"Looks like farmland down there." "We stopping someplace?" "I got a shoe ain't lasting." "They'll all need attention before we head into that north range." "Talk about the tail end of nowhere." "Might be a sheepherder along that crick." "Norman, you and Earl see if you can locate a herder." "Find out what's ahead of us." "Today's the day Reverend Broyles comes to town, Johnny." " I didn't forget." " Well, you better hurry." "He'll likely travel the cool of the day and be in about noon." "This will be the last one, boys." "You mean church day's coming in the middle of the week again?" "Well, I'd just as soon hear a more respectful way of putting it, but the answer's yes." "Why can't Mr. Broyles come on Sundays when we have to read the prayer book anyway?" "Because he has to cover the whole county." "Can't be in a dozen different places the same day." "I'll leave you hitch the team while I wash up." "If Mr. Broyles doesn't come, do we still have to make believe it's a church day?" "You know, you fellas just might not make out too well on the day somebody says you either go up or you go down." "We like church better when you read us the prayer book on Sundays." " You don't take so long to finish." " Just hitch up the horses." "You know, I think I'm gonna make a start getting some early barley into the ground." "Talking to old man Collins the other day." "He thinks maybe the price gonna come back this year." "on your way to town, you might see if Dulcie could take some time to visit me." "All right. old Collins, he's got barley clear to the crick." "You might tell Dulcie to bring some things with her in case she has to stay a day or two." "You know, the boys are gonna be a great help to me this year." "They just..." "You mean, you want me to tell Dulcie because you're gonna ha...?" "You're gonna...?" "Because you're...?" "It's time?" "It's time, Johnny." "It's time?" "If the doctor gets here on time, fine." "If he doesn't, I'll manage with Dulcie and Mrs. Sawyer." "Tell Dulcie to stop for Mrs. Sawyer." "The doctor said it'd be early." "I don't want you to worry about it." "Not worry?" "Why, I can't forget what happened the last time." "oh, Johnny, I feel so good." "I know everything's gonna be all right." "Well, listen, I'll go into town, I'll get a good riding horse and go to Sweetwater." " No, it's too late for all that." " It's too late?" "If the doctor's not on his way already, we'll manage without him." "I want you to take the boys into town for church." "Church?" "I'm not going to church." "I'm gonna stay..." "Now, the Reverend Broyles makes a long trip." " We should have a fair attendance for him." " Henrietta..." "Ask Mrs. Littlejohn to keep the boys for the night." "That'll be one worry off my mind." "And another will be you." "I want you to stay with the boys." "You know Dulcie would never stand for having you underfoot." "oh, well, you know how much I care what Dulcie stands for." "But we will be dependent on her, so we can't have quarrelling, can we?" "You stay busy thinking up a name for our new daughter." "Sure prettying up herders these days, ain't they?" "I'm just sitting." "Sheep's Mr. Robbins'." "We lost our bearings, gal." "Is there something up ahead you might call a town?" " Firecreek's all." " Hey, girl." "That spitting distance or what?" "About four miles, I reckon." "Long time since I seen a gal sprouting hair like that." "No need to get skittish, gal." "I'm old enough to be your grandpa." "Way he's been around, honey, don't lay no money he ain't." "Say, Norman." "A scalp like this would be worth a horse or two in Sioux trading." "Can't be a young buck this whole valley worth his salt, a gal that skittish around." "What's going on here?" "Come on up there, girl." "Come on up." " The girl got herself wet falling in, Bob." " I did not fall in." " They was scaring me." " That's all it was, just a little scared." "You have a dress there to pay for." "Sure." "Sure thing, Bob." "Pretty dress for a pretty girl ain't never a waste of money, honey." " I ain't never had no $5 before." " Got it now, honey." "You're a pair of fools." "I don't suppose you took the time to find out if there's a town up ahead." "Yeah, place called Firecreek." "About four miles." "We'll water and rest the horses here in case we go right through." "She say she got scared, huh?" "Ain't nothing like a dollar changing a female's way of thinking, Drew." "Yeah." "You ain't got no cause to beat me, Mama." "What barn you been rolling in?" "I ain't been no place." "Just down to the crick." " How did your dress get into that state?" " Just down at the crick, I fell in." "It's that Abbott boy." "I seen him headed that way." "Mama, I swear, he wasn't nowhere..." "Wasn't around." "I told him you didn't want him fooling around me." " What is that?" " Something I found." "That's how I fell in." "Seeing a gold piece in the crick shining up at me, grabbing for it." "I'll put it away for you." "I figured I'd be buying me a new dress with that there money, Mama." "You got enough dresses." "You get one on for church." "You boys stay here." "Morning, Dulcie." "Well, it looks like it's time for Henrietta." "She was wondering if you and Mrs. Sawyer would come over." "Henrietta in labor?" " I never asked her that." " Could be a matter of some interest to you." " Where are you and the boys staying?" " oh, at Miss Littlejohn's house." "Let Leah ride with you." "Ask Bertha if she can put her up too." "That's fine." "That's fine." "I'll do that." "I'll be at the Cobb farm tonight." "Now, you ride in with them and you stay with Bertha Littlejohn, you hear?" "Yes, ma'am." " Morning, Mr. Cobb." " Morning, Leah." " Got hay for the livery?" " Yeah, they're about out." "You smell like barber water." "Now, that's not very good manners, telling a lady she smells." "But she does." "Just bury me here." "We'll take an hour, no more." "Sure ain't no town we gotta hurry through." "Something to think about, Bob." "You resting in bed a little, maybe get that bleeding stopped." "Boarding house, place to eat up there, means they get a stage coming through." "There ain't gonna be one every day." "Wouldn't worry me none if it did." "I swear, you and dirt's getting less fussy about each other every day." "That's a horse trough." "Shoot." "You been told to keep your hands off me, boy." "Well, ain't you dirty now." "Come on, boy." "Had him in there a long time, Johnny." "Folks hereabouts might not like somebody drowning in their livery trough." "Well, I guess I'm saying it'd be better you let him up." "How'd you like to take his place?" "Well, no, naturally, I wouldn't." "Man don't mind his own business..." "Maybe you don't realize you're talking to our sheriff." "Now, you boys go and play until the preacher comes." " And don't get too far." " Yes, Pa." "Come on, Arthur, give me a hand here." " Jail there, all right." " Didn't figure on no law in a hundred miles." "Hold it down, Drew." "You think I'm gonna let him get away...?" " Sorry if my partners' fooling got to you." " oh, sure." "We're just passing through." "Take it you're not a full-time sheriff, huh?" "No." "What you might call an honorary position." "First time I ever heard of a farmer-sheriff before." "Johnny gets $2 every month for being sheriff." "Now, how about that." "Kind of slow in coming sometime too." "For a farm town, you got pretty good accommodations up the street." "Place to eat, rooms." "Well, it's the overnight stop for the Sweetwater stage." "It comes through every Saturday." "If I sound nosy, we may be bringing a herd up this way come spring." "Might put up here instead of Sweetwater." "Town's always glad to get business." "Two hours enough for you to check their shoes?" "oh, the regular livery man's away." "He does the shoeing." "Johnny!" "I can do that, Johnny." "I've watched enough now." "All right, Arthur, you can do it." "Thank you, Johnny." "This town could really grow on you." "If he gets in trouble, I'll take over for him." "What, did you hurt yourself or something?" "My horse rolled, coming across the rocks." "Feels like a cracked rib." "Well, the doctor from Sweetwater's on his way here." "My missus is expecting." "We're sort of hoping he gets here tonight." "Thanks." "Be out of here by then." "Bob, no stage till Saturday a sodbuster for a sheriff." "What's chasing us out?" "Horses could use a rest, Bob." " I say we stay the night." " It ain't your say." "Well, I'll get a couple of hours' sleep and take a look at this." "Get some food in you." "We'll talk about it later." "Mr. Whittier!" "How much is this dress?" "Well, those..." "Those frilly ones, I'm asking $3, Leah." "If I bought it, could you trust me for a while?" "I'll put it on your mother's account." "No, no." "I mean trust me, personal." "Well, now, Leah, just how you going to hide a new dress from your mother?" "Mr. Whittier, I am of age." "I can buy me a new dress." "We'll keep it between us." "I'll go change in the back." "You know what I'd like to do someday, Johnny?" " Raise horses." " Well, no reason why you can't." "Yeah, but that'd take a heap of money to raise horses, wouldn't it, Johnny?" "Well, save a little out of your pay every month, you'll find it mounts up." "Yeah." "I'll have to do that." "one thing you ought to stop doing, though is keep buying things for people all the time." "I like to buy presents for people, Johnny." "Well, that's all very well and good, but the way to get a horse farm is to put away a dollar for every dollar you spend." "See?" "I'm always fooling myself." "I'm not smart enough to raise horses." "Well, I don't know, Arthur." "I don't know." "I'd say if you did go out and get yourself some horse land there would be a lot of people missing you." " Missing me, Johnny?" " I know Mr. Edelman says he doesn't know what he'd do without you helping him around here." " Did he say that?" " Well, yeah, sure he did." "Johnny." "Johnny, where are they from?" "Did they say?" " No, they didn't." " You didn't even ask them?" "No." "I don't make it my business asking strangers where they're from." "You saw how they acted." "I wouldn't be surprised but they were wanted someplace." "I don't see that's any of my business either." "Well, I think a close eye should be kept on them, Johnny." " Now, I think you really ought to do that." " Mr. Hall." "I've got enough on my mind without wondering about people passing through town." "Salutations, brethren." "The Almighty has given us a glorious day." "But, Johnny." "Johnny..." "Afternoon, Reverend." "Everything ready for you." "Bless you, Mr. Whittier." " Afternoon, Reverend." " Mr. Cobb, it's always my pleasure." "It's nice to see you looking well." "I wanted to ask, have you seen the doctor anywhere in your rounds?" "Illness in town, Mr. Cobb?" "Well, the doctor said he'd make it a point to get an early start around the county this month, for my wife's sake." "oh, yes, Mrs. Cobb." "I can tell you she hasn't got a worry in this mortal world, God bless her." " Not a worry." " Well, then the doctor's headed this way?" " Mr. Cobb, she's a God-fearing woman." " Yes, sir." "Faith will sustain her." "Services will begin promptly at 3:00." "You may assist me by informing those along the street, if you will." "Mr. Whittier." "See how it spins, huh?" "Yeah." "Hey, girl, he's your babe?" "Yes." "Mite lighter, ain't he?" "You full-blooded?" "Yes." "Kid ain't." "Hey, husband come along with the kid?" "Hey, Indian." "Now, he's talking to you." "No." "Town ain't been as quiet as it looks." "This may not heal a cracked rib bone, Mr. Larkin but never heard of it hurting one, like they say." "Thank you." "Don't get many travelers in the middle of the week." "Just staying the night?" " Be riding on before dark." " Your room is ready, Mr. Larkin." "Well hope that gets you to sleep." "Sure help." "Nice talking to you, Mr. Pittman." "This way." " Your grandfather's quite a talker." " He hasn't much else to do." "Hope it's not too much to ask think you can find something I could use for bandages?" "Maybe some hot water." "I think so." "My, how pretty we look today." "You're kind, ma'am." "How's Henrietta, Johnny?" "I see she didn't come in with you." "She's fine." "Well, I'm..." "I mean, this is her time, Miss Littlejohn." "Dulcie's out there with her now." "Anything I can do?" "Well, there is one thing." "Henrietta wondered if you'd take care of the boys tonight." "Why, of course." "Dulcie mentioned maybe Leah wouldn't be too much trouble, either." "oh, none of them are any bother." "I got room enough to rattle around in over there." "Put the boys up in the attic." "Extra bed there for you too." "Fine." "You'll have to be throwing a party, huh, Johnny?" "one they'll hear all the way to Sweetwater." "Whole damn town fits in a store and still we gotta sleep in the hills tonight." "Bob plays it safe." "Ain't nothing wrong with that." "There's a difference between playing it safe and being an old woman." "Earl, I'm coming more around to your way of thinking." "We could've cut over to Sweetwater and had ourselves a real night's entertainment before we hit the high country." "Plenty of time for that when we get the territory behind us." "Bob uses his head, and I'll stick with a thinking man." "This whole valley must be full of skittish gals." "No need to run, honey." "You passed inspection real fine." "The food is on the stove." "Well, times have changed, grandpa." "Gal likes a little cooing first." "You just can't grab her like that." "My age, son, you gotta take shortcuts." "Minutes count." "Here's hot water and bandages." "I'd advise you to have that taken care of." "Miss?" " Is it "miss"?" " Yes." "I figure you wouldn't fall over in a dead faint putting another bandage on me." "The amount of blood on that shirt shows you're carrying a bullet." "That calls for a doctor." "I managed some doctoring last night." "The bullet's out." "How did it get there?" "Wasn't a lawman, if that's concerning you." "You don't take after your grandfather much in the way of talking." "Not that I much complain when a woman keeps her mouth shut." "I find no complaint when a man does the same." "Here, I'll take him for a while." "Now, brethren, I ask you, does the Lord God have compassion?" "of course he does." "But should compassion be extended to those who knowingly defy?" "To those who would..." "How do they expect us to get our supplies with all that hollering going on?" " who walk hand in hand with Satan?" "Sure does bring it up from the gut." " the defilers, to the spoilers?" "Yea, even the fires of hell will not even the score of the transgressor." "He is a man doomed to eternal affliction." "A man who will kneel, bloody, in the dust of his creation." "A man who will scream the anguish of a pitiful soul who has neglected the word of the Almighty when evil beckoned." "No man escapes..." "Come in, come in." "No man escapes his day of reckoning." "To each falls an accounting." "Payment is demanded of ye, and payment will be made." "When he saith, "I cometh to be paid what is due my house" the Lord God does not speak of..." "There will be no drinking during services." "Well, you don't mind us, preacher, we don't mind you." "Drew." "That's not bad for store-bought whiskey." "It's been the town custom to close the store when we have church." "Appreciate you fellows waiting a bit." "Well, what happens if a man needs supplies in a hurry?" "Well, that never came up before." "Well, it's come up now." "We can wait." "Now, maybe a man or two here thinks the Book of Judgment don't apply." "That he can take pleasures in falsehoods pleasures in exploiting his brother's sorrows." "Well, to him comes damnation a thousandfold." "To him comes the devil's branding irons, heated to his tortured flesh." "Yea, there are some who will suffer the eternal desert the eternal thirst of the unbeliever." "Whither goest thou?" "What trail?" "What road?" "What awaits ye?" "The fires of hell." "The burning pit." "Ye say not for you." "From corruption given, corruption will be received." "What mockery have ye traded for his word?" "What part of thy soul have ye traded for damnation?" " Shut up." " Well..." "You been staring straight at me." "Well, I ain't asking for no preaching." "I have stirred thee, friend." "It was my intention." "Well, being so smart, your stirring's over." "Meaning your cat-howling." "Meaning this church." "Now, it may be, mister, you don't like the sermon." "A lot of people in this town don't come to hear it and Mr. Broyles would be the first to tell you he doesn't get 100 percent attention." "But all these people here have come to listen to the preacher and anybody doesn't like what he has to say can leave." "Sure a mouthful for a sodbuster." "You're forgetting again, you're talking to our sheriff." "Wasn't talking to you, limp-brain." "I think, mister, you better leave." "We can get our supplies later." "Sit down." "I have no animosity for thee, friend." "Go with my blessing." "Johnny." "Johnny, I think you ought to tell those fellas to move on." "You don't tell somebody to leave town because he's got bad manners." "Well, where are those men from?" "Where they heading?" "Those questions should be asked." "Miss Littlejohn, where these men are from and where they're headed is none of my business." "I think we'd better get on with the services here." "Maybe a good hymn or two will clear the air." "Suppose we try "Rock of Ages," page 11." "I thank you, Miss Evelyn." "I'm gonna be feeling a lot better going on." "I don't see how you're going to ride with that." "Some things you just do." "You're missing church." "It's not the first time." "Before, when I was asleep, you were watching me." " You reminded me of somebody." " Who?" "That's not important." "I usually figure my women." "You come harder." "I'm not your women." "Just wasn't making any sense to me somebody like you winding up in this cemetery of a town." "Thanks again for the bandaging." "Franklin, look." " My utmost thanks to you, Mr. Whittier." " Reverend." "And if you'll kindly relay my regards to Mrs. Cobb." "Thank you, sir." "Well, where you headed now, Reverend?" "I'll do some visiting through the foothills." "Maybe get a little marrying done among those trappers least the ones that don't see me coming." "I guess they'd scatter at that." "Kind of free souls up there, huh?" "There is no such thing as a free soul, Mr. Cobb." "The expression never sits with me." "We are the Lord's children, bound to follow." "I might have used a better choice of words." "The next time out, I'd like you to stop off the night with me and Henrietta." "Supper and a soft bed instead of you being on the trail all the time." "That's an invitation, Mr. Cobb, I'll hold in mind." " Good day, Reverend." " Good day." "We saw Buffalo Bill doing that." "He came to Sweetwater in a circus." "He ever do anything like this?" "Reverend." "Reverend, are you hurt?" "Are you hurt?" "No." "Well, I've sure done some fool things in my time but that takes the cake." "The young'uns got to talking about trick shooting and I kind of got carried away." "Sure hope you have a forgiving nature, preacher." "I think you did that on purpose." "Miss Littlejohn, why don't you take the boys down to the house." "Children." "Mister, why did you fire that gun?" "I told you, sheriff." "Boy wanted to see some trick shooting." "Sure hope you're accepting my apologies, Mr. Preacher." "No harm done, Mr. Cobb." "Well, that's real generous of you, Mr. Preacher." "Sure wouldn't do me no good, you being mad at me." " Sure you're all right, Reverend?" " Yeah." "Here, I'll help you." "How you making it, Bob?" "What am I supposed to do, keep a rein on you 24 hours a day?" "Town's real friendly, Bob." "No problems." "We kind of talked it over among ourselves and we decided maybe we could leave early in the morning." "I'll go along with them on that, Bob." "Couldn't be no better place for staying." "Pull out tomorrow with the horses rested and you feeling a lot better." " All right." " We do anything for you?" "Keep away from that farmer." "Johnny." "Johnny, I just been telling Arthur here you could maybe arrest those men and put them in jail." "Arrest them for what?" "on suspicion they're wanted someplace." "Now, if you put them in jail you could send somebody to Sweetwater for the marshal there." "You talk like I was the regular sheriff of this town." "I'm a farmer with a family to take care of." "And what's more, I got a wife that's pregnant and maybe gonna have a hard time of it." "We'd feel better if you stayed in town, Johnny." "I'm gonna stay in town." "Look, Johnny, if you're worried about Henrietta I can go out to the farm and stand by for you and then drive into town as soon as anything happens." "Well, now, you have an idea there, you know." "That Dulcie, she objects to having a husband around and it'd be a great help to me if you'd go out there, Mr. Hall." "Well, I'll go and lock up my shop now." "You need any help any time with those men, Johnny, you just tell me." "Well, nothing to worry about now, Arthur." "Why don't you see about shoeing these horses." "Well, don't you forget." "I'm your deputy." "You forgot." "oh, no." "No, no, I didn't forget." "No, I didn't forget, Arthur." "If I need your help, I'll call on you." "I'll call on you." "Just ain't proper." "What ain't proper, grandpa?" "Girl wasting all that energy on them windows me over here in a fix." "She'd beat you down without even half trying." "Your lack of faith disturbs me, boy." "What's going on?" "Looks like whatever goes on in this town goes on in that back room." "I haven't dropped by in a few days." "You know I don't mind." "There'd been talk, I guess you noticed that." "How's Henrietta?" "Well, it's maybe like before, a long time in happening." "Meli, we managed it wrong." "You coming to town, me saying nothing." "Sometimes silence is best." "No, no, we just managed it wrong." "Talk will stop when I'm gone." "No, but that's another thing." "It's driving you away from this town." "Johnny, but for you bringing me here, there was nowhere I could have gone." "And now I have earned enough money to settle in another town." "And I am grateful." "Going to another town isn't the answer like going to your village wasn't the answer." "Meli, I want you to stay in Firecreek and I want us to say something, bring it out in the open like I wanted to do when you came." "Johnny, it's too late now." " People will think that..." " Maybe I don't care what they think." "You must care." "This is your home." "Why are you so nervous, Mr. Hall?" "Nervous?" "Well, this is a kind of a nervous thing, this having a baby." "Your first?" "That's a joke, Mr. Hall." "Why don't you just go outside and make yourself comfortable and we'll call you if we need you." "Everything's gonna be all right in there, isn't it?" "Well, if it isn't, you'll be just about as helpful as that doctor who seems to be on the other side of the county." "Dulcie, you've no patience with the menfolk." "Well, they come in all sizes, Miss Sawyer but I've yet to find one that's worth a woman's patience." "Arthur." "You finished with your work?" "Johnny's finishing for me." "Said he had nothing to do." " There's some root beer inside..." " Mr. Whittier?" "You think that something bad is gonna happen?" "You worry too much about what you hear said, Arthur." "Well it'll be night soon and that's when things happen." "Yes?" "Did you want anything?" "If you're any good at small talk, it always manages to bore me to sleep." "Seriously, if you've got nothing better to do sit down." "Strange feeling, lying here." "Like I've suddenly been left naked." "No defenses." "I imagine it's a natural feeling every wounded man has." "Especially if somebody's following." "Who said there's anybody following?" "It's obvious you and your men are hired killers down from the northern range wars." "We work in the open." "Eat and drink with the ranchers who hire us." "As much respected as anybody in the country." "Don't quibble any fine line with me, Mr. Larkin." "You're as dishonest as any common road bandit." "I'm not ashamed of the part I play." "There's not a territorial border we cross where men aren't waiting hoping I can take them on waiting to call themselves Larkin men." "You're admitting your only importance is collecting men who don't care whether they live or die." "Who only live for the moment." "It's been a long road to make a name men will follow." "You'll get no apology from me." "It won't be long before you'll be running out of borders." "You'll come full circle against the law that made you move on." "You tie me up pretty good, Evelyn." "Why fight against times changing?" "Why not join in changing them?" "Then I'll be like all the rest." "Today I'm one of a few." "I lead." "That's important to me." "Earlier, you said I reminded you of somebody." "He was a wagon scout." "Killed in the same Indian raid that crippled my grandfather." "He mean something to you?" "We were good friends." "How long ago he die?" "Ten years." "And you've buried yourself in this town ever since." "I object to the word "buried. "" "object away." "You're living further in the past than I am." " All right, toro." " I'm mean." "You're all right." "Easy, toro." "Easy, toro, toro, toro." "oh, matador." "Easy, toro." "Easy, toro." "Easy." "You ready, toro?" "Come on there, killer." "There, now." "Put some of that in you." "Hey, give me another one of these." "Now, get all that glass out of there." "Well, that's your stupid trick, sticking that dumb head of yours through that window." " That could've cut me." " Wouldn't have hurt you." "You're pulling my hair." " Hey, Drew." " What?" "Your turn to ante up." "Hey, Rodriguez." "Five dollars take care of that window?" " I thank you." " one thing about us boys we always like to keep everybody happy." " Keep them happy." " A little old dress paid for." " Paid for." " Little old window paid for." " Paid for." " Well, pay the man the $5 for breaking his window." " There you go." "Sorry we couldn't leave it on better terms this afternoon, sheriff but that preacher, he did..." "He give me a wrong rub." "It'd be my pleasure and honor to buy you a drink and kind of let the bygones go." "Well, I just come over to ask you fellas kind of hold it down a bit." " The noise, I mean." " The noise." "Say, sheriff, you got a little one coming along, right?" " Yeah." " Well, come on, Gomez pour the man a drink." "Unless you mind the likes of us drinking to your kid's health." "I wouldn't blame him none if he did." "We're bums." "Bums." "Just bums." "Well, no, I appreciate the toast, naturally." "You're all right, sheriff." "Kind of man I'd like to ride..." "I'd like to ride with." "Now, what do we have?" "Hey, Drew." " What is that?" " He got a badge with the job." "Well, naturally, a sheriff has to have a badge." "It's not exactly a badge, it's..." "Well, no, I shouldn't say that." "It's..." "That's a badge?" "Well, my boys kind of hammered it out for me." "I ain't never seen anything like that." " Mind your manners." " Look how they spelled that." "I said, mind your manners." "Look how that's spelled." "Norman that spells "sheriff. "" "But look how it's written on there." "Well, their schooling hadn't gone very far, time they made it." "Right smart badge, sheriff." "You got youngsters to be proud of." "Well, I sure am proud." "I am proud." "It's about their bedtime." "I'd better get over there and say good night to them." "Say, glad we're leaving on good terms, sheriff." "I mean, I hate leaving a man I like." "You know, I mean, him not thinking well of me and all." "Well, I'd appreciate you fellas kind of taking it easy so the town won't be disturbed." "We're your boys." "Get that hair down, Pancho." " Everything all right, Johnny?" " It's all right, it's all right." " They're getting mean..." " They'll be gone soon, Arthur." "Why don't you go to bed and get some sleep." "She sure got a way of making a man ache." "Well, we could draw straws, see who says hello first." "Well, I never heard of anyone getting to sleep on a windowsill." "We were watching Arthur, Pa." "That's not too polite, you know." "Watching a fella without him knowing it." "Franklin said Arthur took the town's name because he forgot his own." "Yeah, I guess that's the way it happened." "How can anybody forget their last name?" "Because some people just don't have good memories, that's all." "But Firecreek's a funny name to pick." "No, you say it together it sounds kind of nice." "Arthur Firecreek, Arthur Firecreek, Arthur Firecreek." "Pa, will you finish the story you started last night?" "Will the new baby be born when we get home tomorrow?" "Well, that's possible." "But, anything starts to happen Mr. Hall's out there and he'll come let us know." "We're hoping it's a baby brother, not a girl." "Well, I'd say a sister wouldn't be all that bad." "But you can't play with girls." "That's true." "That's true, that would be a drawback." "Well, does anybody remember where I was in the story?" "I remember." "The nesters were putting up mud huts and Sam Bass was hired by the bad rancher to get them off." "He rode out and was gonna burn their crops." "They wouldn't have anything to eat and they all worried about not having anything to eat." "Well, then, this..." "Among these nesters was this family and they had two boys about your age, and..." "Meli?" "Meli!" "Meli!" "Now, you get back to your livery, stable boy." "You stop hurting Meli!" "Now, you show yourself around here again, boy you're gonna get more of the same." "You ain't going back." "Just a minute, boy." "Don't take but a hair on that trigger." "You're gonna stand right there..." "There ain't nothing we can do for him now." "old limp-brain shot him, huh?" "I didn't mean to." "I didn't mean to." "Johnny." "I didn't mean to do it, Johnny." "How do you not mean to shoot a man in the back?" " And with his own gun." " Just what happened, Arthur?" "I ain't never shot a gun before, Johnny." " What was going on?" " He was hurting Meli." "That's all I was trying to do, Johnny." "I was just trying to stop him." "Can you tell us what happened, Meli?" "He forced his way into my bedroom." "Now, wait a minute." "Who's talking for Drew?" "I mean, who's saying he wasn't invited?" "I'll say that, mister." "I don't see what this argument's got to do with putting a bullet in a man's back." " I ain't never shot a gun before." " You sure made out the first time, boy." "You go on inside, Meli." "Well, this is something for the Sweetwater judge." "A judge?" "Mister, where I come from, this calls for a rope." "Now, you just hold on." "If anything, there's been an accident here." "That boy would never shoot anybody." "Then what's your decision?" "Well, the Sweetwater judge." "He can ask questions, get the proper answers." "We can have him in here by the first of next week." "You expecting us to wait around here a week to testify, mister?" " Come on, Arthur." " Where, Johnny?" "You come on with me." "I gotta put you in jail." "In jail?" "I..." "Now, you come on." "You couldn't do some quiet drinking and get some sleep." "oh, now, you gotta be fair, Bob." "Drew didn't figure on no fuss being made over a squaw." "None of us did." "Never mind that Indian squaw, we always say we take care of our own." "Now, Drew's dying needs taking care of." "He was shot by a stable boy who couldn't tell you what day it is." "He got it in the back, is what counts." "Now, we've been your men, Bob but maybe we'll start voting on what gets done around here." "When did you ever show enough brains to vote on what gets done?" "I was just trying to help her, Johnny." "If somebody's getting hurt that's what you do, try to help." "I know, Arthur." "I'm really putting you in here for your own protection." "Well, why ain't they in here instead, Johnny?" "Those men." "or maybe make them leave town." "Well, it just..." "It isn't exactly a case of right or wrong, Arthur." "You see, sometimes a fellow just has to kind of step back and wait a little time." "I don't understand, Johnny." "I don't even know whether I've the right to put you in jail let alone go out and arrest somebody else." "I don't even know why I'm in town." "This whole thing is as much my business as..." "All right, everybody out here!" "Come out and say goodbye to Drew." "Did you hear that, boys?" "All right, everybody get out here!" "Well, now we're gonna have a little party, pop." "All right, everybody out here!" "You hear?" "Come on out here, now." "All right, everybody's gonna get out here and say goodbye to Drew, now." "Everybody out, you hear?" "Come out, now." "You hear me?" "Everybody out here!" "All right, everybody out." "Barkeep!" "Take the whiskey out here, pronto." "Come on, everybody, get out here!" "Now, you folks just sit down." "Make yourself at home." "Just have a seat." "Everybody out, you hear?" "Come on out." "Everybody get out here!" "Come on, now, everybody get out here." "Come out, you hear?" "What's going on?" "Just an old-fashioned wake." "Hey, you play this thing, pops?" " Wouldn't be up to it." " I didn't think so." "Ten dollars to anybody can play this thing!" "Who wants to make $ 10?" "Mister!" "You wanna make $ 10?" "All right, y'all get out here." "Let's don't find anybody hiding under a bed." "Stop your bellering." "Well, sorry, Bob." "Kind of forgot myself." "All right, you folks, come on down here and sit down." "Come right on down." "Guess you'd have no objection to how we bury our own." "Come have a seat." "We're gonna get some service." "That's right." "You just head up the street with all those nice people." "Well, now if it ain't old Five-Dollar Nellie." " My name's Leah." " That's just a joke, honey." "You wearing that pretty dress for me?" " You like it?" " Yeah, I like it, along with what's inside it." " You go to your room and stay." " Now, ma'am, I said everybody." "I ain't going no place but where I want, and you can't make me." "You're to stay in the house, Leah." "Mr. Cobb, I don't mind seeing a burial, I truly don't." "Get back in there." "Sheriff, the little gal just wanted to pay her respects to the dead, that's all." "Miss Littlejohn, you don't have to be out here either." "oh, it's all right, Johnny." "There should be some of us attending." "We got a lot of old people in this town it'll be up to them, and not you, whether they want to be at a wake." "Well, seems you and me come abutting heads - on." "Now, you gotta understand, sheriff we got a religious way of doing things when we lose a man and I'll appreciate you respecting that." "Come on down here." "Come right on down." "Sit down, folks." "Come on down and have a seat." "Gotta keep the guest of honor happy, folks." "You just hoot out if you want it louder, old buddy." "It's disturbing where I stand." "I got a good mind to put a stop to this." "That might cause trouble." "But me being called sheriff and having all this go on..." "Well, now, maybe what's going on isn't even any of your business." "Look, I don't think anything's happening worth you getting hurt over." "In the morning, they'll be gone." "Everything creeping along the way it was before." "Everybody protecting his own little world." "I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Whittier." "What regard, Johnny?" "Well, you sound like nothing mattered, if I heard you right." "Just unimportance, Johnny." "Nothing important." "The town, the valley." "See, I'm old enough to have learned, Johnny nothing ever stands still." "You grow or you die." "And a town that collects losers will exist for their lifetimes, no more." "Losers?" "Losers." "Yes, Johnny." "Take Arthur, poor simpleton that he is." "Six years ago he drifted in here, not even knowing what his last name was." "But he still had the mental capacity to recognize a town that he wouldn't have to compete in." "You know, I once practiced law." "Haven't you ever wondered why I came to these parts?" "Well, you said it was your health." "Well, peace of mind is also a man's health." "I found myself unable to cope with making important decisions so I came to Firecreek because I could live out each day here without my word having any import." "I'm no different from all the rest of them no different at all, Johnny." "Look." "Just look at them out there." "They're frightened because of something new and strange in town." "Disturbed because today didn't turn out like yesterday." "Let it go, Johnny." "Let it go." "But we've got more than that here, Mr. Whittier." "We've got to have more than that." " We..." " Johnny!" "Johnny." "Johnny." "Johnny!" " It's bad, Johnny, real bad." " What happened?" "I don't know." "It's just bad." "Henrietta, she's screaming." "Let me in there." "How we leaving here, Bob?" "our tails tucked in?" "We leave here like we leave every other place swinging high and wide." "Looks like it's gonna be a busy night." "Well, now, how's the little girl I'm liable to bundle off to St. Joe before she even thinks of it?" " Some dancing left?" " Honey, it ain't only left but Drew's liable to come raring out of that chair plain jealous." "I hope you won't be leaving too early tomorrow." "We'll be leaving, honey, but not too early." "Got some unfinished business." "Come on, girl." "Kind of pride ourselves we leave no business unfinished." "That right, Bob?" "Get out." " You're not sleeping." " Naturally I'm not." "May I come in?" "You're humiliating this town." "It's nothing I want." "I thought you placed such great importance on leading." "Your so-called town sheriff and me are quite a bit alike." "How do you see that?" "We're both riding a greased pig." "Nothing to hold on." "I don't know what's going through his mind but in my case, I'm not expected to leave behind one of my men with a bullet in his back." "And you placate these animals you call men?" "Certain things are expected of me." "Well, why not do the unexpected?" "Ride on alone." "You don't need these killers." "Maybe I've been alone, didn't like it." "Maybe I don't have your temperament to accept another empty day." "That's insulting." "Then you do have something left." "You know, Evelyn I've known a lot of women." "Been with a lot." "Is that supposed to excite me?" "No, no." "I'm trying to explain." "I never loved any." "I kept thinking the craziest thing out there like I'd be coming back this way." "I don't know when." "I can't gamble with being nobody." "I've been that." "It doesn't work for me." "It's a false labor." "Same trouble as with your youngest." "Henrietta." "Johnny." "I'm glad you came." " I should have gone over to Sweetwater." " No." "I'm gonna be all right." "I was dreaming of our wedding day." "Remember, Johnny?" "Held up the wagon train for a whole hour." "You were so shy." "So handsome." "Just plain everyday scared, that's..." "But in my dream, we didn't pull out of the wagon train." "We went on to oregon, the way we'd first planned." "I saw everything so clear." "There was land up there as far as we could see." "our land." "Land for our sons." "You remember how it was, Johnny?" "The things we talked about?" "I remember." "So adventurous, so exciting." "There was nothing we couldn't do, nothing, the two of us together." "oh, Johnny." "Why didn't we go on?" "Why did we settle for less than we wanted?" "Johnny, hold my hand." "Don't go away." "Hold tight." "Stay with me, Johnny." "Dulcie." "I've got to get back to town." "Well, there's obviously nothing holding you here." "There are some men in town and I just feel it's better if I'd be there." "I said that there was nothing holding you here." "I've got to get in there." "If I just felt that she'd be all right..." "Henrietta's my whole life, Dulcie." "Now, leaving here, I'd..." "If I just..." "If I just knew that she..." "Her worst time was last night." "She'll do all right now." "Johnny?" "Hold my hand." "How could you let it happen?" "How could you let it happen?" "Well, you were all here." "How could you let it happen?" "!" "They had no choice." "We didn't bother running." "No reason to run." "Where you find no law, you set your own." "We tried him, found him guilty." "Maybe nobody can keep you from leaving this town, but I'm following." "I'm following, and when we get to a marshal I'm gonna charge you with murder." "Wherever you go, Larkin, I'm following and I'm gonna watch all four of you hang!" "Little worrying over that leg will slow you down." "Still owe shoeing money." "Guess $5 ought to cover it." "Ain't nothing $5 won't take care of in this town." "Mr. Whittier." "Mr..." "Mr. Whittier, you've got a handgun here." "I'll take it." " Give it up, Johnny." "It'd be a losing game." " Come on." "Come on, I want that gun." "It's not your fight." "It's not your business, Johnny." "And that's what I've been telling myself ever since they rode in here." "Well, it was my business, Mr. Whittier." "The Larkins of this world are everybody's business." "And they won't disappear just by turning your head or stepping back." "That boy's dead because I didn't take a stand with them in the beginning." "I'm not watching you get yourself killed by those men." "You say this is a town of losers." "How could you say Arthur is a loser?" "He fought back and didn't have anything to fight back with." "Now..." "Now, me, a loser well, that's something else again." "No, I'll agree with you there." "The day I crossed this valley you had the biggest loser of all time settling right here." "Do you know what I saw in this place I was willing to call my home?" " I'm not giving you that gun, Johnny!" " Listen to me!" "I had my whole life ahead of me." "And all I saw here was land that nobody wanted and ground that nobody would be challenging me for." "I saw too many people die fighting over land." "This wasn't gonna happen to me." "Not to Johnny Cobb." "Johnny Cobb had the answer." "Search for a place where there are no bruises and tie it up with a ribbon and tell yourself that what's inside is the sum total of your life." "And what I didn't see was the day a man decides not to face the world is the day he better step out of it!" "Now, give me the gun!" "Mangy cur." "And that Indian girl across the street and that child of hers." "That child belonged to my dead brother." "Got to be a habit, not taking a stand." "Easier all the time." "Wouldn't admit that a half-breed was a Cobb." "Bottom shelf, Johnny." "They can't exist in this world, Mr. Whittier." "once people take a stand, there won't be any place for the Larkins to hide." "Henrietta said we settled for a lot less here." "Well, maybe we did." "Maybe we did." "But I'm fighting for my home." "And I'm fighting for my boys taking over someday and making the name Firecreek heard and making this valley a place we got some pride in." "And I just don't think I'm gonna be apologizing for wearing this." "That's a lesson I learned long ago." "A man worth shooting's a man worth killing." "Spread out, go in fast." "Nothing." "He's got an advantage, knowing the town." "Well, I'm kind of getting fed up with this sodbuster." "All right, Cobb, we'll settle for a standoff." "We leave, you go for a marshal." "We'll take our chances on the trail." "Got that backed up with a hole card, Cobb." "You agree, or we burn the town." "If I had the use of my legs for 10 minutes and a gun in my hand..." "Time for him to show some sense." "You cut out along the back, to the livery." "You don't hear from Cobb, put a match to it." "Cobb, this whole town goes up like a prairie fire." "Won't be anything left." "Johnny should say something." "Your time's run out, Cobb." "Put it out." "Put that match out." "Why not give a little, take a little, sheriff?" "Now unbuckle your gun belt." "I mean, you step back, we'll do the same." "Unbuckle it." "What's the matter, sheriff?" "You nervous?" "That's right, I'm nervous." "All right." "Sure can't agree with your thinking about..." "You know better than to go to a man who's expecting you." "Bob." "Bob." "Bob." "Bob." "We'll start moving around once he takes to worrying about where we are, what we might be doing." "We'll wait." "I ain't gonna wait, Bob." "I think he's around that livery, and that's all I need to know." " Pa!" " Pa!" "Larkin!" "Cobb!" "Drop it, Cobb, it's all over." "I said, it's all over." "Drop it and you'll live." "I'll ride out." "What are you proving?" "Two dollars a month, a homemade badge." "You've got no business laying your life on the line." "Johnny." "Johnny." "Pa!" "Pa!" "[ENGLISH]"