Don Alejandro arrived in Mexico City a little over six weeks after his departure from Los Angeles and headed straight for his son's house, rehearsing in his mind the speech he was going to make, a speech about fatherhood, mistakes, regrets, words said in anger and, most of all, family and its many forms. Knocking on the door, he was surprised to find another servant opening instead of the faithful old Ernesto, whom the don had grown fond of during his previous stay there.
"I am Don Alejandro de la Vega." He said. "I am here to see my son, Don Diego Sánchez."
The servant looked at him with some confusion. "I am sorry, senor, but Don Diego Sánchez is no longer living here. He rented out the house to my master and moved to California. He left almost three months ago, when we moved in."
"He…He what?" Don Alejandro asked in disbelief.
"As I told you, senor, he moved to California." The servant repeated.
Don Alejandro might have had a second heart attack at that point, had Doctor Hernandez not put him on a diet which had drastically reduced the chances of him getting another one. Baffled, he turned around, forgetting to take his goodbyes, and headed for the Azuela house across the street.
"Don Alejandro de la Vega? Is that you?" The doorman recognized him. "What are you doing here, senor?"
"Buenas tardes! I would like to speak to Miguel. Please let him know I am here." He uttered.
"The Commander and his family all moved to California when your son left. Didn't he tell you?" The servant informed him.
"They did? When Diego left?"
"Si, senor!"
"I see…" Don Alejandro uttered and left in a similar manner, heading to the house of the Fuentes.
"My masters are not here, senor!" Their doorman told him. "They left last week for California to visit their daughter."
"Of course they did…" Was all Don Alejandro was able to say, as he felt like he had walked into a bad joke. He had come to Mexico City to bring his son to California and his son had gone to California to meet him there. Reluctantly, he headed for Diego's favorite tavern/inn where the owner was more than happy to accommodate him as soon as he recognized him, refusing any sort of payment for his services and hurrying his wife to get him a free dinner.
"I sure miss your son, Don Alejandro!" He told him. "I was very sorry he decided to leave us. This city is not the same without him! It's all the President's fault."
"The President's? Why?" Don Alejandro asked.
"Well…Because he's the one who insisted on Don Diego going to California. He said he was needed there. Like we don't need him here, as well! On the other hand, I can only imagine how proud you must be of him!"
"Of course I am proud of him!" Don Alejandro replied instinctively. "I have always been proud of him! I just didn't tell him often enough…"
"Yes, but now that he is Governor, I imagine you must be extra proud."
"Governor? Diego?" Don Alejandro asked as his eyes grew bigger.
"Si, senor!" The tavern owner assured him, wondering how come the old don seemed surprised at hearing the news. "It's why he went to Monterey. And Comandante Azuela went with him as Commander of his Guards."
At this point, Don Alejandro's shock gave space to amusement and he found himself chuckling at the thought of Zorro now being Governor, then another thought crossed his mind. So he did not return to Los Angeles. It was not him, nor Victoria, certainly not their child he went there to be with, he considered as his expression turned sad again. At least he is in California! He thought and finally allowed himself to rejoice at the idea.
He left the next day, bound to return home with the first available ship, hoping it was heading for Monterey, but settled to return to San Pedro, instead, in an effort to avoid another delay.
Arriving home, three and a half months after he had left, he found his house empty of the sound he loved to hear, the sound of a child running, and playing, and joyfully screaming while at it. Instead, he found Victoria on the brink of madness, lying still in her bed, while a puffy-eyed Anita was doing her best to get her to eat something.
"What happened?" He asked with a profound sense of dread when he saw them.
Victoria just stared at him and then out the window as Anita raised to her feet with a startle. Glancing at Victoria for a few seconds, she accompanied Don Alejandro out of the room.
"What's wrong, Anita?" He insisted.
Anita had been crying and her tears started falling again as she asked the old don to take a seat.
"What's wrong?" Don Alejandro repeated, on the brink of crying himself, but not yet sure as to why.
"It's your granddaughter, Don Alejandro." She began, doing her best to control her sobbing. "A little over three months ago, just a few days after you left, she started feeling ill. Her health deteriorated rapidly and Doctor Hernandez said there was nothing he could do for her. He said she was going to die."
"No! Dios, no!" Don Alejandro let out a cry.
"Victoria wouldn't accept that, of course, so she spent days going through Don Diego's notebooks and, when she didn't find anything helpful, she started asking around. That's how she heard about a new doctor in San Jose who said he had some concoction which could cure all ailments, so she took Juan and her daughter and went to see him. She just wanted to save her, Don Alejandro!"
"Of course! So? What happened? Did the doctor help?" He asked anxiously.
"They never made it. We had no idea what had happened until a few days ago, when they returned. She has been like this ever since."
"I don't understand. For God's sake, woman! Tell me where my granddaughter is!"
"We don't know. Nobody knows what became of her. They were attacked by bandits, Don Alejandro, some forty miles north of Santa Barbara, and left for dead. The monks of La Purisima nursed them back to health but they were both unconscious for a long time. Jorje found out that two men had taken them to the Mission when they had been injured, but there was no child with them, and they left the next morning. All the monks knew about the men was that they were heading for San Pedro.
When they got well enough, Victoria and Juan searched for her in the area where they were attacked, but nobody had seen her and no one knew anything about her. We don't know what became of her…but she was severely ill by the time they left, Don Alejandro. She wasn't eating and she was throwing up blood…"
"You're telling me that my granddaughter is dead?!" Don Alejandro stated, rather than asked.
"Juan said she was unconscious the last day of the trip and they were already fearing she was not going to survive to get to San Jose. Even if somebody took her and cared for her, chances are…. I am so sorry! I couldn't do anything!" She exclaimed, her tears invading her eyes as she slid on the wall and to the floor.
Ignoring the young woman's latest outburst of grief, Don Alejandro exited the hacienda and headed for Los Angeles at full gallop, unable to cry because part of him refused to believe that the little wonder he came to love more than he loved his son was actually gone forever, taken by an unforgiving God, who seemed determined to punish his family for some offense they'd never even known to have committed.
"Sergeant Mendoza!" He shouted at seeing the man crossing the plaza. "Why are you not out, looking for my granddaughter, Sergeant?"
The Lieutenant stopped in his tracks and looked at the grief-stricken don who got off his Dulcinea and headed for him. "I am so sorry, Don Alejandro. My men just informed me two days ago about the attack on Jose and Senorita Victoria, but we've been on patrol from dusk till dawn and were unable to organize a search party yet." The man apologized, trying to avoid telling him that nobody believed there was any hope to find the little girl alive.
"My granddaughter is missing, Sergeant! I left her healthy and I expect her to be returned to me in the same condition!" He said, irrationally thinking that the lancer could do something or was somehow responsible for the safe return of the child.
"Forgive me for saying so, Don Alejandro" Mendoza stated, realizing how distressed the man was. "but, if there is a man who can find her after all this time, that man is her father…the Governor."
"The Governor…Diego is the new Governor." He stated, as if just remembering that piece of information.
"Si, Don Alejandro. I saw him in Monterey a few weeks ago. I also saw his wife and your grandson." He uttered, thinking that the idea he had another descendent would help the don overcome the grief of losing the one he had helped rising.
"My grandson? Yes…my grandson. His son."
"A fine boy. Very good-looking…"
Don Alejandro's rage suddenly subsided, at the realization he had a grandson from Diego, one he had never seen; then grief re-invaded his heart at the thought of that boy never knowing his sister.
"You are right, Sergeant." He replied to a previous statement, turning to mount his mare and return to the hacienda. For the entire duration of the ride there, the thought of his son being back in California spanned around in his head. He entered the house and slowly made his way towards Victoria's room, knocking on the door and, after being permitted in, fell into an armchair, his head rested on his hands, still deep in thought.
"She is not dead." Victoria told him when she saw his state. "My baby is not dead. I can feel her. I just don't know how to get to her."
Don Alejandro looked at the taverness and, seeing the determination in her eyes, her conviction that somehow, by some miracle, her daughter must still be alive, he made up his mind. "I will ride to Monterey." He stated.
"You believe she is there?" She asked without thinking.
"No. No, my dear. But Diego is. If anyone can find her, it's him."
"Diego is in Monterey?" Victoria wondered as if suddenly awaken from a bad dream.
"I told you about it, Victoria." Anita uttered. "He is the new Governor, remember? Mendoza saw him and his fa..."
Victoria looked at her inquisitively as if she had no idea what the younger woman was talking about, then took a few minutes to think.
"I am coming with you." She told Don Alejandro, growing more responsive by the minute as she suddenly found her hope renewed. If somebody could give her back that beautiful angel of hers, it was the man who had given her her baby in the first place, she thought.
"That might not be a good idea, my dear, especially in your current state. It would be better if you stayed here and wait for my news." Don Alejandro said.
"I need to. I need to come. I need to see him. I can convince him to go look for her. He will find her. He must find her!" Victoria stated and, seeing how she suddenly transformed in front of his eyes, Don Alejandro found himself agreeing to her decision.
"I will take some of my men and we'll leave tomorrow. And if Diego won't do anything, we will find her ourselves." He stated.
ZZZ
Felipe was having a good day. He had successfully argued in defense of a farmer who had been erroneously accused of theft and murder, and had won the process. It had been his first major case since starting his career as a lawyer, a few months before and the feeling that came with the win reminded him of the time spent helping Zorro in his fight for justice.
Returning to his office, he found an envelope which had recently arrived from Santa Paula. The Annulment he thought as he opened it to confirm he was right.
Minutes later, he took out some more papers from his desk, putting them on top of the one he had just received, and went over them, just as Don Luis Cristobal had done once, years before, when Diego was adopting him. Among the documents, he found the decision on the name change and glanced at it. Inadvertently, his eyes fell on the bottom right corner of the Annulment decision, which was right underneath the document he was reading. His eyes returned to the decision on the name change, searching its own bottom-right corner, then back to the Annulment, until he proceeded in taking it out and placed the two documents side-by-side, as if to compare them.
"Madre de Dios!" He uttered and, folding the two documents and taking them with him, he headed for the Church.
When he returned home that evening, much later than normal, after taking a lot of time to think things through, full of doubts and questions, he headed for his father's quarters. His rooms were empty and so was his office, so he made his way to Elena's room, thinking that Diego was probably with her, reading. Not hearing any voices, he silently opened the door to find the two asleep, the little girl cuddled in his father's arms. Smiling at that beautiful picture, Felipe headed for his own room, decided that a good night's sleep could help him put things in a new perspective.
ZZZ
Diego woke up at his normal hour and looked down at the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, nestling in his arms. He was still wearing the same suit he had worn a day earlier and he felt he needed a bath, but dared not move, so he remained there, staring at her.
Elena woke up about an hour later and, after deciding it was too cold a day to eat breakfast on the terrace, father, son, and soon-to-be-adopted-daughter headed for the dining room, where the food was already waiting.
"I need to talk to you about something, father!" Felipe uttered as Diego was cutting an apple for Elena.
"I'm all ears!" He stated.
"Smaier!" Elena ordered and Diego complied, cutting the fruit pieces smaller and handing her the plate to eat.
"I received yesterday your Annulment Decision." The son tried to inform him but his father didn't react since he was now busy catching or ducking the pieces of apple a joyful Elena was throwing at him with perfect accuracy. "Perhaps we should talk about this later." He told him, realizing he wasn't paying attention.
"What was that?" Diego questioned.
"I said we should postpone the discussion we need to have," Felipe stated, also ducking a piece of apple thrown by Elena in his direction.
"Elena!" Diego said as he caught a few more pieces and ate them himself. "That is not ladylike behavior, sunshine!" He informed her as his son chuckled at the idea of seeing his future sister behaving like a tamed young lady. It seemed as out of character for her, given her feisty and inquisitive nature, as his own father's former cowardly disguise had once seemed. No. This one's no lady! She's a warrior princess and we are all going to live under her rule! He thought with some amusement.
About an hour later, after Elena stopped playing with her food, rearranged Diego's hair in a rather pointy shape that would only become fashionable over a century and a half later, did the same thing to Felipe's, climbed a wardrobe and ran circles around the room as the two men were trying to catch her, both suddenly feeling extremely old, Isabel eventually came to take the little girl to her quarters for her daily play session with Alejandrito.
After both men changed their clothes - which had met with some spilled liquids during the morning exercising routine in the dining room -, and rearranged their hair according to the fashion of their era, Felipe went to his father's office, intending to talk to him. Unfortunately, Diego was immersed in a conversation with the Alcalde of San Jose about a charlatan who had been pretending to be a doctor and had managed to poison some of his taxpayers before fleeing the pueblo with their hard-earned money. He, thus, postponed the conversation for that afternoon, considering it was not a bad idea to also discuss his worries with his partner, Senor Sada.
Around 11:30 a.m., the two men Diego had hired to go after his father in Mexico City arrived at the Palace, coming directly from the port, and requested an audience with the Governor to inform him that they had failed in their mission, but also to let him know that, according to their information, his father had safely boarded a ship headed for San Pedro. As for them, having also made the voyage by sea departing from San Pedro, only missed Don Alejandro's return by a day, and had boarded the next ship to Monterey, which left a week later but made excellent time due to the favorable wind. Diego thanked them for the news of his father's return and paid them the money he still owed for their services, thanking them for, at least, trying their best.
Felipe returned to the Palace at noon, after having had his fears confirmed by Senor Sada and passed by the two men on the exterior stairs, as he was heading to father's office. The outer covered hallway he entered at reaching the first floor offered a perfect view of the courtyard and Diego had many times taken advantage of it, leading on one of the pillars, arms folded across his chest, smiling at watching Elena and Alejandrito play. Glancing back from the hallway towards the two men, Felipe halted as he spotted Don Alejandro and Victoria entering the courtyard, in search of Diego.
The two pairs passed each other and Felipe saw, from behind a column, as the two men turned around to stare at Don Alejandro and his companion.
"It's you!" One of them stated, looking at Victoria. "And you!" He added looking at Don Alejandro.
The two turned to look at them inquisitively.
"Do I know you?" Victoria asked.
"You brought me that box, didn't you?" Don Alejandro stated.
"Yes!" The man replied to Don Alejandro's question. "And, I guess you wouldn't know us…You were unconscious at the time we found you."
"Found me? YOU found me! You are the men that took me to the Mission?"
"Si, senora. We are happy to see you alive! We weren't sure you and your husband would make it!"
"What husband? You mean Juan? He is not my husband." She stated.
"Did he make it?" The man asked.
"Yes. We both did!" She confirmed. "But my daughter was also with me. If you were the ones who found us, you must know what happened to her. Please, tell me!" She begged them, hopeful to finally have an answer.
"There was no child with you, senora. We were on our way to Mexico City to find the senor here" the man stated indicated towards Don Alejandro "when we stumbled upon you and the man who was with you, so we did not have a good look around because we were trying to stop you from bleeding out. But we would have seen a child if one was there, I believe…" The man stated as he started entertaining the possibility to have unwillingly left a child alone, abandoned in a field.
"We did pass a caravan heading north, coming from your direction." Said the one who hadn't yet spoken. "Perhaps they took her?"
Felipe was listening to the conversation incredulously, dots starting to connect in his mind.
"A caravan took my daughter? But she was ill! Why would they take her?" She questioned and at that very moment Felipe slipped to the floor, his eyes widened.
"Why do you say you were going to Mexico City to find me?" Don Alejandro asked.
Felipe already knew but still carefully listened to the men's answers, unable to do anything else.
"The Governor hired us to escort you safely back. We missed you by a day in Las Penas."
"Diego hired you and you saved Victoria and Juan on the way?" Don Alejandro asked, baffled by the coincidence.
The two men looked at each other and confirmed with a nod. "It was by chance we went through there. We had initially intended to leave from the port here but the Governor's man, Senor Ruben, said that the ship leaving from San Pedro was a better choice, given the fact we were in a hurry."
At that moment, Felipe stood up slowly and descended a few stairs, looking straight at Don Alejandro and Victoria. At seeing him there, they halted all conversation with the two men, who saluted and went on their way.
"We need to talk to Diego, Felipe!" Don Alejandro told him, fearing the young man might try to stop them."
"Yes, I believe you do." He stated with a strange look in his eyes. "Please, follow me!" Felipe asked and guided them to his father's office, passing by his Secretary without paying attention to the man and knocking on the door.
"What is it, son?" Diego asked at seeing him come in.
"Grandfather and Victoria are here to see you." The young man announced. "I think you need to see them, too."
"Show them in!" Diego asked after a moment of hesitation, taking a deep breath and standing up to receive them.
The two entered and it took all of Diego's control not to embrace them as he gestured for them to take a seat. Victoria was staring at him and he found it hard to avoid glancing at her every few seconds.
"Diego…" Don Alejandro started.
"Would you like some coffee?" Diego asked as he was already reaching the door to kindly ask his Secretary to have four cups of coffee brought to his office.
"Why didn't you want her?" Victoria questioned as he was returning to them, tears already falling from her eyes.
"Want who?" Diego wondered as Don Alejandro put a firm hand on Victoria's to calm her down.
"Our daughter." She stated and Diego practically fell into an armchair facing the ones they were sat in.
"Wh…What daughter?" He asked in disbelief, glancing at Felipe for moral support.
"Our daughter!"
"You mean…your daughter with…me? Not your husband, Don Pablo…?"
"Don Pablo? I never married him! Of course, I mean our daughter. Yours and mine. The one I wrote to you about!"
Diego was now totally lost. "Father wrote to me you decided to marry Don Pablo. The letter arrived a day before the wedding…You never wrote about a daughter. Why would you say we have a daughter?"
It was now Victoria and Don Alejandro's turn to look incredulously at each other.
"I sent you a letter after her birth. You must have received it!" She told him as her tears stopped falling.
"A letter…" Realizing what she was about he turned towards his son. "The letter…"
Felipe nodded and Diego suddenly rose from his chair and headed towards the library, taking out his volume of "Robin Hood", and opened it to find the sealed envelope he was looking for. Taking it, he turned towards the two and made some steps in their direction, still not daring to open the letter.
"I didn't give it to him. I thought it was some new way for you to hurt him." Felipe stated apologetically looking at Victoria.
"And I didn't open it when he did…I thought you were married…" Diego stated.
"So…you didn't reject her? You just didn't know?" Victoria asked.
"How could you think I would reject a child of mine?"
"We…we thought you decided you already had the family you wanted and my granddaughter would only complicate things for you, son." Don Alejandro told him. "It's why I wrote you that letter…why I scolded you for not accepting your responsibility…"
"You meant responsibility for my daughter…you thought I didn't care..." Diego stated, finally truly understanding his father's harsh words. "But why would you think my daughter would complicate things for me and Felipe? I always wanted a daughter!"
"Not for you and Felipe, Diego. I thought it complicated things for you and the family you have with your wife."
"What wife? What in the world are you talking about?"
"Isabel." Don Alejandro stated as Victoria was no longer able to speak.
"He didn't marry Isabel. Isabel married Enrique and they are in San Diego now, with their son, Esteban. He wrote to you about that, just after you left." Felipe told them.
"But…there…there was no letter…Emilio and Mendoza said you had a son named after me…" Don Alejandro uttered as they were all staring at each other in disbelief.
"You mean…Alejandrito? He is Miguel's son with his Isabel…" Diego clarified "named after the uncle who had raised him."
"So I don't have another grandson?"
"No. Felipe is your only grandson. Where is my daughter? Did you bring her with you?"
Victoria and Don Alejandro looked at each other sadly.
"We don't know where she is. We lost her. She might even be dead, son." Don Alejandro stated as Diego, who had meanwhile retuned to the group but was still standing, was now clenching his hands around the backrest of his empty armchair in horror.
"You mean to say I had a daughter and I may never know her? How…How could you lose her? How could you lose my child?"
"She was taken from me, Diego!" Victoria told him, tears streaming down her face, as he voice broke and sobbed mournfully. "I was injured. I don't know who took her…"
"I think I do!" Felipe told her and, glancing at his father, he calmly exited the room and headed towards Isabel's quarters. They all looked after him puzzled, as he made his way out, then returned to stare at each other. As Felipe's destination dawned on Diego, his eyes grew wide in disbelief.
"Was she ill when she was taken?" He asked.
"She was…" Victoria confirmed, disbelief also showing on her face at that point. "Doctor Hernandez didn't know what to do for her. He said she was dying. I was taking her to see a doctor in San Jose who said to be able to cure all ailments."
"The charlatan? The Alcalde in San Jose just told me about him this morning." Diego told her pensively, continuously glancing between her and the door.
"Charlatan? I…I hoped somebody took her to him…Is it all lost, then? I have lost my child?" Victoria questioned.
"Wait, my dear, wait!" Don Alejandro encouraged her and returned to talk to his son. "Look…The two men you hired to come after me to Mexico City said a caravan had passed by the wagon Victoria and Juan were traveling in when they were shot. The people in that caravan…" Don Alejandro stated.
"The men I hired…"
"Yes. The ones who just left your office. They saved Victoria and Juan, Diego! But they said my granddaughter was not there. So she…"
"No…she wasn't." Diego stated pensively. "What's her name? What's my daughter's name?"
"Elena. We named her after your mother." Victoria told him and Diego - feeling his legs might just give out underneath him - sank back into his armchair, his mouth half-opened, looking through the floor into nothingness.
Moments later, they heard the distinct laughter of a child coming from the anti-chamber and a black-haired, blue-eyed Elena dragged Felipe inside her father's office. Victoria let out a gasp at seeing her and hurried to embrace her daughter as Don Alejandro rose to his feet, looking in awe at his very alive granddaughter, who embraced her mother, despite taking a few seconds to recognize her.
Diego just stood up, looking at mother and daughter as his father also went to embrace and kiss the child.
"How?" Victoria asked him, crying as she was almost suffocating the girl by holding onto her too tight.
"I don't really know." Diego stated, truly at a loss to understand the strange turn of events and all the decisions and coincidences that had lead to it. "I…I thought she was an orphan. I have started the process to adopt her. She's really my daughter?"
Victoria nodded. "I knew! When Don Alejandro told me you were here…I knew you could bring her back to me! I knew she was alive!"
ZZZ
"I need to talk to you." Felipe told his father as he was watching his daughter play with her mother and grandfather in the courtyard.
"I don't blame you, Felipe."
"I know you don't. You shouldn't blame yourself, either."
"How could I not even entertain the possibility that I got her pregnant?"
"What if it was better that way?"
"Better? I have a bastard child with the only woman I have ever truly loved, a child who I should have been there for, from the moment she was born!"
"First of all, she's not a bastard, father. It's what I was trying to tell you this morning." Felipe uttered and Diego took his eyes away from his daughter and now completely focused on his son. "The Annulment was filed in the name of Don Diego de la Vega, but something must have happened on the way since it was only registered a week after the decision regarding our name change was approved. Which means…"
"It's invalid. Because Diego de la Vega was no longer my name at that point…" Diego explained what they both knew.
"The procedures were handled through different lawyers so they had no idea about the documents the other was handling. I only realized it because I received the Annulment yesterday from Senor Cristobal. Padre Dominic also confirmed it. He said a new request had to be made on the right name, but, considering that the grounds on which you had initially requested the Annulment no longer apply…"
"Because we have a daughter…" Diego stated with what almost resembled a smug look on his face.
"The marriage can no longer be nullified." Felipe informed with a shy grin.
AN: As you should have figured out, there are a series of 'coincidences' in this story (some less obvious than others) which are meant to lead to its obvious (by now) conclusion. I, thus, want to take the opportunity to challenge you, my faithful readers, to identify them in your comments.
As an example, Diego gifted the stallion Valiant which he had trained, to Miguel, the same horse later making it possible for them to find Elena.
I wonder how many of them you can find…
Just one more chapter to go! I hope you've enjoyed it!