Ben, you scared them. They're running away.
-l told you to stay away from that window. -l ain't afraid.
-l am. -What'd he want?
He wanted to buy a woman.
You.
Did you sell me?
l held out for more horses.
-Why would they want to buy me? -Because you're a girl, my pretty.
Horses and women are all the same to a Kiowa...
to be bought or traded.
-But how'd they hear about me? -They must've seen you sometime.
Kiowas are like panthers!
Always sneaking about when you can't see them.
That one in the white buckskin, l'll never forget him.
-He was beautiful! -A Kiowa?
You're daft, child!
Look! He's coming back!
Just like the one that killed Papa.
He's out of range. Save your lead.
Cash.
Ben, we could've killed him!
l reckon you better take the drive to Wichita.
l'd like that fine, but if trouble's coming, l want to be here for it.
We got 6,000 cows.
A lifetime's work.
l'd take it most kindly if you'd take the drive to Wichita.
Put it that way, l guess l got to.
lnjuns, Papa!
-Kiowas! -lnjuns!
-Kiowas! -Red lnjuns, Papa!
-Kiowas for sure, from down under the hill! -A whole passel of them, Papa!
Running across the swale in front of Snake Creek.
-We just come on them sudden like. -Charlie!
Yes, Papa?
-You two been drinking? -No, Papa!
That's the truth, Papa, l'm telling you!
We could've lost our hair, right then and there!
-l even seen war paint. -You get back on them irons.
But, Papa--
Git!
Come on. How many were there?
lf l was to guess, it'd be anywhere from....
To tell the truth, they were four. But they weren't running.
They were taking the time of day, brazen as can be.
-They see you? -They must.
Must've seen our dust. Paid us no heed.
Hunting party, most likely.
Probably back in the hills already.
l told you, Zeb. lndian sign all over the range.
lf you spent more time with these cattle instead of sign...
maybe we'd get this drive started.
All right, let's run them through.
Come on!
Why don't that old man come round to us...
instead of sidling up to our womenfolk when we're away?
-But if there be any truth at all-- -lt's got to be faced up!
We got to go to Zeb, all of us, and tell him what....
Let's keep those brands high on the hip, so we can see them from a long ways off.
Did you hear me, Tom?
l heard you.
Ben!
The word is out.
Kiowa scare talk, that's all.
They've heard the lie. lt's sitting on their stomachs.
-They don't know what to do. -lt's still a lie.
We got nothing to be ashamed of.
Ben, what're you gonna do when they say it?
What're you gonna do when they say it to Rachel's face?
Kill them, l guess...
or anyone else who says it.
That's all l wanted to hear.
What's on your mind?
We want to talk to you, Zeb.
Later.
Now, Zeb. While they ain't here.
-Who ain't here? -The Zacharys.
Well?
Don't it seem queer them Kiowas pick right now to move down out of the hills?
Maybe the old man be loony.
Maybe they be lies he be telling our womenfolk...
but we got a stake here...
in this land, in these cattle.
Maybe not as big as you, but still a stake.
We got our families to think of, Zeb. Our wives, the children.
Them red devils move down on us now, all because....
Well, because....
Say it.
Go ahead, say it!
Speak up, why don't you?
Anyone here just say she be lnjun blood...
you'll get from me just what her brothers would give you.
You wait till Ben's back's turned. Ben...
who put your hog high for four years...
when you might've had nothing to chew on but buffalo grass.
You take this filth.
You believe this filth from an old man...
and then you take it up with me instead of Ben.
Jude!
Take over here.
We'll make two more tonight?
Ought to finish branding before daylight.
lf the weather holds out, we could start the drive to Wichita tomorrow.
You hear something?
Get back, Rachel.
Andy.
You there!
Put your hands on your hat.
Both of them.
lt's me. l ain't fooling you. lt's only me.
What in hell are you doing out here?
Sir, l saw Rachel standing in there.
l guess l'm too shy to come forward.
Does your old man know you're here?
Sure. He gave me his courting hat.
Claims he won't have any more use for it.
You can put your hands down now.
Thank you, sir.
-And go on home. lt's getting late. -No, sir. l can't do that.
l come to ask the question.
Hoping she'll say yes, and if she don't, l ain't coming back here no more.
l'm gonna leave home, go to San Francisco...
get a job on the first vessel l see.
Maybe go to China. l ain't thought that far ahead yet.
-Rachel! -l'm right here.
You ain't about to shoot Charlie, are you?
l've been thinking about it.
But as long as l'm so shorthanded, no.
Aren't you going to kiss me?
Ain't he kind of close?
You're going to kiss me, not him.
Ben! l just kissed Charlie.
So l'm going to have to marry him, l suppose.
So how do you say?
-l'll think on it. -No!
Say yes or no right now, right this minute, Ben Zachary.
-lt's come to pass, Mama. -What, Ben?
There's going to be the biggest, noisiest, most devilish, glorious...
drinking and dancing wedding ever celebrated...
-in this godforsaken part of the world! -Wedding?
Cash and Georgia!
Not me, Mama.
-l'm talking about Rachel, Mama. -Rachel?
Give me some.
Now that's Wichita whiskey. lt's been aged about four minutes.
That ain't long enough to cure what they put in it.
-l know, but l need it. -So do l.
My own little baby.
My own little baby, getting married!
Charlie, he said yes!
Rachel...
now, tell me truth, girl.
Do you love him?
Of course l do. Wouldn't any girl?
Ain't he the handsomest man walking?
l kissed her.
No, it ain't possible.
l did kiss her!
By God, l did, baby.
l kissed her!
l kissed her. lt's true, l kissed her.
Ma thanks you kindly for coming.
There, there.
Zeb.
She don't seem to know me, child.
-l've just got to put my arms around her. -Yes, dear.
Don't touch me.
And get out of this house!
Dirty lnjun, with your lnjun ways.
-Ain't you done enough? -Miss Rawlins?
Wound yourself around my son Charlie to get yourself a litter of half-breeds...
to run around my Charlie's cabin!
Squaw! Kiowa squaw!
Red nigger as ever was!
-What does she mean? -lt's only her grief.
You killed him!
-Woman. -You killed him!
Be quiet.
l've got to know the why of it.
lt's the last thing l want to ask you, but l've got to know.
All right, Zeb.
There'll be no work, no branding cattle, no drive to Wichita...
till we settle this thing between us.
l'll take every man who can sit a horse and hunt him down.
l'll bring him before you to admit his lies, before l hang him.
Pray God they be lies.
l want every man-jack of you to ride with me.
lt ain't his.
-lt's Guipago, all right. -He's about an hour ahead of us.
On that white stallion, that's as good as a week.
Glory, glory, hallelujah
Look at him! Damn his ugly soul! Sitting up there laughing at us.
l want the man who rides lightest to take my horse and two others...
and cut out after him.
That'd be you, Portugal. Where are you?
How much are you paying?
Nothing.
Give me that horse.
Here they come!
lt's a welcome sight.
l say it in my heart, it's a welcome sight...
to see you folks here gathered.
How do, Mr. Rawlins, sir?
You think you got a horse thief here. You ain't.
That horse l took from an lnjun girl. A redhide lnjun.
And you can't do a man hurt for that, now can you?
Mr. Rawlins, l want you to know how sorry l am...
about your son, Mr. Rawlins.
There's nobody here knows better than me what it is to lose a son.
How'd you know my son was dead?
Someone told me, of course.
Who told you?
lt must've been somebody here.
Whoever it was, would you step forward, please?
l ain't gonna die.
Put it around his neck, boys.
Devils. You all turned to devils!
You're all gonna burn on the Day, devils.
Look at that book, Mr. Kelsey.
Touch your hands to it.
lt's the Holy Bible, Mr. Kelsey.
lt's your last chance to cleanse your soul before you meet your maker.
God, oh, God, have them hearken unto me...
to me, oh God, whose own son was took by the Kiowas.
Rachel Zachary.
l want to know about Rachel Zachary!
lnjun. Redhide whelp as ever was.
True, it's true.
His papa knew.
Go on, old man.
And he knew my boy.
His name was Aaron.
He had blue eyes.
Young as he was...
l taught him to hold and fire a gun.
Tell us about Rachel Zachary!
lt was raining.
Long ago.
We saddled up, Will Zachary and me...
and many others...
riding against the Kiowas for a massacre they done.
We come to an lnjun camp.
We killed...
and we killed...
and we had to lay down, tired of the killing.
l heard a baby cry.
l went and found her.
A little baby, strapped to a Kiowa cradle board.
She had lnjun paint on her belly...
on the flat of her hands and the soles of her feet.
l had my hand on her throat...
when Will Zachary said to me:
''There'll be no more killing. No more killing today.''
And he took her from me.
l swear it.
l swear it, as l know l'm about to die.
l swear it to you, God.
And he took her to Mathilda, and they kept her as theirs.
Kept her in their own house.
And when the Kiowas captured my boy...
l come to Will Zachary and l said:
''Give me that redhide baby to trade.
''To take to the Kiowas to get back my boy.''
Will Zachary wouldn't do it.
He wouldn't do it.
And my boy stayed captive.
His son is dead...
killed by the Kiowas...
the very day my papa found Rachel in a settler's wagon...
wrapped in a Boston blanket.
Her parents were killed by the same Kiowas that killed his son.
But he wouldn't believe that.
He came to my papa and he said:
''Will Zachary, swap her! Swap Rachel.
''She's white, but she's a foundling, a catch colt.
''Give her to the lndians, so l can get my son back.''
That's what he said to my papa, and my papa ran him off the land.
And Abe Kelsey rode vengeance on us...
till the people in each town turned against us.
Till my papa was killed by a Kiowa lance!
And that old man made you run.
That poor old man chased you from town to town.
That poor old man with his lies.
No.
You run from the truth.
She knows.
She, that washed off that Kiowa paint.
Washed it all off!
Though she still be...
as brown as the bark of a tree.
l hanged him!
Abe Kelsey won't go on to destroy no one else with his lies!
lt's finished, and high time!
Jude!
Boys, lift me up.
l want a look at the man's face.
Can a man lie when he goes to meet his creator?
He wasn't lying, Zeb!
l told you that. And now you know it.
Rachel, come here.
Come on, child. l ain't gonna hurt you.
Rachel, no!
l ain't scared, Mama.
You're dark.
Darker than most.
But that could be the sun.
-We're gonna have to look at your body. -You leave her be!
Strip her down! Strip her down naked!
Let the women take her in the house and undress her.
Anyone touches her, l'll put a bullet through their God-fearing gut.
l've loved you as well as l've loved my own sons...
but we're finished.
Unless you pack this girl back to the Kiowas, we're partners no more.
Cash, Andy.
We're leaving.
Five years' work, gone for nothing.
You'll lose every cent you got tied up in the cattle.
That's what you're doing.
Not a man here will stand up with you.
Not one.
Early in the morning, we'll start cutting out your herd.
May God help you, Ben!
Nobody here will!
Ben.
l smell lnjun.
Rachel, Mama, don't move.
Let in some light.
What is it?
lt's Kiowa.
lt's a page out of their Bible...
like Chronicles.
This is old. Feel of it.
Thirty-odd years recorded here, winter by winter.
What does it say?
Falling stars.
The year of the falling stars.
Baby girl strapped to a cradle board.
-Burn it! -Don't touch it, Mama.
Burn it, Ben! l won't have that filth in my house!
Please, Mama.
Read what it says, Ben.
Read it.
Kiowa baby girl, stolen from their camp...
by white men, with rifles.
Did Abe Kelsey paint this, Mama?
Did he do this?
Did he put these lies down, year by year?
Did he, Mama?
Did he?
That man you hanged last night in Rawlins' yard.
You tell me, Mama.
Answer him, Mama.
All right!
lt's the truth.
My sister's an lnjun?
Yes.
lf we could only raise some decent flowers, instead of these scrawny old things.
Your papa brought me the little girl child.
He put her in my arms as l lay crying.
l'd just lost my own little girl baby with yellow curls.
Not old enough to be named when she died.
So l gave her promised name to Rachel.
My ownest Rachel.
My beautiful little lndian baby.
My breasts were hurting with all that milk.
l wish we could raise nasturtiums.
Then we could have a yard full, like when l was a girl.
l just love nasturtiums.
What you fixing to do?
Get this wood in.
l mean, about everything.
We can't stay here no longer.
We got to pull up stakes...
or else send Rachel away.
A man sets down roots.
He don't like them cut off, by Kiowas or anyone else.
With her out of here, we could at least get our cattle to market.
Cash, you want the cattle that bad, you take them. All of them.
You tell Zeb you and me don't see eye to eye. And that's for truth.
Take that cattle drive and keep all the profits.
Don't you go twisting my words around.
-We've got to get her out of here. -Where to?
An lnjun camp?
Or maybe to squat outside the garrison at Wichita...
and pick up silver dollars from the troopers?
Why don't you say it?
Damn you, why don't you say it?
lt's not the Kiowas or the cattle!
lt's the red lnjun in the house!
Get her out of here!
l don't care how you do it, get her out of here.
l'm staying. She's staying.
We're all staying.
l'm not staying.
Not with a redhide nigger!
Get going.
Here, piggy.
Cash!
l left my family.
Why?
They turned lndian lovers!
lnjun lovers!
Can't stay there no more!
l'm a little bit drunk, Georgia.
You can sleep it off in there.
Or there's a bed in my room, if you'll marry me.
l'm drunk, but l ain't that drunk!
Cash! Come on.
They're coming.
The same three, it looks like.
-Only three of them? -That's all that's coming up.
But l figure there's 40 strong across the river.
You figure they came to parley?
They'll ask for her first.
Then they'll try to take her.
l'm going out there.
There won't be any fight.
l'm going out to my people, where l belong!
You're staying here.
You can stop me now, but l'll go out to them the first chance l get.
-Andy. -Sir?
They still out there?
They're still there.
Kill one.
Kill one?
-They're under a sign of peace. -Kill one!
No!
Go ahead.
lt's done.
They'll never turn back now.
You can bet on it.
Not till you're all dead.
Ain't much point in going out now, is there?
Why didn't you let me go?
Why did you stop me?
When Mama told the truth this morning, l wanted to die.
And you wanted to die, too.
l could see it in your faces, you had to turn away.
Why let yourselves be killed on account of me?
Little lnjun.
Little redhide lnjun.
Andy!
Sir?
Turn out that light.
That gun shoots a little high...
so draw a fine bead.
When they get close enough so you want to scream, don't scream. Just shoot.
What if l can't do it?
You can.
l've never killed anybody before.
The gun does the killing.
My own kind?
By blood, yes.
But not by anything else.
Funny, l don't remember all them bushes out there.
There wasn't.
How's that?
One of them is moving.
Slow down, Andy. You're shooting too fast.
Sister!
We did it.
We beat them off.
Just like l said.
l did what you told me.
You did fine. Real fine.
The music of their flutes.
Magic...
to make them bulletproof.
We'll give them some magic of our own. Lend a hand, Andy.
Mama!
Play something, Mama.
Make it loud, good and loud.
Mama, that's enough magic for tonight.
Andy, you take over Mama's gunport.
Here they come.
Andy, to the side port!
Still on its hinges?
Still holding.
What is it?
l hear gunfire.
-ln your head. -No, l hear it, l tell you.
You couldn't. Your house is 10 miles away.
Yeah.
lt's stopped now.
l didn't hear anything, even before it stopped.
Could be they ran out of ammunition.
Forget about them.
Don't think about anything but me.
l know l could make you happy.
l know it.
Now, Cash.
Right now.
Georgia, get me some ammunition.
Rimfires, if you've got them. All you can spare.
Papa's got them all locked up, and he wouldn't--
l know.
He wouldn't lift his little finger off his Bible to save a Zachary.
Stay here.
Don't think about anything in the whole world except me.
-Andy. -Sir?
How's the ammunition holding up?
Not too many.
No more fire till they go to break in.
And here.
Give this to Mama.
Just in case.
Ma.
You've been hit.
My arm. Nothing much to it.
Get back to your gunport.
You better lie down and get some rest while you got a chance.
Stop fussing. l've hurt myself worse with a kitchen knife.
You just lie here awhile.
l'll be all right, l tell you.
Keep this by you.
My poor baby. My baby.
-l'm sorry if l did wrong. -Hush, Mama.
About Cash...
don't mind.
He was always fiery tempered, even as a little boy.
You don't have to explain Cash to me.
Andy, you still got those lead soldiers l brought you from Wichita?
-l ain't played with them since-- -l know where they are.
Ain't a very big army coming to our rescue.
There's one thing l sure regret...
that l ain't never got to Wichita and had me...
that glass of beer.
ls it pain to die?
We ain't gonna die.
We're gonna live. We're gonna lick those Kiowas.
We got to take a trip to Wichita.
Me, too?
All of us. You, me, Mama, Andy, all of us.
-We'll do it up real good. -Yeah.
We're gonna fit you out in a fancy dress.
A white one, with veils.
Veils?
That's what they wear for the occasion, ain't it?
We gonna have a wedding?
We're gonna get ourselves a town preacher.
We're gonna hire some music. We're gonna have a fine old time.
Hear that, Mama?
Hear that?
We're going to Wichita and have ourselves....
Get in the root cellar.
Mama!
Andy!
Back in the root cellar. Hurry.
Hole in her side.
Never said a word.
More coal oil.
He's coming to.
The fire won't hold them off much longer.
How's your arm?
Fine.
Can you handle your gun?
l guess so.
Never was much good left-handed.
lt's a six-gun.
Could it be Cash? Could it?
lt's gotta be Cash.
l knew he'd come back. l told you!
Whoa, hoss. You stay here with Rachel.