Chapter 16

"Are you going after them?" Her voice was soft.

Diego looked at the woman he so dearly loved, who was now lying quietly in his arms.
"All in good time.
Zorro will catch whoever did this to you, but now his place is next to you."

Victoria shook her head.
"I want you to try and get them.
The longer we wait, the more likely they can get away with it.
Then they can hurt other women the way they wanted to do me."

Diego wanted to go after them, making the men regret the day they were born.
Have them feel the same fear they'd put Victoria through.
Give his rage a way out.
At the moment, his place was here, next to his wife.
Diego pushed a lock of hair from her face behind her ear.
"Querida, you need me more."

"Diego, so many women are in need of Zorro.
I don't want any woman to have to suffer from these men.
Nothing will happen to me.
If you don't want to do it for me, do it for all the women in California, please."

He'd already let her down once and couldn't do it again.
And as much as Diego hated to give in.
Victoria did have a point.
With each passing hour, Zorro became more and more likely to fail to find the men.
"Are you sure you can handle being alone?"

"Yes, I can ask your father or Felipe to sit with me if that makes you feel better.
I may need you, but all the women in California need Zorro more than I need my husband.
Please, Diego, don't forsake us."

How was he to refuse this plea?
"Since it is you asking, Zorro will ride."

.

The robbers hadn't made much effort to cover their tracks, but they had travelled a great distance.
Zorro found them more than 20 miles southwest of the pueblo.
The men had set up a small encampment tucked behind some large boulders close to a deep ravine.
Zorro came closer, hid behind one of the largest boulders, and heard them talk.
The things they said to one other made Zorro get filled with disgust.
He only had to hear a few sentences to know Victoria had been right.
The men were the scum of the earth and did not deserve to breathe oxygen as free men.
When the older man of the two called the younger by name, Zorro knew with whom he was dealing.
Anger was the emotion that prevailed.
These were the Estaban brothers.

Two dangerous bandits were wanted for robbing banks and stages, theft, murder, rape, and what else.
Combined, they had more ransom on their heads than Zorro had.
These were the men who had hurt his Victoria.
They had made countless children orphaned without showing mercy.
No one knew exactly how many murders they had committed.
Cautious estimates were telling of dozens.
And then there were all the others suffering from what these serious criminals inflicted on innocents.

Diego always had believed that justice should prevail.
As Zorro, he had always fought crime with this conviction in mind as much as possible.
Never before had he done any actual harm on purpose.
Always was Zorro, leaving the criminals in the care of the law.
These men deserved to be held accountable by the ultimate judge. Zorro rose to make his presence known.
"Señores",

The men had thought they were unobserved now drew their revolvers and stood up.
"Look, little brother, it's our lucky day.
The famous Zorro.
We're going to get rich, and this time fair and square." The older of the two grinned maliciously.
"You are a dead man!"

Zorro took no time to draw his sword.
No witty comments got made this time.
Zorro just walked right up to them.
His whip hit the eldest on the wrist.
The gun the man was holding flew through the air and landed ten feet away next to the campfire.
Zorro balled his hand into a fist and knocked the youngest unconscious on the mud.
Then Zorro turned his attention to the eldest brother and was called Fernando.

"This is for robbing the tavern." Receiving a hard blow to the jaw, Fernando stumbled two steps back.

"This is because you dared to look at her." Another hard punch on the jaw made the man now fall backwards.

Zorro grabbed the sides of the shirt and pulled Fernando to his feet, lifted him two inches off the ground, and slammed him against a large boulder.
"This one's because you had the guts to touch her."

Fernando smiled scornfully, wiping away some blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Is this about that tavern wench?
We heard rumours that you have the hots for her."

Zorro pulled Fernando back up.
"Talk like that again and, I'll cut your tongue out." Zorro pressed his dagger into Fernando's cheek until more blood appeared.

The words Fernando had said were like a red rag to a bull.
Not only did the man have the guts to force himself on women.
He also dared to defy Zorro with his words and thought he could survive.
"You'll never bother any woman again.
Enjoy the remaining moments of your miserable life.
They are your last."

The younger brother regained consciousness and tried to attack Zorro from behind using his knife.
Zorro sensed him approaching, his gut instincts tensed to the max.
With a quick spin around his axes, Zorro knocked the younger man to the ground for a second time.
"Hang on.
I'll be right with you."

Fernando started talking again, more submissive this time.
"Zorro never kills.
Everyone knows that."

"Then I have some bad news for you.
You see," Zorro had grabbed Fernando by the neck and slowly squeezed his windpipe and hissed.
"Zorro is not the one killing."
With a single hand in one flowing movement, Zorro removed his hat and mask.
"That pleasure I keep for myself.
It was my wife you dared to touch.
I have never intentionally killed anyone.
I will gladly make an exception for you and your brother."

"Zorro is married!?" Fernando laughed.

"You bet I am!"

Fernando got scared, hearing the amount of anger audible in the voice of the most notorious outlaw in all of California.
He began to understand Zorro was serious in what he was saying.
Fernando decided to defy his enemy a bit more.
"To that wench in Los Angeles?
She is a feisty one." With nothing to lose, Fernando went on in his insults.
"Where is she?
I don't mind sharing." The grin on Fernando's face grew wider when he saw more anger rise in Zorro's eyes.
He was going to die there, it was no doubt.
So, he was to pain his murderer as much as possible.
"I can teach her tricks you might even enjoy."

Diego stuck the dagger he had brought between Fernando's ribs.
"I promised my wife to come home as soon as possible, and I intend to keep my promise.
Otherwise, I would slowly chop you into tiny pieces to make sure you get the most painful death possible.
I advise you to pray on your way down, the señora will recover.
If not, I will follow you to the depths of hell." Then Diego turned the blade to make sure the man was dead.

Diego looked contemptuously at the lifeless body of Fernando Esteban.
His brother was still unconscious on the ground.
Diego felt not an ounce of mercy or remorse.
According to what Victoria told him. The younger brother had been holding her down and was just as eager as Fernando to hurt her.
Diego grabbed a waterbottle and poured the liquid in the man his face.
As soon as the man seemed to come to his senses, Zorro picked him up and pressed him against a rock, holding him by the neck.
The man saw his dead brother lying there and dared to call Zorro an unscrupulous murderer.
Again, Diego lunged and plunged his dagger into the other brother's body.

Diego wasn't proud of what he'd done.
He had no choice.
He had done what any other man would have done for the woman he loved.
He had done it for Victoria and all the other men, women, and children who got damaged for life by these men.

Diego put his mask and hat back on and tied the lifeless bodies to the two horses.
He sent the horses to a nearby ravine.
There he dumped the two bodies.
Wild animals such as vultures and mountain lions would ensure no one would ever find them.

Zorro searched their belongings and found much more money than Victoria ever could have had in her cash.
Also, he found various gold watches and precious jewellery including, the ring he had given Victoria as an engagement gift.
He would give the money to Padre Benitez and ask him to get it distributed among the poor.
He didn't know what to do with the jewellery.
Try and find out who owned what would be an impossible task.
For now, he would hide it in one of the many hiding places near the cave and give it some thought.
The ring, what to do with it?
Diego decided to leave the choice to Victoria.

Everything else he could find he entrusted to the destructive effect of the fire.
Staring into the hot flames made his eyes watery.
After the flames had done their job, Zorro extinguished the fire.
Mission accomplished.
The Estaban brothers would never harm anyone ever again.

Zorro released the horses near a remote farm.
Slowly it was getting dark.
Zorro had been gone almost the entire day.
On his way back to the cave, he passed Los Angeles again.
Zorro decided to hand over the money to the padre right away.
He didn't want it near him.
There was too much blood and pain on it.

The padre had never seen such an amount of money.
First, he wanted to ask how the outlaw had come to such an amount.
Seeing how upset Zorro seemed, padre Benitez only said.
"My son, God gives heavy burdens to the strongest of his children.
But even his strongest don't have to carry the load by themselves."

Zorro thanked the padre Benitez for the kind words, and as the padre saw Zorro leave, he looked troubled.

No sooner had Zorro mounted Toronado again than the door of De Soto's office flew open.
"Lancers!" the Alcalde had seen him. " It is Zorro!
Seize him!"

Zorro wasn't in the mood.
For hours, he had searched.
He had crossed his own boundaries and needed to reassure himself Victoria was well.
He didn't want any more delays.
Zorro steered Toronado in the right direction, leaned over to one side of the saddle, and knocked De Soto down.

Mendoza had also come out, hearing the alcalde scream, and watched Zorro knockdown, de Soto, without even bothering to dismount.
The sergeant looked at his commander, who lay sprawled on the ground. Next, Mendoza glared at Zorro while trying to reach for his sword.

"Zorro, I..., you are...," muttered the sergeant. "I mean," He straightened his shoulders to let them hang down the next second.
"You are arrested?"

"Have no fear, Mendoza!
I owe you."

Genuinely surprised, Mendoza asked.
"You owe me?
Whatever for?"

"Goodbye, mi amigo."
Zorro saluted and galloped out of the pueblo at full speed.

De Soto got up and immediately started yelling at Mendoza for what an incompetent idiot his officer was.
"That was Zorro, you moron!
After him."

"I don't think that's wise, alcalde.
He seemed different from usual.
Zorro was very angry, I could tell.
I think it's best to leave him alone this time."
The sergeant walked onto the plaza, ignoring the orders yelled at him.

Foaming at his face, his face flushed with rage, De Soto stood, calling the poor sergeant all that was beautiful and ugly.
Thanks to the behaviour of that ignoramus fool, Zorro had escaped him again.

.

It was well after sunset before Diego finally returned to the cave.
As he had expected, Felipe was waiting for him, as so often."Victoria?" he asked, right away.
"How is she doing."

Felipe began to answer the question with his hands.

"She sat in the garden for a while and is now in the bedroom because she was feeling tired.
Is my father with her?
Good."

As usual, Diego said what Felipe had signed to make sure he understood correctly.
Because Diego didn't want to take the time to change, all the servants were home by this time of day.
He started to get rid of his weapons, meanwhile looking at Felipe, who was still gesturing, "Victoria had something to eat but is very quiet."
All the more reason to make sure he got to her as soon as possible.
"Can you take care of Toronado, por favor?"

Diego was already halfway up the steps that led to the narrow passage connecting the cave to the hacienda when he froze.
The sound he heard was almost like an animal moaning in agony.

"Diego."

Not sure whether he had heard correctly, Diego turned around.
In the middle of the cave stood Felipe.
And apparently, the boy was just as taken aback as he was.

.

.

In the series, the Estaban brothers were quite amusing.
The episode 'Like father, like son.'
Rather solitary confinement than spending the night with Don Alejandro and his sweet-voiced voice in prison. (Rat catchers!)
One of them was angry because he could no longer tell the grandchildren they fought the real Zorro once.
Diego also called them ruthless cutthroats in the same episode.
So from that point of view, I assume they weren't very friendly or amusing.

This story has very little to do with the series.
However, I do like the occasional wink to the series.
For this part, I needed two names, and these guys appeared in the series as criminals, and they have a name.

As for the reward money, as mentioned In the series.
It was for the two men a lot lower.
If these men are indeed that ruthless, as Diego says, I think a higher price is also more proportional.
But, then I never understood the value of a peso in the series.
So yes, there are some winks to the series.
And yes, they don't match what happened in the series.
But, hey, the series itself wasn't always true in their facts either, and this is just a poor attempt to write some fan fiction.
And no matter the circumstances, it is always great to give Felipe a voice.