* MTV *
* dramatic music *
[Parker] I need a man with
a good gun and a straight spine.
You up for the task?
I wouldn't be sitting here
in my Sunday best if I wasn't.
[Parker] Well, let's make it official.
[Garrett] Billy Crow. Wanted in connection
with a stagecoach robbery.
I can help you with that, Deputy Reeves.
You Billy Crow?
I know where they hid the money they took from that stagecoach.
We might investigate this, Bass.
No.
I ain't asking.
You gonna shoot me?
No.
But they will.
[Billy] Thank you, Deputy.
Make it out of here, how do I get to do what you do?
[Bass] About that Billy Crow,
he not a bad soul.
Just confused.
* And when before the throne *
* I stand in Him complete *
* I'll lay my trophies down *
* All down at Jesus' feet *
* dark, suspenseful music *
* Jesus paid it all *
* All to Him I owe *
* Sin had left a crimson stain *
* He washed it white as snow *
***
[thunder rumbling]
No trouble here, ma'am.
But there you go, looking just like trouble.
That's a pretty fire- on-the-mountain you got there.
Pretty as I've seen.
Bet you wanted for killing.
No, ma'am. Nothing so bold.
Just introducing.
Introducing what?
-Whiskey. -Well, that ain't no sin.
Lord knows I say howdy three times a day myself.
[chuckles]
Don't see many friendly faces up this way.
Not looking to see any.
Ain't as friendly as I used to be, either.
No shame in taking care.
And I see you take plenty good care all on your own.
Those who are gracious to the poor lend to the Lord.
And the Lord will fully repay them.
You know God's works
and His Good Book, too?
Can't read a word.
Never learned to, but know it all by heart.
That your boys there?
Devil's own, more like it.
[sighs] Good Lord knows I tried, though.
Still can't harden my heart to 'em,
even when they break it.
Thought I spied a creek snaking by.
Yonder down bottom.
-Hog wallow, mostly. -Hmm.
Didn't see any razorbacks up this way.
Mm. 'Cause they so wily.
Little like those Indians.
You see any of them either, Mr. Joe Gamble?
No, ma'am.
There you go, then.
See to that crick and haul me back a bucket.
I might see to rustling us up something proper.
That'd be welcome.
* foreboding music *
[water rushing]
***
[Wylie] Who the hell are you?
I say again, who the hell?
Oh, stop all this wake snakes now.
I done told you, this here's Joseph.
Joe Gamble. He knows the Good Book
and done more chores today than either of you.
[Wylie] Yeah, well, he better know to toss
that blue lightning tucked in his belt.
And that, I won't say again.
[Bass] Not the first
-to draw on me today. -You want to bet I'm the last?
-[gun clicks] -[Darrell laughs]
-[Darrell] Come on. -[Wylie] Come on, Joe.
-[Darrell] Supper! [laughs] -[footsteps recede]
[door closes]
[Darrell laughing]
And then, see,
it ain't no tiny mule at all,
it's just that little Mexican feller Hidalgo.
[laughs]
Goddamn it, Darrell.
You cackle like a girl done up in her Sunday best.
You hurt my head with your silly caterwauling.
Don't be profane under this roof.
Might see about...
Might see about giving that silly head of yours
a right real hurting, huh?
You finally grow a pecker under them skirts?
[Dolliver] Now, now, we've got us a guest.
It can't be like this.
[Darrell and Wylie grunting]
-No. No. No. -[grunting]
[punching]
[both grunting]
-[panting] -[groans]
Now see what you done there, Wyles.
Now look what you gone and done. Aw.
Haul these fool boys of mine off to bed, will you, Joe?
Their bad ways done cost me one ear already
and a hundred sleepless nights.
Wonder he still even has a nose.
Get your rest. I got 'em now.
[Darrell grunts]
[Bass grunts]
* dark, haunting music *
***
[snoring]
***
[clinking]
[Wylie] Hey. [grunts]
-[Bass] Stop. -Hey.
Whoa.
What the hell?
[Darrell and Wylie muttering]
Aw, come on.
* soaring, triumphant music *
***
* While I draw this fleeting breath *
* When mine eyelids close in death *
* When I rise to worlds unknown *
* And behold Thee on Thy throne *
* Rock of Ages, cleft for me *
* Let me hide myself in Thee *
-[applause] -[Broom] Thank you, choir.
So honored to introduce Mr. Edwin Jones,
a brother and visionary
who's traveled far with hopes for our future.
[applause]
[Edwin] Thank you, Pastor Broom.
[congregation murmuring]
So good to be called on today.
-Amen. -Amen.
So good to stand
before all these fine families here,
reminding me of my own back in Chicago.
Celeste, my dear wife.
Little Henry and Helen, too.
You know, it's a hard road I walk
that takes me so far away from them.
[woman] Hallelujah.
-But one worth every step. -[applause]
I'm no pastor, but I do bring a good word.
-Praise God. -Amen. All right.
[Edwin] A promise.
But first I ask,
who here owns their land?
[low murmuring]
Don't be shy now.
Revel in what you have.
The Lord wishes you to prosper in all things,
-as your soul prospers. -[applause]
[man] Yes, He does.
That is my promise to you.
-[congregation] Amen. -A place where we all prosper.
Where we no longer borrow or beg from white folk.
-[man] No, sir. -Where only God
owns the sky above us.
[congregation] Amen.
And we all own the land below that.
-Yes, sir! Yes, sir. -[applause]
My dear friend here will show you of what I speak.
And if Pastor Broom raises no quarrel,
Esme will pass the plate, too,
since even Eden's trees sprouted from a tiny seed.
-[congregation assenting] -[applause]
[indistinct chatter]
Mama, can I run with Delcia down to the water?
For a spell.
But, young lady, church is no place for all that skin.
Oh, Lord.
Aren't we something now? [laughing]
[Esme and Jennie laugh]
Esme, please invite your friend for a visit.
If she can ever escape all those sweet embraces.
Your mama would tan your hide if she caught you.
-She'd likely whup us both. -[scoffs]
And then shoot you.
[laughs]
We don't have long.
Delcia's bad at secrets.
I tried my hand at one of them poems you're always on about.
You did, now?
-A whole poem? -Not so hard.
"How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth
and breadth and height my soul can reach,
when feeling out of sight." -[chuckles]
You didn't write that, Arthur Mayberry.
That's Miss Barrett Browning, a nice English lady.
[laughs]
Well, I could have written it,
if she hadn't gone and done it first.
Mm.
* slow, wistful music *
***
That's all love is, anyway.
Something feeling good and perfect for the first time,
just... all over again.
And again.
* dark, suspenseful music *
***
[Bass] Get these two locked up tight.
You done ruined my hat, Deputy.
Not much use for it soon enough.
We ride at first light.
[animal howls]
Good thing you rustle grub better than you wager, Tate.
I told you Bass would bring 'em back without a scratch.
Well, with not so many, anyways.
And at least no bullet holes. Bass takes pride in that.
[Ramsey] Least they get some kind of judgment.
Least they ain't just gonna up and disappear.
'Cause when you see old Mr. Sundown...
...you never see the sun come up again.
[Bass] That's enough.
Hmm.
Old Mr. Sundown.
Now, he was a slave catcher.
He sired some whelps on these three Kongo sisters
he brought back in chains.
Sickly, the whole lot.
So?
He cooked and ate 'em up.
It's said he roam the dark even now.
Finding fresh slaves.
Some say he building a plantation with skin and bone.
A dark, dark church,
full of hell's music.
* He ride by night *
-That's enough. -* Drawn fast *
* To the firelight *
* He ride by nigh... *
Enough.
Billy, read him a verse.
Leviticus 26:6.
"I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down
and none will make you afraid.
I will rid the land of evil beasts,
and the sword will not go through your land.
You will chase your enemies, and they shall 'fail'
by the sword before you."
Bass! [panting]
You okay?
Mm.
[clears throat]
Yes, love. Just a fright.
[exhales]
Nights get so quiet out here.
Quiet without Daddy.
[wind blowing]
-* tense, percussive music * -[both grunting]
[Tate] Get him, Bass, come on.
Get him!
Woo-hoo!
[shouting indistinctly]
Yeah!
[laughs]
[Bass and Ramsey grunting]
Bass.
Bass!
Come see what else he done.
[Tate] Goddamn.
Should've shut him up sooner, Bass.
You gonna tell me you locked him up tight like I told you?
Like I always tell you?
And you gonna tell me that your old Mr. Sundown did this thing?
[chuckles] Oh, no, Deputy.
I done it.
And you know it. [laughs]
I felt your beating heart, and you felt mine.
Can I kill this crazy old fool, Bass?
-[laughs] -He's a goddamn blight.
You ain't no law here.
This here's hell.
Until God say otherwise,
I'm the only law there is.
[grunts]
* sinister music *
***
* soft, atmospheric music *
***
[Bass] Good to see you safe, Minco.
Set to grab a few more for Parker
and then clear out before the cold set in.
It's already cold.
Long days?
Too long.
Ready to ride for home.
Got anything for me?
Day back,
saw a white man guiding two Paints and a palomino,
west to Checotah.
Small eyes, bigger mouth.
Silas Cobb.
Fancy hisself a horse trader.
Not even a white man's law against that.
It is when the...
horses you're fixing to trade are stolen.
[chuckles]
Need more rifles?
I need a week off this horse and my own bed.
Figure I sweet-talk Cobb into a pair of cuffs.
[laughs softly]
Don't talk long.
I saw your name staked out on the Dead Line.
Big bounty.
Men gunning for you.
For you, too.
* soft, dramatic music *
[grunts]
Keep your eyes open.
That's easy, akana.
I don't sleep.
[upbeat piano music playing]
***
[cheering]
Go out back.
Keep an eye on something that ain't got a dress on.
We done paid our taxes twice over.
I ain't here for that.
But I do have business.
[laughs]
Honey, we do plenty kinds of business here.
* intriguing music *
***
[Billy] You're gonna read all about me in those pages one day.
Heck, might even pen them myself.
Is that so?
Gonna waste ink on a man
who lurks out here in the dark
while his friend's inside having all the fun?
Huh.
[Billy clears throat]
I said I was looking for Silas Cobb.
Said I don't know such.
And we're not so particular on names.
You know everybody.
Give me a door quick, or I start busting them all.
[sighs]
Last door on the right.
He come alone?
People come here so they don't have to be alone.
* dark, suspenseful music *
Go on down and give word to my man outside.
Don't raise a fuss, and we'll be saddled up
before anybody know the better.
Everybody already knows.
[woman moaning]
[man grunting]
[woman] [laughing] Oh, yeah, baby.
[speaks indistinctly, laughs]
[moaning]
[man] Yeah.
-Like that? You like that? -Yeah.
[woman moaning]
[man] Oh, yeah.
[both moaning]
-[moaning] -Oh, yeah.
-Yeah, yeah. -Oh, wait.
[screams]
Easy, Cobb.
-[grunts] -No need to dance.
Get some clothes on,
and let's leave these folk in peace.
[Silas] Holy hell.
Bass Reeves got the jump on me through the goddamn window.
Least you're known to be a reasonable Black bastard.
I said easy,
but hard is just fine.
Don't.
Won't say it again.
I'm afraid you got the upper hand, as it were.
I'm not pigeon-livered.
But how about we make a deal here anyway?
An easy arrangement?
Say I trade you a real outlaw,
that dark-hearted bastard Jim Webb.
Heard you might've crossed a path or two.
That thing's older than you.
[Billy] What do you know about it?
[sighs] Got an eight-inch barrel, .44-caliber cartridge.
Loaded up, weighs three pounds heavy,
and you best account for it if you draw fast.
Aim a bit high, I'd say.
Either way, it bucks like a bronco
and is only good for a hundred steps.
Beyond, you better switch to a rifle.
Or pray.
[laughs softly]
You learn all that in there?
In there.
Out here, I'm hoping for some peace and quiet.
Think I'm going to marry you.
Baby, I get married a dozen times a week.
I'm Billy Crow.
You want to know my name, it's two bits:
one for the house and one for me.
Three bits, and you can call me any name you want.
Hey, don't you want to know how it ends?
Oh, they all end the same.
Don't get yourself killed, maybe we'll talk again.
Fix them good. They won't bite.
Deputy Reeves, I done told you all.
We had a deal, fair and square.
Our deal was, I wouldn't shoot you
and I'd tell Parker you sang.
Where's my deal, Deputy?
I don't get dirty for free.
I ain't his wife.
Whoa! Put the gun down.
* exciting music *
***
[grunts]
[indistinct chatter]
Oh, no.
-Look out! -Hey, stop.
[grunts]
[bystanders gasping, murmuring]
[grunts]
[Silas grunting]
Goddamn son of a bitch.
You shot me dead like a dog in the street.
You're not dead. Not yet.
He's gonna need a doc, Bass.
He's gonna need one bad.
Let me go.
No, I'll ride.
Don't leave me.
[muffled scream]
[pounding on door]
Yes?
It's late.
Even for you, Deputy.
Who got plugged, law or outlaw?
Both die about the same, and my man will, too, without help.
Then hold him.
-[muffled screaming continues] -[saw scraping]
* gentle, somber music *
***
I helped him
write something sweet to his wife over in Jenks.
Didn't know nothing else to do.
Not that he thanked me.
Most dying men ain't grateful.
-Reckon not. -His wife's name?
Said it was Grace.
Give me the letter.
Should've aimed high, Billy.
[Billy] Had it coming, the way I see it.
Course he did.
Still don't make it right, do it?
Don't rain on me like that, Bass.
Silas Cobb was a drunkard,
an adulterer, a thief,
but a man all the same.
The second I called out his name,
that man was my responsibility.
Our responsibility.
Look at it.
Think of each one as a man's life.
One we're either saving or taking.
Law says we get to make the choice
'cause we got the badge,
but only God know if we're right.
Good thing, too, 'cause I sure don't.
And if I don't, what the hell could you know about it?
Want to get us paid or not?
[Edwin] Is it true
he speaks Native as good as any?
That he makes his arrests out in the Bad Lands,
deep in the Territory?
Places no one else will go.
Men no one else wants to trifle with.
It doesn't seem to bother him much, and neither do those men.
How many has he sent to their Heavenly Reward?
Bass would say one is too many.
Tell Jennie about our plans for Indian Territory.
The townships.
Paradise?
A poetic turn of phrase.
But sadly, as you once told me,
there is no paradise, no Zion over the next hill.
If we want it, we will have to build it.
Choctaw, Seminole and the rest might have a say.
[sighs]
I do want to believe it, though. I do.
But pretty pamphlets and flowery phrases don't plow fields.
And they sure don't hammer nails.
Most days, I can't keep a fence from falling at that farm.
[laughs softly] You are forthright.
But I'm not making idle promises.
I am not selling fool's gold.
What I am proposing
will require work and sweat,
blood and treasure.
* slow, somber music *
***
You killed him dead, or Bass done it?
Finally got blood on your hands
and a haint hiding in your heart.
You ain't sleeping sound no more.
[laughs]
Oh, there he go.
[chuckles]
How bad a good man got to be, Billy Crow?
How bad?
Better to kill a man and live with that,
than give ole Mr. Sundown his blood due.
Better that, Billy Crow.
Better that.
[cackles]
Billy the Killer Crow!
You can kiss them peaceful nights goodbye, boy.
-Billy the Killer Crow! -Put them hands up.
I see it in your eyes.
* tense, dramatic music *
***
* slow, somber music *
***
Evening, ma'am.
[Grace] Oh.
I heard you and your horse both a ways off.
Even the quiet carries clear and far out here,
just like church bells.
You come with word on Silas?
Yes, ma'am.
I take it he's dead, then?
-Sorry to say. -And I take it
he died in the company of a woman?
They did seem... familiar.
So, you the man that done him?
Bad deal all around.
My debt is this letter.
Silas's last words to you.
That's right kind, but...
kind of sad, too, don't you think?
Silas eager to tell me things he'd never say when he was here.
Not that he was here overly much.
Hard on a household.
I know.
Let me get something nice for your horse.
Thank you.
You best read that letter quick.
They say ole Sundown rides on nights like these.
* slow, somber music *
***
This thing out here...
...been so, so hard.
God didn't give me the tongue to tell it well.
[playing inaudibly]
But at least He gave me you.
My heart...
hurt when we apart.
Only stars to guide me home.
Guide me to you.
[crying softly]
***
[nearby crunch]
* dark, tense music *
***
You wonder why your children don't recognize you anymore?
I have a duty. Swore an oath.
[Sherrill] You are to deliver the prisoner Jackson Cole
to the Red River,
and turn him over to the Rangers.
You ride out tomorrow.
-[horse whinnies] -[thunder crackling]
Black folks been disappearing up and down the Territory.
Bring to mind all the aggravated horrors
and may God have mercy on you.
* slow, dramatic music *
***