Chapter 38
Zorro followed the path used by the man and woman at the time. When the farmhouse came into view, he saw that smoke was coming from the chimney.
Zorro took off from Toronado, sneaking towards the dilapidated house. The windows were smashed by a storm or by mischievous boys who found it exciting to poke around on a deserted farm. Several pieces of roofing were missing. The shed was so rotten that it had partly collapsed.
Zorro kneeled by the outerwall, beneath a window and started listening.
"I just told you, I was lucky to get away. Miguel and Juan were taken out by some pregnant broad."
One of the men uttered. "And you couldn't handle her? There were three of you and one of her. Why didn't you just kill her?"
The first man says, "She was a fierce one. She had a rake with her, and, in no time, Miguel was on his knees, whining.
Louis, about what are you complaining? We got for what we came here. We get ten thousand pesos for that horse. And with Juan and Miguel out of the way, it's easier to share."
The man named Louis said. "Haven't you seen the posters in the pueblo? El Zorro has six thousand pesos on his head. That's over a thousand pesos for any of us."
Two others jeered at the idea of so much money.
Louis uttered. "I say we get Zorro!"
The first man said. "You're joking, right. We need to get the hell out of here. We'll get ten thousand pesos for that horse, which is enough for me."
One of the others uttered. "José, over one thousand pesos the man more. Think how much money that is."
José said. "And you think we can handle Zorro? Don't be so stupid, Gino."
Louis laughed. " I didn't know you were such a coward. It's five to one. How hard can it be?"
Gino said. "He was chased off by a pregnant slut with a rake!"
The others chuckled.
"That was different." José defended himself. "She hit Miguel in the nuts, and she soon got help. My life is worth more to me. I want to enjoy the money we earned, and I am not going to jail. There are plenty of other ways to get money. Trying to capture Zorro, I am telling you, is a stupid thing to do."
Hearing all this, Zorro decided it was time to make his presence known. All this time, he had been crouching under the window. Zorro got up, leaned on the windowsill, and said. "A wise decision, José. And you might want to tell your mates they don't need to search for me. I've already found them.
As if from a throat, it sounded. "Zorro!"
The men jumped up and ran towards the door.
The first one who managed to get outside fell unconscious to the ground as Zorro slammed the remainder of the door against him.
"Oops, how rude of me."
Zorro had drawn his sword. He fought the second man, earlier revered as Gino and who came running out. Zorro disarmed him. Gino turned around to reach for his sword. It gave Zorro time to knock the third man unconscious before turning his attention to Gino. He had regained his sword and waved it wildly towards Zorro.
From the corner of his eye, Zorro saw a gun gets pointed at him. A short whistle was enough to make Toronado scramble and use his front leg to knock the gun out of another bandit's hand.
The pistol went off, missing its target by miles.
Zorro now had three men facing him, all three with swords drawn.
"You better surrender, Zorro! You don't stand a chance against the three of us." Louis cried.
"Is it really?"
"Remember, men. We kill him, and we are rich."
Louis lashed his sword out.
Zorro had to concentrate now that he faced three armed men.
Zorro parried one attack after another, dodged a blow and knocked the head of one of the attackers with the hilt of his sword.
Louis circled him, trying to attack Zorro from the back. Zorro gave an elbow thrust backwards. He hit Louis full in the stomach, which collapsed after staggering two steps backwards.
Zorro lashed out, and with his left fist, he delivered a hard blow against José's jaw.
Less than two minutes later, the last bandit lay also unconscious on the ground.
Zorro took a moment to regain his breath.
One of the men had scraped him, and there was a cut in the sleeve of his shirt.
Zorro tied the men's wrists and looked at his arm. Some blood was dripping out. Merely a superficial flesh wound, Zorro concluded.
.
About a hour later, Zorro led a group of five horses, each with a bandit on its back, into the pueblo.
It did not go unnoticed. Because before Zorro had reached the cuartel, Mendoza was waiting for him with an open mouth.
"Zorro, how did you find those men so quickly? The alcalde and my men are only just on their way."
"I happened to be in the around. I'm surprised you're not joining your men."
"Don Marco thought it better if I stayed behind and keep an eye on things in the pueblo. Zorro, thank you very much.
Should those men belong to the same gang as the two horse thieves the de la Vega foreman delivered earlier this afternoon, it means they belong to the Rodriguez gang. The dons in the area will be glad to see those men get behind bars."
"You're welcome, sergeant. I must be off again. Adios." Zorro brought his hand to the brim of the hat to salute.
"Zorro, wait a minute!" Mendoza called out. Suddenly something important had occurred to the sergeant. "Por favor?"
Zorro held Toronado back. "Is there something wrong?"
"Yeah, no, Zorro, can you wait a minute? I'll be right back." Mendoza walked backward towards the alcalde's office, gesturing his hands to the black-masked hero to comply with his request. "Don't leave!" He turned, and Mendoza now walked at a clumsy trot, keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword, towards the office. He barely managed to avoid the pillar next to the office door.
Zorro felt uneasy. For years, as soon as the lancers noticed him, it was of the uttermost importance to leave the pueblo as quickly and safely as possible. Now, Zorro was waiting in the middle of the plaza, out in the open, for the sergeant to return.
Fortunately, it did not long take before Mendoza came out again. In his hands, he held a burlap sack.
"Here you go, Zorro." And Mendoza reached out to him the bag.
"What is this?" Zorro wanted to know.
"An idea from don Alejandro and doña Victoria."
Zorro asked. "Doña Victoria, you say?"
Mendoza nodded.
"Perhaps you have heard of it. On behalf of the whole pueblo, letters got sent to Monterey requesting a pardon. These are the letters we wanted to send to the governor.
Don Diego suggested being better to send only a few letters instead of everyone having their own letter, according to him, the governor is too busy a man to read them all."
Zorro nodded approvingly. "For once, don Diego might be right," he said.
"And then don Alejandro said, it was such a shame that no one would ever read the letters. And, so we thought of giving them to you. Actually, these are all thank you letters from the people you helped or even saved their lives."
Zorro accepted the mailbag.
Mendoza added. "There's also a letter from me in the bag. I'll never forget what you did for me, and I am proud you once called me your amigo."
Somewhat uncertainly, Mendoza looked around at the crowd that had gathered in the plaza in the meantime.
He finished by saying. " I hope the governor will listen to us and grant the request for a pardon."
Zorro smiled, again saluting the sergeant. "Gracias, sergeant. I will always consider you as an amigo. Until the next time. Adios, mi amigo."
The crowd began to cheer. Zorro motioned for Toronado to gallop. He turned the horse around under the gate of the pueblo and let Toronado prance, raised one arm in the sky and waved.
.
Zorro picked up Jupiter, whom he had left in a sheltered spot on the road between the hacienda and the pueblo. When he wanted to put Jupiter in the corral next to the stables, he heard his father's roaring voice in the distance.
"MY SON IS IN HIS BED WITH A HEADDACHE! WHILE MY BEST STALLION IS STOLEN?!"
Zorro guessed his father and Felipe had thus returned from San Fernando.
"Where does he get the nerve! As the future patron of this rancho, he should be leading the search!"
Two vaqueros stood before his father and looked at each other remorseful. It was clear that neither of them dared to go against their patron, fuming in anger.
One of them gathered enough courage to say. "Perhaps better don Diego does not lead the search. Manuel is many times better at recognizing tracks and following them."
"My son's place is beside our vaqueros and not in his bed!"
Alejandro turned and found himself face to face with Zorro, who was just coming around the corner of the stables.
"Zorro, have you heard?" He began talking as soon as the old don saw the masked hero. "Horse thieves have stolen my best stallion."
"Si, I just delivered the thieves at the cuartel, and I just released your stallion in your corral."
The vaqueros sighed in relief.
"Gracias, Zorro. That is good to hear. Will you come in for a drink?" Don Alejandro invited Zorro in, having changed from a bad-tempered man in a hospital caballero.
Zorro gave a polite smile. "Better not. I must be off again. Just don't be too hard on your son. I heard doña Victoria seems to be happy in her marriage. That was what I wished for her. Adios, señor."
Zorro whistled, and Toronado came running. He jumped the saddle, tipped his hat and disappeared.
The men watched Zorro for a while until don Alejandro suddenly called out.
"What are you here still standing around for! We must go see Jupiter, check whether those bandits haven't injured him."
.
In the cave, Victoria was waiting for him. "Your father and Felipe are back." She told him the minute he got off Toronado.
"Yes, I had heard something like that."
"Don't be angry with your father. Maria told him you hadn't gone along to search for Jupiter. And so...,"
Zorro had taken off his mask.
"And so..., you had to tell him I was in bed with a headache, and my father felt compelled to respond to it to keep his reaction believable."
She tiptoed to kiss him. "Right on cue. What's that?"
Victoria asked, pointing to the burlap sack.
"You know better than I do. Mendoza gave these to me. The letters that were supposed to get sent to the governor."
Victoria opened the bag and fished out a letter. "It was indeed an idea from your father and me. So many people want to thank Zorro personally for what he has done for them. By writing him a letter, they can do that. Look at the amount. It shows how grateful they truly are to Zorro."
Diego, meanwhile, had changed out of his Zorro costume and looked over her shoulder to read the letter Victoria was reading.
This one was from a farmer. He thanked Zorro for saving his wife from their barn when it was set on fire by the alcalde. Although, at the time, Zorro got weakened by a snake bite, and the farmer himself had tried to hunt Zorro down earlier that day.
To his horror, he saw tears running down Victoria's cheeks again.
"Perhaps it would be better if we did not read these letters."
Knowing, all too well, that some of them would contain things that Victoria and his father had not known about and had been life-threatening.
He explained by saying. "I never did it because I wanted gratitude."
Victoria wiped away a tear. "I know. The people are grateful for what you did anyway. I am grateful to Zorro for all the times he has come to my aid."
Diego mumbled. "I don't want your gratitude."
Victoria stepped forwards as Diego opened his arms to embrace her.
She gave him her most beautiful, breathtaking smile. "You get it anyway, along with all my love."
"Your love, querida, is the only thing I will ever ask from you."
.
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