"Somebody's coming, Ben." " Yeah, how many?" " Don't know, couldn't tell." "Just one." "I think I know him." " Hello, J.D." " Ben." " How you been?" " So-so." "You'?" "Can't complain." "You with them, Lightfoot, or just passing through?" "If I told you once, J.D., I've told you a dozen times." "My name is Chief Lightfoot." "And I'm a bona fide war chief of the Comanche nation." "And you and I-- You didn't answer my question." "I'll make it plain." "Do I have to shoot you or not?" "Stopped by for a cup of coffee." "Very good cup." "You figure I owe you anything, Ben?" "Nope." "I got a warrant for the three of you and Pee Wee Simser." " That's you over at the left, Pee Wee?" " That's right, J.D." "That's me." "And Joe Meehan, I see you." "Any of you want to surrender?" "Now, what did you say'?" "I said, any of you want to surrender?" "Five of us and one of you?" "I'll say one thing for you, J.D." "You got style." "Yes, sir, you got style." "Oh, no, you ain't." "You ain't gonna get me today, you dirty, beady-eyed little sons." "Little Pee Wee ain't gonna die today, you filthy scavengers." "Oh, shut up, Simser." "Buzzard bites you, he'd never eat meat again." "As I walked down the streets of Laredo." "J.D.?" " As I walked down in Laredo one day." " J D." "I spied a young cowboy all covered with linen" " J.D.!" "I can hear." "You don't have to shout." "What do you want'?" "Well, J.D., I'm suffering the tortures of the damned back here." " Now, my leg is killing me." "Can't we just--?" " Don't start crybabying, Pee Wee." "I know the sound of that old Spencer of yours." "You put a slug in the meaty part of my left shoulder." "You know damn well I've been shot there twice before." "You know." "Damn it, J.D. These things is too tight." "There ain't no reason to chain us up like a bunch of dogs." "Meehan!" "Dad-blast it, J.D. Now, you ain't gonna go to sleep with that Greener on cock..." " ...are you?" " That's right." "If you even twitch your finger by accident, you could blow our heads off." "If you call the tune, you pay the piper." "Meaning, if you don't like the treatment don't rob the banks." "Billy Joe!" "Billy Joe Cahill!" " Coming, Denver!" " Well, make it mighty damn pronto." "It's time you was in bed." "There you are." "I don't know what the hell's got into you boys lately." "This morning I send Danny into town with no-good Struther and he ain't back yet." "Now I can't get you to go to bed." " I'm going." " Damn right, you are." "This is the last trip that Danny makes with that Struther." "I told your pa it was a mistake to hire him." "But would the marshal listen to me?" "Hell, no." "He rides off and leaves me with everything to worry about." "Denver?" "I'm awful tired." "Can I go to bed now?" "Sooner the better." "Get plenty of rest because we got a lot of darn work to do tomorrow." "All right, the plates." "Whoa." "Whoa, boy." "Get out of here." "That's all right." " Mr. Grady." " Hmm?" "Can you spare one of them cigars?" "Pay you back as soon as I get out." "How old are you, boy?" "Seventeen." "Going on 18." "Is that right, Struther?" "He was 17 last week." "But he's a man full-grown, if you ask me." "And capable of making up his own mind about cigars or whatever." "Ain't that right, Danny?" " Yes, sir, you betcha." " Hmm." "Well, his old man is gonna kick you from here to California when he finds out how you've been watching out over his boy." "I told you he was a man." "We're friends, is all." "I ain't watching over him." "Well, you should be." "I knew J.D. was wrong when he took custody of you." "Promised the judge you'd never use that knife again." "You're nothing but a two-bit little-- Sheriff?" "Jimmy Kane's bringing in Charlie Smith, and drunk as usual." "Come on." "What's wrong, Charlie?" "You're not due here till Thursday next." "I don't know." "Sheriff, the devil called:" "Yee-haw!" "And I come running." "Fire!" "Fire in the Simpson stable, sheriff!" " God almighty." "That place will go up" " I'm coming, sheriff!" "No, you're not." "You'll fall asleep and get roasted." "Now, get in your cell!" "Fire!" "Sure get excited about a little fire." "That's what we've heard." " Come on, she's burning fast!" " Pull, men!" "Pull harder!" "All right." "Keep her moving." "Don't I know you, boy?" "Danny Cahill, Mr. Smith." "J.D.'s boy?" " Yes, sir." " Hmm." "I don't want to be inquisitive, uh but what are you in here for?" "Drunk and disorderly." "Oh, that's" "I heard about it." "Yeah, yeah." "You busted up the Liberty Saloon real good." "Did $37 damage." " Yeah." " Hmm." "Your pa's known around some, ain't he?" "I reckon he's been knowed around a few campfires and public hangings." "That old worn-out drunk sure puts rust on the blade for us." "He could swallow his tongue." " What?" " A lot of boozers I've knowed off and on just kind of swallowed their tongue and never woke up." "I can put a pillow over the dog's head and smother him." "Fraser." "The hell you talking about?" "We said nobody would get hurt, and nobody is." "That old coot ain't even gonna wake up until outhouse call in the morning." "Heh, yeah." "Yeah, that's right." "Danny, it's gonna take more than old Charlie there to mess up our plans." "Give them to me." "Denver's madder than hell, Danny." "I think we ought to change our minds while we still can." "Now, Billy Joe, that just ain't no Christian attitude, I mean" "Ah!" "That's your privilege." "Plain fact is that you're both... ."young." "If you're gonna go backwatering on me, I ain't going to hold it against you." "He's flimflamming us, Danny." "He thinks being young is the same as being stupid." "You go whichever way you want but that barn out there ain't gonna burn forever." "Give him the keys, Billy Joe." "Kind of hate to set ourselves against Pa." "Pa?" "That cranky old cowhand Denver has been more of a pa to you than J.D." "Ain't that right, Danny?" "The hell With J.D. Cahill." "Let's go rob ourselves a bank, Billy Joe." "Give me the keys." "Struther!" "Come on!" "Move it." "Watch what you're doing!" "Move that bucket." "Pump faster!" "Get that water on the roof!" "Now, get at it!" "All right, move." "Throw the water!" "Come on!" "Get it over there where the fire is!" "Over the door!" "Pump in there!" "Sheriff!" " Come on!" " Sheriff." " The bank's being robbed." " What?" "The bank's being robbed." "Sheriff." "Gordine, stay on the fire." "Jim, the bank." "Get on the pumps." "Go!" "All right, pour it on there!" "Get water on that roof there!" " Remember, nobody's to get hurt." " Get back." "Sheriff!" "Sheriff Grady." "Come on." "Oh, Danny." "All right." "Get on inside." "Not you." "Now, where's that boy?" "I seen it, Danny." "I seen them both killed." "There's nothing I could do." "I tried." " Boy, you listen to me." " Hey!" "You do what you're supposed to do." "You hide that money just like we agreed, and you just wait." "And that's all you do." "You just wait if you want to see your big brother alive again." "Do you understand me?" " You understand me?" " Yes, sir." "And you, you listen too." "You betray us..." "You betray us even with a look, and as sure as there's a devil in hell either me, or Brownie, or Struther, or one of our friends of which there are many, will kill that boy." "We know what to do with betrayers and we'll kill him for sure." "You hear me?" "You hear me?" "Say it!" " I hear." " Now, get inside." " Marshal." " Albert." " I sure am glad you're back." " I'm glad to be back." "There's three more of them in there." "One of them needs Doc Jones real bad." "I'd appreciate it if you'd see to him and the horses." " Yes, sir." "Marshal, I wanted to" " Oh, and Tom Howard." " The undertaker?" " I got a couple of customers for him too." "But, marshal, I wanted to" "You tell that old bandit not to get extravagant." "The State of Texas is paying for this." "Yes, but, marshal" "Albert, have you heard one word I've said?" "Yes, but I wanted to tell you about Sheriff Grady." " Oh, tell me later." " But you haven't..." "It's the marshal." "Hank?" "Hell of a way to run a jail." "Be my guest." " J.D., these handcuffs" " Get used to them." "Charlie what are you doing in here?" "It ain't Thursday." "A man's got a right to change his mind." "Besides, it's gonna rain on Thursday." "Now, drinking in the rain it's bad for your health." "It's getting so a man can't get a decent night's sleep without some marshal..." "All right, Struther, you can come out from under that Stetson." "What is it this time?" "Hope you haven't been stealing any more horses" "No, J.D., I'm hungover something terrible." "I can't hardly remember a thing." "You can't..." " Daniel?" " Daniel." "What the hell is he doing in here?" " Drunk and disorderly." " Yeah." "Drinking and fighting." "With them." "Looks like you're kind of overmatched." "It was a friendly fight." "I've never been in one of them." "What are you doing in town'?" "You..." "Come here." "All right." "I know where you are." "Where's your kid brother?" "He's around." "Around?" "Isn't he going to school?" " Sometimes." " Sometimes?" "How's he gonna get a proper education going to school "sometimes"?" "Instead of raising Ned, you ought to be raising that brother of yours." "Ain't you got no sense of responsibility?" "Your mother, God rest her soul seen to it you could read and write could do your ciphers proper." "The least you could do is the same for your kid brother." " Why?" " Why?" "I ain't his pa." "Yeah." " Marshal, you should have seen that" " You're fired." "Billy Joe." "Where you going?" "Come here." "Hello, Budger." "Oh." "Hello, Pa." "You're bleeding again." "Yeah." "Seems like every time you show up, you been bleeding." "Yeah." "Only sometimes it's hard to remember when the last time you showed up was." "Well, I'll admit, it's been a while." "J.D." "Hello, Hank." "You have a good rest?" "Heh." "Where did you come from?" "Where the hell is Grady?" "What's the matter?" "Did I say something wrong?" " No, uh" " Oh, come on, Hank." "If Grady's drunk, it won't be the first time." "Grady's been killed, J.D." "For the first time." "Marshal, good to see you, but I, uh..." "Any luck?" "No, sir." "Well, I brought you a couple of guests." "The sheriff from Dawson City will be along and pick them up in a clay or so." "I'm awful sorry about Sheriff Grady." "I know he was a friend of yours." "Yeah." "Well, I'm not gonna mourn for him." "He lived a good life." "Guess there's no good way to die, so..." "Ah." "Tell me what happened." "Pretty sketchy." "All Kane said before he died was, "Four men wearing yellow slickers."" "Grady got shotgunned, and I pulled a knife out of Jim Kane." "Oh?" "They broke in the bank with sledgehammers." "We rode a 30-mile circumference with a 20-man posse, including two Apaches." "No tracks." "Well, that's impossible, unless they're still in town." "No, sir, Mr. Cahill." "No strangers." "Some local ranchers, some cowboys maybe not as, uh, sweet as scrubbed angels but in public view when it happened, no strangers." "How about them?" "They was in jail when it happened." "That right, Daniel?" "That's right." "Pity." " Mr. Gordine, when will you let us out of here?" " Drunk and disorderly is about 24 hours." "But I guess now is as good a time as any." "I'm gonna make a little trip." "Take a day or two." "Will you hold them till I get back?" "I can't do that, marshal." "No cause." "Suit yourself." "Daniel." " Yes, sir?" " Gonna deputize you." " No pay." " That figures." "Hold up your right hand." "Do you swear to uphold the law of Baird, Texas United States of America?" "And I ain't gonna forget your taking care of Billy Joe, either." "Well, he's a lot younger than my other boarders." "It'll be nice to have a young boy around again." "I sure appreciate it." "And if he stays, it'll be the first Cahill I've been able to keep under my roof." "Well, uh, if he causes you any trouble, you just sit right down on him." "And as for you, Billy Joe-- What the hell are you whispering about?" "Don't you know that whispering ain't polite except in church, or a courtroom?" "What he's saying ain't private, Pa." "Billy Joe was thinking you ought to let the doctor see your shoulder." "Oh, it's been took care of, bandaged, and..." " By whom, J.D.?" " By what?" "Whom?" "That's the correct way of asking who done it." "I took care of it." "Purified it with whiskey." "Yeah, a quart and a half." "He drunk it." "You're scared." "You're scared of old Dr. Jones, is what you are." "They say the last time you was in his office they could hear you yelling from Austin to El Paso." " Get the horses." " Billy Joe's right." "They say he's hit notes music publishers ain't heard." "Get the horses, Daniel." "Austin to El Paso, eh?" "Thought I yelled louder than that." " Hetty." " Goodbye." "Come on." "Let's go in." "Where are we going?" "First we'll pick ourselves up a tracker." "That breed Comanche over by the Goldicks' place?" "One thing I hate more than a Comanche is half of one." "His name is Lightfoot." "I wouldn't call him breed to his face, were I you." "Not if you want to reach maturity." " What's the matter?" " Nothing." "Didn't take that Struther long to make new friends." "Papa, a stranger's coming." "I see him." "Good morning, my dear chief." "I hope all goes well in your lives." "How about a cigar?" "Chief?" "Cigar?" "What the hell do you want, J.D.?" "I ain't got no money." "My horse is on his last legs." "And my genuine bearskin overcoat, I lost in a crap game." "Need a tracker, Lightfoot." "That's better." "How long would you say?" "Two days, maybe three." "It's, uh, cold up in them mountains." "That's a fact." "Yeah." "First day, 5 dollars." "Two dollars a day thereafter." " That's agreeable." " I'll track." "Any killing, you do it." "Might be friends of mine." "That's suitable." "Ma'am." "Morning, gentlemen." "Daniel." "I don't tip my hat to a squaw." "Ain't no squaw's gonna" "My apologies, ma'am." "Slight negligence in his upbringing." "Ma'am?" "What you bringing us up here for?" "Don't you know?" "If I knowed I wouldn't ask." "What are you walking on?" "Rock face." "That's right, rock face." "Starts back there out of Valentine, climbs all the way up to heaven, so the Comanches say." "Now, nobody just disappears, Daniel." "If the men that killed Ben Grady ain't in town and didn't leave tracks that two Apaches could read then they're up here somewhere." "And if they are, I'll find them." "Yes, sir, Daniel." "That's the truth you can bank on in Denver." "If they're up here I'll find them." "Been smelling smoke." "Half a mile down the ridge." "How many?" "Hired on as a tracker." "Stay here, Daniel." "I'll have a look." "Something on your mind?" "Just thinking if you wasn't J.D.'s boy, what a good time I'd have right now." "What I'd like to do to you brings back fond memories." "I don't know what you're talking about." "I don't like you." "That's what I'm talking about." "Well, let me tell you something, half-breed." " I don't care what you have to say about me" " You don't care about anything." "That's the difference between you and J.D. Cahill." "Even them that hates him, admire him for that." "He cares." "Well, he doesn't care about Billy Joe and me." "Kid, I've had buffalo brains that's got more going for them than you." "You got a bad feeling about your pa because he ain't home every night to powder your butt and tuck you in." "What business is it of yours, anyway?" "I've ridden with him." "And I've sweat with him." "And I've froze with him." "And I've tracked for him." "And I've cooked for him." "And I've covered even two dozen gunfights" "Here he comes." "And what's more I've set near about every bone in his body that's decent enough to talk about." "They're out there, all right, camped in the shelter of some trees." "Daniel get your rifle." "You taking him with you?" " Yeah." " J.D give me my 5 dollars." "You get shot tonight, I disappear." "Oh, I'll come back and bury you." "Mumble something Christian over your grave." "Lightfoot, your kindness overwhelms me." "It might not be them out there, Pa." "Let's go ask them." " The fire's dying out." " Let it." "I'd think a long time before I did anything rash." "Cahill." "United States marshal." " Pa!" " Hold it!" "Mister, I ain't got a bigoted bone in my body." "You don't drop that ax I'll blast you to hell as quick as I would a white man." "Come on in." "All right." "Let's get rid of the hardware." " Boy." " I ain't got no knife, mister." "Ff lend"." "...you look like a hideaway man to me." "What is it?" "Derringer or a palm gun?" " Lightfoot." " Yeah?" "Are they friends of yours?" "Nope." "You know them at all?" "Nope." "Hmm." "Daniel?" "I don't know them." "That ought to do about as much damage to a bank door as a Sledgehammer." "Wouldn't you say, Daniel?" "New money." "Where'd you get it?" "Where'd you get it?" "Don't, Pa!" "Ben Grady leaves a wife and two little boys." "I asked you a question." "As you may gather, I'm a little impatient." "Where'd you get that money?" "We took it from a Mormon drover in New Mexico." "We had a lot less than we needed and he had a lot more than he needed." "Mormon drover in New Mexico, eh?" "Yes, sir." "That's the God's truth." "Ah." " How old are you, boy?" " He's 16." "Just turned 16, is all." " Belong to you?" " My grandson." "Hmm." "Mister, you ain't gonna put those on me." " Daniel, get their horses." " You ain't going to." "Either that or I'll kill you." "I don't think they did it, Pa." "That's for the jury to say, not me." "I don't think they did it." "Son, if you know something I don't I'd be obliged to hear about it." "Otherwise, go get their horses." " Five pounds of tea." " Golden tips, ma'am?" "No, oongal or black oolong, Mr. Campbell." "And a 140-pound sack of Ceylon java coffee." "Five pounds of Wilbur's Breakfast Cocoa." "One pound of black pepper." "Five pounds of mustard powder." "And three quarts of medicinal blackberry brandy." "Ah, look who's got his nose in the candy." "He can have two." "There's two." "And two more for good luck, Billy Joe." "Thank you." "And six 2-pound tins of plum pudding." "And I want" " Now, Billy Joe, put that down." " That's much too heavy for you." " No, ma'am." "Not at all." "And a dozen Cross-e  Blackwell mixed jerky." "The money wasn't where it was supposed to be." "It wasn't where we told you to put it." "And we looked, but it just wasn't there." "We is some disappointed in you, boy." "Struther practically being a father to you, and all." "And him taking your betrayal of us real personally he wanted to come into town and cut you up real bad." "But I told him that wasn't necessary." "There must be some kind of misunderstanding because you is a good boy." "A good boy who wouldn't betray his friends." "No, sir." "I just wouldn't believe that you'd do anything so foolish." "Where's the money?" "Struther." "Where's the money?" " I hid it." " Where?" "You hid it where?" "I ain't telling." "I ain't." "Why in the hell not?" "You little son of a" "Why not?" "Would you explain it to me, please?" "Because me and mine don't like to be threatened and chased and told what to do." "If you kill me, you ain't never gonna find that money." "Never!" "Pick him up." "We gotta take him where nobody will hear him scream." " Come here." " Let me down!" " Damn you." " Get him!" "What in the hell?" "Watch out!" "Damn wire!" "Where the hell did he get to?" "Trouble, J.D." "I see them." "They look nasty, Pa." "Yeah." "Friends of Ben Grady, I guess." "Yeah." "There's that." "But mostly, it's money." "Bank gets robbed, town goes broke." "Most people think all that money belongs to the bankers." "It don't." "It's the little folks' savings." "What about us?" "Yeah." "What about you?" "We'll take them from here on, J.D." "Just like that, huh?" "Just like that." "Lightfoot, how far away would you say they are?" "Oh, about 10, 12 feet." "Make a good pattern for this buckshot." "Well, there's no use potting around." "I'm willing to die trying to keep them." "The question is, are you willing to die trying to take them?" "Now, I'm cold and hungry and wet and tired and short-tempered." "So get on with it." "Oh, hell, get out of my way." " J.D." " Hank." "Your littlest boy's come down with something." "Bad?" "That's the word." "Cock it." "Howdy." "You go on, I'll take care of it." "Where is he?" " He's in with the doctor, J.D." " Which room?" "The doctor doesn't want anybody in there until he's finished with the boy." "Now, you can just wait right here." "Women." "Things seem to happen to you two when I'm not around." "Like the time Gordine's horse kicked you and broke your leg-- Pa?" "And the time Billy Joe got poison ivy all over his face and-- Pa?" "Huh?" "You ain't never around." "You're dead right, Daniel." "I can't argue that." "I've been gone a lot of times when you kids really needed me." "And I've missed a lot too." "Missed watching you two grow up." "I think about it a lot on every job how, when it's over I'll come home and the three of us will get to know one another." "But even before that job was finished another one always seemed to crop up." "Another bank robbed, another murder." "I don't want what I'm saying to sound like I'm making excuses." "There's no excuse for negligence." "No excuse for a man ignoring his duty, either." "Your mother God bless her when she was dying the last thing she said on Earth was:" ""Go get them, J.D."" "And I've been going and getting them ever since till it's no longer just my job." "It's part of my life." "And that's what I want you to try to understand, son." "Your old man's life." "Will you give it a try?" "Yeah, Pa." "I'll try." "I'm glad because even grown men need understanding." "I'll be by tomorrow, Billy Joe." " Oh." " Doc." "He has a high fever, J.D." "How high?" " A hundred and three." " A hundred and three" "But it's not climbing, it's leveled off." "The boy has a touch of pneumonia." " Just pneumonia?" " But he's young." "Proper bed rest, good care he'll be as good as new." "You sure, doc?" "I'd bet my brand-new, Chicago-made leg amputator on it." "He's worried about one thing, though." " What's that?" " Your shoulder." " He wants me to take a look at it." " Ho, ho, forget it." "Thanks, doc." "Can we, uh...?" "Go right ahead." "Hello, Budger." "How are you?" " I'm all right, Pa." " Sure you're all right, you're a Cahill." "Cahills have survived floods, earthquakes, pestilence every natural disaster known to man." "Not to mention a few unnatural ones." "Can I get you anything?" "You hungry or thirsty?" "No." "I'm just a little tired, Pa." "All right, son." "You get some sleep." "Get some rest." "When you get back on your feet me and you and old Daniel there gonna get to know each other better." " It sounds like a promise." " You can believe it, son." ""Pa?" "'Yes?" "You never told me a promise before." "No I guess I never." "Hetty, I..." "I'll be back." "I gotta check on some prisoners." "I'll sit with him now." "You look done in yourself, Daniel." "No." "Only on the outside." "Tried to kill me, Danny." "I hid the money and wouldn't tell him where because I thought we might wanna give it back." "And they tried to kill me." "I been afeard to sleep, Danny." "You go to sleep, Billy Joe Cahill." "Nobody's gonna hurt you." " Danny!" " Sit down!" "Now, I'm gonna ask you one more time, boy." " And if you don't answer" " Close the window." " What'd you say?" " Close the window." "My brother's sick." "You want him to catch his death?" "Where's the money?" "We killed two men to get it." "You gotta understand, boy we ain't gonna hang any longer or be any deader if we kill two more." "Now, where's our money?" "Tell him, Billy Joe." "Let him have the money and get." "We'll give ourselves up and confess." "I never meant for four innocent men to hang for something I did, anyway." "Tell him, Billy Joe." " I can't." " You don't believe I'll kill you?" "It was pitch-dark." "And I was scared near out of my pants." "I went this way and that way and, well I know where it is." "But I can't tell you where it is." "I kind of have to find it again, if you can understand?" "Get him dressed." " He's got pneumonia." " I don't give a" " What'd you say?" " I said, he's got pneumonia." "Even if you kill me and take him, he won't live an hour out in that rain." " When did the doctor say he'd be on his feet?" " Didn't say." "Well, when he is, you know where we'll be." "Yeah." "You swear." "You swear on your brother's life and on his everlasting spirit may it rot in hell for time eternal if you break your oath to me." "You swear that you'll bring that money to me within a fortnight." "And that you won't tell anybody, anybody at all about what you done." "Or what we done before you." "Swear it." "I swear." "On your brother's life and eternal spirit." "On my brother's life and eternal spirit." "Funny thing." "I keep thinking about my mama." "She said I was born to be hung." "But to be hung for something I didn't do..." "Of all the bad things I've done." "I killed my first man when I was 12 years old." "Now to be hung, heh..." " You know who's going to do it?" " That kid, I guess." "He's acting sheriff." "Sure hope he knows what he's doing." "I seen a man choke-hung once." "Didn't break his neck proper." "It was five minutes before he stopped kicking." "Didn't they shoot him?" "No." "It wasn't a lynching, you understand." "It was a legal, proper hanging." "And they don't shoot you at legal, proper hangings." "Dirty bastards." "Good morning." "There's some makings." " You the one that chews?" " Yes, sir." "Thank you, kindly." "They made up their minds yet?" "Wednesday morning." "Two days." "Marshal?" "This damn animal keeps taking in air." " Looks pretty grim for them fellas in there." " Yeah." "Mr. Cahill, uh, you think they did it?" "Jury said they did." "Judge sentenced them." "What I'm asking is, do you think they did it?" "I think they're guilty as hell of robbing a Mormon drover in New Mexico." "And I gotta hang them." "Goes with the badge." "Whoa." "Any time you boys want to come back, you're welcome, and don't you forget that." " Thank you, ma'am." " And thanks for taking care of me too." "I was glad to do anything I could, Billy Joe." "You kind of like our pa, don't you?" "Now, what makes you say that?" "Well, you look at him funny sometimes." "Maybe there's a lot of words being spoke inside your head that nobody can hear except you." "Billy Joe, I'll talk to you about that in 10 or 15 years." "That sound gives me the shivers." "I wonder what it's doing to those who's waiting for it." " Well, thank you, ma'am." " Bye-bye." "Bye." "Things didn't work out like we planned, did they, Danny?" "No, they didn't." "And I ain't blaming that no-good Struther, neither." "It was like the Lord and the devil was having a tug-of-war in my gut." "And the devil won." "Seems like the devil always wins." "Maybe that's why so many people are on his side." "Yeah." "But I ain't really." "I just wanted to get back at Pa for never being around." "Pa ain't so bad, Danny." "Let's tell him about the whole thing and be done with it." "We can't." "Figure we don't know him well enough yet?" "No, that ain't it." "If Pa gets himself into something, he gets himself out." "And that's what we gotta do." "Get ourselves out without Fraser killing us." "Sure is hard, acting like a man." " Almost didn't find you." " Hell, J.D, I left a trail a blind man could follow." " They didn't go home?" " Nope." " Where are they?" " Right there." " What are they doing?" " Just sitting." " They pick up the money?" " Nope." "Fishing." "Just sitting and fishing." "Four men are gonna hang for something they didn't do and they're just sitting fishing." "There they go." "Lightfoot." "Amy and me tried for a lot of years to have children." "But maybe they came along too late in my life." "J.D.?" " Yeah?" " There ain't nothing too late if you love it." "Whoa." "Danny?" "Danny!" "I'm here." "Here." "Come on." "Come on." "Where'd you bury it, Billy Joe?" "It was pitch-black." "I didn't have a lantern." "I can't quite remember." " There." " Hold this." "You're making enough noise to wake the dead." "It wouldn't hurt to be a little quiet and careful." "For what?" "To take candy away from babies?" "Why do you suppose they wouldn't tell me?" "Didn't they know if they confided in me, I'd..." "Give them a chance, J.D." "Probably got it worked out in some kids' way." "Kids?" "Bank robbers." "God!" "Some poor soul leaving his mortal body." " I know!" "I know that" " I think it's just an old hoot owl, Billy Joe." "You sure?" "Nope." "Did you see them bank robbers jump out of their pants when that old owl hooted?" "Well, I am now gonna give them a scare they ain't never gonna forget." "And while their pants are down, I'm gonna give them a little parental guidance." " Found something?" " I hope it's the right something." " They got the money." " Yeah." "Come on." "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "Holy Christmas." "Like taking candy away from babies, huh?" "Very funny." "I'll tell you something funnier." " What's that?" " My leg's broke." "Oh." "We're gonna have to straighten it and splint it." "I thought an Indian didn't show pain." "Especially a bona fide Comanche war chief." "Who in the hell ever told you that, a damn white man?" "This is gonna hurt." "Here's something to bite on." "Well, thank you, J.D." "This knothead of yours almost ran my butt into the ground." "Couldn't find mine." "Must've headed for the barn." "Well, I hope you're enjoying my cigar." "Not bad." "How's the leg?" "If you're asking me as a war chief of the Comanche nation I don't feel a thing." "If you're asking the white part of me, it hurts like hell." " That's the white man groaning, I take it?" " You damn right." "I'll need that bottle of whiskey you got." "When you're finished with this thing, if you should come out alive you can come and do some hunting for me." "I'll be stove-up all spring." "Yeah." "You might bring a box of them cigars too." "You ain't finished yet." " Ain't finished?" " That's right." "What the hell are you talking about?" "My leg's broke." " I'm going home." "That's what I'm gonna do." " No, you ain't." "You're gonna finish the job." "Why?" "Because you're a better tracker than I am." "And there's no time for mistakes." "So start tracking." "You just stay where you are." "Oh, MacDonald, this is Cahill." " How are you?" " Fine." "Leastwise, ain't no one tried to hang me lately." " Well?" " There's the gate." "I'm in trouble." "I need a horse." "I'm willing to pay." "Back of you." "Thanks." "That's no horse." "It's a horse." "Leastways, as much of a horse as you're gonna find within 20 miles of here." "I got an old McClellan." "I'll throw that in, $50." "Fifty dollars?" "You want them or not?" "Your feet." "Get the McClellan." "Stay with him, J.D.!" "Stay with him!" "Might be faster if you walked." "More comfortable too." "Seeing as we're in such a hurry." "Of course, $50 ain't too much to pay for a spirited, well-bred animal like that." "Lightfoot I never heard a bona fide war chief talk so much." "How much further you calculate, Danny?" "Oh, about an hour." "Stay here, Billy Joe." " No, sir, I can't" " I said, you stay here, Billy Joe." "Fraser!" "Abe Fraser!" "Fraser?" "Fraser?" "Fraser?" "Nobody's in there." "No" "Billy Joe?" "Billy Joe?" "You shouldn't ought to treat me like a baby, Danny." " I'm near 13 years old." " You're only 11, and that's all you are!" "Eleven going on 12, and you ain't grown no brains yet at all." "That's your excuse." "I'm 17." "I must've lost any brains I ever had to get us into a mess like this." "Those men are gonna hang because of us, Billy Joe." "I can't get it off my mind." "If Fraser don't get here quick, it'll be too late." "You calculate that they'll kill us if they can, don't you, Danny?" "Don't like it." "Don't like it at all." "Well, there ain't no easy way to do this." "So let's go find out." "Damn." "Lightfoot!" "Light--!" "Well, don't break out in tears." "You've seen dying men before, ain't you?" "I want a cigar." "Won't do you much good, coughing the way you are." "Won't do me no harm, neither." "You don't have to worry about your family while I'm alive." "Hell, I know that." "I always loved these things." "Never could afford them." "Mm." "You got a nice bright fire." "Signal fire." "Except there's nobody to signal to." "Ain't that right, Brownie?" "I told you I took care of things." "Where's your brother?" "Where's Billy Joe?" "Right here, Mr. Fraser." "Boy, you better put that thing down." "Billy Joe, that ain't necessary." "We're all friends here." "Boy, this is old Abe Fraser." "Danny, tell him that ain't necessary." "There's your share of the money, Mr. Fraser." "Three-fifths." "About $12,000." "That ain't right, Danny." "The usual way, the proper way, is for the leader to make the split." "It all works out the same way, but one likes to observe the proprieties." "You understand." " You got the rest of the money with you?" " No, we don't." "That money's well hid." "We didn't come here to get our throats slit." "So you'd just best take your share and go." "You're a hard case, ain't you, just like your old man?" "No, I ain't!" "If it was him, he'd shoot you while he had the chance." "Right now." "So you'd best take that money and get while you still can." "No." "No, I won't." " You won't?" " Not till I've had my say and cleared my name." " Fraser!" " We played fair and square with you." "In spite of your youth and inexperience, we agreed to share equally with you." "And we have." "You agree to that, don't you?" "And you, Billy Joe who was it let you stay in bed so you'd get well?" "Of course, we had some disagreement, on account of you changing your mind." "Not us." "I was gonna invite you to come to my sister's with us." "And take you under my wing, as it were." "But I see that ain't your wish." "So I'll say goodbye to you." "And I offer you my hand in friendship and in parting." "And I sure hope you won't shame me by refusing to take it." "Goodbye, Mr. Fraser." "They'll be waiting for us, won't they, Danny?" "Better now than in the daylight." "Hyah!" " Pa." " Oh, Pa." " Am I ever glad to see you." " Still got the money?" " Part of it." " You mean Fraser's taken his share already?" "Yes." "Where's yours?" " We buried it." "I" " Go dig it up." "Just back them up and go around it." "Pa?" "You ain't leaving?" "Four innocent men are gonna get hung in the morning." "I'm going back to stop it." " Take Billy Joe with you." " Just do as you're told." "Don't you understand?" "They're gonna be there waiting for us!" "J.D. Cahill." "Doesn't give a damn about us." "Back." "Back." "Danny, look out!" "Oh!" "I gave you your chance." "You gotta give me that." " I held out my hand in friendship and" " In a pig's eye, you did." "You was gonna kill us the first chance you got." "The trouble with you, boy, is that you got no grace." "You should allow a man his illusions." "Danny!" "Fraser!" "Danny, are you dead?" "Got the wind knocked out of me." "Boy, you really had me scared, lying there like that." "Give me that horse." " We got the money." " I want him." "And I want them two boys, and I want them bad." "You staked us out, Pa." "Before you form any lasting judgment on me it was the only way I could get Fraser out into the open." "We almost got killed." "You could have got killed robbing that bank too." "Are they gone?" "We can't worry about them." "We have to get back to town before morning." "What's gonna happen to us?" "I don't know." "We'll get a fair trial, won't we?" "Lots of men get a fair trial and hang." "We were gonna give back our share of the money." "I know you were, son." "And confess." "And we did try to stop the killing." " I know, Daniel." "I wish" " Pa!" "I'll get the money, Pa." "Here, Billy Joe." "Hold it." "You'd even shoot a dead man!" "No, and I ain't gonna let him shoot me, neither." "Get up." "Get me a rope." "Budget." "You're bleeding again, Pa." "Yeah, I guess it goes with the badge." " You got a kerchief?" " Yeah." "Jam it in this hole." "It'll stop the bleeding." "Here, I'll do it." "Thank you, Pa." "Here's the money, all of it." "Good." "I hope..." "Now what's gonna happen to us?" "Well, they're gonna be a little short of witnesses." "And I can sure testify that you got the town its money back." "Do you think that it'll be reason enough maybe for the judge to put us in your custody?" "I don't know, son." "He might." " But we can't depend on it." " Well, Pa if he does, does that mean you'll be staying around home more?" "If you'll promise me one thing:" "Don't rob banks." "Let's go stop a hanging."