AN: This is the second chapter I publish today. Make sure you read the other one before reading this one. Enjoy!
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"Oh, thank God!" Victoria uttered that early afternoon, as she unfurled a small piece of paper that one of the homing pigeons had just brought her.
"What is it, my dear?" Don Alejandro came to ask her, Felipe by his side.
"It's from Diego. He's alright." She said.
"That's wonderful news! What does he say?"
"Nothing, really," she replied, a bit disappointed. "He just asks if Juliana had any mark helpful in recognizing her."
"That's all?"
"He signed the note and added "SLO" on the back. He must be in San Luis Obispo."
"Emmanuel mentioned heading there in his latest message. They must have met at the Mission." The elderly man said relieved.
"It explains the pigeon. But how should I reply?"
"About Juliana? Wouldn't Dario know that? He's her husband, after all…" The don suggested.
"True… But they had not been intimate since that night she became pregnant. So I doubt he'd know. Not to mention she's been gone for quite a long time." Victoria said.
"So he thinks you might know?"
"I… I'm not sure…" She said, trying to think back. "I helped bathe after she gave birth, but I don't remember any birthmark… She had some beauty marks, but none stood out… Nor do I remember where they were. Perhaps Maria might know something more useful…"
Felipe drew their attention at that point. "A scar," he signed, followed by a question mark.
"A scar! Of course!" Victoria uttered as her eyes sparkled. "She had three scars on her lower back. She never wanted to tell me how she had gotten them, but they look an awful lot like the markings Diego has from the lashings he had gotten while in prison."
Saying that, she took a piece of paper, and wrote the answer to Diego's question, then added a heart and a V as signature. Putting it in a lightweight capsule, she headed outside, where the pigeons trained to head for various places in California were kept. Choosing one from the cage marked for San Luis Obispo, she attached the capsule to his leg and sent him away. "Do you think they found her?" She asked Don Alejandro as they watched the bird fly.
"Her body… or someone who had seen her, perhaps." The caballero said pensively.
Victoria said a silent prayer, then went to take the carrier pigeon that had brought her Diego's message, and put him in one of the cages, just as another pigeon arrived.
Felipe went to get the message this time.
"What does it say?" Don Alejandro inquired as he and Victoria neared the young man. "Diego and Dario alive and well. Heading home by sea." He then read. "It's signed by Emmanuel and was sent also from San Luis Obispo."
ZZZ
It was night when a slim figure made its way out of one of the Mission's rooms, heading for the cemetery.
There, the figure seemed to search for a little while, then stopped before a grave, knelt down for a few minutes, then stood up and returned to the Mission.
From the shadows, another figure watched.
ZZZ
The knocks on the door woke up Milagros and Señora Nuria.
"Who's there?" The older woman asked.
"It's Diego. We just received news that the ship is waiting for us near the shore. It's a long ride, though, and we won't be able to go very fast because of my brother's injured ribs. We should leave soon to get to the ship by nightfall."
"Alright! We'll be there as soon as possible." Milagros answered with a yawn, stretching her arms and legs. "Why can't we stay here a few more days?" She then lazily asked her mother, just as the footsteps heading away, indicated that the young man had left.
"They want to get home, Hija! And who could blame them?" Señora Nuria said, getting out of bed.
"Who should go first to the latrine?" Milagros asked, closing her still-tired eyes and hoping for a few more minutes of slumber.
"I'll go. I know how much you hate getting out of bed in the morning." Her mother said with a smile.
A while later, after the two women washed, got dressed, packed their things for the day's journey, and Señora Nuria braided Milagros' hair, as she did every day, they met their traveling companions outside the Mission.
"Ready?" Diego asked.
"Ready!" Milagros answered with a smile.
"We didn't manage to find a coach, so I hope you won't mind going on horseback." He said.
Nodding, Señora Nuria accepted Diego's help to mount one of the horses.
Her daughter, however, didn't seem just as eager to do the same.
"I… I'm not sure I know how to ride…" She uttered, to explain her hesitation.
"Oh?" The young man glanced at her mother.
"Ah… She never liked horses very much." Nuria replied unconvincingly.
"I like horses!" Milagros contradicted her. "You know how much I cried when you decided to sell ours! I just don't think I have ever been on top of one…"
"Of course you have. In Spain, you used to ride at times. But maybe one of our horses threw you off and you didn't even tell us. It would explain why you refuse to ride now." Her mother said.
"I guess…" The young woman agreed, thinking that might explain her fear.
"That's alright," Diego said with a smile. "You can ride with me." With that, he mounted his stallion and extended his hand to Milagros, pulling her up in one go.
She locked her arms around him and they started the long day's journey towards the shore.
"You don't remember your life in Spain very well, do you?" Diego asked the young woman about ten minutes into their ride.
"Not really… My memory has been failing me a lot since the incident."
"What incident?"
"A while back, not long before my father died, some thugs almost killed me. They hit me so hard that I still have trouble remembering things."
"I see," Diego muttered.
"What?"
"Was that before or after your father brought you and your mother to California?"
"After… We arrived here about three years ago. My father had some money as we left Spain, and thought he could make it last longer here than in the Old World. It's why he bought that land. But he didn't know at the time that it was so far away from everything."
"You must miss him."
"I do. So does my mother. She misses him very much. Yet she never forgave him for bringing us to California."
"Must have been hard trying to make a life for yourselves in those woods."
"It's not been easy, for sure. But I didn't mind it. Maybe because I do not remember the really bad days. Like when the thugs came."
"But you know what happened?"
"Yes. My parents told me. It was soon after we got here. Back when we still had some money left. Mother and Father had gone to prospect the land and had left me alone in the cabin. Mother said I did my best to fight off those bandits, but I was alone, and I didn't yet have the wolves.
"Those men stole everything of value, beat me, and left me for dead. My parents had to take me to San Luis Obispo to get me well. It's because of that beating they gave me that I have such a bad memory. I hardly remember anything before they came. Images… Nothing clear. The first clear memory I have is from when we were traveling back… After the doctor saved me."
ZZZ
They reached the shore just before sunset. There, Emmanuel drew a gun and fired a red flame up to the sky. About half an hour later, a boat was docking on the beach.
"Ladies first!" Diego said, inviting the two women to head there.
Señora Nuria headed for the boat, climbing aboard with little difficulty.
Milagros, however, seemed petrified.
"Aren't you coming?" Her mother asked.
"You're not afraid, are you, Señorita?" Diego said, carefully studying the young woman.
"Milagros, dear! Get on the boat! It's perfectly safe." Her mother encouraged her.
The young woman tried to move her legs, but they refused to obey. "I… I don't know what's wrong with me…" She said. "But I don't think I can do it."
"What are you afraid of?" Diego asked.
"The sea… I… I can't get on that ship! I'm sorry! I just can't!" She replied as she slowly sank to the ground, her hands reaching for the sand as if to make sure she was still on land.
"Haven't you come here in one? Only a few years ago?" Diego asked, as Señora Nuria stood up, and headed for her daughter.
"I did but…"
"Was it the storm that frightened you?" He asked as Emmanuel and Dario exchanged a curious glance. "Must have been scary. The boat moving up and down, and down and up, with the waves…"
"What are you doing? You are scaring her!" Nuria said.
"The screams of the terrifying people on board…" Diego continued. "And then… a wave… it must have felt like you were swollen by the sea…"
The young woman sat down, brought her knees to her chest, and started shaking.
"Stop! For God's sake, stop, Don Diego!" Señora Nuria begged.
"You remember the storm, Juliana?" He asked next.
"Juliana?" Emmanuel and Dario said at the same time.
"Her name is Milagros," Señora Nuria uttered.
"No, it's not." The tall caballero said matter-of-factly. "The real Milagros is buried in San Luis Obispo's cemetery. I followed you to her grave the other night. You were not able to save her, were you?"
"She's my baby!"
"No, she's not. Her name is Juliana. Juliana de la Vega." Diego again contradicted her. "You convinced her otherwise, but –"
"I'm not Juliana!" The young woman rebuked. "I don't know what game you are playing, Don Diego, but I am not the one you have been searching for!"
"Of course, not!" Señora Nuria said. "Come, my dear! We will head south on land. I can see now, that these men have only tried to deceive us!"
They both stood up and, after giving Diego a furious look, they collected their things, and decided to go their separate way.
"I am not the deceiver, Juliana! It's this woman, pretending to be your mother." Diego cautioned her.
"She is my mother! And I need her."
Señora Nuria nodded. "Every daughter needs her mother."
"So does Elena! She needs her mother, too. Please, Juliana! If nothing else, you must remember Elena!" The young man said.
"I don't! Alright? Because I am not her. And I will never be her, no matter how much you want me to be!" The young woman said as they started to head away.
"Juliana had three whip marks on her back," Diego said and went on as she stopped in place. "If you don't have them, you are not her. But, if you do…"
She stopped and slowly turned to glance at him, the same spiteful look in her eyes. Then, taking her mother's hand, continued on her way. The wolves followed them, glancing once at the tall caballero as they all disappeared into the night.
"Diego?" Dario asked. "What was that about?"
"She's your wife. But we can't force her to either remember or come with us. I tried to make her remember."
"She's really her?"
"I am quite certain."
"I'll go after her, then," Dario uttered as he was about to go after them.
"No! No. It must be her choice, or she'll resent us all for the rest of her life." Diego said, stopping him.
"That woman... She just took her! Like Inez took me. My wife is in danger!" Dario retorted, a sense of urgency in his voice.
"No! It's not the same, Brother. She might have taken advantage of the fact that she had somehow lost her memory. But we both know the woman would kill and die, rather than allow any harm to come to her. Inez was a monster. Señora Nuria was pain-stricken... misguided in her actions... yet, she was not evil, nor did she try to hurt anyone. Julina is not in danger from her. I promise you as much."
"That's true," Emmanuel confirmed. "It's enough to see them together to see that they truly care for each other. But do you really think she'll come back?" He then asked his friend.
"I hope she will. Let the crew know that we will camp here tonight!" He then ordered the men who had brought the boat.
"But she is terrified of the water." Emmanuel pointed out.
"She's terrified of being on a ship at night, and during a storm." Diego corrected.
"It's that why you insisted on us making the whole journey in one day?" Dario inquired.
"I hoped it might trigger some memories. Even the painful ones can be useful under the circumstances." The tall caballero confirmed.