Laying Foundations
The next morning found Diego pacing around in the library thinking how to counter the alcalde's threat of imprisoning Victoria in another attempt to capture Zorro. Yesterday, he had surprised the alcalde by taking his pistol, but he couldn't hope to be that fortunate the next time. There had to be something else he could do to protect Victoria from the alcalde's grasp.
Unable to think of a solution he decided to ride to the pueblo to look after Victoria's tavern as she had asked him to and take care of the newspaper as well. He had neglected it while he had been occupied with Victoria's care.
Victoria's was still sleeping and would continue to do so for some time, leaving him ample time to ride to the pueblo and back before she woke up again. This way he could also avoid his father's many questions he would have to answer after his surprising announcement of his engagement to Victoria. He hadn't decided yet how much he was willing to tell his father about the real situation. Telling his father of his marriage couldn't be done without revealing his identity as Zorro at the same time.
On his ride to the pueblo he thought of the possibility of using the paper in his fight against the alcalde. Now would be the perfect moment to put some long term plans into motion he had been considering for quite a while.
"Hola," he greeted Alina, Victoria's helper when he entered the tavern and went over to the bar.
"Buenos dias, Don Diego, you seem to be in a good mood today. What can I bring you?"
"A lemonade, please. Is everything alright here?"
"We manage, Don Diego, no need to worry. How is Victoria? It's been some time since you have been to the pueblo and gave us an update on her health."
"It's getting better every day and she is out of her bed now, but she is still very susceptible to any excitement and tires quickly. Yesterday, the alcalde came to the hacienda and tried to arrest her. Fortunately, my father and I stopped him, but I'm afraid the alcalde will try it again."
"Oh no! Don Diego, you can't let that happen. What will you do?"
"I have told the alcalde that Victoria and I are engaged and that he has to be careful not to anger the caballeros."
"You and Victoria? Is that true?"
"Well, who knows," said Diego, with a sly grin.
"But what about Zorro? He and Victoria have been waiting for so long for each other?"
"Zorro has left the area because of what has happened to Victoria. That's why he hasn't been seen since."
"And now you and your father are protecting Victoria with your name and your influence."
"Of course, we will. She is as dear to us as a member of our family."
"But you haven't given me an answer as to whether you are really engaged, Don Diego."
"Why don't you pay Victoria a visit when there is less work here? Now that she is able to stay awake for longer periods of time and leave her bed during the day, she would appreciate your visit and you can give her a better account about the welfare of tavern than me."
"I really don't know what to think of you, Don Diego, you never give a straight answer. I think I'll have no choice but to come over to the hacienda in the next days and have a girl chat with Victoria. The bull auction that has brought many customers to the tavern will be over tomorrow and it'll be less busy afterwards."
Diego left the bar with his glass in hand to talk to some caballeros in the tavern, announcing his engagement to Victoria. Among congratulations he was met with speculation if it wasn't simply a means to give her protection from the alcalde now that Zorro was gone. As soon as he had finished his lemonade, he went to the newspaper's office writing down the article he had worded in his mind on the way to the pueblo.
Satisfied, he cleaned the ink from his fingers and read the article all over again. It gave an account of the latest efforts of the alcalde to catch Zorro with some illegal, never heard of taxes and the attempt to imprison the bride of a noble caballero to use her as bait. According to the mood of the caballeros he had assessed previously in the tavern, this should pull the right strings.
After that he wrote to the editors of the newspapers of the pueblo's of Santa Paula, Santa Barbara and others he had recently met and who would be open to his idea of exchanging newspaper articles with the neighboring pueblos, spreading the information in a wider area in California. Since he didn't want to leave Los Angeles for a longer amount of time at the moment, fearing the alcalde could try to imprison Victoria in his absence again, he asked the editors to visit him in Los Angeles and he hoped that those who knew him would come at his request.