Chapter Nine
The next afternoon, Diego drove Rosarita to town so that she could do some shopping. He had hoped to be able to avoid it, but he had made a commitment and could not get out of it. He had no desire to run into Señora Del Fuego, especially now that she had seen Zorro so closely, but Rosarita was not one to be dissuaded easily and so he was here. He pulled the carriage to a stop in front of the tavern and helped Rosarita down. She directed her servant, Emilia, to go and purchase the vegetables that they needed. By previous agreement, Bernardo stayed by the carriage in order to keep an eye out for Señora Del Fuego.
Diego escorted Rosarita over to the merchant’s stall just down from the tavern. She began to look over some scarves that were on display. Diego noticed Sergeant Garcia coming towards them accompanied by a ranchero.
“Well, Sergeant Garcia,” he greeted the sergeant. He presented Rosarita to him and they exchanged pleasantries. They soon discovered that the sergeant was taking the ranchero to jail for trespassing on the king’s land. Rosarita was incensed.
“This is very unfair, sergeant,” she declared.
The sergeant agreed with her but said that he was only following orders. And to prove his point, he said that if the Capitán told him to arrest Don Diego as being Zorro, he would have to do it. He and Diego had a good laugh about it. Then the sergeant and the ranchero went on across the plaza.
Diego tried to smooth Rosarita’s ruffled feathers by telling her that he had written a letter to the governor asking him to investigate the situation. The tumult resulting from that comment had him wishing that he had not said anything. But he did learn one thing. Rosarita had said that she was shocked by Ortega’s revolting act of forcing rancheros to work in the grist mill. She seemed very puzzled by the fact that he had seemed so pleasant a man while on the ship that brought her from Monterey and such a brute now that he was in Los Angeles. It seemed to be one more piece of the puzzle. The trouble was, he did not know where it fit in yet.
Rosarita went back to examining the merchant’s goods. Diego made eye contact with Bernardo who shrugged his shoulders and shook his head to indicate that he had seen no sign of Señora Helena. So Diego ran his eyes over the merchant’s wares. He saw a sword that interested him. In just a few minutes, he was wishing he had never picked it up, for Rosarita saw him with it and with joy on her face, was soon pushing him to take fencing lessons. He had to play the bookish Diego to the hilt to try and deflect her, which made her emotions run all the higher. The worst part was when she began to ask him about why he had changed so much from when he was a boy. As she went on, he sighed mentally and endured her barrage.
When she had wound down, he said, “I am sorry that you are so displeased with me.” It was the only thing he could think of to say.
Rosarita replied, “Not displeased, Diego. Just disappointed.” She said it with such pity in her voice that Diego shrank inwardly. It was tough enough to face his father’s disapproval, but pity? Pity for the poor Diego who was less a man than he should have been. Somehow pity was harder to take. He was relieved when she shook her head and went to examine a silver comb that had caught her eye.
Bernardo came over and made signs to indicate that Rudolfo was standing in front of the tavern looking at Diego. Diego watched out of the corner of his eye as Rudolfo walked with purpose toward Señora Helena’s house and he nodded to Bernardo to show that he had seen. He sent Bernardo back to the carriage. Rosarita was not through shopping and if there was one thing he had learned, you never rush a woman when she is shopping. He had to remain where he was for the moment. If Señora Helena came to him, he would just have to brazen it out and hope for the best.
His attention was distracted when Rosarita called him over to look at something she had found to buy. It was a shawl.
While he was distracted, he did not see Capitán Ortega and Sergeant Garcia coming out of the cuartel on their way to the tavern, but Bernardo did. He saw Ortega casually look over to where Diego and Rosarita were and then come to a complete halt. When Ortega suddenly ran around and ducked down behind the well in the plaza, it caught Bernardo by surprise. As he watched Sergeant Garcia search for and find his commandanté crouching behind the well, he finally figured out that Ortega was hiding from someone and that someone was Rosarita. Diego had had his back to Ortega when he had first looked over their way. It was Rosarita’s face that the commandanté had seen.
Ortega ducked away from the sergeant, trying to make sure that Rosarita did not spot him, and made his way across the plaza towards the Magistrado’s office. Bernardo was torn for a moment, but then he decided that finding out what had frightened Ortega was more important than watching for Señora Helena. She had not come out of her house as yet, and he knew that Diego was able to handle himself. So as he watched Ortega go into the Magistrado’s office he knew he was going to follow.
He slipped past the guard at the foot of the stairs and made his way to the Magistrado’s door. What he heard sent chills down his spine. Señorita Rosarita was in grave danger. Capitán Ortega and the Magistrado were planning her death because she could identify Ortega as being an imposter.
When Rudolfo reached Señora Helena’s house, he had walked in to find that the señora was entertaining the padre from the church which was next door. From what he could tell, it was just a social visit. Seeing that Rudolfo had something important to tell her, she very adroitly maneuvered the padre into thinking it was time to leave. He even thought it was his own idea. Once he was gone, Rudolfo told her of Diego and the young lady who were shopping in the plaza. Señora Helena called for Contessa to bring her shawl to her and waited impatiently until it was brought. Then she and Rudolfo stepped out of her house only to see the back of Diego’s head as the carriage headed out of town and then disappeared down the road toward’s Rosarita’s house.
Señora Helena was a study in frustration. If only that priest had chosen another time to visit! Diego had driven the carriage right past her front door and she had missed him. She shook her head and went back into the house, just missing poor Bernardo running by on foot as he headed home to warn Diego about Capitán Ortega.
Bernardo had been rather upset to find the carriage gone. He knew that he had to get home as soon as he could, but even so it would be well after dark before he could get there on foot. He could only pray he would not be too late.
Later that evening, Señora Helena decided that she would spend the evening at the tavern. She knew that Don Diego was a frequent visitor and that she might get to see him there. As she and Rudolfo went across the plaza, she was surprised to see Capitán Ortega riding out of the pueblo in civilian clothing. How curious, she thought. She had never seen him out of uniform before. She went on into the tavern leaving Rudolfo posted outside. She wanted to have some warning in case the young man she was looking for happened to arrive.
The innkeeper was very happy to see her and gave her the finest table in her establishment, such as it was. She ordered a glass of wine and settled in to wait. She listened to the conversations around her, but found nothing of interest.
One of the vaqueros started to play a guitar and sing. He was joined by a few others. Señora Helena found the music simple, but compelling in its simplicity. She was enjoying it very much. One of the waitresses began dancing when the music changed to a more lively beat.
In Mexico City, she would not even have been noticed, but here, in this place, she brought the tavern to life. Señora Helena found herself clapping with the others when she had finished the dance.
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Zorro raced through the night on Tornado. He was desperately hoping to reach Rosarita before the false Ortega did. Bernardo had arrived at the hacienda after dark and had almost blown his cover while he was trying to convey to Diego what he had learned while standing behind Don Alejandro’s back. Diego’s father was determined to win the game of drafts they were playing and only Bernardo’s quick thinking allowed Diego to lose the game and say good night to his father. When they were finally alone, Bernardo told of what he had overheard at the magistrado’s office. Diego had hurried to the secret room to change and Bernardo had run ahead to get Tornado ready. Zorro could hear voices over the wall of Don Domingo’s hacienda as he pulled the great horse to a stop. He climbed to the top of the wall and saw that he was late, but not too late. Ortega was trying to throttle Rosarita with the very shawl she had purchased only that afternoon, but she was still alive.
Ortega spun around and saw him as he leaped to the patio pulling his sword. Rosarita slumped to the ground in a faint. The fight was fast and furious.
Ortega slipped by Zorro once and almost put his sword through Rosarita, but Zorro deflected it at the last moment. He then pressed Ortega hard and kept him away from her. At last, he disarmed the imposter and thought he had the upper hand, but Ortega threw a knife at him which plunged into a stool he managed to pick up just in time. As he gave chase, Ortega pulled a trellis down on top of him and by the time he got loose, Ortega was on his horse and gone.
He went to Rosarita who was just coming to herself and helped her up. He could see that she was not hurt. As he picked up her fallen shawl, he kissed her hand and said, “Until we meet again, Señorita.” He sometimes found Rosarita a little difficult to be around, but he was very glad that she was safe. He turned and ran out of the patio to mount Tornado and ride in pursuit. He could not see Ortega, but he had a hunch that he would return to the pueblo.
Ortega flew into the pueblo. He pulled up in front of the Magistrado’s office. He had to get out of town, but he needed money, and he knew Galindo kept plenty in his desk. He dismissed the guard and ran up the stairs.
Across the plaza, at the tavern entrance, Rudolfo was watching. He found the commandanté’s actions puzzling. He watched the silhouettes on the magistrado’s window shades as the two men talked. Suddenly Zorro was there, dismounting smoothly as he pulled his horse to a sliding stop. He too ran up the stairs towards the magistrado’s office.
Rudolfo quickly turned and went into the tavern. He gained Señora Helena’s attention as he motioned to her to come and made the sign of a “Z” with his finger as a pistol shot rang out in the plaza. She got up at once and hurried out into the plaza. Rudolfo pointed to the roof tops.
The commandanté was on the roof struggling with Zorro. They rolled around grappling with each other. Finally, Zorro seemed to gain the upper hand, for he was advancing menacingly on the commandanté who was retreating. Señora Helena had a clear view as to what happened next.
Zorro kept advancing and Ortega kept retreating until he reached the edge of the roof, lost his balance, and fell. Zorro had not touched him.
The soldiers who had also seen what had happened, rushed over to the fallen commandanté. Sergeant Garcia examined him and said that he was dead. But he was soon distracted as a shower of money rained down on them. Zorro had gotten a bag of money from somewhere and was throwing handfuls to the ground. The sergeant and the other soldiers scrambled to pick up the coins.
The magistrado had come down the stairs by now and was crying for the soldiers to shoot Zorro. But the soldiers had their priorities in order and kept on picking up the money. Furious, the magistrado picked up a rifle and fired a shot at Zorro, but missed.
Zorro disappeared over the rooftop into the night.
Señora Helena and Rudolfo returned to her house. What she wouldn’t give to know what had been going on between Zorro and the commandanté. Whatever it was had escalated until it had resulted in Ortega’s death. She remembered what Zorro had said back there in the winery about forces gathering to try and overthrow the government. Was what she had just seen some part of that? Or was it something else? She was still thinking about it when she retired for the night and fell asleep.
She found herself dreaming again. She saw the flag flying over the cuartel being taken down and another being put in its place. She could not make out the emblem clearly. Suddenly she heard a drum roll and her heart leaped into her throat. She ran to the cuartel gate and saw that a firing squad was about to execute someone. She could only see the prisoner from the back with his hands tied behind him. She put her hand to her mouth in horror as she realized that the prisoner was her son. She would have recognized him anywhere. Heedless of her own safety, she ran to her son determined to save him if she could. When she reached him, she put her hand on his shoulder to turn him around and when he turned, she found she was looking into the masked face of El Zorro.
He said to her, “Señora, you held the fate of California in your hands. I hope you enjoy collecting the money from your wager. If you will excuse me, I have an appointment with these men that cannot wait.” He turned away from her.
At her cry of “NOOOOooooooo . . . !” all of her servants rushed into her room.
“Señora! Señora! Are you all right? What is the matter? As she sat up she found that she was shaking and pulled the bedclothes up around her tightly. Then with iron resolve, she got hold of herself and said that she was fine, she had just had a bad dream and sent them away. There was no way she could go back to sleep anytime soon and she was not so sure she wanted to try anyway.
She got out of bed and went and sat in the chair by the window looking out over the plaza. Nothing was stirring. She found herself thinking about her son, Alberto. She had not dreamed about him in a long time. As the years had passed, she had tended to bury her memories under layers of business deals and dispassionate reasoning. She had felt that she had to in order to keep her position among her peers. A woman running a business could not afford to be soft or her rivals would take advantage of her.
She knew all of this and yet tonight her thoughts were of her son. Now that she was awake, she could bring her son’s face to her mind and it brought a smile to her lips. How beautiful he looked as a youth and how handsome he would have been as a man. He had been growing tall and he had shoulders that would have been the same width as Zorro’s . . . .
She put her hand to her mouth as she wondered where that comparison had come from. Angry with herself for letting Zorro intrude on her thoughts about her son, she decided to try the brandy again. It took longer this time, but she finally fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eight
Chapter Seven
Chapter Six
Chapter Five
Chapter Four
Chapter Three
Chapter Two
Chapter One
Table of Contents
