AN: Thank you very much for the reviews! Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!
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The following day was a Friday, and Diego still had a strange feeling that he had somehow wronged the woman he loved. So he decided to go by the tavern and see if she'd come to the hacienda with Marisol that Saturday, or at least, if she'd tell him what he could do to atone for whatever fault she had found in him.
Entering the tavern around 1 p.m., he noticed Victoria talking with a monk at one of the corner tables, so he headed that way. "Hola Victoria! Padre!" He greeted as he neared the two.
Victoria's eyes shot up at hearing his voice and she stared at him in surprise.
Diego smiled at her, but, as she continued not replying, his eyes squinted, giving his face an inquisitive and rather worried look.
"Buenas tardes, Señor!" The monk greeted, at noticing the young woman's reaction. "Padre Francisco, from the Mission of San Rafael." The man introduced himself, extending his hand.
"Diego de la Vega. Welcome to our pueblo, Padre!" He replied politely, still half-staring at the young woman who continued to keep silent.
Victoria did her best to recover but, for some reason, mainly having to do with her interrupted conversation with the monk, Diego's presence had left her barely able to speak. "Si… The padre and I were just discussing –" She managed to mutter.
"The Señorita's passion for well-made coffee." The man helped her.
She gave him a grateful smile, then glanced back at Diego. "Are you here for lunch?" Victoria asked him.
"Ah… Yes… And to see Marisol." He answered.
"She's playing in the vineyards with her friends. I will send Ramon to find her." The young woman replied as she stood up and took the empty plate resting on the table in front of the monk. "Take a seat and I'll bring you some food while my brother tells her you're here."
The caballero nodded and watched her leave, then did as she had asked him, sitting across the table from the monk, on the bench next to the one Victoria had occupied. "So…" he uttered, "what brings you to Los Angeles, Padre?"
"God's work, my son!" The man answered.
Diego studied him for a minute. He was rather well-built and his grey beard perfectly matched his eyebrows if not his skin tone. His eyes seemed small for his face, but there was something familiar in them. And, despite the fact that the monk was smiling at him, there was something about the man he didn't quite like.
Victoria soon returned with Diego's food and placed the plate before him. "Is there anything I can get for you, Padre?" She politely inquired.
"Perhaps some wine to share with this young man." He replied.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Diego doesn't drink wine." She answered.
"Oh? Tequila, then?" The man offered, glancing between her and the caballero.
"Victoria makes the most wonderful lemonade..." Diego suggested. "I will be happy to treat you to some, Padre."
"Oh… Yes, yes! I'm sure it will be quite refreshing on a day such as this." The man agreed.
The taverness nodded and headed back to the kitchen, from where she returned a few minutes later with the lemonade and three glasses, then sat next to Diego just as Marisol sprung through the kitchen's curtains shouting "Papi!"
Diego picked the child up into his arms, as per their customs, then sat her on his knee after receiving a kiss on his cheek from the little girl. "Have you eaten?" He asked.
"Si. Mommy didn't know if you come today. I told he' you'd come, but she didn't believe me." The child answered. "See, Mommy? I was 'ight!"
"Well... I'll know better than to doubt you next time," Victoria answered.
The padre smiled at the child's seriousness and poured the lemonade into the glasses. Then, realizing no one was paying any attention to him at the moment, he half-turned his head towards a man sitting at another table, slightly nodding at him. The stranger left the tavern moments later and, soon after that, firecrackers were heard from outside, distracting everyone as they went to see what was going on.
The padre glanced between the two glasses left behind by Diego and Victoria, then, taking out a small bottle, poured some of its content into the caballero's.
Upon the young people's return, the older man saw with some concern as Marisol reached for her Papi's glass.
"Here!" He said, pushing his own towards the child. "Your Mommy forgot to bring you a glass but you may have mine."
The girl looked at him, then nodded, and took his glass, quickly emptying it.
"I will bring you another glass right away, Padre." Victoria said.
"No need, Señorita. I should be leaving soon. I promised Padre Benitez to visit him at the Mission this afternoon." He said.
"But you wanted to have a drink with Diego!" Victoria pointed out just as the young caballero took his glass to his lips to have some lemonade.
"Indeed." The man said.
It was not what he had said but the way he had said it that stopped Diego just before taking a sip. Still, he pretended to gulp down some of the liquid and left the glass back on the table, squinting his eyes as he noticed the padre's glance fixing it.
Victoria hurriedly brought another glass and poured some lemonade in it.
"What on earth is that?" Diego asked out loud as soon as the man reached for the new glass, a baffled expression on his face as he looked towards the tavern's entrance.
Everyone at the table, the padre included, turned to see what he meant, so Diego took the chance to switch his glass with the newcomer's.
"What was what?" Victoria asked.
"A rat. A very big one. Crossing the plaza." Diego said seriously. "Though it might have been a small dog. Yes… It might have been Gaietano… It did look like him…"
"Oh, Diego! How can you take a dog for a rat?" Victoria chided.
"Perhaps I need to start wearing glasses… My sight is no longer what it used to be, I fear," he said, and the young woman shook her head in amusement.
"Señorita, Señor," the padre said rather impatiently, "since I do have to leave you soon, may I just raise my glass to you, good people, and thank you for the kindness you have shown me?"
Diego and Victoria smiled and, after the don refilled Marisol's glass, they all raised their glasses and took them to their lips. The caballero drank his while watching the padre do the same, then interrupted him as he was half-way through his glass.
"Oh…" Diego exclaimed out loud. "Padre, I… think I made a mistake… I believe we switched glasses. I'm so sorry…"
"What?" The man asked, hurriedly putting his now partly-filled glass on the table.
"Yes… I must have mistakenly taken yours instead of mine. I'm pretty sure that the pattern on the one I had used earlier was different." He said, staring at the man who was becoming whiter with each passing second.
The padre glanced between the glasses and realized he was right. "You bastard!" He uttered as he stood up, taking out a pistol. "You'll pay for this!"
"For what?" Victoria inquired as she hurriedly stood up, pulling Marisol behind her to protect her.
"That glass… It was you who was supposed to drink it!" The man said.
The other patrons all stopped their conversation when the chair the so-called 'padre' had occupied fell to the ground with a thud, and Ramon and Doña Maria hurried out of the kitchen to find out what was going on.
At seeing her brother just a few feet away, Victoria pushed her niece towards him and he hurried to take her away and pass her to Doña Maria as he was considering attacking the disguised thug.
"Die, De la Vega!" The fake padre said as he was about to pull the trigger.
Moments later, a shot resounded through the tavern.
Victoria let out a scream and, without hesitation, put herself in front of Diego in a desperate bid to save him.
For a few seconds, nobody there truly understood what was happening.
When it was the padre to fall to the ground, lifeless, the caballero dared to look towards Victoria, praying she was alright. She had her eyes closed and her face buried in his chest while her hands were firmly holding on to him.
At first, he couldn't stop a smile from crossing his face as he breathed relieved that she was safe. She had just risked her life to save his. Diego's. The only time she had ever done that before it had been when she was shot instead of Zorro, protecting her masked hero.
Moments later, he raised his eyes and noticed the pool of blood forming around the so-called padre, and his smile turned into a frown. Glancing towards the door, he saw Ignacio holding a smoking gun in his right hand.
"Are you alright?" The white-haired man asked, looking curiously at the Señorita who was embracing his stepbrother.
"Yes… Thanks to you, I believe…" Diego answered, his voice causing Victoria to let go of him as she realized neither she nor the caballero was injured.
"Who was he?" Ignacio inquired as Mendoza and Don Alejandro also entered through the door.
"Judging by his actions, the one hired to carry out the newest attempt to end my life…" The tall caballero answered as he raised the glass he had switched, and took it to his nose to smell it.
"Is anybody…" Jessie asked as she also came to the tavern, but didn't finish her question as she hurried towards the man lying on the ground.
"I doubt there's anything you can do for him…" Diego said as, also kneeling by the dead man, he removed his fake beard and eyebrows. "He seems familiar… But I don't remember where I've seen him before." He muttered.
"I also think I saw him before, Don Diego." Mendoza said as he took a good look at the man.
ZZZ
Diego and Jessie spent a couple of hours together, studying what remained of the poison the fake padre had ended up taking. At their end, the caballero decided to head home, feeling that he had encountered that poison before and intent on checking whether he was right. He was just crossing the plaza, heading for his horse, when he heard his father's voice.
"Diego!" Don Alejandro called at noticing him from the tavern's terrace, where he was discussing the earlier events with his wife, his stepson and Victoria.
The younger man, smiling, headed towards him and reached him just as a shorter man, wearing a big sombrero exited the tavern and passed by him.
"Ah!" Diego exclaimed as he felt a cut.
"Perdon, Señor," the man uttered as he placed a knife in its sheath, not even glancing back as he hurried away and towards a back alley.
Diego remained staring at him, then studied his injury.
"It's barely a scratch, Son!" Don Alejandro muttered at seeing his reaction.
"I'll go bring you a clean cloth." Doña Maria offered.
The tall caballero smiled at her and sat down right in front of his father. "Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked.
"I was wondering what have you and Jessie discovered about that poison." His father inquired.
"Not much… But she said she'd keep studying it." The young man answered as he noticed with some concern that his wound was getting inflamed.
"Here," Doña Maria offered as she returned with the promised cloth.
Diego didn't use them right away. Instead, he kept staring at the injury.
"Could that man…" he muttered… "the fake padre… could he be one of the men who had accompanied Colonel Palomarez here on his last visit?"
"Palomarez?" Victoria inquired as a shiver went down her spine at the mere mention of that name.
"I don't know…" Don Alejandro said. "I hardly paid much attention to his guardsmen..."
"Mendoza might remember him…" Diego said as he stood up.
"Señorita Victoria!" A boy called just as the tall caballero was entering the tavern, intent on asking Mendoza about the so-called padre.
"Si, Juan, what is it?" The young woman inquired.
"A man said I should bring you this note. He said it was urgent." The boy answered, offering her a folded piece of paper.
The taverness took it curiously and opened to read it.
"Oh, Dios!" She muttered as she handed the note to Don Alejandro.
The caballero took it and read it.
"Damned bastard!" De Soto said after, taking advantage of the fact that he was sitting next to the elderly caballero, he also read the note. "Where is he?" He then asked the child, raising his voice at him. "Where is the man who gave this to you?"
"He… He left, Don Ignacio. He seemed to be in a hurry." The boy answered, intimidated by the white-haired man's tone.
"Which way did he go?" De Soto asked next, already heading for his horse.
"North. He headed north. On El Camino Real." The boy answered.
"Ignacio, wait!" Don Alejandro said. "That man might destroy the antidote if you go after him. We need a plan."
"What plan? Ask Zorro to give himself up in order to save Diego?" De Soto inquired sarcastically. "Unless you know who he is, Señorita…"
"I don't. Truly!" She said, distressed.
In the meantime, hearing the commotion they caused, Diego and Mendoza had come to the terrace.
"Father, what's going on?" The caballero inquired.
"What's going on is that… that bastard… the one who scratched you with his knife, poisoned you, Son!" Don Alejandro announced to everyone's dismay. "He says you have 24 hours to live unless you take the antidote, which he'll only reveal if Zorro is handed over to him."
"May I see that note?" Diego inquired, slightly less worried than everyone else there expected him to be.
His father showed it to him, and De Soto could have sworn he saw the hint of a smile on Diego's lips as he finished.
"El cabrón!" The young woman answered as she took Diego's hand to have a look at the injury. "This is barely a scratch…"
"With some poisons, a scratch is all it takes," Diego replied. "Perhaps I should go home and rest. I already feel rather dizzy. Must be the poison."
"Yes… Yes, Son. Go home and rest! I'll think of a way to get that antidote! I promise, Diego! I will not let you die of this!" His father said.
ZZZ
"Felipe!" Diego greeted a while later, as he entered the cave through the back door, seeing how Doña Maria and her son, both having insisted on accompanying him back to the hacienda, remained in the library to talk.
The younger man was just finishing cleaning Tornado's stall, having allowed the stallion to run free, in the nearby hills. "Is there something wrong?" He asked.
"I've been poisoned… again…" Diego informed himm but smiled at his reaction. "Don't worry. Based on the symptoms so far, and on what I know about the poison used, I believe I also know the antidote. Nopalito rojo." He explained. "I believe it's the same poison Palomares had tried to use against Zorro."
"How can you be certain? There are many poisons out there…" Felipe inquired, his concern not diminishing in the slightest.
"I can very well remember the symptoms and how soon they had started. Furthermore, the note informing me that I had been poisoned mentioned that the antidote would be revealed, not offered, meaning it was something one could find or make. Add to that the fact that it acts in 24 hours, and that another man had tried to poison me earlier, someone both Mendoza and I recognized as one of the Colonel's men… Well, the chances that it's the same poison are quite high."
"But, if you're wrong…"
"I don't believe I am… But we should know for certain, soon enough." He said as he took out a cactus flower from his sash. "It's a good thing I have decided to cultivate those cacti in the hills behind the hacienda after my last encounter with Palomarez." He said with a smile as he squeezed the flower's nectar straight into his mouth.
"Well?" Felipe asked.
"I already feel much better," Diego said with a wide smile. "Now we can put my plan into motion…"
"What plan?"
"The plan to find out, without a doubt, who is behind this plot and what his end-goal is." The caballero said. "This poisoner will lead us to the answer we seek. For now, however, Don Diego needs to seem very ill. Which is why I need you to go to Los Angeles and make sure Father doesn't do anything we might all regret." He uttered. "I will have to find a way to make sure neither Doña Maria, nor Ignacio realize I'm gone, then Zorro will be following that thug."
ZZZ
Ignacio was not hard to get rid of. In fact, about half an hour later, as Diego went to the kitchen to ask for some tea, his step-brother informed him he was leaving him in his mother's care, mentioning that he had business to take care of.
Doña Maria was a little harder to get to leave him alone. Concerned as she was, she first insisted to read to him, then, when he convinced her he only needed sleep, she insisted to watch over him. Eventually, Diego had to put some sleeping potion into her tea. After she fell asleep in an armchair right next to him, he carried her to her room, certain she wouldn't wake up till the following morning, then returned to the cave.
ZZZ
Zorro was some 100 yards from Tres Esquinas, where his poisoner was waiting – a torch in one hand and his horse's reins in the other – when he noticed Felipe hiding behind some bushes.
"What are you doing here?" The masked man asked as he approached his son and dismounted to hide next to him.
"Grandfather sent me home to look after you. He said he needed me safe, so I shouldn't get involved in any way." He answered.
Some forty yards away, as per the thug's instructions, Victoria, wearing her riding suit, dismounted and neared the man. Don Alejandro, Mendoza and a tied-up, black-clad, masked man, who, from where they were standing, looked a lot like the original fox of the night followed her, stopping some five yards behind the young woman.
"Who can that be?" Zorro wondered about the impostor, and his son just shrugged.
Heading for Tornado, he searched in his saddlebags and returned to Felipe with his spyglass, which he used to take a better look.
Through it, he saw Victoria exchanging a few words with the thug. Moments later, the man pulled out an envelope and showed it to her. She reached to take it, but he pulled back, so she signaled to Don Alejandro, who guided the masked man towards her. Zorro noticed that he was riding a very nervous Luna and soon saw some white hair coming out from under the mask, at the back of the man's head.
"What are you up to, Ignacio?" He wondered as he continued watching with a confused smile.
As Luna neared the thug, an argument seemed to ensure, for the stranger kept pointing at the mask, gesticulating, and, putting the envelope back in his jacket, took out a gun instead.
"Perfect!" Zorro muttered, sighing at realizing his plan was not going to go as he had hoped.
Meanwhile, the masked Ignacio was forced to dismount, which was not an easy feat to accomplish with his hands behind his back and from a horse as tall as the black mare.
The stranger went to inspect his bonds and reached for the mask just when Victoria took out a pistol and used it to hit him on the head. As she did, and the man fell unconscious to the ground, the envelope slipped from his jacket and landed next to him, in the very same spot where the torch he was holding also landed.
At that point, the young woman let out a shout and reached to grab the document that was already burning, putting out the fire. Don Alejandro and Mendoza also hurried to help her as De Soto untied his hands.
"It's a good thing I already knew the cure," Zorro told Felipe as he mounted again, then guided Tornado towards the group, hoping none of those he loved had gotten burn blisters. "What happened?" He asked as he reached them, pretending he hadn't just witnessed everything.
"Zorro? Where were you?" Ignacio asked.
"Is that you, De Soto? I almost didn't recognize you with a black mustache. Have you shaved your beard?"
"Small sacrifices are sometimes necessary to protect one's family." The former alcalde answered, ripping off his mask. "Had you decided to show up sooner, I might have gotten to keep it!"
"My apologies. I was rather… busy! But I am sure it will grow back…"
"Busy? Doing what? Diego is dying, and now there's no way to save him!" Victoria chided him.
"Oh?" He muttered as he jumped down from his horse and neared the older don and his sergeant, who were desperately trying to make some sense of the mostly-burned paper. "The way I see it, as long as you have your poisoner, you have a way to get the cure." He said, glancing at the unconscious man.
For a moment, Zorro wondered if nobody else had reached that conclusion before, for they all seemed to only become aware of that particular fact when he pointed it out.
De Soto was the first to get to the unconscious man and try to get him to wake up. Don Alejandro followed.
"May I see the paper, Victoria?" Zorro asked as the other two men were shouting at the thug.
"There's nothing left of it." She said, saddened and very much feeling like she had failed the tall caballero.
"Perhaps there's enough."
Victoria gave it to him, but he had to agree to her conclusion.
"What poison did you use? What's the antidote?" He heard De Soto inquire the stranger.
"I don't know." The man answered.
"Tell me or I'll hang you for murdering my son!" Don Alejandro requested, his voice filled with ire.
"All I was told is that a scratch is enough to slowly kill a man." He said. "And if you believe you can hang me, think again, Alcalde! The one I'm working for will have your head if you do!"
"And who is that?" Zorro asked him. "Tell us who you're working for and you'll be free to go."
"That's not for you to decide!" Don Alejandro protested.
"But it is, Alcalde!" The masked man uttered, taking out his sword. "Release him!" He ordered De Soto, pointing it at him.
"I always knew you were a thug!" The former Alcalde said through gritted teeth as he obeyed.
"Zorro, what are you doing?" Victoria asked.
"The right thing… Finally!" The thug answered as he dusted himself off at finding himself freed.
"If his leader wants to discover my identity so much, perhaps it's time for us to meet." The masked man answered the woman he loved.
"But, Zorro… Don Diego…" Mendoza said in disbelief and was completely ignored.
"You chose right, Señor! My employer is willing to offer you a fortune if you agree to join us. If you escort me to my friends, we can talk terms."
Zorro seemed to hesitate just for a moment.
"Sounds like an interesting offer." He said. "Perhaps I'll take it… First, however, do tell us what is the antidote for the poison you used… Come on, Señor! You must know, no matter what you just said… If you would have accidentally poisoned yourself, I doubt you wouldn't have known how to save your own life… And you had that paper with you and never even glanced at what was written on it? I find that hard to believe…"
The man didn't utter a sound for a while, as he was staring at the masked caballero, wondering what to say next.
"Trust me," Zorro insisted, "if Don Diego dies at your hand, you will never have my allegiance, on the contrary."
"You'll come with me if I tell you?"
"I promise. Tell us the antidote and I will, at least, listen to what you have to say."
"That's all we want." The man answered, already considering how to trick the masked outlaw. "Alright. The only antidote is a cactus flower… Nopalito. One drop of its nectar is enough."
"They are quite rare from what I know... Don Alejandro, I suggest you hurry to look for one…" Zorro said as the elderly caballero smiled gratefully at him.
"Will you come with me now?" The thug asked.
"I am a man of my word, Señor. Please, lead the way!" The black-clad outlaw answered.
The man smiled and, freed by the Alcalde and De Soto, heading for his horse, he mounted.
The masked man saluted the ones who remained behind, and headed away with the thug, leaving everyone to wonder if he'd agree to take whatever deal he was going to be offered.