It was only after finding himself in his room at his new hacienda that the abbot took off his robe, revealing a young, muscular physique as he remained only in a pair of black pants. Moments later, he took off his wig, fake cheeks, big nose, mustache, and beard, before he started taking off some of the paint covering parts of his face.

"Finally, you made it," he heard a voice from the easternmost corner of his room while he was unmasking. "What took you so long, Diego?"

"Finding information usually takes a while, Emmanuel," he replied, turning towards his friend, who was still disguised as Rafael Montoya. "How did you find my father?"

"In better spirit than I had expected, seeing how he's mourning your loss and spending his days supervising the twenty workers ruining his own house."

"Ruining the house?"

"It has a large hole in it…"

"Yes… that is my fault, I suppose. I did instruct Señor de Amo to make sure my hacienda has two floors and gave him a plan of how I wanted it to look. But I didn't think at the time that my father would sell his house…"

"Gilberto had occupied the house not long after he had arrived… The man did his best to comply with your order to do all in his power to protect Don Alejandro, while not giving him a clue that he had a protector. He did a good job, I must say. And he had the good sense of offering your father to continue managing the ranch. He is still in the house, and now it's only up to you to convince him to stay. I already told him you'd most probably prefer him to go on as he did thus far."

"My father is no capataz, Emmanuel."

"No. In fact, he's a very rich man. He's also rather old and not very prone to moving from the house he's inhabited for most of his life. But, if he is to remain, there must be a good reason for a count to keep him, don't you think so?"

"Indeed..." Diego replied pensively, folding his arms across his chest.

"Of course, he would also stay were you to reveal the truth to him…"

"I cannot do that… Not yet, at least… However much it pains me to lie to him, he's too impulsive a man to be good with secrets."

"I see... But, tell me, what did you manage to find out in the pueblo?"

"Besides confirming all that Señor de Amo wrote in his message, I was also able to find out what else has happened here during my long absence. As we had suspected, Gilberto and De Soto are here to harm my father. His streak of bad luck seems to have begun when Ignacio arrived and have only grown worse since then. If I were a betting man, I'd bet those two can easily explain all his misfortunes…"

"And the woman you love? Did you see her?"

"I did… She's still waiting for me, despite believing me dead," Diego said with a smile.

"That's good to hear, my friend. That means she truly loves you."

Diego nodded, a large smile on his face. "Oh, you should have seen her, Emmanuel! Victoria's become even more beautiful than I could have imagined. She must have had tens of men trying to court her… And still she's waiting for me to come back to her..."

"That is good to hear! Perhaps you'll be able to do just that soon enough. And I expect to be your Best Man at the wedding…"

Diego chuckled, then became serious. "Let's hope it will be soon. But first, we have some scores to settle."

"Yes… How about Gilberto? Did you manage to find out anything about him? We are still unsure why he is so set on destroying your family…"

"Whatever his reasons, we will uncover them, and he will pay for all the harm he has caused, as will Ignacio…"

Emmanuel smiled and nodded. "So, what's our next move?" He asked.

"We'll need to gather more information. About De Soto and how he's used his time in office here; about Risendo; and about all those working with or for them. That, however, will fall on you and Señor De Amo since I have more urgent business to attend to." Diego uttered.

"What do you need to do that's more important than our plan?"

"Find Felipe, and bring him home."

"The deaf-mute boy? What happened to him?"

"I am not sure. But I will find out. Or, better yet, Señor Salvador Gilarranz shall find out." Diego said, opening a small coffer and choosing a new disguise. "In the meantime, I will need you to replace me as the abbot."

"I think I can do that," Emmanuel said. "I'll just have to decide on a temporary destination for Rafael Montoya…"

"San Francisco, perhaps? It's far enough to take one a little more than two weeks to get there and back." Diego advised.

ZZZ

Putting on a reddish mustache, fake eyebrows, and a small beard, as well as a curly wig of the same color, Diego soon made his way toward the stables. After deciding on a brown horse, Salvador Gilarranz left, heading south.

His first stop was San Diego, where he headed straight for the presidio, asking to see the commander. He expected no real result, seeing how the former alcalde was unable to find anything about the boy, but still, he decided to try and find out whatever the man knew.

"As I had told Alcalde Luis Ramon," the commander of the Presidio said, "when he asked me the same thing about a year ago, a deaf-mute boy named Felipe was tried as an accomplice in a bank robbery, and sent to Devil's Fortress."

"To Devil's Fortress? A deaf-mute boy, twelve years in age?" Salvador asked appalled.

"The other two were hanged, Señor. His age was the only reason why he was not given the capital punishment."

"You would have hanged him? But he was a boy! Those two abducted him! They surely forced him to help them!"

"He hardly defended himself…"

"He's mute and deaf! Did you at least allow him to write down his account?"

"Write? I've yet to see a mute able to write, Señor…"

"You didn't even give him a way to defend himself, then?"

"The evidence was quite clear, and I fear the verdict cannot be overturned unless new evidence comes to light. You have new evidence, Señor Gilarranz?" the commander asked.

"No. Not at this time…" Salvador muttered through gritted teeth before taking his goodbye from the man and walking stiffly away, soon making his way to the Devil's Fortress.

ZZZ

It was late afternoon when he arrived at his destination, a few days later.

"I wish to speak to the Commander!" he said from his horse as the guards from the Devil's Fortress greeted him some hundred yards from the entrance.

"And what is your business with him, Señor?" a guardsman asked.

"My own."

"Then we cannot let you pass," the man said.

"My business is for the Commander's ears and his alone. I promise you, Señores, he'll want to hear me out," Salvador replied.

The guardsmen glanced at each other and eventually nodded. "Who should we announce?" their lieutenant asked.

"Salvador Gilarranz," the young man replied.

He was escorted inside and then left waiting in a large hall, lavishly decorated with expensive furniture, carpets, and paintings.

Some ten minutes later, he was invited inside the commander's office. The man was dressed in black, looking somber.

"What is it you wish to tell me, Señor Gilarranz?" the man asked without greeting.

"I am here to ask for the release of one of your prisoners."

The commander stared a little at him, then chuckled. "Most of my visitors come here for such a reason," he said. "Which one is it you want?"

"His name is just Felipe. He's a deaf-mute. He was unjustly sent here after being kidnapped and used by a man and a woman to rob a bank."

"Really? And how do you even know he's here?"

"I have reliable information that he is…"

The commander seemed hesitant. "We do have a deaf and mute young man here but he was sentenced to life in prison. And my orders are not to release him under any circumstance."

"Then those orders are wrong… or misinformed. As I said, it was through no fault of his own that this has happened to him. The true thieves have been captured and executed, but he was never given the right to defend himself. I am here to make sure the boy doesn't spend even one more day in prison, seeing how he's innocent."

"And what are you to the boy? Why so much interest in a deaf-mute orphan, Señor?"

"He used to work for a friend of mine," Salvador said, doing his best to disguise that lie.

"I see… A friend who, no doubt, asked you to bribe me in exchange for the boy's release?"

"No, Señor. But if there is a price you are willing to settle for his freedom, I am willing to pay it. However, I did also take the precaution of bringing this with me," he said, handing the commander one of the papers the king had signed, authorizing its bearer to act as he pleased under his mandate, and ensuring him the cooperation of all royal officials.

"Oh?" the Commander said, doubtful, as he took the paper to read it. "It says here that the bearer of this document is to have the full cooperation of any official of the Spanish Empire whenever he asked for such cooperation. That is indeed, quite impressive, and I have certainly never seen anything like that before. Still, I see nothing in it about any prisoner release."

"Then you are not reading it well, Señor. I have the right given by the king to request anything from you, and I demand the boy's release."

"I'm sorry, Señor, but I cannot oblige you in this. Unless you return with a written pardon, that boy remains here."

"I insist," Salvador said through gritted teeth.

The Commander smiled at him rather defiantly, then invited him to sit down while he again examined the document signed by the king.

As he did, Salvador's eyes rested on a plan of the prison, his attention soon drawn to where it indicated that the cells were.

After finishing rereading the document, the Commander called for one of his men.

"Si, Comandante," the guardsman said at entering the office and saluting.

"Escort this señor out. Tomorrow morning, take prisoner 12323 to the yard and apply ten lashes to him." Turning to the dumbfounded Diego, he continued, "That is all your insistence will achieve, Señor." He said as he ripped the paper signed by the king right in front of him. "Because frankly," the Commander continued, "you don't strike me like the kind of man who should have something like this in his possession. Besides, I have already been warned about possible attempts to release this particular prisoner. Now, you'd better leave before I start investigating you, Señor Gilarranz, and convince a judge that you had just tried to organize a prison break."

Hardly stopping himself from strangling the man, and more than a little worried about Felipe, the disguised caballero allowed himself escorted outside. There, he mounted and pretended to leave, only stopping several hundred yards away, behind some trees. After taking a few moments to think, he decided he wouldn't allow the boy to be hurt, certainly not because he failed to help him.

Thus, after a while spent considering his options, he took off the false beard and hair, reverting to his normal appearance. Next, he started going through the things he had with him. A gun for defense, a raincoat, and a vaquero disguise he sometimes used in order not to attract attention.

Reaching a decision, he took off his sash and cut two holes in it before tying it at the back of his head, to cover the upper half of his face and hair while not hindering his sight. After musing that he could have done with a black shirt, he took off the one he had on and replaced it with the simple vaquero brown shirt, then did the same with the trousers, which he tucked into his boots. Finally, the raincoat he changed a little to seem more like a cape, and put it on, hoping it would serve to make him almost invisible in the darkness of the night.

Thus disguised, Diego spent the next few hours observing the guards. Around midnight, he easily noticed they were no longer able to do their jobs properly, and were slowly falling asleep at their posts.

Deciding that was time to act, he slowly made his way towards the back entrance to the fortress.

He had little trouble taking out the guards there, punching them unconscious before they realized what was happening. Depriving them of their keys and weapons, he took a sword with him, hiding the rifles and the other sword.

Then, he carefully opened the gate, checking that nobody was there, and made his way to the jail cells. It would have all been easy had he not been spotted as soon as he entered the prison. But life never is quite that easy.

The alarm sounded and two guardsmen soon came to face him in battle, attacking together. Diego parried all their attacks, then caused them to lose their weapons before he punched one unconscious while the other chose to run away. As he heard more men coming, he was forced to take a rather radical decision, yet one he would never regret for more than one reason.

Starting to open every one of the cells, he let all the prisoners escape while trying to find the one prisoner he was after. Felipe was amongst the last ones to come out, and Diego barely spotted him as he was about to exit his cell.

"Felipe," he uttered, and the boy stopped to look back, causing Diego to doubt himself for a moment. "Felipe? Is it you?" he asked again.

The boy nodded, realizing the masked man's voice sounded familiar.

The escaped convicts were now facing the guards on the staircase, giving the two a moment of respite, only them still left in the part of the castle where the jail cells were.

"It's alright, Felipe! I have come to take you back home, to Los Angeles."

The boy looked at him open-mouthed, then signed, asking why, and who he was. Diego breathed relieved, recognizing the signs he had once taught him.

Glancing around to make sure they weren't seen, he briefly lifted his mask just enough to let the young man see his face in the dim light of the candles there. "It's me, Felipe!" he said before putting it back on. "It's Diego."

Now, Felipe was so shocked that tears started falling from his eyes, and he could hardly see. Moments later he gave the caballero in the strongest embrace he was capable of.

"I missed you, too, my boy," Diego said, embracing him at his turn, "but now we need to hurry! The sooner we get away from here, the better.

Felipe nodded and followed him with the same look of absolute trust in his eyes he had had when first following the caballero to Los Angeles. Many years had passed since Diego had found him all alone in the world, on the battlefield where his family had died and his life had forever changed. Yet the boy had not doubted the caballero then, when first he saw him, and he was not to doubt him now, considering all he had risked for him.

The corridors were filled with people fighting, some for their freedom, the others to keep the former locked away. Unwilling to risk Felipe getting hurt, Diego led him back inside the jail and started looking for another way out. "I noticed on a map in the Commander's office another passage" he muttered, "…right…. here!" he said as, having pulled a concealed lever, a secret door opened.

The narrow stairs behind it led them to the ground floor. Finding themselves in a large hall, they headed towards the nearest exit. Once there, Diego glanced outside and, not finding anyone, encouraged Felipe to head out and run for the nearby trees, where he could hide from view.

The boy exited just as a voice was heard from behind the masked man. "Not so fast, Señor!"

Turning around, Diego saw the Commander, sword in hand, heading towards him accompanied by seven of his guardsmen. "I should have expected someone might try to help that boy escape…" the Commander said as he signed for his men to attack.

"Him and the other innocents you keep here…" the masked man said as he saluted with a smile and began dueling the guardsmen. They did their best to coordinate their attacks against him, not giving their adversary one moment of respite. Still, despite being able swordsmen, they were no match for the caballero. Soon enough, two found themselves deprived of their swords just before one of their adversary's right hooks caused one to impact with the other, then both with a nearby wall, an encounter that rendered them unconscious. Three more guardsmen followed in their footsteps, and in but minutes found themselves in the dream world. The last two men, having witnessed the masked intruder's skill with the sword, decided that rather than face him, they'd better hurry to escape.

"Your men have deserted you. You lead with fear, not loyalty!" Diego told the baffled commander.*

The man, aggravated by those defeats, attacked in anger, doing his best to harm his adversary. Far better a swordsman than his guards, he managed to face the masked outlaw for over a minute before he, too, found himself disarmed.

"You defeated me," he said as the masked man's final blow sent him to the ground. "I deserve to die!"

"No, Commander. You deserve to live with your shame," Diego said before punching him unconscious.*

Taking a moment to admire his work, the caballero smiled, then headed outside, where Felipe was waiting worriedly for him.

"Come! We must make our escape," he said, signaling for the boy to follow him.

They had to run for about ten minutes, doing their best to avoid both the escaped prisoners and the guardsmen, till they reached Diego's horse, which they hurriedly mounted and guided north.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

*Scene from NWZ – The Devil's Fortress. I take no credit for it.

AN: As you might have noticed, I use the name chosen for each disguise instead of my characters' true names when they interact with other people while wearing disguises. I hope it's not too confusing.