CHAPTER FOUR

Diego de la Vega arrived late in the afternoon, accompanied by his father and loaded up with two or three sizeable books. He made his way straight to the tavern, where an impromptu military council was debating the possible defence measures. As he walked in, Ramone once again attempted to shout down everyone present.

"No, no, and no again!" he roared. "I'm not going to give everyone weapons and I'm not going to position the soldiers outside the cuartel! I'm going to need them all inside."

"Good evening, señor alcalde," Diego interrupted as soon as Ramone had to pause for breath.

"De la Vega, finally." Ramone turned to him. "You weren't in too much of a hurry, were you?"

"Forgive me, alcalde. I came as soon as I heard I was needed."

"Don't worry, Diego, you don't need to explain yourself." Victoria wrapped her arms around her fiancé. "We can see you've had a long day..."

Indeed, Diego did not look his best at the moment. His hair was windswept, his clothes covered in dust. He had obviously spent the past few hours somewhere out in the hills.

"You really think you can give any advice here?" Ramone had no intention of going easy on him. He didn't like that Zorro had named the young de la Vega their chief strategist, or that he was forced to cooperate with Zorro in the first place. He especially did not like that in practice Zorro seemed to be in command of everything. "Have you ever led any soldiers?"

"No, alcalde." Diego lowered his head slightly, smiling one of his characteristic gentle smiles. "But perhaps my knowledge of Thucydides or De bello gallico might prove to be of some help..." He raised his books in a meaningful manner.

"Who are they, then?"

"Strategists. Famous commanders." Diego's smile did not falter even for a moment. Ramone lost countenance a little, especially since people listening to the exchange were already beginning to snigger. It wasn't the first time the alcalde had inadvertently displayed gaps in his education.

"Will they be useful to us?"

"Yes. If I may quote: when you are near, pretend you're far away. When you have the advantage, hide it..."

"And when you don't?"

"Then act like you do," Diego answered. "And that's exactly what we need to do now."

Giving the alcalde no time to protest again, Diego turned to Victoria.

"I'll need your largest table. May we all gather round?" Before everyone got into place around the table, Diego had already started moving the jugs and plates around. He pointed to a pair of knives he had stuck into its surface. "This is the gate of Los Angeles..."

X X X

Night had already fallen by the time they had finished the planning session. Los Angeles was still awake, though. Don Alejandro was speaking to a few indecisive caballeros, convincing them to take part in the defence of the pueblo. The peons crowded together noisily. Here and there the necessary barricades were already beginning to rise. No one had any thoughts to spare for the two dark silhouettes sneaking out to the stables behind the tavern.

"What are our chances, Diego?" Victoria wrapped the shawl more closely around her. The evening had a chill to it.

"We have some." Diego hugged her shoulders. "If we didn't act..."

"If we didn't fall out with that stranger..."

"We'd still be in danger, and none the wiser." Diego's voice was steely. "Nobody could guarantee that they wouldn't have attacked the pueblo after robbing the silver transport."

"What's wrong? What is that you're not telling us?"

"Nothing that the others would need to know..." He averted his eyes.

"Diego!" Victoria straightened up, suddenly wary.

"That man's got his eye on you," he admitted. "The attack today was aimed at you. If it were possible, I'd have you escorted away to Monterey, or at least hidden in the hacienda tomorrow. The others might be fighting for the pueblo, but I..."

"But nothing!" she stomped her foot.

"Victoria!"

"I'll manage. You don't need to worry."

"I know." Diego smiled weakly. "Keep that pan of yours close, will you?"

"Oh, did it hurt that much?"

"If I hadn't caught your hand, I'd be down on the floor myself."

"But you'll be careful, too, all right?"

"Yes..."

They were silent for a while, then Victoria sighed.

"I'm scared," she confessed. "I've been scared many times before, but this thing tomorrow..."

"We'll be fine. Just don't forget the frying pan."

"Diego!" she said, exasperated. "How can you be joking about something like this?"

"I can. I want to. Sometimes a joke is the only thing that helps."

"Are you scared, too?"

"A little."

"So am I... But there's something else I'm thinking about. Today you showed the alcalde how to make a proper trap. I'm worried he might remember your lesson one day." Diego did not reply, so she added, "Haven't you considered this? That he might deploy his soldiers against you like this sometime?"

"I have. I'm also aware that I'll be down there in the marketplace tomorrow, with everyone around me firing their guns. But this is the only way of dealing with those bandits. I'll just need to take the risk."

"Oh, Diego!" Victoria suddenly turned around and buried her face in his chest. "You're insufferable!"

"Shh... shh, my darling... It'll work out tomorrow, the alcalde isn't that clever, and I know how to escape from a trap like this... Everything will be all right... Shh..."

To be continued…