The Last Wagon Page #4

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And that goes for you too.

Around me, both of

ya start walkin' soft.

Real soft.

Now go help your sister.

Git!

You boys get some bone-dry wood.

If you don't find none on the ground, dig

down to the dead roots- non-smoking kind.

- Billy, you hunt us up some good tinder.

- All right.

You'd better come with me.

What are you gonna do

while the rest of us work?

I'll be sittin' right there in

the shade. Do you mind, sonny?

- How can I help?

- Know where the cups are?

- Uh-huh.

- Get 'em.

Gonna put Billy in charge of the

water. Cup each, night and mornin'.

Horses get twice that.

Here. You can scratch

their names with this.

Your wife-

was she a Comanche girl?

- Mm-hmm.

- Young?

Fifteen when she come to me.

That seems awfully young.

Well, girls and ponies both, the

younger you break 'em in, the better.

Apt to get wild otherwise.

- You been broke-in?

- To marriage?

- Mm-hmm. -

No, not yet.

Seems to me you should have

been broke-in some time back.

Well, I guess Indian girls

grow up quicker than whites.

They age faster too.

Yeah, I suppose they do.

Mine didn't.

Didn't have a chance.

Only 23 when it happened.

Say, what about this fella in Tucson?

- Billy tell you about him? - Said

you was aimin' to get spliced to him.

- Is that so? - Well, he's been

wanting me to for a long time.

He'd see that Billy was raised right.

Billy oughta to be raised out

in the open. Towns are no good.

What name will I put on your cup?

Comanche. Todd. Take your pick.

Haven't you ever had a real first name?

I ain't heard it called

since I was a boy.

I was baptized Jonathan.

My own pa baptized me.

He was one of them circuit-ridin'

preachers. Took me every place he went.

Even learned my ABC's

ridin' behind his saddle.

Yeah, guess he lived just for me.

And to carry the word of

his God to the whole West.

"His God"?

- Not yours?

- Nope.

Not after my pa got hurt awful

bad when we was off alone.

I was only eight. My pa died

in my arms, and I was alone.

I never left him for three days.

Just waited and prayed

for him to live again.

Then these Comanches come along

and the chief took me for his son.

That's how I become a Comanche.

That feels good.

Mighty, mighty good.

Well, now.

Look what we got here,

Jenny, me girl. Huh?

Look for animal signs-

runways...

fresh droppings.

Burrows, like that there. See?

You get a stick with a fork on

it, sometimes you can twist it.

Then you can yank 'em out.

- Suppose it's a snake hole.

- No, no.

It's a badger. Maybe a

rabbit that's took it over.

He's in there too.

Let's see what we've got here.

Rabbit. We eat good tonight.

- How can you tell what he is?

- That's rabbit fur. See?

- Think you can catch him?

- Sure.

- What do I do?

- I'll show ya.

Just make yourself a noose...

like this.

Just lay here, see.

The minute he comes out,

puts his feet into that...

yank-you got us a rabbit.

- Where'll you be?

- I'll be right close.

Just up canyon, rigging a few

snares. Try to spot some stew meat.

Don't you go wandering off.

Wait till you hear from me.

Medicine man, like Geronimo.

They always come ahead

of the warriors...

to make good medicine for the war trail.

Means they're still up there.

Come on. And bring your desert turkey.

A rattlesnake!

I'm hurt!

Stand still! Don't run!

Are you crazy?

A rattlesnake! He

struck me! I'm gonna die!

You sure oughta! You

got no more sense than

to run and pump the

poison through your veins!

Start a tourniquet.

I'll get a stick.

Hurry up with that stick before

the poison gets to her heart!

Where was it?

I:

- I'm gonna die!

Sure will die if she don't quiet down.

Picks a time when we

oughta be hidin' out quiet.

Instead we're holdin' a mass meeting right

out in the open. Head for cover. Quick.

That wasn't Apaches.

That was our own gun.

We got six bullets...

and that idiot uses up three on a stinkin'

rattler you could kill with a stick.

I found him, and I shot him.

Real proud, ain't ya?

If you wanted to tell the whole

Apache nation where we was...

you couldn't pick no better way.

You don't have to worry.

Been up and down those washes.

Didn't even see a sign of an Apache.

Come! Unless you fear one Comanche!

Asking them to come down?

Have you lost your mind?

They'll see we have no guns, no rifles-

They've already seen what we ain't got.

Thanks to you, they've seen the girls.

Come!

Here they come.

They'll see that we can't defend

ourselves. Why'd you ask 'em?

He's been on the

Indians' side right along.

You girls get back to

the wagon. Billy, you too.

Ridge, hand that pistol to Clint. Quick!

You seen what the Apaches did

to your mother and your sis.

If this don't work, don't

let it happen to the girls.

If what doesn't work?

Takin' on two now rather than 200 later.

You Comanche?

Comanche.

Always it's taken two

Apache to kill one Comanche.

Mr. Todd! Look out!

Get them horses under cover!

Git!

Come on.

- We gotta move out of here.

Strip the wagon. - Before dark?

Sunset. Quick as we can. How's

the one with poison in her?

Terribly fevered. Could she die?

Of course she could, pumpin'

venom into her heart that way.

Look, whatever happens, don't you

ever run if a rattler strikes you.

- I won't. Honest.

- What would you do first?

Sit right down and wait for you.

Bad fever?

She's gonna have some

powerful chills too fore long.

She might die, you know.

Do you care?

Yes.

I didn't think I would, but I do.

Thank you for what you did.

Thanks for everything, Mr. Todd.

Meet me at the end of

the trail. Hide the wagon.

Any chance they might be soldiers

'stead of Apaches? We've come a long way.

I'll find out. Hide the

wagon, just in case. Hyah!

Am I going to die?

Not if you want to live badly enough.

I'm so hot.

Get some rest, Jolie.

I'll watch her for a while.

Drink lots of water, Valinda.

It'll help.

More?

Lots of water?

Thought Mr. Todd said we

were almost at the end of it.

We are. Everybody's shared, but Mr. Todd

and your sister have done more than that.

They've gone without water since

you were struck by the snake.

Why? I thought they hated me most.

- They felt you needed it more

than they did. - Sis?

It's got Billy's name on it.

He wants to help too.

You know, Billy's grown

quite a lot on this journey.

Maybe you have too, Valinda.

Well, when we started

out on this trip...

I promised nothin'.

Now it looks like even

promisin' that was too much.

We can't neither turn back nor go ahead.

And we got three bullets

against 300 Apaches.

'Taint hardly enough.

Are you sayin' it's an Apache camp?

- Yep. Big one. Comin' from all over here.

- Just to attack us?

No, no. They wouldn't need to gather

no war party that size to take us.

If they knew we was here, we'd be dead.

Come dawn and their scouts head out, we

probably will be, so all

we can do is stay hid.

I don't think there's any

Apache out there at all.

If I said so, they're there.

They're soldiers. The colonel said

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