"I can't. I can't go on." "You must." "You will ride, I will walk." "Come." "Wore it out brushing away his tracks." "But he's in a hurry." "He missed a few." "Two horses, unshod." "Indian ponies?" "No need for that tone, Rafe." "That buck's got my sister and this tracker ain't sure whose side he's on." "Hey." "All Vin said was that he wasn't sure Chanu was a renegade." "Oh, yeah, sure." "Red devil's probably out there right now..." "...just waiting to jump us." "He'll probably just jump you." "Indians always go for the loudest ones first." "How do you know those tracks are fresh?" "Heavy dew this morning." "Tracks are still wet." "All right." "Which way?" "Just follow me, Mr. Mosley." "Drink." "Here we go." "He's on foot, leading the ponies." "What are they doing now?" "How the hell should I know?" "We gonna break camp here?" "We're close." "We ain't gonna get near them with this bunch at our necks." "Yeah." "J.D." "Go ahead and make camp." "We're gonna scout ahead." "Well, I'm going with you." "That's not a good idea." "Who made you God?" "Your pa did, boy, when he asked for our help." "Well, I don't care" "Rafe." "You should drink." "You okay, Claire?" "Yes." "Gotta take you in, Chanu." "One way or another." "Didn't cover your tracks enough?" "Right here." "Right there!" "Cut him off that horse!" "Get down from that horse!" "Could be an interesting creative challenge for you, Mrs. Travis." "Turning this situation into one of your pro-lndian editorials." "We don't know his story yet, Mr. Standish." "Lovely young woman abducted from her home by a savage." "Couldn't we hazard a guess?" "Hang him up now!" "Well, seems you've misplaced the rest of your party." "What happened to Mr. Mosley and his posse?" "You go around them?" "It was that or throw Chanu to the wolves." "An intriguing option." "You all right, Claire?" "Let me help you down." "Back off!" "You better get him behind bars before somebody does something stupid." "Leave him, Johnny." "We'll get him later." "Savage." "You won't get away with that." "Mary?" "It won't be too long after that posse gets back that this situation's likely to get out of hand." "I'll wire the judge today." "But it'll take him at least three days to get here." "We're gonna hang him till he's dead." "Could be a long three days." "Vin, you got him?" "Claire?" "Nathan's seeing to her at the newspaper office." "You cut us out to bring him in?" "Now we know for sure what side youre on." "The side that ain't a lynching party?" "One damn mark on my sister and you may well be looking at that." "Hey, tracker, I'm talking to you." "Rafe." "Your sister's scared and needing you." "You wanna take time away from that to make a fuss?" "That one's trouble, Josiah." "Heard his daddy's pulled him out of scrapes from here to Kansas Territory." "Sounds about right for a missionary's boy." "Yeah, it's just bruised." "It should heal up in a few days, as long as you take it easy." "Claire." "Sweet Lord, you're safe." "We've been worried sick." "Whatd he do to you?" "You okay?" "Physically she seems fine..." "...except she got a banged-up knee." "You touch her?" "Don't you mean "thank you"?" "Rafe there's enough hurt to go around without your vicious tongue." "I should never have let you be anywhere near that reservation." "He didn't...?" "I'm all right, Papa." "Maybe you ought to take her home." "She looks like she could use some rest." "Yes." "Yes, of course." "Mr. Mosley if I can do anything...." "Pray for me, Mrs. Travis." "Pray that I may find forgiveness." "You will." "l don't know." "I've devoted my life to bringing the enlightenment of the Lord to those people." "If this is my reward...." "So is it true that this Chanu is the son of the chief?" "Yep." "Guess I'll finally get a chance to meet him." "Meet him?" "You going up to the reservation?" "Somebody's gotta tell him we got his boy." "I'm figuring on staying a few days in case anybody gets any ideas about breaking him out." "I was hoping for a better calling card but the Lord does work in mysterious ways." "Don't bother with that preacher talk up there." "If the great Bible-thumping Owen Mosley can't turn them don't think you can." "I ain't interested in turning them." "All you fellas are mighty high on yourselves, ain't you?" "I heard about your reputations, and I ain't impressed." "Dodge City, I had me a run-in or two myself." "Reputation's gotta be growed into, sonny." "You got yourself a few more years before you qualify." "He does." "Why don't you go tend to your family, son." "You worried I'll throw down on you?" "Not half as worried as you should be, son." "I'll be watching you." "We're shaking in our boots." "Shaking in our boots." "Aren't we?" "What?" "You are the new missionary?" "Me and my missionary ways parted company a long time ago." "Name's Josiah." "l am Ko-Je." "I know." "Been wanting to sit down and talk to you." "Unfortunately, what I gotta talk to you about now ain't good news." "Chanu is dead." "No, but he's been caught and he's gonna stand trial for kidnapping." "Bring him here. lf he did this, he'll be punished by tribal law." "Afraid the people up there ain't gonna agree to that." "Sorry." "They don't understand." "I believe I understand." "You know my son's reasons?" "No." "But I know what it's like to have a Bible shoved down your throat." "How mad that can make a man." "See, my father was a missionary, just like Mosley." "Did his work for a while." "Till we broke." "Your God came between your father and you." "And between me and Chanu." "Your God should find better things to do with his time." "All right, show your stuff, doc." "Two pairs." "Beats my queens." "Why does he keep singing like that?" "I guess it's some kind of prayer." "Prayer?" "To save his hide?" "J.D." "Ain't nothing funny about a man losing his life." "I know." "Boys." "We might have a problem." "Disturbing rumors are circulating regarding your relationship with the man in question." "Suspected as much." "How well do you know him, Vin?" "Don't." "But I know his people, and I know how they think." "Guessing he had a reason for doing what he did." "I saw the look in that girl's eyes when we found her." "She was scared out of her wits." "I can't think of any reason that would make that right." "Things quieting down out there?" "Not hardly." "You two go grab yourselves some grub." "I'll watch the place for a while." "Thought you might be hungry." "Your father's being told where you are." "If you want to, I can get him a message." "Hear you been raising hell about the missionaries up at the reservation." "That got something to do with taking the girl?" "People think you took her so you could have your way with her." "But you'd have done that long before we found you if that were so." "We ain't asked Claire yet, but" "Why talk to a foolish girl who lies like her father?" "Who promises my people things they will only get after they die." "Who tries to destroy our spirit, our ways." "The missionary steals from my people, so I steal from him." "You got a world of trouble on your shoulders." "Now, the judge is coming to town." "He's a good man." "He might understand." "Could even keep you from swinging." "Food." "Vin." "Vin, can you hear me?" "Then we found him laying there." "Just like that." "All right, J.D. You stay posted outside." "Nobody comes in here." "Nobody knows anything." "Where is he?" "Gone." "Son of a bitch." "Take it easy." "We'll go after him." "Stay put." "No, I'm going after him." "He's mine." "If we keep a guard outside the townfolk will still think we got Chanu." "That'll buy us a little time." "All I need is 2 4 hours." "That's a lot of hard riding for a man in your condition." "I'll ride with him." "All right, 2 4 hours." "Then we form a posse." "Whoa, boy." "The place is lit up." "Mosley must be home." "What do you want, tracker?" "Where's your sister?" "She and Pa were gone when I got home." "I found three horses missing and the front door wide open." "Mosley probably went after him." "Let's go." "Hold it." "Told you to hold it!" "Shoot us if you have to, because we're going after your sister." "Where is she?" "Tell me, damn it!" "I don't know, but Chanu's escaped." "You let him get away." "We need another posse." "No, no." "We going alone." "Yeah?" "The hell you are." "When I find him, I'm gonna blow him out of his" "Sorry, kid." "Josiah." "Chanu got loose." "Damn near killed Vin." "Posse?" "Not if Vin can find him first." "Chris sent me here to back you up, in case Chanu comes here." "He won't." "Breakfast?" "Yeah, I'm starving." "This is good." "What is this?" "Excuse me." "You know where he is." "What do fathers know of their sons?" "You said he won't come here." "I figure you know more." "A feeling." "Ko-Je." "If we get to him first, we can save him." "You're his father." "You gotta to do what it takes to protect him." "Did your father try to protect you?" "In his own way, yeah." "And like most sons, it angered you." "Look my father is dead." "I'd like to keep Chanu from being the same." "Your father's spirit walks with you." "That's why you're unbalanced." "It's too heavy on your shoulder." "This ain't about my balance." "This is about Chanu." "All things are connected." "Still two horses trailed by one." "Headed north, just like you thought." "Were." "But they changed direction." "Why?" "Coyote tracks." "Must've crossed their path here." "Bad luck to keep going straight, according to his people." "How come you know so much about all this stuff?" "Lived with them for a while when I was buffalo hunting." "Had a friend, best tracker in the tribe." "Taught me what he knew." "What he didn't know, he just plumb made up." "Where is he now?" "Got killed when the Army rounded them up forced them to the reservation." "Someone's coming in." "Mosley." "I followed them best as I could." "I knew the wilderness as a boy." "But I'm a preacher, not a tracker." "You did all you could do, Mr. Mosley." "Now it'd be best if you just kept heading on home." "Claire put her hope and trust in the Lord working selflessly by my side trying to save the Indians." "I'd go to my grave trying to get her back." "But I can save you some time." "I can show you where l lost Chanu's trail." "When we come up on him, stay back." "Let us handle it." "I just want to get my daughter back safely." "That's all." "We'll get her back, Mr. Mosley, we'll get her back." "Real convincing there, Ezra." "Well, I personally don't see the need for this ruse." "Chris puts a tad more trust in Vin's instincts than I do." "Well, I'll tell you one thing we don't need." "This whole town getting all riled up because Chanu is gone." "Could get ugly, and I do hate ugly." "Hey." "Move out of the way now!" "Move it!" "Out of the street right now!" "Get out of the way!" "Well, then." "Brace yourself, Buck." "Because here comes ugly." "And we'd best shut him up before he gets out of hand." "What the hell are you doing?" "Why aren't you looking for Claire and Pa?" "Calm down, fool." "Okay, Claire and your pa are in good hands." "Hey, hey, that renegade tracker of yours damn near took my head off, so don't you tell me to calm down." "A head wound?" "That might be serious." "Perhaps I should examine it." "Get away from me." "Let Ezra take a look at it." "He knows what he's doing." "Ezra, you read a medical book once." "I just looked at the illustrations." "Gruesome images." "Oh, my, this is serious." "Why, you could collapse at any moment." "Don't cry now, Rafe." "You got him?" "Yeah." "Come on." "Whoa there." "He's okay." "He's overcome by gratitude for us saving his sister." "He'll be fine." "Now, now, son." "Watch your head." "What was that?" "l don't know." "It's just a few hours old. lt was probably put out right before dawn." "Then they were here." "Wood for the fire came from this tree." "Been struck by lightning." "I appreciate your attention to detail, Mr. Tanner but aren't we wasting time?" "His people fear lightning, Mr. Mosley." "Don't burn wood that's already been cursed by it." "Hey!" "Fire." "Hey, fire!" "Fire!" "Don't you speak English?" "Fire." "Can you help me?" "Fire, hey!" "Hey!" "Fire!" "Hey!" "Oh, my gosh." "They're...." "Excuse the boy." "Poor upbringing." "An embarrassment to us all." "Josiah." "Josiah, those men are naked in there." "You noticed." "Hard not to." "lt's a sweat lodge." "A sweat lodge?" "A purifying ritual to harmonize themselves with nature." "It's sacred." "And you need to show a little bit more respect." "I think-- l think it's nuts." "And I also think that we're nuts for staying here." "Look, we should be going after Chanu ourselves." "We can catch him." "And besides, the old man said he ain't coming back here." "That old man, he knows more than he's saying." "Something he wants me to know." "Something about Chanu." "Why don't he just tell you?" "No." "He don't wanna reveal more than he has to." "He's waiting for me to figure it out for myself." "Claire?" "She's dead, Mr. Mosley." "Claire." "No." "No." "My little girl." "There were bruises on the side of her neck." "About the size of a man's hands." "I'll be heading back now." "I'm sorry for your grief, Mr. Mosley." "A man's not meant to outlive his children." "Sure you don't want me to come?" "I just want my baby's killer dealt with." "Do that for me." "For Claire." "We'll track him down." "I don't know if that's good enough anymore." "Hey." "Hey." "Hey, what the hell was that for, huh?" "Pa?" "Claire?" "Claire?" "No, no, no." "No, no, no." "Claire." "You know, it wasn't your fault, you know." "She died by Chanu's hands." "Yeah, but she'd still be alive if I hadn't let him get away." "Thought I had a sense of him knew who he was." "But he's got a lot more hate in him than I figured." "Vin, you're just a man." "And every once in a while, a man can be wrong." "Ko-Je." "Things have taken a bad turn." "Claire Mosley is dead." "l know." "People got a way of getting worked up." "Could get dangerous, not just for Chanu." "I need your help, Ko-Je." "You fought with your father." "Yeah, we fought." "More than we expected." "I didn't think he practiced what he preached." "Then you are like Chanu." "He feels the same way about me." "Well, maybe when he gets to be my age, he'll regret that, like I do." "It is our belief that each person has their own path." "I did not honor Chanu's path." "I failed in my belief, just like your father failed in his." "Balance has been lost." "We must find it again." "Can we find Chanu first and then balance ourselves?" "What is it?" "You see something?" "l'll be right back." "You don't gotta do this alone." "Yes, I do." "What the hell?" "Jonah-Eh." "I got no quarrel with you two." "I'm here for Chanu." "He's wanted for murder." "Then he will be judged by his own people." "Some folks ain't gonna let that happen." "Go back." "Now." "l ain't going back without him." "Vin!" "Good timing." "I got my moments." "Bad news is, this is Chanu's brother." "He's next in line to be chief." "We must be close, or they wouldn't have tried so hard to drive us away." "Sounds right." "l got a good idea where he's headed." "He'll be needing water." "All right, you go, and I'll see to these two." "He ain't wounded bad." "I'll take care of him." "Go on, now." "I shouldn't preside over this my child's last rites." "Someone with love in his heart should speak." "Someone with forgiveness." "That's what Claire would want." "What God would want." "But I am not that person." "l have nothing but rage in my heart." "She was a good girl, Reverend." "I gave everything I had to help those people, but that wasn't enough." "No, they had to take my darling girl from me." "They'll burn in hell." "Mr. Mosley, please." "There's a murderer out there." "He could be hiding on the very reservation where my Claire..." "...did her ministering." "That's right." "l say we find him." "Hang him!" "Don't do this, please." "You can't condemn a whole people for the actions of one man." "If we allow this atrocity to pass, how many more will we face?" "Whose child is next to an early grave?" "Let's smoke him out, boys!" "Let's get him!" "Let's go!" "Let's brand him!" "Come on!" "Let's go!" "You looking to die?" "I am already dead." "I don't wanna do this, Chanu." "I do not care anymore." "That's far enough." "Just kill me." "Kill me." "Do it." "l ain't gonna shoot you." "Just kill me!" "I do not care anymore!" "You didn't kill her." "She is dead because of me." "No." "No, you lied to me back at the jail, didn't you?" "You took the girl because you wanted to protect her." "Those rocks that you were piling up you were building a burial mound." "Weren't you?" "Weren't you?" "You listen to me." "You're this close this close to hanging from the end of a rope." "Now, tell me." "Why'd you do those things?" "Tell me, damn it!" "She was my wife!" "She was my wife." "I loved her." "Hope you're getting something." "I'm coming up blank." "You're not listening." "Been accused of that before." "By your father." "He tell you that?" "Just a lucky guess." "He will speak to you when the anger is gone." "I ain't angry at him." "At yourself." "The spirits say that I should trust you." "Shoot, I'm with them." "This about Claire Mosley?" "Yes." "And the other." "The other?" "Who?" "Ko-Je, if there is somebody else involved in this it's best you just tell me." "Where you headed?" "Thought we'd go after a murderer." "No one else seems interested." "That's a load of bull." "Look, Chris we just don't think Vin is right for this particular job." "lt's not personal." "lt sounds personal to me, Buck." "Chris!" "I tried to stop them." "There's too many of them." "Stop what, Mrs. Travis?" "They're headed for the reservation." "To burn it down." "Gonna burn the village to the ground." "Let's find that Chanu." "Got my rope." "I can't wait to hang him." "Don't appear as there's much to smile at, Ko-Je." "Things are as they should be." "The spirits have sent help." "lf this is their idea of help I'd hate to see what they call a hindrance." "Where's Chanu?" "Chanu is not here." "Well, then tell us where he is!" "Maybe you Good Samaritans ought to take this party out of here." "You call yourself a man of God, but you're a heathen." "Well we can't all be as pure as you, can we, Mr. Mosley?" "I'm gonna search this reservation till I find him and then I'm gonna find a tall tree." "Come on, boys, let's tear this place apart." "You folks go on home." "There's nothing here for you." "Don't let these gunslinging scoundrels prevent justice." "They're sinners." "All of them." "Was that intended as an insult?" "Pa, it's him." "He got Chanu." "String him up!" "That's what you ought to do." "He got him." "Well, hang him." "Chanu didn't kidnap Claire Mosley." "They were married." "They ran off together." "How dare you." "You got proof, Vin?" "lt's the truth." "Chanu was getting water when the girl was killed." "We aren't listening to this, are we, boys?" "No, this is nonsense." "The man who strangled her had strong hands." "I broke Chanu's wrist during our fight at the jail." "It'd be impossible for him to strangle Claire leaving the marks on both sides of her neck." "Then who else could have done it?" "You trailed Chanu and Claire from the ranch, Mosley." "But you got further than you said, didn't you?" "And that campfire we came across?" "That was yours." "You found Claire alone at the camp and then you killed her." "You take that back or I'll kill you!" "lt's a lie!" "You share your God, but not your daughter." "In the name of the Lord I'll send him to the devil where he belongs!" "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." "In front of God and all us sinners tell us she didn't beg for your blessing." "No." "No." "You're wrong." "Tell us you accepted the baby she was carrying." "Ko-Je told me." "Your own grandchild." "It was a demon from hell!" "Pa?" "Rafe." "It isn't what you think." "He turned her against us." "Against God." "I just wanted to talk to her." "But she wouldn't listen." "She pushed me away and I...." "l didn't mean for it to happen." "You killed her." "You killed-- You killed her!" "You liar!" "Liar!" "You killed her!" "You killed her!" "You're the one that killed her, huh?" "Rafe." "Murder him, you become him." "is that what you want?" "Take him to the jail." "Let's go, Mr. Mosley." "Kay-ta, my friend." "Vin." "Thanks, Buck." "Got my balance back."