Part Ten: California Sunshine
They docked early in the morning. Constancia hadn't expected it to be so early, and they were scrambling to pack her trunk again. Constancia had changed her mind about Magdalena playing the part of spinster relation. "You'd get too much attention, and besides that, everyone would be wanting to know who exactly you are related to." She said as she sat on the trunk and Magdalena struggled to lock it. She finally forced it and Constancia bounced up. "It must be time to go ashore now. It will be nice to be in California."
Magdalena's hand was throbbing from trying to lock the trunk. She was sweaty, also, and she quickly gathered her hair off her neck, pinning it tightly to the top of her head. She then took one of Maria's hats and placed it on her head. It did the trick. She was now a spinster like Valentina. "That won't do!" Constancia cried. "That hat is much too fancy for a maid!"
"Not if it is a lady's maid. I bought it with my savings. It is my most treasured possession." Magdalena protested.
Constancia started to say something and then closed her mouth for a moment. "That does work. Buena. But won't Maria want her hat?"
"She hasn't worn it yet."
"That is because it is a land hat, and we've been on a boat!" Magdalena took the hat off.
Constancia frowned at her hair. "You have already forgotten how to style your hair?" Magdalena ripped the pins out of her hair and redid it. Constancia beamed. "Perfect!"
That interlude showed how the rest of the day would be. Constancia was putting on an act, playing at being a snob. In her worse moments, Magdalena was convinced it wasn't an act. From the moment they disembarked, Constancia had been ordering her about frantically. Nothing seemed to be good enough for her. No, not that one, the smaller! Andale! Why must you be so slow? My reticule! Oh, my hat! Fetch it already!
By the time they boarded the coach to Monterey, Magdalena was exhausted. She sagged against the seat of the coach with a sigh, glad for the near empty coach. She hoped to fall asleep but it jostled very frequently and Magdalena sighed and tried to get comfortable. They reached an inn, where they would spend the night. Constancia took charge of everything in her best imitation of a snob, and they got a large room. As was expected, Constancia and Maria got the bed, Dulce got a pallet because of her old age, and Magdalena got the floor.
She didn't sleep for the first half of the night; she didn't even try. Instead she crept outside and gazed up at the moon there were only a few days left in the moon's cycle. Soon there would be no moon gazing down at Magdalena with his friendly face. Tonight there was only a sliver, which called to mind Mendoza, and she had no idea why.
Magdalena wrapped her shawl tighter around her and thought of Inez. What was her aunt doing? Had she gotten farther with Sergeant Garcia? She hoped Inez had. Someone should get happiness from that interlude, she thought solemnly.
Her thoughts turned to Zorro. She was surprised that the Viceroy, and Constancia, hadn't seen through his disguise, as sharp as they were. They had seen Diego dressed as Zorro, unmasked as Zorro, and had not believed. But at the same time, maybe Zorro had not truly been unmasked that night.
She started back towards the inn; a chilly breeze had swept through her. She changed directions midway and went to the stables instead, pausing to rub the lone horse she found there, patting his neck, for she found she didn't want to go back inside, not yet, at any rate. It made her feel claustrophobic. It was too much like when she been traveling to Los Angeles, when she hadn't yet met Diego.
Diego…what was he doing? Judging by the moon, it had been about six weeks since those two beautiful days in Los Angeles. How much could happen in that time?
Considering Galindo, much. And considering Zorro…even more.
She leaned against the horse and he nickered softly. There was comfort in the action. It brought to mind sunlit days riding with her father, feeling wild and carefree. It also brought to mind her ride with Diego. She smiled, remembering the second foiled kiss. Oh, but that was past. She forced herself to stand upright and patted the horse goodbye, and went back inside.
She spent the rest of the night repairing a bodice of Constancia's gown by candlelight, for sewing had unfortunately proved to be her only outlet and she had no desire to sleep.
They arrived in Monterey on a cloudy day. Constancia was her usual whirlwind as she swept them through the town to her small town house. "We often stay here, so we have our own house," Constancia told her as they unpacked. "It is quite convenient. I expect visitors to start coming soon, maybe even tomorrow. I always entertain frequently—but only in Monterey. You will need to be especially vigilant. No one can catch sight of you."
Magdalena nodded, and hung Constancia's best dress in the wardrobe. "Si."
In truth, that appealed greatly to Magdalena. Considering who she knew lived in Monterey, she didn't wish to see anyone.
The days passed. Time went on, as it is wont to do. Magdalena discovered a before now undiscovered talent: she was an excellent lady's maid. Constancia even increased her pay, and Magdalena began to buy little things that pleased her. She bought a book of poetry and, as she read it, wondered if Diego had read the volume.
The Verdugos came to call sometimes—Anna Maria did, at any rate. Magdalena ducked out of sight at those times, usually going to the stable.
Constancia, noticing her longing one day as she had dressed Constancia in a green riding outfit, had given her permission to ride whenever Constancia entertained. The horse she was permitted to ride, an Arabian called Luz, was not a young horse, and not as fast as she had reportedly been in her youth, but Magdalena loved her all the same, riding as long as she dared.
Constancia always quirked a brow when she came in late, and made certain that she hadn't encountered anyone, but never scolded her, not even when Magdalena had come in too late to help her into a particularly tricky dress, a new one, in gold chiffon. Constancia seemed to understand that Magdalena needed something to do. And if it was riding all hours of the day, and once into the night, so be it. The anger almost never came now and Magdalena was finding Constancia to be much more agreeable in Monterey. After all, traveling puts strains on everyone.
News came; Constancia received missives frequently but it was a rare occasion that she would share her news.
"The Eagle will soon arrive to Los Angeles." She had let that news drop when Magdalena was fastening an ivy colored day dress. "The man there told me. He will come under the guise of being the new Adminastrado. But Jose Sebastian Varga is the Eagle, and never once loyal to the King."
"Varga! But I know him!" Magdalena exclaimed. "It was at his fiesta when Alenez first approached me." She sank to the floor, her knees failing her.
Constancia crouched down beside her. "All will be well, Magdalena. Los Angeles can defend herself. Varga will not get her."
And that very same day, when Magdalena was getting ribbon for Constancia in the market place, for redoing a hat, she saw Don Alejandro, coming out of the inn. "Oh my—" she gasped out. Alejandro wouldn't see her, of course, but it was still very unsettling to spy him there.
Heart beating a staccato beat, she raced back to Constancia's side, who was waiting in the carriage. "Has something happened?" She asked, noticing Magdalena's white face.
"I just saw Alejandro de la Vega." She whispered back. Even her voice had fled.
"Really?" Constancia stretched the word greatly, and craned her neck to see past Magdalena. "Really…"
"The rumor is that Don Alejandro came to Monterey to ask the governor's permission to get together a civilian army." Constancia announced that evening.
"Rumor? Surely it is not that public." She undid the clasp of Constancia's necklace, and worried her lip, anxiety making her fidget.
Constancia took the necklace with a short laugh. "The rumor was extremely exclusive. Do not worry."
"Varga has arrived in Los Angeles. He has taken over the de la Vega hacienda." Constancia said the next morning. Magdalena jerked her head up from where she crouched on the floor, straightening Constancia's hem.
"The de la Vega—what about Diego? What did he do?"
Constancia shrugged. "My informer could not get that much information."
Days passed then. Alejandro had departed back to Los Angeles. News seemed to be reaching Constancia's ears, but she didn't choose to share it.
Magdalena found herself riding even more, and one day when Constancia was away, she rode from dawn until noon, coming in exhausted and soaked with sweat. Her life was too sheltered here, and she longed for more things to do, for excitement, and when it grew too much, she forced herself to remember what her longing for adventure had landed her in the first time around.
Then news came that had Constancia singing very loudly and very exuberantly. "Varga's men have been routed, and the tyrant himself is dead. Los Angeles is free again!"
That was a happy day. But with it came the realization that going back to Los Angeles still wasn't possible, at least not in Magdalena's mind, and when Constancia broached the subject Magdalena avoided answering.
Who knew what her father thought of her now? She didn't want to face his disappointment. It was better to stay hidden.
Some time later...
What Magdalena knew was that Monterey was teeming with dons and their sons sent from various pueblos bringing that pueblo's pledge of gold for the Verdugos. Yes, their venture was now taking flight, almost a year later. She had slowly become used to the idea that she couldn't return to Los Angels in the months since Varga's defeat. She did not have much of an idea what her father had let become public. Maybe even now the truth—well, what he believed to be truth—had come out, that she had eloped. She really couldn't return then.
A sigh escaped her lips as she helped Constancia into nightclothes. She was coming from a fiesta at the Verdugo's, a small affair for their current guests, and for the more important figures in Monterey, like the Governor and his daughter Leonar, and, of course, Constancia, the daughter of the Viceroy, who was still in Mexico City. This fact worried Constancia, but she would never let it show and it was a sign of how well she now knew Constancia that she could pick up on that.
"Milana and my uncle are away and as you know my father is very busy these days. I'm afraid I wasn't welcome at home!" Though Anna Maria said these words lightly, indicating that it was a joke, Constancia read more into her words. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have come so late. And I brought you these."
"My favorite," Constancia said as Anna Maria settled into a chair and a servant brought in a tray of delicacies. "But some cannot tolerate them. I suppose that is not the case with you."
"I've always enjoyed them very much. You've always had them prepared just perfectly," Anna Maria told Constancia and her hostess quirked a brow as she handed Anna Maria a plate.
"I'm afraid my father doesn't feel that way, so they grace my table very infrequently. Thank you for bringing some by," Constancia said, indicating the basket of hot peppers that Anna Maria still had by her elbow.
"Your cook just seems to be able to know what to do with them," Anna Maria said with a laugh. "Mine always drowns them. That is what happens when you hire a foreign cook. Of course that was father's insistence. I was just fine with Felicidad. But he is always wanting the fine things. He never likes me to wear dresses more than six months. He says he gets tired of them."
"So that is why you have such a changing wardrobe. I always wondered," Constancia took the basket that Anna Maria now held out. "I'll take this to the kitchens—"
"Oh, no, you don't have to yet," Anna Maria protested. "Weren't we talking?"
"I'll be back in a moment," Constancia assured her. "And I need to speak about how these are prepared. I am having the Cortez family to dinner tonight, and if I recall, Senor Cortez is sensitive to them, but the rest of his family delights in them. It will take careful planning and it's getting late, so I should speak to Carmen now."
It was later than Magdalena had anticipated when she got back from her ride and she hurried to change. Even though Constancia had never scolded her, she really did feel guilty when she arrived too late to help. Clothes changed, she went to Constancia's room to help her, but Constancia wasn't up yet, even though it was getting late. Maybe she thinks I haven't come back yet, was Magdalena's thought as she went down the stairs and into the sala. There she stopped. Anna Maria stood there, turning in surprise when Magdalena entered.
She knew the protocol and hastily curtsied. "Senorita." Then, head bowed, she made to hurry past Anna Maria, but the woman spoke. "No, wait a moment."
She strode over and to Magdalena's surprise bent to pick something up. "I think you dropped this," she said amiably, and for one stricken moment Magdalena's gaze met Anna Maria's. But the woman just smiled and proffered the hand holding the handkerchief and Magdalena took it. "Gracias."
And there wasn't need to worry. She didn't even recognize me! Magdalena wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Life was growing busier and Constancia was getting involved in more and more things. Her days were very busy and her nights full of fiestas and meetings. Magdalena found that more and more responsibilities were being given to her, and she didn't mind it that much. Now she wasn't simply a ladies' maid, and she enjoyed that. But it certainly kept her occupied and she had less time to spend worrying over the question of Los Angeles.
So she never even considered who would come bearing the gold from there.
A/N: It was only in rereading this as I post it that I realize how fast paced it suddenly became. I suppose that is my 'style'. I won't dedicate chapter upon chapter to a part in my story that could just as easily be told in one, but I will admit that this chapter and the last one are a bit lacking in excitement. Things will pick up.
Almost a year just passed. Magdalena does often feel a strong pull to go to Los Angeles but ultimately she takes the easy way out and can't make herself do it. I think that it is true to her character. It's obvious that she didn't want to give the feather to Galindo but ultimately did so without a struggle.