(no subject)
Jack Bell had worked all the tough towns. He'd been a city marshal in cattle-trail towns and worked the wild mining towns like Tombstone and Silver City. He'd scouted for the army and rode shotgun for Wells Fargo. He'd once arrested John Wesley Hardin. When Clayton Johansson's wife described the men who shot her husband and raped her, Bell was pretty sure who did it.
With two deputies, he rode out to the Circle RB ranch to talk with Randall Bragg, who owned the ranch and for whom the suspects worked. They met in the open area of hard, trampled dirt between the ranch house and the barn. Most of his hands stood near Bragg. All of them were armed.
"Randall," Bell said. "I'm afraid I need to bring two of your boys back into town with me."
Bragg was a spare man, wearing a black duster and a high crowned black hat. He held a Winchester rifle. Bell could see that the hammer was back.
"Can't spare 'em, Jack," he said. His voice was deep, and rough, but it had a hard sound to it, as if it were forced out through his nose.
"It's serious legal business, Randall. I got to take them in."
"No."
Bell looked at Bragg and the cowboys ranged behind him. He looked over his shoulder at one of the deputies, and nodded at the walleyed man standing with his friend near one end of the group.
"Cut those two out," he said.
The deputy looked uncertain. Bell's hand rested gently on his gun's butt.
"Do what I tell you," Bell said.
The deputy moved his horse forward and pitched suddenly off the horse as a shot was fired. Bell hadn't even seen Bragg pull the trigger, but he knew it was a Winchester; he'd heard enough of them. He turned his horse toward the shot and pulled his gun free, and a bullet hit him in the face and knocked him backward out of the saddle. The third deputy never even moved, except to fall to the dirt beside his horse, which promptly ran off to join the other two.
Bragg lowered his weapon and ducked his head, voice low.
"Nobody saw that. This didn't happen."
As far as each and every one of those cowhands were concerned, Jack Bell and his two deputies had never even set foot on Circle RB land, and that was the end of the story.
The facts were plain and simple:
Nobody saw a thing. Nothing happened.
[most description and dialog taken from the novel, appaloosa, and edited to match the film.]
With two deputies, he rode out to the Circle RB ranch to talk with Randall Bragg, who owned the ranch and for whom the suspects worked. They met in the open area of hard, trampled dirt between the ranch house and the barn. Most of his hands stood near Bragg. All of them were armed.
"Randall," Bell said. "I'm afraid I need to bring two of your boys back into town with me."
Bragg was a spare man, wearing a black duster and a high crowned black hat. He held a Winchester rifle. Bell could see that the hammer was back.
"Can't spare 'em, Jack," he said. His voice was deep, and rough, but it had a hard sound to it, as if it were forced out through his nose.
"It's serious legal business, Randall. I got to take them in."
"No."
Bell looked at Bragg and the cowboys ranged behind him. He looked over his shoulder at one of the deputies, and nodded at the walleyed man standing with his friend near one end of the group.
"Cut those two out," he said.
The deputy looked uncertain. Bell's hand rested gently on his gun's butt.
"Do what I tell you," Bell said.
The deputy moved his horse forward and pitched suddenly off the horse as a shot was fired. Bell hadn't even seen Bragg pull the trigger, but he knew it was a Winchester; he'd heard enough of them. He turned his horse toward the shot and pulled his gun free, and a bullet hit him in the face and knocked him backward out of the saddle. The third deputy never even moved, except to fall to the dirt beside his horse, which promptly ran off to join the other two.
Bragg lowered his weapon and ducked his head, voice low.
"Nobody saw that. This didn't happen."
As far as each and every one of those cowhands were concerned, Jack Bell and his two deputies had never even set foot on Circle RB land, and that was the end of the story.
The facts were plain and simple:
Nobody saw a thing. Nothing happened.
[most description and dialog taken from the novel, appaloosa, and edited to match the film.]