Bend of the River Page #4

You know very well what

her name is. Name's Marjie.

And she's more beautiful than ever,

and she's probably gonna marry...

one of those 20 young fellas that

proposed to her. That's fine. That's fine.

She's a nice girl.

If I were the marrying kind...

Never mix marriage with gambling.

The percentage is against it.

Let's have a drink. Whiskey,

two. Glad to see you, Trey.

How's Laura? The shoulder, is

it all healed up? It's fine.

She runs the gold scales

for Hendricks.

Fifty-nine ounces,

give or take a grain.

Just about the only person

in town you can trust.

Well.

$1,240. How will you

have it, credit or coin?

Just give me

a credit slip, miss.

Then you can step out from behind

this cage and help me spend it.

That'll be enough

of that.

He'll help you

spend your money.

Looks like you got

yourself a reputation.

Some folks think I'm almost as

fast as that raider from Missouri.

Um, what was his name?

McLyntock?

Friend of yours, honey.

Oh.

Laura.

Hello. I'll be

right with you.

Bradley, take the scales

for a moment.

How's everybody upriver? We've been

worried about you. Haven't we, Cole?

We're all pretty well. I was

just tellin' Trey about Marjie.

She's all up to her neck

in romance.

Mrs. Prentiss, she's

playin' schoolteacher.

Your dad, he's been wonderin'

what kept you in Portland so long.

So have I.

Well, I... tell him that I...

Tell him you like it in Portland.

Laura doesn't think farming would be

much fun. Frankly, I don't blame her.

Uh-huh.

That mean you're not goin'

upriver? No, Glyn. / like it here.

It's exciting.

We've had such a wonderful time that I guess

you'll have to tell Dad I'm staying here.

I think maybe you better

tell him yourself.

He's at the dock

with Captain Mello.

You might just as well, honey. You're

gonna have to tell him sometime.

I asked you if she was your

girl. That's right, you did.

Hope you don't mind.

I don't.

Where do I find Hendricks?

Never mind. I'll show ya.

Maybe you'd better

get back to your work.

Maybe I'd better.

/t'll run you $850.

/'ll take it in cash.

Those prices are out of line. Take it

or leave it. Tomorrow it'll cost 1,000.

And next week, you won't get it at any price.

This is the last load going upriver this winter.

We'll take it,

but it's robbery.

Come on.

Hello, McLyntock.

How goes things

at the settlement?

Oh, not bad.

Kinda short on food.

Wonderin' why our supplies

haven't been sent upriver.

Had trouble getting it from San Francisco.

Soon as they come in, I'll ship 'em to you.

Uh-huh. When'll that be? Two or

three weeks. A month at the most.

There's a lot of ice along the riverbank.

Couple more weeks, it might be frozen solid.

Don't worry. If it freezes, I'll pack

your supplies up. What if we get snow?

Don't argue with me! If you're not satisfied

with your deal, I'll give you back your money.

I want those supplies waitin' on the

dock! That's our food. Send it upriver.

Don't tell me what to do! I can get

50 times what you paid for that food.

It's gold. Do you understand? Gold.

Here's your money. Gimme that receipt!

Now looka here. You made a

deal, you're gonna stick to it!

There's 100 people dependin'on that

food to see them through the winter.

What do you expect 'em to do? Starve

while you feed a bunch of crazy miners?

That's your problem.

I know...

You're the feller I'm lookin' fer. Do

you need more men to load that steamer?

You got the wrong fella.

You hired Shorty and Red and Long Tom, all

them others, and I can do more work than 'em.

Are you talkin' about the River

Queen? She's being loaded? Yeah.

Sure, with all them cattle and boxes and

barrels. I wanna make $10 and a bottle...

Wait a minute.

You're not goin' anywhere!

Behind you!

Havin' a little trouble?

A little.

Come on,

out of the way!

Should've hit him

in the shoulder, kid.

Now what? I'm goin' down to

the docks. You wanna come along?

Yeah. Have we

got any choice?

Pick them up

on the street!

Pick up a lantern!

Get on your horses!

All right, pull up the gangplank

here! Cast off your lines!

We can't leave for another half

hour! That's what you think.

Get inside, quick. Stand

by to repel borders!

Adam, full speed astern!

Do you hear me?

Adam, full speed astern!

Full speed astern!

You sure you wanna come along?

This is a fine time to ask.

Stop wastin' lead! We'll ride to the

rapids and pick them up when they come in.

I sure wanna thank you,

Captain Mello. What for?

For gettin' us out of trouble.

Trouble?

That wasn't trouble. Things like that used

to happen down on the Mississippi every day.

Ain't that so, Adam? Yes,

but we was younger then.

It just requires

a little bit of thinkin'.

Then you better start

thinkin', Captain.

Hendricks and his men are headed

for the rapids along the riverbank.

Think we can beat 'em

to it? Not a chance.

They'll be there three, four hours

before we are. Any ideas, Glyn?

I got a few.

Oh, uh...

thanks for your gun.

Think you can get along

without it?

I'll get along.

Didn't Laura talk to you when she got down

to the boat? She didn't tell me about him.

I guess she figured Cole'd make her

a good husband. Maybe she's right.

She's not right.

His kind never change.

I hope you're wrong,

Jeremy.

I sure hope you're wrong.

Cap'n Mello.

Yeah?

Can you pull her over

to the bank?

I could, but we're 20 odd

miles below the rapids yet.

I know. Just get her over there. Adam!

Put her over to shore. Easy does

it. We don't wanna get hung up.

What happens when we

reach the shore? We unload.

Then what? Remember talkin' about

findin' a road across the mountain?

Well, we're gonna try

and find one.

Miss Laura, here's one

of Cap'n Mello's coats and caps...

so you can...

have a whole outfit.

Fine, Adam.

Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Down, easy. Hold it,

hold it. Easy, easy.

Come on, you. Come on,

give him a hand here!

Help him hitch the horses up! Come on!

Watch it.

Here we are.

Hey! That's quite an outfit.

Where'd it come from?

Adam and I did some exploring. Found

a bit here and there. Do you approve?

Very much.

Especially the cap.

Come on.

Let her down easy.

Yah! Yah!

Yee! Yee!

Well, I guess that does it. I figure

you owe us another ten dollars, maybe 20.

And the bottle of whiskey.

Ain't that right, Shorty?

And the bottle of whiskey.

Yeah, that's what we figure.

You'll get paid when we reach the

settlement. Know how to drive a four-up?

We ain't going over no mountain. And I ain't

drivin' no team. You wanted to get to the gold?

Not over that mountain. When we get a grubstake,

we're going to the diggings, but not with you.

All right, I'll tell ya

what I'll do.

You boys help us get these

supplies over to the settlement...

I'll see to it that each of you gets

a grubstake worth two, three, $400.

Enough food to send you

through the winter.

And if we say no?

He broke me pipe.

He broke it again.

The law won't let you

get away with this.

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