Call it blind instinct and desperation, call it what you will; she knew in that instant that her continued existence depended on fighting, lashing out at him with every ounce of strength she possessed. Viciously, she jabbed the tines into Albert's shins, making him back up in surprise. Every time he turned away and exposed some unprotected part of himself, she lunged, utterly without mercy.
'Ow. OW! Stop, damn you! Agh! You little- Get off, or I'll-'
'Or you'll what?' Pamela shouted at him, her features suffused with terror, and with unfamiliar emotions that she could never have imagined before: the desire to lash out and hurt someone, to kill something that was monstrous and evil. She was shaking like a leaf, but managed to keep herself under control. 'Get moving! Go! Into the chicken coop! You're going to start by cleaning that basket. Then you're going to fill it, and if you try anything and you don't do exactly what I tell you then I'm going to skewer you like a pig. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!!!' Surely that wasn't her screaming?
As they came back to the house, there was a crowd standing at the back door, wondering what all the commotion was about. Some of the men were laughing, until the two got close enough to see. All present became utterly silent when Pamela said to Albert in a low voice, as he handed the eggs to Ellie, 'If you ever try to force yourself on me again, Albert Askrigg, I'll-'
'You'll what?' he said belligerently, feeling bolstered by the presence of the others. 'What'll you do? Fire me?'
'She won't, but I will.' It was a quiet voice that made everyone turn around in surprise. It was Theo, who was standing at the back door, his features unreadable, but there was something unmistakably dangerous about the way he was standing. 'Ellie, would you be so kind as to take Pamela to her room? And as for you, Albert, I think that you and I had better have a little man-to-man . . . discussion.'
White-faced, Pamela stood as though dazed. Didn't she have a pitchfork in her hand a moment ago? Albert turned to look at her once, giving her a look of pure, murderous hate.
'I'll be back for you,' he said, pointing at her as though he were a demon invoking a curse upon her life. 'You won't get off so easy next time.'
At once Pamela felt physically ill. She fled upstairs to the bathroom and heaved the contents of her stomach. It took a long while for the aftereffects of Albert's intended abuse to surface, and she was sick to her stomach and weeping for some time before she heard running water. At last, Ellie or Doris, or perhaps Mrs. Pascoe, had come to comfort her. She heard the sound of water being wrung from a cloth and felt its damp warmth pressed to her lip- and a searing stab of pain!