Red River Page #5

and them three other fellas got it.

- I remember.

- You knowed Old Whizzer, didn't you?

- Yeah, no stampedes for me. l--

- [ Howling ]

- I don't like them.

- I don't like coyotes.

Use your head.

One shot on a night like tonight is apt

to start the whole herd running.

Sure. I wasn't thinking.

[ Pans Clattering ]

Kenneally!

Stampede!

They're heading for camp!

Cut them off!

Hyah! Hah! Hyah!

[ Horse Whinnying ]

[ Screaming ]

[ Gunshot ]

Whoa, cattle! Whoa!

- Round 'em! Round 'em, Matt!

- Don't let them split!

Cherry, come here!

- Turn them in!

- Over this way, Simms!

Come on!

Head 'em down the coulee!

Turn them!

All right, Laredo!

Hold them right in there!

Get them a hand back there, will you?

They're too tired to run anymore.

Have you seen Teeler

or Dan Latimer?

Teeler's right over there

on that high ground.

I saw Dan riding among them back near

camp. Next look, I didn't see him.

- Buster, you seen Latimer?

- Not since they started.

Where'd you see him last?

Simms.

Dan was wearing checkered pants,

wasn't he?

Yeah, and he was riding

a little buckskin mare.

[ Coyote Howling ]

I'll stay here till morning.

- Did you find him, Tom?

- Yeah.

We'll bury him,

and I'll read over him in the morning.

And, Matt, about his wife.

See that she gets full pay

for the whole drive.

- Just as if he'd finished it.

- Sure.

And get her a--

Well, anything else

you can think of.

Like a pair of red shoes maybe.

The way he wanted it, wasn't it?

"We brought nothing into this world,

and it's certain we carry nothing out.

The Lord gave,

and the Lord hath taken away.

Blessed be the name

of the Lord. Amen."

Bunk Kenneally!

You started all this,

didn't you?

Yeah, I did. I know it,

and I'd do anything--

By tally, it's sure we're 300 or 400

head short, and you killed Dan Latimer.

Sure, sure, I did.

I know that too.

I know it. I know it.

And I'd give my right arm--

Stealing sugar like a kid. Well,

they whip kids to teach them better!

- They what?

- Tie him to that wagon wheel.

No, they won't. Nobody's going

to tie me to no wagon wheel.

Then you'll take it without a wheel

to lean against.

I was wrong, awful wrong,

but nobody's going to whip me.

- Turn around.

- Don't do it.

Turn around,

or you'll get it in the eye.

Don't do it!

You'd have shot him

right between the eyes.

Just as sure as

you're standing there.

You shot him.

You can take care of him.

And the rest of you. You got

a couple of thousand head to round up.

Get at it!

Go ahead. Say it.

You was wrong, Mr. Dunson.

Thanks, Matt.

He would have killed me.

Yeah. You going to be able

to make it home all right?

Won't be no party,

but he'll make it.

- Groot will fix you up with some food.

- Sure.

Take along an extra horse, huh?

This might hurt.

You're fast with that gun, Matt.

Awful fast. But your heart's soft.

Too soft.

Might get you hurt someday.

Could be.

I wouldn't count on it.

[ Thunderclap ]

[ Whistling, Shouting ]

[ Thunder Rumbling ]

[ Thunder Rumbling ]

- Beef again?

- I was figuring on sow belly and beans.

Got a mite of that, but it takes time

to cook up a tasty meal.

I can't whip up

"patty foy grass"...

with 30 hungry drivers

breathing down my neck.

I could eat something else.

You gotta bed down earlier, or you're

gonna have beef. I don't like it myself.

- Me neither.

- Who asked you to talk?

I was saying the same as you.

You wait until you're as old as me

before you talk like me.

- What's the matter with you?

- This stuff tastes awful.

Me and nature

done the best we could.

You can't make burnt grain

taste like coffee.

Lousy muck!

I'd like to tell that Dunson--

Give me some coffee.

What was it you wanted

to tell Dunson, Teeler?

A man can't eat

this kind of food.

After we lost that other grub wagon,

we should have turned back.

We didn't turn back,

and we're not going to.

Even if we had,

I couldn't replace what we lost.

I'm broke!

Got nothing to buy it with.

So you're on short rations

and bad coffee.

You're going to be until we finish

the drive. You're going to finish it.

- Teeler, I like what the man says.

- Like it or not, that's it.

Come on and get it,

you hungry hounds.

[ Hoofbeats Approaching ]

[ In Raspy Whisper ] My name's Sutter.

Been riding point for old man Carwood.

Over 2,000 head of--

My neck-- It hurts.

They put a rope around it and--

Then they--

That food sure looks good.

Haven't had anything

in over four days, and I'm--

Fella gets--

Grab him.

Bring him over here.

That's better.

I was nearly all in.

- Want to hear about it now?

- Go ahead.

We had nearly 2,000 head of cattle.

Belonged to old man Carwood.

Everything went fine until we crossed

the Big Red. Then it happened.

We got as far as the Ouachitas

when they jumped us.

How many were in that bunch

that jumped you?

Maybe 100, I guess.

They stampeded the cattle, then

picked us up one by one as we came out.

We didn't have a chance,

not a chance.

- Why'd they put a rope on you?

- They did worse than that.

They nailed Carwood's feet and hands

to a wagon wheel.

He was dead when I got to him.

- How'd you get loose?

- Just luck.

Rope they put on me

was frayed and broke.

We should never have gone that way.

We should've gone north at the Big Red.

Why do you say that?

A fellow named Jess Chisholm,

an Indian trader...

he told me he blazed a trail

all through the nations.

Said we could follow it clear to Kansas.

That way our only worry is Indians.

- Where in Kansas?

- Abilene.

- Said there's a railroad there.

- Railroad?

- Railroad in Abilene?

- That's what Cherry said.

Did he say he saw it?

Well, l-- l--

I can't remember.

Get me a razor.

- Want to come along with us?

- Where to? Missouri?

- Yeah.

- No, I've had enough.

- If you could spare some food though?

- Sure.

I've had enough too.

- What?

- We started a drive we'll never finish.

- What?

- We started a drive we'll never finish.

We'll finish the drive, Mailer,

and I'll sell my beef in Missouri.

- What do we eat on the way?

- Beef!

What do we drink?

Rainwater, if we have to.

Not me. I'm heading south.

I've had enough, Dunson,

unless we try for Abilene.

And you, Fernandez?

Me, I think this way.

If I'm going to die, I go south to die.

At least my people can find my grave

and maybe put flowers on it.

There was an agreement made

when you signed on.

You agreed to finish this drive.

I'm going to hold you to it.

How?

- I don't want to have to kill you.

- With what?

All right, anybody else?

Say it now, because I don't

want to ever hear it again.

I don't like quitters...

especially when they're not good enough

to finish what they start.

Speak up! Say it, and you

can join your friends here.

All I want is--

Where are you going?

- I'm going to sit down.

- You got work to do.

Watch it.

I was just getting myself

a drink of water.

I'm just listening.

Well, there's quitters

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