This chapter is short by my standards, and I apologize for that. I couldn't come up with anything else to add here, and I didn't want to write something just for the sake of the word count.
DIFFERENT SHADES OF JUSTICE
Chapter 9
"The recent incident at the mine was most unfortunate. I'm sure you agree that we can't just let the matter be, Sergeant," Raymond said.
"Of course, sir," Teo replied. He did his best not to clench his fists. He would have just rather put the whole ordeal behind him and forgotten that it had ever happened. Whatever the commander had in mind wouldn't do anything to improve the situation.
"It's shameful how the workers tried to rebel against the army. We can't let this behaviour go unpunished or the people will think that it's acceptable or that we're weak. I have already ordered all the workers from the mine to be arrested. They will be flogged in public in two hours. I expect you to be there to oversee it."
"Me, sir?" Teo asked in surprise.
"Yes, you. Lieutenant Gabriel is busy with something else, and I fear Captain Jekyll and Sergeant Gonzales would go easy on the criminals. I trust I don't have to worry about that when you're in charge."
"Of course not, sir," Teo said, hoping that the commander wouldn't notice how hard it suddenly was to keep his voice steady.
"Good. That was all, Sergeant. You're dismissed."
Teo felt a headache coming as he left the office and walked outside. He was certain that Raymond had assigned this task to him just to give him another test. This time he didn't know if he could pass it. He didn't have the time to alert Diego to this, so there would be no help coming from Zorro.
Diego had been angry with him after the incident at the mine. The situation had got out of control, but Teo didn't know what he could have done to change it. He didn't regret saving the life of the soldier, but he was worried of the man he had injured, even after Diego had assured him that he was alive and wouldn't suffer a permanent injury.
He had been unable to do anything about the situation at the mine, but was this really so much different? Raymond had given him an order. If he disobeyed, he'd not only be abandoning his duties, but he'd lose all the trust Raymond had in him.
"You don't look too good," Gonzales said as they passed each other on the yard.
"I have orders I don't like."
"Oh? What do you have to do?"
"Have those arrested workers flogged."
"Ah," Gonzales said, wincing in sympathy. "I was afraid something like that would happen when we had to arrest them." He paused. "So, what are you going to do?"
"What do you think? I'll have them flogged, of course," Teo said in irritation.
"Of course," Gonzales muttered. Then his eyes brightened. "Maybe Zorro will be there to stop it before -"
"If he shows up, I'll arrest him and have him flogged, too. Don't forget that he's a criminal. He probably gave the workers the idea to rebel in the first place," Teo cut him off. He knew it wasn't right to take his frustration out on Gonzales, but he couldn't help it. He was sick of having to do this, and he needed to yell at someone.
"I don't think Zorro would -"
"Are you on his side?" Teo asked. He didn't wait for Gonzales to answer but started marching towards the stables to get his horse. The soldiers had already brought out the prisoners who were sitting in a wagon with their hands bound before them. Someone had had the sense to make them remove their shirts before that.
Teo felt like he was leading human cattle as he guided his horse to his place before the wagon and did his best to avoid looking at the captured men. He gave the soldiers the order to follow him. The way to town felt agonizingly long and short at the same time; he had never felt as ashamed of himself as now and only wanted it to end, but what awaited them in town frightened him even more.
They arrived at the town square when it was the busiest time of the day. The people immediately noticed the army and made way for them. Teo ordered everyone to stop when they came to the fountain that was in the middle of the square.
All of a sudden, it became very quiet. Everyone was staring at him. Their anxious faces angered him; this wasn't his fault, so they had no right to look at him like that. He could do nothing about this.
"As you know, a group of you tried to rise against the army a few days ago. Thankfully there were no casualties, but such acts of disobedience are still very much not tolerated. The commander has ordered these men to be flogged as a warning to you all," he announced.
There were shocked gasps and angry shouts before he even finished.
"This can't be!"
"The army has no right to do this!"
"Those men were only defending themselves!"
Teo ignored all the comments and ordered the soldiers to take the prisoners down. They would each step up to stand on the wagon to receive their punishment so that everyone would be able to watch. He tuned out the protests of the people until one voice was heard over the others.
"They haven't even had a trial!"
Teo turned around to look when he heard Lolita's voice. His eyes were immediately drawn to her direction, and he could see her stand in the midst of the crowd. Even from a distance, he could see her eyes blazing. The people standing near her quickly took some distance, knowing that Lolita wasn't one to hold back and not wanting to be associated with her.
The only people who stayed by her side were Diego and Alicia. Teo felt his hopes flare up; if Diego was here, surely he could do something.
"We're ready, sir," one of the soldiers came to tell him.
"Already?" Teo asked. He had been hoping it would take a little longer. He had to win some time if he wanted to give Diego a chance to slip away and come back as Zorro. He glanced to his friend's direction, but he saw that Lolita and Alicia were arguing with him about something. Most likely they wanted him to stand up against this.
"Sir? Are you listening to me?" the soldier asked.
"Sorry, I wasn't. What did you say?" Teo asked.
"I just asked if we should start now."
Teo turned to look at the prisoners, and he realised that he had no excuse to keep waiting. He could have stopped all this from happening, he knew, but then he would have had to explain himself to Raymond. He had come so far that he couldn't lose the commander's trust now, even if he had to do something this despicable.
"Yes, we'll start now."
Thankfully, he wouldn't have to be the one to deliver the blows. He was in charge, so he was perfectly within his rights to give the task to someone else. One of the soldiers had even volunteered earlier. Teo made the note to avoid that man as much as he could in the future.
"The commander has ordered thirty lashes for each man," he announced. He gave the soldier with the whip the sign to start.
Teo grit his teeth when there was a loud smack and a cry of pain as the whip connected with the prisoner's back. He wanted to turn away, but he knew he had to witness every lash and show no signs of weakness.
It's for the common good, he thought. He had to do this. He had no choice. The end justified the means.
"You can't do this! Stop it!" Lolita yelled.
Teo turned to look at her again. He noticed that Alicia was holding her back and that Diego had disappeared.
Please hurry, my friend, Teo thought.
The punishment of the first prisoners was over, so they moved on to the next man. Then the next and then the next. They managed to deliver ten lashes to the fourth man when there was a sudden gunshot. The man holding the whip jumped back and fell of the wagon as a musket ball nearly missed his foot.
"Look! It's Zorro!" someone in the crowd called out.
Everyone turned to look towards the rooftops. Zorro was standing there, holding a pistol.
"I thought I had seen the extent of the army's shameful actions at the mine, but I see there is no limit to your cruelty. This ends here!" he announced.
A few of the soldiers raised their muskets, but Teo waved at them to stop.
"Don't shoot," he said. "Zorro has humiliated me enough times. He's mine."
The people made way for Zorro as he jumped down from the roof. Teo had unsheathed his sword even before the outlaw reached the ground; he was eager to have this over with so that Zorro could release the prisoners and they would be treated.
"You have gone too far this time, Sergeant," Zorro said as their blades clashed. Teo got the uncomfortable feeling that his words weren't part of the act this time.
Their fight was more brutal than ever before. He didn't think his friend had ever faced him with such anger and impatience in his moves as now. Yet his anger didn't result in mistakes; Zorro's technique was nearly perfect and the fury made him unpredictable. Teo wasn't sure if he could win this fight even if he tried.
Pain suddenly flared up in his right arm, and he nearly dropped his sword. Zorro had cut him! For a moment he was too shocked to act, which cost him the battle. His sword flew from his hand, and Zorro drew an elaborate Z into his jacket before he had had the time to realise what had happened. The next thing he knew was that the tip of Zorro's blade was dangerously close to his throat.
"You will order your men to let everyone go," Zorro said. His voice was so thick with anger that Teo knew that the cut had been no accident.
"Well?" Zorro insisted when there was no reply right away.
"Let... let them go," Teo croaked.
The soldiers worked fast, as incidents like these were a routine to them. A few people from the crowd came to assist the men who had received their full punishment and escorted them away to get help. The relief Teo could have felt at this turn of events was diminished by the furious look in Zorro's eyes.
When everyone was free, Zorro removed his sword from Teo's throat. He retreated until he could jump on top of a pile of barrels that allowed him to climb back on the roof.
"For your own sake, Sergeant, I hope something like this will never happen again," Zorro said before he jumped down on the other side of the building. Cheers from the people accompanied him.
"Sir, should we give chase?" one of the soldiers asked.
"No, we're leaving," Teo announced. He glanced at his arm but decided that the cut wasn't so deep that it would require immediate attention. He'd have it looked at after they had returned to the barracks.
Teo winced as Gonzales finished tying a bandage around his arm. The situation reminded him of his first day in San Tasco, but unlike then, now his mood was so sour he had to force himself to listen to what the sergeant was saying.
"This isn't like Zorro at all," Gonzales said. "Zorro has never hurt anyone in the army like this. Not even the lieutenant. I would think it was an accident, but -"
"Zorro makes no mistakes," Teo finished for him.
"It's strange. Something like this didn't happen even when we were going to execute prisoners," Gonzales continued.
"I think you've made that perfectly clear already," Teo said in irritation. Gonzales had no way to know it, but his words frustrated him to no end. He knew exactly why Zorro had got so angry this time. He had thought his friend was above having innocent men flogged and had been disappointed when that wasn't the case.
He was still convinced that he had done the right thing. It had been necessary in order to maintain Raymond's trust in him. He wanted to make Diego understand that, but he felt very reluctant to meet him now. The anger in his eyes had been too real and reminded Teo of what he would get if Diego ever learnt the truth of his actions in Spain.
Whenever Teo arrived at a new town, the first place he visited was the town square where the wanted posters were. He would casually walk past them and barely even glance at them as he went to buy some fruit. Then he'd talk to a few people, ask irrelevant questions about the weather and the latest gossip, and only then would he approach the posters, a bored expression on his face as if he only wanted to kill some time while munching on his apple.
This time it didn't go like that. The town square was entirely deserted. The stands that were usually about to collapse under the weight of fruit and bread were empty and dusty. Water had stopped flowing in the fountain in the middle of the square.
But there were wanted posters. Plenty of them. As he closer, Teo had the uncomfortable feeling that he was doing something wrong, but he couldn't stop his feet from moving. When he reached the first poster, all he could do was stare at it in confusion.
I've already caught this man, he thought. Why was there still a poster of him? Maybe they had forgotten to take it away.
He moved on to the next poster. It showed an equally familiar face. Teo had shot this man near a village in southern Spain.
The next man was a merchant he had hunted down for smuggling. The one after that was the young nobleman who had cheated on his fiancée and angered her father.
"What the hell is this?" Teo asked out loud. He reached out to tear down the poster, but there was an identical one right under it. He ripped that one apart, too, and the one after that and the one after that, but there was always a new picture looking at him.
He took back a few shaky steps, feeling like his fingers were on fire from touching the poster.
He turned around and started running away, but he realised that the streets were lined with plaques that all showed posters of people he had hunted down or killed. No matter how far he ran or how many corners he turned, the streets wouldn't end and always brought him back to the town square.
One plaque suddenly caught his attention, and his breath was caught in his throat. It was the woman who had attacked him in Spain after he had killed her husband.
"No, that wasn't me. I didn't kill her," he said in panic. It hadn't been his fault!
The poster started twisting and wrinkling like it was being burnt by invisible fire. The woman's face became a gruesome, rotten mockery of her once beautiful features, but her eyes never changed. They were just as full of hate as they had been on that day in Spain.
"It was you," she said in a scornful voice. "You killed me and my husband. It was you! It was you! It was you!"
"No, it wasn't me! Shut up!" Teo shrieked and started running again, but the woman's hateful words didn't grow any quieter. It was the opposite; her voice became louder and louder until it was painful. Teo covered his ears and fell on his knees with a pitiful wail.
"I'm sorry," he said, but he couldn't even hear his own voice under the accusations of the woman. Tears were burning in his eyes, and he was soon sobbing on the ground. "I'm so sorry."
All of a sudden, the woman's voice disappeared. Teo was so startled by it that for a moment he could do nothing but remain on the ground, gasping for breath and blinking to clear his vision. The poster of the woman was gone, but all the others were still there.
No, wait. All of the posters had changed. They all had the same face now.
A chill went down Teo's spine as he found himself staring at a detailed image of Zorro. The pictures were so well drawn that they almost looked alive.
He shook his head. "No. I haven't killed Zorro. I will never kill Zorro! He's my best friend."
"Don't be so sure of that."
Teo whirled around when he heard the voice. He felt a wave of relief wash over him. Diego was walking towards him.
"You're still alive!" he said and took the first steps towards him, but the anger on Diego's face made him stop.
"The men you had flogged today are dead," Diego said, his voice thick with accusation.
"What?" Teo asked. How could that be? They hadn't been hurt so bad that –! Diego had to be lying.
"You're just like everyone else in the army. And I know everything about what you did in Spain. You're a nothing but a murderer, Teo," Diego said.
"Diego, let me explain! I didn't mean to kill those men, believe me! Please let me explain!" Teo begged, but the cold indifference on Diego's face didn't waver.
"You're no longer a friend of mine. You're not only Zorro's enemy but mine as well," Diego said. He turned around and started walking away. Teo tried to run after him, but the street was suddenly blocked by plaques with the posters of Zorro. He tried to shove them aside until his hands were bleeding, but he couldn't catch up with Diego. He was too slow.
"Diego, wait!" he called out just as his friend walked behind a corner and disappeared. "Diego, come back! I'll -"
Teo awoke with a start. It was too dark to see anything, and for a long time he only lay where he was, listening to his wild heartbeat. He didn't trust himself to move; his whole body felt weak, like it wouldn't carry his weight if he were to try to get up.
It was only a nightmare, he thought, but that realisation didn't bring him much relief. The guilt and fear he had felt were just as real now. He could do nothing to forget about the Spanish woman and all the others whom he had killed or whose lives he had ruined. No matter how sorry he was, he could never make up for what he had done.
Teo could no longer remain still, so he sat up on the edge of his bed and leaned his forehead on his hands. His face felt sticky and his hair was glued against his head. He shivered, but he couldn't tell if it was cold in the room or if the chill came from inside him.
He was certain Diego was waiting for him at their usual spot and that he should have gone to talk to him, but the thought had felt so repulsive that he had gone to bed instead. He couldn't bring himself to face Diego now, not after what he had done and how angry Diego had been. Teo was afraid that Diego might see his crimes written all over his face if they were to talk now. And then it would go just like in his nightmare. Then Diego would look at him in disgust and denounce their friendship for real.
"Hell, what should I do?" he muttered. Diego's friendship was the only important thing he had left in his life. He didn't want to lose it, but sooner or later Diego would have to know the truth. Just like Teo had recognised his features behind Zorro's mask, Diego was bound to notice that something was wrong with him.
Maybe this was meant to be his punishment. He had avoided the law and the consequences of his actions and tried to go on with his life. He had been arrogant enough to think that he could make up for his crimes by joining the army. Maybe his time to pay had come now.