La bataille de San Sebastian

Kinita:
Where are you going?

Leon Alastray:
What difference does it make? A man goes from the place he is born to the place he dies.

Father Joseph:
My son, here. Put this on - it will protect you from the sun. [Father hands Leon a cowl with a cross on the back]

Leon Alastray:
Ha? Thank you.

Father Joseph:
...and who knows? Perhaps it will bring you a little faith!

Leon Alastray:
Faith? Oh, I had plenty of faith the other night. Hey, priest - you wanna hear my confession? [clasps hands in mock prayer]

Father Joseph:
No, thank you!

Leon Alastray:
Come on - it'll make you feel 10 years younger! [laughs lewdly]

Father Joseph:
...or perhaps older!

Leon Alastray:
[startled by a bell, Leon runs into the church] What the hell are you doing?

Father Joseph:
Christians always respond to the sound of a bell.

Leon Alastray:
What Christians? Rocks? Lizards, snakes?

Father Joseph:
Perhaps someone's still alive. Please - you ring the bell. I am too weak.

Leon Alastray:
Here, hold this. [hands the wine bag to Father Joseph, who stuffs it into the statue of San Sebastian] I feel stupid. [pulls rope a few times] Oh, that's enough! [walks to church door] Hey Father! Look! A Christian!

Father Joseph:
[looks toward distant horizon for approaching people]

Leon Alastray:
No, no. [points to a scruffy dog in the church yard] There. [laughs mockingly]

Agueda:
So you force us to return. Now, your soldiers are going Priest. How will you hold us?

Leon Alastray:
Well, Agueda. I hope you will all stay because... Because you all CHOOSE to stay.

Diego:
When your protectors are gone, we will KILL you for this!

Leon Alastray:
Diego, you will kill no one. You are a coward like all the rest.

Antonito:
Why don't you call for help? Your soldiers can still hear you.

Leon Alastray:
I call for no help. YOU are the weaklings always crying for help. For years, you hide behind Teclo and his... And his 17 vaqueros. You run to the hills and you hide like ANIMALS! [thumps chest defiantly] I fight my OWN battles! [throws open church doors to reveal the horde of guns & ammo]

Teclo:
I burned the village, but the priest came back.... with guns and soldiers. You see, it's always the same: they build a house, and then the priest comes and he builds a church. And soon, all around the church, there's a village. After the priest come the soldiers. They put up a flag and say 'Now, this belongs to us!' And they steal the food - they steal the horses. And more, they take the women to make a race of... HALF-BREEDS!

'Golden Lance':
Like you?

Teclo:
Like me.

'Golden Lance':
When the harvest is ready, we will attack. Then we will have our corn. And you will have your people, back in the hills.

Leon Alastray:
Golden Lance, I have come to talk peace with you. Do you understand?

'Golden Lance':
I understand you very well. You speak much about peace in your language, especially when the other side is stronger.

Leon Alastray:
I chose to come alone. No one forced me.

'Golden Lance':
Look at these rocks. [points to the hills behind his camp] 5,000 Yaquis were massacred here by your soldiers in the name of your god of peace. I was a child. I saw blood running down these rocks like a river.

Leon Alastray:
I come in the name of no god. I come as a man who does not wish to see his village destroyed in the name of your gods.

'Golden Lance':
You LIE! Your village is full of soldiers ready to kill us.

Leon Alastray:
There are no soldiers in my village. If, one day, you want to come as a friend, you will be greeted as a friend. If you need food, we will share it with you. Golden Lance, I have... [turns to white stallion] I have brought you a gift in friendship: this horse. If you accept, there need be no bloodshed. If you refuse, let the first blood be mine.

Teclo:
[cutting Leon down from a tree where he has been hung] Priest, you have one day to get your strength back, and one day to get over the mountains. If not: on the third day, just like your book says, YOU WILL RISE.

Kinita:
Would you?

Leon Alastray:
Would I what?

Kinita:
Hear my confession.

Leon Alastray:
Sure. If you will hear mine first.

Kinita:
I don't understand.

Leon Alastray:
I'll make it quick. I am not a priest. If you ever need money, there's a price on my head.

Kinita:
No, it's not true.

Leon Alastray:
[looks at her as if to decide how to convince her, then grabs her hair and kisses her roughly] That's my confession! You want to tell me yours? [laughing]

Leon Alastray:
[Kinita is crying, and Leon is drunk] I can't stand sniveling - stop your sniveling. I want to tell you something. Have you ever wondered why I stayed here? Was it because of that... that crazy old priest? Was it because of a god I... I don't even BELIEVE in? Was it because... Because for the first time in my life, I... I felt important, and I liked the 'yes, Father'; 'no, Father'; 'God bless you, Father'? Or was it because of you? [pauses and thinks] I think it was because of you.

Kinita:
[realizes he loves her, and lies down beside him]

Leon Alastray:
[caressing and kissing her] It's good to feel like a MAN again! [becomes more aggressive, then sits up, staring down at her] I've been a priest too long. Get out. Come on, GET OUT!

Leon Alastray:
Thanks for the mule, old man. But remember: you won't see me again. Not in San Sebastian.

Miguel:
Perhaps in Heaven?

Leon Alastray:
I promise: NOT in Heaven! [laughing]

Col. Calleja:
[upon finding the village deserted] The guns go back! Men, dismount! We leave in the morning!

Leon Alastray:
[later in Leon's room] Well, goodnight. Happy dreams, my son.

Col. Calleja:
Goodnight. Thank you.

Leon Alastray:
I suppose we are leaving before sunup?

Col. Calleja:
'We'? We leave?

Leon Alastray:
Well, I must face my bishop, and you the governor.... and report OUR failure. [feigns apathy by thumbing through a Bible]

Col. Calleja:
What failure?

Leon Alastray:
Our mission. [goes back to pretending to read a Bible]

Col. Calleja:
I didn't fail in my mission! I was told to proceed to the village of San Sebastian with arms & munitions: number 1. Number 2: deliver the guns to the population of San Sebastian. And number 3: return immediately to garrison headquarters upon completion of the mission. Where have I failed?

Leon Alastray:
Number 2. We did not deliver the guns to the population.

Col. Calleja:
But there is no one here!

Leon Alastray:
Oh, that's true. [pauses as if confused] But the orders do not say that the population is IN the village.