Pursued

Jeb?

Jeb, where are you?

Oh!

- Are you all right? - I'm all right.

I brought you some things - some meal and beans and a good canteen.

Is that what kept you - getting those things?

I came as soon as I could.

I brought you a map too. Look.

If you work up north through the gloriettas, you can hit the skin road.

- If I work north? What about you? - Yes, Jeb.

- Where will you be? - I'm not going with you.

I knew it as soon as you came in...

By the look on your face and the way you walked.

You've always been like that-

Able to think with my thoughts and feel with my feelings.

But there's something that keeps us apart.

Oh, Jeb, what happened to us? Why did everything go wrong?

I don't know all of it, but I know some.

I've been thinking and figuring.

This is where it started, this is where it's going to end.

You see that rise? He'll be coming over that.

He'll come killing.

Come out, or we'll come in after ya!

You hear it?

Jeb, honey, there's no one out there.

- You're imagining. - I'm not imagining.

Remembering.

Putting together what happened - what I guess must've happened.

Thor, it's all coming back, strong and clear.

There's an answer in it.

There's something about me that explains everything.

- Jeb, I don't understand. - I'm gonna make you understand.

I've got to before they get here.

Do you know why I came to this place?

No, Jeb, but... It's not a good hideout.

They're sure to trail you here.

I came for another reason.

I was here before, long ago.

I was a baby then.

I was scared the way only a kid can get.

I was in a dark, cold place.

I had my eyes closed to get away from some bad dream-

The same dream I'd been having all my life.

I've never understood it. There were boots running, flashes.

Daddy? Daddy?

But my father wasn't there.

Instead, a strange woman was lying on the floor.

She crawled toward me.

That was the first time I saw your mother.

Get up, son. No, Jeb, you can't go to sleep now.

- Get your clothes on, son. We're going away from here. - Who is that?

That's Jeb Rand. Now, pay attention, Adam... And Thor.

This is Jeb. He's going to live with us.

Come on, now. Help your sister.

They've gone, every danged one of 'em.

They've moved away somewhere.

Grant, if you ride with that arm, you'll lose it.

I'll find 'em if it takes me to the end of my life.

The idea that I was hiding or running away never quite died out.

It should have, I guess, because the next seven years I wasn't hiding.

Your ma was taking care of all of us.

I was growing up with you and Adam,

Going to school, helping to build a house in the new place we moved to,

Having the whole outdoors for a playground.

I'd about stopped having nightmares until one day when I was about nine or ten-

Look, Jeb! A little black chick.

I found him under the house.

- What's the matter with you? - You know what's the matter! You shot the colt!

Shot what colt? Are you crazy?

Mom!

Jeb, stop!

Stop!

Mom! Mom, they're fighting again! Mom!

Now, stop that fighting, boys! Stop that fighting!

Now, stop it! Stop that fighting, boys!

Thor, pump some water.

Now, stop it! Come on, boys! Now, stop that fighting!

Come on! Stop it!

Adam! Jeb!

Now, what's it all about?

- He shot the colt. - I didn't!

- You did so! - You mean somebody shot our colt?

Said it was his. He said I couldn't ride it.

But I rode it anyway. He took a shot at it.

Or maybe me. I don't know.

But anyway, he killed the colt.

No. Somebody may have killed him, but it wasn't Adam.

He's been here all morning greasing the buckboard.

- You say somebody took a shot at you? - Who could it have been, ma?

Well, I don't rightly know.

Matter of fact, there were some deer hunters hanging around.

Yes, sir. They asked me if they could hunt down our fence,

And I told 'em yes.

You go and get your supper off the stove, and no more fightin'.

- You gonna see those men, ma? - That's right.

Put that wheel back on.

So, you found us.

You covered up your trail pretty well.

As soon as the boy told me somebody tried to kill him,

I knew it was you.

Being a lawyer hasn't done your shootin' any good, Grant.

Yeah. Maybe losin' this some years ago didn't help any either.

You owe me for a colt.

Doggone critter was too lively.

When he crawled off, he spoiled my aim.

You can't start it all over again, Grant. I won't let you.

You're gettin' kind of uppity, ain't you?

He's a Rand. I knew it the first minute I laid eyes on him.

He brought to mind that you was married to my brother.

And a score still isn't settled for his death.

You lost a brother, I lost a husband.

I don't want any more vengeance for him.

I never figured that you would.

That's why I swore that I'd kill every Rand on earth.

And he's the only one left.

How in tarnations you get him?

Let's say the lord gave him to me.

Let the boy alone, Grant. He's innocent.

That night ended it for him.

A night like that don't have an end.

What happened to him there will make him do things just-

Just like spirits were whispering in his ear saying,

"kill, kill. You've got to kill. "

Spirits may talk to you, but they won't to him. I don't believe in your spirits.

Maybe not, but someday you'll wish I hadn't missed my shot today...

- Down on the draw. - That's one day that'll never come.

He's a good boy. I love him like my own son.

What makes you think that boy loves you?

Well... I'll go back to Santa Fe.

I swear I think I'll leave that Rand alone, let him grow up,

Just to see what happens to you when he's big enough to start asking questions.

Don't forget your money for the colt.

Thanks for reminding me.

This'll help me bring him up.

Did you find 'em, ma? Did you talk to 'em?

Why, sure I did. It was them deer hunters all right.

They shot the colt.

Put the team up, Adam, and feed 'em. You help him, Thor.

Come in the house with me, son. I want to talk to you.

Jeb, how much do you remember...

About coming to live with us-

About the night I brought you here?

- You must remember something. - Not much.

You can tell me, Jeb.

I get mixed up when I think about that.

I remember flashes...

And boots runnin'.

You know your parents are dead. That's why I took you in.

Yes, ma'am.

- But you don't remember them? - No, ma'am.

Sometimes I try to think about it. I don't know.

My head hurts.

It gets all blurred.

Sometimes the lord protects us...

By letting us know only what's needful.

What you don't remember doesn't matter.

You belong here with us now.

Don't ask questions of the past.

It has no answers for you.

Grow up strong in the love that's here for you.

As long as you love in return, nothing can happen.

And you do love us, don't you, Jeb?

I'm sorry I started the fight.

Well, son,

After today you boys won't have anything to fight about.

Adam, Thor, come here.

Now, pay heed to me, you children.

I'll have no more arguments as to who owns what on this ranch,

Colts or anything else.

Everything we have or ever will have...

Belongs to you three from this day on.

- You mean, everything has to be that way? - Yes, Adam.

Have you any objection to that?

Not for Thor and me, but I have for outsiders.

There are no outsiders here.

You three are together. You yourselves...

Are the best and finest thing there is. A family.

You promise not to forget that?

I mean all three of you.

All right. Thor, stop scratching.

Go in the house and get some coal oil, put it on those chiggers.

Adam, you find the sheep scissors.

I'm gonna cut yours and Jeb's hair tonight.

Jeb, we've always called you by your right name, Rand.

Would you like to use our name instead?

If you don't mind, I'd like to use my own name. Jeb Rand.

All right, Jeb.

You know how it was after that.

Ma's idea worked like she wanted it, pretty near.

Anyhow, we seemed more like a family.

We were close, the four of us.

That lasted for a long time.

It lasted until that day I rode into town.

Detail, halt!

Right face!

About face!

Order arms!

- Hey, what's all the shoutin' and drum beatin' about? - Ain't you heard?

The territory's fightin' Spain, and it looks like we're gonna have a real shootin' war too.

- Hi, Jeb. - Good morning, doctor.