Lonely Are the Brave

Time we took off too.

What do you think, Whisky?

Ah.

Mmm!

You little sugar-eater.

Hmm?

Yeah. That's a good girl.

That's a good girl. You're beginning to learn.

Try not to make a fool of yourself the way you did yesterday, huh?

Oh, you're cute. You're real cute, you are.

Yes, you are.

You stop that now. Come on.

D-Don't you--

Now you stop that.

That's a baby.

That's right. You're doing just fine.

That's a real nice girl.

That's a real nice, sweet girl.

Come on, baby. Here. Come over here.

All right. You're starting it again, huh?

Okay, baby.

Well, let's get it out of your system.

Come on.

All right.

Come on.

Okay. Thataboy.

Hyah. Hyah.

Hyah. Hyah. Come on. Hyah. Come on.

Hup.

What do you think you're doing?

Hup, hup.

Ah, you did fine, little girl.

You gotta remember, when I say "hup," you better hup.

You'll learn, pretty little fuzz-tail.

What I'm trying to teach you is a little horse sense. Now hup.

That's it. Now come on.

Hi.

Hi.

Welcome home.

Been a long time.

Still painting.

I was expecting you, Jack.

Isn't that odd?

I heard a horse, and I knew it was your horse.

It's a new horse.

Three-year-old mare. Part range stock, part Appaloosa.

Still a little bit spooky.

Well, must get it from you.

Well, don't just stand there.

You give me a kiss.

Oh, I must say, you haven't changed a bit.

You either. Thanks.

Well, come on. Let me get you something to eat.

There's coffee there on the stove. Good.

I'll take about six fried eggs.

If you got some ham to put under them, so much the better. Coming up.

What you been doing with yourself?

I was afraid you were gonna ask that.

Oh, not herding sheep again? Ah, herding sheep again.

You know, you keep that up, you're gonna end up on a dude ranch.

Probably.

I'm glad you came, Jack.

God, I'm glad you came.

Picked up a paper.

Said Paul was heading for two years in the penitentiary.

Started riding the same day.

There's nothing you can do to help Paul.

I'm not so sure of that. I'll mosey down and have a talk with him.

We'll work something out.

We always did.

No. They won't even let you see him until visiting day.

That's Wednesday.

By then, they might have moved him to the penitentiary.

You can almost always arrange to see a fella.

He finish his book? Half of it.

The other half will have to wait two years.

Hey.

- How about Seth? - Seth's in school.

Already in school. Why, that poor little devil.

How come Paul got mixed up smuggling those wetbacks across the border?

He didn't smuggle anybody. He just helped them after they got here.

He hid them and fed them and gave them directions about where to find work. That's all.

Well, what's wrong with that?

Oh, nothing. Nothing. It's just a crime. That's all.

The immigration people warned Paul twice, but he just kept right on.

Good for him. Oh, sure, good for him.

And hurrah for two years in the penitentiary.

I get so mad I could kill him.

The reason you get mad at Paul is you don't understand him.

Understand him? Just how long is that supposed to take?

I've only been married seven years, you know, Jack.

Yeah, but, basically you're still an Easterner.

What are you talking about, Jack?

Told you you didn't understand. A Westerner likes open country.

That means he's got to hate fences.

And the more fences there are, the more he hates them.

I never heard such nonsense in my life. It's true though.

You ever notice how many fences there are getting to be?

The signs they got on them.

No hunting, no hiking, no admission, no trespass.

Private property, closed area.

Start moving, go away, get lost, drop dead.

Know what I mean? I don't even want to know.

Then they got those fences that say this side's jail.

Or that side's the street.

Or here's Arizona. That's Nevada.

Or this is us. That's Mexico.

Hey, you're so hot, my ham's burning up.

Plate's there on the table.

That one between here and Mexico is the fence got Paul into trouble.

He just naturally didn't see the use of it, so he acted as if it wasn't there.

So when people sneaked across it,

he just felt they were still people, so he helped them.

Jack, I'm gonna tell you something.

The world that you and Paul live in doesn't exist.

Maybe it never did.

Out there is a real world, and it's got real borders and real fences,

real laws and real trouble.

And either you go by the rules or you lose.

You lose everything.

You can always keep something.

I don't know.

I don't understand men anymore.

Paul had a choice, and he chose jail instead of his family.

Why, Jack?

Doesn't he need us as much as we need him?

You forgot the salt and pepper.

You talk about that jail sentence...

as if it was another woman he was going out with.

Isn't it?

Maybe it is.

Maybe he had to have one more fling with her...

Before the old man with the white hair moves in.

Fling with who?

Girl Paul and I grew up with.

Kind of a wild-eyed little mountain girl.

Her name is "Do What You Want To Do And The Hell With Everybody Else."

Probably an Indian girl. They all got names like that.

Men are idiots.

You're an idiot. Paul's an idiot. You're all idiots.

These eggs are gonna be rock-hard, Jack.

Come on and sit down. You make me nervous.

Mmm.

Is there anything else you want?

A bath.

I'm beginning to smell like a wild animal...

that hasn't even been rained on for about five years.

Hey, you're not going to Coffeyville, Kansas, are you?

No, I'm hauling privies to Duke City, New Mexico.

You're hauling what? Privies.

156 privies hightailing down the road at 70 miles an hour.

How do you like that?

What kind of emergency you suppose they got in Duke City, New Mexico?

I feel about four pounds lighter.

It's always hard to get 'em on over clean socks.

Well, you got awful big feet, Jack.

No, that's not it.

Feet swell after a bath.

I'm not sure whether it's good for 'em or not.

There!

Well, I gotta give that little mare a drink before I go.

Money in that bandolier.

I want you to use it if anything goes wrong.

What can go wrong?

Hard to tell. Probably nothing.

What are you gonna do, Jack? Already told you.

I'm gonna give that little mare a drink.

Oh, uh, give her some grass in the morning if I'm not back.

Do that? Do that.

Tell Seth I'll see him later, huh?

Jack, what are you gonna do?

Well, about every six months,

I figure I owe myself a good drunk.

Rinses your insides out, sweetens your breath, tones up your skin.

Well, then buy a bottle and drink it here.

Getting caught drunk in public's about the easiest way I know of breaking into jail.

It's more fun too.

Be careful, Jack.

Don't make any trouble.

Trouble's what I came here to fix up.

You be a good girl, Whisky. I'll be back pretty soon.

Okay. I'll be careful.

And keep the change. Gracias, señor.

De nada, señora. De nada.

Hey, watch it there, fella. I almost spilled--

My fault, amigo.

I'm sorry.

Now, why'd you throw that bottle?

I never saw you before in my life.

Try and watch it, huh?

You sure you got the right fella?

We haven't even been introduced.

My name is Burns.

Salud.

What's the matter, cowboy?

I only got one arm.

You ain't afraid to fight a one-armed man, are you?

You know, a fella can get hurt falling backwards off a chair.

Are you positive it's me you want, amigo?

I'm not afraid of you, cowboy.