Will Penny Page #5

than the rest of 'em.

You don't know what it's like out

here, one woman for every 20, 30 men,

and she ain't likely to be

much for looks or temper.

Someone like you... you don't know.

Lookin' the way you do,

just...

goin' about your business, not

talkin' all the time like some...

That smile, in your voice,

when you got somethin' to say.

No, please... No.

You do know that, do you? You know.

I suppose I do.

I tell you I've had... some

kind of hell these last weeks.

Pure hell.

I'm sorry.

No. No need for you to be.

I've been alone since

I was a button like him.

No family to speak of, just...

helpin' in saloons, livin' with

this one, that one, free and easy...

I never wanted it no other

way, never knew no other way...

thought that's how

it's supposed to be.

Now, here you are... You and him...

You ain't even mine!

You got a way of makin' a

man feel like he's a man.

Reckon it's just a case of too

soon old and too late smart.

Stay, Will!

Merry Christmas!

So. After all that time,

you still ain't dead.

That's good. You got yourself

fixed up real nice around here.

Yes, sir. Real nice.

Ma!

Boy! Come on!

- Boy, tell me. Is this your pa?

- No!

- Your husband? Is he your husband?

- No... Yes!

Rejoiceth not in iniquity,

but rejoiceth in the truth.

Ask quick and the

lies come out second.

- What you gonna do?

- What we gonna do?

We gonna stay here and we

gonna rest from our labours.

But no work, see. No work because this

strong man is gonna do it all for us.

A hired hand, all our own.

Never figured on that, did

you? Our own hired hand.

- Wait, please!

- Now, woman, look!

Which one of my tall sons

are you gonna take up with?

It's a hard choice, I agree.

Both fine, upstanding young men,

- righteous in the eyes of the Lord.

- Amen!

So which one? He ain't your

husband and you took up with him.

She never took up with me.

So, you can take up with one

of my boys. Make a choice.

I can't... I...

Yeah?

- I need time. It's a hard choice.

- Of course it's hard.

I'll give you two days. That's

fair. Now all their fine points:

Rafe is smarter but he's meaner.

Ruf's stronger but he's dumber.

If the Lord had put them

together, they'd be a perfect man!

Take your pick.

Come out before you make trouble!

Get back with the woman and the boy.

- Wait!

- Come on, boy!

Now then, you! Wake him up.

You! We're gonna keep you here,

and we're just gonna keep

workin' your butt off.

And if you misbehave, I'm

gonna let Rafe there skin you.

And I mean skin, sonny.

He skinned a fella once down in

Texas. A mighty fine job, too.

What the hell?

Go back to sleep.

Are you all right?

Yes.

I don't know. Some way, I

gotta get back to Flatiron.

- They'll kill you.

- I got a plan.

Ain't gonna be no party,

you'd have to deal with 'em.

Will... You know what

they want from me tomorrow.

I'll do anything. Anything.

Not now! I have to make supper.

- When?

- In the morning, in there.

In the morning, in

there? Just you and me?

Just you and me.

- When? - Everybody will be busy

in the morning.

In the morning? Where?

The lean-to. In the morning.

In the morning, in the

lean-to. I'm gonna be there.

I can dance any one o'

ya down to your knees.

If you don't believe me, gimme a try.

Hey, boy, get your mouth off her!

Did you forget what you told me?

- What...?

- What's the matter?

- Who asked you to come in here?

- You wanna know?

She did. That's who.

You're lyin'. She didn't say that

to you, she told me to come here.

I asked both of you. I wanted to

see who would be the better man.

And she made her decision, see?

You've been telling me a lie, girl.

There's a woman and

a boy in the cabin.

Trouble runs to you

like a calf to its mama.

Blue! What the...

You sure forget your

friends in a hurry.

Thought you were from the Flatiron.

So glad to see you, I never looked.

Lord was smilin' down

when he put you here.

- Lord nothin', we come lookin'

for you. - We?

- Dutchy!

- Ja. It's me, all right.

- Doctor in Alfred said

we saved his life. - How?

Leavin' him in the wagon. It was

so cold, his blood wouldn't run.

If we'd kept him warm,

he'd have bled right out.

What the hell happened over there?

I need some help. Bad.

How'd you like to get us down in

this wagon? Close to the shack.

Real close.

Load the gun!

HG!

Get away from there! Get away!

Will!

- Gonna tell me about this, Penny?

- How come you fellas are here?

Your compadres come lookin' for you.

I figured you might

be planning something.

Then one of the Lazy Bar Seven hands

said we had cattle scattered all over.

We wondered if anybody was

takin' care of this camp.

- I can see now why we didn't.

- You got it wrong, Alex.

It'll be all right. Don't worry.

Them rawhiders damn near killed me.

Would have done, if it

hadn't been for that lady.

And them?

We come to take him back to that man

Catron, he owes us 50 dollars each.

And them two?

Hell, I couldn't turn'em

out to winter up here alone.

That must have been some comfort.

There's no call for that. What

would you have done in my place?

Took 'em back down to headquarters.

We'd have found work for'em till

spring, or till the wagon train comes.

Maybe you thought of that, too.

Reckon I did.

We'll do that right now, then.

What happened?

Alex has got his back

arched up. Can't blame him.

He's sending you down below.

You coming with us?

You want us to go down and wait,

while you work the winter up here?

I ain't stayin' here.

Will we go with you?

Cath...

Shoot, you're still married!

- Pardon?

- You got a husband.

I've never been married, really.

He'd never notice if we never

showed up. Except for the work.

You've been more of a father

to Horace than Reuben ever was.

That's not it, though, is it, Will?

Will. What is it?

It's come on so...

so quick, like.

Will...

Before I married Reuben, I had

two years to think about it.

All that time never helped a bit. Now,

I've got a few minutes and I'm sure.

I'm absolutely sure.

I'm damn near 50 years old!

Yes.

What could we do?

There are lots of homesteads,

all over this land.

Will... Before...

when we talked, what

did you think we'd do?

I don't know. I...

I never really come face

to face with it, I guess.

Will. Do you love me?

What do I know about love?

Love? I guess you could

call it that... And more.

I never felt like this about nobody.

I want you, and the

button, for my own, but...

But?

It takes a heap of time,

years, to build up a spread.

I don't have them years no more.

Homestead! We'd just be startin'

up with a few measly cows.

Come January, I'd be trying to

feed you, the button, the cattle...

- We don't have to ranch! We can farm.

- I don't know nothin' about farmin'.

I do.

Cath, I'm a cow-hand. Been

a cow-hand all my life.

- Scared?

- Damn right. Bad scared.

I told you before, I lived

one way my whole life.

What would I do?

Try to feed you and the boy, on some

measly six-cow ranch? What would I do?

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