"UNFORGIVEN" (The William Munny Killings) An original screenplay by David Webb Peoples INT. ALICE'S ROOM - NIGHT NIGHT IN ALICE'S ROOM. A little bit of moonlight coming in through the tiny window might make a highlight here and there but that's about all. Words begin to crawl across the screen: WRITTEN WORDS (CRAWL) Of good family, albeit one of modest means, she was a comely young woman and not without prospects. Therefore it was at once heartbreaking and astonishing to her mother that she would enter into marriage with William Munny, a known thief and murderer, a man of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition. We can HEAR STRAWBERRY ALICE and DAVEY BUNTING breathing heavily and the bed creaking. WRITTEN WORDS They were married in St. Louis in 1870 and they traveled North to Kansas where he engaged in farming and swine husbandry. Davey and Alice are picking up speed now, breathing faster and even snorting a little, and it's cold as Jesus in Nebraska in the winter so when the blanket slips, Alice snarls and gasps. ALICE The blanket, for chrissake, cowboy, the blanket. There are six of these little rooms... one for each whore... behind Greely's Beer Garden and Billiards and the walls are just boards so you can hear what's happening in the other rooms and right now, from DELILAH'S room, you can hear a high-pitched, merry little giggle and that's important. WRITTEN WORDS She bore him two children in the eight years of their marriage and when she died, it was not at his hands as her mother might have expected, but of smallpox. That was in 1878. DELILAH'S VOICE (O.S.) No, please... No, no goddamn you. Alice and Davey have stopped fucking and started listening but they don't move. WRITTEN WORDS It wasn't until 1881... three years later... that a cowboy named Mike cut up a whore in Big Whiskey, Nebraska in the Niobrara River country. (end crawl) MIKE'S VOICE (O.S.) Davey, come a runnin' lad an' hold the thieving cunt... A blur of action as Davey leaps from the bed and dashes out of the room naked... MIKE'S VOICE (O.S.) ...brand you like a damn steer, bitch... And Alice is right behind him, wrapping herself in a blanket as she goes. INT. DELILAH'S ROOM - NIGHT DELILAH is backed up against the wall, her face bleeding, and she is throwing the contents of her chamber pot on MIKE who is advancing on her with an open barlow knife and Davey busts into the room naked and Alice follows him and people are shouting in other rooms. MIKE (wiping shit off himself) Hold the bitch, Davey, hold her. The one coal oil lamp in the room gives off just enough light that you can make all this out. Certainly you can see that Mike, who is wearing leggings and no shirt, is a big tough man, unshaven, eyes inflamed with whiskey... MIKE HOLD HER, DAMMIT, DAVEY! If you don't hold her I'll cut her tits off. LITTLE SUE, a fifteen year old whore, is in the doorway, eyes wide with terror and Alice screams at her. ALICE Get Skinny, for God's sake! SKINNY! Davey is reluctant about the whole thing but he is afraid of Mike and he gets behind Delilah and grabs her. DAVEY Wh-what you gonna do, Mike? Mike is doing it now and Delilah is screaming while he carves her face with the barlow knife and blood is all over, splashing on Davey and Davey, who is just a kid, after all, nineteen with a big shock of unruly red hair and innocent blue eyes, is horrified. MIKE Thieving cunt, I'll... DAVEY Mike, don't, Jesus, don't... ALICE SKINNY! Bring your gun. Alice can't wait for Skinny and she jumps on Mike's back and brings the big man down and she fights him though she's not a big woman. Alice is twenty-five but she's been around some, whored some tough cow-towns, and she has too much bone and character in her face to be outright pretty but she attracts men like flies. Sure she has some smallpox scars on her face, but they're common and there are only a few of them, not like on Skinny whose mean little face is eaten right up with them. VIEW ON SKINNY DUBOIS STANDING THERE IN THE DOORWAY, his nasty face eaten with smallpox scars and he is looking at Delilah who is a fountain of blood, looking at her coldly, and looking down at the melee on the floor and, pointing the big Navy Colt in his hand, he says, SKINNY Get offa her, asshole. And he says it so cold and with such authority that everything goes quiet. EXT. MAIN STREET - DAY SNOW/MOONLIGHT/THE SHADOWY BUILDINGS and the silence of the Nebraska winter except for the sound of the snowshoes. The snow has obliterated the Main Street of Big Whiskey giving the impression that the dark, low buildings are scattered at random. The only structure with any sign of life is Greely's Beer Garden and Billiards which shows a glowing window and two horses out front and that is a hundred yards away from the struggling silhouettes of the two men on snowshoes. The big one is LITTLE BILL DAGGETT and he is very big, wrapped in a huge bearskin robe. The smaller one is CLYDE LEDBETTER who isn't small though he has only one arm. LITTLE BILL ...wouldn't let you settle it, huh? CLYDE Hell, you know how Skinny is. Says he's gonna shoot 'em... an I says, "Skinny, you can't do that," an' he says, "Well, then get Little Bill down here an' let's settle this" an' I says, "Bill's sleepin', Skinny," an'... They make their way in silence through the snow, getting close now, close to Greely's and the lights. INT. DELILAH'S ROOM - NIGHT DELILAH ON HER BED, her face covered with blood-soaked rags except for her eyes. Alice has hot water and is ministering to her and Little Bill is looking down at her from his enormous height, still in his bearskin. He looks disgusted. LITTLE BILL She ain't gonna die, huh? You can now see fear in Delilah's eyes, and the other whores... CROW CREEK KATE with crazy pop-eyes and frizzy hair, and LITTLE SUE who is fifteen and meek even when she isn't terrified, and FAITH who is the oldest of them and not very attractive and SILKY who is blonde and the prettiest... are watching from vantage points in the doorway or in the room. ALICE (determined) She's gonna live. (Little Bill turns to go) She didn't steal nothin', She didn't touch his poke. LITTLE BILL (stopping and turning) No? ALICE All she done was... when she seen he had a teensy little pecker... she gave a giggle. That's all. She didn't know no better. Little Bill turns away, disgusted, and starts out of the room and Alice gets up and follows him. ALICE You gonna hang 'em, Little Bill? INT. BAR ROOM - NIGHT Davey sitting naked on the floor of the bar room and Mike is sitting near him, still in his leggings and both men are shivering because they are fifteen feet from the potbellied stove where Clyde is standing watching them. It is a big room, with a crude bar and four tables and some moose and elk heads on the wall. The door near the rear where it says "Billiard Room" leads not to a Billiard Room but to the six little "rooms" that are the whorehouse and and now you can hear Delilah groaning from there. And Little Bill enters from the back of the bar room, stooping to pass through the doorway under the sign that says "Billiard Room." Little Bill is huge and ominous. Some say he acquired the bearskin by staring the bear to death and others say he drowned the animal in spit. Anyhow, he's big with a drooping moustache and he is sucking on his church warden's clay pipe and you know he isn't scared of anything. And the two cowboys are scared to death, not just shivering from the cold, and Bill just looks down at them and sucks on his pipe and Alice comes in from the back way too and then Skinny and a couple of the whores gather in the doorway. LITTLE BILL Clyde, step across to the German's an' fetch up one of his bullwhips. Stark terror on the faces of Davey and Mike as Clyde exits. ALICE A whippin'? That's all they get? After what they done? LITTLE BILL (sucking on his pipe) Whippin' ain't a little thing, Alice. ALICE But what they done, they... SKINNY (he has a piece of paper in his hand) Shut up, Alice. Little Bill, a whippin' ain't gonna settle this. LITTLE BILL No? SKINNY (showing the paper) This here's a lawful contract... betwixt me an' Delilah Fitzgerald, the cut-whore. Now I brung her clear from Boston, paid her expenses an' all, an' I got a contract which represents an investment of capital. LITTLE BILL (sympathetic to the argument) Property. SKINNY Damaged property. Like if I was to hamstring one of their cow ponies. LITTLE BILL You figure nobody'll want to fuck her. SKINNY Hell no. Leastways, they won't pay to do it. Alice is listening to this and her eyes are like coals and you can hear Delilah moaning in the other room. SKINNY She could maybe clean up around the place or somethin', but nobody's gonna pay good money for a cut-up whore. LITTLE BILL (making up his mind and turning to the shivering cowboys) You boys are off of the Spade Outfit. Got your own string of ponies? DAVEY (nodding) I... I got f-f-f-four. LITTLE BILL You? MIKE (sullenly) Six. Skinny nods, pleased, and Alice watches, her eyes still hot. LITTLE BILL Guess you boys just as soon not have no trial an' fuss, huh? Davey and Mike nod, willing to say anything Little Bill wants. LITTLE BILL (to Mike) Alright. You done the cuttin'... Come the thaw, you bring in five of them ponies an' give 'em over to Skinny here. MIKE Five! LITTLE BILL (to Davey) An' you... you give over two ponies, hear? - Clyde bangs in out of the snow with a buggy whip in his hand. CLYDE I couldn't find no bullwhips, Bill. The German... LITTLE BILL Don't matter, we don't need no whips. (to Mike and Davey) Spring comes an' Skinny don't have them ponies, I'm gonna... ALICE You... you ain't even gonna... whip 'em? LITTLE BILL I fined 'em instead. ALICE For what they done? Skinny gets some ponies an' that's...? LITTLE BILL (approaching her) Ain't you seen enough blood for one night? Hell, Alice, they ain't loafers nor tramps nor bad men. They're hard workin' boys that was foolish. Why if they was given over to wickedness in a regular way... ALICE (furious) Like whores? SKINNY Alice, tend to Delilah. For a long moment Alice just stands there glaring. INT. DELILAH'S ROOM - DAY DAYLIGHT AND A BASIN OF BLOODY WATER and Little Sue is just dipping another towel in the hot water next to Delilah's bed, changing the bandages. All the whores are there in various states of dress, lounging on the floor, leaning against the wall. SILKY (to Alice) If Delilah don't care one way or the other, what're you so riled about? ALICE (passionately) Just because them smelly assholes like to ride us like horses don't mean we got to let 'em brand us like we're horses. Maybe we ain't nothin' but whores, but by God we ain't horses. Silky is thinking it over, frowning, and then she makes her decision. SILKY (to Alice) I got a hundred an' twelve dollars. That's everythin'. ALICE What about you, Faith? FAITH (reluctantly) Two hundred... (there are gasps) Two hundred an' forty. ALICE (laughing) Jesus, Faith, what you been doin', givin' Skinny somethin' special? All the women laugh and Delilah through her bandages makes a gurgling sound and Little Sue's eyes light up. LITTLE SUE (indicating Delilah) She laughed. ALICE With what Kate got, Silky got some, an' mine, an' Little S... SILKY (soberly) It ain't enough. ALICE (determined) Not yet maybe. EXT. HOG PEN - DAY The hog in the mud, snorting and squealing, ugly as hell and BILL MUNNY in the mud with him, pushing and shoving, trying to move the stubborn animal and Munny goes down face first and comes up more covered with mud than he already was and the words on the screen say, WRITTEN WORDS (SUPER) Some months later, Hodgeman County, Kansas. Munny is thirty-five or forty years old, his hair is thinning and his moustache droops glumly over his stubbled jaw. If it were not for his eyes he would look like any pig farmer with his canvas overalls tucked in his boots pushing on a hog. He is pushing on the hog again, grunting with the effort, when he hears the voice. THE KID'S VOICE (O.S.) You don't look like no rootin', tootin', sonofabitchin', cold-blooded assassin. MUNNY (looking up, startled) Huh? THE KID is only six feet away, the sun behind him, sitting on a very big and very ancient Morgan horse. He's wearing a wide-brimmed Texas hat, a vest, a holstered pistol, and he is a wiry kid, maybe twenty years old, with scraggly blonde hair, four of his upper front teeth missing, and a funny, squinty way of looking out of his watery blue eyes. Most of all, he doesn't look very prosperous. THE KID I seen how you got only three fingers on your left hand, though, so I guess you're calling yourself Mister Bill Munny. Munny does indeed have three fingers on his left hand and he doesn't like this conversation at all. MUNNY William Munny, yeah. THE KID Same one as shot Charlie Pepper in Lake County? A VOICE Paw! Hey, Paw! The voice belongs to WILL, a skinny ten-year-old who dashes up with his seven-year-old sister, PENNY, right on his heels. The kids are ragged and dirty, they don't look well fed or even very healthy. Even as Will speaks to his father, Munny, his eyes, and Penny's too, go to The Kid. They don't see many strangers. MUNNY What is it, son? WILL Two more hogs got the fever. Munny winces. The Kid ignores the interruption. THE KID You shot Charlie Pepper, didn't you? And you're the one killed William Harbey an' robbed the train over... MUNNY (sharply) Hold on, mister. (to Will) Son, this here pig gotta be moved outta this pen, away from them others. Penny, you give yer brother a hand... PENNY (emotional) This one's sick too? Munny ignores the question, already on his way to the miserable-looking shack. MUNNY Let's talk inside, mister. INT. SOD HUT - DAY Munny selects a tin cup from a wash pan of dirty dishes. It is dark and cool inside his one room sod hut... and poor. The Kid checks one of the three chairs for stability before sitting down. MUNNY You're Pete Sothow's nephew, huh? Hell, I thought maybe you was someone come to kill me... (he has the cups and he crosses to the fire) ...for somethin' I done in the old days. THE KID I could of... easy. MUNNY Yeah, I guess so. THE KID Like I was sayin' you don't look like no meaner than hell cold-blooded damn killer. MUNNY Maybe I ain't. THE KID Well, Uncle Pete said you was the goddamndest meanest sonofabitch ever lived an' if I ever wanted a partner for a killin', you was the worst one. Meanin' the best. On account of you're cold as snow an' don't have no weak nerve nor fear. Munny serves the coffee gloomily and sits down. It appears his feelings are hurt but The Kid doesn't notices. MUNNY He said that, huh? THE KID I'm a damn killer myself, only I ain't killed so many as you because of my youth. Schofield Kid, they call me. MUNNY Schofield? You from Schofield? THE KID (laying his Smith & Wesson Schofield .45 on the table) On account of my Schofield model Smith and Wesson pistol. MUNNY Oh. THE KID Well, how about it? MUNNY About what? THE KID Bein' my partner. I'm headin' North up around the Niobrara in Nebraska. Gonna kill a couple of no good cowboys. MUNNY What for? THE KID For cuttin' up a lady. They cut up her face an' cut her eyes out, cut her ears off an' her tits too. MUNNY (horrified) Jesus! THE KID (pleased with the reaction) Thousand dollars of reward. Five hundred a piece. WILL Paw, I can't move that damn pig. Will has slipped into the house with Penny in tow and they are both covered with mud and Will is swearing to show off to the stranger. MUNNY (embarrassed) No cussin' now, Will. Go on out the pump an' clean up some an' I'll be along. Check them other pens. The two kids back out the door, eyes on the pistol and the stranger, and Munny walks over near the beds with his back to The Kid. MUNNY I ain't like that no more, Kid. Whiskey done it as much as anythin' I guess. (turning to The Kid) I ain't touched a drop in ten years. My wife, she cured me of it... cured me of drink an' wickedness. THE KID Well... you don't look so prosperous. Hell, you could buy her a new dress out of your half. We could kill them two an' you could buy your wife one of them fancy... MUNNY She's passed on, Kid. THE KID Huh? MUNNY Been gone near three years now. THE KID (staring stupidly) Oh. EXT. SOD HUT - DAY Will and Penny in front of the house, looking up at The Kid who is mounted again and Munny is standing there taking leave of The Kid. THE KID Don't tell nobody about the reward an' all. Don't need no other gunmen tryin' to collect. MUNNY I don't never see nobody anyhow. THE KID (riding away) If you was to change your mind, might be you could catch me... due West to the Western Trail an' North to Ogallala. Munny waves at The Kid and for a long moment watches him trot across the flat, grassy fields. Then he turns back to his shabby farm and the squealing pigs and the two children who are looking up at him. WILL Who's he? MUNNY (turning away) Best we move that pig. EXT. HOG PEN - DAY Munny in the mud and the pig squealing and Will is there pushing too and Munny goes in face first again and when he comes up he slowly wipes mud from his face and, turning, he looks across the fields. VIEW ON PENNY Coming up beside the pen. PENNY Paw... two of them others... I think they got the fever. Munny frowns and looks off at the horizon, lost in thought. VIEW ON THE KID Way off in the distance, disappearing on the horizon. EXT. BIG WHISKEY HILL - DAY EXTREME CLOSE UP ON DELILAH Delilah's face! The cut-whore. Skeins of criss-crossing raised flesh, a vicious web of scars dominated by her eyes that are deep and beautiful. She's hanging clothes on a clothes line on Big Whiskey Hill, the gentle slope above the town. Alice, Little Sue, Silky, Kate, and Faith are close by, hanging clothes or washing them in the gurgling stream. Faith is the first to glance down the hill toward the town and to notice. She draws in her breath and turns to Alice and catches her eye and Alice looks down. EXT. MUDDY NORTH ROAD The muddy North Road and the two riders, and they are Quick Mike and Davey Bunting leading their ponies in, passing a crudely painted sign that says: "Ordinance 14. No firearms in Big Whiskey. Deposit them at County Office. By Order of Sheriff." EXT. BIG WHISKEY HILL - DAY The whores on the hill. One by one, with no words exchanged, they feel the silence and turn and exchange glances and they glance at Delilah. She winces and turns back to hanging clothes. VIEW ON A HORSE'S OPEN MOUTH AND SKINNY Inspecting. SKINNY You boys took a while. Couple more days I was gonna call on the Sheriff. The horses are gathered in front of Greely's and Skinny moves among them inspecting them while the two cowboys remain mounted. DAVEY River was swole so we couldn't cross her. Davey is holding the halter of a little paint and when SKINNY starts to inspect the paint, Davey pulls the pony away. DAVEY You got two of mine. This here one ain't yours. Skinny and Davey lock eyes and Skinny is wondering how far to push it when SPLAT!... Davey gets a face full of mud. The three men turn to see the whores coming around the side of Greely's, all except Delilah, and they are throwing mud, scooping it from the sloppy street and... MIKE gets a hit on the chest and then on the face and he gives an ugly look and wheels his horse and digs in his spurs and heads North at a trot and mud continues to rain on him as the whores jeer. SKINNY Damn you. (SPLAT) That ain't no way to behave. (SPLAT) Quit that. Surprisingly, Davey turns his horse right into the barrage of mud and taking it in the face and on the chest he dismounts. His paint takes a big gob of mud on one eye and Davey wipes the mud off tenderly. DAVEY This here pony... I brung it for the lady... the one my partner cut. The whores stop throwing mud abruptly. There is a pause... and they can see that he is just a kid, and that he is sorry as hell and that he is about to cry and they are touched, especially Little Sue. DAVEY It's the best of the lot... better than the ones I give him. (indicating Skinny) She could sell it or... what she wants. ALICE (recovering) A pony!... She ain't got no face left an' you're gonna give her a goddamn mangy pony. DAVEY He ain't m-m-mangy, ma'am, he... SLOP. Davey gets it in the face with a big gob of mud as Alice resumes fire and SPLAT, the paint gets it. Faith and Silky and Kate hesitate just a moment... and then they dig in and start jeering and throwing again and Little Sue bends down slowly and picks up some mud and then she just stands there with it, almost crying, and watches the cowboy turn away under a barrage of mud and mount his pony and ride out, mud hitting him all over and the women jeering and running after him in the muddy street. VIEW ON DELILAH Hanging clothes up on the hill and she can hear the shouting in the distance and she turns and looks down with the beautiful eyes and sees the cowboy riding out of town slowly, chased by the jeering women. INT. SOD HUT - DAY CLOSE on a photograph of CLAUDIA in Munny's hands. He is inside, kneeling on the floor beside an open trunk and he is studying reverently the old photo of Claudia, smiling radiantly in her best dress. Finally Munny puts the picture down and digs in the trunk among folded dresses that belonged to her until he feels something metal and he sees the blue steel among the white cloth and then he pulls it out... an old Starr .44 Pistol. EXT. SOD HUT - DAY CLOSE on a Mojav coffee tin as Munny places it on the fence behind his sod hut. Munny has the Starr in his right hand and he turns and walks back toward the house 15 yards away. Will and Penny are watching. They know something is going on, but they don't know how to ask what it is. Munny faces the coffee tin and solemnly extends his pistol arm straight out and carefully sights along the barrel. BAM! A burst of flame and a puff of black smoke from the gun. The Mojav tin hasn't moved. Slowly, carefully, Munny raises the gun again and aims with great deliberation. BAM! The coffee tin doesn't move. Munny shakes his head slowly in disgust and aims again. BAM! Missed again. Munny gives a quick sheepish glance in the direction of the children. There is a lot of smoke. He aims again and BAM! He misses. Munny is irritated and he aims and fires hastily and flame bursts from the gun and smoke and The tin is unmoved. Will looks at his feet, embarrassed, not wanting to meet his father's eyes. Munny stuffs the pistol in his waistband and disappears into the house. Will and Penny look at one another nervously, wondering what's happening. PENNY Did Paw used to kill folks? Will doesn't answer and then he looks up because Munny steps out of the house again, a sawed off Remington 10 gauge shotgun in his hands. Munny raises the double barreled weapon to his shoulder and aims carefully and... BARRRROOOOOM! The can flies away in pieces and some of the fence, too. EXT. SHADE TREES - DAY HEADSTONE. IT SAYS: "CLAUDIA FEATHERS MUNNY Born, March 11, 1849 Died, August 6, 1878, aged 29 years, in the full enjoyment of that love which constrained her to leave all for Christ and heathen souls Lo, we have left all and followed thee: What shall we leave therefore. 19:25" The headstone is under a couple of shade trees fifty yards from the sod hut. MUNNY is sitting on a rock under the trees looking at the headstone and he has on a cheap black suit now. He twists the hat, tormented... and he starts to say something out loud but he can't because men don't talk to stones. So finally he gets up, slumped in defeat, and he puts a little bouquet of flowers on the grave and he turns away unhappily. EXT. SOD HUT - DAY The ALBINO MARE snorting and shying, anxious to lose the saddle. Will has her by the halter, holding her with effort, in front of the house. WILL She ain't hardly a saddle horse no more, Paw. She ain't used to the feel. Munny walks up and puts his hand on Penny's head fondly. MUNNY Them flowers, Penny, I could tell your Maw liked them, hear? (turning to Will) Take care of your sister, son. You can kill three chickens if you need, not no more. Keep the hogs that got fever separate if you can. An' if you need help, go see Sally Two-Trees over to Ned Logan's. Then he turns to the mare and shoves a foot in the stirrup to mount but the horse shies and Munny goes down in the dust looking very undignified. And Penny is horrified and humiliated for her father whom she worships and Will's eyes are big because Munny's coat came open and he caught a quick glimpse of the Starr pistol stuck in the waist band. MUNNY (brushing himself off, embarrassed) Ain't felt a saddle in a while myself. Then Munny has one foot in the stirrup and the horse starts to shy and Munny has to hop around with one foot stirruped and the other not... and when he tries to swing aboard he falls back... MUNNY Easy old gal, easy... And he still can't make it, so to cover his embarrassment he talks to the kids while he hops around desperately trying to mount. MUNNY Now this here horse is gettin' even on me... hold on gal... for the sins of my youth... In my youth... before I met... your dear departed mother... I was weak an' givin' to mistreatin' horses an' such. An' this here horse... an' that ole pig, too, I guess... is my comeuppance for my cruelty... At last he is in the saddle and takes a deep breath. MUNNY Used to be I could cuss an' hurt an animal... til your departed mother, God rest her, showed me the error of my ways. Munny turns the Albino mare and starts out the gate going Weat toward the fields. MUNNY (over his shoulder) I won't be no longer than a couple of weeks. Remember how the spirit of your departed maw watches over you. Will and Penny are watching him go and Will is fighting back the tears but Penny has lost the battle and she is crying and the horse whinnies. VIEW ON MUNNY Twenty yards away getting up off the ground and trying to catch the shying, prancing horse on foot, his dignity a shambles. INT. ALICE'S ROOM - NIGHT Alice IN PAIN because Skinny is twisting her arm and they are in Alice's room... it is still night... and the other whores are there, scared, nervous. SKINNY (furious) Where'd you get the money, huh? ALICE (in pain) We ain't got it. We ain't got no money. SKINNY You told them cowboys you had it. ALICE We was... lyin'. SKINNY (lets her go) What you gonna do when somebody comes to collect? (yelling) FUCK 'EM? FUCK 'EM A THOUSAND TIMES? (goes to door, then stops) The kind of people who'll come after that thousand, they won't tolerate if you don't have it. They won't just cut your face up a little. (screaming) STUPID CUNTS! EXT. LITTLE BILL'S HOUSE - DAY VIEW on HOT SUN blazing down. BANG BANG BANG, HAMMER ON NAIL and the fingers holding the nail are swollen and purple and then... WHUP Hammer on flesh. LITTLE BILL Oh, shit, shit an' damn, oh fuck my mother and my father, o damn an' jesus. Little Bill is hopping around in his hat and boots and nothing else in front of his brand new one story, four room, frame house that hasn't been painted it's so new and doesn't have a porch yet, though that is being begun... sort of. In fact... the house doesn't look quite right... looks a little lopsided. Skinny Dubois is standing there, in the clearing wiping his brow and catching his breath and watching Little Bill. SKINNY Hit your finger, huh? LITTLE BILL (surprised) Huh? Hullo, Skinny. Snuck up on me. (indicating the house proudly) How do you like her? SKINNY (looking critically) Heard you done the roof yourself. LITTLE BILL Roof? Jesus, Skinny, I done practically every damn thing myself. Roberts boy hauled wood, that's all. SKINNY What's all that wood? LITTLE BILL (enthusiastically) Porch. I'm puttin' a porch on her so's I can puff my pipe of an evening an' drink my coffee an' watch the sun set. Little Bill is back at it, hauling a four by six into position. LITTLE BILL (over his shoulder, proudly) You come clear up here just to get a look at her? The train whistle screams loudly below in the valley and turning nervously, Skinny can see a puff of steam above the distant trees. SKINNY Them whores... (he pauses, reluctant to go on) Little Bill isn't really paying attention to anything but his house. LITTLE BILL Yeah? SKINNY Them whores, they been fuckin' an' fuckin' all them cowboys that come into town the last two weeks... LITTLE BILL (chuckling) Shit, Skinny, we got railroad barons an' cattle barons, but you' re gonna be the first of the billiard barons. SKINNY (ignoring him) ...They been fuckin' 'em, 'an tellin' every bow-legged one of 'em how they're payin' a thousand dollars to whatever sonofabitch kills them two boys which cut up Delilah. Little Bill drops the board he's holding up and turns sharply to Skinny. Down in the valley the train whistle screams and after a long, tense moment, Little Bill turns and looks out over the valley, frowning. LITTLE BILL An' all them cowboys been riding that beef down to Kansas an' Cheyenne? SKINNY (unhappily, dropping his eyes) Yup. LITTLE BILL All week? SKINNY (apologetically) I didn't hear nothin' till last night. LITTLE BILL Word must have got all the way to Texas by now. SKINNY (quickly) Oh, shit, Bill, I guess nobody's gonna come clear from Texas. LITTLE BILL (sitting down) They really got all that money, them whores? SKINNY (sitting beside Bill) You know how women kin lie... I knock 'em around a little, ask 'em where the money is, they say they don't have none?... but they coulda squirreled away that much, the five of 'em. Maybe. (pause) LITTLE BILL That much, huh? SKINNY (hopeful) You could run off them two cowboys. LITTLE BILL (sharply) I could run off them whores. SKINNY (after a pause) Well, I guess they'll just up an' run anyhow, them two. LITTLE BILL (glumly) Nope. They'll stay out on the Spade country where they got friends. The train whistle screams down in the valley and the train is chugging in the distance, pulling out, headed South. SKINNY Shit, Bill, could be nobody won't come at all. EXT. LOGAN HOUSE - DAY SALLY TWO TREES, weeding under a hot sun. She is an Indian woman about forty years old, heavy, and she is pulling weeds from a neat garden near the Logan House and she looks up and she sees something and frowns and keeps looking and doesn't like what she sees, HER POV: A MAN IN THE DISTANCE RIDING AN ALBINO MARE, making his way slowly through the prosperous fields of young corn. VIEW ON SALLY She looks over at her husband, NED LOGAN, who is working not far away and he seems to "hear" her look because he turns to her and, seeing her troubled expression, he follows her look and he too sees the rider on the Albino mare. NED I'll be damned. It's Billy Munny. Ned is about forty, balding, a farmer, but not as seedy looking as his old friend, Bill Munny. VIEW ON MUNNY Trying to dismount and the Albino prancing and Munny staggering and Sally looking at the scene grimly. MUNNY (awkwardly) Hullo Sally... I... uh, I ain't seen you in near as long as this, uh... as this horse ain't felt the saddle. Munny gets up out of the dust looking uncomfortable and Sally just stares at him coldly. NED (warmly) Come on in outta the sun, Bill. Sally, you see to Bill's horse. Munny nods an uncomfortable thank-you to Sally as Ned leads him toward a house that is very different from Munny's. It is a two story frame house freshly painted and surrounded by a well-tended garden, a tool shed, a barn and lush fields. As the men disappear into the house Sally leads the Albino toward the barn. Her sharp eyes don't miss the stock of the shotgun where it protrudes slightly from the bedroll. Her eyes seem to see even into the future... and all they see is trouble. INT. LOGAN HOUSE - DAY CLOSE on CLEAN CERAMIC COFFEE MUGS as NED takes them from a tidy cabinet in his cozy kitchen with the cast iron stove, the solid table. Munny is sitting at the table looking moodily into space. NED (earnestly) We ain't bad men no more, Bill. Hell, we're farmers. MUNNY (thoughtfully) Should be easy killin' em... supposin' they don't run off to Texas first. NED (taking the pot from the stove) How long since you shot a gun at a man? (pause) Nine... ten years? MUNNY Eleven. NED Easy, huh? Hell, I don't know that it was all that easy then... an' we was young an' full of beans. (pouring coffee) Bill... if you was mad at 'em... if they done you wrong... I could see shootin' 'em... MUNNY (looking Ned in the eye) We done stuff before for money, Ned. NED (sitting down) Well, we thought we was doin' it for money... (he pauses, remembering) What'd they do anyhow? Cheat at cards, steal some strays, spit on a rich fella? MUNNY Cut up a woman. Cut her eyes out, cut her tits off, cut her fingers off... done everythin' but cut up her cunny, I guess. NED (after chewing on that one) Well, I guess they got it comin'... (and he pauses and looks Munny in the eye) But you wouldn't go if Claudia was alive. It hits Munny like salt in a wound and he just takes it. They both know Ned is right and they think about it silently. Finally Munny speaks glumly. MUNNY (getting up and going to the door) I guess you wouldn't mind to look in on my youngsters next week. Might be you could help them move a couple of them pigs if they got to separate 'em more. Ned has been thinking about it while Munny's talking, wrestling with it and now Munny is out the door. NED How long you gonna be, Bill? MUNNY Two weeks, I guess. NED This Kid, what's he like? Munny turns and looks at Ned and their eyes meet and Munny realizes Ned is coming. NED Three ways? MUNNY Yup. You still got the Spencer rifle? NED (grinning) Yeah, an' I could still hit a bird in the eye flyin'. EXT. LOGAN HOUSE - DAY Munny landing with a thud in the dust and picking himself up hurriedly and casting a sheepish glance over his shoulder at Ned as he makes another awkward effort to mount the mare. NED (amazed at this performance) Jesus, Bill. CLOSE VIEW The sad, wise eyes of Sally Two Trees as she watches the two riders disappearing in the distance. Her eyes are saying good-bye. EXT. PATH - DAY THE RIDERS IN THE DISTANCE. One horse is walking and the white one is prancing and shying in an unruly manner while her rider fights desperately for control. EXT. OPEN COUNTRY - DAY SUNSET, and Ned and Munny riding in open country. NED He musta been movin' right along. MUNNY We'll come across him tomorra, I guess. EXT. CAMP - NIGHT Night and the sizzling campfire as Ned empties the grease from the frying pan into the fire. Munny is already lying down, fussing in his blankets to get comfortable and the crickets are chirping up a storm. MUNNY Got used to my bed. Ain't gonna feel to home out here. NED (getting into his blankets) Well, it ain't just the bed I'm gonna miss. I'm... (he stops suddenly) Hell, Billy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean... MUNNY It ain't nothin', don't fret it. (pause) She don't like it much, you goin' off with me. NED Sally? MUNNY She gave me the evil eye. NED It's just... she's a Indian an' Indians ain't... overfriendly. MUNNY I ain't blamin' her, Ned, I ain't holdin' it against her. (pause) She knew me back then... an' she seen what a no good sonofabitch I was... an' she won't allow how I've changed. She just don't know how I ain't like that no more. NED Well, she... MUNNY (urgently) I ain't the same, Ned. Claudia, she... straightened me up, got me clear of the whiskey an' all. Us goin' to do this killin'... that don't mean I'm back to like I was. I just need the money... for a new start... for them youngsters. (long pause) Remember that drover, the one I shot in the mouth so's the teeth come out the back of his head? I dream about him now an' again. I didn't have no reason to shoot him... not one I could remember when I sobered up. NED You was a... a crazy sonofabitch. MUNNY Nobody liked me... none of the boys. They was scared of me... figured I might shoot 'em out of pure meanness. NED You ain't like that no more. MUNNY Eagle... he hated my guts. Bonaparte didn't like me none. NED Nor Quincy, I guess. MUNNY Quincy, he was always watchin' me. Scared. NED You ain't like that no more. MUNNY Hell, no. I'm just a fella now. Ain't no different from anyone else no more. After a pause, Ned rolls over to go to sleep and says something kind by way of saying goodnight. NED Hell, Bill, I always liked you... even back then. Ned settles in his covers and so does Munny and the crickets chirp for a long moment but Munny can't sleep with the lie. MUNNY No you didn't. You wasn't no different, Ned. (and we...) EXT. TRAIN - DAY DAYLIGHT and a train whistle SCREAMING. INT. RAILROAD COACH - DAY The headline on the newspaper says "President Garfield Wounded." FUZZY, a cowboy, is sitting in the rocking coach reading the paper with great effort, partly because of the motion of the train and partly because Fuzzy can't read very well... but CROCKER, the rough looking cowboy on the seat next to him can't read at all. CROCKER All I want to know is what sonofabitch shot him, that's all. Was it one of them John Bull assholes? Across the aisle two well dressed gentlemen are sitting. The one by the window, the lean one in the frock coat and slouch hat, is WW BEAUCHAMP and the one on the aisle, pudgy, pinkcheeked, with neat muttonchop whiskers, wearing a frock coat and waistcoat and a silk slouch hat in spite of the heat, is ENGLISH BOB. English Bob has beady blue eyes, is about thirty-five and pulls constantly on a good cigar. ENGLISH BOB (in a rich English accent) No, sir, I believe the would-be murderer is a gentleman of French ancestry... or so it would seem. I hope I won't give offense if I observe that the French are known to be a race of assassins, though they can't shoot worth a damn... any Frenchman among the present company excluded of course. Crocker, not liking or understanding the interruption, gives English Bob a hard stare. FUZZY (to Crocker) Says here a fellow by the name of "Gitto." "G-U-I--T..." CROCKER (eyes on Bob) Sounds like a damn John Bull to me. "Gitto." THIRSTY, a cowboy sitting behind Crocker, turns in his seat, sensing the tension in the air and WW feels it too and shifts uneasily... but English Bob is unperturbed and he puffs cheerfully on his cigar. ENGLISH BOB Well, sirs... again not wishing to give offense... it might be a good idea if the country were to choose a Queen... or even a King... rather than a president. One isn't as quick to take a shot at a King or a Queen. The majesty of royalty, you see... CROCKER (provocative) Maybe you don't wish to give offense, sir, but you are givin' it pretty thick. This country don't need no queens whatsoever, I guess. Crocker is shifting in his seat so that the revolver in his holster is prominent and there is uneasy stirring among the nearby passengers. A DRUMMER looks around for exits. CROCKER As a matter of fact, what I heard about Queens... THURSTON Shut up, Joe. CROCKER (to Thurston) Huh? What's got up your ass, Thirsty? This dude asshole... THURSTON (to Crocker, but his eyes on Bob) Might be the "dude" is English Bob... the one who works for the Union Pacific shootin' Chinamen. Might be he wants for some dumb cowboy to touch his pistol... so's he can shoot him down. English Bob, unperturbed, just pulls on his cigar. CROCKER (sobered) That a fact, mister? You English Bob? ENGLISH BOB (affably) Why don't we shoot some turkeys, friend? Ten shots... a dollar a turkey. I'll shoot for the Queen, and you can shoot for... whomever. EXT. TRAIN - DAY Turkeys bursting from long Nebrasks grass as the train whistle screams. BLAM! A turkey plummets to earth. BLAM! Another goes down. VIEW ON ENGLISH BOB On the swaying platform between cars, his pistol smoking and BOB brings it up again fast and sights and BLAM! AN EXPLOSION OF FEATHERS plummeting down and disappearing in the long grass. VIEW ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLATFORM Where WW Beauchamp, Crocker, Thurston, Fuzzy and the nervous Drummer, in a cheap bowler, are standing. They are all impressed with the fact that English Bob is one hell of a shot with a pistol. ENGLISH BOB (to Crocker) I believe that's eight for me... to one for you. A matter of seven of your American dollars. CROCKER (grudgingly counting silver dollars) Pretty damn good shootin'... (daring) for a John Bull. ENGLISH BOB (accepting the money cheerfully) No doubt your aim was affected by your grief over the injury to your... uh... president. EXT. TRAIN STOP - DAY Bawling cattle milling in the pens south of Big Whiskey, and the train hissing and steaming at a standstill. CLOSE VIEW Two leather valises and a leather rifle case as MUDDY CHANDLER tosses them on his mud wagon, a sort of open stagecoach. The scene is one of chaos as the train steams and hisses and baggage is tossed off and more is tossed on. CHANDLER It's a nickel up to Big Whiskey, gentlemen. WW hands Chandler the money and, as he and English Bob climb into the mud wagon, they are accosted by GERMANY JOE SCHULTZ who runs the livery stable and does horse business with railway passengers on the side. GERMANY JOE I godd nize horzes I zell you, boyce. Nize prizes for Independence Day, boyce. EXT. MUD WAGON - DAY English Bob and WW riding in the mud wagon, bouncing uncomfortably in spite of the slow pace, and eating dust and sweating profusely. ENGLISH BOB (irritably) It's the climate does it. That and the infernal distances. WW Does what? ENGLISH BOB Induces people to shoot persons in high places. (mopping his brow with his handkerchief) It's a savage country. That's the second one shot in twenty years. It's uncivilized shooting people of substance. The mud wagon rattles past the South Road sign. It is similar to the one of the North Road and says: NO FIREARMS IN BIG WHISKEY. ORDINANCE 14. DEPOSIT PISTOLS AND RIFLES COUNTY OFFICE. EXT. BIG WHISKY INN - DAY Deputy ANDY RUSSELL stepping out of the County Office as the mud wagon clatters to a stop in front of the Big Whisky Inn. Andy is just twenty, a good looking kid with a badge on his vest and a holstered pistol. He watches the passengers climb out of the mud wagon and, as English Bob alights, his frock coat parts and gives ANDY just the quickest glimpse of a holstered pistol under the coat. ANDY Pardon me, gentlemen, but local ordinance obliges you to surrender your sidearms to proper authority for the duration of your visit. WW looks at English Bob and English Bob turns and looks Andy up and down very coolly. ENGLISH BOB Proper authority eh? (breezily) Well, sir... neither my companion nor I carry firearms on our persons. Rather, we trust in the goodwill of our fellow man and the forbearance of reptiles. And English Bob gives a smart bow, turns with a swirl of coat-tails that allows a brief glimpse of not one, but two holstered pistols, and marches off. As WW follows English Bob, he glances nervously back to see what young Andy will do but Andy just stares nonplussed. In that quick glimpse, Andy saw how the weapons were tied down with thongs, meaning the owner wanted a quick pull... and this shit is out of his league. INT. COUNTY OFFICE - DAY KER-CHICK, CLACK, A HENRY RIFLE COCKED and the action checked. Andy is cleaning the weapon in the County Office. ANDY Unarmed, my ass. SHUCK, KA-CHAK. CHARLEY HECKER breaks open a single barreled shotgun and moves a shell in. CHARLEY (wiping his brow nervously) Christ, it's hot. FATTY (cheerfully) If I'm gonna get shot, I druther it was hot then cold. Everythin' hurts more in the cold. Fatty is sitting in a chair in front of the empty jail cell cleaning a revolver, oblivious to the tension. FATTY You know how if you hit your thumb in the cold, how it...? CHARLEY Shut up, Fatty. FATTY I only said... Outside a horse clatters up fast and Andy jumps nervously to the window. ANDY Clyde's back. CHARLEY Little Bill with him? ANDY No. CHARLEY (worried) Shit. Clyde bursts in the door. He is wearing two gun-belts crossed, with a holster on each side. Since he has only one arm, he carries one pistol butt forward and the other butt back. CLYDE You boys clean my Remington? FATTY (holding it up) Cleaned an' loaded. CHARLEY Where's Little Bill for Christ sake? CLYDE (inspecting the pistol) Ha. He was building his fucking porch. CHARLEY Building his porch! FATTY If you was to get shot, Andy, would you like it better to be a hot day or...? ANDY (sharply) I ain't gonna get shot. CHARLEY (to Clyde) He's coming ain't he? CLYDE (ejecting shells) 'Course he's coming. FATTY Hey, I just loaded her. Watcha doin? CLYDE I don't trust nobody to load my guns, not for a shootin'. CHARLEY What'd he say? CLYDE Little Bill? He didn't say nothing. Like I said, he was buildin' his porch. Have you seen that thing? FATTY (sulking) It was all loaded. Jesus, Clyde, you got three pistols an' only one arm for Christ sake. CLYDE (to Fatty) I just don't wanna get killed for lack of shootin' back. (to Charley) You know there ain't a straight angle in that whole goddamn porch... or in the whole house for that matter. He's the worst fucking carpenter. CHARLEY (worried) He didn't say nothin', huh? CLYDE (putting the 3rd pistol in his belt) Asked what they looked like, that's all. Christ, maybe he's tough but he sure ain't no carpenter. CHARLEY Maybe he ain't so tough. Clyde looks up, surprised. There is a sudden silence. ANDY (blurting it) He seem like... like he was... scared? CLYDE (amazed) Little Bill? Him scared? CHARLEY We never seen him up against any... like these ones... killers. CLYDE (looking at the frightened faces of Charley and Andy) Little Bill come out of Kansas an' Texas, boys. He worked them tough towns. CHARLEY (ashamed) Just wondered. Anybody could be scared. Andy drops his eyes and looks away from Clyde. CLYDE (with meaning) No. He wasn't scared, boys. He just ain't a good carpenter. INT. BARBERSHOP - DAY English Bob, delighting in the smooth feel of his freshly shaved pink cheeks, climbs cheerfully out of the barber chair, still chattering at the poor BARBER. ENGLISH BOB ...can see that there's a dignity in royalty... a majesty... that precludes the likelihood of assassination. The Barber is applying his little whisk broom to Bob's waistcoat while WW pulls out his purse to make payment. ENGLISH BOB Why, if you were to point a pistol at a King or a Queen, sir, I can assure you your hand would shake as though palsied... BARBER (looking at Bob's pistols) I wouldn't point no pistol at nobody, sir. ENGLISH BOB (putting on his frock coat over his guns) A wise policy. But if you did, I can assure you, the sight of royalty would cause you to dismiss all thoughts of bloodshed and stand... in awe. (pause) Whereas, a president... I mean, why not shoot a president? The Barber doesn't know how to take this guy, and just ogles him. ENGLISH BOB Now this Strawberry Alice person, tell me again. BARBER Down the street and across. Greely's Beer Garden and Billiard parlor. Just ask for Alice and say you want a game of billiards. ENGLISH BOB (about to exit) Billiards, eh? Even though I don't really wish to play? BARBER Don't matter. They burned the table in '78 for firewood. ENGLISH BOB Ah, I see. WW has already stepped out and English Bob follows him out the door. EXT. BARBERSHOP/MAIN STREET - DAY English Bob steps out the door. ENGLISH BOB Come on, WW. Let's... Something's wrong! There is a funny quiet and WW is frozen like a ramrod. English Bob looks around. VIEW ON CHARLIE HECKER Ten yards to Bob's right, pointing a 12 gauge shotgun and Fatty Rossiter a few feet away pointing his old Enfield. VIEW ON ANDY RUSSELL On Bob's left, pale and tense, pointing his Henry, and Clyde Ledbetter kneeling near him, leveling one of his pistols. VIEW ON LITTLE BILL Standing ten yards away in the empty dusty street where the Fourth of July flags are flapping. LITTLE BILL Hullo, Bob. Boys, this here is English Bob. ENGLISH BOB (under his breath) Shit and fried eggs. LITTLE BILL Been a long time, Bob. You run out of Chinamen? ENGLISH BOB (recovering his composure) Little Bill, I thought you were dead. I see you shaved off your chin whiskers. LITTLE BILL (feeling his chin) Well, I was always tasting the soup two hours after I et it. VIEW ON THE STREET Empty, silent. VIEW FACES IN THE WINDOW Of the Blue Bottle restaurant. EGGS ANDERSON, TOM LUCKINBILL, MRS. PEEVEY, HOPPITY THOMAS, peering out. VIEW ALICE, KATE AND LITTLE SUE IN GREELY'S WINDOW And, in the open doorway, ready to duck for cover, Skinny and Germany Joe Schultz and PADDY McGEE, the cooper. VIEW ON ENGLISH BOB ENGLISH BOB What I heard was that you fell off your horse drunk and broke your neck. LITTLE BILL I heard that one myself, Bob. Hell, I even thought I was dead til I found out it was just I was in Nebraska. (pause) Who's your friend? ENGLISH BOB WW Beauchamp... Little Bill Daggett and... "friends." WW (nervous) From N-n-newton?... and H-hays and Aa-Abilene? ENGLISH BOB (dryly) The same. Charley is taking all this in wide-eyed. LITTLE BILL You work for the railroads too, Mister Beauchamp? WW (scared to death) N-no. I wr-wr-wr-write... I wr- wrwrite... LITTLE BILL Letters? ENGLISH BOB Books. He's my biographer. LITTLE BILL (fighting amazement) Oh. And WW is reaching for a pocket. VIEW Andy and Charley and Clyde and Fatty tensing to fire. VIEW ON ENGLISH BOB ENGLISH BOB I wouldn't do it, WW. WW freezes, terrified... and a puddle of urine forms at his feet. WW It's only a b-b-b-book... LITTLE BILL (his pistol half-drawn) A book, huh? (returning his pistol and glancing at the piss) I guess that means you can read... An' I guess you boys seen them signs about surrendering your firearms... But then, like you told old Andy there, you ain't armed, are you, Bob? ENGLISH BOB Not really... (shrugging) Maybe a couple of Peacemakers... (bargaining) I imagine you could overlook those, eh, Bill? If you didn't see them... or hear them? LITTLE BILL (cold as ice) I guess not, Bob. I don't like guns around. With a sardonic glance at the arsenal trained on him English Bob gives a shrug and holds open his coat in surrender, exposing two fancy holstered pistols. Little Bill gives Andy a head signal and Andy steps forward and takes the pistols from English Bob's holsters. LITTLE BILL Charley, see what kind of "books" Mister Beauchamp is packing... but watch you don't get wet. ENGLISH BOB (to Andy) Be careful with those, sonny. Onlookers are stepping out of doorways now and moving timidly into the street forming a large semi-circle. The whores are among them. CHARLEY No shit, Little Bill, all he's got is this here book. Charley holds up a dime novel with a lurid cover showing a gentleman in a top hat protecting a woman with his body while firing two pistols at seven disheveled looking "Western types." The title is "The Duke of Death." LITTLE BILL (reading with effort) The... Duck of Death. WW D-d-d-duke. The D-d-duke of Death. English Bob starts to go but Little Bill puts a hand on his shoulder. LITTLE BILL Give me the .32, Bob. Furious, English Bob turns and looks into Bill's eyes and then, seeing no alternative, opens his vest exposing a small pistol. ENGLISH BOB You leave me at the mercy of my enemies. LITTLE BILL (taking the pistol) Enemies, Bob? You been talking about the Queen again? On Independence Day? A lot of the tension has gone out of the occasion and the crowd is beginning to murmur and people are starting to move and a couple of kids are running when suddenly... CRUNCH! English Bob's face seems to cave in with the force of Little Bill's fist and Bob literally flies backward and slams into the side of the barber shop. VIEW Alice gasping... Andy's jaw drops... Little Sue's eyes bulge... Charley gulps. VIEW ON ENGLISH BOB Slumped against the wall, blood pouring from his unhinged jaw, amazed. ENGLISH BOB Wh... what...? Little Bill walks calmly up to him and WHAM... kicks him hard in the chest. VIEW SILKY Having a hard time swallowing and Mrs. Peevey turning away and Eggs horrified and Alice's scared face. VIEW ON ENGLISH BOB Bloody, on all fours, pulling a knife from his waistcoat... but the whole effort is painful and hopeless. He hasn't a chance. Little Bill looks down at him for a moment from his enormous height, watching the smaller man's pitiful effort, then SLAM!... Little Bill kicks him in the ribs hard and you can hear air going out of Bob, and Bill steps hard on Bob's knife hand and the bones crunch loudly. VIEW WW, white as a ghost and Andy is trying not to vomit. There is the sound of another brutal blow. VIEW English Bob on all fours in the dusty street now, barely conscious. KA-WHUMP! Little Bill kicks him again, not angrily, but hard. LITTLE BILL I guess you think I'm kickin' you, Bob... but it ain't so. (WHAM, another kick) What I'm doin' is talkin', hear? I'm talkin' to all them villains down in Kansas an' them villains in Cheyenne... (WHUMP) Lettin' em know there ain't no whores' gold... Little Bill turns and looks hard at the whores and Alice is sick from the violence and Little Sue is biting her lip and Silky has tears in her eyes. LITTLE BILL (turning back to Bob and kicking him) ...an' how if there was... how they wouldn't want to come lookin' for it anyhow. Little Bill looks down with eyes as cold as ice and English Bob grovels in the bloody dust, barely conscious. EXT. OPEN COUNTRY - DAY Open country under a hot sun and Munny and Ned riding their horses at a walk and the saddles creaking and birds chirping in the five foot high grass. It is late morning in Northern Kansas and they have been riding since dawn, mostly in silence, but Ned has something on his mind and he glances at Munny and frowns and then finally he blurts his question. NED Say, Bill... You ever... ever go into town... an' all? MUNNY (surprised at the question) Sure, I got to. Got to get supplies. NED No. I mean... (embarrassed) ...an' get yourself a woman? You know? Munny looks away quickly, embarrassed, and it seems like he isn't going to answer and then, when he finally does, he keeps his eyes on the horizon. MUNNY Naw. Naw, I don't ever go into town for that. (pause) A man like me... A man like me can't get no woman but one he's gonna pay for... an' that ain't right... buyin' flesh. (looking at Ned) Claudia, God rest her soul, she wouldn't have wanted me doin' nothin' like that, me bein' a father, an' all. (he looks away again) NED (rhetorically) Whaddaya do, just use your hand? MUNNY (after a nervous glance at Ned) Sometimes... yeah. (looking at the horizon) I don't miss it all that much. Ned is shaking his head, wondering at the transformation of his old friend when... CRACK! A RIFLE SHOT and the Albino mare rears violently, whinnying and hurling Munny out of the saddle and... Ned's roan bolts at full speed, Ned barely staying aboard. CRACK! another shot. VIEW ON MUNNY On all fours in the tall grass. He feels his forehead and wipes away a little blood, and shakes his head to clear it. Then he hears rustling in the long grass and he whirls and pulls the Starr out of his belt and sitting back he aims at where he heard the noise and he pulls back the hammer with a loud click. NED'S VOICE (a whisper) Billy. Billy. MUNNY (lowering the pistol, relieved) Yeah. Ned crawls out of the grass next to Munny. NED Some fucker's shootin' at us. MUNNY Yeah. NED (alarmed, seeing blood) He hit you? MUNNY Naw. I bumped my head fallin' off of my horse. CRACK, another shot. Ned looks puzzled and he lifts his head up and tries to look around without exposing himself. A hundred yards away Ned can see a clump of four or five trees and there is a little cloud of black smoke still hanging in the air there and then a sudden flash of fire, smoke and CRACK! Ned doesn't even duck, he just frowns. NED He ain't shootin' our way no more. (indicating the left) He's shootin' over that way. Who's he shootin' at over that way? MUNNY Beats the hell out of me. NED You suppose maybe we're in somebody's field? MUNNY I didn't see nothin' planted. CRACK. Another shot. Ned ducks urgently. NED Fuck, he's shootin' at us again. CRACK, CRACK, CRACK. NED Jesus, he's shootin' up the whole fucking horizon. Munny is thinking about it, has an idea, weighs it and gives it a try. MUNNY (shouting) HEY. NED You're marking us, Bill. MUNNY (ignoring him) HEY, KID. NED Kid? The Kid's shootin at us? MUNNY IS THAT YOU, KID? NED Why would the Kid shoot at us? MUNNY HEY KID, IT'S ME, BILL MUNNY. EXT. TREES - DAY The Kid rifle at his cheek is crouched behind one of the trees. His horse is standing nearby. MUNNY'S VOICE (O.S.) Hey, Kid, is that you? It's me, Bill Munny. The Kid is frowning and finally he makes up his mind. THE KID (shouting) YEAH. IT'S ME. MUNNY'S VOICE (O.S.) Don't shoot at us no more, okay? The Kid is peering around the tree and squinting ferociously. HIS POV: The field. It is one big blur. He can't see worth a shit. The Kid squinting and peering and worrying. THE KID WHO YOU GOT WITH YOU? MUNNY'S VOICE (O.S.) Ned Logan. My old partner, Ned Logan. Don't you shoot no more, okay? The Kid doesn't like it, he's nervous and twitching, trying desperately to see what's going on out there. MUNNY'S VOICE We're gonna collect our horses an' come on over. You ain't gonna shoot no more, are you? THE KID NO, I AIN'T. EXT. TREES - DAY VIEW ON MUNNY Bedraggled and sweaty, walking into the clump of trees leading his horse and Ned, behind him, leading his roan and looking just as bad. MUNNY Had to chase the damn horse a mile. The Kid is sitting under the shade tree looking sullen. NED (angry) What was you shootin' at us for, anyhow? THE KID Thought you was followin' me. MUNNY Well, we was. Like you said, I changed my mind an'... THE KID Wasn't nothin' said about no partner. NED Well, this here's Ned Logan... Ned, this here's the Schofield Kid, nephew of Pete Sothow an'... THE KID I seen two fellas followin' me, I guessed they come to kill me. (pause) We didn't talk about no other fella. MUNNY (squatting in front of The Kid, talking in a persuasive tone) Well, now Kid, there's two of these cowboys, ain't that so? Better there's three of us... maybe them cowboys got friends. Maybe... THE KID I was gonna kill them two by myself. It don't take three. Ned walks over to where The Kid's rifle is leaning against the tree and The Kid is watching nervously. MUNNY Now Ned's a hell of a shot with a rifle. Hell, he can hit a bird in the eye flyin'. NED (picking up The Kid's rifle) Better'n you anyhow, Kid. You wasn't comin' close. THE KID Keep your damn hands offa that rifle, Mister. The Kid is touching his pistol and Ned puts the rifle down, annoyed. NED I was only checkin' it for you. Thought maybe somethin' was bent. THE KID Nothin's bent. NED Well, you was shootin' every which way an'... THE KID (to Munny) You gonna share your half with him? MUNNY Three ways, I figured. THE KID No. MUNNY (to Ned) Sorry, Ned. Guess I wasted your time. See ya, Kid! Munny turns to go and Ned gives The Kid a disgusted look and turns away. THE KID (to Munny) You're goin' back with him? MUNNY (turning) He's my partner. He don't go, I don't. Ned is mounted and Munny starts to mount too, but the mare is as reluctant as ever, shying and prancing while MUNNY hops awkwardly with one foot in the stirrup. THE KID What's it come to, three ways? Munny turns and looks at The Kid. EXT. OPEN COUNTRY - DAY The three of them riding across open country. The Kid looks like he still has a thorn up his ass and the only sound is the creaking of saddles. Storm clouds are gathering behind them on the horizon. MUNNY Oh shit. And The Kid looks back but of course he can't figure out what it is they saw. THE KID What the hell are you pissin' about, I'd like to know? MUNNY (astonished) Huh? THE KID Well, what were you lookin' at anyhow? MUNNY Lookin' at? NED Clouds, Kid. We was lookin' at them clouds on account of we got a storm ridin' up our ass. THE KID (looking back) Oh, them. (petulantly) Hell, I seen them. Ned frowns and looks at The Kid and something is bothering Ned. EXT. STREAM BED - DAY A dry stream bed and the three men are riding single file now with The Kid in the lead but Ned has been thinking and, trotting with his horse, he pulls alongside The Kid. NED You was right to change your mind, Kid. THE KID (surly, suspicious) Yeah? NED (proudly) I'm a damn good shot. (looking up) See that hawk up there? I could kill that hawk with one shot. VIEW on the empty sky. There isn't any hawk. VIEW on Munny who is right beside them is looking up and he doesn't see any hawk and he looks at Ned like he thought Ned was crazy and he frowns. The Kid just looks up and squints and looks ahead at the trail and keeps riding. THE KID Hell, I could hit it too if I didn't mind wasting a shot. And Munny looks up again, amazed, because they must be crazy, both of them. And Ned reins his horse hard. NED There ain't no hawk up there, Kid. And the Kid reins and turns and he locks eyes with Ned. He knows he's been found out. NED Can't see worth a shit, can you? The Kid is furious, his eyes flick around and he spots something and he pulls out the Schofield. THE KID See them fucking turtles? VIEW ON THREE TURTLES Making their way up the stream bed ten yards away. VIEW ON THE KID His Schofield spitting fire and smoke BLAM, BLAM. VIEW ON THE TURTLE BLAM, the third turtle exploding and following the other two to oblivion. VIEW ON THE MEN MUNNY (impressed) Shit. NED (impressed but holding back) How far kin you see? THE KID Far enough. NED We ain't goin' to Nebraska on no turtle hunt. A hundred yards? THE KID More. NED (testing) See that scrub oak yonder? THE KID (furious) Fuck you. NED (to Munny) He's blind, for Chri... THE KID (pointing his pistol at Ned) I ain't blind, you asshole. MUNNY Now hold on, boys, hold on. Now, Kid, you kin see fifty yards, can't you? THE KID Bet your ass I kin see fifty yards an' I kin shoot this sonofabitch... MUNNY Easy, Kid, easy. (looking Ned in the eye) Now, you hear that, Ned? The Kid can see fifty yards fine, hear? NED (under his breath) Jesus. MUNNY Fifty yards ain't bad. (glancing at the horizon) Guess we better get along. EXT. SKY - DAY STORM CLOUDS building behind them on the horizon. INT. COUNTY OFFICE - NIGHT CLOSE ON A BOOK The lurid cover, "The Duke of Death" by W. W. Beauchamp. Little Bill is looking at the cover, his feet propped on his desk in the county office. It is night and the office is lit with an oil lamp. LITTLE BILL (referring to the book) Them boys look like real hard cases. Did you kill all seven of 'em dead, Bob... or did you just wing some of 'em? English Bob is lying on his back on a cot in the little cell a few feet away. He turns his head toward Little Bill and his swollen face is horrible to behold. Of course, he doesn't answer except with the nasty eye. LITTLE BILL That is you there, ain't it, Bob? The Duck of Death? WW (daring) Uh... Duke. WW is in the little cell next to English Bob's. LITTLE BILL Oh yeah... Duke. Well, Bob, you always was hell an' Jesus with a pistol... but seven of 'em, an' you protectin' the lady too... How'd you do it? English Bob just turns his malignant stare away but WW screws up his courage and asserts himself... sort of. WW Uh... It's... uh... generally considered desirable in the publishing business to... ah... take certain license in depicting the cover scene... for... ah... purposes involving the... ah, market place. LITTLE BILL Well, Mister Beauchamp... from what I read of this here book, I'd have to say the writin' ain't a whole lot different from the pitcher. WW (sweating, but with dignity) Uh... I can assure you, Mister Daggett... the events described within are based... on the accounts of eye witnesses and... LITTLE BILL (opening the book) Meaning the duck himself, I guess. WW Duke. LITTLE BILL (harshly) Duck, I says. (reading badly) "You have insulted the honor of this beautiful woman, Corcoran," said the duck. "You must apologize." But Two Gun Corcoran would have none of it and, cursing, he reached for his pistols and would have killed them but The Duck was faster and hot lead blazed from his smoking sixguns." (he tosses the book on the desk, disgusted) WW (with dignity) I believe that to be an accurate description of the events, sir... albeit there is a certain poetry to the language which... LITTLE BILL (standing up) Well, Mister Beauchamp, I was at the Blue Bottle Saloon in Wichita the night English Bob killed Corky Corcoran... an' I didn't see you there... nor no woman, nor no twogun shooters nor nothin' like that. WW (amazed) You were there? WW looks to English Bob for confirmation but Bob's stare just gets nastier. Little Bill is warming to the subject though, standing in front of the cell. LITTLE BILL First off... Corky didn't carry two pistols, though he should of. WW But he was called... LITTLE BILL Some folks did call Old Corky "Two Gun" but not because he was sportin' two pistols but because he had a dick so big it was longer than the barrel on that Walker Colt he carried. An' the only insultin' he done was stickin' that big dick of his in some French Lady that Old Bob was sweet on... Well, one day Corky walked into the Blue Bottle and before he knows what's happening Bob takes a shot at him... and misses on account of he's drunker than hell. WW is fascinated and he looks to Bob and BOB'S eye is blazing and he looks back at Little Bill who is beginning to act out the scene. LITTLE BILL Well, that bullet whizzin' by panicked Corky, an' he done the wrong thing! Pulled his gun in such a damn hurry he shot off his own toe. Meantime, Bob aims good and squeezes off another... but he's so drunk he misses again an' hits the thousand dollar mirror behind the bar. Well, now the Duck of Death is good as dead 'cause this time Corky does right an' aims real good, no hurry... WW (beside himself) And? LITTLE BILL Bam! That Walker Colt blew up in his hand... which was a failing common to that model. Now if Corky would have really had two guns instead of just a big dick he could have defended himself to the end. WW You... you mean... (looking at Bob) English Bob killed him while...? LITTLE BILL Well he wasn't gonna wait for Corky to grow no new hand. He walked over real close, bein' drunk, an' shot him through the liver. WW stares first at English Bob and then at Little Bill, appalled. EXT. WOODS - NIGHT Night in the woods and Ned fussing around with his blankets not far from the campfire. NED (irritably) No sir, I did not give up robbin' an' stealin' on account of I got religion. I give it up 'cause I got too old for all this here nature. Munny is lying in his blankets a few feet away, exhausted and dirty and not a bit interested in Ned's complaints. NED I give it up 'cause I hate sleepin' out in the air... fuckin' sticks in my food... an' fuckin' bugs in my food... an' fuckin' rocks under my back... (crawling into the blankets) Shit, I sure do miss my fuckin' bed. MUNNY (irritably) Yeah... you said that last night. NED Last night I said I missed my fuckin' wife... tonight I just miss my fuckin' bed. Lightning flashes and a horse whinnies and then the thunder cracks and rolls. MUNNY Well, I guess you're gonna miss your fuckin' roof soon enough. EXT. BY THE HORSES - NIGHT The horses, shying and skittish, and The Kid is rubbing his face tenderly on the Morgan and whispering in a soothing voice. EXT. CAMP - NIGHT Munny and Ned lying near the campfire and The Kid walks up and starts to fix his blankets. He looks at Munny thoughtfully. Something's bothering him, and finally he blurts it out as he climbs into his own blankets. THE KID Say, Bill. That business in Jackson County... did that really happen? I mean how they say it happened? MUNNY What business? THE KID (a frown, a pause, then...) An' how there was two deputies up close pointin' rifles at you... had you dead to rights... an' how you pulled out a pistol an' blew them both away to hell... an' only took a scratch yourself. (pause) Uncle Pete told me he never seen nothin' like it, shootin' your way out of a scrape like that. MUNNY (uncomfortable) Well... I don't recollect. THE KID (amazed and dubious) You don't recollect! The Kid doesn't know whether he's been rebuffed or what, but seeing after a moment that his conversation with Munny is not getting anywhere he decides to have a try at Ned. THE KID Say, Ned... ? NED (curt) Yeah. THE KID How many men you killed? (after a long pause) Ain't you gonna answer? NED I don't like the question. THE KID (indignant) Well, I gotta know what kind of fellas I'm ridin' with, don't I? In case of a scrape. NED How many you killed, Kid? THE KID Five. I killed five of 'em. (pause) That counts a Mexican I killed. (pause) He come at me with a knife. There is a long pause and then a flash of lightning and a roll of thunder and the nervous whinnies of the horses. MUNNY Get some sleep, Kid. THE KID You boys are crotchety as a couple of hens. Just then the rain starts and it sizzles in the campfire and the horses snort and Ned covers his head with his blankets. NED Aw shit! INT. COUNTY OFFICE - NIGHT WW Actually, then, Mister Corcoran was faster on the draw than the D... English Bob? WW is sitting at Little Bill's desk writing furiously with a quill pen. It is still night and Little Bill is lounging in a chair and English Bob is moaning and snoring in the cell. LITTLE BILL Faster? Fast was his mistake. If he hadn't of been in such a goddamn hurry he would not have shot off his toe with his first shot and he would have killed old Bob. (lecturing) See, son, bein' a good shot an' bein' quick with a pistol... that don't do no harm... but it ain't much next to bein' cool. Little Bill pulls out his pistol very deliberately... not slowly, but not like a Hollywood fast draw. LITTLE BILL A man who will keep his head an' not get rattled under fire... he will kill you like as not. Little Bill is pointing his pistol, aiming. WW But if the other fellow is quicker