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Felipe watched with terror as Resindo reached for his hidden spare pistol and aimed it at Diego. Don Alejandro and Diego were oblivious to the action however, as they were still reeling from the shock of learning that Emissary Gilberto Resindo was Diego's twin brother. Suddenly, time seemed to slow down for Felipe. Having been trained well in the finer points of fighting by his friend Diego, also known as Zorro, he could tell that Gilberto was not bluffing. Indeed, Resindo was already squeezing down on the trigger. One thought raced through his mind as Felipe started to move. He could not allow that mad man to kill his teacher, his best friend, the father of his heart. So with all the strength that he could muster, he screamed, just as he had once months ago in order to save his dear friend. "Nooo!" yelled Felipe as he pushed Diego aside. Just then, a shot rang out.
Diego looked on with horror as Felipe fell to the ground. " Felipe! Madre de Dios! No!"
"Uh-oh." was all that Gilberto had to say. His brother was going to react rather badly to this, to put it mildly.
Diego and his father dropped to the ground, kneeling beside an unconcious and bleeding Felipe. Diego glared at his brother.
Knowing that his twin would probably kill him if the boy died, Resindo dropped his now useless pistol and made a dive for his sword.
And the duel began, Even injured, angered, and making mistakes, Diego was more than a match for the poor swordsman that Gilberto was. He disarmed his brother( oh how he loathed to call this twisted, insane madman his brother) within a few moments.
Now standing behind Resindo and holding his swordarm just within an inch of the breaking point, Diego said with venom in his voice, "If he dies, so will you. Brother or no!" He then hit Gilberto on the back of his head with the handle of his saber, knocking him out cold. Then he returned to Felipe's side.
Inez Resindo knew that Gilberto would lose the swordfight as soon as the duel began, so she did what she did best. She ran from trouble. She would have to partake of her revenge against the de la Vega's some other way, since her "son" was obviously incapable of performing the task for her. She would return another day to exact vengeance herself.
"Father," Diego whispered, "he can not die. I can't lose him."
"We won't, Diego. Not if we have anything to say about it," remarked Alejandro. "Miguel! Stop cowering behind the curtains and get out here!"
The servant Miguel ran from the hacienda and gasped at seeing Feilpe lying on the ground. "Si senor?"
Ride to town and get Dr. Hernandez. Quickly!" commanded Alejandro.
Meanwhile, Diego had picked Felipe up in his arms as though he weighed no more than a newborn kitten, carried him to his room, and carefully laid him on the bed. His father soon followed after sending Miguel on his way.
"We must stop the bleeding or he'll die before the doctor has a chance to get here," said Diego distraughtly. So they set about doing just that. Servants ran to and fro, bringing hot water and towels as Diego attempted to keep Felipe alive long enough for the Doctor to arrive and hopefully save his life.
"That's done. Now what?" asked Alejando.
"Now, we wait. We wait and we pray."
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Chapter 1 written by Kassie Long
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