Original subtitles

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Oh! Oh!

Oh!

Do you think it was your pa?

No.

Somebody from the community looking for me?

I don't think so. I've never seen him before.

I've got to go.

Oh, not yet.

I've got to.

Stop where you are.

You heard me.

Look, mister, I've been riding three days

eating cold beans for breakfast and supper.

I'm hot, and I'm tired,

and I didn't come all this way for an argument.

Then what do you want?

I'm the foreman of Shiloh Ranch near Medicine Bow.

We've lost a lot of cattle

driving herds through this valley.

What's that to me?

That depends on whether you've run across

any steers with the Shiloh brand.

No, I ain't. I don't run cattle.

Just a few milk cows.

What about the other ranches?

- What about them? - Well, who owns them?

I couldn't say.

You mean you won't.

You take my advice, you'll ride on outta here.

Your advice isn't much help.

I can't help that. I've told you what I can.

Look, someone around here raises cattle.

I want to know who and where.

- I can tell you that. - Stay out of this, Toby.

Why, Pa? I don't see any harm in telling him.

New Life has a herd.

Who owns it?

The whole town.

What kind of a town is New Life?

It's just an old abandoned mining town

of bunch of folks from back East moved into.

They call themselves a commune.

Which way?

Due north.

Thanks. I'm glad you came along.

What did you tell him all that for?

He'd have found out anyway.

Not from us.

What difference does it make?

Could make a lot.

You just keep your mouth shut around strangers, you hear?

Yes, Pa, I hear.

Go on. Do your chores.

I'm home, Mama.

How was your ride?

It was fine.

Where'd you go?

Uh, just around.

By yourself?

I like to ride by myself.

I never did when I was a girl.

Mama...

suppose...

while I was out riding one day,

I met a boy, an outsider.

Met him once?

Um, and then rode back to see if he'd be there again.

And was he?

And how many times after that?

Belinda, you know the rules we live by.

But Papa made the rules.

Because he believed in them. Remember that.

Amelia?

Mom?

We'll, uh, talk about it later.

Here.

Hang these clothes out to dry.

Amelia!

Are you home?

August.

Amelia.

I thought maybe you'd gone on ahead.

I have a few things to do first.

Well, we don't want to be late for counsel.

I'll be right along.

I thought we'd walk together.

I was kind of looking forward to strolling

down the main street with a beautiful woman.

Well, I have a few things to do, August.

You go on ahead.

Oh, that's all right, I'll wait for you.

Just don't be too long.

I've never been late to Council meeting.

I don't intend to start now.

Hey, you.

What do you think you're doing, mister?

Good way to get hurt, climbing in there.

They yours?

You could say that. Part of the herd we brought in to pen-fatten.

But you don't own them.

Commune owns 'em. We're looking after 'em.

Maybe you can explain how those Shiloh steers

got mixed in with your herd.

I don't see why we have to explain anything

to a trespasser, do you, Sandy?

No, I sure don't.

Don't try it. Forget it.

Now I'll ask you again.

How did those steers get in with your herd?

What's going on here?

We caught this stranger nosing around the cattle pen.

We called him on it, and he pulled a gun.

Is this true?

Not exactly.

I'm the foreman of Shiloh Ranch near Medicine Bow.

You'll find our brand on some of those steers.

August, do you know anything about this?

I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm August Gruber,

manager of the herd for the commune.

We got quite a mixture here.

With a small herd, why, we need all the mavericks

and strays we can find.

I'm not talking about a few strays.

We've driven two herds through this valley

in the last few months, we've lost nearly 200 head.

Well, you got to expect to lose some cattle on a drive.

Not that many.

Somebody's peeling the cattle off as the herds come through.

I'm sure no one at New Life, not intentionally.

No, of course not.

All I know is some of our cattle are here,

and I want to get them back.

Now, how do I go about that?

You take it up the Council meeting.

Fine. When's that going to be?

We're on our way there now. I'm Emilia Ballard.

Mr. Gruber and I are members of the Council.

Do you have a tally sheet on our herd?

- Yes, back in the office. - You'd better get it.

You'll need it for the meeting. If you'll just come with me.

Certainly.

You see the way these people are working together?

They're doing a good job of it, from the looks of things.

Without pay for the common good.

There's no reason to steal in our community.

That's why I...

Why you think I'm talking through my hat

about those Shiloh steers.

You didn't exactly take the words out of my mouth,

but I do think you're mistaken.

You see, my husband's philosophy states

that man, given the right environment,

is capable of achieving perfection.

When the mines played out here, this town was abandoned,

and he could buy it very cheaply.

Then he invited others who believed as he did

to join him and form the commune of New Life.

And you share everything?

All properties, all benefits,

and there are many of those.

Communes have already given this part of the West

their first publicly operated school

and the first library, the first trade school,

the first...

I'm sorry.

I'm beginning to sound like a tract.

No, you're doing fine.

I'm afraid my education is a little sketchy in this area.

I gather you think of this as more than just an experiment.

It's a way of life.

I see you have a store.

Somebody must buy and sell for profit.

Oh, not for profit. The commune buys supplies.

They just keep them there.

Nails, seeds, blasting powder, small hand tools.

The members use them as they need them.

That's very trusting.

It's easy to be trusting when everyone shares equally.

Now you see what I mean about your cattle?

We own our heard in common, too.

It would be senseless to steal.

A bigger herd would go for more money.

Someone might want more than his share.

This is our council house.

Will your husband be at the meeting?

My husband?

Oh, I'm sorry. Of course you wouldn't know.

My husband is dead.

I'm sorry.

No need to be. It's been almost three months.

The shock has almost worn off.

Shock?

My husband believed in everything that was good and true.

He put all of his faith in his fellow man.

Then when his dreams were just about to take shape,

when everything he worked so hard for

was coming to reality,

he put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

I wish to heaven I knew why.

Those cattle were fed at our expense.

Seems to me were entitled to something for our trouble.

What trouble and what expense?

Those steers were fattened on open range.

Under the circumstances, I think the only thing to do

is to return the cattle to Shiloh.

I'm agreed to that.

There's your answer.

Thanks.

I'll, uh... I'll have to make some sort of a tally

before I send to Shiloh for help bringing them home.

I'm sure we have no objections to that.

Ben?

Oh, no, that's perfectly all right.

August?

My hands will help him if he wants.

That won't be necessary. I can take care of it.

Thanks again. Excuse me.

Now, since we have no further pressing problems,

I move we adjourn and get back work.

Just a minute, Amelia.

I say we do have problems.

Bad ones.

Well? We're listening.

I think it's high time we admitted to ourselves

that things aren't working out as well as we hoped.

What isn't working out?

What is?

Just look around.

Is this the promised land your husband told us it would be?

I think it can be.

When?

It takes work.

We've done plenty of that, Lord knows.

Long and hard with no end in sight.

Amelia, life hasn't worked out as we expected.

But we didn't expect it would be easy, did we?

And we didn't expect to spend most of our time

shoring up fallen-down houses either.

I admit the town isn't all we'd hoped for.

But isn't our goal worth a few inconveniences?

Amelia, it isn't just a few inconveniences.

Most of us don't even have wives.

The town is going to send for wives

as soon as we can afford it.

When will that be?

I don't know.

Then I'll tell you. Never.

- Now, August... - If we don't do something

about wives right now, there won't be any settlement.

- The young men won't stay. - I can't believe that.

Will, you know what I'm talking about.

He might have something. We do have very few women.

And the men won't wait forever.

If they don't have wives, they'll leave New Life.

If the situation is that serious,

then we'd better do something about it.

Well...

we've talked about the solution

right here in this room many times before.

It always seemed a little drastic in the past,

but, well, the way things are...

Are... are you proposing that we allow complex marriage?

I am.

Complex marriage is out of the question.

It's unthinkable.

But, Amelia, it has worked for other communes.

Ben, complex marriage is more than a convenience.

It's a belief. We don't believe in it here.

But, Amelia, you don't have to look at it

as a convenience or a belief.

Look at it as the most sensible thing to do.

But it goes deeper than that, Ben.

You're dealing with humans and emotion.

Are you sure those are your only objections?

I'm a woman, if that's what you mean.

An unmarried widow and very attractive...

with a pretty daughter of marriageable age.

When we joined the commune,

we vowed to put all personal considerations aside.

Mary...

are you in favor of every woman

becoming a wife to every man?

I'm in favor favor of what's best for the common good.

And when your husband leaves your bed,

are you still in favor?

Now, Amelia.

You're well past childbearing age, Mary.

Belinda is too young.

No.

It's not what Joshua wanted for us.

Amelia, your husband chose to leave us.

We all have respect for his memory, of course,

the founder of our community.

But...

His death disgraced us all.

Amelia...

we have no way of knowing what Joshua would

or would not have done.

We have to choose our own course.

Ben...

I'm sorry, Amelia.

Make your proposal, August.

I propose, for the consideration of this Council,

that we adopt complex marriage

as a way of life for our commune.

No.

I ask that it be put to a vote.

My vote's yes.

Please listen to me. What you're doing is wrong.

Ben.

Mary.

Let's get on with the voting. Mine is yes.

Yes.

Yes.

The motion is carried.

Every woman will belong to every man in the commune?

Except blood relatives.

Why?

To increase our number

and to provide wives for those who don't have any.

They can't do it.

It's done.

All that's needed now is the ceremony

that binds one to all in a mass wedding.

I won't do it. I won't.

I can't, Mama.

It was your father's wish that we obey the law.

This is the law now.

Mama, you can't mean that you're going to...

You can't, Mama, you can't be part of this.

Mama, listen, please. I love Toby.

That's his name, Toby Wheeler, the outsider I told you about.

I love him, and he loves me, too, Mama, he does.

He loves me, and he wants to marry me.

I only want him.

Here's the tally, 74 head of Shiloh steer.

All right, now take your cattle and get out.

Well, I can't do that till I get some men to help me,

unless you wanna lend me some of your hands.

My hands have better things to do.

If your steers aren't cut out of our herd by sunup,

you can forget about 'em.

The Council said I was to take the cattle.

And I say you gotta take them now.

We don't like outsiders coming in, making trouble.

Mr. Gruber, you don't know what trouble is.

I think we can handle your kind.

Can't we, boys?

Any time, Mr. Gruber, you just say the word.

Maybe'd I better talk to the Council again.

- Meeting's over. - Where could I find Mrs. Ballard?

Take my advice. Don't even try.

Who is it? What do you want?

The man from Shiloh, Mrs. Ballard.

I'd like to talk you.

Thank you, ma'am. I hope I'm not disturbing you.

Not at all. My daughter Belinda.

- How do you do? - How do you do?

If you have things to talk about, I'll go for a ride.

No.

I imagine it's something to do with the Shiloh strays.

The longer I stay around here, ma'am,

the more I'm convinced that those Shiloh cattle

didn't stray into the New Life herd.

I don't mean to be forward,

but just what do you know about this August Gruber?

Well, he was a ranch foreman, as you are.

He expressed interest in our way of life.

My husband brought him into the commune

and put him in charge of the cattle.

Did something happen after I left the council meeting?

What do you mean?

Well, I don't know exactly. It's Gruber.

He's taken on more weight.

He told me to move the Shiloh cattle by sunup.

I can't do it.

He can't do that. The Council...

He led me to believe they'd back him up.

What do you think?

It's true.

He has them on his side in other matters.

I don't know.

- Mama, tell him. - Belinda.

Then I will.

Belinda, this is none of his concern.

- Keep quiet. - I can't keep quiet,

not when they're going to do this horrible thing to us.

Do you know what a complex marriage is?

I've heard of it.

Mr. Gruber convinced the council to approve it for New Life.

What are you gonna do about it?

What can we do? It's the law of the commune.

Well, it's not the law of the land.

Saying it's the law doesn't make it the law.

It's our law. It's all we have to live by.

Please talk to her.

Make her see that we have to leave here.

We can't leave here.

The New Life is my husband's dream.

It's his monument. I can't leave it.

And I can't stay.

You'll be leaving. Take me with you, please?

You can't leave. You don't have consent.

You're her mother. Give it to her.

You don't understand. She belongs to the commune.

We all belong to the commune.

Then help me escape. I don't want to belong to them.

Take me to the Wheelers' house. Toby will take care of me.

Will you let her go?

I won't try to stop her.

But you won't leave.

You're going through with this complex marriage thing

even though you hate the whole idea of it.

It's not my business, Mrs. Ballard,

but let me tell you something.

This thing is pretty far away from what you said

your husband had in mind for this place.

You're doing him no honor to stay.

I told you to clear out.

This man is a guest in my house.

Your house? No, no, Amelia. The commune.

His presence is not welcome here.

My hands are outside.

They'll see you to the edge of town.

- What about the Shiloh cattle? - You got till sunrise.

After that, I figure you don't want them anymore.

I'll drive them back if I have to do it myself.

You might just have to.

Mrs. Ballard.

Miss Ballard. It was nice meeting you.

Just say goodbye.

'cause you're never gonna see either one of them again.

Wait.

Something on your mind, Belinda?

Something you wanna ask him before he leaves?

Only goodbye.

Belinda, there's mending still to be done.

Well.

All in all, it's been quite a day.

I wonder what tomorrow's gonna be like.

August, my husband believed

that all men were basically good.

Somehow, that doesn't apply to you.

Amelia.

Don't you know yet that your husband was a fool?

You're gonna have to treat me with more respect than that.

After all, we're gonna be married.

I always liked this house.

Get out.

Anything you say, Amelia.

Anything you say.

Anything at all.

Where are you going?

For a walk. I need some fresh air.

I'll go with you.

No.

You stay here. I... I'd rather be alone.

I need to think. You go to bed.

Then you don't think he'll come.

The stranger.

Why should he? We're nothing to him.

He has his own worries.

Then it's hopeless.

How can you say that?

You're in New Life. We are among friends.

No harm can come to us.

No harm?

What do you call being passed from man to man

like some animal?

That's what we both have to look forward to.

I'll call a special meeting of the Council.

There must be other women who feel as we do.

And they'll abide by the law because that's the way it is,

and that's the way it has to be.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

We'll talk about it later.

That's what you always say.

Then suddenly it is later and maybe too late.

I'll be back soon.

Mrs. Ballard, I didn't mean to give you a fright.

What are you doing here?

I was just following orders, ma'am.

Whose orders?

I reckon you know that.

Mr. Gruber is mighty taken with you.

Yes, ma'am, he is mighty taken.

Please get out of my way. I'm going for a walk.

I can't do that, ma'am, it just ain't safe

for a good-looking woman to be out after dark.

It always has been before.

Well, we gotta be careful about outsiders.

Mr. Gruber says that.

Why don't you go on inside?

You can take a walk tomorrow morning.

Mrs. Ballard.

I'm going to the stable. My horse hasn't been well.

Well, maybe that's why Mr. Gruber

had that old mare took off.

He took away my horse?

Yes, ma'am, Miss Belinda's, too.

I reckon it didn't feel too well neither.

Mrs. Ballard?

You tell Miss Belinda to look for me, will you?

You tell that pretty little girl

old Sandy's got his eye out on things.

If she ain't asleep, maybe she'd like

to come out and talk to me.

Belinda.

What is it?

I just wanted to make sure you were safe.

- Bolt the kitchen door. - Why?

Don't ask any questions, and stay away from the windows.

Who's out there?

One of Gruber's cow hands, the one named Sandy.

I'm sure the other one isn't very far away.

You don't think they'll try to come in here.

I don't know what they'll do.

Yesterday I would have trusted my life

to anyone in this community.

Now look at me, trembling in my own home.

- Bolt the kitchen door. - I will.

Oh, it's you.

There's a lot of moonlight out there,

but we'll have to risk it.

- Where's your mother? - In the parlor.

- She going with us? - I don't know.

I can answer that.

I'm going.

I've tried to fight against it.

But there's nothing I can do. We're prisoners.

You can come back with the law.

Outsiders law. It means little here.

We'll need some clothes.

You can't take anything with you.

- Your horses are gone. - I know.

What are we going to do?

We're gonna stick to the shadows

and try to get out of this town as fast as we can.

My horse is tied in a grove of trees about a mile away.

We'll make it.

All right. Follow me.

♪

Sandy, what the devil you doing?

Stay down.

You're keeping me awake, you know that.

Sandy.

You ain't sneaking up to the house, are you?

You stay away from that Belinda gal, you hear?

She's all mine, I told you that!

It's what his pappy should've done to him a long time ago.

Let's go.

Belinda, you know the way to the Wheeler house.

Get in the saddle.

All right, let's go.

There it is. We'll be safe now, Mama.

We can stay with the Wheelers.

- You can't say anywhere. - But I thought...

We'll ask the Wheelers for horses and then keep going.

- But I'm tired. - We'll rest later, Belinda.

Let's go.

Wheeler?

Yeah, what do you want?

These ladies need help.

Toby, it's me!

Belinda.

I'm afraid this coffee is likely to be pretty strong.

It'll be fine.

Mrs. Ballard?

I'm not a hard man, but I wish you hadn't come here.

Pa.

Not that I'm against helping others, but...

you can't stay here, none of you.

We didn't mean to stay.

Then what did you come for?

We need horses.

Well, you ain't gonna get them here.

Look, if it's a question of money.

- It ain't. - We've got plenty of horses, Pa.

Can't you see we gotta look out for ourselves?

When the wife of their dead leader has to run and hide,

what chance have we got?

Are you willing to see these women caught

and taken back?

They will be unless we get horses.

Young man, I got two things to show for in my life,

my boy and this here place,

and I intend to protect both of them.

You don't have to protect me, Pa.

I'm going with them.

You are staying right here.

Toby, we can travel a lot faster without you.

Your pa's right. You live too close to New Life.

Well? What about it?

All right.

You can take the horses.

If they come asking questions, tell them I stole them.

- Everything looks all right. - Yeah.

Where's Buck?

What happened?

He jumped me. I couldn't help it.

They're coming.

Look out!

You know, Buck, that gal gets her first husband,

it's gonna be me.

Sure, after me, boy, after me.

Yeah, well, I'm first,

and first don't come after nobody.

That's funny, I never heard nobody say you staked a claim.

I'm saying it now.

Well, you ain't got no more claim than I have.

All right, we'll do it fair. We'll draw straws, all right?

All right.

Short straw wins, right?

Yeah. Are you ready?

Ready.

All right.

I got it.

Eh, don't be too sure about that.

Well, you lost.

You broke that straw.

Oh, I can't stand a sore loser.

Yeah, well, I ain't lost yet.

♪

Hey, come on, cut it out! Hey, come on!

All right, hold it! All right, stop it!

What's got into you two? What are you fighting about?

Belinda. I want her.

You can have her

after she's been my wife a while.

- She won't. - Hold it!

That's no way to settle it!

If I were you, I'd let the girl do the picking.

She won't.

She will if she has to.

Let's give them both a choice.

I'm offering you a choice, Amelia.

That's very kind of you, August.

I'm not trying to be kind. I'm trying to be realistic.

I know you don't want to break the laws of the commune.

I tried to avoid that by leaving.

There's another way. I made that law.

I talked the Council into accepting it,

and I can talk them out of it.

At what price?

You become my wife.

Mine only.

I thought you said I had a choice.

You'll become my wife anyway

and the wife of every man in the commune.

And one of my hands will be Belinda's first husband.

No.

Mama, you can't do this.

I'm only upholding the law, and Belinda will have

the opportunity to choose either Sandy or Buck.

Neither one of them.

Well, I'll give you time to think about it.

All night, in fact, but in the morning,

you make a choice.

Or she does.

You have till sunup.

Sleep on it.

Here's that stranger again.

What happened? Where's Belinda?

The men from New Life, they took the women.

Belinda? They took Belinda?

Yeah.

Help me get him inside, Pa.

We don't need any more trouble.

He's in bad shape. We've got to help him.

Thank you, Mr. Wheeler.

Obliged to you for the food and the rest.

You can thank me...

by getting off this place and staying off.

Pa.

Toby didn't tell you about the wheat did he?

We wouldn't let Gruber use our north pasture

for his herd 'cause we kept our cows there.

So Gruber's men got back at us.

They cut the fence.

They drove their herd right through our wheat field.

You couldn't pick your teeth with what's left.

When was this?

Just before you came bringing more trouble.

Pa, it wasn't his fault.

Son, as long as we steer clear of them New Lifers,

they'll let us alone.

Cross them, and they're gonna hit back at us again.

- Maybe, but I... - Why did you have to come along

and get us mixed up in all their crazy ways?

Pa, they're not crazy! And I can't see leaving...

It's all right, Toby, I should've been on my way

long before this.

You tell Colonel MacKenzie

he might just as well forget about his cattle.

I'm not going to Shiloh. I'm going back to New Life.

Well, you're as crazy as them New Lifers.

You're still willing to go back?

I have to go back.

I set out to help those women escape,

and I aim to do it.

- I'm coming with you. - Stay put.

Get out of my way, Pa.

Listen to me, son.

I got a lot of years in this place.

I'm too old now to pull up stakes

and start all over again.

We gotta get along with our neighbors

whether we like it or not.

Two men stand a better chance than one.

You're still a boy, not a man.

Then it's time I got to be one.

Toby, you don't have to get into this.

It's not our quarrel.

It is my quarrel.

I aim to marry Belinda.

After what they'll do to her?

No matter what they do. Let's go.

I'm so afraid, Mama.

I know.

All my life,

there's been someone I could count on...

Papa, relatives, friends.

Now there's nobody. Nobody to help us.

We'll help ourselves.

How?

Where did you get that?

- It was your father's. - The one he...

The one I found beside him.

Couple hours to sunup.

She says yes to you, she's gonna be your lovin' wife.

Um, what happens to Belinda?

You promised her to us.

I'll keep my word.

If they got a lookout,

he'll be down there at the crossroads.

Yeah.

Get back.

All right.

Gimme a few minutes. Then bring up the horses.

Get away from that door.

August, I'm warning you, I have a gun.

I'll shoot whoever comes through that door.

Do you think they're still out there?

Shh.

August?

I have bullets for the three of you.

And two for Belinda and me if you make it through the door.

The kitchen.

Go on, break through. It's safe.

She don't believe in killing.

Does she believe in accidents?

Three shots, she's got at least three shots left.

That's enough, ain't it?

I heard shots, I tell you. I gotta go to Belinda.

I need your help first.

But she's in trouble.

You want to help her, do what I tell you.

Now come on.

How we going to get in?

They trust people. Get the blasting powder.

I gotta get something from next door.

How long do you think that'll hold?

Not long enough, I'm afraid.

All right, get outta here.

What's going on?

I'll find out. You stay here.

Where's he going?

This whole town could blow. I'm gonna go see what it is.

Toby!

Come on, let's get out of here.

What happened here? Anybody know what caused it?

- Someone ran the horses off. - Why?

I told you to stay back at the house!

Mr. MacIntosh.

I want to talk to you.

Why have we come to the Council house?

He said to wait for him here.

Now, if he doesn't come in five minutes,

we've got to make a run for the horses.

Why don't we just go now? They'll be looking for us.

Toby, they'll kill you.

He said to wait.

They're gone.

No, no, he's here. He's still in town

- Who? - The stranger.

- We left him dead. - He's back from the dead

'cause he tricked us out of the house.

- Let's go after him. - Wait, wait, wait, wait a minute.

Let me think. What's he up to?

What's on his mind?

He's trying to help them to get away.

No, no, he wouldn't bring out the whole town for that.

We should've killed him when we had the chance to.

If we're lucky, maybe we'll get another chance.

Come on.

Time's up.

Maybe we ought to give him another couple minutes.

We can't. Mama, please.

We've got to get out of here.

Kind of early for a meeting.

Hello, August.

Is that all you've got to say?

- Hello? - Leave these women alone.

Toby.

So that's how it is.

- It's an outsider. - Let's fix him.

No, he's not to be hurt.

Tell them, August, the boy is not to be hurt.

Easy, boys.

I think Mrs. Ballard is about to make a deal of some kind.

But not here. We haven't got time.

Your time just ran out, Gruber.

Don't try it. Don't even think about it.

Drop it on the floor.

Everything all right, Mrs. Ballard?

Yes, thank you.

All right, you folks can come in now.

Will the members of this Council please take their seats?

You, too, August.

I don't recall being informed of a meeting.

I'm telling you now.

Take your seat.

Your friend has been hurt. Now give him a hand.

I declare this Council meeting open

for all business, both old and new.

I turn it over now to the outsider,

who has some unfinished business with us.

What business?

The Shiloh cattle that turned up

in the New Life herd,

I have a copy of your tally sheet, Mr. Gruber,

and the bill of sale from your last shipment.

Where'd you get them?

From your office.

It was locked up in my safe.

It was the only thing in town that was.

I guess you're not as trusting as everybody else.

And I can see why.

That bill of sale shows 100 head more

than the tally sheet.

What does that mean?

It means that Gruber sold 100 head of stolen cattle

along with the commune herd,

some of them Shiloh stock.

The rest he peeled off

from other drives through this valley.

At $30 a head, that's $3,000 personal profit.

And that's just from one sale.

3,000?

I declare.

But let me explain.

You'll have a chance to explain to a judge

in an outside court of law,

along with your hands.

How about it, boys? You ready to hang beside him?

Hang? Hang for what?

Peeling cattle ain't no hanging offense.

It ain't like rustling.

Is that what he told you?

Well, he lied to you. It is rustling.

That can't be.

That ain't what he said.

Mr. Gruber, you said you'd pass a law on the Council,

make it all right if we got caught.

Shut up.

Can't you see he's pulling words out of you?

You said you'd make it right for us.

Now we helped you steal those cows,

and you said you'd look after us.

You didn't say nothing about hanging.

You tell him. You tell him, Buck.

You tell them what we did for him,

killing that old man, Joshua Ballard.

You did what?

What did you do for me?

We killed Ballard

and made it look like he did it to himself.

Well, we knowed you wanted his wife,

and we wanted the gal.

Seemed like the best thing to do.

And you killed him for that?

Did you?!

I didn't know.

I swear I didn't know.

I never told them to...

Never.

The cattle, sure, I admit that.

All I had to do was just help myself,

an open invitation to steal.

When Joshua Ballard took me into this commune,

I wasn't the man he thought I was.

I wasn't the man I thought I was.

But I loved you, Amelia. That's true.

I wanted you real bad.

But I didn't kill your husband.

You've got to believe me, please.

Please.

I pass no judgment on you, August.

It... it's not for this Council to pass judgment on your guilt.

If needs be...

we can only share it.

I have a lot to thank you for.

When will you be leaving?

Toby and Belinda are leaving today.

I'm not going.

Where will you go?

Nowhere.

How can you stay here?

How can I leave?

Nothing would ever be accomplished

if people gave up after the first try.

You still think New Life can succeed?

I hope so.

For your sake, I hope so, too.

You ever need me...

Thank you.

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