THE RIGHT TURN OF THE ROAD

Chapter 7

Gonzales stifled a yawn as he crossed the yard on his way to the office. He hated getting up in the morning. No matter how hard he willed his eyes to stay open, the temptation to close them and curl up to sleep somewhere was almost too much. He was afraid that if he took too long at blinking, he might fall asleep on his feet.

He stopped where he was when he saw Lieutenant Gabriel come outside. It was about three weeks before he would be returning to duty, and he never failed to mention his eagerness to get back to work when they spoke.

Gonzales wasn't sure if he was equally excited. He had really enjoyed his work for the past month. He had been given more responsibilities than ever before, and he thought he had done quite well with all of his tasks. There was nobody to order him around needlessly and yell at him, and most of the orders he and the soldiers had received had helped to protect the people. It was odd, but it felt like the army was actually doing mostly good things with Gabriel off duty.

On the other hand, he was glad to see that the lieutenant was doing better. Despite how Gabriel always treated him, Gonzales didn't have it in him to resent him, at least for too long at any given time. After all, he always told himself, it was natural for a superior to treat their subordinates like that. He was sure Gabriel got the same treatment from Raymond.

"Good morning, Lieutenant!" he called out.

"Good morning," Gabriel replied.

"You sound happy this morning," Gonzales remarked. He didn't quite understand why Gabriel insisted on getting up so early when he wasn't on duty. If Gonzales had been in his place, he would have slept until noon and told everyone it was because he was recovering.

"I'm feeling particularly good this morning." Gabriel was actually smiling, Gonzales noted, and not in that self-satisfied and smug way that was usual.

"I see you've got rid of the sling," he pointed out when he noticed that Gabriel's right arm was hanging normally by his side.

Gabriel's face was beaming. "Just for a while. I need to do the exercises Dr. Timothy ordered."

"Oh, that's right," Gonzales said. Gabriel had mentioned that before, but he had nearly forgotten about it until now. "How is your arm doing?"

"I'm sure it's going to be fine in no time," Gabriel said. Gonzales noted an odd, determined tone in his voice, but Gabriel's smile didn't waver at all. Maybe he was just imagining things.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure everyone is going to be happy to see you come back," Gonzales said.

"As they should be."

"Well, I have to get going. I promised Captain Jekyll that I'd take care of some of the paperwork before lunch," Gonzales said.

Gabriel lifted his brows in surprise. "I thought you always do your best to avoid any kind of work in the morning." His tone wasn't mocking at all; he really did sound startled.

"I know," Gonzales said with a grimace. "But I don't want to disappoint the captain." The time he had spent working with Jekyll had shown him one thing. He was far more determined to follow orders and do his best when his superior treated him with respect instead of always yelling insults at him. But he couldn't possibly say that to Gabriel.

"You've been putting a lot more effort into your work than usual," Gabriel pointed out.

"You noticed?" Gonzales asked, not quite able to keep the joy from his voice. No matter how Gabriel had meant the words, they sounded like a compliment in his ears. It was such a rare occurrence to get anything but vitriol from him.

"I'm not blind, Sergeant," Gabriel snapped.

"Thank you so much, sir!" Gonzales said, suddenly not feeling that tired after all. He excused himself and continued his march towards the office, feeling like no obstacle would be too hard for him that day.

When he was done talking to Gonzales, Gabriel made his way to the barred wilderness around the barracks. He was careful to keep his pace slow and follow an easy path so that he wouldn't get too out of breath. It wouldn't do to exhaust himself before he had even started his work for the morning.

The wound in his shoulder had healed so well that he could now train the arm every day to get it back into shape. He had started a good while ago, but so far he wasn't very impressed with the results. It wasn't that he was worried, and he certainly hadn't lied to Gonzales when he had said it would be fine. He had just been hoping that the progress would be faster.

His whole right arm down to the fingertips felt oddly stiff, like it was somehow no longer properly connected to the rest of him. Even though the wound had healed, there was still dull pain present at almost all times, especially when he tried to lift his arm. He had got so used to it that the moments when he could feel nothing almost came as a shock to him.

But none of that was a reason to get worried, he was sure. He still had three weeks to heal, and he was certain that Timothy's advice was going to help him. It would be hard and painful work, but he could do it. The thought of riding his horse again and clashing his sword against that of Zorro made him burn with determination and impatience.

He had chosen to wander off to the mountains to do his exercises because staying all day long at the barracks was starting to feel like torture. There was nothing for him to do, and he was always feeling angry and frustrated, even when he didn't have a good reason for it. More than once he had yelled at Gonzales for something that wasn't even his fault.

Normally that wouldn't have bothered him the least since Gonzales was always a good victim if he needed to vent his anger. However, something had been different about the sergeant as of late. Ever since he had helped Zorro defeat those bandits, he had seemed more serious and dedicated to his work. Yelling at him when he was doing a good job just made Gabriel feel stupid, so he tried to keep his temper in check.

He wondered what Raymond thought about Gonzales' new competence. They already had to be careful because of Jekyll, but that wasn't too much of a problem since the captain wasn't directly involved with most of the basic operations. Gonzales, however, was always there. If he saw something he found suspicious, he might now have the nerve to tell Jekyll about it. Or even try to take matters into his own hands if he was feeling confident enough.

Gabriel frowned as he pondered this possibility. He felt like laughing at the mere idea that such an oaf would ever discover anything, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful. The last thing he wanted now was more trouble. It would just give Raymond another reason to be angry with him.

He wondered if Gonzales would be willing to join them. It would be risky to let another person know about their operations, but Gonzales could prove to be useful if he continued improving like this. With every officer on their side, it would be far easier for them to deceive Jekyll. Then again, he found it impossible to imagine Gonzales willingly going along with their plans. He was too soft. He'd never steal or hurt anyone for his own good.

Gabriel shook his head, deciding that he had wasted enough time on useless musings. Now he was far away enough from the barracks to his liking and could begin with his daily training, away from the eyes of the others. He didn't want anyone to see how straining it was for him to exercise his arm. Every movement sent shooting pain through him and left a dull ache in its wake. It was nearly impossible to keep going, but he forced himself to endure it. He would get better this way.

When he returned to the barracks later that day, he spotted Gonzales and a few soldiers sitting on a heap of boxes by the wall. He frowned at their idleness and was about to march over and tell them to find something productive to do, but then he realised that they were engaged in an argument. They hadn't noticed him yet, so he decided to hang back and find out what they were talking about.

"I don't like that. I don't think we should be letting Englishmen start up a business here," one of the soldiers was saying. Gabriel couldn't be sure, but he thought the man's name was Carrido.

"You've said that five times already, but you still haven't given a good reason for that," another soldier pointed out, his voice thick with exasperation.

"I told you. They're English," Carrido replied.

"Francia is right. That's not a good reason," Gonzales said.

A third soldier, Boedo by his name, joined the conversation. "Of course it's a good reason! This is Spanish territory. We shouldn't let foreigners here like that, especially not the English."

"Well, why not? I hear they're going to start a big business here. That's going to do good to everyone here," Gonzales said.

"We could get someone from Spain to start that business! Shouldn't the army be loyal to the king?" Carrido argued.

"I'm sure Commander Raymond wouldn't let the Englishmen here if the king disapproved of it," Francia remarked.

Gabriel smirked, knowing full well that Raymond would do anything against the king's wishes if it benefitted him somehow. Spain was so far away that it was easy to colour the truth almost any way he wanted. In this case, however, there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. The owner of the South India Trading Company had won the king's favour somehow. Just why he wanted to come to a rural backwater like San Tasco was beyond Gabriel's understanding, however.

"Well, maybe nobody told the king about this," Carrido said, which resulted from angry gasps and yells from the others.

"Are you suggesting that Commander Raymond would lie to the king?" Gonzales asked.

"That's accusing him of treason!" Francia snapped. Gabriel decided that this was a good time for him to show himself and join the conversation.

"I didn't say that! I only meant that -" Carrido started to argue, but he grew silent when he noticed Gabriel.

"What's going on here?" Gabriel asked.

The others immediately jumped to their feet and saluted. They exchanged nervous glances with each other, urging someone to answer Gabriel's question.

"Well?" Gabriel asked. He shot everyone a glare but finally let his eyes stop on Gonzales.

"It's nothing, sir! We were just talking about the Englishmen who are coming," Gonzales said.

"It didn't sound like that to me. You were spreading lies about the commander," Gabriel said, turning his gaze to Carrido.

The soldier stood straight with his lips pressed tightly together in nervousness, but he didn't shy away under Gabriel's eyes. His hands were shaking slightly, and his voice betrayed some of his edginess when he said, "That's not how I meant it, sir."

"Then how did you mean it?" Gabriel asked. He did his best to appear stony-faced, but inside he was having the time of his life. He had missed the feeling of power that scorched him whenever others were afraid of him and had no escape.

"I simply wanted to express my disagreement with the commander's decisions."

"Since when is it acceptable for a soldier to disagree with his commander?" Gabriel barked, and everyone took a frightened step back at his furious tone.

"Lieutenant, please. We were just talking," Gonzales tried to reason.

"If you have time to talk, then you clearly don't have enough duties to perform!" Gabriel said.

"But sir -"

"Gonzales, I want this man on double shift for the next two weeks," Gabriel said.

"What? But I was supposed to have some time off next week so that I could visit my family!" Carrido burst out, but he immediately grew silent when Gabriel shot a vicious glare at him.

"Or you can go to Commander Raymond's office and tell him your opinion about his decisions," Gabriel suggested.

Carrido clenched his jaws at these words and stared at him with such hatred in his eyes that for a moment Gabriel was certain he was going to punch him. This man clearly needed a lesson in discipline, and Gabriel would have gladly given it if he could have used his right arm.

"Is that clear?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Carrido said in a tight voice.

Gabriel nodded. "Good. Then you're dismissed."

The others immediately started to sprint away in their hurry to get away from him before he chose to punish them somehow as well. Gonzales tried to get away, too, but Gabriel yelled at him to stop before he made it more than a few steps away.

"Not you, Gonzales!"

Gonzales froze and let out a defeated sigh. "Did you have something else to say, sir?"

"Tell me more about these Englishmen. When are they coming?" Gabriel asked. Since Raymond wasn't talking to him now, he didn't have any idea how any of their operations were going. All he knew was that Raymond and the owner of the South India Trading Company, Mr. Kapital, were planning to start some joined projects as soon as the company had properly set up their business.

"I'm not sure," Gonzales admitted. "All I know that they've started building their headquarters on the other side of the town. It looks like it's going to be massive."

"Hmm. I'd like to take a look at that later."

"They've requested help from the army, but I think Jekyll is going to be in charge of that. I don't really know anything," Gonzales said.

"And yet you think you can spread rumours about the company with the soldiers?"

Gonzales flinched at his harsh words, but he was quick to defend himself. "But I was defending Commander Raymond, sir! I think this is a great opportunity for the whole town!"

"So, you don't think that Raymond is a conniving villain who is only interested in his own gain?" Gabriel asked, unable to stop a smirk from appearing on his face.

"Of course not, sir! I have complete trust in the commander!" Gonzales said at once. His tone was so sincere that Gabriel had no trouble believing him. What a fool, but he could hardly blame him. Raymond was such a good liar that Gabriel probably wouldn't have suspected him either if he hadn't known the ugly truth.

"And that's exactly how it should be," he said.

Gonzales shifted on his feet and glanced at his side, looking uncomfortable for a moment. "Uh, Lieutenant? I hope you aren't going to tell the commander what Carrido said."

"I doubt the commander has time to listen to what off-hand comments some soldier makes about him," Gabriel said.

"Oh, thank you, sir! Carrido isn't that bad. He just talks before he thinks," Gonzales said.

"That doesn't really interest me. He should learn to keep his mouth shut," Gabriel said in impatience. In truth, he would have liked nothing more than making an example out of Carrido, but to do that, he would have had to go to talk to Raymond. He felt reluctant to do so before he was in full health again. Whenever he showed a weakness before him, there was such open amusement in Raymond's eyes that he didn't even need words to make Gabriel feel vulnerable.

"Of course, sir. No question about that," Gonzales muttered. "Anyway, I think it's nice of you not to get Carrido into any more trouble. He's been here for a year, and he has always been loyal to the army."

"I wouldn't call spreading lies about the commander loyal."

Gonzales' face fell at these words. "Can't we just forget about this, Lieutenant? Let's not ruin such a good day."

"I take it you don't have any duties to perform since you have time to gossip with the men," Gabriel remarked.

"I'm on a break, sir. I'm going to patrol the area to the south later today," Gonzales said.

Gabriel frowned. There was nothing but wine fields and some small villages south from San Tasco. It was hardly worth protecting in his opinion.

"Has there been trouble?" he asked.

"Not at all. It's just that a rich landowner from Spain recently bought all that land and is on his way here. We got direct orders from Commander Raymond to start paying more attention to that area," Gonzales said.

Well, that made sense. Raymond always had the best interests of the rich in mind. Gabriel decided he had better find out something about this landowner before he arrived from Spain.

Gonzales stretched his arms and rubbed his lower back. "Ow, my back is killing me. The chairs in the office are so uncomfortable. I don't know how I'll survive patrol today. You're so lucky that you can just rest, Lieutenant."

"I'd hardly call that luck," Gabriel growled.

"Of course not! That's now what I meant. I'm sorry," Gonzales said at once. His eyes turned to Gabriel's arm that was back in the sling. "How did your training go?" he asked.

"I'm making progress," Gabriel said. In truth, there was a constant ache in his shoulder, radiating down to his fingers. He didn't think the pain had eased at all in the past few weeks. Quite the contrary. Dr. Timothy's exercises just made him hurt more. But nobody had to know that.

"That makes me happy. You know, Lieutenant, I'll buy you a drink when you're about to return to duty."

"I'll remind you of that in three weeks," Gabriel said. In spite of everything, he was in a good mood. Yelling at the men had cheered him up and brought a sense of familiarity to his day.

"Great! That's decided."

"I thought you were upset with me," Gabriel pointed out.

Gonzales blinked, but then his brows shot up when he realised what Gabriel was talking about. "Oh, you mean the incident with Don José!" he said. "Well… I…"

"What's on your mind? Out with it!" Gabriel ordered, staring down at Gonzales with a demanding frown on his face.

"Sir, I'm disappointed that you didn't believe me, but I'm not going to let it bother me anymore. I'll do my best to prove my worth and loyalty to the army so that if something like that happens again, you'll believe me then," Gonzales said.

"That's not very likely. Even you can't get into that sort of trouble too often," Gabriel remarked.

"I hope so, too, sir."

"And in any case, it depends on the proof. I don't make exceptions for anyone if the evidence is against them," Gabriel said.

Gonzales sighed and frowned in dismay. "Of course, sir." Then he suddenly realised something and took a surprised jump back.

"Oh, no! I'm late! I'm supposed to be on patrol in a minute!" he exclaimed and started to sprint towards the stables. Then he froze on his tracks and quickly returned to give Gabriel a hasty salute. "I'll talk to you again later, sir!"

Gabriel watched him go. He was surprised to notice that he was feeling a little disappointed that the sergeant had to leave. His days were so monotonous and boring that he was ready to welcome any change. Maybe it was a little pitiful that a conversation with Gonzales was so important to him now, but he'd rather deal with that shame than spend his days with nothing to do.

There was a sour taste in his mouth when he heard the sounds of the patrol leaving the barracks. He had been able to take idleness relatively well so far, but now he felt an almost desperate need to go with the others. He needed something productive to do! He kicked a stone and sent it flying against the boxes where the soldiers had been sitting. Anything was better than staying at the barracks and feeling so useless.

Two weeks later, Gabriel was feeling considerably better. It was only six days until he would return to duty, and he was almost counting the hours. The excitement of putting on his uniform again nearly made his chest burst.

He had already been riding that day, even though Dr. Timothy kept muttering that he really should have at least one more month off. Gabriel had immediately forgotten about that when he had mounted his horse, feeling almost whole again. He welcomed the exhaustion and burn in his muscles because they meant he was actually doing something.

At the moment he was sitting in his room and eying his sword on the table. He hadn't handled the weapon at all since his accident because Dr. Timothy had said it might cause more damage, but now he wasn't going to hold back anymore. Holding his breath, he picked up the sword and unsheathed it.

The familiar weight of the blade felt good in his hand. Just as a test, he imagined an enemy before him and struck a few times. He couldn't help but wince, both at the sudden sharp pain in his shoulder and at how clumsy and uncontrolled his attacks felt. He would have to get back into shape as soon as possible.

There was a knock on his door, and he ordered the person to enter. He wasn't very surprised when Gonzales came in.

"Oh, you're handling a sword again, Lieutenant," he said.

"I thought it was about time. I'm sad to say it looks like I need some practice." Gabriel put the sword away, not wanting to let Gonzales see how rusty he really was.

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time. Talent doesn't go anywhere in just two months," Gonzales said.

Gabriel smirked at the compliment. "Was there something you needed?"

"I have the evening off today, so I came to ask if you'd like to join me for a glass or two in town," Gonzales said.

"I think you promised to buy me a drink," Gabriel remarked.

"Oh, you remember. Great! Does that mean yes?" Gonzales asked, smiling in sudden happy surprise.

"It's not like I have anything better to do."

A little over half an hour later, they were sitting at a table at Gonzales' favourite tavern. The atmosphere was joyous; everyone was laughing, talking excitedly and drinking more than they should.

"Is there something going on?" Gabriel asked, observing the happy crowd in confusion. Most of the people weren't even looking at him and those who were didn't seem the least bit frightened or angry. It was like they didn't even know who he was.

"Uh, nothing special. It's probably nothing for us to worry about," Gonzales said.

"Hmm," Gabriel said but finally turned his eyes away from the others. He didn't really even care about what was going on with them. The good wine in his glass and the knowledge that his unbearable idleness was coming to an end were all that mattered to him.

"Do you already know what you'll do when you return to duty?" Gonzales asked.

"If the commander has no new orders for me, I'll be taking the responsibility for the security during Don Dias' visit," Gabriel said.

Gonzales nodded knowingly. "Oh, yes. There's going to be a lot to do with that."

More than you think, Gabriel thought. The security wasn't even that important. It was just an excuse for gathering together some of his trusted men so that they could transport the wheat that was waiting to be shipped to Spain to a different location. Once it was safely hidden away, they'd sell it to Don Dias.

"It's great that such an important man is coming to San Tasco. We don't often get visitors like that," Gonzales said. He took a gulp of his wine and continued his musings, "Maybe that will change when the South India Trading Company starts their business here."

"I'm not sure if Englishmen will attract anyone worth of any importance," Gabriel pointed out.

"You're against the company?"

"I don't care either way," Gabriel said. In truth, he was a little annoyed by that Raymond hadn't informed him of his plans with the company. It was only about a few weeks until Kapital was supposed to move to San Tasco and start his business, and so far Gabriel had no idea what was going to happen.

"Well, then you're an exception. Most of the men don't like that they're coming here."

"Their opinion doesn't matter," Gabriel said. He knew his opinion didn't really matter either. Commander Raymond was the only one whose thoughts had any value in the important matters in the area. Since he had decided to accept the South India Trading Company, there wasn't anything the rest of them could do about that.

"Well, they live here, just like all the other citizens. I think someone should at least listen to what they think," Gonzales said.

"That's rubbish."

There was a loud chortle of laughter from the table next to them. Gabriel turned to look at the men there in annoyance, but none of them noticed his glare. He was sure that if he had been wearing his uniform, they would have never dared to bother him like this. He was about to turn back to his wine, but then the words spoken by one of the men caught his attention.

"I used to have some doubts, but when Zorro saved my farm from those bandits, I realised that he's a true hero," a man was saying.

"He's the only one who has the courage to stand up and defend the common people," another man added.

Gonzales cleared his throat nervously. "Lieutenant, did I already tell you that my mother said she might come and visit me here?" he asked, but Gabriel didn't even turn to look at him.

"What did you say about Zorro?" he asked and grabbed the shoulder of the man sitting the closest to him.

"What? You haven't heard?" the man asked. Either he was more drunk than he looked like or he didn't recognise Gabriel without a uniform; there was no shock or fear in his eyes at all.

"No. Tell me all about it," Gabriel said.

"Well, Juan here was having trouble with bandits coming to his farm and stealing food and horses. The army wasn't doing anything because he lives so far away from San Tasco, so finally Zorro came and defeated all the bandits!" the man said, his face brightening even more with each word.

"And then he delivered them to the town square where the army just had to pick them up," someone else added.

"Is that so?" Gabriel asked, his voice a low growl.

"Let's drink to Zorro!" Juan declared and raised his mug high.

Gabriel didn't know if he should have punched the men or turn around and punch Gonzales. Both were very tempting options, but finally he forced himself to ignore the loud men and turn to glare at the sergeant.

"You knew about that," he said in an accusing tone.

"Well," Gonzales said, turning his eyes down to his hands. "Maybe I did hear a thing or two."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Gabriel asked. He was yelling now, and a few people shot curious glances at his direction. Someone in the crowd recognised him once they noticed that he was with Gonzales. The word spread quickly, and soon enough the whole tavern was silent with everyone staring at him.

"I couldn't! Commander Raymond came to see me personally and told me not to say a word," Gonzales said.

Gabriel was momentarily taken aback. "What?" he asked in confusion, so surprised that he forgot about his anger.

"It's all true, Lieutenant," Gonzales said.

"Why would Raymond ever give such an order?" Gabriel asked. He was tempted to think that Gonzales was lying, but he knew that the sergeant would never dare to do that to him. And he was probably too stupid to even think about it.

"I don't know, sir. Maybe he didn't want you to get upset?"

Upset? Gabriel had half the mind to laugh at that. Of course he was going to be upset. Not only because of that damn criminal but because his own men were keeping things from him. Was this why some of the soldiers had stopped talking every time they had seen him earlier that day? Had Raymond told everyone to keep him in the dark?

"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say, Sergeant!" he snapped. Raymond would never do anything with his best interests in mind.

Gabriel jumped on his feet and started marching towards the door, glaring venomously at all the other customers.

"And what are you staring at?" he asked a man who had let his eyes linger on him for a moment too long.

Gabriel slammed the door shut behind him and started stomping where he had left his horse. Unbelievable! He was so angry that he could hardly see ahead of him. His whole body was trembling as his fury kept boiling. That bastard! What did he think he was going? He had no right – no right – to order the men into silence like that!

It wasn't really the fact that he hadn't been told about Zorro's latest actions that bothered him. Zorro did something like that almost every week, and as infuriating as that was, it was nothing out of the ordinary. The problem was that Raymond had gone to the men and told them to keep this from him.

Gabriel closed his eyes as he imagined the scene. That sweet, empty smile on Raymond's face as he talked to the men, telling them that maybe it would be for the best not to let the good old lieutenant know about this. Not when he was still recovering. Oh, yes, he'd be returning to duty soon, but we could never be careful enough, could we? Experiences like that can leave their mark on a man, and we wouldn't want to stress him too soon. I'm glad you understand. You're all good men.

Goddamit! Gabriel mounted his horse, shaking with anger. He ignored the animal's protests when he pulled at the reins too hard, too furious to even think about what he was doing. Now everyone at the barracks thought that he was weak, that he couldn't handle simple news about Zorro! Had that been pity in Gonzales' eyes back in the tavern? It felt like a slap to his face, and he couldn't focus his thoughts on anything. Then his anger at Raymond returned, and for a brief moment he found himself wishing for pain, if not death, on the commander.

Gonzales sighed miserably as Gabriel marched out and slammed the door shut. For a long moment, the other customers kept staring at him in stunned silence, but eventually they all turned back to their tables and tried to resume their earlier conversations and drinking. After all, it was nothing unusual to see Lieutenant Gabriel yell at the sergeant.

I'm such an idiot, Gonzales thought. For a moment he had thought that he would be doing the lieutenant a favour by not telling him about Zorro. It wasn't like he needed to know about every little incident, especially when he wasn't involved in any way and when knowing would just make him needlessly angry. Besides, it had been an order from Raymond, and he would never dare to question the commander.

Surely Raymond had just the lieutenant's best interests in mind. That's why Gonzales hadn't felt at all guilty at first, but it was now obvious that he had made a mistake. For a moment, he had forgotten that he was dealing with his superior and a man who was notorious for his short temper. His recent interactions with Gabriel had been mostly so informal that it had become easy to forget who he was.

"I can never do anything right," he muttered before taking a gulp of his wine. He wasn't feeling like drinking alone, so he decided to leave and return to the barracks in a moment. Maybe he'd take a detour to clear his thoughts.