The Proposition

Oh, my God!

Fuckin' hell!

Fucking bastards.

Come on, you fuck... Aah!

Mikey, get down!

- Mikey! - Aah!

I'm hit, Charlie! I'm hit!

You'll be all right, Mikey. Hold strong.

You'll never take me alive, you bastards!

Do I need to introduce myself?

I know who you are.

Good. I know who you are.

My brother's taken a bullet, Stanley,

and is in need of medical attention.

Well, allow me to address

the subject of your brother, Mr. Burns.

Christmas, as you're probably aware,

is fast approaching.

And Christmas this year

will hold a unique significance

for young Micky here.

Mikey.

Because on Christmas Day,

I have made plans that he be taken from the jail in Banyon

and hanged by the neck until he is dead.

Charlie.

You're a copper, Stanley, not a judge and jury.

Well, clearly, Mr. Burns, I am what I wish to be.

So what is it that you want?

I want Arthur Burns.

I no longer ride with me brother.

Yaah!

Now I will allow you a moment to think about it.

What's happening, Charlie?

It's all right, Mikey.

It's all right.

Australia.

What fresh hell is this?

I've kept company with bad men all my life.

I was 22 years in Her Majesty's Land Forces.

I've dealt with your type many times.

Touch me brother again, and I'll kill you.

Make no mistakes, Mr. Burns.

It will be done. I will civilize this place.

What the fuck are you talking about, Stanley?

Listen to me now, Charlie.

Don't speak.

Hush, Mikey. You'll be fine.

Hush.

I wish to present you with a proposition.

I know where Arthur Burns is.

In his godforsaken place.

The blacks won't go there,

nor the trackers.

Not even my own men.

I suppose in time the bounty hunters will get him.

But I have other plans.

I aim to bring him down.

I aim to show that he's a man like any other.

I aim to hurt him.

When you're ready, sir.

And what will most hurt him?

Well, I thought long and hard about that.

And I've realized, Mr. Burns,

that I must become a little more inventive in my methods.

Now, don't speak, Mr. Burns. Listen to me now.

Don't say a word.

Now, suppose I told you there was a way

to save your little brother Mikey from the noose.

Suppose I gave you a horse and a gun.

Suppose, Mr. Burns,

I was to give both you

and your young brother Mikey here a pardon.

Suppose I said that I could

give you a chance to expunge the guilt

beneath which you so clearly labor.

Suppose I gave you till Christmas.

Now suppose you tell me

what it is I want from you.

Hmm?

You want me to kill me brother.

I want you to kill your brother.

Arthur Burns is a monster.

An abomination.

You were right to part company with him,

to take Mikey with you.

What happened at the Hopkins' place was unforgivable.

I have never seen such a sickening sight.

Did you know that poor woman Eliza Hopkins had a child in her belly?

Your business with your brother is unfinished.

You have nine days, Mr. Burns.

Bring the horses around.

Chk-chk.

Come on, let's hit them!

Bastards!

You got him!

Pigs!

Who've you got?

Troopers!

Dismount!

The man I have brought in

is Mike Burns

of the Burns Gang.

That's one down and two to go, gentlemen.

You've got to get the other ones now.

I will civilize this land.

Make yourself at home, Mikey.

Good evening to you, Mrs. Stanley.

Good evening, Mr. Broussard.

Not so fucking dangerous now, is he?

Martha?

Good evening, gentlemen.

Good evening, Mrs. Stanley.

You should really not come here.

Cannot a lady visit her husband in his place of work?

You men wait outside.

We spoke about why you shouldn't come here.

This is not appropriate...

Morris, you've been gone for three days.

It's lonely up there at the house.

It's so Quiet without you.

Are you coming home now?

Well, I have things to attend to.

I'll have Officer Dunn escort you home.

I'll be back soon.

You look terrible, Morris.

Yes.

Yes, I do.

Dunn.

Who is that?

But he's no more than a boy.

Oh, he's man enough, ma'am. He's man enough indeed.

Enough.

Escort Mrs. Stanley home, and wait there till I return.

How long will you be, dear?

Later.

Never speak to my wife about such things again.

Do you understand?

My apologies, Captain.

What happened today on the Flats, that's between you and me.

Of course, sir.

Because there would be consequences

were it to become common knowledge.

Yes.

Eliza Hopkins was a good Christian woman,

and she was my friend.

I pray to God that her death was mercifully swift.

It was, wasn't it?

Martha, could we speak of other things?

Come here, Captain Stanley.

My poor husband.

Oh...

The world you live in in there.

Don't be gloomy, dear.

This burden you carry,

you might let me carry it, too.

I believe in you.

Stay down.

Stay in bed.

What in God's name...

Christ, sir.

I shot me bloody toes off.

Nothing to see here, Martha. Go back to bed.

Officer Dunn has shot his toe...

Martha, go back inside.

Bloody flies.

Kill one, a dozen more turn up to his funeral.

Oh, a thousand pardons, my dear man.

It appears that I am a little scuppered.

No. No need for that, sir. No need for that.

We are white men, you and I.

Permit me to introduce myself.

My name is Jellon Lamb.

Citizen of the world, you might say,

an adventurer,

and, if I may be so bold, a man of no little education.

And you, sir,

by what name am I honored to address thee?

Of course, a mere detail.

Mere detail.

Forgive me, sir, but I've been stuck here with no one

but this sorry sack of Hibernian pig shit for conversation.

Poor, poor Dan O'Reilly.

Sit, sir.

Drink with me.

One more crack about the Irish, Mr. Lamb, and I'll shoot ya.

Am I clear?

Oh, as waters of Ennis, sir.

Let us drink, then, to the Irish.

No finer race of men have ever... peeled a potato.

Do you pray, Mr. Lamb?

Good Lord, son. No, I do not.

I was, in days gone by, a believer,

but, alas, I came to this beleaguered land

and the God in me just...

evaporated.

Let us change our toast, sir.

To the gods who has forgotten us.

But first cardinal rule.

Never raise a glass with a man whose name you do not know.