Diego stared at the thug for a few moments, then turned towards his father. "Marisol and her friends usually play in the vineyards…" he uttered.
"Si… Ramon also headed that way." Victoria confirmed.
"Well, then, we don't need to free you to know where they are, Señor." Don Alejandro pointed out, addressing the thug.
For once, Ignacio was in perfect agreement with his stepfather. "We must attack as soon as possible. That way, we can take them by surprise."
"No!" Diego interrupted them as they were already heading for the door. "That would be dangerous. If there's a fight, Ramon and the children could get caught in the middle of it."
"There are only a few of them since they split into smaller groups. If we take all the lancers and the guardsmen with us, they will surrender!" Don Alejandro said.
"El Liberador and his other men are on their way here… If they haven't already arrived!" The rebel retorted, hoping he could still make them believe they had an advantage.
"Shut up, you idiot!" Enzo ordered.
"How many men are there still with him?" Diego asked.
"I… Ah… A hundred!" The man answered, with some hesitation at noticing the scolding look his leader was giving him. "Two hundred! You have no chance against us."
"Really?" The caballero asked in disbelief. "But all the others we have interrogated said there's about fifty of you left, at the most…"
The man again hesitated, the scared glance in his eyes convincing the caballero that he was right.
"Fernando would have kept the bulk of his men with him. There can't be more than 15-20 in the vineyards. We can take them ourselves." Emmanuel said, addressing only Diego.
"Quite right, Comandante! And we will! By the time he gets here, De la Cruz will have 30 men left at the most." Don Alejandro agreed, instead, already heading for the door to gather his lancers.
Diego glanced worriedly towards his friend, who just then realized the mistake he had made. "But, Father… The hostages!" The tall caballero uttered, following the elderly don outside.
"And what if Don Fernando attacks the pueblo while we are away?" Dos Santos tried to remedy his mistake.
"He's right. He could take advantage of the men's absence." The Governor agreed, causing Don Alejandro to hesitate just as some thirty mounted men poured into the pueblo.
Everyone glanced in their direction as ten of the guardsmen hurried out of the cuartel, muskets in hand, forming a line just in front of the gates and directing their muskets at the riders.
"Don't shoot!" Don Alejandro ordered at recognizing the men. "They are not enemies." He said.
The guardsmen looked back, towards their Commander, who nodded, then put the muskets down as they retreated to make room for the new arrivals.
"Sebastian? Benito? Mateo… What are you all doing here?" The elderly caballero inquired as they stopped right next to him.
"We heard that we might be needed, so we came." Don Sebastian answered. "If Los Angeles is in danger, you may count on us to defend it, my friend."
"But… How did you know? I saw none of you in the pueblo earlier today…"
"That's because, after Felipe stopped by to give us Diego's message, we used the next few hours gathering our men. Most of them were out with the cattle, and we had to leave back a few to defend the haciendas, should the need arise… We didn't miss the action, did we?" Don Mateo replied, causing the older don to glance admiringly at his son.
"I had a feeling we might need reinforcements today." The tall caballero told his father, who nodded with a smile.
"You arrived just in time." Don Alejandro said, addressing the other dons. "Señores, may I introduce General Luis Antonio Argüello, the Governor of Alta California?" He continued, gesturing towards the official, who saluted with a nod of his head. "About fifty men are in my prison, all caught for being part of a conspiracy to assassinate His Excellency. Thirty more are headed this way, led by their leader, Deputy Governor Fernando de la Cruz, who intends to claim California for himself, then sell it to the highest bidder. And we believe twenty others are currently keeping Ramon Escalante, his niece, and some of the Mission's orphans hostages somewhere in the pueblo's vineyards. We most certainly need your help, Señores."
With the dons' arrival, a new plan emerged, one that meant dividing the men able to fight into two groups, the first due to surround the ones who had taken the children, and the second due to remain to guard the pueblo and the rebels already filling the jail and most of the rooms in the cuartel. Diego was not exactly happy with that plan, but he was not given the chance to suggest a better one. Nor was he allowed to stay out of it – which would have given Zorro a chance to show up – seeing how Don Alejandro considered he had a duty towards Marisol and should be there to help them make sure she'd be safe.
ZZZ
"If you must keep me hostage, why not let the children go?" Ramon inquired a while after he was forced to sit next to Marisol.
The sun was merciless, and he very well knew how scared and uncomfortable the little ones surely were. With the hands well-secured behind his back, all he could do was chide himself for his carelessness or try to convince their captors to let the children go.
"We'll wait for our friend and see about freeing you after that." One of the men replied as he lay in the shadow of a grapevine, using his hat as a fan.
"I fought for independence, you know? In Hidalgo's rebellion... then in Venezuela. I came close to being killed in combat or executed more times than I remember. I know what fighting for freedom looks like. Whatever you are doing here... it's not it."
"You're just trying to mess with our heads! This governor is no better than the last one."
"The last one tried to kill Zorro... just like your leader tried only a few hours ago, as he was saving a young woman from drowning. So tell me who's more like the former governor? Their actions speak for themselves!"
"And your lies speak for you!" A new voice was heard, and Ramon glanced towards a nearby hill to see a good-looking man, dressed like a caballero and followed by two guardsmen and several other men, near him. "What this rascal says are pure lies. He is one of the Governor's faithful men. All he wants is to deceive you. Next, he'll convince you to give yourselves up so that his master might have you all executed for standing up for what's right!" The newcomer continued.
"Fernando de la Cruz, I suppose..." The young Escalante said, realizing who the man was. "You will pay for what you did... These men might believe you, but I know who you truly are."
"Really? Then you know that I am El Liberador. I fight for freedom. For California's independence. The people already see that. Many have joined my fight and more are yet to join us. So, tell me, who do you believe can stop me?" Fernando asked triumphantly.
"Zorro." Ramon answered with a defying smile just as he saw Diego and Victoria, together with the Governor, Don Alejandro, and several guardsmen, appear from the direction of the pueblo. They were all following the rebel who had gone a while earlier to find out if the young Escalante was telling the truth. Coming downhill and heading straight towards them, they stopped about ten yards away.
"Release the prisoners!" The Governor ordered.
Everyone flinched as they saw the newcomers, hurriedly pointing their guns at them, except for Fernando, who slowly turned to face them, a smile on his lips, certain he still had the advantage. "Give yourself up, Your Excellency! Submit to a fair trial and all this can be settled without bloodshed." He said.
"I will offer you the same deal!" His superior retorted as he raised a hand. At that signal, some forty men – lancers, caballeros, and vaqueros – showed up from the vineyards, guns in hands, surrounding Fernando and his men from two sides.
This time, the rebel leader became worried. There were only about twenty-five of them there, though they had hostages.
For a brief moment, he thought about threatening the toddler's life and escaping, convinced no one would dare shoot him if they risked harming the child. He, thus, activated the mechanism in his sleeve and the knife fell into his right hand as he hid it behind his back.
Then, thinking things through, he pushed it back, realizing that doing what he was about to do would have proven Ramon's point, thus alienating his men. He still had a few cards to play, so he decided to play them.
"We seem to be at an impasse..." The Deputy Governor said, taking a pistol from one of his men, and pointing it towards Ramon. "I want my men to be allowed to retreat." He then said, threatening the young Escalante. "Unless you want this rascal to die." Nobody answered right away. "You don't think I'll do it? For my men, I will. Perhaps you don't think this pistol is loaded, then? Let's check, shall we?" He inquired, pointing the gun up and waiting for a few moments. He was taking a huge risk for they were easy targets for the men accompanying the Governor and he didn't want to start a fight. Not at that point. But he needed to give the signal somehow, or they would be lost. So, after glancing around to make sure everyone there knew he was aiming up, and not at someone in particular, he shot The Governor again raised his hand to prevent any of his men from firing their guns. "What do you know? It was loaded!" Fernando uttered as he took out his gunpowder and bullets and reloaded it right then and there, taking his time.
"It is time to end this." The high-ranking official said. "Release the prisoners, Fernando, and I will give both you and your men a fair trial."
"Followed by a quick execution, no doubt." The younger man said.
The Governor was about to retort when shots started being heard from the direction of the pueblo. Moments later, as they noticed Fernando smiling widely, they all saw Felipe running downhill, heading towards his father.
"Some thirty men, all mounted, came charging into the pueblo, and are fighting the remaining lancers and vaqueros." Diego interpreted his son's signs for everyone there.
"Put down your weapons and I will stop the bloodbath." Fernando urged them. "Or is it that you don't care about those men and it was for that reason why you left them behind, Your Excellency?" He then asked mockingly.
"I will not let you escape, De la Cruz! Not after what you did. We have over fifty of your men already in prison, including the ones you have tried to infiltrate into the pueblo today. You stand no chance to win this; and, when you'll be dead, your men will no longer have a reason to fight." The official uttered hatefully preparing to give the attack order.
His adversary very well knew he didn't have enough men with him and, judging by the frequency of the shots they could hear from the pueblo, his men were matched by the lancers still there. He was about to lose, and he could not accept such an outcome. Struggling to come up with a solution to his problem, a thought crossed his mind. "Perhaps there is a way to settle this, without any more bloodshed." He suggested.
"And what is that other way?" Don Alejandro asked this time, hoping, in his turn, to avoid a confrontation that could have resulted in his future granddaughter getting injured or killed in the crossfire.
"In the old days, to avoid loss of lives on the battlefield, matters were, at times, resolved by single combat. A fight between the leaders of the two armies due to face each other… Those fighting for the defeated leader would surrender and he, himself, would pay with his life for his failure."
"You want me to fight you?" The Governor inquired.
"No. That would hardly be a fair fight considering you cannot even hold a sword properly." He answered maliciously, aware of the older man's injury. "No. I was thinking you might choose a champion… to fight me."
The high-ranking official frowned. "You offer this fully aware that my best man was injured this morning..."
"But hasn't Comandante Dos Santos always claimed that Don Diego here is an even better swordsman than he is?"
"You want my son to fight you?" Don Alejandro asked.
"He'll do it!" Victoria decided. "But only if you release the children and my brother right away."
"But my son is not a swordsman!" The Alcalde said, glancing at her, just as memories contradicting that affirmation flashed through his mind and he ignored them out of habit.
"Victoria..." Diego muttered, worriedly.
"Trust your heart, remember?" She asked him with a wink, remembering the warning he had mentioned to her some months earlier. "What does your heart tell you to do, Diego?"
The caballero glanced towards the Governor, then towards the pueblo, from whence he could hear the men's shouts and the gunfire, wondering if that final battle the old Indian woman had mentioned was, in fact, a last duel. "For you to win it, you will need to take off the black and trust your heart." She had told him.
"I will not risk your life just to save mine, Señor." The official decided, noticing his hesitation. "Donato –"
"I accept." Diego interrupted him to say. "I'll fight you. After everything you've done, you at least owe me a fair fight." He uttered as he addressed Fernando.
"Ten minutes. In the plaza." His challenger said. "In the meantime, I propose for all our men to lower their guns".
At the Governor's nod of agreement, Fernando hurried to send one of his men to stop the attack, while Mendoza was dispatched to order the lancers and the guardsmen to stop shooting, as well.
Finding himself freed by one of the rebels, Ramon untied his niece and took off her gag, then helped the other children, while Victoria ran to take Marisol into her arms and embrace her.
"Are you certain about this?" Don Alejandro neared his son to ask as they were all returning to the pueblo.
"What happened?" De Soto also inquired, having made his way towards them as soon as the orders for the hostilities to stop put a temporary end to the battle.
"Diego is fighting Don Fernando, in ten minutes, for the future of California." Don Alejandro informed him.
"Mendoza already said that, but I had hoped to have misunderstood him. Why would you ever agree to that?" De Soto asked the man he still thought to be the worst swordsman in California.
"Because it was the only way to avoid a blood bath." The Governor uttered. "Don Diego, it is not yet too late to change your mind. I appreciate your courage, but, even if you were once a decent swordsman, as Emmanuel claims, everyone else in California who knows you has always pointed out that you are not exactly the best person to send into battle."
"Of course, not! He might be brilliant, but a fighter, he is not..." Ignacio said with a mocking smile.
"You never know, Don Ignacio. He might surprise you." Victoria said confidently before heading for the tavern with Marisol.
"Yes... Who knows? He might surprise you, Ignacio..." Dos Santos joined them to say.
The white-haired man frowned and hurried the pace, trying to catch up with the Governor, who was already a few steps ahead, Emmanuel accompanying him while Diego stayed behind to glance at the Deputy Governor.
"Don Diego," a boy called the caballero, and he turned to notice Sergio.
The orphan was the one usually tasked by Padre Benitez to supervise the younger children as they played in the outskirts of the pueblo, and, on that day, he had ended up being taken hostage, just like the others, when they had stumbled upon the rebels.
"Yes… Are you alright, Sergio?" He asked.
"Si, Don Diego. I was not even scared... But I wanted to tell you... The man you are to fight... He keeps a hidden knife in his right sleeve. He pressed a button, and it fell into his hand as you were talking to him, just after you got here. Then I saw him push it back inside. I think it's some sort of mechanism..." The boy told him.
"Thank you for telling me, Sergio." He replied with a grateful smile.
The boy nodded and headed away, hurrying past Felipe, towards Padre Benitez. The old monk had just started searching for the children in his care at waking up from his afternoon nap and being informed by one of the neophytes that they hadn't returned for siesta, as they normally did.
"Tornado is behind the municipal stables," Felipe told his father in a low voice, after making sure nobody was watching.
The tall caballero turned towards him. "Zorro won't be fighting today. You heard the man. He challenged Don Diego." He replied, again looking eastwards, where Fernando was standing in the middle of his men. The Deputy Governor chose that very moment to look towards him and their eyes locked, but only for a very short while until some men passing between them forced them both to return their attention to the people they had been talking to. "Besides, I'm tired of changing my clothes," Diego muttered, starting towards the tavern after seeing his father signaling for him.
"Are there any injured?" He asked, certain it was that why his father had been signing for him to come.
"Five men. The injuries are not severe, though, and Jessie is already bandaging them." He answered. "But it's not what worries me right now. Son, the Governor just told us that Don Fernando is a remarkable swordsman and that he had many times mentioned that he had spent years training with his cousin, Berto..."
"Berto de Yero, to be more precise, who was an insurmountable challenger even for Zorro." De Soto explained worriedly. "I say we find a way to have the masked menace duel him instead. Why not consider offering him a pardon, Your Excellency? Perhaps, that way, he'll agree to take Diego's place..."
"He saved both me and my daughter today, De Soto. I don't need you to ask me for a pardon for Zorro. I already signed one just this morning, at Don Alejandro's hacienda, after he first came to our rescue." The official said, a little resentful with the white-haired man. "I was planning to organize an entire ceremony to hand it to him, but we neither have time for that right now, nor do we know how to find him. Besides, even if we did find him, why would De la Cruz accept to fight him when Don Diego has already agreed to the duel?"
Dos Santos smiled at the Governor's question, then glanced towards his best friend. "He never agreed to fight me, unfortunately... I wonder whether those stories about Diego being the worst swordsman in California were what convinced him to choose him as an opponent." He said.
"Isn't that obvious, Dos Santos?" De Soto asked mockingly.
"If that is so, it means his skills are by no means what he claims them to be." Emmanuel answered; then chuckled. "He's about to regret not having listened to me…"
"Time's up!" Fernando announced as he entered the pueblo on a pure-white stallion, fifty men following him. "Are you ready, De la Vega?" He inquired.
Diego was about to ask his father for his sword, when Zorro's landed right in front of him, planting itself in the ground.
Everyone glanced around, searching for its owner, yet found no trace of the black-clad rider.
The caballero smiled, noticing Felipe was nowhere in sight, then picked up the sword. "Ready when you are, De la Cruz!" He said as he saluted.