to see her sister." "I told her not, but you know Ma." "I think we will be back by midnight." "I tried to make her not go, but you know Ma." "Respectfully yours, Pacer."" "Now, why do you reckon she wanted to do that?" " We'll go after them." " Wait a minute." "Ten o'clock." "We'd better wait the two hours... rather than miss them in the dark." "Then we'll go after them with the scatterguns." "If they do anything to Ma and Pacer, scatterguns can make an awful mess." "Many moon back, I see white man book." "In it was great mountain lion with stripe painted on fur." "Speak me this, Kiowa Pacer." "Why white man paint stripe on mountain lion?" "That was a great animal called a tiger." "They didn't paint the stripes on it." "Could be then, this great tiger paint on own stripes." "Which make tiger brother to my Kiowa warriors." "We didn't speak about the thing I came to talk about." "Yes." "My spirit reached out and touched you... and I knew it was not good to speak of it now." "It will be hard for you to come back to us." "You are not yet ready." "If I asked you now to say yes or no, you might say no." "Or you might lie to me and say yes." "But I would know that you lie, and I'd have to kill you." "We are close in spirit now." "I want you to come back to your people." " You think about it?" " I will." "Think of this too." "Whose land is this?" "Who has lived here since the beginning of time?" "Do we go out to take their land?" "No, they come against us!" "Forever cutting deeper into our land." "Forever taking!" "Forever pushing!" "We will speak of it again soon." "I hope your blood will be one with ours." "Two Moons." "Take me to Lame Crow." "I will ride part of the way back with you." "Ready, Ma?" "I go in goodwill." "It's all right, Ma." "They wouldn't even listen to me." "None of them." "They said I wasn't Kiowa anymore, nor white either." "My own sister said I was nothing!" "You done the best you could, Ma." "Kill them!" "Will!" "It's Will Howard!" "Ma?" "Ma?" " Pacer, I'm dying." " No, Ma." "I can feel, close to me, the flaming star of death." "Stop talking like that, Ma." "I don't think it's too bad." "It'll be all right." " Who is it?" " It's me and Clint, Pacer!" "Ma is hurt!" " It was Will Howard that done it." " Will Howard?" " Two Moons tried to stop him." " Honey?" "Neddy, honey!" "Let's put her in the back." " Clint." " We're all here." "You'll be all right." "We're going home, honey." "That's all we can do for her now." " Tell me what happened." " Will jumped up and started shooting." "He must have been wandering since the raid." " You think he knew what he was doing?" " He thought he saw three Indians." "He must have been crazy with pain... after what happened to his family." " You making excuses for him?" " Had you not killed him, we would have." " We need a doctor." " I'll get Doc Phillips." "What if he don't want to come?" "He won't have a choice." "Those folks are mad." "I'd better go too." "Try not to have any trouble, but get him." "We'll get him." "Dred, they're coming!" "They're here, Ben!" " Don't worry about shooting our cattle." " Don't come no closer!" "We don't want to see you boys here again." "We need Doc Phillips." "You don't need him any more than we do." "You know what I mean!" "We need him right away!" " What's wrong?" " Ma's hurt." "Go inside." " What happened?" " Will Howard shot her." " What?" "Will Howard's dead." " He's dead now, but he shot Ma first." " Now, if he's just dead, who killed him?" " Me." "Hold it!" "Everybody hold it!" "Just keep them covered!" "If shooting starts, I'll kill you." "Will Howard's been dead for nearly a week and everybody knows it." "Will wasn't far from dead, but he was alive enough to shoot Ma." "Pa, we gotta help her!" "He's just lying, honey." "The both of them!" "Hey, doc!" "Doc Phillips!" "All right, come out, doc!" "Ain't nobody gonna do anything to you." "Ma needs you, doc." " You know I want to help her, but..." " It's a free country, doc." "If you can't decide, maybe we can help you." " Let's vote, everybody!" "I vote no!" " And I go along with Dred!" " I say don't go!" " I say no!" " I vote doc don't go!" " I speak the same!" "I say no too." "But I can give you some advice:" "Get a medicine man for her." " Cover me, I'll get him." " Two dead men are worth nothing." "You see how it is, Clint." " Clint!" " Come on." " What are you doing?" " I got an idea." "Don't look back!" "You saw that kid playing back at doc's house?" "I can do it." "As soon as you make it, I'll come in fast." "We'll have a tea party." "How many lumps of sugar would you like?" " Dorothy, don't get dirty." " I won't, it's clean dirt." "Would you like some cream?" "Okay, I want some cream." "Here's some cream for you, baby." "My baby's been sick." "She's got a temperature." "I don't know what I'm gonna do with her." " I'll probably..." " It's just me." "We'll play a game, okay?" "Sure, Pacer." "But you scared me." " Your pa will play too." " He don't play good." "Hey, doc!" "Doc Phillips!" "Leave her alone!" " Get your horse and bag!" "Make it fast!" " Don't hurt her!" "Go on, do like he says!" "If you hurt her, I'll get you, savage!" "Stay where you are, Pierce!" "Indian, any harm comes to that girl and you're dead!" "Just keep talking, Ford, you'll be dead now!" "Adults can't play, eh?" "This is funny playing, Pacer." "I don't like it much." "I won't hurt you, Dottie." "Doc's gonna come with us." "Oh, my baby!" "If anybody follows us, there'll be pure hell to pay!" "Sorry." "I wanted to come with you from the start." "Shut up!" " They following us?" " Just one." "Come on, this way!" "Keep quiet, now." "Can I help you with her, Clint?" " You need her, doc?" " She's helped me before." "All right, let's go." "Neddy?" "Neddy!" "Neddy!" "Neddy, honey!" "Answer me!" "Honey!" "Neddy, honey!" "Neddy, why did you do it?" "Sam..." "I saw the flaming star of death." "Oh, no!" "No, honey!" "No!" "One thing from the Bible she liked:" ""And Adam called his wife's name Eve... as she was the mother of all living."" "To me, Neddy, you were the mother of all the living." "You were life itself." "God... just one thing." "Take care of this woman." "Amen." "Why don't you two eat before everything gets cold?" "I'm gonna wait for Pa." "He wouldn't want you to wait." "You know who done it, don't you?" "You!" "That won't do any good." "Wasting all that time." "You and them other people!" "I couldn't have done anything." "I saw that wound..." " Nobody wanted to do anything!" " That's not true." " And you neither!" " Stop that." "But you saw him!" "Arguing and stalling, all the time Ma's dying!" "Keeping us more than an hour!" "Five minutes before we arrived, she died!" "If we'd gotten here a little bit sooner she might be alive!" "You know it's his fault." " Put it down!" " Get out of the way!" "They let her die!" "I couldn't have saved her." "The woman was bleeding internally!" "The woman?" " She's got a name, like whites!" " Pacer!" "Well, I meant Mrs. Burton." "See?" "All she was to all of them was a squaw." "This won't bring Ma back." "A white man shot her... and a white man let her die!" "Drop it!" "Please, Pacer, drop it." "Please." " You all right?" " You're both crazy!" "You ought to have let me kill him." "No good could be done." "It wouldn't help." "People that held us up at the Crossing..." "I want to see every one of them dead." "You're talking foolish." "You sound like a..." "A Kiowa?" " I wasn't gonna say that." " That's what I am." "That's what Ma was and why she's dead." "That's what I'm gonna be from now on." "You know I didn't mean it that way." "You don't feel it like I do about Ma's death." "I'm Indian." "I won't forget whites killed her because of it!" " Will was dying, he was crazy!" " I don't want no more excuses for him." "All whites ever gave me and Ma was mean looks and insults." "That's not true!" "You were the worst." "You made me feel it the worst." "When I was little, I liked you a lot." "You were the only girl I liked a whole lot." "Since you been old enough, you never looked at me without thinking:" ""He's Kiowa." "Clint's all right, but watch out for Pacer."" "Oh, I didn't know!" "I didn't know it either." "Nobody knew but Ma and me." "Where you going?" " To join up with Buffalo Horn." " You're a civilized man!" " Folks at the Crossing are civilized." " You can't go." "Now, look, we already had one fight." "The first one we ever had." "I won't lose this one!" "This ain't to be fought with fists." "I'm changing my life." "Put that gun down." "All right." "If you can draw that gun and cock it... then get out." "And to hell with you!" "Just don't come after me." "Is this goodbye?" "Yes, sir." " Back to Ma's folks?" " I'm sorry." "So am I, but I understand." "It never come to my mind it would be like this when I married Neddy." "I guess folks ain't never been fair with you." "They take a man for what he ought to be, not what he is." " I ain't blaming you." " I know." "You're a good boy." "I've always been proud of you." "Do what you must do... with my blessings." "No matter where you go, whatever happens." "Goodbye, son." "Bye, Pa." "Funny how things turn out." "When I got here, all I had was you and me." "You were just a baby." "Then I gave Neddy's father a shotgun and a pound of black powder for her." "What a pretty little thing she was too!" "The day we got married there wasn't a prettier girl in Texas." "I can't tell you how much I came to love her." "After all these years, and another little baby and all our work... to make a home and get us a herd..." "We're right back where we started." "Just you and me again." "I will fight in his place." " Who did this?" " A white man." "He also killed N'edd'ee-pahs, the woman who was my mother." "My words are dust." "But my heart is with you." "One thing you must know." "I will never fight my father nor my brother." "Your father, your brother, and your home... will be safe from attack, as our own people." "When we fight, I will think of my mother... and of how Two Moons tried to help her." "And I will be strong." "Very strong." " I'll be back to see you, Pa." " You do that, Roz." " We'll do the best we can anyway." " We'll sure try." "That bay is still limping." "I'm giving you the sorrel." "We'll give your horse back later." " Bye, Pa." " Bye." "Don't go too far." " Let the herd take care of itself." " I'll be all right." "I won't say what Pacer had in mind." "He'll be back." "I don't know." "He's been pushed a long way." " I wonder if you'll be back." " I said I would, didn't I?" "It's plain hate now." "Everybody's ready to kill anybody who isn't just like them." "I'll be back, all right." " Get down and into the house!" " Don't talk like that." " I'm no girl, I'm a woman." " Want me to pull you down?" "I don't." " You know Neddy died?" " I know a lot of things." "I know Pacer went at doc with a knife." "I know the Thomases died last night." "All four of them." "Nothing left but ashes!" " I'm sorry to hear that." " Yeah, I'll bet." "You know that Phil Thomas was my best friend." "Then why didn't you warn him?" "Goodbye, Roz." "Wait, Dred!" "You got room for us?" "We'll make room for you!" "That's the fifth wagon in this morning." "They're all scared to death." "But I guess you got nothing to worry about." "He is alone." "Let us kill him." "Maybe it's best if we find Buffalo Horn before fighting." "The gods are making us a gift of this enemy." "Hang on, Clint!" "I thought you were so tough!" "Feels like you're trying to torture me to death." "You damn savage!" "Can you hear me?" " We have to get out of here." " You go." "I'm too tired." "We still got about an hour before daylight." "What are you doing?" "I'm gonna try and draw them the other way." "They'd recognize this." "Crazy." " Maybe in the dark I'll look Indian." " Your hair's too short." "If we're not out of here by sunup, it'll be a lot shorter." "We're never gonna get a better time than this." " Think you can hold on again?" " I can make it." "Come on." "Watch your head." "They still coming?" "Yeah, but they're in no hurry anymore." "Why?" "They know who we are now, and where to find us." "Hey, Pa!" "Pa!" "Pa's dead." "Kiowas." " We're all the family we got left now." " That's right." "We got to get in the house and get ready." "Pacer?" "Pacer!" "Come on." " What's the idea?" " You're gonna take a ride." "What are you talking about?" "I'm going in the house." "We got to get ready." " What are you doing?" " He'll take you to the Crossing." " Are you coming with me?" " Nope." " That's crazy." "There are too many." " I know it." "But if it's gonna be like this the rest of my life, to hell with it!" "Let me meet them with you." "That's the way I feel." "You'll be doing good to make it to the Crossing." "Pacer!" " How long have I been here?" " Since last night." " Get me a horse." " Doc says you shouldn't move." " I'm not staying here." " You can't ride in your condition." " Get me that horse!" " I can't..." " You feeling better?" " Never mind, I'll get it myself." " Now, look here, Clint." " You want to get shot?" "Rider coming in!" "Looks like he's bad hurt." "Don't come no closer." "I wanted to make sure you're all right." "Don't try to help me, Clint." "I've been killed already." "I'm just stubborn about dying." " Let me get the doc." " Too late." "Too late." "The only thing to do now is to die." "Pacer!" "For God's sake!" "You live for me, Clint." "Maybe someday... somewhere, people will understand folks like us." "Oh, you'll be all right." "When I was fighting off the other Kiowas..." "I saw the flaming star of death." "I gotta last long enough to go into the hills and die." "I'll trust you not to follow me, Clint." "Pacer!" "Hey, Pacer!" "Pacer!"