Two Rode Together Page #6

Take your time.

That's Stone Calf, huh?

Big medicine.

Why am I taken?

I send you back to your people.

No, I am a Comanche!

No, I'm no white man.

- Is he white?

- Boy is white.

Wah-kay-nah.

What's your name?

Is it...? Is it Freda?

Freda?

Can you speak English?

Freda.

Don't you remember? Fre...

- Freda Knudsen.

- Freda Knudsen.

Sixteen the fourth of August.

I've had enough of this.

Let's forget it.

Yeah, the time to forget it

was before we started.

I'm gonna take that kid

back to Henry J. Wringle.

All right, squeeze what you can

out of Henry J. Wringle, but she stays.

- Wait!

- All right.

- You make trade for one more.

- No, no, Quanah.

Looks like you're gonna have

to handle Stone Calf yourself.

Now, that shouldn't be too hard.

- Six more rifles.

- All right, six more rifles. Come on.

Come on!

You made trade with me, McCabe.

- I keep the rifles.

- All right.

All right, I'll stick to my end

of the bargain.

- You trust me, don't you, Quanah?

- No.

Well, who are you?

I am Stone Calf's woman.

Well, that's no white woman.

She's a squaw.

No, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

No, wait a minute.

That's no Comanche.

How do they call you, senorita?

- Elena.

- Elena, huh?

Elena. Well, that'll do for now.

Stone Calf know about this?

No. But he will find out.

And when he does,

he will follow, senor.

Of that you may be sure.

If you are wise,

you will send me back.

You mean, you want to go back?

It does not matter.

For five years, I have been

Stone Calf's woman.

His squaw.

I'm not worth fighting for.

All right, come on. Come on.

Let's get out of here.

Well, are you coming or aren't you?

Stone Calf will never let me go.

He will kill you both!

Yeah, I know. All right now, you can

stay here or you can come with us.

It makes no difference to us.

Come on.

All right, hold it.

Well, this looks like

as good a place as any.

We'll stop here.

Senorita, how about you rustling up

some firewood?

I could do with a pot of coffee.

You're not gonna build a fire.

Why don't you send up

smoke signals while you're at it?

I can't spell.

Let me set you straight.

While there's daylight, we travel.

- All right, you go ahead.

- What are you gonna do?

Sit here and wait for him

to catch up with you?

Yeah, something like that.

Unless you've got some better ideas.

What, with all that

West Point training of yours...

...maybe you think

we ought to surround him.

Oh, come on, use your head.

Killing Stone Calf or him killing us

could set off another Comanche war.

All right, if I get killed I kind of hope

maybe they will set off another war.

I'm not gonna argue, McCabe.

I'm giving an order!

Well, I've taken just about

all the orders I can stand.

- You don't bluff me with that!

- Now, wait a minute.

Just a minute, Jim.

Just a minute.

Now, you think back.

Now, I haven't drawn on

very many men...

...but when I did I wasn't bluffing,

and I'm not bluffing now.

Now, don't you make me prove it.

I'm giving you fair warning, McCabe.

I'll jump you the first chance I get.

You're just bull-headed enough

to do it, aren't you?

Aren't you?

All right, Jim, you want to go on ahead,

I want to stay here. We'll split up.

- You take young Wringle with you.

- What about her?

Hey, senorita, come here.

Now, he's going on ahead,

I'm gonna stay here.

What do you wanna do?

- I stay with you.

- There you are.

Now, remember, McCabe...

...don't expect any help.

When I leave here, I'm gone.

- And I won't be back.

- Good riddance. Come on.

Keep an eye on junior, Jim!

You know he's worth

1000 bucks to me!

Go on. Go on.

Get the fire ready. Go on.

William.

That's him.

Good morning, sir.

I believe this is what you wanted.

Posey.

Yes, sir.

Toby! Toby!

All right, now that's enough.

Keep going.

All right, file by and take a look

if you want to, but keep going.

One boy's not gonna satisfy

those people. What can I tell them?

How can I convince them

there's no hope for the others?

- It happens to be the truth, sir.

- It's not the truth.

Not when you admit

talking to Mrs...

What's her name? The wife of that

bible-thumper, Mrs. Clegg.

- You disobeyed orders, Mr. Gary.

- Yes, sir.

And you stood by while McCabe

traded weapons with Quanah Parker.

Yes, sir.

Now you're willing to condone

a further deception...

...by passing off Running Wolf

as the Wringle boy...

...when there's not

a particle of proof he is.

- He fits the description.

- Well, he fits a half-dozen descriptions.

No, sir.

Not going to be a party to any fraud.

Let McCabe whistle

for his blood money.

For all we know,

he'll never come back anyway.

Sir, I promised.

He earned the money, even if

he never gets a chance to spend it.

I see no reason to honour

a promise to a dead man...

...when it entails

a cruel lie to the living.

I'll handle this in my way, mister.

Yes, sir.

Jim, I know you did

what you thought best.

By trying to spare people pain

you can sometimes cause more.

This was a job for a hard man.

That's why I picked McCabe.

I thought he might be able to teach you

something I've never been able to.

Well, what's that, sir?

That only God

has the right to play God.

- What? Why, you dirty, rotten gut...

- Come on. Come on now, that's enough.

- Comanche... Get off of me!

- Move him out.

- Come on.

- What kind of an army you got here?

I'm a decent taxpayer,

and no dirty, rotten...

He was an officer

in the American Army.

Lieutenant Thompson.

We met at this baile, this dance...

Veracruz?

My father had been transferred there

from the presidio at San Fernando.

We...

We danced.

We laughed.

- And you fell in love.

- Si, we became engaged.

And so, on my 17th birthday,

we began the journey.

My father, an escort of dragoons

from his regiment...

...my duena.

Well, do you have no mother?

No.

She died when I was very young.

Two days after we had crossed

the Rio Bravo...

...the Comanches...

Did you hear something?

No. No.

No, I didn't hear anything.

Say, why don't you come over here

and sit down?

Over here.

Sit over here.

No, no. Look, over here.

There, that's better.

It's a little more companionable

like that.

Being a dark night and all that.

You don't mind if I put my arm

around you, do you?

Now...

Now, go on with your story now.

What were you saying?

The Comanches attacked?

Shut up!

Go on, the horses.

Now, I want to...

I assume that you've

all had an opportunity...

...to look at this captive boy

Lieutenant Gary brought in.

And I want to say to all of you

that we haven't the slightest inkling...

...as to this boy's identity.

That's my boy. That's my Toby.

Or where, or how,

or even when he was captured.

Certainly must've been very young.

He neither speaks nor understands

a word of English.

Major, may I have a word, please?

Do you think it possible...

...that an older boy, say 7 or 8, could

forget his English so completely?

Well, I wouldn't say it was likely,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes