Waiting

Magdalena woke to find the bed beside her still empty. She could hear, faintly, the sound of birdsong, and with a sigh, slipped from the bed and made her way to the balcony. The sky was still dark, but she could tell that the sun would soon rise. Not yet, though. There'll be a few more minutes of darkness.

A smile came to her lips when she turned and saw Bernardo dozing in his chair. Since she had married Diego, she and Bernardo had had many nights together like this, waiting for the Fox to return. Some nights they had never slept at all, tense expectation keeping them alert. But since la Resabiado had been captured, and with the knowledge that it was only Garcia in the cuartel, sleep came easily enough. But still…he lingers. Where is he?

Bernardo woke with a jerk, meeting Magdalena's gaze swiftly. She shook her head, and Bernardo lowered his gaze, standing and stretching, and signing that he would go to wait in the secret cave. Magdalena nodded her approval and Bernardo slipped into the secret passage. Magdalena could hear, if she concentrated, the sound of Bernardo lighting the lantern and slowly descending to the cave.

She walked over to the mirror and began brushing her hair. Since I'm awake, I may as well dress.

And then an idea came to her, an idea straight out of the past, and something she'd wanted to do for quite a while, but had completely forgot about in the past year. I wonder…did Diego mean his words, also? Surely he has healed enough by now.

With swift fingers, she pinned her hair up tight, then strode to the wardrobe to take out her riding outfit. I'll skip the corset. It's not like Diego will mind.

She was mindful, as she dressed, of what she planned to do, and picked clothes accordingly. That blouse is too fancy. It won't do. At the same time, I don't want anything too plain.

Once fully dressed, she approached the mirror, pondering all the while what Diego's reaction would be. Will he still want to? Or were they idle words, spoken to flirt?

She walked back over to the balcony. The sun was only just peeping over the horizon. And she heard sounds in the secret passage. Without a second thought, she hurried over and pressed the mantel where the lever was. It slid open to reveal Zorro, sans mask. He smiled to see her.

"You took a long time, considering that you were just supposed to be speaking with Garcia."

"I had a bit of a detour," Zorro returned, pulling her close for a small kiss. "Garcia decided that it was once again time to get the reward for me. I wonder what he wants the pesos for."

"Can't you guess?" Magdalena teased, helping him out of the cloak.

"Is he buying the tavern again?"

"No. He wants to impress a lady."

Zorro's hands stilled. "What lady?"

"Inez."

A surprised laugh burst from Zorro's mouth. "I never thought my plot to ask Garcia along—from purely selfish reasons, you must see—would result in a courtship."

"Hasn't it already?"

Zorro smiled, his boyish smile that lit his whole face and warmed Magdalena's heart. It was a smile that had been seldom seen in the days following their wedding. He was only recently recovering his spirits.

He reached to take her hand and it was only then he realized she was fully dressed.

"Wait, why are you already dressed?"

"I'm going riding," Magdalena told him. "You can come, if you wish. If you aren't too tired, that is."

Diego's face lit up at the prospect of mystery. "Where are you going?"

"Finish dressing and find out!"

He tipped his head in defeat, and Magdalena slipped out of the passage to fetch his hat and gloves. "You aren't too tired, are you?"

"No. I slept before I went, remember?"

He placed the hat on his head and slid the gloves on. "Lead the way."

Magdalena did so, taking the lantern and slowly started to descend, not wanting to miss a step. She still wasn't very acquainted with the passage and familiarity would only come with time. She felt Diego's steadying hand on her shoulder and smiled to herself. He was always there.

"Are we going to the stables?" Diego asked.

"Bailarin and Torcedor were tethered in the canyon last night, remember?"

"Of course," Diego murmured and continued following her down.

They reached the cave, where Bernardo was finishing tending Tornado. He smiled to see them, and he spoke to Diego for a few minutes, while Magdalena ventured through to the box canyon and whistled for Bailarin. Through the morning mist, both Bailarin and Torcedor came, and Magdalena led them through to the cave, carefully. At first both horses shied from going through the thick layer of foliage, but then cautiously followed her through, looking relieved to find that there was indeed space beyond it.

Both horses were saddled, they said adios to Bernardo, promising to be back midmorning, and galloped away. Diego let Magdalena lead the way, and in the cool morning, as the sun just began to rise, neither spoke.

Magdalena let Bailarin slow to a canter, and Diego adjusted Torcedor's pace accordingly.

"We've been this way before," he commented lightly, and his dancing eyes met hers. "I think I've guessed your plot."

"You did indicate that you would like to go with me, if I went."

Diego grinned. "I did, didn't I? Well, it certainly took you long enough to remember your wish."

"I had other things on my mind. But you are right, Diego. I should have gone here, instead of Galindo's office, the day after the party. Would you have been here?"

"In all honesty, no. I went to the pueblo to see if you had gone yet."

"Ah, then I should have gone when you visited me at the inn. Just jumped out the window and ridden with you—"

"That's enough," Diego told her, blushing, and she grinned back. "But that certainly would have changed things, had either event actually transpired."

"What would it have changed?"

"We would have married, and by this time, you'd probably have already given birth to our first child, and be expecting our second."

"You plan to move that quickly?"

"No, but my father does!"

After a startled moment, they both started laughing uncontrollably. "Do you realize how that sounded?" Magdalena chortled, and Diego looked away from her, laughing so hard tears came to his eyes.

"I think marrying you only hastened my descent into insanity," Diego said, wiping his eyes.

"You were already insane when I met you," she returned blithely. "Why else did you take so long to come down?"

"You said it yourself. I was very determined not to like you. By the way, how did you know?"

"Just something in your eyes," Magdalena shrugged. "I have always been able to read people."

They had reached, as Diego called it, one of our better sights. Diego jumped down and came over to help Magdalena. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the water was still cold. The sun isn't very high yet."

"I suppose that will give you an excuse to cling to me," she quipped. "After all, you can't give fear of drowning."

"I've been swimming here all my life. It's you who should fear drowning."

Their banter continued until they reached the water, and Magdalena dipped her hand in. "It is still cold. All I was thinking was that I wanted privacy. I didn't consider that the water would be freezing."

Diego put his arms around her. "We can wait for the sun to fully come up," he assured her, kissing her temple.

A few moments were spent in silence, watching the sun's ascension into the sky. "What conclusion did you reach with Garcia?" Magdalena asked softly.

"He agreed with me. The waitress and her compadres will not be given bail."

"She dressed rather finely, for a waitress," Magdalena commented.

"Maybe she wasn't a waitress," Diego acknowledged. "The only thing I know about her is that she and her friends tried to steal the tax money."

"And her name," Magdalena said. "Moneta. Eugenio called her Neta, though."

"How do you know this?"

"I spoke with Eugenio yesterday. Then I went over to the jail and visited Neta, also."

"Why?" Diego asked.

"I do agree that she shouldn't get bail, but still…I feel for her. I just gave her a few things to make her stay at the jail more comfortable."

"Just as long as there weren't tools included."

"As if I would destroy your hard work. You said yourself, the banditos were hard to track."

"They were. Your Neta is actually rather smart. It is a pity that she'd have to sink to robbery for a living. But she wasn't above torturing Eugenio and Salvio, though, and that was what decided me."

"I know," Magdalena assured him. "Do you think the water is any warmer now?"

"We'll just have to find out."

This is something I wrote as an epilogue to Far Longer Than Forever, and at the time, didn't want to publish it. I just remembered it now, and ta-da!