"Speaking of men, Tessa, I noticed Doctor Helm escorting you across the plaza just now. Are you making any progress?" Vera asked, leaning down to put her basket under the seat.

"Vera! Wha-what do you mean?" asked Tessa. She slowed the wagon down, thinking, Vera the matchmaker never rests!"

"You know what I mean, Tessa," Vera said. She leaned over and whispered, "Keep after him. He is a good man," in Tessa's ear as Robert walked up to the wagon.

Tessa was able to give her a quick, exasperated look, as Vera moved to the other side of the box. "Sit here in the middle, Doctor, so we both can talk to you," Vera said, patting the seat with her hand and smiling back at Tessa.

Tessa pulled the wagon to a stop on a slight rise and looked over at Vera, who had done most of the talking during the ten-minute ride, then looked out at the men on the field and found Gaspar. He was standing near the cannon in what looked to be the third of three parallel lines of men. She looked back at Vera. "Vera, there is Gaspar, over by the cannon."

"Good, I was afraid I would find him riding a horse like those men over there," said she, pointing to a group of riders who were slowly riding in a big circle a quarter mile away to the north.

Tessa turned the wagon over to where several women had started small fires. She spotted Marta next to one of the fires. Tessa pulled the wagon to a halt. Robert scrambled down and turned to help both her and Vera.

Tessa watched Vera immediately walk off toward Gaspar. Robert retrieved his bag and with a quick goodbye was off toward several men who were crowded around someone laid out on the ground.

While Tessa watched Robert walk away, Marta came up. "That man fell off his horse about ten minutes ago. I think his arm is broken," she said.

"What else has been going on?" Tessa asked her.

"Montoya has been very busy. Grisham came back and the two of them have been working with the lines of men over there. M. d'Retenu took most of the mounted men off to the north," Marta replied.

Their attention was drawn to the three lines of men because they had all kneeled down, even Gaspar, who pulled Vera down beside him. Tessa and Marta watched Montoya walk out to the first line. He walked up and down it, but they were too far away to hear what he was saying. Tessa noticed that he had his sword in his hand and would slice the air as he spoke.

Suddenly the first line of men stood and ran back, past the second line to stop just behind the third line, where they went to their knees again. Tessa watched Gaspar pull Vera back down next to him. She had stood when the men ran back toward her. Tessa now noticed Grisham was kneeling way on the far end of the second line of men. She could see that the second line too, had several soldiers mixed in with the volunteers.

She watched Montoya walk slowly to the second line and again begin walking back and forth, talking to them. Then, they too got up and ran back to join the third line.

Montoya walked to the third line and went over to where Gaspar, Vera and Grisham were now standing. After a moment, Vera started walking toward the two women and the men all stood and moved back forward to get in their lines.

While Vera walked toward them, Tessa saw Montoya and Grisham move the lines of men further apart. Just as Vera reached them, their attention was taken by all the men on line kneeling down again.

When Tessa looked over, she saw that Vera did not look happy. "What did Gaspar say, Vera?" she asked her friend.

"Tessa, those men and their war games! Gaspar told me to go over here by the rest of the women. He was too busy to spend time talking with me. And then Montoya came up and told me the same thing!"

Tessa's attention was brought back to the field. The first line of men ran back to Gaspar's line. Then a few moments later, Grisham's second line repeated the effort. When all the men were kneeling down again in Gaspar's line, Montoya waved them forward again.

While the men got up to move forward, Tessa saw Robert go over to one of the other wagons. She moved over to him. Three men were just getting the wagon moving when she came to his side. "Is that man hurt bad," she asked, pointing over at the one on the ground.

"No, just a fractured arm from falling off a horse," Robert replied.

They both watched Montoya spacing the lines out ever further apart.

"What is he doing, Robert. Can you guess?"

"It looks to me like he is showing them how they will fight the pirates. The first line will be in advance. Watch them, they are almost ready. The first line will fire at the pirates taking them by surprise, then, they will run back to the third line and reload. See there they go."

Tessa watched them run back to Gaspar's line again, Montoya's plan becoming clear in her head as Robert continued. "There, the second line will wait a moment while the pirates come forward to chase the men they see running. Then the second line fires and runs back too. The third line, where Montoya has the cannon, should take care of any charge the pirates have left."

"And if the third line does not, what then Robert?" she asked him. She saw him turn and look her in the eyes.

"Then," he said turning and pointing off to the north.

Tessa nodded at once, understanding the role M. d'Retenu and his horsemen would play. "Robert, you seem to understand this very easily," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You have much experience with war, don't you?"

Because she was looking at him from the side, she saw the tightening of his profile and felt the slight hitch in his shoulder. Not good memories at all, was her immediate thought. "Robert," she said, squeezing the back of his arm. "We must take the time, soon, and talk about the past. Both of us."

"Maybe that would be a good idea," he said quietly, looking at her with a solemn expression.

Tessa was interrupted from further talk by the arrival of M. d'Retenu and two other horsemen. As the three dismounted, Marta and Vera walked over to the horsemen. Tessa and Robert walked up to the group.

"Alejandro, how have you been?" Tessa asked one of the horsemen, the young man who had been wounded several months ago.

"Fine Seņorita," answered Alejandro shyly, standing still and holding the reins in both hands behind his back.

"Alejandro how is your shoulder?" Robert asked.

"It is better, Doctor, though I still cannot lift it straight up."

"You must be patient, Alejandro," replied the Doctor.

Before M. d'Retenu could introduce the other boy, Tessa saw Montoya walk up to their little group. She could see Montoya was sweating through his jacket. He stood for a moment, then wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. She watched Vera moved to Gaspar who was walking slowly toward the group.

Colonel Montoya looked at the Frenchman. "M d'Retenu, are these the riders I asked for?"

"Yes, Colonel. These are the two fastest riders we have," he answered.

"Good. Come forward you two," Colonel Montoya said quickly.

Tessa watched the two young men move toward Montoya. Vera, Marta, and Robert had to step back a bit as both did not let go of their reins and their horses followed them closely. Vera walked over to Gaspar and tugged on his sleeve for him to follow her over to the wagon.

"You men have been picked by M. d'Retenu to perform a vital function for our pueblo. You will be the ones who bring us the warning if the pirates land to attack us. The sooner the warning, the better prepared we will be and the less casualties we will suffer. I repeat, this is a most important assignment. Do either of you have any doubts you can do this?" Montoya asked, looking each of them in the eye.

"No Colonel," answered Alejandro quickly.

"No Colonel," answered the other boy.

"Good," said Montoya. Tessa watched him pace back and forth for a moment before stopping back in front of the two. "You will go to the south," she heard him say to Alejandro. "It is more difficult terrain and you have the faster animal. You will go to our vantage point in the north," he told the other young man. "The distance is further but the ground not so difficult to cover. You will do what the soldier at the vantage point tells you. No fires, no lights, no riding along the beach. Just waiting, patiently. The pirates may not even come, but if I come by to check and you are not there, it will not take long for me to find a replacement for you before I shoot you," he said venomously, making the two take a step back.

"Now, get on those horses!" he said, making both jump in their boots. The two young men turned and both swung into the saddle as one.

Tessa and the others had to step back as the horses pranced around a bit as the two riders settled into their saddles.

"Make sure you go and get the food you will need," Montoya said. "Well, what are you waiting for!"

Tessa saw that was all Alejandro needed and in a flash he was off. His friend was just a tick of the clock behind him.

Montoya walked up to M. d'Retenu. "You picked well. They should perform fine. And their parents should be relieved that they are not in the dangerous position of a cavalry charge against an unknown enemy," he finished with a tight smile.

Colonel Montoya turned to Robert. "Doctor, any injuries so far?"

"None of consequence, Colonel," Robert replied.

Montoya turned and held his hand up to shade his eyes as he looked at the cloudless sky. "It is not yet noon," he said, addressing Robert and M. d'Retenu. "We will wait for another half hour. Then we will begin again with the training. M. d'Retenu, can you bring your men galloping by every third time we go through our 'battle?'"

"That will not be a problem for us, Colonel. Some of the young men are already bored with learning to follow commands," M. d'Retenu said with a smile.

"Remind them they can always walk into battle with us, rather than ride," replied Montoya with a grin.

"I will do that, Colonel," replied M. d'Retenu. He turned away from Montoya toward Marta. "Marta, would you like some lunch?" Tessa heard him say.

"Let me see what you have to eat," came Marta's reply.

Tessa watched the two move toward M. d'Retenu's horse. Then Robert turned to her. "I see someone waving at me, Tessa. I will be back shortly," he said, taking his bag with him and giving a small wave to Tessa and moving off to walk along the line of men.

Tessa found herself alone with Montoya. Vera was just by the wagon with Gaspar, but out of earshot. Tessa was thinking of walking over to talk to Gaspar when Montoya stepped closer to her. He wiped the back of his neck with his handkerchief. "Seņorita," he said to her, folding his handkerchief. "I am hopeful that we will not need the Queen of Swords to save our pueblo from a pirate attack."

Tessa smiled back and said,"From what I have seen of your preparations, Colonel, I am sure your are correct. I do not think one woman could do any more than all the men you have to command."

"I have been surprised too many times by you to echo your comment, Seņorita," he said casually.

Tessa took a quick breath, realizing Montoya said 'you' to her as the Queen! She decided immediately to ignore what he implied. "Yes, the Queen has won out over some difficult situations Colonel."

Tessa watched Montoya continue to look at her. It appeared he ignored her comment. She tensed slightly when he took a half step toward her. "You have won, so far, so I would appreciate your help against the pirates, if for some reason we need it," he continued conversationally, his eyes looking at hers.

She stared back at him, trying to maintain a calm demeanor and decided to confront him. "Colonel, you just spoke to me like you thought I might be the Queen," she chided him lightly.

His eyes had not left hers and she met his stare for a moment before he looked around, and then turned back at her. "Yes I did, didn't I? How careless of me." Montoya took another half step closer to her and dropped his voice to whisper conspiratorially, "Though as a matter of fact, if I had not seen the two of you in town together a little while ago, I think you would be the woman I would say is the Queen." He gave her a half bow in jest, to take the sting out of his remark.

Tessa saw that in spite of the bow, Montoya's eyes remained cold and observant. "That is a very flattering comment, Colonel," she replied. "I consider some of the things the Queen has done for our pueblo to be quite chivalrous. Like that time she helped the Dons' wives prepare to fight against that man Krane."

Montoya had blinked and turned away when she mentioned Krane, but he immediately looked back at her. "That is certainly one point of view, Seņorita. It does not cover that fact that she has killed my soldiers, stolen my taxes."

"They were trying to kill her, Colonel, and 'your' taxes?" Tessa shot right back at him.

"If she had not been breaking the law, the soldiers would not have been after her," Montoya replied quickly, though keeping his voice low.