Deadman Standing (2018) Movie Script

[birds chirping]
[birds calling in distance]
[horse snorts]
[horse snorts]
That's how life is,
the same thing every day.
That's what the cards teach us, gentlemen.
Your bet may change, but the cards...
the cards, they stay the same.
The first card means nothing,
the second card always loses,
and the third card always wins.
That's faro, my friends, the rules...
they never change.
- Your cut, sir.
- [door opens]
[wind gusting]
[muttering]
What do you say, boys?
Another round?
[chuckling]
Now, what's a man gotta do
to get a shake around here?
[laughing]
[match scrapes]
[coughing]
[loud coughing]
You best not be a lunger.
I seem to have offended you.
That's what the cards tell us.
Nothing... changes.
Hobble your goddamn lip!
Answer the question.
Now, Mr. Anderson,
I think that cough was more about
the poor quality
of this man's taste in cigars.
I do tend to like the cheap weed.
Just got a little ambitious
on the first puff there, my friend.
Mr. Anderson...
why don't you take this back
to your table,
and I'll see about getting you some food.
That's more like it.
I don't wanna hear another cough.
[clears throat]
He's all beer and skittles.
I reckon so.
Apple Jack?
Jack or whiskey.
On the dead.
Oh, I can pay, ma'am.
You wouldn't deny a little ol' lady
this simple pleasure, would ya?
Flattered.
Hungry?
Like a thoroughbred.
End of Chisholm here,
meat doesn't get any fresher.
You the left-handed wife?
Owner, madam, and bar wench
when the situation so dictates.
Well, anybody call you a wench
lacks the understanding of the meaning.
He play for real?
He's mostly bluster.
Mostly.
- He shouldn't be here.
- Just hold your mug.
[clears throat]
[whispering, indistinct]
[exhales]
[owner] He's Texas high bred,
but a lowly creature.
I wouldn't turn my back.
High bred?
Well, that would explain
the Pinkerton muscle flanking him.
Pinkertons? How can you tell?
Mmm. [Exhales]
'Cause they always have
a difficulted expression on their face
like they're taking a perplexin' shit.
[chuckles]
Makes sense.
I know he doesn't look like much...
but he was one of the only survivors
at Hyde Park.
Hyde Park?
You heard about what happened there?
Yes, ma'am, I have.
I don't mean to be brash,
but have we met before?
I believe I'd remember
if I met a beauty like you.
Were you in Hyde Park?
Lived there a few years back.
So did that old gump back there.
I've heard a lot about it.
Tough to tell what's legend
and what's real.
Guess that all depends
on who you heard it from.
Well, you know how men can be
with their stories.
Unlike most cowboys,
we ladies don't embellish
the size of things.
[chuckles]
I'd love to hear your telling of it.
It's along story, sugar.
Well, you wouldn't deny an ol' stranger
a simple pleasure now, would ya?
Aren't you a charmer.
[liquid pouring]
[bottle sets on table]
Well, stranger...
some men are born in fire.
Some men are born in shadows...
[men speaking, indistinct]
[coughing]
[continues coughing]
[squeaking]
[clears throat]
[rat continues squeaking]
[man] In about a month,
we will vote to decide
who should be running things around here.
- Should it be the money men?
- [crowd] No.
Should those who live
on the other side of the tracks
decide for the rest of us?
- No!
- [man in crowd] Hell, no.
Now, we all know Clarence Potts,
whose duties include county commissioner
as well as county judge now,
is in their pockets.
But I say
- we build those tracks.
- [grunts]
They're not a divider.
We build those tracks!
We drive those cattle!
- [crowd] Yeah!
- [man 2] That's right!
Now, I know a lot of you have been hurt
by these land invalidations.
They stole my granddad's farm.
My mama, she lost her stock.
I got my homestead
after I fought in the war.
They got no right!
And I hear each and every one of you.
Elect me,
and I'll make it my first priority
to restore order
to these title disagreements.
- [crowd] Yeah!
- But, men,
we gotta vote!
Don't let the charlatans intimidate you.
Your future's worth more than a nickel.
[crowd] Yeah.
Money should not buy justice.
The future should not be for sale.
[crowd] No!
So vote Tim Johnston
for county commissioner
and let's restore order to Newton.
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
Thank for your time,
and God bless America!
- [crowd cheering]
- Thank you.
Excuse me, gentlemen.
[men catcalling and whooping]
I hope Mr. Johnston
can forgive my intrusion.
By all means, Rosie,
give these fine gentlemen
a pretty face to look at instead of mine.
[laughter]
Well, boys,
I don't know much about politics
and land claims and the like,
as these are not triers
a lady troubles her mind with.
But I have known a few men in my day.
- [men catcalling]
- Yeah.
And you can pick out the good ones
'cause they are a rare lot.
Tim Johnston is a good man.
And to show our support here
at The Red Front,
a vote for Tim Johnston
gets you a free tug from one of our girls.
[cheering]
[whooping and catcalls]
What the hell, boys.
On your word...
[man in crowd] Yeah.
You boys promise
you'll vote for Tim Johnston?
- [man in crowd] Yeah!
- [man 2] Promise.
Then booze is half price
for the next 30 minutes.
[crowd cheering and whistling]
That's what the cards show us about life,
my friends.
A man can be down to his last penny
and still find his fortune.
[piano playing]
Thank you, sir.
Now, gentlemen, always keep in mind
that in the game of faro,
the first card always means nothing.
The second card will always lose.
And the second card is a six,
gentlemen, a six.
And nobody has bet on the six.
- [man laughing]
- I told you! I told you six was no good.
And you are correct, sir.
We can find some right in life
even when we're feeling down on our luck.
Always keep in mind, gentlemen,
that the third card may always win.
And the third card is a ten.
Winner to the ten! [Laughing]
All it takes is to get it right once
and things can turn around.
That's what the cards teach us, gentlemen.
That is what the cards teach us.
[crickets chirping]
Break's over, back to work.
[Rosie] Nice that you deign
to join us, darling.
Is he here?
Asked for you by name.
Please, just tell him that I'm sick.
Sweetheart, he's a big spender.
[piano continues]
[men catcalling]
[laughter and chatter]
[sighs]
Well, get in here, boy.
Get a wiggle on.
You been rattin' again?
Boy, pop your corn.
Gotta eat, ma'am.
[coughs]
How many times you need to hear it?
You can eat here.
Fine.
I can use a sweep boy.
Well, you can't work hungry.
Bit of food,
then right as rain.
Cherie, you back there?
Ain't no place I'd rather be.
Make our boy here some dinner.
And find him something cleaner to wear.
[woman screaming]
No!
No... [whimpers]
[Rosie] What's all the ruckus about?
[Hughie] I'll tell you
what the ruckus is about.
That dog don't fucking hunt!
It wasn't my fault, I was trying.
- [man] Whiskey dick.
- [laughter]
You think you're better than me?
I could buy this whole goddamn town.
[woman gasps]
[coughing]
[whimpers]
Now surely, dear,
there's just been an unintentional slight.
She's a witch-whore.
She's just a scared child.
I'll give you fair value for her...
but in Texas...
Whoo-whoo!
We carve up our bitch-whore.
Get back!
- [gunshot]
- [screams]
Last I checked, this wasn't Texas.
I have faith that we can get through this
without any more blood.
You make one more move for your gun,
and I will cut this twofer's throat.
[man] Now, I don't much care
for fair fights.
- I'll cut her.
- No!
[man] I'd prefer to keep things
level headed.
But if you ever
hurt that poor girl again...
[Hughie] No.
[panting]
- No!
- [gasps]
[woman gasping, panting]
I'll be back for you, whore.
[grunts]
Oh, damn.
Not quite bloodless.
[rifle cocks]
Mike.
Red.
[chuckling]
I appreciate your cooperation.
[man snoring]
[snoring stops]
[gasps and coughs]
Hey, Joe.
Now, I'm not supposed to tell you
to go to The Red Front Saloon tonight.
And I'm not supposed to tell you
to see Rosie,
'cause she will never give you
a couple of free shooters.
Deal?
There we go.
There we go.
[keys jangle]
[singing in Native American language]
[thudding]
[door opens]
[door closes]
What the hell was that?
The man fancies himself a Heyoke.
Does everything backwards.
Why?
I try not to ask.
Now, I'm gonna need your name.
[laughing]
Wants to know my name.
Hugh Anderson Jr.?
As in the Anderson Ranch.
- [snoring]
- [scoffs]
I feel responsible.
I knew he was taking a shine to her,
and she tried to tell me
he was being rough.
[Mike] How is she?
[Rosie] He done her up real good.
[Mike] I'll need her at the courthouse.
[Rosie] She'll be there.
The boy should be okay, too.
- You and your strays.
- Mike.
Please.
How many times do I got to say no?
That boy deserves something.
He's got a good heart.
And you could use...
help.
I don't need help.
Mike.
You know how slow death by consumption is.
You don't know nothing about him,
where he's come from, nothing.
A lot of people once said
the same thing about you.
- [bell clanging]
- [train whistle blowing]
Court's in a couple hours.
Cluskie.
Yeah, I'll think on it.
[sighs]
[man] Baby Hughie Anderson?
Daddy owns the biggest cattle ranch
in Texas,
most of the land
between here and Abilene now.
Damn, Rosie!
This is a fine steak.
Why, thank you, darling.
Not quite as good
as that nigger cooking you had, but
hot damn, it's good.
What was that nigger's name again?
Boy, she could cook.
I believe you mean Cherie.
Yeah! That's it.
Best nigger cooking I ever had.
All done?
I believe, somehow,
I just lost my appetite.
Oh, no, darling,
that's the wrong way to look at this.
Some small men need to feel big sometimes.
[Hughie] I want to go home.
If you're sure.
I'll total you out.
I'm just sorry you'll be missing out.
Good news, darling.
Turns out,
she will be available later, after all.
Well, that... that is indeed glorious news.
Thank you, friend.
I thought for a second there,
I might be missing out.
What's he talking about?
Oh, Mr. Anderson,
I'm sure you wouldn't be interested.
Well, now, let's hear it.
I'm sure a big,
important man like yourself
has more important things
to be doing today.
Out with it, woman.
Well,
I'm sure you're keenly aware
of the skill level of the French ladies
who ply my trade.
Is that so?
Indeed it is.
I sent our new girl, Lyla,
to the Le Chabanais
to learn some of the new tricks.
What kinda tricks?
I'm told the ones
that make your toes curl so hard,
your boots won't fit.
Strong guarantee?
I'll tell you what.
Go on.
Lyla'll be back presently.
Why don't you let me
set you and your friends up
with our finest rye while you wait?
Then,
if after Lyla's finished,
you find my words to be false...
I'll see to your satisfaction
personally.
Sorry, stranger.
I guess you're gonna have to wait,
after all.
Hope you'll accept this drink
as recompense.
That's on me.
That's mighty kind of you.
Well. [Chuckling]
- I just...
- [chuckling]
[Hughie] We're gonna stay.
[clears throat]
Lowly creature, indeed.
What kind of man
would raise a snake like that?
- [steam brakes hissing]
- [bell clanging]
- [indistinct chatter]
- [steam hissing]
Excuse me. Mr. Anderson.
Mr. Anderson, sir.
You're the new boy
they hired for the drive?
Yes, sir. Mr. Bailey sent me ahead.
- Did he?
- Yes, sir.
He wanted me to make sure Mr. Anderson...
the other Mr. Anderson knew
that Mr. Anderson was coming.
Meaning you, Mr. Anderson.
Call me Big Hugh.
I came to find the other Mr. Anderson.
Don't keep the pot boilin', boy.
Hughie Jr.'s in jail, sir.
He's goin' in front of the judge
this morning.
He's only been here a couple of days.
I don't know.
All right, you go into town,
you find Judge Clarence Potts.
You tell him Big Hugh insists.
Then you get your ass
back on out to the ranch
so you'll be there when Billy gets there.
Billy, sir?
Mr. Bailey.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
[people chattering]
[door closes]
Sorry for my lateness. Sit. Sit.
Well, Sheriff McCluskie, what's first?
Judge Potts, we had an incident...
This that thing
from The Red Front Saloon last night?
- It is.
- And this is the girl in question?
[Mike] It is.
Did you see it happen, Sheriff?
- No, I did not.
- Well, then I'm certainly not
convicting this man
on the word of a whore.
Dismissed.
[gavel raps]
[Judge Potts] Mr. Anderson is free to go.
Kindly unshackle him, Sheriff.
- Judge Potts, I don't think you...
- Now!
Sheriff McCluskie. Now!
Please.
Is there anything else?
- [clamoring]
- No!
I'm not hearing any land claims today.
I'm sorry.
All right. We're done here for today.
- Adjourned!
- [Mike] Judge Potts...
Judge Potts!
Clarence, please don't make me chase you.
What was that?
People already say we need to build our
own courthouse on this side of the tracks.
Maybe you should.
Clarence, we've known each other
a long time, and this isn't you.
You think I don't know
that your friends
are actively campaigning against me?
That's what this is about?
There's a reason why women can't vote.
You saw what he did to her.
Christ, Clarence,
this is only an election.
People just want a little change.
Elections are an ugly business, Mike.
Maybe that red-headed friend of yours
should've just stayed out of it.
I don't mean to be brash, ma'am, but...
did Mike know you were in love with him?
Couple of years or so
after his son died...
his wife got the cough.
He started hitting the bottle, hard.
We all noticed it.
Last time I saw her...
she was barely upright,
barely breathing.
When she looked at me...
I knew she knew.
People said it was her lungs
that finally took her...
but the lungs don't work
when the heart is broken.
I guess it was only the two of us
who ever really understood him.
I tried to talk to him
the night she passed.
But his eyes changed.
He went somewhere else.
Couple of drinks in,
one of my gins screamed from upstairs.
Some miner busted her up.
He put down his glass...
walked upstairs, real calm.
Let himself in.
Some men are born for violence.
Rough town...
needed a rough sheriff.
[chuckles]
[cattle lowing]
[hoofbeats]
[cattle lowing]
[whip cracks]
A day early?
Good weather.
How many we lose?
Count's currently seven short.
Seven?
- That what you boys got?
- Yes, sir.
Yep, yep.
How about you?
I was supposed to count?
[laughter]
Seven's not too bad.
No. No, sir, it ain't.
Funny thing,
we lost four of 'em two nights ago.
So, I did a little scoutin'
and I found 'em hunkered down in that bed
a few miles north of the butte.
Right where somebody left 'em.
[birds cawing]
So, the count is three?
Three.
[laughing]
Brand him,
string him up on the fence line.
Let him same as a warning.
Don't fuck with a Texan.
[Rosie] A new sheriff?
Potts can appoint anyone he wants.
He's commissioner and judge now.
How would that even work?
Please don't tell the girl
that this was not a grave injustice.
And as always,
damn life is completely fair.
Thank you.
Justice, justice, justice for all!
Justice, justice, justice for all!
[Heyoke Joe continues chanting, faint]
His name's Billy Bailey.
First, they take all our farms.
And now a new sheriff?
If nothing else, Red...
you're finally gonna get what you want.
[Tim] People just want a fair shake at it.
They want to keep what their fathers
and grandfathers were given.
- [crowd murmurs in agreement]
- I stood next to you in the war,
and I want you to know
that I stand with you now,
- beholden to no man...
- Whoa, whoa.
Hey, hey, Faro Fred.
[slurred speech] Sheriff?
- Are you all right?
- I'm all right.
I think it's time for you to go home.
I think it's time for you
to mind your own damn business.
Go sleep it off, Fred.
I'm going to the saloon.
And try to stay away
from the tables tonight.
Hey, boy.
What's your name?
[coughing]
James.
No.
It's Shadow.
'Cause you're gonna stick to me
and stay silent,
just like my shadow.
Am I in trouble?
Follow me.
Did I stutter?
Get your things.
[coughing]
Clarence, I really appreciate you
seeing him all the way home.
It's the least I could do, Mr. Anderson.
Ah, I appreciate that.
Hey, Tex, will you tell Billy
to come up to the house, please?
Yep, yep.
Clarence, could you wait
while I have a moment with my son?
Well, of course.
Thank you.
Come on with me. Over here.
Look at me.
How long you been in town?
It was that damn sheriff, Daddy.
[Big Hugh] Did I ask you that?
What I'm asking you is, who is that?
- Daddy...
- Is that the boy you hired for the drive?
If Billy hadn't been there,
he would've gotten away
with four head of my cattle.
You said you needed an extra hand,
and it was short notice.
So you hired a man you didn't trust
to herd my cattle?
No.
Take him out there
to the front fence line,
and hang that body up.
Can't Billy do that? [Grunts]
[Big Hugh] Billy is done
cleaning up your shit.
I want you to do it,
and I mean, do it on foot.
If I see you on horseback,
I will whip your ass. Now go on.
- Go on.
- [Hughie] Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
- Judge Potts.
- Yeah.
Let's have a drink, huh? On me.
Thank you, sir.
I appreciate that. I really do.
[desk drawer opens]
[desk drawer closes]
Rosie's been on me for as long
as I can remember to get a deputy.
You know how to use it?
Well, we'll work on that.
Sleep there.
And use the bath hall once a week.
But I'm a lunger.
Well, if I can sleep over Joe's snoring,
I can sleep over your coughing.
I can't take your bed.
I'll make do.
Rosie said you ran right at him.
Who?
Anderson.
Didn't do so good.
[stifled coughing]
Yeah,
this election has everything shaken up.
People are anxious.
So, from now, keep your mouth shut,
pay attention to everything I do.
Yeah, we'll work on that too.
He wants what?
Well,
he wants to have a meetin'
in the dance hall
to establish parameters
with the new county sheriff.
"Establish parameters"?
- He really said it?
- [chuckling] Yes, sir.
[laughing]
What's it gonna cost us
to tin up this hero?
Mike McCluskie doesn't work that way.
There wouldn't be
any parameters to establish
if he just understood
who the law's working for.
You see any harm in it?
Oh, I'd kinda like to meet
this Sheriff McCluskie.
You better, uh, deputize Otis and Tex.
You know what, put a badge on Hughie, too.
Let's see what he does.
My boy, the lawman, huh? [Laughing]
[Judge Potts laughing]
There's a war coming to Hyde Park,
Clarence.
We all feel it.
It's this Tim Johnston fella.
Union sergeant.
He worked both the railroad
and the cow towns.
People seem to like him.
Let me tend to Tim Johnston.
You just focus on those land claims.
Let me ask you something.
Do you enjoy being judge and commissioner,
Clarence?
Yes, of course.
How would you feel about
being governor someday?
Governor?
I think I'd like that.
[laughing]
You know, when I had this place built,
I had a vision of looking out
and seeing the land, my land,
reaching out for the horizon.
Now the law is telling me that
it ain't really all my land yet,
is it, Clarence?
Well, a lot of these land claims
can be invalidated on
legal error,
but the ones that have been held
through third and fourth generation
might be a bit harder.
Well,
I guess we'd just better make sure
you win that election.
Well, we can't just
buy the votes this time.
There's more than one way to geld a horse.
[laughing]
[Judge Potts] Yeah, all right.
[panting]
[grunts]
[panting]
[sobbing]
[screams]
[Billy] Damn, boy.
Perk up.
Your daddy went and made me
Harvey County Sheriff.
- [clearing sinuses]
- He made you a deputy.
[Heyoke Joe singing in Lakota]
- Rosie know you're an unfaithful cad?
- [chuckling]
The dance hall closes at ten,
and then Ideal for Rosie.
Bets, gentlemen. Bets.
Sounds like the best of both worlds.
Like the cards tell us.
The best of both worlds can be
a push.
Push, gentlemen.
No bets lost and no bets paid.
[singing in Lakota]
Dance on the inside, dumb shit.
Indeed, which is why I dance outside.
[resumes singing]
What's wrong with you?
[mocking] "What's wrong with you?"
He's full as a tick.
[continues singing]
You ain't look like much.
These your deputies?
I'll take mine.
[coughing]
Quit breathing my air, lunger.
You smell like shit,
and I live in an alley.
All right, all right.
I just wanted to make sure
we understood each other before...
Nothing to understand.
You worry about yours,
and we'll worry about ours.
What does that even mean?
Keep your filth
and whores on their side of the tracks.
[Billy] 'Bout sums it up.
Yep, yep.
[sighs]
The dance hall's on the Newton side.
Well, ain't that just a pickled okra?
Even the "filth" get gussied up
to come here.
Can we call it neutral ground?
Fine.
But only the dance hall.
Everybody feel like they got
their understandings all figured?
Good.
Time to go to work, boys.
[Billy] You need
to get back on that train.
You ain't welcome
on this side of the tracks.
[Hughie] Hotter than a whorehouse
in there.
We always come out from both sides.
It'd take forever if we didn't.
- Hey!
- [grunts]
Get off me. Get off.
That's enough.
Don't.
- I said, don't.
- [gun cocking]
Get up.
Now your rules will be respected, Sheriff.
You're a new sheriff.
This is a new rule.
So how 'bout you let these men
have a couple of days to learn it?
Fine.
But you all hear this.
There ain't no couple of days shit.
You spread the word tonight.
Stay on your side of the tracks.
[Mike] Thank you.
Get him to the infirmary.
[grunting]
This ain't over.
Soon.
[scraping]
[coughing]
You all right?
[softly] Yeah.
[stifled coughing]
Come on.
[Tim] So that's it then?
They're just going to sit out there
all day and night
and shoot anyone who comes across?
So we're like cattle, then?
Hell, we're worse than cattle.
Cattle don't get shot when they stray.
I know you're mad.
I'm mad, too.
Which is exactly why we all need
to ease up on the reins.
And Potts can just appoint
another sheriff?
- [men murmuring]
- No.
By law...
yes.
Well, I don't know about you,
but I am sick of living by their laws.
We all just need to hold out a couple more
days to get through this election.
They'll learn...
won't they, Tex?
You don't mess with a Texan.
Yep, yep.
[Heyoke Joe] Texas.
So much land and yet such a small place.
Lay down, boy.
It's that ol' coot playing with you.
Well, I'm sick of people thinking
I'm someone to play with.
[Heyoke Joe] Play is for children...
- but some men act like children.
- [stifled laugh]
[laughter]
I'm loaded for bears. It ain't funny.
[Tex, laughing] Yep, yep.
I'm not the one hiding in the dark.
Come out so we can see you.
[Heyoke Joe] Hiding?
The darkness is where we are truly seen.
He got you there, boy.
[singing in Lakota]
Yep, yep.
I am done... with this backwards shit.
You get back over there.
Living backwards can be exhausting.
You must be very tired.
What's that again?
From constantly pretending
you're not a coward.
[gunshot]
Can I buy you a drink?
Thank you, but no.
Still sober?
Well, some days are easier than others.
Can I ask you something?
It depends.
Why didn't you leave when May passed?
I guess I never had anywhere else to go.
I want you to stop punishing yourself.
Tim, please.
You don't owe this town
a goddamn thing, Mike.
Get a little ranch and start over.
Can you really see me farming?
Shit, you can barely ride a horse.
Cherie?
Are you all right?
[Tim] Cherie?
They shot Joe.
What?
Heyoke Joe.
Down by the tracks.
They shot him.
Folks are saying he's dead.
Who shot him?
- You know damn well who.
- Tim, let me handle this.
How much more, Mike, huh?
How much more "law"
are we gonna have to stomach?
- Yeah.
- 'Cause I, for one, am sick of their law.
It lets them take our land,
let them shoot us down in the street?
[men] No.
[Tim] They can have their law.
- I say it's time for some justice!
- [men clamoring]
Come on. Let's get 'em.
[Billy] Put some meat into it.
[men clamoring]
[Hughie] Looks like they're coming.
[Billy] Tex?
[Tex] Yep, yep.
[man in crowd] Let's get those guys.
[man 2] Justice for Joe!
Come on!
Took you long enough.
Which one of you cowards killed Joe?
- I shot him.
- [men yelling]
I told him not to come over here.
Then it's you we want.
[men] Yeah!
The other two men can step aside,
if you so choose.
We do not so choose.
[Mike] Wait! Wait!
This is exactly what he wants.
Good! 'Cause he's gonna get it.
Tim, listen.
He's looking for an excuse to kill you.
He's just gonna have to kill me, then.
I'm not hard to find.
Look at these people!
If he kills you in a fight
or for breaking the new sheriff's law,
then even if it's bullshit,
it's still legal.
And that's Anderson's son.
If you kill him, there'll be an army
of Pinkertons here within the week.
And either way, you end up dead.
So do most of these men.
Tim...
please.
I'll tend to the body.
[softly] All right.
Only three of you?
Number four somewhere
out there with that Henry?
The night is young.
We may yet find out.
[hawks, spits]
[wheezing and coughing]
I put some honey under your cot.
Eat a little.
[coughing]
Thanks.
My boy had the same cough.
My wife said the honey helped him sleep.
What was his name?
Paul.
Sounds like he would've made
a good sheriff too.
[chuckles]
Nah, just...
Joe...
and that whole Heyoke thing.
I can't believe they shot him.
[Rosie] These are gonna heal up
real nicely, I think.
Please don't put me out.
What?
I'll do other things.
I'll clean.
I'll learn to cook.
I'm not gonna put you out.
Why would you think such thoughts?
I ain't worth nothin'.
I ain't pretty no more.
Our young friend would disagree.
[Hughie] What happened here?
I'm serious now.
What happened?
It's like somebody died in here.
Run.
Of all the nerve.
I'm here for the witch-whore.
- And this...
- [tapping]
Says I can have her.
You are not welcome here.
No shotgun this time.
Well, that's good.
Because it occurred to me...
that the witch-whore
might be... you.
[laughing]
[people gasping]
[grunts]
- That's enough, James.
- [James panting]
Watch my back.
No, no, no.
I think this belongs to her now.
My daddy gave me that knife. So...
You're gonna stay right there
for the time being.
Get a rope.
Nobody's gonna do any such thing.
He killed Joe.
So he'll go in front of the judge for it.
Potts?
You know he won't do
a damn thing about it.
Well, then we'll make him do it
in a public court
right before election day.
Now...
I'm beginning to think that
Big Hugh wants us to kill you, boy.
You don't know a goddamn thing
about my daddy.
Well, I know his grown son
still calls him Daddy.
[crowd laughing]
- Get up, come on.
- [Billy] Turn loose of him!
Draw slow.
Just get your gun out.
Well...
There's that Henry.
I said turn him loose.
Now.
No.
So this is it, then?
I want a challenge.
A what?
Thought you were a Texan.
I want the lawman's challenge.
I never heard of the lawman's challenge.
Well,
when two lawmen
have an unresolvable dispute...
they face off.
Oh, sure,
you sucker me out into the street
to draw against you.
You think I'm that dumb?
No.
That's not how real lawmen do it.
No weapons.
I win,
I keep him
and you and your men go
and don't come back.
And when I win?
You never see me.
Or my deputy again.
Come on, big man.
You're the one that said
I don't look like much.
All right, Sheriff.
I'll dance.
Keep an eye on them.
You couldn't just shoot the idiot kid,
could you?
[panting]
[screams]
[screams]
You son of a bitch.
[grunts]
Hey, hey.
Come on back now.
We're done.
Sheriff, I gotta tell you something.
[gun cocks]
[horse neighing]
Take your provisions and make haste.
Head north.
I ain't running.
I'll meet 'em tonight.
The dance hall is neutral ground.
Hopefully they'll honor that.
And if not?
Well, if not, whatever comes,
Violet'll be in the middle of it.
What about Rosie?
I want you to deliver this
to the name I've written on the back.
- I don't understand.
- Promise me you'll do it.
I told you, I ain't runnin'.
I said, promise me.
You told me to stick to you
like your shadow, right?
Yep, it's what I said.
Well, I ain't never heard of a man
sending his shadow away before.
Have you?
It's not safe.
Please.
Let me help.
All right. Here.
I want you to cross draw.
No, no.
Take your time.
Again.
Now, don't let the head rush
what the hand can't.
Be in the moment.
Slow down.
Breathe.
- And pull.
- [gun cocks]
Son of a bitch.
You dumb fuck.
[Hughie] Please, stop.
I always thought it would be you.
I thought they'd kill you!
And then I could be like the governor,
and maybe be like an avenging angel
and come here and take whatever I wanted.
But no, not you!
And you turn around and get Billy killed!
Billy!
You son of a...
Daddy, stop. Please. [Sobbing]
Don't you look at me!
[mocking] Daddy! Daddy!
Don't you...
[whimpering]
Don't you cry!
Son of a bitch!
[panting]
You'll make up for it.
He killed a Texan!
You kill him!
Or I never want to see you again.
If I do,
I'll kill you. [Breathing heavily]
[thunder rumbling]
[Rosie] There's no such thing
as a lawman's challenge, is there?
Always like to play to the gallery.
[James coughing]
How's he doing?
Well, it's just like you said.
He runs right toward danger.
That's not what I meant.
Yeah, I'd say, less than a year.
I'm thinking of keeping
Joe's chair empty tonight.
I could put a glass in front to honor him.
Or maybe I just need to let
someone sleep there.
[both chuckle]
And Joe was Union cavalry.
He told me once a person learns to sleep
sitting on a horse,
he can sleep anywhere.
Cavalry? I never knew.
Well, he was.
And he found a Lakota wife.
Tribal family, two boys.
Said they loved to trap rabbits.
[chuckles]
And he was out hunting one day
and the cavalry came by.
All they saw were two boys.
Two little Indian boys.
No.
And when he came home,
the boys were burned and strung up.
And what was left of her...
Well, they called it Manifest Destiny.
Oh, my God.
I never understood
that whole Heyoke thing.
Hell, I don't think Joe did either.
He said it was some Indian clown
that did everything backwards.
These men like Anderson, they...
they take what they want
and good people suffer.
Maybe we're the ones
doing things backwards.
[thunder rumbling, faint]
[no audible dialogue]
[no audible dialogue]
[gunshots continue]
- [horse neighing]
- [thunder rumbling]
James...
be safe.
Where's the witch-whore?
Sheriff?
Yeah, count me in, Happy Jim.
Hey, Jim...
if they move, you let me know.
- [woman screams]
- [gunshot]
- [glass breaks]
- [gunshots, people yelling]
All right.
Let's get this game started, Happy Jim.
There's money to be made right there.
Oh, shit, sorry, Sheriff,
- I got you all wet.
- [Mike] It's fine.
It's fine. I said it's fine.
All right,
don't get your testes in an uproar.
Just deal.
[Happy Jim] Cut, sir.
[coughing]
[coughing]
[sobbing] No.
- [footsteps approach]
- [clatter]
The dance hall!
You never know what the cards will show,
gentlemen.
But they'll always have
something to teach us.
- [glass slams on counter]
- [Hughie] Whoo!
- [grunts]
- [laughter]
[coughing]
Get to Mike...
now!
- [groans]
- [people screaming]
[woman] Oh, my God. No!
You're a cowardly son of a bitch.
I'm gonna blow the top of your head off.
[labored breathing]
- Got him!
- [cheering]
[Hughie] I got him!
Tex?
Tex?
- Yep, yep.
- You get him?
[screaming]
[stifled coughing]
[Billy] Tex?
Tex?
Tex?
Tex?
[bottle shatters]
[gasping]
- [gunshot]
- [body thuds]
[gunshot]
[Rosie] And after all the smoke cleared...
the shadow just... disappeared.
Gut shot
and still alive two years later?
[Rosie] It's hard to kill a snake.
His daddy snuck him back to Texas,
as soon as he was healthy enough.
Which didn't seem to matter.
Not long after, Tim Johnston
just happened to get killed
in a train accident.
And then Clarence invalidated
the rest of the land claims.
[Hughie] Uh-oh. [Chuckling]
My date. [Laughs]
[Rosie] Mr. Anderson...
you seem to have worked up
quite an appetite.
How 'bout another steak on me?
Mm-mmm.
My date's here.
[laughing]
So...
[man coughing]
You must always watch the cards,
my lady friend.
No matter how much you're winning,
the cards will always get even...
if you let them.
[coughing]
It's time for you
to stop breathing my air.
James.
Red.
Guns or knives?
[Hughie] What's that?
Guns...
or knives?
Hmm.
[laughing]
Why not a bit of both?
Flinch, I dare you.
I think you boys are gonna stay
right here.
I'll keep an eye on 'em.
Thank you, stranger.
Go ahead and sit down.
[wolves howling in distance]
[screams]
[grunting]
[knife stabbing]
[coughing]
[groans]
I suppose you boys can leave now.
I know you didn't just ignore that lady
in her own place.
I never did catch your name, stranger.
My friends call me Mack...
but my name's Arthur.
Arthur McCluskie.
McCluskie?
I can damn sure see what he saw in you.
Who?
My brother.
I guess I knew only partial.
Fact is...
I hadn't seen him for years.
Pockets would float back to me
from time to time, but...
You know, Mike,
he was just always so damn...
distant.
But if you can find solace in this...
I can tell you one thing.
He damn sure liked him a redhead.
Well, Mack...
I do believe the next story
is definitely yours.