"We should camp here, Sergeant! There are too many clouds to see the way," Gomez suggested as he was driving the wagon filled with ammunition they had been sent to bring from the port.
"The alcalde wants us in the pueblo before midnight! Besides, we hardly have two miles left." Mendoza answered. "If we hurry, we can make it back before Señorita Escalante closes the tavern!" Hardly did he finish his words when a bullet passed through his arm, causing him to fall off his horse. "Ay, maldita! Bandidos! That's the last thing I needed!" the sergeant exclaimed as he tried to gather himself off the ground. "Men, guard the wagon!" he ordered just as all hell broke loose, and he was forced to take cover behind the wagon.
Several mounted men, faces half covered by bandanas, surrounded them in seconds, emptying their muskets in the direction of the soldiers and causing everyone, men and horses, to startle and run for their lives. The horses then did their jobs for them as they acted on instinct and, deciding to save themselves, first got rid of the lancers on their backs.
"Burn down the wagon! We must make sure that ammunition will not be used to harm the good people of California," one of the attackers ordered.
His words, besides their intended purpose, also managed to attract the attention of a lancer, who, pointing his gun at him, took a lucky shot. By then, however, another attacker had gotten his hands on a lamp and tried to throw it towards the wagon. He would have succeeded had not a whip caught his hand in half-motion, causing the lamp to fall on the ground, spilling the oil.
Zorro's quick action proved in vain, though, when another attacker threw a torch into the wagon.
"Run!" Mendoza ordered his men at noticing the fire threatening the gunpowder. Gomez, together with another soldier accompanying him in the driver's seat, jumped down and ran away. Mendoza, himself, was contemplating how to save himself. Luckily for him, after cutting the wagon's horses free and encouraging them to run away with a flick of his sword, Zorro helped the sergeant onto Tornado.
They were hardly fifty feet from the transport when the wagon started to explode.
The gunpowder kegs went off one by one, for several seconds, raining down debris on everyone and everything in their vicinity as the attackers headed away cheering. By the time the explosions stopped and the lancers were finally able to stand up, no longer fearing for their lives, their attackers were long gone.
"Thank you, Zorro!" Mendoza said gratefully as the masked man helped him off his horse, then knelt by his side to check his injury.
The other lancers soon found their way to them, but none tried to arrest the wanted outlaw. In truth, by then, they were out of bullets and had no inclination to get punched in the face without the alcalde there to witness their bravery. A better use of their time was trying to find their horses, so several of them headed out to do precisely that.
"You were lucky, Sergeant," Zorro said. "The wound is superficial." Stating that, he headed for his stallion and took out of his saddlebags some medical supplies, and a bottle filled with alcohol. After pouring some on the wound, he proceeded to bandage it. "You'll need stitches. Ask Doctor Hernandez to help you as soon as you get to the pueblo. And, if you become feverish, have your men prepare some willow bark tea, and drink as much of it as you can. It will give your body a fighting chance."
"Si… Gracias, Zorro!" the lancer said in awe. "But how did you know we'd be attacked?"
The masked man mounted his horse before replying. "I was in the area, Sergeant, and heard the gunshots, that's all," he said before taking his goodbye.
ZZZ
As soon as he returned to Los Angeles, Zorro made his way towards the tavern, just in time to witness the end of Zafira's performance, which was met by lengthy applauses and several roses thrown towards the stage. As the applause faded, the other performers joined her on stage to take their final bows.
Zorro watched them with a knowing smile, observing that one of the men on stage seemed to be in pain.
ZZZ
"What happened," Zafira asked as she and the other performers returned to their wagons, unaware a black-clad man, standing right outside, overhearing every word they said.
"One of the lancers shot him," another man explained.
"I am fine… It is just a scratch," another voice was heard, and Zorro recognized their leader speaking. It was the same man who had kissed Zafira a little over an hour earlier.
"It is not just a scratch, Joaquin," the young woman said. "The wound is already festering. You need a doctor."
"No! A doctor would most certainly betray us. I'd rather die of an injury than hanging by a noose! Do what you can and let God decide my fate!" the injured man relied.
Zorro could not hear much after that, being forced to find a hiding place when two lancers passed by the wagon during their nightly patrol. From the building behind which he took refuge, however, Zorro saw them stopping by the wagon, then leaving in a hurry, heading for the cuartel.
Minutes later, he saw De Soto making his way out of his office, and starting to instruct his men. Considering his actions for a few moments, the masked outlaw headed for the wagon and burst inside, surprising everyone there, and causing them to freeze in place. "The lancers know who you are. They are coming! You only have moments to get away!" he said.
The people there exchanged a glance before deciding to trust the masked man's words.
"Go! Leave me!" Joaquin Correna ordered.
"I can't leave you!" Zafira replied.
"You must. The cause still needs you! And I need you to be safe. Please, go!" he urged her.
"He's right!" one of the other men said, grabbing her hand. "Besides, there's nothing we can do for him if we are caught." Saying that, he pulled her outside, despite her resistance, just as the lancers were nearing them.
"They are trying to escape!" De Soto's voice was heard at that moment.
"Alcalde, Zorro!" a lancer warned as the masked man came to greet them, sword and whip at the ready, in an attempt to offer the rebels a chance to escape.
"I knew you were in league with those traitors!" Ignacio remarked as he shot at the black-clad outlaw, missing him by a few feet.
"I do not meddle in politics, De Soto. But I am always up for a swordfight, especially given the fact that I didn't have the time to exercise today…" Moments later, he attacked the nearest lancers, who the alcalde had pushed towards him while he pulled out his sword.
The rebels had meanwhile reached their horses and were about to ride away.
"Follow them!" Ignacio ordered his men, who hesitated between attacking Zorro and following the rebels. Those who were not already engaging Zorro, though, found it less difficult to make a decision, and hurried towards their mounts.
Zorro easily defeated his adversaries, then knocked out De Soto, who, after his lancers left to follow Correna's men, found himself alone.
Certain he didn't have much time, Zorro tied Tornado to the wagon in which Correna was lying, and drove away with him, heading towards an abandoned farmhouse bordering the former De la Vega lands.
Once there, he hid the wagon in the partially-still-standing barn, and helped Correna inside the ruins that now stood instead of the house, leaving him onto a half-destroyed cot that was still in there.
"I will bring the doctor, but I must leave you alone until I do," Zorro said after inspecting the wound.
"Why are you helping me? You helped the lancers earlier…" Correna asked with difficulty.
"This is hardly the time for such questions. I will be back with the doctor. In the meantime, try to stay still!"
Correna nodded, and Zorro hurried to keep his promise.
As soon as the masked man left, however, the rebel leader managed to stand up with difficulty and exited. Reaching his wagon, he climbed in the driver's seat and guided the horse north, towards a place he and his men had already designated as a meeting point in case they'd become separated. After all, experience had taught him to plan ahead. And trusting a masked man he knew nothing about was not part of his plan. After all, Zorro could have been just setting a trap or was, at that very moment, returning to the abandoned farmhouse with the entire garrison.
Yet, the wound in his gut hurt like hell, and he was losing more and more blood. The horse was going as fast as he could, considering the uneven terrain, the outside darkness, and the fact that the wagon was not exactly very light. Joaquin was becoming increasingly lightheaded, because of the stress to which he was submitting his body but, mostly, because of the blood loss. Then, at one point, he became unconscious, first sliding on the bench, then falling to the ground as the wagon's wheels passed over some rocks on their way.
ZZZ
In the meantime, the masked outlaw had managed to find the doctor and bring him to the abandoned house in which he had left the rebel leader, but they were both disappointed to find that the man was no longer there.
"Perhaps his men found him and decided to take him with them," Doctor Hernandez suggested.
"Perhaps…" was all Zorro said, hoping it was so, but inwardly fearing that was nothing more than wishful thinking.
ZZZ
"How could you lose them?" De Soto shouted the following morning, when his men returned with the news of the rebels escape and with the lancers sent to the port the previous day. "You are useless! I had Correna and all his men within my grasp, and you lost them!"
"What's going on, De Soto?" the Viscount chose that precise moment to show up and ask, entering the cuartel's courtyard at hearing the alcalde's voice.
"Oh… Your Excellency… I did not know you were here…"
"What's going on?" Risendo also asked, following the nobleman.
De Soto frowned, glanced at his men, then tried to put on a dignified expression. "Correna and his men attacked the ammunition shipment last night. My men spent the night trying to catch them but to no avail."
"Correna is in Los Angeles?" the Viscount asked.
"As I had told you, Your Excellency, this land is festering with rebels!" Gilberto said.
"The good news is that my men managed to shoot Correna in the abdomen. But, even so, he managed to escape with the help of his men… and Zorro."
"They truly are in league with each other, then?" the Viscount concluded.
Gilberto smiled smugly. "Of course, they are! And, I bet some of the dons are in on it, as well…"
ZZZ
Around the same time, having woken up to find out that the Count and his right-hand man had left early, Don Alejandro asked Maria for a coffee, then headed towards Los Angeles. He took a longer way there, for he also wanted to inspect some of the crops. As he did, no more than a mile east, on what used to be his lands and were now the Count's, he discovered the inert body of a man in his thirties, vaguely resembling one of the performers he had watched the previous night. Dismounting to see if the man was still alive, he inspected the wound, remarking that it had been made before he had put on the blouse he was wearing, seeing how the blouse itself had no bullet hole, and the injury was bandaged. Wondering what to do, he decided he could not leave the man there to die. Transporting him back to the house, however, was more than a little complicated for he needed a wagon, yet had none. Glancing around to see what he could use, he noticed some fallen tree branches and, after checking that they were sturdy enough, he used them and the saddle blanket to improvise a make-shift stretcher. After carrying the wounded man and laying him in it, he tied it to his horse, and guided the animal towards the hacienda.
Once there, he sent one of the vaqueros for the doctor and to inform the garrison, then had the Count's servants carry the injured man towards one of the guest bedrooms.
He was just about to send for the Count, when the alcalde and Gilberto Risendo, together with some fifteen men, made their way towards the hacienda, dismounting in the courtyard. The vaquero and the doctor entered just moments later.
"Thank you for coming, Alcalde, but I'm afraid the wounded man is unconscious. I doubt you'll be able to ask him anything…" the elderly caballero uttered, wondering why so many lancers and Risendo had accompanied De Soto there.
"We have a good idea how his injury occurred, Don Alejandro." Ignacio informed him before ordering his men to go search the house.
"Then," the don said with some naivety, "instead of bothering him, why don't you better arrest the one who almost ended his life?"
"It's him! It's Correna!" One of the lancers returned to inform the people there.
"Correna? Joaquin Correna? Here?" the don inquired, dumbfounded.
"Like you didn't know…" Gilberto said, looking maliciously at the elderly caballero. "Do your duty, Ignacio!"
"Yes… Men, arrest Correna!" De Soto ordered.
"And Don Alejandro, for aiding a rebel!" Risendo ordered in turn, noticing De Soto was hesitating. "I'm afraid your actions carry the death sentence, Señor!" he then informed the haciendado, a malicious smile on his lips.
"All I did was aid an injured man!" the don protested as he was being forced out of the hacienda and into a barred wagon the lancers had meanwhile brought into the courtyard, where the lancers also threw the unconscious Joaquin Correna just moments later.
"That is no way to treat an injured man!" the doctor said as he joined them inside and began inspecting Correna's wound.
"You needn't worry about him, Doctor!" Gilberto said, an evil undertone in his voice. "If he doesn't die of that injury, he will hang!"
Hernandez gave him a spiteful look, and returned to helping his patient.
ZZZ
As the elderly don, Correna and the doctor were being transferred to Los Angeles in the garrison's barred wagon, a mile and a half, north-east, Diego and Emmanuel, disguised as the count and his mayordomo, were studying the tracks in the hope to find out what had happened to the rebel leader.
"Perhaps his men found him…" Rafael suggested.
"I do hope so, but I fear not. The tracks do not indicate the presence of other people, Emmanuel. He left on his own…"
"Then he's a fool! You promised him help, did you not?"
"Yes. But that doesn't mean he trusted me… In truth, he had little reason to…"
"You had already saved his life, and warned him and his men about the danger! He should have trusted you even if only based on that…"
"His actions speak to the contrary," Diego replied.
"Hands up!" they heard all of a sudden from behind them, and they turned to see two men and a woman pointing their guns at them. How they hadn't heard them arrive, neither of the two young men could fathom.
"Señora, Señores…" the Count greeted, wondering what they had heard, and what conclusions they might have drown.
The young woman stared at them for a few moments. "Diego? Is that you?" she asked in disbelief.
All the men there glanced at her in disbelief. Two, because they couldn't believe she had recognized the young man and the other two because she had addressed a stranger by name.
"What did you call me?" the Count inquired, wondering how to react.
"Put down the guns, he was a friend of my brother's," Zafira told her compadres as she neared and embraced the tall caballero.
"He's that Count. Dragonera," one of her companions, a tall, thin man with a small scar under his chin, said.
"Dragonera? That rich man? Is that true, Diego? You are the Count of Dragonera?" She inquired.
"I am, Señora. But I am not this Diego you mention. My given name is Sebastian." He answered.
"Sebastian? You… You are not Diego?" she asked, taking a step back and looking at him dumbfounded.
"I'm afraid not."
"What are you doing here?" Her other companion asked, their guns still pointed at the two men.
The count hesitated "We were…"
"Inspecting the lands. This is my master's property…" Rafael replied.
Zafira and her men exchanged an inquisitive glance. "Who were you talking about just now?" she asked.
"We were told there was a wounded man here, and we came to investigate. Though, we were just about to abandon our search seeing how our information proved wrong." The Count replied after glancing at his friend.
"And who told you about that wounded man?" One of the people pointing their guns at them, the one with the small scar under his chin, wanted to know.
"One of the men in my employment learned it from Zorro." The nobleman answered again. "But, as I said, the information turned out to be wrong… So, if you would kindly lower your guns and allow us to be on our way, I'd be more than grateful."
Zafira and her men were considering doing precisely that when two mounted men came galloping towards them. "The alcalde has him!" one of them informed, urgency clear in his tone of voice. "They brought him into the pueblo just as we were leaving. The lancers said they had found him at… at his hacienda!" he continued as he dismounted, pointing an accusatory finger at the Count as soon as he recognized him.
"At my hacienda?" the young nobleman asked. "How did he get there?"
"An old don apparently found him and took him there. He was also arrested for helping Joaquin. The Alcalde plans on executing him for harboring our friend."
"What?" he asked, glancing worriedly at Emmanuel. "We must go!" he, then, informed the others, turning towards the horses they had ridden there.
"Stop!" one of the rebels ordered, discharging his gun at the nobleman's feet and causing them both to freeze in place.
"What are you doing, Mariano?" Zafira asked, baffled at his actions.
"He knows more than he is saying!" the man replied. "Right now, when Pancho told us about Joaquin being captured, he knew very well who we were talking about."
"Mariano is right. He knows more than he is saying…" the other man still pointing his gun at the count and his mayordomo remarked. "You are not going anywhere, Señor, until you tell us everything you know…"
"But I don't know anything of use to you." he answered. "True, I knew Señor Correna was the one Zorro had tried to save last night. We were looking for him because we knew he was injured."
"You want the reward on his head, then?" Mariano inquired.
"No… No… You misunderstood." The Count said.
"Rich men! You never have enough, do you?" Pancho inquired.
"We had no intention of turning him in," Rafael said. "In fact, we wanted –"
"To meet a famous rebel. I admit to be quite curious about the man…" The Count interrupted him.
"Really? Shake his hand and be on your way, I suppose. Just like that?" another of the men asked mockingly. "Who do you think you're fooling, Señor?"
The nobleman and his companion wisely shut up, looking nervously at the people surrounding them, guns drawn.
"Whatever their intentions, they did nothing wrong!" Zafira pointed out. "We should let them go."
"No… They might be in league with the alcalde. We can't trust them." Pancho pointed out.
"We are not in league –" the Count started to say, but a pistol pressed to his head stopped him.
"Put down that gun, Nando!" Zafira ordered, pressing on his arm to lower it.
"What do you suggest to do with them, in that case?" the man asked. "They saw our faces…"
"Everyone saw our faces last night!" she pointed out.
The man lowered his gun at agreeing with her words.
"We could take them prisoners. Ask the alcalde to free Joaquin in exchange for their lives." The fourth member of the group, the only one who had not spoken yet, said.
"That would be a bad idea, Señores. We could be more useful to you if you let us go…" the Count said.
"So you can warn the alcalde?" Nando inquired. "I don't believe so!"
"No! You don't understand –" the Count tried again, but found himself hit on his head with the hilt of a gun. His mayordomo hurried to catch him as he fell unconscious to the ground, only to find himself in a similar predicament.
"Tie them up and gag them…" Pancho ordered, and two of the other men hurried to comply. "We'll leave them here. That way, neither will they be unable to free themselves too soon, nor will they anyone which way we went."
ZZZ
"Don Alejandro!" Victoria uttered in a pleading voice as Mendoza allowed her, during the siesta, inside the jail to visit the elderly don.
"Please remember to be quiet, Señorita," the Sergeant told her, "or we'll both be in trouble!"
"You shouldn't be here, my dear!" the don uttered, standing up and heading towards the barred door.
On the cot in the nearby cell, Correna was lying unconscious and slightly feverish. The doctor had done his best for him, but the rebel leader had already lost a lot of blood, and his wound had become infected, so Don Alejandro, at Hernandez's instructions, was trying to get his fever down by applying cold water compresses through the bars between their cells.
"This can't be happening. Not again! Not with you!" Victoria uttered, the old don's predicament reminding her of how her mother had lost her life.
"You need to be strong, my dear! If this is to be my fate, I will stand before God certain that I did what was right. No matter who he is, to me, he was a wounded man, and it was my duty to help him," he said, turning to look towards Correna.
"He is also a man who wounded me!" Mendoza interfered. "I almost lost my arm because of him."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Sergeant… Will your arm be alright?"
"Si… Thanks to Zorro! But you won't be, Don Alejandro! The alcalde wants me in charge of the firing squad!"
"No! You can't do that, Mendoza!" Victoria exclaimed. "The Count! He will save you! I am certain of it!" she then told the don. "And if not him, there's always Zorro! He will not allow such an injustice!"
"The Count would compromise himself should he try to help me, my dear. Zorro… he would take a great risk… The Viscount's men are well trained and were put at De Soto's command" The caballero answered. "No… I'm afraid not even our masked hero can do anything for me in this situation."
Their conversation was interrupted by the alcalde's voice coming from the office.
"We must go, Señorita! Through the back door!" Mendoza said.
"I will talk to the Count! Don't give up hope, Don Alejandro!" She said as goodbye before hurrying away with Mendoza.
"Be careful," was all the elderly man was able to utter before they disappeared behind the door.
ZZZ
"There are two guards at each entrance to the cuartel except for the back one, which is sealed, yet left unguarded," Pancho told Nando after having spent about an hour hidden on the tavern's roof, studying the behavior of the soldiers. "But I just saw the alcalde entering with the Viscount, and someone else I could not see well."
"Castillo de Almansa is in there? Perhaps this is our chance, then." The other man said. "We can't let them execute Joaquin. We owe him at least that much. And I also have a score to settle."
ZZZ
Victoria and Mendoza had just exited the cuartel when De Soto opened the door to the jail, entering followed by the Viscount and Risendo.
For a few moments, the two newcomers just stared at Don Alejandro, unsure who should speak and what to say.
"It's a shame we meet again under such circumstances, Señor," the Viscount said. "King Ferdinand will surely be heartbroken to find out you turned out to be a traitor."
"I am no traitor, Your Excellency! All I did was help an injured man I came across while heading for the pueblo." The caballero defended himself.
"You'd say anything to save your life, wouldn't you, Don Alejandro?" Gilberto inquired, mockingly.
The caballero shook his head. "I'm an innocent man. Give me a fair trial, and I will easily prove that to you."
"The only way you can save your life is by giving up your accomplices. Tell us the names of all the dons involved in this conspiracy of yours," the Viscount said, "and where Correna's men are."
"Conspiracy? What conspiracy?" the elderly don asked, baffled.
"We are not blind, Señor!" the Viscout said. "I've known about this conspiracy you are part of for months already. Risendo, here, also informed me that Zorro, Correna, and his men are all part of this game of yours. Even your position in the Count's household only makes sense if you are either trying to involve him, as well, or are trying to use his resources to fund your perfidious acts against the Spanish rule."
"With all due respect, Your Excellency, Don Risendo's claims are unfounded and outright lies! All I've ever been is a faithful subject of our king!" Don Alejandro shook his head. "I have lost a brother in service to my country! I have lost friends and risked my own life for Spain! How dare you accuse me of being a rebel?" He replied.
"It is your actions that accuse you," Gilberto replied triumphantly.
"Still, he does have a point," the Viscount said, the don's attitude and words causing him to hesitate. "He should be given a trial."
"I doubt that's necessary," Gilberto said.
"I do think it wiser. Let a judge decide his guilt and his punishment." The Viscount insisted, realizing that the don still had enough friends in Spain to make his life at Court at least difficult. And he was too ambitious a man to risk it. "Alcalde, where is the territorial judge at the moment?"
"Ah…" De Soto said after a few moments of searching his memory, " the last I heard, Judge De la Paz was presiding over a trial in Santa Barbara. It's a three days ride from here. But I am not sure he is still there… I will send one of the lancers to get him, if you wish me to…"
"No… Gilberto will go." The Viscount decided. Risendo looked dumbfounded by the request. "He'll make sure to inform the judge what it is we are expecting of him." Saying that, he stared at Risendo in such a way that the man slightly chuckled, before bowing.
"I will certainly make sure of that, Your Excellency," he said. Then, flashing a defying smile at Don Alejandro, hurried to leave through the alcalde's office.
"Are you certain you wouldn't rather confess, and be done with it?" the Viscount asked the caballero soon after Gilberto left the jail.
"There is nothing to confess to!" the don uttered.
"A trial is very public, Señor," again the man warned.
"The perfect opportunity to prove my innocence, then…" Don Alejandro retorted.
"You will not get out of it with your pride intact! And, should you be found guilty, you will hang! It is a far more painful death, I hear, than by a firing squad."
"No fair judge will sentence me! I can assure you of that. In fact –"
He was interrupted mid-sentence when two men appeared from the back entrance of the jail, each holding two guns in their hands, aimed at the Viscount and at the alcalde.
"I suggest you don't make a move, or it will be your last, Señores!" Pancho said, for it was him the one to first enter the jail.
"Lance…" De Soto tried to call, but a gun suddenly pointed at his head stopped him mid-word.
"Your men will not interrupt us, Alcalde, or you will die!" The same rebel uttered.
"Now, open that door!" Nando said, pointing towards Joaquin's cell.
De Soto slowly did as asked, allowing for the young man to go check on his leader.
"How bad is he?" the man asked.
Nobody answered, so he stood up and, putting a gun at De Soto's head, asked again.
"Doctor Hernandez said he lost a lot of blood, and the wound is infected. It's doubtful he will make it." Don Alejandro replied instead.
"And you are?" Pancho inquired.
"I am the one who found him…" the don replied.
"I see… In that case, we regret your predicament, Señor, but we appreciate what you tried to do." The rebel replied.
"That will hardly help him avoid execution!" the Viscount said at that.
The two rebels exchanged a glance, but they were there on a different mission, so the old man was nothing more than a complication. "We'll need help carrying him," Nando told Pancho after trying to lift Correna.
"You! Help him!" Pancho ordered the nobleman.
"No! I will not help rebels!" the man replied defiantly.
"In that case, we will rid ourselves of you right now, since you are clearly of no use to us!" Nando said, pointing a gun at his head.
"You wouldn't dare!" the Viscount defied them.
"He most certainly would!" Pancho said. "You see, his brother was executed not long ago, near Mexico City, at your order, so he's wanted to shoot you for some time now, Señor!"
"I…" the Viscount hesitated, "If that is true, I did nothing but my duty… There is no reason for you to seek revenge on me." He addressed the two rebels.
"I never thought you a coward, Viscount! A bastard, perhaps. But now I see you for what you truly are…" Nando said.
"I will help you! Just don't do anything rash…" Don Alejandro said, in an attempt to avoid further escalation.
Pancho smiled. "Very well… Start by tying up De Soto!" he ordered, guiding the official towards the jail Don Alejandro was in.
The don did as asked, but didn't tie the alcalde too well. Nando, on the other hand, made sure to correct his mistake, then gagged De Soto himself, locking the cell door after him.
"Now, Viscount," the man said, "what is it going to be?"
"I will help. But, the first chance I have, I will make sure you all hang!" he said.
Don Alejandro wanted to slap him back to his senses. Considering their situation, threatening the men with the guns was stupid even in his book.
"We'll see about that!" Pancho said. "Now, the two of you help Joaquin up, and follow me to the wagon. Nando will follow you from behind to make sure you behave!"
The Viscount looked worriedly towards the elderly don, but did as asked.
"How do we know you won't kill us as soon as we are away from the pueblo?" the caballero inquired as they were encouraged to get up and sit by Joaquin, and two other of Correna's men, who had been keeping guard outside, started to tie them up, in the process also gagging the viscount.
"You, we have no reason to kill. You helped our friend." Pancho said as soon as Nando took the reins, starting the horses. "As for him," he uttered next, pointing at the nobleman, "we might. It's not yet decided."