The dry arid desert land was unchanged, and unforgiving.
A distant rider could be seen, riding powerfully aboard a fast stallion.
She looked behind and could see them in the distance.
The clouds of dust only confirmed it.
Three other riders were in hot pursuit.
Her destination was the old fort outside of town. Long since abandoned, it was slowly succumbing to the dust and tumbleweeds. Its white adobe stone walls were surrounded by a balcony that encircled the structure and whose wooden beams were quickly rotting away.
She rode through its front gates and into an abandoned space that had probably been a barracks or stable. She quickly dismounted and knew she was as out of breath as her horse. She checked her armaments. Her twin Colt revolvers were loaded, as well as the big Colt Dragoon that had been her husband's service revolver, extra gun belts were at the ready. She pulled out the sawed-off Winchester rifle, dubbed the "Mare's Leg" by its previous owner, a bounty hunter named Josh Randall who taught her all she'd need to know, and died when he encountered her quarry before she did. It would be most effective for close action.
She tensed up as she heard the hoof beats of their horses as they arrived, Butch Malone accompanied by his brothers, Sam and Pete. They were wanted men throughout the territories; numerous rewards had been posted for their capture. "Dead or alive" they all read.
"Hannie! Hannie Caulder!"
She knew it was Butch Malone, the man who'd murdered her beloved husband some months before and sent her on a quest, her quest for vengeance.
"I know you're out there woman...come on out...let's talk a spell."
The cackle in his voice and his brothers told her that talking was the last thing they had in mind. She had to put the memory out of her mind, what they did to her, how they murdered her husband before her eyes.
"Don't think about it." She told herself repeatedly through tightly closed eyes "don't think about it!"
"Gonna give you to three and then we're gonna tear this place down to find ya!" Butch yelled out
"One..."
This was it.
"Two..."
She cocked the trigger on the Mare's Leg and remembered what she'd been taught
"...your first shot is the most important, it can end the fight or buy you time in a fight, make it count girl...make it count!"
"Three!"
She burst out of the doorway and the rifle thundered her answer to their threats. The Malone's were caught off guard and their response was from their pistols.
The rifle's power threw her off-balance and she fell to the ground, just as a loud "POP" sound was heard above.
"CUT! CUT! CUT!" the director yelled "What the hell was that?"
"Bulb on the spotlight blew out Mark!" the lighting man called from above
"Alright...get it fixed and we'll do it again!" he said wearily "Miley are you alright?"
Miley Cyrus got up from the ground and brushed off the dust from her clothes.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I think the gun threw me off balance."
"No, the way you did it looked fine." Mark replied "OK, everyone let's take a break while Edison does his magic"
I stood by the director's chair as Miley came over. She had on tight dusty blue jeans with a thin multi-striped poncho thrown over her topped with a flat brimmed hat. Add in her straight red hair and she certainly looked like her predecessor, Raquel Welch, for this remake of her western film "Hannie Caulder".
She came over and gave me a quick hug
"How'd I look?" she asked
"Dangerous" I replied
"Cool!" she said, adding a quick kiss on my cheek.
We'd been down on this patch of land in Arizona that was owned by John Wayne's family for two weeks shooting her new film. Once this portion was done, we'd move to the confines of a studio back lot for other scenes in the film. Directing was an old friend of mine, Mark Stein. Mark and I went way back and this was to be his directing debut after a few years shooting commercials and video footage for concerts.
"Hannie Caulder" was a remake of a Raquel Welch western and would star Miley in the title role. Her character was a young bride assaulted and raped by the Malone Brothers, her husband murdered. Trained by a bounty hunter named Josh Randall, she goes on a quest to track down the brothers.
Miley grabbed a large bottle of water out of a cooler, removed her hat and dumped most of it over her head, shaking it from her red hair.
"You doin' OK?" she asked me
"Yeah, this is pretty wild to see, I know the photos are gonna look great." I said as I sipped my own water
"I never thought I could miss air conditioning like I do now."
"Well, weren't you the one who insisted on shooting down here?"
"That was Mark's idea!" she said with a smile as she wiped some water from her forehead "I just backed him up, hell, I didn't know he'd really go through with it!"
"Well, if you ask me, this is gonna look great when it's finished. You don't see many westerns anymore."
"I think I know why" she said as she looked around before giving me a smile that made us both laugh.
Mark called everyone back and began choreographing the shootout with Miley as the stunt coordinator listened intently and gave his input. I took this as my cue to reload for any good action shots that might happen. Mark was looking for a spectacular shootout as the climax to the film. He wasn't trying to outdo Peckinpah, but whatever he had planned was sure to be good from what I could hear.
The Malone brothers scattered for position as Hannie rolled on the ground towards a back staircase. Pete's shotgun sent bits of wood and adobe stone flying towards her. Hannie responded with a barrage from the Mare's Leg. Taking a quick breath she dashed up the stairs amid pistol fire from the brothers. With Butch yelling "get her!" they headed towards the staircase in pursuit of Hannie Caulder.
As Pete ran up the stairs, Hannie jumped out from a doorway at the top and fired her Colt pistols in rapid fire succession sending Pete flying backwards down the stairs, landing at the feet of Sam.
"CUT! Print that one! Great work guys!" Mark called out to applause from the crew "That's it for today everyone, great work!"
Now inside, Hannie quickly looked around to assess the location, the rooms were all empty, no places to hide; she'd be out in the open for anyone to see. Suddenly the windows shattered as the Malone brothers opened up with their armaments. Hannie grabbed part of her poncho to cover her face and ran the length of the structure as glass fragments flew everywhere. The rooftop might be her best bet but the only way up there would be to go back the way she came and climb an outside ladder. And she could hear another set of footsteps coming up those stairs. She braced herself against a wall, an open doorway on her right; maybe she could catch them off guard if they ran past her. The bare rooms, plus the creaky floors only amplified any footsteps. She tried not to breathe too hard. Whoever was coming up those stairs might hear it. But her heart was beating so fast.
What could she do?
Sam Malone slowly walked into the empty room, looking from side to side, holding his Winchester rifle at the ready. A succession of open rooms faced him with no doors to stop him as they'd all been removed long ago by scavengers.
"She's here," he thought "I know she is."
As he slowly entered each room, the glass fragments on the floor crackled under his every step, no sign of the redheaded gunfighter.
Another room was in sight.
He saw no glass on the floor here as he looked around. He heard what sounded like a pebble hitting the floor and he whirled to his right and opened fire with the Winchester. But all he hit was the stone walls and broken windows. Another pebble like sound was in front of him and he whirled towards that too.
Outside, Butch heard the gun shots and aimed his rifle, waiting for his chance. Hiding in an adjoining room, Hannie made a run for a door that led outside onto the balcony, she stopped just at the edge of it and the rotted wood broke underneath, her left leg broke through and dropped her to one knee. She was trapped! And now vulnerable to an attack from Butch on the ground and Sam who appeared on the balcony and spotted his brother below
"Over there! Get her!" he yelled as he ran over and aimed his rifle.
Sam turned and saw Hannie struggling to free herself. He aimed the rifle but realized he had no bullets. He threw it down and pulled out his revolver just as Hannie freed herself. Lying on her side she fired her revolver in a desperate shot.
Sam was hit in the chest and staggered for a moment then fell forward, crashing through the balcony and to the ground below.
Butch's rifle began firing now and she returned fire with the Mare's Leg. Her powerful rifle knocked Butch off his feet and she heard a sudden groan from him as he hit the ground. It looked like he'd been hit in the side or the leg, she couldn't tell for sure.
Knowing that Butch was wounded, Hannie ran down the balcony that encircled the garrison and headed for the opposite side. Though wounded, Butch could see her and quickly opened up with the Remington, but he aimed for the wooden beams supporting the balcony. The rotted wood quickly splintered and cracked as the balcony crumbled under her feet as she ran. She whirled around and fired the Mare's Leg again just as she was hit in the shoulder and legs by the shotgun. The impact threw her into a wall as the balcony collapsed, sending her tumbling downward.
"CUT! CUT! CUT!" Mark yelled "Print that one!" he said excitedly
Miley whistled and clapped as she stood next to me. The stunt crew ran to extract her stunt double from the wreckage.
"That was awesome!" she said out loud "Wow! I can't believe how they did that!"
"That's Hollywood, Miss Miley." Mark said to her
Her stunt double emerged from the wreckage and gracefully bowed to the cheering crew.
Hannie could feel the pain from the buckshot in her leg, her shoulder and back ached as she pulled herself out of the tangle of wooden beams. She looked out carefully before trying to walk. Everything seemed clear. In the distance she could see Pete's body at the foot of the stairs, Sam's was crumpled in a heap nearby. There was no sign of Butch, though. Slowly she hobbled through the main yard of the garrison towards her horse. She knew more ammo was there, and possibly an escape. She could see her horse as he poked his head out from the doorway, but she didn't dare call him over with the little whistle she often used. She smiled slightly and tried to quicken her pace as the pain went through her.
A shotgun blast threw her to the ground again and she screamed out in pain as she lay on the ground. She turned over and saw Butch slowly walking towards her carrying Pete's shotgun.
He let out a lecherous cackle.
"Well, well, well..." he cackled "Look what I got here...a little missy with a big gun."
Hannie looked down and saw the blood on the ground. She could also see the wounds Butch had. In particular the bloody wound on his upper leg.
"You were so tough, Miss Hannie Caulder" he sneered "Now look at ya...just a scared little woman...kinda like the little woman I saw once before."
His smile now turned into a face of pure evil
"Get up, you little bitch...GET UP!" he snarled
