Buchanan Rides Alone Page #2

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to get acquainted anyway.

(VOICES OUTSIDE)

- Come on!

-lt's high noon! What are we waiting for?

We're still waiting for 'em to wake up.

(ANGRY COMPLAINING)

Here, go check on 'em.

Get up.

Morning, Nina. Where's the judge?

Anyone ever tell you

you're a mighty handsome woman?

Many times, sefior.

When are you gonna leave

the judge and work for me?

- The judge treats me very well.

-I can treat you better.

Why should I leave a man of Judge Agry's

position to work for you, sefior'?

That's for you to answer, beautiful.

Only remember, if you wait too long

I may not want you.

- Morning, Simon.

-Morning.

Nina! Bring another glass.

I already have it, sefior.

-L'm afraid I've got some bad news for you, Simon.

-Oh?

Yeah? What's happened now?

Roy has been... shot.

Roy, dead.

It was inevitable.

Who did it?

A young Mexican.

Looks like a man named Buchanan

helped him.

Did they get away?

No.

Simon, you'd better get down to the

jail before they string 'em up.

Lew has everybody

primed for a lynching.

If you're smart, you'll stop it.

Why should I do that?

Because everybody in these parts

knows that Simon Agry

stands for law and order.

A lynching could cost you

a lot of votes, Simon.

Aside from the fact that the young

man's name just happens to be

Juan de la Vega.

Don Pedro's son?

Why?

Ask me, I'd say the old gentleman

might be willing

to part with a lot of pesos

to get his son back safe.

You're right.

Can't have no lynching

with me coming up for election.

JUAN:

Sheriff, you are making a big mistake!

You cannot hang Sefior Buchanan.

He had nothing to do with it.

I killed Roy Agry.

- Yeah, and he helped you.

-That's right, Lew.

No, you're wrong.

He had nothing to do with it.

Save your breath, kid.

Nobody's listening to you.

I am truly sorry, sefior.

So am I.

All right, string 'em up.

Wait! Lew!

Take those men back to jail!

Hey, Simon, I thought

you was at the cemetery.

Do as I say,

take those ropes off their necks.

Please listen to me.

My only son has been killed.

A son I held very dear to my heart.

Who among you has a better reason

for wanting to see those murderers hang?

None of you.

I personally would like to put

the noose about their neck,

but the law forbids it.

You all know that

I'm a law-abiding man.

It's my solemn duty to see

that they get a fair trial.

That's just what they're gonna get

tomorrow morning at nine o'clock.

Now the sheriff here is gonna

take these men back to jail.

And I want all of you to go home.

Please, gentlemen!

We must see that justice

takes its proper course.

And I shall personally

be forever grateful to you.

All right, take the ropes off.

Sefior Buchanan,

why did you help me?

Because you needed it.

I wish my father could meet you,

so he could thank you for what you did.

Tell me, who is your father?

Well, who is he?

Don Pedro de la Vega.

I'm Juan de la Vega.

The whole of Mexico

thinks a lot of your dad.

You've heard of him?

Lots, all good.

He's a fine man.

And he has a fine son.

I saw those scratches on Roy's face.

Was she your wife?

I am not married.

Your sister, then?

Look, Johnny, you've gotta tell 'em.

Nobody would hang you for killing a

man who did a thing like that.

No.

No-one must ever know, Buchanan.

All right, quiet everybody.

This here trial is about to start.

Now Jim here is going to pass

among you with a tray

and the judge wants me to have you

put all your glasses

in that tray, empty.

(MUTTERING)

Judge don't want no more

liquored-up opinion

like he had in that last trial.

Now sit down some place

and take off your hats.

Come on, stand up for the judge.

Come on, Charlie!

Well, sit down.

All right, this here court is now in

session, Judge Simon Agry presiding.

Waldo, bring in the prisoners.

Bring in the prisoners!

Put that gavel down.

- Sit down.

-Sit down.

Sit down!

I see the defendants

have no legal representation.

We don't need no lawyer, Judge.

- What is your full name?

-Tom Buchanan.

What is your full name?

I killed Roy Agry,

that is all you have to know.

Your name is Juan de la Vega.

Stand up, Buchanan.

He had nothing to do with it.

Tad, sit him down.

Where do you hail from, Buchanan?

West Texas.

- Where are you headed?

-Back home.

What's your occupation?

Well?

Well, I'm trying to think.

It seems to be quite a chore.

(LAUGHTER)

I ain't much of a thinker, Judge.

I grew up chasing cows.

Whose cows?

My dad's. Until the drought

and the bank wiped us out.

- What then?

-I ramrodded some, a little border spread,

and then I got some ideas

about owning for my own,

so I crossed the line and tried

to stake myself some animals.

By rustling?

No, sir. Fighting.

- Oh, so you're a fighter?

-Yes, sir.

What kind of fighting?

Almost any kind,

provided there's money in it.

Ijoined General Campos in Mexico.

Then murder is nothing new

to you, Buchanan.

Ain't murder when you

kill in the revolution.

Why aren't you still there?

Revolution petered out.

Besides I... I got myself a stake.

I see.

According to this charge, you're an

accessory to the murder of Roy Agry.

How do you plead?

Your son getting shot

was no business of mine.

You got any questions, Lew?

Yeah.

Mister, wouldn't you say

you made your living as a gunman?

I've turned a dollar with a gun.

- And you put in a lot ofjail time?

-I've been in jail.

So the fact is you're just

another hard case on the dodge?

You could say that.

Tell the judge here about

the fight you picked with Roy

just before he was shot.

Nothing to tell.

Nothing to tell!

You knocked him down and when

he got up you got him drunk.

He was a man full-grown, I offered

him a drink, but he took the bottle.

He was still working on it when I left.

Ah...

Isn't it a fact of the case

that you were the advance agent

in this killing?

Weren't you sent into town to

either goad Roy into a gunfight

or get him so drunk

he couldn't defend himself?

- No.

-But the plan misfired, didn't it?

You two did the killing all right,

but the Mex here

ran smack into the law

and you came and tried

to break him free.

I saw this boy here getting

a licking from this big ape,

so I dealt myself in.

I figured it was one thing

I could do in this town

-that wouldn't cost me ten bucks.

-(LAUGHTER)

- Oh, you don't like this town.

-I don't like some of its people.

- Me included?

-You especially.

Oh, you'd like to kill me, maybe?

I'd like to give you

what you and your boys gave me.

- Take the law into your own hands, is that it?

-No. Just you.

Well, that's the case, judge.

He's a gunman that came

into town yesterday

to set it up for

this boy here to kill Roy.

I never saw this boy in my life

before yesterday.

I didn't have nothing to do

with the killing.

Anybody got any more to say?

You've all heard the evidence,

now you've got to decide

whether Buchanan was or was not an

accessory to the murder of Roy Agry.

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