Chapter 74 – Zorro can't ride

Diego knew that begging for his life would be pointless, and that he didn't have much time left before that thug fired his gun. As fast as an angry cat, he pawed at that barrel to push it away from his face, when that man was already pulling the trigger. The blast left him stunned, but he was alive because the bullet missed the side of his head by a mere inch.

When that man lifted the now empty, useless gun to smash Diego's head with it, a small group of soldiers ran into the already crowded kitchen.

"Hold it there! You are all under arrest!" Corporal Sepúlveda cried, aiming his pistol unsteadily at that man. "Drop that gun!"

When he didn't, another lancer took the gun off his hand, while private Márquez aimed his musket at his chest.

"You! Get off señorita Victoria!" Sepúlveda said, when he saw the petite tavern owner struggling with a man on the floor. The corporal spotted Victoria's ripped underwear nearby, by the table, and the same as Diego, he got so angry by the implications of this discovery that his instincts took over. Without much thinking, he grabbed his cocked pistol by the barrel and walloped the back of her attacker's head with the butt, knocking him unconscious on top of her, with a wild blow that misfired the gun in an awkward blast, shooting himself with it.

"Shit!" Sepúlveda cried, dropping that hot, smoking gun as if it was a snake, counting his blessings because the bullet didn't hit him, or anybody else, ricocheting on the floor behind him. Even angrier then, he grabbed that man by the collar, pulling him off her, and dumped him to a side on top of another fallen man, before he kneeled by Victoria, anxious. "Señorita, are you all right? I hope what I think may have happened here, didn't happen. Did it?"

"No, it didn't, gracias a Dios, but only because Don Diego got here on time to prevent it. Thank you, Corporal, I owe you my dignity, and probably my life as well," she said, kissing his cheek when he helped her up. "How did you know we were in trouble?"

"Manolo García told us these men would probably rob the tavern."

"Did he? I'm so glad he did. I thought he had run away like a coward, that one, like all the others."

"Are you sure you are all right? What happened here?" Sepúlveda said, looking around him, to all the unconscious bodies piling on the floor, and the puddle of sickness by the table.

"I'm alright, don't worry. Shocked, yes, and a little bit bruised by the rough handling, but I'll be fine. Let me check on Don Diego. He got the worst part."

She walked a few steps to get to Diego, passing over one of the unconscious, injured men that lay in the middle of the kitchen. Diego was still sitting on the floor, shaking and tilting his head, leaning forward supporting his weight on his left hand while probing gently his right ear with his right index finger, with his mouth open, squinting his eyes.

"Diego! Are you all right? Oh my God, these bastards gave you a good trashing!" she said, kneeling in front of him. His face had a few bruises, and his clothes had so many stains of boot marks his whole body was probably covered with them, battered. He stared back at her, looking dazed, and very much in pain. When he took his finger off his ear and she spotted the blood dripping from it, she panicked. "Did that bullet hit you?"

ZZZ

Diego took his trembling, right hand to Victoria's face, feeling her gently, carefully examining the bruise on her forehead. She was moving her lips, looking concerned, but he could not hear a word despite the short distance between them, with the loud bang of the last blast still echoing and reverberating inside his ears, mixing that sound with a loud, continuous, and very annoying, high-pitched noise. He felt dizzy; his right ear hurt terribly, inside; and he couldn't even hear his own words when he talked.

"Are you all right? Did I get here on time? Did they… did they…?" he said, swallowing hard, not willing to say the words "rape you".

She continued talking, and as she slightly shook her head, he was relieved, willing to assume that was a "no, they didn't". Or was it a "no, you didn't get here on time"? He regretted then not to be able to read people's lips like Felipe did, and for a moment, he could understand how difficult life could be for a deaf person.

"What? Is that a "no"? Sorry, I can't hear you," he said, with his shaky fingers wandering down to her quivering lips, as if that light contact with them could help him to understand her words.

Victoria took her hands to his face, touching it gently as he was doing with hers, lovingly, stroking his forehead, and they both stared at each other while holding each other's face.

"I'm so sorry. With Zorro gone, I should have known something like this would happen. Forgive me, please. I should have prevented this," he said, drowning in his own, emotional whirlpool. "Forgive me."

Victoria said something else and then she embraced him, crying, and he passed his arms around her, holding her tightly, protectively, as if that could prevent her from any harm; past, present, and future. While holding her, the high-pitched noise in his right ear got louder, screeching, unbearable, and he felt increasingly dizzier, until he let go of her and collapsed on the floor. He didn't lose consciousness, but when she hovered over him, shaking his shoulders, looking hysterical and shouting words he could not hear, her face went round and round, spinning like a crazy wheel over him, in front of his eyes, and he had to close them, fearing he would be sick otherwise. Then, he felt the soldiers helping him up, lifting his body, passing his arms over their shoulders, and in a blur for him, they must have taken him upstairs, because suddenly he was lying in bed and Doctor Hernández was examining his eyes while the whole room spun around him.

ZZZ

"No, they didn't, Diego. They didn't get to rape me. You got here just in time, so don't worry about it. Tell me, where are you hurting? You are bleeding from your ear. Did they kick your head? Because the bullet didn't hit you, did it?"

He didn't answer any of her questions, and then he said he couldn't hear her.

"Did that man fire that gun by your ear then? Is that what happened? You are deaf now? That should pass soon, I hope. Don't worry. We'll call the doctor, hold on."

He touched her trembling lips then, gently, and she took her hands to his bruised face as well, stroking his forehead, combing his fringe back.

"I was so frightened. I thought they would kill you; seven armed, dangerous men against a single one without weapons."

She looked into his eyes and he stared back at her, until he apologized again, fretting, looking very stressed.

"I'm so sorry. With Zorro gone, I should have known something like this would happen. Forgive me, please. I should have prevented this. Forgive me."

"It's not your fault, you fool! How could it be your fault? Why do you always have to blame yourself for everything? You saved me, as you always do, so don't you dare to feel guilty, or responsible for this. You told me to keep the tavern close, but I didn't listen. I should have known better."

She embraced him, giving in to the tension and the fear, shaking, ignoring the soldiers and everybody else around them.

"I was so frightened! Please, don't you ever leave me, and don't let anybody hurt me like that. Ever. Please!" she said, finally breaking down while the terrible scene she had endured replayed in her head, with delayed-shock, crying while feeling safe in his strong arms. He held her tight for a while, until he suddenly let go of her and collapsed on the floor, by her side.

"Diego! Diego! What's wrong? Talk to me!" she said, shaking his shoulders, but he just stared at her with his mouth open. His eyes got rolling, wildly, unable to focus on hers, until he closed them, firmly shut, grimacing. "Corporal, give me a hand here! We have to take him upstairs. Send for the doctor, please!"

ZZZ

"Diego, your ear drum got damaged by that blast," Doctor Hernandez said. "It should heal within a couple of months, but in the meantime, you'll be deaf on that ear, and you'll suffer from vertigo to start with. But you should regain the sense of hearing in the other side soon, I think."

"I can't hear what you are saying. I don't understand you. Sorry," Diego said, feeling a bit better already, but still dizzy, and still hearing that annoying, loud noise all the time. But at least his eyes had stopped rolling and he could focus his gaze again.

The doctor got a piece of paper and wrote some words in it.

I thought you could read lips, like Felipe.

"No, I can't. I understand his signs, that's all."

The doctor wrote down all his previous explanations, and Diego nodded.

"I thought that was the case, yes. It hurts, a lot, inside, and I feel so dizzy."

Your eyes were rolling. Not anymore, but you are still shocked. You must rest. Your hearing should improve soon.

"I hope so. Can you send for Felipe, to bring the carriage? I want to go home, but I can't ride like this. Besides, he can be my interpreter until I can hear."

"Yes," the doctor said, nodding. "Good idea."

Victoria was in the room, fretting behind the doctor. She got the piece of paper from him and wrote something else.

"Yes, I am covered in bruises. But nothing serious. The kind of thing that happened quite often when I played Zorro, when none of you knew about it. Don't worry, Victoria: arnica is my friend. That, and bark infusion. I'll be all right."

"Well, as I said, rest now," Doctor Hernández said, tapping Diego's arm. "I'm very busy treating all these men. I don't think the one with a gunshot wound in his chest is going to make it. We'll see."

"What?" Diego said.

"You tell him," the doctor said, pointing at the piece of paper still in Victoria's hand, not willing to tell Diego he had probably killed another man. "I have to go. Call for me if any of the bruises gives him too much trouble, or if he gets worse instead of improving with the hearing and the vertigo."

"Yes, I'll do that. Thank you, Doctor," she said, while scribbling on the paper.

ZZZ

Don Alejandro and Felipe arrived with the carriage to take Diego home. On the way back to the hacienda, Diego could hear a bit already with his left ear, but only if people shouted loudly and close enough to that side, but he was still quite dizzy, staggering and losing his balance when he walked.

"After this unfortunate, eye-opening episode, I made up my mind, Father: Zorro has to return to Los Angeles. When we get home, I'll bring him back to put an end to this madness."

"Don't be silly! You can't do that! Look at the state of you, for crying out loud! Let the soldiers take care of this!" Don Alejandro shouted loudly, partly because Diego could not hear him well, and partly because he was so upset and worried about him.

"They are not doing a great job controlling this situation, are they? Zorro should help, before it's too late."

"You can't even walk straight! They nearly killed you today. And what do you think? That Zorro's mask and cape are bulletproof? Because they aren't!"

"That's precisely what the soldiers said before," Diego said, with a smirk. "They said I must be bulletproof, because they can't hit me."

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Diego. The soldiers can't hit Zorro because they are useless, and they don't really want to shoot him, like Mendoza, who only hit your abdomen because he was aiming somewhere else. On the other hand, these men out there are vicious killers, and they mean business, as we have seen today. Please, take a few days to rest, and we shall see, all right?"

"All right. One day."

"Two."

"One and a half."

"I can't cope with you two!" Victoria said, shaking her head, upset by the way Diego bargained with his father, trivializing the situation and the value of his own life. She was sitting in the carriage by his side while he talked to his father, who sat facing him, and she moved away from him slightly to look at the side, to hide the fresh tears in her eyes. At that moment, she truly realized the only reason why she had enjoyed a relationship with Zorro for so long was because she didn't know who he was under the mask, or she would have been fretting crazy every time he had to ride. Not knowing his identity had let her more detached of the hazards he faced, to a certain extent ignoring the danger while admiring the dazzling results of his daring actions. If she had known, she would have been nagging at him to stop risking his life all the time, hampering his quest for justice. And she didn't like that thought, because she felt selfish, and unworthy of being his wife.

"All right, dear. I'll stay in bed as much as you think I need," Diego said, passing his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to kiss her head. "But nothing is going to happen, I promise."

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