Author's note: Despite the fact that it goes slightly against the timeline of "The Arrangement" as written, I have always felt that Don Sebastian must have asked Victoria if she was willing to marry John before he presented the idea to him. As he himself said, his daughter is "independent" with a mind like a "wild horse." He couldn't have afforded to play his hand without her assent. I will probably add more to this at some point; the marriage ceremony itself and what must have been its' attendant anxieties for all. But I will post it as a separate story...mostly just because I am so inept as posting multi chapter stories. And I can't say enough about how much it means to see and...sometimes hear...that people are reading and even enjoying these stories. Muchos gracias.

Strangers at the Gate

For Victoria, news that two gringos would be joining she and her father for dinner was almost as interesting as the fact that Manolito had arrived with them. Her brother's frequent absences were difficult for her. Simply by virtue of being male, he could...and often did... just get up and leave - to explore, drink, carouse and lord knows what else. It meant that she was often alone with her father. Oh, she wasn't completely trapped. She could take the occasional chaperoned trip to Mexico City, or visit friends who lived within a day or two. She had even done the European tour. But that was several year ago now, and the sheer vastness of Rancho Montoya, her dependence on male companionship to go almost anywhere, and the lack of female company, other than servants, meant she often felt her isolation...and even loneliness...keenly.

So she had not spared Mano her frustration with him when he came up stairs to wash up and change for dinner.

"I don't think there is enough time...or soap...in the world to get off that filth!" she exclaimed when she saw him. "Look at you! I have seen pigs in the sty cleaner than you! I don't dare get close to you...the smell might knock me down!"

"Ah...chica...don't yell. I already brought you a very fine horse and now I have brought human guests as well."

"So Julia tells me." She softened just a bit. "Who are they? Why are they here?"

Mano shrugged. "A couple of gringos. Brothers. John and Buck Cannon. They have the Rivera place now."

"But why are they here? What are they like?"

Mano shrugged again. "I'm sure they need something from Papa. And they are like gringos...only..." he paused...interesting gringos..."

"Interesting?" How interesting?"

"Victoria, please...I have to go...you are right. It will take some time to get all this dirt off...maybe more time than I have. And you will see soon enough."

And with that Mano disappeared into his room leaving Victoria to look forward to this particular dinner, if only for its sheer novelty.

A few hours later as she swept into the dining room on Mano's arm, she had her first look at the strangers, who, along with her father had risen to their feet as she entered. She was so interested in them she barely bothered to spare a frown when Mano introduced her as "my old maid sister."

The man across the table, who was introduced as Buck Cannon, was dressed all in black, and managed to look slightly abashed when introduced, and immediately disappeared back in to his wine after, "Mucho gusto." But she liked his face. It was open, and kind.

The other one, John, was to her left, as she sat. And the first thing she noticed about him, after his considerable height, were his eyes; they were a complex blue, set deep behind high, slightly slanted cheekbones. She felt the slightest of flutters in her stomach. She could also tell though, this was a man more closed off; harder than his brother.

When she made her offer to return the horse Mano had stolen from him, (something her brother confessed as they made their way to the dining room), and he graciously refused the offer, his curtesy, but mostly the deep rumble...almost a growl... in his voice, increased the flutter.

And when he explained the dream that had brought him here, she listened to every word, and felt...envy? Yes, envy, she realized with astonishment. The dream he outlined sounded so full of promise; the promise of a life of both great risk and tremendous reward. It must be wonderful to try and live such a dream, she thought.

And the way he described and fought for the benefits of a mutual defense pact; the logic of it and the way he held his ground against her father, further increased her interest.

After dinner, they went into the drawing room, where, over coffee, Don Sebastian brought out maps of his ranch and the surrounding area and showed them to the Cannon brothers. The two were suitably impressed by the maps' details. Soon a 'lively' discussion of water and water holes and which were on whose property ensued.

Victoria and Mano were left to their own conversation.

"Do you think he means it? About living with the Apache?"

Mano thought for a moment and then said, "I think he is a man who always means what he says. Of course," he added, "that doesn't mean the Apache...or the Pimas...or any of the others have any interest in what he says."

Don Sebastian finally brought the squabble over water to a halt with a wave of his hand. "Come, have some brandy. And we are ignoring Victoria. And Manolito….who deserves to be ignored."

Mano bowed in return and took a glass from his father.

Buck gratefully accepted a glass from the Don and finally John took one...and promptly offered it to Victoria, with a polite smile.

"Oh thank you Senor Cannon!" Don Sebastian exclaimed, with a shrewd glance at John and then his daughter. "Living in this wilderness, I am afraid I forget my manners some times. It is probably Mano's fault."

"Isn't it everything …always ...Papa?" Manolito asked cheerfully.

"Thank you," Victoria said, demurely. John started to turn away but at the last second, his eyes locked onto Victoria with a force that caused the butterflies to vacate her stomach and take up residence further down.

Quickly now, he did turn away. "Thank you for dinner, Don Sebastian, but Buck and I have had a very long hard couple of days. I think we should retire."

"Yes, of course. Rudolfo will show you to your rooms. And you and I" he said, nodding to John, "will speak further tomorrow."

Buck looked sorrowfully at his empty glass and after both he and John made rather perfunctory good nights, they followed Rudolph upstairs, the Don watching them go.

The three Montoyas stood in silence for a while.

Finally Manolito cocked his head at his father. "What are you plotting?"

The Don smiled. "I don't know yet, but I am sure something will come to me. Come, Victoria...play for us for awhile. And then I think we all should retire as well."

In the morning, after breakfast, and despite the fact that John was clearly chafing at the bit to get his answer from Don Sebastian, the Don insisted...rather forcefully...that Mano take John and Buck on a tour of the stables...and even some of the closer cattle holding pens. He wanted them, he claimed, to see some of his fine horse and cattle breeding stock.

After they left, with John visibly, if silently fuming, Don Sebastian said to his daughter, "Come...walk with me in the garden."

"Ah," he said, as they finished a circuit, "I should do this more often. I forget how lovely and cool it is this time of day. Here," he indicated a bench near the fountain. "Let's sit."

Obediently, Victoria sat down. The Don sat next to her, but almost immediately go to his feet.

"Tell me, what do you think of our visitors?"

Victoria twirled her parasol. "Oh, I don't know. I barely know them. Are you going to do business with them?"

"Perhaps." Don Sebastian began to pace, just a bit. A sign, as Victoria knew well, that he was feeling unsure. A rare occurrence.

"Actually," he continued, "even before they came here I had been making some inquiries of this John Cannon."

"Oh?"

"Well...they are to be our neighbors after all. And there were some incidents …. not important but I wanted to know the type of man I was up against… or was to be our neighbor….or both," he finished a bit awkwardly.

Victoria said nothing. She was frankly enjoying her father's discomfort.

"He is from Missouri...or one of those other middle of nowhere American places," the Don plunged on. He came with his wife," and the Don noted the slightest flicker of something?...on his daughter's otherwise politely interested face. "There is a son…a young man...but the wife was killed in an Apache raid." Again he noticed that flicker. "Quite recently."

"That is very sad."

"Yes of course." The Don hurried on. "Everyone seems to find him a good man … an impressive man. He is running the Rivera ranch very well...much better than Rivera ever did."

There was an awkward silence.

Don Sebastian sat again next to his daughter. "Victoria?"

"Si, Papa?"

"Listen to me. You should be married. It is time. Past time."

Victoria started to laugh. "Papa…what has that to do…?" Her laugh stopped in her throat. She stared at her father in utter amazement. And then with something quite different. A kind of cool discernment.

"I ...we…need to make an arrangement with this man. Even Rancho Montoya cannot withstand the constant Apache raids and attacks from bandits of every kind...from every direction. He proposes a sort of mutual defense pact. I think it is a good idea. A smart idea. But, how do I know I can trust him? With an alliance of family between..."

"And I am to be the price of that alliance? My, Papa...how you value me." A touch of scorn bled through her studied cool.

"You know I value you above all, my daughter."

"But you are willing to sacrifice me on an altar...literally….for the sake of our ranch? Like some Roman god?" The scorn was increasing. But the Don knew his daughter well enough to mark that it was only scorn. Not fury. Not wild indignation. And most importantly, not outright refusal. The woman who sat next to him looked eerily calm.

"And besides," she continued, in a slightly different tone, "have you even approached him about this? He may want an agreement, but does he want a wife?"

"Well, no… I have not asked him yet...but he needs this arrangement very badly. I do not think he is the kind of man to be so foolish to turn down such valuable pact, as well as," and here the Don turned on the full force of his charm, "the hand of such a beautiful young woman."

Both family history and current circumstance made Victoria immune to her father's attempt at charm.

"I need time to think," she said coldly.

The Don was startled by her response. In truth he had spun this web with no idea of how those caught in it might react. But his daughter's calm made him wary. "Ah, yes," he said a bit nervously, "but I told him I would have a reply soon...today. And I do not know how much longer Mano can make the stable seem interesting."

Victoria gave a small laugh as she stood. "Wait here," she told her father. It was a command, not a request.

She walked away on the same circuit through the garden that she and her father had just completed. Though it had been only a few minutes ago when they sat, it seemed to her a lifetime had passed. She knew her father had been surprised and thrown by her calm demeanor….good...but that was just the outside. Inside, her heart was pounding and her mind was beyond racing...it was in chaos. She wondered briefly if she might faint...decided she wasn't and put one foot ahead of the other on the path.

She was furious at her father. The very idea that he was treating her as a kind of chattel to be traded like so much livestock was enraging. The very idea that he thought he COULD do such a thing was even more infuriating. But, for now, she pushed that aside. She had to, to get to the more important question before her. Why had she not exploded at the very first indication of this outrageous plan? Why had she not just said, NO! Shock and surprise of course, but there was more to it than that. She knew, whatever it's guise, what he father proposed was an opportunity for her...it might be a trap as well…but it was a horizon expanding. The chance to get out from her father's loving, but still oppressive … and if she was honest...lonely... home, held tantalizing appeal. To be in charge of her own hacienda...mistress of her own home...

Ah yes...but to have that she had to have a husband too. This husband… John Cannon...a man she hardly knew. No, not hardly...a man she didn't know at all. She could tell he was a hard man; for all she knew he might be a cruel one as well. But she did not think so. She trusted in her own judgement and she did not think that. Perhaps that was foolish. But just thinking about such a marriage had brought the butterflies back. Were they butterflies of anxiety or attraction? Both, she thought. Because she was attracted to this stranger; she could not...did not want... to deny it. From the moment she first saw him. Attracted in a way that she had not experienced since her youth and in a way which she was beginning to think only truly existed in novels.

'Mrs. John Cannon' - she tried the name out in her mind. And, in the growing heat of the day, she shivered. She was drawing closer to where her father had remained seated near the fountain, gazing anxiously at her. What he proposed...what she was considering... was a frightening leap into the unknown… but this unknown called to her. And she was no less a Montoya than her father or brother; she had the self belief and courage to forge her own path. And whether through divine intervention or sheer coincidence a door to that path had opened. She had to step through.

Her father rose as she arrived back at the bench. "Very well. If he agrees, I will marry him."

THE END (for now)