A.N. – I'm sorry for the delay, but real life kept me busy in November. Besides, I was waiting for the "voices" to deliver a fantastic plan for Mendoza, and instead, they delivered a plot bunny for an A-Team story, that demanded to be written at once and it got me side-tracked and distracted the first two weeks of December (yes, the A-Team, which I had not watched since the 90's, and all of a sudden I found a new fandom to keep me busy. I feel like I am cheating on Zorro, but… it happened. Shameless plug: if you like the A-Team, had a look at that story, "Back in 'Nam with no plan". Thanks MJF for supporting me on that new adventure.)

Back to Zorro, I am glad to announce at least someone has a plan, and it's Toronado, yay!

I'm still thinking about how to make Mendoza a credible hero. Any brilliant ideas to wrap this up are welcomed, but after such a long story, I don't want to rush it to create a botched end just to finish it and get the "complete" label. Bummer.

So, bear with me if this takes a little bit longer to get done. Thanks.

Chapter 77 – Toronado has a plan

Don Alejandro told Diego what had happened at the library.

"I hope Mendoza doesn't do anything foolish," Diego said.

"No, I hope not. But, good job you told me about what he said at the Devil's Fortress, so I could spur him with that. My goodness, that man had a new look when he left! I may have created a monster with that push of his confidence. We'll see what he does tomorrow."

"Yes. Now, Father, I've been mulling over what you said, and I think you are right: Toronado would only go with the other horses if he had a rescue plan of sorts. We should trust he'll find a way to help us."

"I hope so, I really do. Now, please, relax and rest while I see Pedro. I'm worried about him."

"Yes. He doesn't look good. I checked on him not long ago. But we have to keep the hope that he is going to make it."

"Yes, as we did with you, when you got stabbed with that poisoned dagger. We also thought you would die back then; that only proves that anything is possible with a bit of hope and prayers," Don Alejandro said, standing up to leave. "Rest now, please. I'll see you in the morning."

ZZZ

About three in the morning, Diego woke up with the insisting banging on the wall, right over his head. Still feeling dizzy, he walked to the adjacent room to check on Pedro.

"Thank you for coming, Don Diego," María said. "I'm sorry to trouble you at this time of night, but my husband is not doing very well. He has a very high fever now and I don't know what to do to get it down. He's boiling."

"Have you tried cold compresses?"

"Yes, on his forehead. Not working."

"Let me see."

Diego checked Pedro's temperature with his hand over his hot, sweaty forehead, and then he had a look at the gunshot wound. As he suspected, it was oozing some foul material, the whole area was tender, and it also felt very hot. Pedro was unresponsive, delirious and agitated, but he flinched when Diego touched his abdomen, obviously in a lot of pain.

"I don't like this. I think he's got peritonitis."

"What? What is that? Is it serious?"

"It's the inflammation of the lining in the abdomen, around his guts. Very painful. And I won't lie to you: yes, it is serious."

María gasped then, taking her hands to her face, crying, and Diego tried to comfort her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I knew he was going to die!"

"Please, don't despair. That won't help him."

"Can you treat it? Should we call the doctor?"

"No, there is no need; I'll deal with this. I'm afraid the doctor won't do anything different tonight, and he needs his sleep, like the rest of us. He is only human, and we can't expect him to be available twenty-four hours every day. He said he'd be back in the morning, so we'll wait until then. After all, it's only a few more fours. In the meantime, I'll prepare a new poultice and another herbal remedy for your husband. Carry on with the cold towels, and apply some spirit on his hands and feet while I do that."

Still staggering, Diego got down to the lab at the cave and worked quickly, mixing the ingredients as fast as he could. While working with the pestle and mortar, grinding the ingredients in a way that reminded him of the slow spinning of his surroundings, he looked at the crate containing the coca leaves he had ordered more than two months ago, that had finally arrived from Peru the previous week, when he didn't need it anymore. After his addiction to those leaves and the cravings he suffered, he was apprehensive about them, and he had stayed away from them, even now, when they could have helped him with the pain caused by the bruises that covered his body, and the ache he felt deep in his ear. However, despite his own reservations, in this case he added some to the concoction for Pedro, and he also got the bottle containing the powder he had already extracted from the leaves to be used as a last resort, in case he would ever need it again as a medicine, or as a quick boost.

When he got back upstairs, he poured some of the herbal mix directly on the wound, applied the cold poultice over it, and rubbed some of the coca powder onto Pedro's gums, to act as a painkiller. Then, he sat on a chair by Pedro's side for the rest of the night, tending for him, considering taking some on the powder as well to stay awake, but he rejected the idea because he dreaded falling victim of the cravings again. In the morning, after several hours resting in an uncomfortable posture, his neck was sore and stiff, and he was so dizzy María had to help him to go back to his room.

ZZZ

"Diego, how are you this morning?" Don Alejandro asked when he walked into his bedroom. Victoria was already there, looking worried, and when Diego lifted his head slightly to look at him, he only needed a quick glance at his rolling eyes to know his son wasn't going to move from that bed for a while, probably for the whole day.

"If this room doesn't stop spinning around me soon, I'll be sick," Diego said, closing his eyes again. He was propped up on the pillows, and when his father entered the room, he had leaned forward a bit, trying to find a better posture to minimize the vertigo, but nothing he did seemed to help.

"That bad, ah? Well, the men are ready. We'll bring the horses back! You stay here resting, Son, and don't worry about anything."

"I really wanted to help you track the horses, but I can't. Sorry," he said, pushing back on the pillows again, upset, sliding his body down to lie flat on the bed, giving up.

"Don't apologize. I wasn't expecting you to do so, Diego. Actually, I wouldn't have let you come with us in your condition, even if you thought you'd be able to do so."

"You have been taking care of Pedro all night, querido," Victoria said, tucking him in, also rearranging the pillows for him. "You should take care of yourself now."

"How is he?" Don Alejandro said.

"I think he has peritonitis. Not looking good. But the doctor should be here soon," Diego said, yawning with his eyes still closed. Then, he opened them again to look at his father. "Be careful out there. Wait for Mendoza and the soldiers, and don't do anything stupid without back up, please."

"Oh, no, don't worry. We…" He got interrupted by the sound of the doorbell at the entrance. "That could be him. Excuse me," he said, leaving the room.

"I'll stay with you today, mainly to make sure you don't get any funny ideas about following your father," Victoria said with a cheeky smile, taking a seat by Diego's bed.

"If that is the reason, you are wasting your time, querida, because there's no way I can stand up without falling on my face," Diego said, upset, with a hand covering his eyes. Maldita sea.

ZZZ

Some of the dons and business owners arrived at the hacienda to inform Don Alejandro they had started a citizen's patrol at the pueblo, requesting his help to organize it. As his ranch hands were already waiting for him to go searching for the horses, Don Alejandro told them to go ahead without him, and that he'd follow them as soon as he could. Only Pablo and Felipe stayed at the hacienda with him, the former to guard it in case any other bandits would try to strike again, and the later to help taking care of the two sick men.

In the middle of their tactical discussion, the soldiers arrived at the hacienda. Mendoza joined the men at the library, finding out about the plans for the citizen's patrol.

"Don't you worry about anything, Don Alejandro," Mendoza said, oozing a very unusual self-confidence. "We'll find your horses, and Don Ernesto's. And we'll restore the peace in this pueblo. You'll see. There will be no need for a citizen's patrol."

"Sergeant, that sounds really good, but I think I'll take my chances on that patrol," said Antonio García, the farrier. "So far, they have not robbed my workshop yet, and I don't want to be the next one to lose everything I worked so hard for. If they take all my tools as they did at the leather crafter's, I'll be ruined."

"As you wish, señor García. Lancers, vámonos!" he cried, leading them out into the country side, following the initial hoofprints left behind by the small stampede the previous evening, the easy part before the thieves covered their tracks.

"What's up with him now? He doesn't look himself," said Don Javier, the owner of the largest herd of cows in the area, who was also afraid he was about to lose them to the bandits.

"He found confidence where he didn't know he had it," Don Alejandro said. "Now, how do we organize that patrol? Which areas will it cover?"

The men argued for about an hour on the best way to protect everybody in the area, with all the properties and goods. It would be easy to do it more or less efficiently at the pueblo, where they could raise the alarm quickly, but it would be more difficult to protect the haciendas, especially those located the further away from the pueblo.

After the group left, Don Alejandro got his weapons and headed for the stables, which looked eerily quiet now, with so many empty stalls. One of the occupied pens was Dulcinea's. The old don was glad the horse thieves had spare her, because they had focused on the stallions, so he still had his favourite ride available for the tracking. When he got her out, saddled and ready to go, Zeus neighed from the opposite end of the stables, looking desperate for some company.

"Don't worry, Zeus. We'll bring all the others back soon," he said, mounting the mare. When he got out of the stable, he spotted a dark horse galloping that way at full speed.

"I'll be damned… There he is!" Don Alejandro muttered to himself, with a smile on his face.

ZZZ

When they heard the long, loud and demanding neigh outside, Diego and Felipe looked at each other, recognizing that particular sound too well.

"That's Toronado," Diego said, pushing the bed covers out of the way to get up.

"Where do you think you are going?" Victoria said, frowning.

"I'm feeling better now. Don't you know how this works? The vertigo comes and goes all the time. Let me see what's going on, please," Diego said, standing up. He wasn't lying, because he could now walk in a more or less straight line, when he had been completely unable to stay up for five seconds only an hour before. When they got out, Don Alejandro was patting the black stallion's neck from the saddle, with a broad grin on his face.

"He escaped!" Don Alejandro said, hardly looking at them. "What a clever horse!"

"Yes, he is," Diego said.

"Diego! What are you doing up?" Don Alejandro cried then, also frowning when he realized Diego was meant to be in bed. "And half-naked!"

"I'm feeling a bit better."

"You are not coming!"

"I didn't say I would, did I? I just wanted to see if it was him," Diego said, also patting the horse. "Attaboy, Toronado!"

The black horse looked at him, as if surprised to see him in his sleepwear at that time of the day, barefoot and all. Then he neighed, bobbing his head, and pushed him towards his side, looking impatient when Diego didn't grab his mane and hopped on immediately, as he expected. He snorted then, stumping on the ground, biting his master's arm gently but firmly enough to guide him to his left side.

"Does he want you to ride him?" Victoria said.

"Yes, it looks like it," Diego said, patting the horse's wide, muscular neck one more time. "I'm sorry, boy, but I can't. The vertigo is coming back." He was feeling dizzy again, and he hated that helpless feeling, that frustrated him no end.

Toronado snorted again and walked a few steps back, stumping on the ground again with his right hoof. Then he bolted, running away, but he came back soon, stumping one more time, looking irritated by them all.

"He is very determined," Don Alejandro said, with his gloved hands resting on the saddle's pommel. "Don't worry, boy. I'll follow you."

Pablo joined them then, carrying his guns, also intrigued by all that neighing.

"What is he doing? Is he going to take us with the other stallions?"

"Yes, I think that's what he wants," Diego said. "But I can't go. My head is spinning again."

Toronado changed tactics then, and approached Felipe, also nudging him to get on his back, but the youngster also refused, because riding the boisterous stallion was hard work for him even with a saddle, let alone without one to balance on.

"I'll ride you, if you let me," Pablo said, approaching the stallion's flank. Toronado bobbed his head then, as if agreeing, and Pablo held onto his mane and jumped up graciously.

"Are you sure you can ride him bareback?" Don Alejandro said.

"Of course I can. My mother said I was born with a horse between my legs, like the best Indians from the north tribes," he said, grinning.

"Not even a bridle?"

Toronado neighed again and turned around too fast, setting Pablo off balance, but he recovered quickly using his legs and sat straight in the middle, trying to stop the stallion with his body weight when Toronado cantered forward, away from the hacienda, ignoring his command. Without a bridle to guide him, and for the way the horse was ignoring him, he knew all he could do was relax and stay on his back, wherever he would take him.

"Holy shit! Come on, Dulcinea, follow them!" Don Alejandro said, spurring his mare to a gallop.

"Shit, indeed…" Diego said, worried. At least, from the distance he could see Pablo didn't brag: he was an excellent rider, with a very good, balanced seat, and he should be all right to ride his pride and joy, even without his tack. "Help me back inside, please. Quick."

"Your eyes are rolling again," Victoria said, matter-of-factly.

"No shit. I hadn't noticed!" Diego said, sarcastic, holding onto Felipe to avoid falling to a side. "Please, drag me back to bed." Shit, indeed.

ZZZZZ