My thanks to PamZ. Her transcripts contribute significantly to the creation of this story.

Every word you recognize from the series isn't mine.

Chapter 4

"Señorita Escalante!" Diego happily cries, surprised as he opens the front door.

She has come to the hacienda as quickly as possible to let don Diego know what a horrible fate awaited his father. Without waiting for the invitation, she steps inside.
"Your father has been sentenced to death." Victoria comes straight to the point.

Diego feels a cold shiver slide down his spine. "What!"

Her words come out of her mouth like a waterfall. "The alcalde... he has sentenced your father to death along with four others. Tomorrow morning he will be hanged." Pleadingly, she looks at Diego. "You must stop him."

Diego fails to hide his anger and exasperation at hearing so much injustice. "He can't do that!"

Emotional Victoria utters. "Oh yes, he can. He is the alcalde and thinks he can do anything. What can we do? If only we knew how to reach this Zorro. If he knows about it, I'm sure he would come and help."

At dawn, that left him with fifteen hours. That was going to be tight. Diego put his hand on Victoria's shoulder. "I'll think how best to act. I am sure it will be fine."
Diego almost pushed Victoria out the door. The front door slammed shut behind her. Victoria stared at the door with an open mouth in amazement. She was disappointed in his reaction. Did Diego realise what she had said? What was she supposed to do?

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Diego turned to go to the cave and found Felipe behind him.
"Did you hear?" Of course, Felipe had heard. He had been standing right behind him. "Come. We need to come up with a plan." Diego walked to the fireplace, pulled the handle, and a hidden door opened.

Inside the cave, Felipe gestured that he was quite willing to drive Zorro to the pueblo for a second time.

Diego wanted no part of this.
"Felipe, it's too dangerous. Ramon would be crazy if he didn't order the lancers to be more alert. The chances of you getting recognised are too high. Someone might have seen you yesterday and put one and one together.

Felipe sighs. He knows Diego is right but don Alejandro is almost like a father to him in need of Zorro. He gestures to Toronado.

"That will not work either. To ride Toronado without any training is suicide."

Felipe pretended to hold reins in his hands, moved his hands and beckoned outside.

"Using one of the other horses is not a good idea. I am sorry. The animal can get recognised. No, Zorro needs an impressive entrance." Diego thought deeply. An idea began to brew in the back of his mind. "Felipe, go to the stable and get at least a hundred feet of sturdy rope. About half an inch thick. Then come back and help me behind the cave."

Felipe looked questioningly.

"Zorro will make an entrance that will become the talk of the town for a long time. Be prepared for a busy day and short night."

Diego hurries out of the cave. For his idea to succeed, he needed a large amount of dumb luck. He made a short prayer that his father had not given away what he needed in recent years.
He walked to the room that used to belong to his mother. The only one who ever came here occasionally was Maria, the housekeeper. And only to make sure it didn't get neglected. Against the end of the bed were two oak blanket chests. In the first one, Diego found what he was hoping to find, a large piece of black cloth. The reason for entering his mother's room brought back less pleasant memories.

After the death of his grandfather, his mother had ordered a roll of black satin from Monterey to get made into suitable mourning garments. Unfortunately, before the material had arrived and his mother could place the order to make some dresses from it, she had become bedridden and never recovered. This sad affair ensured he had exactly what he needed for his plan.

Diego brought the fabric to the cave and went out through the back entrance. Felipe came to keep him company. "I need some long, preferably somewhat bendable branches." He explained to the boy.

Why? Felipe wanted to know.

"I'll show you that when we return to the cave. It's a bit tricky to explain without the drawing."

After a long search, Diego was finally satisfied by the result of the number of branches ranging in length from four to twelve feet.

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Victoria did not know what else she could do. The area around Los Angeles was expansive. A man could travel for days and never come across someday. She had no idea where Zorro could be hiding or where to start a search. So with no better option, Victoria had gone to the padre for advice. The padre had advised her to keep a low profile. With five executions scheduled for the following day, it was better not to stand out. The news that the alcalde had sentenced the men to death spread with lightning speed.

"I have heard of the man you refer to. This…, what does he call himself?"

"Zorro," Victoria said patiently.

"Zorro, si, a fox. Señorita, listen to me. The alcalde really doesn't expect the people to simply let this happen. All the lancers will be present in the plaza, fully armed. No matter how cunning this eehh..,"

Victoria helped the padre for the second time."Zorro."

"Zorro can be. He doesn't stand a chance against so much superiority. All we can do is try to limit the bloodshed as much as possible and pray. I will talk to the alcalde. Maybe I can persuade him to be more cautious with his soul."

Victoria marched stampeding out of the church. She knew that the padre meant well. It was hard to accept he still believed that talking could bring Ramon to see reason. It wasn't like that had ever helped before.
She kicked against the fountain in the middle of the plaza. So, the padre did not think Zorro could handle the lancers. But he did believe that he could bend the alcalde to reason. Her opinion was both tasks were equally impossible.

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For the second night in a row, don Alejandro spends the night in jail. For the first few hours, he still held out hope that, once again, this el Zorro would make his appearance.
Through the bars, he saw that the alcalde had tripled the men standing guard. He remembered his son's scepticism and Victoria's comments. Why would an outlaw care about him or Los Angeles?
As the night wore on, he began to give in to despair. For a brief moment, the future of Los Angeles had looked more hopeful than in the past two years.

Around five in the morning, a lancer came to bring his last breakfast. Don Alejandro felt the irony of this gesture. It was ridiculous that a man sentenced to death got allowed to die on a full stomach. It really made no sense at all. This meal would have been better given to a child whose parents had no money to buy even a bag of grain for bread. This meal wasn't going to help him.
Alejandro hoped his son, helped by the other dons, someday would find a way to overrule Ramon.
Don Alejandro knew just what Diego had to do. His son had to make sure the governor would hear of this warrantless execution. With any luck, the governor would not tolerate that Ramon had sentenced a respected don to death without trial and dismissed Ramon from his post. At least then, his death would serve some purpose.

Most of Alejandro's other thoughts were for his beloved Felicidad. If he died, he was to see the woman he still loved dearly after years of loneliness again.

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Victoria felt tears, burning with anger, despair and yet sadness. The tyranny of alcalde Ramon has reached its peak. She had thought Zorro would again come to the pueblo to save the don.
It was dawn, and the masked man was nowhere to be seen.

Don Alejandro had always been a most respected member of the community. He was known as a fair patron and natural leader of the community. It was so unfair what was about to happen. Just an hour ago, she had held out hope that don Diego would be able to do something. He could have challenged the alcalde to duel or something like that. But like Zorro, Diego remained silent. She felt a hint of disappointment. Victoria had expected more of the don in order to help his father.

She watches as the prisoners are led out. The crowd scans slogans like injustice, stop tyranny, and freedom. However, no one really dares to stand out. Even the other dons seem intent on just letting this crime happen. She cannot stand it. Someone has to do something.
And if no man was willing, she would do it herself.
Using her elbows and throwing her weight into the fray, Victoria struggles further forward until she gets free from the crowd. She runs towards don Alejandro. Halfway there, a lancer grabs her arm and pulls her back again. She shouts. "Don Alejandro, they can't do this to you!"

He has heard her. His hands are tied behind his back. His clothes are creased, the buttons of his vest are loose, and the bottom of his shirt is hanging out of his trousers. Physically, he still exudes as much pride as ever. Alejandro de la Vega is going to die like a noble cabellero. "Strength, Victoria. Show them your strength!"

Ramon stands between Alejandro and Victoria. Challengingly, he points his finger in her direction. "Spare your friend's life. Give me the name of the man wearing the black mask, and I will spare the lives of all these men.

She was not going to be intimidated by the man. Whoever he was, Zorro had saved her. She owed him something. "Even if I knew his name, I wouldn't make a deal with the devil himself!"

"Why do you insist on protecting a common criminal?"

"There is only one real criminal here!"

"Señorita, I am the alcalde!" Ramón turns away from Victoria, walks to the gallows and raises his arms. "Listen!" He stands halfway up the steps of the gallows. "My dear Los Angelicas. Yesterday, in the dead of night, the safety of our pueblo was threatened by the raid of a masked bandit who released some vicious prisoners. This masked bandit calls himself El Zorro. He will soon seek refuge in justice. My men are on his trail and are about to approach him."

Victoria shakes to extricate herself from the grip with which the lancer still holds her. If there is anything she can't stand, it is lies and injustice. If Ramon wanted to see this sham trial through, then it was her self-appointed task to make make sure everyone at least knew the truth. Victoria shouted so that her voice rose above the crowd. "That's a lie! Your men are terrified of him. He is smarter than your entire garrison."

Ramon looks disdainfully at the tiny woman with the largemouth. He planned to deal with her later. "He wears a mask. He lets criminals go free. He himself is a criminal. Any citizen who brings evidence leading to the capture of this Zorro will be rewarded. Any traitor who helps him escape will hang with him on my gallows."

Victoria gets loose and runs closer to the gallows. The lancer who had tried to control her runs after her and grabs her again. "Tell the truth, alcalde! Last night, Zorro helped us. He is on our side. And now we must help him."

Ramon. "I am warning you, señorita."

Victoria turns and looks at Ramon defiantly. "Or what? Are you going to arrest me again? Hang me as well? You are afraid of Zorro, aren't you?"

"I'll show you how scared I am." Ramon walks down the stairs, stands directly in front of don Alejandro and says in a commanding tone. "Prepare the gallows."

Don Alejandro is not in the least impressed. To him, this very display of power showed the alcalde's weakness. Besides, he has nothing to lose. "You are a fool, Ramon. My death, the death of each of us, will only strengthen the will of the people."

Ramon feels the insult in the don's words. His nostrils dilate. He will show the old fool who was in charge here. "Who wants to die first..? Volunteers...? Don Alejandro, do you want to die first?"

Don Alejandro straightens his back, "Gladly. Your gallows scare me far less than the fear you will suffer after my death!"

People are no longer watching the scene between the alcalde and the don. Their attention was drawn to something else. More and more people are looking into the sky. Sergeant Mendoza looks up and makes a sign of the cross. "Madre de Dios."

Floating through the air is a huge black object. At the bottom of this giant weird object hangs a man. It reminds Victoria of an immense bird. The man who calls himself Zorro can fly!

At first, Ramon's face is pure amazement. Then it turns into an evil grimace. He starts handing out orders. "Fire! Fire at him!"

The lancers fire their rifles. Some manage to hit the skeleton of the remarkable winged object. Zorro himself remains unharmed. Once fired, their guns are worth nothing. With swords drawn, the lancers storm forward.

The alcalde shouts. "Kill the man!"

The gathered crowd excitedly starts yelling and cheering. No one knows who this Zorro is. What they do know, this is a spectacle like nothing they have ever seen. Something they will tell their grandchildren about many years from now. People start shouting. "Zorro, Zorro, Zorro!"

Mendoza looks from the alcalde to Zorro, who has landed on the ground and is fighting the lancers one by one as he turns back to the alcalde.
He is scared. "But alcalde, that's the man from last night! That's Zorro!"

"I can see that! What does it matter? You are a soldier. You trained to kill the enemy. Get him!"

Victoria notices Ramon has totally forgotten the prisoners. His full attention is on Zorro. She takes a few steps forward and starts untying first don Alejandro and then the other captives. "Get out of here!" She cries out to the men.

Zorro has his sword in his right hand and in his left hand a long leather whip. One lash to another sound. The lancers don't dare to try to get closer to the masked man out of fear of being hit by the ten-foot-long weapon. "I am Zorro. Friend of all those who supports freedom. And an enemy of those who supports tyranny." At this, he looks Ramon straight in the eye.

Ramon is outraged in anger. "Get him! He is ours!"

Zorro lashes the whip twice more, and the lancers dance back and forth, trying to avoid the whip.

"Stay there!" Ramon unsheathed his sword. "He's just a man. I will prove it to you. I'll make him bleed!"

Ramon attacks Zorro with his sword. Zorro dodges the punch, and Ramon runs past him, almost stumbling. Zorro draws his sabre and salutes. He goes on the attack, and Ramon tries to fend him off but is driven backwards. Zorro pushes Ramon and kicks him towards the fountain. Ramon stumbles but gets back up and attacks again. Zorro drives him to the fountain again and knocks Ramon's sword out of his hand. Zorro aims his sabre at Ramon's throat.

"Arrest those men again for no reason, and I'll put your neck in the noose."

Ramon staring at the sword whose point pricks his neck uncomfortably, says fiercely. "I'll hunt you down."

"Fine. But the tavern belongs to señorita Escalante, comprende?"

Anxiously, Ramon nods in agreement before speaking angrily. "I will watch you hang. I will torture you. I will shoot you."
To his frustration, Zorro smiles, not the least bit intimated by the treats.

"You surprise me, alcalde. You made everyone believe you are a man of great control and prestige. But now you don't represent so much."

Ramon turns around, searching for his fallen sword. As he bends down to pick it up, Zorro cuts a 'Z' into the tail of his coat and takes off. Ramon jumps up again and looks around at Zorro as people laugh at him. He angrily walks back to his office. Don Alejandro and Victoria turn around and find Zorro standing on the tavern's roof.

Everyone is silent, still stupefied by what they have just seen and heard. A single man has managed to save six men from the gallows, overpower a dozen trained soldiers, challenge, defeat and humiliate the alcalde, and Zorro himself has come away unscathed.

Don Alejandro, to most, the true leader of the pueblo, takes the floor. "Señor Zorro!"

Zorro raises his hand to signal that he hears the don.

"Please, remove the mask so we can see the man to whom we owe so much," He said.

"Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see justice done and my true identity revealed. Unfortunately, we can only hope that day will soon arrive. Stand strong, stand together!" Zorro saluted and jumped down.

An echo of terror echoed across the plaza. Did Zorro jump to his own death?

Diego lands on the wagon with a thick layer of hay. And quickly shoots into the stable, where Felipe is already waiting for him, helping to change clothes at lightning speed.
Esperanza is waiting.

At a gallop, Diego leaves the pueblo by the side, rides around it in a semi-circle and comes riding under the entrance gate while shouting loudly. "Stop! Stop the execution! Stop!" Diego jumps off his horse before it has come to a halt.

During his absence, the alcalde reappeared. In a tired tone that betrays irritation, he asks. "What is it you want, de la Vega?"

"I want you to stop the execution." From a saddlebag, Diego takes out a thick book. "I have discovered that a prisoner not officially wanted by the authorities may not be executed without a trial." Diego pushes the book into the hands of the alcalde and points at somewhere on the page. "It is right there. Law two hundred eighteen, point nine, B. At the bottom of this page." Diego glares to see no one standing near the gallows. "I am glad to be on time."

The alcalde began to chuckle, first softly, then louder and louder until he roared. "You've come to save your father? How noble of you. Too bad you are late, though."

"What do you mean too late?" Diego's eyes search for his father, and relief drips off his face when don Alejandro steps forward out of the crowd.

Don Alejandro approached laughing and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Good to see you, son. I think, from this moment on, our esteemed alcalde will think twice before sentencing someone to the gallows. Am I correct, señor alcalde?"

In all his innocence, Diego exclaimed in amazement. "Is it really? Alcalde, that sure is good to hear. I am most willing to help you should you encounter any problems understanding Spanish law. Not that I am an expert on the matter but..,"
Diego moans in pain at how hard Ramon pushes the book into his arms and stomach.

Ramon walks furiously back to the cuartel.

"What is up with him?" The don asks no one in particular.

Victoria comes to stand beside Diego. "It was Zorro to whom we are indebted."
She forgave Diego for his absence. To his credit, the man tried to find a way to save his father.

.

Now that Zorro had made his grand entrance, the people of Los Angeles could not stop talking about it. Don Alejandro convened yet another meeting with the dons. The other dons react sceptically to the appearance of the masked man. Alejandro fervently defends the man who saved his life twice and insists that Zorro wanted to help Los Angeles. In the end, the dons decide to give Zorro the benefit of the doubt. So far, there is no reason to think otherwise.

After this latest entrance, only one man no longer questioned Zorro's intentions. He immediately issued a search warrant and placed a reward of five hundred pesos on the man's head. He further ordered the lancers to look out during patrols for the bandit. Zorro seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

Two days later, Diego looked at the board next to the cuartel where the wanted posters hung, of those carrying a price on their heads. It was a strange experience to see a drawing of his alter ego hanging among them. He was considered a criminal in the land that was in his heart. However, his first goal had been achieved. Luis Ramon could no longer deny Zorro was a threat to his tyrannic rule.

.

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I am roughly working out what I intend to do with the other episodes I had planned to use.
It's a confusing process to get everything somewhat right.
For example, Zorro enters Los Angeles with the delta kite and leaves on Toronado.
A wild stallion that he had captured less than a day before. I know little about horses, but it seems to me that it is impossible to have a wild horse tamed and saddled within a day.

I've changed the order of the episodes S1E1 to S1E7 to make them better fit my story.

Everything you recognise from the series is not from my hand, and I owe a lot of thanks to Pam Z.