Lust for Gold Page #6

---

that you've been lying to me?

Could that be?

- Don't be a fool.

- Answer me. Are you in love with him?

I've told you over and over again,

all I want is his gold.

- For us.

- I don't want anything from him.

Not even his mine?

Once I find out where it is,

he'll be no problem to us.

- Julia, you aren't lying to me?

- No.

You really leaving tonight?

The guy said you were on your way

back to the mine.

- When you leaving?

- What's the matter, Dutchie?

Come on, Walz. We're friends.

You've had enough now to kill a horse.

Why don't you take your business

somewhere else?

Ain't they buying gold in Tucson

or other places?

Every time you leave Phoenix,

you take half the town with you.

Everybody trying to follow you

and find out where that mine is.

I'll bet there's a hundred

of our customers waiting...

to follow you into that mountain right now.

Take your gold and go to some other town.

You ruin our business coming here.

Get me a pencil and a piece of paper.

There's Weaver's Needle.

There's the runway.

That's the ledge 200 yards

from the cactus marker.

- The mine's just below that.

- I see.

- I'm not coming back to Phoenix.

- What?

Too many people following me out of town.

Crowd's getting bigger and

it's getting harder to lose on the trail.

We'll meet somewhere else,

doesn't matter where.

- But, Jacob, I thought...

- You can get a divorce anywhere.

You can leave your husband the same way

my wife left me.

Is there anything wrong with that?

No, only I thought...

Of course, if you didn't mean

what you said about us.

If you lied.

Oh, no.

I did mean it, Jacob.

There's no sense giving him any money.

I've thought it over.

Can't I go with you now?

I'd never lose those people on the trail

if you were with me.

- You're so strange.

- Will you meet me at the mine or won't you?

Yes, I'll meet you there.

It may take me two or three extra days

because of the crowd.

- You'll be there ahead of me.

- Yes, I'll be waiting at the mine for you.

What did he want?

What did he come back for?

Nothing. Just to see me again.

Planning on running out on me, Julia?

No, Pete.

You know I wouldn't go without you.

I do now.

And I know something else.

You're in love with him.

You've been lying to me about that, too.

But we're going to the mine together.

You're going to be there when I kill him.

Do you understand?

Let me see that map again.

There's Weaver's Needle. We're almost there.

And I can hardly wait.

This is it.

This is the runway he told you about.

What if he's here?

He said it would take him

two or three extra days.

Anyway, he expects me.

If he is here,

you get him out where I can see him.

Jacob.

Pete, come on down. It's all right.

He's not here.

Look at it, Julia, just look at it.

Now I see why he always got back

to town so soon.

All he had to do is pick it up.

Pete.

It's worth millions.

Bring the burros down here.

The runway we came down

is the only way on or off this ledge.

Go on.

You were so anxious to be ready for him.

You're right.

Julia!

- They're gone. Everything's gone.

- What?

Our supplies, the food,

the water, everything. It's gone.

- Maybe the burros just wandered away.

- No, they were tied up.

- He's already here. He knows.

- No.

Call to him. Get him out in the open. Go on.

Jacob, where are you?

I didn't want to bring him. I didn't want to.

Listen to me.

I didn't want to bring him. He made me do it.

Please, darling. Help me.

Quick, before he finds out I'm gone.

You fool.

Get away from me.

All right, what are you waiting for?

Get it over with.

Pete, ask him for water. Go on.

You want her?

Take her. You can have her.

Nobody wants you.

From the beginning, it was her idea.

I don't want your gold. I never did.

If you want her, take her. You can have her.

You see, Jacob, I've gotten rid of him.

I killed him for you.

Now you know I wasn't lying to you.

It's all over.

It's just you and me now, remember?

Just like you wanted it.

You love me. You said you did.

We can be married now, just like you said.

I wasn't lying to you, Jacob.

He forced me to bring him with me.

I didn't want to.

You've got to believe me. You've got to.

I proved I loved you when I killed him.

Please help me.

I want you.

All you ever wanted was my gold.

Well, now you've got it.

This record only goes back to 1912.

Arizona didn't become a state till then.

But you got the right dope

from those old newspapers.

I remember for a fact it was in 1910...

two years before we had a coroner's office.

What are you two talking about?

I'm checking up on a female skeleton

found in Superstition.

If Bill Bates was right,

that skeleton was Julia Thomas'...

the woman my grandfather was in love with.

If you don't stop harping

about this Walz business...

somebody's going to

swear out a lunacy complaint.

But, Ray, I've got a lot to go on now.

First, I found that rifle.

Then I checked the stories

of the old folks at the Pioneer's Home.

I even learnt that

an earthquake did hit Superstition.

- It was on May 3rd, 1887.

- Who cares?

I'm going back to that canyon

where I found that rifle.

So long, fellas.

Might as well clear off one of my tables.

Be just my luck they bring him in

on Sunday.

- Did you find your mine yet?

- Nope.

But I'm on my way back to Superstition

right now.

You better be careful.

There's still a killer up there.

I got nothing to lose, except my life.

The sky clouded up...

and the wind tried to blow a scare into me...

as I made my way

back to the treasure signs.

Three days later...

the clouds got out of the sky

and into my brain.

I got lost.

I couldn't even find the canyon

where I'd uncovered the old gun.

Like an idiot...

I fumbled in and out of one gorge

after another...

pushing along with no more sense

or reason...

than if I had been on a treadmill.

I knew I had to locate the rock

called Weaver's Needle...

before I could even start looking

for the lost mine.

Then, with sheer blind luck

I walked right into it.

Here was the spot I'd found the gun,

killed the rattlesnake.

And I had my starting point.

A short distance away I found the cliff...

from which I could see

the old military trail.

Jacob Walz had said that from his mine

he could see the trail...

but from the trail

nobody could see the mine.

I set out to prove he'd told the truth.

Now, I'm a guy who gets dizzy just standing

on a high kerb.

But even when the ground dropped out

from under me...

like a deceitful friend,

I kept scrambling along the cliff side...

keeping the trail in sight.

When you're sick with gold fever

you have no patience with caution.

All you think of is

getting your hooks into...

that glittering pot of gold

at the end of the rainbow.

I followed the edge of that cliff...

staying within view of the trail

for the next three days.

My fever began to go down

as discouragement set in...

and I was about ready to give up

and go home, when suddenly...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes