Diego opened his eyes at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. His reflexes as Zorro kept him on alert even when was sleeping. His surroundings suggested that he was still in the future and the dream had actually been that he was in his own time with Sargent Mendoza and his beautiful Victoria. "Who is this guy and why do we have a horse in our pole barn?" the masculine voice asked. Diego stood up and turned towards the direction of the voice.
"Zorra, this man looks like your Grandpa Victor…" the man slowly said as he looked at Diego with a puzzled expression. "Greetings señor, I am Don Diego de la Vega," Diego greeted him. The man standing across the room from him appeared to be dumbstruck and in disbelief. "There was only one person in our family, with that name, and unless you traveled through time, I don't recall anyone else with that name," the man informed him.
"Dad it's true, he really is a time traveler!" Zorra exclaimed as she excitedly retold the story about Felipe and the disaster in the science lab. Her father squinted at him and said, "Well I did hear from my cousin that a very old laboratory was found in a cave hidden underneath my family's ancestral home, but it's still a difficult story to believe."
"Ah, the hacienda, I hope it has fared well over the years," Diego found himself saying. "My cousin tells me that they rescued the property from a demolition crew when they found a hidden document proving that it belongs to our family," her father updated him. Diego smiled to himself as he realized his plan had worked after he found the document that the alcalde Luis Ramone had been so interested in. It had been a shame that the man's greed led to his death when he unmasked him instead of caring for his own safety.
"What may I call you?" he asked her father. Still quite dazed, her father replied "I am James de la Vega." "It's a pleasure to meet you James," Diego eagerly replied as he walked over to shake the man's hand. He could definitely see that James bore an eerie resemblance to his father Don Alejandro de la Vega. He was also a rather tall man as well. Diego wondered what his father would think if he were here and able to meet his future, "however many times" great grandchildren.
"We're going out to a restaurant for dinner tonight, and I suppose we should invite you to go with us," James informed him. "You should probably have a shower, and I will find something more modern for you to wear, if that is indeed the only outfit that you have," James added. He still didn't quite believe that Diego had time traveled from the past. Of course he couldn't blame James for being skeptical. After noticing that Diego was still trying to figure out what a shower was, Zorra led him to a room which she explained was the bathroom.
She showed him the shower and how to make the water flow in it as well as how to regulate the temperature with a set of knobs. What a truly fantastic invention it seemed to be. He was even more impressed by the toilet she had shown him. A tiny lever controlled water that allowed someone to relieve themself inside the house. The toilet paper that is used along with it was simply genius. Her father had entered the bathroom during the middle of her instructions on how to use their shower and flush a modern toilet.
James had brought an outfit to him consisting of a black shirt with buttons down the front and a pair of black trousers which they had called jeans. After they left him alone in the room with the shower and toilet, he quickly got in the contraption that doused him with water. He lathered himself with a wonderfully scented bar of soap. It smelled completely different than the scented lard from his time that was used during bathing. He fiddled with the knobs to make the water stop pouring over his drenched body. After stepping out of the strange contraption he found a rather fluffy drying linen which efficiently removed the water from his body, and then dressed himself in the borrowed clothing.
After Diego had emerged from the bathroom and announced that he was ready, James and Zorra led him outside to a strange looking metal carriage with wheels unlike any he had ever seen. "Where are your horses?" Diego casually asked. "This is what we call a truck,'' Zorra answered as she opened what definitely appeared to be a door in the orange and white metal carriage that contained the word Dodge on it. James was curiously watching the interaction between Diego and Zorra. "It works with mechanics, a fuel source, and a lot of applied science," Zorra offered as an explanation. He climbed in it and watched in awe as James steered the metal carriage along the black path that led to another black path where several other metal carriages were traveling without horses. "Ah," he thought to himself, "this must be a modern road."
After traveling along various black roads and not spotting any horses except for a few grazing on grass by the roadside, James brought their metal carriage to a stop. Diego watched as James opened a door on his side of their carriage and tried the procedure on his door beside him. The door opened without any problems. He stepped out of the carriage and noticed a rather large tavern in front of them. As his stomach growled he followed James and Zorra into the building.
They quickly found a table near a window where he could see metal carriages passing by the building they were in. A young talkative female with hair styled in the same fashion as Toronado's tail had approached their table and was writing down the food items that James and Zorra had requested. Diego was not sure what any of the items of food listed on the menu would taste like. "Ok handsome fella, what can I get for you?" the young female with the horse tail on her head asked him. Diego smiled as someone flirting with him was the same in this time as it was in the time where he had come from. "I will have the same thing that they ordered," he answered. Whatever they had ordered must be good, he guessed. "You've got it," the person who took his order replied back to him as she spun around to head to what he had assumed was the kitchen.
Diego attempted to follow along with a conversation with James and Zorra. So many of the topics that they were discussing confused him. He felt alone even though he was in a room full of people. He found himself beginning to daydream about seeing Victoria and his father as well as Felipe. He couldn't be sure if he would see any of them again. "Here ya go," a feminine voice broke through his thoughts. Diego looked up as a plate of food was placed in front of him. The female with the horse tail walked away from their table only after making eye contact with him and grinning. He watched as James and Zorra picked up their food with their hands and began to eat it. He picked up the bread with the meat and cheese between each slice and took a bite. The most incredible flavor hit him all at once. He had never tasted anything like it. If he ever made it home, he would ask Victoria to serve meat and cheese between slices of bread.
"What is this?" Diego asked as he held up a smaller rectangular object of food. James almost spit out what he had been drinking. He was looking at Diego with a look of complete shock. "That's a french fry," Zorra informed him. Diego looked at the fry and said, "The French have very interesting food. Zorra giggled while James shook his head in disbelief. "It's just a name for a fried potato, but I don't think it is actually French," she informed Diego. He took a bite of the french fry. It was also delicious. He needed to have a sip of something after trying the strange food on his plate.
Diego reached for the glass of bubbling liquid. It looked like one of his science experiments. As he sipped from the glass the bubbles tickled his nose and it felt like the flavor of the liquid had exploded into his mouth. He had never experienced anything quite like that sip of drink before. Diego thought that it tasted really nice, but he would have to grow accustomed to the bubbles in the liquid. He continued to eat the rest of the strange but tasty items that were on his plate.
When he and his newly found family had finished eating their food, James left the table to settle their bill. That was something else that had not changed. As soon as James had settled their bill with a small rectangular object unlike any form of currency that he had seen they returned to their metal carriage. He opened the door of the carriage the same way as he had seen James and Zorra open theirs. Once inside he watched as James steered a wheel which was controlling the metal carriage. He quietly looked out of the window beside him as the black roads which were lined with buildings surrounded by strangely colored lights led them back to their home.
After the whirlwind of excitement from riding in a horseless carriage and eating at a modern tavern where he had discovered what a cheeseburger is, Diego was glad to be able to return to James and Zorra's home to check on Toronado. After making sure that he was comfortable, well fed, and had been brushed Diego went back inside their house which kept perplexing him.
He discovered the chair he had sat in earlier was empty and sat down to once again watch the moving people in the box with them. This time he saw something which looked familiar on the strange box. There was a man in the box moving about who wore something very much like what he wore when he went out in public as Zorro. James and Zorra explained to him that they were watching a show which was like a play where the characters acted out the stories told over the years about him and the legend that had been passed down over the years.
Apparently people hadn't forgotten about him, but they thought that his role as Zorro had been a myth. Diego felt a sense of pride that people had actually remembered him. He laughed heartily at the inaccuracies and mistakes during the sword fights. He laughed the loudest when the alcalde and his men were once again defeated and fooled over and over. He enjoyed the way they accurately portrayed his love story and loyalty to Victoria, but the actress wasn't as beautiful as the real Victoria.
As Diego had begun to nod off again in the chair James and Zorra woke him up to take him to the guest room where he would be able to sleep. He discovered quickly that the bed was more comfortable than any bed he had ever slept in as he sat down on it. "Good night Grandpa D," Zorra said as she leaned in to hug him. He hadn't expected that from her, but he greatly enjoyed it. "Goodnight Grandpa Diego," James said as he put his hand on Diego's shoulder. Diego looked up at James as he asked, "Do you believe what I have explained to you?" James smiled at Diego. "It definitely sounds like a crazy story, but after observing you this evening it seems plausible," he answered Diego's question. James exited the room along with Zorra following him and shutting the door to the room behind her. As he once again found himself alone after James and Zorra had exited the room, he realized that he was going to enjoy spending time with his family until he discovered a way to travel back home to his own time. At least when he dreamed at night he would be able to be with Victoria and his father as well as Felipe until he could finally get home to them.
