Petra eyed the rifle nervously. “You will shoot them?”

“Depends on what their intentions are.” Annie moved out past the dog-run, where she could see the soldiers clearly. Petra shut the children in the kitchen and moved out to stand beside Annie. She had no rifle, but she provided a moral backing by her presence. It took nerve, Annie thought, for she could see that Petra was genuinely frightened. Like Michael, Petra had a strong personal reason for dreading soldiers; years ago they had butchered her father for no better reason than a suspicion that he was not loyal to Spain.

It quickly became clear to Annie that the soldiers were not coming to the cabin; they stopped at the pen where the pigs were kept. “They’re fixin’ to try and steal a pig again,” she exclaimed.

“Let them,” Petra said. “We have more pigs.”

“But it’s the principle of the thing. James’s trouble started when he stopped them from stealin’ one of the pigs. Now they’re settin’ out to do the same thing again, to show us who the boss is.”

“A pig is just a pig.”

“Not these pigs. It’s because of them that James had to run. Damned if I’ll stand by and let a bunch of convict soldiers make it be all for nothin’.” She strode briskly toward the pen, Petra hurrying after her.

The pigs were squealing and the soldiers laughing as they chased the fattest one around in the pen. Annie yelled, “You, climb out of that pen and let those pigs alone!”

One of the soldiers glanced at her and snickered, then resumed his pursuit of the panicked animal. He managed to grab the curly tail while the pig made a terrible racket and scrambled for footing. The second soldier took hold of the thrashing beast and lifted it from the ground.

Annie said, “I’m not goin’ to say it again. Turn that pig a-loose!” They might not understand the words, but they understood the meaning well enough. Petra repeated in Spanish, for emphasis. One of the men replied to her in an insulting tone. Whatever he said, Annie knew it was obscene because of the flush of color in Petra’s face. The soldiers held onto the pig.

Annie brought up the rifle and aimed the barrel through the fence. “You put that pig down or I’ll shoot you!”

The fun went out of it for the soldiers, and their laughter turned quickly to anger. They did not take her seriously; she was a woman. It was an affront to them that she would so much as threaten them with a rifle.

From the corner of her eye Annie saw a movement. She was almost afraid to take her gaze from the two soldiers, but she risked a quick glance. A horseman had just crossed the river and was coming this way. It was not the right direction for Andrew, nor the right color horse. She wondered if it might be another soldier. She already had more than enough. If she fired she might stop one of these, but she would have no chance against the second.