Chapter 2:
"Because of you, the young De la Vega will repeat to his father that their fate doesn't matter to me. Otherwise, it's true." The magistrado says.
"This young man seems to be dangerous to me."
"Dangerous? Him? Bah... He is just a whippersnapper who only has interest in literature."
"Well, he knows to be discreet, this whippersnapper."
"Don't pay attention to him... The more dangerous man in the pueblo still is Zorro."
"Nobody knows who he is?" Asks Señor Cortès.
"Nobody... But he is always there as soon as the lower class is threatened...Stop talking about Zorro and let's come back on this vagabond. You say he is on the De la Vega lands?"
"Yes, indeed. But I don't know where exactly."
"Well, I'll think more about it if necessary. Try to find more information about him for the moment."
"Very well, Señor."
"One more thing."
"What's that, Señor?" Cortès interrogates him.
"Bring me my personal guard."
"It will be done." The stranger smiles, mocking. As he turns back, he remarks on Bernardo which was taking back a purse.
"This man... He could have heard us".
"Don't be afraid. He is just young De la Vega's deaf and dumb manservant."
"Deaf and dumb you say. Somebody had checked it?"
"A report from Sergeant Garcia mentions a shot made by the last comandante. The sergeant fell down, as he was unloading a carriage, while the manservant remained impassive." The magistrado explains.
"In this case, he is really deaf."
"As I say so! Are you doubting of my words?" The magistrado asks harshly.
"No... No way ... Excuse me, Señor."
"Go now and don't forget your orders."
"Si, Señor. I'm going straightaway." Stuttered Señor Cortès before leaving in a hurry.
Señor Galindo observes Bernardo as he was returning to the tavern, then he went in the office of the comandante. Inside the tavern, Bernardo gives the purse to Diego and goes back to lean on the bar, saluting the sergeant with a sign which he gave back to him.
Diego talks a while with the sergeant and tries to learn more on the stranger which was with the magistrado, in an innuendo way. Unfortunately for him, Diego didn't learn anything about him, and he didn't know more about the vagabond. On the other hand, the case about the mysterious disappearance of the De Castillos wasn't closed for the sergeant.
"Be careful, the persons who have made them disappear must be dangerous."
"Don't worry, Don Diego, I'm not born yesterday."
"I don't doubt it, Sergeant. Oh! Bernardo makes me signs. It's time for me to go."
Diego salutes him, then he goes to pay his bill and the one for the sergeant before going out of the tavern with Bernardo. They went back to the hacienda.
"What did you learn Bernardo?" Diego asks as soon as they arrived.
Bernardo explains him that the stranger found him, Diego, dangerous and that the magistrado reassured him about it. And more, he sent him to summon his personal guard.
"The stranger looks dangerous to me too. He must have been involved one way or another in the De Castillos disappearance. But for now, we don't have any real clue... As for the young woman that we saw before... Well, what is it Bernardo? You seem surprised! ... Yes, the young person we saw in the clearing is a señorita, and she needs our help."
Zorro? Asks Bernardo by drawing a Z with the tip of his fingers.
"No my friend, I don't want to scare her. We'll see tomorrow what I'll do. For now, I'm going to have a look on the hacienda of the De Castillos. What's wrong Bernardo? Yes the heiress... I don't remember that... Oh! How stupid of me! It's true. How could I have forgotten the sweet Salena?" Diego exclaims hitting his head with his hand.
Bernardo looks at him curiously.
"Yes, excuse-me, Bernardo. I must have been twelve the last time I saw her. She was a true tomboy, preferring to ride rather than to behave as a señorita. We made some youthful pranks together. Then, she was sent to Spain in order to receive an education more... Serious we'll say. I don't remember to have seen her since. One thing is sure; the magistrado knows her existence and it risks slowing his project. Well, Bernardo, I'm going. No, I'm going like this. Zorro doesn't have to be there. What about you?"
Bernardo nods negatively, he didn't want to go out.
"As you'll want my friend."
Sometime later, Diego finds himself on the De Castillos land. There wasn't a living soul around. Not a manservant, not a vaquero nor a peasant. In spite of the silence and the fear that his horse was feeling, Diego went closer to the hacienda, while he was calming his mount.
Arriving close, he dismounts and ties his friend to a tree. Discreetly, Diego slipped into the abandoned house. All seemed to have been left in state. A thick coat of dust covered the ground and miscellaneous objects. The wind was making creak the opens shutter and a tiny noise of steps could be heard. There had been a fight judging by the overturned furniture in the living room. Diego then notices a broken sword which the dry blood on the blade was another proof of battle.
His steps lead him then in the library where the smell of humidity and musty was stronger. The inkpot was empty and the quill withered. However, Diego noticed the mark of an absent object on the desk recently taken away, based on the absence of dust on that precise place. Diego went round the room and he found a letter sealed hidden between Miguel de Cervantès books. It was intended for Salena but there was no address. Diego kept the letter preciously; it could be an important clue.
Noises upstairs alerted Diego. Somebody else was present. He stayed on place a moment, silent, lying in wait. The creaking repeated itself. Someone was walking. Stealthily, Diego went out of the library and tried to reach upstairs. The wood stairs dissuaded him. It was useless, as the noise would make him known here. Then he got an idea. Maybe there were secret passages. Smiling he went close to a bookcase in the living room and searched... vainly. Piqued, and his smile disappeared, he leant on the mantelpiece of the chimney and felt suddenly a cold draft. Surprised, he turned and noticed the passage.
That's what I thought to myself. He thought.
He slipped in the opening and found himself in a place which resembled his hideout.
There was a stone spiral staircase which offered him the possibility to go up or down. The noise coming from upstairs, it would have been logical to go up the flight of stairs, but Diego went down. He seemed to him that the way down was endless and finally he arrived at the most bottom.
And to think that I'll have to get back at the top. He thinks, sighing.
He found himself in a quite spacious room which was lit sufficiently in order to observe that someone was living here... Yes, but whom? Diego goes round the room, inspecting the least tiny details. He remarked then a sword tidy in its sheath and got closer to it. He picked it up and then he brought it out half of its sheath in order to better gaze at it.
It's a beautiful weapon!
Sudden the reflection of a movement behind him catches his attention. He turned back but a blow on his head knocked him; and he fell heavily, hitting his skull on the rock behind him, in front of the astonished look from his aggressor who recognized him then, but too late.