The Man from Laramie Page #2

I'm a lonely man, Mr.

Lockhart. So are you.

I don't suppose we spoke ten

words coming down here...

but I feel that I know you.

And I like what I know.

All right, Charlie.

Come on. I'll help

you up on that mule.

There we go.

- See you.

- Be seeing you.

- Mr. Lockhart.

- 'Evening.

I thought you'd gone

back to Laramie.

I had a little mix-up with some

gentlemen from the Barb ranch.

- They accused me of trespassing.

- Trespassing?

Just who does own those

salt lagoons, anyway?

I suppose they are part of the Barb,

but nobody's made a point of it before.

They sure made a point

of it this afternoon.

They burned my wagons

and shot my mules.

They seemed to know exactly

where to find me, too.

Don't blame me for what happened.

I warned you about the lagoons.

You warned me about the Apache.

You didn't mention the Barb.

The fellow that caused the trouble

was named Dave. Do you know him?

He's my cousin.

Your cousin?

Some cousin.

You don't choose your relatives.

This is the most unfriendly

country I've ever been in.

Why's everyone so touchy?

It's a one-man country and

Alec Waggoman's the man.

I think I've got to meet that man.

If you stay, you will.

I'm figuring on staying

around for a while.

- Is something bothering you?

- Yes, a lot of things.

Can I help you?

You have.

Just standing here looking

at you makes me feel easier.

You're a bachelor, aren't you?

How'd you know that?

Only a lonely man could find pleasure

watching a woman unpack bolts of cotton.

It's not so much what you're doing,

it's just you're mighty nice to look at.

I'm not even pretty.

I suppose I've seen prettier

girls in dancehalls...

but you're sort of...

beautiful, I'd say.

That's the nicest thing

anybody's ever said to me.

And a stranger had to come all

the way from Laramie to say it.

I wish that was my only

reason for being in Coronado.

- Good night.

- Good night.

Dave!

I told you not to start anything.

Let it alone, Davey boy,

or I'll clip off a thumb.

Hold it, Vic.

I'm Alec Waggoman of the Barb.

- What's the reason for this?

- Ask your son.

I'm asking you.

Go out to the salt lagoons. You'll find

12 dead mules and three burned wagons.

- They belong to me.

- Nobody asked you to come here.

I'm here, Mr. Waggoman,

and I'm staying here.

This town better get

used to the idea.

- Who are you?

- No one you ever heard of.

What do you want in this town?

That's the big question, huh?

You don't ask it very friendly.

I don't have to. I own this town.

I own as far as you can ride in

any direction for three days.

So I hear.

Apache land is less than one day's

ride from here. You own that too?

I have no quarrel with the Apache.

It's dirt farmers and

fence-raisers I'm keeping out.

- Now, which are you?

- Neither.

Then what are you?

I come from Laramie.

You'd better keep

travelling, stranger.

Stop in at the Barb in the morning

and I'll pay you for what you lost.

I see you've already

collected interest.

Vic, get the boys back to the

ranch without any more trouble.

Any of you who can't go

peacefully is fired.

Dave got what you should've given

him a long time ago, Alec.

I'd like to thank you

for what you did.

- Why do you think I did it?

- You have a fair sense of justice.

This is the only sense of justice

folks respect around here.

Hop in and ride out

to my ranch with me.

I appreciate the hospitality, ma'am.

I have rooms in the hotel.

Don't argue. I want

to talk to you. Get in.

We'll pick up your horse.

This isn't exactly a

horse I've got here.

I don't think you ought to

go with that Canaday woman.

The Waggomans won't like it.

I kinda figured they wouldn't.

Come on.

Why did you fight Lockhart?

It wasn't your quarrel, Vic.

Alec was watching.

I had to stand up for Dave.

You act like Alec was your own

father, instead of your boss.

He's using you just

like he used my father.

When he no longer needs you, he'll

drop you like an ordinary cowhand.

Alec wouldn't do that to me.

He knows if Dave were on his

own, the Barb would fall apart.

Does Dave know that?

Alec won't be around forever.

Then where would you be?

Alec and me talked that over.

When his time comes, he's leaving

the Barb to Dave and me.

That's the same promise

he made my father.

If he broke his word with his own brother,

what can you, a stranger, expect?

Your father was an

easy man. I'm not.

No one's breaking his word with me.

This is no place for us. I want to

leave and I want you to leave with me.

- Where can we go?

- Anywhere.

That's the same as nowhere.

We've been over this before.

Here in Coronado,

we've got something.

Anywhere else we go, we're

a couple of nobodies.

You keep saying we've got

nothing if we leave.

If we have each other,

doesn't that mean anything?

I love you, Barbara, you know that.

But I've worked my whole

life for the Barb.

I've got sweat and

blood in that ground.

I'm not giving up

what's rightfully mine.

I know my uncle and my cousin.

Neither one will give up a foot

of ground without a fight.

I don't want to see you hurt, Vic.

Only you can hurt me.

I want to be your wife...

but if I can't get you to leave with me,

I won't stay here to become your widow.

I don't die so quick.

- What do you think of the Half Moon?

- What am I supposed to think?

It'll go a lot smoother

when you take over.

I'm hiring you to

be the new foreman.

Sounds fine, but I'm

not looking for a job.

Now you've made

enemies of the Barb...

you can't stay here and stand

up to them on your own.

The Barb's been giving

you trouble, too?

Trouble?

Twenty-eight years I've been

battling Alec Waggoman.

Keeping him from swallowing

up the Half Moon...

the way he swallowed up every

other piece of grazing land.

I'm at the point where I need help.

I'm sorry, Miss Canaday.

I'm not the man for you.

You ain't afraid of the Barb.

You proved that.

I've got no quarrel

with the Waggomans now.

They agreed to pay me for

my mules, my wagons...

You'll take the money and

let them run you out?

No, but I wouldn't be any

good for you. I'm no cowhand.

You're no muleskinner, either.

I can tell that from the

look of your hands.

Just what are you

doing here, Lockhart?

You might say on account of some

good wagons of mine that got burnt.

Or you might blame it on a rope

that dragged me through a fire.

But you'd be closer if you asked

me about my brother, just a kid.

I can't realise yet he's dead.

- You want to talk about it?

- No.

I've thought about it too much to talk.

I'm going to do something about it.

So, you're here to hunt

a man and kill him.

I was wondering if...

Can I have one of

your saddle ponies?

I'll pay you for it as soon as

I settle with the Waggomans.

I guess I can fix you up.

We'll go down to the corral after

supper. Maybe you'll reconsider.

The supper sounds fine.

Do we fight or talk?

We gotta finish that fight someday.

I don't know whether I won or lost.

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