Chapter 4

[A/N: Fun fact that I brought up on Facebook in reply to the last chapter. New World Zorro'sVictoria was actually named after HC's Victoria. Now back to the story….]

John looked around the tavern. He noted the empty chairs and tables. "Don Carlos? This seems awfully empty for seven thirty in town."

Carlos shrugged and drank his coffee.

"It was Grandmother's dream and now it is Angelina's." Felipe rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean their dream, Compadre? Esta taberna es importante para la historia de esta ciudad, Felipe." Annoyance raised Manolito's tone several octaves.

"Esta taberna es una reliquia." Elena sighed. "Hermana slaves to hand out bowls of soup. This will be the biggest order she has had in a few months. Nobody cares."

Ricardo narrowed his eyes. Memoria recalled his last visit there. He remembered Doña Victoria's dying observation about her grandchildren. He could see that Felipe and Elena followed that unfortunate example as well. "And you cannot keep the business going? This plaza needs it."

"Why, Don Ricardo? That fight took place a long time ago. Even if anyone was still alive, who cares? We are not Spanish or Mexican. We are Americans! Why should I care that my ancestor was a bastard bandito!" Felipe spat on the floorboards.

"That was most rude, Señor." Manolito fumed. "Do you know why we are here? Did your father tell you? DID HE?" Fire blazed in his eyes. "Don Ricardo had his rancho stolen right out from under him! My father lost Rancho Montoya! We are here because we are BOTH American and Mexican!"

"That is a fact that I am proud of as well." Victoria set the two plates of steak and eggs in front of John and Maria. "I will be back shortly." She turned curtly and marched back toward the kitchen.

John grimaced. "Now you've done it."

"¡Ay!" Manolito shook his head. He saw Mercedes set his breakfast in front of him. Then she placed her plate at her own setting. "I see you have been busy." He smirked. "Oh this will be good!"

"I know you, mi Manolo. I gave Angelina a new omelet for the café." Mercedes sipped on her coffee.

"You are up to something, Mercedita." Manolito waved his fork at her.

"Me amo mi esposo y mi prima." Mercedes shrugged.

Victoria set the chili in front of Ricardo and Manolito. "If you are all comfortable, I will get my own food." She hustled off.

Manolito sighed. He tsked to himself.

Victoria set her own plate down. "I will get a fresh pot."

"No, my Sister. You eat. I will make coffee this once." Manolito raised his eyebrows. He rubbed Victoria's shoulder on his way toward the pump. As he did so, he peered into the kitchen. There he saw Angelina shaking her head over the meal. "We are in the other room. You eat with us."

"My brother and sister do not want me there." Angelina slapped at the counter. "They call this place a relic! I heard that!"

Manolito hugged her. "No, Chica. This place es muy importante. Hey. I left Mexico because I did not agree with my father. When my sister married a gringo, I followed them to his ranch. I worked day to day. I drove cattle. I got drunk. I angered my father without end. But then, a girl and her governess came to my father's rancho. Everything changed that day." He shrugged. "What do they know?" He rolled his eyes. He snatched the plate away from her. "Now you are eating with us. Vamanos!" Impishness propelled him back out into the dining room.

"¡Don Manolito, por favor! OOH!" Angelina ground her teeth. "Fine! Let them make fun of this place! I know who is important. Nobility is not just a birth right. It is an obligation." She sucked up a deep breath. She followed him out there.

Manolito sat back down. "And now for our company, we have the maestra of this kitchen, Doña Angelina! I found her trying to eat her breakfast by herself." He shook his head.

"Papa, I heard Felipe and Elena." Angelina rested her chin in her hands. "They do not understand that nobility is not just our birth right, we are to serve!"

"Padre Miguel says the same thing in Tucson a great deal. I can see where he gets it now." John took a bite of the steak. "Angelina, this is really good. Thank you."

"¿Padre Miguel?" Elena scoffed. "Some priest?"

"That priest is my son! He took holy orders for the same reason Angelina cooks in this tavern! HE SERVES! I AM PROUD OF HIM!" Ricardo took a mouthful of chili. "There must be some place else for this tavern? Perhaps by River Station? This is excellent!"

"They do not want that. The Gringos want their own food!" Carlos disagreed. "Do not lecture me, Don Ricardo. I am losing my patience. Look at her! She looks horrible!"

"I'll eat in the back." Angelina started to get up.

"You will stay here!" Victoria frowned. "And I have LOST my patience, Don Carlos! Angelina serves others! She loves this family! And you make jokes? You do not deserve this tavern!"

"Victoria, you know I agree. You need their help." John shook his head. Caution implored her through his eyes.

"John." Maria set her fork down. She swallowed her mouthful. "I see her point. This is most egregious!"

"We can see the Consul on our own if we must. It is most unfortunate. I had hoped to see some of this place." Victoria pushed the plate away. "I will wait outside." She got up.

"My Sister, please!" Manolito winced. "Can we not at least get through tonight? What happens afterwards…well…that is a different matter. Perhaps we might ride up to Rancho Henche?"

"Rancho…?" Carlos cleared his throat. "Manolito, I am afraid that was sold years ago. It is simply a stockyard now."

"Qué lástima. It was a place of history!" Manolito took a bite from his omelet.

"Place of history? It was a broken down rancho!" Felipe disagreed.

"The Fantasmas stayed there before the battle. It is where Manolito held Zorro at gunpoint. It is where they made peace. It was that peace that saved this city from su Tio Gilberto." Manolito shook his head. "I know my history."

He held that Zorro at gunpoint? Is he…? John squinted at Mano. Then he stuffed another bite of eggs in his mouth.

"Are you certain?" Carlos narrowed his eyes. "How do you know this?"

"There are records which were at Rancho Vega.The Granadas burned them. I read them last summer. They had much to say. It seems that this one's namesake had much to write down after his adoption." Manolito took another bite of omelet. Lie did not make him feel better. Still, the meat of the matter remained true.

Besides, he was quite certain that Felipe would not mind wherever he was….

"That could be, Papa." Angelina swallowed another bite. "Grandmother said that Zorro ran into five strange men. Why would he and Bisabuela Victoria bring them to our hacienda? They would not if they had not agreed to fight together."

"Angelina! ¡No más!" Elena rubbed her forehead. Irritation now pricked at her own brain.

"This is important, Hijita! We are not talking about the whole land purchase. The hacienda was near the edge of that land. The city would buy that strip of land with the hacienda and tree." Carlos scratched his head. "What is the significance?"

"That was Alejandro and Mercedes' tree, Don Carlos. Doña Victoria herself told me that before her death." Ricardo confirmed.

"That will be enough, Primo. Gracias." Carlos drank from his coffee. "I have enough to go to the city's historical commission. I wish those records had not been burned."

Manolito shook his head. Better that than some other excuse.

Uneasy Truce bore out.