The Last Hard Men Page #2

Well, he's gonna need more

than a cash box in a general store.

Yeah, now you're talking.

You mean bait?

That special shipment

from the Denver Mint's...

due in here Friday, isn't it?

What the hell's wrong with you?

You trying to tell everybody in town?

You got a better idea?

If you leave him, he'll talk.

Kill him, they know we've been here

for sure. Now, move it!

Man finds that chili belly gonna

think twice before he comes after me.

Eye for an eye.

Well, hell's fire.

The line's gone dead.

Lightning, I guess.

Maybe so.

Let's see what we got.

"Ice thrown from train

mile past south fork...

Wellton junction.

At dawn, we'll..."

Well, we got most of it.

- Much obliged, Bo.

- Anytime.

Yeah, Bo.

Mind my horning in, Noel?

No. No, Sam.

You tell me, now.

No, Zach Provo's yours.

You can have him.

Funny thing.

I quit the law...

because I thought it was over.

What I knew how to do.

Too much was changing.

Modern times.

I liked the world the way it was.

Now it's coming back.

Running back.

Looks like Zach Provo's made it

my time again.

Your supper's on the stove.

You know, if you was to get married

to that Hal fella...

you wouldn't have

to cook supper for me no more.

I'd have to cook supper for him anyway,

so, what's the difference?

And what makes you think

I wanna get married?

You mean to tell me I'm gonna be stuck

with you for the rest of my life?

I try to imagine how it would be.

And as you know...

Well, Hal isn't exactly...

Like your daddy?

I remember Mama telling me

that when you'd walk into a saloon...

men would jump out of windows

to get out of your way.

Your mama dearly loved to hear them

Wild West stories about me.

Tallest man in the territory.

Oh, no more. That's all finished.

Things are changing.

Look out the window.

Time was, you could see clear

to the end of the world.

No more. Time's changing.

Some days you wonder where it all went.

It's true, then?

I heard.

Are you going to get into it?

- I am into it.

- You retired.

This is just a loose end.

No, it isn't.

- Do you have to go?

- Yes.

Why?

Because I never knew

how to do anything else. Look...

Honey, there's a man coming for me.

I can't just sit there on the couch

and then wait for him.

Well, who? What kind of man?

Oh, a fellow named Provo

I put in Yuma prison a long time ago.

He's half Injun, all killer.

He wants to kill you. Why?

I reckon he's always been more than happy

to kill any man wearing a badge.

But I gave him cause to remember me.

Hey, what about my supper?

I'm not a little girl anymore.

Tell me.

Well, it was his last job.

Blew up a Santa Fe express train,

blew up four guards along with it.

We tracked him for four weeks.

Found him, finally, holed up in a hogan

down Salinas Springs way.

We had to shoot

the hell out of the place.

I was the first one in.

Kicked through the doors,

still shooting.

He was all finished.

Lying there, bad shot, looking up at me.

There was his woman.

Young Navajo girl.

- I still don't understand.

- She was dead.

- Killed in the shootout.

- Why didn't you ever tell me?

Well, it sure wasn't nothing

to brag about.

You killed her?

Maybe.

No way to tell. Provo surely thought so.

You can't blame him for that.

Does he have a chance?

I reckon he's the only man that does.

Susan?

Sorry I'm late.

Good evening, sir.

Well, you be sure

to take your shawl, now.

It's cold down by the river.

- Oh, Sam.

- I've been down there.

- You'll be here when I come home?

- Yeah, I'll be here.

Go on, now.

Brickman.

- Sir?

- It's always nice to see you.

You're welcome any time.

Well, thank you very much, sir.

What was all that...

"always nice to see you"

supposed to mean?

He never said anything like that before.

He's in a strange mood.

He's going back to work.

Got it.

Someday, we'll compare scars.

Let her be, Gant.

Let me see what you got, honey.

Come on, now.

- She's carrying.

- Who gives a damn?

What you gotta do with greasers

is teach them who's boss...

before they're born, as after.

Leave her be.

There's some things

a man's gotta have, Provo.

You tell me about it.

What's that?

Provo, hey, it's just the telephone!

Now.

Shelby?

I never thought you'd ever

grudge a man a little fun, Provo.

It's not the time for that.

You're looking at a man who's been

11 years without a woman.

I'll get you all you can handle later.

Well, sh*t, you calling

that Mexican pig a woman?

I think it's time.

Lee Roy?

Listen, I wanna thank you

about bringing us here.

We should talk about

where we're going next.

Well, anything you need,

you just ask old Lee Roy.

Ha, ha. Lookit here.

Look, here's our stake.

The gold shipment's gonna arrive

in Tucson Friday from the Denver Mint...

That's good.

Lee Roy's getting off here.

What's it say, kid?

It's new money, though.

- Here, you read it.

- Hey, dumb kid. Don't be stupid.

He can't read any Spanish.

It's not Spanish.

Look, it's right there.

I'll translate.

"Gold shipment.

The shipment will be well protected

under supervision...

of the former captain

of territorial police, Samuel Burgade."

Well, I'll be damned.

Provo, this is a trap.

A lot of trouble.

What?

He makes a hell of a lot

of trouble, I don't...

I don't think we should disappoint him.

- This is a trap.

- Yes.

For somebody.

Gus Stanton,

you talk like a plain damn fool.

I'm gonna be sitting up on the truck.

What you think this is all about?

I'll tell you what.

It's about you getting yourself dead.

Now, wait a minute.

Wait just one minute.

Nobody said anything was gonna happen.

As president of this bank,

if we could lose that shipment...

- Oh, shut up, Gus.

- Now, you listen.

If we don't do it exactly the way

we put it in the paper, Provo won't bite.

He'll back off and fade away.

I gotta be out there

where he can see me.

Here. What about right up here?

He can see you real good.

Get a good shot

if you're sitting there, Sam.

Let's get on down to the depot.

Crank it up, go on.

- There she is.

- Guards and all.

What the hell are all

these people doing here?

You put it in the newspaper.

Push them back. Clear them out.

We can't have these kids in the way

if Provo tries to take that box.

All right. Go home, ladies.

Go on back, now.

- Let's get this thing out of here.

- He's cranking it, captain.

- Go home.

- Damn Fourth of July parade.

Yeah, I know.

Get them children inside. Go on.

Get them kids off the street.

Get back, go on.

Get off the street, go on.

It's not gonna work, is it?

It'll work all right.

- Miss Burgade?

- Yes?

- Your father...

- What's the matter?

Is anything wrong?

He's afraid for you.

See, there's a lot of bad people in town,

wants me to look after you.

And who are you? I don't even know you.

Oh, I know you, though.

For a long time.

Now, you give me any more

goddamn trouble, I'll cut you.

I'll cut you in a hundred places.

In the eyes and the throat.

You won't see or talk again.

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