Chapter IV

Stroll

Oceanvs Peruvianus… Mar del Zur... Tropicus Cancer… California.

The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fit together to display that area of the world map. Each one of them was so flawlessly cut and polished; Josefina had never seen anything like it. She had classified them into two groups: countries and kingdoms to the right, animals, plants and ornamental figures to the left. That had taken the entire morning and a good chunk of the afternoon. It would not be ready by the time Diego arrived, but she wanted to show him her progress.

She was about to take a sip of water and dive back into the piles of pieces, when, oh Lord, it happened again:

"Don Diego?" that Cresencia lady called, knocking on the door: "Don Diego?!"

Josefina didn't move. Until she heard it: the smallest, faintest sound that preceded the clanking of a bunch of keys.

She flew, same as she did the day she ran away, like so many other times when being fast was the difference between receiving a punishment or not. Hair brush, hair clip, extra blouse and shawl: she picked them all up in two and a half seconds, then dropped on her stomach and crawled under the bed, sliding herself all in right when the key's twist was a success and the door opened up wide.

Breathing through her mouth, Josefina saw the two black shoes, the hem of the brown dress, the bucket and the mop.

"Ha! What a mess. This is so unlike you, don Diego."

It's not a mess!

Is it?

"But I changed your diapers and God knows I'm going to clean this room today. You'll thank me later."

Possible excuses in case of getting caught:... blank, none would make any sense. They'd take her for a thief and then she would go to jail. Funny how that perspective was preferable to going back to the hospice.

And with wide open eyes, in the reduced space of her hiding place, Josefina saw the lady come near the wardrobe, then around the chimney and towards the coffee table, the shelves and the desk, all the while humming a melody that she didn't recognize.

Every minute had a thousand seconds, she definitely felt like a fish that's about to be thrown into the scorching oil of a pan at any moment.

"There we go. That's much better."

The brief relief she felt was instantly pushed away by the sight of the mop in action.

Not for long, either.

Someone else had arrived.

"What is it? Bernardo-"

"..."

"Let me finish my work and leave me alone!"

"..."

"Get back here! What's wrong with you?"

The mop had been kidnapped; it was taken out of the room by its captor, Bernardo; Cresencia ran after them:

"Give me that! Ahhh, he can't hear me, for Heaven's sake, Bernardo...!"

The complaints faded away, down the corridor and the stairs.

Josefina finally let her cheek rest against the floor. Her heart was pounding hard against her eardrums. It reminded her of that day, of those previous days, hiding and running away, and even before: her bed that wasn't a bed but a section of ground against a wall, the quiet sobs of the others at night, steps that came and went and echoed against the corners of her mind…

The steps that followed, about half an hour later, were different.

"Josefina? Are you alright?" His face and his always helping hand: "Come on out."

"Ooof! I'm fine."

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here, but don't worry, Cresencia will no longer try to break in."

"What did you tell her?"

"I had to use my imagination, it wouldn't be the first time. Are you sure you're alright?"

Had she been trembling in fear just minutes ago? That was all gone.

"I am. I'll have to thank Bernardo."

"Listen, before this, during the day, I had been thinking: aren't you a little tired of being locked up in here?"

"Uh-"

"Wouldn't you like to take a stroll?"

"A stroll? What if-"

"No one will notice. Trust me."

Trust him...

Well, of course, Diego. How not to?

Right?

(...)

"I used to come up here when I was a child. They would spend hours looking for me, but never found this spot."

The crown of a tree concealed it perfectly: a section of the roof right above the room. The night air was the freshest and the cleanest it could possibly be, perhaps because she hadn't felt it in days. So this had to be the smell of what was ahead: fresh and new and clean.

"They who?"

"Cresencia, Juan, he works with us too. My father."

"How is your father?"

"He is… a strict man, yet rightful and just. Not too patient. Courageous. I owe him everything. And I don't mean everything I have, but everything I am."

Then he did a good job.

"I don't think I have ever told him that," he added.

"You should."

"You're right. I will."

It was slightly cloudy and the moon was nowhere to be seen. Josefina, then, spoke without thinking much:

"Thank you for bringing me here. I almost feel like… none of that exists, like that place is not real, that I just dreamed it and it was a bad dream."

"It shouldn't exist, neither for you nor for the ones that are still in there. Someone should do something about it."

"Who, the so called authorities? I wouldn't count on it."

"I don't know who. But someone."

"I hope so. I don't want to think about that right now."

"Let's think about something else then."

"Like what?"

"Anything you want."

"This will do. Just this."

Just this moment...

Back at the orphanage, her friend Carmen had told her about the time this boy (well, man) she had been seeing, took her to this secluded place to see the stars and then…

No one does a thing for free, everyone has second intentions, trust no one, everyone's bad, everybody hurts.

Half of Carmen's conversation was always about this, one way or the other. She meant well, for sure. But perhaps no one, everyone and everybody is way too general.

Diego would never… would he?

The sleeve of his jacket grazing briefly against her arm gave her a shiver she hoped to God she had concealed well.

"Should we go back?"

"Bueno" she replied.

He got off the roof and to the balcony, then helped her do the same. The door led straight to the room, right besides the bed.

"Thank you for the company, Josefina."

"Thank you."

She felt both ashamed and still jumpy. Almost dizzy.

He took her hand out of the blue and kissed her knuckles: "Good night."

When he was gone, she sat on the border of the bed for a while, all straight up, hands on her lap.

It was best to follow his idea: let's think about something else.

Something.

Nothing.

Everything.

Him.

(...)

"Buenos días, Sargento!"

Trust to bump into his soldier friend at the tavern, even that early in the day. They weren't the only ones: about half a dozen people were having either a late breakfast or an early lunch at the inn.

"Don Diego! Cómo está?"

"I'm very well, thank you. What is that sign about? A new reward on that Zorro bandit?"

"Oh, no, still 2000 pesos for that scoundrel. This is a new one."

When Sergeant García moved out of the way, Diego took a look; the charcoal drawing of the pretty face made him clench his jaw:

Aviso

Reward of 50 pesos will be paid for the capture of

María Josefina Iglesias Martínez

Fugitive of the laws of the Kingdom of Spain.

(...)

Notes: I read that puzzles were invented in the 18th century so I thought, well, the De la Vega's had access to them? Now, what did Diego tell Cresencia to keep her from going into his bedroom? He said he used his imagination, and that's because I didn't XD I just trust he came up with something good. Remember episode 2, season 1, when Zorro, Benito the caporal and Monasterio are at the Torres hacienda, and then Diego makes it home just before the soldiers do? He talks to them from his bedroom's balcony which, if I'm not mistaken, doesn't appear again during the series, or does it? Well, that's the balcony I used here :-)

Thanks so much for reading! And reviewing! :-D