Chapter 10

The ship made good time and they were mooring in San Pedro by noon that Friday. Big Jim coerced the doctor to come aboard the Teseroto treat Diego so he would only have to be moved once from the ship to the wagon. In fact, Big Jim had one of the men go into town and trade the wagon for a better one, one that would provide the smoothest ride possible for their patient.

He sent another of the men on a more secret mission. Franco was commissioned by him to have a certain suit of clothes made for Big Jim and to buy a horse and tack as well. He was very specific with the instructions and Franco was sworn to secrecy. He could not tell any of the other men of all this when he returned. And he would have to bring his purchases to Los Angeles a few days later. It was all very mysterious. But Big Jim paid well for his wishes to be met and crossing him was just not something any of his men would even consider. The consequences could be more than painful and every man aboard knew it well.

The doctor pronounced Diego ready to travel the next day, although he really didn't know if it was a good idea or not. He wasn't at all sure what was wrong with the man. But the presence of the woman did seem to help keep him calm, and he didn't think, now that they were able to get a bit of water and food into the man, that he would die just because he was moved.

Victoria was impatient to get started back to Los Angeles. Once she had Diego back at the hacienda, in his own bed in his own room, she was sure he would recover more quickly. The thought that Don Alejandro would also be there to help was a comforting thought too.

The small entourage began the trip to Los Angeles. Loaded with plenty of blankets for cushioning, new medicines from the doctor and Victoria entrenched at the patient's side, the brand new wagon made slow progress across the desert plain. Victoria lay beside Diego, brushing her fingers through his hair in a comforting, yet intimate, gesture. His incoherent mutterings seemed to calm when shetouched him and Big Jim smiled at the tender care she offered. Diego was a lucky man to have such a devoted lady.

They took the road around Los Angeles so they'd arrive at the de la Vega hacienda as quickly as possible. Big Jim sent a man to fetch the doctor so he'd be there when the wagon arrived. And, sure enough, there Dr. Hernandez stood as the horses were reined in before the gate.

"Victoria! I got your message. How is he?"

"I don't know. He is not really coherent." She looked about for Don Alejandro.

"Let's get him inside. I want to do a full examination. Those doctors in San Pedro are better more than butchers. Something like this…they have no idea how to treat." As Big Jim and the men carried Diego inside, the doctor went ahead to show them the way.

Victoria followed, calling out for Don Alejandro. As she, too, followed the men down the long hallway, Maria, the de la Vega cook came up behind her.

"Señorita Escalante! Shh…Don Alejandro, he is ill."

"Ill?" Victoria repeated.

"Si, Señorita. His heart. It was his heart." Maria had stopped to look down the hallway where the men had just disappeared into Diego's room. "Is it really true? Is it really Don Diego?" The woman was near tears.

"Yes, yes… oh, Madre de Dios… Don Alejandro! Is he in his room?"

"Yes, the doctor has come almost every day. Just a little while ago, he gave him a draught. Wants him to be kept quiet. But if Diego is truly here, alive! He would want to know. It would be better for him than sleep, than any medicine!"

"Yes, yes….I will go to him." She ran down the hallway and stopped outside Diego's bedroom door to observe the men as they helped move Diego to the bed from the litter.

Maria, too, paused at the door, wanting to see with her own eyes the young man she had helped raise from a young boy and loved so dearly. She was openly crying at the thought of him back home, safe at last, after so long a time.

They heard Big Jim say they would change Diego's bedclothes before settling him under the covers and the door was pressed closed in their faces. Then they turned down the hallway toward Don Alejandro's room.

Victoria went at once to sit on the side of the bed. She was very comfortable in this household. Taking the old man's hand in her own, she stroked it tenderly, willing the man to awaken so she could tell him the great news. She was not surprised when his eyelids flickered open a few seconds later.

"Victoria?" His voice was raspy from not having talked much in the last few days. "Is it true what they tell me? Is he alive?"

"Yes, Don Alejandro. Yes, it is true. We've brought him home to you. And you must get well and strong so you can go to him." She smiled down at him encouragingly.

He closed his eyes against the light. "My child, you had faith…when I had none. You …"

"Shh…rest…" She patted his hand as she saw the agitation in him grow.

"I gave up, you know."

"Please, Don Alejandro, it is not important now. Everything will be —"

"No, you don't understand." He tried to sit up in bed. He had to make her understand. "I wasn't thinking. I did something…I should never… the letter…"

She held him down, willing him to calm down and rest. "Don Alejandro, just rest. All will be well. Sleep. It is the best thing for you. Sleep." She felt him relax, but continued to stroke his hand.

His eyes flew open and he asked, "Did you tell him we opened the le—" His voice broke and he settled once more back into the pillows, mumbling, "He didn't believe it anyway…didn't believe…"

"Shh…shh…just sleep." Victoria was well aware that Maria was listening to every word. "You need your rest. There is no need to worry. It will all be well soon." She continued to soothe him until he drifted off to sleep once more.

"Maria, I think we might try to get some warm broth into Diego. It's been hours since he's had anything." She stood up and crossed to the door, knowing Maria would go before her to do her bidding.

"Yes, yes…is there anything else you need? Juice perhaps?" She thought for a moment as they walked down the hallway back toward Diego's room. "Or do you think a little wine would help revive him?" Doctor Hernandez recommended it for Don Alejandro…"

"Yes, bring some wine. I think any fluids right now will help," Victoria replied, thinking she might sample the wine herself. She was just about at her limit. All she wanted was to be behind those closed doors with Diego. Just him, and only him. And she hadn't realized just how much she had been counting on Don Alejandro to lighten her load. Now he had become another part of that load. And she was so very tired.

"Oh, Maria!" she called to the woman who was already on her way to the kitchen.

"Yes, Señorita?"

"Where's Felipe?"

"Oh, that Felipe! Señorita, since Don Diego left on his trip, Felipe has been going off to who-knows-where for days at a time. He only shows up for a meal here and there. I don't know what to do about him! Don Alejandro has been at his wit's end with the boy." She looked past Victoria to Don Alejandro's door and her face fell even further. "The whole household, Señorita, has been a sad one for so long."

"Yes, I know. If you see Felipe, send him to me." Then Victoria squared her shoulders and knocked on the door to Diego's room.

It opened inwardly and she let the other men file out before she entered, carrying the hand made litter. Big Jim remained and she watched as he arranged the covers on the bed for the greatest amount of decency for Don Diego.

"Where's Doctor Hernandez?"

"He went down to the kitchen to tell them how to prepare the food for Don Diego in the coming days."

"Did he say…" She wasn't even sure what to ask.

"He said rest and fluids. There's also some medicine he's got coming from Santa Paula that he'll bring later."

An awkwardness that had not been present between them settled itself in the room. After a few moments, Bi Jim excused himself. "Señorita, my men and I will make camp near the stream nearby. If you have any need of us, just send word by one of the vaqueros. I'll come."

"Thank you, Big Jim. I don't know what I would have done without you in all this." The man just nodded and left.

Then Victoria settled down in one of the big comfortable chairs, thankful it was over at last. All that needed to happen now was for Diego to awaken and return to full health. As she watched him sleep and saw the covers move up and down slightly as he breathed, she let herself relax fully for the first time in weeks. Her mind finally stilled and she fell asleep.

"What do you mean, pirates?" De Soto asked the question absentmindedly. He really had too much work in front of him to deal with these stupid reports of Mendoza and he continued to look at the papers in his hand to drive home the point to him.

"Pirates, mi alcalde! They're camped on the de la Vega land by the stream. We saw them this morning on patrol."

"Yes, well, then if there are pirates, I suggest you have your men arrest them and not bother me with this. Do you have no brain in your own head?"

"Si, mi alcalde, no, I mean no, mi alcalde… I mean…"

"Sergeant, are not pirates law-breakers?" He looked up sharply at the lancer.

"Si, mi alcalde," he said with relief, glad he knew the right answer.

"Then what do we do with law-breakers?" He inclined his head, trying to elicit the correct response. "We…?"

"We arrest them!"

"Fantastic! Now go do your job!" As the lancer saluted and turned to leave, De Soto returned to his paperwork and mumbled, "And leave me alone."

The reports in front of him were confusing and he had been trying to make sense of them for hours. The main subject of them was, of course, Zorro. The masked outlaw had not really interfered with any local doings for a few months. De Soto was hoping, of course, that something had happened to him. On the other hand, he wouldn't want anyone else to get credit for bringing the man to justice either. No, that was an accomplishment he wanted for himself.

The reports were from alcalde's in all the neighboring districts. Zorro had been seen only a few times since May. De Soto rifled through the papers to check. Yes, June 22nd, to be precise.

And on June 19th, his own report said that Zorro had acted a little strangely. He had freed a prisoner from the stocks out in the plaza. But he had done so at night with none of his usual fanfare, waiting until there was no guard present. The prisoner had been in the stocks all afternoon in the hot sun; it was actually a nice little trap for Zorro. The people had been a little upset, but then, that was fairly normal. The fact that Zorro had waited so long might indicate something was wrong.

De Soto laughed out loud. "He's finally come to his senses and knows who he is up against!" Shuffling the papers once more, he singled out the report of the last appearance of the bandit.

"Yes, yes…" De Soto mumbled as he read. A farmer on the outskirts of town reported seeing Zorro riding in the distance, but at a leisurely pace. "That was on September 4th… and on the 15th, I instituted the new luxury tax…and…" He searched the stack of papers for papers dated after that. There were none. "And Zorro did nothing!"

De Soto leaned back in his chair. The luxury tax was a brilliant idea on his part, mainly because he got to decide just what was a luxury. The threshold was very low. He had even decreed that the drinks served in the tavern were subject to the tax. After all, many could not afford them, therefore they were a luxury. "And you'd think that Zorro would have cared about that, at least. Since his lady love would be affected by it.

Yes, those were the only times that Zorro had been seen. "What's he up to?" De Soto mused and continued thinking about the habitual behavior of the outlaw. Maybe Señorita Escalante had not had a chance to appeal to her lover about the tax. "She left to search for young de la Vega about that time…"

De Soto spoke aloud to the picture of Machiavelli on the wall. "Diego…now, that was odd too. I can see his father going after him, or that fool of a boy, but Victoria! I thought she had a bit more sense than that." He chuckled. "Sense! Hah! What am I saying! She's in love with Zorro!"

A cloud passed over the face of the alcalde. "She's in love with Zorro," he said wonderingly. "Why would a woman go on a mad search for someone who was just a friend?" De Soto licked his lips and his eyes darted back and forth as his mind's eye played back scenes for him. Victoria and Zorro. Diego watching Victoria. Don Alejandro coming into his office with that odd letter…

"The letter!" De Soto jumped to his feet. "No, no, it just can't be!" He turned to the picture once more. "Zorro was seen since Diego's been missing." Scratching his head, he glanced once more at the report of Zorro freeing the man from the stocks. "Zorro would never let a man suffer in the heat like that man did that day. Maybe he knew it was a trap? No, no, he never seems to care if I've set a trap or not." De Soto sank back down in the chair. "He comes and goes at will around here," he said miserably and picked up the report. "But this day, he didn't. He avoided trouble rather than confronting it."

Perhaps he has a helper!

De Soto jumped. The thought seemed to come from the picture itself. But it was a thought he'd often had himself. Zorro had to have a helper, if only to feed him information. Then images began playing across his brain of the boy, the deaf mute, Felipe. "He's always underfoot, hanging around, making those infernal signs…that only Diego can understand." Old suspicions surfaced and this time, they wouldn't be swatted aside.

The pieces fell into place.

His fist struck the desk with a savage force and he let go an unintelligible yell that vibrated the rafters.

"NO! He can't be dead! He was mine! MINE!" De Soto buried his face in his hands and was a total picture of despair when Mendoza ran back into the room.

"Alcalde! Alcalde!" Mendoza shouted at the top of his lungs.

De Soto was pulled from his thoughts.

"Diego de la Vega is alive! He's alive! They've brought him back from the sea. He's—"

"He's alive?" De Soto was joyous and turned to bow to the picture. "Mil gracias! Diego is alive!" Then he turned back to the sergeant. "How do you know this, Mendoza?"

"Some of the men just returned from the pirates' camp. They say he's already at the hacienda. He's very weak and not really awake yet, according to Captain Jarrett, but he'll be fine in no time."

"As long as he's alive, Mendoza! As long as he's alive!" De Soto slapped him soundly on the back, making him stumble forward.

"Alcalde?" Mendoza didn't quite expect such a reaction from the Alcalde and, at first, he thought he was being sarcastic. But the smile on the man's face belied that. No, he was truly happy Don Diego was alive.

Maybe he would overlook the soldiers not arresting the pirates. They had gone there to arrest them but the men had really done nothing wrong. They were just camping and had permission to camp on the de la Vega property. At least, that's what they claimed. It was possible to be a reformed pirate, wasn't it?

But De Soto was giving him new orders.

"…And you will place a man at the door of the bedroom and one man at every corner of the hacienda. Oh, and there should be someone watching the comings and goings of the stables as well. That horse is somewhere close by, of course. No matter, that boy will lead us to him. Just keep a man at his side every minute of every day."

"Alcalde? Do you mean we are to watch Don Diego? At the hacienda? But why?" Mendoza was confused.

"I mean, Sergeant, that he is to be placed under arrest. I don't care if he's in a coma! You put a man in the room with him, outside his door, outside every window. I want the entire hacienda under government authority."

"But why?"

"Because I said so, Sergeant. That's all you need to know!" He came around the desk and pulled on his gloves. "Now, get going!"

"Si, mi alcalde." Mendoza went from the room, shaking his head in bewilderment.