Alejandro's Return
Alejandro had been gone a week, and he had returned a little worried about his son. The business trip had taken a lot longer than he had expected. He paused at the tavern, hoping to catch up with Victoria.
Sergeant Mendoza greeted him, as he tied Dulcinea to the post outside.
"You'll be happy to know that Zorro has returned to us, Don Alejandro," Mendoza said, as he returned the greeting.
"How so?" Alejandro murmured, wondering about this new course of events.
"Up in the hills. He faced down a lion, a fierce puma. He saved Senora de Cipriana. It was amazing, senor. He saved the Alcalde too, of course."
"Of course," Alejandro said softly.
"Your son is doing nicely, Don Alejandro," he added. "The Alcalde spent a very pleasant evening there the other night, with Colonel de Cipriana and his wife. Apparently the senora was enchanted."
"It's nice to know Diego is doing so well," Alejandro said, with a slight frown.
He made his way through the tavern doors, and shook his head a little. Maybe the man was mistaken about the puma and Zorro. He couldn't imagine his son, still quite ill, to have the strength for that sort of activity.
Several of the other dons greeted him, and some turned their backs in disrespect. He could have risen and taken issue with it but he was tired and he wanted to get home as soon as possible. It was just that Dulcinea had needed a rest from the travelling they had been doing. Los Angeles was a long way from Monterey.
He sighed, and Pilar greeted him with respect. He asked for a tankard of wine, and some tamales, and she smiled and set about getting them for him.
He glanced around the tavern with curiosity. He couldn't see Victoria anywhere, and he was a little concerned. Maybe she was feeling ill…maybe his son was. Diego was still stuck in bed when he had left, and maybe he had taken a turn for the worse, especially if he had faced down a puma in the hills. The older man fidgeted in his seat, wondering if he should forego the tamales and just head home. His eyes caught sight of a poster of Zorro, with the words PARDON issued in large bold letters across the top. He paled and was glad he was back in town, to deal with whatever nonsense was going on concerning his son.
He saw the pretty new Dona eating with her husband in one of the far corners. The man had a military uniform on, and Alejandro grew a little wary of him. This was possibly the Colonel, Mendoza had been talking about outside. The young lady was obviously his wife, and she was chatting non- stop. Colonel de Cipriana was clearly a gentleman, nodding encouragingly whenever he could, and was obviously trying to listen to her. The military gentleman felt Alejandro's eyes on him, and glanced quickly his way, and nodded silently. The nod was for him, Alejandro knew, but the little wife seemed to take it as one of hers, and was happy.
Alejandro stared for a while at the Colonel again. His wine and tamales arrived and he was distracted and agitated by new ideas and new threats.
"Pilar," he called. She turned and came back to his table. "Can I have these wrapped up? I need to get home, I think. I will finish the wine, while you deal with the tamales," he added, and she nodded.
He downed the wine, and wondered if he needed to steel himself for trouble. He stood, and Pilar gave him the tamales in a little cloth parcel. He thanked her, and wondered if he would actually eat them.
He let Dulcinea choose the speed on the way home. It was a gallop; it always was when he let her have her head. No matter how tired she was, she would always gallop if she was allowed. He didn't mind this time, his worries were multiplying with the time it took to get home.
He swung his way into the hacienda, leaving Dulcinea half rearing in the yard. She was reacting to his nerves, he realised, but Juan would soon have her docile again.
He went straight to Diego's room, but no one was there. The bed had been slept in, but not made up. It was just on twelve noon, and Alejandro wanted to know where his son was.
Maria appeared at his arm, and guided him away from the room quickly, and nervously. He took another quick glance around the room, looking for clues. The window was open; the old connecting door was ajar. That was weird.
"Patron, let's go to the kitchen," Maria said softly. There was a strange sound, a little like a gasp, and he hesitated. "Please, Senor…"
He looked at her then. Her face was red and agitated.
"What's going on, Maria?" Alejandro said. He sighed, and let the woman guide him towards the kitchen. Whatever was going on with distressing her, and she wanted him to come away. He could be patient, if he tried hard enough.
They were in the kitchen, and Alejandro handed her the tamales and waited for her to say something.
"What's going on, Maria?"
"Such goings on, Patron. I wonder what his poor mother would have said about such goings on," Maria said softly. He waited. "Diego brought Victoria into the hacienda, as his wife."
"Well, she is his wife, Maria. She is Senora de la Vega, and Diego's wife."
"It's a little hard to deal with, Patron. Yesterday morning…this morning…it's shocking, that's what it is," Maria said.
"Tell me exactly what happened. Is Diego ill? Is he sick?"
"No, he was in Victoria's room," she half whispered.
Alejandro startled a little, and then the woman flushed. She busied herself at the stove.
"Diego was in Victoria's room?" He could imagine from the housekeeper's reaction what he might have been doing in her room – what he still could be doing in her room. He smiled a little. "He has every right to be in her room, he is her husband, Maria."
"Yes, I know…I just didn't expect to see…that," she murmured.
Alejandro left the room, chuckling a little to himself. He made his way to the library and positioned himself against the fireplace, facing outwards. His son would have to venture out of his room eventually. He would get hungry sooner or later.
Zzzz
Alejandro had taken out a book and was reading it in his spot near the fireplace. He had been waiting for almost three hours, and was getting a little impatient. Obviously his son was enjoying himself or was napping by now, as should he. He suppressed a yawn. He was not going to miss any opportunity to put his son on the spot.
He was hyper aware by that stage, and almost jumped at the soft almost imperceptible sound towards the hallway. It was the sound a guilty party wondering whether to head back the way they had come. He smiled a little behind his book.
"Diego, it's too late, I saw you," Alejandro said softly but loud enough to be heard by his son.
Diego sighed and came back into the library with his hands in the air dramatically.
"You slept very late today. I hear that you have been very active this past week," Alejandro said thoughtfully, as he put the book down on his knee, and looked at his son. "It's almost 4 and you've missed breakfast and lunch. You must be famished."
Diego was silent, and sat in the chair opposite his father and folded his arms loosely. Alejandro noted the posture and was reminded of his son as a slightly rebellious teenager. He tried him out on the little sprinkles of gossip he had overheard in the tavern, and discounted at the time. He certainly looked well recovered.
"Zorro was seen in the hills the other day…"
"Really? That's good, several people were starting to think he was dead," Diego said with a slight smile. Alejandro smiled too, but he wasn't very impressed, not really. Diego still should be resting up, not wandering the hills.
"He faced down a puma," Alejandro said, his voice changing just enough to make his son glance at his father with a slight frown on his face.
"Really? How heroic of him," Diego murmured, uneasily. His son shifted a little in the chair he had just sat down on.
"Yes, he saved the Alcalde's sister from certain death."
Diego raised an eyebrow. "How dramatic…" he murmured.
"Mendoza can be quite informative, Diego," Alejandro said. "You entered a couple of guests in my home the other night…"
"An old school friend from University, Colonel Armand de Cipriana and his wife, Marcela," Diego admitted. "The Alcalde came as well."
"Why?"
"I haven't seen Armand for many years, father. He had something to discuss with me," Diego said. "Zorro has been offered a pardon."
"I saw." The words were said a little sharply, despite his wish to play with his boy a little. He was quite concerned about the idea of the pardon. The poster on the tavern post had made him decide to return home faster than he was going to. "A trick of course…Not to be taken seriously, Diego."
Diego frowned a little.
"Armand is a man of honour, father."
"De Soto has always proved himself to be the opposite, Diego."
Maria entered the room and served some cool drinks, and glanced at Diego with an embarrassed smile. Diego thanked her and raised one of his dark eyebrows at the woman's hesitation to move too close to him.
Maria rushed out of the library, and Diego glanced at his father.
"Apparently, Senora de la Vega is now in residence," Alejandro said, with a small smile. "Maria wasn't aware of the sleeping arrangements until she tried to deliver breakfast this morning. It might take her a little while to get over the shock…"
Alejandro thought it amusing as Diego blushed, glancing towards where the servant had rushed off to.
"There is no point in apologising to her, if that is what you are planning. She was married once, and she knows the mechanics of it…"
"Father," Diego said softly. "I am sorry I wasn't here to welcome you, as I should have."
"I think you were welcoming your wife as you should have, a few weeks late," Alejandro said. "I think that takes priority here, Diego. I want my grandchildren…" He winked at his son, watching as his son's face grew exasperated.
"Father…"
"No pressure, my son. No pressure at all…" Alejandro enjoyed teasing his son, and noticed as Diego surrendered to the teasing for a few more moments, before he was released. Alejandro hoped that he was heading back to bed, for a little more 'rest.'
