Chapter 10
Victoria and Diego were up early the next morning. Victoria was going to work in the Tavern today. "Mendoza will be happy to see that you have returned to work. I hope he leaves enough food for the rest of the guests." Diego laughed and helped her up onto to the wagon seat. "I'll see you in a few hours." He kissed her hand gently.
"You and me both. He has survived on garrison food for too long. I'll keep some food set aside for you. See you soon." Victoria waved at her future husband as Felipe pulled away toward town.
Diego watched them drive away out of sight, and was about to go inside when he saw two men on horse back riding toward the Hacienda. He noticed the men were in a hurry, and very uncomfortable when they looked at him. "Can I help you?" Diego asked them as they came to a stop outside the hacienda gates.
"We are looking for the Alcalde. He has hired us to capture the bandit Zorro." The tallest of the two replied roughly.
"The Alcalde is in the Pueblo. Can I ask you a few questions? Why do you want to capture Zorro? Do you really think he is worth chasing and turning over to a greedy man such as our Alcalde?" Diego asked in hopes of changing their minds.
"Senor, the Alcalde is paying us handsomely to bring Zorro in dead or alive." The shorter man replied roughly.
"We need to get moving. Zorro moves fast, and to capture him, we need to be ready. Thank you for your help." The taller man waved quickly and both men rode away in a hurry.
Diego knew there would be trouble if he didn't do something about those two trouble makers before they reached the pueblo. He quickly made his way to Zorro's hideout and dressed.
He caught up with the two men just over a hill minutes away from the hacienda. "I heard you were looking for me?" Zorro stepped out from behind a bush and eyed the two men coming down the hill.
"Zorro, we are looking for you, and now we have you." The tall bandit replied and reached for his pistol. "The Alcalde told us to bring you in dead or alive, but I prefer dead. Less of a fight when we take you to collect our reward." The tall man pointed his pistol at Zorro and pulled the trigger back slowly.
Zorro jumped out-of-the-way in time and hid behind a rock on the side of the road. Toronado snuck up behind them and kicked the shorter man off of his horse.
The taller man jumped down and pulled his sword out and faced Zorro. "I will capture you Zorro." he waved his sword around a few times, and motioned Zorro to move with his finger.
"I could use some exercise, why not." Zorro stood up and pulled his sabre out and paced toward the tall man.
After a few side steps and hopeless attempts to disarm the masked man, the tall man slipped when Zorro's whip wrapped around his ankles. He fell onto his back and let out a cry of pain. Zorro pointed his blade close to the mans throat. "Looks like I caught you." Zorro smirked.
Zorro tied both men up and carved his signature Z into the seat of their pants. He led them into the pueblo and guided them toward the cartel.
"Look it's Zorro." A young man shouted with surprise as the masked hero entered the pueblo. The two men he was leading became embarrassed and looked down at the dusty ground.
"Alcalde, I have delivered your guests safely to you, but they misbehaved so I had to tie them up." Zorro said when he saw De Soto leaving the Tavern.
"Zorro!" De Soto stopped quickly and pulled his sword out. "You're mine this time. Lancers." He yelled toward the barracks. "Mendoza get your butt out here now!" He yelled back into the Tavern.
Mendoza came out and looked around until he saw Zorro standing in the middle of the pueblo. "Zorro, what are you doing here?" He asked nervously.
" I do hope you have room for 3 more in your jail." Zorro leapt down from Toronado and slowly walked toward De Soto.
"Three? But you only have two men tied up?" Mendoza was confused.
"That's true Sargent, but they will have company." Zorro looked at De Soto closely.
"I will not be joining them, but you will be." De Soto spat and rushed toward Zorro.
The masked man deflected De Soto's blade and punched him in the face with the back of his hand as he turned toward Toronado.
"Mendoza could you please take these men to jail." Zorro pointed toward the two men he brought with him, and was about to reach down and pull De Soto to his feet when he heard a group of men come to a stop behind him.
"I presume you are Zorro." A uniformed man asked in a dry authoritive tone.
"I am, and who are you?" Zorro asked carefully.
"The king sent us here on official business. We need to see the Alcalde, but we need to give this to you." The Kings man handed Zorro a rolled up paper.
" Where is the Alcalde?" The uniformed man asked a group of citizens standing near by.
The group pointed to a pile of limbs at Zorro's feet. Zorro was reading the notice from the King and nudged the Alcalde with the toe of his boot. "He's right here. He sent two men out to hunt me down, but I caught them first." Zorro laughed and looked down at De Soto.
"Take him to jail." The uniformed man ordered his men. Three men dismounted and pulled the Alcalde to his feet.
"Thank you, this means so much to me. I have waited for this for five years." Zorro smiled and nodded his head at the kings man.
"We do ask that you please honor the rules listed, or we could make other arrangements if they are ignored.
"I will agree to these rules as long as these people are treated fairly." Zorro spoke up so the people could hear him.
"I can assure you, they will be treated fairly. The man we have the honor of promoting is a friend of the people." The uniformed officer said drily.
"I better go, Adios." Zorro mounted Toronado and headed over to the Tavern to see Victoria. She was waiting for him on the front porch.
"Senorita, I have missed you." Zorro reached down while remaining in the Saddle. He kissed her hand softly.
"I have missed you, but we need to talk." She spoke up before she lost her courage.
"I heard the news. Congratulations, you will be very happy with Don Diego. He is a good man." Zorro replied quietly and his tone was slightly sad.
"You're not angry?" Victoria asked as silent tears formed in her eyes.
"It is upsets me that we don't have the chance to spend our lives together. But I am happy to know that you will be well cared for and protected." Zorro said sadly. "I must go." He kissed her hand one last time and rode away.
Victoria watched him ride away, and just as she turned to go inside she noticed De Soto running out of the cartel with a pistol pointed at Zorro's back.