Forty Guns Page #4

Did they ever tell you I drove most of em

out of different camps, one time or another?

Those you didn't draw on told me.

You shot your way across the map.

This is the last stop, Griff.

The frontier is finished.

There'll be no more towns

to break, no more men to break.

It's time you started to break yourself.

If a town has got to have peace, let

somebody else build it on graves.

You don't want the only evidence of

your life's work to be bullet holes in men.

I want you to run the Dragoons for me.

- I want you to throw in with me.

- You still interested in my gun?

It's time you threw your gun away.

You'll have to sooner or later.

I'm giving you the chance.

Why me?

I need a strong man to carry out my orders.

And a weak man to take them.

My throat's dry. I'm talking too much.

- What do you want?

- You'd better not let her

catch you wearing those guns.

You're not giving orders for her anymore.

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than

to watch Griff Bonell blow your head off...

- but then she'd blame me for it.

- I wanna be the one to kill him.

Look, nobody wants to kill him, Brockie...

but the pressure's gotta

come off her and off me too.

Everything's gonna be like

it was. Give me those guns!

I already gave up these guns once

to her. Nobody else is gonna take 'em.

This is Charlie Savage's play

and nobody else's.

Don't you see, if we're mixed up

in it, she's mixed up in it too?

- Give me the guns, Brockie.

- All right.

Then I want you to get across

the street and wait for me over there.

- Who's gonna face Griff Bonell?

- Wiley. Come on. Get out of here.

Wiley. Wiley.

Wiley. Wiley.

Come on out here.

- I don't like it, Sheriff.

- Absolutely nothing to worry about.

You see,

Wes'll come in first...

as he always does, with a rifle

to look the situation over.

Then he'll plant himself somewhere

around here to cover Griff' s back.

Now...

Then, you see, Griff will come in.

He'll stop right here. He's cautious.

Now, Wiley, you've got

nothing to worry about at all...

because, you know, you're gonna be...

you're gonna be right here around the

corner.

They can't... can't see you at all.

Now, listen, Griff will call out,

"Charlie Savage."

And you say, "Yeah?"

Then he'll call out

he's got a warrant for you.

And you say, "Come and get me."

And he'll say, "All right".

Now, look.

Griff will take that one step.

That's what I mean. That's when

he'll see I'm not Charlie Savage.

That's when he'll be dead.

- Any luck?

- No. No word on him in Phoenix or

Prescott.

- What about Tucson?

- They think he may have

slipped across the border.

Griff!

I've been looking all over for you.

Charlie Savage is in town.

He's over at the Undertaker's Alley

waiting for a showdown.

- Where's that?

- Across from the gunsmith's shop.

- Who told you he was in town waiting for me?

- Savage. Charlie Savage did.

- He don't look scared.

- Thanks, Barney.

- Come on!

- It's all right, Barney.

- Can I help?

- You go back and run your bathhouse.

- I'll call you if I need you.

- All right, but don't forget.

Well, let's take a walk.

No. We'd better wait until

we get Chico on that stage.

Get him out of town.

Here you are. Hey, Griff.

Barney Cashman's been

lookin' for you. What's up?

Not a thing.

In you go.

- It might take a couple days to find out

where Charlie Savage is holing up.

- Yep.

- Might even take you a week.

- Yeah.

- Can't I stick around till you run him down?

- Nope.

- Aw, come on, Griff.

- Say hello to the folks.

Tell 'em we'll come home for a visit soon,

maybe in the next few weeks.

Tell them I got a surprise for 'em.

You know, he really would

have made a good third gun.

What's this about a surprise?

I'm gettin' married.

Well, you won't find

many wives who can make a gun.

That's right.

Are you, uh, gonna stick around here?

Yeah. I'm gonna be city marshal.

Pay any good?

Oh, better than a federal job.

Anyway, they want

the Bonell name for the job.

You know, after you pick up Charlie Savage,

you'll need a new second gun.

Yeah, that's right.

Charlie Savage in there?

Charlie Savage!

- Charlie Savage!

- Yeah?

This is Griff Bonell.

I've got a warrant for you.

Get rid of your gun, and come out with

your hands high and your fingers spread.

Did you hear me?

Come on out!

Come... and get me.

All right.

So you did need a third gun.

He had you right in his sights.

Who is it?

Charlie Savage.

Barney Cashman told me

he was calling for a showdown.

I jumped the stage

as soon as it turned the corner.

I got him right

through the head. One shot.

And you wanted me to be a farmer.

- Now what did I do wrong?

- Now you've killed a man.

- Murdered!

- He didn't die of old age.

- I'll find out who rigged this up.

- Here!

You're not gonna make this a personal fight,

not so long as I made you my second gun.

- Understand?

- Yes, sir.

Sure fix 'em up pretty in this camp.

Last time I killed a man was 10 years ago.

A boy.

He was no good, like your brother.

But he was still a boy, and I killed him.

I could have made a crippling shot,

but I didn't.

Did you ever see a dead boy's eyes

in the sky?

Truest gun in the West. Hah.

You know why I hate

to get into fights?

I can't miss.

Am I talking too much?

In my heart, I've always asked

forgiveness before I killed...

just like an Indian asking forgiveness

from an animal before the slaughter.

You can't ask after you kill.

It's too late then.

I didn't come here to talk about that.

I came to talk about Brockie.

He put Charlie Savage's corpse

on public display in a store window.

A boy who'd do a thing like that is dead.

Or nearly dead.

But there's still time.

You think he was mixed up in that ambush.

I don't know what to think.

My brother Wes is getting married.

I'm pulling out

right after the wedding.

That's why I'm here...

to talk about Brockie.

I know how close you are to him,

more like a son than a brother.

I know. I've got

a brother the same age.

You can break yours

before you have to bury him.

Sorry, Jessica, but...

but I had to shoot him.

There was no other possible way to...

Why didn't you kill me?

He thought you were my brother.

Nobody wants to be associated with murder.

Now Swain is dead. Savage is dead.

Your agent on the senate floor ran off.

The governor turned his back on you.

Everybody's desertin' the ship.

The captain is drowning.

The Dragoons are breakin'

up, and it's his fault.

He's your enemy. He's out to crush you.

That's why I tried to kill him.

To get your job back?

Have you gone crazy?

Job?

Why do you think I lied for you,

stole, bribed and cheated?

For my job?

For money?

Jessica, I'm a man.

I have a man's feelings.

You can't buy what I feel.

A man can't keep this

to himself forever.

"I kept telling myself,"Patience.

Hold on. Hold fast. She'll understand."

But a man can only wait

for so long.

And a man has got to do

something...

about what's in his heart,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes