true-grit script

7/29/2019 true-grit Script

1/111

True Grit

Adaptation by

Joel and Ethan Coen

Based on the Novel by Charles Portis

Blue Revision: March, 9, 2010Shooting Script: November 10, 2009


2/111

White letters on a black screen:

The wicked flee when none pursueth.

The quotation fades.

EXT. WESTERN TOWN STREET - NIGHT1 1

A woman's voice:

VOICE-OVERPeople do not give it credence thata young girl could leave home andgo off in the wintertime to avengeher father's blood, but it didhappen.

The street of a western town, night. The street is deserted.

Snow falls.

We track slowly forward.

I was just fourteen years of agewhen a coward by the name of TomChaney shot my father down androbbed him of his life, and hishorse, and two California goldpieces he carried in his trouserband.

A shape lies in the street below the porch of a two-story *

building. A sign identifies the building as the MonarchBoarding House.

He got it into his head that he wasbeing cheated, and went back to theboarding house for his Henry rifle.When Papa tried to intervene,Chaney shot him.

The crumpled shape is a body. We hear the thunder ofapproaching hooves.

A galloping horse enters frame and recedes, whipped on by abareback rider. A long-barreled rifle is tied across therider's back with a sash cord.

He disappears into the falling snow.

Chaney fled. He could have walkedhis horse, for not a soul in thatcity could be bothered to givechase.

Blue Revision 3/9/10 1

(MORE)


3/111

No doubt Chaney fancied himselfscot-free, but he was wrong. Youmust pay for everything in thisworld, one way and another. Thereis nothing free, except the graceof God.

INT. MOVING TRAIN - DAY2 2

We are looking into the window of a moving train.

Looking out past us is a fourteen-year-old girl, Mattie Ross.Next to her is Yarnell, a middle-aged black man. Readingbackward in the mirror of the window we see a station signeasing in as the train slows: FORT SMITH.

The voice-over continues:

VOICE-OVERYou might say, what business was itof my father's to meddle? Myanswer is this: he was trying to dothat short devil a good turn. Hewas his brother's keeper. Doesthat answer your question?

INT. UNDERTAKERS - DAY3 3

DEAD MAN'S FACE

Candlelight flickers over the man's waxy features.

VOICE(Irish-accented)

Is that the man?

The body, wrapped in a shroud, lies in a pine coffin. Mattieand Yarnell stand looking down at it. An undertaker,grizzled and severely dressed, holds the candle.

MATTIE

That is my father.UNDERTAKER

If you would loik to kiss him itwould be all roight.

YARNELLHe has gone home. Praise the lord.


VOICE-OVER (CONT'D)


4/111

MATTIEWhy is it so much?

UNDERTAKERThe quality of the casket and ofthe embalming. The loifloik

appearance requires time and art.And the chemicals come dear. Theparticulars are in your bill. Ifyou would loik to kiss him it wouldbe all roight.

MATTIEThank you. The spirit has flown.Your wire said fifty dollars.

UNDERTAKERYou did not specify that he was to

be shipped.

MATTIEWell sixty dollars is every cent wehave. It leaves nothing for ourboard. Yarnell, you can see to thebody's transport to the trainstation and accompany it home, Istill have to collect father'sthings and see to some otherbusiness. I will have to sleep heretonight.

YARNELLYour mama didn't say nothing aboutseeing to no business here!

MATTIEIt is business Mama doesn't knowabout. It's all right, Yarnell, Idismiss you.

YARNELLWell I'm not sure I

MATTIETell mama not to sign anythinguntil I return home and see thatPapa is buried in his mason'sapron.

To the undertaker:

. . . Your terms are agreeable if Imay pass the night here.



5/111

UNDERTAKERHere? Among these people?

Mattie looks around the empty room.

MATTIE

These people?

UNDERTAKERI am expecting three more souls.Sullivan, Smith, and His Tongue InThe Rain.

EXT. GALLOWS/TOWN SQUARE - DAY4 4

Three men stand upon a rough-hewn three-banger gallows. Thecondemned are two white men and an Indian. They wear newjeans and flannel shirts buttoned to the neck. Each has a

noose around his neck. One of the white men is addressingthe crowd:

MANLadies and gentlemen beware andtrain up your children in the waythat they should go! You see whathas become of me because of drink.I killed a man in a triflingquarrel over a pocketknife.

Mattie is pushing her way through the spectators thronging

the town square.

Up on the gallows the condemned speaker starts to weep.

MAN (CONTD)If I had received good instructionas a child out on the CimarronRiver. I would be with my wife andchildren today, I don't know whatis to become of them. I hope andpray that you will not slight themand compel them to go into low

company.His blubbering will not let him go on. He steps back. A manstanding by slips a black hood over his head which continuesto bob with sobbing.

Mattie hisses to a woman nearby:

MATTIECan you point out the sheriff?



6/111

The woman indicates a figure among the officiators on thescaffold:

WOMAN *Him with the mustaches.

The second condemned man is speaking:

MANWell, I killed the wrong man is thewhich-of-why I'm here. Had Ikilled the man I meant to I don'tbelieve I would a been convicted.I see men out there in that crowdis worse than me.

A thinking pause. He nods, shrugging.

. . . Okay.

He steps back and is hooded.

The third man steps forward.

INDIANBefore I am hanged I would like tosay

He is hooded, speech cut short. The hangman, hand to hiselbow, helps him step back.

The executioner pulls a lever on the scaffold. Threetrapdoors swing open and three men drop. They hit the end oftheir ropes with a crack.

CROWDOh!

Two of the men have their heads snapped to an angle and arelimp and twist slowly. One, though, writhes and kicks,jackknifing his legs. *

EXT. GALLOWS/TOWN SQUARE - LATER5 5Mattie is talking to the sheriff whom we saw officiating onthe scaffold. The square is emptying and, in the background,all three men twist slowly, the last man having finally givenup the ghost. The Mexican boy still hawks tamales tostragglers.



7/111

SHERIFFNo, we ain't arrested him. Ain'tcaught up to him, he lit out forthe Territory. I would think hehas throwed in with Lucky NedPepper, whose gang robbed a mail

hack yesterday on the Poteau River.

MATTIEWhy are you not looking for him?

SHERIFFI have no authority in the IndianNation. Tom Chaney is the businessof the U.S. marshals now.

MATTIEWhen will they arrest him?

SHERIFFNot soon I am afraid. The marshalsare not well staffed and, I willtell you frankly, Chaney is at theend of a long list of fugitives andmalefactors.

MATTIECould I hire a marshal to pursueTom Chaney?

The sheriff looks at the girl and chuckles.

SHERIFFYou have a lot of experience withbounty hunters, do you?

MATTIEThat is a silly question. I amhere to settle my father's affairs.

SHERIFFAll alone?

MATTIE

I am the person for it. Mama wasnever any good at sums and she canhardly spell cat. I intend to seepapa's killer hanged.

SHERIFFWell. Nothing prevents you fromoffering a reward, or from soinforming a marshal.


(MORE)


8/111

It would have to be real money,though, to be persuasive. Chaneyis across the river in the ChoctawNation.

MATTIE

I will see to the money. Who's thebest marshal?

SHERIFFI would have to weigh thatWilliam Waters is the best tracker.He is half Comanche and it issomething to see him cut for sign.The meanest is Rooster Cogburn. Heis a pitiless man, double tough andfear don't enter into his thinking.He loves to pull a cork. The bestis probably L.T. Quinn, he brings

his prisoners in alive. Now he maylet one get by now and again but hebelieves even the worst of men isentitled to a fair shake.

MATTIEWhere can I find this Rooster?

EXT. OUTHOUSE - DAY6 6

MATTIE'S HAND

Rapping at a door of rough plank.

After a beat, a voicerasping and slurred:

VOICEThe jakes is occupied.

Wider. We see that Mattie stands before an outhouse.

MATTIEI know it is occupied Mr. Cogburn.As I said, I have business with

you.Beat.

VOICEI have prior business.

MATTIEYou have been at it for quite sometime, Mr. Cogburn.


SHERIFF (CONT'D)


9/111

VOICE(roaring drunk)

There is no clock on my business!To hell with you! How did you stalkme here?!

MATTIEThe sheriff told me to look in thesaloon. In the saloon theyreferred me here. We must talk.

VOICE(outraged)

Women ain't allowed in the saloon!

MATTIEI was not there as a customer. Iam fourteen years old.

No response. Mattie reaches up and raps again, vigorously.

Beat.

VOICE(sullen)

The jakes is occupied. And will befor some time.

EXT. FREIGHT TRAIN CAR - DAY7 7

PLANK FLOOR

A coffin is dropped heavily into frame and we see, chalkedonto the freshly milled wood of its top:

RossYell County

Hold at station

After a resting beat, during which the coffin's handlerspresumably adjust their grip, the coffin is shoved away overthe straw-littered planking of a rail freight car. Once ithas been pushed fully in, the upright planking of the boxcar

door blurs through frame in the extreme foreground til thedoor slams to rest.

INT. UNDERTAKERS - NIGHT8 8

SHOP DOOR

Swinging open. It is the barnlike door to the mortician'sworkroom; the Irish undertaker holds it open for Mattie. She



10/111

carries a bedroll.

UNDERTAKERGood evening. If you would to sleepin a coffin it would be all roight.

Three bodies lay under shrouds on a high work table. The armof the nearest sticks out, rope burns on its wrist. Threecoffins are in various stages of assembly.

EXT. TOWN STREET - DAY9 9

Mattie strides along, looking at facades. She stops, lookingat the signage on a barnlike building:

Col. G. Stonehill. Licensed Auctioneer. Cotton Factor.

INT. STONEHILLS OFFICE - DAY10 10

Mattie steps to the doorway of an office set in a corner ofthe stable.

MATTIEHow much are you paying for cotton?

Stonehill looks up from his desk. He eyes the girl up anddown.

STONEHILLNine and a half for low middling

and ten for ordinary.

MATTIEWe got most of ours out early andsold it to Woodson Brothers inLittle Rock for eleven cents.

STONEHILLThen I suggest you take the balanceof it to the Woodson Brothers.

MATTIE

We took the balance to Woodson. Wegot ten and a half.

STONEHILLWhy did you come here to tell methis?



11/111

MATTIEI thought we might shop around uphere next year but I guess we aredoing all right in Little Rock. Iam Mattie Ross, daughter of FrankRoss.

Stonehill sets his pen down and leans back.

STONEHILLA tragic thing. May I say yourfather impressed me with his manlyqualities. He was a close traderbut he acted the gentleman.

MATTIEI propose to sell those ponies backto you that my father bought.

STONEHILLThat, I fear, is out of thequestion. I will see that they areshipped to you at my earliestconvenience.

MATTIEWe don't want the ponies now. Wedon't need them.

STONEHILLWell that hardly concerns me. Yourfather bought those five ponies and

paid for them and there is an endof it. I have the bill of sale.

Beat.

MATTIEAnd I want three hundred dollarsfor Papa's saddle horse that wasstolen from your stable.

STONEHILLYou will have to take that up with

the man who stole the horse.MATTIE

Tom Chaney stole the horse while itwas in your care. You areresponsible.

Stonehill chuckles.



12/111

STONEHILLI admire your sand but I believeyou will find that I am not liablefor such claims.

MATTIE

You were custodian. If you were abank and were robbed you could notsimply tell the depositors to gohang.

STONEHILLI do not entertain hypotheticals,the world as it is is vexingenough. Secondly, your valuationof the horse is high by about twohundred dollars. How old are you?

MATTIE

If anything my price is low. Judyis a fine racing mare. She has wonpurses of twenty-five dollars; Ihave seen her jump an eight-railfence with a heavy rider. I amfourteen.

STONEHILLHmm. Well, that's all veryinteresting. The ponies are yours,take them. Your father's horse wasstolen by a murderous criminal. Ihad provided reasonable protection

for the creature as per ourimplicit agreement. My watchmanhad his teeth knocked out and cantake only soup. We must each bearhis own misfortunes.

MATTIEI will take it to law.

STONEHILLYou have no case.

MATTIELawyer J. Noble Daggett ofDardanelle, Arkansas may thinkotherwiseas might a jury,petitioned by a widow and threesmall children.

Stonehill stares.



13/111

STONEHILLI will pay two hundred dollars toyour father's estate when I have inmy hand a letter from your lawyerabsolving me of all liability fromthe beginning of the world to date.

MATTIEI will take two hundred dollars forJudy, plus one hundred for theponies and twenty-five dollars forthe gray horse that Tom Chaneyleft. He is easily worth forty.That is three hundred twenty-fivedollars total.

STONEHILLThe ponies have no part of this. Iwill not buy them.

MATTIEThen the price for Judy is threehundred twenty-five dollars.

STONEHILLI would not pay three hundred andtwenty-five dollars for wingedPegasus! As for the gray horse, itdoes not belong to you! And youare a snip!

MATTIE

The gray was lent to Tom Chaney bymy father. Chaney only had the useof him. Your other points arebeneath comment.

STONEHILLI will pay two hundred and twenty-five dollars and keep the grayhorse. I don't want the ponies.

MATTIEI cannot accept that.

(she stands)There can be no settlement after Ileave this office. It will go tolaw.

STONEHILLThis is my last offer. Two hundredand fifty dollars. For that I getthe release previously discussedand I keep your father's saddle.


(MORE)


14/111

I am also writing off a feed andstabling charge. The gray horse isnot yours to sell. You are anunnatural child.

MATTIE

The saddle is not for sale. I willkeep it. Lawyer Dagget can proveownership of the gray horse. Hewill come after you with a writ ofreplevin.

STONEHILLA what? All right, now listen verycarefully as I will not bargainfurther. I will take the poniesback and keep the gray horse whichis mine and settle for threehundred dollars. Now you must take

that or leave it and I do not muchcare which it is.

MATTIELawyer Daggett would not wish me toconsider anything under threehundred twenty-five dollars. But Iwill settle for three hundred andtwenty if I am given the twenty inadvance. And here is what I haveto say about the saddle

EXT. STREET - DAY11 11

We are tracking down the street we toward the MonarchBoarding House.

Mattie is humping a saddle up the street. She stops beforethe boarding house. She looks at its sign. *

INT. INSIDE THE PARLOR - DAY12 12

A Marjorie Main-like woman crushes Mattie to her bosom.

MRS. FLOYDFrank Ross's daughter. My poorchild. My poor child.

Mattie grimaces, arms pinned to her sides.


STONEHILL (CONT'D)


15/111

MATTIEIll stay here if you can have me. *I had to spend last night at theundertakers in the company of threecorpesesI felt like Ezekiel, inthe Valley of the Dry Bones.

MRS. FLOYDWell god bless you. You'll share aroom with Grandma Turner. We'vehad to double up, what with all thepeople in town come to see thehanging.

INT. BEDROOM - DAY13 13

A blanket is unrolled to reveal a watch, a cheap knife, and along-barreled Colt's dragoon revolver. Voice off:

MRS. FLOYDThis was in the your poor fathersroom. This is everything, thereare no light fingers in this house.If you need something for to totethe gun around I will give you anempty flour sack for a nickel.

INT. DARK ROOM - NIGHT14 14

We hear wind whistling through cracks in the floorboards andwalls.

We hear snoring.

There is one bed, not large, with two shapes in it.

We cut in closer to find Mattie lying on her back, staring.She shivers, shoulders hunched. The thin blanket barelycovers her.

She pulls the blanket gently, slowly, so that it covers herexposed side.

A beat of snoring, a snorfle, and then, as we hold on Mattie,the crackle of mattress ticking under a shifting bodyandthe blanket is pulled away toward the unseen snorer.

INT. COURT HALLWAY - DAY15 15



16/111

Voices echo from inside the courtroom. Mattie cracks a heavyoak door and slips in.

INT. COURTROOM - DAY16 16

The gallery is crowded. Mattie is at the back of a press ofstandees.

Her point-of-view, semi-obstructed: on the witness stand isRooster Cogburn, a rough-hewn man going to middle-aged fat.He has a patch over one eye.

COGBURNThe woman was out in the yard deadwith blowflies on her face and theold man was inside with his breastblowed open by a scatter-gun andhis feet burned. He was still

alive but just was. He said themtwo Wharton boys had done it, rodeup drunk

MR. GOUDYObjection. Hearsay.

MR. BARLOWDying declaration, your honor.

JUDGEOverruled. Procede, Mr. Cogburn.

COGBURNThem two Wharton boysthat'd beOdus and C.C.throwed down on him,asked him where his money was, whenhe wouldn't talk lit pine knots andheld 'em to his feet. He told 'emthe money was in a fruit jar under *a gray rock at one corner of thesmokehouse.

MR. BARLOWAnd then?

COGBURNWell he died on us. Passed away inconsiderable pain.

MR. BARLOWWhat did you do then?



17/111

COGBURNMe and Marshal Potter went out tothe smokehouse and that rock hadbeen moved and that jar was gone.

MR. GOUDY

Objection. Speculative.

JUDGESustained.

MR. BARLOWYou found a flat gray rock at thecorner of the smokehouse with ahollowed-out space under it?

MR. GOUDYIf the prosecutor is going to giveevidence I suggest that he be

sworn.

MR. BARLOWMarshal Cogburn, what did you find,if anything, at the corner of thesmokehouse?

COGBURNWe found a flat gray rock with ahollowed-out space under it.Nothin there.

MR. BARLOW

And what did

COGBURNNo jar or nothin.


COGBURNWell we rode up to the Whartons',near where the North Fork strikesthe Canadian, branch of the

Canadian.MR. BARLOW

And what did you find?

COGBURNI had my glass and we spotted thetwo boys and their old daddy, AaronWharton, down there on the creekbank with some hogs.


(MORE)


18/111

They'd killed a shoat and wasbutchering it. They'd built a fireunder a wash pot for scaldingwater.

MR. BARLOW

What did you do?

COGBURNCrept down. I announced that wewas U.S. marshals and hollered toAaron that we needed to talk to hisboys. He picked up a axe andcommenced to cussing us andblackguarding this court.


COGBURNBacked away trying to talk somesense into him. But C.C. edgesover by the wash pot behind that *steam and picks up a shotgun. *Potter seen him but it was toolate. C.C. Wharton pulled down onPotter with one barrel and thenturned to do the same for me withthe other. I shot him and when theold man swung the axe I shot him.Odus lit out and I shot him. AaronWharton and C.C. Wharton was dead

when they hit the ground but Oduswas just winged.

MR. BARLOWDid you find the jar with thehundred and twenty dollars in it?

MR. GOUDYLeading.

JUDGESustained.

MR. BARLOWWhat happened then?

COGBURNI found the jar with a hundred andtwenty dollars in it.


COGBURN (CONT'D)


19/111

MR. BARLOWAnd what happened to MarshalPotter?

COGBURNDied.

MR. BARLOWAnd what became of Odus Wharton?

COGBURNThere he sets.

MR. BARLOWOkay. You may ask, Mr. Goudy.

MR. GOUDYThank you, Mr. Barlow. In yourfour years as U.S. marshal, Mr.

Cogburn, how many men have youshot?

COGBURNI never shot nobody I didn't haveto.

MR. GOUDYThat was not the question. Howmany?

COGBURN. . . Shot or killed?

MR. GOUDYLet us restrict it to killed sothat we may have a manageablefigure.

COGBURNAround twelve or fifteen. Stoppingmen in flight, defending myself, etcetera.

MR. GOUDY

Around twelve or fifteen. So manythat you cannot keep a precisecount. I have examined the recordsand can supply the accurate figure.

Beat.

COGBURNI believe them two Whartons maketwenty-three.



20/111

MR. GOUDYHow many members of this onefamily, the Wharton family, haveyou killed?

COGBURN

Immediate, or

MR. GOUDY *Did you also shoot Dub Wharton,brother, and Clete Wharton, half-brother?

COGBURNClete was selling ardent spirits tothe Cherokee. He come at me with aking bolt.

MR. GOUDY

A king bolt? You were armed and he *advanced upon you with nothing buta king bolt? From a wagon tongue?

COGBURNI've seen men badly tore up withthings no bigger than a king bolt.I defended myself.

MR. GOUDYAnd, returning to the encounterwith Aaron and his two remainingsons, you sprang from cover with

your revolver in hand?

COGBURNI did.

MR. GOUDYLoaded and cocked?

COGBURNIf it ain't loaded and cocked itdon't shoot.

MR. GOUDYAnd like his son, Aaron Whartonadvanced against an armed man?

COGBURNHe was armed. He had that axeraised.



21/111

MR. GOUDYYes. I believe you testified thatyou backed away from Aaron Wharton?

COGBURNThat is right.

MR. GOUDYWhich direction were you going?

COGBURNI always go backwards when I'mbacking up.

MR. GOUDYVery amusing I supposefor all ofus except Aaron Wharton. Now, headvanced upon you much in themanner of Clete Wharton menacing

you with that king bolt or rolled-up newspaper or whatever it was.

COGBURNYes sir. He commenced to cussingand laying about with threats.

MR. GOUDYAnd you were backing away? Howmany steps before the shootingstarted?

COGBURN

Seven, eight steps?

MR. GOUDYAaron Wharton keeping pace,advancing, away from the fire seveneight stepswhat would that be,fifteen, twenty feet?

COGBURNI suppose.

MR. GOUDY

Will you explain to the jury, Mr.Cogburn, why Mr. Wharton was foundimmediately by the wash pot withone arm in the fire, his sleeve andhand smoldering?

COGBURNWell.



22/111

MR. GOUDYDid you move the body after youshot him?

COGBURNWhy would I do that?

MR. GOUDYYou did not drag his body over tothe fire? Fling his arm in?

COGBURNNo sir.

MR. GOUDYTwo witnesses who arrived on thescene will testify to the locationof the body. You do not remembermoving the body? So it was a

bushwack, as he tended hiscampfire?

MR. BARLOWObjection.

COGBURNI, if that was where the body was Imight have moved him. I do notremember.

MR. GOUDYWhy would you move the body, Mr.

Cogburn?

COGBURNThem hogs rooting around might havemoved him. I do not remember.

EXT. COURTHOUSE PORCH - DAY17 17

Mattie waits as people file out. She pushes forward to meetCogburn when he emerges, muttering.

COGBURNPencil-necked son of a bitch.

MATTIERooster Cogburn?

COGBURNWhat is it.

He does not look up from the cigarette he is trying to roll.



23/111

His hands are shaking.

MATTIEI would like to talk with you aminute.

COGBURNWhat is it.

MATTIEThey tell me you are a man withtrue grit.

COGBURNWhat do you want, girl? Speak up.It is suppertime.

MATTIELet me do that.

She takes the fixings and rolls, licks, and twists thecigarette.

. . . Your makings are too dry. Iam looking for the man who shot andkilled my father, Frank Ross, infront of the Monarch boardinghouse. The man's name is TomChaney. They say he is over inIndian Territory and I needsomebody to go after him.

COGBURNWhat is your name, girl?

MATTIEMy name is Mattie Ross. We arelocated in Yell County. My motheris at home looking after my sisterVictoria and my brother LittleFrank.

COGBURNYou had best go home to them. They

will need help with the churning.MATTIE

There is a fugitive warrant out forChaney. The government will payyou two dollars for bringing him inplus ten cents a mile for each ofyou. On top of that I will pay youa fifty-dollar reward.



24/111

Cogburn gazes at her.

COGBURNWhat are you?(looks at the flour sack she holds)What've you got there in your poke?

She opens it. Cogburn smiles.

. . . By God! A Colt's dragoon!Why, you're no bigger than a cornnubbin, what're you doing with apistol like that?

MATTIEI intend to kill Tom Chaney withit. *

COGBURN

Kill Tom Chaney? *

MATTIE *If the law fails to do so. *

COGBURN *Well, that piece will do the jobif you can find a high stump torest it on and a wall to put behindyou.

MATTIENobody here knew my father and I am

afraid nothing much is going to bedone about Chaney except I do it.My brother is a child and my motheris indecisive and hobbled by grief.

COGBURNI don't believe you have fiftydollars.

MATTIEI will shortly. I have a contractwith Colonel Stonehill which he

will make payment on tomorrow orthe next day, once a lawyercountersigns.

COGBURNI don't believe fairy tales orsermons or stories about money,baby sister. But thank you for thecigarette.



25/111

EXT. BOARDING HOUSE PORCH - EVENING18 18

Mattie climbs the few steps from the street. Her attentionis drawn by:

A man sitting on a chair to one side enjoying the quiet of

the evening. He is dressed for riding, with perhaps a bittoo much panache. It is almost dark and he is hard to seebut it seems he is watching Mattie, amused.

He raises a pipe to his mouth and pulls at it. The glow fromthe excited bowl kicks on his eyes, which are indeed trackingher.

Mattie, discomfited by his look, turns hastily forward andpushes open the door. A jingling sound prompts one moreglance to the side.

The man's face is now hidden by his hat. Just before

Mattie's point of view, now a lateral track, starts to losehim behind the door jamb, he raises a spurred boot to pushagainst the porch rail and tip his chair back. He raises hisother foot, spur jingling, and drapes it over the first.

INT. BOARDING HOUSE - NIGHT19 19

We are pushing in on the landlady.

LANDLADYIsn't your mother expecting youhome, dear? I did not think to see

you this evening.

MATTIEMy business is not yet finished.Mrs. Floyd, have any rooms openedup? Grandma Turner. . . the bed isquite narrow.

LANDLADYThe second-floor back did open upbut the gentleman on the porch hasjust taken it. But don't worry

yourself, dearyou are notdisturbing Grandma Turner.

INT. DARK BEDROOM !NIGHT20 20As before, unseen Grandma Turner snores loudly as windwhistles and Mattie shivers.

Fade to black.



26/111

INT. BEDROOM - MORNING21 21

Very quiet.

In the quiet, a faint crickle-crackle of flame. It isfollowed by a lip-pop and a deep inhale.

Mattie opens her eyes. She is beaded with sweat. She looksblearily up.

The room is dim. A man sits facing her in a straghtbackchair, faintly backlit by the daylight leaking through thecurtained window behind him. He exhales pipesmoke.

The man rises and, spurs jingling, crosses to the window, andthrows open the curtain.

Mattie squints at him against the daylight:

The man has a cowlick and barndoor ears and is once againwell-accoutered for riding. He steps away from the windowand reseats himself.

COWBOYMy name is LeBoeuf. I have justcome from Yell County.

MATTIEWe have no rodeo clowns in YellCounty.

LEBOEUF

A saucy line will not get you farwith me. I saw your motheryesterday morning. She says foryou to come right on home.

MATTIEHm. What was your business there?

LeBoeuf takes a small photograph from his coat.

LEBOEUFThis is a man I think you know.

Mattie looks at the picture through red-rimmed eyes.

. . . You called him Tom Chaney, Ibelieve. . .

Mattie declines to contradict. LeBoeuf continues:


(MORE)


27/111

. . . though in the months I havebeen tracking him he has used thenames Theron Chelmsford, John ToddAndersen, and others. He dalliedin Monroe, Louisiana, and PineBluff, Arkansas before turning up

at your father's place.

MATTIEWhy did you not catch him inMonroe, Louisiana or Pine Bluff,Arkansas?

LEBOEUFHe is a crafty one.

MATTIEI thought him slow-witted myself.

LEBOEUFThat was his act.

MATTIEIt was a good one. Are you somekind of law?

LeBoeuf tips back in his chair and draws back his coat todisplay a star. A smug look.

LEBOEUFThat's right. I am a Texas Ranger.

MATTIEThat may make you a big noise inthat state; in Arkansas you shouldmind that your Texas trappings andtitle do not make you an object offun. Why have you beenineffectually pursuing Chaney?

LeBoeuf's smile stays in place with effort.

LEBOEUFHe shot and killed a state senator

named Bibbs down in Waco, Texas.The Bibbs family have put out areward.

MATTIEHow came Chaney to shoot a statesenator?


LEBOEUF (CONT'D)


28/111

LEBOEUFMy understanding is there was anargument about a dog. Do you knowanything about where Chaney hasgone?

MATTIEHe is in the Territory, and I holdout little hope for you earningyour bounty.

LEBOEUFWhy is that?

MATTIEMy man will beat you to it. I havehired a deputy marshal, thetoughest one they have, and he isfamiliar with the Lucky Ned Pepper

gang that they say Chaney has tiedup with.

LEBOEUFWell, I will throw in with you andyour marshal.

MATTIENo. Marshal Cogburn and I arefine.

LEBOEUFIt'll be to our mutual advantage.

Your marshal I presume knows theTerritory; I know Chaney. It is atleast a two-man job taking himalive.

MATTIEWhen Chaney is taken he is comingback to Fort Smith to hang. I amnot having him go to Texas to hangfor shooting some senator.

LEBOEUF

Haw-haw! It is not important wherehe hangs, is it?

MATTIEIt is to me. Is it to you?

LEBOEUFIt means a great deal of money tome. It's been many months' work.



29/111

MATTIEI'm sorry that you are paidpiecework not on wages, and thatyou have been eluded the winterlong by a halfwit. Marshal Cogburnand I are fine.

LeBoeuf stands.

LEBOEUFYou give out very little sugar withyour pronouncements. While I satthere watching you I gave somethought to stealing a kiss, thoughyou are very young and sick andunattractive to boot, but now Ihave a mind to give you five or sixgood licks with my belt.

Mattie rolls away onto her side.

MATTIEOne would be as unpleasant as theother. If you wet your comb, itmight tame that cowlick.

Her eyelids droop.

Spurs jingle and fade away.

OMITTED22 22

OMITTED23 23*

OMITTED24 24

EXT. POST OFFICE - DAY25 25

The door bangs open at the cut and Mattie emerges with anenvelope.

It is day.

EXT. STREET - DAY26 26

Mattie walks down the street holding the ripped-open envelopein one hand and some unfolded papers in the other, thetopmost of which she reads as she walks.



30/111

We hear the letter's contents in a gruff male voice-over:

LETTERMattie. I wish you would leavethese matters entirely to me, or atthe very least do me the courtesy

of consulting me before enteringsuch agreements. I am not scoldingyou, but I am saying yourheadstrong ways will lead you intoa tight corner one day. I trustthe enclosed document will let youconclude your business and returnto Yell County. Yours, J. NobleDagget.

INT. STONEHILLS OFFICE - DAY27 27

PAPERS

Thrust onto a desk.

Wider shows that we are once again in the office ofStonehill, the stock trader. He examines the release throughbleary eyes, displaying none of his former vinegar.

MATTIEI was as bad yesterday as you looktoday. I was forced to share a bedwith Grandma Turner.

The trader's eyes are still on the paper:

STONEHILLI am not acquainted with GrandmaTurner. If she is a resident ofthis city it does not surprise methat she carries disease. Thismalarial place has ruined my healthas it has my finances.

He drops the paper.

. . . I owe you money.He works a key in a drawer and takes out money and countsduring the following.

MATTIEYou have not traded poorly.



31/111

STONEHILLCertainly not. I am paying you fora horse I do not possess and havebought back a string of uselessponies I cannot sell again.

MATTIEYou are forgetting the gray horse.

STONEHILLCrowbait.

MATTIEYou are looking at the thing in thewrong light.

STONEHILLI am looking at it in the light ofGod's eternal truth.

He hands the money across and Mattie counts to confirm.

MATTIEYour illness is putting you downin the dumps. You will soon finda buyer for the ponies.

STONEHILLI have a tentative offer of tendollars per head from the PfitzerSoap Works of Little Rock.

MATTIEIt would be a shame to destroy suchspirited horseflesh.

STONEHILLSo it would. I am confident thedeal will fall through.

MATTIELook here. I need a pony. I willpay ten dollars for one of them.

STONEHILLNo. That was lot price. No no.Wait a minute. Are we tradingagain? It would be the most astutedeal I have struck in Arkansas.

INT. STABLE - DAY28 28

We are tracking along a line of stalls toward a small corral



32/111

holding a black mustang, among other ponies.

Mattie is approaching the horse. A black stablehand has beentrailing her, humping her father's saddle.

MATTIE

This one is beautiful.

She rubs the muzzle of the black horse.

She takes the saddle from the stablehand and tries to throwit over the horse. She is not tall or strong enough.

The stableboy helps, then helps her up.

The horse does not move for a long beat.

The stableboy is laughing.

STABLEBOYHe don't know they's a person upthere. You too light.

She kicks lightly and the horse abruptly pitches once ortwice and then starts prancing.

The stableboy, still laughing, stands in the middle of acircle defined by the prancing horse.

STABLEBOY (CONTD)He thinks he got a horsefly on him.

Mattie leans forward to calm the horse, rubbing the muzzleand shushing him.

She straightens.

MATTIEHe is very spirited. I will callhim Little Blackie.

STABLEBOYDas a good name.

MATTIEWhat does he like for a treat?

STABLEBOYMa'am, he is a horse, so he likesapples.

She reins the horse around and heads for the door, callingback:



33/111

MATTIEThank Mr. Stonehill for me.

The receding stableboy is uncomfortable.

STABLEBOY

No ma'am. . . I ain't s'posed toutter your name.

INT. ROOSTERS ROOM/GROCERY - DAY29 29

CANVAS FLAP

Whipped up at the cut.

Peering in is Mattie; holding the makeshift curtain open isan elderly Chinese.

Behind them we can see the shelves of a modest grocery storeand in the deep background its bright street-facing window.

CHINESESee. Sleep.

Reverse: a squalid living area crowded with effects. It isdim. There is snoring. Rooster Cogburn is in a Chinese ropebed, his weight bowing it almost to the ground.

Mattie steps in.

MATTIE

That is fine. I will wake him.

CHINESEWon't like.

Mattie ignores him, poking at Rooster as the grocerwithdraws, letting the canvas drop behind him.

MATTIEMr. Cogburn, it is I. Mattie Ross,your employer.

ROOSTERWhuh.

MATTIEHow long til you are ready to go?

Rooster opens his eyes, blinks.

ROOSTERGo whar?



34/111

MATTIEInto the Indian Territory. Inpursuit of Tom Chaney.

ROOSTERWhah. . .

He focuses on Mattie, swings his legs out, rumbles, and spitson the floor.

. . . Oh.

He reaches over a pouch of tobacco and begins fumbling withcigarette makings.

. . . Chaney. You are the bereavedgirl with stories of El Dorado.How much money you got there?

Mattie takes out some cash.

MATTIEI said fifty dollars to retrieveChaney. You did not believe me?

Rooster is sobered by the sight of the currency.

ROOSTERWell, I did not know. You are ahard one to figure.

MATTIE

How long for you to make ready todepart?

Mattie takes the cigarette fixings at which Rooster isfumbling and works on a cigarette.

ROOSTERWell now wait now, sis. I rememberyour offer but do not rememberagreeing to it. If I'm going upagainst Ned Pepper I will need ahundred dollars. I can tell you

that much. Hundred dollars! To *retrieve your mana hundreddollars.

He spits again.

I will take those fifty dollars inadvance. There will be expenses.



35/111

MATTIEYou are trying to take advantage ofme.

ROOSTERI am giving you the children's

rate. I am not a sharper, I am anold man sleeping in a rope bed in aroom behind a Chinese grocery. I *have nothing.

She hands him the finished cigarette.

MATTIEYou want to be kept in whiskey.

Rooster is patting at his chest.

ROOSTER

I don't have to buy that, Iconfiscate it. I am an officer ofthe court.

She lights his cigarette.

. . . Thank you. Hundred dollars.That is the rate.

MATTIEI shall not niggle. Can we departthis afternoon?

ROOSTERWe?!

The word detonates a fit of coughing.

. . . You are not going. That isno part of it.

MATTIEYou misjudge me if you think I amsilly enough to give you fiftydollars and simply watch you ride

off.ROOSTER

I am a bonded U.S. marshal!

MATTIEThat weighs but little with me. Iwill see the thing done.



36/111

ROOSTERYou never said anything about this.I cannot go up against Ned Pepperand a band of hard men and lookafter a baby at the same time.

MATTIEI am not a baby.

ROOSTERI will not be stopping at boardinghouses with warm beds and plates ofhot grub on the table. It will betraveling fast and eating light.What little sleeping is done willtake place on the ground.

MATTIEI have slept out at night. Papa

took me and Little Frank coonhunting last summer on the PetitJean. We were in the woods allnight. We sat around a big fireand Yarnell told ghost stories. Wehad a good time.

ROOSTERCoon hunting! This ain't no coonhunt, it don't come within fortymiles of being a coon hunt!

MATTIE

It is the same idea as a coon hunt.You are just trying to make yourwork sound harder than it is. Hereis the money. I aim to get TomChaney and if you are not game Iwill find somebody who is game.All I have heard out of you so faris talk. I know you can drinkwhiskey and snore and spit andwallow in filth and bemoan yourstation. The rest has beenbraggadocio. They told me you had

grit and that is why I came to you.I am not paying for talk. I canget all the talk I need and more atthe Monarch Boarding House.

Rooster stares, nonplussed.

He drops back into the rope bed, which sets it swaying. Ashe stares up at the ceiling:



37/111

ROOSTERLeave the money. Meet me heretomorrow morning at seven o'clockand we will begin our coon hunt.

INT. GRANDMA TURNER'S ROOM - MORNING30 30

Mattie makes early-morning preparations to leave as GrandmaTurner snores. She unrolls her father's traps and takes outa big-brimmed fisherman's hat and puts it on: too big. Shelines it with newspaper, experimenting with the amount untilit fits. She puts on his coat, gives the sleeves a big cuff.She examines the Colt's dragoon. She drops apples into asack.

She finishes by folding a letter she has written and puttingit into an envelope. Throughout, we have been hearing itscontents in voice-over:

MATTIEDearest Mother. I am about toembark on a great adventure. Ihave learned that Tom Chaney hasfled into the wild and I shallassist the authorities in pursuit.You know that Papa would want to befirm in the right, as he alwayswas.

EXT. BOARDING HOUSE - DAY31 31

Mattie is cinching her gear onto Little Blackie. She mountsand rides off as the letter ends:

MATTIEBut do not worry on my account.Though I walk through the valley ofthe shadow of death, I shall fearno evil. The author of all thingswatches over me. And I have a finehorse. Kiss Little Frankie for meand pinch Violet's cheek. Their

Papas death will soon be avenged.I am off for the Choctaw Nation.

INT. GROCERY - DAY32 32

Tracking toward Rooster's rope bed. A hat is pulled downover the face of the figure reclining in it. Smoke sifts upfrom somewhere.



38/111

Mattie draws up to the figure with mounting concern. Shepulls the hat off. It is the elderly Chinese grocer.

MATTIEWhere is Marshal Cogburn!

The grocer reaches a pipe and pulls on it. His manner isdreamy.

GROCERWent away. . . Left this.

The grocer pulls an envelope from underneath his robe andhands it to Mattie. He closes his eyes and drifts away.

Mattie pulls a scrap of paper from the envelope and reads:

MATTIEHere inside is a train ticket for

your return home. Use it. By thetime you read this I will be acrossthe river in the Indian nation.Pursuit would be futile. I willreturn with your man Chaney. Leaveme to my work. Reuben Cogburn.

Mattie's jaw tightens. She abruptly crumples the paper.

EXT. RIVER - DAY33 33

Mattie gallops down an embankment to a river of some width.At the near-side ferry station a raft enclosed by railingwaits, its guide rope strung across the river. A pilot idleson the near shore.

On the far shore two small figures, mounted, ascend theopposite bank. Mattie draws up in front of the ferryman atthe edge of the river.

MATTIEIs that Marshal Cogburn?

FERRYMANThat is the man.

MATTIEWho's he with?

FERRYMANI do not know.



39/111

MATTIETake me across.

He reaches for the reins of her horse.

FERRYMAN

So you're the runaway. Marshaltold me you'd show up. I'm topresent you to the sheriff.

The ferryman is leading Little Blackie back up the hilltoward the town. Mattie cranes around to look at the twosmall figures across the river. They have twisted in theirsaddles to look back.

The two mounted figures are breaking their look back andresuming their climb up the bank.

Mattie draws an apple from the bag slung round the saddlehorn

and pegs it, hard as she can, at the ferryman.

It hits him square in the back of the head. He reacts,reaching to his head and dropping the reins.

Mattie has already leaned forward for the reins and sweepsthem back. She saws Little Blackie around and sends himgalloping for the river.

MATTIERun, Little Blackie!

FERRYMAN

Hey!

She urges the horse, at the gallop, into the river.

The splashing and shouts have again drawn the attention ofthe two men across the river.

As the horse goes further into the river its up-and-down gaitslows, the water offering resistance.

The ferryman has run down to the bank. He stoops for a rockand throws it. It misses by a mile.

Little Blackie leaves riverbottom and starts swimming.

The two men across the river, having twisted to look, nowrein their horses round to face the action. But they do notadvance. They rest forearms on pommels and watch.

Little Blackie is being carried downstream as he swimsagainst a swift current.



40/111

MATTIEGood, Little Blackie!

Little Blackie's head dips as he finds his feet again. Heslogs laboriously to what is now the nearer shore.

The two men up the bank impassively watch.

The horse and Mattie emerge fully from the river, dripping.

Mattie taps heels against Little Blackie's flanks and walkshim slowly up the bank. She stops many yards short of thetwo menRooster and LeBoeuf.

A silent standoff as Little Blackie breathes heavily. Thetwo expressionless men still have not stirred.

At length:

ROOSTERThat's quite a horse.

A long pause.

. . . I will give you ten dollarsfor him.

MATTIEFrom the money you stole from me?

ROOSTERThat was not stolen. I'm out for

your man.

MATTIEI was to accompany you. If I donot, there is no agreement and mymoney was stolen.

Rooster licks his lips, thinking.

LEBOEUFMarshal, put this child back on theferry. We have a long road, and

time is a-wasting.MATTIE

If I go back, it is to the officeof the U.S. marshals to report thetheft of my money. And futile,Marshal CogburnPursuit would befutile?is not spelt f-u-d-e-l.

A heavy silence as Cogburn stares at her.



41/111

LeBoeuf looks between the two, waiting for Rooster to takeaction. Gathering that he will not, LeBoeuf slides off hishorse.

Mattie watches as he walks to Little Blackie, holding up a

gentling hand for the horse to sniff at and nuzzle.

He abruptly swipes the reins with one hand and with the othergrabs Mattie's ankle. He pushes momentarily to unstirrup thefoot and then pulls hard, tumbling Mattie to the ground.

LEBOEUFLittle sister, it is time for yourspanking.

He begins to spank her.

MATTIE

Help me, Marshal!

Rooster sits impassively on his horse.

LEBOEUF(still spanking)

Now you do as the grown-ups say!Or I will get myself a birch switchand stripe your leg!

Mattie is struggling and in spite of herself starts to weep.LeBoeuf drags her through the dirt to a mesquite bush and

snaps off a switch.

Mattie, wet and filthy, tries vainly to swat back. Roosterstill watches without expression as LeBoeuf whips the girl.

MATTIEAre you going to let him do this,Marshal?

Finally, quietly:

ROOSTER

No, I don't believe I will. Putyour switch away, LeBoeuf.

LeBoeuf looks back, for a moment too surprised to speak. Hethen regains his resolve:

LEBOEUFI aim to finish what I started.



42/111

ROOSTERThat will be the biggest mistakeyou ever made, you Texas brush-popper.

The sound of a gun being cocked.

LeBoeuf leaves off the beating to stare at Roosterwhose gunis drawn, cocked, and pointed at him.

LeBoeuf flings the switch aside and stalks to his horse. Hemutters, but loud enough to be heard:

LEBOEUFHoorawed by a little girl.

EXT. FIRST CAMPSITE - NIGHT34 34

Mattie sits looking into the fire, hands clasped around herknees.

LeBoeuf sits feet to the fire, smoking a pipe that, with hisboyish face, makes him look as if he is playing at professor.He gazes into the fire, musing as he pulls at the pipe.

LEBOEUFI am not accustomed to so large afire. In Texas, we will make dowith a fire of little more thantwigs or buffalo chips to heat thenight's ration of beans.

Rooster enters the circle of light with an armload of wood.

. . . And, it is Ranger policynever to make your camp in the sameplace as your cookfire. Veryimprudent to make your presenceknown in unsettled country.

Rooster gazes at LeBoeuf for a beat, then dumps the wood ontothe fire.

He leaves the circle of light.LeBoeuf addresses the darkness that Rooster has disappearedinto:

. . . How do you know that Bagbywill have intelligence?



43/111

ROOSTERHe has a store.

He reenters with a length of rope, and a robe which heunrolls onto the ground.

LEBOEUFA store. That makes him anauthority on movements in theTerritory?

Rooster plays out one end of the rope to just touch theground, then starts playing out the rest as he paces.

ROOSTERWe have entered a wild place.Anyone coming in, wanting any kindof supply, cannot pick and choosehis portal.

He has finished making a loop around his sleeping robe.Seeing this, LeBoeuf laughs.

LEBOEUFThat is a piece of foolishness.All the snakes are asleep this timeof year.

As he leaves the circle of light:

ROOSTERThey have been known to wake up.

MATTIELet me have a rope too.

ROOSTERA snake would not bother you.

He reenters with a bottle and settles down on his robe.

. . . You are too little and bony.Before you sleep you should fetchwater for the morning and put it by

the fire. The creek'll ice overtonight.

MATTIEI am not going down there again.If you want any more water you canfetch it yourself.



44/111

ROOSTEREveryone in my party must do hisjob.

LEBOEUFYou are lucky to be traveling in a

place where a spring is so handy.In my country you can ride for daysand see no ground water. I havelapped filthy water from a hoof-print and was glad to have it.

ROOSTERIf I ever meet one of you Texaswaddies that says he never drankwater from a horse track I think Iwill shake his hand and give him aDaniel Webster cigar.

LEBOEUFYou don't believe it?

ROOSTERI believed it the first twenty-fivetimes I heard it. Maybe it istrue. Maybe lapping water off theground is Ranger policy.

LEBOEUFYou are getting ready to show yourignorance now, Cogburn. I don'tmind a little personal chaffing but

I won't hear anything against theRanger troop from a man like you.

ROOSTERHow long have you boys been mountedon sheep down there?

LeBoeuf leaps angrily to his feet.

LEBOEUFMy white Appaloosa will be *galloping when that big American

stud of yours is winded andcollapsed. Now make another jokeabout it. You are only trying toput on a show for this girl Mattiewith what you must think is a keentongue.

ROOSTERThis is like women talking.



45/111

LEBOEUFYes, that is the way! Make me outfoolish in this girl's eyes.

ROOSTERI think she has got you pretty well

figured.

Silence. Crackling fire.

MATTIEWould you two like to hear thestory of The Midnight Caller?One of you will have to be TheCaller. I will tell you what tosay. I will do all the other partsmyself.

LeBoeuf continues to glare at Rooster, breathing heavily.

Rooster, with a loud flap, whips the robe over himself.

EXT. FIRST CAMPSITE - DAWN35 35

We are close on Mattie's upturned face. Snowflakes aredrifting down onto it and melting. Mattie's eyes blink open.

Rooster is already at his horse, packing it. LeBoeuf is notin evidence.

Mattie rises.

MATTIEGood morning, Marshal.

ROOSTER(eyes on his work)

Morning.

MATTIEWhere is Mr. LeBoeuf?

A toss of his head:

ROOSTERDown by the creek. Performing his *necessaries.

MATTIEMarshal Cogburn, I welcome thechance for a private parley.


(MORE)


46/111

I gather that you and Mr. LeBoeufhave come to some sort ofagreement. As your employer Ibelieve I have a right to know theparticulars.

ROOSTERThe particulars is that we bringChaney in to the magistrate in SanSaba Texas where they have aconsiderable reward on offer.Which we split.

MATTIEI did not want him brought toTexas, to have Texas punishmentadministered for a Texas crime.That was not our agreement.

Rooster gives a vicious tug on the cinchrope.

ROOSTERWhat you want is to have him caughtand punished.

MATTIEI want him to know he is beingpunished for killing my father.

Rooster turns to her.

ROOSTER

You can let him know that. You cantell him to his face. You can spiton him and make him eat sand out ofthe road. I will hold him down.If you want I will flay the fleshoff the soles of his feet and findyou an Indian pepper to rub intothe wound. Isn't that a hundreddollars' value?

MATTIEIt is not. When I have bought and

paid for something I will have myway. Why do you think I am payingyou if not to have my way?

ROOSTERIt is time for you to learn youcannot have your way in everylittle particular.

We hear spurs jingling.


MATTIE (CONT'D)


47/111

. . . If you find I fail to satisfyyour terms I will return your moneyat the end of this expedition.

MATTIE

Little Blackie and I are ridingback to the U.S. marshals' office.This is fraud.

ROOSTERGod damn it!

LeBoeuf has appeared.

LEBOEUFWhat's going on?

ROOSTER

(testy)This is a business conversation.

LEBOEUFIs that what you call it. Itsounds to me like you are stillbeing hoorawed by a little girl.

ROOSTERDid you say hooraw!

LEBOEUFThat was the word.

MATTIEThere is no hoorawing in it. Myagreement with the Marshalantedates yours. It has the forceof law.

LEBOEUF(amused)

The force of law! This man is anotorious thumper! He rode by thelight of the moon with Quantrill

and Bloody Bill Anderson!ROOSTER

Those men was patriots, Texastrash!

LEBOEUFThey murdered women and children inLawrence, Kansas.



48/111

ROOSTERIt is a damned lie! What army wasyou in, mister?

LEBOEUFI was at Shreveport first with

Kirby-Smith

ROOSTERWhat side was you on?

LEBOEUFI was in the army of NorthernVirginia, Cogburn, and I don't haveto hang my head when I say it!

ROOSTERIf you had served with CaptainQuantrill

LEBOEUFCaptain Quantrill indeed!

ROOSTERYou had best let this go, LeBoeuf!

LEBOEUFCaptain of what!

ROOSTER *Good, then! There are notsufficient dollars in the state of

Texas to make it worth my while tolisten to your opinions, day andnight. Our agreement isnullifiedit's each man forhimself!

LeBoeuf is already mounting his shaggy horse.

LEBOEUFThat suits me!

He saws the horse around.

. . . Congratulations, Cogburn.You have graduated from marauder towetnurse. Adios!

LeBoeuf gallops off with the thunder of hoofs and the jingleof spurs, and Rooster, seething, turns back to his work.

As the hoofbeats recede, Mattie sounds a note of regret:



49/111

MATTIEWe don't need him, do we Marshal?

ROOSTER(muttering)

We'll miss his Sharp's carbine.

It's apt to get lively out here.

EXT. BAGBY'S STORE - DAY36 36

A mule is pulling back on a cotton rope round his neck thatis tied off to the porch of the ramshackle store. The beastis strangling as the rope is too tight, and he is being pokedwith sticks by two motley-dressed Indian boys up on theporch.

Rooster enters and cuts the rope. The mule brays and cantersoff, shaking its head, rope dangling.

Rooster mounts the steps to the porch and kicks the firstyouth hard in the ass, sending him sprawling off the porchinto the dirt. The second backs against the railing andRooster shoves him in the chest so that he flips backward toalso land in the dirt.

ROOSTERStay here sister. I will seeBagby.

Mattie, astride Little Blackie, holds the reins of Cogburn'shorse. As he disappears inside the two youths climb back

onto the porch. They sit at the lip, feet dangling, andstare sullenly at Mattie. She stares back.

MINUTES LATER37 37

The youths have not moved. The door bangs open and Roosteremerges.

MATTIEHas Chaney been here?

ROOSTERNo.

Crossing back he kicks one of the boys off the porch into thedirt again. The other youth scampers out of footreach.Rooster starts down the stairs.

ROOSTER (CONTD)But Coke Hayes was, two days ago.Coke runs with Lucky Ned.


(MORE)


50/111

He bought supplies, with this.

With a chinghe flips a coin to Mattie. She inspects it:gold, square, with a +-shaped cut-out in the middle.

MATTIE

This is Papa's gold piece! TomChaney, here we come!

ROOSTERIt is not the world's onlyCalifornia gold piece.

MATTIEThey are rare, here.

ROOSTERThey are rare. But if it isChaney's, it could just as easily

mean that Lucky Ned and his gangfell upon him, as that he fell inwith them. Chaney could be acorpse. These are a rough lot.

MATTIEThat would be a bitterdisappointment, Marshal. What dowe do?

Rooster mounts up.

ROOSTER

We pursue. Ned is unfinishedbusiness for the marshals anyhow,and when we have him we will alsohave Chaneyor we can learn thewhereabouts of his body. Bagbydoesn't know which way they went,but now we know they come throughhere, they couldn't be going butone of two ways: north toward theWinding Stair Mountains, or pushingon further west. I suspect north.There is more to rob.

The youth who was kicked into the dirt is dusting himselfoff. He has been listening without interest.

EXT. ROAD/HANGING TREE - DAY38 38

RIDING

Rooster and Mattie ride abreast along a barely defined road.


ROOSTER (CONTD)


51/111

ROOSTERI bought an eating place called theGreen Frog, started calling myselfBurroughs. My drinking picked upand my wife did not like thecompany of my river friends. She

decided to go back to her firsthusband, a clerk in a hardwarestore. She said, Goodbye, Reuben,a love for decency does not abidein you. Theres your divorcedwoman talking about decency. I toldher, Goodbye, Nola, I hope thatlittle nail-selling bastard willmake you happy this time. Shetook my boy with her too. He neverdid like me anyhow. I guess I didspeak awful rough to him but I didnot mean nothing by it. You would

not want to see a clumsier childthan Horace. I bet he broke fortycups. . .

He frowns and draws up, looking at something. Mattie followshis look.

A man is hanging in a treevery high, perhaps thirty feetoff the ground. The body slowly twists. The head seemsunnaturally large.

ROOSTER (CONTD)Hey!

At Rooster's shout something separates from the head: we havebeen looking at not just the corpse's silhouette but that ofa large carrion-eating bird as well, perched on the corpse'sshoulder and feeding at the corpse's face. The bird flapsclumsily off.

Rooster gazes at the strung-up body.

ROOSTER (CONTD)Is it Chaney?

MATTIEI would not recognize the soles ofhis feet.

They both gaze up at the body.



52/111

ROOSTERWell you are going to have toclamber on upI am too old and toofat.

UP IN THE TREE

Mattie is well up.

We hear Rooster's voice from below:

ROOSTER (CONTD)The Green Frog had one billiardtable, served ladies and men bothbut mostly men. I tried to run itmyself a while but I couldn't keepgood help and I never did learn howto buy meat.

Mattie pauses, looking down.

We are over her. Rooster is foreshortened, a long way down,looking up, smoking a cigarette. He reacts to her look down:

ROOSTER (CONTD)You are doing well.

She looks up, down again, and then proceeds. Roostercontinues as well.

Mattie stretches onto tiptoes, reaches, just gets fingersaround a branch. She secures it enough with the one hand todare to reach with the other. She hauls herself up.

Mattie looks out, at waist-height to the corpse, which twistsmaybe eight feet away over the void. Rooster notes her look:

. . . Is it him?

The face is half-eaten and eyeless.

MATTIE

I believe not.She moves to start back down, but Rooster calls:

ROOSTERNo! Cut him down!

MATTIEWhy?



53/111

ROOSTERI might know him.

She climbs one more branch to arrive at the hanging branch.She shimmies out onto it and pulls the knife from Rooster'sbelt now around her waist.

. . . That was when I went out tothe staked plains of Texas and shotbuffalo with Vernon Shaftoe and aFlathead Indian called Olly. TheMormons had run Shaftoe out ofGreat Salt Lake City but don't askme what it was for. Call it amisunderstanding and let it go atthat. Well sir, the big shaggies isabout all gone. It is a damnedshame.

Mattie looks down, over the shoulder of the close-byforeshortened corpse to the far foreshortened Rooster.

. . . I would give three dollarsright now for a pickled buffalotongue.

She calls out as she starts sawing:

MATTIEWhy did they hang him so high?

ROOSTER

I don't know. Possibly in thebelief it would make him more dead.

The sawing continues.

Rooster takes one step back.

The rope snaps. At once:

The body drops.

The branch, unburdened, bucks with Mattie atop it.

She gasps, hugging at the branch, getting swung halfwayaround it but then righting herself.

The body hits the ground with a smack.

Mattie looks.

The body is spread out on the ground below, many bones nowbroken, its posture absurd.



54/111

Rooster steps forward. He toes the upper body to get a viewof the face. Barely audible:

ROOSTER (CONTD)I do not know this man.

He reacts to something, looking up the road in the directionof their heading.

Mattie looks out. Partly obscured by intervening foliage, anoncoming rider. His pace is unhurried.

Down on the ground Rooster turns to face the rideran Indianwith a longbore rifle balanced sideways across the pommelof his saddle. He wears a tattered Union Army jacket,crossed bandoliers of rifle shells and a black homburg hatwith a feather in its brim.

Rooster drops his hand to his gun as the rider approaches.

Mattie looks down at the foreshortened rider pulling up underthe tree. She hears a greeting and a mostly inaudibleexchange.

After some back-and-forth the Indian dismounts. The menstoop at either end of the corpse. Rooster grabs wrists, theIndian, ankles. They lift.

Mattie frowns. She starts to move.

A MINUTE LATER

Mattie finishes climbing down.

Rooster is just returning from the road to their two horsesby the tree. The Indian, with the corpse slung over the rumpof his horse, is resuming his trip in the direction fromwhich Rooster and Mattie came.

MATTIEWhy is he taking the hanged man?Did he know him?

Rooster mounts.

ROOSTERHe did not. But it is a dead body,possibly worth something in trade.

He looks up at the sky as snowflakes start to sift down.



55/111

EXT. ROAD - DAY39 39

RIDING

It is snowing lightly. Rooster and Mattie are clompingthrough a stream.

ROOSTERMy second wife, Edna, she had taken *a notion she wanted me to be alawyer. Bought a heavy book calledDaniels on Negotiable Instrumentsand set me to reading it. Nevercould get a grip on it, I was happy *enough to set it aside and leaveTexas. There ain't but about sixtrees between there and Canada, andnothing else grows but has stickerson it. I went to

A distant gunshot.

Rooster stops. He twists to look behind.

A listening beat. At length:

ROOSTER (CONTD)I knew it.

MATTIEKnew what?

ROOSTERWe're being followed. I asked theIndian to signal with a shot ifthere was someone on our trail.

MATTIEShould we be concerned, Marshal?

ROOSTERNo. It's Mr. LeBoeuf, using us asbird dogs in hopes of cutting inonce we've flushed the prey. Our

Texas friend has got just enoughsense to recognize he can'touttrack me.

Mattie thinks.

MATTIEPerhaps we could double back overour tracks, and confuse the trailin a clever way.



56/111

ROOSTERNo, we will wait right here andoffer our friend a warm hello, andask him where he is going.

MINUTES LATER40 40

Rooster waits, sitting casually astride his horse in themiddle of the road. Snow continues to fall.

A jingling noise up the road.

Movement: an advancing rider seen through the foliage thatmasks a bend in the road.

Rooster straightens.

The oncoming rider rounds the bend.

He approaches: a white man with big whiskers, his horseleading a packhorse loaded with clinking and janglingsundries. Draped on his own horse's rump is the hanged man'sbody.

The stranger wears a fierce bear head as hat. The rest ofthe bearskin trails down his body as robe.

He advances unhurriedly towards Rooster. At a few yards'distance he draws up, content to sit his horse and solemnlyreturn Rooster's stare.

At length:

ROOSTERYou are not LeBoeuf.

BEAR MANMy name is Forster. I practicedentistry in the Nation. Also,veterinary arts. And medicine, onthose humans that will sit stillfor it.

ROOSTER(indicating corpse)You have your work cut out for youthere.

BEAR MANTraded for him with an Indian, whosaid he came by him honestly. Igave up two dental mirrors and abottle of expectorant.


(MORE)


57/111

(beat)Do either of you need medicalattention?

ROOSTERNo.

Rooster straightens as if to rein his horse around but stopswith a thought:

. . . It is fixing to get cold. Doyou know of any place to takeshelter?

BEAR MANI have my bearskin. You might wantto head to the Original GreaserBob's. He notched a dugout into ahollow along the Carrillon River.

If you ride the river you won'tfail to see it. Greaser BobOriginal Greaser Bobis huntingnorth of the picket wire and wouldnot begrudge its use.

A pause.

The Bear Man tilts his head to indicate the corpse behindhim.

BEAR MAN (CONTD)I have taken his teeth. I will

entertain an offer for the rest ofhim.

EXT. GREASER BOBS CABIN - NIGHT41 41

A point-of-view looking down on a thrown-together cabin duginto the flanks of a ravine. Its roof meets hillside at therear. Smoke is coming out of a rough chimney.

Rooster and Mattie have paused at the crest of the rise abovethe dugout to look. Rooster shrugs out of his coat.

ROOSTERTake my jacket. Creep onto theroof. If they are not friendly Iwill give you a sign to damp thechimney.

As Mattie descends to where hillside meets structure Roostertakes his rifle and walks around to the front doorcrudeplanking hung on leather-strap hinges. His footsteps crunch


BEAR MAN (CONT'D)


58/111

in the snow.

The door is yanked open, inches, and a backlit face appearsover a hand holding a revolver. Rooster halts.

MAN

Who is out there?

ROOSTERWe are looking for shelter.

MANNo room for you here! Ride on!

The door slams.

After a moment the light inside goes out.

Mattie, arriving on the roof, looks steeply down on Rooster.

He glances up, thinking. He does not sign. He looks back atthe door.

ROOSTERWho all is in there?

VOICERide on!

Rooster looks up at Mattie. He nods.

She balls the jacket and stuffs it into the chimney.

Rooster takes ten paces to one side of the door and thenkneels in the snow, raising his rifle.

Long beat.

Muffled coughs from inside the housemore than one person.

Activity insideyellingthe hiss of fire being doused.Suddenly:

The door flies open andBANG! BANG!two shotgun blasts.

Slightest beat as Mattie peers into the yard, and thenBANG!shot rips through the roof just at her feet.

A rifle blastfrom Rooster. A yelp of pain from inside.

ROOSTERI am a Federal officer! Who is inthere? Speak up and be quick aboutit.



59/111

NEW VOICEA Methodist and a son-of-a-bitch!

Rooster cocks his head.

ROOSTERThis is Rooster Cogburn. ColumbusPotter and five other marshals isout here with me. We have got abucket of coal oil. In one minutewe will burn you out from bothends!

Thinking beat.

QUINCYThere's only two of you!

ROOSTERYou go ahead and bet your life onit! How many of you is in there?

QUINCYJust the two of us, but my pard ishit! He can't walk!

The door opens again. From the smoky black a shotgun and tworevolvers are tossed out. Then, orange light: a lamp is lit.Two men emerge, one limping and holding onto the other, who

holds high the lamp.

ROOSTERIs that Emmett Quincy?

INT. GREASER BOBS CABIN - NIGHT42 42

Rooster has coaxed the fire back to life. He peers into thelarge pot hanging over it.

The cuffed men sit side-by-side on a plank bench behind a

plank table, staring at Mattie. Moon's leg is bound with alarge blue handkerchief.

Quincy sounds resentful:

QUINCYYou said it was a man on the roof.I thought it was Potter.



60/111

ROOSTERYou was always dumb, Quincy, andremain true to form.

He stirs the pot with a wooden spoon.

. . .This here's an awful lot ofsofky. Was you boys looking forcompany?

QUINCYThat is our supper and breakfastboth. I like a big breakfast.

Moon nods agreement, but has a different thought:

MOONSofky always cooks up bigger thanyou think.

Rooster, continuing to nose around, pushes the canvas coveroff a crate of bottles.

ROOSTERAnd a good store of whiskey aswell. What are you boys up to,outside of cooking banquets? Youare way too jumpy.

QUINCYWe didn't know who was out thereweather like this. It might have

been some crazy man. Anyone cansay he is a marshal.

MOONMy leg hurts.

ROOSTERI'll bet it does. When is the lasttime you seen your old pard NedPepper?

QUINCY

Ned Pepper? I don't know him. Whois he?

Rooster spoons sofky from the pot into a bowl

ROOSTERI'm surprised you don't rememberhim. He is a little fellow,nervous and quick. His lip is allmessed up.



61/111

QUINCYThat don't bring anybody to mind.

Rooster sits across from the men with his bowlful of sofkyand starts eating.

ROOSTERThere is a new boy that might berunning with Ned. He is shorthimself and he has got a powdermark on his face, a black place.He calls himself Chaney, orChelmsford sometimes. Carries aHenry rifle.

QUINCYThat don't bring anybody to mind.Black mark, I would remember that.

ROOSTERYou don't remember anything I wantto know, do you Quincy?

Raises a spoonful.

What do you know, Moon?

Moon looks at Quincy, who gives a hard look back.

MOONI don't know those boys. I always

try to help out the law.

ROOSTERBy the time we get back to FortSmith that leg will be swelled uptight as Dick's hatband. It willbe mortified and they will cut itoff. Then if you live I will getyou two or three years in theFederal house up in Detroit.

MOON

You are trying to get at me.ROOSTER

They will teach you to read andwrite up there but the rest of itwon't be so good. Them boys can behard on a gimp.

MOONYou are trying to get at me.



62/111

ROOSTERYou give me some good informationon Ned and I will take you toBagbys store tomorrow get thatball taken out of your leg. Then Iwill give you three days to clear

the Territory.

QUINCYWe don't know those boys you arelooking for.

Rooster shrugs at Moon.

ROOSTERIt ain't his leg.

QUINCYDon't go to flapping your mouth,

Moon. It is best to let me do thetalking.

MOONI would say if I knew. . .

QUINCYWe are weary trappers.

He reacts to Mattie, staring at him.

. . . Who worked you over with theugly stick?

Mattie's look shifts to Moon.

MATTIEThe man Chaney with the marked facekilled my father. He was a whiskeydrinker like you and it led tokilling in the end. If you answerthe marshal's questions he willhelp you. I have a good lawyer athome and he will help you too.

Beat.MOON

I am puzzled by this.(to Rooster)

Why is she here?



63/111

QUINCYDon't go jawing with these people,Moon. Don't go jawing with thatrunt.

MATTIE

(to Quincy)I don't like you. I hope you go tojail. My lawyer will not help you.

MOONMy leg is giving me fits.

ROOSTERYes, a young fellow like you don'twant to loose his leg.

QUINCYEasy now. He is trying to get at

you.

ROOSTERWith the truth.

MOONWe seen Ned and Haze two days ago.We's supposed

QUINCYDon't act the fool! If you blow Iwill kill you!

MOONI am played out. I must have adoctor. We's supposed

Quincy jerks up one knee, banging the bottom of the table andsloshing Rooster's sofky as he grabs something from his boot:a knife.

He slams it down on Moon's cuffed hand, chopping off fourfingers. They fly like chips from a log.

As Moon screams Rooster mutters:

ROOSTERGod damn it!

Quincy flips the knife lightly in the air and regrabs it withblade pointing opposite-wise. He twists and rears withcuffed hands to plunge the knife into Moon's chest.

Rooster has his gun out now and fires.



64/111

Quincy jerks back, hit in the face. Blood spatters Mattie.Quincy, still seated, slides awkwardly down the wall.

Moon has fallen to the floor, knife in chest.

MOON

Oh lord, I am dying!

Rooster and Mattie stand over him.

. . . Do something! Help me!

ROOSTERI can do nothing for you, son.Your pard has killed you and I havedone for him.

MOONDon't leave me lying here! Don't

let the wolves rip me up!

ROOSTERI'll see you are buried right. Youtell me about Ned. Where did yousee him?

MOONTwo days ago at Bagby's store.They are coming here tonight to getremounts, and sofky. They justrobbed the Katy Flyer at Wagoner'sSwitch.

Eyes wide, he gazes down his body.

. . . I am gone. Send the news tomy brother, George Garrett. He isa Methodist circuit rider in SouthTexas.

ROOSTERShould I tell him you was outlawedup?

MOONIt don't matter, he knows I am onthe scout. I will meet him laterwalking the streets of Glory!

ROOSTERDon't be looking for Quincy.

OMITTED43 43



65/111

EXT. GREASER BOBS CABIN - NIGHT44 44

Rooster finishes hunkering down.

He takes out his revolver and put a cartridge into the oneempty chamber, under the hammer. He places the revolver on a

log and puts the sack of cartridges next to the revolver. Heleans his rifle against the log. He looks out.

His point-of-view of the cabin below, peaceful, smokedrifting from the chimney.

MATTIEWhat do we do when they get here? *

Rooster takes out a sack of corn dodgers and starts to eat.

ROOSTERWhat we want is to get them all in *

the dugout. I will kill the lastone to go in and then we will havethem in a barrel.

MATTIEYou will shoot him in the back?

ROOSTERIt will give them to know ourintentions is serious. Then I willcall down and see if they will betaken alive. If they won't I willshoot them as they come out. I am

hopeful that three of their partybeing dead will take the starch outof them.

Chewing beat.

MATTIEYou display great poise.

ROOSTERIt is just a turkey shoot. Therewas one time in New Mexico, when Bo

was a strong colt and I myself hadless tarnish, we was being pursuedby seven men. I turned Bo aroundand taken the reins in my teeth androde right at them boys firing themtwo navy sixes I carry on mysaddle. Well I guess they was allmarried men who loved theirfamilies as they scattered and runfor home.



66/111

MATTIEThat is hard to believe.

ROOSTERWhat is?

MATTIEOne man riding at seven.

ROOSTERIt is true enough. You go for aman hard enough and fast enough andhe don't have time to think abouthow many is with himhe thinksabout himself and how he may getclear of the wrath that is about toset down on him.

MATTIE

Why were they pursuing you?

ROOSTERI robbed a high-interest bank. Youcan't rob a thief, can you? Inever robbed a citizen. Never tooka man's watch.

MATTIEIt is all stealing.

ROOSTER

That is the position they took inNew Mexico.

He is suddenly alert, and raises a hand for quiet.

There is the sound of a rider, approaching slowly.

Rooster is puzzled:

. . . One man. I didn't figurethem to send a scout.

Their high point-of-view: a mounted figure has entered theravine.

He travels its length and stops his horse before the cabinand dismounts. We hear the jingle of spurs.

. . . Damn. It is LeBoeuf.

Distant, calling toward the cabin:



67/111

LEBOEUFHello?

LeBoeuf unholsters a gun. He walks to the cabin, opens thedoor and peers in.

Rooster starts to rise, about to call out, as LeBoeuf entersand closes the door.

We hear hoofbeats. Many horses.

MATTIEWe have to warn him, Marshal!

Rooster is looking to the mouth of the ravine.

ROOSTERToo late.

Mattie follows his look.

Their high point-of-view: four riders just entering theravine.

They look back to the cabin.

From inside, faintly:

LEBOEUFOh!

The door opens and LeBoeuf stumbles out, wide-eyed.

He sees the approaching riders. They see him.

They slow, approaching with caution.

LeBoeuf looks at them, glances back over his shoulder, looksforward again.

MATTIEWhat do we do, Marshal?

ROOSTER

We sit. What does he do?The riders stop several paces from LeBoeuf. They spread in aline facing him. Words are exchanged; we cannot make themout.

LeBoeuf unholsters a gun and points it at the four men.



68/111

ROOSTER (CONTD)He is a fine one for not drawingattention to himself.

The four men, slouched astride their horses, are notimpressed by LeBoeuf's gun. There is more talking.

ROOSTER (CONTD)Him in the woolly chaps is LuckyNed.

He refers to the mounted man who does most of the talking.Lucky Ned now speaks to the men on either side and the twocorners advance, closing a circle around LeBoeuf.

LeBoeuf looks warily from side side, swinging his gun tocover the group. None of the riders bothers to unholster agun.

The man to LeBoeuf's right lifts a rope off his saddle andcasually twirls it.

The man to his left says something: LeBoeuf looks left andthe man to his right drops the rope around LeBoeuf and pullsit tight. LeBoeuf is jerked off his feet, gun dropping. Themounted man backs his horse, taking the play from the rope.He dallies the free end round his saddlehorn.

Two of the men slide off their horses.

One of them heads for the cabin door.

ROOSTER (CONTD)Well, that's that.

BANG!the rifleshot, just at Mattie's ear, is deafening.

The man heading to the cabin drops, shot in the back.

The two horses that are now riderless rear and mill,panicked.

The horse towing LeBoeuf also skitters, spooked, as its riderlooks wildly about and starts shooting.

Lucky Ned looks toward our vantage point and also beginsfiring.

Rooster is methodically aiming and firing but in thecommotion below his first couple of shots don't tell. Histhird drops Lucky Ned's horse.

The other unmounted man is frantically trying to snatch upthe reins of one of the loose horses.



69/111

The man towing LeBoeuf spurs his horse toward one of the freehorses, trying to grab it. LeBoeuf is dragged past plunginghorses' hooves.

A cacaphony of screaming horses, crackling gunfire from the

basin, and the boom of Rooster's rifle.

The unmounted man has managed to grab a halter. He climbswith difficulty aboard the skittish horse.

The rider towing LeBoeuf cuts loose the towline. He gallopstoward Ned Pepper with an arm outstretched to help himaboard.

Rooster is tracking him with his rifle.

Lucky Ned grabs the extended arm. As he begins to swing upthere is the BOOM of Rooster's rifle. The rider pitches off

the horse but Lucky Ned manages to stay on, and swipes up thereins. He gallops off.

The one other surviving horseman follows him.

There is one dead horse in the basin, a live unmounted horseracing crazy circles, and three still bodies. One isLeBoeuf's.

Rooster rises.

ROOSTER (CONTD)Well that didn't pan out.

EXT. GREASER BOBS CABIN45 45

LeBoeuf is moaning.

Rooster walks toward him trailed by Mattie, glancing alongthe way at the two dead men.

ROOSTERYou managed to put a kink in myrope, pardner.

LEBOEUFI am theverely injured.

Something is wrong with LeBoeuf's speech. Bloody salivabubbles copiously from his mouth.

ROOSTERYes you got drug some.



70/111

LEBOEUFAltho shshot. By a rifle.

Rooster stoops to examine.

ROOSTER

That is quite possible. The schemedid not develop as I had planned.You have been shot in the shoulderbut the ball passed through. Itwill pain you in the years to come.What happened to your mouth?

LEBOEUFI believe I beh mythelf.

Rooster slaps lightly down at LeBoeuf's chin, signaling thathe should open up.

LeBoeuf does, and Rooster digs in with two dirty fingers,dipping his head to peer in as he pokes this way and that.

ROOSTERCouple of teeth loose and yes, the *tongue is bit almost through. Doyou want to see if it will knit orshould I just yank it free? I knowa teamster who bit his tongue offbeing thrown from a horse. After atime he learned to make himselfmore or less understood.

LEBOEUFHngnickh.

Bloody saliva bubbles out with the word. Rooster withdrawshis fingers.

ROOSTERWhat's that now?

LEBOEUFKnit.

ROOSTERVery well. It is impossible tobind a tongue wound. The shoulderwe will kit out.

Mattie goes to inspect the two outlaws' corpses as Roosterpokes back LeBoeuf's shirt to look at the wound.

. . . It's too bad.


(MORE)


71/111

We just ran across a doctor ofsorts but I do not know where hewas headed.

LEBOEUFI thaw him too. Ith how I came to

be here.

MATTIENeither of these men are Chaney,Marshal.

ROOSTERI know it. I know them both. Theugly one is Coke Hayes. Him uglierstill is Clement Parmalee.Parmalee and his brothers have asilver claim in the Winding StairMountains and I will bet you that's

where Lucky Ned's gang is waiting.We'll sleep here, follow in themorning.

MATTIEWe promised to bury the poor soulinside.

ROOSTERGround is too hard. If these menwanted a decent burial they shouldhave got themselves kilt in summer.

EXT. GREASER BOBS CABIN46 46

SNOW

Falling straight down: a windless night.

We hear a murmuring male voice from inside the cabin.

Mattie is finishing rubbing down her horse.

MATTIE

Sleep well, Little Blackie. . .She puts up the brush and pulls an apple from her apple bag.

. . . I have a notion that tomorrowwe will reach our object. We arehot on the trail. . .

The horse chomps up the apple and she rubs its muzzle as itchews.


ROOSTER (CONT'D)


72/111

. . . It seems that we willovertake Tom Chaney in the WindingStair Mountains. I would not wantto be in his shoes.

The horse huffs and blows.

FRONT OF THE CABIN

We are raking the four dead men who have been carelesslypropped against the outside wall to sit in an irregular row.Mattie passes them, with a brief look, and opens the door,and the murmuring voice from inside fans up louder.

INT. CABIN47 47

As Mattie enters. We see LeBoeuf musing before the fire ashe cleans his Sharp's carbinean awkward operation given theinjury to his shoulder, now bandaged.

All we see of Rooster, seated further from the fire, is apair of boots, and legs stretching into darkness.

Mattie goes to the pot of food on the fire.

LEBOEUFAzh I understand it, ChaneyorChelmzhford, azh he called himshelfin Texasshot the shenator'zh dog.

When the shenator remonshtratedChelmzhford shot him azh well. Youcould argue that the shooting ofthe dog wazh merely an inshtansh ofmalum prohibitum, but the shootingof a shenator izh indubitably aninshtansh of malum in shay.

Rooster is a voice in the darkness:

ROOSTERMalla-men what?

MATTIEMalum in se. The distinction isbetween an act that is wrong initself, and an act that is wrongonly according to our laws andmores. It is Latin.

We hear thepthoonkof a bottle yielding its cork, followedby thepthwa of the cork's being spit out.



73/111

ROOSTERI am struck that LeBoeuf is shot,trampled, and nearly severs histongue and not only doe

true-grit script

Documents