Chapter 1. Bandits in the glen.
It was just before dusk when a small, angry figure entered the alcalde's office.
"I have been robbed on the road. They've taken almost all the supplies I was bringing for the tavern." Victoria said slamming her hands on the alcalde's desk.
"My lancers have been patrolling the area for four days now, there have been two other robberies in the last week. Maybe on tomorrow's patrol they will catch them." said de Soto casually.
"Your soldiers wouldn't find a barn a hundred paces away."
"Maybe your idolized Zorro can do it."
"Zorro is not here to do your job. We pay taxes for soldiers to protect us."
"And that we will, señorita. Sooner or later we'll get them."
Victoria turned angrily. "Well, I hope it's early, because without supplies I don't have enough to feed all my customers, and the soldiers won't be welcome until I can buy more."
Sergeant Mendoza's face, who until then had watched the exchange without a word, saddened as he heard this.
Victoria left the office with a hurried step, and de Soto stood thoughtfully.
"It's curious that Zorro has not yet intervened." he mused. "Sergeant. Tomorrow we'll leave at dawn, in three groups. You will lead one of the patrols, Sepúlveda the other, and I will go with Delgado and Zarza, who are the best marksmen we have. The three of us will take the best horses."
"Are we going out to look for those bandits?" asked Mendoza.
"Not exactly, now that the señorita has suffered a robbery I am sure that Zorro will endeavor to recover what has been stolen from her. I am convinced that tomorrow morning we will find him on his way here."
De Soto rose from his chair and walked to the far wall, where a map showed the town and part of the Camino Real. "Most likely the bandits are hiding in this area." he said pointing to a spot to the Northeast. "Your patrol will leave first, half an hour before dawn. I want them on this side of the road as soon as possible. They will wait there for my signal." he said pointing to an area near a bridge. "Sepulveda and his men will patrol the road between this point and this one." he said pointing to an area near the chosen point. "I will hide with the two shooters right here." he indicated pointing to a small hillock.
"Zorro will most likely defeat the bandits and bring them to Los Angeles. When he does, the patrols will close both sides of the road. He'll have to come out this way." he said pointing to a spot on the road just at the foot of the hillock. "Then he'll be in range and we'll finally finish him off."
"Sí, alcalde."
"I want every man not on duty in bed by nine o'clock. We'll have to get up early tomorrow."
"Sí, señor."
- Z -
Diego had just arrived from his trip to San Juan Capistrano. As soon as he got off his horse he had heard that bandits had been raiding the road to the north. He decided to stop by the tavern to make sure Victoria was all right.
He was surprised to see the tavern so empty, even though it was close to supper time. Pilar approached him. "I'm sorry, Don Diego, but we have almost no dinner tonight."
"What happened?"
"Some thieves robbed Victoria on the way, and took almost everything she brought. They left her nothing but the sacks of legumes, which were too heavy, and she doesn't have time to prepare them for supper."
"But she is well."
"Yes, she's fine. She's in the kitchen, but I don't know if it's a good idea for you to stop by and see her now, because she's very upset."
Diego walked into the kitchen and found Victoria who was slicing stale bread. She had a knife in her hand and was hitting the bread harder than necessary.
"Hola Victoria."
She startled, hit the board and some of the bread flew off. Diego caught the piece on the fly. She looked at him angrily.
"You scared me."
"I'm sorry. Pilar told me you ran into thieves along the way and I wanted to make sure you were unharmed." he said in a conciliatory tone.
"You're right, Diego. I'm sorry. It's just that I've had a bad day. They've taken almost everything, I only have a little chorizo left to make garlic soup. And the alcalde doesn't seem willing to do anything. He says they'll go out tomorrow to look for the thieves, but I don't think they'll find them. Good thing tomorrow is Saturday and there's a market."
"Where along the road did you meet them?"
"Near the Velasco farm."
Diego thought for a moment. "I heard they also robbed the stagecoach near there last week."
"Yes, maybe. Listen, I have to keep working with what little I have. Can you hand me two heads of garlic?" she said pointing to the string of garlic hanging on the wall.
"Sure, right now." He handed her what she had asked for.
"I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow." Diego said.
"Sure, Diego. See you tomorrow." she said picking up the garlic and with a thud smashed it against the table to start peeling it.
- Z -
Sergeant Mendoza yawned as one of the soldiers saddled his horse. To the east, the first light of dawn could be seen.
"I'm sure the alcalde is still asleep." the soldier said.
"We have orders to leave as soon as there is some light. The others will be out in an hour." he said yawning again.
Zorro had also risen before dawn. He saddled Tornado and set out at first light, heading north. Arriving near the bridge he began scanning the sides of the road for suspicious tracks. Before long he discovered that at least four horses had left on the eastern side of the road. Someone had disguised the tracks, but not well enough. Zorro took the trail that hinted at the underbrush and rode slowly away from the road.
He followed a downward path towards the stream, but about fifty meters before reaching it, he saw that the trail turned into a valley whose entrance was hidden behind a small hill. He decided to get off his horse and climb to the top of the hill to study the terrain. From there he could see that there was a camp just as he entered the valley. He could see three men asleep around a campfire of which only a few smoldering embers remained.
This looks too easy. he thought. Despite the usual incompetence of the troops, it didn't seem likely to him that such careless men would have been raiding the travelers for so long without being caught, so before intervening he decided to take a reconnaissance walk.
Trying to make as little noise as possible he circled the camp, however he was unable to avoid a small rustle. Immediately a shot rang out and a bullet whizzed by him.
"Lorenzo. what happened?" said one of the bandits.
"I heard something, I'm sure there's someone over there." a second voice was heard, though Zorro couldn't see the man speaking from his hiding place behind a tree.
The first man to wake up kicked the other two, who were still staring sleepily. "You two, on your feet. Go in that direction and look to see if anyone is there. Don't think of firing unless you are sure. We're low on powder." then he turned to the man who had fired. "If you woke me up for a fox or a coyote you'll be sorry you were born."
"I'm sure there was someone."
Zorro slipped to the ground out of sight from the other side and crawled into some bushes. He laid the whip on the ground making a loop around the one patch of clear ground next to the bush and held both ends. When he saw one of the men approaching he snapped a branch alerting him. Through the small gaps left between the branches he saw the man change his trajectory towards him, and when he put his foot in the gap around his lasso he pulled hard making him fall. The man screamed, but as soon as he touched the ground Zorro knocked him unconscious and dragged him into the bush, where he quickly tied him up.
"It rang over there." said another man who didn't realize he was walking past the tree behind which Zorro was hiding. The masked man had only to grab him by the shoulder to knock him off balance, and as he spun around punch him unconscious. In a few seconds he was tied up next to his companion. He searched for weapons on them and threw them into another nearby bush. If they searched carefully they would surely find them, but it would not be easy for them.
He decided to climb up on a rock and lying on top of it he scrutinized the position of the two men. Both had their backs to him, near the base of the rock, so he only had to jump over them. The pistol of one of them shot into a nearby tree, and the masked man hit the other man's hand so that his pistol fell to the ground. Then he sent it down the hill with a kick.
"Well, now we're more evenly matched." he said with a grin.
Both men drew their swords, but they were not great swordsmen and their efforts to coordinate were ineffective. After striking one with the guard of the saber and putting the point of his sword to the throat of the other the fight was over.
Zorro searched the small camp and found the portion of Victoria's supplies that had not been consumed in sacks near a pack mule. To find the money and valuables they had stolen he had to search the men. One of them had a ring and earrings hidden in a pouch inside his boot, and Zorro thought that if he told the owner where he had found them, she might not want them back.
Zorro tied the horses together and set out the curious retinue of four men lying on saddles like sacks of potatoes, a pack mule, and a masked man on a black horse.
They came out onto the Camino Real and he was surprised that it was so quiet. It was normal not to hear the murmur of the stream, for it would carry little water until the thaw, but neither could he hear any birds. He moved a little ahead of the bandits' horses and watched the ground at the edge of the road. A snort alerted him, and he could clearly see the fresh tracks of five horses. He slyly reached into the sack hanging from his saddle and pulled out a small pyrotechnic device.
A patrol came out in front of them.
"Good morning Corporal." said Zorro cheerfully. "I'm glad you decided to get up early. I've brought you a present to brighten your morning."
"Surrender, Zorro!" exclaimed Corporal Sepulveda.
Zorro spun his horse and set off at a gallop. The patrol hidden behind the trees cut him off, but without slowing down he threw the pyrotechnic device to the ground, among the horses, who, hearing the explosion and smelling the gunpowder, were frightened. Two of the men ended up on the ground when they lost their grip, while the other three horses were pulling out of the way with their riders barely holding on. Tornado did not slow down, and broke through the cloud of smoke like an exhalation.
From the nearby hillock the alcalde shouted to his men to fire, but the cloud of smoke and dust prevented them from taking aim, and Zorro was lost in the distance.
When the smoke and the cloud of dust the horses had created dissipated they saw that one of them had fallen to one side, damaging a leg, while its rider had a dislocated shoulder.
De Soto was furious, and blamed Mendoza for the disaster.
"Since you are not capable of controlling your men or your own horse you will take care of the injured animal. You will return to Los Angeles on foot, leading the animal by the reins. Give your horse to Private Rivas."
"It's Lozano, mi alcalde." replied Mendoza.
"Whatever." he turned to two soldiers holding their horses by the reins. "You two, help Lozano onto the sergeant's horse."
The soldiers instantly obeyed. As soon as all but Mendoza were in their saddles, de Soto gave the order to return to town, taking the bandits with them.
- Z -
An hour and a half later Mendoza had traveled a little more than half the way. He heard hoofbeats behind him, and guided the horse to the side of the road to let the traveler pass. Suddenly he saw something beside his head and turned. It was a wineskin held by a hand covered by a black glove.
"I think you need a drink, sergeant." said Zorro.
The sergeant took the boot and drank gratefully.
"Thank you, Zorro. You are very kind."
Zorro saw that the horse Mendoza was leading by the bridle was limping. He got off Tornado and approached the animal, patting it to calm it down.
"I'd like to take a look at his leg."
"Go ahead, see if you can do anything." replied Mendoza.
He examined the leg by flexing and extending it. The horse whined as he made one of the movements, but it didn't seem broken.
"I think he'll be all right if you let him rest for a few days, but he could use a little cold." Zorro pulled a rag out of his saddle bag, wet it and tied it to the horse.
"Well, I'd better get going again." said Mendoza.
Zorro got on his horse and offered Mendoza his hand. "I can take you part of the way, although we'll have to go slowly so as not to tire the other horse."
Mendoza smiled and climbed with Zorro onto Tornado, admiring the horse's height. A while later a wagon pulled in from a side road.
"Good morning." said Zorro to the driver, a boy of about thirteen.
"It's Zorro!" said the boy in amazement.
"Are you going to Los Angeles?"
"Yes, I am carrying vegetables from our orchard."
"Would you be so kind as to give the sergeant a lift? I have other business to attend to."
"Of course, Señor Zorro." said the boy enthusiastically. Mendoza got off Tornado and tied the horse to the back of the wagon.
"I'm sorry the horse got hurt. Was anyone else hurt?" said Zorro.
"Private Lozano, I think he dislocated his shoulder."
"I hope the doctor can help him." said Zorro. "Tell him I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault, señor."
Zorro nodded, but didn't look very convinced. "Perhaps. Good morning." he said by way of farewell.