Men gather in the lobby of the Carlton when word gets out that a female bandit has robbed three times. She shot and killed a stagecoach driver and made off with a payroll worth $50,000. Paladin dismisses the woman as an animal and wonders how she can become some brutalized. Paladin tells Hey Boy to pack his gear.
The bandit, sandy, is running through the bushes and Paladin finally capture's her. He takes her gun belt and spots a rider coming after her. Paladin tells Sandy to get down and the man, a bounty hunter, dies past without seeing them. He then has Sandy put the manacles on. When Sandy wonders why he doesn't shoot her, Paladin says that the stagecoach company want their money back and there's more money for Sandy alive than dead. She points out that the bounty hunter wasn't that concerned, and Paladin figures that he'd rather go for broke.
They go to Paladin's horse and he rides until they come to an abandoned cabin. When Sandy objects, Paladin reluctantly unmanacles her. When he realizes that Sandy is light a fire, Paladin stops her and figures that she was trying to alert the bounty hunters in the area. Sandy tries to club him with a log, and Paladin manages to beat her after a fierce struggle. He manacles her to a post and goes to sleep.
The next morning, they wake up and Paladin suggests that she make some breakfast. She refuses and wonders why men think that women were born to wait on him. Paladin says it's probably the same thing that makes a woman think she can get away with anything, and admits that he would have killed a man who jumped her. Sandy tells him that she shot the stagecoach driver because he figured she wouldn't pull the trigger. Paladin shows her his card, and they ride on. Two men soon ride to the cabin, realize that Paladin and sandy were there, and ride on after them.
As they ride through the forest, Sandy jumps off the back of Paladin's horse and runs for it. He tackles her and after a struggle, subdues her. He orders her to get back on the horse, and Sandy says that she's tired. Paladin says that they'll stop at a nearby abandoned stage depot, and tells her to follow while he gets his horse. Sandy tears up her scarf and runs after him, and they both get on Paladin's horse. The men following them soon fin the scarf pieces and follow the tail Sandy is leaving.
Paladin and Sandy arrive at the depot and go inside. As they set up for the night, Sandy mocks Paladin as a man looking for a fancy San Francisco woman's attentions. She says that she doesn't think much of men, and all she got from her brothers was whippings. One day she had enough of being a woman, strapped on the gun, and figured she was the equal of any man. Paladin tells her that she couldn't make the grade of being fancy lady, and tells her that she's a freak. He concedes that there's cruelty in men, but suggests that if Sandy would be treated like a woman if she acted like one. He gives her a blanket, and Sandy asks him how a woman acts like a woman.
The two men pursuing them, Earl and Floyd, come in, guns out, and tells Paladin to drop his gun. Once they take it, they confirm who Sandy is. Paladin laughs and says that they're welcome to her. As they take Sandy, Paladin shoots Earl with his derringer. Floyd shoots Paladin in the shoulder, and Sandy grabs Floyd's gun and shoots him dead. She aims it at Paladin, and he figures that she'll never make the door. Even He concedes that she can kill him, but he'll wound before she does and she'll never escape the men following her. Sandy admits that she left a trail for their pursuers, figuring that they'd keep Paladin occupied so she could escape. She suggests that the two of them escape together, and she promise to be good with Paladin in return for a soft word. Sandy offers Paladin the $50,000 she took from the stage, and says that if she waits for her to be a woman, she can learn. They kiss and Paladin holds the sobbing woman.
The sheriff and his deputies arrive, and the sheriff calls out that they heard shots. Paladin warns that he'll kill anyone who moves on the place until he can see them, even though it won't be until morning. The next morning, Paladin comes out and tells the sheriff and his deputies that he can come in. They take Sandy and the deputies mock her. Paladin punches one of them and tells the sheriff to tell his men to get the job done. As they lead Sandy out, she asks what Paladin would do if she says that she loves him. Paladin admits that he might believe it, but some night when she could shoot him in the back she might forget it. The deputies take a sobbing Snady away, and the sheriff tells Paladin that it's just like a woman. Paladin sarcastically agrees.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 26, 2017