The Sons of Katie Elder Page #3

She said, ''One funeral.''

And l said, ''Whose?''

She said, ''Mine.''

That's the way it was.

ls that the same grey horse

that Bud stole?

You heard about that? We rigged that

up to scare Bud into going to college.

l put that horse in her barn,

and l come back later, yelling,

her screaming back at me

like she meant it.

She was a wise one, your ma.

And my dad,

you buried him, too, didn't you, Henry?

Yeah, high-spirited he was. And he

wasn't a man to back down to anyone.

l remember when he was challenged

by old Thad to a duel.

Your daddy

had the choice of weapons,

and it being the Fourth of July, says

Bass, ''l choose Roman candles.''

Well, sir,

they stepped off the ten paces,

lit the Roman candles,

then they started popping.

Thad dark as thunder, Bass laughing,

those balls of fire bouncing off him,

him laughing so hard

he was missing Thad by six feet.

Finally, one of those balls of fire

landed in your daddy's pants.

He grabbed his bottom, ran for

the watering trough, sat down in it.

lt was the funniest duel l ever saw!

l declare it was.

How did he die, Henry?

From what l could see,

he was shot in the back.

Did anybody try to find out who did it?

l don't know about those things.

You'd better ask Billy, or Ben Latta.

All right, Henry.

l figured he'd go to the bank

and the store.

But what was he doing

at Hyselman's so long?

- Do you want me to ask him?

- lt wouldn't hurt to ask. But just talk.

- Mr Venner.

- Come in.

Looks like you were expecting us.

l thought you might stop by.

Yes, sir, we came over

to settle the estate.

Nothing left to settle.

- Nothing?

- She didn't leave a dollar.

But she had money last year.

She paid for my schooling.

She must have gotten something

out of the old place.

- ls that what she told you?

- l just took it for granted.

- Where did she get her money?

- lt's a fine time to start worrying.

l watched her struggle for years,

giving guitar lessons for coffee,

sewing that paid for your clothes, Bud.

Never a word out of her,

except to praise you.

Have you looked into her closet,

at her clothes?

You'd find one blue dress for winter

and one grey dress for summer.

- What about the Lupin place?

- She didn't own the Lupin place.

The bank let her have it

for a roof over her head.

She paid rent.

Katie wouldn't take anything off anybody,

not with her sons sending her money.

lf you plan to stay on here,

you'll find that Clearwater's changed.

Big business coming in.

We don't want any bad reputations

around here.

Good day, gentlemen.

Mr Venner, what did she do

with the money from the ranch?

- l know she wouldn't just give it away.

- l wouldn't know about that.

- Do you keep records?

- We had a fire.

l can't remember every transaction.

Good day.

Every transaction, or just this one?

Well...

l'd be obliged

if you'd use the front entrance.

Your time will come

to be carried out the other way.

- What was John Elder doing in here?

- Talking.

- l don't see it's any of your affair.

- l'm making it my affair.

- Who are you?

- Mr Hastings wants to know.

- He sent me to find out.

- l don't care who wants to know.

Oh, yes, l can see where

Mr Hastings might be worried

about what l might

be talking about with Johnny Elder.

- So you tell me, huh?

- No, l won't. You get out of here.

Hey!

- You all right?

- Yeah.

- Who is he?

- l've never seen him before.

l think he works for Morgan Hastings.

He asked what we were talking about.

Morgan Hastings?

He moved in and seems bent on

taking over the county.

He owns your ma's old place now.

l came back to ask if you'd see after

Mom's grave, when you have a chance.

l'd be obliged

if you'd keep your money, John.

- Looking after Katie'd be a privilege.

- Thanks, Henry. Thank you.

Take you that long

to give him a couple of bucks?

- Let's go take a look at the old place.

- What for?

Let's say l'm homesick.

Everything sure has changed.

Remember how we'd

fool around in that barn?

l was a kid when you fell

and broke your leg.

You weren't even born.

Besides, l was pushed.

- Somebody kept pushing me off.

- That's 'cause you bounced so good.

All the family bragged about how good

you bounced. Let's bounce on down.

- Howdy.

- This here is private property.

- We're looking for Morgan Hastings.

- That's my father.

But he won't be back all day.

Then maybe you could help us.

You see, this place used to be ours,

and now it's yours.

- We'd like to ask you some questions.

- l'm not going to answer.

- You'd better get off this property.

- Wait a minute. Don't get all riled.

l'm ordering you. Get off this property!

- Having trouble, Dave?

- Yeah.

No trouble. l'm John Elder,

and these are my brothers...

- l told them to leave, and they won't go.

- That's not strictly true.

l'm not putting up

with more trouble from you.

He worked a fellow over in town, and

now he won't leave this man's property.

Either you're leaving peaceful,

or l'll arrest you.

We wouldn't take too kindly

to being arrested.

That ain't going to

make much difference.

- See? Now we ain't arrested.

- You're going to be in serious trouble.

We're going in with you,

straighten this out,

but we ain't going in looking guilty.

Get on your horse.

We'll be back.

Billy. Billy! You got to see this.

Come on, come on!

- What happened, Ben?

- He got careless.

They jumped me

at the Hastings' place.

That's why we came in, to straighten

this out. He had no right arresting us.

- He's wearing a badge.

- We were just looking for answers.

Next time, it might be an idea to wait

till l tell you to light out after somebody.

All right, you Elders, take off.

- Go on. l'm going to talk to Billy.

- l'm going with you.

Billy.

Since l got home someone's asking me

to leave or pulling a gun on me.

A gunfighter can't be treated like a hero.

- l'm no gunfighter!

- You're his brother.

l know how to handle unfriendly towns.

At Katie's grave you said

the last thing you wanted was trouble.

- You drive me out, l'll be back.

- That goes for me, too.

Why didn't you tell us

that Bass was shot in the back?

Does it make any difference

which direction the bullet came from?

Yes, if you're trying to find out

if he was murdered.

- What do you want to know?

- What happened to our old place?

- lf Pa sold it, there'd be money.

- Not if he gambled it away.

- ls that what happened?

- Hastings says so.

l see no reason to doubt him.

He had six witnesses.

Your pa must have been pretty drunk.

He was going to be a better provider

for Katie, win a fortune for her.

- l don't know how she put up with him.

- She loved him.

- That was good enough for her.

- We all loved him, Billy.

lt was just that when he got

to gambling and hitting that bottle...

- How long after the game was he shot?

- Same night.

Wouldn't you say

that was a little coincidental?

Even if l did, l couldn't prove it.

- We can help.

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