Chapter 20
On Thursday morning, Victoria brought the alcalde his morning coffee at the tavern as usual.
"Señorita Victoria, I heard what happened in the tavern," de Soto smirked.
Though she guessed what it was about, she feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you're talking about, Alcalde."
"Don Diego owns the tavern now, and he made clear that you are his servant now." De Soto couldn't refrain to tell her.
"At least, I still have my work," she countered. "It could be worse if someone else had bought the tavern and told me to leave. The de la Vegas treat their servants fair, and I will have more security than if I were on my own."
"So you will continue working in the tavern even though it's no longer yours?"
"There's nothing else I can do. I'm neither a man who can do as he likes nor do I have the money to go to Spain and buy me a spouse. Who knows maybe the man who gets the money from my tavern will exactly do that and become a nobleman in Spain with my money," she said angrily. "Those who can will go back to Spain before Mexico takes over and all the others will have to remain here."
Victoria noticed the alcalde pondering about it as she left his table, hoping her remarks were pushing him in the right direction. As planned, Diego entered the tavern a few minutes later, after waiting in his newspaper office for the alcalde to walk over to the tavern before coming too.
"Good morning, Diego," Victoria greeted him. "A coffee as usual?"
"Good morning, to you too," he walked over to the bar where Victoria was standing. "A coffee would be nice."
As Victoria headed for the kitchen to coffee for him, Diego turned around to face the other customers in the room.
"Are you here again to inspect your property and supervise your servants?" the alcalde smirked. "Haven't you checked all the books already?"
"I read enough to be sure I made a good investment," Diego replied, "though there will be some changes to make this more profitable."
"What kind of changes?" Victoria asked, placing his coffee in front of him on the top of the bar, though they had already discussed this privately.
"The tavern should be better equipped to accommodate families that are traveling through Los Angeles, therefore a larger room is needed."
"I only have one large room. What do you want to do? Make a big room out of two others?"
"There is another room – the one that you occupy," Diego stated.
"You want me to move out of my room? But it's mine! Where should I stay?"
"I want you to move into the small room near the kitchen."
"But that's only a storage room, and there's no place for a bed inside," she objected.
"The storage room and your room will have to be modified and newly equipped for their new purposes. I have already talked to the carpenter to come over today and take measurements. In the meantime you can stay at the hacienda until the remodeling is complete. I'll tell the servants to get the room ready for you tonight."
"Tonight? You want me to move tonight?" Victoria asked genuinely surprised, as they hadn't discussed that.
"Yes, the sooner the carpenter can start, the better. I'll send a servant to help you to put your stuff on your cart later," Diego confirmed, "but now I must be on my way to San Pedro before it starts raining. There is a ship from Spain at the harbor, and I don't want to miss it before it's returning to Cadiz on Saturday. I need to send some mail to friends and family, and I don't want to risk it with the next ship in June."
"What's wrong with the next ship?" Victoria asked on cue.
"As you probably know, when it's summer here in California, it's winter in the southern part of the continent. The voyage around Cape Hoorn is always dangerous due to the fierce winds and dangerous seas, but in winter it's even worse with icebergs and bad weather. The next ship may no make it around the cape. Don't you agree, alcalde?" Diego addressed him. When the alcalde didn't answer while swallowing his drink, Diego continued instead. "But I remember, you arrived here in winter, so you took the voyage when it was summer at Cape Hoorn, wasn't it so? You took the safe travel time."
"Yes, it was summer at the Cape when I rounded it, but I don't know why this should be of your concern, Don Diego," the alcalde replied, angrily after he could speak again. "Don't you think you should rather care of your own business? The money for the tavern is still in my safe, and you don't have the deed for the tavern from the bank and any rights to the tavern yet."
"I'm sure the money is safe with you and your soldiers until I can take it to the bank in Santa Paula on Monday. Since Victoria has agreed to the sale, getting the deed is only a formality, and the sooner I can start the remodeling the better," Diego said. "I'll see you in the evening, Victoria." With a short nod, he left the tavern.
"Don Diego thinks he has made a good investment, Señorita Victoria. Do you still think so too?" the alcalde smirked. "Now you are his servant and will have to give up your room?"
"This is none of your business, Alcalde," Victoria rebuked him. "Why don't you take care of your own? What about the bounty money for Zorro? Haven't you found it yet? I think I may remember what Zorro told me about its hiding place in your office."
"You do? Where is it?" the alcalde asked, interested.
"I'm not sure. I have to see it," Victoria said evasively.
"It would be very nice if you could come over to office and have a look," the alcalde said pleasantly, putting a several coins on the table, much more than amount he normally paid for his coffee.
"I have to think about it," Victoria said.
"You would do the pueblo a great favor if you helped to retrieve what should belong to the public," the alcalde stated,
"I'll have a look," Victoria agreed, as she cleared the table and took the coins.
Z~Z~Z
Together with the alcalde Victoria walked over to the alcalde's office where Mendoza was sitting in a chair on the porch pretending to guard while he was in fact dozing.
"Mendoza! Are you sleeping again?" The alcalde called him out, forcing the surprised sergeant to wake up suddenly and sit straight in his chair.
"I wasn't sleeping, Alcalde," he stammered, "only looking down."
"I think I saw a rattlesnake a few days ago," Victoria said. "It's always good to be on the lookout for them."
"Rattlesnakes? In the pueblo?" the sergeant looked nervously at his feet, ready to jump if he saw one.
"There is no rattlesnake, Mendoza," the alcalde chided him. "You need to come inside now. The Señorita agreed to show us where the late alcalde has hidden the bounty money for Zorro."
"Do you know where it is, Señorita Victoria?" Mendoza asked, surprised. "Why didn't you ever say something?"
"I didn't know it wasn't in the safe, until I had a look inside. And why should I be interested in Zorro's bounty money when nobody could catch him anyway? But since he's gone, the money should go to the pueblo and help the people."
Followed by the two men, Victoria walked into the office and stopped in front of the desk. Looking around she did a full turn on the spot. "I don't know exactly where the hiding place is. Zorro only mentioned it once to me. He said the late alcalde hid it where he could keep it in his sight. Did you already look for it here in the office?"
"Yes, I did," the alcalde admitted grudgingly.
"I don't think it's in the office but rather in the bedroom where he could guard it at night," Victoria said, proceeding to the next room where the alcalde's bed was located in the center.
"If it were in one of the wardrobes, the alcalde would have found it by now, so I think it has to be hidden under the floor next to the bed."
She walked near the bed and stomped a little on the floor. "This sounds hollow."
The two men pushed the rug away and knelt down on the floor to examine the wooden boards. "I don't see anything," the alcalde said.
"But it has to be here somewhere," Victoria insisted, walking to the other side of the bed. "Maybe here?" She walked over to another part of the room where the wooden floor was visibly uneven and one board was dented.
Before the alcalde could object more, the sergeant grabbed a rifle and hit on the floor with the broad end, leaving a big hole in the floor next to the bed. He knelt down and removed the board that was now broken. "There's nothing inside. No money, only dust." Mendoza lifted his head and sneezed loudly.
"Mendoza, what have you done! You made a hole in the floor! And for what? For nothing," the alcalde fumed. "I don't even believe you have an idea where the money is, Señorita."
"I know it has to be here," Victoria defended herself.
"I don't care anymore. Make sure the floor is fixed tonight, Mendoza. I will ride to the harbor too. There could be important messages from Madrid, and I don't trust those lazy post coaches to take care of it in time."
"Si, mi Alcalde," Mendoza said miserably.
"We can simply move the rug, so it covers the hole," Victoria suggested. "The alcalde won't notice."
"That's a good idea. I will call my men to help me."
"But what about the money?" Victoria asked. "Are you giving up so easily?"
"I don't want to destroy more of the floor."
"Yes, I understand that but think of the pueblo. The alcalde could rise your pay, and you could eat in the tavern more often."
"More money for the soldiers? That would be...," Mendoza stroked his belly. "delicious."
"If the money is not in the floor, it has to in the ceiling," Victoria declared.
"Why in the ceiling?" Mendoza asked, confused.
"Because Ramone wanted to keep it in his sight, so when he was lying in his bed, he could look at it."
"That makes sense, Señorita."
"You need to send up your men and check the roof," she demanded, pointing up from the bed, "exactly there."
"Won't the roof tiles break if my men walk on them?"
"What is more important, a few broken tiles or 6000 pesos?"
Giving in, the sergeant sent a few of his men to climb on the roof and check for the money there as Victoria requested. The men didn't find anything, leaving Mendoza miserable because now his men had broken the roof tiles with their heavy boots, and in addition some tiles slid from the roof and shattered on the ground, leaving a big hole in the roof over the alcalde's bed.
"It will be alright, Mendoza. The alcalde won't notice it when he goes to bed at night, and Zorro no longer roams the roof tops either to pay him a visit," Victoria assured him, hoping Diego was right with prognosis of the weather and everything went according to plan.
A/N: Did you note what Diego said about the weather? :)