Chapter 8
Five days later de Soto sat at his desk with an evil grin on his face as he slowly stroked his goatee. He believed he had the right plan to capture that masked bandit once and for all. Their newest recruit had finally arrived from San Diego the day before and from all the reports, Private Garcia had not only a remarkable ability with firearms, both pistols and muskets but that he rarely misses his target. It didn't matter if the target was stationary or not, he was able to bring down his opponent with the first shot.
But the most interesting quality of his new lancer was his talent to blend in with his surroundings, no matter where he was. He was a person who would be not noticed unless he wanted to be noticed. He was of average height, slender with dark hair and eyes, he had no visible scars or other blemishes. In effect he was just an ordinary man, which made him the perfect soldier, the perfect sniper and de Soto intended to put Private Garcia's talents to good use.
"Mendoza." he yelled out as he stood up.
Mendoza sighed as his commanding officer called out his name. He had just sat down on the bench outside the cuartel for a well deserved break but now he quickly rose from his seat and rushed over to the Alcalde's office.
"Si Alcalde." he saluted as he stopped in front of him.
"Get me Private Garcia, Sergeant." de Soto ordered.
"Si Alcalde." Mendoza saluted once more before he left the office in search of their newest lancer.
Several minutes later Private Garcia stood at attention in front of his commanding officer.
"At ease Private, we have a lot to discuss." de Soto said with a gleam in his eyes.
While de Soto was making plans, Diego had another opportunity to press his unofficial courtship of Victoria. He was in the tavern having lunch with Felipe and they were sharing a table with two of his father's friends, Don Alfredo, Don Roberto and Padre Benitez and they were discussing the upcoming children's concert.
"I can't thank you enough Don Diego, for your help with the children." Padre Benitez said with a warm smile. "They are very excited about the costumes that you've designed for them. You seem to have a flare for creating unusual outfits." he added innocently.
Diego had a feeling that the good Padre knew more than he was saying but he just smiled warmly at the older man. "You're most welcome Padre, I enjoyed helping out."
Padre nodded as he stood up. "I must be getting back to the mission, I have a letter from an old friend that I need to reply to. Adios gentlemen."
"Adios Padre." the three men replied together.
For a moment they sat in companionable silence before Felipe signed which Diego interpreted for the others. "You think that we should stage a play ourselves?"
Felipe nodded with a smile.
Don Alfredo nodded. "That's a wonderful idea Felipe. We used to have a small dramatic group in Los Angeles, perhaps we could start it up again."
Diego sat back and thought about it. "Si, it is a good idea Felipe, we could stage a play every couple of months and charge a small fee which could be donated to the mission." he paused thoughtfully. "But what plays do you think we could do?"
Don Roberto shrugged. "Any kind, dramas, comedies, romances for the women."
Diego was startled as an idea came to him. Could he turn this conversation into another attempt at courting Victoria without anyone realising it? "Perhaps a play by Shakespeare or a scene from Don Quixote or even an opera."
Don Roberto snorted in disgust. "Opera! First we don't have any accomplished singers and secondly, operas never made sense to me, I mean it's in Italian and I don't think there are many of us who speak the language."
Diego shrugged. "We would get a translation of it."
"What opera where you thinking of anyway?" Don Alfredo asked curiously.
Diego leant forward slightly as he saw Victoria emerge from the kitchen, it was time to put his idea to work. "Well I though...'Don Giovanni'"
Both men spluttered into their drinks.
"You can't be serious Diego, Don Giovanni was a womaniser and a murderer, wasn't he? I don't think it's an appropriate play for our small pueblo." Don Alfredo uttered.
Diego shrugged once more. "That's true but it does have some good songs."
Don Roberto winked at his friend. "Well then, you're just going to have to show us."
Diego frowned. "Show you?"
Don Alfredo grinned at he caught onto his friend's teasing of the younger man. "Si, Diego, sing for us."
Don Roberto nodded. "Si Diego, sing one of those songs and we'll see if we like it."
Diego hid his smile under a mask of horror, it was going better than he had hoped for. "What now?" he said with the right level of apprehension.
"Si, right now, right here."
"On your feet Don Diego de la Vega." Don Roberto ordered.
Diego swallowed hard. "You mean..."
"We want you to stand up and sing to all of us." Don Alfred stated firmly.
Felipe couldn't contain his merriment as he laughed silently at his soon to be father's predicament.
Diego made a show of great reluctance as he rose to his feet, gave his jacket a nervous tug, cleared his throat before he raised his left arm as though he was imploring his lady to come to her balcony window and then he sang or rather he spoke, somewhat passionately, the words of Giovanni's serenade, "Deh vieni alla finestra"
O come to the window, my darling
O come and console my sorrow!
If you refuse me some solace,
before you dear eyes I will die.
Your lips are sweeter than honey,
your heart is sweetness itself:
then be not cruel, my angel,
let me at least see you, my beautiful love,
Diego stopped when he realised that the citizens, after a stunned silence, had erupted into thunderous applause and cheers at the most unusual outburst from the normally passive and studious Don Diego, while Victoria had stopped what she was doing and was staring at him with a very strange expression on her face.
Diego felt a flush rise over his face, he wasn't used to this type of attention from the citizens and shifted uneasily on his feet. Don Roberto took pity on the younger man, stood up and slapped him on the shoulder, "It's alright ladies and gentlemen, Don Diego hasn't gone crazy, we were just discussing plays and operas and we insisted that he recite one of the songs to us, much to his obvious embarrassment, eh Diego," he chuckled.
The citizens shook their heads and laughed as they noticed how embarrassed the young Don was before they turned their attention back to their meals. Victoria found that she couldn't tear herself away from the sight of Diego reciting what sounded like poetry. Very romantic poetry. She felt a strange tightness in her stomach and felt warm flush rise over her face at the imagery of the words and of the passionate way he spoke them. She didn't know what to make of it.
As Diego sat back down, he knew that he had made an impression with Victoria with his recital but what that impression was, he didn't know. He knew that his so called unofficial courtship could only go so far, without becoming obvious to everyone but the moment Don Alfredo asked him about which opera he would like to do, he simply couldn't resist the temptation to recite some romantic words to his lady.
Later as the gentlemen were leaving, Victoria stopped Don Alfredo before he left. "Don Alfredo, what were those words that Diego spoke?" she asked, hoping that he wouldn't see the flush on her cheeks.
Don Alfredo chuckled. "The words were from an Opera called 'Don Giovanni' and from memory it was a serenade that Don Giovanni sang to a woman he was hoping to court or something like that...Senorita! Are you okay?" he asked worriedly as he watched the blood drain from her face and he reached out his hand to steady her as she swayed on her feet.
Victoria nodded. "Si, I'm okay Don Alfredo, it's just...been a busy day today." she replied.
"Well, you should take a break for a couple of minutes, we don't want you fainting on us." he said kindly.
She nodded once more. "Si, I might just do that, gracias Don Alfredo."
"Anytime Senorita, adios."
"Adios Senor." she whispered as she watched him leave before she turned and went into the kitchen and lent against the table for support.
Victoria couldn't believe what Don Alfredo had said, that Diego had recited a love song, a serenade that this Don Gio...Giovanni had sung to a woman he wanted to court. What did it mean? And what about the flowers from a week ago? The children had given all the women flowers but at Diego's request and now he had recited a serenade to the all the patrons in the tavern. It couldn't be a coincidence that both events had happened in the tavern when Diego was nearby.
What was he up to? Was he trying to court her somehow? Or was it innocent as it seemed? He said that he would give her time but at the moment she felt a strange sense of pleasure, a giddiness that swept over her at his romantic actions, she could get used to this, she mused to herself. Then she blushed as she realised that she actually wanted Diego's attention.
She straightened up as she heard Pilar come into the kitchen and if the other woman noticed her red face, she didn't say mentioned it. "Victoria, you must come outside, Mendoza is putting up another sign."
Victoria frowned. "Again! I really hate it when they do that." she replied heatedly as she followed Pilar through the curtain. She crossed over to the door and sighed as she saw Mendoza hammering a notice to the post. "What does the Alcalde want now?" she asked heatedly as she stood next to the Sergeant.
Mendoza sighed regretfully as he stopped hammering. "It's a new tax senorita."
Victoria frowned. "On what? I didn't think there was anything left to tax."
He shrugged and motioned to the sign for her to read. "I have others to put up." he quickly scrambled away from the fiery senorita.
Victoria sighed again as she moved closer to the sign and began reading. "What this? A curfew… 6pm... Fine of five pesos if caught after curfew. MENDOZA!" she was furious, this curfew would affect her business just wait until Zorro…'Dios' she whispered as her hand flew to her mouth…Diego!
Several hours later Don Alejandro and Diego were in the library, gossiping together as they enjoyed a rare game of chess when they heard the front door open and seconds later Felipe came rushing around the corner before he signed quickly
Both men gasped as they read the young man's signs. "The alcalde is enforcing a 6pm curfew with a five peso fine?"
Felipe nodded.
Don Alejandro gazed at his son and saw the indecision written on his face. "Are you going?" he asked quietly.
Diego shook his head. "Not unless I have to." he sighed. "I just want a normal life and that means riding less as Zorro."
Don Alejandro reached out across the table and placed a comforting hand on his son's arm. "I understand Diego. It's time that the rest of us take a stand against de Soto." he said.
That evening many of the citizens were caught out by the new curfew, they grumbled but had no option other than to pay the fine or spend some time in the dirty cuartel cells, so they handed over their hard earned money. They were somewhat surprised that Zorro hadn't arrived to teach their Alcalde a lesson while de Soto was pleased and confused at the same time. He was pleased that the coffers had extra money but was confused as he had set a perfect trap for the masked bandit but he hadn't shown up. Well, he would just keep Private Garcia on alert until the next time that Zorro showed himself in the pueblo, he mused to himself.
Three days later the tavern was crammed full of the lunchtime crowds. It was very noisy, with only two questions on everyone's lips. Where was Zorro? And why had he not come to help them? They gave Victoria questioningly looks every time she emerged from the kitchen, which she studiously ignored for she knew exactly why he hadn't come. She hadn't realised just how much the people of Los Angeles had relied upon Diego to help them with every little thing. Couldn't they do anything without Diego? Why couldn't they just stand up for themselves just once, she reflected to herself.
When Victoria was asked for the tenth time, if she knew where Zorro was, she exploded with fury. "We all should be fighting against injustice and not just relying on one man all of the time. I see a lot of fit and healthy men in this room but underneath you are all COWARDS!" she yelled at the patrons.
The tavern went dead quiet, the patrons too shocked by her outburst to say anything.
As Victoria moved towards the kitchen, her blazing eyes met the shocked eyes of Diego and she knew that he had heard everything she had said. She threw the cloth onto the bar and strode angrily through the curtains, her heart pounded so hard that she couldn't breathe so she opened the back door and tried to gasp in air.
Diego saw how upset she was and quickly strode through the tavern, into the kitchen and when he saw her outside the back door gasping for breath, he rushed to her. "Victoria, are you okay?" He asked worriedly as he gently placed his hand on her trembling shoulders. "Easy, just take a deep breath and let it out slowly...good...again." he said as she took another deep breath.
"I'm...sor...sorry." she gasped as she held onto him.
"Shhh, don't speak, take another deep breath...good, good." he gently rubbed her back, giving her comfort as she continued to breathe deeply and slowly exhaling.
"Why couldn't I breath?" her voice scratchy.
He smiled softly. "You were hyperventilating."
She frowned. "I was what?" she had never heard that word before.
"It's a new theory of what had just occurred to you, where you had trouble breathing and that you had to gasp for breath. It's believe to brought on by a sudden emotional upheaval or some stressful event."
Victoria shook her head. "Well that's true about being emotional. But I couldn't help it Diego, I was so furious, they kept waiting for yo… for Zorro to turn up and they kept asking me where he was and well..."
He chuckled. "You lost your temper. I want to thank you for such a strong defence of me."
She smiled. "Si..." she started to cough.
"Come, you need some water." he led them inside once more where he poured her a glass of water and handed it over to her.
"Gracias." she replied as she took the glass from him.
He smiled warmly. "De nada." For a moment their eyes locked, each felt the pull of their attraction to each other. It was the first time they had met since that day he serenaded her but Diego wasn't sure if she had realised what he had done and didn't want to spoil it by upsetting her and Victoria wasn't sure if he had actually serenaded her and didn't want to embarrass him if it wasn't true.
"I..." whatever Victoria was going to say, was lost as Pilar came into the kitchen
"Oh sorry Victoria, Don Diego, I didn't mean to interrupt." she hid her smile as she quickly backed out of the kitchen. She had known for some time that the handsome Don had a soft spot for her employer and felt that she was foolish not to take advantage of his feelings. A man with a price on his head, no matter how dashing he was, was not the type of husband a woman looks for. But she wasn't going to risk her employer's fiery temper by speaking up.
Both Victoria and Diego chuckled at Pilar's reaction to seeing them together. "Well, I won't keep you any longer Victoria."
"Diego, thank you for helping me." she smiled.
He smiled back. "You're most welcome." he replied before he turned and walked back into the main taproom.
As he sat down beside Don Emilio, the older man asked. "How is she?"
Diego shrugged and smiled. "She is rather upset."
Don Emilio nodded. "Perhaps it's not us who she is angry with but maybe at Zorro himself." he replied curiously.
Diego frowned. "Why would you say that?"
He shrugged. "Maybe they have had an argument or something."
"Perhaps." Diego replied as he thought hard. It would be good for the people to start believing that there was a rift between Zorro and Victoria. "Maybe she has a point though, we have relied too heavily on Zorro to help us out." Diego added innocently.
Don Emilio raised an eyebrow. "So Don Diego, would you take up arms against the Alcalde?" he asked with some amusement in his voice.
"Who me? I would rather write articles on the subject."
Don Emilio rolled his eyes, it was so like him to suggest writing an article but it did give him an idea. "Perhaps you're right Don Diego. It is time for all of us to take a stand and I have an idea as to how to do it."
Diego frowned, not liking the tone of his voice. "We don't want violence." he warned.
"Don't worry Don Diego, you won't be asked to do that." with that strange remark he stood up and bade farewell to the younger man. "Adios."
"Adios." Diego said as he watched him leave the tavern. He would have to watch him closely, for he didn't want any violence done in his name.
