Ambush at Dark Canyon Page #2

---

more than made up for it.

Their love was constant.

Through thick and thin, she stood by him.

Has the jury reached their verdict?

We have, your honor.

We, the above entitled jury do hereby

find Duke Donovan guilty on all counts.

Order! Order in the court! Order!

Now, the punishment for such a crime

is to hang by the neck until dead.

However... in light of your many years

of community service,

and your impeccable service record,

the court has decided

to grant you a reprieve.

Therefore, you are hereby sentenced

to life imprisonment

at Yuma territorial prison.

Where you shall do hard labor

for the rest of your life,

without the possibility of parole.

This court's adjourned. Take him away.

Duke came to Yuma prison

in the spring of 1893.

His arrival was the talk of the place.

He had as many enemies in Yuma

as he did admirers.

He'd put half of them in there.

He was a quiet, deliberate man.

And those eyes...

no one ever forgot those eyes.

All hands at attention!

Warden's on the floor!

I'd like to take a moment to...

personally welcome you all to Yuma.

I believe...

you'll find your stay here to be a tough,

but a fair one.

We work a six-day week

and rest on Sundays.

That's reserved for the good Lord.

I don't care who you are or what you did.

But in here, you're mine.

The government of this great territory

has asked us to assist

in the construction

of a new section of prison.

You'll get two squares a day.

But you'll have to work

damn hard for them.

However, in the end,

you'll manage to do something

you failed to do in your previous lives.

Make a positive contribution to society.

I consider myself a fair man.

Should you have a need

that has not been addressed,

my door is always open.

Ace high.

Godspeed in your work.

You ladies heard the warden.

Back to work.

Not you, Donovan. Come with me.

Come on!

You'll be stayin' in here. Warden Logan

thought it might be a good idea

to keep you away

from the rest of the populace.

Get changed. We'll come by

to collect your clothes.

Remember, ladies.

There is no talkin' on the line.

Unless you wanna be eating

your dinner through a straw.

Keep it down! Stay quiet!

Put your backs into it!

Hey!

Are you talkin' to me?

Yeah.

I like that pickaxe you got right there.

Say...

ain't you that law dog

everybody's been talking about?

Yeah.

That's me.

That's right! These rocks

ain't gonna break themselves!

Donovan began to settle in

to his newfound lot at life in Yuma.

Working by day and separated

from the other prisoners at night.

Many began to forget he was there.

As days turned to weeks,

the first month passed.

It looked like Donovan

was gonna be all right.

That is, until the day Will Penny...

and Cage Dalton arrived.

Dalton's ornery disposition

got him thrown in the hole immediately.

Straight to the hole.

As for Will Penny? Well...

He would have more to do

with the fate of Duke Donovan

than anyone could have ever realized.

That's right! Keep diggin'!

You want some?

No messin' around!

Is it true? That if the warden's

in a bad mood,

he makes us prisoners dig

with just the handles?

No?

What're you doing, kid?

Keep workin'!

Hey! Hey!

Get a hold of yourself, goddamn it.

Bunch of criminals.

Kid, kid, look at me.

You want Cane to hear you?

Son of a b*tch.

- Sorry about this, kid.

- No, no, no, no, no!

What's going on here?

I don't know.

I think he's scorpion-bit.

That true?

Yes. It's just like he said.

All right, all right.

Get him up on his feet.

Get him up on his feet, take him

to the wagon. Get him a drink of water.

Whole thing's gonna set us back today.

Warden's gonna blow up!

Take a little sip of water.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Donovan.

Warden's on the block!

What happened here?

He got scorpion-bit, sir.

Show me.

- What's that, sir?

- Show me your bite.

Well, you know,

I don't know... You know, I...

Show the bite now, or I'll shoot you dead.

Okay! Please.

There is no bite.

I don't got no bite, sir.

I thought so.

There, now. There, now.

It feels good to tell the truth,

doesn't it, boy?

Yes, it does, sir.

Well, that's still no excuse.

Oh, no! Please! Please!

Throw him in the hole.

I will not tolerate liars.

Get up! Come on!

You got a problem with that?

He's just a kid.

That kid cut a couple in El Paso

from ear to ear with a butcher's knife.

But then, you know all about

murdering women and children, don't you?

- Deputy Sullivan?

- Yes, sir?

Throw him in the hole as well.

Seein' as you're the sympathetic type,

you can spend some time there

with your new friend.

Let's go, Donovan.

Come on.

Next time, it won't be empty.

I'm sorry about this, Donovan.

All right.

Checking the locks.

Stop.

Cut your goddamn tongue out.

Get some sleep.

Still one more week to go.

Cocksucker.

Ladies. Lockdown.

Listen, Donovan.

Yeah, kid?

That... that thing in... Young Country?

Did it really go down

the way they say it did?

You know, in all my years

of working with the law...

- there's one thing I learn.

- And what's that?

Nothing ever went down

the way they say it did.

Yeah.

I guess so.

What about you, kid?

Guessing they got your story wrong, too?

No, sir.

I...

I killed those people...

deader than hell.

After my parents died...

the state took my sister and me.

Put us in an institution.

Then one day, this...

this couple come, and...

they say I was gonna go live with them.

It was all right at first.

Made some new friends and...

had a roof over our head.

Then...

Then, one night...

the wife came into my room.

She wasn't wearin' nothing.

And she said, if I told anyone,

she was gonna send my sister away.

So...

I went along with it for a while.

To protect her.

Then I...

I caught the old man with her.

And I...

I knew I had to do something.

She was just...

just a little girl, you know?

Innocent.

That's a hell of a thing, kid.

That's a hell of a thing.

It's a real touching tale, ain't it?

What about you, Dalton?

What's your story?

Me?

Oh, I've done...

train-jumping and grave-robbing.

Card-playing. Lying, cheating,

stealing pretty much my whole life.

See, I was in... Clementina, New Mexico.

A few weeks ago, in a jail,

waiting on my trial date,

and there was a man in this...

in the jail cell with me.

He's limey, through and through.

Had a real nasty scar on the left side

of his face, result of getting shot.

- What was his name?

- We ain't in no hurry, is we?

- What was his name?

- I said, we ain't in no hurry.

Where was I?

Oh, yeah.

This fellow claimed that...

the gunshot to the head almost killed him.

Bank robbery gone wrong, says he.

Convinced this lawman...

to go along with him on account

of he had a fine piece of ass

held hostage, and he was gonna kill her.

If the lawman didn't go along with him.

I need your help, Duke.

Put your gun down,

or I'm blowing her head right off!

- He's gonna kill me!

- Put your gun down!

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes