Clara had left her family behind. She was too upset to stay. She wanted to know if that man that Charlie had hit over the head with the marble bust was dead, but she didn't know what she would do if he was. Maybe it had been a mistake to leave.
The wind was still cold, and she was dressed in the same clothes that she had left home in, all those months before. She glanced back, but running from the cave was the biggest mistake she had made. Clara suppressed a sob, knowing that she was lost. She needed to find a road or something. Should she find the cave again? She was confused. Having never had a sense of direction she was totally lost.
She decided on the road. Charlie said the orphanage was a scary place where children were treated like prisoners, but maybe he was wrong. He couldn't know everything. Maybe someone kind could help them all?
That night when Charlie had decided to burgle the de la Vega hacienda, Eliza had tried to stop him. Following behind in the darkness, Eliza was determined to stop him somehow, by any means. The girls had followed their brother through the broken door, and Eliza's whispered tirade had been ignored once again. When the man had surprised them all, Charles had acted impulsively, grabbing the first thing he saw. The marble bust had looked heavy and the man had fallen without a sound. Maybe he was dead. Then Charlie was a murderer.
Clara wished she could have stayed with the man. She could have helped him, but Eliza had dragged her back to the cave, with Charles shepherding them. Eliza had trembled, and Charlie's face was as white as their mother's fine china. Clara had fought to see through tears and although she resisted a little, she had to submit to her sister. There was no choice.
Now she had no choice but to trust herself and find someone to help her. Maybe they could help her family as well. There was no way she could remember the way back to the cave. It was well hidden and she had travelled a long way before she considered going back.
She was hungry and thirsty and getting tired again. The wind cut through her clothes and her threadbare shawl was no protection. She shivered with the cold and with her fears. She wanted her mother, she was brave with her mother. Her mother was strong and determined, like Eliza. Clara decided not to think about the way her mother had died, and to concentrate on being more like her mother.
Some of the snow had melted, and it wasn't hard to walk. The snow had stopped falling for now, but the clouds were heavy and dark. She didn't know if it would snow again soon, and she wasn't sure what she would do if it did.
The clink of a bridle startled her, and she ducked instinctively. A horse and rider were passing by, and she wanted to be sure before she announced herself to a stranger.
It was a scruffy vaquero on the track, who scanned the surroundings before waving forward five more men. She held her breath and covered her mouth with her hand. Charlie was the sixth man, who walked over to meet them.
"Well, did you bring the items?"
"I couldn't get very much, I was interrupted."
"So we heard."
"Did I kill the man?"
"I don't know. Mixing in that company isn't part of a normal day. All I know is that the soldiers are hunting the robbers. Because you failed in your errand."
"The kid was meant to slip in and slip out like a ghost, not like a blundering fool. Carlos, we are not nursemaids."
"Did you get the letter?"
"I didn't get that far, Sir. Once I knocked the man down, I had to leave. The household was startled awake by all the noise."
"That was the main aim of the robbery," someone said. A murmur of conversation rippled through the group.
"I could try again," Charles said with a nervous tremor to his voice.
"No point," Carlos said. "I guess those sisters of yours will go hungry today."
"Give me another errand," Charles said with a visible shudder.
"If you fail this time, one of your sisters will be forfeit."
"What if I succeed?"
"Are you sure you want to risk it, kid?"
"I won't fail again. I've learnt my mistake. Please let me try again."
"Very well," Carlos said. "In the alcalde's office, there is a bag of pesos - the reward for the capture of Zorro."
"I don't think I could capture Zorro."
"No, I don't think you could either. Let's make it easier. Just get the bag of pesos. If you can do that you will join the team. Your sisters will be safe. Francis can take care of them."
Charles went white but nodded. "It will be a piece of cake, Carlos. You can trust me."
"Remember if you fail again, then one of your sisters will be forfeit."
"What….what does that mean?"
"Slavery," one of the cowboys said with a chuckle.
Clara tightened her hand over her mouth and hoped the man was joking. Or trying to frighten Charles. Her brother visibly swallowed, as if he realised what he had done.
ZZZ
Clara waited for the men to leave and watched Charles leave to go back to the cave. She didn't follow him, she was too angry. He was an idiot and a fool. She was only ten, but even she had seen what had happened. His pride and arrogance had made him sell them into slavery. He couldn't be clever enough to steal a bag of coins from a fortress full of soldiers.
Someone could help her. Even if she could find a soldier they would stop the bandits. They wouldn't want the reward to be stolen. Maybe if someone was kind, they could stop Charles and keep them all safe. This situation was worsening by the moment.
It was even colder towards the late afternoon, and she folded her arms across her body and hugged herself. She had found the road and had been walking for what felt like hours.
Another horseman was on the road, and she froze. There was nowhere to hide. She was in the middle of the road, and as the horse came closer, it grew nervous.
She let out a scream and the horse reared. A well dressed, handsome gentleman slipped off the saddle and managed to control a fall so that he landed safely. The horse galloped the opposite way, and the man paused watching it, catching his breath.
"Oh. That's far from good."
He glanced at the shivering, shaking little girl who had crunched into a ball as if waiting to shield herself for an impact.
"My name is Diego," he said. "Are you alright?"
Zzz
So much for a steady mount, Diego thought. Ferdinand was meant to be the quietest horse in the de la Vega stables. He knew Esmeralda wouldn't have been so flighty. His father had insisted on the mount if riding was to be an option. And Diego was sure he would go insane if he couldn't get outside the hacienda and do something. So Ferdinand was the mount.
Now he was abandoned in the middle of nowhere, with a lost little girl.
He crouched down with the girl and touched her shoulder.
"It's alright, you're not hurt," Diego said, gently, after surveying her for injuries. She was shaking from head to toe, and tears leaked out of tightly shut eyes.
He thought about shelter. He could not guarantee a rescue before dark. They would need a fire and somewhere safe to sleep outside of the wind.
"What's your name?"
"Cl...Cl...Clara," she sobbed. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?"
"You had a fright, Clara. I'm a good horseman. I know how to fall from a horse so that I don't hurt myself. But now we're stuck here for a while."
She sniffed and starting looking for a handkerchief that was obviously no longer there.
"Here," Diego said. He gave her his own handkerchief, and she started crying again.
It had been a few days since he had been injured. His head was getting less dizzy, hence the confidence of the riding. He had outridden his companion, a stablehand that Alejandro had tasked for the errand. He wasn't dizzy or anywhere near it now. He was a little lethargic, but that was nothing that new.
"Are you lost, Clara?" Diego said and immediately felt stupid. Of course, she was lost. What was she? Six? Surely she should have parents nearby?
"My mother is dead, and my father. My brother is being stupid, and my sisters are no help."
Diego's attention was drawn immediately. "There are more of you?"
"I don't know where they are, I am a bit lost."
"Alright." Diego struggled for a moment. What was he to do with a child that young? Where were the others? He didn't even have a horse, and the sun would set soon.
Shelter. Warmth. Food. Water. His mind clicked over. Basics of survival. He sighed and realised that was what he had to work on first. Then he could find the other children.