The month of September 1821 passed quite peacefully for the Pueblo de Los Angeles. The newlyweds left on their honeymoon, Mendoza taking over for De Soto and Diego for Jessie, and the only time Zorro needed to ride was to help find two children who had gotten lost, just a few days after the new couple left. He brought them to the pueblo, and even took some time to compliment Victoria and accept the parents' gratitude, since the lancers took no action against him.
Diego, however, was not especially free that month since he took advantage of the newlyweds absence to put his promise into practice and, after drawing up the plans, he started the work on converting the small farmhouse on his frenemy's new lands into a real hacienda. With some help from the enlisted men, Felipe and some of the Mission's Indians, the caballero transformed the three-room house into an eight-room building in just a few weeks. By the time the De Sotos returned, the house was ready, and the only thing left for them to do was furnishing it.
Jessie took one good look at it, her eyes in tears, then enthusiastically embraced the De la Vegas and Mendoza, who had supervised the entire operation whenever Diego was needed someplace else.
"There are a few carpenters at the Mission which might make you good furniture." Diego suggested after showing the couple around their new house.
"Yes, well… We'll see about that…" De Soto replied, oscillating between disbelief, gratitude, and a little jealousy about Diego's and Jessie's particularly close relationship.
Truth be told, he appreciated the caballero's surprise, and his men's contribution to it, but was also quite unaccustomed to generosity, and didn't know how to take their gesture. He was also feeling rather guilty towards the De la Vegas and Mendoza for his past behavior, for which reason the fact that they had offered him a house made him feel worse, rather than better.
Diego nodded and, soon enough, they all left the newlyweds alone, heading for the pueblo.
"What is wrong?" Jessie asked her husband, as soon as they were left by themselves.
"Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?" He wondered.
She just gave him one of those looks which made words unnecessary.
"I… I just can't understand them. Why have they given us this land… this house? I said and did horrible things in the past. I threatened to have a lancer shoot Diego once, and I already told you I almost executed his father. Diego should hate me. I would hate me if I was him! And Mendoza… I tried to execute him just a couple of months after I came her… And I took away his house…"
"When did you do that?" Jessie wondered.
"A while back… I… I think there are a few things I should tell you about my past behavior, but I fear you might hate me if I do. And I couldn't stand losing you." Ignacio confessed.
Jessie took in a deep breath, then looked straight into his eyes. "I know whom I married." She told him. "I am not blind, my love. I know you have faults. I know you are not the person I'd like you to be. But I also believe that you might one day become that man, and I will do my best to help you, in my own way, no matter what. Now… please tell me!"
Ignacio felt instantly disarmed. After taking a few moments to summon up all his courage, he started confessing everything he had kept from her, all the worst things he had done since arriving in Los Angeles, from burning down Mendoza's house, almost killing the sergeant, in order to cover his fraud, to his role in the death of Don Alejandro's first love, Mercedes Henche, to shooting Lieutenant Hidalgo while trying to kill Zorro and blaming the crime on the masked outlaw, and to abandoning Mendoza to be die in agony at the Emissary's hand.
By the time he had finished, Jessie needed a break from him, so she stepped outside without a word, which just left him in despair, certain that she would not be able to love him anymore.
She stood in the courtyard and stared at the horizon for a while, trying to remind herself that it had been her choice to marry De Soto and that there was still hope for him. After recollecting her thoughts, the young woman returned to her husband. "Here's what you're going to do." She said. "You are going to make amends for each and every one of those deeds. You cannot bring people back from the dead. Nobody can. But you will be a better man, the man I deserve for a husband, and you will start making up to all those who are still alive."
Ignacio just nodded and embraced her, holding her tighter than ever before.
ZZZ
It was a year to the day since the De la Vegas had buried Gilberto.
As per Don Alejandro's wish, he had been laid to rest next to his dead mother, and there were always fresh flowers on their graves. Yet, despite the time passed, the don was still at a loss to understand why his son had been stolen and raised by that midwife to hate him and Diego.
Señora Risendo had refused to speak after that fateful day, and she was sent to Spain to face charges for having abducted the Gilberto. In the months which followed, Don Alejandro had written to his dead wife's family in Madrid to recount everything to them and ask for clues that might lead him to some answers. From the replies he received, he only learned that the evil woman had never arrived to her destination, having thrown herself into the sea on her way there. Thus, in time, the old caballero set aside every hope to understand her actions and tried to forget and forgive the past and the son he only found when it was already too late.
Luckily, he thought, he still had the best son he could have wished for, even if he was an extremely frustrating man at times. There were many things about Diego he couldn't understand. Yet, for all the frustration his heir was causing him, Don Alejandro gave thanks every day for the son he had and for the fact that it had been him the one God had spared a year earlier.
As per the elderly don's wish, that morning, the De la Vegas went to the cemetery to pray for Gilberto and for Doña Elena, then headed home at a slow pace, each prey to his own thoughts.
They had just left the main road, entering their lands, when five armed men ambushed them, guns in their hands.
"What do you want?" Don Alejandro asked as Diego was assessing his chances against them.
"You'll find out soon enough. Dismount!" The leader of the bandits ordered.
They found it prudent to obeyed, so did as asked. Moments later, they were all hit on their heads and fell down unconscious.
The adopted De la Vega regained his consciousness a while later, finding himself tied up, gagged and completely alone.
ZZZ
"Sergeant Mendoza!" Gomez addressed his superior a few hours later, while he was standing on the tavern's terrace, enjoying a pre-lunch drink, just as the taverness was exiting with the food plates.
"What is it, Corporal?"
"It's Alcalde De Soto. He and his wife came in this morning, but we can't find him anywhere, Sir. And the Doctor is also missing." He answered.
"They are newlyweds, Corporal. They probably just wanted some time alone." Victoria suggested.
"I doubt that, Señorita! He always leaves word and the Doctor missed two appointments already."
"The Señorita is right, Corporal." Mendoza agreed with Victoria, mainly because he wanted to be left alone to his tamales. "The Alcalde might have just forgotten to inform us, and the Doctor might have some emergency to take care of. Go get Don Diego, or tell the people waiting that they should return tomorrow!"
The Corporal nodded and headed for the medical office. Since one of Jessie's patients had a bad toothache, though, Gomez took pity on him and headed for the De la Vega hacienda in the hope Diego was available. Just as he left the main road, he stumbled on Felipe. The young man had almost succeeded in freeing himself, but was more than happy for the help the lancer immediately gave him.
"What happened, Don Felipe?" Gomez asked.
The young man signed his answer, but the lancer didn't understand much more than 'hit on the head' and 'taken'.
Giving up trying to understand what he was saying, Gomez helped the youngest De la Vega on his horse and headed towards the hacienda.
"Do not worry, Don Felipe!" He told him as he was mounting. "Don Diego will know what you are trying to say."
The young don shook his head in disappointment, wishing he could speak.
ZZZ
When Don Alejandro and Diego regained consciousness, they were tied up, gagged and draped over their saddles, heading southeast. About an hour later, as the young caballero was working on freeing himself, the horses stopped and they were moved into a covered wagon, where they saw the two De Sotos lying next to them, both in a similar predicament as the De la Vegas. The bandits, unfortunately, were rather astute as they checked the bindings on all four of the people they had abducted. Realizing that Diego was close to freeing himself, they tied him up better, preventing any further attempt to escape.
ZZZ
The servant answering the hacienda's door was not one of those most familiar with Felipe's signs, so the young man ran to the kitchen and asked Maria to accompany him back, while the lancer was being informed that the masters of the house had not returned since they had left that morning.
The woman came to the door and started interpreting her young master's signs, a little confused about the urgency.
"Don Felipe wants me to tell you that… they were assaulted by bandits on their way back from the cemetery. Ay, Dios!" She told Gomez. "There were five men who pointed guns at the patrons… and they took Don Alejandro and Don Diego! The Alcalde must organize a search party!"
"Si… Of course… Except we can't find the Alcalde, either. I... I'll go tell Sergeant Mendoza immediately!"
As the lancer left at a gallop and Maria hurried to inform the other De la Vega employees about their patrons being abducted, Felipe made his way to the cave. There, after hesitating for a few moments, he put on a the black clothes he had worn when last he needed to impersonate Zorro to help Diego, cape, mask and fake moustache included – just in case anyone got close enough to him. Another full Zorro costume he hid in one of the saddlebags – should Diego need to take over - while the other he filled with medical supplies and explosives. When everything was ready, he left on Tornado.
ZZZ
Gomez arrived in Los Angeles in record time and, after dispatching another of the soldiers to the De Soto hacienda in the hope to find Jessie and the Alcalde there, Mendoza and half the garrison left searching for the De la Vegas. Felipe only beat them by ten minutes in returning to the place where he had last seen Diego and Don Alejandro.
Picking up Dulcinea's trail, considering the mare had a sore hoof and her special shoe was the easiest one to follow, he made his way southeast. Mendoza and his lancers spotted him in the distance and didn't even bother to pick up the trail, just followed him, certain the masked outlaw's presence there was not a coincidence, thus concluding that he was also trying to help the De la Vegas.
Felipe rode for some eight miles until he reached a ravine. The trail suddenly stopped there and, scanning the horizon, he noticed the three horses he and his adoptive family had ridden to town that morning tied up to a tree, about a hundred feet downstream. As he was heading towards them, he finally noticed, in his peripheral vision, the lancers following him, just 300 yards away. Hurrying towards the mounts, he noticed the trail left by a wagon, right near them. Having to make a fast decision, lest the lancers reach him, he followed the wagon trails, steering Tornado again to a gallop.
"Zorro!" He heard Mendoza's voice. "Wait, Zorro! We just want to help! We will not try to capture you!"
Felipe dug his heels further into the stallion and soon put enough distance between himself and the lancers, while Mendoza was scratching his head as they stopped by the ravine, watching him ride away.
"Get the horses!" The Sergeant ordered his men, wondering if to continue to try and follow Zorro or just return to the pueblo since it was already late afternoon and the masked outlaw didn't seem to appreciate the company.
At about the same time, the thought crossed Felipe's mind that, considering five men had abduct the two older De la Vegas, he might need help taking them down, so he suddenly stopped Tornado and, turning towards Mendoza, signaled for him and his men to follow him.
ZZZ
It was already past siesta when the wagon finally stopped at a small cottage and three of the men turned back to erase their tracks, while the others started taking its occupants into the house, one-by-one. They were made to sit on the ground, facing each other, the two De la Vegas on one side of the room and the De Sotos on the other.
The place was not very big and smelled of mold and a strange mixture or spices. As it was situated in the middle of the woods, despite it being day outside, inside it was rather dark. The men who brought them in stood by the door, expecting orders, as their leader went to another room, knocking on the door and leaving it open behind him.
"Have you gotten all four of them?" Diego heard a voice he and his father both recognized.
"Si, Señora. Just as we promised." One of the thugs answered, and a few moments later Ynez Risendo made her way out of the other room, heading towards them to check they were the people she wanted.
The woman seemed to have aged a decade during the past year, and was thinner and bonnier than they remembered her, a change in appearance that made Jessie - who had never seen her before - wonder if she was some kind of witch.
"Make them drink this!" Ynez asked the bandit leader while pouring a liquid into four glasses.
The man signaled for two of his men to do as asked. They started with Jessie and ended up with Diego, taking off the gags and forcing the foul drink down their throats, not giving their prisoners the chance to refuse it and causing them all to cough violently as some of the liquid made its way to their lungs.
"What was that?" De Soto inquired after he stopped coughing.
"What do you want from us?" Don Alejandro asked hatefully, as he also regained his ability to speak. "And how are you even alive, Señora?"
"You may leave now." Ynez dismissed her men, who simply headed outside. "To answer each of your questions…" she then addressed the hostages with a smile on her face, "that, Alcalde De Soto, was poison. Those taking it have exactly one hour of life left, unless they drink the antidote." As she said that, she took a small break, to look at her prisoners' faces. "What I want…" she then continued, "is for you to suffer." She said that while glancing between De Soto and Don Alejandro "I want you to suffer just as I have suffered when you took away the only two men I have ever loved. As for how I am still alive… I'm not stupid, De la Vega! I knew what awaited me in Spain. I would have been condemned for killing that stupid maid who helped me take Gilberto… and for whatever other crimes you must have mentioned in the letters you sent with my son's Royal Guardsmen. They wouldn't have even listened to me to understand my reasons. They would have just believed you, because you are a rich don, a friend of the Royal Family! So, since people wouldn't give me justice, I made a deal with the Devil himself to spare me, so that I could enact my vengeance… and he did. He sent me one of Gilberto's loyal men to help me escape. He got me to safety and left me enough money to live the rest of my days in… decent conditions. But I don't care about living if I don't have what I want. So I made my way back here, and used the money to find good helpers. And then I waited patiently for this day to finally arrive!"
"You're mad!" Don Alejandro uttered. "A disturbed, hateful criminal it's what you are, Señora! Haven't you done enough harm?"
"You said men." Diego remarked, having paid attention to every word she said and at how she said it. "De Soto killed Gilberto. I get that. But why did you take him in the first place? What has my family ever done to you?"
"Not your family… your father. Your dear father is responsible for the death of the man I loved, the man I was supposed to marry." She stated as the two De la Vegas glanced at each other, a puzzled look on Don Alejandro's face. "The true heir to the De la Vega fortune… his older brother, Alfonso." She continued. "We only had a brief time together before he left for Panama, then for New Spain. But I know he would have married me had he been the one to return. Your uncle died, and your father inherited what should have been my home. My hacienda! It should have been my children, mine and Alfonso's, to inherit everything one day, not you!" She answered.
Diego again glanced at his father.
"You… It was you! You wrote to me after Alfonso's death! My brother never even mentioned you!" Don Alejandro told her, enraged.
"You did all this because my uncle was killed in battle? My father had nothing to do with his death!" Diego uttered in disbelief.
"Alfonso wouldn't have left me had it not been for his dear little brother! Your father took him away to war, left him to die and refused to acknowledge me when Alfonso didn't return!" She replied. "I wrote to tell you… to demand my rights as the woman who was meant to be Alfonso's wife! And, instead of respecting the memory of your brother, you humiliated me!" She stated, this time addressing Don Alejandro.
"Wait… All this… You are about to kill us… and everything started because you were in love with his brother? Not his wife… just in love with him… and you weren't recognized as his wife… since you… weren't! Were you two even engaged?" Jessie asked incredulously.
"Had Alfonso been engaged, he would have told me about it! He wasn't even courting anyone." Don Alejandro replied instead.
"He left before making our relation official." Ynez told him. "It was all your fault! But it doesn't matter anymore. Today… Today I finally get my vengeance. Mine, Alfonso's and Gilberto's." She uttered, a mad look on her face. "But… to prove that I am merciful, I will offer you these." As she said that, she took out of a drawer two small bottles and opened them, placing one in front of the De la Vegas and one in front of the De Sotos. "The antidote. One dose it's only enough for one person and, since there are only two, it's up to you to decide who should take it. You have about forty minutes left, Señores y Señora. Your time is running out." As she said that she exited the cabin closing the door behind her, a malicious smile on her lips.