AN: This is for Icywaters, who's always been there for me for brainstorming, corrections and enjoyable banter. Enjoy this, my friend :)
Dangerous Friends
Los Angeles 1823
Diego de la Vega was standing in front of the mirror, tying his cravat. Just as he was reaching out for his vest, there was a tentative knock on his door. Abandoning his move, Diego walked to the door instead and opened it. There in front of him stood a frightened looking young maid.
"Evita," Diego called out, surprised. "What's the matter?"
"I'm sorry, Patrón, but there is someone lying in front of the patio gate. He... he rode up here, I heard the horse and opened the gate to see who it was, when..." Evita stopped. Her hands were nervously fiddling with her apron and she looked down to her feet.
"When what, Evita? Tell me what happened," Diego encouraged the girl.
"He just collapsed and fell off the horse," Evita replied.
"Who did?" Soledad approached her husband in the door frame.
"I don't know, querida," Diego replied and shrugged. "I'll go have a look."
"Sí, Patrón, that would be good. This man, he's been asking for you," Evita chimed in.
"For me?" Diego sounded astonished.
"Sí. All he said was: 'Diego... de la Vega'."
Diego exchanged a glance with Soledad. "By all means," he replied. "Let's go see who it is."
Jogging down the steps to the patio, Diego's wide strides left him reaching the gate in no time. He opened it and stepped outside. All he saw was a riderless horse, but no man who had collapsed to the ground. Diego frowned and walked up to the horse, who looked at him curiously. Evita had followed Diego outside and clapped her hand over her mouth, not knowing what to say.
"I swear to you, Don Diego, there was a man lying in the dust asking for you."
Diego nodded thoughtfully. Then he took the horse by the reins and led it over to the hitching post. As soon as he had finished tying the horse, he turned to talk to Evita, when all of a sudden a shadow jumped down onto him from on top of the patio wall.
Catching the movement from the corner of his eye, Diego managed to take an evasive step but he couldn't prevent the man pulling him down go the ground. A short struggle ensued which ended all too fast with Diego pinning the attacker onto the ground, face down.
"Diego!" His father's strict voice made the young man halt and look up. The esteemed Don Alejandro stood in the open gate, his daughter-in-law at his side, shaking his head.
"Whatever did Ricardo do now to deserve this treatment?"
"Ricardo?" Diego sounded perplexed. Then it dawned on him. With a parting punch to his victim's shoulder, Diego got up and stepped back. The man in the dust yelped and sat up, grinning at the young hacendado. Then he burst out laughing hard and both Alejandro and Soledad joined in. Finally, shaking his head, Diego relented and laughed with them.
"I should have known the second I saw nobody on the ground," he chuckled. "But really, Ricardo, you should not scare our maid like that."
"I do apologise," Ricardo replied, getting up from the ground dusting his suit off. Then he walked over to Evita and took her hand. Bowing, he placed a courtesy kiss on her hand. "Señorita, my apologies."
Evita blushed a deep shade of red. "Gracias, Señor," she managed to whisper before pulling her hand away and turning to leave hurriedly.
"Really, Ricardo, the señorita didn't seem too impressed with your charming skills. She practically ran away," Diego said teasingly.
Soledad chuckled. "Now, that's something I would never do to you, Diego." She winked at her husband and walked over to him. Ricardo approached the pair and laughed.
"It's good to see you two again," he smirked, patting Diego on the back before gracing Soledad with the same courtesy as Evita. "I trust you don't run away from me, either, Señora, it would bruise my ego very dearly." He released her hand, grinning.
"I would bruise other parts of you, if you had held on much longer," Diego growled mockingly. "Wasn't it enough for you to fluster my wife with remarks about Anna Maria two months ago in Monterey? I would have loved to wring your neck."
"Ah, but it seems to me, dearest friend, that I flustered you more than your lovely señora," Ricardo laughed, which elicited a snort from both Alejandro and Soledad and made Diego scowl.
"Now what brings you here?" Diego decided to change the topic.
"Oh, I decided I will travel around a bit, see where there are pretty girls," he grinned at Soledad, "and I thought, if Diego could pick such a pretty flower, Los Angeles can't be all bad."
"Ah, I take it Anna Maria has stuck to her no, then, even though Zorro is unavailable to her?"
Ricardo's face darkened. "Oh this conceited little..." He caught himself but still earned a stern look from Alejandro. "My apologies, Doña Soledad, Don Alejandro. Maybe I should not exploit this topic out here."
"Forgive my bad manners, Ricardo," Diego hastened to say. "Won't you come in?"
"Gracias, amigo. After you."
"Oh no," Diego quickly shook his head. "I insist, after you."
"Pity," Ricardo mumbled and entered the patio, missing the wink Diego shared with his wife and his father.
***ZzZ***
"... and so you see, Diego, Los Angeles must be the place for me to find my señorita," Ricardo concluded and took a sip of wine. "Don Alejandro, I must admit this wine is very good... for one made from minor grapes."
"Minor grapes?" Alejandro de la Vega's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to let off a tirade, but he caught his son's warning glance and relented. "Ricardo, you must be tired from your ride, I will let you off this once," the don replied and then turned to leave. "Con permiso? I have work to tend to."
Diego's body shook gently with suppressed laughter as he watched his father leave the sala. "You sure know how to get my father's temperature rising, Ricardo. Have I ever told you about my uncle Estevan?"
"Not that I do remember, Diego," Ricardo mused. "What about him?"
Diego laughed and shook his head. "Another time, my friend. Right now I need to go to the pueblo. Would you care to join me?"
"But of course. I can't let you have all the fun to yourself. Will Sergeant García be around? He's a great admirer of my wits."
"Ricardo, I sure hope you don't plan to stay a night behind Los Angeles bars," Diego frowned. The a mischievous grin snuck on his face. "Unless of course you want to compare our gallows."
"Don't remind me of that, Diego," Ricardo growled good naturedly. "Or I will dip you in a water vat."
"Me?" Diego laughed. "I did nothing to you."
"You laughed, that will suffice to make you pay," Ricardo grinned. Just then Bernardo entered the sala and signed that the horses were ready. Diego nodded and smiled at his bald friend.
"Let's go, Ricardo. We're burning daylight."
"That from a hacendado's lazy son," Ricardo quipped and grabbed his hat to be first through the door.
***ZzZ***
"Buenos días, Don Diego." Sergeant García's voice boomed through the tavern as he swiftly strode over to the table, where the young don was sitting with a friend. When he arrived at the table, Diego's friend turned. Gasping, the rotund sergeant took a step back, his mouth opening in either surprise or horror. "Don Ricardo? Is it really you?" García's voice held traces of fear.
"Sergeant García," Ricardo greeted with a smile. "It's good to see you again."
"Oh, I'm not so sure about that, I mean... it is good to see you, I think...," the sergeant trailed off, throwing a help seeking glance at Diego.
"It's good to see you, Sergeant," Diego replied. "Won't you have a seat?"
Nodding eagerly, García walked around the table to the chair next to Diego, opposite Ricardo. Realizing what he was doing, Diego burst out laughing. "Sergeant, I'm sure you are perfectly safe from Ricardo's pranks on this side of the table."
"Pranks?" Ricardo sounded offended. "I don't do pranks. I do practical jokes. Zorro, that coward, he's the prankster."
Diego sobered from his jovial laughter, a twinkle in his eyes. "You are still mad at the fox, are you not?"
"Hrmpf, let's not talk about that. Rather tell me who that lovely señorita is over there."
Before Diego could turn to have a look, García piped up. "Oh, that is Señorita Elena Torres, which reminds me, Don Diego, I must deliver a message to her father, Don Nacho. Con permiso?" The portly soldier got up and strode over to the Torres' to relay his mission.
"Elena Torres, eh? I seem to have heard of the señorita. Is she spoken for, Diego?"
Diego sputtered, having just taken a sip of his mug of wine. "I don't think so, Ricardo. Many young men have asked for her hand but the señorita seems to have set her eyes on someone else."
"Someone else? Who?" Ricardo pressed. "And why aren't they married then? Didn't he ask?"
"Whoah, Ricardo. Slowly." Diego chuckled. "It's a bit more complicated. You see, he is a vaquero..."
"A vaquero?" Ricardo interrupted, smiling broadly. "Then I think señorita luck is on my side. I was afraid it would be Zorro again," he added with a growl.
Ricardo grew quiet for a moment, pondering, while Diego's mind was furiously trying to figure out what plan was forming in his notorious friend's head. Clapping his hands together, Ricardo looked up brightly.
"Diego, my friend, I'm afraid you will have to let me borrow your guitar again," he declared.
"Ricardo," Diego paused. "Do you think serenading a señorita who loves another is the right thing to do?"
"But of course, amigo mío. Her parents will never allow her to wed a vaquero. I'm about to get married. Maybe you should really save up for a wedding gift this time."
"But... you haven't even met her," Diego sounded exasperated. "You might not like her."
"Nonsense," Ricardo laughed. "Look at her, Diego. What's not to like? But then again, I can't expect you to understand. Soledad is a lovely girl. How did Don Alejandro persuade her to marry you?"
Diego was serious in an instant. "Enough, Ricardo. My marriage was not an arranged marriage."
"Hmm," Ricardo mused, putting on his best thinking face. "There must be something wrong with her after all. Who would voluntarily marry a bookworm?"
A hand touched Diego on the shoulder. When he looked up, he found Raúl glaring down at Ricardo, offering Diego a pistol. "Are you going to shoot him or can I?"
Diego grabbed the pistol his brother-in-law offered and pointed it at Ricardo. "That will be my pleasure. Is it loaded?"
"Diego, of course it is loaded. Why would I buy a gun to carry around unloaded?" Raúl sounded offended. "Make that sorry excuse for a joker pay for defaming my sister... and you."
"Your sister?" Ricardo gasped. "You must be Raúl then." Ricardo stretched out a hand to Raúl while getting up but found himself staring into the mouth of the pistol Diego held.
"No distractions, Ricardo," Diego started, rising again. His face showed determination and for a moment, Ricardo actually felt a pang of fear. Then he laughed.
"Come on, Diego, put that thing away, you might end up hurting yourself."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, if I were you," Diego replied in a cold voice, pointing the pistol at Ricardo's chest. "Prepare to die..."