The army appeared on the northern horizon at the same time the bread came out of the oven.
Hella Seedworth registered both events simultaneously — the specific golden color of bread that had baked at the right temperature for the right time, and the specific dark line on the northern road that meant soldiers. She had baked bread every morning for thirty-one years. She had seen soldiers once, eight years ago, when a border patrol passed through during a dispute about water rights.
The patrol had been six men on horses. The dark line on the northern road was not six men on horses.
