A NEW BEGINNING
Don Alejandro was irritated with his son. You know perfectly well that I have just returned from visiting with your mother’s relative in Santa Barbara, Don--“
Ah, that would be your favorite cousin-by--marriage, Don Alario Estevez?” Diego grinned mischievously.
Alejandro de la Vega sighed and rolled his eyes heavenward. “Do not be so impertinent! You know the only reason that I went to see him was because I had several business appointments there!”
His son winked at him. “I am sorry, father I could not resist injecting a little humor into our chess game this evening,” Diego said as he set up their game on their sala table.
“Ayi! That man! He is so conservative with a peso!” Well, I shall save that story for a later time. Diego, you were about to tell me the identity of Los Angeles’s newest settler.“
Diego frowned harder. “Father, I think that you had better pour yourself another glass of jerez. I believe that you are going to be very shocked when you learn who she is!”
“You look worried Diego! Who is this ‘woman of mystery?’“
“Senora Carmen Alcazar Sanchez Roberto y Rodriguez.”
“WHAT?” His father exclaimed while vaulting from his velvet chair. “I am more than shocked my son, I am truly appalled!” To think that.. that .. woman will now live in Don Pedro’s splendid hacienda, I could.... Ayi, yi yi!!”
“My sentiments exactly, father. I had the ‘pleasure‘ of speaking with her while Captain Gutierrez's men were inspecting her luggage.”
“And she did not impress you as being blatantly unladylike, undisciplined and quite a scheming female? I’ll wager that a cobra has more redeeming attributes than she has!”
“Unladylike, no. Undisciplined, perhaps. Normally, I trust my first impressions, but in this case, I honestly do not know. As a child, I remember how often you told me never to judge a book by its cover, father.”
“Ha!“ Don Alejandro sputtered. “This is different, Diego! “’Unscrupulous‘ would be the proper description of her. And believe me, my son, here is the perfect example of the idiom that ‘a pretty face sometimes hides a scheming woman!’”
Don Diego removed his crimson-hued cravat and sank down into a buttery soft leather chair. “Father, I was thinking that maybe we should host a fiesta in her honor---”
“What?” Alejandro sputtered his afternoon drink all over across his expensive lace shirt.
“Wait a minute, father, we need to determine exactly why Doña Carmen chose Los Angeles as her home. Why, she is so wealthy that it was said at court King Ferdinand VII borrowed money from her late husband to finance his wars against our European foes! According to the Royal Court gossip, His Majesty made loans with the late Señor Rodriguez to meet the daily living expenses of his own household!”
Diego paused to blow some smoke from his Cuban cigar. “Again I have asked myself, if Señora Rodriguez is as terrible a woman as we have been told by our own hidalgos, then I would like to discover her motives for settling in Los Angeles. “
Don Alejandro slapped his right thigh. “By all the Santos! You would not trust the word of a California gentleman?”
“But my personal belief is that the dons in our pueblo are very quick to jump to conclusions and have a tendency to ignore facts.“
“Very well, Diego, I do not entirely disagree with you. By all means, prepare the invitations for the fiesta. If we can not learn anything regarding this new addition to our pueblo, then perhaps Zorro can.“
Diego stifled a yawn. “You know, chasing around Coalinga Pass looking for Capitan Guiterrez’s mining operations night after night is very tiring. I think that Señor Zorro can find time to amuse himself by keeping a close watch on Señora Carmen‘s activities.”
Don Alejandro shrugged. “Yes, that seems to be an excellent solution, my son. Goodnight.”
“Yes, Señor Fox does have his uses, doesn’t he? Goodnight, father. Sleep well.”
Alejandro rubbed his fingers through his silver hair. “By all the Santos!” ‘How I wish my wife were still with me. Oh, Elizabeth, it is in times such as these that I certainly need your voice of reason, querida mia,’
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Zorro and Tornado flew through the night, their black forms well hidden due to a moonless evening. He had always found it very invigorating to play the role of the hunted rather than that of the hunter. Zorro thrived upon instigating the chase. Oddly enough, becoming the prey thrilled his soul to its core. Never did he feel so alive while using his wits and cunning to elude Capitan Guiterrez’s gang of hired thugs. Fighting the commandante's exploitation of any citizen whetted his appetite for justice.
‘Besides, what else would a caballero like me do on such a lovely night but to dress up all in black, wear a mask and use his rapier against evil monsters such as Capitan Guiterrez? Ah, what a fascinating life I lead as a folk hero!’ He chuckled to himself as he patted the neck of his ebony stallion, Tornado.
Tornado, his beloved horse, lived to run. None of the lancers’ horses could hope to match his agility and speed. Tonight his ebony steed had no trouble outdistancing the lancers’ mounts. Their target was the Coalinga Pass, and he led the commandante‘s lancers in a bizarre figure eight trail for them to follow. Zorro laughed and taunted the lancers, urging them to claim the now 5,000 pesos in reward money, if they so dared!
He hid Tornado behind a thicket of thorny growth at the foot of the eastern half of Coalinga Pass, and the lancers rode past them. Zorro looked up to a now clear night sky filled with diamond-like stars and laughed aloud.
“Well done, Tornado! Now on with our mission!” Just before three o’clock a.m., an exhausted Zorro paid a visit to the Far Western side of Coalinga Pass, which was near Señora Rodriguez’s property. Besides, I do know what I am doing!”
While spending time in Los Angeles’ only tavern prior to Doña Carmen’s arrival, Diego heard some drunken soldiers bragging about “stealing Indians from right under Padre Felipe’s nose.“ Fortunately for El Zorro, he just happened to be drinking in the posada’s tavern when the lancers in question had just one more mug of wine too many!
Zorro became more nervous as he watched the amber rays of the imminent sunrise start to paint the morning sky a faint dusty rose. Tornado shifted beneath him in anxious agreement. ‘Wait...there was some movement in the far western side of the pass...’
He used a recent invention known as binoculars to see the almost two-mile distance better. Civilians were herding a group of Indians towards the entrance of Aquila’s Canyon. The chained men appeared familiar to Zorro. Of course! These were the Indians he’d seen taken earlier this week into the cuartel!
“Come on, boy!” he told an equally exhausted Tornado. ’By the Santos! There are over a dozen guards! Tornado, my old traveling compadre, the odds right now are too great! Madre di Dios! But what can I do? I am not a miracle worker. I hope that the poor unfortunate men understand that I cannot do everything by myself!’ The Fox yawned. Dios! He bowed his head in silent prayer to ask His Savior give those pobrocitos the strength to live another day. “Tornado, I am muy fatigado! Let us head for the hacienda. HIYA! I must get home in time to wake up for breakfast!”
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
After returning from her early morning ride to inspect her vast estate of Nueva Esperanza, (“New Hope“), Carmen hastily dismounted from her bay Andalusian, which she had brought with her from Peru. She had wanted to bring her favorite Andalusian, Night Wind, with her on the voyage from Spain. However, the captain of the Ciel del Mar had informed her that the animal would have never survived the sea trip.
Whether or not he told her the truth, Carmen was so relieved to depart Spain and all the horrible memories associated with her home. She sold Night Wind to one of Don Luis Rodriguez’s neighbors. She had named her new bay stained gelding Night Shadow. Señora Rodriguez was eager for the evening to arrive, for the de la Vegas were hosting a fiesta in her honor.
Yet she wondered ... why would the most socially prominent and wealthy family in all of California honor me in this fashion?
Carmen surmised that were other, more secret undercurrents in this community. Maria had learned from the servants she had hired from Los Angeles that Señores Alfredo Honare Caesar and especially Alejandro de la Vega, vigorously opposed the new commandante’s harsh policies.
The Capitan’s cruel enforcement of the Crown’s law was not only confined to the collection of the royal taxes. Although he harassed the hidalgos as well as the shopkeepers and peons, he seemed to particularly concentrate his ill will more harshly upon the nearby Indian tribes.
“Maria!” Bring me my exercise clothes and the sabers. We must not allow our kills to lapse in this new environment. “En garde.” She told Maria.
Carmen donned her protective gear. Then she expertly went through several basic fencing positions, the en guard, the feint, and then the parry. She daily put Maria through the various different parries she had learned as a child. But Carmen could not afford to overtax herself, for she must prepare for the de la Vegas’ welcoming fiesta being given in her honor. She signaled for one of her Indian despenseros to remove the fencing equipment.
As for the young de la Vega, he was quite an enigma. Carmen mused as Maria helped her to dress. She had sensed muted feelings of both outrage and anger that was barely controlled in Diego. There was something secretive - and - exciting about him that she couldn’t fathom.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Bernardo touched Diego’s left shoulder. “Ah, I see. Our guest of honor has arrived. I shall have to be on my best behavior, Bernardo. I have much to learn about Doña Carmen. “
Alejandro searched the patio. “Diego! Please come over here and welcome Señora Carmen Alcazar Sanchez Roberto y Rodriguez into our hacienda.”
Diego’s eyes darkened with distaste. He turned to Señorita Elena Torres. “Con permiso,” he said as he kissed her hand. “Excuse me.”
Alejandro lightly pushed Diego closer to Carmen. “Señora Carmen Alcazar Sanchez Roberto y Rodriguez may I present my son, Diego de la Vega.”
Carmen closed her expensive and elaborate indigo silk fan. “Si, we met several days before.“ She smiled her brightest smile at Don Diego. “Your son, Don Alejandro --Oh, may I call you Don Alejandro?”
“You already have,” Diego’s father pointed out. He and Diego exchanged furtive glances.
She, of course, noticed their subtle communication. “I apologize for my informality, Don Alejandro. His Majesty speaks quite fondly of you and Don Diego.”
“Would you excuse me, Doña Carmen,” Alejandro said briskly. “I must tend to my other guests.”
Diego looked down at her more closely. Doña Carmen, despite the fact that she had been widowed for less than two years, had chosen not to wear black. Instead she wore a deep midnight blue gown of the finest silk and satin, which was cut low -- but not scandalously so - on her shoulders. Her evening mantilla trailed down the back of her dress, its dark hue contrasting sharply with her milk-white skin and slightly painted red lips.
Señor Diego de la Vega introduced Doña Carmen to a group of the local dons’ wives. She lowered her head to the ladies in the proper social manner, but not a single woman acknowledged her presence. Their silence and cold looks shocked Doña Carmen. To his surprise, she mumbled a hasty apology to the ladies for bothering them!
Her escort occupied himself by observing Carmen’s reactions to the hidalgos‘ snubs. She was still smiling until they both overheard two women discussing Doña Carmen’s social life in Spain. He felt her start to shake after the women moved to another part of the patio.
Don Diego had heard this particular gossip regarding Doña Carmen‘s stay at the Royal Court a few days before this fiesta. ‘Strange, but I feel that this damsel can handle whatever trouble befalls her. I had better start the festivities!’ At his signal, Bernardo motioned for the hired musicians to begin playing.
Carmen’s face was now the color of parchment. She looked up into those gorgeous hazel eyes for some sort of comfort, but instead found only contempt staring back at her. She gasped and muttered something about being thirsty. Diego sighed. “I think you need to sit down for a while, Doña Carmen!”
“Si,” was all that she could say.
Wait right here, please Señora Rodriguez!” He motioned to an Indian servant that he would fetch their refreshments. When Diego returned to the bench next to the patio gate he saw Doña Carmen speaking to his father.
Don Alejandro excused himself from her presence to talk to him. “Diego we have a problem that requires our mutual attention. We must see to it that this ‘item’ is resolved immediately!”
Chapter Four
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