CHAPTER ONE
"Why are you staring at that poster?" Don Diego de la Vega asked.
"I like to check once in a while to see if the reward has been raised." Lucinda Monterio said as she stopped looking at the poster and turned to Diego.
Diego grinned, "Is the proper Lucinda Monterio planning on capturing the feared outlaw Zorro."
"I think you have some misinformation," Lucinda said stepping past him and continuing to walk through the dusty plaza.
"What could I have gotten wrong?" Diego looked surprised, but Lucinda knew he wasn't. He was playing with her.
She gave in. "I really don't know where you got the idea about me being the perfect lady."
"I think it was from all the women at the sowing circle," Diego said his face as innocent looking as a new born baby.
"They should really stop bringing that up," Lucinda said.
"It's going to be a long time before those gossipy old Senoras stop talking about that."
"It's like they never heard of someone being thrown into a mud hole before," Lucinda said."Yes, about that mud hole. How exactly did you get thrown into it?"
"It was an accident." Lucinda didn't want to tell him that she was actually training her beautiful horse Topaz. Everyone who saw her horse thought he was like every other one in her father's stable, but she knew otherwise. She had asked her father to never sell Topaz. Her father didn't really understand why, but Lucinda knew that Topaz was different. He told Lucinda that the horse was nothing special, just a brown four legged beast that looked like all the other brown four legged beasts that he owned. But he did agree not to sell Topaz, much to Lucinda's relief.
Lucinda had kept Topaz's training a secret. He was a special horse and he had great things to do in his life time. She just wasn't sure what kind of great things. It was during one of his training sessions that he had been spooked by a snake. That was why she ended covered in mud and limping in through the front door of her father's hacienda, into the much surprised view of the Senoras sewing circle.
Aren't you ever going to tell me the real reason you landed in the mud pit?" Diego asked.
"I said it was because I was thrown off balance. That is what I told Mamma and the rest of the Senora's and that happens to be the absolute truth."
Diego raised his hands in defeat, "Alright, just stick to that story, but when you want to tell someone what really happened, I want to be the first to know."
Lucinda shook her head and walked ahead of him. He caught up just as she reached one of the women's booths that was selling necklaces and shawls.
The woman smiled, "Never have you seen such wonderful stuff, yes?"
"It is very pretty," Lucinda said looking at the necklace the woman was holding in front of her face. There was a mother of pearl shell in the center of the necklace and round tiny pebble sized dark red beads on either side. It was the prettiest necklace she had ever seen.
"Maybe your young man will give you a gift to show you he cares?" The woman's wrinkled sun stained face looked expectantly at Diego.
Lucinda was about to say something about Diego not being her young man, but Diego spoke first. "Certainly, I would love to buy her the necklace."
"You don't have to Diego," Lucinda said taking a step back.
"I insist," Diego said smiling.
Walking away from the booth after Diego paid for the necklace, and had given it to Lucinda to put on, Lucinda said, "Why didn't you tell her she was mistaken?"
"Must have slipped my mind," Diego said.
"It isn't going to slip the minds of the old hens that will hear about it."
Lucinda slowed down as they were passing another poster.
"Why do you keep staring at those?" Diego asked.
"I already told you."
"They are not going to change the bounty price in the ten minutes that we have been away from one of these. Are you planning on catching El Zorro for the reward?"
"What if I was?" Lucinda asked carelessly.
"I would not suggest it," Diego said, his voice suddenly serious.
"Why?" I have every right to try to earn the reward money as any one else."
"Women shouldn't concern themselves with such things as outlaws and bandits."
"Is this the middle ages?" Lucinda couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Am I supposed to stay home and supervise the meals and be the perfect Senora one day?"
"That's what is preferred with women."
Lucinda stopped, the gravel crunching under her feet as she swiveled around and faced Diego. "I refuse to be put under that category. I was not planning on trying to catch Zorro, but I also wasn't planning on hearing your pigheadedness either." With that she turned on her heels and left Diego standing near the Zorro poster.
She was glad that she had come into town alone. She could ride back to the hacienda with out any company to disturb her and her thoughts. The wheels kicked up dust as she steered the team of horses out of the pueblo and onto the main road.
How could men keep spitting out such nonsense about women? She looked straight ahead trying to put the matter out of her mind, but her mind being as stubborn as it was, brought her back to the subject in a couple minutes.
"Diego reminds me of father," Lucinda said. She was glad that the wheels where making so much noise. No one would hear her talking to herself if she passed somebody. "Always thinking that women are only good for keeping house." The necklace swayed against her skin as the wagon jolted on the bumpy road. She was tempted to yank it off.
"Lucinda, Where is Diego?" Her mother Maria's flowing skirt swarmed around her as she handed her mother the packages that she had gotten in town.
"What do you mean?" Lucinda asked. She had said nothing about Diego.
"When you are in town you always invite him over for dinner."
"I'm sure I don't invite him over that much."
"Almost every time you go into town and he is there you invite him," Maria insisted her brow furrowing in worry. "The poor boy isn't sick is he?"
"No," Lucinda said heading for her room. She wanted to put the necklace away and forget about what had happened with Diego.
"He is a fine young man," Maria said before Lucinda reached the first step. "He is so close to your age too. After all you are twenty and he is twenty one. Not that much of an age difference."
"Mother, Diego isn't for me. He knows nothing about how women are and he has some very obnoxious views on how women should live out their lives."
"But he seems like such a nice boy." Maria shook her head.
Lucinda could tell what she was thinking. Lucinda always felt that her mother wanted her to be the perfect lady. When Gonzalo had proposed Maria was extremely disappointed when Lucinda had refused to marry him. Her mother complained that Lucinda was going to turn down every available suitor and end up as an old maid living off of relatives hospitality.
Lucinda's father was unusually quiet at the dinner table. Lucinda was still thinking about what had happened with Diego and wasn't in a talkative mood either. For once there were none of her father's business people eating with them, so it wasn't necessary to keep up a constant stream of entertaining conversation. The only one who tried to bring a lighter mood to dinner was Maria.
"What is the matter Federico?" Maria asked as she pushed another helping of chicken onto his plate. "Your appetite isn't normal and usually you tell me about your day."
"I don't want to bother your beautiful head about such matters as this," Federico said, his jet black mustache danced as he spoke.
"That is what this beautiful head is here for," Maria said grasping his hand and giving it a small reassuring squeeze.
Lucinda's ears had perked up. She pretended not to listen too hard as she pushed her corn around her plate and popped a piece of buttery biscuit into her mouth.
"While I was talking to Don Emilio at the square today, one of the officers was dragging a peasant woman toward the jail cells." Federico stabbed at his meat halfheartedly.
"Why were they doing that?" Lucinda asked quickly.
"Apparently she didn't move out the Captain Monasterio's way fast enough and his horse was startled."
"It was probably due to his horrible riding that the poor beast was frightened," Lucinda said.
"I agree, but Captain Monasterio got it into his head that the woman scared his horse as a deliberate slight to his authority."
"Monastario is a fool." Lucinda said, her plate made a scraping noise as she pushed it to the middle of the table.
"You should eat a little more," Maria said.
"I can't." Lucinda turned to her father. "Where is the woman now?"
"She is in one of the cells I imagine." He tried to smile. "I am sure that Zorro has heard of it by now and will do something."
After dinner Lucinda went to her room. She lay on her bed thinking. It was always the same thing when there was trouble. Everyone depended on Zorro to handle it. Women cowered in fear behind the coats of men, and men pretended to know what to do so they wouldn't look foolish in front of the women.
Jumping off her bed, Lucinda went to her door and locked it. Stepping to her dresser she dropped to the floor. Her fingers slid along the dust under the dresser until she felt the wooden box she had there hid three months ago. Exactly three months when her grandfather had given her it. She tried to keep the noise down as she dragged it out and opened it. The wood smell greeted her nose like a long lost friend. She had put it away to forget about what happened after she was given the box. The memory of her grandfathers sad eyes as he handed it to her was too much to think about at the time. He had told her that one day he knew that it would be needed. He didn't know why or when, but he just knew. Two days later he was dead. He was stabbed in the back with a dagger. No one knew who did it. Part of her knew that he had died that night, but she knew in her heart that the night her grandmother died in her sleep two years ago, was the night her grandfather really died. She was the love of his life.
Inside the box was her grandmother's riding clothes. They were the last clothes her grandmother rode in.
As she picked up the crimson colored riding clothes of her dead grandmother and held it up to herself in front of the mirror, she told herself now was the time. She wasn't going to depend on Zorro to make sure that the poor innocent women would get out of the cold dark cell tonight. One day Zorro wasn't going to be there. Then where would the people be? Well tonight wasn't going to be that time. The woman, Lucinda told herself, was going home and the she was going to help her.
Over at her closet she pulled out a her grandfathers sword. He had always kept it in good condition, even though he had used it only one time. He said that was the time her grandmothers honor had been in question. When he died and family members where splitting up his belongings, Lucinda had grabbed his sword and hid it in some brush near his hacienda. Now as she held it in her hands she was glad that she had done that.