Chapter 1
Zorro clawed frantically at anything that could possibly slow his descent. Sand and foliage slid through his fingers. There was nothing to hold, nothing to grasp, as he slid closer and closer toward certain death below.
Sharp rocks cut his fingers, and battered his body as he slid rapidly downward. His leg was numb and he realized, with dismay, that the rest of him would be too as soon as he hit the jagged rock.
A bruised and bleeding hand finally caught the tip of a jutting rock abruptly stopping his descent. His weight on the rock caused it to loosen and the dirt dislodged from the movement slid into the water causing it to bubble.
He breathed deeply, willing the pain in his leg and extremities away so that he could think. He was only able to gather a few thoughts before the rock gave way and he tumbled with a loud cry into the white water below.
"Madre de Diós," Mendoza crawled to the cliff edge searching the darkness for any sign of movement below.
"Finally," De Soto hooted in satisfaction, "we are rid of him."
"I don't see anything," Mendoza offered.
De Soto turned his head toward the Sergeant. "And we would not render help if you did see something."
"But alcalde..."
"Enough!" the immensely satisfied man raised his fist to silence Mendoza. He turned to the lancers gathered around to see if Zorro still lived and ordered. "Mount up. I want that stallion!"
As De Soto mounted Mariposa, he chuckled. "We'll return tomorrow to look for the body."
Victoria barely recognized the de la Vega hacienda through the haze of tears that blocked her vision.
The stallion brought her up to the front door and whickered, shaking his head and pawing at the ground.
Victoria stared bewildered at the gates. Hadn't Zorro told Toronado to go home? Why had the stallion brought her here? She glanced toward the door as it opened to reveal a very startled Felipe. Alejandro stood behind the boy, rubbing sleepy eyes. They widened quickly upon seeing Toronado standing at his front door, an obviously frightened Victoria clutching his reins. Concern for Victoria's safety and for the masked man that was nowhere in sight, hastened his need to get to the lovely señorita and he was at the stallion's side in an instant.
As Felipe grasped Toronado's reins, Alejandro rested a hand on the boy's arm. "Be careful. He is a wild..."
Felipe nodded sheepishly but did not pull away, and Alejandro was amazed the stallion did not rear.
Alejandro quickly pulled Victoria from the saddle and carried her into the hacienda where she immediately came to her senses and stared wildly at the elder de la Vega. She clutched at his hands, shaking her head, willing the words to come out in a cohesive, understandable sentence.
"Zorro, he...!"
"Calm down, Victoria. Sit and tell me what happened." Alejandro pulled her to sit with him on the sofa as a sleepy housemaid brought a cool glass of juice for her to drink.
Before she could say anything, he grasped her hands in his own, rubbing them. "You're freezing."
"Zorro fell off the cliff by mesa verde, we were having dinner when the lancers came and..." she stopped to catch her breath, "Oh, Don Alejandro, we must do something. He could be hurt or..."
She stopped to wipe the tears that refused to stop spilling from her big, brown eyes.
Alejandro looked up and out the window. "It's dark, my dear. We would not be able to see anything. We will go out at first light." Alejandro embraced the shaking woman and allowed her to cry, murmuring incoherent fragments, until she fell into a fitful slumber.
Alejandro closed his eyes as a single tear rolled down his cheek. He whispered, "God help us all. Please don't let him be dead." He rocked Victoria like a sick child, murmuring words of comfort into her ear. By the time Alejandro realized that he'd forgotten all about Felipe, the boy was gone.
He floated atop the ocean waves as they splashed against the rocks until he could no longer keep his head above water. His body was battered and bruised and he knew he was weakening even faster due to blood loss. A million thoughts rushed through his mind and he suddenly accepted that he was going to die. There was no way out of danger for the unbeatable Zorro this time.
One thought stood out above all others; his desire for the woman he loved to know his true identity. He wished he had been able to express his true feelings as himself rather than just from behind a mask. Regret at causing her pain rushed through his blood. His death would cause her pain. But – at least she would be free to love another, rather than trapped by a promise to love and wait until his crusade against oppression had ended.
He hadn't the strength to swim against the current, and the jagged rocky ledge, against which the waves were relentlessly thrusting his body, was too steep and sharp to climb.
The pain that jolted through him with each lurch of the waves inched him closer to unconsciousness and he thrust his head out of the water one last time with one last cry.
"Victoria!"
No one was around to hear the cry or see the man's body pushed against the slick rocks one last time before sliding like a dead weight beneath the water.
When the first light filtered through the hacienda windows, Victoria was awake instantly and ready to ride out to the cliff to look for her masked love.
"Take it easy. I don't think ..." Alejandro knew better than to try and stop the determined woman. So he followed her out to his stables where she promptly took a bridle and attempted to tack a horse herself.
"Victoria let me do that." Alejandro took the bridle from her trembling hands and slid it onto the Andalucian's neck.
When Felipe hurried into the stables, Alejandro called to him." Felipe, make sure Diego knows where we have gone. Victoria wants to leave now and I need to go with her. Please wake Diego and have him meet us at mesa verde."
He didn't notice that Felipe didn't nod. Didn't notice the frightened look and the dark circles beneath the exhausted boy's eyes.
Alejandro didn't know that Felipe had gotten no sleep the night prior as he had searched for his friend. When Felipe returned, just before first light, he had sat up crying for the loss of a man he had thought of as a father.
He took Tornado back to his stall, brushed and cleaned him and sat wondering how he was going to tell Alejandro that his son would not be waking up this morning or any morning in the future. He waited for a few hours, saddled his pinto and rode out to the mesa in search of Alejandro and Victoria.
Felipe found them sitting on the ledge overlooking the beautiful ocean. Victoria had piled broken dishes, plates and silverware in a cloth around her. She had gathered what the lancers, in their haste to capture Zorro, had broken and destroyed – what was left of the beautiful dinner they had shared.
Alejandro looked up as Felipe approached and his eyes narrowed. "Where's Diego?"
Felipe didn't answer and he dismounted quickly walking over to his patron and signing slowly so that the man could understand. The elder de la Vega was not as good at reading hand signals as Diego was and therefore Felipe had to remember to sign so that Alejandro would understand him.
"Felipe, what is going on?" Alejandro demanded when the information he was getting from Felipe were not what he wanted to hear.
They were interrupted by the sound of hoof beats coming over the ridge.
Victoria stared at the approaching lancers with contempt and hatred in her eyes. Those men had been the cause of Zorro's death and her eyes shot daggers in de Soto's direction as he appeared at the head of his lancers.
"This area is under our jurisdiction and you are obligated to divulge any information on the whereabouts of Zorro." De Soto dismounted his horse.
Victoria stood and immediately, launched herself at him.
Only Alejandro's intervention prevented her from striking the man across the face.
"That would have been a mistake, Señorita." De Soto held up a warning finger. "After all, there is no longer a Zorro to free you from my jail should I choose to arrest you for attacking a military official."
"What do you want, Alcalde?" Alejandro ignored the smug look the alcalde shot at Victoria.
"I want to know what Señorita Escalante did with that black stallion she rode out of here last night." .
"Toronado took me to the de la Vega hacienda and ran away." She lied, glaring malevolently at the alcalde.
"Ah, of course." The alcalde clasped his hands together and stared at Alejandro. "If my men find that stallion in your corral, you will be arrested for providing sanctuary for a wanted criminal."
The water sloshed lazily over the man, the coldness waking him from his forced slumber. He moaned and clutched at his head hoping the dizziness would pass. He rolled over onto his back and looked around the small cavern. It was dark but there was a streak of light filtering through rock and into the cave. He tried to sit but the pain in his side and arms, prevented much movement.
"What happened?" the man moaned, shaking his head. Pain shot through his head as he tried to lift it and he decided to just rest where he was. Receeding water lapped at his legs. With what little strength remained, he pulled himself up the embankment a little further and collapsed, exhausted and in great pain.
A few minutes later he braved the pain in his head and pushed himself into a seated position. His leg throbbed as he slowly remembered what had happened the night before.
As he had lost consciousness, the waves carried him into a small cavern. His body had been carried on the high tide and deposited here, atop this wet, sand packed mound.
He glanced down at his leg. It throbbed painfully but a tourniquet had been wrapped tightly around it to prevent further loss of blood. Zorro couldn't remember doing it, but, there was no indication that there was anyone else around, so he must have completed the task before completely losing consciousness.
With difficulty, and a wince at every movement, he removed his shirt and tore it into strips. He needed to find a way to bandage his injuries and this was the best he could think of at the moment. He wrapped his badly sprained arm with one, groaning in pain as he did so. With the rest he wrapped his bruised ribs.
After groaning in pain for several minutes he finally lifted himself onto his good leg and hobbled around the large cavern searching for a way out.
The light filtering though the cavern above was thin but the walls were too steep and slick with moss to even begin to climb. In the darkness, he stumbled over a large object half buried in the sand. He sank to his knees beside it and felt around the large wooden chest.
His hands came across the lock that was still hooked and, with a wince, he reached behind his back and un-sheathed his knife.
After a few minutes of searching the innards of the strangely designed lock, it finally snapped open and the man pulled the lock from its hinges.
Cutlasses and clothing were packed into the chest as Zorro searched through for anything that he might be able to use.
Inside there was a much smaller palm held chest that was locked as well. Zorro's knife was too big to pick that lock and he searched for a piece of wire or something small enough to open it. He shivered and realized that if he didn't get out of his wet clothes, he would become deathly chilled. And with the loss of blood and his injuries, his body was already weak. The clothes that he had taken out of the chest were remarkably dry. He had no idea how long they had been buried in the chest, but right now, wearing them was his only option.
He draped his torn black clothing, or rather, what was left of it, on a wall far away from the sloshing of the water. His strength finally giving out, he collapsed against the wall. With a heavy sigh, he lay with his head against the closed chest and fell into a deep, uncomfortable sleep.
As the alcalde and the lancers rode away, Alejandro turned to Felipe, "Now you were just about to tell me why Diego did not accompany you out here."
Felipe sighed and signed slowly that he would explain everything once they got back to the hacienda.
Victoria was lost in her own thoughts but Alejandro's eyes narrowed. Before he could comment further, Felipe was on his pinto and motioning for them to follow.
They took the remnants of the meal Victoria and Zorro had shared the previous night and put them into Alejandro's saddlebags.
As they neared the hacienda, Felipe waved one of the ranch hands over to take care of the horses. Alejandro found Felipe's behavior odd, as he was always the one who took care of the horses, but followed the young man when he motioned for them to continue to follow.
Alejandro could see the worry and the lines etched into the young man's features. He was suddenly overcome with a fear he had never before experienced.
Felipe signed slowly and Alejandro translated for Victoria. "You're sorry. For what, Felipe?"
Alejandro shook his head, not understanding. "You're sorry that you couldn't protect him. Keep him out of harms way? You're sorry you couldn't convince him to tell us his secret?" Icy fear spread through his blood and his mouth went dry.
Alejandro took the boy by the shoulders and stared at him, "Felipe, what does this have to do with Diego not following you out the mesa today to help in the search for Zorro?"
Felipe brought his hand to his heart, covered his eyes like a mask and pointed at Alejandro.
Alejandro chuckled and turned to a wide-eyed Victoria, who had understood Felipe's meaning a second prior.
"Because," Alejandro was almost afraid to translate aloud what Felipe had just said, "Diego is Zorro?"
Alejandro chuckled again and shook his head. "That is not possible. Felipe what is going –"
Alejandro stopped abruptly when Felipe turned around and depressed the lever hidden in the fireplace.
Victoria gasped and Alejandro snapped his mouth shut as Felipe stepped through the doorway and motioned for them to follow.
Alejandro's heart sank as they reached the end of the long passageway and stepped into the large room. He gazed disbelievingly at all of the things unmistakably belonging to his son.
Experiments littered the table, a journal, on the desk, lay open, as if someone had been in the midst of writing. Alejandro recognized the handwriting as belonging to his son. The final confirmation was the clothing draped across the stand – Diego's clothing. Clothing that he had been wearing the afternoon before.
"God in heaven." Alejandro sank against the desk, his heart beating so rapidly he thought it was going to beat through his chest.
Victoria took the news much more calmly. She strode over to the experiments bubbling on the counter and touched one she recognized. A smoke bomb that Zorro was fond of using against the lancers. She moved to the desk next, her slim fingers brushing over the soft leather cover of the journal. She, too, recognized Diego's handwriting. She flipped the pages back to the beginning, noting, without surprise, that there was no name written within.
She flipped to the next page, swallowing hard as her eyes scanned the written text. It chronicled the tale of how Diego's deception and masquerade as Zorro had begun. Victoria picked up the journal and held it to her chest as she roamed around the room.
She stopped at the clothing rack and lifted the easily recognizable jacket off the hook. Tears slipped from her eyes as she realized that she had not only lost the man she loved when Zorro had fallen over the cliff, but a friend as dear to her as a brother and , she realized with a sob, as close to her as a lover.
Felipe slid down a wall and cradled his head in his hands. When Alejandro knelt beside the boy, he noticed that he was crying, the tears sliding down his cheeks as he cried for his dead friend.
"Diós," Alejandro wiped away a solitary tear only to have it followed by a deluge of others, "how did he..."
Alejandro turned his head when he heard movement. He saw Victoria sink into the chair at the desk, his son's jacket now wrapped snugly around her shoulders. She opened Diego's journal and began to read . . .
The words brought to life the memories and the feelings that she had experienced when the events chronicled in the journal had taken place.
She, of all people, should have known. She should have seen the similarities between the two men. She'd been so blind! And now it was too late to show him how much she respected him for what he had done, how much she did truly love him.
She read the words written in his own hand...
'She was more radiant than I had ever imagined. After fire years in Spain, I had seen the most finely dressed woman but none compared to Victoria's natural, graceful beauty. She had a strength and a countenance to which none could compare and I had to resist the urge to ask for her hand the minute I walked in the door.
The alcalde was clearly out of his mind in his corruption of the people and I couldn't stand idly by and let him destroy what my ancestors struggled so hard to build. I had to find a way that I could combat the alcalde's actions without putting those I cared for in danger of persecution.
With Felipe's help, I created an alternate persona. One where I could come and go as I pleased and the alcalde would know no better.
The one thing I had not foreseen was falling so deeply in love with a woman I could never have. Well, at least not until my fight against the corruption and oppression had ended.
So I had to love her as Diego de la Vega in secret and as El Zorro in public. The more time we spent together, the more I loved about her. Her fire and determination to do good for this pueblo in the face of such insurmountable odds was an aphrodisiac that no man in his right mind could ignore.
The more time I spent with her the more careful I had to be. For she spent the most time with Zorro and Diego and she, if anyone, would be the first to see any similarities if I were to let my guard down for an instant.
So I had to play the fool, take the brunt of the teasing and accusations, to protect this secret identity. I lost the respect of the two people who I o desperately wanted to see me for who I truly am, and I lost the woman I loved most in this world to a - fantasy. I soon found that I was at odds with myself, with my own emotions, with my own feelings.
Chronicled in this journal is an account of Zorro's adventures that I wish to leave for future generations and hopefully, my children.'
Victoria sobbed and slowly shut the book, unable to read more. He would not get the chance to tell his children the stories contained within this journal. She would never be able to bear him those children now
The world would learn about Diego de la Vega's secret identity, she would make sure of it. And any future generations of her family as well as Alejandro's, would understand what risks this magnificently brave caballero went to protect his people from oppression.
TBC
Thethirdtroll - No, I can't be nice to Zorro. It's too fun to torture him. It makes for far more interesting stories….You not read any more? Muahaha. THAT will be the day. You really need to get a copy of the series so you can fall in love with it just like those of us who write did….you might even be inspired to write something yourself….
WolfDaughter – Thanks for the review. I'm glad you continue to like the stories. This is one I'd written five or so years ago but decided to dust it off, edit (in some cases heavily re-write) it a bit and repost.
Beverly – This may just end a bit different than the originally posted – it was never posted on just on various web sites - version of this story. Keep reading and thanks for the comments!