Author's note: It's time for don Alejandro to face his past choices...
Chapter 8. Sins of the Fathers ...
"Come in!" Resounded from inside the alcalde's officein response to the soldier's knocking.
The sentry by the door opened it for the visitors, and two lancers led don Alejandro inside. The older caballero took a few steps inside and froze. A couple of days after being taken over by the royal envoy, the room looked like a tornado had passed through it. Tax and reporting books, previously neatly arranged in trunks and on shelves, were now piled up in shaky heaps on the floor and desk. Some of them were opened at various pages, from others, closed ones, pieces of scraps, cloths, and string were sticking out – as if someone browsing through them was marking places with whatever fell into his hand. For don Alejandro, who had already spent a few busy afternoons tidying up de Soto's notes with the other caballeros and trying to compute how much of the money in the safe was to be returned to the governor as tax due, and how much to be returned to the robbed residents of Los Angeles, the sight of such chaos was a shock.
Something of what he felt must have been imprinted on his face.
"Fear not," said Risendo. "Before I leave, everything will return to its place, whether here or at the hacienda."
The caballero looked around. The colonel was seated comfortably in the old alcalde armchair, pushed back from his desk, resting his boots on the edge of the desktop, almost obscured by a pile of books, each open and turned with its cover up. A second pile of volumes was piled up at his feet, and don Alejandro was amazed to recognize their covers. These were his own records.
Now he looked around the room more carefully, and saw that the mess was apparent after all. The alcalde's registers, taken from their usual places, lay only on the desk, and the foils stacked on the floor were undoubtedly brought from the houses of other caballeros. He recognized the ones bound in dark-red leather. They were from Esteban's office. There were others piled up next to it, which must have belonged to don Tomaso. They were pushed against the wall, which probably meant that their owners had already been questioned.
"Go back to your post," the envoy told the soldiers. They disciplinedly turned and left.
The door clicked. There was silence for a long moment in the office. There was only the soft rustle of the pen as the colonel moved his fingers along the feather. Risendo twirled it between his fingers, stroke it, bending it slightly and straightening it. He seemed completely engrossed in it, but don Alejandro immediately remembered the meeting at the inn, where the envoy was playing with a piece of paper, and he was sure it was a game to throw him off, and the man was watching him from the corner of his eye, waiting for his reaction.
"So we can finally talk face to face, señor de la Vega," said Risendo at last.
"Finally?" Don Alejandro replied with a question. "Why do you say so? You could have met with me the very first evening."
"I preferred to wait," replied the colonel with an unpleasant scowl on his face. He took his legs off the desk and stood up. "But I must have forgotten my manners. Sit down, señor de la Vega" he pointed to the chair. "Sit down and be kind enough to give me some answers."
Don Alejandro shook his head.
"Before you start asking me questions," he replied, "answer one of mine. When will you release my son from custody?"
"We'll talk about that later."
"No. You arrested him, accusing him of duel murder. Even if it was not actually an accident, and, as his father, I tell you that he had not planned that death. Also, you should know that it does not matter what he felt about the man, your accusation will not stand before the magistrate! Royal law..."
"A royal order has made me executor of the king's will!" There was no longer a hint of kindness in Risendo's icy voice. "Sit down, de la Vega! If you want to know anything about your son's fate, sit down and start answering my" - he stressed – "questions!"
The caballero shuddered at the tone of the newcomer addressing him. Leaving Madrid years earlier, he felt he was leaving that story behind. The fund, in the hands of the banker, was to guarantee that Lino Risendo's son would never know who paid for his maintenance, education, and an officer's patent. Who felt obliged to take care, albeit superficially, of the family of a fallen soldier. It was one of the last things he had done when he left Spain with his wife and son, and he had stopped thinking about it years earlier, when he received a letter that the boy had grown up and used the money he had left for him to start a career in the military. Now his fate was in that boy's hands.
He never thought that Risendo could get promoted so quickly. But now, before him, sat a young man in the uniform of a colonel, mocking and hostile, a man in whose hands was the life of his only son...
At that moment, he realized that they were defenseless, he and Diego, and their only chance was to avoid provoking Risendo. So he took the place indicated without a word or gesture of disagreement, and waited.
The colonel took out a small sketch from under a book, and pushed it towards him.
"Who is this man?" He almost snarled the question.
Don Alejandro pursed his lips for a moment. He had not expected to see his brother's cameo in the hands of that young man. The royal envoy had to have searched his office at the hacienda.
"My brother, Alfonso de la Vega."
Risendo drummed his fingers on the desktop.
"I didn't think there were two de la Vegs in California," he said. "Where can I find him?"
"At the cemetery in Cuernavaca. For over thirty years."
"What happened?" For a moment, the royal envoy's face reflected surprise, disbelief, as if he had expected an entirely different answer. But he regained his composure immediately, only a slight squint of his eyes betraying how eagerly he was awaiting for don Alejandro's answer.
"My brother was shot dead during the Battle of Cuernavaca, over thirty years ago."
There was silence in the office for a moment.
"A soldiers' fate," Risendo said finally in a much calmer tone, even thoughtfully. "Speaking of which... Were you in Cadiz in 1788?"
"Yes."
"Your brother, too?"
"Alfonso had been dead for three years. I told you he died in..."
"In Cuernavaca," Risendo interrupted. "You didn't give the exact date."
"Are you interested in it?"
For a moment the envoy stared at the cameo. The fingers of one of his hands were trembling as if his willpower was keeping himself from crushing a faded page. But, at last, he let out a breath, calming himself down, and shook his head.
"No. Not anymore." He slid his thumbnail across the desk. "I will send this back to your hacienda with the books. Your landlady was more than helpful," he snorted with a sudden mockery. "She was telling my people which books they should take to prove your innocence, so she could probably put them all back in the right place."
He grimaced and put aside the portrait.
"Let's deal with what brought me here," he said, opening the alcalde registerto a pre-marked page. "Expense on securing a water source," he began. "A certain Luis Ramone wrote this. Can you tell me where that source was?"
Don Alejandro took in a deep breath. He didn't understand what had been the reason for which Risendo had asked about his dead brother, but he felt more confident when the obvious hostility vanished from the young man's voice. He could not be treated as an opponent, if he had even a chance to free Diego.
"Luis Ramone, our alcalde at the time, thought he would get rich by selling us water from the only source in the area during a drought..." he replied.
He spoke for a few moments when Risendo interrupted him and asked for information about something else entirely: the house that was supposed to belong to Sergeant Mendoza, and which had burned down so unexpectedly. Immediately afterwards, the envoy wanted to know everything about the bank robbery, and the trial at which Diego defended the alleged thief. The next questions were coming faster and faster, spoken in an increasingly aggressive tone, and Risendo changed the plot every now and then, interrupting Don Alejandro's answers. Hearing the tone of the colonel asking the questions, the older caballero became more and more convinced that Gilberto Risendo was more of his mother's son, not his father's. He remembered Inez's furious screams, and felt cold. Someone like her wouldn't spare Diego. Still, he had to try while there was even a chance that the woman's son was not so fierce in his hostility towards him.
"Enough!" He interrupted his questioning. "Your questions are leading us nowhere!"
"But they are, they are," replied the colonel. "You're the only one who doesn't have to know where I'm going."
Don Alejandro closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm down. If he judged the situation right...
"How much?" He asked.
"How much what?" Risendo replied with a question.
"I can see what you're getting at. How much do you want from us?" The caballero clarified. "From the pueblo in general and from de la Vegs in particular."
The colonel straightened sharply behind the desk as if struck. Slowly, he doubled up from the armchair, supporting himself on the tabletop. The wide fingers of both his hands seemed to twitch.
"Did I understand your question correctly, señor de la Vega?" He said in a low, hushed voice. "Are you trying to bribe the king's envoy?" The question was spoken louder, and Risendo leaned forward towards the older man. "Do you want me to arrest you?" The last question he hissed almost furiously.
"Didn't you already? Don Alejandro met his gaze. "Didn't you arrest the entire pueblo? Don't you intimidate people so that we won't dare to protest, whatever you decide? Isn't all this for us to pay you a ransom for our life and freedom?"
Risendo dropped back into the chair.
"This is what you expect from me?" He asked in an unexpectedly low voice, even gently, without taking his eyes off of the caballero. "What I'm asking does not matter to you? Do you think it's just a game on my part? That I ordered all of you to be imprisoned so that you would be more willing to pay me for a favorable sentence for you?"
"Is it not so?"
"Answer me one question, señor de la Vega. Would you offer such a ransom as you called it, to your alcalde or any other envoy to the governor?"
"You know the answer."
The colonel shook his head slowly.
"The Governor of California is going to be in for a very unpleasant surprise," he said thoughtfully, as if to himself. "And, for your information, my answer is: nothing. Absolutely nothing. I do not want anything from you, and I will not demand anything from you. Especially no money. I'm not one of your governor's greedy suckers. You can't bribe me. I am asking you because I am investigating more than a greedy captain and a fool who was the local alcalde. I have been given an assignment by the king, and intend to complete it; and your offer, señor, yours and the other caballeros', is an insult to me! Do you understand?" He asked, his voice full of barely suppressed fury again.
Don Alejandro inclined his head slightly in apology. The gesture brought a sudden smile on the colonel's face.
"My fame and my position are based on the fact that no one has yet managed to influence what I do during a mission," he said, more calmly, with undisguised pride. "I was given orders to clear things up here, in California, and I'll keep digging until I have all the answers. These books," he pointed to the piles, have already allowed me to find some of them, but there are still some that I can only hear from your mouth.
"Should I believe you?" Like Risendo, don Alejandro did not raise his voice. "Assume that an honest man finally came here?"
"Don't you want me to be honest?" The envoy sneered. "Wasn't your gift meant to protect me from the fate of a street thief?"
The older caballero inhaled sharply at this confirmation of his suspicions.
"You thought I wouldn't find out? I am a royal investigator, Colonel de la Vega," scoffed Risendo, recalling the former military title of don Alejandro. "My job is to discover the truth, and, believe me, I'm really skilled at it. Once I knew who paid for me, getting him to tell me everything was a child's play." He smiled unpleasantly. "I told you that I was waiting for this meeting and conversation, didn't I? So now I want to hear from you who my father was, and why you set a fund to support me."
"Why are you asking me about him?" Don Alejandro cooled enough to ask the question. "Didn't your mother tell you about him?"
Risendo jerked as if struck.
"What my mother told me I will not discuss with you," he growled. "Answer me!"
Don Alejandro bowed his head for a moment.
"Your father, Sergeant Lino Risendo, died in Cadiz," he replied, forcing himself to speak calmly as if he was telling a friend of old memories, hoping it would reassure the younger man. "Back then, in eighty-eight. He died from an accidental shot. He was returning from duty when a brawl broke out in a tavern he passed by. Someone was cheating at cards. Lino and two other soldiers tried to stop this card swindler, someone reached for a gun, and…" The elder de la Vega paused for a moment, letting the envoy hear the old sorrow at the loss of a comrade, subordinate, and friend before he resumed his story. "Your mother was already with you in Madrid, at my father-in-law's house. I sent her there at the sergeant's request, so that you'd live better than in a lowly inn. When she decided to leave" - the caballero looked sideways, trying to hide the lie – "I made sure she had an income that would allow her not to worry about having a roof over her head and about what to put in the pot the next day."
The recollection seemed to work, for the colonel was looking at the interlocutor much more calmly, without any apparent hostility.
"Why?" He asked. "Why did you take the time and money to care for the widow?"
"That was the only way I could repay the sergeant for his courage here in New Spain," don Alejandro replied sincerely. "In the same campaign my brother died, Lino Risendo managed to lead our squad out of the ambush and warn the others. I had no doubt then that if it hadn't been for him, I would have died on the battlefield with most of my people. For that feat he was promoted to sergeant. I hoped that, after returning from Cadiz, I would be able to obtain the rank of lieutenant for him. He deserved..."
Unexpectedly, Risendo made an unpleasant face.
"So you have honored the memory of my father, señor de la Vega, by giving charity to my mother?" He sneered. "And now you probably expect my gratitude for this generosity?"
"Charity?" Don Alejandro was surprised. "I wouldn't call it a charity! Rather a gift to honor your father's memory!"
"My father had no honor!" The colonel growled.
The older man's surprise turned to anger.
"Your father was a brave man! One of the best soldiers I have ever had under my command! If it wasn't for that stray bullet, I would have done anything to make him an officer, but he died a sergeant. All I could do was take care of his family, first referring your mother to my father-in-law's household, and then making sure you would not starve! And yes, making sure you too could become an officer, if you chose that path! And if we're talking about gratitude…" Don Alejandro paused for a moment, breathing deeply not to say too much about that woman. He couldn't do it right now, not when Diego is imprisoned. "If we're talking about gratitude, it's a matter between me and your mother," he said. "She can say that she is in my debt after what happened in Madrid."
Risendo shook his head as if stunned by this outburst of the caballero. A grimace of anger contorted his face.
"She? Indebted to you? For what? For forcing an unwanted marriage on her? Say, rather, that you have paid for the transgression of your own soldiers with that money! And this Risendo was the only one who agreed to give his name to the disgraced! And that's probably why you fulfilled his wishes in such a way!"
For a moment don Alejandro did not understand what the colonel was talking about. In the next moment his composure crumbled to dust. He sprang from his chair, rested his hands on the desk and tilted it.
"This woman can be grateful to me for not handing her over to the law when she was captured trying to kidnap my son!" He hissed straight into the younger man's face. "Perhaps you, Colonel, treat your people as obedient pawns, even in a small unit like this one here, but I have always known the heart of my subordinates. Especially when it came to a capable soldier like Lino!"
"Enough!" Risendo jumped up from his chair.
However, the older caballero was not going to be silent.
"Your father met and married a beautiful woman," he said emphatically. "He asked me to support his family, so I took care of a house in Madrid where she could live comfortably and respectfully. But she decided otherwise. When she was arrested in the street with my son under her coat, I decided that it was the despair after her husband's death that clouded her mind, and that was the only reason I refused to let her be imprisoned! But I made sure that after what she did, the money was for you, not for her. For your upbringing, education and officer rank!"
The colonel took a step back. He stared at the elder de la Vega for a long moment, visibly shaken. Finally he looked away and around the office. It kind of sobered him, and his face became an indifferent mask again. He sat down in the chair before looking back at don Alejandro, and slowly shaking his head.
"My mother doesn't remember your favor the same way you do," he drawled. "Do not try to delude yourself that, for the memory of that gift, I will make any concessions. Especially about your son."
That one word had an icy shower effect on the older caballero, reminding him of what the stake was.
"My son..." he began.
"Your alcalde is dead," Risendo reminded him. "And he killed him."
"It was a duel! And it was the alcalde who issued the challenged!"
"Enough! It's not about that de Soto anymore!" The envoy growled. "He, thanks to your son, at least had a quick end and has his name on a grave, instead of rotting down with the other inmates in Monterey! Because what I found here would have been enough to get him on a scaffold, or, at least, a life sentence in the silver mines!"
"You think I can believe that would have been the punishment for a few tax frauds?" Don Alejandro replied angrily. "The governor was of a different opinion. None of our complaints was answered with even the slightest rebuke!"
The colonel leaned forward.
"I already told you that the governor is in for a surprise – a very unpleasant surprise. I found enough evidence in these books to bring serious charges against him. As for that alcalde of yours…" Risendo paused for a moment. "The fact that he got involved in human trafficking with Monsangre was just the icing on the cake. Several of his other interests, for which he had used the money stolen here, were guaranteed to get him high treason charges!"
Don Alejandro straightened, alarmed. Nothing he and the other caballeros foundin de Soto's papers suggested such an allegation. Ignacio was greedy and selfish, but getting caught up in something like that? How did they overlook it?
"What? Were you looking for such evidence?" The envoy sneered. "You couldn't find it. Not here. Why do you think it took me so long to get here from Monterey? I had the indictment in my hand before I even got here, and in those papers," he patted the alcalde's ledgers, "all I found was confirmation. I was hoping to interview this de Soto, to find out more about the things he did not write down. Unfortunately, your son complicated my investigation."
"So that's why you're accusing him?"
Risendo stopped smiling.
"No," he replied. "Not because of that. Tomorrow, I will end my investigation here and issue a verdict also in his case. Then you will find out what charges I have brought against him. At the moment, you will return to the inn."
"First I want to see my son!" Don Alejandro had no intention of giving up even a moment of conversation with Diego. If his hopes of redemption had failed, he would need all of Zorro's wits to break free. And he had to encourage him to do so, because the words with which Diego took the arrest seemed quite ill-fated.
"No. I will not let you in there," Risendo replied. "Instead, señor de la Vega, how about me telling my men to erect a scaffold for more than one person?"
"What?" The caballero froze. He supposedly knew what threatened Diego, but it was only an accusation of a duel. A righteous fight for one's honor, like so many others taking place not only in small pueblos. Only now he remembered that during the arrest at the inn, the colonel had said that Diego was Zorro.
"After all, Zorro doesn't work alone. Someone has to give him shelter, provide him with information..."
"How dare you?!" It was only now that don Alejandro realized what Risendo meant.
"So far, I have heard nothing here to deny that I have rightly imprisoned your son. That he wasn't your Zorro. Moreover, I am more and more inclined to think that you were his accomplice!"
Don Alejandro clenched his fists, controlling his anger and despair with difficulty. If something was stopping him from attacking the envoy, it was knowing that the fight with the younger man was doomed to fail, and he had to protect Victoria. As Diego's wife and long-time Zorro's beloved, she was all too obvious a target.
"My experience tells me you should be the first suspect in this case," Risendo continued in a mocking tone, looking at the elderly man standing in front of him. "Well, there is a greedy scoundrel in your pueblo as alcalde, with no respect for those of noble birth, willing to destroy everything and everyone for his whim. It is clear. But it is less understandable that you put your own son against him, making him a masked protector. Didn't it occur to you that it could only end this way? Or were you too desperate?" The colonel's voice softened unexpectedly. "Or did you think that if he hangs anyway, was he to hang anyway as soon as that bastard, Ramone, made a target of him, why not try such a fight first?"
The caballero exhaled convulsively, clenching his hands.
"I did not persuade my son to do anything!" He replied sharply. "It was me that Zorro saved from the scaffold. Diego was under house arrest at that time. Nobody knows who is wearing the mask. No one!"
Risendo shook his head in undisguised disbelief.
"Not even that woman?"
"Not even her."
The colonel snorted contemptuously.
"And I'm supposed to believe that?" He asked, the tone of his voice indicating that he did not expect an answer. "A master swordsman, who does not touch the sword since returning home, even if the honor of the family expects it..."
"If you've read the reports, you know Diego has been dueling!"
"When? With that Englishman? Hadn't he then pretended to twist his leg? No, señor de la Vega. I don't believe your explanations." Risendo stood up. "Enough," he said. "You will hear the verdict tomorrow."
"No!" The older caballero had no intention of relinquishing. "You cannot accuse Diego without evidence! Even if you are the king's envoy!"
"It is precisely because I am the king's envoy that I can accuse and judge him, señor de la Vega!" The colonel replied.
Don Alejandro jerked as if struck.
"If I knew the circumstances under which we were to meet..." he began to say.
"You wouldn't have cared for me like that? Perhaps I would not have been a colonel then, but I would have still very much liked to meet you, señor de la Vega!" Risendo snorted. "My mother made sure of that! And then I would probably care less about justice and more about paying you back for your wrongful actions!"
"I cannot call what you are doing now justice!"
"Of course. That's what you'll it tomorrow." There was ice and undisguised menace in the colonel's voice. "After all, no good deed goes unpunished. This Zorro did a lot of good, but he broke the law several times. How else was he supposed to end up, if not with the noose around his neck?"
The caballero swayed and leaned against the chair next to him, feeling his heart burst into his chest.
"You damned..." he muttered.
"Do not finish, señor de la Vega, if you do not want to join your son!"
He lounged back in his chair and watched the caballero struggleto control himself.
"Private!" He called.
The office door slammed open. Two soldiers grabbed don Alejandro bythe shoulders. This sobered the elder de la Vega. He jerked and straightened. He wanted to say something, but Risendo just waved his hand and the soldiers led the old man across the courtyard to the garrison gate. Halfway up, the caballero shook himself enough to go with them and not be dragged, but as they passed the gate, he froze. He stood still, unsure if he could take a step on his unexpectedly soft legs, until the lancers took him by the arms again and led him towards the inn.
In the middle of the square, by the fountain, six soldiers were arranging dried beams. Everyone who lived in Los Angeles knew what structure they would build out of them.
X X X
To don Alejandro's amazement , Victoria was waiting for his return standing by the door, and when the lancer opened it, she stepped onto the threshold, barely letting the old caballero pass into the room.
"I have to go down to the kitchen, soldier," she said.
He was silent for a moment, as if considering whether he should shove the woman into the room and slam the door shut.
"I haven't been supervising what the cook is doing for two days. I have to check that everything is alright before someone here gets sick from rotten food!" There was such certainty in Victoria's voice that the lancer hesitated. She noticed it and continued talking. "I don't want to talk to anyone other than her or anything other than pantry supplies, but I have to go there. You may come down there with me and watch over us. Ask your lieutenant if you want, but decide now! And if you forbid me to take care of the pots, I'll scream for the whole pueblo to hear!"
The second lancer escorting don Alejandro touched his colleague's shoulder, pointing to the stairs. The first nodded.
"Go!" He said. Still, the first man stood there, leaning against the wall, blocking Victoria's way. It didn't bother her. Erect, she stared at him like a bird of prey, as if for the slightest sign of weakness. And only the elder de la Vega saw the beads of sweat forming at the nape of her neck and the white knuckles of her clenched fists.
The second lancer returned unexpectedly quickly, as if he did not have to go to the garrison.
"Let her go," he said.
His companion immediately stepped back, revealing a passage to the stairs. The man then slammed the door and turned the key in the lock.
Don Alejandro was left alone.
He stared at the closed door for a moment, trying to understand where this sudden need to visit the kitchen was coming from. The idea about rotten food was absurd, Victoria would never let anything go bad in her pantry, and Pilar, though she may not have been such an excellent cook, also knew how to keep supplies. If it were otherwise, his daughter-in-law would not have handed over the inn. And yet she did it, and she left the woman unsupervised without fear, for more than two days. So there had to be another reason, and the only one that came to the old man's mind was a plan that could help Diego. But if so, why didn't Victoria wait for him? Had he offended her so much, pointing out that they would not be able to rally the men and attack the garrison?
The caballero shuddered at the noise of hammers outside the window. The scaffold was being put up. It must have prompted her to act, but what could she do in the kitchen?
He sat down heavily on the bed and felt something hard under his hand. The wax-coated tablet was scratched and faded, as if it had written a lot. He was able to read individual words and fragments of sentences. "I know how open the cell. Need distraction. It may not be enough time. Someone must be guarding Diego. We have to run away together." Dream. Sentinel, four horses." Almost completely obliterated on the edge was "supper." But the most important thing was that Felipe had undoubtedly written the tablet.
If the teenager had found a way to get Diego out of the jail, the old caballero was ready to bless him. Unfortunately, he couldn't help him. All he could do was sit on the bed and wait for Victoria to return from her mission and tell him what plan she and Zorro's helper had come up with and what to prepare for that night.
Still, there was hope, and it made the uneven rattle of hammers outside the window sound less terrifying.
TBC.