Chapter 5

Neither of the young people slept well that night. The wind continued to blow furiously and its howling reverberated through the adobe walls. Just past midnight, the rain began again.

Diego was reminded of the old adage of one being "too tired to sleep." But even if he was not, the storm's thunderous pounding would have prevented him from a good night's rest. Finally he could stand it no longer. He got up and put on a robe and made his way to the library. It would be wise to check on Tornado anyway. The cave would provide ample shelter for the great stallion, but he might be made uneasy by all the noise.

He yawned sleepily as he approached the fireplace. Having already pressed the lever underneath the fireplace mantle, he froze at the quick intake of breath directly behind him. He whirled around to find Victoria within arm's reach. Immediately, he stepped to his left, hoping to block her view of the opened secret panel behind him.

"Victoria! What are you doing down here. Did the storm frighten you?" He crossed to her, trying to keep himself directly in her line of sight with the opening.

"I couldn't sleep. The storm…" She looked up at him in the dark room. The occasional bright flash of lightning through the window only partially lit his face. "What were you doing down here?" She moved purposefully around him and stared into the fireplace. "And just where does that lead, Señor de la Vega?" She looked at him accusingly with a small amount of triumph in her voice.

Diego's mind reeled. He quickly reached over to the lever and pressed it again, closing off the doorway. "Oh that? Why, it's …just …a storage room. For furniture, odds and ends, things like that. I had thought …that I had …left my book on a table in there the other day….so I…" His words did not even sound convincing to himself. What could he do?

"A book?" She crossed her arms and turned her head to one side. "Now, why don't I believe you!" She stepped forward and pressed the lever. The panel swung open and Diego could see clearly that she was going to step inside.

"Victoria, there is no light in there. You should not…." She could see the panic spreading across his features. "Please." He paused a moment and pressed the lever to close the panel once more. Then he said simply, "Don't."

Victoria hesitated.

Suddenly a huge tree limb crashed through the window, knocking Diego into her. He scrambled to his feet and leapt to the window to force the shutters closed against the wind and rain. Within minutes, several of the servants and Don Alejandro joined them in the library.

"Are you hurt, my dear?" Don Alejandro's first thoughts were for the safety of the two, but he quickly turned his attention to the mess in the room. "Now where did that come from?" There are no trees near the window."

"Father, you may yet get your secret wish to see a tornado up close! Just listen. It is getting worse." The sound of the storm had been steadily increasing and now sounded as if it were directly on top of them. "Quickly, you two, get under that table! Here!" He grabbed some cushions from the sofa and threw them to the servants. "Father, Victoria, here!" He had shoved the grate over inside the fireplace and motioned for them to huddle underneath the mantle.

Grabbing some more cushions and shouted instructions to them to protect their heads. His voice was barely audible above the roar of the storm. He turned over the sofa and propped it up against the fireplace so that it might provide just a bit more protection for them. Once that was done, Diego raced from the room to find Felipe. He had to make sure that he was safe too.

He ran straight into Felipe in the hallway outside his own room. As the storm's intensity grew even louder, he seized Felipe by the shoulders and pulled him forcefully underneath a sturdy looking doorframe.

The next few minutes seemed like hours. The winds beat at the house with all its might. The crescendo of thunder sought to destroy the very walls. Diego could feel Felipe trembling beneath his grasp. A tremendous crash sounded off to his left. He could hear the sound of breaking glass and groaning timbers.

Then all of a sudden, almost as quickly as it had begun, it was over.

Diego released his hold on Felipe and the two opened their eyes to survey the damage. The hallway was intact. But beyond that, they looked toward where Diego's bedroom had been and saw a black night sky. They both shuddered with relief. After exchanging a meaningful glance, the two began to run toward the library.

The room was much the same as he had left it. Don Alejandro and Victoria were emerging from behind the upturned sofa and the servants were peeping out from beneath the large table.

"Diego! What was that loud crash? We heard—"

"It was my room, Father. I am afraid the outside wall was destroyed." This side of the house did not do too badly, though." Even as he said the words, he was surveying a completely wrecked room. "I'm going out to check on the vaqueros. It might not be a bad idea it we gathered all the servants together tonight. It may not be over yet." He turned and ran out the door, heading for the stables.

"Juan, go check on the others. And if everything's all right, you might have Maria start a pot of tea. We may be up a while and it would be a small comfort."

Don Alejandro was already picking up items from the floor and trying to tidy up the room as best he could with the huge tree branch impeding his way. The servants began scurrying to all points of the house checking on what needed to be done.

Juan made it to Diego's bedroom to see if he could salvage Diego's clothes. He found the large oak wardrobe in the corner had been knocked on its side, but was otherwise intact. The clothes inside were safe enough for now. The heavy wood would surely keep them dry until daylight.

Victoria had gone to the kitchen to see what help she could offer. The tea was already steeping and she set about with trays and cups. The men from outside were straggling in with their own stories of what had happened in the stables and corrals.

Throughout it all, the sound of the heavy rain continued as it beat against the house. Diego had not gone straight to the stables as he had said. Instead, he had made his way around the perimeter of the house and down the rocky slope to the entrance to the cave. He had to check on Tornado. He stepped hard on the covered, spring board that triggered the opening of the passage.

Once inside, he found Tornado in his stall, well, but decidedly disturbed by the storm. Diego began methodically rubbing him down with the brushes, all the while speaking low and soothingly to him, calming him down from his agitated state. Tornado's value as a helper to him was a direct result of his spirited nature, but in this case, his high spirits could only be detrimental to Tornado. He was safe in the cave, but his heightened senses and his very nature might make him feel trapped by the cave instead of sheltered by it. Diego stayed with his four-footed friend for as long as he dared, but he knew he needed to get back to the house.

A look around the stables assured him that things were being handled quite well by the vaqueros and, before long, he reentered the house. He found everybody gathered in the kitchens. The vaqueros, dripping with rain, came in, just long enough to warm up with a cup of tea and then they went back out into the night to tend to the cattle and horses entrusted to their care.

Victoria's cheeks colored the instant she saw Diego walk through the door. She had been concerned, and the relief she felt, she knew, showed in her face. His clothes were wet once more and his hair dripping about his face, and she thought at once of her thoughts in the cave. She watched him, while trying not to get caught at it, as he took off his jacket and warmed his hands at the fire. She watched him sip the tea and dab at his face and hair with the towel Maria had fetched for him. When he caught her looking at him, she immediately looked away, embarrassed.

He picked up another cup of the tea and strode over to her to offer it to her. "I am beginning to feel this storm is following us!" He smiled hoping his attempt at levity would lighten her mood. "At this rate, we may never get you home!"

She took the cup and smiled back at him shyly. "Yes, you may have to put up with me a little longer."

"Put up with you? You know I would never phrase it that way." He changed to a serious tone. "I know you must be worried about the tavern. As soon as it is light, and if the storm has lessened, I will send someone to check it out before you start back. I'd like to know for sure what you are going to find before we let you leave."

"A good idea, Son," Don Alejandro joined them in their corner. "So far, the only damage to the house is to the library and Diego's room, so we've been very lucky. Diego, Juan says the wardrobe protected your clothes very well. He's going to move them into the room down the hall from mine for the time being." He looked his son up and down. "Perhaps you should go find a change of clothes now. It's not going to do that cold of yours any good to be running around in wet clothes."

"I'm fine, Father. They will dry out in a few minutes." His protests were interrupted by a small sneeze.

"Uh huh. You're going to be fine, all right." Don Alejandro turned to Consuela and pointed to his son. "Consuela, I think my son needs some of that very good medicine you force down me when I come down with anything. What do you think?"

Consuela needed no more prompting. Within minutes, she had Juan fetching Diego some dry clothes, Lupita preparing a bed in the room Diego would now be using, and Victoria warming up some broth. She herself ushered a protesting Diego down the hall, and within a half hour, Diego actually found himself in bed, being dosed with one of the most foul tasting medicines ever devised.

Victoria stood in the doorway with pursed lips. "Serves him right!" she thought, though why she was feeling so uncharitable towards Diego, she had no idea. He had acted most heroically throughout this whole ordeal, come to think of it, even if he didn't look the part.

Her thoughts jumped to the fireplace and she excused herself and made her way back down the long hallway to the library. What was really behind the fireplace? She stood in the middle of the room contemplating the possibilities. Was it just a storage room as he said? No, he had acted as if he'd been caught in the act of doing ... what? There were all kinds of stories about these old haciendas and secret passages and tunnels to protect the landed gentry from Indian attacks.

But there also flashed into her mind a picture of a cave-like room. The place Zorro had taken her once. It was in that place, a very long time ago, that he had given her the ring she treasured so. The ring that had come with a promise that someday she and Zorro would share a life together.

And he had brought her something else that day. A meal! He had disappeared up a stone stairway and come back later with a lovely cooked meal. That meant there had been a kitchen close by somewhere. It was possible...

The room had been cleared of most of the debris already. She noticed a cushion lying on the floor and bent to pick it up and place it on the chair. The storm had quieted down now and there was only a steady slow rain beating against the shutters. The others were all back in the kitchen now.

Victoria saw her opportunity and went for it. Grabbing a lit, single candlestick from the table, she pressed the lever and the small doorway swung open, showing a dark rectangular entry leading off into darkness. Before it could swing shut again, she was through.

She found herself in a small passageway that led downwards. "No furniture here," she remarked out loud as she confirmed her suspicions. Diego had lied. And it appeared that her candle was unnecessary. There was light ahead. Another lie! She took a deep breath and stepped further into the passageway.

Aromas of various kinds assailed her nostrils, some pleasant, and some not so pleasing. When she got to the bottom of the steps and saw a huge cavern-like room open up before her, she froze and dropped the candlestick. The silver clattered loudly against the stone as she fought a wave of dizziness.

This was it! This was the very room she had been in before on that day so long ago. There before her was a table filled with all kinds of scientific equipment, glass vials and bottles. Beyond the table, she glimpsed the swishing tail of a very large black horse. Tornado. And to her right, the very chair she had sat in as Zorro had bandaged her sprained ankle. To her left, a black silk cape hung next to a black hat, trimmed with silver conchos.

Her legs gave way beneath her and she sank down to sit on the step. It was true! What more proof could there be? Diego was Zorro. The man that lay in a bed upstairs with a cold was the legendary hero she loved.

She sat there for a few more minutes drinking in all the sights of the room and trying to make sense of it all. How had she not known? It all seemed so simple now. Zorro could not be anyone else. Diego had fooled everybody with his acts of clumsiness and bookishness. She could see the reason for all his actions now. His laziness! He slept late because he spent his nights riding as Zorro. His friendliness with Sergeant Mendoza, buying him food and wine. Why, he had been pumping him for information all the time! All those unexplained absences when Zorro made an appearance.

Oh yes, now she could see everything. Or did she? What about his "romance" with her as Zorro? Was it for real? Or was it just an act of some kind? Wouldn't he have courted her as Diego if he had really been serious? The answer seemed obvious and painful. He had an ulterior motive for pretending to care for her. Possibly the same one as he did for his dealings with the Sergeant. Anything to help his cause.

She had indeed helped him in many ways in the past. She'd always provided him with useful information when she could, aided him when he had come to her hurt, and given him sanctuary when he required it. But she had also given him her heart. Had that been what he had wanted or what she had needed?

She felt drained of all emotion. Her life was in tatters and she couldn't even cry. Is this what a broken heart was like?

She slowly got up and turned back to the passageway. Somehow, she made it back through it and to her room without being seen. She locked the door behind her, undressed, and climbed into bed. She would think about all of this tomorrow. Right now, her body needed sleep. Her mind needed just to stop! She wanted to just stop thinking of everything.

For once, she wished she liked the taste of wine. She now understood why some of the soldiers could drink themselves into an unconscious state. That's what she would like to do now. Anything to stop the flow of her thoughts as they leapt from Diego to Zorro and back again.