Shoo, now! Shoo!
Ain't you got no better manners than to eat at the top of a house?
You, Guipago!
You!
Rachel!
What day is today?
Tuesday, I think, Mama. I'm not sure.
Butter tastes kind of wild to me.
Must be the green in springtime grass.
- Guipago! - Rachel!
- Guipago! - Rachel, the bread!
Rachel, the bread!
Tuesday's bread day. You've got to make the bread!
You ain't friends with me yet, are you? Well, neither am I.
Guipago...
you gray-haired old grass eater.
You're only half-horse, you know that?
The other half is a mean old Kiowa lndian. Yeah.
Rachel, honey, you'll break your neck!
Both of you!
Whoa.
You ain't gonna let no little old skein of geese scare you?
They're only human.
Just fly a little higher than us folk, that's all.
Giddup, Guipago.
Howdy, mister.
We got food down to the soddy, if you care to partake.
What's your name, girl?
Rachel.
Rachel what?
Why, Rachel Zachary.
You're no Zachary.
Why? Not a Zachary born...
but Ma says it's no different than if I were flesh and blood.
How do you know who l am, mister? l've never seen you before.
l am the sword of God...
the fire and the vengeance...
whereby the wrong shall be righted and the truth be told.
Well, I declare.
Just what did he look like, Rachel?
Like something blown in by the wind.
He had a saber.
- Who is he, Mama? - I don't know.
Some crazy old hunter, I suppose.
But he knows us...
or about us, me being a foundling and all.
Nothing so wonderful about that.
Everybody in Texas knew your ma and pa...
Or heard about them, anyway.
- But the way that he talked... - Prairie fever.
What's that?
Worst thing you can get. Loneliness.
l was touched by it myself, once or twice.
If it wasn't I had a daughter to talk to...
Go in the root cellar and get me some carrots and potatoes to put in the stew.
You!
How do, Miss Zachary?
I'd have come sooner, but I had a long way to ride.
Seven years.
You can't kill me.
The god of vengeance will blind your eye.
Death for death, and blood for blood.
Mama?
Mama, who are you talking to?
Git! How many times do l have to tell you to get off my house?
Sorry-looking carrots.
Mama, what's the matter? You got tears in your eyes.
No, I ain't.
Truth be told, l don't feel like cooking with no men in the house.
And your brother Ben away so long.
l wish Ben were here right now.
Right now.
lt's a long ride to Wichita, and even longer to ride back.
I can't wait, Mama, l just can't.
Look at your bread.
lt's rising just beautiful, Mom.
Take it out before it gets too beautiful to eat.
Should l take some out to the boys on the range?
No. lf those big lunks, Cash and Andy, want fresh bread...
let them ride home and get it.
25, 26, 27...
which counts up to 81 so far!
All we need is 150.
lf l don't have them before Ben arrives...
l'll get down on all fours and strap a saddle to my back.
Ben promised to take me along to Wichita and show me how to live.
You got a far piece to go. You ain't even shaved yet!
Ben says they have girls there which only have first names!
"Ben says..."
Unless l miss my guess, that'll be brother Ben.
l see you made it, Ben.
Looks that way, don't it? How's Ma and Rachel?
Fine.
- How you doing, Ben? - Pretty good, brother.
l don't know about the pretty part, but you didn't go to Wichita to be good.
Whoo! What's her name, Ben?
- Tell the truth, I don't recall. - Don't recall?
By gee, if that ain't the way to live!
- Fine looking bunch of riders. - Why not? l handpicked them.
- Off the barroom floor. - They're sober now.
Boys, you can set down here.
No better shade within six miles.
The water in that creek is drinkable, provided you don't put nothing in it.
Cash!
The one with no whiskers, is he Injun or ain't he?
When l go to hire a man, l don't generally start out by insulting him.
What does he call himself?
Johnny Portugal.
They change their names.
All l know, he's the best horse tamer in Texas.
The wind's in the right direction, l can smell lnjun a mile off!
l hate to disappoint you, Cash. That smell's coming off of me.
l ain't changed my dirt since Wichita, Kansas.
- How much did you pay for the fancy soap,Ben? - One silver dollar.
Ain't nothing in Wichita less than one silver dollar!
Don't matter, though.
Beef at the Railhead's 30 cents.
30 cents!
We must have a million pounds walking around with our brand on it.
For the first time in our life, we're gonna be rich.
Ben.
Rachel.
Ben!
Ben! Oh, Ben!
I'm so happy to see you! Oh, Ben!
Don't you cheat, you two.
Cash.
You can look now.
Well, what do you think?
l'm dreaming, ain't l?
Ain't l, Ben?
- You must have paid a fortune of money. - Not a red cent. Nothing at all.
l made a bet with a man l could lift it off the floor by myself.
Cash. Andy.
Easy, now.
Must be getting weak. Did that in Wichita with one finger.
Look here, Rachel. See how it opens.
You're playing the wrong end, daughter!
What makes you so happy, Mama?
Because you ain't sick or dead or scalped or something worse!
Nothing could kill me, except lightning out of the sky.
And then it'd have to hit twice.
I believe that.
What tune is that, Mama?
Mozart.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Sounds like angels!
What is it, Ma?
A piano!
Lord have mercy, a piano!
Hallelujah, amen.
Ben Zachary must be counting on a golden year...
to lay his money out for a piano.
- Giddyup. - But, Pa!
- l want to change my dress. Please, Pa? - What's the matter with that one?
Do you want your daughter to get married, or don't you?
Take more than a fancy dress to catch a Zachary. Go ahead.
Papa! Papa!
Papa!
Give me that gun.
Papa!
- What's the matter, child? - You snake-bit or something?
- What old man?
He had only one eye, and he wore a saber. A long saber.
Get back in the wagon. Put your hat on.
l seen him, and he sure seen me, because he got that one eye full, Mama!
Down in the valley
hear the wind blow
Roses like sunshine
Violets like dew
Angels in heaven
know I love you
God love you, Ben, for staying partners with a man like me.
lt's been a burden...
doing business with a God-fearing, honest, decent man.
And crippled.
lndian knife done that, Mathilda.
lndian squaw, Rachel, honey.
The while he was tied captive by them Kiowa.
Kiowa devils.
We licked them good last time, didn't we, partner?
Us and our picayune neighbors?
Four years ago Christmas, down there by the wash.
You flushed them and l shot them.
- They ain't showed a feather in four years. - Four good years for buzzard.
Groundhog, blue potatoes and all the alkali salt you can eat!
Froze to the saddle. A sunburn right through your clothes!
And that twister two years ago, like a big black dog chasing his tail.
The turnaround, down in the spring...
when the creek dried up, and they died by the hundreds.
Great God in the morning!
But now...this year, Mother, fat!
By the grace of God.
Fat as ever l've seen him in all my long days.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
We did it together, Ben.
Us Rawlins and you Zacharys.
What sayeth the Lord?
The Lord sayeth, "Be fruitful and multiply."
Multiply!
We old folks, we done all the multiplying we can.
You say.
Therefore, Ben, Mathilda...
l'd like to see our two families joined together.
- Keep talking, Papa. - I don't mean you.
Not yet, anyway. And pull your dress down.
Who then, partner?
He means me.
You?
Charlie?
Charlie, come here.
Speak up, Charlie. Tell my brother what you want.
Me?
Nothing, sir.
You're a liar, Charlie.
Yes, ma'am. l suppose l am.
Tell him, Charlie, or l'll tell him.
Ben Zachary, sir...
l want to come courting.
Courting who?
Rachel.
My baby sister?
She's a pretty big baby. And big enough, soon enough!
Hush, Mother. You're getting drunk.
Drunk. Drunk don't tell lies.
Well, Ben, what say you?
l'll think on it.
Huh! You'll think on it!
And that's all he'll ever do, too, Papa.
The same goes with Cash Zachary.
l'm 20 years old, and l've been waiting 20 years to get married!
Maybe you ain't asked the right Zachary.
- Do you love me, Andy? - I do.
Except you're tearing my coat.
Do you want to marry me, Andy?
l'd like that just fine...
Except I promised myself I'd go to Wichita first.
What in the world for?
Well, I ain't never in my life had...
a glass of beer.
Oh. How long will that take, Andy?
Month or two.
Oh, I can't wait, l just can't
I found a grey hair in my head this morning.
Cash, you old stickleback, you know you love Georgia.
- Do I? - He don't.
- Don't I? - I don't want him. I hate him.
Come here, Georgia.
No, not in a million years.
I said come here.
Dust him good, Georgia.
Closer.
Georgia, you just spoiled the best chance you ever had of getting me married.
l hate you.
l'll kill them. l'll kill all the men in the whole world.
Honey, pretty, you'd just be sorry tomorrow.
Honey, pretty, if you're all that anxious to get married...
there's an old man over in the brush, with one good eye.
What old man? Georgia?
He didn't mention his name.
Mama, that's the old hunter. The one I told you about.
What old hunter?
Mama, was anybody here?
Nobody, Cash. Nobody at all.
But, Mama, that crazy old man. The one with the saber.
Oh, him.
Did you see him, Mama?
Yes. Many and many a time.
l've seen a hundred if l've seen one.
They all look alike to me. Lonely.
There are lonely men riding all over this country.
Buffalo hunters, only the buffalo's gone.
I feel sorry for them. No home, no family.
Sorry for them, l tell you.
Yahoo!
Will you do something for me, Cash? Stay home.
lt's a dirty job. l'm coming along.
Glory, glory, hallelujah
Fiery sword!
Zacharys are finished!
Quit and run!
Cash? Seen him?
- You hear him shout something? - Was that him or the wind?
- l saw the flash of his saber. - Where?
First over there, and then over here.
- Maybe there's two of him. - Well, there's two of us.
Arrows of God upon them!
He can't get far on a dead horse.
- Cash? - Yeah.
I can't see for nothing, Ben.
Couldn't see a standing mountain in this storm.
It's hopeless, Cash. Hopeless for now.
Be three or four days till this norther blows itself out.
Three or four days, he'll be dead. He'll dry up and blow away.
Kelseys don't die. They got to be killed.
Ben! Get him!
Hang on, Ben!
Ride him, boy! Ride him!
OK. OK.
Hang on, boy! Hang on, now!
Look at him! He'll never make it!
Hold him! l'll ride him!
You'll ride him, you can get him, Charlie! Come on!
Ride him, Charlie! Ride him!
Stay with him, Charlie!
Charlie!
You don't hurt me none!
Poor Charlie-boy, you didn't ride him long enough to get warm.
I'm right proud of you, Charlie.
Don't feel bad. Ain't a man that can't be thrown.
Or ain't a horse that can't be rode.
Why don't you give her a try, paleface?
Easy, girl, easy.
Easy.
Ain't you the prettiest devil l ever did see?
l'm going to ride you now...
easy and slow.
lt ain't going to hurt much.
Not after the first time, anyway.
You've got a burr in your pretty hair, ma'am.
Finish him, Ben. One less redhide.
You shut up, Cash.
Ben's a might touchy about Rachel.
Yeah.
l got pay coming...
and a bonus for every horse l busted so far.
We pay off in Wichita.
l ain't fired?
What for? You're the party done all the suffering.
Anybody else see a burr in my sister's hair?
You, Rachel!
What reason you got to come smiling, sashaying around here...other than females?
Why? Am l so different from the other neighbor women?
They stick to their wagons, where they belong.
Maybe they're just not interested in finding a husband.
Get on your horse and go home to Mama.
Ben!
- What? - He's gone!
- Who? - Guipago's gone!
Guipago, gone?
He wouldn't run away, not with his reins down.
He'd stand. l know he'd stand!
Who could have been so mean as to steal him?
Maybe he run away.
Not with his reins down, he'd stand. l know it!
lf that don't beat all!
Gotta put up $100 silver for the horse and a dollar more for the thief on his back.
Don't be a fool. We both know who stole it. Anybody finds him, it'll be us.
Only an lnjun would be crazy enough to steal it.
Just like Zeb's saying, Ben. l think it's lnjun work.
lt's lnjun work, all right. They done it.
Maybe.
Come on, Rachel, honey. Get on behind me. We're going home.
Ben, l've never seen you so oddly thoughtful.
l don't care about that old horse if it's gonna worry you to death.
lt ain't the horse, exactly.
Go on, tell me. lt must be something dreadful.
lt's nothing.
Are you mad at me for sashaying around?
When l get you home, l'm gonna whup you.
Tell me again, Ben.
Tell you what?
About the night Papa brought me home...and the stars were falling.
Yes.
You were the prettiest baby l ever did see.
Am l still pretty?
Nope. Old age has overtook you.
Ben, l saw blue butterflies down by the creek this morning.
About a million of them.
They were flying in twos, like sweethearts...
with four wings apiece.
That ain't a ladylike thing to say, is it?
Hang on to these days, Rachel.
Don't grow up too fast.
I got a big choice in this country, Ben.
l could marry that handsome, winsome Charlie...
Or that baby, Jude.
l could even marry you!
Watch your language, girl!
Why not? We're not cousins. We're not even relatives.
We're not even friends.
Ben, if you met me in Wichita...and had never saw me before,
would you take after me hat in hand, mouth open, drunk or sober?
l've just made up my mind.
Have you, Ben? Have you?
l'm going to tell Charlie he can come courting if he wants to.
l already told him that.
Wake up, Cash. We got company.
What is it? What is it, Ben?
Kiowas! Dirty, stinking Kiowas.
- What do they want, Ben? - I don't know.
But we'd better fort up.
Rachel, stay away from that window.
May the Lord bless this food.
Andy.
And may the Lord deliver us from evil, red or white.
Amen.
Turn your plates over and hop to.
Fill up, Andy.
l'm a little off my feed this morning.
Now ain't this something?
We're eating with the smell of the stinking killers...
coming through that window, so thick you could see it.
Hellfire, Ben, there's only three of them! We can kill them before breakfast!
All right, Cash.
Let's first make sure they're after our scalps.
I'm gonna waste one.
They don't scare for nothing, do they?
Medicine! They think they've got bulletproof medicine.
I'm going to parley. Don't shoot unless you have to.
When is that?
When they break the peace and kill me.
No, Ben! You ain't to go out there!
Mama, I got some shirts need fixing. l got shirts on my bed that need fixing.
You ain't to go out there!
Mama.
I'd hate to have to shut you in your room.
Rachel, get away from that window. Now!
l come in peace.
My land.
My sky.
You are welcome.
Young horses. Good for fighting.
Good for hunting.
You take.
l am ashamed. I have nothing as good to give you in return.
You have... in your house... woman.
One of our woman.
Who told you this?
Man of your tribe.
Old man. Carry long knife.
Him crazy.
Crazy man.
Sun... speak through him.
Dead people speak through mouth.
He speak...
Woman... my sister.
l her brother.
He lies!
How much woman worth?
There are not enough horses to pay for her.
Not all you can own, or all you can steal.
We want see.
You show her to us.
The woman in my house is white.
Father white. Mother white.
They burned to death, by you!
Kiowa!
Ben, you scared them. They're running away.
- l told you to stay away from that window. - l ain't afraid.
- I am. - What did he want, Ben?
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.
The one in the white buckskin, I'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, Cash. Save your lead.
Cash! Cash!
Ben, we could have killed him! We could have killed him!
Cash.
I reckon you'd better take the drive to Wichita.
l'd like that fine, Ben, 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!
- Injuns! - Kiowas!
Red Injuns, 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!
- I even seen war paint. - You get back on them irons.
But, Papa...
Git!
Come on, Charlie. 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.
They must have 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, Charlie, 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! Ben!
The word is out, Ben.
Kiowa scare talk, that's all.
They've heard the lie. lt's sitting on their stomachs.
They don't know what to do.
It's still a lie. Cash, We got nothing to be ashamed of.
Ben. What are 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.
Well?
What's on your mind?
We want to talk to you, Zeb.
- Later. - Now, Zeb. While they ain't here.
- Oh. 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!
Well, speak up, why don't you?
Anyone here just say she be Injun 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.
Hiya!
We'll make two more tonight, huh, Ben?
Ought to finish branding before daylight.
lf the weather holds out, we could start the drive to Wichita tomorrow.
You hear something, Ben?
Get back, Rachel.
Andy.
You there! Put your hands on your hat!
Both of them.
lt's me. Ben, 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. Charlie
Thank you, sir.
- And go on home. lt's getting late. - No, sir. l can't do that.
I come to ask the question, hoping she'll say yes
And if she don't, l ain't coming back here no more.
I'm gonna leave home.
Go to San Francisco, get a job on the first vessel I see.
Maybe go to China. l ain't thought that far ahead yet.
- Rachel. - I'm right here.
You ain't about to shoot Charlie, are you, Ben?
l've been thinking about it.
But as long as l'm so shorthanded, no.
Aren't you gonna kiss me, Charlie?
Ain't he kind of close?
You're gonna kiss me, not him.
Ben! I just kissed Charlie!
So l'm going to have to marry him, l suppose.
So how do you say, Ben?
- l'll think on it. - No!
Say yes or no right now, right this minute, Ben Zachary.
- Well, it'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. - Rachel?
Oh...
Give me some.
That's Wichita whisky. Mama, Aged four minutes. Not long enough to cure whatever's 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... - Yippee!
now, tell me truth, girl.
Do you love him, Rachel?
Of course l do. Wouldn't any girl?
Ain't he the handsomest man walking?
I kissed her!
I kissed her.
No, it ain't possible.
I did kiss her. By God I did, baby!
I kissed her!
l kissed her. lt's true, l kissed her.
Whoa!
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.
Don't touch me!
And get out of this house!
Dirty Injun, with your Injun 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. You killed him!
Woman...
You killed him!
Be quiet.
I've got to know the why of it, Ben.
It's the last thing I want to ask you, but I'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, Ben.
I want every man jack of you to ride with me.
It 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.
Glory, glory, halle...
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.
Giddup!
Ha-ha!
Here they come!
lt's a welcome sight.
I say it in my heart,
it's a welcome sight to see you folks here gathered.
How do, Mr. Rawlins, sir?
You think you've got a horse thief here. Well, you ain't.
That horse I took from an Injun girl.
A redhide Injun.
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 did 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?
I ain't gonna die.
Put it around his neck, boys.
Devils! You all turned to devils, 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!
Injun. 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!
It 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.
I 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.
I 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.
I hanged him! I 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!
I 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.
Ben, 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, Ben.
Not a man here will stand up with you.
Not one, Ben.
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, Cash.
What is it?
It's Kiowa.
lt's a page out of their Bible...
like Chronicles.
This is old. Ben. 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, Ben.
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.
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 I 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, Ben?
Get this wood in.
l mean, about everything.
We can't stay here no longer, Ben.
We got to pull up stakes...
or else send Rachel away.
A man sets down roots, Cash.
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, Ben.
- 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, huh?
Why don't you say it, Cash?
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. Cash. She's staying.
We're all staying.
I'm not staying. Not with a redhide nigger!
Get going, Cash.
Here, piggy, piggy, piggy, piggy!
Here, piggy, piggy, piggy! Piggy, piggy!
Here, piggy, piggy!
Cash!
l left my family.
Why?
They turned lndian lovers!
lnjun lovers!
Can't stay there no more!
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!
Oh, Cash, come on!
Ben!
They're coming.
The same three, it looks like.
- Only three of them? - That's all that's coming up.
But I figure there's 40 strong across the river.
You figure they came to parley, Ben?
They'll ask for her first.
Then they'll try to take her.
Rachel?
l'm going out there, Ben.
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, Ben.
Kill one!
No! No!
Go ahead, Andy.
It's done, Ben.
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 Injun.
Little redhide lnjun.
- Sir?
Turn out that light.
That gun shoots a little high... Rachel, so draw a fine bead.
When they get close enough so you want to scream, don't scream. Just shoot.
What if I can't do it, Ben?
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, Ben?
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, Ben?
Still holding.
What is it?
l hear gunfire.
- ln your head. - No, l hear it, l tell you.
You couldn't, Cash. Your house is ten miles away.
Yeah. It'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.
I know it, Cash.
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, Cash.
Don't think about anything in the whole world except me.
- Andy? - Sir?
How's the ammunition holding up?
- Not too many, Ben. - No more firing till they go to break in. Not too many.
And here. Give this to Mama.
Rachel.
Just in case.
Ma.
You've been hit.
My arm. Nothing much to it.
Get back to your gunport, Andy.
Mama.
Mama. 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.
Oh, Mama.
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. don't mind.
You don't have to explain Cash to me.
Andy, you still got those lead soldiers l brought you from Wichita?
- I ain't played with them since... - I know where they are, Ben.
Ain't a very big army coming to our rescue.
There's one thing l sure regret...
That I ain't never got to Wichita and had me... that glass of beer.
Is it pain to die, Ben?
We ain't gonna die, Rachel.
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, Ben?
We're gonna get ourselves a town preacher.
We're gonna hire some music. We're gonna have a fine old time.
Ben.
Oh, Ben.
Hear that, Mama?
Hear that?
We're going to Wichita and have ourselves...
Get in the root cellar, Rachel.
Mama!
Andy
Back in the root cellar. Hurry!
Hole in her side.
Never said a word.
Mama?
Mama!
More coal oil, Andy.
He's coming to, Ben.
The fire won't hold them off much longer.
How's your arm, Andy?
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, Ben!
Whoa, hoss. You stay here with Rachel.
Andy! Andy!
Andy.