**
Find 'em?
There's some tracks at the far end of the valley.
Open ground, and it tails into a fork,
so there's no telling which way the main herd went.
Maybe they went up higher in the timber.
Too early for that.
Most likely, they followed some game trails
and ate their way up toward White Wing.
Trampas, you stay here and keep the bees gathered.
Steve and I will circle and see if we can cut their track.
You make good coffee.
Yeah, I do.
You didn't used to. What happened?
That new girl in town, Virginian.
She's very nimble with chicory. She showed me.
Nimble with chicory, huh?
Heh heh.
She hum while she pours?
Heh heh.
How do you know?
Let's go.
**
What where you're goin' next time!
Whew!
Tracks. I'd say the main herd's right over the next rise.
**
This country kind of takes your breath, don't it?
You been up here before?
Not this far.
Then you never seen White Wing.
I never knew anything like this was up here.
Judge built it years ago.
Never finished it.
Why?
A woman.
She came from a place called White Wing.
That's why the Judge gave it that name.
What was she to the Judge?
I don't know.
The Judge don't welcome questions about it.
The man builds a home for a woman,
he's gotta think on things like love, marriage..
a life together.
It never got done.
The most I know is, the woman died.
Judge grieved.
He used to come up here,
spend some time here, lookin' at this house that never got built.
Finally, he quit comin'.
You think you know all there is to know about a person,
and somethin' like this comes up.
You find out what's important about him you never knew at all.
Guess you're right.
Think someone was here.
Still are.
You belong to those cows on the side of the rise?
That's right.
I figure you work with Judge Garth.
I'm his foreman. Who are you?
Dawson. Frank Dawson.
Name mean anything to you?
Should it?
I don't know. Maybe not.
You ride in from the north?
We rode in, mister. That's all you need to know.
Afraid you're wrong about that, Dawson.
You're on-- White Wing?
Is that what they call it?
What do you know about this place?
I've heard about it.
How's the Judge? Why?
Because I'm a polite man. I'm asking about an old friend.
Ah, no, that's not exactly right.
Not a friend. Someone I knew once.
And "how's the Judge" is a stupid question anyhow...
why, with him owning half the state of Wyoming, nearly...
and most of what's in it.
Judge has done pretty good, better than most.
And you know what? I couldn't be happier for him.
You plannin' on stayin' out the day here,
or ridin' on?
I'll tell you what.
I had it in mind to ride into the Judge's place,
but now that I've run into his foreman,
he can do a piece of work.
Tell him from me--
Tell him I want to see him here.
Just tell him this, mister.
Say Frank Dawson is waiting for him at White Wing.
Like that.
And that'll do it, huh?
He'll come around?
Right. A-runnin'.
Say "Frank Dawson", say "White Wing",
then get out of the way.
Truly.
I'm afraid you made a mistake,
because I just don't happen to be a messenger.
If you want to pass a word, you do it yourself.
Because if you're meaning a threat,
I think Judge Garth would like to hear it direct.
And one more thing.
Say that on the day I ride out of here,
everything he's got-- all his land, all his ranches--
will taste like ashes in his mouth--bitter.
Say that.
**
Molly?
She's out. Oh, hello.
Had a bit of an accident here.
Yeah, Molly just stepped out.
Can I do anything for you?
I hope so. You keep a copy
of the back issues of the paper, don't you?
Naturally. Which issue?
I don't really remember.
It was three, four, or five weeks ago.
There was a news piece that the Judge read
and spoke some about.
I don't even remember the name of the man who seemed interested.
What was the story about?
Well, I'll know it when I see it.
Well...good luck to you.
**
You know what this here is?
Sure, a bunch of fire laddies
blowing their brains out on brass instruments.
No, no, no. It's more than that.
Show me where.
This here--
this here's an occasion.
Isn't it?
This here's an occasion.
You see?
It scares me to think that a grown man
finds his pleasure in brass bands.
Save it! Save the applause!
He'll be here in a minute!
Well! Things go well while I was away?
We managed somehow, Judge. Where's the senator?
Oh, he's all tangled in a string tie.
Now that he's U.S. senator,
he says he'll learn to tie one, by crikey, without any help.
How's Betsy?
Seems she managed best of all.
Which is not to say she didn't miss you, Judge, 'cause she did.
Well, that's an intelligent child.
This is for her. Yes, sir.
Did you make a good deal on the cows?
Oh, not cows! High-bred beauties!
And a perfect bull in the boxcar.
Blue ribbon, prize every ounce.
Might that be the senator?
This here senator happens to be the first--
the very first senator from the state of Wyoming.
You're gonna stand right up there alongside him.
My, my, this is a glorious day for the history of Wyoming.
Empire-builder like you, politician like him.
Could be you got some ambitions I don't know about, Judge?
Uh...take care of the cattle. All right.
Tell Betsy I'll be home as soon as I finish with the senator.
Ladies and gentlemen--
Ladies and gentlemen!
It gives me great pleasure now
to present to you the very first senator
from the great state of Wyoming!
Thank you!
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you.
As your very first senator...
from this great and glorious...
and mighty state of Wyoming...
Hey, boss?
Did you tell him? What'd he say?
Tell him what?
About White Wing, that fella Dawson.
No, I didn't. And I'm not going to,
and neither are you. Just keep quiet about it for now.
Look at 'em.
Just look at 'em.
A grown man.
Someday you gotta explain things about him to me.
Will you do that?
Look at 'em, Trampas.
They're as pretty as if they were carved in butter.
Will you do that someday?
Come on, Stevie.
Howdy, brother.
Oh, Mr. Biggs. Mr. Biggs...
I'd be obliged if you'd sign this little ledger
so we can unload these animals.
It'll have to wait.
We got some prime stock here,
and Trampas' brother is in that car back there.
I think we'd better unload 'em before everybody gets restless.
This here's where they're gonna stay
until the senator's speech is over.
Well, you could pull the link pin
and then move us onto a siding up track.
I could get fired, too.
Who'd do a thing like that to you?
The Citizens Improvement Committee, that's who.
Might that be Judge Garth?
That'd be Judge Garth.
You pay mind, now. Ain't one cow to be unloaded
till the senator's speech is finished.
All them cows cooped up for so long--
just seems a shame, huh? Uh-huh.
Why'd the Judge lay down an order like that?
Could be he's got a mind to run for governor.
By not unloading his cows?
Wyoming being a state and all,
and the senator to it makin' a speech--
it ain't seemly to run cows right through the middle of it.
A man could never get to be governor doin' a thing like that.
I guess the senator's still talkin'.
The way senators do.
Tell you what--
Steve, you go get some unloading planks.
You heard what Mr. Biggs said about--
I heard. You do it.
All right. There you go.
Come on, Trampas. Give me a hand.
Hey, but you did hear what Mr. Biggs said.
I heard him, I heard him.
He said there wasn't one cow to be unloaded
while the senator's speech was goin' on.
He didn't say nothin' about a bull.
No, sir, he didn't. Whoa, son.
And it is with pleasure that--
And it is with pleasure that I know...
what vast strides have been taken
in recent years
in your beautiful city of Medicine Bow...
that is a citadel
of law and order...
and peace and quiet!
That is--That is called...
Judge, I'll just never know
how that bull got out of his car all by himself.
Trampas is, uh, trying to get him...
back.
All right, get 'em out of here.
You heard the Judge, boys. Let's move 'em.
We'll get 'em out of here on tiptoes, Judge. I promise you that.
**
Hyah!
Giddyap!
( whooping and whistling continues )
**
Have you seen him yet?
He'll be here, Miss Betsy, any minute now.
Come on!
Whoa. Whoa. Hi.
Miss Betsy, you're beginning to ride real pretty.
Oh, it was the Virginian who taught me.
TRAMPAS: It was the Virginian who--
The only thing the Virginian taught you was,
there was a four-legged animal named "horse".
It was me that taught you how to ride pretty.
And it was me that had to unlearn her
everything ignorant that you taught her.
Oh, it was all of you.
Do you think so? Do you really think I ride pretty?
Like you were born to it.
Thank you. When will Daddy be here?
Presently.
What's that?
This is known as a ribbon-tied package.
It's mine!
Oh, come on! Give it to me.
Daddy gave it to you for me.
Oh, your Daddy's a very busy man.
When would he have time to buy you a present?
He's got things on his mind
like pure-bred cows and senators.
Please.
You just said the magic word,
and ladies get presents.
Boots.
Oh, aren't they gorgeous?
Look, Trampas. Aren't they gorgeous?
Gorgeous.
They are.
Oh, they are!
You two get on back with the herd.
I want to talk to Betsy.
Well, seein' as your Daddy's not here,
it appears to me you're boss.
Now, what would be your pleasure, ma'am?
I was just gonna say that, Miss Betsy.
Seems he said it for me.
My pleasure?
Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.
As boss?
Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.
Um, you two get on back to the herd.
Me and the Virginian have some talking to do.
Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.
Betsy...
there's a place called White Wing.
Do you know anything about that place?
I know something about it, not much.
There's a house there. Not a whole house.
It's something that was never finished.
Do you know anything about it?
Well, once Daddy started telling me about it.
It was on the night of my last birthday.
Then, right in the middle of it, he stopped.
I asked him to take me there,
and he said he didn't want to talk about it anymore.
And then he said something else--
not to talk about what he told me.
Grown man like me ought to know better
than to ask a child something she shouldn't tell.
I'm not a child.
But why'd you ask about White Wing?
It's, uh, something I'm gonna talk to your Daddy about
when he gets back to Shiloh, that's all.
Come on, Betsy. I'll race you.
**
Dog turnin' wild.
Frank?
You figure he'll come?
He'll come.
Jesse and me, we figure he'd better soon...
or else we'll have to go after him.
That so, Jesse?
That's so.
I said it before-- you're no part of it.
Ain't that a sorrowful thing to say to us, Jesse?
After Frank here, and you and me...
We was real close, Frank.
How long? Eight, nine years?
Sharin' the same slops and the same chains, the three of us.
If that don't make us a part of it, Frank,
I swear I don't know what does.
Seems to me that there ain't nothin'
gonna bring a man closer to another
than runnin' fugitive with him.
Why, it's like a blood tie.
I figure the hurt that Frank's got in him
ought to be worth a lot.
What's the grinnin'?
All this soft talk
comin' from a man like you.
In jail, the way you talked about him,
the way you said the Judge was the richest man
that ever happened.
Wouldn't mean we're poor.
Poor but brainy, Jesse.
We're gonna stick close to you, Frank.
**
* Ten thousand cattle gone astray *
* Left my range and traveled away *
* The son of a gun, I'm here to stay *
* Have left me dead broke, dead broke today... *
Soft as a lady's glove.
Now, why'd you go say a thing like that for?
Just tellin' you.
Here I am sittin' here, my mind in my cards,
and you gotta bring up things like gloves and ladies.
It's enough to shake a man down to his bones.
Saturday night like a-- like a year away.
You know something, Trampas?
A man like you ought to have a saddle built for two.
Uh-huh. Get 'em comfortable while they're joggin'
and they fall asleep on you.
Ain't you ever gonna settle down
with just one woman, Trampas?
Oh, I tried that once.
Little gal down in Casper.
It was serious. Gonna get married.
She went around tellin' everybody.
Everybody but her husband.
You know, I came that close to gettin' shot with a scattergun.
It taught me a lesson, though.
Always check the brand.
Make sure you're not drivin' another man's stock.
You did a good job, Eddie.
Thank you.
You know, I can't play this game.
Hey, Judge. Hi, Judge.
Evening. Virginian here?
Right here, Judge.
I want to talk to you. Yes, sir.
Sorry if I fouled anything up for you this afternoon, Judge,
but high-bred stock like you brought home
get restless all cooped up...
start bawlin'.
Yeah, when you plant a bull in front of 'em.
What'd you expect 'em to do, curtsey?
Sorry. Sorry if I spoiled your plans for the governorship.
Who wants to be governor?
The way you were milkin' honey on that senator, I don't know.
I sent that senator home.
Fed him some Wyoming wine at the hotel,
planted some ideas in his ear
for the good of the state, and sent him home.
And that's as much political ambition as I'll ever have...
for a while.
And that's just as long as I'll be workin' for you.
Betsy tells me you spoke about White Wing.
Yes.
We were trailin' herd nearby
and rode down to it.
There was a man there.
His name was Frank Dawson.
Frank--
Did you talk to him?
Yes.
Why didn't you tell me?
I was going to, in the morning.
I didn't want to spoil your homecoming.
What did he say?
That he was there.
He wanted you to come to him.
Something else he said.
When he rode out of here,
everything you owned would turn bitter.
Can I ask you why he said that?
You know...
how it is with you and Steve and Trampas?
I don't think I understand you, Judge.
Well, the three of you are friends.
More than that.
Most times we are.
Like three forks from a mother stream.
Like it was the same blood
flowin' through you.
That's how it was with me,
Frank Dawson, and Ben.
Ben Church.
He's a long time dead.
There's nothing--
not a thing you need to tell me, Judge.
I've got no right to it.
It needs tellin'.
Dawson waiting for me at White Wing.
Needs tellin'.
The three of us-- Frank, Ben and me--
were ridin' with a wagon train out of Ohio
to Wyoming.
Had a woman there.
A woman you'd dream.
A woman--
The reason we were going to Wyoming--
we each had a section. Government grant land.
Build a home, settle.
End to drifting.
Could be what'll happen to you
and Steve and Trampas someday.
We don't think about it.
You will.
well...you were havin' me with my mouth open
about that wagon train in Wyoming...
and that girl.
She was called Annie.
Annie.
The wagon train was to go through Illinois,
south into Missouri,
and pick up some folks at the Santa Fe Trail,
and take the Cheyenne Trail north to Wyoming.
It was easy, many times driven,
and safe.
Then Ben had an idea--
a shorter route...
that he'd heard of or maybe read somewhere.
North to Colorado,
through it,
and into Wyoming.
And we all thought it was a fine idea.
There was adventure to it.
Cut away from the boredom and the rules of the wagon train.
There was another reason.
Annie was carryin' a child.
So, we cut away from the train,
rode into Colorado, headed for a pueblo...
and got lost.
'Cause Ben couldn't remember
what he maybe read or maybe heard of somewhere
about the short route...
to Wyoming. We were lost.
Desert wasteland,
some forgotten edge of--
of windswept world.
What happened was, Ben and Frank sickened.
Ben died.
Our horses died, all but one.
What was left was Frank--sick--
and me and Annie.
And the one horse,
and no water, no food.
Frank was real bad off.
He pleaded with me to take the horse,
and Annie to ride it, and move on,
look for some settlement or people or...
waterhole or...
life itself.
'Cause ours was driftin' away.
So I did it.
I swore I'd come back for Frank,
swore it on my life's blood.
So, we left him there, and...
I lifted Annie to the saddle and we moved on.
I don't know how many days,
but we found a camp.
They fed us and gave us water, and...
I went back for Frank.
He wasn't there.
Frank wasn't there.
I yelled his name,
rode for miles.
Yelled his name against that...
forsaken wind.
He wasn't there.
So, I rode away.
What happened to Annie?
We moved into Wyoming,
found a place.
You know which place.
White Wing?
Started to build her a home.
She bore the child.
A girl child.
Three months later...
Annie died.
Betsy is Annie's child.
I'll ride into White Wing.
You stay here and keep an eye on things.
Trampas can do that.
I'm goin' with you.
What's between Dawson and me needs only that--
me and him.
He's got two men with him.
You figure you're as good as two of them put together?
I'll bring your horse around, Judge.
You do that.
**
Someone's comin'.
Frank.
I'm, uh...
I'm glad to see you.
I came back to look for you, Frank.
Oh, I don't doubt you came back to look for me.
But when you found me gone, you let it end there.
I tried to find you, Frank.
Kept at it for years.
Went out myself, hired riders.
Combed the whole state.
I never stopped looking for you, Frank.
You never stopped looking.
You're a liar.
I remember about a month ago
the Judge readin' something in a paper
about an old friend of his that broke jail down in Texas.
That be you, mister?
I remember the Judge said at the time
he'd been lookin' for his friend for almost 15 years.
You didn't just forget about me, Garth,
after you found me gone?
Why would I do that?
Because you loved Annie.
We all loved her.
And with Ben dead,
and me gone or most likely dead,
Annie belonged to you-- what you always wanted.
And with what we had here--
what we all had here, the land--
you got rich and fat on our stake.
I looked for you, couldn't find you.
I swear to you, that's the way it was.
Yeah, sure.
You want to hear the way it was with me, Garth,
laying there, waiting for you?
You were almost lucky.
They say my tongue was so thick,
I'd have choked on it in an hour.
They--these people heading south--
they took me all the way to Texas,
tied up in ropes.
They had to. I was raving crazy, Garth,
my brain filled with that exploding sun.
They say that when I reached this Texas town,
I wandered around sick, pitied, laughed at.
Then I shot a man, and they put me in jail for 20 years.
He didn't die. I didn't kill him.
But they put me in a four-cell Texas jail
for 20 years.
I'm sorry.
After a while, my thinking got clearer,
and I thought that it couldn't have been very hard
for anybody to find me...
if they were lookin' for me.
Then I got to thinking about you
and waiting all that time.
Then I heard about you a few months back.
Heard about you being here, being a judge, a power,
being rich, all the things I should've been.
Then I got to thinking about getting out of that jail
and coming here and shooting you.
Then I could see that just killing you
wasn't much of a way.
I had to see you hurt the way I'd been hurt.
I thought foolish things, like burning you out.
Foolish because I forgot the kind of a man you are.
Burn you out, you'd start from the ground,
build right up again.
Then, thinking about it, it came to me what I was gonna do.
And here I am.
What do you want?
We both know what I want
and what I'm gonna get from you, and why.
But that can come later.
I heard about Annie dying. How long after was it?
Three months, four.
Did she ever mention my name?
Nothing.
Well...
I've said what I came here to say...for now.
Meantime, Judge,
I'm gonna let you sweat.
**
Anything I can do, Judge?
Things said here tonight best be kept between us.
I understand.
Something bothers me, though, Judge.
That story you told me about you and him and Annie.
It seems to me you left something out of it.
Something important.
Well, could you tell me this?
He's a man broke from jail,
and you're a man who believes in the law.
Why don't you have him found and taken back?
I can't.
You're gonna let him go like that?
One word from him and they'll bring a whole posse after us.
He won't say the word.
You're so sure? I know him.
I know him as well as I know myself.
I know what he'll do and what he won't do.
He'll see that we're safe.
You know, hatin' may be good for you,
but Wid and me are here to collect.
You will...
after I do what I came here for.
**
And a girl like that--
I want you to know what I'm telling you is the truth.
I don't doubt that, boy.
I like to hear you talk like that. Shows you're growin' up.
Scares me to think what a girl like that can do to a man like me.
Gettin' scared is part of it.
The fun'll come when you get a little more sure of yourself.
Heh. You know what I said to her?
Yeah. I do.
You do? Yo.
How do you know? She told me.
She--Miss-- She told you?
A couple of times.
Miss Becker? Yeah.
She showed me her way of making coffee.
She said you said-- Never mind.
Miss Betsy!
Yo!
**
Hyah!
Hyah! Come on!
Hyah!
What'd you reign up for?
Well, I just figured something.
It's them new boots she's wearing.
I remember once my daddy gave me a pair of new boots like that.
And just like that, I figured I was the fastest rider
in any territory you could name.
Heh heh. Ah, it was the boots that done it.
You catch up with her now,
she's gonna weep.
Weep?
**
Betsy!
Hello, Betsy. How are you?
Who are you?
My name is Dawson. Frank Dawson.
Well, how'd you know my name?
I knew the Judge had a girl named Betsy.
I guessed that's who you were.
I was riding into town.
But mostly I was looking for you. Why?
Well, that's a long story, Betsy,
and one you'll have to know sometime soon,
but not yet, not now.
Well, you know my father?
I knew your mother, too...
a long time ago.
You did? Really, Mr. Dawson?
Tell me about her.
I don't know too much. I was only four or five months old
when she died.
But was she beautiful?
I mean, very, very beautiful?
I just know she was.
Oh. I guess you can't answer anything if I don't slow down.
You look like her, Betsy,
just now, the way you smiled.
And the hair.
It always does that. I can't--
STEVE: Miss Betsy?
What are you doin' here, mister?
Steve, that's no way to talk to a stranger.
I think you ought to move along.
We'll talk again, Betsy.
Now, why'd you do that, Steve?
Why'd scare him off like that?
What did he say to you, Miss Betsy?
Just passin' the time of day.
What did he say?
Well, just said that he knew my name
and he knew my Daddy, that he used to know my mother.
Maybe he'd have had time to say something
if you hadn't been so discourteous to him.
What else did he say?
That he was going into town.
What else?
Nothing. Why is it so important?
I think we ought to get back to the house.
Come on, we'll race you.
No, I don't want to race.
STEVE: Those are the three from White Wing I told you about.
TRAMPAS: I guessed it.
Judge sure isn't gonna be happy about that.
No.
No, he ain't.
Come on.
And that's about all that happened, Judge.
He did tell Betsy they were runnin' into town.
But they took off as soon as we rode up.
Where's Betsy now?
She's around.
Tell her not to move far from the house.
Yes, sir.
You think that's what's on Dawson's mind?
What?
Betsy.
No.
I do.
I'm gonna tell it to you, Judge.
You're not fightin' back.
And the reason for it has to have Betsy in it.
It's the only way it makes a little sense,
what's happening between you and Dawson.
Him being an escaped man and your not doin' anything about it
is part of it.
But mostly it's the story you told me about you and him and Annie
out there in the desert.
What you did was right, Judge.
Now he comes back here and talks to you
in a way you wouldn't take from anybody.
Why?
It's got to have something to do with Betsy.
That's the only way he could hurt you.
Last night at White Wing,
as soon as he started talking about her,
I knew that was what he was after.
Does he have a right to her, Judge?
Yes, he has a right to her.
He's her father.
Annie was married to him.
What are you gonna do, Judge?
Keep talking to him.
As long as I'm in front of him, talking,
Betsy's still with me.
Somebody's got to tell me why.
I've been able to ride anywhere on the spread since I was born,
and now I have to stay on the place. Why?
Well, it's just the Judge thinks that it would, uh--
Well, why don't you ask him, Betsy?
I don't believe what he says.
I mean, that those two men just don't look right--
the men we saw with Mr. Dawson.
With all our own riders on the place, it doesn't make sense.
Do you think the Judge would lie to you?
No.
I don't either.
You leave now.
Why?
Wid, don't ever ask me that
about nothin' I tell you to do. Now leave.
Tired of beans and coffee.
Come to town for some decent food.
Well, you found me.
So... what's on your mind?
Frank, we're both older now.
We're supposed to be reasonable men.
Not me. I'm not gonna be reasonable at all.
We started out together-- you, me and Ben.
We each had a stake.
Yeah. And you ended up with all of them.
And you also got my wife.
I came here to talk to you.
You want to have done with it right here?
Because that's what it'll come to-- your or me.
Now, I owe you something, and I owe you a lot.
I started out with land that would've been yours.
And I'll pay you back in kind.
Everything I have, I'll divide it--
No. No, that's not what I came for.
Frank, you rode across my land today.
I had to get to town, Judge.
The only way you can get anywhere in this state.
You spoke to Betsy.
She's a beautiful child.
Looks like Annie.
And I'm gonna take her away from you.
You come near that child, and I'll kill you.
No, you won't, Judge.
I'm her father.
You made your mistake years ago
when you left me in that desert.
Slowly dying, I was.
You could've pinched my nose and finished it.
You should have.
Because sooner or later,
I'm gonna make myself known to Betsy.
She's my child,
and I'm gonna take her.
**
Count on it.
Where you been for four hours?
An hour in, an hour back.
Take you two hours to order feed?
Now, boss man, don't get all riled up till you hear.
I done you just about the biggest favor.
As a matter of fact, you could go so far as to compliment me.
You know that little blonde in the restaurant in town there?
I thought so.
Wasn't like that at all.
I just went in there for a cup of coffee.
Engaged in conversation, naturally.
You know, that little blonde's a mighty good observer.
You know what she observed in the dining room there?
Judge Garth himself and that fella Dawson.
Havin' a set-to.
Mighty serious, too, she said.
You know, that little blonde got the idea
that fella Dawson and his men
were the three escaped convicts you read about.
Well, now, boss man,
you know it took me about an hour and a half
to talk her out of goin' to see the sheriff.
You talked her out of it?
Yep, that I did.
I took some doin', but I did it.
So, uh, instead of you yellin' at me...
Mm
Well, now, maybe she won't tell the sheriff about Dawson.
What do you think she's gonna tell him about you?
**
She's a nice kid.
Well-made.
Confident, knows what she's doing.
You're right. Even though you might be sort of prejudiced--
you being her father.
He couldn't keep it to himself.
And you're that close to him?
He send you to me?
No, you might say I'm just an interested bystander.
What do you want from the Judge, Dawson?
He knows.
Put him through a hurt?
Well, you couldn't say I was right, could you,
to settle anything so important between the Judge and me
just by him paying me off?
And the girl, now. Don't you think
she ought to have her real father?
She'll never have you as a father.
The Judge will do anything before he loses her.
Yeah, that's the way he'll be thinking.
Something inside of him will be hanging on for the chance--
the one chance of finding an out.
His mind will be working, thinking, scheming,
how to get past me.
And I don't underestimate him.
He's a hard man. But there's one difference.
I've had the time to think it out,
and I've got the cards.
So, let him do his thinking...
lying awake, like he was last night--
sweating, staring at the ceiling.
People can go crazy trying to find an out that isn't there.
And I can sit around getting a look at my daughter...
while he goes crazy.
I like that.
Because you hate him?
That's right.
Yet you can run around here,
free, without any fear,
knowing the Judge won't call for help against you,
'cause you know the kind of man he is.
Knowing what kind of a man he is
doesn't keep me from hating him.
Only what you have isn't hate.
It's plain and rotten envy, my friend.
What happened was, you just drew a bad hand,
played it wrong, and came up loser.
And now you're trying to place the blame on somebody else.
Only you're not placing it on the Judge, Dawson, whatever you think.
You're putting it right on that girl down there.
That's the difference between you and the Judge.
All he's trying to do is protect Betsy.
She's got to keep believing the Judge is her father.
Because if she doesn't--
if she finds out you are--
it'll knock her down so bad, you'll be destroying her.
How can you be so sure? Did you ever have a child?
You know how a man and his kid can feel
when they're the same blood?
You can tell me how she'll feel
when she knows she's part of me?
Yeah, I can tell you.
Because if you try it,
you'll find out the Judge means everything to her
and you mean nothing.
It won't be the Judge you'll be breaking.
It'll be her, your own youngster.
Otherwise, if it would only be the Judge you'd be hurting,
don't you think you'd be run off?
**
Jesse. Yeah?
How long you figure he's gonna do that?
Do what?
Just sit there.
He's got things on his mind.
So do I.
You're a boy with a big itch, ain't you, Wid?
That's true.
And the why of it is, I've come too far
just to sit and stare at him.
Well, why don't you tell him that?
Frank?
Jesse and me have been thinkin'.
And what it comes to is...
running fugitive does something to a man.
Makes him restless.
Like what's happening to Jesse...and me, too.
You can cut out any time you want.
You ain't listenin', Frank.
Nobody's cuttin' out, least of all Jesse and me.
Least of all.
We were talkin' about being restless.
And when a man is restless, he's uneasy...
ornery.
And we don't want to be that way with you, Frank.
We don't, Frank. Truly, we don't.
Now, what's needed--
Wid's talkin' to you.
I think it's only proper you listen.
What's needed is for you to make your move.
In my own time.
You don't seem to understand, Frank.
You ain't got no time of your own.
2/3 of it belongs to Jesse and me.
What do we have to do to convince you of it?
Now, you said in a Texas jail
that Garth took what was rightfully yours.
If you hadn't said it, we wouldn't have helped you break out of it.
But you said.
And it seems to me the Judge sent it right back at you,
that he'd squared with you without a fight.
Ask me what I'd do about it, Frank?
Ask me and I'd tell you to--
I didn't ask, Wid.
I'd blink an eye,
and you're dead where you sit, Frank.
Don't you know that?
I ain't a stranger to hate...
or the way a man wants to see what he hates crawl
and dangle and whimper,
like you're doin' to Garth.
But I don't ever put that before money.
Nor does Jesse.
Not ever.
You want to know somethin', boys?
You're right.
I'm glad you see it, Frank.
**
I didn't mean to wake you.
I wasn't sleeping very hard.
Long ago-- do you remember?
I used to come to your room to look at you.
You used to pretend to be asleep.
I remember.
And just as I would get ready to leave,
you'd call me.
And I'd come back and...
tell you a story.
And then, one night, you didn't come hardly ever after that.
Why?
Oh, I suppose I...
just felt sure of you.
Felt sure nothing was going to happen to you.
Would you like to hear a story?
Yes. Yes, I would.
Well...
this is about a man and a woman.
An old man and old woman
who didn't have any children.
They lived somewhere far from here
in some wilderness, alone.
One day, the old man went off hunting.
And there, in a clearing in the woods,
he saw a pool of water he'd never seen before.
A clear, sparkling pool.
Well, it was a hot day, and he was thirsty,
so he knelt to it and drank.
When he'd finished...
he saw his reflection in the pool,
and he was amazed.
It was the reflection of a young man.
He had discovered the Fountain of Youth.
Well, he ran home.
His wife saw him. She was astonished.
And he told her what had happened, where the pool was,
and she went off right after it...
to drink of the water.
Well, he waited for her.
But she didn't return.
And he went after her.
When he came to the pool, he saw...
not a young woman...
but a small child.
His wife had drunk too much of the water.
His heart was broken.
But, although he'd lost someone he loved...
he loved the child, too.
Because she... was of this woman.
So, he knelt down...
picked up the child and carried her home,
cared for her,
protected her...
for as long as he lived.
It's a lovely story.
Daddy?
You're worried about something, aren't you?
Why do you say that?
Well, it's been a long time
since you did what you just did tonight.
You can tell me about it.
What is it?
Well...
just the way of the world, Betsy.
Suddenly you realize--
But it concerns me. I know it does.
Does it have anything to do with White Wing?
One day I'll tell you.
One day when it's... more over.
But then I wouldn't have helped.
Well, it isn't anything important. I can handle it.
You go to sleep now.
**
Go to sleep.
**
Look.
Where do you suppose he's goin'?
Better catch up our horses.
**
Judge?
That man's on my land. I'm gonna run him off.
And kill him if you have to?
If I have to.
No need to be in a hurry, Judge.
Look.
**
Stay here.
I was comin' to you, Frank.
With a gun?
I tried to reason with you.
There's nothing to reason about, Judge.
I came for my daughter.
You know what that means.
It means we're gonna have to tell her who I am.
What do you think that'll do to her?
Make her cry, I guess.
She's a grown girl, Judge. She's gonna have to know it sometime soon.
That desert sun is still in your brain.
If you're saying I'm doing this out of hate,
you're wrong, Judge.
What other reason could you have?
You can't love her.
She's my flesh and blood.
And Annie's.
You're a caretaker to her. I'm her father.
I love her...
in a way that you'll never know anything about.
You're an escaped convict, Frank.
The only kind of life you can have with that child is...
running.
Canada ain't very far to run.
I can start a whole new life there.
And I'm gonna get my daughter.
You're not gonna stop me, Judge.
You could have, soon as I came to White Wing.
Called the sheriff, had me taken away.
Why didn't you?
We were old friends.
I owed you something.
All right, then you tell her.
You tell her the kind of a man her daddy was
before he tried to walk across a desert with you.
Tell her the love I had for her mother.
Tell her what I've been through to get to her,
how long I waited for her.
Tell her she's my flesh and blood...
and we'll see whose hand she takes, Judge.
You'll do that because you owe it to me.
**
Get Betsy.
You seen Betsy?
No. No, I haven't.
You seen Betsy?
No. Why, what's the trouble?
Steve! You seen Betsy?
Yeah, about an hour ago, maybe less--riding.
Riding where? North!
Ridin' easy, Steve?
No, she was ridin' hard. Why?
Hey, Steve said she was ridin' north. Where you goin'?
Pick up the Judge and Dawson.
**
Horse, all right. Towards White Wing.
Two horsemen trailin' her.
Wid and Jesse.
Howdy.
Hello.
We were with Mr. Dawson the other day when you were talkin' to him.
Come for a look around?
Mm-hmm.
It's kind of spooky, ain't it?
No, I don't think so.
Neither do I.
This place feels lonely and beautiful
and quiet.
Quiet isn't spooky all the time.
No, it isn't.
Why'd you come here?
Well, we kind of live here...
while we're waiting for our friend to finish his business with your Daddy.
You know, I've been wondering about that.
About what, miss?
And I'll bet you can tell me, too--
what business your friend has here.
Cows or land or something.
No. No, it isn't that.
It's something about this place.
Well, they'll be worried about me.
I'd better be getting back.
You want to know?
You really want to know?
Oh, I could tell you things.
There's things I could tell you.
Tell me.
It's about things that shouldn't be told.
I know some. For instance?
That my Daddy started to build this place
and he never finished it.
What else?
That's all I know.
But we both know
it's a might important place to your Daddy, don't we?
Yes.
Your daddy ever mention that name Frank Dawson to you?
Who is he?
He's a friend of ours.
FRANK: Jesse!
That's close enough!
If you're lookin' for Betsy, she's here all right!
Wid! Yeah, Frank.
Whatever you got in mind, you'd better forget it.
Leave the child alone and ride out of here!
I can't do that, Frank.
We've come too far to go off empty-handed.
I figure this little girl here has got a worth.
And for the Judge, that ought to be a good amount.
I'll give you anything you want!
That's good, Judge. Let's talk about it.
You can't make a deal with him.
That's my daughter in there.
I'm gonna get her out unharmed.
You two wait here.
That's close enough!
Off it, Judge.
Now, drop your gun belt and come on in here.
Frank!
It's all right, it's all right, Betsy.
It's all over, honey.
No...it isn't.
Not over at all.
You all right, Betsy? Yes.
That's good, 'cause you had me terrible worried.
Why should you be worried about me?
All I could think when you were in there with them
is that you were so very young.
And what is due you is a long time to live.
Ain't no use for pain that'll happen to you to soon, Betsy.
Who are you?
A friend of your daddy's.
**
An old friend.