I apologize for the delay in posting this. My notebook PC
broke and I had to send it away to be repaired, which took
considerable time.

Chapter Two:

Felipe gnashed his teeth and attempted to ignore the faint
sunlight filtering into his window. The sun meant it was
time to get up, beyond time to get up, and Felipe wasn't
nearly ready to. It had been a sleepless night. Again.
Zorro had been out so late and then he'd returned with that
bullet wound in his arm. Felipe's chest lurched at the
thought of what might have happened if the lancer had just
aimed a little better. Zorro could be seriously hurt-or
dead-and no one would know just what that meant except for
him.

There were times when he felt terribly alone with this
secret. Mostly when he watched Zorro ride out night after
night facing odds no one should survive. Or when he saw
Diego try to hide his stiffness after a long night or when
Zorro and Toronado stumbled into the cave as they had last
night, so tired they could barely stand.

The sun wasn't going anywhere any time soon, so Felipe
finally forced himself out of bed and went to see if Diego
had woken yet. Ordinarily, despite Don Alejandro's
perceptions, Diego was an early riser. But last night had
been very difficult and based on the look Diego had worn
when he'd gone to bed, Felipe wasn't sure how good his rest
had been.

He padded silently to Diego's room to rouse his patron if
necessary. What he found there made him wish he hadn't
gotten out of bed. Diego lay in bed, his covers twisted
and tangled about him. His sleep had obviously been
restless and continued to be so. Felipe reluctantly raised
a hand and shook his friend's shoulder gently. Diego's
eyelids instantly snapped open, revealing blood shot eyes
beneath them. He blinked rapidly and then smiled at Felipe
in recognition.

"Good morning, my friend," he said, in what Felipe thought
of as his `Diego voice'. "Have I overslept? This
uncivilized hour of the morning has me so out of sorts."

Felipe found a grin stretching his face despite himself and
he pulled Diego out of bed. Diego faked dismay at Felipe's
impetuosity and the grin became wider. He helped his
patron wash up for the day and the grin fell from his face
when the bandage on his friend's arm brought reality back
into focus. Diego's bland smile became warmer as he
allowed his real feelings to be exposed for once and he
ruffled Felipe's hair fondly.

"As I told you, it is nothing to be alarmed over. We must
hurry in any event. The rancheros will be unhappy if we
keep them waiting any longer."

Felipe nodded dutifully and finished helping Diego into his
riding clothes. He followed without complaint as they went
to the stable and joined the vaqueros for their morning
tour of the ranch. Ordinarily this was something even Don
Alejandro left to his competent ranch hands, but with the
sudden increase in cattle raids over the last two weeks,
Diego felt it might help if he were to join in at least
part of the ride though he didn't have the time to spend
the whole day on the ranges.

"Good morning, Don Diego," Juan said in greeting. "I am
still surprised to see you awake at this time of the
morning."

Diego grinned easily in return. Juan was one of the oldest
and most loyal of their servants and Felipe was no longer
surprised by the familiarity between him and his patron.

"Truly," Diego said with exaggerated suffering, "it is a
punishment so vile I am wondering that the alcalde himself
did not think of it."

Juan barked in laughter.

Felipe watched in silent satisfaction as Diego pulled his
horse next to Juan's and the two talked back and forth.
The vaqueros and other horsemen on the ranch had trained
the younger Diego in his riding skills and he did not even
try to feign incompetence with them as he did with his
father. It was very satisfying to see Diego allowing
himself to be himself for a while. The two made an odd
picture, Diego elegant even in his outdoor clothes, and
Juan looking as if he had not seen even a bath in at least
a week, but they fit together in a strange seamless way.

"Have you seen any sign of the bandits yet this morning?"
Diego was asking, his face plainly concerned.

Juan shook his head. "No, Don Diego, I have not. But with
those cows stolen over at the De Carraco ranch last week
and the others stolen a few days ago at their neighbor's, I
have been keeping an extra eye out for any signs of
strangers in the area. The animals don't seem to be
disturbed, as they would be if anyone they didn't know had
been pestering them."

Diego nodded, and Felipe could see him pondering that in
his head for a while.

"There doesn't seem to be anything we can do other than
what we are at present. The ranch is just too large to
keep under constant watch," he said finally.

Juan nodded, satisfied. "Yes. A lot of the other
caballeros are trying to send scouts over their entire
ranch and they are merely tiring their men. It is better
to search different areas every day. Bandits are men of
habit in my experience."

"I will have to take your word on that," Diego said, his
teeth flashing in a grin.

Juan winked. "I suppose you would."

The two men's expression became serious again as they began
to discuss the recent raids. Felipe noticed the odd looks
he was getting from the other men and decided he perhaps
had better take less obvious interest in a conversation he
wasn't supposed to be able to hear. He spent far too much
of his time thinking about bandits anyway. Much better to
think of that girl he'd seen in the pueblo the other day.

Thoughts of Olivia filled his head far more pleasantly than
the view of the scrubby hills surrounding the de la Vega
hacienda did. He supposed he was being irresponsible, but
he'd had enough of responsibility of late. Sometimes he
felt like being as lazy as Diego pretended to be.

It did not seem to matter, as the morning passed without
even Diego finding any sign of trespassers. Juan bid the
both of them jubilant good afternoon and they finally went
back to the hacienda for some lunch. Felipe, who had been
starving for hours, dug into his food with relish.
Ordinarily beans were not his favorite, but today they
tasted almost as good as those exotic chocolates Diego
produced now and again.

He finished his first serving and started on his second
before he noticed that Diego wasn't eating so much as
pushing his fork around the plate. His friend was staring
off into nowhere, a familiar troubled expression on his
face. He frowned in continuing exasperation. Diego was
already looking more than a little drawn these days and he
didn't need to add weight loss to the problem. He sighed
in exaggerated frustration, wondering how someone as
intelligent as his friend could be such an idiot sometimes.

Felipe rattled his fork against his own plate with enough
force to draw Diego's attention and gestured impatiently at
the untouched lunch.

Diego smiled affectionately and ate a few bites. "You are
right. I should eat something or the servants will wonder
if I am sick. I just had much to think on, I suppose."

Felipe gestured for him to continue, knowing that allowing
Diego to brood only made things worse. Sometimes keeping
secrets became too much of a habit to break, even between
them.

Diego smiled again and continued after swallowing a few
more bites. "It is nothing in specific. Mostly this new
group of bandits. They have grown so uncommonly bold and
the alcalde seems to care little about their presence.
Ordinarily he can at least be counted on to send some
scouting parties."

Felipe frowned. He'd been having some of the same
thoughts.

"And then I do have to wonder if I am doing the proper
thing here. Juan and the other vaqueros seem to think so,
but I cannot help but question what father would do."
Diego looked around and lowered his voice. "Zorro has been
keeping an eye on the town, but has been unable to look
after things here at night time. Perhaps I should patrol
both this evening."

*You shouldn't do either. You need to get some sleep,*
Felipe signed. *Zorro won't do anyone any good if he falls
off of his horse.*

Diego chuckled, his face a bit wry. "That would certainly
be a sight the alcalde would appreciate. Perhaps I should
offer it to him at his birthday celebration in a few
weeks."

Felipe rolled his eyes but then his expression stilled
again. *Something else is bothering you.*

Diego nodded but his look told Felipe that this discussion
wasn't going much further. "There are just too many of
them around. Highwaymen are a problem all up and down
California, but suddenly Los Angeles seems to be the center
of trouble. It is something to think on, that is all."

Felipe knew it was something rather more than `something to
think on' no matter what Diego might say. The caballero
was clearly troubled by many things and Felipe wished he'd
share some of it, no matter how little good that might do.
As much as the secrets drove himself crazy, he could not
imagine what they must do to the man in front of him.

Felipe watched while Diego somewhat woodenly ate the rest
of his lunch. After a while he couldn't really stand to
watch and signed that he was going to look after Toronado.

The stallion was much recovered from the previous night's
adventure. At least one of us is getting some sleep,
Felipe thought, giving the horse some fresh hay and some
oats. Toronado whickered in appreciation and he stroked
the coarse mane for a little while. Feeling a bit more at
peace from his silent communication with the horse, Felipe
curled up in the extra straw with the book Diego had given
him. Within a few minutes his eyes closed and sleep
claimed him, filling his head with much entrancing visions
of his Olivia.