Alonso rode Esperanza next to Victoria's cart, considering the strange circumstances he found himself in. Her concern for his cousin was touching but a little exaggerated for just a friend. She reminded him of his wife.

Victoria was doing her best to ignore the man who looked so strikingly like her friend. She had been confused since he had turned up earlier that day. He looked so much like Diego, but something was definitely wrong. His personality wasn't as calming, wasn't as generous, wasn't as warm. Alonso was just another man, although he looked like Diego. She frowned, and flicked the reins a little, making the old mare snort her disapproval.

What was so special about Diego? She had other friends that were men in her life, and her brothers weren't too considerate - but surely all brothers were like that. She had been courted, clumsily by several unsuitable men, and some very sweet men. Diego hadn't asked her, she remembered, but had she wanted him to? Would it have changed her life in any way?

She loved Zorro, and although waiting was hard, so was thinking of marrying another man, even such a friend as Diego. How could it be that someone who looked so much like her friend couldn't fool her? Did she have feelings for Diego that had grown into something more than friendship? But why would that happen while Zorro was alive and close?

Diego had seen her through many challenges, and had been at her side through good times and bad. If he ever spoke up, it was to protect her and what she stood for. What did that mean? He had been a figure in her life that she couldn't imagine surviving without. Imagining the time when he must marry, filled her with the rare emotion of despair and jealousy.

What had she said to Zorro? That she loved the man behind the mask, no matter who he was. He was so worried that she would hate the true man and prefer the legend over the man. Why? Did the man present as someone so much different to her hero in black? What had Diego said when the new Alcalde had arrived? What if Zorro was someone ordinary like himself?

She pulled in the mare automatically. "No, it can't be," she murmured. Could Diego possibly be Zorro? She had thought so only days before, was confident enough to ask him. His immediate action after that had been so foolhardy that she had dismissed it out of hand, but wouldn't Zorro have reacted like that? Thoughtlessly turning to action in preparation for unknown threats?

Diego wasn't trying to be like Zorro, she realised. He was trying to act as himself, and failing. A drop in confidence fuelled by other people's lack of expectations. His injuries had kept him from riding out in costume for months, and whatever training he did would have been restricted. His failures must be so galling if she was right.

"Victoria, are you alright? Would you like me to drive the cart for a while?" Alonso said softly, aware of the mare's confusion. Victoria's face had gone so pale for a moment, and she looked frozen.

"Do you think Diego could be Zorro?" She asked him, ignoring his concern.

"Diego? Zorro?" Alonso said. "I hardly know either of them. I wouldn't be the best judge on that. How long have you known them?"

She considered the idea. "I have known Diego most of my life, maybe all of my life. I have known Zorro for over five years."

"Do you think it's possible?" Alonso said. "Or likely?" He pondered the idea. Diego had been confident that no harm would come to himself swapping with Alonso, and facing unknown dangers. He wasn't content to join the other men as himself. If he was Zorro, why hadn't he just gone in the mask?

"Diego had a brother, a twin, stolen from the family. Risendo was a high ranking government official, and a very experienced swordsman. Maybe Diego felt intimidated and thought he owed his father a son like that? I don't know," Victoria sighed. She shrugged. Men were confusing at the best of times, add tragedy and loss, and they were doubly so.

"Feel free to take the reins, poor Jara is sick of me tonight," Victoria said softly. She shifted across, making sure to keep her distance from the handsome man.

"Jara?"

"It means 'mother'. Diego helped me watch over her when she was foaled. He said she had the makings of a fine stud mare. I laughed at the time, and offered to sell her to him. The name was part of our little joke. It is an Indian word, as well. Diego told me that. He has always been interested in other countries."

"Diego is undoubtedly intelligent," Alonso said with a nod. Jara responded better to his handling than to Victoria's uncharacteristic uncertainties and strangeness. Alonso wondered if being intelligent had anything to do with being smart. In Diego's case it was debatable.

"Victoria, it might be wiser to turn back. If the weather worsens, Jara will freeze and so will we."

"We will rest in a cave and make a fire, of course."

Of course. One track mind, much like his wife. He wondered if appearances had deceived him. The last time he had seen his beloved head strong wife she had been lying in a pool of her own blood, and he had left her in the care of the servants at his brother in law's house. He had assumed she was dead, and maybe she was.

"Aren't you concerned about your reputation?"

"Diego is very much like a brother figure to me, and no one would care."

"I wouldn't be sure of that. Women have a habit of gossip and tale-telling especially in regards to their betters."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, on Diego's return he might feel honour bound to marry you to save you from the harpies."

"Oh…" She was biting her lip, Alonso noticed. His wife had that habit after being told to consider another angle. It meant she was considering what he had said, and working out whether she agreed or not with him.

"It's not as if they will be gossiping about me, but Diego wouldn't deserve it."

Alonso focused on the road ahead and tried not to shake his head. She had a better heart than most of the wealthiest women he had met, and Diego very much deserved whatever came his way. Especially if he had misled the woman for his own purposes.

She was a beautiful woman, even in her practical clothes. In finer clothes and better settings she would be a famed beauty, like a jewel cut from the rough natural state and polished and set into gold. Other women had noticed, even in the time he had been in the pueblo, he had seen the side glances and whispered comments, based on nothing he could see. With something to spark gossip it would like sharks attracted by blood in the water to a shipwreck victim, clinging to a raft. She was too innocent, even for her practicality.

"Well," she said after a few moments. "We must find Diego quickly and rescue him from whatever trouble he has gotten himself into."

"What if he is Zorro? He wouldn't need rescuing," Alonso said.

"The last couple of months he has been making very bad choices. He's only just gotten over the concussion that Charles gave him. If he has gotten over it. He is trying to prove himself, like a fool. I want to make sure he doesn't need help before I go back home."

"Concussions take more than a few days to heal, Victoria," Alonso said thoughtfully. Maybe he had misjudged his cousin. If he was unwell, he might be in trouble. He scanned the mountain side with interest, but in the darkness of a moonless night, it was a hard task.

He had memorised the position of the caves, and the landscape was becoming more familiar. They were close. A light from a campfire attracted his attention, and he turned the cart towards it. Other people meant that reputations were safer. With any luck it would be Diego, and Victoria would convince him to return home to the tavern with her, and sleep off the bravado.

"Diego?" A voice called as figures slowly came into view.

"No, I've had enough of subterfuge, Father. It's me, Alonso. I have Victoria with me. She's worried about Diego, and refuses to return home without him."

Victoria jumped off the cart as it came to a stop. "Do you know where Diego is? Is he with you? He told you he was Alonso but he isn't. This is Alonso."

Alejandro shook his head. Sebastian glanced over his son with amusement.

"The tight caballero pants look very stylish," he commented, making Alonso glance down at Diego's borrowed clothes with dislike. They had restricted his movement all day, and he missed his normal clothes.

"Not now, Father. Where is Diego?"

"He is with the children, as far as we know. At dawn we will deal with the bandits, but it is quite dangerous to venture up there at the moment. One slip in the climb could be fatal."

"We can't just sit around waiting for daylight," Victoria said crossly. "He could be facing the bandits alone, he could be hurt. We can't wait and do nothing."

"We will wait, and you are remaining in camp. Out of harm's way," Sebastian said firmly.

Victoria folded her arms, and glared at him. Sebastian had the face and attitude of a commander used to being obeyed. She knew what to do with men like that. Whatever she wanted, and make sure she wasn't caught.

Alejandro frowned at her, as she relaxed her arms, and nodded meekly. Meekness was not one of Victoria's main qualities, and obedience to firm orders was unlikely. He would be watching her closely.