Mackintosh and T.J.

MacKintosh spots T.J. attempting to steal an apple and intervenes by pretending the boy is with him. He pays for their supplies to keep the boy from trouble. The act forges the first bond between the aging migrant and the young wanderer.

They share a ride after leaving town and realize they have more in common than they expected. Both are drifting veterans looking for a path toward the Pacific. Their mutual respect begins shaping a growing partnership.

MacKintosh's vehicle breaks down and T.J. ends up on a separate ride with a well-dressed stranger headed to El Paso. MacKintosh works on the truck while T.J. continues his own journey with the stranger. Their fates stay connected as the day wears on.

The pair stops for dinner and discovers T.J. is working as a busboy in the bar. He explains that the man who picked him up was 'funny' or homosexual, which pushes him to leave quickly. The scene exposes distrust and danger in their environment.

Cal accuses T.J. of stealing and strikes him in the bar. MacKintosh defends the boy by knocking Cal down, and when Cal advances with a knife, MacKintosh shatters a bottle and knocks him down again. The confrontation ends with Cal defeated and the two men briefly united again.

They find work at Jim Webster's 6666 Ranch, where MacKintosh impresses everyone by breaking horses. T.J. is assigned to cleaning up abandoned buildings. Their partnership deepens as they settle into ranch life.

A sick ranch hand with rabies is found, and Webster offers MacKintosh the sick man's job trapping coyotes. He moves to a remote cabin and earns a ranch wage plus bounties for each coyote. T.J. stays nearby, sharing the isolation of their new routine.

Rumors spread that MacKintosh is too friendly with Luke's battered wife, straining relationships on the ranch. MacKintosh attempts to pacify the tensions, but distrust festers under the surface. The atmosphere grows tense as loyalty is tested.

During a birthday celebration, Luke punches MacKintosh for standing near his wife. MacKintosh suggests the anger came from alcohol and warns that a future hit would meet with harsher resistance. The incident marks a turning point in their uneasy dynamic.

Late that evening, a ranch hand known as a Peeping Tom is caught spying on Luke's wife and ends up killing Luke with a rock. The ranch hands mob toward MacKintosh, but Webster arrives to declare him innocent. The guilt-ridden killer writes down what happened and hangs himself from a windmill.

Webster intervenes and asserts that MacKintosh is innocent, stopping the mob from exacting its own justice. The confession from the guilt-ridden ranch hand confirms the true sequence of events. The moment releases immediate tension but leaves lasting scars of suspicion.

MacKintosh and T.J. decide to leave the ranch and head toward the Pacific Ocean in search of work along the way. They choose a future built on shared loyalty rather than roots in one place. Their journey continues beyond the film toward an unknown horizon.