Pale Rider Page #2

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he's been using big hydraulic monitors.

They blast a place to hell.

Excuse my French.

LaHood's more powerful now than ever.

Carbon Canyon's the only place

he hasn't ruined.

He's greedy for it, too.

Does he have any rights to your canyon?

No, our claims are filed in Sacramento.

The only way LaHood can take

this land legally is if we leave it.

I take it he's been kind of persuasive.

I don't care if they all leave, I'm staying.

He killed my dog and Grandpa.

Isn't there any law around

to take your case to?

If there was, LaHood would own them

like he owns everything.

And there's not much a lawman could do

even if we had one.

LaHood ain't killed anyone yet.

Meg's grandpa's heart gave out.

I've been taking care of Sarah

and Megan ever since.

It ain't that we're living in sin...

...or that I won't marry her.

But one day, a few years back,

her husband...

...Megan's father, lit out on her...

...and left her with a child.

And since then, getting her trustful

of a man hasn't been easy.

But when we do get hitched,

will you do it?

If you're waiting for a woman to make up

her mind, you may have a long wait.

Yeah, I guess so.

Meantime, why don't you put me to work?

No, I couldn't ask you to....

Maybe something spiritual.

That spirit ain't worth spit

without a little exercise. Tell me where.

Well, okay.

I always thought that

if I could split that rock there...

...and get to the gravel underneath,

there's gold been waiting there forever.

Every morning for two years,

I've been coming out here, and you see...

...it's like this rock and me

have kind of an agreement.

I'm going to do it in,

or it's going to do me in.

I'd hate to lay odds on who's going to win.

I thought of drilling and blasting

the son of a gun, but that would--

-Wreck the stream?

-Dam it up, be the end of everything.

There's few problems can't be solved

with a little sweat and hard work.

Somebody's coming.

You recognize them?

The one on the left is LaHood's boy, Josh.

The other one...

...I ain't never seen him before.

Friend of yours, Barret?

Yep. He's our new preacher.

I hear you messed up some of my boys.

Nothing personal.

Don't you take it personal,

but get the hell out of Carbon Canyon.

There's a lot of sinners hereabouts.

I shouldn't leave before I finish my work.

Jesus!

Your work done now, Preacher?

Part of it, leastways.

Put it in a little ice, that'll take care of it.

Thanks for stopping by, son.

You think you can make it?

Ice!

The Lord certainly does work

in mysterious ways.

Preacher, my ass!

Watch that step!

Why? Damn thing move

since we left Sacramento?

-Thank you, Mr. LaHood.

-Welcome home, Pop.

How was Sacramento?

Paradise! Two politicians

for every Chinese laundry...

...and two whores for every politician.

If there was gold in the delta,

I'd go there. How's business?

We're pulling low-grade ore out

of number five, but it's about played out.

We went down 20 feet more in 12 shaft,

got only manganite, and shut it down.

And that vein in Cobalt Canyon

is wearing thin, too.

What about Carbon?

We ran another raid through there

a few days back and scared them good.

We damn near run them out,

lock, stock, and barrel.

Seems a stranger came through

and pulled them together.

Ain't that right?

Yeah, he pulled them together.

This one stranger did that?

I expect you boys didn't explain to him

just who we are.

I expect that once you explain things

to him, he'll decide to move on!

There ain't much for a preacher

to do here, right?

You let a preacher into Carbon Canyon?

We didn't invite him! He took up with Hull.

What's wrong with a preacher?

When I left, those tin pans

had all but given up.

Their spirit was nearly broken.

And a man without spirit is whipped.

But a preacher, he could give them faith.

Sh*t! One ounce of faith, they'll be dug

in deeper than ticks on a hound.

You boys throw a rope around that man.

You bring him to me!

No, don't.

If we get too rough, we'll make a martyr

out of him. Don't want that.

-That's true.

-You didn't get no help from Sacramento?

Sacramento ain't worth moose piss!

They didn't sign the writ?

Not only that...

...some of them bastard politicians

want to do away with hydraulic mining.

"Raping the land," they call it.

We got to move on Carbon,

and move fast and dig deep.

Because the way the wind's blowing,

we may be out of business soon.

And those tin pans have got to go!

And that preacher!

We'll have to find a way to deal with him.

Were Grandma and Grandpa happy

when you got married?

They didn't have a thimbleful of choice

in the matter.

Were they surprised?

Grandpa took the measles,

and Grandma got drunk.

I suppose you could say

it surprised them some.

Because they thought

you weren't old enough?

Your grandma was 15

when she got married.

No, I think what riled them

was who I married.

Will you be happy married to Hull?

Who says I'm marrying Hull?

He's nice enough, isn't he?

Yes.

He's nice.

Do preachers get married?

I don't see why not.

How do I look?

You look lovely.

You are the prettiest daughter...

...I could ever have.

Break your hand?

It's a nugget! The biggest damn nugget

I've ever seen.

Look here. Look at that!

Isn't that beautiful?

Almost as beautiful as Sarah.

Yeah, it figures.

It came from underneath that boulder.

I was right.

I was right.

It must weigh four oz.

That's a quarter pound of gold.

Is that real?

Real? Just look at it.

Let's celebrate.

Can we go into town?

I don't think that's a very good idea.

That would clear your credit, wouldn't it?

It would, and then some.

Can we, please?

What do you think?

Why not? We've got as much right in town

as the next person.

Going to town again?

That's right. Want to come along?

No, our daddy wouldn't let us go to town.

Sure is a nice day for it, though.

I'll be back. I'll go square things

with Mr. Blankenship.

-Take care of the ladies.

-That won't be hard.

We'll get a soda after I'm done.

Look.

-I'll go get Hull.

-That's all right.

He'll be fine.

My papa wants to see you, Preacher.

He does, does he?

All right.

Don't go. I know it's a trick.

I'll be all right.

-What if they hurt him?

-Shut up.

I'm sorry.

It's all right.

Preacher, my name is Coy LaHood.

I know.

Do you imbibe, Reverend?

Only after 9:
00 in the morning.

When I heard a parson had come to town...

...I had an image of a pale, scrawny,

Bible-thumping Easterner...

...with a linen handkerchief and bad lungs.

That's me.

Hardly.

Your health.

It occurred to me it must be difficult

for a man of faith...

...to carry the message

on an empty stomach, so to speak.

I thought...

...why not invite this devout

and humble man to preach in town?

Why not let the town be his parish?

In fact...

...why not build him a brand-new church?

I can see where a preacher'd be

mighty tempted by an offer like that.

Oh, indeed.

Then he'd be thinking about getting himself

a batch of new clothes.

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