Chapter 12 [Rancho Henche-Noon]

Blue wiped his brow. Boredom and Tedium weighed on him. He'd walked the perimeter several times. Silence muted the ravine's trees and stream. He shook his head. Sure wish I was in on what they're planning. When are they going to take a turn out here? He walked out in front of the hacienda.

"Hey, Blue! I've got this." Sam held his rifle at the ready. "Mercedes has a sandwich in the house for you." He bit into his lunch.

Blue pushed out a deep breath. Hunger stabbed at his gut. "Great. It's real quiet. Nothing coming up the ravine." He pointed toward the road. "Nothing that way either."

"Pedro's on the roof just in case. Buck'll be back out here in a minute." Sam surveyed the grass and ravine in all directions. "Too quiet for my liking. Guess we better enjoy it. Tomorrow's going to be here soon enough." He shook his head.

"Wish we knew if that guy and his army was here or not." Blue rubbed the back of his neck. Even if they had superior weapons, the enemy outnumbered them two to one and had military discipline on its side.

"Mercedes says they are. That's why we've got a lookout." Sam handed him a canteen. "Look. We've been through messes like that before. Remember El Caudillo down in Nogales? How about the times we had to fend off the Apaches? That's going to be just like the other times. Just keep your chin up and eyes open. They're going to need to reload after a shot or two."

"And what about them swords or the knives on their muskets?" Blue grimaced at that thought.

"You can throw a punch. Just keep going. You'll be fine." Sam maintained a poker face. He had to admit that Blue had reason to be concerned. As long as it was just the Emisario and his soldados, they could hold their own. "I got a good look at the town. So did Pedro and your Uncle Buck. We'll take position before those guys can get to them."

"And it'll be quite the party all right." Buck wiped his face off with his handkerchief. "Best get in there, Blue Boy. I sure ain't letting you go hungry." He motioned toward the door.

"Thanks, Uncle Buck!" Blue took two hurried steps toward the door. Then he turned. "Hey. You think we'll be okay tomorrow?"

Buck pushed his hat back up on his head. "Why wouldn't we be? Just another fight. Right? I mean it ain't the first time you've tried to get your head shot off. Right?"

Blue rolled his eyes. "Uncle Buck, I made that promise to Penny. That could get me divorced!"

Sam coughed and turned his back.

"Blue Boy, don't pay no mind to that stuff. Women want to mother AND smother a man. She ain't going to know. We're here. Annie and she ain't." Buck smirked. "Sides you got me watching your back. And we are overdue. I'm telling you! We are SO overdue for a good fight!" Anticipation sparkled in his eyes.

Instead of Dread, he almost seemed like a kid on the day before Christmas.

"Sure thing, Uncle Buck. I know we're going to be okay." Blue forced a smile onto his face.

"That's it! Now git! That food's waiting." Buck watched his nephew walk into the house. He frowned. "You know he ain't wrong."

"Yeah. We'll have to get to those rooftops before the soldados, Buck. That way we get the drop on them before they can do it to us." Sam glanced back into the hacienda. "Mano in there?"

"Nah. He's doin' his own patrol. Miss Mercedes and Blue are in there. Pedro's on the roof." Buck shrugged. "We're good."

Pedro fired off two shots. "¡AMIGOS! WAGON COMING! RIDER ALONGSIDE AND…." He got a clear look at Zorro and Toronado approaching. His eyes went wide. His jaw dropped. "¡Madre de Dios! ¡Es el Zorro! ¡Es real!"

"What did he just say?" Buck drew his pistol.

"Something about 'el Zorro'. That's just a story and…." Sam held his rifle at the ready. Then his eyes went wide. "Son of a…!"

"He sure's got good taste." Buck set his jaw. They watched the wagon and rider approaching them. When they reached the cross, he yelled, "AWRIGHT! THAT'S FAR ENOUGH! WE DON'T WANT NO TROUBLE!"

"You are the one pointing the weapon at me, Señor." Zorro narrowed his eyes. He glanced back at Victoria.

"Yeah well…we're just passing through! We're just here for one night! She knows that! So did that Don Diego we ate with!" Sam insisted.

Victoria wrapped the reins around the wagon's brake. She climbed down from the seat. "Si. I remember."

Zorro frowned. Interest perked in his mind over the strange firearms. He saw no fuse to light on top of Sam's rifle. "We seem to have a standoff. This hacienda is a special place. We can show you a suitable camp. The lady here was a friend."

"Yeah well she said it's okay." Buck shook his head.

"Estamos aqui con el permiso de esa dama." Manolito stepped out of the trees behind Zorro and Victoria. "Buenos Dias, Compadres." He had his own pistol aimed at them. "We should talk. ¿Si?"

Disbelief now numbed Zorro's mind. His eyes went wide.

The man with the gun could be his father's twin.

"Zorro! He looks like Don Alejandro!" Victoria shook her head. She did not understand how Manolito could look like and sound like her father figure. She blinked. She tried to wrap her mind around this turn of events.

"Yes. It is most curious." Zorro sighed. Even though he was dealing with the same emotions, he would remain strong. "Very well. I am dismounting Señores. Do not shoot."

"Gracias." Manolito looked the legendary hero over. "The stories…they are true. You are Zorro?"

"I am indeed." Zorro tipped his hat. "This is Victoria Escalante. She manages the Tavern Victoria in Los Angeles. She and our friend, Don Diego de la Vega, met these two hombres earlier."

"I am Manolito. These are Sam and Buck. Pedro is on the roof." Manolito motioned toward Pedro.

Mercedes marched out of the house. '¡Ay! Stop this!" Her eyes narrowed. A frown clenched at her lips. "¡Somos amigos aqui! We are all friends!"

Victoria braced herself against the wagon. Words failed her. She shook her head at Zorro. Her eyes drifted toward the cross behind them. Then they returned to the woman standing in the doorway….

…the very woman who'd died two years before….

…the very woman they'd buried by the cross in question…

…and now the very woman who stood in front of them right now….

"Señora Villero? This is impossible!" Zorro protested.

"Yeah we thought the same thing when we saw her too." Buck looked to Mercedes. "What now, Mercedes?"

Mercedes shook her head. "We talk. We're here to help them, Buck."

"You are here to…help us? Fascinating." Zorro rubbed his chin. Scientific Curiosity got the best of him. "There is an afterlife?"

"Yes. I am here to help you. I cannot deny Don Alejandro, Zorro. This pueblo was good to me. Our friends are with me." Mercedes walked toward Victoria. "It is me."

Victoria nodded. She embraced their hostess. "Can you come with us? Don Alejandro will wish to see you!"

Mercedes nodded. "I do not wish to trouble him. Zorro?"

Zorro shook his head. "He will welcome you back to Rancho de la Vega, Señora. What is the situation?"

"You all got a vis-i-tor tomorrow in the pueblo. Right?" Buck supposed.

Zorro, despite having heard it as Diego alongside them, glanced at Victoria.

"Si." Victoria confirmed.

"I had not heard that, Señor. The Alcalde does receive guests," Zorro informed them.

"This hombre and his men are real bad. You want no part of 'em." Sam shook his head. "Look. We just want to help you with them. That's all."

"He is speaking the truth, Zorro and Victoria. I would speak to Don Alejandro about it. We cannot waste time," Mercedes emphasized.

"Victoria can drive you back to the rancho. I will see if this guest and his men are there. Gracias, Señores. Señora Villero, it is a pleasure." Zorro bowed at the waist. Then he mounted Toronado and galloped away down the road and across the grass toward the pueblo.

Victoria got back up on the wagon seat. "Vamanos. I will take you allá." She looked at the ranch hands.

"We shall go with her." Mercedes went back into the hacienda. "¿Blue, puedes ayudarme por favor?"

"Huh?" Blue glanced at Manolito. "What'd she ask me?"

"She asked you to help her pack our supplies, Amigo." Manolito motioned toward the door.

"Sure! Thanks for telling me." Blue tipped his hat to Victoria. "Ma 'am." Then he hustled into the hacienda.

"HEY, PEDRO! COME DOWN! WE'RE LEAVING!" Sam bellowed up to the roof.

Seemed that their prospects for the night at least were improving…