Chapter 27 – Branded

"I don't know how do you want to do that, Diego. I don't think that's possible," doctor Hernández said in the late afternoon while examining Diego's wound. "I already applied a mixture containing red peppers and clove oil to the gunshot wound and arnica on the bruise. That should take away some of the pain locally, and you are taking the bark infusion. It must be the blow you suffered with the saddle what is giving you the extra grief, because the actual wound looks quite clean."

"Yes, probably, because that wound is not aching so much at the back as it does at the front. Could I use pure clove oil to numb the whole area? It is used for tooth ache so, why not?"

"Yes, that might work. But I think it could be quite irritant to the skin, even burning it if you use it undiluted. I'm not sure if it will do more harm than good. And, if the oil is diluted, it won't be as effective as a local anaesthetic."

"I don't care if it burns. As long as I am pain-free while I'm moving about, even for a short period of time, I'll deal with the burn later. Do you have any clove oil at hand?"

"I think so. I always have some in my bag for dental problems."

"Can you apply a few drops directly into the wound now and see what happens?"

The doctor applied some drops close to the gunshot in his abdomen, and after a while, Diego confirmed it seemed to be working to take away the pain, numbing that small area. They continued then looking at Diego's medical books, trying to get any ideas to patch him up quickly.

"But, Diego, what are you really planning to do, and how are you going to do it? Even if I can give you a boost, and you are able to walk, ride, and fight, what are you going to do to stop the alcalde?"

"Not much, really. Get in his quarters at night, while he is asleep, force him to release the prisoners, and then give him a good wallop. He knows I am badly injured, so he won't be expecting me this time. Ideally, I should send him to hell once and for all. I have given him too many warnings already, and I should act on it. I don't think he is taking me seriously anymore."

"Diego, if you kill him, you'll cross the line to become a real criminal. Have you thought about that?"

"Of course I have. Otherwise, the alcalde would probably be dead by now. But also, I don't really want the burden of taking someone's life. Nonetheless, I can't see any other way: he is out of control, and it is only going to get worse."

"You must have hope. One day something will happen: he'll be replaced, or someone else will kill him because he's asking for it. Try not to seek revenge for what he has done to Victoria now, please, and don't lose your head. If you kill him, the Spanish authorities will never issue a pardon for you, and they'll increase the reward on you. That will attract more bounty hunters and more trouble. Do you really want that?"

"No, of course not."

"Anyway, we are talking hypothetically here, because I have no idea how to get you up and about in only a few hours. You need time to heal and regain your strength. I can't see this happening tonight."

"We'll keep reading the books, alright? We have to find something we can use."

"Fine. I'll try with this one now," the doctor said, taking another large volume off the pile at Diego's bedside table.

ZZZ

Just as it happened the last time, a loud group of women were at the alcalde's office trying to get through to visit Esteban. Some would cry quietly and beg to see him; some would shout at him for planning on executing the love of their lives; and some would be more persuasive on their reasons, like that pretty blonde one who, whispering at his ear, was offering to pay a hefty sum if she could get through to visit "her fiancée."

Ramón didn't give a damn about any of them or their reasons, but he wanted to get rid of them all as soon as possible, so in the end he announced he would let one, and only one of them through, and the rest would have to go. They stopped complaining and waited patiently for him to choose. He pretended to be taking them into consideration, looking at them one by one, walking in front of them as if choosing the best horse at market, until he pointed at Don José's daughter and said the magic word: "you."

While the others complained, Corporal Sepúlveda got Lucía through the back door.

"You got a visitor," Sepúlveda said.

Esteban was still lying on the bench on his stomach. He turned his head towards the door then, not totally surprised to see that woman there.

"Lucía, what are you doing here?"

"Esteban, mi amor. How are you? Come closer, please, because this could be the last time I can talk to you," she said with a shaky voice, dabbing at her eyes in an affected manner, like clearing non-existent tears away.

Great, he thought, bored. Victoria was awake then, still sitting on the other bench, looking at Lucía in a similar way she had when they had clashed at the hacienda De la Vega. If anything, getting closer to Lucía could get the petite brunette jealous again, so he stood up and walked to the cell's door.

"Esteban, cariño, I am so worried about you. Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm alright," he said mechanically. "What do you want?"

"You." She passed her arms through the bars and caressed his naked chest as if she already was very familiar with its texture. He stepped back then to get out of her reach, bewildered.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, please, Esteban, you may die tomorrow!" she cried while grasping the bars. "I can call the priest right now. We should get married today, just in case."

"Just in case of what? Look, woman, I don't know where did you get that crazy idea from, because I haven't really proposed to you, and I don't have any intention of marrying you at all, not today, not ever, so you can forget about it!"

She gasped in shock and had a dizzy turn then, getting floppy, and Sepúlveda held her in his arms until she got herself upright again.

"I'm sorry, Corporal. Thank you," she said, flustered, looking deeply embarrassed. Then she looked at Esteban again. "How can you say that now, Esteban? I could be carrying your child, and she doesn't deserve to be a bastard with no name if you die tomorrow."

"What?!" Esteban and Victoria exclaimed at the same time. When he looked back at her, Victoria was standing in the middle of the cell, looking at him with her arms akimbo and her jaw dropped, and he could see the rage boiling inside her already.

"She is lying," he said, apologetic.

"Lying? Por el amor de Dios, mi amor, how could I be lying about this?" Lucía said.

"Because you are mental, maybe?" Esteban said. "Get out of here!"

Lucía screamed then and threw herself in the Corporal's arms to cry on his chest, wailing in desperation.

"He seduced me! I didn't want to, but we made love out of wedlock because we were going to get married soon! How can he do this to me now? How?"

"Señorita, por favor, calm down," Sepúlveda said, tapping gently on her back, not very sure how to react to that outburst.

"Get me out of here, please! I want to go home!" Lucía cried, hiding a wicked smile. The damage is done.

While Sepúlveda guided her out of the jail, Victoria walked the few steps between them and gave Esteban a mighty slap on his face.

"Don't you ever, and I said EVER, say you love me again! How dared you!"

"She is lying, I swear," he said, taking a hand to his burning face.

"How can she admit publicly she could be pregnant if it wasn't true? That will ruin her reputation!"

"I haven't touched that woman in my life! Well, no, I'm lying. I did. We kissed once and then—"

He got a second slap, a harder one; one so hard Victoria hurt her hand while delivering it. Esteban got hold of her wrists then to prevent a third.

"Stop it! Listen to me, please!"

"Get off me, cerdo!" she screamed, struggling to get free of his strong grip. He let go of her and she ran back to the bench. "Stay as far away from me as you can!"

"As you wish." He walked to the opposite side of the cell then, as far as he could go. "Happy now?"

She didn't reply, avoiding his eyes, so he carried on talking.

"Can I explain what happened?"

"I won't believe any of your excuses. You should behave like a gentleman —something that you clearly are not— and marry her."

"I didn't propose to her. And I didn't make love to her. Why should I marry her then?"

"You said you kissed her."

"I also kissed you, not that long ago. Would you marry me then?"

For the way she looked at him, he was glad to be a safe distance away from her, or she would probably try to punch his nose, or even kick something else more painful. Suddenly, she jumped off the bench and covered the distance between them quickly. He recoiled then, fearing another aggression, but he couldn't get far because he hit the wall with his back.

"Give me Zorro's note!" she demanded with her palm up. He got it out of his pocket and placed it there, taking the note and her hand in his.

"Victoria, please, listen to—"

"Don't you ever talk to me again!" she said, retrieving her hand from his, going back to the bench.

Mierda, he thought. He squatted down then, with his head between his hands, wondering how could that be happening all of a sudden, when she had been so sweet and tender with him before, even responding to his kiss. He could get hanged the next day, and he was going to spend the last few hours of his life arguing with the woman he loved. But if that was the best he was going to get… After a short while, he lifted his head and stared at her, hardly blinking during a few minutes. In the end, she got so nervous and so annoyed she shouted at him.

"Can you stop staring at me?!"

"No. I got as far away from you as I could, and that's all I am going to do. I can look in any direction I want now."

Victoria moved to the other bench, and Esteban's gaze followed her. She groaned, furious, and walked further away along the wall, to the other side, extremely annoyed at Esteban, who kept staring at her. In the end, she returned to the bench and hid under the blanket, covering all her body, including her head.

"I'm still watching you."

"Have fun then watching, cerdo," the blanket said,"because that's as far as you'll ever get! And leave me alone!"

"Believe me, I would like to get out of here and leave you on your own, but I can't. So, bear with me."

He laughed then at the exasperated, disgruntled noise that came out of that wriggling blanket.

ZZZ

That night, on the way to Los Angeles, Toronado cantered slowly under the moonlight at a comfortable pace for his rider.

After a few hours searching on his books, Diego had finally found a way to get an effective, energetic boost: a mix of coca leaves, cane sugar, coffee and royal jelly. Luckily, the doctor had some of these leaves that grew in The Andes Mountains, and he was able to prepare the mix for him. The effects had been quite dramatic, increasing his heart rate and blood pressure, and he had been able to stand, get dressed on Zorro's gear, and ride on Toronado when he could hardly get out of bed to use the chamber pot before. And, on top of that, he even felt more alert than usual. He could only hope the invigorating effects would last long enough to do what he had to do, because the doctor didn't have a clue of its duration of action either. The clove oil applied on his wound had numbed the area quite well to allow him to ride without much pain, but he still felt a dull ache, especially deeper down on the muscles.

Felipe had gone to Los Angeles in advance to survey the situation. He met Zorro on the outskirts of the pueblo and told him the soldiers were not guarding the alcalde's quarters, or even the jail, as they didn't suspect a rescue mission could be possible this time.

"Are you alright?" Felipe signed.

"Yes, I think so. The wound is starting to hurt now, but nowhere near as it was before. I'll be alright. I'll be as fast as I can."

Zorro carried on riding then and Felipe stayed behind waiting for him to return on the way back to the hacienda.

It was past midnight when Zorro arrived. The pueblo was dead quiet, and only the usual couple of soldiers were making rounds around the garrison. He got on the roof then carefully, enduring the now sharper pain at his side, and got into the alcalde's quarters as silently as he could. He stood then by the alcalde's bed, watching him sleep until he unsheathed his sword. It would be so easy to pierce the alcalde's heart right then, and put an end to his evilness, but he couldn't do that. Instead, Zorro pointed with its sword at Ramón's throat, calling him.

"Alcalde, wake up."

"What?" he said, drowsy, opening his eyes slowly.

"Wake up," Zorro repeated, pressing with the tip on Ramón's neck. The alcalde gasped then, fully awake when he realized what that cold, pointy thing touching him was.

"Zorro! You can't be here! Mendoza shot you yesterday!"

"Of course I can be here, Alcalde. Don't you know I am immortal and indestructible like Achilles? You'll have to hit my heel the next time you want to kill me."

"What do you want?"

"I think you know perfectly well what I want."

"Kill me?"

"Yeah, there is that, too, but first, I want you to release your prisoners. You are not hanging anybody tomorrow, especially innocent people, and less of all, my woman. Why do you insist on infuriating me like this? You must have a death wish, really."

"Please, don't kill me. I'll let them go if you don't kill me!"

"I don't know if I can do that, because the urge to send you to hell is too strong right now."

"I swear! I'll let them go free. Get that sword away from me!"

Zorro moved his arm a bit to pull the sword off his neck, but he left it hovering close to his torso.

"If you do that quietly, right now, I may not kill you today. But beware, because a cada cerdo le llega su San Martín."

"What?"

"You'll eventually get what you deserve."

Ramón sighed then when Zorro pulled the sword a bit more, relaxing a bit. He considered crying out for the lancers, but he didn't when Zorro took his gloved finger to his lips, shaking his head.

"Alcalde, the next time you see me here like this, it will be the last time your evil eyes see the light. Is that clear?"

"Yes. Go away now. I'll release the prisoners in the morning."

"No. You'll release them now."

"I can't do that. I'll do it tomorrow."

"I warned you before, but you don't take me seriously, do you?"

With a swift move of his blade, Zorro carved a deep "Z" in the alcalde's chest, over his heart. Ramón cried in a pain, incredulous, looking at the blood stain spreading fast on his night gown. Until now, Zorro had only marked his clothes, but now he had branded his skin.

"You marked my woman for life. It is only fair I return you the favour. You are my property now, like cattle, so behave yourself or I'll slaughter you as I please. It will be easy: I already marked the spot my sword should follow to split your heart in two. You have my word on this."

The alcalde pushed the gown down to have a look. The "Z" looked deep, and it would definitely leave a permanent scar. It could even need stitches.

"Arghhh… You…you, bastard… I'm going to…" he said, pausing because he couldn't think of a good enough threat to frighten that man.

"Alcalde, are you listening at all? Focus now: I'm going to hang around tonight. If you don't release the prisoners immediately, I'll be back and my sword will send you straight to hell where you belong. Last warning. You cannot stop me, and you know it."

As fast as he had materialized out of nowhere, Zorro disappeared again, silently like a ghost. Ramón was about to shout to call the lancers, but another quick look to his bleeding chest made him reconsider. It would be better no to tempt his fate so soon. He was too scared of Zorro to double-cross him that night. He looked really angry and capable of, for once, carry on his threat. Flogging Victoria had been a very bad idea.

Son of a bitch! I'll get you. I'll get you one day!

ZZZ

It was pitch-black in the cell when Sergeant Mendoza came inside carrying a light. The prisoners had fallen asleep, but he had no problem waking them up to give them the good news.

"Wake up, Don Esteban, wake up!" Mendoza said, shaking his shoulder. The sergeant thought it was odd he was lying on the floor, close to the door, and not on one of the benches.

"What do you want?" Esteban said, sitting up too quickly for his own good. He hissed in pain when he stretched his back, because he had put the shirt back on and the cloth had got stuck to the gashes, as Victoria never got to re-dress them.

"You can go! You are free! The alcalde has ordered me to release you."

"Why? Is this a trick?"

"No, I don't think so."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I'll leave the door open, and you can get out."

Esteban walked the few steps to get to Victoria, who was just waking up with the sound of their voices.

"Victoria, wake up. Your wish has been granted: I'm going to get out of here and leave you alone."

"What?"

"Come on, let's get out of here. We've been released."

"That's a very bad joke, even for you," she said while rubbing her eyes.

"I'm not joking. Look, the Sergeant is here, and the door is open. Come on."

He offered his hand but Victoria didn't take it, standing up on her own. She walked to the door then with her head held high, ignoring Esteban.

"Is this true? Can I go?"

"Yes, Señorita, you can go. I'm so sorry for everything that happened. Really sorry."

"It wasn't your fault, Sergeant. Well, I can't wait to get out of here then. Goodbye!"

"Wait, Victoria. Are you coming to the hacienda with me?" Esteban said when she was already out of the cell.

"With you? I'm not going anywhere near you; I'm going to my room, to the tavern. And you, you can go to hell if you want! I don't care!" she said, stepping out of the jail door, into the night.

"Women…" Esteban said, shrugging his shoulders, hissing when the shirt pulled from his wounds again. "Sergeant, where is my horse?"

"I don't know. Maybe in the stables, at the back? Let's have a look. Follow me."

"Are you sure this is not a set up?" Esteban said, suspicious.

"As far as I am aware, no, Señor. I don't think so."

"Alright. I'll come with you. Although, a ride back to the hacienda in the dark is not going to make me any good. Can I spend the night here in this cozy cell, and get out in the morning?"

Mendoza looked at him as if he was crazy, not catching the sarcasm.

"I am only joking, Sergeant. Please, get me out of here."

ZZZZZ