There it is. $40,000 just sitting there waiting for us.
All we have to do is ride in and get it.
Now, this is the main teller's cage.
He's got a sawed-off shotgun under the counter.
Farley, you'll see he never gets his hands on it.
Rem, you keep one eye on the Sheriff's office across the street,
And the other on the bank guard.
Here, once we're inside, I'll move straight to the vault.
Farley, you cover me.
Shouldn't take more than five minutes,
If everything goes right.
What if it doesn't?
Then it's every man for himself
And we'll get back here to the cabin the best way we can.
Let's get moving.
Rem, are you sure you want to go through with it?
Too late to back out now.
What if something goes wrong?
Nothing is going to go wrong, Jan.
We get our hands on that money, everything's going to be all right.
Oh, Rem.
Come on, Rem.
You be ready to leave as soon as I get back.
Be careful, Rem.
Get those saddlebags and canteens under the horses.
Right.
What happened?
What does it look like?
He's lost a lot of blood. We'll have to...
There isn't time.
We've got to take time.
I killed a man at the bank.
I couldn't help it. The fool went for his gun.
The whole town came alive.
There was a lot of shooting.
He can't be moved.
That we know.
Then we'll have to stay.
Don't be crazy. There'll be a posse riding down on this cabin in a few minutes.
You're not going to leave him.
Well, we can't take him with us. If we do, he'll slow us down.
We'll all be caught. What'll that prove?
He wouldn't leave you.
Maybe not, but we got our hands on a lot of money,
And I'm not going to spend it at the end of a rope.
I won't leave him.
Then stay. Stay and watch them drag him out to the nearest tree and hang him.
No, Matt. I won't leave him!
You're going with us.
I've always admired this horse.
Besides, Remmy ain't going to need it.
I'm not going to leave him.
Yeah, that little affair's over.
Now it's my turn. Oh, you...
Hold it, Farley.
Two of us might get together to spend this money,
But now's no time to decide it.
Let's go.
Still warm. Let's go in.
I heard someone in the bank say those three got away with over $40,000.
Poor old Bill. They shot him right through the middle.
Well, you wouldn't catch me going for my gun the way he did.
They could have the money.
Slim says he thinks he hit one of them as they rode out of town.
One of them has got a hole in him.
That'll slow 'em down. Come on.
They'll be traveling slow. One of them is wounded.
Come on.
Sheriff.
Tell us, where are they?
It's no good, Sheriff.
You and Charlie get him in to Doc Turner.
The rest of you, come with me.
Any luck, Sheriff?
They headed south of the Pedro.
We lost them in the dark.
He's one of them, all right.
Well, what do you have to say for yourself, mister?
There's not much I can say.
You plain-face admitting you rode with them that held up the bank?
Would it do me any good to deny it?
What about the others?
What about them?
They rode off and left you, didn't they?
Did they?
Man did me that way, I'd get even if I could.
I plan to.
What names they go by?
Who?
Now, you look here at me, mister.
Only thing keeping you from a hang rope,
Is that bank teller being too ornery to die.
But that don't mean we can't turn that key
And keep you jailed up here till hell freezes.
Look, young man, those others, they got off with $40,000.
So having you means very little to us.
The important thing is the money.
Meaning?
Meaning that folks about here had almost all they owned in that bank.
Just natural they'd take kindly to you
If you was to tell us who the others were and where to find them.
I can't do that.
You mean you won't?
I mean I can't.
I don't even know where they are.
You asking me to believe that you outlawed with those gents?
I'm not asking you to believe anything.
But you could give the Sheriff here their names.
Their description.
If I did that, he might catch up to them
Before I did.
Well, mister, you ain't leaving us much choice.
Facing a robbery charge alone, gonna go hard on you.
Not as hard as it's gonna go on them.
I see him.
Hello, Rem.
Hello, Billy.
Ain't seen you around much lately.
I ain't been around.
That could be a reason.
Coffee?
Yeah.
Lot of lonely country out here.
Peaceful, though.
Makes a man quiet inside.
You still killing, Billy?
I'm alive.
Are you?
Much as you.
I dug a grave for a man back in Palace City a year or so ago.
Folks there were saying words about a holdup,
And how the others rode away rich,
Left you in jail.
That a fact?
Something like that.
You found him yet?
Who?
Matt Rankin.
You make good coffee, Billy.
You know, that's the trouble with this territory.
It's too big.
Man goes looking to find somebody,
It can take him near forever.
Yeah.
Thanks for the coffee.
Rem, you tried Gunther Wells?
Sun ain't half high, already we got us a scorcher.
Yeah.
It's just too blamed hot in this country.
Getting hotter all the time.
Sure seems that way, don't it?
One of these days, so help me, Lee, I'm going to ride north.
Up toward Montana and that way.
They say a man can freeze out there.
That sure would be nice.
Yeah.
Well, leastways the heat keeps the peace.
Too blamed hot for people to go breaking laws.
See you at the office, Lee.
Sheriff?
Look.
Know him?
Never saw him before.
Morning.
Town seems deserted.
Everybody's in the shade.
That sun pours down on a man.
Yeah, I hadn't noticed.
I'm Sheriff Morton. This is my deputy, Lee.
Howdy.
You got a name?
Anderson.
Remington Anderson.
Heard of you.
Where's your hotel?
Down the street on the right, just past the saloon.
Well, be seeing you.
That's more than likely.
Yeah. It's gettin' hotter all the time.
Thought I told you to knock.
Rem's in town.
What? I said, Rem's in town.
Then you're crazy.
I tell you, I saw him.
What are we going to do?
That's up to Rem.
Well, we can't just sit here.
You got any better ideas?
Maybe.
Maybe if you went to him.
Sure. Sure, I'll go to him.
Walk up, slap him on the back, and say, "Remember me?
"I'm the one who left you behind. The one you went to jail for."
What about the girl?
Well, leaving Rem behind, that was bad enough,
But when he finds out that Jan and you have been...
Been what, Farley?
Look, he has a fair quarrel with me.
But I'm not about to get myself dead for somebody else's woman.
I'm pulling out.
You ought to do the same.
I wonder how far he'll get.
What was that all about?
Rem's in town.
You haven't forgotten him, have you?
I tried.
You're a witness to that.
Yeah, I guess I am.
Not now, Matt.
Jan.
If you've got any ideas about going back to him, forget them.
There's probably only one person in the world he hates more than me.
You.
Hello, Farley.
Look, Rem... Shut up.
Where's Rankin?
In the saloon.
Jan...
Jan's with him.
All right, you get back there, and you tell him
They're not going to have a chance to run out on me this time.
Sure.
Sure. I'll tell him.
What was that all about?
He was riding my horse.
Just a minute, young fellow.
This town may not look like much to you, but we got laws and I enforce them.
You going to arrest me, Sheriff?
I figured on it.
What for?
I seen that Farley fellow riding this horse for near a year.
Well, I got a bill of sale on this animal.
Description, markings, brand.
He's even got my initials on his saddle.
You saying Farley stole your horse?
I'm saying he was riding him.
Meaning you don't intend to charge him with horse taking?
That's right.
You need me, I'll be at the hotel.
What do you make of him, Sheriff?
I ain't at all sure.
Well, I guess we better go over to the saloon
And find out if that Farley's got a bill of sale for that animal.
No need. No need?
No.
Maybe that Anderson fellow was lying.
Maybe.
Still wouldn't do no harm to check.
Look, I figure if Farley had a bill,
He would have come storming into my office, demanding I do something about it.
Anderson beat him clear of it.
Say, that's right.
Never thought of that.
It's sure a mighty funny way to let a fellow know he's riding your horse.
Tell you what, Lee,
You keep an eye on the saloon and that young fellow in the hotel.
I'll be in the office.
Let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary.
Sure thing, Sheriff.
It's sure going to be a scorcher.
Are you sure that's all he said?
Well, ain't that enough?
You ask me, come dark, we ought to pull out of here.
A day will put us in... No.
But why can't... Shut up.
Yeah?
He still hasn't come out of the hotel.
He will.
Look, Rankin, I don't know about you, but I want to get...
Jake. Yes, sir?
Can you find Billy Deal?
Guess so.
Why don't you just shoot him in the back and get it over with?
What am I supposed to do? Run?
You did, once.
Well, Mr. Rankin?
Find him.
Sheriff?
That woman, that Miss Janice, from the saloon,
She just went in the hotel.
She did, eh?
Well, you told me to let you know if anything out of the ordinary happened.
That's right, I did. Thanks, Lee.
Say, you don't suppose she knows that Anderson fellow, do you?
She probably does.
Well, maybe I'd better get back and keep my eyes open.
That's a good idea.
I'll be out in front of the hotel if you need me, Sheriff.
Right.
I had to see you, Rem.
Get out.
Rem, I can explain.
Explain?
You mean, there's a reason to run off and leave a half-dead man to a posse?
There's a reason for that?
I didn't want to leave you.
But you did, didn't you?
Why?
I...
I've asked myself that a thousand times.
Couldn't have been the money, could it?
You can't believe that.
Can't I?
I should have left you where I found you.
In a saloon? Is that what you mean?
Now, look... No.
No, you look.
I'm every dirty thing you think I am.
Only worse.
All right, so I ran out on you.
You think you're the first man I played for a sucker?
I've rolled drunks in every cheap saloon in this territory.
I've cheated and lied my way, ever since I can remember.
And there's not one sin I haven't done at least once.
But I loved you.
You're the only clean thing that ever happened to me.
You wanted to settle down.
Live respectable.
You wanted to own your own ranch.
Then you had to ruin it by throwing in with Rankin and his kind.
You wanted to own your own ranch, all right.
But you wanted to steal the money to buy it.
You're no better than the rest of us.
I'm sorry I came up here.
Why did you come, then?
Why?
Because Rankin sent for Billy Deal.
He's going to blow your head off, Rem.
And you don't have to believe that, either.
Sheriff?
Slow down, Lee.
Billy Deal's in town.
Billy?
Just rode in, big as life.
Bigger.
Wonder what brings him to town?
He tied up and went into the saloon.
You suppose that Farley sent for him
'Cause he's sore about that Anderson fellow doing him like he did?
Well, it's a thought.
Farley's the kind of man who wouldn't fight his own fight.
Yeah, Farley's also the kind of man who wouldn't have enough money
To hire Billy to gun a man.
How old is that boy of yours, Lee?
Huh?
Oh, uh, he's six.
Say, you don't think Billy might be...
Six, huh?
Nice to be six.
Six? Well, yeah, I guess so. Six.
Nice day today.
Why don't you take him fishing?
Fishing?
Yeah.
There's a great big bass that just sort of lazes around
Under that bridge at Higgins Crossing.
It's about the biggest bass I ever seen in these parts.
Oh, now, Sheriff, look...
You be back before it's dark.
Every doggone time there's trouble, I always have to take the kid fishing.
Son,
This town's going to be here a long time after I'm gone.
You can take care of it then.
You understand?
Yeah. I guess so.
You be back before it's dark.
Good luck.
You know I hate fish.
Hello, Billy.
Rankin?
You want to see me?
You heard of Rem Anderson?
Yeah?
He's in town.
So?
He's here to kill me.
So?
There's $5,000.
Well?
It's a lot of money.
I like living.
Where is he?
He's staying at the hotel.
One thing, Rankin.
Rem.
You better see he's buried real good.
He's a friend of mine.
Hiya, Billy.
Rem Anderson.
In the hotel, is he?
He was. He ain't now.
Went out.
Where to?
Didn't say. Just went.
You sure?
Yes, Billy.
Much obliged.
Thank you.
Hello, Billy.
Been looking to find you, Rem.
You found me.
Yeah.
Unbuckle your gun belt, Billy. Throw it down.
Now, I can't do that, Rem.
I've been paid to kill you.
I heard.
Five thousand.
That's a lot of dollars.
Drop your belt.
You don't stand a chance against me, Rem.
You know that.
Unless, of course, you already got a gun on me.
What makes you think I don't?
Oh, I know about gents like you.
Always give a man a full chance.
Even a man like me.
Don't do it.
That your money?
Should it be?
Well, I guess I'll have to check the bank,
See if there have been any big withdrawals lately.
Billy made a mistake.
He drew, but he wasn't fast enough.
Well, since you say this isn't yours, and Billy had no relatives,
We'll try to use it to make sure
We don't raise any more Billy Deals in this town.
I don't like you, Rankin. I never have.
I don't like what you and this saloon stand for.
You going somewhere?
Yeah. Somewhere.
You went to see Rem, didn't you?
Didn't you?
Did you think for one minute that I wouldn't?
No, I guess not.
Did you tell him about us?
No.
And he still wouldn't have you?
Do you blame him?
Yes, I blame him. He knew all along what you were.
What am I, Matt? Just what am I?
A woman.
A full woman that's had to make her way the best she could,
Right from the ground up.
And doing it got a little dirt on her.
You're not all Sunday school and lace, but that's not your fault.
Isn't it? Look, Jan...
It's no good, Matt.
I can lie inside about a lot of things.
Even leaving Rem like we did.
But us, I can't even explain it to myself.
How can I explain it to him?
So you're going to run.
As far as I can.
Then you go right ahead.
I never forced you to stay here with me.
I never will.
But let me tell you this, Jan.
If you walk through this door,
You'll have to walk right back through another just like it.
If it isn't this saloon, it'll be another one.
And if it isn't me, it'll be another just like me.
You may get away living with the high-minded for a while,
But you'll be back.
Think about that, Jan.
Think about it real good.
Mr. Anderson?
Coffee?
Yeah, I don't mind.
Thanks.
I, uh, sure am sorry about this, us having to lock you up and all.
Here you go, doing Billy Deal like you did,
And us treating you like a common outlaw.
Truth is, we've been trying to get rid of Billy Deal ever since I can remember.
Same goes for Rankin and his crowd.
I ain't at all narrow thinking, Mr. Anderson,
But some of the things that goes on up in that saloon
Make a man blush all over.
You wouldn't believe this,
But there was a time when Gunther Wells was as peaceful and quiet as Sunday,
Every day in the week.
Then this Rankin comes along.
Next thing you know, folks start drinking,
Playing cards, fighting,
Cahootin' all over the doggone place.
Saturday nights,
He used to send a whole wagonload of them gals from Indian Springs.
It was worth a man's life to walk by them swinging doors.
I been after the sheriff to close the place up.
He claims there's no law that says a man can't run a drinking hall.
Maybe he's right.
Where is the sheriff now?
Seeing to it that Billy's put under proper.
Reverend Black will probably read words over him.
Few holies ain't going to help Billy too awful much, though.
More coffee?
No, thanks.
Lee.
Huh?
Oh.
Leave it open, Lee.
I thought that preacher would never get through talking.
Anderson?
Yeah?
You drew in self-defense. I can't hold you.
Thanks.
There are things that sure keep bothering me, though.
That so?
You ride into town, and you find a missing horse.
Then all of a sudden, Billy Deal comes along and draws on you.
Why?
I wouldn't know.
Wouldn't you?
Can I go now?
Door's open.
Young fellow.
Yeah?
Keeping the law in this town is my business.
I intend to do it, no matter what.
Meaning?
Meaning that gunning a man like Billy Deal in self-defense is one thing.
Plain killing is altogether something else.
I'll remember that.
You'd better had.
I'd hate to have to hang you.
I brought the horses. They're out back.
Good.
Where's Jan?
I don't know.
You don't know?
That's what I said.
You mean, she's not going with us?
That's what I mean.
I thought you two were straightened out.
Yeah, so did I.
I'm going with you.
You don't have to run. He won't hurt you.
I don't think anyone could ever hurt me again.
Coffee?
You thinking about Rem?
Leave me alone.
We get to Sonora, I'll make you forget all about him again.
May take time and money, but...
I said, leave me alone.
It's no use getting upset.
You could have stayed behind, and Rem, he might have even taken you back.
Would he?
What difference would it make?
You weren't cut out to be a ranch woman. It ain't a fit life.
This is, I suppose?
It's all in how you look at it.
Take Farley, there.
He hadn't met me, he'd probably gone through life
Honest, upstanding and poor.
By this time, he'd have more than likely
Worked himself to death for somebody else.
And they'd have to take up a collection to bury him.
Same goes for Rem, too.
But you and me, we like nice times.
Like back there, we had everything.
Money, clothes, each other.
There was a while back there, I thought you'd forgotten
All those crazy ideas about settling down respectable.
Yeah.
So did I.
That's what I like about us, Jan. We want something, we take it.
Listen.
Rem, look out!
I got him, Farley!
Rem.
Hold me.
Rankin do this to you?
Rem,
Whatever you think of me,
You were the one.
Only one.
We would have been respectable, wouldn't we, Rem?
Sure.
Sure, you bet we would.
Rem.
Sheriff!
Sheriff! Sheriff.
What are you doing up this early?
They've gone, Rankin and the others.
Pulled out during the night.
What about Anderson? He's gone, too.
Jake the bartender says he thinks they headed for Sonora town.
They'll never get there.
They got a good head start on us.
When that sun goes high, it'll sure slow 'em down.
Come on.
Hey, Sheriff. Yeah, I know.
They swung south here. Now I know where they're headed.
They cut off here.
It looks like.
Well, guess we better find us some shade.
Shade?
I'd uncinch my animal if I was you. Give him a breather.
Sheriff.
Ain't we going after them?
There's no hurry.
Beats me.
Fellow tries to do a good job.
Got you traipsing all over the doggone countryside.
They're all up there in that canyon, and you can't get them out.
Next thing he'll wanna do is want me to go fishing with him.
Sit down, Lee. Get out of the sun.
Sheriff, why... Lee.
That bass at Higgins Crossing.
Didn't catch him, did you?
My boy doesn't like fish either.
Come tomorrow, what say we both take a crack at him?
Look, Sheriff,
Us just sitting here, ain't they getting away?
Nope.
You know, I hunted all through this country.
Know the ground.
Look, that there's a box canyon they rode into.
It's about a mile deep and wide.
It's got walls so steep, a bird has all he can do to get out of it.
Meaning they'll have to come out the same way they went in.
One of them will.
Get up.
Wait a minute, Rem.
Get up.
Sheriff?
Yeah, Lee?
You didn't mean it when you said
You were going to do that Anderson fellow that way, did you?
Didn't I?
Don't seem at all right to me. Nice fellow like that.
Probably he had a reason for all this.
Probably.
But there ain't no reason for killing, Lee.
Well, I don't guess there is.
I'd sure hate to have to hang that boy.
He dead?
Partly.
What am I supposed to do with him?
That's up to you, Sheriff.
He killed my woman.
And you brought him in.
Why?
I kind of figured you meant what you said about plain killing.
You did right, Rem.
Finally.
Take good care of him.
I will.
He's going to be all right.
He'll make a good citizen.
Wish he was in our town.
Yeah.
Yeah, so do I.
†