The Bravados Page #3

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-What do you think, Mr Douglass?|-Sun's goin' down.

That's what he waited for.|We can't track 'em by night.

-Let's move ahead as long as we can see.|-Everybody, get mounted!

Somebody build a fire. Start up some coffee.

Can't we go on? Just you and me?

-Be like lookin' for a needle in a haystack.|-Yeah, but I'm worried about Emma.

Suppose we were lucky enough|to stumble across 'em.

You don't think they'd give up|without a fight?

-She'd be the first they'd kill.|-Here is one of them! Here he is!

Come on, all of you!

Come here, all of you! Help!

I found one of them!

There he is. See? Must be one of them.

This is not one of them.

That must be the real Mr Simms.

-Got a timepiece?|-No, sir.

Here.

Take mine.

You go back to the rim of the gorge.

-Then fire a shot every five minutes.|-But what good will that do?

Sound carries a long way|in these canyons. They'll hear it.

Make 'em wonder. Keep 'em up all night.

Take their minds off Emma.

One of us will relieve him every hour.

Keep it up all night.

You take turns standing watch.

I'll look after the horses.

I'll take the last tour. You'll take the first.

I'll take the first watch. Can't sleep anyway.

-Taylor.|-Yeah?

When we get out of this,|you wanna stick with me or split up?

-Well, I haven't given it much thought.|-I have.

You're a good man, Taylor.|I should hate to lose you.

Well, I sort of like havin'|a man behind me I can count on.

That Parral's a louse.

The Injun makes me nervous.|Never know what's goin' on inside his head.

-I never crossed a man that rode with me.|-Well, neither did I.

I need you with me.

That goes double.

I got one weakness|I feel you should know about.

What's that?

Women.

Every man's entitled|to one weakness. Mine's cards.

You think Lujn|needs some help with the horses?

Well now, he just might.

Is that silk?

Where'd that come from?

-Where'd that shot come from?|-It's an old trick. They wanna keep us awake.

Get back on watch.

Go to sleep. You never hear|the shot that kills you.

Well, they were here all right.|Not too long ago.

Looks like those shots of ours|changed their path.

Tracks show they went down the gorge.

Yeah.

Could be the Indian's thinking,|to throw us off.

Stop that, you idiot!

-I want Emma to know we're following.|-Now they all know!

You said we'd lose them in the gorge.

They're smarter than you thought, red man.

There's only one man|that could have followed us down here.

The one with the eyes of the hunter.|The strange one.

-That the sheriff brought to jail to look at us.|-He's right.

I saw him with the posse|up in San Marcos Pass.

Well, who is he? What's he doggin' us for?

-Maybe she knows.|-I never saw him before he came.

-Why did he come?|-To watch you hang.

-It's the truth!|-Let her go!

-He must know one of you.|-Maybe it's you he's after.

How could he be? I never saw him before.

No. He don't look like no banker.|Or the owner of any place we ever robbed.

Let's kill him. Then the others can't follow us.

-It's a good idea. You do it.|-Can't Lujn do it?

No. We need Lujn to take us to the border.|You catch up with us tonight.

-Why me?|-It was your idea!

What is it, Mr Douglass?

You see movement up there in that tall grass?

No, sir.

I think there's a man there,|waitin' for us to come in range.

Why don't we make him fire first?

-Then one of us would be dead.|-We gonna wait for sundown again?

Primo.

You take the lead.

You and the others circle the hill.|Stay just outside rifle range of that tall grass.

I'll go up the other side.

-Why are you doing this for us, Mr Douglass?|-I'm not doin' it for you.

Come on.

Come on. Keep moving.

-I'm waitin' for you.|-I'm here.

Drop it.

You remember that woman?

No.

Now look at it.

-No.|-You're lying!

I never saw her before. I swear I didn't.

You stopped at my ranch six months ago.

I never saw your ranch.|I don't even know where it is.

-There were four of you.|-We never did.

Please. You gotta believe me.

She begged. And cried.

And pleaded too, didn't she?

"Please, leave me alone. I have a baby."

"I have a husband. Please, leave me alone."

"Take anything you want,|but please leave me alone."

Didn't she? But it didn't help much.

I never saw that face before. I was never|on your ranch. I never did anything to you.

Which one of you? Which one of you did it?

I didn't do it.

I've done some bad things. Robbed. Stole.

-I've run cattle. But I never killed no woman.|-Talk! There were four of you. Which one?

Which one?

Don't do it. Please let me live.|Please let me live. Please.

I've got a wife and baby, too. Don't do it.|Please don't do it. I'll do anything.

Then it was all four of you!

Holy Mother, help...

-Morning, Father.|-Morning, Josefa.

-How's the sheriff?|-Much better.

Good.

Poor Mrs Parral. I feel so sorry for her.

Yeah.

It's hard to believe. One child can bring|so much happiness, so much grief.

Any news of Primo and the men?

No.

-Douglass has gone with them, hasn't he?|-Yes.

-He came to church with you.|-Yes.

Do you know him?

Years ago.

I hadn't seen him in five years.

But he's changed.

What happened to him, Father?

Quite a lot.|He was out tending his cattle.

Came home one evening to find|that his house had been ransacked

and his wife had been raped and murdered.

-How awful.|-I think that's what brought him to Rio Arriba.

Jim Douglass is not the kind of man|to just watch a hanging.

Must be some connection between|those men and what happened at the ranch.

I think that Jim must believe|that those men committed the crime.

-Did they?|-Nobody knows. I doubt if Jim knows.

But his child. What happened to the child?

A ranch hand and his wife|are taking care of her.

That child could have been mine.

I was in love with Jim Douglass|and he asked me to marry him.

I didn't have the sense to say yes.

You'd have married a good man.

How do I get to his ranch?

After San Marcos Pass,|you take the Winthrop road to Canyon Diablo.

There'll be a small stone cabin.

-You think Parral got our man?|-I hope they got each other.

Look.

Yeah. There's Parral now.

He got our man. I feel better.

That's not Parral.

It's the hunter.

-How could they have caught us so soon?|-They haven't.

It's only one man.

Well, we can handle|one man easy enough.

He's marking a trail for the posse.

-Let's wait for him.|-And let the posse gain on us?

-Go on. I'll catch up with you.|-Why you?

I'm a better shot.|And I don't like a man doggin' my trail.

What do you think, Lujn?

There's sure to be someone there.

-Then we'll get somethin' to eat.|-We need fresh horses more than food.

Then we'll get both. Come back here!

Now, where did you think you were goin'?

Aw, don't cry. I'm not gonna make you walk.

I'm gonna let you ride.|Right up here, next to me.

We haven't seen Douglass|since he killed Parral.

He must have gone back.

Douglass didn't go back.

Look.

-Howdy.|-Howdy.

Can you spare a little food?|We haven't eaten all day.

-Food's pretty scarce around these parts.

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