"Master, as I walk these roads are there none I may call on for help when I need help?" "None." "Would this not be useful?" "To those who would destroy us." "In the past, when we have relied on our great teachers to lead us our enemies in high and low places could deal us a mortal blow by simply lopping off our heads." "Now, in our oneness, we are not like a great beast which may be destroyed by a single well-planned stroke to the brain." "Rather, we are like an ocean of many waves or a field of flowers." "Though, one or more be uprooted the others still live with a life of their own." "As a wave upon this ocean a single flower in a field of many what will the people ask of me?" "To lead them against their enemies, the despots, the tyrants wickedness, inequities, ignorance persecution, superstition, dishonor." "Your tread must be light and sure as though your path were upon rice paper." "It is said a Shaolin priest can walk through walls." "Looked for, he cannot be seen." "Listened for, he cannot be heard." "Touched, he cannot be felt." "This rice paper is the test." "Fragile as the wings of the dragonfly, clinging as the cocoon of the silkworm." "When you can walk its length and leave no trace you will have learned." "Slim." "What'd you expect?" "We're in the middle of the desert, Jonno." "It's your desert." "You're the captain of this expedition." "We're on our way to Sovalo, Trim." "On the way home." "Yeah, and you pick right now to give a concert here in the middle of nowhere." "And right now there ain't nobody here." "There is someone here." "Yeah, this sandbox is just crawling with visitors out to see the sights." "Welcome to Symphony Hall, friend." "Hit the pot?" "Jonno and I appreciate any little contribution you care to make." "I have no money." "You got that, partner?" "Yeah." "Are you expecting anybody else?" "Here?" "We're on our way to Sovalo, friend." "You?" "The same." "What's that gonna be?" "This?" "That." "l don't know." "Well, something's crossed your mind." "Yeah." "Thing I'm asking is, what?" "l'm not sure." "You mean to tell me you sitting there with a piece of wood in one hand a knife in the other, putting the two together with no idea what's gonna come out?" "Strange?" "Passing strange." "I'm sitting here, I don't know where with I don't know who alongside of Mr. Guitarist who don't know where he's going." "Going to Sovalo." "You didn't know that till the day before yesterday." "Right." "Tell me, why are we going to Sovalo?" "l couldn't say." "But you'll know when we get there?" "With any luck." "And I'm going along as if I was in my right mind not even sure where l am now not to mention what I'm walking into next." "May I ask, master, when I leave the temple what will be expected of me?" "To walk the roads of the land and use what you have learned for the needs and benefits of the people." "Will I always know when to act and when to stand off?" "That which you do not know, the doing will quickly teach you." "Do you know Sovalo?" "l was born there." "You never told me that." "You never asked." "He never asked either." "Trim it'll all come together when we get to Sovalo." "Wait and see." "How many times is this for you, Manuel?" "All right." "Get out of here." "You'll be all right here?" "l'm home." "Hang on, hear?" "Jonno?" "Yes." "lt is Kwai Chang Caine." "l know." "Where is your friend?" "Close by." "What will you do now?" "A little food, a little music, and then...." "And then?" "There's a place here in Sovalo when I was a boy. I must find it again." "And when you do?" "All questions will be answered." "How can you find it?" "Trim will take me there." "I seem to remember a dry wash a circle of oaks, a path between the rocks." "And you, what do you seek?" "I must find a woman and return a watch and a horse." "Yeah?" "Mr. Barrow there's something you ought to know." "Tom Hobart." "You've seen him?" "Not him, no." "His horse." "Brought in by a drifter." "There was three of them." "And Hobart?" "Not a sign." "Are you sure about the horse?" "Couldn't miss it." "Where are these drifters?" "One of them is with the horse." "And the others...." "You better come take a look for yourself." "Come on, y'all." "Pick it, Jonno." "Step around, folks." "Come on up and drop something in the hat here." "Thank you, ma'am." "Thanks." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Pick it." "Thank you, sir." "Thank you, sir." "Thanks." "Do you want them picked up?" "Let them alone." "Tom?" "Tom?" "Tom?" "He is not here." "Who are you?" "l am Caine." "How did you get in here?" "Where's my husband?" "The door was unlocked." "l was waiting for you." "Well, I was at work. I...." "Mrs. Hobart your husband is dead." "Dead?" "Yes." "Are you sure?" "I saw him die." "How?" "How did that happen?" "He fell from his horse." "Struck his head." "Where did it happen?" "About 30 miles." "And the body?" "l thought it best to bury." "Well, he" "He would have been carrying a-- -l brought everything." "is there nothing else?" "How did you find me?" "I am sorry, Mrs. Hobart." "Are you sure that...?" "That there's nothing else?" "Certain." "If there is something I can do...." "Who was he?" "What's happened to Tom?" "He's dead." "Where is it?" "Where's the map?" "That's all there was." "Mike, I swear." "About what?" "Tom was smart enough not to trust you." "All right, then you find it." "You saw me come in, him go out." "When would I have time to hide it?" "He made a map." "We both know that." "Probably one of those drifters." "Mike." "Mike, I...." "l brought Tom to you." "And l" "Well, I...." "l'm a widow now and l" "You're no worse off than you were before." "Caine?" "Yes. lt is Kwai Chang Caine." "How did you know?" "l could tell by your footsteps." "Did you give back the horse?" "Yes." "You are alone?" "Where is Trim?" "Will you be all right here all by yourself?" "Twenty-eight years." "What?" "l've been away from Sovalo." "Remember that place I told you about?" "Where all questions would be answered." "Yes." "The dry wash is gone." "There's no circle of oaks." "You could not find it." "lt was only a place." "And Trim?" "l told Trim that all of his questions would be answered too." "Now, he's come a long way with me." "Traveled a thousand miles in the wind, in the rain and the dust." "To find a place that is not there." "You understand how he felt." "You quarreled?" "A little bit." "You cannot stay here." "l'll tell you what I told Trim:" "We're on a road lined with eucalyptus." "The town is that way." "That way, my cousin Raoul lives." "He'll be glad to see me." "And if he too is no longer there?" "Not Raoul." "This cousin of yours, this Raoul I would very much like to meet him." "It will happen." "Raoul?" "Raoul?" "Raoul, it is Jonno." "There is no one here." "What will you do?" "l will wait." "Here." "Boys." "Who is it?" "Name's Archer." "Deputy sheriff." "This your house?" "No." "Breaking and entering." "No, sir." "This is the house of my cousin." "Turn your pockets out." "Why?" "You keep your mouth shut." "Now, be a good boy, sonny." "Do it." "I have no pockets." "Give me that." "He cannot see." "Please." "No!" "Give it up!" "Are you all right?" "Yes." "You are free to go." "l do not wish to go." "Who are you?" "My name is Caine." "You're the one that brought in Tom Hobart's horse." "Yes." "You search his pockets?" "Yes." "Why?" "I wished to know who he was." "Did he say anything to you before he died?" "No." "Tom Hobart was carrying something for me." "You say you haven't got it." "Or maybe it's still on his body." "Or somebody's lying." "I am telling the truth." "Archer." "I'm riding out to take a look at Tom Hobart." "He's dead." "He won't mind." "Put them away." "Let's go." "Trim." "ls your friend speaking to me?" "Yeah, I'm talking to you." "Well, would you tell your friend I'm not talking to him." "Trim I'm really sorry about what happened out there." "Ain't but one person responsible for Trim getting his head promptly bashed in and pushed on the wrong side of these iron bars." "And that fool is Trim himself." "The three of you better hear this." "Especially you, sonny." "Word is passing around out there about what happened to Tom Hobart." "You three bushwhackers just happening to be out there in the middle of nowhere when he fell off his horse." "Now, some of them might just take it into their heads to pay you a visit tonight." "And with the sheriff being away you can just bet I ain't gonna risk too much to hold them back." "I ain't seen a hanging in a long time." "Might be a treat tonight." "Three of them at once." "You boys got yourself a visitor." "You got five minutes." "Jonno." "Raoul." "I brought you something to eat." "Trim?" "Yeah." "This is my cousin Raoul." "Cousin?" "I came a long way to meet you and it's been worth every step of the way." "What have you done, Jonno?" "l've done nothing." "That is not what they say out there." "What do they say?" "They talk about killing." "Sure." "Why did you have to come back?" "Something I thought I remembered." "Not in Sovalo." "A dream, maybe." "A dry wash, a bank of trees." "Cottonwood and oak." "What?" "Along the wash, where we played together." "A dry wash?" "You remember." "There was one?" "Sure." "When we searched, there was no wash." "Covered over." "Why?" "Why?" "How can I find it?" "What is no longer there?" "Where it was, Raoul." "The trees." "Trees?" "Sure." "They covered up the wash, but the trees are still there." "Cottonwood." "l know." "Yes." "Time's up." "Raoul." "You hear me, Raoul?" "They're still there." "The circle of oaks and the path between the stones." "They'll likely be there tomorrow." "The question is, will we?" "We must get out." "Oh, man." "Hey." "Hey, you!" "Come here." "What's your name?" "Raoul Marcada." "A local." "He's a good boy." "All right, go on home." "Let's go." "There's nothing to do but just wait." "It'll be dark in a little while." "You are Raoul Marcada?" "Yes." "You know who I am?" "Yes." "Sit down." "How long has your family lived in Sovalo, Raoul?" "Many generations." "Things are not what they used to be, are they?" "No." "You know, I have Spanish blood in me." "I know." "Your family owns property around here." "There was a land grant." "Yes, I checked it out." "Mostly desert." "Dry hills." "Yes." "l'm going to do you a favor." "I'm gonna take it off your hands." "Why?" "Raoul don't ask too many questions." "Sign." "But" "Here's a hundred dollars for what we call an option on your land." "A hundred dollars." "There'll be more, if I decide to go ahead with the purchase." "But" "Sign it." "Senora, there is something you should know." "What?" "The land does not belong to me alone." "You're the last of the Marcadas." "No. I have a cousin, Jonno, who has lately returned to Sovalo." "He's here now?" "Yes." "Where?" "In jail." "Let's go." "Where are we going?" "As far away from Sovalo as we can." "No." "I didn't hear that." "Theresa!" "Seems to veer off a little to the left here, Jonno." "Does that seem right?" "Follow the line of trees and through, before the last one." "Or what used to be the last." "It should be there." "You drew a full house, Jonno." "You said you were looking for a circle." "Yes." "A circle of oaks." "lt is here." "Yeah, oaks." "All right, get out." "If I find you anywhere near Sovalo by nightfall, you're dead!" "You understand?" "Yes, sir." "Well, you got us this far, Jonno." "What now?" "You are standing before a triangle of trees, looking at the rocks." "Yes." "Thirty steps away, there are two boulders each over 3 feet high, and brush behind them." "You're the general, Jonno." "All right." "What now, Jonno?" "What do you expect to find in there, Jonno?" "l don't know." "Are we back to that?" "All questions answered, you said." "We must go in." "This way." "Jonno." "Yeah?" "When were you here before?" "When I was a kid." "What happened then?" "Something." "You'll see." "Listen." "Right through here." "What do we do now, Jonno?" "Wait." "Wait?" "Wait." "Mike?" "Hey, Jonno." "This wait, can you give me an idea how long it's gonna be?" "Look." "Trim?" "Yeah." "The sunlight dripping off of the sides of the cave like a stream of honey." "So thick a man could be carried off smooth and peaceful." "He'd know it was all right." "Funny thing." "What?" "This blue stuff in this rock, I'd swear it was" "Silver." "You wouldn't believe the assay report." "I didn't when my husband brought a piece home." "The biggest discovery of silver anywhere in these parts." "He wouldn't tell me where it was." "He didn't trust me." "So I sent him to the sheriff to get backing." "Barrow wanted to take a look at the mine before he'd invest in Tom." "Tom didn't trust him either." "He said he'd get the backing himself." "And now...." "Now it's all mine." "As soon as...." "As soon as...?" "One of its previous owners is out of the way." "Well, master...." "Tell me." "Body and mind as one, working in unison." "They are one!" "It is as though the unity may have found itself unnecessary." "And all those years of rigor and discipline?" "What else could a man seek except this unity?" "As the wise farmer puts back into the land at least as much as he has taken out of it so, soon, must you give back to others what you have taken for yourself." "I am ready." "You are ready, grasshopper." "Ready indeed." "Hey." "So you are rich men now." "Some say." "I found out what Jonno was carving all that time." "Tell me." "You tell me." "Jonno."