The Hired Hand

Hey! Harry!

Come on, else I'm gonna fry up some bread!

Hey! Harry!

God damn! How long have you been boiling these grounds?

Tastes awful sour to me.

Well, you can throw 'em away after this.

We'll be in Del Norte by noon. We'll buy some fresh.

Arch, these fish aren't bad.

Need some salt, though.

We ain't got none. That's something else we going to get.

You setting to coast, Dan?

What the hell? We got nothing but time.

And I tell you something.

That is where it's really good, out there in California.

You got your... got your weather.

Your women are half Mex, half American.

And you got your gold.

And oranges.

And the ocean.

They say that ocean looks like a great blue prairie.

I ain't never seen that much water.

Me neither.

This here's the most water I ever saw.

Hey! Harry. You leave the line set?

Well, never can tell. You might have something.

He's all right, Harry.

He's just young, full of piss and vinegar, like you was.

- Was I like that? - Near enough.

He's always wanting to go some place he hasn't been.

You really want to go to the coast, don't you?

Good as anywhere. Better than most. What's your fancy, Harry?

Arch! Harry! Come here quick!

Harry!

What'd you let it go for?

What the hell are you at, anyway?

Hey, what does he think he's doing, letting her float away like that?

Been dead a while, whatever it was.

Whatever it was? What do you mean, whatever it was?

It was a little white girl! It was a little blonde white girl!

She'd have come to pieces in your hand,

the moment you started to pull her in.

Hi.

Hi.

You fellers know where I can find a man to shoe my horse?

Threw a front plate a mile or so back.

Uh... tell me something, boy.

You always ride around in your combinations?

Well, I... I got wet, crossing the river. Thought I'd dry out.

Any of you fellers a blacksmith?

Ain't no blacksmith lives here now.

You want any horseshoeing done, you're gonna have to get it done yourself.

Well...

much obliged.

I'm out.

Hey, Luke, looks like we got a gift for Sam.

Well, think I'll have a cold beer.

Well, they ain't got no beer and even if they did have, wouldn't be cold.

They got three kinds of tequila and one of whisky

and they're all green and bad.

What kind of town is this, anyway?

Ain't no blacksmith. Ain't no cold beer.

Don't see no girls.

Ain't changed much. That's for sure.

You mean you've been here before?

Yeah, three years ago we was here. Arch had a bad foot.

Yeah, damn horse stepped on it. Broke all my toes.

You fellers made up your mind?

Yeah, give us a bottle of Double Eagle and three glasses.

One Eagle, three glasses.

Well, here's to us. Here's to the coast.

Here's to California.

I ain't going.

How's that, Harry?

I ain't going to the coast.

Where you gonna go, then?

Home.

Now, look, Harry, if it's 'cause of me being so touchy this morning...

Ain't to do with that, Dan.

Home.

Maybe there ain't no such colour.

We get to the coast, it won't be like this.

Where I come from, there's a guy who knew a feller who was on the coast.

Said it was different from anything you ever saw.

Home is just a place you start from, Arch.

There'll be something there.

Think maybe your wife and your little girl are still there?

Didn't know you was married, Harry, or had kids.

Why don't you go to the coast, make something, send for 'em?

You go to the coast, Dan,

and when in three or four years you find yourself sitting here

and drinking this rat lotion

you remember how you thought it was gonna be.

The hell with him. The hell, I say. We don't need him.

We can go to the coast without him, can't we, Arch?

You know how long me and him rid together?

I forget. Long time.

Seven years, near on.

Seven years. It's a long time.

You mean you ain't gonna go to the coast?

You're gonna go with Harry?

No, Dan, I ain't gonna go with Harry.

Didn't recognise this place until I saw that peak.

Then I remembered.

Guess I decided then.

It's just a waste, living like this, Arch.

It's been building up a long while.

Well, I'm going with the boy.

Ha. Always wanted to see that ocean.

Come on.

It's a real good 'un, Sam. It's a real good 'un.

Let's have a look at that bottle.

Hey, boy. There ain't hardly a mouthful left in here.

Have to get another one.

Gonna ride out in the morning?

Not the way I'm drinking this whiskey, I won't.

How long is it gonna take you to ride back?

A week, thereabouts.

How you know there's anything for you there?

I mean, what if she's married?

Haven't thought on it.

Well.

Well.

You come on out to the coast, maybe we'll meet up again.

Maybe, Arch. Maybe so.

Well, looks like Dan's already been here and cut himself something out.

Well, what'll you have?

Same as your partner?

Well, what did he have?

Well, he had a bit of prime.

Three dollars' worth, to be exact.

- Well, that's Dan for the night. - Mm.

You might as well give us a couple of shots of that Double Eagle there.

Oh, Mother!

Mother!

Mother, I'm sick.

I'm... I'm sick.

Is he dead?

You shoot him?

This is my wife.

I found him in our house. He was attacking her.

I called him and I thought he went for his gun.

But I guess he was just pulling on his pants.

I'll take care of the burying.

That's all right. We'll see to it.

How did he find your wife?

Why, I guess he just saw her outside and followed her home.

When I got there, he was all over her.

You mind if I ask her about that?

Well, she don't speak any American. Won't do you any good.

Don't seem to me there's much to ask.

The woman's all messed up. Your friend's got his pants half off.

Seems pretty plain to me.

Where can we bury him?

Why don't you just let that go till the morning?

I'll close my canteen and you can let him rest here for the night.

We'll bury him now.

Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you,

"'See, the Kingdom is in heaven',

"then the birds of the heaven would precede you.

"If they say to you, 'It is in the sea',

"then the fish will precede you.

"But the Kingdom is within you and it is without you."

The disciples said to Jesus

"Tell us how our end will be."

Jesus said, "Have you, then, discovered the beginning,

"that you enquire about the end?

"For where the beginning is, there shall be the end.

"Blessed is he who shall stand at the beginning

"and he shall know the end and not taste death."

His disciples said to Him, "When will the Kingdom come?"

Jesus said, "It will not come by expectation.

"They will not say, 'See here' or, 'See there.'

"But the Kingdom of the Father is spread upon the earth

"and men do not see it."

We can find out from the kid where he lives.

Let's go!

God! Sam!

Sam! Sam!

What do you mean, what's she like?

Well, I mean, is she tall, thin, fat, round?

Brown hair, blue eyes? What's she like?

Medium.

Red hair.

Brown eyes, I guess.

I think I know her.

She had a nice voice.

How old is she?

How old, hm?

Well, she was 30 when we was married.

And how old was you?

20, just turned.

Hell, boy, you didn't stand a chance.

No, it weren't her fault.

I wasn't ready, that's all.

Too hot to ride and too hot to walk.

Well, it ain't far now.

Wonder what your wife's gonna say to you when she lays eyes on you, Harry.

What I mean is, what kind of nature does she have?

Well, I don't rightly recall.

Only lived with her about a year and nine month.