Hello, all! Happy Sunday! Sorry for the lack of update last week, I've been sick with the flu since last Tuesday. But now I'm on the mend and now we can get back into the thick of things. If you already don't like Allende, I feel like this chapter won't help very much.
Enjoy!
Linny
Chapter Eight
The hour was late, but the pueblo still contained some life. The tavern would remain open for a few more hours to cater to the Lancers just coming off of their shift that hadn't already squandered their earnings. They'd always found that the soldiers were all too willing to talk once they got a few drinks in them. And with them also willing to speak so freely in front of a man who was deaf and dumb, it meant that it would be the perfect place for Bernardo to be.
He rode into town alone on his large, brown nag and pulled up in front of the tavern. Dismounting, he tied up the horse and turned to go inside.
He paused as a movement from the cuartel caught his attention. Lieutenant Allende was exiting the gates of the garrison. It wouldn't be an unusual sight, except for the fact that it didn't look like he wanted to be seen. He was out of uniform; dressed in a pair of tan slacks and a white buttoned shirt. He looked like he could easily blend in with any of the peóns. He probably could have. If it hadn't been for that milky-white eye of his.
Hiding behind the large body of his horse, Bernardo watched as the other man moved into the shadows as he crossed the plaza. He checked over his shoulder multiple times as he made his way down the road that led behind the posada.
Careful to keep his distance, Bernardo followed. Whatever business the soldier was up to, it was not good. He and Diego had been doing this long enough for him to know when to trust his gut. And it was telling him that Allende was bad news.
The officer's destination was a small alleyway found at the back of the inn. Another man waited there, puffing on a cigar. The reddish glow of the tip was faint but it was enough to illuminate his face.
Quickly—so that he wouldn't be seen—and on silent footing, Bernardo ducked inside the back gated yard of the posada where he would be able to hear them more clearly. There was also a knot in the wood of the gate that was large enough for him to peer through.
"You asked to see me, señor?" the newcomer asked, his eyes were hidden under the brim of his sombrero, but the slight tilt of his head one way and then the other told Bernardo that he was making certain the Lieutenant hadn't been followed.
"Gilberto is still locked up in the cuartel," Allende told him.
"Has he said anything?" The tone of his voice told Bernardo that this other man was irritated by the fact that Gilberto was still behind bars. He watched as the shadowed man shifted from foot to foot and cracked his knuckles almost anxiously.
"Nothing. But, the Capitán is not going to take his silence for too much longer."
"What do you suggest we do?" There was the sudden glint of metal reflecting the glow from the man's cigar as he unsheathed a knife. He looked like he was itching to use it too.
"I will handle him. I have another job for you."
That statement seemed to get the shadowed man's dander up. Bernardo could only assume he'd been looking forward to getting his hands dirty. "I am listening."
"You have heard about the foreigners in Los Angeles? The Americanas?"
"Sí, I have heard many things about them." He let out a lecherous chuckle that made Bernardo's skin crawl. He could only imagine what the man was thinking about, and yet, his imagination could only go so far.
"I do not need to know details. I just need you to dispose of them."
"They're only women," the other man scoffed.
"That may be true, but they still have eyes, don't they? The señorita recognized me this morning, I am certain of it." Allende's gloved hand tightened in what could only be described as anger.
"Recognized you? How?"
"Our organization stretches across many countries, hombre. California is not the first place I've been while we've been fighting for power. If I recognized her, then she might realize that she has seen me before as well. That makes her dangerous. She needs to be put out of the way or else all of our efforts will have been for naught."
"Only the señorita?"
"Better make it the both of them. Who knows what the servant girl knows? No loose ends. Understood?"
"Sí, I understand. Me and my compadres can arrange a little accident for the both of them."
"Good." Allende turned to disappear, but the other man called him back.
"What about Gilberto? How are you going to take care of him with all of the other soldiers in the garrison?"
Allende grinned with the hint of evil mischief. "I have already figured that out. You just do what I need you to do."
"Very well, but it may take me a few days for us to get everything in order."
"Very well. But, do not wait too long. Estevez seems quite smitten with the lady already. The last thing I need is for her to reveal who I really am."
"Which reminds me, whatever happened to the real Lieutenant Allende?"
A chuckle escaped from the fake Lieutenant. "He fell on his pistol and shot himself in the back of his head."
A laugh came from the other man as well. "What a way to go."
"Now, get out of here before someone sees us together. And let me know when the deed is done."
"Sí. Adiós."
Knowing full well that he couldn't be seen behind the wooden gate, Bernardo watched from the knot in the gate as both men took off in separate directions. He waited until their footsteps had disappeared before he came out of hiding. He needed to return to the hacienda and tell Diego what he'd heard.
"What is that you have there, Diego?" His father asked as he entered his study to find his son hunched over his desk, closely examining something in the bright candlelight.
"It is one of the knives Zorro liberated from the Comandante's office, father. I wanted to take a closer look at one of them to see if there were any sorts of distinguishing marks the Capitán hadn't been able to find."
"And did you find something he could not?"
Diego sighed tiredly as he tossed the blade onto the desktop and set down his father's magnifying glass. He stretched and rolled his neck to remove the kinks from his muscles. "No."
Don Alejandro watched as the man who sat before him—the one who reminded him so much of the woman he had married—looked so defeated. "No?" he asked.
"There is no maker's mark or branding that I can find. For all I can tell, it looks handmade."
His son looked tired. Alejandro knew he hadn't slept much since the attack on the Capitán and he could see that it was taking its toll on Diego. "Do not fret, my son," he tried to reassure him. "After all, this man saved Capitán Estevez's life. Perhaps it is a good thing that he has come into our lives."
"Maybe you are right, Father. Or perhaps, it is just what he wants us to think. Maybe he is out there to challenge Zorro. Or to lure the pueblo into a false sense of security when he's just hiding his true intentions." Diego got up from the chair and began to pace the floor in front of the desk. "It is that little bit of doubt that has me obsessing over who he could be and what he could want. I do not like not knowing what has brought him here."
"And I can understand that. But, those are things that can be focused on after a few hours of sleep." He hadn't seen his son carry this much weight on his shoulders since the Eagle had tried to take hold of Los Angeles. He could remember many nights that his son had lain awake when he thought his father was sleeping peacefully just down the hall.
Alejandro had known about his son's dual identity for some time at that point, yet could only send out a silent prayer to the saints to protect his only child.
Diego shook his head. "I cannot sleep. Every time I close my eyes, all I see is myself failing to protect the people of Los Angeles."
Alejandro wished he could find some words of comfort for Diego, but there was nothing he could say. Perching himself on the corner of his desk, he sighed heavily. "I wish I could tell you whatever it is you need to hear, Diego, but..."
"It is alright, Father," his son tried to offer up a small smile to him as he regained his seat behind the desk. "Just you being here at my side is enough for me."
They fell into a silence that echoed throughout the room. There was a heavy weight that lingered inside the space that left both men uncertain of where they should go, or what they should do now.
As if he was some saving grace from above Bernardo burst through the study door, frantic and harried-looking.
"Bernardo?" Diego questioned, surprised by the manservant's actions. "What is the matter?"
Closing the door behind him, the mute instantly broke into a jumbled collection of signs that both father and son were finding difficult to follow.
"Calm down. You are going too fast," Alejandro told him calmly, hoping his demeanor would ease the anxiety coursing the silent man.
Pausing, Bernardo took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. When he'd sufficiently calmed, he began again, miming out everything he'd seen and heard while in the pueblo. Standing up straighter, he saluted as he scowled and swiped at his left eye.
"Lieutenant Allende?" Diego confirmed. "You saw him when you went into the pueblo?"
Bernardo nodded and acted out how he'd followed the officer to the back of the inn where he'd met the shadowed man.
"He met someone there? Who was it?" Alejandro asked.
The mute shrugged his shoulders and hid his face with his palm.
"It was too dark to see his face," Diego translated. "He says he hid in the back yard of the tavern and listened in. What did they say?"
Bernardo took his time to accurately sign out the plan the two had begun to concoct for Gilberto.
"The Lieutenant is in on it?" Alejandro was outraged. "We need to tell the Capitán."
"And say what, Father? That our deaf-mute manservant overheard a conversation between his second in command and another we know absolutely nothing about?"
Unfortunately, Diego was right. It did sound ludicrous. They would probably be thrown into a cell for the crime of lunacy before they'd even finished their statements.
"We must do something, then." Don Alejandro was forever a man of action and would not idly stand by with such a treasonous plot afoot.
"Zorro can handle the Lieutenant," Diego grinned, yet it would not be the same sly one he usually wore when it was time for him to ride out. "Did he say anything about the plot against the Capitán?"
Bernardo shook his head and began to tell them more, but Diego had stood up from his chair and was headed toward the bookcase. He quickly stopped his master. He made a curvy figure in the air and used his hands to mime talking.
"You heard them talking about a woman? That caught Diego's attention and looked frantically at his father.
Bernardo held up two fingers.
"Two women?" Alejandro asked. He watched as Diego's features turned instantly to stone as he realized just who his manservant was speaking about.
"Señorita Walker?" Diego whispered her name.
Bernardo nodded, solemnly.
"They plan to kill her and her maid?"
It looked to Alejandro like Diego was ready to hit something or, perhaps, someone. He had to admit that he would be prepared to do the same. No, a man who was willing to harm a woman—let alone two—was not really a man in his eyes. "You are speaking of the Americana who arrived yesterday?"
"Sí."
"But, why would they want to kill her?"
Bernardo did his best to explain that the Lieutenant believed she knew who he really was.
"So, he is an impostor... Diego, I do not like this."
"Nor I. All of this is reminiscent of the Eagle. It is too similar to be a coincidence."
"But, De Varga was killed, remember? He was shot."
"I don't mean that he could be behind it. I just meant that this is all too eerily familiar." Diego's gaze focused on Bernardo. "I need you to tell us everything you heard, Bernardo. Every little detail that you may find insignificant. I want to know everything."
Bernardo glanced between father and son and took in another deep breath so he could focus. Finally, when he was ready, he started at the beginning, leaving out nothing and answering every question.
It would be very late when they finished. Or early, depending on how one looked at it.