"All right." "Seems to work." "This is terrific." "For me, that is." "You see, I've written about four hangings but I've never actually seen one." "What's it like?" "Short rope, long drop." ""Short rope, long drop." Wonderful." "Judge Travis?" "Judge Travis." "Tell me about this man." "Name's John Blackfox." "Got caught one too many times." "And you sentenced him to hang?" "This may be just the story I'm looking for. I don't believe this." "Although Twin Guns of Death did real well, about 1 0,000 copies." "You probably read it." "l missed it, I'm afraid." "l'll get you a copy." "l'm not much for fiction, Mr. Steele." "Well, that's okay." "Let me just" "Yeah." "Sorry to bother you, but the prisoner said he'd only speak with you." "Judge. I didn't know if you'd come." "And why am I here?" "l wanna trade, judge." "Trade?" "l got information." "I give it to you, you call off the hanging. I'll sit in a cell but I don't wanna be at the end of no rope." "Doesn't work that way, you know that." "Judge, this is about a murder." "Three years ago, east of here, out past Eagle Bend." "l was there." "You took part in a murder?" "You think that's gonna get you leniency?" "No, no." "You don't understand." "I was there, yeah but I didn't do nothing." "Information about a three-year-old murder doesn't count for much." "It was two murders, judge." "A woman and a boy." "And how'd they die?" "They burnt. ln a fire." "Their name was Larabee." "J.D." "I was just about ready to take a break." "I hear you're interested in making a deal." "You an eyewitness to the Larabee killings?" "Yeah." "Who are you?" "Chris." "Chris Larabee." "The woman's name was Sarah." "She was my wife." "The boy's name was Adam." "My son." "l didn't kill them, mister." "Who did?" "I don't know that neither." "But I was-- l was there." "Tell me." "I was hired." "Me and two other cowboys." "One night in the saloon, we was all pretty much drunk." "A man comes in, offers us $50 apiece said it was to scare some folks off their land." "Go on!" "We rode out there, the four of us." "By the time we got to the spread, I was sobering up and I didn't like it." "So I told the others I'd stand guard and watch the horses." "When I seen the flames, I got scared and I took off." "You're lying!" "No, no, I'm not!" "I'm--!" "Everybody around here knew about that fire." "You're telling me jailhouse lies to save your miserable skin." "You're going back to jail!" "No, no!" "No, no!" "I'm telling the truth!" "I seen it happen." "The house and the porch, with the windmill beside it." "You see a corral?" "I think so." "Where was it?" "l don't remember it was three years ago!" "No!" "No, no, no!" "It was past the windmill, maybe 50 yards. lt was empty." "I could tell you more if I was standing there." "Yeah, I bet you could." "May I ask how long you guys been riding with Larabee?" "You mean with his killer outlaw gang?" "Yes." "Yes, that's it. I've heard Larabee's a very formidable man." ""Formidable"?" "That don't tell it by half." "Chris asked me and Josiah to ride along because it's always good to have backup." "Especially when all that lead start flying." "Well, what do you do when you're not helping Larabee?" "l look and I listen." "For what?" "Daily confirmation of the hand of God in all things." "Josiah's been fixing up that church here in town." "Well, I've never seen a "man of the cloth carrying a gun before." "Josiah can get very Old Testament on occasion." "That's good, that's good." "We ready?" "Just about." "Chris Larabee, right?" "Jock Steele, Steele Publishing from New York." "Mr. Larabee, I'm gonna make you a very famous man by coming along." "I am gonna chronicle your search for justice." "Larabee's Bloody Revenge." "See, I'm all packed." "Even brought the camera and the developer." "You're not coming with us." "But I have to. lll miss the story." "Won't stop you from writing it." "Now, wait a minute, guys." "Just hold on...." "Hold on one minute." "Wait a minute." "Come on, mule." "Mucho pronto, right now." "Wait, now." "Wait until I get on." "Hold on!" "Tell me about the two men you rode with that night." "Not much to tell." "Never seen them before ain't seen them since." "Big?" "Little?" "Fair?" "Dark?" "We rode at night..." "...and I didn't pay them much mind." "Well, think!" "Only thing I remember is one of them had a single silver spur on his boot." "Leastwise, he said it was silver." "Claimed it was his good-luck charm." "What about the man who hired you?" "Hard man." "Not the kind you wanna stare at." "I remember his horse, though." "Maybe 1 6 hands high." "One of the cowboys said it looked a lot like Robert E. Lee's horse, whatever the hell that means." "Big Gray." "Rider coming up fast." "It's Buck." "You out for a ride?" "Heard you were going back." "No need for you to come along." "Yes, sir, there is." "I'm the man that talked you into staying down in Mexico that night and I keep thinking, if we'd just rode back." "I could have come back alone." "You didn't keep me there." "Let it go." "Sarah was my friend too, Chris and I think you know how I felt about that boy of yours." "So if it's all the same, I think I'll ride this one out with you." "Suit yourself." "Any chance of unlocking these here cuffs?" "They get to chafing pretty bad." "You run, I'll hang you myself." "Anybody got him?" "l think." "Buck." "Nathan, Josiah, watch Blackfox." "Now, that there's divine intervention." "Me, I was gonna shoot your hand off." "Boo!" "Thank God you're here." "You just about got yourself killed." "Sorry I followed you, but I have to have this story." "I got a little lost, and then I heard something." "There!" "Coyote?" "Maybe a wolf?" "Okay, then." "Who is this guy?" "Nobody." "Leave him." "You mind if I just shoot him?" "Now, wait a minute." "Wait." "What?" "Where?" "What's that?" "Coyote, I told you." "Coyote?" "Run." "Run away!" "Was I right?" "Come on, Buck." "Come on." "Adam!" "Come on, Buck!" "Give me a ride!" "Come on, Buck!" "Give me a ride!" "Get onboard, partner." "Come on." "Yeah." "You'll be riding like your daddy real soon." "Yeah." "I'll miss you." "Hey, buddy. it's time." "Did Buck give you a good ride there?" "I'm gonna go away for a little bit." "You take care of your mama, okay?" "Promise?" "Goodbye, Papa." "I love you." "You're gonna tell me exactly what happened that night you understand me?" "From the moment you set foot on my property to the moment you took the lives of my wife and son." "l told you I didn't do it." "Chris!" "We found something." "Came down here to refill the canteen." "Looks like there's been a lot of heavy flooding down here the last few years." "Soil's all washed away." "Single spur." "Looks like we found the other two fellas Blackfox was riding with." "Those men were shot from behind, in the back of the head." "Executed." "Didn't leave anything to Providence, either." "Big-bore gun, probably a .44." "Chris, I think our man's left-handed." "How can you tell that?" "Come at me like you was gonna shoot me." "Where's the barrel?" "Base of your skull." "Right in the middle?" "Slightly to the right." "See, Josiah's left-handed..." "Same place where those men were shot." "It's just a guess, but.... lt's a good one." "Left-hander, big gray horse." "We're going up to the saloon in Eagle Bend." "Hold up, now." "Hold on." "Right here." "Get off the bar." "Thank you." "Something for you?" "I'm looking for some answers." "I serve whiskey, not talk." "Better go somewhere else." "Take him with you." "I'm interested in a man, rides a big gray, maybe a lefty." "Hired some men out of here a while ago." "Things go on in here private." "Now, I want you out of here before you're thrown out." "Just tell me if you know the man." "My God." "You don't hear very well." "Nice trip?" "Try this one more time?" "Yeah." "Yeah, sure." "Know the man I was talking about?" "I think so." "He comes around once in a while, I don't know from where." "What's his name?" "l don't know. I swear." "Describe him." "He's about your size." "Special?" "How?" "Well, one was kind of different." "I figured because his hand was crippled or withered or something." "What else?" "Not much." "Except he was real clean-like." "He always brushed his clothes even wipe his glass out before he'd drink." "I'm taking rooms in the boarding house next door." "This man shows up, I'd appreciate you letting me know." "Coming?" "Figure I'll stick around a while." "Service should be pretty good from here on out." "You got Judge Travis' permission, you can keep your prisoner here." "Cells are empty." "Anything else you need, you just let me know." "Larabee." "It wasn't until the next morning that I heard people died in that fire." "I'm sorry about your wife and boy." "You sing a sweet song, John." "Damn near brought me to tears." "What the hell are you doing here?" "What are you doing in there?" "Trying to save my neck." "They was gonna hang me for stealing horses." "So you dragged Larabee back here?" "He's dragging me!" "Look he ain't found out nothing." "He can't get close to you." "Can't be sure about that, can we?" "Then kill him." "Kill him, and I'll take off." "And then we both get what we want." "I don't know about you, John." "I hired you to be my dog, to go to work." "You turned into a mouse." "You were useless." "Now it seems you've turned into a rat." "I love most animals, John." "I hate rats." "Bartender." "Yeah, ready?" "One, two...." "l hear there was a dustup over at the saloon earlier." "Yeah, Chris killed the bartender and then he hung him up in his own room." "Not suggesting that but trouble seems to follow you around like a bad cold." "Send word?" "Had to drag the telegraph operator out of bed." "That poor soul's supposed to be our invitation to leave?" "Good reason to stick around, teach them some manners." "Where you going?" "Saloon." "Son of a bitch is close enough to kill a man in my hotel room." "Why are we sitting here eating breakfast?" "It's the most important meal of the day." "You think this is a joke, preacher man?" "Easy, partner." "Easy." "Calm down, now." "Calm down." "Nobody thinks this is a joke, Chris." "Our search party's gonna get bigger real soon and that's gonna help, Chris." "We're gonna find him." "Great." "Morning, boys." "You picked a bad time." "Mister, you're like something a man can't scrape off the bottom of his boot." "Did you follow us?" "Had no choice." "You left me out there wandering around for a day without any food." "You gonna eat that?" "I'm gonna go down to the dry-goods store." "Maybe this man orders his gloves custom-made." "I'm gonna go down to that horse livery, see if I can find Big Gray." "Mr. Jackson?" "Mr. Jackson?" "I've heard you're a doctor of sorts." "No, sir, I ain't no doctor." "I'm just interested in healing folks." "Interesting." "May I ask you a few questions?" "If you'd please step outside with me for one second here." "From Slave to Surgeon." "You know, there's a story in your life, Mr. Jackson." "If you'd just allow me to" "Chris!" "One in the wagon!" "Steele, are you crazy?" "Get down, you fool!" "It's all right." "They're not shooting at me." "Chris!" "Get down here!" "We'll cover you!" "They're all over us!" "What in heaven's name is that?" "Let's get out of here!" "Come on!" "Let's go!" "Now, that was good timing." "Sorry for the delay." "J.D., Ezra, you'd best get down." "Let's get after them." "Figures their tracks would lead here." "Back under the rock they crawled out from." "Welcome to Purgatory, boys." "Real hellhole." "Might wanna take them alive, find out who's paying them." "There were three men." "One of them was on a paint." "Howdy, boys!" "Good God Almighty." "Go, mule, go." "Let's go." "Purgatory, the Mexican bandit town." "Heard about it all my life and now I get to see it." "Mr. Steele." "My compatriots tell me that you're a servant of the muse, a literary man?" "Yes, I write about this." "High adventures in the untamed West." "Precisely." "My books sell very well." "And the characters who people your books, if one were to, say figure prominently in the narrative, might there be some manner of monetary remuneration given to such a person?" "Well, perhaps." "Royalties and such?" "Royalties, yes." "You and I really must discuss the financial aspects of your business." "Why, I would be happy to, Mr...?" "Standish." "Ezra Standish." "You wouldn't happen to have a card, would you, Mr. Standish?" "Matter of fact, I would." "Come with me." "We'll meet back at the cantina in an hour." "Nathan hard to tell what he's gonna do." "Keep a good eye on him." "All right." "Yep, cantina." "That's where l'm going." "That, I believe, would be imprudent." "The local residents have a rather marked predisposition against people of your geographical origins." "Oh, really?" "Well, if I heard right, half the wanted men in the West are in this town." "Men with stories to tell." "Now, it's my first visit here, and I'm gonna meet some of them." "Well, if you do, I can almost guarantee it'll be your last visit here." "What--?" "Nathan, there's our paint." "Who's riding that paint out front?" "l said, who's riding that paint?" "!" "Hold on here." "Where is he?" "Where is he?" "Number three." "Right there." "Number three." "Who you working for?" "Tell me!" "Who hired you?" "I want a name." "l'm not working for anybody." "ls that paint your horse out front?" "Yeah, that's mine." "You tried to kill me." "Why?" "It wasn't me." "No!" "No!" "No!" "You tell me or I'll blow you all over this bedspread." "Chris!" "It ain't him!" "That horse is fresh." "It ain't been rode hard." "Not in a while, at least." "It's true." "I haven't been out of town in over a week." "What's the matter, Buck?" "Act like you never seen a man in a coffin before." "I've been that man. ln this town memory's hitting a little too close to home for me." "You look a little better than he does." "Yeah." "J.D., take a look." "See if there's a hole in his left shoulder." "Go on." "Look." "Look." "He's the one on the paint pony." "You are one hell of a shot, Vin." "Well, welcome to the festivities." "We heard the gunshots." "Thought maybe somebody killed the little feller." "Kill him?" "Hell, they're about ready to elect him president." "Howdy, boys." "Be with you in a minute." "He said that he was a writer who was willing to pay for anyone's story as long as it was about murder and mayhem." "Of course, that appealed to the congregation." "After that, the only fights was who was gonna be first in line." "This is fantastic." "Better than I ever dreamed." "Do you know who that is over there that I was just talking to?" "Dan Barnes." "The Dan Barnes." "Bloody Hand Barnes." "He told me how he got his name." "Story's gonna sell million!" "Congratulations." "Hey, Steele!" "Come take another picture over here!" "Let me see here." "My photograph should be dry by now." "I took a shot with me and the boys." "Find him?" "l found one." "Dead." "Every time we get close to someone, they end up in a pine box." "Here it is." "That's me." "Lovely." "Thank you." "How you like that?" "Nice likeness." "Thank you." "Look there in the corner." "Yeah, that's me." "Notice the glove and the cheroot." "Where was this taken?" "Here, about an hour ago." "Look at it." "That him?" "Yeah." "That's the man who killed your family." "Yeah, I'll be right with you." "You know him?" "Answer him." "Yeah, I seen him." "What's his name?" "What is his name?" "Fowler." "Cletus Fowler." "That name mean anything to you?" "Never heard of him." "Two days of looking and nothing." "Anything?" "Couple of ranchers recognized Fowler's description." "Nobody's seen him, though." "What do we do now?" "I need a drink." "You know, this is for the birds." "We have to do something." "Come on." "Everything's gonna grind to a halt if he starts wallowing around inside a bottle." "I'm gonna assume your concern is for a man who lost his family." "Yes." "Of course." "We're ready to keep looking." "Sheriff and some of the local boys have agreed to help." "Where do you think he is, Vin?" "Don't know." "But after that brush in Purgatory he knows that there's seven men gonna hunt him down." "Hell, he's probably long gone." "My gut tells me different." "Back when I was ranching I had some trouble with a mountain lion." "Kept coming down at night and killing my stock." "So I went after him." "Tracked him for seven days up in the mountains." "Fifth day out, I woke up, my packhorse was dead." "Cougar had got him during the night." "See, I was tracking that cat all the while he was behind me." "Watching me." "That's how I feel about Fowler." "Fine line between hunter and hunted." "All the more reason for us to go get him first." "Wait." "Have a drink." "Okay, we'll meet back up here in three days." "I can't believe Larabee's not coming." "Let's head out." "Come on, go, mule." "Sure you don't wanna ride with us, partner?" "Fowler!" "Where are you?" "!" "Fowler!" "Get up, you drunk." "You found me." "You killed my wife and son." "Why?" "!" "It seemed like a good idea at the time." "At least the money was right." "Who hired you?" "Son, I'm a professional. I guarantee the anonymity of my clients." "What I can tell you is I was hired to go after you." "Your little family was just unlucky." "I do apologize for killing them, but I have to admit, I enjoyed it." "I'd have enjoyed killing you too, but you ran off." "You ran off!" "I've been looking for you for years!" "You ran off!" "However it was good enough for my client." "But now you're back." "And I'm back on the payroll." "What about Blackfox?" "Blackfox?" "He's local talent." "Hard to find good help these days." "I had to eviscerate him in his cell." "I see you got a symbiotic relationship going with that bottle." "Too bad." "Makes a man sloppy." "Could get him perforated." "You look like you brought an awful lot of men to kill one drunk." "Yeah." "Well, I have no problem delegating authority." "Hey, Cletus?" "You sure do use big words for somebody so stupid." "Buck!" "Don't kill him!" "Cover me!" "Where you going, boy?" "Come on, Cletus, get up!" "Get up!" "You tell me who hired you." "Tell me." "I will." "It was...." "Let me think now, it was...." "His name was...." "No." "On second thought, go to hell." "No!" ""And so it ended in that as the cruel, ironic hand of death encircled the killer in flames, as it had done to Chris Larabee's wife and child so many years before." "Yet was it the end?" "Or would Chris Larabee ride again with the hard, complex men he'd come to know?" "Gunmen like Buck Wilmington and Vin Tanner, the bounty hunter with the price on his own head." "The gambler Ezra, or the greenhorn J.D." "Nathan, both healer and destroyer and Josiah, placing his faith only in God and his gun. ""