"Yeah." "You?" "Yeah." "Some." "You think there's a heaven?" "Yeah." "Don't you?" "I don't know." "Yeah, maybe." "Can you believe there's a heaven if you don't believe in hell?" "I guess you can believe what you want to." "This ranch has been in my family as long as anyone can remember." "My granddaddy used to tell me this was heaven on earth." "Just like his granddaddy used to tell him." "Everything's changed now since he died." "Appreciate you lighting them candles." "It wasn't me." "It was the lady." "My mother?" "She was here?" "She's left already?" "All I ever wanted was to live out there like him and work my own spread." "Can't imagine no betterlife." "I've come to find out Mama aims to sell it." "Says the oil company would pay three times what it's worth." "Mama lives in San Antonio now with hernew husband." "She wants to be in the live theater." "As yourgranddaddy's only child yourmotherinherits outright." "It's her property." "She can do whatever she wants." "I don't have any say-so?" "What about my father?" "They're divorced." "You could talk to her." "You're a lawyer." "Well, I have talked to her." "It's a sorry piece of business, but, son not everybody thinks life on a cattle ranch in Texas is the second-best thing to going to heaven." "She don't want to live out there, that's all." "If it was a paying proposition, that'd be one thing, but it ain't." "It could be." "I could run it." "It's his own damn fault." "Your father signed every paper she set in front of him." "Never lifted a hand to save himself." "I begged him to get a lawyer." "Well...." "I'm sorry to have no better news but some things in this world can't be helped." "I believe this is probably one of them." "She went back to San Antonio." "Don't call her "she."" "Mama." "I thought the world of that old man." "Yeah." "Don't go crying on me now." "I ain't." "Well, don't." "I ain't." "What do you think I should do?" "I don't think there's much to do." "Will you talk to her?" "I can't." "You could talk to her." "Last conversation I had with her was in San Diego, California, in 1 942." "It ain't her fault." "I ain't the same as I once was." "Like to think I am but I ain't." "You are inside." "Inside you are." "It's hard to watch people you came from waste away before your eyes." "When the land is gone too there's nothing to stand on orstand for either." "When do y'all have to be out?" "Closing is the first of June." "You could wait till then." "What for?" "Down in Mexico they got ranches so big you can't ride from one end to the other in a week." "It ain't all fenced in and sold off and played out." "Not down there." "You think they can't use two more top hands?" "Real cowboys, huh?" "Just like the old-time waddies." "If I don't go, will you go anyways?" "I'm already gone." "Thank you for everything." "Goodbye." "May God go with you." "Be careful." "Is that you, bud?" "I hope so." "You ready?" "Yeah." "They suspect anything?" "No." "Let's go." "Hang on." "Got to pile all this stuff." "Yonder goes the light." "Damn." "Late for your own funeral." "He could be getting milk." "He could just be loading a shotgun." "Shut up." "Lacey, there's been somebody following us." "Somebody on horseback?" "Yeah." "Come on." "Some kid." "That's a hell of a horse." "Ain't it, though?" "You hunting us?" "I ain't hunting you." "Then how come you following us?" "I ain't." "I'm going to Langtry." "I don't even know who you are." "Where'd you get that horse?" "It's mine." "How old are you?" "Sixteen." "Lying sack of shit!" "You don't know." "I know you ain't no goddamn sixteen." "What'd you do, run off?" "What if I did?" "We could sell his horse in Mexico." "You want to?" "I ain't digging no grave this time." "Your idea." "I was the one that said just leave him for the buzzards." "Call it." "Heads." "Damn." "Let me have your rifle." "It ain't fair." "You shot the last three." "You go on, then." "You can owe me." "Hold his horse." "It might not be gun-broke." "Y'all ain't never shot nobody." "You could be a good somebody to start with." "Y'all just funning." "I knowed it all along." "Who's hunting you?" "Nobody." "They're hunting that horse, though, ain't they?" "You ain't riding with us." "Get us in the jailhouse." "He belongs to me." "Son, I don't give a shit who he belongs to." "But he damn sure don't belong to you." "Now, let's go, bud." "I thought he'd put up more of a argument." "We ain't seen the last of his skinny ass." "That's her, ain't it?" "That's the goddamn Rio Grande." "Just think." "Over yonder's Old Mexico." "You reckon you want to cross now?" "Yeah." "You?" "Yeah." "Maybe we'd better rest these horses up first." "All right." "Shit." "I got a uneasy feeling about that son of a bitch." "I do too." "He ain't as green as he looks, neither." "There won't nobody be hunting me in Mexico." "That depends on what you done." "What's your name?" "Jimmy Blevins." "You got any grub?" "No." "You got any money?" "No." "You're just a deadhead." "Just tell me one thing." "What the hell would we want you with us for?" "Because I'm a American." "When did you eat last?" "Other day." "Your name ain't Blivit, is it?" "It's Blevins." "You know what a blivit is?" "No." "What?" "Ten pounds of shit in a five-pound sack." "Y'all ain't said y'all's names was." "I'm John Grady Cole." "This here's Lacey Rawlins." "We're from San Angelo." "Where you from?" "Uvalde County." "Near the Sabinal River." "What made you light out for Mexico?" "Same reason as you." "What reason is that?" "They'd go bowlegged and blind finding your ass down here." "Ain't nobody hunting me." "I told that son of a bitch he wasn't whupping me again." "Your daddy?" "No." "My daddy never came back from the war." "Your stepdaddy." "I know what it's like to get a beating." "You didn't shoot him?" "I would've." "And he knowed it too." "Suppose we trade that horse off for one less likely get us shot." "I ain't trading horses." "We ain't no wet nurses." "I can take care of myself." "Sure." "Hell, you're a regular old desperado, ain't you?" "I reckon you got your own gun and all." "Yeah, I got a gun." "What kind of a gun?" "32-20 Colt." "Bullshit." "That's a rifle cartridge." "Let's see it." "Where'd you get a gun like this?" "At the getting place." "You ever shot it?" "Yeah, I shot it." "You hit anything?" "Anything you want." "Bullshit." "All right, let's go, outlaw." "Come on." "You ready, Annie Oakley?" "Waiting on you." "Goddamn." "Let me see it." "Let me see it." "We'd better get going." "Come on, give it to me." "You know what my wallet looks like." "Look at this shit." "She got anything to drink?" "What is that?" "Cider." "All right." "Let's have three of them." "How much is it?" "It's like three cents." "Oh, let your old dad buy it." "He about dead-centered your pocketbook, didn't he?" "I want you to look at my goddamn driver's license." "And my pool hall card." "You won't need them down here." "Look at this shit." "Shot Betty Ward between the eyes." "What's she doing in there?" "I didn't know you liked her." "What is this?" "Cactus juice?" "I don't know." "Got a little kick to it, though." "I think it does." "Pretty doggone good." "Say it again." "Say my name again." "Golly!" "What am I doing leaving my hat on the bed?" "It's not much." "You can't have no more cider." "Shit." "I'm drunker than shit." "Can you ride or not?" "Hell, yeah, I can ride." "I was riding when I fell off." "I'm a regular buckaroo." "Certified damn bronc peeler." "Just leave him lay there." "Get on and quit assing around." "It's fixing to come a good one." "Come on." "I can't be out in this." "Where do you think you'll go?" "Why can't you?" "On account of the lightning." "Damn if you don't look sober all of a sudden." "Are you afraid of lightning?" "It runs in the family." "My grandpa, he was killed in West Virginia in a mine bucket." "It run all the way down the hole to get him, 1 80 feet." "A great-uncle on my mother's side was killed off a horse." "Horse's hair wasn't singed, but it killed him." "I got a cousin not four year older than me." "He was struck by lightning coming back from his barn." "Melted the fillings in his teeth and soldered his jaw shut." "He's gone completely dipshit." "I done been struck twice myself." "How come me be deaf in this one ear." "I'm born to death by fire, man." "You'd better get away from all metal." "You don't know what it'd get you." "Your boot spurs, shirt buttons...." "What do you intend to do?" "Outride it." "You can't outride a thunderstorm." "What the hell is wrong with you?" "It's the only chance I got." "I knowed it from the first time that son of a bitch had a loose nut." "What the hell are you doing?" "!" "Just sitting here." "If this rain hits hard, there'll be a river come down like a train." "You thought about that?" "You've never been struck by lightning." "You don't know what it's like." "You'll drown sitting there." "That's all right." "I ain't never been drowned before." "Well I'll say no more." "Your horse is gone." "Yeah, I know." "I done been on foot looking around this morning." "Where'd you find that boot?" "On the ground." "Well, what do you aim to do?" "I don't know." "Let's get your ass up out of there." "Got a spare shirt in my saddlebag." "You put that on." "Appreciate it." "Rawlins will pitch a pure hissy when he sees you." "I don't give a shit." "There's my damn pistol." "Shit." "Hold on." "Keep riding." "Good God almighty." "I ain't leaving until I get my stuff." "My gun too." "Listen at that." "Get us all shot for horse-stealing don't mean a thing." "It ain't stealing." "It's mine." "Shit-for-brains!" "Hush." "Both of you." "Get over here and sit down." "We're going to stick here till about a hour before daylight." "Now, you got to play this exactly like we say." "If that don't satisfy, then you tell us right now." "Yeah." "Okay." "All right." "You go on and get some sleep." "And no fire tonight." "Every dumb thing I ever done in my life a decision I made before that got me into it." "It was never the dumb thing." "It was always some choice I'd made first." "You understand?" "Yeah, I think so." "Meaning what?" "Meaning this is it." "This is our last chance." "Won't be no other time, I guarantee it." "Meaning just leave him?" "Yes, sir." "What if it was you?" "I wouldn't leave you, or you me." "You realize the fix he's in?" "I realize it." "It's the fix he's put himself in." "I can't do it." "Well, if you can't, you can't." "I guess I knew what you'd say anyways." "Oh, no." "Damn it." "That little son of a bitch." "Hold up, hold up." "Let's listen." "You little son of a bitch." "Boys, they're coming." "Cars or horses?" "Horses." "And there ain't no way y'all can keep up." "I'll take the road." "They'll follow the dust, since they're hunting me." "Get in the woods." "I'll see y'all down the road." "Let's get off this damn road." "You think they caught him?" "I don't know." "I'll say one thing for him anyways." "What's that?" "Son of a bitch wouldn't stand still for nobody hijacking his horse." "You got your boots on?" "Yeah." "All right." "You reckon they're friendly?" "Shoot, I hope so." "Where are you going?" "We're just passing through." "We're looking for work." "Oh, yeah?" "We might have some work for you." "He said maybe." "Can we come with you?" "Yes, of course." "Good." "Go that way." "Over there?" "Did you see that little darling?" "Watch it." "Bring him over here." "Get in there." "How long you reckon you'd like to stay here?" "About a hundred years." "Now go to sleep." "There's Don Hector Rocha y Villareal." "Owns this whole shebang." "One of the last great ranches in Mexico." "27,000 acres." "Flies his own plane to Mexico City every week." "Manuel said this ranch been in this family 1 70 years." "You reckon that was his daughter?" "Yeah, I guess it was." "Let me go get my boots on." "Looks like there's about 1 2 or 1 3 of them." "I make it 1 6." "Armando said the old man's got like 400 mustangs up on that mesa." "Damn." "You think you and me can break all of them in four days?" "Why four days?" "You think we could do it?" "You'd be about a wore-out sumbuck, I'll tell you that." "I'll have a look at them." "Go talk to Armando." "How you doing?" "I'm all right." "If we mess this up, bud, it's gonna be a long ride back to Texas." "Give it some slack." "That's it." "That's it." "Whoa, boy." "I'll put a saddle on you right now." "Your jackets." "You tired?" "The horse is arriving, get ready." "Don't delay!" "Hector de la Rocha y Villareal." "John Grady Cole." "Glad to meet you." "Alfonsa, you look like an Impressionist painting." "Armando says you know a lot about horses." "I've been around them some." "Do you know what a criollo is?" "Yes, sir." "It's a Argentine horse." "You're from Texas?" "Yes, sir." "San Angelo." "Why are you here?" "I just wanted to see the country, I reckon." "Or we did." "You and your friend." "Yes, sir." "But you are the leader." "We don't have no leaders." "No, we're just buddies." "Of course." "I recently purchased a thoroughbred stallion of excellent blood." "You gonna raise racehorses?" "No." "Quarter horses." "I'm thinking of breeding my stallion with my mesteño mares." "What's your opinion on that?" "Well, I've known it done." "There's been good cow horses sired out of thoroughbreds." "Of what importance is the mare?" "Same as the sire." "In my opinion." "Most breeders place more confidence in the stallion." "Yes, sir, they do." "But I agree with you." "And you rode all the way here from Texas?" "Yes, sir." "You and your friend?" "Yes, sir." "Just the two of you." "Yes, sir." "Just me and him." "Well, Mr. Cole, would you like to see some horses?" "Yes, sir." "It ain't like you was going away." "No." "We'd still be working together." "It's a good opportunity for you." "Hell, I'd do it." "They told me to come bunk in here." "I was going to put my horse in one of these stalls." "Can I put my horse in this stall?" "Well, I guess we can talk later." "That's your mare." "Look at the eye on her." "Bring this one here." "She's not as big as the other one, but that's your mare." "Do you like this one?" "She's a beauty." "Some of them got their hats on." "I figure you just must be ready to cry yourself to sleep every night." "She's probably used to dating guys got their own airplanes, let alone cars." "You're probably right." "I'm glad to hear you say it." "It don't change nothing though." "My name's John Grady Cole." "My name is Alejandra." "I know." "I hoped that you would come." "I come because I thought you'd be here." "I know." "My granddaddy lived his whole life on that ranch." "Seventy-four years." "Seem there could hardly be one without the other." "I guess the country lasts forever, and people ain't but for a while." "And how will you live now?" "Where will your home be?" "What's wrong?" "I dreamed about you last night." "What did you dream about?" "Someday I may tell you." "But not tonight." "Do I have something in my nose?" "No." "I have something in my nose." "Do you like him?" "A hell of a horse." "I want to ride him." "What?" "I want to ride him." "When?" "Now." "I want to now." "He don't have a saddle." "I know." "I don't think the patrón would want me to give him to you without a saddle." "Your father." "Get down." "Are you sure about this?" "Yes!" "Hurry." "Well, what do you aim to do with your horse?" "I want you to take him back to the barn." "Somebody's going to see me." "Fixing to get me in trouble." "You are in trouble." "I am Señorita Alfonsa." "I'm John Grady Cole." "I'm happy that you have come." "Alejandra will be in Mexico City with her mother for two weeks." "Then she'll be here for the summer." "Alejandra and I disagree strongly." "In fact, I...." "She's so much like me at that age that I...." "I seem at times to be struggling with my own past self." "So you see, I cannot help but be sympathetic to Alejandra." "But I won't have her unhappy." "I won't have her spoken ill of or gossiped about." "I know what that is." "It is not proper for you to be seen riding in campo together without supervision." "I considered whether to speak to my niece about it, but I...." "I've decided not." "What do you want me to do?" "I want you to be considerate of a young girl's reputation." "I never meant not to be." "I believe you." "But you see this is another country." "Here, a woman's reputation is all she has." "There's no forgiveness for women." "A man may lose his honor and regain it again, but a woman cannot." "I guess I'd have to say that don't seem right." "It's not a matter of right." "It's a matter of who must say." "And in this matter, I get to say." "What is it?" "You're going to wake Esteban." "Then invite me in." "What did she say to you?" "My aunt?" "You want to sit down?" "Go on." "What did she say to you?" "Didn't she tell you what she said?" "Of course she did." "What did she say?" "She said she didn't want me being seen with you in the campo." "And you agreed?" "You are afraid of her." "No." "Just like everyone else." "It ain't like that." "I hate the way she treats me." "I thought you were my friend." "You tell me what you want me to do." "I'll do anything you say." "How's it going, Esteban?" "See you after a while." "I know the old man likes you that don't mean he'll sit for you courting his daughter." "Yeah, I know." "Well, I don't see you holding no aces, bud." "I see you fixing to get us fired and throwed off this place." "Take it easy, bud." "Get up!" "Get up!" "What's this all about?" "No talking!" "Yes, but I don't understand" "You understand "shut up"?" "Let's go." "I ain't above whipping your ass, you know." "Don't you think if we're gonna get out of this we might think about how to get out of it together?" "Like the way we got in it?" "You think it was Rocha?" "You think he sold us down the river?" "I tried to reason with you." "Tried many times." "I know." "Some things ain't reasonable." "Look, I'm the same man you crossed that river with." "How I was is how I am." "And all I know to do is stick." "I don't believe in signing on just till it quit suiting you." "You either stick or you quit." "I wouldn't quit you." "I don't care what you done." "That's about all I got to say." "I never quit you." "All right." "Hey, y'all." "Oh, God help me." "How long you been in here?" "I don't know." "A long time." "At least a month." "You told them to hunt us?" "No, I wouldn't do nothing like it." "Bullshit." "They wouldn't hunt us if they got that horse back." "He done something." "It was my damn horse." "My gun too." "What did you do?" "Nothing nobody else wouldn't." "Did you come back here?" "You're damn right I did." "Oh, Jesus, oh, God." "What did you do?" "What are they accusing him of?" "Murder." "He killed a man?" "Three." "Said he killed three men." "That's a damn lie." "Don't step in the bucket." "We're dead." "We're dead men." "I knew it'd come to this from the first moment" "Don't start." "That won't help." "Ain't but one of them died." "Tell me what happened." "Well, I got me a job on this farm." "Saved me up some money." "Then I rode back here to get my pistol." "I seen it sticking in the son of a bitch's belt, so I just grabbed it." "And shot him." "He come at me." "What choice did I have?" "What choice--?" "By the time I got back to the spring where my horse was they caught back up with me." "And the old boy, I shot off his horse." "He throwed down on me with a shotgun." "A rurales?" "Did you shoot a rurales?" "Yeah." "Dead?" "Yeah." "What do you think they mean to do?" "Send me to the penitentiary." "You won't be that lucky." "Well, I'm too young to hang." "They'll lie about your age." "There's no capital punishment here." "You knew they'd hunt us." "Was I supposed to send a telegram?" "What happened to your feet?" "They busted them." "They didn't give you no bandages?" "No." "Oh, shit." "Tell them whatever they want to hear." "It won't matter." "What did you say?" "Told them we was murderers and horse thieves." "You will too." "Your friend told us everything." "Better that you do the same to avoid some trouble." "You had no right to beat up on that boy." "We know nothing about Blevins." "He asked to ride with us." "We know nothing about that horse." "It got away from him in the storm and showed up here." "That's when the trouble started." "We been working for Señor Rocha going on three months down at La Purisima." "You went down there and told him lies." "Rawlins is as good a boy as ever come out of Tom Green County." "Is that the criminal, Smith?" "His name is Rawlins." "He ain't a criminal." "I grew up with him." "The assassin Blevins, he did not have any documents." "He lost his clothes." "He lost his clothes?" "He has no feathers." "He what?" "He has no feathers." "I wouldn't know anything about that." "That don't interest me." "Why does he come here and steal horses?" "It was his horse." "No, it's not." "You have it your own ignorant way." "As far as I know, that horse is his." "He had it in Texas and I saw him bring it to Mexico across a river." "That is not the facts." "We can make the truth here." "Or we can lose it here." "But in three days, you're going to be going to Saltillo." "Then it'll be too late for the truth." "Too late." "Because you'll be in the hands of other peoples and who's to say what the truth will be then?" "And then you'll think about this day and you'll blame yourself." "There ain't but one truth." "Truth is not what come out of somebody's mouth." "The people in this town are very quiet people." "Very quiet people all the time." "And then comes this assassin Blevins and he kills everybody and steals their horses." "Why does he do this?" "Was he a good, quiet boy that never did no harm?" "Then he comes here and does something like that?" "Is that what happened?" "No." "No, that's not what happened." "That's not the truth." "Truth is he was always the other kind of boy." "He was never a quiet boy." "He was always the other kind." "What happened?" "Nothing." "I think we're going to Saltillo." "What's in Saltillo?" "The penitentiary." "I think he wants to make a deal with us." "What kind of a deal?" "To keep quiet." "That kind of a deal." "Keep quiet about what?" "About Blevins." "About what about Blevins?" "I think they aim to kill him." "I think they aim to kill Blevins." "Boys this is going to be a long trip." "The old man said it would take all day." "I asked him." "He said it was going to take all day." "What's here?" "Unload the prisoners, boys." "What do we do here?" "Take a leak, I reckon." "Unload the prisoners." "Put them against the wall." "Sit them down." "Let's go." "What are they going to do?" "Wait a minute!" "Wait a minute!" "Let go of me." "Wait a minute." "Wait a minute." "Let go of me." "This man came to me." "I don't go to this man." "He came to me to talk with me aboutjustice and how his own brotherhad died at the hands of the assassin Blevins." "Then when it came time to dojustice he could not shoot." "He was like a woman." "A man cannot go out to do something and then not do it." "No, a man does not change his mind." "That's always been my way in this world." "You didn't have to kill him." "Could've just walked him back to the truck." "You don't know nothing." "See, in my country, we don't have death for criminals." "Monies have to be paid and arrangements have to be made." "I tell you this because you'll have to make arrangements with these peoples." "We don't have no money." "ln here we have a boss, ajefe." "Everybody pays him." "Everybody does what he says." "I don't have any money, and we ain't fixing to make any arrangements." "Oh, excuse me, but you will." "I'm telling you this because I like you." "You cannot stay here." "You stay here, you're gonna die." "And then comes other problems." "The paperwork is lost." "People cannot be found." "Who's to say you were even here?" "Some crazy people can say that God is here." "But God is not here." "Everybody knows that God is not here." "I never dreamed there was such a place as this." "There's probably every kind of place you can think of." "They're going to kill us." "Don't let them think they ain't gonna have to." "They either kill us or let us be." "Only way to get by in a place like this is go about your business." "Don't act scared." "Where are you going?" "I don't know, bud." "Got a match?" "What is it?" "A knife." "A good one." "What's it like to be dead?" "It ain't like nothing at all." "What's it like to be dead?" "It ain't like nothing at all." "Yes, sir, you're a good healer." "Fast." "You been doing any doctoring on a boy named Lacey Rawlins?" "Send you some soap, some towels so you can wash up." "You don't know a Lacey Rawlins?" "You are fortunate boys." "Fortunate boys." "Where's Rawlins?" "He wait outside for you." "Right now?" "Yes, now." "Where are we going?" "You're going away." "You're going to your house." "Now?" "Now." "I thought you'd died." "I thought you had." "Why ain't we dead?" "She paid us out." "The old señora?" "The aunt." "Why?" "I don't know." "It's got to do with that girl." "I expect it does." "You going back down there?" "Yeah, I guess I am." "On account of the girl." "But what about the horses?" "The girl and the horses." "What about Rocha?" "He'll have to do whatever he has to do." "Don't go down there." "I ain't asking you to go with me." "I know." "They put Mexican blood in me in that hospital." "So?" "So, what does that mean?" "About what?" "Does that mean I'm part Mexican?" "How much they put in you?" "They said it was over a liter." "A liter would make you a half-breed." "It don't, does it?" "No." "No, it don't mean nothing." "It's just blood." "It don't know where it come from." "You heard about what happened?" "In the mess hall?" "Yeah." "I never thought I'd do that." "You didn't have no choice." "He'd have done it to you." "You don't got to try to make it right." "It is what it is." "Shit." "What?" "Nothing." "Just shit." "What is it?" "I keep thinking about old Blevins." "About how scared he was." "You'll feel better when you get home." "I don't think so." "I ain't Blevins." "I know you ain't." "I was wondering how much better off you are than him." "I reckon I'll see you one of these days." "You take care." "You take care too." "I think I'm owed an explanation." "I think the accounts have been settled quite in your favor." "You have been a disappointment to my nephew and a considerable expense to me." "No offense, ma'am, but I've been some inconvenienced myself." "Sit down, please." "The officers were here once before, you know." "My nephew sent them away until he conducted his own investigation." "He wanted so much to go on believing in you." "Why didn't he say something to me?" "He'd given his word to the commandante." "He should've let me tell my side of it." "You had already lied to him once." "Why shouldn't he assume you'd do so again?" "I never lied to him." "The affair of the stolen horse was known here even before you arrived." "The thieves were Americans." "When he questioned you about this, you denied everything." "Why'd you buy me out ofjail?" "I think you know why." "Because of Alejandra." "Yes." "What did she give in return?" "I think you know that also." "That she won't see me again." "Yes." "You didn't have the right." "You should've left me there." "You would've died." "Then I'd have died." "We're willing that you should have a horse." "I'll trust Esteban to supervise the selection." "Do you have enough money?" "Do you have enough money?" "I aim to see her." "Am I supposed to be surprised?" "I'll even give you my permission." "Although that doesn't seem to be a thing you have ever required." "Her telephone number." "In the end, Mr. Cole we all get cured of our sentiments." "Those whom life doesn't cure death will." "She will not break her word to me." "You will see." "Yes, ma'am." "We will." "I knew it would be you." "I have to see you." "I can't." "You have to." "I'm coming." "No, you can't." "I won't be here." "I go to La Purisima in two days." "I'll meet you at the train." "No, you can't." "My father will have men there." "Alejandra, I love you." "I love you." "You didn't have no right to make that promise, even if they killed me." "I ain't gonna leave until I see you." "Even if it's the last time, I don't care." "Even if they kill me now." "I will leave a day early." "Tomorrow morning." "I'll say that my aunt is ill." "Meet me in Zacatecas." "I will be there." "My God, you're beautiful." "It's all my fault." "You couldn't have saved us." "You couldn't have saved Blevins." "I told my father we were lovers." "Why?" "Because she threatened me." "My aunt." "She said I must stop seeing you or she'd tell him." "I couldn't stand for her to have that power." "She left me no choice." "I told him myself." "I love you so much, I thought I could make him understand." "I was so foolish." "It was her arrogance." "I told her I would not be blackmailed." "She made me crazy." "But I broke my father's heart." "I broke his heart." "I put you in danger, and you almost died." "He had Armando lock me into my room so that I couldn't warn you." "The next morning, he flew me back to the city." "I thought I would never, never see you again." "Don't cry." "Don't cry." "Don't cry." "I destroyed everything." "I'm going to make it right." "You can't." "Well, I will make it right." "Somehow, I will." "You don't understand." "What don't I understand?" "I didn't know that my father could stop loving me." "I didn't know he could." "Now I know." "What are you doing?" "I saw you dead in a dream." "Just like the dream I had the night before we danced together." "It was dawn." "Men in serapes stood over you." "And you were dying." "All because of your whore." "Don't say that." "I want you to marry me and come to Texas." "When I found out you were in prison I made a promise." "I know." "For my life." "Yes." "I love you." "I'll love you till the day I die." "I believe you." "I swear to God." "I believe you." "No." "I cannot do what you ask." "I love you very much, but I cannot." "I have no honor except my promise." "If I lose that too then what am I?" "Shut the door." "What do you want?" "I come for my horse." "Rawlins' and Blevins' horses too." "I don't have your horses." "You by God know where they're at." "You make trouble for yourself." "I got trouble you never even heard of." "Are you still here, old man?" "Yes, yes of course." "You're free to go." "You're free to go." "Thank you, partner." "Go with God." "You son of the unlucky..." "Go with God." "Go with God, my friend." "Get down." "Go inside." "Come here." "Sit down." "Hey, who's there?" "Raul, the Captain." "I want to see a horse." "I want to see a horse." "What horse?" "American." "The American horse." "What's going on?" "Nothing." "Nothing." "Carlos!" "The gringo has taken me prisoner!" "Don't shoot!" "If you follow us, I'll kill them." "Stop!" "Goodbye, get out of here!" "If you come back, I'll kill the Captain." "You're going to die." "You're going to die." "Yeah, you can just keep talking." "When I die, you die." "Why don't you let me go?" "Because you're my hostage." "Stay close, or I swear to God, I'll shoot you." "Go on." "I'll shoot you." "Have to come back to my town?" "I told you." "For my horse." "My head is sick." "I can't ride no more." "You'd be surprised at what you can do." "You're going to die." "You're going to die." "We'll let God decide about that." "You're not afraid of God?" "I'm not afraid of God." "I got no reason to be." "I even got a bone or two to pick with Him." "Where are the keys?" "Where are the keys!" "Goddamn you!" "Die, you son of a bitch!" "Give me your goddamn hand." "I'm not going to kill you." "I'm not like you." "Go on." "You're free to go." "Far as you can tote that saddle." "Hey, give me the keys." "Go over to the Captain." "Don't let him get up." "The keys." "Beans and a rabbit." "How is your wound?" "You doing okay?" "Thank you." "Thank you." "Pants a serape." "Go with God, my son." "Howdy." "Howdy." "How you doing?" "Could you tell me what day it is?" "It's Thursday." "I mean the date." "It's Thanksgiving." "Do either of you want to buy a rifle?" "No." "I'm not interested." "So I come back across and was riding on the road and I run into this man, and he told me I had to come see a judge." "There's a problem with the horses." "Your Honor the fact of the matter is this boy ain't got a lick of proof." "Three different horses and different brands on them." "Deputy Smith, you know what the trouble with a liar is?" "Trouble with a liar is, he can't remember what he said." "I know that's right." "I ain't a liar." "I know that, son." "I know that." "I can't believe anybody would make up a story like the one you just told." "Can I ask you a personal question?" "Yes, sir." "You mind showing the court them bullet holes in your leg?" "Oh, all right." "That's where it come out." "That's fine, son." "Thank you." "You didn't have medical attention?" "No, sir." "Wasn't none to be had." "Deputy Smith?" "Your Honor?" "I want you to see that this boy gets his horses back." "Son, you're free to go." "Thank you." "The court thanks you for your testimony." "In all the years I've sat on this bench I heard lots of things that give me grave doubts about the human race." "This ain't one of them." "All right." "You can go, boy." "Thank you." "Thank you." "I don't like to bother you." "But they told me this is where you live." "That's all right." "They were right." "Come on in." "Thank you." "Pleased to have you." "When I was in the penitentiary I killed somebody." "I'm sorry to hear that." "He come at me with a knife." "So...." "I just happened to get the best of him." "But that keeps bothering me somehow." "Something else, ain't there?" "Yes, sir." "But later, I wanted to kill that other one too." "That Mexican captain." "Why do you suppose that is?" "Because I sat there, and he walked the boy out to the trees and shot him." "I didn't say nothing." "I didn't say a word." "Would it have done any good?" "No, sir." "That don't make it right." "And it never will." "Bothered me that you might think that I'm something special." "I ain't." "You know what you strike me as?" "One of them people that has a tendency to be a little tough on themselves." "There's nothing wrong with you, son." "You'll get it sorted out." "I hope so." "If I live." "You'll live, all right." "Lacey once asked me ifl thought God looks out forpeople." "I guess He does." "I say He'sjust about got to." "I don't believe we'd make it a day otherwise." "Thought you'd want your old horse back." "Damn, bud."