Ho!
That's Shep.
Hey, open up in there.
Sit him down here.
This fella drunk?
No. Half froze.
Pour him some coffee. Put a slug in it.
Hey, who is this fella, Shep?
Picked him up just below Glacier Pass.
Hey, he stinks of sheep dip.
Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute now.
You don't think he's one of them lousy sheepherders, do you?
- I don't know.
Give him the coffee.
Well, can he drink it? Or do I have to pour it down him?
Here.
Put some of this inside you.
Hot, huh?
Like swallowin' a brandin' iron.
You a cowhand?
Where's your horse?
Well, got - got lost in the blizzard...
coming over the pass from Montana...
and he went out from under me.
Fell, and...
he screamed.
You know, a-screamin' just like a human.
Yeah, most horses is better than humans.
Yeah.
Uh, drink up.
Now, if you're a cowhand, how come you stink of sheep dip?
I hired out to a sheep ranch 'cause it was the only job I could get.
Most cowhands would die before they'd herd sheep.
- Show me one.
Guess we can't at that.
What might we call ya?
Jubal Troop.
Well, I'm Shep Horgan.
This here's my spread.
- And these here are Pinkum -
Uh, we call him Pinky for short. And Sam.
That laughin' hyena is Carson.
You ride good?
Yeah, I can stay on most of 'em.
Well, we got a couple of extra bunks here. You want to use one?
And in the morning, we can see how handy you are with a saddle.
Good night.
Let's get this straight, mister.
As far as I'm concerned, you still stink.
Bacon's in the pan. Coffee's in the pot.
Get up and get it. Get it while it's hot.
I worked at the Circle Bar.
Chinese cook kept a fire in the bunkhouse all the time.
And he could cook. 64
Come on. Don't go torturin' that thing before daybreak! I told you.
Oh, now, Pinky, you know I gotta tune it up every morning.
It might go sour on me.
Where are my clothes?
I burned 'em last night because they stunk.
You know somethin'?
There's just nothin' as bad as the stink of sheep dip.
You take a lot on yourself, don't you, mister?
If I have to.
Uh -
Hey. Here, put these on.
They might be a little outsized, but they'll smell sweet.
Whose are they?
Shep brung 'em down to you last night after you went to sleep.
Say, man, you really went out like a light.
Mister.
You ain't aimin' to work here, are ya?
- Good mornin'. - Mornin'.
- You eat already? - No.
Just wanted to thank you for the clothes and the bunk.
- I want to say good-bye. - Good-bye?
You aiming to walk all the way to town?
Look, when I said we had an extra bunk, I meant a job.
You runnin' from somethin'?
No, I'm not - I'm not running from anything.
Just... want to keep movin', that's all.
Why?
Ain't my place good enough?
Sure. Your place is good enough.
Maybe I am runnin' from something.
Bad luck. I carry it with me.
Where was you aimin' to take it?
You know, did you ever stop to figure that maybe it takes more energy...
to keep running away than it does to stop and fight it out?
Fight what out?
Whatever you're runnin' from.
You know, there comes a day, Jubal...
when a man's gotta decide where he's going...
or he won't get nowhere.
Well, I see our sheepherdin' friend is still here.
Was it Pinky soured you on stayin'?
Don't take him too serious.
Ever since he come from the South...
I seen he was born with a big fat burr in his britches.
But he's a top hand.
Well, they're all finished eating down there...
so you hightail it in the house and fill your belly afore the coffee gets cold.
Hey! You fellas move any slower, and you're gonna be doing yesterday's work!
Now come on!
Who are you? Where'd you get those clothes?
Mr. Horgan, ma'am.
He asked - He asked me to come here. They -
These belong to him.
I oughta know. I've washed 'em enough.
- I suppose he wants you fed. - Well, he told me -
You gonna work for him?
- I don't know. - Sit down.
Thank you, ma'am.
- Thank you. - Hungry?
Yeah. Some.
Ham and eggs all right?
Sure. That'd be fine.
- Any special way? - No, ma'am. Any - Any way at all.
Might as well start on the oatmeal. It stays warm.
Thank you.
- Don't do that!
Scares the life out of me when you slam that door - every time.
- Oh!
Cold hands, warm heart, huh, honey?
You two get acquainted?
Yes.
- Miss Horgan. - Who?
It's Mrs. Horgan, Jube. Mae's my wife.
Been at it a whole year now, ain't we, honey?
- Sixteen months.
You're right. I didn't count the winter.
Always like the winter. Not much a man can do outside, eh, Jube?
Oh, Shep, you'll make me break something!
You go ahead and break anything you want, honey.
Oh!
Speaking of breakin'...
you want to show them cowhands you ain't no sheepherder?
I got a no-good bay down at the corral.
Ain't been worked much. Nobody's been able to take the pitch out of him.
You stay on Easy Moses, and they'll know you ain't no sheepherd.
- Hook him, Trooper! - Dig deep, boy! That's the way.
Stay with him, Troop. Attaboy!
Hook him, Trooper. Attaboy!
Hang him. Peel him, Troop.
- Stay with him, boy.
Hook him!
Break him, cowboy!
- Hook him, Trooper! - Dig in deep, boy!
That's the way. Ha-ha! Look at him!
Break him, cowboy!
Come on, Jube. Attaboy.
Hey, Pinky, you still think that Jube's a sheepherder?
Hey!
Hey, lookee here now.
Mrs. Horgan.
I didn't hear you come in.
Do me a favor, Jube.
Sure.
When you finish what you're doing, will you fetch me some firewood to the house?
All right.
You like it here?
Sure, Mrs. Horgan.
Why don't you call me Mae?
You're the boss's wife.
What of it?
I wouldn't come too close to this if I was you.
You might get burned.
You're not a very friendly man, are you?
I'm pretty busy-
Keeping out of my way.
That's right.
Don't try so hard.
I'll get the firewood.
Yeah.
I suppose you needed some wood.
What if I do?
Well, now, how about a little of what I've been missin'?
You know, there was a -
There was a time, not long ago...
when Shep was away - like he is now -
if you needed some wood...
you used to ask me.
Shep catch you doin' that, he'd kill you.
Now, why didn't you think of that the first time?
I think it's time I asked him to kick you out.
You do that. Go ahead.
You tell him. Go on, you tell him!
And when I'm saying adios, I will describe in full your little bag of tricks.
- You are asking to be killed, aren't you? - Me? What about you?
Open the door.
Sure.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry I broke up your little party.
Don't you ever ask him up here again. And just remember one thing.
While Shep's away, I kinda keep my eye on the place.
And remember-
When the house gets cold, you just call for Pinky.
Don't let her bother you, Jube.
There weren't a man on this outfit what didn't pop his eyes when he first seen Mae.
Oh, it sure gets a fella.
He can't sleep nights for a while.
Then he starts to get over it.
He gets over it because Shep is such a nice fella...
that he feels like he's doing him dirt.
Ain't that right, Jube?
Yeah.
That's right.
Every payday, it's the same thing:
dress up, ride into town...
spend your hard-earned money on poker and women.
Well, I suspect cowhands been doing that for 10,000 years.
Sam, you mean to tell me there've been cowhands for 10,000 years?
Sure. You think there was a time there was no cows?
You think those cows just rounded themselves up...
then trotted themselves to a butcher and said...
Here, you, now, you cut a great big piece of steak out of meat?
Sam...
what are you putting on your hair?
Oh.
Guaranteed to attract women and repel mosquitoes.
I think they got it backwards.
Should be guaranteed to repel women and attract bugs.
Ah, Sam, Sam, you lovely man.
Wonder why it is Troop is always the last to quit.
What's he buckin' for?
Hey, Jube. We always knock off early on payday around here.
Kind of a tradition.
I was just finishing a job.
Well, now, we ain't gonna wait for you to go to town.
You don't have to. I'm not goin'.
You - You ain't going to town on payday?
Nope.
Why ain't ya?
That's none of your business, but Shep asked me to come up to the house for supper tonight.
Shep asked you to come up to the house for supper?
- That's right. - How come he did that?
He ain't invited nobody up there since Mae came.
How come he asked you? Or was it her that did the askin'?
- I told you it was him, didn't I?
Say, I'm sure glad it wasn't me they asked up to that house for dinner.
I couldn't let out a belch or nothin'.
I just don't enjoy a dinner unless I can belch now and then.
Hey, Pinky.
You know what your trouble is?
You've got a whole mess of splinters in your britches.
- Why don't you try pullin' 'em out? -
Uh-huh.
I like my coffee strong enough to float a pistol.
Thank you.
Oh, excuse me, honey. I forgot.
Mae's trying to teach me Canada etiquette.
Imagine an old bull like me gettin' himself a little Canadian heifer like that.
Talks funny, don't she? Kind of high-toned.
That's her best dress she's wearin'. Your honor, I guess.
Well, I suppose you're wonderin' why I asked you up.
Yes.
I like the way you work, Jube. You do more than your share.
How'd you like to plant your roots here?
Kind of looks like I've planted them already.
No,no,no,no. I-l mean permanent.
Truth is, I'd like to spend more time with Mae.
And there's this here Cattleman's Association.
They made me top man, and that'll mean plenty of meetings and -
Well, the fact is, I'll need a foreman.
I mean you. The job's yours if you want it.
Oh, wait a minute. I'm - I'm new at this. I've never been a foreman. I mean -
Look, I'm very - I'm very grateful, Mr. Horgan, but I -
Why me? Why not one of the others?
- Who? Sam? - Yeah.
Has to be told things.
Carson? Too dumb.
Pinky? He wants it. He'd like to be top man around here.
But somehow, I don't trust him all the way.
How many men you known in your life you could trust complete?
One. Just one.
- That was my father. - There.
That's not gonna set very well with the others.
I'm too new here.
Sam, Carson - They're friendly enough.
- What about Pinky? - Ha! He hates your gizzard.
But Pinky don't like nobody. He don't even like hisself.
But someday, he'll learn there's only three things on earth worth fightin' for:
a woman, a full belly and a roof over your head.
He'll learn. You can handle him.
How 'bout it?
Well, is there anything besides Pinky to stop you?
Oh, no. No.
How 'bout you, duchess? How does Jube stand with you?
Let him decide for himself.
You know, Mr. Horgan, since my father died...
you're the only man who ever went out of his way to help me.
All right.
Well, uh -
Well, let's celebrate! Come on, Mae. Congratulate him.
Jube, you ever heard me play the piano?
Listen.
Look. No hands!
Come on, Mae. Dance with him. We're celebratin'.
Ah!
I'll get that new roll from St. Louis. Ain't even unwrapped it yet.
Be right down.
You didn't seem very anxious for the job.
I just didn't want to step up too far too sudden.
Do you really care what they think?
What about me? Do you care what I think?
He wanted me to congratulate you, didn't he?
We're ending this before it starts, Mae.
- Are we? - That's right.
I got it all the way from St. Louis. A waltz - never been played.
Jube, you called me Mae.
Whoa.
Another mountain lion.
I think they're huntin' in packs. That's number five since we left the ranch.
Consarn it!
I'm going into town and post a reward for bounty hunters.
We sure can't take time out from the roundup to go huntin' cats.
And from now on, Jube Troop's foreman.
- Since when? - Since now.
Any questions?
Yeah, I got a question. Why?
Because I trust him, Pinky. Any other questions?
- Nope. - Okay, Shep.
Well, now, I just guess we'll have to wait and see how he works out.
Yeah. That we will.
You can make your first report to the ranch tonight.
I'll see the rest of you at Cattleman's Bridge camp in the mornin'.
All right. We'll split up.
You two take the canyon track to Cattleman's Bridge.
- I'll meet you there. - Come on, Carson.
The Bar-Eight boys have picked up some of our strays.
Go and get 'em.
I don't know. Maybe you got too big for your britches too soon.
Could be. We'll have to wait and see.
That's right. We'll have to wait and see.
Hey, Pinky.
Look out for mountain lions.
I thought sure I seen one of them steer-killin' cats.
That just goes to show you how easy it is to make a mistake.
Yeah, it sure does.
Hyah, hyah, hyah!
You seen Pinky?
Maybe he's with them Bar-Eight hands I seen.
Are you head man here?
I'm gonna tell you somethin', old man.
You got about five minutes to hitch up and move off here and keep movin'.
All of you.
We're God-fearing people. We don't travel on the Sabbath.
Well, now, I'm gonna tell you what you're gonna do, old man.
If you don't move off the land, then you better start digging holes in it...
to bury yourself in.
- One apiece. - They mean it, Shem. They'll shoot.
We're doin' no hurt. We've got sick people here.
Now, look. You deaf? I said hitch up and move off!
- What's goin' on here? - Who is this guy, Pinky?
It's Shep's new foreman.
Who are they?
A bunch of the boys from the Bar-Eight ranch up north.
What are you shootin' this place up for? What have these people done that was wrong?
They're rawhiders. They'll steal you blind.
We're just trying to run 'em off, that's all.
My people don't steal. We keep the Ten Commandments.
What do you do with them Ten Commandments? You sell them Ten Commandments so you can eat?
Now how you live?
By helping others as we go...
and lovin' our neighbors, like it says in the good book, mister.
Sometimes the hardest commandment to keep.
But anyways, to put it simple, we believe in love, not hate.
You said what you thought they'd do. I want to know what they done.
- They're on Shep's land, ain't they? - They turn north, they're on the Bar-Eight.
All right. They're on Shep Horgan's land now. What else they done that's wrong?
Why'd you stop here?
We got some sick folks, mister, and this is the Lord's day...
and we thought some rest and prayer would help 'em.
We really shouldn't go no further till they get better.
They're lyin'.
No, they ain't.
Are you one of these people?
Nope.
But I rode with 'em a ways, and I know they're good people.
All right. You can stay till your folks get better.
Now, Shep is gonna have something to say about that.
Could be, but until he does, I'm saying that they can stay.
Come on.
Working a little far from your range, aren't you?
We're grateful, mister.
There'll be a lot of prayers said for you here tonight.
Say, do you mind if I ride along with you?
I've said my good-byes to these here people.
I come back when I heard the shots.
See all that down there? That's the ranch.
- You a cowhand? - Yep. Why?
The boss was figuring on hiring some extra help.
Want to ride along with me?
Sure. Don't mind if I do.
Thanks, friend.
You gonna let them rawhiders squat on your land?
Well, if Jube seen they got sick folks -
That ain't why he got soft on 'em. He seen this girl.
And she give him the eye, and he got - his guts got mushy inside.
Maybe now we know why he ain't gone for that ordinary stuff in town.
He was waiting for somethin' special.
Well, when Jube makes his report -
You don't have to wait for a report, I'm trying to tell you!
He - He rode up, and there was the girl looking up at -
Pinky, I'm beginning to think that the trouble with you...
is you hated every boss and foreman you ever worked under.
Now, if you don't like your job here -
Shep, please. You got me wrong.
Well, if I have...
you ride back to the Iron Springs camp and cool off.
And remember, Jube's my foreman.
What he says goes.
Well, sure.
I was just trying to protect your interest, that's all.
Sure. Sure.
You know what, honey? Jube's gone and got hisself a girl.
Honey, what you need that screen up for when we're here all alone?
We're married, ain't we?
I suppose you'd like your cowhands gawking at me through the window.
Nope, but when we're alone, duchess...
ain't nothin' wrong with me doin' a little gawkin', is there?
You know, I think I'll ride down by that rawhider camp...
and get a look at Jube's girl myself.
Wouldn't want him making out with the wrong kind of girl, now, would we?
He's a grown man. Let him alone.
Ah. Hmm.
- You smell as good as fresh-cut hay.
- Mm-hmm. - Is that Jube?
Uh-uh. It ain't him
it's a them Two.
Just passed Pinky on the way. He acted kind of sore.
Mr. Horgan, I'd like you to moot Reb Haislipp.
Howdy.
I figured you were - You said you were gonna hire some more help.
I thought maybe you could use him.
Well, just for the roundup. Can't use no more than four the rest of the time.
That's good enough for me, Mr. Horgan.
Thank you.
Come in and warm your gullets. All right with you, Mae?
If they can stand it, I can.
- Meet the wife, Reb. - Howdy, ma'am.
Evening. Evening, Jube.
Evening, ma'am.
Shep, why don't you order Jube to call me Mae.
Only way he'll do it.
Yeah. And stop calling me Mr. Horgan.
- I'm Shep. - All right.
There's 520 head down at Cattleman's Bridge ready to be branded.
Good. We'll ride out in the morning. Anything else?
Well, I guess Pinky told you about those - those rawhiders, huh?
Yeah. He says you snagged yourself a pretty piece of gingham.
Well, they, uh - They're a religious group, sort of, you know.
You just go after anything you want, boy.
The liveliest little filly I ever roped...
was a redheaded daughter of a fire-eatin' preacher.
Uh, present company excepted, honey.
Excuse the way I look.
So you got yourself a girl, Jube.
I'll take Reb down and show him the bunkhouse.
Sure. Nice meetin' you, Reb.
See you at daybreak.
Jube.
I missed you.
You comin' to bed, honey?
No, I'm not sleepy. I'm having another cup of coffee.
Take that bunk over there. Nobody's using it.
Tried to roll them cigarettes once, but I couldn't learn to keep my finger out.
I saw you come from the window up there.
I came as quick as I could.
Didn't you want me to come?
Didn't you see me at the window?
Don't you want me here?
He's asleep. He won't know.
Look, as far as I'm concerned, he's standin' right here.
If you're talking about conscience, I haven't got any, not about him.
- He loves you, Mae. - Loves me? Shep?
I'm no more than his pet filly, his heifer.
You heard him. I'm livestock.
With men, maybe he's great. With a woman, he's an animal.
- Well, why don't you leave him? - And go where?
Well, didn't you come from someplace? Don't you - Where'd you come from?
Canada?
Go back there with my tail between my legs and get laughed at?
BY Who?
By all them that are just waiting to say, I told you so.
Don't worry. There wasn't a fella back there I couldn't have had if I'd wanted.
Even if we was poor, they came round with their tongues hanging out.
Know how many proposals I got?
- Of marriage? - What else?
I got 23.
Then Shep came up to Calgary to buy cattle...
and everybody said he was a Wyoming cattle king.
When I asked him was he really a cattle king...
he said sure, and would I be his cattle queen and come to his castle?
And he laughed the way he does.
His castle
This is where he brought me - 10,000 acres of nothing.
This is a fine ranch.
For men, horses and bulls.
For a woman, it's 10,000 acres of lonesomeness.
No. I can't ever go back home.
But now you're here, I don't want to go back anyway.
This'll just be the first time, Jube.
We'll find ways. Lots of ways.
This isn't the first time, Mae. This is the last time.
- Why? - Because of Shep. He's my friend.
It isn't that at all. It's that new girl with the rawhiders, isn't it?
- She's just a kid. I saw her - - What difference does that make?
- What do you mean, what - I - - When are you gonna see her again?
Don't you think you'd better go back to the house, Mae...
before your husband misses you?
If I go back there, I'll be missing you.
Suppose he was dead. Would you come to me then?
Don't worry. I've thought about it.
Well, anyway, you go have yourself some rawhider fun, and I hope you enjoy it.
You don't know how sorry you're going to be.
I'm sorry already.
All right, baby. All right now.
Now, you're gonna die, too, unless you come with me now.
- Come on, honey. Little honey lamb.
You don't come with me, you'll be dead like your mama was.
Come on now.
Man, oh, man. I'm hungry enough to eat a hairy old saddle blanket.
All right, Troop.
I brung him in. You do the wet-nursin'.
- Mountain lion? - Yep.
Whoa there. Whoa there now.
He got his mama, but I got him.
Easy, boy. Easy. I shot the guts right out of him.
Easy now.
It's funny. You know, nobody learns without help.
Even Pinky seems to be learnin'.
Maybe he don't hate us no more, huh?
You're a good foreman, Jube.
You know men.
You know much about women?
Can't say I do. Why?
Well, Mae. Things ain't right between us.
Well, you've been around. You've seen us.
You know anything I can do to make her like me better?
Uh, course I - I can't change this ugly face none.
But maybe some things I do, I - I don't do right.
Well, there's a lot of things a man does that bother a woman. Uh -
Well, like what?
Well, like slurping coffee out of a saucer.
Yeah?
Uh, spittin', scratchin'...
whacking her on the behind when she isn't lookin'.
Why, I always do that.
- Oh? You mean, in front of company? - Why, sure.
If I just swat her in private, well -
Is she - Do you think she likes being swatted?
Don't all women? Shows 'em you love 'em, don't it?
Well, there's other ways, you know, Shep.
Of course.
Why, that's exactly what's been botherin' her.
That's right. She's just fed up with being whacked on the rump.
- Ah, thanks for the tip, Jube. - Yeah.
I guess you know women, after all, better than I do.
Say, uh...
how's that little rawhider respondin' to expert handlin', huh?
I haven't seen her. I've been too busy workin'.
Yeah. And doin' so good, you take tomorrow off and get down to that rawhide camp.
Maybe you can cut that little heifer out of the herd, huh?
- Mornin'. - Mornin'.
- What you doin'? - Picking wild strawberries.
Come to run us off?
No, no. The boss, he just asked me to check up, find out how you folks were doing.
Right well, thanks. Even Ma's up.
We'll move on soon.
- Where to? - The promised land, I guess.
I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh, should I?
It's promised in the Bible. Pa says we'll find it someday.
He doesn't know where it is though.
Do you like that, wandering around? I mean, looking for something that -
Didn't you ever want to have a home of your own like other people?
Sure.
Sometimes when we're moving at night, we -
we pass houses with lights in them and people.
Sometimes you can hear 'em laughin' or even singin'.
Once we stopped at a place, and I worked for some people...
while Pa was getting our wagon fixed.
And I stayed in their house.
- Inside. - You like it?
- Mm-hmm. - Huh?
Cried when I left.
Guess you wouldn't know why.
Well, maybe I would.
Yeah, I never had a home. Uh, I mean, a real home of my own.
Like... a real home.
- Not ever? - Nah.
I was born on a barge on the Ohio River.
That's the only home I ever had.
You lived on the water?
Me and my pa, we liked - Oh, it was - We liked it just fine.
Your ma didn't?
Well, she -
I guess she liked it before I come, but, you see...
my mom didn't - didn't want me to be born.
I was a wood's colt.
You know what that is?
- They wasn't rightly married. - Yeah.
I guess Ma figured I'd come along, and it'd make Pa mad...
and he'd up and leave her.
Um, I don't know. Whatever the reason was, she hated me.
That ain't natural. Are you sure?
Sure, I'm sure.
I found out one night for sure that she wanted me to die.
I was seven years old...
and I stumbled on the deck of our barge into the water...
and I hollered for help up at Ma there.
She's standing up by the wheel.
You know what she did? She just looked at me.
Just stood up there and looked down at me...
hopin' I'd drown.
Pa, he was - he was down below. He must have heard me holler.
He comes runnin' up and sees what's goin' on.
He jumps in the water and comes swimmin' out to me.
And then, out of the dark, around the bend...
this other barge comes bearing down on us.
Didn't see us, you know.
It hits Pa - the propeller does - starts cuttin' into him.
And even when that's happening, Pa holds me safe away from the blades.
He was a wonderful man.
He was really, you know - real - real strong.
And we was real close, him and me.
And - And when they...
brought his body back to our barge...
Ma comes up and looks at him, and she looks -
she looks - she looks at me, and you know what she says, looking right at me?
She says, Why couldn't it have been you?
Why did it have to be him? Looking right at me she says.
I just started to - I run.
I ain't stopped runnin' since.
Until Shep give me this job.
Hey, what am I talking this way to you for?
You know something? I never talked like this to anybody in my life.
I'm truly glad you did.
It makes me beholden to you.
Shem.
Who's that with Daughter?
Oh, that's the one who helped us.
Hello, Shem.
I understand your folks are better.
This is Ma.
- Well, what do you want here? - Nothin'. Nothin' at all.
You want us to move on? We're ready.
No. You can stay. You're doin' no harm.
We've been talkin' about headin' west - Idaho -
land openin' up out there.
The promised land?
Could be.
I see you're not laughing the way most unbelievers do.
I've learned not to.
Yeah, I guess almost everybody spends their lives looking for a place like that.
I hope you find it.
Storm's coming up. I gotta get goin'.
What with the roundup and all, I may not see you all again.
I want to wish you luck.
God bless you, mister.
Where you going, Jake?
Nowheres.
Stay away from Naomi. She's been promised to me.
Shem gave his word a long time back.
- Then you got nothing to worry about. - Well, just keep away from her.
Anybody wants more of anything, holler.
- No, thanks. - No, Cookie.
Well, see you in Pine Wood camp tonight.
- Yeah. Good-bye, Cookie. So long, Cookie.
Yeah, first time old Jesse James pulled this stunt...
I mean to tell you, my eyes just popped out like a couple of fried eggs.
Jube!
Doggone, you sure got that thing down pat now.
Well, now, if that ain't Troop's little ol' twist of calico.
Hey.
Is that Troop's gal?
You sure train 'em right, Troop!
What's the matter? ls something wrong?
I just wanted to see you.
I have something for you.
That's real nice.
It's nothing but a handkerchief.
I came to say good-bye too.
When you going away?
By sunup.
They just had the meetin'.
Jake kept saying the land will be all gone, so...
I slipped off to see you.
Your pa know you come here?
What's he gonna do when he finds out?
- I'm not doin' nothin' wrong. - What about Jake?
I don't like him.
But someday you're gonna marry him, aren't you?
I want you to know how it is with my people.
I never had no choosin' to do. It's my folks done it for me.
It's their way.
I know.
I won't ever see you again.
How can we tell?
Jube.
I have not been kissed.
I'd like it always to remember that you were the first.
Bye.
No. You can't fool a quart of liquor or a deck of cards.
- Now I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna mule kick this two simoleons.
You gonna stop playing that same tune over and over?
I go right out of my mind. Over and over and over.
That's Sam's lonesome tune.
When he plays it, he feels better. Eh, Sam?
That's right, Shep. Sometimes I even cry.
Well, I got a mite of curiosity and a heap of faith. I'm gonna see you, Shep.
Well, that's all there is. Ain't no more.
- Well, I got jacks back to back.
I had a pair of queens. You ain't got no sense in your head at all.
You're gonna stop playing that hard-luck violin? I'm gonna break it right over your head.
Come here!
Bust my brand-new Sears-Roebuck fiddle, Pinky...
and I'll string your eyeballs on the catgut.
shep-
- Yeah?
Well, hey. What are you doing all the way out here?
Well, you said if the Cattleman's report came, to bring it.
Well, not at night, honey.
It's only an hour's ride. I enjoyed it.
Evening, everybody.
- Mae. - Evening.
This is our last night here. You didn't have to bother.
Ah-
Another assessment.
Yeah, you should have burned it.
Won't you sit down a minute, honey?
No. Might have guessed it was poker night.
I'll be riding back. Who's winning?
Reb. I'm the big loser.
If we wanna win it back, we better get on with the game.
Oh. Kiss for luck, honey?
Ah!
If I stick around, I'll cramp your style.
- Night, everybody. - Night.
Oh, honey. We've been having mountain lion trouble.
I'd feel better if you didn't ride back alone. Jube, you ain't playin'.
Ride her back, will you, please?
I got a feeling Mae's brought me luck.
Oh, you pretty thing! Like a charm, honey! A charm!
Good night.
Think your luck's changed, Shep?
Plenty. Plenty.
Well...
we'll see.
This is the way it ought to be, Jube. You and me.
Let me ask you something.
When you came here, neither of us asked for it, did we?
Then when Shep asked you to be foreman, you knew how it was.
You could have said no, but you stayed, didn't you?
Sure, I stayed.
Shep made me feel like somebody. Shep... gave me a reason for living.
Shep? What about us?
What if I made a mistake? What's wrong with somebody trying to patch up her life?
There's nothing wrong with you trying.
You just picked the wrong guy to patch it up with. That's all.
No matter if you love me?
And don't tell me you don't.
I can tell when a man wants me.
There is a difference, you know.
Then I'll settle for the difference.
And nobody has to know, Jube. Nobody.
Except you...
and me.
Hey.
Come on.
What you doin'?
- What time is it? - About 10:00.
Is something wrong?
Reb just rode off.
Well?
Well, your new foreman Jubal Troop ain't back yet.
Well, he took Mae home.
That's right. And he ain't back.
- What you trying to make of it?
I ain't trying to make nothin' of it.
You don't want to make nothin' out of it, I ain't gonna make nothin' out of it either.
You've got something eatin' ya.
- What? - Mae.
And Jube.
Together.
You're a liar!
- What's going on here? - I ain't gonna hit you back, Shep.
I ain't gonna hit you back because I feel sorry for you.
Get off it, Pinky. Don't pay him no mind, Shep.
Sorry? For me?
You think the only reason she came back here was to bring the mail?
You think that she doesn't know he never plays cards?
Just how dumb can you get?
Sam?
You know there's something going on?
Now you tell me. I trust you.
Is there something going on?
I don't know.
You. Carson.
Somebody tell me he's lyin'.
Somebody tell me!
Of course he's lyin'. Since the day Jube come here, Pinky ain't liked him.
You know that, Shep.
What you aimin' to do, Shep?
I'm riding back to the ranch...
for the truth.
And for a reason to come back and rip you apart, Pinky.
Jube?
Jube, is that you?
- Where is he? - I don't know.
Town?
He was here.
You know he was. He rode back with me.
I mean here -
in our room.
What if he was?
No!
You're hurting me!
Tell me.
- Tell me. - Get your hands off me.
Was he here?
In here? Was he with you?
Yes, he was. Here. Yes.
You want to know why?
'Cause I'm sick of you.
I'm sick to my stomach every time you kiss me.
Let go of me!
I hate you. I hate the way you look. I hate the way you look at me.
I hate the way you feel. I hate every single thing about you.
I love him. Do you hear? I love Jube!
I didn't pass you on the way from camp, so I stopped at the ranch.
Everything was dark.
There ain't no answer in there, Jube.
You got the answer?
Jube, there ain't no law that says you have to play every hand that's dealt you...
or play a hand that you can't afford to lose.
You could always pass.
Suppose the time comes when you don't want to pass.
Trouble climbs on my back, I run.
All right. All right. Well, I'm running again.
And what are you gonna tell Shep?
What is there to tell him?
Get up.
Get up, Jube, or I'll give it to you that way.
What's the matter with you?
You.
And Mae.
Now wait a minute. You're all wrong, Shep.
He ain't wearing no gun, Shep. What's the matter with ya?
Keep out of this, Reb.
Now just - just wait a minute.
I'm gonna kill you.
Jube.
You had no choice, Jube.
Now there ain't a man here...
didn't see this was self-defense.
Come on, Jube.
Jube.
You heard what Shep said. Troop and Mae.
Yeah.
Troop shot him dead.
That's when Reb and Troop left.
Well, your boss will want to know how and why he was killed.
Likewise, the other people in the town.
I think it calls for a meeting.
Tell you what you do.
You two ride into town, see if you can locate Troop.
- You done this. - I done what?
Whatever happened, it was your doing.
I done nothin'.
Nothin'. I was right here all the time.
All the time, I was right here!
And if I was you two, I'd start to decide which side I was on -
Shep's or Troop's - because you can't be on both sides.
Now me, I've been for Shep from the start.
And I think that Shep was one of the best bosses that a man ever had.
Come on now. Open up. It's Pinky.
Shep see you sitting in his chair, you know what'll happen to you.
Well, from now on, honey, it's my chair.
Shep's dead.
- Where's Jube? - What's Jube got to do with it?
What's he got to do with it? You ask him to kill Shep?
Huh?
Why?
Why this Jube? Why Jube?
I thought he ought to be told. He's foreman here.
- Oh, no, he ain't. No more he's not. - Why not?
Why not?
Because he killed Shep.
Now isn't that just what you wanted?
Come here.
Listen.
Shep was here, wasn't he?
And you sicced him on Jube, didn't ya?
You sicced him on Jube because you knew that Jube would kill him. Is that the way it went?
- Is that what I should tell the posse? - What posse?
The posse they're gonna raise. Huh?
Shep was the best-loved man in this territory.
And they ain't gonna let no stinkin' sheepherder...
come in here and take his wife and kill him.
Take his wife? Shep wasn't here. You're making this all up.
I'm making it up, am I? Am I really making it up?
Then let us ask him. Shall we? Shall we ask him?
Come on now. Let's ask him, honey. Here he is.
Come on. Let's ask him. Let him come in, and let's ask him.
Shep. Shep, will you come in, please...
be a polite ghost and make the young lady tell the truth?
Mae, I - Mae!
Mae?
Mae, honey?
Come on now.
Mae?
Now, Mae, I know you're here.
Come on, honey.
Mae, honey, you treat me right...
and I won't even tell the posse.
Mae.
Come on, honey.
Just treat me right. Eh?
Just treat me right now.
Come on.
You treat your new foreman right.
Come on.
That's all right. Uh-huh.
You just treat me right. That's all.
Treat me right. Come on, honey. Just treat me right.
Just treat me right. Please.
If I didn't want Shep, do you think I'd want you?
I'd rather find a dog to spit on me.
Spit?
I'll give you a dog to spit -
- Spit on me? Come here.
I'll spit.
Load up, folks.
Load up.
The sun's rising high.
Load up.
If anybody needs any help...
holler.
Jube could use some of that help, Shem.
He's in bad trouble. He's killed a man.
It was self-defense. It was Shep Horgan.
Well, what'd you bring him here for? What if they come after him?
Well, I think they might.
But I knew he'd be safer here with one of you.
And I knew you people believe in helping your neighbor.
Well, I say we don't shelter no killers. Now get him out of here.
- Yeah, no, get him out.
He's lost a lot of blood, and I got no place else to take him.
Shem?
I ain't always willing to ask of my people what I ask of myself, Reb.
We're hated enough as it is.
We can't get mixed up, right or wrong, in no murder.
- We're people of peace. - Last time they didn't shoot.
Well, this time they'd have a right to.
- Anyone else care to speak up? - Ma, please.
Jim Tolliver spoke of peace.
Well...
let's see what kind of peace we want.
The run away and stick your head in the ground kind?
The escaping your duty kind?
And how about the living kind?
The kind that comes with the giving of love to your brother.
And kindness.
Well, I figure that's what we've got to show him...
who once showed it to us.
Reb, put Jube in my wagon...
so the womenfolks can start helping him.
And what if some of us don't go along with this?
Now you got no right to make 'em risk their lives.
I said I wasn't always willing to ask of my people what I ask of myself, Jake.
When we reach the crossroads, we'll split up.
Eight wagons is too easy to spot anyway.
We'll take different routes and meet up in Pocatello.
It's you who'll be in danger. Which way you going?
I'll turn back east and find a hiding spot.
We gotta give Jube time to heal, like he give us.
My brother will take care of my wagons.
Me and my sons will be proud to ride alongside you, Shem.
Thank you.
Time to go.
Everything was like always when we seen Shep come in, only now it was different.
We could see Shep was blazing mad.
He had his Winchester too.
So Shep told Troop to get up.
But Troop just looked at him, you know, kind of guilty like.
Shep told him again, and he fired.
That's when this here, uh, Reb threw Troop the gun...
like as if they'd been practicing it for a long time.
They had.
Then Troop shot him and killed him.
Sam.
You and Carson seen him practizing that gun trick.
Not for killing Shep they wasn't.
How do you know? Now how do you know?
Didn't they link up the very first stinkin' day that they went with the rawhiders?
And who got Shep to hire Reb?
I'm saying that this wasn't a simple case of self-defense.
I'm saying that this was a case of planned murder.
Now we all know that Shep Horgan was the best-loved man in the valley.
And we know that he gave that sheepherding killer Jubal Troop a job.
A job. He made him a foreman.
Now what thanks does Shep get?
Troop went after his wife.
Do you remember -
Do you remember the first time that Shep ever brought Mae down into the valley?
How proud he was, huh?
Well, he ain't proud no more.
'Cause he's dead.
Why?
Why? Because he set out to defend his wife's honor...
like any decent, red-blooded man would.
Hey.
Where's this Jube Troop now?
That's a very good question, Matt.
That's a good question.
Where is Jubal Troop now?
I say he's hiding someplace.
Now, if he's hiding someplace...
then this can't be a simple case of self-defense.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be hiding.
Does anyone know where he is?
Doc?
Dr. Grant, you here?
I'm right here.
Doc, did he come to you last night and you sew him up?
No, but then, he'd know I was a friend of Shep's.
Sam.
Sam, you're a friend of Jubal Troop, ain't ya?
Do you know where he is?
No, I don't.
I do know you got no right to go around accusing a man of murder...
without he's here to talk for hisself.
That's all I'm asking, Sam. All I'm saying is we should go out and get Jube. That's all.
Well, sure. Go get him. String him up. No trial, no nothin'.
No, I ain't saying we should string him up.
I ain't even saying we should pump him full of lead from Shep's own gun.
But I am saying that we ought to get him before he lays his hands on somebody else's wife.
'Cause I don't think he should get off scat-free...
after killing the best-loved man in this territory!
Is anybody here who wasn't a friend of Shep Horgan?
All right.
Now let's go find him.
You know, sometimes I think it's giving the good Lord the worst of it...
to say he invented people.
Looks like a good hiding place. Over there.
- Stop grieving so deep, Jube dear.
It wasn't as if you had killing in your heart at all.
All you wanted to do was stop him from killing.
Anybody would do that.
Oh, Jube dear, try to forget.
Just remember the good things.
He knows you were grateful to him for everything.
He knows you loved him.
- Even now he knows that.
Say a prayer, Jube.
Let God help.
That's not gonna help.
Don't you understand? He's dead.
I - I killed my best friend.
I think maybe we got something.
He ain't in there.
- You know where Jubal Troop is? - Why, no, we don't.
- Well, where's the rest of them? - I don't know.
- Well, why'd you split up? - Why shouldn't we?
Yeah.
Well, I guess you told me what we wanted to know.
He's in one of them, all right. Now, we find the right one, and we find Jubal Troop.
Come on, boy. Go, boy.
Shem oughta be warned. If we knew where they'd be.
They'll be east - the track we come by.
I'll catch up with ya.
All right now, did anybody find the right wagon?
No.
All right. The answer's simple, gents.
We stopped every rawhide wagon except the right one.
Means the one we want is hid someplace.
You men looking for Jube Troop?
You all right?
Where are the other wagons?
They've gone, but don't worry, Reb and the folks are watching.
Watching what?
Because of me? You expecting trouble?
What are you plannin'?
I'm planning not to have any of my trouble rub off on you.
Oh, Jube, you go running off because -
because you think you're not wanted or something terrible like that.
You mustn't be ashamed needing somebody. Everybody does.
You don't want to be alone again.
That's for sure.
Another thing's for sure.
With all my heart, it's sure I love you.
Please don't go.
You can't stick around and watch somebody you love hurt.
That's why I'm going.
- Jube, can you ride? - Yes.
Saddle up his horse as quick as you can.
Jube, they're coming up over that hill after you.
Pinky and the Bar-Eight bunch - 40 or 50 men.
And that Judas Jake, he's leading them right here to ya.
- How much head start do I have? - About four or five minutes. That's all.
You start running, Jube, but where you gonna stop?
Stay with us. We won't let 'em take ya.
Shem, you're the only friends I have. I want to keep you healthy.
Now give me a few minutes head start, and then lead them to me.
Lead 'em to ya? Your head broke? Where you goin'?
- The ranch. - Shep's ranch?
Man, they'll hang you from that corral gate.
The answer to why Shep Horgan wanted to kill me is at the ranch.
If they take you, you can't help yourself.
You're not healed yet, and your wound would break open.
- Not if I get the answer first. - Can I talk to him private?
Yeah.
Suppose she won't tell the truth.
I couldn't help hearing while you was fevered.
- She's gotta let them know. - They don't care about her. it's you they hate.
- No. - Oh, don't go.
If you do, I won't see you anymore - ever. I know it.
- Oh, Jube dear, what could you prove? - I don't know. I don't know.
Just the truth. That's all.
- Take care of these folks, Reb. - Guaranteed. Git!
Line up like Jube's inside. Maybe we can hold them off a while.
They're almost here.
- Better crawl in that there wagon, Naomi. - Daughter, this is men's work.
I got to see that Judas face of Jake.
- Hand him over. - Who?
Who we come for. This ain't no square dance, mister. Jubal Troop.
- What if we hand him over? - You hand him over, then you don't get shot up.
I see you brought Judas with ya.
You've done what you set out to do. Now get along.
And don't head for Pocatello. We don't want you neither.
Get.
Now let's get this straight. You say these folks hand Jube Troop over to you, you won't beat 'em up.
- That's right. - And if they don't, you will.
Or worse.
What'll you do to Jube Troop if they turn him over to ya? Beat him up?
Or worse? All 40 of ya?
You stopped being funny exactly one minute ago.
It was you that threw the gun that killed Shep.
Jube wasn't armed.
Since when can't a man defend his own life?
One of our people's been killed, and his wife's been violated.
- She tell you that? - No, she didn't. Pinky said.
- Why don't you ask her that, cowboy? - Ain't no need to ask her nothing!
We'll get what we want out of Troop! We'll beat it out of him! Now you get him out here!
He ain't in there.
Go ahead. Look, if you got a mind to.
Why the stall? Where you got him hid?
No place.
Jube's waiting for you, Pinky.
He's waiting for me. Where is he waiting for me?
Shep's ranch.
YOU lyin'?
I don't lie, Pinky.
And to prove to you I'm not, I'm gonna ride along right with you.
And if he ain't there, you can hang me.
- Well? - He ain't in there.
Pinky, Jube says he wants all these gents to know the real answer to Shep's death.
The real answer.
The real answer, huh?
You know what that means?
It means he went back to Shep's ranch to beat some lies out of Shep's widow.
And I say we should shoot him on sight.
All right. Let's go.
Mae?
Mae.
It was Pinky. He beat me.
I killed Shep...
just as much as if I'd shot him myself.
He believed the lie I told him about you.
Oh, don't move me, Jube. I'm awful bad hurt.
Troop!
He's not gonna hurt you anymore, Mae.
Doc, Mrs. Horgan needs you.
Sam, Carson, you want to help him?
What's the matter, Pinky? Did you think she was dead?
Is that why you come back? So you could say I did it?
Well, shoot me first.
Mae Horgan's dead.
It was Pinky, not Jube.
It was Pinky who wanted Shep's wife.
She wouldn't have him, so he beat her.
She's dead.