Chapter 17

When Diego woke up, it took him a few minutes to know he was in the cave. His back hurt. His field of vision is a bit blurry."Felipe," He stammered, assuming if the boy was around. The shadowy figure dabbed his forehead with a cool cloth.

"You scared me, son."

Diego's eyes flew open at the sound of hearing his fathers voice.

"Calm down, son. You are far from recovery."

Diego uttered in disbelief when he realized who was sitting next to him. "Father."

Alejandro continued to dab his son's forehead. His words sounded comforting.
Diego felt anything but reassured, "Yes, I know. We'll talk later. First, you need to recover. How do you feel?"

After the first shock, enjoying the calm, soothing touch of his father. "Like someone shot me in my back."

"You were lucky. No organs got hit, and the wound has not started to infect. You will soon be yourself again."

"Victoria?" Suddenly Diego remembered what had happened in the stuffy shed not far from the hacienda and sat upright on the cot.

Soft hands pressed him back into the pillow. "She brought you here with the help of Toronado."

"So she knows who I am?" Emotions like regret, fear, joy, disappointment fought for precedence. How did she react? Angry, disappointed, happy, grateful? Would she declare her love to him now or hate him forever from now on, and he would even have lost her friendship forever? Were his dreams about to come true, or would his life be hell from now on?

His father shook his head. The calm voice which the older man spoke was unusual for the situation. "No, she doesn't know."

Speechless, Diego looked at his father.

"I managed to keep your secret hidden. I think it's up to you to tell Victoria the truth."

Father and son talked until Alejandro saw that it was getting too tiring for his son. He offered his son another cup of medicinal tea.
"Go rest. When you've regained some strength, we talk some more."

"Felipe?" Diego asked, suddenly remembering the boy who had been his mainstay and greatest confidant from the start.

Alejandro grinned. "Once he recovered from the shock, we had some good conversations. A lot has become clear to me."

Alejandro watched his son drift off to sleep, partly over tea. Grateful that his son would live, aching to his brains for what he could do for his son's love interest. It had not seemed wise to him to inform Diego that Victoria had already spent two days and one night in prison. However, much he liked the young woman and hoped to welcome her as a daughter one fine day. He didn't want to risk his son's life. Zorro would risk his life for Victoria's freedom, that much was certain.

Awkwardly, Sergeant Mendoza tried to persuade his supervisor to release the señorita. De Soto was impatiently explaining that the woman was his assurance to find out what had happened to Zorro. As long as the annoying fox didn't show up, he could hope Señorita Annabella had spoken the truth. And Zorro was badly injured or hopefully dead. He would personally see to it that if Zorro no longer shows up in the pueblo, the remains of a black-clad bandit were found in a few weeks. And he could claim the bounty money for himself, as had been planning for years.

Mendoza missed the delicious lunches at the tavern. The helpers were also good cooks, but it did not come close to the cooking skills of the owner.
He also feared that the man he secretly admired and regarded as his friend was indeed seriously injured or had died in the meantime. If De Soto no longer had to fear that his misdeeds thwarted. The living conditions in Los Angeles and California would go from bad to worse.
Ending, he and his comrades would feel the consequences and pay the prize of the vengeance of the people. Sighing, Mendoza drew his sword and took off the jacket of his uniform. Carving a Z in the left front.

Then he walked into the room where the prison cells were and knocked the guard unconscious with a piece of wood. Then Mendoza leaned over the lancer's body and carved a Z on the helpless lancer, his backside.

"Sergeant, what are you doing? Victoria was still awake and was shocked to see her guard sink to the ground. And in the dim moonlight, she recognized Sergeant Mendoza holding a piece of wood in his hands.

Looking around uncomfortably, the sergeant pressed his finger to his mouth. "Stt, señorita." He opened the cell door. "If Zorro doesn't come to rescue you, it must be serious."

Victoria nodded hesitantly.

"Come." Mendoza motioned for her to follow him, and led the woman outside. He knew that the lancers on guard were making a round of the pueblo.
Crossing the plaza together to the stables of the tavern where a horse was already saddled waiting.
"I think Don Alejandro will help you further and hide you. I…, eh…, for safety, I think, it is better if we only use one horse."
The sergeant looked at her in shame. "It will be noticeable if a horse is missing tomorrow or if someone sees two horses riding."

Victoria nodded again, and with some effort, they managed to mount the horse. Victoria seated behind the sergeant, trying to hold on to his sturdy waist. Together, Victoria and Mendoza drove to the hacienda.

Mendoza stopped a few hundred yards from the hacienda. "My men keep an eye on the hacienda. I'm going to distract them. So they don't see you going in."

"Sergeant, thank you." Victoria didn't know what else to say. She knew Mendoza wasn't a bad man at heart. He regularly tried to resist the alcalde clumsily. But she hadn't dared dream that the sergeant would rebel against the alcalde.
Clumsy, she slid off the horse, nearly dragging Mendoza to the ground as he tried to help her.

Mendoza shrugged shyly. "Señorita Escalante, Zorro has come to my rescue so many times. The times he saved my life, I can not count them on two hands. I hope Zorro is not seriously injured. He is my friend." The sergeant placed a hand on his heart and sounded proud when he said it.
"I will report that Zorro came to rescue you. That will convince the alcalde that Zorro is still able to drive."

In the moonlight, Victoria saw Mendoza busily gesturing toward the two soldiers he'd apparently caught failing their duties. In the distance, she heard his words. "And how am I supposed to explain to the alcalde that two lancers who had only one task...playing cards..." the rest of the words fell silent in the night.

Victoria quickly hurried in the opposite direction.

Inside the gate of the hacienda, she was almost invisible for the men on guard. Luckily, she was wearing her red blouse and not a white one. Otherwise, they couldn't have missed her. White cotton would light up brightly in the night. The dark red looked almost black and made her invisible in the dark.
A dim light still blazed through the windows. And Victoria hoped someone else would be awake. She had considered going to the cave, eventually deciding not to. Should Mendoza get it in his head and chase her.

The door opened, and she quickly slipped in.

"Señorita Escalante, to what do we owe this honour at this late hour?"

Victoria had hoped that it would be Don Alejandro who would open the door. Instead, it was Don Diego who greeted her in surprise. She hardly recognized him. He looked dishevelled and tired. Not at all the neatly dressed caballero she was used to seeing.
He was only wearing a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, part of the bottom sticking out of his pants.

Diego was on his way from the cave to his bedroom for the first time when he had heard someone knocking on the front door. Because his father was preparing the bedroom and Felipe was at the stables to give his Pinto an apple, he had automatically opened the door.

Victoria was questioning herself what Don Alejandro had told his son. And more than that, she had been thinking about him constantly for the past few days. "Don Diego, you're back. How was San Diego?"

This afternoon, his father had given him a complete account of what had happened while he had been unconscious. How his father had succeeded in keeping the secret from Victoria. How brave she had been while his father tried to remove the bullet from his body.
"Excellent. The discussions were a success. But first, tell me why are you here? It is rather late."

"Mendoza sent me here after he helped me escape."

"Escape?" Diego looked at her in shock, not understanding. What did she mean? His father had told him that Victoria was doing well.

Victoria gave Diego a brief explanation of what had happened. "De Soto had arrested me again. Didn't your father tell you?"

No, and his father should be glad he wasn't in the same room. Otherwise, the man would experience for the first time what it was like to see his son lose his temper. Diego smiled apologetically instead. Supposedly unaware of any wrongdoing. "I've only just returned and have barely spoken to father."

Ah, that explained why Diego looked tired and dowdy.

"Tell me, why were you arrested?"

"Ah, nothing new. Once again, De Soto thought I had helped Zorro escape, so he arrested me. Someone stated that Zorro was injured, so de Soto wanted to test if Zorro would come and rescue me to make sure Zorro is still alive.
Mendoza felt guilty and freed me by pretending to be Zorro. Could you hide me when de Soto goes looking for me?"

The handsome caballero hesitated for a moment, then smiled bravely. "Fear not, señorita. We do everything in our power to ensure your safety."

You see, when it really mattered, don Diego was anything but a boneless coward, Victoria noted to her satisfaction.

It was late, but Victoria couldn't sleep. Was it the heat, or was it her concern that she had endangered the de la Vegas? It wasn't illogical to think De Soto wanted to search the hacienda again tomorrow.
When she suggested this, both Don Alejandro and Don Diego swore they would protect her and do everything in their power to avoid detection.
Don Diego had gone to bed early, tired of his long drive from San Diego. She had withdrawn shortly afterwards. After a bad night's sleep, she had expected to fall asleep without any problems.
But as soon as Victoria laid her head on the pillow, she was wide awake again. Finally, giving up on the hope of falling asleep and cooling off in the moonlit courtyard.

Don Alejandro had told her that Zorro did well and was already recovering. Zorro had asked Don Alejandro not to come to the cave for safety reasons for both himself and the don.
Two full days and a night in jail had given Victoria plenty of time to think. So many memories had tumbled over each other with the only result that she became more and more sure that the fight between her head and heart was no longer an actual fight.
Victoria closed her eyes and fanned herself with the fan. Memories of a warm evening years ago in the same garden surfaced.

"Victoria." softly whispered words.

At first, Victoria thought it was just her imagination. The fragrant flowers, full moon, and location were similar to the night Zorro first expressed his feelings toward her. His lips pressed against hers for a first fiery kiss.
Slowly and reluctantly, she opened her eyes, convinced that it had only been imagination.
"Zorro." Victoria stuttered in surprise at the sight of the masked man, only inches away.

His determined voice whispered words of gratitude. "Victoria, again, I have to thank you for saving my life. Don Alejandro told me how brave you have been."

"You're welcome." Unsure what to say now that she was face to face with the man. All her carefully practised words vanished from her head in an instant.

"Please, accept my apologies, señorita, that I was not able to free you from prison myself. I fear I haven't recovered enough to be able to make myself useful in the least."

Nervously, Victoria tried to avoid his intense gaze. "That does not matter. How did you know…?"

"Your safety is always my top priority. I just knew."

"Did Felipe tell you?" Suddenly a logical explanation had occurred to her.

"Felipe?"

Apparently not. Zorro sounded genuinely surprised at this suggestion. "Before you lost consciousness, you told me to go to Felipe for help. I assumed he helped you more than once."

"Felipe has indeed been a valuable help a few times." Zorro looked down at her with a smile. "It was Don Alejandro who informed me of the alcalde's misdeed. He has also come to tell me that Sergeant Mendoza is indebted to me for your well-being."

"Mendoza considers you his friend and is grateful for all the times you saved his life." This was not the conversation Victoria wanted to have. How to change the subject? Zorro solved her problem.

"This brings back memories, don't you think. That night feels like an eternity ago."

It was the beginning of the conversation Victoria wanted to talk about. Victoria clenched her hands into fists and gathered all her courage. "Zorro, I… eh… remember what you said to me that time?"
A questioning look was his answer.
"You said I should find someone that could make me happy. Someone I could marry. You suggested Don Diego."

"Yeah, sometimes I still think that would have been better for all of us." Zorro sighed with regret.

Victoria, uttering shyly, "Don Diego has feelings for me."

What followed was an uneasy silence that got broken by his deep voice. "And do you have feelings for him?

Victoria swallowed. She had said A, and now she had to say B. "My feelings for don Diego are hard to describe. Zorro, I have something to confess to you. There is someone I have more feelings for than for you or don Diego."

"You are in love with someone?" No, no, NO! It could not be. It was not possible! Not now, all of a sudden, after all these years. Diego didn't know what to do with his body and emotions.

Victoria stared guiltily at the ground. "Maybe, but not the way you think. I meant myself. I love..., myself more than anyone else. And…" How on earth was she supposed to explain this?
"Forgive me, please, but I can't take it any more. I just can't take it any more." Suddenly it seemed as if a dam had broken. Where before, every word got stuck in her throat. And Victoria almost had to hurt herself to squeeze the next word out of her mouth. The words now tumbled out of her mouth.
"I want to be happy. Have children with a man who is always there for me and not just pays attention to me sporadically for a few minutes.
I can no longer live with the thought that there is a woman walking on this earth that Don Diego will one day marry. Just the idea hurts so much it breaks my heart."

She grabbed Zorro's shirt. "Please, try to understand. I have no choice. I can live with the thought that I will never know your identity, and we can never be together. The idea that one day a woman here will say that don Diego is her husband is driving me crazy. Señorita Annabella? Every look she threw at Diego made me want to scratch her eyes out. Every time his name rolled over her tongue, I wanted to her kill her. I can not take it any more. The thought is unbearable. I want to be the only woman don Diego marries."
Victoria sounded hysterical, tears streaming down her cheeks. The despair in her voice made his heartbreak. Diego had never wanted to hurt her, hearing her say how she was torn for her feelings for Diego. It became too much for him. The desire to protect her from all evil only barely won.

Zorro, overwhelmed with relief, swallowed a large lump. "Then I release you from your promise."

"What?" Large, moist eyes glittered in the moonlight.

"If your sure don Diego has feelings for you, and you can love him, I'll release you from your promise. Find your happiness with don Diego. I will never forget you, but your happiness and safety is the most important thing to me on this earth."

"Zorro, I'm so sorry."

"Never regret choices you make with your heart, Victoria. Just promise me that you will do everything in your power to be happy." Diego's mind was running at full speed. At the same time, he began to feel that he was far from recovered and doubted how much longer his legs would support him. At the same time, he wanted to tell her. In the end, he couldn't.

"Will you forgive me?" Victoria was begging him.

"You don't need to ask for my forgiveness, Victoria. Your happiness is my highest good."

Not knowing how to conduct herself, Victoria twisted her fingers and stared at something invisible in the distance. "Your ring? How do I give it back to you?"

The look in her eyes as she glared at him. He would love to sink to his knees, begging for her forgiveness and love. An inexplicable otherworldly force was holding him back. She was so beautiful.

"Zorro, one day, you will meet a woman for whom you have more feelings than you ever had for me. And you will understand why I made this choice." Victoria heard her say herself.

"I doubt that. Keep the ring as a memento of me."

Still crying, Victoria nodded. Unconsciously, her lips found his. One last kiss from a love that was no longer allowed to be.

"Adios, Victoria."

After a kiss on her hand, the man silently disappeared like a ghost into the night.

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