Three Violent People Page #5

Lorna Hunter.

- Man, what a mistake.

- Lorna? That's no mistake, man.

I just heard him call her Lorna.

I wonder if he knows.

I bet he doesn't. Of course not.

Old high-and-mighty Southern gent.

I'd love to tell him.

I'd like to see the look on his face

when he finds out.

Tired horses, ready rifles...

men talking together

where women cannot hear.

This is a hard country for the women.

- Here's a fresh cup of coffee, seora.

- No more, thank you.

If you don't need me...

Nothing else. Thanks, Maria.

You may go.

- Buenas noches, seora.

- Good night, Maria.

Thank you.

What came out of the meeting?

I wonder if it's heredity or environment.

Do only stubborn men come to Texas?

Or does the Texas air

make all men stubborn?

They voted to fight.

Take that off, too.

- I'll get another cup.

- Fine.

You'd better have a touch of this.

Thanks.

You know, the fact that

men die heroes...

doesn't change the fact that

they're dead before their time.

Every man in the room knew the odds.

And they gave the only answer

a Texan knows.

But not one of them stopped to think

that they had a family at home.

Perhaps they had a right

to a part of the decision.

And you're as bad. How about Lorna?

Don't you think there's

a woman's viewpoint to be considered?

I guess I am the only one here

qualified to give the woman's viewpoint.

I'm tired of being talked over

and around.

It's only right, Lorna.

Wait, let me.

And don't hesitate to contradict me

if I make it one shade blacker than it is.

These carpetbag crooks...

intend to grab every big ranch

in this part of Texas, and they will...

if the Provisional Government

stays in power long enough.

One alternative is to fight them...

and hope that an honest government

will come to power in Austin...

in time to save the ranchers.

Colt will admit that this is one chance

in a hundred. Right, Colt?

Worse than that.

One in two hundred, say.

The other alternative is to cut and run.

There's a few cattle left,

but more important...

there's 300 head of horses

hidden in the hills.

Horses will bring in their weight in gold

at the Union Army Depot in Sedalia.

We could drive them there and face the

world with full pockets and no worries.

And let them take Bar S?

What's Bar S?

Some hills and creeks and valleys.

Could be duplicated in California...

Mexico, or someplace else.

That's Bar S.

Colt, was it fairly stated?

Yeah, fair enough.

I think you should decide, Lorna.

First, I want to try

and explain something...

I don't really understand myself.

In the war,

my regiment fought its first action...

on the banks of the Potomac River.

Four years later,

we were still fighting on a riverbank...

I just can't retreat anymore.

For once in your life

use some common sense.

There's nothing in the Bar S background

that means anything to Lorna.

She's entitled to go away

and start a new life...

to start her own traditions

along with her own family.

That's very understanding of you, Cinch.

But something tells me

if I decided we should go away...

the man who went with me would be

a different man than the man I married.

And that frightens me

more than carpetbaggers' scheming.

You're too good for any Saunders.

Good night.

You sit that horse

more like a Texas girl every day.

Thank you, Inocencio.

Tomorrow I'll really race you, honey.

Dust of many riders

along the Mesa Verde.

Let's put the horses away.

I got a loose girth.

What are you sweating for?

It ain't a hot day.

- I ain't as sure as you that this will work.

- Of course it will work.

You insult Saunders' wife,

he draws on you, and I kill him.

- I don't know.

- You don't have to know nothing.

Saunders is trying to get these ranchers

to make a fight.

We can't have that.

Don't worry, I'll be in action

before his gun ever clears leather.

We ain't gonna let you get killed,

are we, Mr. Commissioner?

Look at him.

Sweating, and on a day like this.

- Capt. Saunders.

- Social visit, Commissioner?

In a way, Captain. You might call it that.

You always take a cavalry patrol

when you go calling?

Sergeant, you can have your men

water their horses down at the windmill.

- Throw them some hay from that stack.

- Thank you, sir.

Sergeant, instruct your men

not to cross that creek to the east.

It's a rule I've made.

Captain, our purpose in coming here

was to cross your place...

to see if there were any taxable assets

that we hadn't examined...

like a large herd of horses.

If you leave

once you've watered your stock...

you can get back across

before dark, Commissioner.

Captain, if you don't want us

on the Bar S, we won't force the issue.

We'll ask for a court order.

This Commission always operates

with complete legality.

That's why I brought the Army,

to see to the legality.

Mrs. Saunders.

May I pay my respects, ma'am?

Good day, Mr. Harrison.

Just a minute, Captain.

- Mr. Massey.

- Yes, sir?

Come here a minute, please.

I don't believe you've met

my administrative assistant.

- Mr. Massey, Capt. Saunders.

- Sir.

- I'm mighty happy to meet you, Captain.

- And Mrs. Saunders.

- May I present Mr. Massey?

- How do you do?

Mrs. Saunders and me already met,

back in St. Louis.

- You remember, Lorna.

- No, I don't remember.

But, Lorna, you can't have forgotten.

- I'm sorry. I've never seen you before.

- But...

Mrs. Saunders has twice said

she does not know you, sir.

Do not press the point.

Lorna, you gotta remember me.

There was us fellows, you know,

on Gen. Butler's staff.

And you and Floss and the rest...

from Ruby LaSalle's place.

- Watch the red-headed man.

- Put that gun away.

I aim to see that

everything is lawful-like.

In time, Sergeant.

Amigo, speak to them.

I had the one with the red hair

ready for the buzzards.

During my discussion with Mr. Massey,

no one is to interfere.

And regardless of the outcome,

none of you will shoot Mr. Massey.

Now then, Mr. Massey...

you will go on with

what you were saying.

Colt, stop it.

I was mistaken, Mr. Massey.

I do remember you.

You were one of the rear echelon

heroes who hid on Gen. Butler's staff...

while better men

were getting killed in battle.

Good day, gentlemen.

Don't ever let me find you

south of Mesa Verde.

Pick up your hat.

That poor, trembling,

squeaky-voiced little coward.

Did you see his eyes?

His eyes were almost crossed with fear.

I just couldn't stand there

and see him killed.

I guess I'll have to kill him sometime.

But why?

What's the sense of killing him?

What's the point?

In a way, I'm glad.

I'm glad it's out in the open.

I'll be rounding up strays

for a few weeks.

There's a stage leaving Mesa

around the first. Cinch will put you on it.

I'd go down on my knees

if I thought it would help.

It won't.

Because everything depends...

on how you look at me now.

Look at me!

For services rendered.

The man that threw the first stone

is galloping off to the hills...

wearing garments of righteous wrath

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