WARNING: violence and adult cursing in this chapter, but most of the bad words are in Spanish, so you can choose to ignore them or Google them and learn something useful for you next holidays at Madrid. Don Alejandro should watch his mouth! ;)

Chapter 17 – Sympathy for Zorro

"Pero, mi alcalde, you said you would not flog anybody," Mendoza said.

"I meant anybody else but him. Tie him to the flogging post now!"

"But, mi alcalde, he is unconscious, and he —"

"NOW!"

"Sí, mi alcalde."

The soldiers tied Esteban's limp body to the flogging post at the garrison's patio. Ramón ordered them to throw a bucket of water over his bleeding head to wake him up.

In the meantime, the revolt at the plaza continued. When the lancers dragged Esteban unconscious into the garrison, everybody went mad. Ramón shot his pistol over the raving crowd, and that gave them enough time to close the large doors behind them and place a bar across before the furious people charged at them. They were shouting and complaining, banging at the garrison's doors so hard it looked like they could bring them down at any moment. Ramón ordered the soldiers to stand by the doors, aiming their loaded muskets at them, and to shoot anybody who managed to get in. The alcalde didn't care what could happen, only that the insolent thorn in his backside who had dared to challenge him would get flogged, no matter what.

ZZZ

Don Alejandro and Don Emilio arrived at the plaza then, right into the chaos. They rode on to the spot where Diego, Victoria and Felipe were standing, away from the action.

"Diego, what's going on? What's this?" Don Alejandro asked, puzzled by the commotion. "Where is Esteban?"

"I don't know how to say it, Father. Esteban is in there," he said pointing at the garrison, "and knowing the alcalde, I think he is about to be flogged."

"What?" The old don dismounted Dulcinea then, angry as everybody else. "Flogged? Is this how you intend to "take care of him" as you promised only two days ago?"

ZZZ

Esteban woke up slowly, feeling soaking wet. The back of his head hurt terribly, but when he tried to take his right hand to it, he realized he couldn't, restrained as he was with ropes, tied up to the metal rings of a wooden post. He stood up slowly on his feet, stumbling, pulling from the ropes.

"What the…?" He looked around, realizing what was happening, and then he spotted the alcalde. "You, rotten scoundrel! I had your word!"

"Get him ready!" Ramón shouted.

"Hey! This is my best shirt, dimwit!" Esteban complained when a soldier tore it at the back.

"Will you shut up?!" Ramón cried, with his eyes bulging from the orbits. He could not believe that man's insolence and his pointless gestures of defiance. "Mendoza! Twenty lashes!"

The Sergeant got the whip but he hesitated, gulping, and then fiddled with it, reluctant to start.

"Mi alcalde, I don't think we should—"

"Give me that! I'll do it myself. With pleasure!"

ZZZ

"Diego could do nothing, Don Alejandro," Victoria said when Diego didn't reply. "The alcalde threatened some farmers to be flogged if they didn't pay the taxes on time. Esteban confronted him and they ended up in a swordfight. Esteban won, but then the alcalde arrested him after hitting the back of his head with his sword when he turned around to leave. The lancers dragged him in there unconscious. We don't know what's happening now."

"I can't believe this," Don Emilio said, dismounting as well. "How does he always manage to be in the middle of trouble?"

"We need Zorro right now!" Victoria said. "He is the only one who can sort this mess."

Zorro can't help now, Victoria. He hasn't got the time to go home to change and come back with Toronado. It will be over by then. Maldita sea! Diego thought, clenching his jaw.

Then, they heard the first lash.

"Me cago en su puta madre!" Don Alejandro cursed, livid, forgetting his good manners in front of Victoria, leaving the group to join the crowd at the doors. "Alcalde! Stop it right now!"

"That's so awful!" Victoria said, crying one more time in Diego's arms when they heard the second lash and Esteban's cry.

ZZZ

The alcalde snatched the whip and started flogging Esteban with it as hard as he could. At the first lash Esteban only gasped in pain, tensing his whole body. With the second one, he cried out.

"You bastard!" he said, twisting his whole body in an attempt to lose the bonds. "Maldito cabrón!"

His insults only made the alcalde increase the strength and the speed at which he delivered the lashes. By the tenth one, Esteban stopped shouting, wriggling and complaining, and stood still, and so did the people outside. The crack of the whip was the only sound that could be heard in the pueblo for the remaining ten lashes. When Ramón finished, the soldiers untied Esteban and dragged him to a cell barely conscious.

"Hijo de puta! At least let the doctor in, for goodness sake!" Don Alejandro cried, banging at the door again like crazy.

ZZZ

Shivering on the cold floor of the cell, Esteban had to wonder what had happened and how it all went so wrong. He wasn't even thinking about impressing Victoria when he had confronted the alcalde. The truth was, he had seen enough floggings in Madrid, and he hated the fact people could do that to one another, especially for no other reason than inflicting pain gratuitously, like the alcalde had done to him. When Ramón mentioned the word "flog", he had a visceral reaction. Now he realized he should have listened to Diego and don't get involved. There was a reason by a masked man took care of all the problems created by that evil son of a bitch in that pueblo. And unfortunately, Zorro wasn't around that morning.

Clenching his teeth, he tried to get up on his knees and hands to crawl to the bed, but he didn't have the strength, so he gave up and lay there, bleeding, drifting in and out of consciousness. Suddenly, someone lifted his torso and he got dragged across the room to the bed. Someone else touched his painful head, and he grabbed that arm defensively, still with his eyes semi-closed.

"Don't worry, young man. I'm Doctor Hernández. I'll take care of you. Relax. Let me treat you. You'll be alright."

ZZZ

"You have no honour, Alcalde, taking my nephew to jail after he defeated you in a clean fight, and then flogging him to death!" Don Alejandro said when he finally managed to storm into the alcalde's office. "And you were the one who started that swordfight, after all! You provoked him! Wait until I inform the Governor. You'll pay for this!"

"The Governor is also under pressure to collect the tax money. He won't have patience for insubordinate citizens willing to start a revolt. Waste your time bothering him if you wish. I don't care."

"What are you going to do with him now? Let me take him home."

"Do you promise to keep your nephew under control, on a short leash?"

"Yes."

"In that case, take him. He is a pain in the arse, as are all these women pestering me to see him. Take him, and you deal with them all, away from my office. But, if that fool causes me more trouble in the pueblo, I will take the action I deem necessary. And that includes hanging. Is that clear?"

"Crystal. Esteban won't bother you again. Where is he?"

"Doctor Hernández is with him now. Mendoza!"

"Sí, mi alcalde?"

"Take Don Alejandro inside, and help him to get that impertinent featherbrain out through the back door. As soon as possible. And clean up all that bloody mess in that cell afterwards."

ZZZ

Esteban woke up in his bed at the hacienda De la Vega. He had no idea how he had got there because he was unconscious during the short journey in the carriage, but he was grateful to be back home in one piece.

The doctor had closed the bleeding wound in his head, and had cleaned all the long gashes left by the whip on his back, stitching the deeper ones, dressing them over. They had placed him resting on his side to avoid any pressure on the painful wounds, over a pile of pillows, and he welcomed the change from the hard, cold floor at the cell.

"Esteban, you are awake!" Victoria said when she realized he had opened his eyes. Diego resented how quickly she ran to his side to take his hand. "Are you alright?"

"No," Esteban said with a silly smile on his face when he saw her so worried about him. Maybe being so stupid had been worthy once again, although it wasn't his intention this time. "But I will be, don't worry."

"I am so glad you are awake and you are going to be all right. I'm sorry, but I have to go. I had to leave Pilar on her own at the tavern and she must be really busy right now. I'll come back to see you later. Rest now," she said, kissing his cheek lightly.

"What were you thinking, Esteban?" Don Alejandro said after she left. "How could you antagonize the alcalde like that, and humiliate him in public, of all things?"

"I don't know. Please, Uncle, can you leave the lecturing for tomorrow?" He shifted on the pillows, and the small movement made him wince in pain, showing an awkward grimace on his face.

"Yes, of course. Sorry. There will be time to discuss this later on. Rest now, son," Don Alejandro said, touching his shoulder lightly, afraid he could cause him more pain. "Do you need anything before we go?"

"Water, please."

"Here, get some bark infusion instead," Diego said, handling a glass. He helped his cousin up so he could drink it more easily, and lowered him back on the pillows gently when he had finished. "Anything else?"

"I would like to see Padre Benítez."

"Why? I know you are in a lot of pain right now but you are not going to die, don't worry," Don Emilio said.

"I know, but I need to see him. Call him now, please."

Felipe got back to the pueblo in a carriage to fetch the priest. When they arrived at the hacienda, Esteban said he wanted some privacy, so everybody else left the room.

"Padre Benítez, if the alcalde persists in the idea of flogging all those farmers, please use the money I gave you to pay their taxes."

"Are you sure? I could put that money to good use in the church," the priest said, reluctant to give the money away so soon.

"What better use for it than sparing those poor people this unnecessary pain I am suffering?"

"Yes, you are right. I'll do it."

"Thank you, Padre."

"Anything else?"

"No, that's all."

"Well, now that I am here, let's pray for a prompt recovery, shall we?" he said, getting the rosary beads out of his pocket.

"If you wish," Esteban said, closing his eyes, exhausted. The monotonous voice of the priest saying the Hail Marys helped him to fall asleep peacefully despite the throbbing pain in his back.

ZZZ

"How are you this morning, idiota?" Diego said when his cousin woke up the next day. He had been sitting on a chair by his side most of the night watching him, using that time to carefully plan what Zorro should do over the next few days.

Esteban moved his head slowly to look at him, obviously resenting the slight movement, and then he smiled lightly.

"You cannot imagine how sore my back is, smartarse. So, please, don't start with the usual I told you so."

"But… I told you so! I told you not to get involved, didn't I? You don't know the alcalde as we do. He is crazy, evil, and unpredictable. And you better stay away from him."

"And that's why everybody expects Zorro to sort out every problem for them, don't they?"

"Yes."

"I don't think that's fair on the guy. And he wasn't even there yesterday."

"If you had taken my advice, and stopped to think before you acted, you might have realized the alcalde wasn't going to flog anybody yesterday. He threatened to do so in two days' time. Then Zorro would have heard about it, have time to prepare his action plan, and the alcalde would have got time to prepare a trap for Zorro as well, knowing he would show up to stop the floggings. That's how it works. That's the pattern. It has been going on for years. But you got on the way yesterday uninvited and you paid the price."

"Is it really that easy then? Do nothing and wait for Zorro to come along every time there is trouble lurking on the horizon?"

"Yes. Pretty much."

"That sucks, you know? You Angeleños are a bunch of cowards. I feel sorry for that guy. If I was him, I would go on strike."

Diego laughed then. It was the first time he had heard someone feeling sorry and sympathetic about Zorro, questioning why he had to do the pueblo's dirty laundry. Everybody else would just demand his help, taking for granted he would happily risk his life in return of a slap on the back. It was... refreshing.

"So, you like that guy, ah? Even if he is the one standing between you and Victoria?"

"Yes. I have never seen him in action, but for what I heard, I respect him. If his voluntary and unpaid "job" is to keep that crazy alcalde under control, I'm really impressed."

"Good. I'll let him know he's got a new fan next time I see him."

"Whatever."

"Now, there is someone here waiting to see you. I'll let her in. She can help you with your breakfast," Diego said, leaving the room. Esteban stayed there immobile over the pillows, waiting with anticipation, expecting so see Victoria. He could not hide the disappointment on his face when Lucía walked to his side instead.

ZZZZZ

A.N- As the alcalde: when I said "no maiming" I think I meant anybody else but the De la Vegas… Sorry!