Chapter 13

Victoria had finished eating the bread and cheese and was kneeling once more in front of the door; she was determined to get it opened this time when she heard a sound like a pistol being fired nearby. She stopped what she was doing and held her breath as she strained to hear anything more and after a moment she heard footsteps and then her name being called out.

"Victoria! Victoria, its Ignacio."

"Ignacio?" she muttered in surprise as she rose to her feet. "In here." she shouted and banged on the door to get his attention.

A moment later, his voice called out. "Stand back from the door." he ordered.

She did as she was told and a moment later she jumped at the deafening sound of a gun being fired in an enclosed space and seconds later the door was kicked in.

Ignacio grimaced at the jolt of pain in his arm that his actions caused him. "Come Victoria." he said, then he frowned when he saw her face. "Are you okay?"

Victoria nodded as she walked out of her prison. "I'm okay but what about you and Felipe? And where's Diego?" she asked as he led her in the way he had come.

"I'm fine and so is Felipe. Diego is..." he paused as they heard the sounds of swords clashing; she had her answer. "Come, I'm to take you outside to safety." he said as he walked up the stairs with Victoria behind him.

"But...but what about Diego?" she said worriedly as she stepped through a door and out into the daylight, where she was surprised to find that it was late afternoon; she had been held prisoner for almost six hours.

Ignacio gave her a wry smile as he led the way around the side of the building. "I think we both know that he can take care of himself. And besides, I can't help him with my arm and I don't have another loaded pistol." he added as they reached the relative safety of the road.

Diego was cautiously measuring de Toledo's skill with the blade as they duelled within the large dusty and empty room of the abandoned house and he found that the other man was rather good with the blade; he obviously had studied under a master during his youth and as such he wasn't going to underestimate him; not that he would have done in any case, for he always studied each opponent on their individual merits and not by his own skills. He wasn't that arrogant to think that no one could beat him.

de Toledo was also measuring his opponent's skill and was surprised to find him well versed in the art of fencing; it wasn't something that he had expected from someone who had lived in the colonies. He was almost as good as himself, he mused arrogantly and all he had to do was to find his weakness and exploit it to his advantage and he knew the perfect thing. "Your wife really was a lovely woman, de la Vega, it's sad that you won't enjoy a long life with her, not after what happened."

Diego knew better than to respond, no matter what he said about Victoria; he had to control his anger if he was going to defeat him. He parried the sudden lunge de Toledo executed. "Really de Toledo, if you don't have anything original to say, then don't say anything." he replied with a grin as he quickly executed some moves of his own which the other man matched but Diego noticed a slight hesitation in the other man; was it something he could use?

de Toledo hid his smile as he slowly baited the other man with his intentional lapses in concentration and slowly drew him towards the place where he wanted him. "Whoever your fencing instructor was, must be very disappointed in you." he smirked. "You're moves are rather predictable."

Diego grinned. "I doubt that Sir Edmund Kendall would see it like that." he replied as he quickly stepped aside, causing de Toledo to stumble forward with his momentum. "By the way, I only think it's fair to warn you that this is his championship sabre that I happen to win from him."

de Toledo straightened up and couldn't stop himself from muttering. "You won it?" Everyone knew that Kendall had handed over his prized sabre to his star pupil; something he swore he would do only to the man who could beat him but he never suspected that it was de la Vega.

Diego smirked as he rested his sword on his shoulder; he was pleased by the surprised look on de Toledo's face. "Yes and it has never let me down."

de Toledo became angry at the arrogance of the man and wanted to wipe that smug smile off his face. "Until now, de la Vega." he bellowed as he forgot the very first lesson that Sir Miles Thackery had taught him; don't give in to anger.

Diego was ready for the charge and again he nimbly sidestepped him and to add insult to injury, he swatted de Toledo hard on the backside with the flat side of his sword. "You really should learn some manners, it isn't polite to charge at people like some crazed bull."

de Toledo pulled himself up to his full height, his chest heaving from his rage at his humiliation but even in his anger, he saw that his trap was about to be set, all he needed was for de la Vega to make a move to the right. He faced his opponent again and with a flurry of elaborate moves, he deliberated manoeuvred de la Vega where he wanted him.

Diego was surprised by the ferocious and rapid movements and he found himself fighting with all his prowess; something that he hadn't had to do for some time and so he didn't realise what was happening until the wooden floor beneath him collapsed, causing his left leg to drop through the hole up to his thigh and he lost all sense of balance. He grimaced in pain as several slivers of wood pierced his skin as he struggled to free his leg but he fell further downwards.

de Toledo smirked wickedly. "Say your prayers de la Vega." he said as he raised his sword.

Diego knew he couldn't free himself in time and there was no way he could reach him; he had dropped his sword and it was just out of reach of his fingers, and as he gazed up at the man, he had a moment of pure clarity and he knew that he was about to die at the hands of the madman and the only thing that he was grateful for, was that Victoria wasn't there to see the moment of his death.

Suddenly de Toledo staggered back, his sword clattered to the dusty floor and for a moment he gazed down in shock at the bloody wound in the middle of his chest before he too fell to the floor in such a way that Diego knew he was dead.

Diego cursed as he finally freed himself, pulled out a number of splinters from his leg and turned around to see who had fired the weapon, therefore saving his life. He thought it might have been Ignacio but he was stunned to see a familiar looking man who was holding a smoking pistol in his hand and it took him several seconds to realise that it was Andres Bellanos of the Royal Constabulary, who had once come to Los Angeles in search of the whistling bandit.

"Muchas gracias Señor, you have a good sense of timing." He said as the older man came up to him. "How did you know we were here?" he asked as he bent over and picked up his sword.

Bellanos watched as one of his men moved over to the body of de Toledo to see if he was dead or alive but he shook his head.

"Just by sheer luck, Don Diego. We were unable to find any witnesses to your wife's kidnapping except for a description of an ordinary carriage that had been seen leaving the area, so we had to go back to basics. We searched the land title records and were able to trace some of the property that de Toledo still owned to the building across the road and when we arrived we met your lovely wife and de Soto outside and they told us that you were in here with de Toledo." Bellanos replied. "We only came to this particular house because it was the second address on our route, it could have well been the last."

Diego was elated to know that Victoria was safe and well. "Which I'm very much grateful for Señor. So what happens now?" he asked as he limped towards the doorway, he reshealthed his sword.

Bellanos sighed as he walked beside the younger man. "There will be an inquiry, of course. You and your wife and Don Ignacio will need to give statements but it's just a formality for he was caught in the act of kidnapping, attempted murder and murder of the Royal Lancer. It's something that no-one can dispute." he answered as they reached the door.

"Diego!" Victoria cried out as she saw her husband emerging from the building and raced across the road.

Diego ignored the pain in his leg and rushed down the stairs just as his wife launched herself into his arms. He staggered under the force but he managed to stay on his feet and wrapped his arms around her in a fierce embrace. "Thank god you are safe querida." he whispered against her hair before he pulled back slightly. He frowned as he saw the painful red welt on her cheek and the bruising that was starting to show and he reached up with his hand but she flinched away before he could touch her.

"It's okay Diego, he only slapped me and his ring caught on my face. He did nothing else." she added to his unasked question. "Is he dead? Is it all over?"

"Yes, its all over." he said as he pulled her back into his arms just Ignacio came up to them. The two men exchanged a look over Victoria's shoulder that bespoke of Diego's gratitude and respect for what the older man had done and Ignacio acknowledged it with a slight nod and a smile.

Diego pulled back from his embrace. "Let's go home. Come with us Ignacio and we'll get the doctor to check your wound again."

Ignacio nodded once more. "Gracias Diego." he replied as they walked towards their carriage leaving Bellanos and his men to see to the body of de Toledo.