A.N. – Finally, an update for this story! (it took me only 5 months… Oops). My apologies for the delay, but the Muse dumped my inspiration in the A-Team fandom, where I got lost writing a story that took much longer than anticipated. I also ended up writing a piece of A-Team comedy-porn filth to make the absence a bit longer, and now I started another story there, but enough is enough, and I must finish this one before I keep indulging myself maiming those guys (there is four of them, so the maiming possibilities multiply x4 comparing to Zorro, or at least x2, if I consider Diego a different person, ;)
The voices have refused to give me a good finale for this one, the cheeky buggers. My first "writer's block". (I guess it was time.) But hopefully, I'm now back in track to wrap this up somehow, with a more or less realistic behaviour for "brave Mendoza", and Diego's realization that life can go on without Zorro. Or so I hope.
Enjoy the last chapters, and please, review if you can, and let me know what you think. Thanks for your patience.
Chapter 78 – El Cañón Perdido
Mendoza didn't have a clue on how to track the horses. However, when they lost the obvious, initial track of hoofprints, he had an idea. He split the group of soldiers in pairs, and he sent them all in different directions to cover the largest extension of ground possible. Everybody was to report back to that same spot at noon, so that way the whole group could attempt to recover the horses if anybody could find them, as they had no way to communicate to each other while searching the uneven terrain. Unless they used horns, or a bugle, or some other noisy instrument, which was completely pointless if they wanted to take advantage of the surprise factor against the bandits.
Paired up with Corporal Sepúlveda, they headed southeast, towards el Cañón Perdido, that in theory would be a good place to gather a group of horses and keep them under control.
"The Lost Canyon". What a fitting name, because it was far away, and the access was difficult. Mendoza hoped they didn't get lost trying to get there, because that would be too embarrassing.
"Sepúlveda, are you sure you know how to get to el Cañón Perdido?"
"Of course, Sergeant. Trust me."
"All right, but if we end up in San Diego, it will be your fault!"
"No need to worry. Honest."
Despite Sepúlveda's confidence, unsurprisingly, after nearly two hours of riding into the wild, off-road, they realized they were lost.
ZZZ
Pablo was having trouble staying on Toronado, as the horse galloped at top speed to whichever destination he was taking him. He tried to slow him down several times, pulling from the mane and using his body weight to pull back, but the black stallion ignored his commands and carried on.
It would have been easier with a bridle. At least he should have got a bridle on to control him, and not take off like that, showing off, bragging he could ride any horse like an Indian, with no tackle whatsoever. That was a stupid move, but the horse was too keen to rush off, not waiting to have anything on, as if he had no time to lose to show them something.
Don Alejandro was also having trouble to keep up with them. Dulcinea was a fantastic mare, fast as any stallion, but she was lagging behind Toronado, and she was getting tired.
"Pablo, slow him down!" Don Alejandro cried behind him.
"I'm trying! He won't have it!"
"You have to, because I think he's heading for the ravine!"
"What?"
Oh, no. His boss was right. It looked like Toronado was taking a shortcut to jump over the ravine to cut a few miles while traveling southwest, instead of following the longer, safe route. Everybody knew Zorro used that spot all the time to lose the soldiers on the chase, but he didn't want to risk his life doing that crazy stunt! And even less without a saddle and the support of the stirrups!
"Toronado, para!" he shouted then, pulling from his mane as hard as he could, leaning back so much he nearly touched his rump with the back of his head. "Stop!"
But Toronado, once again, ignored him. Pablo considered sliding off his back in a more or less controlled manner, but he decided against it. He didn't fancy hitting the ground at that speed, so he continued tenaciously holding onto that horse's back like a tick to a dog's.
Oh, boy. I'm about to jump over the ravine on Toronado! he thought, with a funny mix of fear, horror, and elation. Well, at least he knew the horse was perfectly capable of doing such thing. Which made him wonder how it was for Don Diego the first time he tried it, and how desperate he must have been to attempt the jump, risking his life like that, when he didn't know if the horse would manage the distance, or if he would refuse the jump, making him fly over his ears and into the empty space, to his death. Oh, there we go. Oh, shit. Shit!
Toronado speeded up a bit more and jumped over the void with ease. Pablo held onto him for dear life, which was fine for the first part of the jump, but on landing, when he felt somehow weightless and airborne, not in contact with the horse's back anymore, he ended up bouncing off him when they reached the other side, hitting the ground hard. At least, he had made the jump, and didn't fall into the ravine. Despite the pain he felt in his badly injured shoulder, managing that feat put a half-smile on his face as he lay in the ground surrounded by a cloud of dust.
Don Alejandro halted Dulcinea at the other side of the ravine, not attempting to jump.
"Pablo! Are you alright?" he cried, alarmed when he saw him immobile on the ground. "Pablo!"
Pablo sat up slowly then, holding onto his left shoulder. With that kind of pain, he feared the collar bone could be broken, as Diego also thought when he fell off Apollo during the race.
"I'll live. Bloody hell, Toronado. Are you trying to kill me?"
Toronado returned to the edge of the ravine and neighed, calling Dulcinea, who answered him back, sounding kind of indignant. They engaged then in an odd, equine conversation that could have gone like this: "Come on, sweetie pie, don't be silly, jump! I know you can do it!" "Are you nuts? No way I'm jumping that, penco loco!"
After a few neigh exchanges, Toronado went back a short distance to get some impulse, and he jumped again to join Dulcinea at the other side, pushing her to go back, away from the ravine.
Brilliant. Crazy horse... Now, leave me here on my own, and injured. Just what I need, Pablo thought, standing up with some difficulty, in slow motion, quite wobbly on his legs. His shoulder and back hurt terribly, but at least he hadn't banged his head badly, or broken his neck. It could have been worse, much worse.
"It looks like he is trying to convince your mare to make the jump," Pablo said, looking at the horses as they pushed each other. "Are you up to it?"
"No! Well, hum… I don't know. I have to confess: I always wondered how it would feel doing this," Don Alejandro admitted with a nervous smile.
"Don't think. Just do it. But remember to sit back with your feet forward on landing, or you may fall like I did."
Don Alejandro guided Dulcinea to walk away from the ravine, as Toronado wanted. When they were far enough, the black stallion ran back to the edge and jumped again, calling the mare from the other side.
"Alright, there we go, Dulcinea. No fear, come on, sin miedo," he said, patting the mare's neck. "You can do it. Show him. Don't let him tell you otherwise."
With a frantic heart, he spurred the mare towards the edge, praying the stunt would go well, and he let her do the job. He leaned forward when the mare took off, looking only at the front, and not down into the void, and remembered to sit back on landing as Pablo said. The result was a clean, exhilarating jump, that made him yell, punching the air with joy.
"Yay! I made it! Woo hoo!"
He halted the mare, patting her neck enthusiastically, and jumped off the saddle to help Pablo.
"Well done, Boss," Pablo said, patting his shoulder with his good arm while keeping the other one bent, close to his waist.
"Are you alright? Is your arm broken?"
"I don't know. It hurts, I think the collar bone may be broken, yes. Hopefully not."
"Can you carry on? Because Toronado looks very keen to continue."
"I can try. Crazy horse… I should have saddled and bridled him. This way of ridding without tack for so long is ridiculous! I thought we were heading somewhere closer."
"You are doing fine. Who else but you could jump over that ravine ridding bareback? Not even a drunken Zorro would try that."
"I am amazed how your son tried this crazy shit on the first place!"
"Yes, me too. Me too..." Don Alejandro said, making a mental note to ask Diego about it. "But well, this way, we cut a few miles on the way to wherever Toronado is taking us."
Don Alejandro helped Pablo to climb again onto Toronado's back, and then he mounted Dulcinea, ready to carry on. At least, this time the black horse ran slower, taking more care of his rider, rather than setting off at crazy speed again. Maybe Dulcinea's disgruntled complaints about his haste had something to do with it as well.
ZZZ
Diego could not leave the bed that morning, feeling so dizzy and sick with the persistent vertigo there was no way in the world he could have helped his father tracking the horses.
When the doctor arrived, he said he didn't know how he could help him, and that he should be patient, rest, and stay calm, because the vertigo would ease off eventually. But Diego was feeling anything but patient and calm. And now, with all the men gone, including Pablo, if the bandits returned to take the remaining horses, only Felipe and the doctor were available to repel that attack. Quite a worrying thought.
Mid-morning, Pedro started screaming with the pain. Diego could not stand the desperate howling noises coming from the adjacent room, feeling so sorry for that man, and unable to help him. With a bullet in the stomach, it could take a few days of agony before he would die with the peritonitis, and the doctor could not do much for Pedro either but to increase the dose of laudanum, adding another herbal mix to keep him quite sedated while giving his body a chance to fight back and recover from that wound.
"Poor man. Thank God he has calmed down now," Victoria said when the crying stopped, with tears in her eyes. "That reminded me of Tomás Rodríguez and the way he cried during his last days, begging for someone to shoot him and put him out of his misery, remember?"
"Yes, but that unfortunate man had cancer in his bones, that spread to his body. It was a hopeless case, and he died in terrible pain. Pedro can still make it. I want to be hopeful."
"Yes, me too. Rest now, querido, please, and don't worry about anything, as the doctor said," she said then, tucking him in as a baby, kissing his forehead.
"Easier said than done, but yes, I'll try, thank you, dear," he said, closing his rolling eyes again while the room spun around him a bit faster.
This would be a trial for los angeleños and the lancers: will they be able to defend themselves without Zorro's help? He hoped so, or the pueblo was doomed.
ZZZ
"Hey, look, Sergeant, I can see two riders down there," Sepúlveda said, looking at the two figures in the distance. The soldiers were higher up, over a large hill, trying to decide which way to go. "It looks as if they know where they are going. Not like us."
"Who are they?" Mendoza said, covering the glare of the blinding sun with his hand over his eyes.
"I don't know. They are too far away. But one of the horses is black."
"Oh, yes. It's black. It's Toronado."
"¿Are you sure that's Toronado? It could be Don Diego's new horse, which was stolen with the others," Sepulveda said, unaware they were the same one. "So, those could be the horse thieves."
"No, I'm sure that's Toronado."
"How do you know?"
"Can't you see the difference? The higher, more self-important and proud stance of the head, that distinctive, powerful gait… Don Diego's is just a black horse. It looks more like a mule in comparison."
"If you say so… But Zorro left the territory. Why would Toronado still be here, with another rider? Because don't tell me that man, whoever that is, is Zorro without the black clothes."
"Sepúlveda, I had enough of your silly questions and having to justify my judgement! That black horse is Toronado, and that's it! If you can't see it, you need to visit an optician. And I don't know who the rider is, but that's not Zorro. For starters, Zorro is taller. Come on, let's follow them, quick."
"All right. Whatever. But I hope they lead us to water, because I'm so thirsty I could drink a lake," the corporal said, shaking the last drop off his empty canteen.
"I told you not to drink it all in one go, didn't I?"
"Yes. But, how will we go back to report on time, at noon, if we don't even know which way to take to return there?"
"Don't worry about that. I'm in charge now, remember? I won't reprimand myself for being late!"
"Yeah, that's true... Good job I'm with the Commander in Chief of the garrison this time."
"Sepúlveda, shut up or I'll blame you for this, because: who said he knew the way? You. If I was the alcalde, I would hang you in the plaza by the ears when we return."
"Lucky me, you are not the alcalde, Sergeant."
"Oh, come on, let's go. Enough with the moaning. If we are not careful, they'll vanish before we catch up with them."
ZZZ
"I can't believe it!" Don Alejandro said. "Here they are, my horses, Don Ernesto's, and a few others, all kept together at the Lost Canyon. How did these horse thieves manage to cover their tracks so well?"
"I have no idea, but they did."
They had arrived at the canyon, at the top, to an advantage point that allowed them to check the situation from above. They dismounted and lay low while monitoring the situation, pondering what to do.
"I have no idea where the others are, to give us a hand," Don Alejandro said, talking about his men. "Obviously, they didn't follow the prints this way, did they?"
"What are we going to do? There are too many, and we can't take them on only between us, armed with a couple of lousy pistols and rifles," Pablo said. "What about the lancers? Where are they?"
"Nowhere to be seen either."
"We should go back and get some help."
The moment he said that, Toronado ran away.
"Crazy horse… Well, at least you should go back. I'll stay watching them. I think these men will try to move the horses soon. They can't stay around for much longer, risking being found."
They stood up, and when they turned around, they froze on the spot.
"Stop right there!" said the man aiming a rifle at them. "Put your hands up!"
ZZZ
"We breed men of steel in Los Angeles."
Mendoza could not get those words out of his head. They resonated there, insistently, nearly all the time since the previous evening, since Don Alejandro reminded him he once said those words. But, what on earth possessed him to say that at the Devil's Fortress? Was it the inner strength that lay dormant within, the strength that would only come out to play at times of crisis, like this one? Because most of the times he didn't feel of steel. If anything, he felt more… like jelly. Or a crumbling cookie. Although, in recent times, he had felt somehow braver than usual. He had confronted the late, crazier than ever Luis Ramón, for example, and he stood up for himself.
Could it be true, that cowardice was only optional, and he could become a man of action, a brave and daring man, like Zorro, like he always wanted to be when he was a kid? Like the Mendoza of his dreams, the star of the colourful, bold fantasies he bragged about in the tavern, for the audience. Could that be possible? Because Don Diego didn't look extraordinary. He had always pictured the man behind that black mask as a God-like mythical figure. But Don Diego was only a man, and a faulty one, at that, quite on the cowardly side, like himself. Did that mean he could also have a brave side of himself waiting to be released? And, how could he do that? Don Diego put on a black mask and a hat, but, how could he take the leap into that new, bold and courageous, clever man? Tricky. But, whichever way was needed, today would be a great day to start that transformation.
Last night, after listening to Don Alejandro's harangue, he had an epiphany, and the transformation had already begun. He could only hope the new, bold and audacious Mendoza, would last long enough to free el Pueblo de Los Angeles and restore the peace until the new alcalde arrived. He had to get rid of the avalanche of low-lives that had taken over, and then, everything will fall into place. If he didn't get killed by the first bullet that came his way…
Nah, that won't happen. Don Diego has been dodging bullets for ever, until he encountered mine. I'll be the same.
Easy-peasy, starting by finding and retrieving Don Alejandro's horses. Without Zorro's help. He could do it. After all, we breed men of steel in Los Angeles.
ZZZZZ