Chapter 3

Diego has blue eyes. She had dismissed the fact so easily before, but it was an all- encompassing thought now. Her head was ringing with the roar of the thunder. The lightning flashes were getting closer and she finally could stand it no longer.

"Diego, please! Come back here with me. That lightning! It's so close. It might —"

"What!" He stopped scanning the heavens and turned, surprised to see the concern on her face. "I think we are perfectly safe in here." She looked extremely agitated. He sat down beside her on the rocks. The cave was in deep shadow now. He could only just see the outline of her features, but he could see her face was mobile with thought. He had never known her to be so frightened by a storm. But she seemed near tears right now.

"Victoria, are you all right?" He held her close, whispering to her soothing endearments. She was as emotional as a child. He would have to remember this, although he would never have thought that this fiery, brave woman who had stood up to so many threats would be afraid of a few claps of thunder. One never knew from where fears grew. Perhaps she had been frightened by a storm as a child.

But Victoria's thoughts were not those of a child. She was a woman in the arms of the man she loved, a woman who had just learned his greatest secret, and didn't know what she was going to do about it. She did know that she was going to keep him close to her for as long as she could that night. Now, she was the one with the secret and she was going to enjoy having the upper hand for awhile.

Their bodies warmed each other and eventually the myriad of noises outside the cave wove into a tapestry of sounds that lulled the two into deep sleep. The two lovers, entwined as friends, slept the hours of the pounding storm away in the safety of the cave.

Towards the light of morning, Diego awoke. But he did not move away from her. He merely shifted his body to a more comfortable position to allow the sleeping girl a few more minutes of restful sleep. He watched her as the light edged in closer from the cave entrance. He spent most of those minutes just wishing that time would pass more slowly. For right now, he was exactly where he wanted to be.

There was just one pressing problem. He was fighting the urge to sneeze.

The nagging tickling in his nose grew so great that finally he could contain it no longer. At the sound of his sneeze, Victoria jerked awake. She was momentarily startled to find herself wrapped in Diego's arms. Then the night's happenings came back to her and her thoughts leapt to the newfound knowledge that Diego was…

Diego was now coughing and sneezing uncontrollably.

"Pardon me, Victoria…." he managed to gasp out between sneezes and coughs. "I seem to have caught a cold" He had found his handkerchief but the dampness seeping through from his clothes was chilling.

"Oh, Diego, you fell asleep in those wet clothes. I never even thought about it. I should have made you take them off."

"That, my dear, would not have been too good of an idea either, I'm afraid. We've already strained the bounds of decency by staying here together last night."

"Nonsense, we had no choice. It's just a lucky thing you knew about this place."

Diego sneezed again. He looked so comical. His clothes were damp and wrinkled. His hair was a mess, and the sneezes and coughs just added a final touch that sent Victoria into peals of laughter.

"I fail … (cough)… to see… (sneeze).. the humor of the situation."

"Oh, Diego." She smiled at him sweetly. But her thoughts were in a jumble. Last night, she had thought him to be Zorro. Now she looked at him in the cold light of morning and wondered just how in the world she had come to that decision. The man before her was simply Diego, a wonderful, kind, sweet man, but he could not be Zorro. Diego sneezed loudly once again, driving the thought home in her mind.

They brushed off their clothes and gathered the few things they had brought into the cave and made their way outside. The storm had abated, but the low hanging clouds still threatened more rain, and rumblings of thunder could still be heard off in the distance. A stiff wind blew coldly from the north. The rough weather wasn't through with them yet.

He helped her with her footing to the mouth of the cave. There, they looked down to the road just below and gasped as they saw the small stream beside it. For the small stream was now a raging river. The water surged down the banks carrying logs and debris and ate away at the road's edge every few feet.

"I think we have been lucky. If that water had become another foot deeper, this cave would not have been safe last night. The rains further north must have been even greater than those here. We had better start for home now, before it washes out the road entirely. As it is, we will have to drive to this side of it."

Diego helped her down the rocks and found the horses. The small rock canopy had sheltered them well through the night. But the wagon itself had not been so lucky. Diego found it, or rather parts of it, washed down the trailside, smashed against some rocks.

"I am afraid we will be on horseback today. The wagon is gone. We will make do. Don't worry." He smiled at her reassuringly. "I know you have ridden bareback before. It has just been awhile!"

He set about to rework the tack into something workable for their ride back. They used the blankets as makeshift saddles and, before long, they were on their way. The ride back to the hacienda was a long one.

The damage from the storm was excessive. Trees had been uprooted. Bricks, timbers and quite a few small dead animals littered the roadway. Boulders had tumbled from the rocky cliffs. At times, familiar landmarks were hard to find, having been washed away by either the wind or the water.

Diego rode ahead trying to pick out the best parts of the remaining trail. He found it necessary to keep a keen eye on Victoria's horse because she seemed so distracted. The storm and its effects seemed to have totally unnerved her.

It was all Victoria could do to keep her mind on the task of guiding her horse through the maze of debris. Her thoughts were centering on her discovery. She watched Diego more than she watched the trail. Her idea that he was Zorro had seemed so plausible the night before. Now she was unsure. She would just have to watch him carefully.

Several times Diego had to turn back to help her horse navigate the way through tight spaces. Once, it seemed a long detour might be necessary. The path had been blocked by a huge log. But Victoria watched in amazement as Diego went about getting it moved out of the way. Why had she never noticed how strong Diego was before now?

"These bricks must have been blown here from quite a distance." He looked at Victoria as they both wondered how the pueblo had fared through the storm. Fearing for the worst, they tried to spur the horses onward even faster. But the going was slow. Several times the water prevented them from taking the most direct route. The trip that would normally only take two hours had today taken them seven. It was almost dusk when they drew near to the boundaries of the de la Vega lands.

When they were in sight of the hacienda several vaqueros, who had been out searching for the young caballero, waved them on, clearly glad to see him coming home at last. Don Alejandro was at the door, the relief on his face boldly evident.

"Diego, I have never been so worried in all my life. Victoria, are you all right? I would have been even more frantic if I had known you were with Diego."

"Si, Don Alejandro. I am fine. But sore and tired."

"Father, have you heard how Los Angeles came through this?"

"There's some damage to quite a few buildings, but so far, no one is reported to have been hurt. The tavern was unharmed, my dear. But I'm afraid several of the peons lost some roofs and the church lost a wall. We'll have to organize some workforces to help them recover from this. But, for now, you two looked chilled to the bone. Victoria, you will stay here tonight, of course." Alejandro turned to a servant girl nearby and gave his orders.

"Lupita will see that everything is prepared for both of you. And you, Diego, seem to be coming down with your death of a cold. I want you two out of those damp clothes, bathed and into a nice warm bed. I'll see that Maria warms your beds with some hot bricks while you both bathe. Did you see the tornado?"

Victoria had been taken aback by all the fatherly concern. Now she was amused to find the same excitement about the storm that Diego had displayed now evident in his father's question. It sounded like he was jealous that he had not been the one to see it in the wild.

"We never actually saw it, but it must have been very close. That small stream that hugs the road to the ridge is now a veritable river today. You would not believe the change." Diego and his father followed Victoria into the hacienda, both of them completely lost in descriptions of the night's tumultuous weather.