Chapter 8

Darkness fell and a glowing orange ball of a moon rose from the horizon as Zorro was making his way back to the hacienda. No soldiers were following, so he felt he could take the short route home tonight.

All the way there, he went over in his mind the various scenarios of revealing his secret life to his father. He had thought of telling him and had been on the very verge of doing so many times in the past. Now, when he was fully prepared to go through with it, he hesitated as to just how to do it. He was still debating the issue in his mind when he rode Tornado through the hidden opening in the rocks.

"Felipe, where's Father? Good. What? Oh, yes, everything went just fine, all according to plan. I am afraid those taxes may just be necessary because the jail is bursting at the seams with prisoners."

He watched as Felipe signed his question. "Yes, Felipe. I think it's time. I am going to tell him."

Felipe held out a hand to take the hat and cape, but the man brushed right past him.

With a serious look on his face, Zorro entered the hacienda through the secret passage. t wasn't often he did so dressed this way. Avoiding the eyes of any servants, he made his way to his father's room.

It was only a few minutes before his father entered the room, although Zorro felt like hours had passed. Don Alejandro had entered the room purposely to retrieve a book from his nightstand. When he turned to see Zorro elegantly seated, no, draped, on his windowsill, he was startled, but he recovered almost immediately.

"Zorro! This is most unexpected. To what do I owe the honor of a visit from you?"

"Don Alejandro." Zorro gave a small bow. "I come with a piece of news for you. In a few days, Ignacio De Soto will return from the Governor's office carrying a decree that will spell his own future doom as Alcalde of Los Angeles. If I am correct in my assessment of the situation, I believe that you will soon be appointed to the position."

"Me? The Alcalde!" Don Alejandro was at once both surprised and flattered. "And on what do you base your assessment? I have heard nothing concerning this."

"I have had some contact with the Governor. As we speak, he is only a few hours journey north of here. He has just been apprised of a plot against him and the people of California that involved De Soto. I do not think he will look kindly on the man after this. You have been appointed temporary Alcalde once before and you governed well and wisely. It was noted. I see you as the only choice for his replacement."

"Thank you. If this comes to pass, I assure you I will do my best to serve the people." Zorro sat there quietly, but Alejandro could feel there was something else on his mind. "Zorro," he laughed, "you aren't going to try to bribe me into giving you a pardon, are you?"

Zorro gave him a wry smile. "No. I don't think it will be necessary. If you govern as fairly as I think…no…I know you will, there will be little need for my services." He turned away, took a deep breath and turned back to face Alejandro. "I have something to tell you, or rather, to show you." And with that, Zorro reached behind his neck, untied the cloth ends and let the mask fall.

Don Alejandro sank slowly onto the side of the bed. "Diego." His voice creaked with emotion. "So you tell me, at last."

"You're not surprised?" It was Diego's eyes that grew wider.

"No, Son, I've known for some time. I knew you'd tell me when you felt the time was right. My son!" Alejandro got up, crossed to his son and embraced him roughly. "I have so much to say to you. Forgive me for ever—"

"Forgive you! Father, I am the one who deceived you. I have suffered more guilt about this than you could ever guess. I think you raised me well. For I have agonized much over every act of dishonesty and deception that I have had to perform! But I had to protect you from the consequences of my actions. There was no other way. I only hope you understand and forgive me."

For the next hour, the two reminisced, remembering the excuses and working out the reasons for all those puzzling times Zorro had had to deceive his own father. It was a time for laughter and all those hurtful words that had been said in the past could now be remembered without any pain.

They eventually joined Felipe in the cave. Alejandro was amazed to discover such a place just under his very nose. This, he had never suspected. He had grown up with the knowledge that the hacienda had secret passageways but had never had the inclination to find them. It would seem his son was much more inquisitive about such things than he had ever been.

"I begin to see the explanations of a great many mysteries around this house! For all your 'laziness', I was always constantly amazed at how you could so suddenly appear out of thin air after calling for you. I couldn't imagine you moving so quickly. And the occasional emanations of all sorts of strange odors about the library… from this chemistry lab here, I assume?"

"Yes, Father."

"What's this you're working on here? Smells like vinegar!"

"Oh, that's a headache remedy that I wanted to check out. It looks most promising. There are already a couple of scientists looking into its possibilities." When Diego saw the look of real interest in his father's eyes, it was hard not to let his enthusiasm show. "Father, this substance has been said to reduce fevers as well. Can you imagine the implications of that! No longer would an insignificant wound be so potentially deadly when fever occurs. Of course, it wouldn't actually fight the infection. I'm afraid that sort of discovery is not on the horizon. But being able to treat fevers! That would be a great advance for medicine!

Don Alejandro smiled broadly. This animated Diego was so different. It was going to take some getting used to this side of his son.

All the secrets were revealed that night. Alejandro learned that Felipe could hear. What joy that news brought! After the first initial feeling of bewilderment and hurt that such an important fact could be kept from him in his own house, he finally acquiesced that it had been the intelligent thing to do. It appeared the boy had been invaluable as the eyes and ears of Zorro. People so often did treat the deaf and mute as unintelligent, so Felipe could go unnoticed in so many situations.

"Felipe has been working on speaking, Father. In time, I feel even that will come." Diego's eyes warned his father of the need for patience in this area. Ruffling Felipe's hair to lighten the mood, he continued, "One thing's for sure, Zorro could not have existed without Felipe's help."

Don Alejandro also learned of the plans of his son to marry Señorita Escalante. Soon, there would be a different feel to this household of men. A woman's touch had been sorely missed in the de la Vega household for long enough. And the prospect of grandchildren was finally a reality! Yes, Alejandro could not be happier.

The trio talked for hours, Alejandro asking question after question. He wanted to know everything. But soon, he noticed that Diego was about to fall asleep in his chair. Well, it stood to reason. He had gotten very little sleep in the past few days, only an hour or two stolen here and there. What he needed was a good night's rest.

"Come on, you two, off to bed with you both! Any more talk can wait till tomorrow."

That night, Diego slept the dreamless sleep of a mind finally at rest. The worries of the past few weeks finally abated, his slumber was undisturbed and he slept until well into the afternoon.

By the time Diego and his father made it into town to have supper at the tavern, Victoria had already had quite a full day. Her business was good. When she looked up and saw the two coming through her door, she turned all her duties over to Tina and gave her sole attention to the de la Vega men.

"Victoria!" Don Alejandro gave her a huge bear hug. "Diego tells me I shall have a new daughter soon. I tell you, I could not be more pleased!"

"Thank you, Don Alejandro. I will be much blessed in my new family too." Diego had greeted her with a bow and a kiss of her hand that had brought the color to her cheeks. It was going to be some time before she could be comfortable with Zorro-like gestures from Diego (at least in public).

She led them to a table in the back that would allow some degree of privacy. All three were unaware of the complete attention they gathered as they walked through the room. The people of the town knew their roles. If Zorro was to be able to continue, he had to feel comfortable that his secret was still safe. So the expressions on the faces of the people as they passed were well under control. Some greeted the two men with a wave or a nod as would be expected. Some ignored them and passed almost imperceptible looks back and forth.

"And what do we have on the menu for today? I think I have never been hungrier!" Don Alejandro proclaimed.

"I have some stew that will fill you up quite nicely."

"Wonderful! And, you will be joining us?"

"Yes, I would love to, but Diego, there's something in the kitchen I wanted to show you. Do you mind, Don Alejandro?"

"Take him, Take him!" His eyes were twinkling. "But you know, Victoria, soon you will have to get used to calling me 'Father'."

She practically pushed Diego through the curtains and into the kitchen.

"What is it —"

"Oh, just this." She threw her arms around his neck and forced his head down low enough to give him a nice, long kiss. "I've waited all day for that!"

"What an appetizer!" Diego laughed. "I can't wait for the first course."

"And I can't wait for an explanation. Did you tell him?"

"Yes, I told him. And the old fox already knew! Can you believe it? I haven't been the only one keeping secrets. Maybe I haven't been as clever as I thought all this time." He still had his hands encircling her waist. "But, tell me, are the prisoners still safely in the jail?"

"Yes, the Alcalde has returned. He's still throwing his weight around like he hasn't a care in the world. Are you sure that he will be replaced?"

"Yes, I talked to the Governor himself, remember. I don't think he would lie to Zorro. I think he had already made up his mind on the matter before this all began anyway. He has the full backing of the King to make any decisions necessary. He assured me of this. And there was the fact that he was already on his way here."

"I wonder what convinced him."

"I think that the last letter Father sent to the King was the first one to actually reach him. All these years, someone has been intercepting them. I'm sure of it. I never could believe that our family's long association with the throne meant nothing. It was always strange that all our entreaties sent to Madrid were never answered with action. I know Spain is at war, but it never made sense that our only contacts with the mother country have been the occasional emissary sent to collect taxes or capture Zorro! Perhaps the court has finally gotten rid of a traitor from within. It would be interesting to learn the details, but we may never know."

"Well, I just can't wait for the governor to arrive. It is about time. I want all those men away from here as soon as possible. I have a wedding to plan! And I prefer you not to have any distractions." She kissed him again, but was interrupted by Tina coming in for more stew.

They drew apart, embarrassed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I—"

"It's quite all right, Tina. Do you need any help?"

"No, Señorita, I can manage." She quickly retrieved what she needed and went back through the curtains.

"Well, we had better make an announcement soon or your reputation is going to suffer."

"I took care of that yesterday."

"You did? And may I ask just how you did that?

"I told Sergeant Mendoza!" She giggled.

Diego laughed. "That should do it. Come. Let's join Father. I am rather hungry myself and that stew smells delicious."

Throughout the meal, the plans were made. A trip to Monterrey was in order soon. The new Dona de la Vega had to be outfitted in style for her new position in the community. There was some protest from Victoria at the lavishness of the wardrobe Don Alejandro was describing, but she soon realized that the two men were going to enjoy this even more than she. The affluence of the noble de la Vegas was a little awe-inspiring for her. She had grown up, not in poverty, but certainly with the need to work for a living. She didn't know how she was going to fit in as the wife of a caballero.

"What do you want to do with the tavern, Victoria?" Don Alejandro asked.

"Do with it?" The question surprised her, but it probably shouldn't have.

"Victoria, my father thinks that you will give up running the tavern once we marry. I want you to know that the decision will be yours, totally. I want you to be happy. I will support you in whatever you decide."

"Thank you." She felt the tears brimming up behind her eyes. "I do like what I do. But I do want to be a good wife to you."

"Well, there's no reason the decision has to be made today, my dear. You just think on it for now. My own personal hope is that you won't have time for running it once the babies begin to arrive!" Don Alejandro just couldn't stay away from the subject of babies.

"Father, really!"

Both Don Alejandro and Victoria laughed out loud as they thought simultaneously that even though the words were spoken by Diego, somewhere inside of him, even Zorro was a prude.