Part Thirteen: Comprehension
Magdalena's head was spinning, and her breath came in gasps. When he'd first grabbed her arm, it had been like on of her nightmares, terrifying her, until she caught one glimpse of his face, and realized it was Diego. Then she had felt scared for an entirely different reason, and desperation had made her feet fly. But Diego had caught her, in more ways than one, and his face when he'd encountered hers was burned in her memory forever. There had been no hatred, or disgust. There had been longing. And then he had kissed her, oh! he had kissed her.
Then she felt Diego pulling away; his posture was suddenly rigid as he straightened from their embrace. "I am sorry, Senora. I truly do not know what came over me."
…Senora? Senora? Curses! Diego was pressing a hand to his forehead. He seemed to not know what to do. He turned away, and she grabbed his sleeve at the last second. "No, no, Diego, I am not married."
He laughed, a quiet, bitter sound. "That doesn't make any difference. I—have you been on the coach all along?" He turned back to face her, waving his hands aggressively to punctuate his words.
She nodded, and he groaned in exasperation. "Then you were the lady the innkeeper in Monterey was wary of!"
How that had to do with the subject at hand confused her, but she nodded again, and opened her mouth to speak.
"No, don't say anything." Diego said, cutting her off swiftly. "If you speak, you'll have too much power over me, which I'm sure delights you."
"What—why would you say that? I—"
Diego shook his head violently. "You know what you are, Magdalena."
"Oh? And what exactly is that?"
He paused a moment, choosing his words. "Firstly, you are a traitor to the King."
"Oh, that is obviously what is paramount here," Magdalena snapped.
"And you left Los Angeles the first moment you could to marry—"
"I was kidnapped! I wouldn't have willingly left you."
"Who do you expect to believe that? You are a selfish girl. How easy was it for them to convince you to carry feathers that bear the death penalty?"
"The only feather I ever carried with the death signal was the one which you cut!"
" Si, I did cut it!" He hissed back. "And right now," his voice got lower and stronger with each word, "I am wondering why I bothered to pursue you. You obviously haven't changed. I should have let Galindo have his way with you."
"It wasn't Galindo, it was you!" Tears came pouring down her cheeks, and she felt as though she had been stabbed in the heart repeatedly, each stab more painful than the next. "And I cannot believe you really think that?"
"Just go back to your room!" He pointed wildly, his hand shaking.
Anger choked her throat and she turned to go, trying to make herself walk at a steady, haughty pace, but soon gave up and ran back as fast as she could, stumbling once on the stairs because of her anger-blurred vision. Her knee screamed in agony and it was hard to get up again.
Diego stared after Magdalena, only realizing after she had gone what he had just done. He walked to the stairs, and sat on the third step up, placing his head in his hands. Bernardo and Lopez were coming in, to investigate the noise. Diego couldn't answer their questions; he only rubbed his face and tried to make sense of what had just happened.
He had had her in his embrace, the one woman he had met who truly moved him, and he had, like the fool he now knew he was, had let her—no, made her!—leave him.
Her words echoed. "No, no, Diego, I am not married…I was kidnapped…I wouldn't have willingly left you."
His mind was swirling and his eyes were hurting. His shoulders shook, just a bit, as tremors moved through his body. Lopez had given up and gone back to his post, but Bernardo was frantically trying to get Diego to speak to him.
Diego forced his body to stop shaking, and stood up, turning to gaze up the stairs. his eyes fell to the step where Magdalena had fallen. Resolution set in. He had to talk to her, apologize, tell her…tell her…
He ran up the stairs to the door she had entered, pausing outside for a moment, composing himself, trying to think of what to say. He knocked. Waited. He opened the door. Magdalena wasn't there, and the window was open. He ran across the room and thrust his head through it. He saw no figure. This was bandito country, what if she was captured? He jerked his head back through too quickly, and banged the top of his head. He saw stars.
Wincing, he made his way back down to Bernardo, who jumped to attention at the sight of him. "I need to—" but then the door burst open and in came a gang of five banditos. "Put down all weapons, senor!"
He turned around slowly, as comprehension dawned as to what was happening. "I have no weapons," he said quickly. "Nor gold."
"As if we'd believe that," the leader scoffed. He had the look of an established bandito, one who could have even had his own title. Diego's mind whirled, trying to think of any bandito bands that matched this description—four men, all on the short side, but very well muscled. All had dark hair, but their facial compositions were all different, so that ruled out the possibility of their being brothers.
With his gun, the leader gestured towards the stairs. "Cerdo! Search the upstairs and bring down any guests you find."
With a jump, the shortest one hurried to the stairs and charged up them. With that, Lopez stumbled in, with another bandito who had a gun at the man's back. Lopez was shoved to join Bernardo and Diego where they stood at the bottom of the staircase.
Diego flinched as the man sent upstairs whooped, and in moments Juliana and Isabelle were stumbling down the stairs, wide eyed and scared. Cerdo halted their progress before they reached the men, and they stood awkwardly, not daring to move, as he went back upstairs and searched the other rooms. Diego felt a bit of satisfaction that he couldn't find Magdalena either, or any of the money. He was glad he'd left it with the horses.
La palabrota! I left the weapons with Torcedor too. Not that he could get to them now anyway.
Cerdo rejoined his companions, and then there were five banditos facing the guests. "I didn't find anything. No money or even jewels in the senorita's room."
The leader frowned. "That is not right. Look at him, he is a rich man!" He jerked his gun at Diego and Diego began to hatch a plan. "Of course he has gold!"
"Not with me here, senor," Diego interrupted, and with narrowed eyes, the leader turned to face Diego. "I come back from Monterey, where I delivered my pueblo's pledge of gold to Senor Verdugo."
"Bah, Verdugo! He is the biggest fool this side of the coast!" The leader spat. "I have no patience for him, or anyone who holds with him."
Diego halted, rethinking things. I cannot spin a tale of hidden gold, for not only did I just earn his scorn, but he is too smart to believe anything I tell him. What now?
The jump was a bit daunting, but Magdalena made it, clinging to the windowsill until the last moment, and then just dropping to the ground. She paused a moment, to get her breath back, and to decide where to go. But then she heard shouts, and froze. She edged up to a window and peeked in. There were banditos there, holding up Diego and Bernardo, and the banditos were searching the inn, and soon Diego and Bernardo were joined by Lopez, Juliana and Isabelle. The two women looked terrified.
It was Isabelle's look of terror that decided Magdalena. The young girl tried to hide behind her mother; but Isabelle was at least twelve, and tall for her age. Her mother was a very petite woman, and served as a poor shield. Diego was glancing towards them in frustration, obviously wanting to shield the two himself, but not daring to move.
One of the banditos was glancing repeatedly towards Juliana and Isabelle. She felt deep disgust at the look on his face. But she had no gun, no weapon of any kind. Just herself and her money, and one she would never offer, the other they wouldn't accept.
The bandito sent to search returned empty handed. Diego spoke to the leader, and Magdalena strained to hear the words exchanged. She flinched when he spat on the ground, and leaned back against the wall, thinking desperately.
Inspiration struck and Magdalena ran to the stables, to Torcedor's saddle bag. Oh, she had been right! This saddle bag held the whole Zorro ensemble, with his sword and two loaded guns. Oh! Will it work? It might be too much to risk. Diego won't appreciate it.
But who cares what he says? Hissed a sly voice. Especially considering how badly he already thinks of you.
She shook her head slightly as she rummaged through the bag. That kiss was not one of disgust. Whatever things he said to me that he felt, they can't be all he felt.
A different opinion shot into her mind. As wary as he was of you the first day you met, attraction still ruled him. You don't know how much he was influenced by that just now. For all you know, he was just spewing lies so that you couldn't convince him of anything otherwise.
Diego caught Bernardo's gaze, and the man's hands moved in lightning fast motion. The curtains? No, the senorita's dress? What in the world is he trying to say?
Bernardo, seeing that his master did not comprehend, tried to sign something else. The banditos were quietly debating their own plot and were turned away from their hostages, except for the two who pointed their guns at the group, but they had almost bored expressions on their faces, and one even covered a yawn while he waited for his compadres to decide on something. Lopez edged closer to Diego. "Do you think, if we tackle them, we could make it?" The coach driver whispered, and Diego shook his head.
"We'd need something beyond that," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "Some sort of trick to distract them."
"Hey, Culebra, make them stop that muttering!" The leader ordered, and Diego found himself the sole target of 'Culebra's' gun. He gave a half smile and sighed. Culebra was a tall, thin man, with an angular face, but sharp eyes that now followed Diego's every movement.
Bernardo moved slightly and again tried his signing. The window. The window! The mute's hands moved in an hourglass motion, but Culebra caught it, and moved the gun so that it was solidly on Bernardo, and the signs abruptly ceased.
Diego turned looked toward the window. Had Bernardo seen something? And then he saw it too—the flutter of a dress. Magdalena.
She took the whole bag with her as she hurried back to the window. What should I take? Just the weapons?
Yet another voice in her head spoke, this time a voice of practicality. You'll need a way of carrying them. There are two guns and a sword. Tie the sword around your waist and hold both guns. And it wouldn't hurt to improve your look. Fix your hair.
She gathered it back up, as best she could, and pinned it into place. What should I use to tie the sword on? The sash from his Zorro costume? No, I couldn't do that.
With shaking hands, she pulled one stocking off and used it as a sash. It was dark. Surely no one would be able to tell. Now what? Just barge in, use the element of surprise to her advantage and hold them up as they were holding up the other travelers?
She cast the cloak off, took guns firmly in both hands and squared her shoulders. It's time to go in! She walked stealthily to the door, pressing her ear against it to make certain the banditos hadn't moved. She heard muttering, then one spoke. "Senor, we don't believe that you have nothing of value, so empty your pockets."
Diego sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets, and what he found there surprised him. Where did I get this? he wondered, considering the shape of the item.
With frustration, the leader stepped up, and withdrew his sword from its scabbard. Diego tensed up as he found himself at the end of a sword point. "I don't trust you. Now take your hands out of your pockets."
"Why should I?"
"Because otherwise I'll run you through."
"I don't fear death."
"Maybe you'll fear for you companions then. Bajista!" The burliest bandito jumped to attention, and at the leader's signal, raced forward to grab Isabelle.
"No!" Juliana choked out, but her daughter was ripped from her arms, and Cerdo came forward to drag away Bernardo also.
"I took a senorita, and your companion, senor. Which one's death will influence you more?"
"I rather expect it would be yours," drawled a voice from the doorway, and everyone turned around in surprise, even Culebra.
Magdalena stepped through the door behind the banditos. "Now all of you, put your hands up or one of you will be short of a life," Magdalena's voice was whip sharp. The five men froze. "Now!"
Their hands went up. Magdalena edged around them, so she was between the two opposing groups, keeping both guns pointed steadily at the men, and refusing to meet Diego's gaze. "Both of these guns are loaded. I will not hesitate to shoot one of you. Release the senorita and the servant and take off your weapons."
Bernardo was shoved away and he stumbled as he went back across the room. Isabelle's captor released her more slowly, and she ran as fast as she could to reach her mother. The banditos slowly, reluctantly, laid their weapons down, untying their gun belts and letting them all to the floor with a thump. She caught one of the men fingering his knife and jerked one gun to point at him. "Drop. The. Knife, senor."
It fell. Magdalena reached one arm behind her holding a gun and it was taken. Diego was suddenly at her side. Now that one hand was free, Magdalena drew the sword from its sheath. "I believe you can wield this better than I." She told him, not once glancing at him as she passed it to him.
His hand closed over hers on the hilt as he took it, obviously intentionally, and her body gave an involuntary tremor.
Diego took charge now, and Bernardo came for the other gun. Magdalena slipped behind the two as they ordered the banditos from the inn, waiting until the sound of the hoof-beats from five horses faded away. Juliana clung to her daughter and Lopez was trying to thank Magdalena. She stepped past him, untying the scarf and dropping the sheath. Diego looked up and he watched her pass him. "Wait." It was a plea.
She turned her head to look at him, feeling the pain still in her heart and finding it difficult to speak. "Do not mistake me, senor. This meant nothing." Then she stepped over the guns lying in the doorway and ran out into the night.
It was Zorro who caught up to her, astride Torcedor, and looking too good to be true. Her shoes were not made for walking in, and her feet already had numerous blisters. He didn't speak as he leaned down to scoop her up, placing her firmly in front of him in the saddle. His arm was loose around her waist, perfunctory. She stayed stiff against him, not allowing herself to relax for a moment. They reached the inn. Zorro jumped off, then turned to help her down. He held her hand for a moment too long, just looking at it, while she considered just jumping off onto him. Then his hands came to her waist and he pulled her down into his arms, holding her tight against him.
"There are many things I need to tell you that simply cannot be said tonight. Please come along to Los Angeles so I may speak of them to you at a better time."
Magdalena moved out of his embrace, folding her arms over her chest in a shiver, wishing she'd thought to bring her cloak. She considered the fragility of life, and its preciousness. You only had one life to live. Once a moment was gone, you would never get it back, and choices once made are hard to reverse. She'd go to Los Angeles, but beyond that…she couldn't make any promises as to whether she'd be willing to listen to Diego.
"I will go,' she said softly, "but I do not promise anything else." She pulled away, running back to her room at the inn.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews.
Also, I really don't like it when the fact that Diego is Zorro becomes this huge point of contention in stories. She guessed. He guessed that she guessed in chapter 7. And now they both have solid proof.
If there's no denying it, what more is there to say? Okay, there's still more to say, but Diego won't broach the subject until he has thought the matter over.