The thug led Zorro towards the seashore. "You won't regret it, Señor! The kind of money my employer intends to give you in return for your services is more than all the money in California combined. Or so I was told." He said as they neared their destination, as they both slowed down their horses.
"Really? I guess I'll be quite rich." The masked man muttered.
"You'll be as rich as a king." Came the other man's assurance.
Once they arrived at the top of the cliff bordering a beach situated some two miles north of where the De la Vega lands ended, the thug stopped his horse, due to call to some of his cohorts, who were having their dinner just a few tens of yards from them.
His plan was simple. Although Zorro was untied and had only come because he had convinced him to, he was still just one man and there were almost forty of them. All he needed to do was to convince him that their leader – whom they referred to as "El Liberador", seeing how they didn't know his true identity – was on their ship. Once the masked outlaw would agree to join them there, they'd easily capture him, find out his true identity and make sure to keep him as a prisoner until El Liberador's imminent arrival. Then it would have been just a matter of letting him either convince Zorro to join them or shoot him in the head and be done with it.
He never did get to put that plan into practice, however, for, when he opened his mouth to alert his friends to his presence, Zorro reached for the back of his neck.
As the pressure points there caused him to become unconscious in a matter of seconds, the masked man watched as the thug slumped against his horse. Guiding Tornado and the other stallion towards some nearby trees where they couldn't be spotted, he then dismounted and tied up the unconscious man, blindfolding and gagging him.
After about an hour spent using his spyglass to observe the ship and the two men guarding the shore, armed with new knowledge, Zorro mounted again and headed towards the hacienda, taking his prisoner with him. Once there, he took the man to a rarely-used stable, some two hundred yards from the main house.
"You promised to hear us out!" The thug said as the outlaw took off his gag to offer him some water.
"And you said you'd give us the antidote but only offered half of it. You forgot to mention the color of the flower needed."
"Release me and I will tell you."
"No need for that. I already know. But, to be fair, I also knew what the antidote was even before you mentioned it."
"You did? How?"
"Your now-dead companion's former commander, Colonel Palomarez, used that same poison on me once. Never underestimate the value of a good memory!" The masked man uttered.
Leaving his baffled prisoner there, he exited to head for the cave when he noticed a group of men with torches gathered in the back courtyard of the hacienda.
"They couldn't have found it already! They don't even know what they're actually looking for!" He muttered for himself at recognizing his father amongst them.
Hurrying to enter the cave, he found Felipe pacing the floor, visibly worried.
"What's going on?" He asked as he stabled Tornado.
"Grandfather returned about an hour ago with his men, ready to organize the search for the cactus flower they think they need in order to save you. He also thought of asking you where they might find one. But you weren't in your room, so they searched for me with just as much success seeing how I was here, waiting for you to return… They're getting worried for what I could hear them say. I think they mean to start searching for us."
"That's not ideal considering that they may stumble upon that thug I left in the old stables. We need to hurry!" Diego muttered as he took off the mask and started changing his clothes.
It was about five minutes later, as the elderly caballero was dividing his men into two groups when Diego and Felipe made their way to the courtyard.
"What's going on father? Did you find the antidote?"
"Diego!" Victoria exclaimed, dismounting and hurrying to embrace him.
The tall caballero froze for a few moments as she checked that he was alright, then looked with some surprise at her.
"Son! We thought you and Felipe might have been abducted! Where on earth were you?" Don Alejandro inquired.
"I couldn't sleep, so I thought that, if I was to die tomorrow, I'd at least like to see the night sky one more time. So I went out for a walk and Felipe accompanied me to be sure I'd be alright. I've been feeling rather dizzy since this afternoon. But we were just watching the stars…"
"Stargazing! We should have known…" De Soto muttered, and Diego stared at him, finding he looked like a different man without his beard, only his again-white mustache adorning his face, and mounted on his white stallion.
The older don glanced at his men. "Alright… I guess we wasted enough time. We should be heading out. Diego, from what we found out, the antidote for the poison they used on you is a flower – Nopalito. I don't assume you know where I can find it…"
"Nopalito? Must be Nopalito Rojo, then. The red cactus flower. I read it has some unique properties, but it is also rather rare… This time of the year… With some luck, I think you should be able to find one east of the pueblo, near that cot where Diana and her daughter used to live." Diego said.
While he did feel rather guilty because of what he was doing, especially since he was alright. But, aware that, for over a week already, his father had started coming to his room every night, just to watch him sleeping, he was certain that, by encouraging what was to surely be a whole-night search, Zorro would be able to pursue his own plan unhindered.
"East. Right! I knew your passion for botany would come in handy, Son! Let's go, men!" The older don uttered and his lancers, as well as several vaqueros that had volunteered for the search, headed out. "Please, Diego, no more night walks… At least till we find the antidote…" Don Alejandro said as De Soto also rode ahead. "Victoria why don't you stay with him?"
"With Felipe here, there's hardly any need for her to do so, Father." The tall caballero hurried to say.
The older don frowned at realizing his son didn't understand his true intentions.
"He's right, Don Alejandro. Besides, I want to help in the search." She said, a little disappointed. After all, despite all Victoria knew about Diego, she was quite unsure about his feelings for her.
The caballero and his son remained to wave at his father, then entered the house, hurrying towards the cave.
ZZZ
It was some three hours later when Diego and Felipe, both dressed as Zorro, one mounted on Tornado and the other on Luna, arrived at the point from where the masked man had observed the ship a while earlier. The several lamps lighting the deck offered them the chance to ascertain that all its occupants, including those who were supposed to stand guard, were asleep. Two more men that had stayed on the nearby beach, next to the remains of a fire, were also struggling to keep their eyes open. About twenty yards from them, more than thirty horses were sleeping in an improvised coral.
"Are you sure about this plan?" The younger man asked his father.
"Do you think I would have brought you along otherwise?" Zorro inquired with a wicked grin.
ZZZ
The men on the beach only woke up for a few moments as the masked men used the pressure points on the back of their necks to render them unconscious, then tied them up and gagged them before dragging them behind the coral, and leaving them there.
When that was done, taking their saddlebags, as well as a lit torch, the Zorros got into a small boat they found on the shore and made their way towards the ship. None of the sailors sounded the alarm, so the older man smiled to himself. "Their guards are as reliable as the Los Angeles lancers…" He told his son as they untied the boats left floating next to the ship, tying them to their own. They then took out of the saddlebags a couple of smoke bombs and a time-delay explosive device.
After lighting the fuses of the first two and pulling the fuse of the third device, they proceeded to throw them through the open windows to the lower deck on which they calculated that the living quarters should be. When it was done, they hurriedly started paddling back towards the shore, taking the other boats with them.
They were almost halfway to their destination when the time-delay explosive device went off, and they started hearing the panic it created, a panic only amplified by the smoke bombs that had meanwhile started filling the ship with a dense, white fog.
"Are you ready?" The older man asked his son as they left the boats on the beach and took position on the shore.
"Ready!" The younger man answered, glad to finally be able to use the sword his father had gifted him almost two years earlier.
By that time, the people on the ship were jumping overboard, one by one convinced it was on fire, and swimming to shore to save their lives. Very few, mainly those who feared swimming, remained to lower the safe boats still on deck, but they were no more than a handful.
The others, tired and panting as they were at reaching the shore, barely posed any resistance and the masked men needn't do more than the minimum effort to render them unconscious and tie them up.
"The ones in the boat are escaping!" The younger caballero pointed out for his father.
The men in the boat had noticed them and didn't seem eager for a confrontation for they turned, making their way to the ship again. Weighing anchor, they soon sailed away, abandoning their cohorts.
"See if you can find out where they are headed. Take my spyglass! But don't try to confront them if they dock! We don't know what weapons they have, so we must be cautious." Zorro told his son.
The next hour Zorro spent tying up the bandits and saddling their horses so that he'd be able to hand them over to the lancers who were waiting just five miles from where he was.
Having realized something strange was going on when his father had mentioned the order for his soldiers to head north, the tall caballero had first checked the order and realized it was false, then made sure the men neither obeyed it, nor return to the pueblo right away. That was to avoid them thus warning Cábrera, whom he had weeks since suspected to be working for the Deputy Governor. So, a day earlier, Zorro reached them about halfway to Buenaventura, explained his suspicions to them, and asked them to camp there until he'd know more. Already aware that the masked outlaw usually knew more than the alcaldes, they did as he had asked.
The younger man returned just as he finished tying up, gagging, and blindfolding his prisoners. "What happened?" He asked as he took a few steps away from the group of thugs already mounted on their horses to talk to his son.
"I lost them. I'm sorry." His son answered.
"At least we have most of them heading for the Los Angeles jail. We'll catch the ones that escaped on another occasion. In the meantime, we'll also have to think of a way to make sure their presence in Los Angeles is not endangering the pueblo… And I think I know of a way to do that..." Zorro muttered, heading for Tornado's saddlebags and taking out a paper, ink, and a quill.
ZZZ
"My apologies on disturbing your sleep, Señores," Zorro greeted as he got to the lancer's camp, only about an hour before sunrise, "but there is a favor I must ask of you."
The lancers all woke up in a hurry, at hearing his voice, and looked baffled towards him and the tied-up men he had brought with him, their horses tied to each other in a long line.
"Don Diego was poisoned yesterday and these men are the cohorts of the one who has poisoned him –" The masked man explained.
"Poisoned? Is Don Diego dead, Zorro?" One of the lancers asked though the black-clad outlaw wasn't sure which one.
"No. They did not succeed. Still, I am sure the Alcalde would appreciate seeing these men in jail."
"But, our orders…" Corporal Sanchez muttered.
"Are fake." The outlaw uttered taking out a sealed message. "Do me a favor! Give this to Don Alejandro from me! It will explain everything." He then said, handing it to the Corporal.
The lancer took it and smiled at the outlaw. "You can count on us, Zorro!" He assured him.
ZZZ
It was already mid-morning when Victoria, Don Alejandro, De Soto and Mendoza arrived at the hacienda, completely exhausted and distraught.
"Thank you, Señor Zorro!" They heard Diego's voice just as they dismounted.
Exchanging a confused glance, they hurried towards the hacienda's back courtyard. There, they found the tall caballero sitting on a bench, a red flower in his right hand, taking his goodbye from the masked man. A few yards away, near Tornado, stood another horse, one atop who they easily recognized the tied-up and gagged thug who had poisoned Diego the previous day.
"You arrived just in time for me to give you your gift, Alcalde." The masked man said as they showed up.
His voice sounded strange to Victoria's ears, but she was too tired to pay much attention to that detail.
"Is that the flower? Is my son alright?" Don Alejandro inquired.
"Yes, Father. Zorro just brought it to me. I already feel fine. My dizzy spells completely stopped." Diego replied instead. "But where have you been all night?"
"Searching for it where you told us to search. To no avail, I might add. Some of the men are still searching." De Soto answered, resentfully. "But I thought you decided to take that thug's offer…" He then addressed the one he thought to be Zorro.
The masked man eyed Diego before answering. "I didn't particularly like it." He simply said and, having reached Tornado, was about to mount.
"Wait!" Victoria called as she hurriedly neared him. "I needed to talk to you. Can you come by the tavern a while later?" She asked in a whisper.
He hesitated in answering, glancing again at the tall caballero, but ended up nodding.
As he did so, Victoria decided to test a theory she had and reached to kiss him.
It barely lasted a few seconds, the young man pulling away as soon as he realized what was happening. Confused, he then glanced in somewhat of a panic towards Diego. "I must go!" He muttered at that point, slightly pushing the young woman away as he hurried to mount Tornado and make his escape at a gallop.
Victoria remained there, watching him ride away, then turned around, a dumbfounded look on her face. Her eyes rested on Diego who stared at her for a moment, before standing up to return to the house without saying a word.
"Diego, wait!" She hurriedly uttered as she followed him.
Don Alejandro, Mendoza, and De Soto glanced at each other.
"Mendoza, get that man out of my sight!" The Alcalde uttered as he eyed the poisoner. "Consider yourself lucky, Señor! Had my son died at your hand, you would have wished you'd never been born."
The man tried to tell him something, but Don Alejandro didn't particularly care for what he had to say.
The Sergeant nodded and muttered a "Si, Alcalde!", rather disappointed by the fact that he wouldn't get to have his breakfast at the hacienda as the don had promised a while earlier when they were riding there. Taking the reins of the horse upon which the tied-up man was sitting, he guided him to the front gate, where he had left his own mount.
"Alejandro, you're finally back! Did you get the cure?" Doña Maria said as she emerged from her room, a slightly confused look on her face.
"No… We –" it was all the older man managed to answer as they heard a horse arriving in a hurry and, a moment later, Jessie burst through the main door.
"I know what it is!" They heard her say.
"What?" De Soto asked with a yawn.
"The poison! I can't be absolutely sure, but, based on the symptoms described in that note, and if my books are right, I am rather certain it's a rare poison from the Amazon. When ingested even in a small quantity, it can cause a man's death in about 2 hours, while, if it's introduced into the body via a scratch, thus in a far smaller quantity, it takes about a day to kill its victim." She hurried to tell them. "But there's a cure that should work! It's a certain type of cactus flower. I'm certain we can find one around here…"
"Zorro already did. My son is just fine, Doctor." Don Alejandro replied to his wife's relief. "But it's good to know he might have stood a chance anyway.
Jessie smiled her own relief at the news before suggesting they get some coffee.
"Victoria," Don Alejandro said just a few minutes later, as they were still considering if to have breakfast or go to bed, "how's Diego?"
"He didn't want to talk to me." She answered.
"I'm sure he's also tired." The caballero told her, though, he, himself was quite disappointed with her after having witnessed the way she had thrown herself into Zorro's arms.
"I'd rather think he's appalled. Really, Señorita, don't you have any self-control when it comes to that masked fiend?" De Soto asked mockingly.
Don Alejandro threw him a chiding look, but didn't contradict him, mainly because he didn't know what to say without revealing what he suspected to be his son's feelings towards the young woman.
"Don't assume you understand anything!" Victoria saw herself forced to defend herself. "But… I should return to the tavern. Diego is fine, so there's nothing else left for me to do here. Besides, I'm sure Marisol and Ramon must be worried."
Nobody tried to stop her, especially seeing how most of the people there were all too tired to think straight, and Doña Maria didn't want to say something without having all the facts.
"I'll go make sure Diego truly is alright. There might be secondary effects to the poison…" Jessie announced and headed towards her friend's room just as Felipe also entered the house.
The young man avoided looking at Victoria and just asked by signs how was his father, not even bothering to fake worry, for worried was exactly how he felt, even though not for the reasons others believed.
"He's safe, Felipe!" Don Alejandro answered. "Zorro just brought him the antidote and he's no longer in any danger. Jessie just went to see him."
"Alcalde!" They heard Sepulveda's voice only moments later.
"What now?" The older don wondered as he exited to find out what the Corporal wanted. "What's going on?" He asked.
"The orders for the lancers to head for Monterey were fake, Alcalde. We found the men in the plaza upon our return to the pueblo this morning… And they didn't come back alone…" Sepulveda stuttered to explain.