Original subtitles

CORNELIA (VO): Without you, I'd have been killed

right at the start.

That's how we met.

That's why we met.

It was in the stars.

And we believed in the stars.

You and I.

Out there, back then

it didn't matter where we came from

Europe or Russia.

Since Plymouth Rock

to you, we were all just the same.

We were all just...

the English.

It's funny then, that after all these years

I only have one word left.

A Pawnee word.

Your word.

Tawtachicsta.

And in between...

I wanted to kill a man

for the murder of my child.

You wanted back your land

stolen from you.

But the difference between what we want

and what we need...

Well, that was something we both...

had yet to learn.

INSECTS CHIRP

GUNSHOT

BIRDS SQUAWK

Bet you knew it, even 'fore you squeezed the trigger!

You done it, buddy!

Shit!

SCOTT GIGGLES

You dead-eyed son of a bitch.

WOMAN CRIES

WOMAN CRIES

SHE MUTTERS IN CHEYENNE

SHE YELLS

You got him?

You fuckin' got him.

GUNSHOTS

SHE WAILS

Who is he?

That there, sir...

GUNSHOT

That there is Running Hawk.

Led the Fetterman fight, '66.

Was him put Lonnie Myers' eyeballs up on a rock.

It was us said we'd do the same to him some day.

'Cept now I gone and clean blown his face off.

S'OK.

Got us a couple of spares.

Orders were round them up, send them on their way.

What we just done.

Do it again if you care to look the other way.

IN CHEYENNE:

SHE WAILS

Not today.

Says who?

ELI: Says me.

How so?

It's my last.

- SHE GRUNTS - SOLDIERS YELL

HORSE SNORTS

THUNDER RUMBLES

Right, let's round her up and get her out of here!

How's that you kill one, follow another?

Something like.

GUNSHOT

ELI: What d'you want?

HE SIGHS

I'm sorry about yesterday.

But he had it coming.

- Long time. - Yes, sir.

Lonnie and me, we was 16.

Joined up greenhorns together.

What they did to him...

that could've been me.

Could've been...

HORSE SNORTS

Could've been any of us.

How long you been in?

Longer than you.

What you gonna do now?

North.

Back to your Res?

Nebraska. The Loup.

Why?

Born there.

But that ain't Pawnee land no more.

Don't want it all, just a few acres.

Which they won't give you.

Homestead Act.

- That ain't for you. - Section Two.

Persons having performed service in the army of the United States

may make a claim.

I intend to.

Smoke dreams for the fireside.

Lonnie's brother, Billy Myers.

Remember him?

ELI: Mm-hm.

MCEWAN: I hear he's up there.

- Nebraska? - Wyoming.

Caine County or some such.

You might wanna look him up.

- Ain't looking to. - But if you do

you tell him we finally got him.

We finally got Lonnie's killer.

So long, Sergeant.

The best First Shirt I ever served.

But just you remember

in there, you been one of us.

But out here...

you're one of them.

WATTS: There are many who can welcome you to the real America

but only one

who can truly mean it.

ACCORDION PLAYS

HORSE SNORTS

Ooh...

Why... Why do you have to drive so bloody fast?

Because I told him to.

Why?

- Indians. - Like I said.

What... what Indians?

- Ghost dancers. - Like I said.

Dancing Indians.

That's something to be afraid of?

It is when they stop.

THEY CHUCKLE

Well, I didn't see any.

Well, now you can.

What did he do?

Drew!

What'd he do?

DREW: I don't know, Mr Watts. What did the shit-sniffer do?

WATTS: I'll tell you what he did.

He walked straight into my hotel and he asked me for a drink.

That's what he did.

Even said "please", as I recall.

No, ma'am.

You don't have to mark him down for his manners

just the colour of his skin.

Who beat him?

Ahem.

You're most welcome.

Do you speak English?

What can I do?

HE GROWLS

You alone?

Yes.

Anyone in there with you?

No.

Nothing you can do.

Because I'm a woman?

Not your fight.

Don't pick it.

I'll give you ten dollars to cut him down.

Ten dollars to clean him up, and then ten more to see him on his way.

Lot of money.

By the look of things, you need it.

I'm not unversed in matters of business, sir, so be aware I'm not...

the haggling type.

Oh, I'm not about to haggle with you, ma'am.

Then we are agreed.

I'm just waiting for the full extent of your parlous situation

to clarify upon your tender mind.

ACCORDION MUSIC RESUMES

HE GROWLS

She always so mouthy?

Like a coon-dog... down a gurney.

Get this thing turned round.

You're leaving.

ELI: Where?

WATTS: Back to Ellsworth.

I didn't come from Ellsworth.

That's as close to hell as I can think of.

You walk?

- To my horse. - Uh-uh.

With him.

My bag?

Payment for the ride.

You already got my horse.

And I can get me 25 for a scalp.

Your call.

Tell her to put it on.

SIMON CHUCKLES

SIMON GIGGLES

I seen it.

Been with us a while.

Damn it. Why is it you people always got to see things first?

I saw it too!

Maybe I didn't get the need to say it.

Us they want?

Mm-hm.

Well... we ain't never gonna outrun 'em.

Team's beat.

Whoa!

HORSES NEIGH

HE SIGHS

Should never have agreed to that turnaround.

Why did you?

Indians?

If they are, go easier on you if you take these off.

Nice try.

You a scout?

Was.

You ain't no Apache.

Pawnee then.

I walked with the Pawnee.

What name do you go by?

- Eli Whipp. - No, fool.

Pawnee name.

Ckirirahpiks.

"Wolf."

"Wounded." When'd you get given that?

- Massacre Canyon. - Hell yeah. Against the Sioux?

So, tell me.

Which Indian is it you actually do like

seeing as you seem to fight against them all?

We had enemies long before you turned up.

And the good gumption to choose our side when we did.

Not so clever though on reckoning we'd end up doing the same to you.

Less Wounded Wolf than...

Whipped Dog, wouldn't you say?

That how you come by your English name?

Never say how a thing's gonna turn out till it does.

They ain't Indians.

They're still trouble.

HORSES SNORT

Bit of a home inventor.

You try it before?

Nope.

Yessir. One way or another...

gonna show 'em some balls.

Oh, hell.

My enemy's enemy.

And you Pawnee sure know a thing about that.

How many rounds?

Ten. Spent two on a jack-rabbit.

- Then you missed. - Yes, I did.

HORSES NEIGH

Friends?

- Where you headed? - Ellsworth.

Late for Ellsworth.

Starting to feel that way.

- What you doing with him? - Taking him in.

What for?

Killing a woman.

English woman.

Now, it don't look like you're taking him in.

Well, see, sir, I wasn't sure who you was

and I thought to have all the help I can get.

We'll take him.

Where?

Nearest tree.

You too, you get in our way.

Well, now, I... I was looking to get a reward.

Dead Indian's the best you're gonna get.

I didn't kill no English woman.

Didn't need to.

I'm happy to do it here.

Wait a moment now.

This is a commercial business! Huh?

I can't have you spreading him all over my prime asset.

Shouldn't have picked him up.

You're on horseback, I'm up here.

Odds sit with me.

HORSEMAN: Hmm. You think?

Come to bets, boy, it's three to one.

What d'you say?

HORSEMAN: I said...

it's...

three...

to...

one.

- I'll take it. - Oh, hell.

- GUNSHOT - HORSE NEIGHS

GUNSHOT

GUNSHOTS

Well...

I am certainly pleased with that.

That woman really dead?

Will be.

And you were gonna pin it on me?

Well, that was the plan.

Well, I didn't know you like I do now.

HE GASPS SOFTLY

That's gonna kill you.

At least I've got time to think about it.

"Deborah Crawford".

Where in the hell did that name come from?

You're right.

Maybe some things are better left forgotten.

GUNSHOT

ACCORDION MUSIC PLAYS

This light, that dress...

you remind me of my wife.

And not the bleeding?

That too.

Where is she?

You looking to plead your case to a better angel?

I don't have a case.

I don't have a wife.

You're gonna kill me.

HE EXHALES

I'm not, um... I'm not...

I am, but I'm not for the reasons that you think.

I'm...

I'm just so...

- angry. - Yup.

But can't help but wonder on the cause.

Someone killed my child.

Ah.

And now I'm gonna kill him.

Were.

Actually, not even then.

Not now, not then, not ever.

Because that's the kind of man he is.

How did he know?

Ain't no tremor he can't feel.

Sometimes I think he dug that mine of his so deep

Devil just skipped out, jumped straight into his heart.

Certainly, that's how I learnt to get so light on my feet.

You surely didn't hear me, now, did you?

- Where? - Everywhere.

I had so many choices.

And I surely question Southampton.

Oh, it was closest.

Liverpool's quicker, every time.

Still, Havana must've been a pleasant jig.

New Orleans.

Noticed you cut out St Louis.

Shame, they got a bridge down there, it's quite the marvel.

Oh my, gadding about with all that unbanked cash

like dragging a stink-line for a skunk.

Couple of times we had to intervene on your imminent demise.

But why bother?

He wanted journey's end here.

We're in the middle of nowhere.

The real America.

Maybe see if I can't plant a cottonwood or some such on top of you

make you a part of it.

If it's any consolation

I hate him too.

Profit or loss, there's nothing he don't think sits either side of a ledger.

You'll be in there somewhere.

Know I am. From the Saville Row suit to the Burlington Brogues.

He has me gussied up like a punked arse come Sunday prayers.

And I hate him for it.

Yes, ma'am, I do.

Let me go.

In truth, I've mostly learnt to absorb my belittlement.

Confine my thoughts merely to my contract

a contract which, despite its sulphurous stink

I find myself quite willing to uphold.

That is, bar the odd hidden cost.

I get them from time to time.

Just give me a chance to spit in the soup.

Pathetic, really, but there you go.

What else is left to the humble servant?

You want to rape me?

I'm realistic when it comes to issues of consent.

Then fuck a horse.

Useful thought.

What with the nights drawing in.

Prairie oysters.

TABLEWARE CLATTERS

I'm gonna kill you.

They really are very good.

Not now, not then, but...

but I will.

You'll have to come back from the dead to do it.

I will.

Then, er, might you consider

coming back as my horse?

ACCORDION PLAYS "OH MY DARLING, CLEMENTINE" IN DISTANCE

Ah...

Mind the big ones.

Not quite the woman I expected.

You're everything I'd expect of a man.

- KNIFE SWOOSHES - IMPACT THUD

WATTS GRUNTS

WATTS GURGLES

KNIFE SLICES

BODY THUDS

ACCORDION MUSIC CONTINUES

- MUSIC STOPS - Keep playing.

You run, I'll stalk you down.

It was my job.

ACCORDION MUSIC RESUMES

Where's the other one?

Let's just leave.

Didn't come back for you.

HE SNORES

Huh?

Someone wants to see you.

Who?

Him.

HE GASPS

HE YELLS

DREW WHIMPERS

DREW GROANS

My bag.

- DREW: What? - Where is it?

Uh... I...

Er... box!

Boss!

Keep him stood.

DREW WHIMPERS

ACCORDION MUSIC CONTINUES

Can I... can I stop playing now?

ELI: No.

My fingers, they...

gone all bubbly.

HE GROANS

A Baptist, when I was a boy, gave me my white name.

Eli Whipp.

Wanna know why?

I'm good with rope.

You called me "shit-sniffer".

DREW: Did I?

Weren't my name.

Maybe that's one for you to wear.

Please...

Oh, I ain't gonna kill you.

Let the horse decide.

DREW STAMMERS

See if you gave him enough to drink.

Let him go.

DREW: No...

DREW GROANS

DREW WHIMPERS

HE YELLS

HE GARGLES

MUFFLED YELL

WATER SLOSHES

WATER BUBBLES

MUFFLED SCREAM

WEAK BUBBLING

Huh.

Oh, God, that was...

that was just... Thank you.

ELI: For what?

Well, if you hadn't come

they were going to...

It's your business, not mine.

Ah, but then it became yours, so thank you.

And now it's not.

Is that what you came back for?

- Hmm? - Your horse.

And this.

CORNELIA: What's in it?

- Medicine. - Are you ill?

Only without it.

Ah, magic.

Not a trick.

Oh no, no, I... I didn't say it was.

You see, this is... this is a lock of my son's hair.

- Powerful. - Yes.

It got me this far. And now I've met you.

I'm leaving.

So... so...

what do I do?

Take your pick.

The one I rode in on's pretty good.

What about my things?

Take what you need.

I need everything.

Difference between what you need and what you want

is what you can put on a horse.

Where are you going?

- North. - Would you like to know where I'm going?

- No. - I'm going west.

Caine County, Powder River. Wyoming.

That's north.

Oh.

A month's ride, at least.

Your voice. English?

Yes.

- Go back to English. - Oh no, I can't do that.

Up to you.

They know you got that?

Now you won't make ten miles.

It cannot be that this whole country's only full of killers and thieves.

Look, will you help me?

- No. - Please.

Got what I came for.

No, I don't believe you came back just for that.

I backed up that horse.

- It would've happened anyway. - But... but I did it.

- Your choice. - What about this afternoon?

It wasn't your fight, this isn't mine.

No, I mean that we're here at all.

When only this afternoon you were tied up there.

I was lying down over there, both about to get killed

and yet, here we are.

And it's everyone else that's dead.

Like it was magic.

Like it is magic.

You did not just come back for that bag.

Or if you did, the bag made you do it.

This is my medicine.

My family's.

And this is mine.

This is my son's.

He is dead now.

And up on Powder River

there is a man trying to forget that he ever existed.

So I'm gonna go up there to remind him.

And when I have, it'll be the last thing he ever hears. I swear it.

Lady, how long have you been in this country?

Two weeks.

And how many killings have you seen?

Four.

In two weeks?

Well, I've lived here my whole life.

I've lost father, mother, wife, sons, daughters, friends.

Family.

I've seen villages razed and I've razed them myself.

Men, women and children, shot, cut, stuck, hung.

I've seen hell and I've made hell.

And I'll carry it from here to the sky beyond...

but don't expect me to care for one boy.

Please.

Please.

Can you shoot?

If I have to.

Oh, you'll have to.

Them all been waiting for you.

Like they knew you was coming.

Yes.

- You know how to dry it? - Hmm?

You can't carry a wet pig.

- Not from here to Kearney. - Where's that?

North a ways.

From there, you're on your own.

So not just killers and thieves then.

Has one such as you within it.

Been both.

Likely both again.

How do you do?

Better on my own.

No, what's your name?

- I have many. - Well, which do you like?

None.

That's something else we share.

Mine's Cornelia Locke. Lady Cornelia Locke.

- That make you wife of a chief? - Daughter.

I've never been married. Never will be.

I'm also a Scorpio. Do you know about that?

- What? - Your star sign.

Erm, in London, it's all the rage. I'll tell you about it.

Mine's about revenge.

Can't help but think yours is too.

MUSIC: "Some Say I Got Devil" by Melanie

Aim for the head.

GUNSHOT

♪ Some say I got devil ♪

♪ Some say I got angel ♪

♪ But I'm just a girl in trouble ♪

♪ I don't think I'm in danger ♪

♪ Don't think I'm in danger, no ♪

♪ I know I'm not in danger ♪

♪ But some have tried to sell me ♪

♪ All kinds of things to save me ♪

♪ From hurting like a woman ♪

♪ And crying like a baby ♪

♪ Something like a woman ♪

♪ Crying like a baby ♪

♪ And all the things ♪

♪ That I have seen ♪

♪ Qualify me for a part in your dream ♪

♪ Qualify me for this dream ♪