"A Tale of Two Outlaws"
by Belle Book
Part Four
Just outside Los Angeles, 1821
A blue circle of light appeared
just outside the pueblo of Los Angeles,
depositing two very unusual teenagers.
Then, the circle vanished.
Ivy and Zack looked around them.
"Where are we, little bro?" asked
Ivy.
"According to the Chronoskimmer,"
whispered Zack, "we're in Los Angeles,
California, in the year 1821!"
"What does Carmen want that would
justify her going back in time to 1821?"
asked Ivy.
"I don't know, but we'd better find
out," said Zack.
"Where should we start looking for
answers?" asked Ivy.
"Well, in that time period, there
would've been a tavern where people went to
eat and talk," said Zack. "Let's look for
a tavern in Los Angeles."
"Okay," said Ivy.
They passed the sign welcoming them
to Los Angeles, and looked around.
They stood in a plaza, with a number
of houses and buildings around them. One of
the buildings was called, "Victoria's Tavern".
"Looks like that's the tavern," said
Ivy.
"Wait a minute," said Zack. "Who is
Victoria? And why would a woman run a tavern
in 1820s Los Angeles?"
"Maybe she's good," said Ivy.
"But most women don't run taverns in
the 1820s," explained Zack.
"Well, let's find out," said Ivy.
So together, they approached Victoria's
Tavern.
Once inside, they sat down at the near-
est table they could find.
A beautiful woman approached them and
said, "Buenas tardes. I've never seen you
here before."
"This is our first time here," said
Ivy. "My name's Ivy, and this is my younger
brother, Zack."
"I'm Victoria Escalante," said the
woman. "Welcome to my tavern."
"You own your own tavern?" asked Zack.
"Si. It belonged to my parents," ex-
plained Victoria. "But my mother died some
years ago, and my father died recently, so
I now own it."
"Oh," said Zack.
"So, do you two have parents?" asked
Victoria. "And what are you doing here in
the pueblo de Los Angeles?"
___________________________________________________________
The de la Vega hacienda
While Ivy and Zack were busy talking
to Victoria, Carmen had gotten up from the
secret passageway before Felipe returned with
the news that the guest room had been prepared.
Carmen had already been informed by
Don Alejandro that Felipe couldn't hear or
speak. She also knew that Felipe could hear,
but did not wish to reveal her knowledge of
that fact just yet, so she signalled to Felipe,
"Gracias." They were standing in the library
at that time.
Don Alejandro and Diego emerged from
the secret passageway. Between the time that
Carmen left them and their leaving the cave,
Diego had told his father that he planned to
tell Victoria as soon as possible, preferably
that night. He also revealed that he'd been
wounded by a gunshot from one of Resendo's men.
They entered the library, where they
learned the guest room had been prepared.
"Gracias for taking me in, Don Ale-
jandro," said Carmen.
"De nada, senorita," said Don Ale-
jandro.
Carmen noticed Diego holding his arm
stiffly, so she asked, "Something wrong, Don
Diego?"
The two gave each other a glance.
What should they tell the senorita?
Finally, Diego said, "It is a wound.
I was practicing with a gun and clumsily let
it go off and shoot me in the arm."
Carmen knew Diego was lying, but she
said nothing.
Instead, she said, "I may have some-
thing for that."
"You do?" asked Diego.
"Si," Carmen said. "While in Monterey,
I met an old Indian treating a gunshot wound
in a fellow Indian. I asked for some of the
medicine in case I needed it, and he gave it
to me. Here."
And with that, she withdrew the med-
icine she had actually stolen out of her coat
pocket. She'd taken off the label, but she
already knew it would work quickly.
Carmen said, "Show me your wound, Don
Diego."
Diego hesitated, then rolled up his
shirt, exposing the wound.
Carmen poured out some of the medicine,
and began to rub it in Diego's wound.
"I was told it would work very quick-
ly, so quickly that in a few days, one would
never know there was a gunshot wound," said
Carmen.
"Gracias, senorita," said Diego.
"De nada," said Carmen.
"Father, maybe you can prepare dinner
for the senorita while I go to the tavern,"
Diego said.
Carmen suspected Diego wished to tell
Victoria the truth, however, and she wished
to be present when he did.
So instead, she said, "I'd like to
see this tavern."
Diego looked uncomfortable, so Don
Alejandro said, "We'll all go. I'll escort
Senorita Carmen Sandiego."
Diego agreed, and it was settled.
None of them, not even Carmen, knew
that the following events would make Carmen
not a witness, but a participant in history.
___________________________________________________________
Later that night, at the tavern
Ivy and Zack were sitting at the
table, drinking orange juice and eating some
of Victoria's chile con queso.
"This is good," said Zack. "This
Victoria is a great cook."
"Yes," said Ivy. "And a kind woman.
After we're finished eating, she's going to
send us to the church to stay with Padre
Benitez."
Zack had told Victoria that he and
Ivy were from the United States, and that
they had come with their parents to San
Francisco on a business trip. But while
in San Francisco, bandits made an attack.
In the confusion, Zack and Ivy got separated
from their parents, and hid in a wagon that
was heading to Santa Barbara.
Once in Santa Barbara, they walked
to Los Angeles, hoping to get as far away
from the bandits as possible. Of course,
Zack wasn't telling the truth, but he had
to tell something.
Victoria then explained the condi-
tion of Los Angeles to Ivy and Zack. She
told how Alcalde Ignacio deSoto unfairly
taxed the people of Los Angeles, just like
Alcalde Luis Ramone did before him. How-
ever, he never got away with his taxation
programs, because El Zorro always stopped
DeSoto.
As Victoria spoke about Zorro, Ivy
saw that the tavern owner had stars in her
eyes. It was clear that she loved Zorro.
Victoria then heard the door open,
and turned to greet the newcomers.
"Don Alejandro! Diego! What a
pleasant surprise!" Victoria said.
Zack and Ivy turned as well -- and
stared.
Standing there was an older gentle-
man with white hair and a small mustache,
a tall man with black hair, and a black
mustache -- and Carmen Sandiego!
____________________________________________________________
"Buenas noches, Victoria," said
Diego to Victoria.
Carmen watched Don Alejandro and
Diego greet Victoria.
"Who's the senorita?" asked Vic-
toria. "Do I know her?"
"No," said Don Alejandro. "This
senorita -- and she is a senorita -- calls
herself Carmen Sandiego. She was travel-
ling to San Diego, where she was born,
when she ran into a bandit attack on the
way and lost all her companions."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said
Victoria. "Welcome to the pueblo de Los
Angeles, Carmen Sandiego."
Carmen said, "Gracias."
"Oh, Don Alejandro, there's some
other newcomers, from America, who also
ran into some problems," said Victoria.
She turned to wave two teenagers
over. Carmen recognized them at once.
It was Ivy and Zack.
Ivy and Zack came over and Vic-
toria introduced them to the de la Vegas
and to Carmen. To Carmen's relief, Ivy
and Zack gave no sign of recognition.
"Why don't we sit down with you,
Ivy and Zack?" said Don Alejandro. "You
are all alone here, and we must extend
hospitality to you."
"Gracias, Don Alejandro," said
Zack.
Ivy, Zack, Carmen, Don Alejandro,
and Diego sat down and Victoria took the
orders of the newcomers. Then she went
to get them all what they ordered.
In a few minutes, she came back
with the food and drinks -- beer for Don
Alejandro and Diego, and orange juice
for Carmen.
As Carmen sipped her orange juice,
she happened to hear the door to the ta-
vern slam open.
Looking, she saw a tall, average-
looking man who was dressed well. What
she didn't know was that this man was
to be the person who would cause her to
take part in history, and not just watch
it unfold.
___________________________________________________________
"I want service!"
The voice startled Diego. Turn-
ing around, he stared.
he thought to
himself.
Victoria came up to him and asked
what he wanted.
"I want a room and some supper!"
Don Luis commanded.
Victoria led him to a table and be-
gan to take his order. Diego's eyes fol-
lowed them.
"Something wrong, Don Diego?" ask-
ed his father.
"Si," said Don Diego. "I think I
should explain, both for you and for the
other three, who don't know me.
"Carmen, Ivy, Zack, almost ten
years ago, I went to the University of
Madrid to study the sciences. I also was
to study the sabre."
"Under Sir Edmund Kendall," Don
Alejandro explained.
Diego continued, "While I was at
the University, I met Don Luis Alvarez.
He was from San Juan Capistrano."
"I think I've heard of the man,"
said Don Alejandro. "He left the Uni-
versity shortly before I sent for you,
didn't he?"
"Yes," said Diego. "But he was
forced to leave."
"Why?" asked Carmen.
"He was extremely reckless," ex-
plained Diego. "He provoked a few fights
and would've provoked many more if I had
not stopped them.
"Finally, he became fed up with
my interference, and challenged me to a
duel. I tried to calm him down, to keep
the duel from happening, but I finally
had no choice."
"How good was he?" asked Carmen.
"Very good," said Diego. "For-
tunately, I got extremely lucky and de-
feated him."
In fact, there was nothing lucky
in Diego's defeat of Don Luis. Diego
won by means of his extraordinary skill.
But Diego had to tell that lie to Ivy,
Zack, and Carmen, since he had no idea
they were from the future, and that Car-
men knew of his skill.
"Don Luis became so furious over
losing to me that finally he was forced
to leave the University before gradua-
tion," Diego concluded.
"What happened to him?" asked
Carmen.
"I heard he went to Mexico, and
later heard that he was taking part in
the strife between Spain and rebels in
Mexico who wanted independence," Diego
said.
"Do you think he's here to stir
up trouble?" Carmen said.
"I don't know, but I think so,"
said Diego.
In fact, Diego suspected that
if Don Luis was in California, Mexico
was probably on the verge of indepen-
dence, and therefore, he might be try-
ing to bring about independence from
Spain in California by means of force.
And bloodshed.
Diego couldn't let this happen.
Neither could Zorro.
They finished dinner, then went
to say goodbye to Victoria.
Victoria asked Diego to please
escort Ivy and Zack to Padre Benitez,
where they could stay until word could
be found about their parents. Diego
promised he'd do so.
Then he asked, "Victoria, are
there any guests staying the night be-
sides the newcomer?"
"No," said Victoria. "Just
Don Luis Alvarez. That's what his name
is. He's staying in one of the two up-
stairs rooms. That one," she pointed
up the stairs to a room on the right.
"Thank you, Victoria," said
Diego.
Then all of them left the ta-
vern.
___________________________________________________________
Later that night, outside the tavern
Carmen was glad she remembered
how to ride a horse. And that she had
brought some of her gadgets with her
to the past.
She knew that at this point in
history, Mexico was gaining its inde-
pendence from Spain. She also suspect-
ed that Don Luis's coming to Los Ange-
les had something to do with the fight
for independence.
Don Luis was a violent person,
who would probably prefer to bring this
independence about by means of violence.
The idea repelled Carmen. She was non-
violent, and would rather use her wits
than her fists to achieve her goals.
That was another quality that she had
in common with Zorro.
No doubt Zorro would be coming
along soon to find out what Don Luis
was up to. However, she planned to
find out herself, and if he planned
something extremely violent, it would
have to be stopped.
Even if it meant revealing the
truth about herself to Zorro.
It was time to get to work.
Carmen pushed a button on her
left wrist. A line and hook latched
itself around the balcony.
Carmen pulled herself up and
over the balcony, then tried the win-
dow. It was locked and shuttered.
However, she knew the window
locks were latch-hooks, and she could
get past it easily. She just hoped
Don Luis wasn't inside his room.
Carmen took a pick from one of
her coat pockets and used it on the
lock. It worked perfectly.
Carmen quietly opened the win-
dow and peeked inside. There was no
one inside the room.
she thought.
So, Carmen snuck through the
window and inside the room.
As soon as she snuck inside,
a shadow emerged.
It was Zorro.
To be continued
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