More Dead Than Alive Page #4

Listen, I was... was going

to ask you something...

Oh, yeah. What do you...

what do you think about Rufe?

He's a good man.

Yeah, well, that's...

That's what I thought at first, too.

I really did.

But I... I don't think so now.

When I first met him, he was...

he was moving about the territory,

doin' nothing, I mean, he was selling guns,

but folks weren't buying 'em.

Course, then one day he sees me.

And I'm...

you know, shooting bottles off the fence,

you know how I shoot.

Well, he gets the idea

of trying to drum up a little business

with me showing off his hardware,

so I said, "All right," I said,

"I'll go with you, I'll go along with you."

And one thing led to another.

After a couple of months,

he stopped selling guns

and began selling admissions

to see me shoot.

It seems to me,

he's been pretty good to you.

Hell, but not good enough,

not good enough, shoot!

He treats you a helluva lot better

than he does me!

And I've known him

a lot longer than you,

and I'm a helluva lot better

with a gun than you.

See, what I don't figure

is how he could bark to townsfolk

that I am a shootin' shark,

but forget himself

that I could blow him apart

if I got the urge.

See, people ought to realize that

the same thing I do to those targets

I could... I could do to them.

You're talking awful big, Billy.

Draw against me.

What?

You heard me.

Draw your gun.

You see, when you are a little bit afraid

and not quite sure of yourself,

even the fastest gun can be beat.

Things are different

when the target can shoot back.

You remember that.

You're still playing.

Yeah, well, you just stand up

and try that again.

I couldn't do that, Billy.

You're dead.

Well...

I've waited a long time, Cain.

Carson.

I was wondering when I drove in here

this morning if you might still be around.

Get up.

No.

Why don't you sit down?

I'm calling you outside, Cain.

Go on, Cain!

Last time I stepped outside

with a lawman,

it cost me 18 years of my life.

I can't afford any more time.

You forget I'm not

a lawman any more.

And I'm not a gunfighter.

You owed your life.

A court settled for 18 years, Carson.

Eighteen years don't pay

for all them murders.

So maybe you paid for one,

but you got a dozen notches

on your Colt.

I'm a free man, Carson.

I don't want any trouble from you

or any other man.

I would've paid you for that performance

this afternoon, Carson.

You just didn't have what it takes

20 years ago.

Twenty years ago, Cain was young

and fast, like the kid here.

But now he's older and slower,

like I was when he called me.

When he called you?

He didn't call you, Carson,

and you didn't go out willingly.

You were forced into that shootout.

Forced? I was the Marshall!

The way I heard it,

the people of this town forced you.

You're a liar, Ruffalo.

Oh? Somebody stop me

if I'm wrong.

- Now, there's no need to...

- No one forced me!

The thought that Cain was here

in Valseco back in '71

sent a chill through this town.

I knew he was here to kill.

- Yes, but nobody knew who.

- I was the Marshall!

So they shoved you out of that door

to stop Cain before they could find out.

- I did my duty!

- And he winged you.

Because of that,

your marshalin' days were over.

No one forced me!

Now you know that Cain

could have killed you that day.

Lucky for you that he just went

for your shoulder.

Now, you listen to me, man.

Forget about that revenge, hear?

I'll buy you a drink.

Come on,

I'll buy everybody a drink.

Say, Rufe,

who did he come gunnin' for?

Oh, some cattleman.

Yeah, yeah, but did he get him?

Does an outhouse stink?

Well, he sure ain't

the same man, I tell you.

I was kinda hopin' to see he

and that old buzzard get into something.

Oh, that'd been great.

Either way, we would have lost Cain.

Cain?

Makes you feel

like a big man, huh?

Travelin' around the territory.

Showing everybody

your 12 notches.

I'm not proud of what I was.

Huh? Why else you doin' it?

'Cause it's the only tool I know.

I'm not hurting anybody, and I'm

earning an honest living for myself.

Ain't no way for you to be honest, Cain.

No way at all.

I haven't got a gun...

or a mind to draw against you.

Cain... here you go!

Well, now, that solves

half your problems, don't it?

That's right.

Go ahead, shoot him.

Stick it in your belt, that'll do.

Just stick it in there

and just... blow his head off.

Ruffalo claims

that I was forced last time.

Well, this time I'm forcing you.

Go ahead, blow it.

- Damn you! Pick up that gun!

- He means it, I tell you.

He almost blew my toe off.

Now pick up the gun.

- Just go ahead and blow his head off.

- Stay out of this, Billy.

Well...

Well, if he... if he won't pick up

the gun, just shoot him.

Go ahead and shoot him.

Pick it up, you hear me?!

Now, I tell you, if I were you...

if you look at his eyes now...

I would just take hold of this little thing

right here and blow his head off!

Listen, if I were you,

I would just right now

blow one bullet,

right in him, right here.

Right here. Just blow his head off.

Now you want to, don't you?

Don't you want to?

Shut up, you!

He's getting away.

You kill him now.

Now, damn it,

you go shoot him in that back!

Why did you let him get away?

I want you to tell me that.

But... no, no, I know.

I... I know.

I know you were just...

you're just waiting for him to turn around

so you can shoot him

in the back, weren't you?

See? You don't know that I know

that's the way they do!

They... they wait, and then,

ah, they... turn around

and they shoot them in the back!

That's what they do.

My God...

That's... I know,

that's what you waitin' for.

If he... if he would have just...

got this gun!

Damn near as crazy as you are.

You... you just seek him, you know,

you just pick it up and go pow!

Cain?

It is Cain.

You livin' around here?

I have my own place now.

- Still painting?

- Still painting.

You still look hungry and beat,

just like the first time I saw you.

What happened

with the shooting show?

Oh, I left.

Are you sure

you weren't fired again?

I need help

unloading my buckboard.

It's filled with a month's supply

of shopping.

Your services for all you can eat?

Is it a deal?

It's a deal.

If you'll unload the stuff,

I'll get supper ready.

I haven't eaten that good

in a long time. Thanks.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Your face is so difficult to draw!

It's so complicated!

Like my life.

And yours.

Why mine?

Well, it seems to me this is a hard life

for a lady like you.

Must be a reason you live like this.

- Like what?

- Alone.

The only reason is

because I like it this way.

Heaven knows I don't have to.

Don't you miss

those big cities back east?

No. I was born out here.

My father came out here in '49,

first gold rush.

Took him ten years,

he finally struck it rich.

So did my father.

Came looking for gold, I mean.

What happened?

The only gold he got

was three chevrons on his sleeve.

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