For over three weeks Diego and Dario had searched the islands and the entire coast between Santa Babara and San Luis Obispo. To their increasing disappointment, they found no useful new information, just like Diego had not found any when searching with Emmanuel, some two years earlier.
No one remembered anyone washing ashore in a long time, and nobody recognized the young woman in the drawing of his wife that Dario was showing people.
"Bad dream?" Diego asked his brother one morning, as they woke up in the Mission of San Luis Obispo. He had heard him tossing and turning on the nearby cot the entire night.
"Strange, rather…" He answered pensively. "I dreamt… I dreamt that Juliana was waiting for me in a hacienda. It had beautiful archers embellished with purple flowers. She was wearing a white dress and looked like an angel in it. When I neared her, she asked what took me so long."
Diego didn't say a thing.
"Do you think she's trying to tell me that I am to die soon?" Dario asked.
"No! Who knows what that dream means… if anything. Dreams are strange that way." Diego uttered. "But it's been a month, Dario, and we are no closer to getting any answers than we were the day we started. Perhaps we should consider returning to Los Angeles."
"No! Not yet."
"We have searched the entire area between here and Santa Barbara."
"Then let's search inland. Think, Diego! We have only looked for her on the coast, assuming that, had her body washed ashore, she would have either been buried by those living nearby, or helped by the same people, had she somehow survived. But what if those who found her headed east? What if they took her away from the shore, and further inland."
"There's not much out there," Diego said. "Most of the land is still unexplored."
"That doesn't mean she couldn't be there!" Dario said.
"No hacienda… not even farmhouses exist at more than thirty miles from the shore. It's Indian land, and the tribes living there are not usually friendly with those entrancing on what is rightfully theirs. Especially when it comes to colonists, such as us. We should head south."
Dario sighed but ended up agreeing. He had lost his wife. He wouldn't have minded losing his life in search of her, as long as he'd be certain that he had done everything he could to find her. But Elena had also lost her mother, and it was his duty to care for his daughter.
They, thus, gathered their things, thanked the monks for their hospitality, and left for Los Angeles.
They rode in silence for about three miles. When they came to a crossroad and considered which path to take, a strong wind started blowing. Before Dario could grab Juliana's portrait, it flew away from his jacket pocket. It was carried by the wind and deposited some thirty feet east of them.
The young man dismounted and went to collect it. As he stood up, he looked ahead, to the infinite horizon.
"Let's head this way." He told his brother.
Diego glanced at him, then nodded, noticing that the breeze had calmed down as suddenly as it had started.
Remounting his horse, Dario led him to the narrow road leading east. Diego could not help wonder about the trail. Surely someone had made that road and had traveled it often enough to leave wheel marks. Not Indians, then. Spaniards. Indians didn't use wagons or carts; only horses. Yet nobody had dared venture building a house so far from the nearest settlement, deep into Indian territory.
Two days later, long after the road they had taken had slowly disappeared, they reached a large canyon, the harsh terrain causing both to doubt whether to continue east.
"We should head back," Diego said, glancing from atop a hill at the untamed wilderness they could both see from there.
Dario studied the terrain and remained staring at a mountain. The climb started some three miles away from where they were. "Let's get up there," he said, pointing at the top. "If we find no one and nothing on our way or from up there, then we go home."
Diego doubted whether he should agree. It was clear to him that they would not find Juliana there. Yet, he followed his brother's lead.
The climb was not easy, and, as they reached the top, a little after lunchtime, they both stood and glanced around. The scenery was beautiful. Yet that hardly helped their cause.
"I think I am ready to return home now." The first-born brother said after taking an hour to carefully study the area.
They, thus, headed down slowly, allowing the horses to find their footing, as the terrain was traitorous. One wrong step and…
Diego didn't hear more than the sound of the rocks falling, and a distant horse neigh that caused him to look back to check on Dario. The young man and his mount had vanished.
Nearing the edge of the cliff, the tall caballero looked down in horror. The horse was lying at the bottom, some hundred feet down, certainly dead. Dario's body was some seventy feet higher, on a rather thin plateau.
"Good God!" He uttered. "Dario!" He then shouted. "Dario? Can you hear me?"
The young man did not move an inch, to Diego's increasing despair.
Taking a rope, he tied it around a sturdy tree, then began his descent towards where his brother's body was, praying he'd find him alive.
He was relieved to feel his pulse once he reached him. Dario was alive, yet badly injured, and Diego knew that any wrong move at that point could end up killing him. Wondering how to proceed under the circumstances, he climbed back up and returned down a few minutes later with all the blankets and clothes they had. He needed to create a system to lift Dario up and take him somewhere where he could find help.
Carefully, after laying down the blankets, under which he had placed ripped pieces of their spare shirts and pants, he rolled the young man onto them, and used the clothes to secure him inside that cocoon. Then came the hard part. He needed to lift him. That was when he realized his mistake. There was no safe way to tie a rope around an unconscious man with God-only-knows how many broken bones.
"I need wood branches to secure him in place." He muttered just for himself, then again headed up.
A few hours later, after securing Dario's body on an improvised wooden stretcher, with some help from his horse and the tree he had used to climb down, Diego finally managed to bring his brother back up, and he lay down to rest for a while. The sun was about to hide behind the horizon as he felt ready to go on.
What had been, before, a dangerous climb down, was becoming even more difficult as the daylight faded. Finding a safe place to stay was their only option. Diego used the longest branches to secure Dario to his horse, before he slowly guided the mount towards a nearby meadow. There, after making a fire, he untied the logs and began studying the injuries on his brother's bruised body, trying, at the same time, to wake him up.
"Three broken ribs, a broken arm, a bad concussion and some nasty scratches." He concluded as he finished his examination. The head injury was the one that worried him the most. If there was internal bleeding, his brother would die from it, and there was nothing he could do about it. Certainly not in that wilderness.
Pouring some of the water he had left on a piece of fabric, he placed it on Dario's head wound, hoping it would help reduce the swelling. He secured it with a dry cloth before proceeding to set his arm and fix it between two splints. Diego didn't allow himself to worry about the injured man's lack of reaction to what must have been a very painful maneuver. He was worried, but couldn't allow himself to lose hope.
Next, he proceeded to clean the wounds, sewed the larger ones closed, then wrapped Dario's torso in bandages, thus hoping to prevent further damage to his ribs during what he expected to be a very difficult descent.
During the night, he remained awake to keep vigil over his brother for as long as he could, praying for him to open his eyes.
Diego only fell asleep at dawn, and his heart didn't allow him more than a couple of hours of rest. As he woke up, after checking his wounded brother's head injury, he breathed somewhat relieved to see that it had slightly diminished in appearance. He became worried again, however, to see that two of Dario's back injuries had gotten infected during the night.
The alcohol was in the dead horse's saddlebags, as was their last water pouch. The nearest stream they had come by was about six miles down the road.
Considering his limited options, Diego took the rope he had used had used the previous evening to climb down the cliffs, and, tying it to the same tree, he descended again. When the rope ended about halfway down, he continued climbing down without it until he reached the poor animal.
He neared and looked at the horse, then squinted to pet his neck. His father was going to be saddened at the news of his death. He would be more saddened, still, however, should he let his brother die, as well.
Returning to his mission, Diego started searching for the saddlebags. They had fallen in a tree, not far from where the horse had found his final rest.
He had to climb a couple of branches to reach them but, as he checked their contents, he smiled at noticing the alcohol bottle was intact, as were all the other provisions.
Next, the young man glanced up, trying to find the best route to climb the stone wall, so that he might return to his brother before any of the wild animals roaming the mountains found him.
After securing the saddlebags to his back using his sash, Diego began climbing. His left leg slipped at one point, almost causing him to fall. But he regained his footing and ignoring the muscle ache and the scratches the sharp edges of the rocks caused him, he reached the same plateau on which Dario had fallen. Stopping there to rest, wash, and use some of the alcohol to disinfect his hands, he continued up by using the rope. As he reached the top, the thought crossed his mind that, while Zorro was a burden at times, had he not been riding as him, the young man would have hardly been in enough shape to make that climb.
After using the alcohol to disinfect Dario's wounds the best he could at that point, his next thought was to build a device that could help carry him down the mountain. That was not easy, and it took Diego an entire day to find the right wood for it and to make it. Yet, with the next sunrise, they started their descent, with Dario securely tied to the horse, and his brother guiding the mount on the narrow path downwards.
Another two days passed before they made it to the plains. By then, while Dario's head injury became less swollen and seemed to be healing, the rest of his wounds had doubled in size and had begun festering.
Dario had not woken up in all that time, and Diego had only been able to force some water down his throat. Not that there was much for them to eat, anyway. He, himself, had been surviving on berries, some bread, and some fruit they still had with them, and which he shared with the horse to make up for some of the water he had deprived him of during the first two days after the accident.
After allowing his mount a good night's rest and a few hours in the morning to graze the spring-green grass, he again secured Dario's improvised travois to the stallion and mounted, determined to return to the Mission of San Luis Obispo to get help and hoping his brother would survive the rest of the journey there.
ZZZ
In all this time, Los Angeles had been peaceful. The alcalde kept mostly to himself, terrified that he might end up shot in the plaza, like Palomares. A gang of bandits that had robbed two of the smaller farms were caught by the lancers rather easily. And the De la Vega twins managed to keep themselves out of trouble, to the relief of their mother.
"Victoria? Victoria?" Don Alejandro called one early afternoon, wandering around the hacienda.
"In the kitchen!" His daughter-in-law's voice called, and he headed that way.
"That smells delicious, my dear. What are you making?" The elderly man asked.
"Tortilla y champinones al ajillo, gaspacho, bacalao, and leche frito." She said.
"Quite a feast." The don uttered.
"It's not every day that Felipe invites a young woman and her parents to have lunch at his house." She replied.
"Felipe? Really? He finally got the courage to declare himself to Ana-Cristina?"
"It seems so…"
"But don't you think they are a bit too young? I mean the boy is just 19... And Don Mateo's daughter is even younger than him."
"Diego and I got engaged when he was 18 and I was 14." Victoria pointed out. "When you know… You know!"
"Indeed… and speaking of enlarging the family," he said, "I just received a letter from Emmanuel. He's due back tomorrow, and he's bringing a fiancée with him, as well as her parents. They are to stay with us until they build their own hacienda."
"Emmanuel is getting married?" Victoria inquired in awe. "That's wonderful! I was beginning to worry about him. Do you know he hasn't courted one women since he came here?"
"I do. Trust me, I do. But, it seems that he was just waiting for the right one. They, apparently met less than a fortnight ago, after he had left Monterey."
"That was quick… But, as I said, when you know, you know."
"She must be an extraordinary young woman for him to propose in such a short time."
"Quite so." Victoria agreed with a smile, then glanced out the window and became livid. "Ay, Dios mio!" She exclaimed as she rushed outside.
The twins were engaging each other with their wooden swords in their version of a sword-fight, on the roof of the hacienda's stable. Victoria's heart pounding furiously, she hurried to shout at them to get down. When they did, taking their hands as she chided them, she hurried to find the servant usually in charge of them. Five minutes later, she found the poor woman tied-up and gagged in their room.
"Those boys will be the death of me!" She eventually returned to the kitchen to say after untying the servant and promising her a raise in pay before leaving her to guard the boys. At that point, the twins were facing two different corners of their room as punishment for their most recent misdeeds.
Don Alejandro had, meanwhile, made sure to take the hot oil she had used for the leche frito off the stove and to check on the fish in the oven. "I certainly hope not!" He replied. "Where's my niece, by the way?"
"She insisted on accompanying Maria to the pueblo to buy some fresh produce. It's market day."
"I see."
"Thank God she is nothing like the boys! If she was, I'd do nothing all day but run around trying to keep the children alive!"
"They are their father's sons." The don replied with a smile. "My wife and I had just as much trouble keeping him alive when he was growing up. You know, one day, when he was about six, he ran away from home to go see the Indians. He returned a day later, his face painted and feathers in his hair. His poor mother had to spend some three hours trying to get the paint off of him."
"What is it with the De la Vega men and their proneness to get themselves into trouble?" The young woman inquired.
"It's hereditary, I'm afraid…" The older man said with a chuckle, as he stole a piece of leche frito and left the kitchen.
"That's for dessert! You'll ruin your appetite!" Victoria shouted after him.
ZZZ
The De la Vegas were dressed in some of their best outfits as they awaited the arrival of Emmanuel, his future bride and soon-to-be in-laws.
At about the same time the family was exiting the house, at the other end of the alley the Gamboas were staring in disbelief at the house they were nearing.
"I had no idea there were such beautiful mansions here, in California!" Doña Antonia exclaimed in awe when the house came into view as they entered the road leading to it.
Diana and her father were also quite speechless as they marveled at the rose bushes that had grown on the columns to reach the second floor and the terrace' arches.
"How rich are the De la Vegas exactly?" Don Janos asked Dos Santos just before the coach stopped in front of the house.
The young man didn't get to answer as a servant opened the door and he exited to find himself surrounded by the children.
"I missed you, uncle Emmanuel," Elena said as he lifted her into his arms.
"So did we!" The twins also came to say, and he petted their heads.
Felipe came to embrace him next, and signed something.
"Did I meet Diego and Dario on the way?" Emmanuel translated his signs. "I'm afraid our paths did not cross. They did, however, leave a message for me with the monks in Santa Ines, to let me know they'd be heading for the nearby islands."
"Diego sent us a message, as well. He said it would take them a couple of weeks to search there. But that was two weeks ago, so they should be back soon," Victoria said as she neared to embrace him, as well. "Welcome home!" She uttered, then looked expectantly towards the coach.
He smiled and shook Don Alejandro's hand. Then, after putting Elena down, he offered his hand to Diana, who climbed down from the coach.
"May I introduce Señorita Diana Gamboa, my fiancée, and her parents, Doña Antonia," he said, as he helped the older woman descend, "and Don Janos Gamboa. This is my family, or, at least, part of it, since, as you know, Diego and Daio are away at the moment," Emmanuel said as he then addressed his future relatives. "Don Alejandro de la Vega, Doña Victoria Escalante, Countess de Lara, Don Felipe de la Vega, Señorita Elena de la Vega, and the little dons Alejandro and Sebastian de la Vega." He then made the introductions.
"Welcome! Welcome to our home!" Don Alejandro said. "We are all happy to make your acquaintance."
"We prepared two of the guest rooms for you," Victoria then uttered as Felipe accompanied the servants carrying the luggage inside the house. "And dinner will be ready shortly."
"We very much appreciate your hospitality," Doña Antonia said. "As we told Don Emmanuel, already, we hope we won't be a burden."
"Of course not!" Don Alejandro said. "You are to be family soon enough, and family is never a burden! Family is a gift."
As the Gamboas entered the house, they marveled at its architecture, the beautiful art, and the furniture there. "You have a wonderful home, Don Alejandro. I never expected to find such a mansion in such a remote colony." Doña Antonia couldn't stop herself from exclaiming.
"Oh, thank you! Though the credit belongs to my –"
"Count of Dragonera," Emmanuel interrupted him to say. "We owe him the current size of the house, as well as many of the furniture pieces here."
"Yes. Yes, exactly what I was about to say." Don Alejandro uttered, grateful to Emmanuel for preventing him from making a mistake.
"The Count of Dragonera? I believe we heard the name in Mexico City… But we never had the privilege of meeting him." Doña Antonia uttered as Felipe rejoined them.
"I assume Emmanuel did not have the occasion to mention him, then?"
"He didn't come up, no." The young man explained, unsure how much he could tell the Gamboas at that point and what details to leave out of the story in order to avoid betraying the De la Vegas' best-kept secrets. Or his, considering he had been passing for the Count a few months earlier when he went to Ciudad de Mexico to get the Escalante brothers freed.
"Well, it's a long story. I'm sure we'll have the chance to tell you all about it sometime." The elderly De la Vega said, realizing the reason for Emmanuel's reticence in talking about the Count. "But, first, a toast!" He said, filling seven champagne glasses and offering every adult there one. "To family!"
ZZZ
Don Alejandro soon found that he had a lot in common with Don Janos, and the two of them began spending a lot of their time together, supervising the works on the ranch or playing chess and checkers, while Emmanuel was working on the plan for the future Hacienda Gamboa.
Victoria also took a liking to Diana, though she had the strange feeling that the newcomer was not very forthcoming with her for some reason.
"I have never seen Emmanuel so happy as he is with you," the young doña assured the soon-to-be bride one day, as she took Diana and her mother to town for the first time, a couple of days after their arrival in Los Angeles.
"They make a beautiful pair, don't they, Doña Victoria?" Doña Antonia asked.
"They most certainly do." She answered. "And I am glad to soon get a new sister. God knows I need help running the household!"
"I was meaning to ask," Diana wondered at that point, as they entered the tavern and sat at one of the tables, "what happened to Doña Juliana?"
Victoria lowered her eyes at the memory of her friend. "She perished in a shipwreck, as she was returning from Monterey."
"By herself?" The young woman asked next.
"Not by herself, of course! Diego had insisted that two servants accompany her. No survivors from the shipwreck were ever found, though."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Diana said sincerely. "But how come her husband had not gone with her, as well?"
"Dario was in jail at the time," Victoria said, instantly regretting having opened her mouth. Emmanuel and Don Alejandro had recounted some of what they had been through to the Gamboas. The young man had mentioned the first-born being abducted, Diego's imprisonment during the war, his past as a guerilla fighter and the miraculous return to Los Angeles after finding Felipe by accident in Baja California just after the Count of Dragonera had left the territory. They had told them the "official" version of the story; the one everyone in Los Angeles knew. But he had not mentioned all that had happened in Los Angeles before their arrival, nor Dario's (or, rather, Gilberto's) role in the entire affair.
"In jail? Why?" Doña Antonia asked.
"It's a very long story…" Victoria answered, embarrassed, and hurriedly tried to change the subject. "And it's in the past. But Diego did all he could to find her. He even searched the islands off the coast."
"What can I bring you, Señoras?" Ramon came to ask at that point, and his sister was more than happy to see him.
"Some orange juice would be perfect." She said. "Then you can sit with us and tell us the latest gossip."
He smiled and nodded, then headed for the kitchen.
"Doesn't your husband object to you fraternizing with attractive young men?"
"Why would he? Ramon is my brother," she said. "Did Emmanuel not tell you that?"
"Your brother runs the tavern?"
"Brothers. Francisco, there," she pointed at the other Escalante who was, at the time, serving two customers, "is my eldest. Our parents built this tavern. I used to run it, but Diego insisted I let them do it after they returned home a few months back."
"You used to run the tavern?"
"Doña Victoria still makes the best enchiladas in California!" Mendoza neared them to say at overhearing the last question.
"Alicia follows my recipe to the letter, Lieutenant! I'm sure hers are just as delicious." The young countess said.
"Delicious, yes… But not as delicious as yours…" He uttered.
"Diana, Doña Antonia," Victoria decided to make the introductions, "Lieutenant Mendoza is the commander of the garrison here; and a very good friend of our family. Lieutenant, may I introduce you Doña Antonia Gamboa, and her daughter, Señorita Diana, who is soon to marry Emmanuel?"
"A pleasure, Lieutenant," Doña Antonia said.
"The pleasure is mine, Señora, Señorita! And, may I say, Don Emmanuel is a very lucky man to have found such a beautiful bride." He answered just as a brawl started at the back of the tavern. "Forgive me, but I'd better go see what that is all about." He said and was soon on his way.
The women glanced after him, wondering what was happening. Two men were arguing, having stood up and brandished their fists.
"Que pasa aqui?" Mendoza asked, nearing the table.
A moment later, he found himself punched in the face, as one of the men attacked and the other ducked, leaving the Lieutenant in the way of the incoming fist. "That's it!" Mendoza uttered as he checked his cheek. "Men, take them to jail! A night spent there will help them cool off!"
Two lancers, who were in the tavern, having a drink, hurried to comply, soon escorting the troublemakers out.
The entire tavern applauded at that.
"Were such incidents frequent when you were running the place?" Doña Antonia asked.
"Frequent?" Victoria chuckled. "They surely were... Though they were usually worse. Many would only end when Zorro showed up."
"Zorro? So there is such a man?" Diana wondered. "We heard talk of him since we first put foot in California, but we thought they were only stories…"
The young doña glanced at her. "Oh, trust me! Zorro is quite real." She said, wondering how Emmanuel's future bride would react at knowing not only who was wearing the mask, but that her future husband had, at times, worn it, as well.
"And does he really dress in black and wear a mask?"
"He certainly does."
"And is he such a good swordsman as they say?"
"He's never been defeated."
"So far…" Doña Antonia corrected.
"God willing, he never will be." Victoria said.
"How can you say that? Isn't he an outlaw?" The same woman asked.
"Only because our corrupt alcalde put a reward on his head. But Zorro is a hero! Had it not been for him… Well, many, many things would be far worse here!"
"Aren't they worse because of him?"
"Of course not! Zorro is the one man who gives people hope. He risked his life countless times to save others, capture bandits, and stop tyrants! And I should know! He saved my life more than once."
"He did?"
Victoria nodded, and her two companions just glanced at each other.
ZZZ
"I wonder why she became so upset when you said Zorro was an outlaw… He is, isn't he?" Diana later asked her mother, as the older woman brushed her hair.
"It was, certainly, an unexpected reaction. But she seems a rather unusual young woman." Doña Antonia replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she is married to a count, yet worked in a tavern, even after she married. That's unusual, to say the least. And then, that story about Don Diego's detention in Spain, and his return… and the friendship with the Count of Dragonera… I don't know, but I feel that I am missing something…"
"What do you mean?"
"Well… Firstly, all that count has done for him, a peer – I've never heard of a nobleman going to such length to help another. Then, his timely return, just as his brother also got to Los Angeles... And why was Don Dario in prison? Furthermore, Don Diego is the second-born son of Don Alejandro. Why did he inherit his grandfather's title?"
"You heard what Don Alejandro said. The family didn't know about the other son until a few years back."
"Even so… Once they knew, why didn't he claim his title?"
Diana shrugged her shoulders.
"They are keeping secrets from us." Her mother concluded.
"If they are, I'm sure they'll tell us when they feel we have earned their trust. You can't expect them to trust us right away. To them, we are strangers…"
"But you are soon to marry Emmanuel. You have the right to know whatever they are hiding. What if it might affect your marriage?"
"I doubt that is the case, Mother. Besides, whatever they are keeping from us, those secrets belong to the De la Vegas. We should respect that."
"Yes… Yes, you are right." Her mother conceded, then smiled. "You will make a great doña, my love."