True Grit Page #6

So I won't shoot my foot off!

- Corn dodger?

- Light a match and let me see it first.

- What for?

- Some have got blood on them.

We ain't lighting no matches.

I don't want any.

What did you do before this?

Just about everything...

except keep school.

- How did you lose your eye?

- It was in the war.

The Lone Jack,

a scrap outside Kansas City.

What did you do after the war?

I robbed a paymaster, went to Illinois

and bought an eating place,

married a grass widow.

The place had a billiard table.

- You never told me you had a wife.

- I didn't have her long.

My friends were a pack of river rats,

and she didn't crave their society.

She upped and left me and went back

to her first husband in Paducah.

"Goodbye, Reuben," she says,

"the love of decency ain't in you."

That's a divorced woman

talking for you about decency.

I told her, "Goodbye, Nola."

"I hope that bastard

makes you happy this time."

Did you have any children?

There was a boy,

Nola took him with her.

He never liked me anyway.

A clumsier child

you'll never see than Horace.

I bet he broke forty cups!

Never did get you

for stealing that money?

- I didn't consider it stealing.

- It didn't belong to you.

I needed a road stake.

Like that bank in New Mexico.

I needed a road stake,

and there it was.

I never robbed no citizen

or took a man's watch!

It's all stealing.

That's the position

those New Mexicans took.

I had to flee for my life!

Bo was a young colt then, no horse

could run him into the ground.

When that posse thinned out,

I turned Bo around and,

taking the reins in my teeth,

charged them boys

firing two Navy Sixes.

They must have been married men

who loved their families,

'cause they scattered

and ran for home!

You don't have any family, do you?

Except Chen Lee and that lazy cat.

General Price don't belong to me.

Cats don't belong to nobody!

He just rooms with me.

Course I depend on him...

Well...

Baby sister, you better try

and get some sleep.

I'll wake you up when they get here.

Shh!

Looks like Moon was telling the truth.

- What are they doing?

- Smelling around.

You see Chaney?

I can't make out their faces.

That's Ned Pepper, all right.

Quincy! Moon!

That's him hollering.

That's the original

Mexican Bob with him.

- There's more than one?

- There's a younger one.

But he ain't a patch to this one.

Moon!

Quincy!

Now he's done it!

Over here, Ned!

I'm hit.

They don't call him

Lucky Ned Pepper for nothing.

That man gave his life for him.

He didn't even look back.

Looking back is a bad habit.

Well...

What's your story?

I was on the move to a better place,

and I heard the first shot.

More likely asleep!

- You know who they are?

- The one on the sand spit's Haze.

The boy? I don't know.

He's not much older than I am.

That's nothing but a little scratch.

That's nothing to do with you.

Go make us some coffee!

- It won't take long.

- Let it go and go on inside!

Why are you being so foolish?

- You're quite a horse-shooter.

- I was trying for Ned Pepper.

Next time try for the horse

and maybe you'll hit Pepper!

What are we waiting for?

Let's ride after them.

I say no. I know

where they're going to earth.

You can't take men

by watching them run away.

I know this country,

and I know these men.

We'll take the horses

and the dead into McAlester,

and I'll put in a claim for any reward

the railroad may offer.

- You backed up?

- Some... for now.

- Damn a man that whistles!

- He's keeping his mind off his hand.

You don't think

very much of me, do you?

I don't think about you at all,

if you keep quiet.

I was told that you rode

with Quantrell and that border trash.

I heard Quantrell and his men weren't

soldiers but murdering thieves.

I heard the same thing.

I heard they murdered

women and children.

I heard that, too,

and it's a damn lie.

What outfit were you with

during the war?

- Shreveport, with Kirby Smith.

- I mean what side were you on?

I served with General Kirby Smith.

I don't have to hang my head

when I say it.

Go ahead, make me look

foolish in her eyes.

You don't need me for that.

I don't like the way

you make conversation.

I don't like your conversation

about Captain Quantrell.

Captain? Captain of what?

A bunch of thieves?

Young fella, if you're looking

for trouble, I'll accommodate you.

Otherwise... leave it alone.

I've been thinking about Pepper.

Maybe he'd have murdered those two

so they wouldn't inform on him.

- Ned wouldn't do that.

- Why not?

He doesn't kill people for no reason.

Had he a reason, he'd kill them.

Looks like we might joggle

some of our passengers off.

Well, they're past hurting.

- We'll tie up here, if you don't mind?

- Sure, marshal, you've quite a load.

Yeah... about half the load

I was looking for.

Go in and meet Mrs McAlester,

she'll fix some dinner.

- I want a word with the peace officer.

- I'll go, too.

I'll tell the wife

to fix something for all of you.

You go inside, maybe Mrs McAlester

can fix that poor little hand of yours!

My poor little hand can keep.

Rooster! What are you doing here?

Boots! Gaspargo!

You're letting that Indian

behind you with a blade?

- 'Cause I'm an Indian.

- Plenty of scalps on Indian belts!

If you're after Ned Pepper,

you're on a cold trail here.

We're looking for another man, too.

Black mark on his face.

- We think he's running with Ned.

- That's a Texan peace officer!

Ned passed through

a couple of days ago.

Him, Haze, Mexican Bob.

Only those three were seen.

- I know where Ned's holed up.

- You'll need 100 marshals to get him!

My name is Mattie Ross

from Yell County.

That man with the black mark

killed my father. He's called Chaney.

I got Haze and some youngster

outside with Moon and Quincy.

I want you to bury 'em for me.

I'm in a hurry.

They're dead?

I wouldn't want you to bury them

if they weren't!

- What about La Beef's hand?

- Gaspargo's a good doctor, too.

- Take care of it.

- It can wait.

- You're no good use if handicapped.

- And small use if he ain't!

- Wash first.

- Why?

- Don't you wash before you eat?

- Ain't gonna eat his hand.

- Don't you know about germs?

- No...

Go wash, Gaspargo.

You lost!

That's Moon.

Quincy.

Haze! First time he ever stayed shot!

I know this boy. Billy Walsh.

Comes from a good family.

Hold good Billy for his folks

and bury the rest of them.

I'll post their names. If anyone

wants them, they can dig them up.

Sell their horses, coats, guns

and saddles, and I'll split it with you.

You told Moon

you'd send money to his brother.

- I forget where to send it.

- The Methodist church, Austin.

Are you sure it was Austin

and not Dallas?

You know it was Austin!

Write it out for the captain.

Boots, send this man $10

and tell him he's buried here.

I'll do that. So this man shot

Ned Pepper's horse?

Yeah, this is the famous

horse-killer from El Paso!

He believes in putting everybody

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