Chapter 16
Zorro climbed to the second floor window of the dormitory in hopes of having a quiet word with a few of the señoritas. As he peered into the window, he could see there was only one inside. She was lying across one of the beds, face down and fully clothed. When he rapped on the window, she held up her head to reveal a tearstained face.
It was Sarita. She was across the room and opening the latch in an instant, sniffling all the while.
"Zorro! What are you doing here?" she asked as she wiped at her eyes.
He whispered his greeting to her softly as he sat precariously in the window frame. "Hola, Señorita! You were crying?"
"It's Andrea! Haven't you heard? She's missing! And it's all my fault!"
Hearing the very words he had said to his father only an hour before left him speechless for a moment. "Señorita, I doubt if you are to blame. Tell me what happened. Maybe it will help me to find her."
Sarita began spilling out everything that had happened, everything that had been said. As her own excited explanations were met with Zorro's calm confidence, she began to have her fears pacified as to what had happened to Andrea. "You will find her, won't you?" she finally asked.
"I will. I do not imagine she will have gone far. By which door did she leave?"
"The one at the bottom of the stairs, on the north side of the building." Then she qualified her answer. "At least, that's the one we heard slam."
"Very good, Señorita. Now, go and wash your face and stop worrying." He turned and was about to drop to the ground when she asked the question that had plagued her.
"Zorro?"
"Yes?"
"You didn't really take off your mask for Andrea, did you?"
"Sarita, isn't it?" When she nodded, he said, "You were there, if I am not mistaken, when my mask was pulled off. Did you see my face?"
She laughed. "No, you got away too quickly. But if I had," she paused, "I would never tell."
Zorro smiled. "Thank you, Sarita." And in a second, he was gone.
As she sat back down upon her own bed, she realized he had not really answered her question.
Taking time to look around the corner of the dormitory, Zorro could see the searching going on in the pueblo. Every house, place of business, and alleyway was being covered by the lancers. But as he went to the rear door of the building that was the one specified by Sarita, he saw only two sets of footprints leading away from it.
"Sepulveda," he said to himself. The corporal's feet were the smallest of all the lancers and they were easy to spot. It was clear that he had checked the doorway and even the other set of prints. But as soon as the tracks reached the grassy patch of ground leading away to the mission grounds, the good corporal had stopped. The ground there was green with a short growth of clover and grass because the spring water that fed the fountain in the middle of the plaza ran directly underneath it.
Shielded by the huge building from the eyes of the lancers running to and fro in the plaza, Zorro knelt down and inspected the area closely. Before long, the small broken blades of grass here and there began telling their tale to him.
In a few more minutes, he was heading out on Tornado across an expanse of desert that led south of the pueblo.
With very little trouble, and less than one mile from the pueblo's edge, he found her. Clinging to the side of a rock formation that jutted out over a drop of only perhaps seven feet, the frightened girl was mute with fear. If she had only found the courage to look down, she would have seen that her feet were only a foot or so off the ground.
Reaching over from atop Tornado's back, Zorro had to pry her fingers from the rocks one at a time. Once he had her safely in front of him in the saddle, she began to mumble something about bugs and snakes. Looking around, Zorro could see none of either and it was all he could do not to laugh.
"Ah, Señorita! You have really had an awful night, haven't you?"
But the only answer he got in return was more mumbling.
Forcing Tornado to keep to a slow pace so as not to disturb the girl any further, it still took only a short time to make it back to the pueblo. He had planned to turn over the girl to the padre at the mission. But it was not to be. As he drew close to the church building, he heard the familiar shout.
"Zorro!"
The cry went up as one of the lancers caught sight of him. With the frightened girl trembling against his chest, he knew he could not let Tornado run. So he held the reins firmly and directed the horse down an alleyway beside the bank.
De Soto's voice rang out above the clamor in the streets. "He's got the girl! Lancers! After him!"
The cries from the street were loud in his ears as Zorro dismounted smoothly, pressed the reins into the girl's hands, and whispered to Tornado to remain still. He took up a position at the corner of the building. One by one, the lancers filed around the corner and each momentarily hesitated in surprise at the sight of the missing girl sitting alone on the masked man's horse. Zorro picked them off easily. One punch to the face laid each one out in a neat little row.
When the alcalde himself came barreling around the corner and halted abruptly when he saw before him a carpet of laid-out lancers, Zorro tapped him on the shoulder with a black gloved hand. De Soto turned his face toward the impending fist with barely enough time to comprehend who its owner was.
"Ah! I do so love our little conversations, Alcalde!"
Turning his attention back to Andrea, Zorro noticed that she was now looking more in control of her emotions. As he approached Tornado, she even found her voice again.
"Zorro! You saved me!"
"Yes, Señorita, I saved you from all those bugs and snakes." He could not help but let the smile steal across his face. "What were you doing out there, Señorita? Running away?"
"Me? Run away? Oh, no, Zorro. I was just taking a walk and —"
"Maybe you should confine your walks a little closer to the pueblo in the future. You had many people worried. Many took time away from their own duties and precious leisure time to look for you."
"I didn't plan to fall off that high ledge," she said evenly as her temper flared. "I could have been killed!"
"Oh, yes, that ledge. Your feet were dangling so high off the ground. All of two feet, I would say."
"There were bugs!"
"Oh dear, I did forget those flesh-eating bugs," he said with a smile.
"Flesh-eating?" The girl's eyes grew round.
Zorro laughed. Behind him, he could hear one of the lancers moan, and he knew it was time to get the señorita back safely to the dormitory. "Señorita, if you will be so good as to hold on, I will take you back to civilization."
Rounding the corner of the building, Zorro and the señorita riding Tornado at once grabbed the attention of everyone. As he led the horse to a place beside the fountain, carefully avoiding the exciting peons and children who surrounded them, he was aware of even more people coming out of doorways and heads appearing in windows. Everyone who had taken part in searching for the girl heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the girl alive and well in Zorro's care.
Near the fountain, he swung down from Tornado easily with the black cape flaring out grandly about him. As he lifted the señorita off Tornado's back as if she weighed nothing and gently lowered her until her slippered feet touched the soft dirt of the plaza, Zorro was well aware that there was a certain other señorita watching them both carefully.
With the corner of his eye, he saw Victoria stop at the bottom of the steps to the tavern. It always amazed him that he could spot her so quickly in any crowd. As the townspeople around her surged forward to get a better look at the newly-found señorita, Zorro could tell that Victoria was remaining where she was and not joining in with the throng.
Victoria's emotions were a tangled mess beneath her calm exterior. This was the first time Zorro had appeared before her and in public since so much had happened. Questions without answers were firing off in her brain one right after the other, and she was trying to figure out just which one was the most important.
Zorro was before her; that usually meant she would greet him with pleasure, hope and a smile. But she was no longer betrothed to Zorro. He was a hero…but he was no longer her Zorro…
But it was also Diego who was before her, but now, in a mask. In a few minutes, his eyes would find hers and…
What should I do!
Her hands dug into the folds of her skirt, gripping the cloth with whitened knuckles, as her thoughts raced. Two men, one and the same, and yet each was so different, both to her and in the eyes of those watching.
How do I act toward him! What do I say!
She could feel her own breathing speeding up as she tried to work through the confusion. Any minute now, he would turn and look at her and…
Zorro's attention was suddenly diverted once more to Andrea as she stumbled and fell against him. The girl began to whimper once more, complaining of her ankle and how tired she was and how much she had been through. Zorro only smiled and offered his arm for her to steady herself, successfully managing to prop her up firmly on her own two very good feet and keeping at least a foot between them.
Don Alejandro had emerged from the tavern just behind Victoria, but he had paused by the door. As Andrea's plaintiff cries reached him and the low murmurs of the crowd began, he joined her at the bottom of the steps and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"Victoria, this is your chance." When she looked up at him quickly in surprise, she saw a mischievous fire in his eyes. "My dear, don't tell me you can't fake a little jealous fit about now. I thought all women could do that at a moment's notice over just about anything." He looked around them to make sure no one was watching or listening and then winked at her. "Give them a reason that you now want to marry Diego," he whispered, and then he moved away to stand a few feet apart from her.
Victoria swallowed hard as she steeled her nerves, but before she could step forward to begin her pretend onslaught, Andrea caught her eye and pretended anger was no longer necessary.
"Oh, Zorro!" Andrea said loudly as she slid underneath Zorro's outstretched arm and up against his chest. She threw both arms around his neck and kissed him firmly on the mouth, holding his head downward with a surprising strength. "Everyone!" She turned her head to shout above the crowd noise, but kept her hold on the man. "He saved me! Zorro saved me! You should have seen his fierce fighting!"
Zorro tried to peel her hands from behind his neck, but she had interlocked her fingers into an unbreakable hold. Panic rose within him as she pulled herself up against him again for another smothering, forceful kiss. The more he pushed her away with his hands, the more she seemed to increase her hold on him and the more she seemed to be growing extra pairs of limbs. He tried to remember she was just a girl. He was a grown man. His strength was far greater. But the reality was that he just couldn't find it in himself to hurt her and she knew it.
She had the upper hand.
A few people in the crowd began to smile. Others began to laugh. The young señorita covered him in kisses and professed her love for him, her gratitude for his bravery and her dedication to their love.
Zorro could hardly breathe. He backed away from the girl's embrace and kisses only to have Tornado move away from him as well. The men in the crowd chuckled at the predicament the masked hero was caught in and they merely backed away too, not wishing to interfere.
Andrea's words were breathless and excited as she made sure everyone got the idea she wanted them to have. "Oh, Zorro, this night has been so special, so very romantic. Alone in the desert…just the two of us…all… alone." She drew out the word "alone" as she looked pointedly at Victoria through a parting in the mass of bodies. Andrea paused in her frantic wrestling with Zorro to give the word a special emphasis.
Victoria's inner confusion suddenly settled into a serenity that matched her outward countenance. Andrea had gone just that bit too far. Thanks to Don Alejandro, Victoria knew very well exactly what time "Zorro" had begun looking for Andrea.
Victoria's voice rang out above the crowd. "So! I was right!" She crossed her arms and tilted her chin upwards so she could look downward at him. "I thought I could trust you. But you're nothing more than a brigand, a rake!"
"But, Victoria!" Zorro began as he tried with a renewed vigor to extricate himself from Andrea's vise-like grasp. "I did not —" His words were drowned by a renewed bout of kissing. A new panic began rising inside him. "Victoria, we didn't…I mean…there is no "we", of course…Andrea, please!"
Ignoring him, Victoria turned toward the girl who was now displaying a most victorious smile. "And you, Señorita, I must thank you for opening my eyes. Everything you told me is apparently true."
Beneath the mask, Zorro's eyes grew round at the thought that Andrea would be believed by the woman he loved. With one last firm movement, he pushed away the girl's hands once again and tried to be heard above the growing rumbling of the people. "But, Victoria, you must —"
"You have my gratitude for opening my eyes." With one last glaring look at Zorro, she said, "To think, I would never have found myself in Diego's warm, loving arms were it not for you, Andrea. I really do appreciate what you have done." She shook her head dreamily, well aware that Zorro had been stunned into silence. "Do you know, dear, sweet Diego went all the way back to the hacienda this morning just to get his grandmother's ring for me! He can be so romantic sometimes." When she glimpsed the sudden spark of jealousy in Andrea's eyes, Victoria felt she just had to continue. "It will be my engagement ring. It is beautiful, I hear. You would love it! Of course, it is only a part of the famous de la Vega emeralds that —"
Andrea gritted her teeth and turned her back on Zorro to march up just in front of Victoria. "Oh, don't think Diego is any different. I could have him as well! Do I need to remind you that Diego and I were quite cozy last night, in the moonlight behind the bushes!"
Zorro gave an almost imperceptible groan.
"Lancers!" De Soto's voice rang out loudly throughout the plaza.
Tornado stiffened and a relieved masked man swung himself up into the saddle without benefit of stirrups. Lancers with pistols primed. Finally, a foe he could face with no fear.
Shouts of "Get him!" "Kill him!" and "Fire!" filled the air. The crowd gave the huge black horse room, and somehow many people managed to get curiously in the way of all the groggy lancers taking aim. Shots fired wildly here and there, but not a one reached any spot near Zorro.
As he neared the gates, Zorro paused, Tornado reared, and with a wave, the legendary bandit was racing across the desert sand into the distance.
The alcalde continued ranting and fuming, frustrated once again that the outlaw had slipped out of his grasp. The crowd had begun dispersing, and Andrea saw her audience dissolving. Victoria had turned to Don Alejandro who was smiling from ear to ear as he offered her his arm to go back up the tavern steps.
"Just a minute! Señorita Escalante!" Andrea sneered as she pronounced the name. "I am not through —"
"Oh, I think you are, child." Señora Ruiz's quiet but commanding voice garnered the attention of everyone in the plaza.
Andrea spun around toward her and clenched her fists in anger. From the beginning, Andrea had despised this woman. At every turn, she was there, haranguing her for this or that. Andrea sputtered in defiance, unable to put together a coherent word of defense. What was it about Señora Ruiz that was so intimidating?
But the woman did not find words difficult at all. "Señorita Espinoza, I think that we have all had quite enough of your stories, your lies and your attitude. I have tried my best to guide you toward the proper behavior expected of a young señorita of good family. I fear I have failed most miserably. Your family hoped that coming to this new land of promise would mold you into a more, well, acceptable young lady. They are going to be very disappointed when you return to them much the same as when you left."
Andrea found her voice at last. "I am not returning to Spain!" She swelled up to her full height and stood defiantly, hands on hips and jaw thrust out toward the señora.
"Oh, yes you are," Señora Ruiz said quietly. "I have already made the arrangements. Your father will —"
"My father?" Andrea said weakly, and her posture seemed to deflate. Her arms hung limply at her side as her head dipped lower with each word from the señora.
"Yes, your father has in mind his own sort of guidance for your life since you have failed to fit in here with the good people of Los Angeles." Señora Ruiz cupped a hand underneath the señorita's chin and lifted her head gently. "You really should have tried a bit harder, my child," she said gently.
De Soto stepped up quietly behind the señora and when she turned, he offered her his arm. "My dear, you are …remarkable."
"I know, Ignacio. I am glad that you have realized it." Turning back to the dejected girl, she said, "Come along, Andrea. We must get your things together. You'll be leaving on the morning stage."