High Plains Drifter Page #4

That stranger

has taken over my hotel...

and thrown good, honest,

decent folk out into the night.

Why didn't you stop him, Lewis?

You've got a gun.

Shut your fat mouth, Sam.

We're tired of giving you money

for doing an incompetent job.

- Don't you talk to me that way!

- Gentlemen!

Please! Look at us!

Sweet God,

look whats happening to us!

Right, it's just like

the preacher says.

That stranger's got everybody

at each other's throats.

He's set himself up like a king.

He's got you all snake-fascinated,

every damn one ofyou.

This crazy picnic.

Two hundred gallons of blood-red paint.

It couldn't be worse if the devil

himself had ridden into Lago.

Welcome to Lago,

you son of a b*tch.

Get out of here!

God, what was that?

I'm sorry.

Morg!

Where are you going?

Morg? Take me with you!

You better take me with you!

Where are you going?

Dont leave me here!

He'll kill me!

Oh, no!

My beautiful hotel.

They promised me they wouldn't-

Ruined.

A total loss.

Didn't even touch my store.

I want you to watch that pilfering.

I hold you responsible, Sheriff.

I'm not your goddamn sheriff.

I'll need one, two-

two up there.

I'll need four boxes from you...

and shovels from you,

so these people can dig the holes.

Well, I thought perhaps we could-

- Right now!

- Yeah. All right, everyone.

Was you here?

Did you see anything?

Somebody left the door open

and the wrong dogs came home.

Get the shovel, will ya?

I hope you're not going to blame us

for Morgan Allenss stupidity...

because the rest of us here

have an agreement with you.

Right now I don't feel

too agreeable.

Well, maybe a little bonus will

make you a little more appreciative.

- How little?

- Five hundred a head.

Five hundred an ear?

Done, done.

$3,000?

You promised

that son of a b*tch $3,000...

after what he did to my hotel?

Promisings one thing.

Payings another.

He may just catch a bullet.

You and Lewis

can grab shovels too.

I knew you were cruel,

but I didn't know how far you could go.

You still dont.

It doesn't matter to you.

I don't know where you're going

to sleep now. Bodies everywhere.

All the rooms are ruined

except for our room.

Wait. Wait a minute.

Oh, no!

Let go! Let go! Lewis!

Lewis, don't just stand there.

Let go of me!

Stop! Look, you don't need me.

Let go!

Let go of me!

- What are you going to do with those?

- Defend myself.

Against what?

It's no secret what you did

to Callie Travers.

- Did?

- The other day in the stable.

As I recall,

she enjoyed that quite a bit.

I promise you, I won't.

- You flatter yourself, lady.

- I flatter myself?

I'd love to oblige you, but a man's

got to get his rest sometime.

Oblige me?

But if you come back

in about a half hour...

I'll see what I can do,

all right?

Why, you low-down,

stinking, son of a-

Have you ever heard the name

Jim Duncan?

I've heard a lot of things. Why?

He was town marshal here.

He's lying out there

in an unmarked grave.

They say the dead dont rest

without a marker of some kind.

Do you believe that?

- What makes you think I care?

- I don't know.

He's the reason this town's

afraid of strangers.

I was going to warn you

about that. Pretty funny.

What's funny?

You ask me that

in a blown-up hotel...

with seven dead men

to your credit already?

I was just stopping by

for a bottle of whiskey...

and a nice hot bath.

All right. if you say so.

You don't believe me?

Mister, whatever you say

is fine with me.

Be careful.

You're a man who makes people afraid,

and that's dangerous.

It's what people know

about themselves inside...

that makes them afraid.

I don't know if we shouldn't

mark the grave somehow.

Sam?

I don't see any need.

Ain't likely anybody's

gonna cry over 'em anyhow.

You know what to do.

Yes, sir, captain.

All right.

Everybody grab a brush

and start in.

You mean, you want

the whole place painted?

- Everything.

- You can't possibly mean the church.

I mean especially the church.

All right. I'll paint

if you say we've got to...

but when we get done,

this place is gonna look like hell.

Hello, Lewis.

I want you to go to that meeting

with me, Sarah. It's very important.

No.

Not now, not ever.

They are still your neighbours!

Yes, they're my neighbours,

and they make me sick.

Hiding behind words

like faith, peace and trust.

Good words.

Damn good words.

- But we hid a murder behind them.

- Will you never understand, woman?

That wasn't anything

we wanted to do.

When Duncan found out the mine

was on government property...

it was just a technicality, really,

but he was determined to turn us in.

Wouldn't listen to reason.

Is that why?

- Is that really why it happened?

- Don't you see, Sarah?

They would have closed down

the mine.

Do you know what would've

happened to this town then?

It would've been the end

of everything we've worked on.

All of it, all of us.

And you too, wife.

Sometimes we have to do

what's necessary to do...

for the good of everybody.

- That's the price of progress.

- And what's the price of a human life?

Ask your good friends

if they know that.

Your damn conscience.

It's sure taken a hell of a while

to bother you.

I'm packing to leave, Lewis.

I won't be coming back.

That's Morg Allen,

or what's left of him.

Well, now, what's he doing

ridin' around like that?

He's come back to pay us back for some

jail time that was rightfully his...

only he don't know it yet.

Stacey, help me.

My arm. Help me.

Help me, Stacey.

I'm curious, Morg.

You helped them railroad us,

and then you've got the balls...

to come down here

and ask us for a favour?

Goddamn if I don't admire you.

Do something about my arm, Stacey.

I am doing something, Morg.

I'm sitting here watching you

bleed to death.

Things have changed in Lago.

You need me.

I gotta tell you about it.

From the looks

of your arm, Morg, looks like..

you've run your welcome out

in Lago, and ours too.

What me and the boys

want to know is how

we're gonna pick up 12 months back pay...

and everything else that's owed us?

- Stacey, for God's sake.

- No. For our sake.

You can help us,

and you can help yourself too.

Just give me the combination

to that big iron box in your office...

and me and the boys

will sneak in there...

real quiet like,

take what's ours...

bring you the rest,

or leave it there safe and sound.

First, of course,

we'll fix up your arm...

and set you over there

in the shade...

with a nice canteen

full ofwater.

You no-good,

worthless son of a b*tch.

You're probably right about that.

Give me that combination, Morg.

I wouldn't give you the combination

to the gates of hell.

Dog!

Sure had a lot of blood

left in him, didn't he?

Two sticks of dynamite

will take care of that iron box anyway.

We don't need him.

- Dan, you hit?

- I don't know.

I don't think so.

Damn near tore my leg off!

- Who the hell is that?

- Must be Dave Drake.

What the hell did you hit?

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