Chapter 36

Diego used the weeks before the planned visit to see their baby nephew, to begin making a prosthetic arm for Victoria. He spent a lot of the time in the cave on his task, making a number of models and experimenting with various ways of keeping the elbow and wrist joints locked into a certain position by switches or dials. He had a number of conversations with the blacksmith who was willing to create the small and vital metal pins when Diego was ready to build the real one and he was grateful for the offer; he wasn't sure if he could create the intricate metal parts himself, he simply didn't have the experience in metalwork.

While Diego spent time in the cave, Victoria was occupied with the exercises that Diego had insisted that she do twice a day to build up the strength in her right shoulder in preparation for the weight of the artificial arm. Both knew that it would take time, not only to build the device but for her neck and shoulder muscles to regain its strength and so he had devised a routine in which to help her with it.

Using the iron weights from a set of scales from the kitchen, he began with the smallest and lightest of them. He found a short and narrow leather strap from an old harness and unstitched the strong lacings just enough to slide the weight inside and then he stitched it up again. Then he buckled the small weight belt around her upper arm, making sure the iron weight was on the top and then told her to raise her stump out to the front of her and then down, and then out to the side and down again and then to raise high up in the air and back down again and do this for at ten or fifteen minutes twice a day.

At first she could only do it every second day as her arm, shoulder and neck ached terribly, not only from the lack of use but also by the added weight. However with Diego's careful and gentle massages, she was able to do it daily and then twice a day and each time Diego made sure that she didn't exert herself too much for fear that the straining might be affecting their unborn baby in some way.

So by the end of the fourth week, she was doing well enough to move to the next level in weight and with Diego's approval they extended the time to twenty minutes. Again this created aches and soreness in her muscles but he was there, giving her gentle massages to ease the tension. Occasionally these neck and shoulder massages made her so relaxed, it turned into something more intimate and then their usual passion for each other flared until it ended in the only way it could.

One afternoon Victoria was sitting on the chair beside the desk in their room, wearing one of her old short sleeve blouses which allowed her full movement as she worked on her exercises, when there was a knock on the door.

"Victoria, are you there?" Don Alejandro called out.

"Come in father." she replied.

Don Alejandro stepped into the room and whatever he was going to say, slipped out of his mind when he saw what she was doing. "Victoria, you shouldn't be alone when you're doing this, you might do yourself or the baby some injury and there would be no-one to help you."

He wasn't happy that she was doing this, in fact he believed that she shouldn't be doing it all, not while she was with child. Many things could go wrong and he had he told them in no uncertain terms what his thoughts were. But both Diego and Victoria were adamant that she had to do the exercises, otherwise her muscles would not cope with the weight of the wooden arm; which he understood, but not while she was carrying a child.

Victoria held back her sigh; she knew that he didn't approve of what they were doing. "Diego just stepped out to make sure that Felipe hasn't forgotten anything." She replied as she stopped her exercise and untied the weight from her upper arm; she had almost finished her session anyway. "Father, I know you are not happy about this but don't forget we have Doctor Hernandez's approval."

Don Alejandro sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I know that but I..." he stopped and shook his head. "I guess it's something we'll never agree on." he gave her a small smile but she saw the pain in his eyes and she knew what was troubling him.

She stood up and crossed over to him. "Diego told me about his mother and how she died." she said softly and compassionately. "I know that you fear that my exercises may cause harm to my baby. I have those fears too, so does Diego, which is why we make sure that I don't overdo it. In fact he scolds me if I go over my exercises by even one minute." she smiled re-assuringly.

Don Alejandro sighed softly. "I know you're being careful. I guess I just don't want you and Diego to go through the pain of losing a child." his voice wavered slightly.

She felt a wave of compassion surge over her; it wasn't often that she saw this strong and proud man admit to pain and grief. She wrapped her good arm around his waist and hugged him. "I hope we don't either father but if we do, we know that you'll be there for us."

Don Alejandro fought back hot tears at the memory of the three miscarriages his beloved wife had suffered before the final pregnancy which had claimed her life and their baby girl. He held tight to Victoria. "I'll always be there for you." he whispered hoarsely as he allowed himself a moment more to take the comfort she was so willing to give to him before he pulled back. "Come, it's time to say our goodbyes to Felipe." he said.

Victoria nodded and smiled. "So this is his first trip away on his own."

Don Alejandro chuckled as they walked out of the suite of rooms and down the corridor and towards the front door. "Si, he's excited to be going on his own but I guess he is anxious too. It's not everyday you're summoned to the Alcalde's office in Santa Barbara."

She nodded. "Do you think that he might get the position?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Possibly but even if he doesn't, then at least he won't be asking himself the old 'what if' questions."

"That's true, we've all had those moments of wondering what would have happened if we had done it differently." she replied as they walked outside where Felipe and Diego were standing by Felipe's horse.

"Do you have everything Felipe?" Don Alejandro asked his grandson.

Felipe turned and smiled. "I hope so."

"Good, good." Don Alejandro replied as the younger man mounted his mare.

"Don't get into any trouble son." Diego said with a teasing smile.

Felipe chuckled as he settled into his saddle. "Isn't that more you, than me, father."

Diego chuckled as well and shook his head "Just take care of yourself and we'll see you in about a week."

Felipe nodded as he pulled on the reins. "I will father. Adios."

"Adios." they replied as they watched the young man urged his mare out of the gate and towards the road that led to Santa Barbara.

Diego let out a small sigh, he should be going with his son in case anything should go wrong but he knew it was time for Felipe to be his own man, to make his own decisions, to go out on his own into the world.

"It's hard to let go, isn't son?" Don Alejandro said as he placed his hand on Diego's shoulder. "He'll be fine Diego, he's got a good head on his shoulders. And besides it's only a couple days ride to Santa Barbara and then he'll be staying with Francisco."

Diego sighed again and turned to look at his father. "Does it get any easier?"

Don Alejandro grinned and shook his head. "Not really, especially when one's child grows up to be an outlaw with a price on his head." Even though Don Alejandro's voice reflected his teasing, there was still an undercurrent of worry that never leaves a parent, no matter what the age of their child.

Diego heard it for what it was. "I did give you cause to worry, didn't I?" he said somewhat apologetically.

The older man squeezed his son's arm. "I can't deny that Diego, but I understand it."

The two men shared a look of understanding; each accepting and forgiving past hurts.

Victoria watched father and son with tears brimming in her eyes at the love between the two men; a love that had always been there, even when Don Alejandro was frustrated over his son's so called lack of action.

Diego turned and saw his wife watching them with a warm look of love towards himself and his father and he felt another wave of love surge over him for the woman in front of him. He still couldn't believe how fortunately he was to be married to the woman he loved and he didn't want to think what his life would have been like if she had not survived the shooting.

He cleared his throat. "I'm glad that you're both here. I've finished with the model I made and I want to show you." he said as they walked inside the hacienda.

"That was fast son." Don Alejandro said as they moved to the library.

Diego nodded. "True but it's only a model and not the real thing. If you just wait here, I'll get it." he said as he pressed the hidden latch and quickly stepped through into the passage.

Victoria stood quietly in the library unsure of what she was feeling; nervousness, fear, uncertainty and even a little excited, more for Diego's sake than her own; she couldn't help but notice how eager he was to show them what he had made.

"Are you okay my dear?" Don Alejandro asked quietly.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I guess it's just becoming more real now. Before it was just an idea, something that would happen in the future and now..." she stopped unsure if she was making any sense.

He gave her a re-assuring smile. "I understand..." he stopped as Diego came through the hidden panel carrying a large item in his hand.

Diego was anxious, he had put a lot of work into this model and he hoped that she would see how it could help her.

"So this is it then?" Victoria asked with her eyes glued to the item in Diego's hand and felt a twinge of revulsion as she saw the wooden arm but it was pushed away as her natural curiosity overcame her reluctance.

The wood itself was a dark colour and she saw that he had created a hand, with fingers that were slightly spaced apart and she knew that it would have taken him a lot of the time just to carve the fingers out of the wood, let alone work on the rest of the arm and her respect for his talents grew further. She noticed that the hand was attached to the wrist and she wondered if it could move in some way. Further up was the joint where the elbow would be if it had been a true arm and it was this part that seemed to have a number of short metal latches, almost like a door hinge, that connected the forearm and the upper arm to allow it to bend and then at the top were two leather straps that would attach to her arm or shoulder in some way.

Diego was watching his wife carefully as she examined the arm, looking for any kind of revulsion or hatred or distrust of something so different like this prosthetic arm and except for her initial reaction to it, which was perfectly understandable, she seemed willing to accept it for what it was; something to make her life a little more easier. But it was his father who made the first comments.

"You've done a good job son but it does look a little heavy for Victoria."

Diego nodded. "That's true but I made this from a heavier but a more pliable wood than willow. But remember father, this is just a model and not for Victoria to use and it's far from perfect." he replied.

Don Alejandro nodded. "Of course."

Their comments made Victoria come out of her trance like stare at the arm and she looked up at her husband. "How does it work?" she asked.

He smiled at her willingness. "Lets sit down and I'll show you." he said as he guided her to the lounge and he sat down beside her while Don Alejandro sat on the chair opposite them.

"Okay we'll start with the hand itself. The fingers can't move, I think it would be too hard to do it but the wrist can move but only slightly and it can be done like this but I must warn you that it will look strange." He said as he gently twisted the hand until a slight clunk was heard as it locked into place. "It can only be moved once and then back again. I didn't know how much movement you would need but this position is more for when the arm is bent and you have the palm turned slightly upwards."

Victoria swallowed at the odd sight of the hand twisting in the opposite direction from the arm. "Isn't that going to be hard for me to do?"

Diego shrugged. "Possibly but I guess we won't know until we try it."

"Won't it break if it moves too often?" Don Alejandro asked, thoroughly enthralled by the device his son had created; there was still so much more to learn about his son, he mused to himself.

Again Diego shrugged. "I really don't know, I would imagine that over time it would wear down but before that happens, Victoria would have told me and I would make another."

Don Alejandro nodded. "That makes sense son."

"Okay, the next part is the elbow like joint. This isn't perfect and I'm not really happy with it but it's the best I could do. The blacksmith has offered to help make a better one and I will take him up on the offer, if you decide to go ahead with this."

Victoria frowned. "What's wrong with it, it looks fine to me." she said.

Diego shook his head. "It's this part where the movable joint is in between the forearm and the upper part. I can't get it to sit properly and when bent, the gap is too wide, see." He said as manipulated the arm to bend it. "This part here is too wide, it should only show a very small part of the metal workings not this gaping hole." he said with obvious frustration in his voice.

Both Victoria and Don Alejandro nodded as they saw what he meant. Although the gap wasn't as big as Diego was making it out to be but even they could tell that it wouldn't be safe to hold anything, let alone to cradle a baby in.

"Could it be the wood you're using? You said it was more pliable than what you would use to create the real one." Don Alejandro said.

Diego ran his fingers through his hair and nodded. "That's what the blacksmith believes too; that we need the stronger yet lighter wood and better placed metal pieces to keep it more closed."

Victoria smiled re-assuringly at her husband. "Diego, you have to remember that you've never done anything like this before and we don't expect it to be perfect and neither should you. I think you have done an amazing job considering that all you had to go by was some pictures and explanations in a couple of medical books."

Don Alejandro nodded. "I agree with Victoria, son. There might only be a handful of doctors in the whole of California who actually have experience with this and for you to create it on your own is amazing, don't give up now just because you can't get it right the first time you attempt it." He re-assured his son.

Diego felt humbled by their faith in him and he was determined not to let them down. "Thank you, both of you. I will keep trying, as long as you want this Victoria."

She gave him a quizzical look. "Of course I do, I would have said otherwise if I didn't. But show us how it would fit on my arm."

He smiled as he went back to his explanations and turned the arm around to show her the hollowed end where her stump would fit into. "This is deep enough to go over the end of your arm and these leather straps would then tie it to your shoulder. Obviously you will have to have some kind of covering over your skin otherwise it would rub directly against you and your skin could become inflamed by the harshness of the wood."

She nodded. "I can understand that." she paused for a moment as an idea came into her mind. "Can you place it on me now? Just to see what it looks like." she asked.

Diego frowned. "It is too heavy for you and it won't fit you either and I don't want to hurt you." he said.

Don Alejandro nodded. "I agree Victoria, it's not the right time."

Victoria frowned at the men. "Nonsense, there's no time like now. You say it's too heavy, then what if you take most of the weight in your hand instead. I really do want to know what it feels and looks like on me Diego." she said in a serious but quiet tone of voice.

Diego finally realised how serious his wife was and he couldn't really blame her for wanting to know. "Okay, we'll put it on but we'll take the weight from you. Father, I will need your help."

Don Alejandro immediately rose from his seat and stood in front of them. "Of course, what would you like me to do?"

"I will place the arm over Victoria first and then if you take the weight, I'll try to buckle the straps over her right shoulder." Diego replied as he shifted position on the lounge.

"What about me? What do you want me to do?" She asked.

Diego smiled softly. "You don't have to do anything." he replied as he shifted position again and as he held the wooden arm into position. "Move your arm slightly so I can slide this up and I want you to tell the moment you feel any kind of pain or discomfort."

"I will." she replied as she watched as Diego carefully manoeuvred the artificial arm into position over the end of her arm and had a sudden intake of breath.

Diego stopped immediately. "Victoria?"

She smiled. "It's okay Diego, it's just the sight of this, nothing more."

He looked into her eyes and saw the truth in them and trusted her to tell him if there was any pain. He continued until he dared not go any further. "Father, if you could please take the weight now."

"Of course son." Don Alejandro said as he moved forward and held the wooden arm where Diego told him, while the younger man quickly but efficiently pulled up the leather straps and buckled it.

"Mmm. it's a little too long but never mind." he muttered to himself. "Okay father, I'll take the weight again."

The two men jostled for position until Don Alejandro was back in his seat and Diego hold the weight of the arm in his hands. "So how does it feel?"

Victoria felt strange as she looked down at the arm that was attached to her; she couldn't really feel the weight but it did feel tight over her upper arm, probably because of her clothing. She reached out with her good hand and gently touched the wood. "It is very strange Diego." she said softly as she experimentally moved her shoulder but she couldn't move it until Diego moved the arm for her.

"It's okay Victoria, you're not meant to be able to move it until you are more used to it." he re-assured her.

She nodded. "I know and that's what the exercises are for. You know, I may not even be able to move it all, no matter what I do or how light it will be." she said softly.

He nodded. "Yes, that is a real possibility but you won't know until you try. Now lets this off you, father if you could undo the buckles."

Don Alejandro nodded as he crossed over to them once more and unbuckled the straps and then Diego carefully removed the wooden limb from her.

"You know Diego, you should take this with you when you go to Santa Barbara and then you can show that doctor what you've done and get his professional opinion." Don Alejandro said.

Diego raised an eyebrow in surprise, he should have thought of that himself. "That's a good idea father, I'll just do that."