All language subtitles for 31 - The Will Santee Story

If they give us any objection, we'll use this.

All right.

They're in the wagon.

Let's go.

Come on.

Who's going to pay for this?

Nobody.

You got your clothes, your plunder, and your hide.

Second your blessings and go.

Where do you suggest?

West.

No place for you here.

No place for you anywhere since civilized society.

Just keep going west.

I'll tell you something, friend.

Will!

Someday I'll come.

It won't do no good.

You should know that by now.

Ma?

Why are they bringing...

Hush, Wendy.

Shh.

Will, help me up.

They can go west, clean to Japan, and still not find a place to light.

Ed Westy said, as if the land would swallow us up.

As if it would be any different from what we'd already come through.

I didn't want to let on to Ma how I felt inside.

But she didn't have to be told it was getting too big for me to hide.

I figured to hit the Oregon Trail in a day or two, pick up a wagon train.

We had $148, a couple of tired horses, and a nickel's worth of hope.

If we didn't make it now, there'd be nothing left to run with.

Middleton, that's what they call themselves.

As if a name could cover up for them.

We get city newspapers here, you know, all the way from St. Louis.

I suspect that's what makes the folks around here so mad,

them not giving us any more credit for brains.

But that's not why you burned their barn.

Naturally not.

What was the reason?

Are you serious?

Of course.

Well, pretty stupid question.

Well, forgive me then, but why didn't you leave them alone?

Well, let me ask you a stupid question, mister.

How'd you like it if they lived next door to you,

or slid in alongside of you in church on a Sunday morning,

or sent that young of theirs off to school with your kid?

How would you like it if they picked your town to settle in, huh?

I'm afraid I'd give you a stupid answer to that.

But here, buy yourself another box of matches.

You'll probably have some more barns to burn.

About sundown on the third day, we came to the Oregon Trail,

west of Fort Kiowa.

And sure enough, there was our wagon train.

We looked down at the camp, and I got a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I could tell Ma felt it too.

She's pretty.

Shall I say something?

Might as well try.

Hello.

Hello.

Are you traveling alone?

We are now.

We plan to join the train there if they'll have us.

Oh, don't worry.

You'll be welcome.

Are you going to California?

Just going west.

Don't matter where.

Yes.

Yeah, we're going to California.

We have relatives in Sacramento.

I wonder if you could tell me where I could find the wagon master.

He's at the west end of the camp.

His name's Christopher Hale.

Thank you kindly.

You reckon they'll burn our wagon?

Wendy, don't even think about that.

We'll just leave it up to Will.

They ran us out of Chicago late in February.

And St. Louis, huh?

And St. Louis, and from there we went to Independence.

We thought we'd made it there for a while.

It was a lively town, a lot of strangers,

and people coming through on their way west.

Nobody paid as much attention.

And one day a man came into the store where I'd got a job,

and he turned out to be a reporter from the Chicago Papers.

When was that?

In June.

So we figured we were wrong in trying to settle in a big town.

We found a little one just outside of Denver,

a place called Juniper Creek.

That's where they burned your barn down.

Yeah, I thought for a time they planned to do away with us.

So here we are, we've run out of money to run with.

And if you don't take us, I suppose we'll make it alone.

You can't do that.

Sue a raising thunder between here and South Pass.

Are the Sioux any worse than white folk?

All in the world a wagon train is, is another town.

Pretty much like the one you just left.

Well, you're running it, aren't you?

I take you on, I expect I'll find out.

Are you going to eat supper someday?

Be right with you, Charlie.

Spare a bean with us?

No, thanks.

Dishing it up right now.

You stay put for a minute or two.

I want to talk this over.

What did he say?

He wants to think it over.

I told him everything.

Oh, I don't know as I'd have done that.

Did you tell him about Lamont?

Wendy, shush up.

I'm tired of hushing up.

That's what you always say.

For now, you'll do as you're told, young lady.

What's your name, girl?

Wendy, uh, Wendy Sheridan.

And where are you from?

St. Louis, 401 Chantou Avenue.

My pa was killed in a fire engine accident

and we're traveling west to Sacramento

to see my Aunt Henrietta.

And I went to LaSalle Grammar School.

And...

I forget the rest.

It's all right, you're doing fine.

Just don't rattle it off like a parrot.

It's a pretty tough decision for you to make, Chris.

You can't hardly leave people out here alone

in a country like this, can you, Mr. Chris?

What's on your mind, Mr. Hale?

Just thinking of another wagon train I ran once.

67 wagons,

out of Santa Fe for Fort Huma and San Diego.

Three days out of Saguaro Springs,

somebody recognized the blacksmith

from the border war.

Turned out he was a red-legged night rider,

not too particular who he killed.

Had 40 or 50 Missourians with us.

What happened?

They snaked him out of his blankets one morning

before sun up and hung him up to a cottonwood tree.

Well, I hardly think this will come to that.

No.

Nobody's suspicion of a boy like that.

Look at him, butter wouldn't even melt in his mouth.

Thanks.

It's generous of you.

Well, do we go or stay?

Well, you go with us.

The first thing you better do is get that chip off your shoulder.

I'm sorry.

I guess I'm just getting touchy.

I ought to thank people

for all the nice things they've done for us,

but I'm just ungrateful, I guess.

Oh, just simmer down, son, simmer down.

I'm sick of it.

Nobody's got a right to treat...

Just a minute.

There are two fry pans on the fire here,

and it won't do for you to mix them up.

One of them's what the four of us think,

and the other's the job we hired out to do,

to take 285 people, good, bad, and just plain miserable,

from St. Joe to Sacramento.

Now, we take you on, the word gets out who you are,

we're liable to have a fight on our hands

that'll bust up this whole outfit.

Do you understand that?

Yeah, I guess so.

The word won't get around.

No, you'll just be the Sheridans, that's all.

I say take him.

Bill.

Whatever you say, Chris, is good enough for me.

That's the way I feel about it.

Come on, I'll show you where to camp.

Didn't ask their names?

I didn't get a chance to.

They just wanted to know where to find the wagon master,

and I told them.

That's a strange one.

Fred?

Yeah?

How far south to the nearest settlement?

Well, let me think.

That would be...

Juniper Creek, I think.

It's about 50 miles.

What do you suppose would prompt three people

to take a 50-mile ride

through Indian territory all alone?

Did you find your camp all right?

Yes.

Uh, Mr. Hale gave us the directions.

He showed me the creek to...

Oh, it's good water.

Uh, there's a down log right over there

in the hollow for firewood.

Well, thanks, I'll find it.

That's neighborly of you.

Well, I'd better be getting back.

If there's anything we can do to help you get settled,

just let us know.

Thanks, miss.

I suppose you know more about tactics

in a case like this than I do.

You've been through enough of a few.

Mr. Hale, I can't tell you how grateful we are

that you took us in.

I hope it turns out to be a favor.

What do you mean?

Got all kinds of people in this outfit, ma'am.

That won't bother us none.

We'll tent our own knitting

and keep to ourselves as much as we can.

It may not be as easy as you think.

Four or five weeks

on a wagon train

shakes you up in an apple sack

with a lot of different kinds of people.

First thing you know, you might be saying more

than you intend to.

I'd be careful.

Mr. Hale, for the last 14 months,

I've measured the look and glance

of everyone around me.

I've thought out every word I've said

before I said it.

It gets to be second nature,

waking in the night with a cold chill,

at every noise and in the daytime

watching the faces,

watching the faces of everyone that passes,

the friendly ones, the strange ones, all of them,

looking for that first sign of suspicion.

That first flash of heat.

Waiting for it to come.

Like a man with his head on the block

waiting for the axe to fall.

Don't you worry, Mr. Hale.

We'll be careful.

Jesse, her name is...

Jesse who?

McDermott.

How do you know? Did you ask her?

Asked the kids at the creek

when she'd come to fetch water.

She's a first-rate cooker.

So I heard.

She's a real corker.

Wendy? Huh?

How many different kinds of wildflowers

did you pick this morning?

14. She fetches the water and does the dishes,

reds up, works real hard.

Paul cut his hand a while back.

She even chopped the kindling.

Hooray for her.

Be a nice girl for you to know, seems like.

Back to work, Miss Busybody.

Why don't you tell her you're looking for a girl?

Who says he's looking for a girl?

You did. You said he's the age for it.

Well, you're not the age for bringing it

to his attention, so that'll be enough

on the subject, young lady.

Hello.

Hello.

I'm going to the dance tonight.

We've been coaxing him for ages.

He's first-rate.

I thought you might like to go.

I've got him in this harness

before tomorrow morning.

He doesn't play very often.

I'm sorry.

We aren't much of a family for dancing.

I'm sorry I bothered you.

Good night. Good night.

I thought you didn't like to dance.

Oh, hi.

You get tired of many harnesses?

Uh, yeah. My fingers got sore.

I just thought I'd stop by and take a look.

What do you think of it?

I think it's first-rate.

You know, it's been a long time since I've seen any dancing.

The fellow who plays the fiddle plays very well.

Very well.

You know, I bet you're a very good dancer.

What gives you that idea?

I can tell by the way you tap your foot.

Oh, anybody can tap their foot.

Would you like to dance, Miss Jessie?

I'd love to.

Let me help you.

Hi. Thank you.

Did you have a good time last night?

I did.

That man's a powerful fiddler.

He's gonna play Tuesday night, he promised.

Oh, look what a nice bunch of five-dayers.

I'm going to make a pie.

Well, I declare.

Is that such a surprise?

Yes, you don't look much like a pie maker to me.

I made the best pie in Cedar Creek Valley

before I turned 16.

When you ask me real polite sometime,

I'll show you the blue ribbon I won.

A man can't eat a blue ribbon.

I'm pretty hard to please when it comes to pie, you know.

It isn't every blackberry pie I'll eat.

You'd eat mine.

I'm not so sure.

You look pretty young to be a first-rate pie maker.

You couldn't be more than 17.

I'm past 18.

Have you tried your pie out on anyone outside of your family?

On your beau, for instance?

I haven't got any beaux.

And as far as my pie making goes,

I've been told by a good many that I'm natural born.

And I'll prove it to you.

You just wait.

Okay.

Bye.

Bye-bye.

Sure, she's pretty.

But you can't just walk up to a girl like that and tell her so.

That's not like running down an antelope.

You're liable to chase a girl away

if you rush at her like that.

You've got to take it slowly and carefully.

Will, I know what you're going to say, Ma.

Don't get mad about me now.

The thing is, with a girl,

you've got to always tell her something

beside what you're thinking,

or she might run off.

You can tell her she's pretty,

feel her muscle, ask her if she can cook

and chop wood and red up the house.

Will.

She's liable to smack you one.

Isn't that right, Ma?

I don't know.

Why don't you ask the young lady?

Oh!

Uh, my mother would like to invite you

all over for pie, blackberry.

I made it myself.

She wins blue ribbons with her pies, Ma.

Uh, not tonight. I'm awful sorry, young lady.

It was sweet of your mother to invite us,

but we're all tired out.

Aw, well, you don't have to stay late.

I'm not tired, Ma. I'd love some berry pie.

I've already made rice pudding.

Oh, it'll keep.

We'll be there. I'll red up for you after supper.

Thanks for the invitation.

You tell your Ma we'll be there in a half an hour.

It'll be nice to get acquainted.

We'll see you all directly.

Bye-bye.

They're just trying to be neighborly, Ma.

They were neighborly in Juniper Creek.

You're like a hurt rabbit, Ma.

You can't cower in a hole the rest of your life.

Let's sit down.

Supper's getting cold.

You can't be a rabbit, Ma.

First they're neighborly.

Then they're friendly.

And they're curious.

You know as well as I do, Will,

this is no time to start keeping company with a girl.

Well, it doesn't do any harm just to be nice to her.

That's all it amounts to.

I hope so.

I won't tell him a doggone thing, Will.

Cross my heart.

Eat your supper, honey.

I want you to know my daughter

can make circles around me when it comes to pie.

I've already bragged enough on that

for the rest of the trip.

No, I want to hear more.

I want to hear about the Blue Ribbon again.

I think she's trying to impress you, Will.

Ma.

And I raise first-rate horses.

You ought to see our ranch back in Ohio.

Most beautiful blooded riding stock in the world.

Just across the river from Kentucky.

Cedar Creek Valley.

Well, son, what do you think of that pie?

Oh, that's about as good as pie can be.

Oh, you don't have to say that.

I mean it.

If it was such a nice ranch, Mr. McDermott,

why did you leave it?

Well, Ma, maybe he doesn't want to talk about that.

Oh, no, that's, uh...

Where did you folks say you were from?

St. Louis.

Oh, yes.

Sort of a seesaw kind of a state.

I mean, as far as the war went.

Well, you might as well know

we favored the South.

Well, I can speak freely then.

That's why we left our ranch.

I favored the South, too.

Sold them cavalry stock during the war.

It made a lot of feeling against us in the valley.

But I say a man's got to follow his own lights.

I expect he does.

There's a powerful lot of prejudice there now.

Nothing a man can fight against.

Just coldness.

Ice-cold silence all around you.

There's nothing in the world we love more than that ranch.

We couldn't stay there.

They made us leave.

So we sold out, packed up,

and headed for California.

Gonna buy some breeding stock out there

and raise my horses in the Sacramento Valley

from here on in.

You know,

blind prejudice

is a fearsome thing.

A fearsome thing.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

So we started west

the next morning,

feeling like maybe we'd left the hate and the misery

behind us at last.

The sky ahead had welcome written on it

from one person to the other.

♪♪

♪♪

Oh, glad to see you enjoying yourself, boy.

Yeah, well,

you gotta let it down every now and then.

What do you mean by that?

Nothing.

Excuse us, Mr. Hales.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Agnes,

as I said before we left,

we should have taken the boat.

First thing you do when we make camp

is get out that barrel of china dishes and check them over.

If any of those dishes are broken, I'll die.

Yes, ma'am.

♪♪

Jesse,

I've been wondering where you and Will went

after the dance last night.

We took a walk. We just talked.

What about?

None of your business.

He just asked me about Cedar Creek.

Before I knew it, I told him my life history.

Did he tell you his?

No.

Did you ask him?

He just told me he doesn't like to talk about himself.

Ha, ha, ha.

Pa,

I like him very much.

Well, so far, so good.

Check every single one of them, Fred.

That was the bumpiest stretch on the road yet.

Agnes,

it would be a powerful lot of comfort to me

in my declining years if you cared half as much

about my brittle bones as you do these china dishes.

Don't fret yourself.

If you broke in half, I'd cry.

What kind of stew are we making?

McDermott stew.

What's that?

You take everything that you have left over

and boil it up in a pot with three onions.

Where are Jesse and Will?

Down by the creek.

You know, I think he's stuck on her.

I got the same impression.

He never had a girl before.

Agnes.

A broken one?

Come here.

Wendy,

I can't believe that a boy Will's age

never had a girl before.

It's true.

There must be lots of pretty girls in Chicago.

Sure there are, but...

Chicago?

We come from St. Louis.

We lived at 401 Chateau Avenue.

My pa was killed in a fire engine accident

and we're traveling west to see my Aunt Henrietta

and I went to LaSalle Grammar School.

I never lived in Chicago.

I ain't even been there.

My name is Wendy Sheridan.

401 Chateau Avenue.

Oh!

Oh!

I'm sorry, Jesse.

I'm not.

I shouldn't have done that.

I've been hoping you'd kiss me for four days.

I'd better get back with this.

What's the matter, Will?

I shouldn't be kissing you.

I've got no business doing that at all.

Will?

I love you, Jesse.

Oh, Lord, help me.

I love you.

I've got to tell you something.

I've got to tell you straight out

with no trimmings or excuses.

And when I tell you, you can go your own way

and you remember that?

I don't care what it is.

My name isn't Sheridan.

It's Will Santee.

I'm Lamont Santee's brother.

Lamont?

Maybe your folks didn't let you read about it in the papers.

He was hung last winter.

They called him the criminal of the century.

He took an ax to two girls

from Bethany Church one night after choir practice.

Ma and Wendy and I

are all that's left of the family.

My father couldn't stand it.

He killed himself six weeks after it happened.

And they ran us out of Chicago

and then Independence and St. Louis and Juniper Creek.

And we're still running.

They said Lamont was crazy.

That he had bad blood in him.

That's the same blood that I've got.

I can't help it.

I've got his blood running in me.

I can run away from the rest of it,

but I can't run away from that.

And it wouldn't matter

Ma said this was no time to be keeping company with a girl

and I guess she was right.

So you better be on your way.

Will, I still don't care.

I don't care what your brother did.

I only care about you.

You better talk it over with your Ma.

It doesn't matter what my Ma has to say.

Or my Pa either.

I didn't mean to startle you, Mr. Santee.

He just told me.

It's about time.

I don't care who he is.

But I do.

Now you get back to camp.

Something wrong, Will?

No.

You seem so quiet.

I said there's nothing wrong.

What do you reckon is ailing him?

You too.

I know what's wrong with him.

I told.

Told what?

About Chicago.

I didn't mean to, Ma.

I was just sitting there talking with Mrs. McDermott

and it just slipped out.

I didn't mean to tell.

She asked about Chicago and I said,

no, no, it was St. Louis

and that I lived on Chateau Street.

My name was Wendy Sheridan.

I didn't mean to tell.

Pam, might I talk to you?

Good evening, Mr. McDermott.

Good evening.

I, uh, I don't want to interfere

with your fixin' supper.

Not at all.

Won't you sit down?

I'd just as soon stand, thank you.

I won't take too much of your time.

Fact is, what I have to say won't wait.

That is not very long.

Why don't you just say it straight out, Mr. McDermott?

It would sound pretty blunt if I did.

And I don't want to be unkind.

You've got to understand that.

Lord knows I've had troubles enough of my own.

Wendy, why don't you go down by the creek

and fetch us a pail of water?

I already did.

Then go fetch another pail.

Come along now.

First off,

I want you people to know that I understand

what you're up against.

I wouldn't feel at all the way I do

if it weren't for my daughter.

Mr. McDermott, you don't have to go through all that.

Well...

Ma, it's hard for a man to find ways to say it gently.

I know what he's leading up to.

Well, son, I'm glad you understand.

I didn't say that.

I didn't say I understand.

I'm not you, Mr. McDermott.

I don't want to sound like someone stuck a knife in me.

But I'm not going to make it hard on Jessie.

I won't see her anymore, I promise.

Thank you.

I was hoping that...

Now, just a minute.

Just a minute.

Who is the rabbit now?

Hush, Ma.

Sit down, Mr. McDermott.

I said sit down.

You say you understand.

I wonder if you do.

I wonder if you could ever understand

what it means to have a child like Lamont.

To have been proud of him once.

A healthy, smiling, nine-pound baby boy

looking up at you out of his cradle.

Your firstborn.

And to have that pride

begin to crack around the edges

as the months grow into years

and the doubts begin to creep in.

First, the temper tantrums.

Then the cruelty.

And then, of course,

the cruelty.

The pouring of coal oil

on the cat and setting it afire.

Beating of the neighbor boy's pony

until it bled.

Tying up his brother

in an abandoned shack,

driving the neighborhood half-crazy

all night looking for him.

You couldn't understand that, Mr. McDermott,

unless you had a child like Lamont.

You couldn't know

how helpless you are.

You go to his school,

to his doctor, his churches,

trying to get help,

trying to tell yourself that all he needs

is love and understanding.

And deep inside yourself,

you know it's more than that.

And it won't ever change.

Along with that helplessness,

the dread of what's coming

when he grows up,

gets his strength,

gets too big for you to handle.

Pleading with him.

Pleading with him

to put him away somewhere

where he won't hurt anybody.

And always getting the same answer.

He's smart. He's brilliant.

He's as sane as you are.

All he needs is love and understanding.

So,

you watch him move into his manhood.

You know he's stealing,

getting away with it,

with immoral women.

So in desperation,

you almost drive him to the church.

He has a good voice.

You talk him into joining the choir.

I am as responsible

as anyone for the death

of those girls.

You know,

you know what I should have done,

Mr. McDermott,

when that little boy was a baby.

I should have taken him.

Ma.

It's true. You know it's true.

So don't tell me you understand.

You can go now, Mr. McDermott.

I won't see Jesse anymore.

Who's going to pay for this?

Nobody.

You've got your clothes, your plunder, your hide.

So count your blessings and go.

Where do you suggest?

West. No place for you here.

No place for you anywhere in civilized society.

I wonder sometimes

where I'd be if my family

hadn't sent George Engelhardt past

and told him

I thought the world was going to come to an end.

You're only 18, Jesse.

You've got your whole life ahead of you.

There'll be all kinds of

bulls around as soon as we get to California.

Time to come, you'll thank us.

Please don't lecture me, Ma.

Excuse me, sir.

Are you Flint McCullough?

No, sir.

Supposed to meet him here.

Are you with the Chris Hale wagon train?

Yes, sir.

What can I do for you?

Well, I wonder if you'd be good enough

to tell me where they're camped.

Oh, they won't be in for about an hour or two.

You'll find them down by the river,

other end of town.

Thank you.

You got friends in the outfit?

Friends?

No, not exactly.

How much longer to Sacramento?

30 days.

Maybe more.

Can't go on like this

for 30 days.

You've got no business coming here.

I didn't sleep a wink last night.

I'm sorry.

You've got no business coming here.

I didn't sleep a wink last night.

Oh, me neither.

Will.

Will, this isn't silly girl talk.

This is something I've thought through

from beginning to end.

I know that I love you.

Jessie, please don't. I promise your father...

He's got no right to make you promise that.

It's not his life, it's mine.

Did you ever stop to think maybe he's right?

What do you mean?

Maybe if I had a girl like you,

I'd do the same thing he's doing.

Did you mean it when you said you love me?

How can you ask that?

Well, that's all that matters then.

Jess.

Get on back to camp.

I'm sorry, Pa.

I won't do it.

Jess, you hear what I say?

Please let me talk to her, Mr. McDermott.

It'll be better if you just stay out of this.

She's a grown woman.

She's got her own mind.

Jess. Jess, come on.

Please let me talk to her.

Will! Will!

Will, stop!

Please, Will!

Stop it!

It's not right!

Will, stop it!

Stop!

Will, don't do it!

Will, don't!

Oh, please!

Don't, please!

Pa!

Will, don't do it!

Hold it!

Stop it!

Take it easy, boy.

You'd better get rid of him right here.

I promise to take him to California.

Well, change your mind then.

Or I'll call the committee together and we'll change it for you.

You too, miss.

Please, Jesse.

Jesse, go on back to your mother.

And you mind what I say.

You're making it a little hard on me, aren't you?

I didn't intend to.

You ought to know by now

you can't settle anything that way.

I'll never get anything settled anyway

as long as I live.

There's no way to talk.

Listen, boy, I saw this coming the first night you joined us.

I saw it coming. I made my choice.

I'm going to back you up.

You can't fight the world, Mr. Hale.

We're going to be going through

Sioux country starting tomorrow?

Yes.

We might get in a scrap or two.

That's always possible.

Supposing we do get in a scrap, supposing I get killed,

who's going to look after my mother and sister?

Well, you would if you were responsible for them like I am.

Would you look after them

until we got to California?

Why?

Would you?

Yes, I would.

They'll be all right once they get to Sacramento.

My mother's got a sister there.

They should be welcome with her.

At least I think they should be welcome.

There should be one place let it be welcome

in this miserable world.

That's no way to talk.

I can't help it. I can't take any more of it.

Will?

Yes, Ma.

Yes.

What time is it?

It's late. Go to sleep.

What are you doing out here?

I'm just getting ready for bed. Go on. Go to sleep.

Don't you fret none about what happened today.

No.

Before you know it, we'll be in Sacramento.

Good night, Ma.

Good night, son.

Good night.

Good night.

We didn't give the wagon master the authority

to pick up just anybody

he felt like along the road.

It seems to me

we've got to draw the line somewhere.

And this is as good a place as any.

It sure is, sir.

All right.

Let's draw the line right here.

This is the place.

This is the place.

This is the place.

This is the place.

This is the place.

Let's draw the line right here.

We'll dump them in Tamarack and go on without them.

According to the articles,

the committee can hand down that kind of a decision.

That's right.

I'll nominate myself to go to the Santee's

and give them the news.

Is that all right with everybody?

That's exactly what we want.

Good. It's all decided then.

Well, Chris, I'm glad you see it my way.

I didn't say I saw it your way.

I'm just bowing to the will of the committee.

Now, just a minute.

We've decided to dump them,

but we haven't decided the most important thing of all.

What's that?

What I'm going to tell them.

If I'm going to report this decision,

I'll have to give them a reason for leaving them here.

Now, what have they done?

It's not what they've done. We just can't...

But the articles say the committee has the right

to sit in judgment and authorize such punishment

as it sees fit, in this case,

dismissing the Santees from this wagon trade.

Now, what's the crime?

What have they done?

It's what they are.

That's right.

That's exactly right, Chris.

They're just not the right kind of people, that's all.

Oh.

Well, who are the right kind of people?

Now, you know doggone well what we mean.

No, no, I don't. I don't at all.

You start condemning a man

for what you think he is instead of what he does,

you better tell me what he ought to be.

Well, he means a decent,

upstanding citizen like the rest of us here.

That's right.

Oh, people like us.

Yes.

Who think like we do.

That's right.

Believe in what we do.

Well, that makes it easier.

Hargis, you're a Mormon, aren't you?

Yes. What about it?

Seymour here is a free thinker.

Now, you don't think alike at all.

Well, I disagree with both of you.

I guess that means we ought to split up right here.

We're different, aren't we?

Carmody, you're an Irishman.

They're not, and I'm only half.

Maybe we ought to put up a big sign

outside the camp here,

no Irish need apply.

You ran into a lot of that

back where you came from, didn't you?

That's why you're going west.

Now, all this...

And you're a Scotsman and a Presbyterian

and a Southerner.

All three about as opposite to me as a man can get.

I expect I ought to string you up

to the nearest cottonwood tree.

Dog.

You start condemning a man

for what you think he is

instead of what he does,

you have to follow it clear through to the end.

And it's a pretty miserable place when you get there.

In this country,

in these times,

we'd better not think about our differences.

We'd better concentrate on what we have in common.

We're 285 human beings

out here in the middle of nowhere,

and there's danger all around us.

And every man needs

the respect and love and help

from every other man in this company,

or we'll all have to go down.

Now, go on back to your camps

and think on that for a while.

And you think about it, too.

Chris,

I have to think of my daughter.

Her affair with that boy

has nothing to do with all that.

That's the funny thing about it. It never does.

What's that mean?

It means when it runs you out of Cedar Creek,

it's blind prejudice, but when you turn it on somebody else,

it's the righteous wrath of God Almighty.

That's what I mean.

That boy's been tortured

every day of his life.

You're too big a man to stick your knife in him, too.

Fred!

Fred!

Will's run off somewhere with a gun.

He says he's gonna kill himself.

Jesse's gone after him.

Jesse!

Jesse!

Jane with a Y.

With a Y? All right.

I'll pass it with a Y. Why not?

I agree with you, Will. It is a lousy life.

From the day you're born till the day you die,

it's a lousy life.

Won't you say you have a name, Will?

Uh, Santee.

Santee?

That's a musical sound.

Where have I heard it before?

It's a prominent family.

Oh?

Nationally famous.

You don't say.

We're from Chicago, the Chicago Santees.

My brother was Luan Santee,

the one that killed

those two girls with an axe.

Hmm.

You're about the same size as one of them.

He took an axe to both of them

one night after choir practice.

And we got all our names and pictures

in the papers.

And he went to the scaffold laughing about it.

But you know something?

Jane?

He doesn't hold a candle to me.

I'm a much better man with an axe

than he was.

Much, much, much, much.

That's a nice clean job.

This is my father's

nickel-plated pistol.

He killed himself with it.

We're all famous in my family, Jane.

We're famous. All great with an axe.

We're the best killers in the world.

Natural born. It runs in the family.

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© BF-WATCH TV 2021

Be back for him first thing.

Night.

Will.

What?

Give me that.

No.

Please, Will.

Go on back to camp, Jessie.

Go find your father.

Give me that gun, Will.

There's no hope for me, Jessie.

They've got a curse on me.

Give it to me, Will.

They've got a curse on me, Jessie.

I can't. I've tried to fight it.

I can't run away from it.

You're Will Santee, aren't you?

I want to talk to you, Will.

Why?

But first, give me the gun.

No. What do you want?

Five minutes.

That's all.

Won't you give me that?

Just five minutes?

I've come 2,000 miles to talk to you.

Who are you?

I'm probably the only man in the world

who knows what you're going through right now.

I've got something to give you.

Now, why don't you give me that gun?

Go on. Leave me alone.

Will?

Please, Will.

Go on. Leave me alone.

Threw him out of the saloon about an hour ago, said he got loud

and started waving a pistol around,

hollering something about his whole family being killers.

Blacksmith saw him go around the corner

and the last thing he saw was Duke talking to him.

Yeah? What about the gun?

Well, he said he still had it in his pocket,

as far as he knew.

I don't think he'd use it.

I sure hope not.

Hey, somebody give me a hand here.

Better get her bed ready for him.

Will! Will!

Don't worry, ma'am.

Is he?

Well, he's a pretty sick fella.

Forty-rod whiskey, about half-quart, I'd say.

He'll likely spend the rest of his days

marching in temperance parades.

Jess, honey, I'm sorry.

My place is with him, Pa.

I suspect it is.

There was a man with him.

Followed him all the way out from New York.

Said he had something to give him.

What?

Faith. He said he had to give him back his faith.

Said a man can't live without faith.

So he was, and he said he was just a no-count actor

from New York, but that he'd gone through

the same things Will has.

The terror and the doubts

and the wondering if life is really worth living.

I wish I could say it like he did.

He said he'd discovered something.

He said...

He said the devils in this world

shout loud and long,

but in the end,

the angels always outvote them.

And he said...

He said you three would have to be patient,

and in time,

the hate would die,

and you'd be able to carry your name proudly again.

And...

And he'd gone through this?

Yes, ma'am.

His brother killed President Lincoln.

His name was Edwin Booth.

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© BF-WATCH TV 2021

© BF-WATCH TV 2021