Chapter 4
This time, his son did respond to his call. With a book in hand, Diego entered the library from the garden. Since yesterday, Diego started walking without a cane. But as observant as he was, Alejandro could see that Diego still had a slight limp in his left leg.
"The alcalde has arrested Victoria again," he informed his son as soon as he saw him.
Diego looked up in shock. "Really, what for this time?"
"The usual reason, of course. NOTHING! Maria!"
The housekeeper hurried over. "Maria, I have invited the caballeros for a meeting this evening. Would you be so kind as to provide coffee?"
"Yes, patron." The woman nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen. Alejandro refocused his attention on his son, who stood curiously waiting to hear what had happened. Despite breaking off the engagement, his feelings for Victoria remained unchanged.
"The tavern was closed today. Mendoza and I were concerned that something might be wrong. You know what almost happened last time when the tavern unexpectedly closed."
Diego remembered it all too well. It had then been a close call from none of them surviving. It had been one of the rare times he hadn't dressed as Zorro to save the situation but as Diego.
"So we wanted to rule out that something was going on. This was reason enough for the alcalde to arrest Victoria and accuse her of abusing authority. And..." Alejandro chuckled sardonically. "She's lucky she's not being accused of sedition. Now, I ask you."
"Sedition? That carries the death penalty," Diego reacted in shock.
"It probably won't come to that. Surely, Zorro will come and rescue her. He will remind de Soto that making mistakes is only human. However, I want to talk to the other dons about this. De Soto can't just randomly arrest people, treat them to the gallows and think we'll tolerate it."
"Isn't that what de Soto has been doing for the past years constantly?"
Diego had walked over to a table where a carafe of water stood and poured himself a glass. He did this more to have something to do and to appear calm, while inwardly, he was boiling with anger, just like his father.
"Maybe you're right. But enough is enough. What if something had been wrong and de Soto had done nothing? What if there had been deaths? I'm going to write a letter to the governor. The others can sign it tonight. It's high time de Soto was held accountable to his superior. The only real bandits caught by Zorro and not by his men. For this, he takes the credit. While our esteemed alcalde is the biggest criminal in the territory and falsely accuses people."
Alejandro was out of breath after this speech. "Diego, I expect you to be present tonight as well. If you need me, I'll be in my office."
After the don had left, Felipe stood next to Diego. He had been listening in the library alcove to what was being said. Hesitantly, Felipe drew a Z in the air.
Diego placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "It probably won't come to that. Let's go to the pueblo and find out what the alcalde is up to. I suspect that he arrested Victoria mainly to lure Zorro to Los Angeles. He's smart enough to realize that a revolt will break out if he harms Victoria. Even if it's just among his own men. Because then, they'll have to eat from the garrison kitchens."
Then his eye fell on the Los Angeles Guardian lying on the small writing desk. Diego's eyes narrowed. "The rumours Mexico is to declare its independence gets stronger by the week. Maybe it's time to give de Soto part of what he came to Los Angeles for."
Two hours later, Diego and Felipe returned. Diego had spoken with the alcalde and tried to persuade him to release Victoria. Not surprisingly, de Soto had stood his ground and refused to listen to reason.
A conversation with Mendoza had yielded more. There was indeed already discontent among the soldiers at the prospect that they would not be able to enjoy Victoria's cooking for the time being. All be left to the hated cooking their own cook. Furthermore, the soldiers were grumbling that all leaves had been cancelled and everyone had to do double guard duty.
"The alcalde thinks Zorro will come to free the señorita," Mendoza confided in him. "I hope Zorro does it tonight, cause tomorrow is Tuesday."
Diego had looked at him oddly for a moment.
"On Tuesday, señorita Victoria always made tamales. And it would be a shame to miss them tomorrow."
Since Victoria's life was not in danger because de Soto was devising a plan to capture Zorro, Diego decided not to free her that night. Should the alcalde resorted to more radical steps, there would still be an opportunity. And he didn't want to give Victoria false hope that her relationship with Zorro still had a chance. If he gave her false hope, he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to hope himself.
The following morning, de Soto was in a foul mood. Zorro hadn't shown up last night. He had stood guard himself with four loaded pistols in a corner of the prison, ready to shoot at the slightest suspicious movement. Victoria had lived between hope and fear. Hope that Zorro would come to free her and that the previous night had been just a bad dream. And fear that de Soto would succeed in capturing the man.
Around eight o'clock, Mendoza walked into the cell area with a tray containing a plate of watery porridge and some coffee. Victoria only drank the coffee. From the soldiers' stories, she knew all too well that the porridge was not something you wanted to eat voluntarily.
"Did you sleep well, señorita?" Mendoza tried to strike up a friendly conversation. He always hated it when someone he knew was at the mercy of the alcalde's whims. "None of us saw Zorro last night. Maybe he doesn't know you're here."
Victoria tried to laugh bravely. Of course, Zorro knew. The man was always aware of everything. He had consciously chosen not to come to her aid. Was it to make it clear that their engagement was broken, and she didn't need to hope for him to change his mind?
An hour later, don Alejandro entered the alcalde's office with three other dons. De Soto was dozing after a sleepless night.
"Alcalde," don Alejandro called, slightly louder than necessary.
De Soto startled awake. "What is it now?"
"I'll keep it short. You will order your men to release Victoria Escalante immediately."
"And if I don't?"
"Then... then, this letter will be sent with today's mail coach to Monterey." Alejandro handed de Soto a piece of paper.
De Soto read the first few lines and tore it up immediately. "Lies and slander."
"You know very well that's not the case. By the way, that wasn't the only copy of the letter. As caballeros, we hereby withdraw our trust in your leadership and demand that an independent observer investigate your actions. Unless you release the señorita this instant. Then we'll give you another chance."
"And should I be impressed now? I can order your hanging right this minute."
Alejandro nodded understandingly. "I suppose you can do that. However, I advise against it. You know very well that, in both Monterey and in Spain, we collectively have a lot of influence. If we decide to exclude you and speak negatively about your leadership, you can forget about promotion. Upon any return to Spain, you will be socially excluded. No one of any influence will even want to speak to you. However, should you do as we say, we can ensure that you will be received with all the honours you desire. All you have to do for this is to let the señorita go and be on the next ship to Spain. As a farewell gift, each of us will give you a letter of recommendation addressed to the King."
De Soto stroked his fingers over his beard. "And will I get to read the letters before they are sealed?"
"Of course. You may even be present during the sealing."
"And with these letters, I will gain access to the king."
"Didn't I say so? All letters will carry the seals of the most influential families in the territory and be addressed to King Ferdinand personally."
The question that gripped Los Angeles in the following days wasn't so much the announcement of de Soto's sudden departure. Nor when the next ship to Spain would depart. Although these matters did occupy people's minds. No, the burning question everyone wanted an answer to was why Zorro, for the first time, hadn't come to the señorita's aid to free her from the cramped cell.
Everyone had their opinion about the suggestion the dons had made de Soto.
Some suspected that Zorro knew the de Soto was about to leave for Spain. And that was the reason he hadn't come for the woman he claimed to have feelings for. However, malicious tongues claimed that since the need for the black-masked man seemed to diminish, Zorro didn't want anything to do with the long-standing love affair of the pueblo.
Victoria barely showed herself and remained in the kitchen almost the entire time. She left serving customers to her assistants, fuelling rumours about what had happened between Zorro and Victoria.
As the rumours turned and de Soto announced his departure, discussions were held about who would become the new alcalde, at least temporarily. Diego proposed holding elections, and de Soto, busy with his plans for Madrid, reluctantly agreed.
.
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