Cassidy Red Page #2

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It softens your face.

( crying, coughing )

I am sorry

if I hurt you, Joe,

but you hurt me first.

Matter of fact,

you shattered my heart

into jagged shards and then sprinkled

them pieces all over that campfire.

If you have any heart

still left to beat,

I aim to silence it for good.

( laughs )

That's my girl,

staunch to the last.

Let's find this heartbreaker

a soft place to lay down

them fiery locks,

shall we, boys?

( Joe groans )

And how did you think

this was going to end exactly?

( Joe coughs )

( Joe moans )

With your blood

on my boots.

( moans )

( metal clasping )

( grunts )

Well, I'll be.

This bracelet fits a lot better

than that ring you lost

interest in so quickly.

( spits, grunts )

Ain't neither of you

long for this world.

Enjoy your last night

together.

Joe?

Jake?

( groaning )

You're alive.

I am now.

Lemme guess. They share

some poison berries

that Jakob had holstered

just in case this ever happened?

Not every one in every

story is quite as hung up

- on martyrdom as you are.

- Since I don't know what that word means,

I'm gonna go ahead

and take it as a compliment.

They say that when lovers are pulled

apart by fate and circumstance,

their bond

is only strengthened,

as if the heart responds

to challenge with resolve.

Are you an authority

on love, Cricket?

May I continue?

Josephine Cassidy

was conceived and delivered

in that room right there,

daughter of Harley O'Houlihan,

one of the founding members of Belle

Vue's most profitable enterprise,

and Cort Cassidy,

part-time killer,

full-time drinker.

A young girl who grows up

in a saloon,

sees and hears things

no child should ever have to,

but when Harley went to work,

she'd banish her daughter

from the Belle

for days at a time.

Joe would ride out

to Cort's ranch

half a day's ride

south of Ruby.

Often as always,

Rowena would come along.

She was a product

of the barkeep taking liberties

with one of Harley's gals,

pretty young thing named Jill,

who died giving birth.

Nobody in Ruby paid Rowena

no never mind,

so she followed Joe back

and forth across that desert,

looked up to her

like a sister.

Besides the occasional meal,

Cort only really had one thing

to offer his daughter,

after all, even when

half in the bag,

he was still

a sinister shot.

( whistles )

Hey!

Back in them days,

a hired trigger like

Cort Cassidy

could wipe entire families

of Apache off their land,

spilling orphans

into the desert.

One of them orphans wandered

for months through open country

'till he made the mistake of

squatting the wrong property.

Hey.

What ya got there?

You're trespassing

on my father's land.

And that tree you're

digging in belongs to us.

So, whatever you have there

is now our property.

Hand it over.

Do you hear me,

Cochise?

I said, hand it over.

Give it to me!

( grunts )

Hey!

( boy groans )

( boy moans )

Tom Hayes, you're

a bully and a thief.

Leave the poor Apache alone.

Can't you see he's a half wit?

I'm gonna knock the teeth out

of your head, you little whore.

Call me that again.

He's just a jackass,

you know?

A donkey.

A burro.

Do you talk?

I'm not gonna take it,

you silly redskin,

I just wanna see it.

You better

light outta here.

Tommy's gonna be back

with his daddy soon,

and then you've

really had it.

He knows where you

hide that thing now.

Can't very well

leave it behind.

It'll be gone by morning.

Come on, then.

Come on!

That jackass will

never look in here.

He's scared of snakes.

Ha! I knew you

could understand me.

What's in there that's

so damn important anyway?

Yaqui silver?

Them missionaries

teach you to talk?

Y'all scalp 'em afterward?

What the hell's this for?

( musical pinging )

I think that's the most

wonderful horrible sound

I've ever heard.

What's it say?

Yazzie.

Yazzie.

What's that?

Your tribe?

No.

That's your name?

No.

Yazzie.

That's your family?

It's your family's name?

Yes.

What's your name?

Everybody knows all the best

names come out of this silly book.

That's where my name

comes from.

See?

Guess my folks

were expecting a boy.

What? You like that name?

You can't be Jakob.

Jakob is Joseph's daddy

and I already got me

a daddy, see?

That's Cort.

That there's Harley.

Your family?

My folks.

Not much of a family.

Fine, you can be Jakob,

but at least do this.

Otherwise it's just weird.

I been wearing this

for way too long.

You wear it.

What's that?

I ain't gonna hurt ya.

Look, I got one, too.

Them saguaros really

let you know

if'n you get too close.

Got any more scars,

Jakob Yazzie?

Josephine! Rowena!

Where'd y'all run off to?

Don't worry,

he won't come out here.

He's more scared of them

rattlers than you are.

This might be the ugliest

goddamn thing I've ever seen.

A local prospector,

by the name of Hank Hayes

amassed a small fortune

when the Apache were forced out

of the mountain to make way

for silver mining.

He was something

of a patron saint to the town,

as his deep claims had paid

for Ruby's courthouse,

the saloon, and the education

of his only son, Tom.

( chuckles )

Ain't ya gonna plug him

for what he done?

What he did.

What did he do?

Little red bastard

gave me this.

Sure'n you wanna stick

to that story?

Poor little squirrel

couldn't kick his own ass.

I reckon them gals up there the

one's that gave you that bruise.

Perhaps he felt guilty

about all that Apache blood

staining the silver

he took out of them hills.

Or maybe he was just trying to

get a rise out of his ornery son.

Are you Apache or Yaqui?

You understand me,

don't you?

Yes.

Well, what's your name, son?

Hank Hayes made a decision,

and with that, Tommy

had himself a new brother.

Joe! Get over here.

Hell's that around

your neck?

Give it here.

Josephine!

Joe, Come back here!

The thrill of kindred spirits

and youthful possibilities

fueled the untarnished

heart of a child.

But the journey to adulthood rides

saddled with the sting of reality.

And by time Joe Cassidy

had been poisoned

by her father's prejudice

and her mother's opportunism,

she had forgotten all about

her fellow outcast

and landed in the arms

of his brother,

the better prospect.

Jake, look out

for my fiance now.

She's the most valuable

thing on this ranch.

How long you reckon

you'll be?

Shouldn't be more

than a few weeks.

Bisbee, Tucson, Phoenix.

Collect on the old man's

claims, so...

I'm sorry, Tom.

Your father

was good to me.

Well, let's hope he's good

to us from beyond the grave.

Got a feeling it's gonna

cost me a fortune

to buy that woman

a new family tree.

What are you

talking about?

Well, I can't very well have

the whole territory

knowing who my wife's

parents really are.

It's a scandal we're gonna

bury under sand and gold.

If it's what she wants.

( chuckles )

Look after the ranch,

little brother.

Jake!

If things aren't exactly the same

as I left them when I get back,

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