"Or," the young man continued, "better said, I have known men like you my entire life. Men who work hard just to see all they have built taken away by corrupt officials. Men who, though they, themselves, need help, still put others first. You know, Señor De Amo did tell me he overheard you say that the money you had left when Risendo occupied your hacienda was for your employees. I admire you for that.

"My maternal grandfather was a lot like you. When the war came, in 1808, he always made sure his servants had food, and he would eat whatever was left. He said it was because he was old and hardly needed much, but, in truth, it was because he always felt it was his duty to make sure the ones in his employment had all they needed."

"That is admirable… Is your grandfather dead?" Don Alejandro asked.

Taking a break, the count returned to his chair before answering. "Yes… He died less than a fortnight after I had last seen him."

"That is unfortunate…"

"It is…"

"So… You help me because I remind you of your grandfather?"

The count slightly shook his head. "I…" he said in reply, "I was once on the verge of a precipice. I was just about to take that last, fateful step, when someone grabbed me tight and convinced me it was not yet my time. In my darkest hour, that man saved not just my life, but my very soul. He was my mentor, and my greatest teacher.

"Right before he died, he asked me to promise him that I would use my fortune to right wrongs and help others. Considering all I owe him, I have every intention to respect that promise.

"Not to mention that, I do, indeed, very much enjoy your company."He added that last part with a smile, and the elderly caballero smiled back and nodded at him.

"Fariz!" the count then called the servant, who showed up in a few moments. The young man signed something Don Alejandro had no chance to understand for they were by no means signs but a sort of pantomime Diego and Felipe had agreed on. "I told him we are ready for seconds." He explained to the older don as a means to let Felipe know what he had actually meant.

The boy hurried for their plates.

ZZZ

After his visit with the count, De Soto spent over an hour explaining to the commander of Devil's Fortress that he had become convinced that Don Alejandro had no chance of knowing that his former ward was in prison, thus arresting him was illegal. He also mentioned having concluded that it could have been anyone, and not necessarily Zorro, to have freed the prisoners. That was not because it was true, but because he wanted to make sure the newcomer would leave Los Angeles as soon as possible, and without first reaching out to Risendo.

The Commander left quite displeased with De Soto, informing him that he would write to the Viceroy, and headed south, to restart the chase for the other still-missing prisoners.

Gilberto showed up in town, just as the Commander was leaving, in time to find out the latest news.

The following two hours De Soto thus spent explaining and debating with him the same he had explained to the Commander. The quarrel with the man, who simply seemed to take pleasure in torturing the elderly caballero, left him so tired that, for once, Ignacio asked Mendoza not to allow anyone to disturb him, and headed for his quarters to take his siesta.

That decision was more than a little lucky for one masked outlaw who, having learned, just a little earlier, about the former alcalde's journal, decided to take advantage of the siesta and De Soto's absence from his office and have a look at it.

Entering through the roof and jumping on the floor with the same agility and quietness of a cat, he, thus, carefully started perusing De Soto's books and dossiers, until finding what he was looking for. Then, he spent about ten minutes reading the annotations, ignoring the many pages of Ramone's own thoughts and musings, instead trying to find out if a suspicion he had started harboring after the morning conversation with the alcalde was, indeed, true. And, as he suspected, he found said information among the last few entries.

Leaving the journal in the same place where he had found it, Zorro headed for one of the alcalde's secret hideouts and pulled from there the document he had been searching for.

After taking a good look at it, he put it in his sash and was about to leave the same way he had entered when a sleepy Gomez made his way into the office.

"Zorro!" he uttered in surprise.

"Silence, Corporal!" the outlaw said, his sword already pointed at the lancer's neck. "Or you may never speak again!"

Gomez swallowed hard and slightly nodded, while Zorro considered the best way to deal with him. In the end, he decided that leaving him unconscious was the safest thing he could do for both their sakes.

By the time the lancer recovered, there was no trace of Zorro in the pueblo, and nobody else even knew he had been there. Thus, certain De Soto would blame him for having let him escape, he wisely decided to keep it for himself.

ZZZ

A little later, as he was trimming the roses in the garden, Don Alejandro heard horse hoofs behind him. Turning, he saw, to his utter surprise, a black-clad, masked man looking at him from atop an equally-black horse.

"I don't believe we have formally met, Don Alejandro," the masked man said. "I am Zorro."

"Yes… I very well know who you are, Señor. The people of this pueblo already owe you much."

"I do not help others seeking gratitude." The masked outlaw replied.

"What are you seeking then?"

"Justice, Señor. Only justice. In fact, it's also why I am here. I know an injustice was committed against your former ward, Felipe."

"I think everyone knows about that by now… The alcalde even though I had somehow involved you in the prison break at Devil's Fortress." The caballero replied spitefully.

"He was only half-wrong."

That reply baffled the old man. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"You have not involved me, but I was involved. I am the one who has taken Felipe." Zorro informed him.

Don Alejandro's mouth half-dropped at that unexpected confession.

"I could not bear to leave a boy in that place," Zorro continued. "Thus, as soon as I found out about his plight, I decided to free him."

"And you know where he is?" Don Alejandro asked hopeful.

"I do. Right as we speak he's with a good friend of mine. He's safe and, once his innocence is proven, he'll surely return to Los Angeles. I wanted you to know that."

"He's safe, then? Felipe is alright?"

"He's safe, but it will take some time for him to truly be alright considering what he's been through. Nightmares kept him awake half the night for the first week after his escape. But he's getting better now," Zorro answered honestly.

The caballero shook his head. "My poor boy! Could I see him? Just to make sure he's alright? To tell him that he has a home to return to…"

"For his own safety, and yours, it would be better for you to wait, Señor. Please trust me, though, when I promise that he will be returned to you, safe and sound." Zorro said, and Don Alejandro offered him a reticent nod. "I have to go now. Adios!" the masked man continued as he saw Rafael exiting the house followed by Fariz, then left at a gallop, just as the young man reached the elderly caballero.

"Was that Zorro?" Rafael asked, pretending not to know what was going on.

"Ah…" Don Alejandro hesitated at seeing him. "Yes…"

"Fascinating man from what I hear. And they say his horse is the fastest one in California."

"It does look like a magnificent stallion. I certainly wouldn't mind introducing him to my… forgive me, I mean the count's mares," Don Alejandro said, slightly embarrassed by his mistake.

Rafael smiled kindly. "Did he have something important to tell you?"

"He did, actually… But I should first talk to the count. Is he here?"

"Yes, but he is getting ready to leave for the tavern. I believe Señorita Escalante invited him to dine there tonight."

"Really?" Don Alejandro asked with a smile.

"Indeed."

"Is he… Is he the sort of man who treats women well?" the don asked, a suspicious undertone suddenly in his voice. "Victoria is like a daughter to me. In fact, she should have been my daughter, had my son lived… I will not let any man toy with her feelings, peasant of count."

"You needn't worry about my master, Don Alejandro. I've known him for almost a decade now, and, in all that time, the only woman whose heart he's broken was an impulsive young lady who insisted on him granting her his favors despite knowing he was engaged at the time. Her heart was, thus, broken as a consequence of his refusal to do anything to harm the woman he had promised himself to."

"He is engaged then?"

"He was when I first met him. Life, however, was not always kind to him," Emmanuel replied, realizing he might have already said too much, and trying to avoid sabotaging his friend.

"He is still young." Don Alejandro remarked. "A rich, good-looking man like that will surely have many women stepping over each other to gain his favors."

"He does. In fact, just today, I have received eleven dinner invitations addressed to him from the Los Angeles haciendados who have marriageable daughters, nieces or granddaughters. One has a 12-year-old, I believe. I had, of course, to refuse all those overlapping, since he couldn't afford to make it seem like he was favoring one acquaintance over another… But he will still be engaged most evenings during the coming weeks, and I doubt he relishes it…"

Don Alejandro smiled sympathetically.

"Perhaps you might accompany him, at least to some dinners. Surely he will benefit from your presence there." Rafael continued.

ZZZ

Victoria Escalante spent all afternoon cooking, set on making the count's dinner in her tavern memorable. Then, just about twenty minutes before he was due to arrive, she went to the taproom to hear everyone talk about him.

The newcomer had yet to visit the pueblo and, as it was but natural, those who had not yet lay eyes on him, were more than a little curious about the man.

"This will be a disaster," she muttered to herself, already imagining the entire pueblo around his table, not even giving him room to breathe. "Everyone," she found herself saying, loud enough for all conversations to suddenly stop, "I have decided to close the tavern earlier today."

Nobody said a thing.

"I am closing in ten minutes." Victoria continued at noticing nobody was in any hurry to leave.

For the next five minutes, most of her patrons expressed their indignation with her decision, yet, about ten minutes before the count was due to arrive, Victoria was ushering out her most stubborn customers before hurrying to take the empty dishes to the kitchen, sweep the floors, and put a fresh table cloth on her best table.

She was just heading for the cutlery when she heard a few knocks on the door. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was two minutes to 8 p.m. and, assuming the count was a little early, headed for the door.

"Don Gilberto!" she exclaimed in surprise at finding the man there.

He glanced inside and noticed that the tavern was empty. "I was hoping to dine with you tonight," he said as he passed by her, entering the room.

"I'm afraid I have other plans." She replied, just as the count's carriage was entering the pueblo.

Risendo glanced around. "Plans for a romantic dinner, from what I can see," he concluded. "And here I actually believed you still loved Diego de la Vega. When, in truth, you are more than ready to move on."

"That is not what this is!" Victoria denied that statement, although she was sure the two were not mutually exclusive. She'd always love Diego, even if she'd have to, eventually, move on.

"What then?" Gilberto asked. "And who are you having dinner with? Not with that masked bandit set on courting you?"

"She's having dinner with me," the count answered from the doorway.

Gilberto turned around to glance at him. The man was dressed in a caballero's burgundy suit, embroiled with golden threads, and looked almost regal standing there.

"Your Excellency," Gilberto muttered, a little perplexed. "You and Señorita Escalante are to have dinner together, tonight? Alone?"

"By no means," the count said with a friendly smile. "I can't risk compromising the señorita; so I have brought Fariz." Saying that, he signed for the boy to enter.

Gilberto glanced at the boy, then at the count, and, with a slight bow, he took his goodbyes and exited the establishment red with anger and embarrassment.

Victoria smiled widely at the count. "How did you know the tavern would be empty?" she asked.

"I didn't. But I hoped…" he replied.

She blushed a little as she invited the tall nobleman to sit and headed for the kitchen, from where she returned with three plates of aromatic arroz con pollo, then headed back for the cutlery she had all but forgotten about earlier.

The count made a sign at the boy, and Fariz sat next to him, looking hungrily at the food. "You'd say he hasn't eaten in days," he uttered as he and the young woman started eating, the boy barely finishing chewing before taking another bite.

"He's a teenager," Victoria answered. "In my experience, at his age, they are always hungry."

Smiling, the young man took a bite. "Delicious," he complimented her.

"You really like it? I wasn't sure what to cook for you…"

"It's perfect." He said. "And I think my friend here agrees." he continued, glancing at the boy, who had, in the meantime, almost finished his food.

"I'll bring him another plate," she uttered, and, as soon as Fariz emptied his plate, she took it and headed back to the kitchen.

"Why are you so hungry tonight?" the count meanwhile asked in a low tone. "You are not hungry. You just missed Victoria's food…" he interpreted the boy's signs.

Fariz nodded and, as the young woman returned with his plate, he started eating again, as if he hadn't touched food in days. For a couple of minutes, the adults just watched him eat in amusement.

"You don't treat him like a servant…" Victoria remarked at some point.

"He's not just a servant. I like having him around. He remains me of a friend I once had." The count answered.

"He reminds me, too, of a boy I once knew," Victoria confessed.

"The De la Vega ward?"

She nodded.

"Don Alejandro told me a little about him," he said, subtly winking at the boy by his side.

"Is there nothing you might do for him? Felipe is so young! He's no older than Fariz…" Victoria said in a pleading tone.

"I already instructed my lawyer to look into his case."

Victoria took in a deep breath and sighed. "I wish there was some way for me to help. What happened to Felipe was not right! That boy should have never been sent to prison."

"Indeed. If all Don Alejandro has told me is true, I tend to agree. However, it is still up to the authorities to settle the issue and make sure justice finally prevails."

"Justice? The only one interested in justice around here is Zorro, and he's an outlaw!" the young woman said with frustration.

"I did hear about him. Is what Don Gilberto said when I arrived true, Señorita? Is this masked bandit truly courting you?"

Victoria glanced at him, a bit uncertain. "I… I don't believe that is any of your business, Your Excellency," she replied a bit uncertain.

"You may call me Sebastian. There's no need for formalities…"

"But I believe there is. You are a count; a nobleman. I wouldn't want to end up in jail for disrespecting you!" She said, acting offended.

"I would never let that happen," he assured her with a confused smile. Then, as his own patience somehow suddenly reached an end, he decided he could no longer deceive her. "Victoria, there's something I should tell you…"

"I think I know what it is… at least, I assume I know," she interrupted him to say. "And you wouldn't be the first man to make me such a proposition. But I have no intention of becoming anyone's mistress, Your Excellency," she stressed those last words to make sure there was no misunderstanding.

"And I have no intention of asking anything like that of you," he said, taken aback.

"Then?"

"I…" he uttered, realizing it was not the right time to tell her who he truly was. "I was hoping you might give me the chance to know you better; be friends."

"Friends?"

"Yes."

"So you don't want more than that?"

"Right now, it is all I am asking for."

"Right now?"

"All we truly have is the present, is it not?"

She stared at him for a while, then averted her eyes. Soon, she stood up and started collecting the plates. "Yes… Just the present, nothing more than that… Even though we sometimes mistakenly believe we also have a future."

The count gently put a hand over hers. "Is the future something that saddens you, Señorita?" he wondered.

After studying his hand for a few moments, she pulled hers, looking up. "Just the absence of one, Your Excellency. The absence of a future spent with the man I love."

"You're talking about Don Diego…" he concluded.

Putting down the plates, she sat back on her chair. "We were supposed to be married by now; have children… Diego might have even adopted Felipe. Either him or Don Alejandro… How different things might have been had he returned from Spain..." She went silent for a moment before staring right into the count's blue eyes. "Yet, you see, Don Sebastian, even though I know he's never coming back, I have not stopped loving him. I am not sure I will ever stop loving him."

"Yet, you will want to marry one day, won't you?"

"Perhaps… Though I am not completely sure that day will ever come…" Victoria said, and stood up again, taking the plates to the kitchen and returning with clean ones and pie. "I doubt it compares with what you are accustomed to but…" she excused herself, in her mind's eyes comparing her humble pie with the deserts on display at the hacienda during the previous night's party.

"It looks absolutely mouthwatering!" the count said as Fariz hurried to take his piece and start eating it.

"You know," Victoria said as they both followed the boy's example, "I'm not sure what you did but, since you've arrived, Don Alejandro seems ten years younger." She told him.

"Well, at times, all one needs is for another person to encourage him to keep his faith…"

"Keep his faith…" she muttered, as she raised her eyes and looked at him pensively. "Someone, not long ago, told me the same thing. He told me to keep my faith…"

"It's a wise advice," the young man replied, "especially when faced with adversity."

"You speak from experience?"

"Indeed, I do…" he said, then paused for a while as he was weighing his words. "And I know how important keeping one's faith is. Losing it can cost one… everything…"

Victoria stared at him as he was talking, fascinated with the man before her. "There is so much sadness in your voice at times…" she remarked.

He tried to smile, but it only lasted for a moment. Instead of an answer, he nodded his acknowledgment. "Sadness has a way of engulfing one's soul. Once it does, it almost always refuses to let go…"

"Perhaps, one day it will," Victoria answered. "God knows I feel the same way. As if a part of my heart is simply no longer there, and every time I try to let joy in, my heart reminds me it is still bleeding…"

"Then, perhaps, one of these days, you may wake up and find that your heart is whole again… Or, at least, that it's no longer bleeding…" he replied. "But, changing the subject, I was wondering: isn't it hard for you to tend to the tavern all by yourself?" he asked.

"Sometimes… But I love tending to the tavern. It was built by my parents, and, while they are gone now, I can still feel them in this place. I look at a corner and remember my mother serving the patrons, then glancing back and smiling at me. Or, I look at the bar, and remember how my father taught me how to tend to it, and how to know when the wine's gone bad… In my mind's eyes, I can even see my brothers chasing each other or Diego through this room… I know it seems silly, but, in this tavern, I feel like everyone I ever loved is still here, with me…"

"It's not silly… I am the same whenever I return to a place that meant something to me. All I have felt or experienced in that place return to my mind all at once, as if no time had passed…" the count said, then glanced at Fariz, who had just finished his second piece of pie. "Thank you! This was the best dinner I have had in a very long time. And I think Fariz feels the same," he told Victoria, trying to avoid more melancholy inserting itself into their conversation.

She smiled at them both. "I would believe you, had I not attended last night's fiesta. But I do appreciate the compliment." The young woman replied. "May I ask… Are you planning to remain here, in Los Angeles?"

"I hope so… Would you like me to stay?"

"I… I guess…" she answered, embarrassed. "I can always use another customer…"

"Is that the only reason?" he wondered.

She shook her head, turned slightly red, then stood up. "Would you like some wine?" she asked, heading for the bar.

"No, thank you! I think we'd better go. It's already past 9 p.m., and I would rather Fariz went to sleep by 10." He replied, as he also rose from his chair.

Victoria turned around, and, slightly nodding, neared them.

"Thank you for a wonderful dinner," the count said as they again stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before he bowed to kiss her hand.

"It was my pleasure…" she answered, her eyes fixed on him.