Part 10
by Karla Gregory
Basilio only took time to check his attire and make sure that he was as
impeccably dressed as usual before going over to the Inn to greet the
Viceroy. As he entered, he saw a finely dressed older man seated
across the way flanked by two men standing in attendance. One he
knew to be de Silva's man servant and the other was his "secretary",
a large man who carried a sword. The Viceroy was a man of about
seventy-five years of age, his face lined by the years he had seen.
He suffered from arthritis and had to use a cane to walk, his shoulders
were stooped somewhat, and his hands were gnarled, but one look at
his eyes disabused one of the notion that he might be considered feeble.
He wore the power of his office like a mantle. Basilio gave one final tug
at his coat and went to greet him, smiling warmly.
"Welcome to Los Angeles, Your Excellency. It is indeed an honor to see
you once again," he said bowing low. "I trust you have found everything
satisfactory concerning your accommodations?" He glanced at the
Innkeeper who swallowed nervously. Tio fervently prayed that he had
done everything right. He did not want to face Basilio's wrath if he had not.
"Senor Basilio, it is well to see you again," replied de Silva with a
surprisingly strong voice. "Yes, for what this pueblo has to offer, the
accommodations are adequate." Basilio felt a little of the tension ease
between his shoulders and Tio felt his knees weaken in relief. He escaped
back to the tavern's bar on the other side of the room. De Silva continued,
"Vicente will stay here to settle my things while you, I, and Alfredo Alcocer,
my secretary here, go to your office in the cuartel where we may speak freely."
"As you wish, Your Excellency," said Basilio bowing smartly. He watched
as de Silva got up slowly and carefully, attended closely by Alcocer. Once
on his feet, de Silva was able to walk without too much difficulty. Basilio led
the way, opening the door for de Silva. They walked out into the darkened
plaza, the waning moon not lending much light to the night. As they walked,
de Silva spoke again, and hearing the voice without seeing the man, Basilio
could remember him as he was some twenty-five years ago when they first
met back in Spain. Basilio had been a minor nobleman seeking ways to better
his social position. De Silva had just returned from Spanish California where
he had been governor for a few years. The king had recalled him in order to
send him as an ambassador to France during those turbulent times. Basilio
had won a place in de Silva's entourage and had proved himself a man capable
of discreetly handling some little assignments given to him by de Silva. Both
men had profited handsomely. Basilio had received several promotions after
that, with de Silva's help. He was in the older man's debt. He was brought back
to the present as de Silva said, "Senor Basilio! Are you listening to me? I said,
how are you doing with your sale of the king's bonds?"
Basilio swallowed and said, "My apologies, Your Excellency. I . . .have begun
to make certain contacts among the large land owners. The most influential
of them, Don Alejandro de la Vega, has promised his full cooperation and with
his help I hope to sell the required number of bondsshortly."
"Ah, yes. Alejandro. And just how is the son of my old friend?" inquired de Silva.
"He is well, Your Excellency. If you wish, I will have him summoned for you."
"No, not tonight. We have important things to discuss. Things that involve
de la Vega's land, but not de la Vega," he chuckled dryly.
They gained admittance to the cuartel and entered Basilio's office. De Silva t
ook the chair behind the desk, still flanked by Alcocer. Basilio wondered if the
man posing as de Silva's secretary could speak. Basilio remained standing.
De Silva nodded in approval. "I see you still remember your manners, Felipe.
Please, be seated." He gestured to a chair. When Basilio was seated, he said,
"Now to the business at hand. Are you in possession of my strong boxes?" His
black eyes bored into Basilio's.
Basilio felt his mouth grow dry. "I am sorry that I must report the answer to be
no, Your Excellency. There have been a few set backs . . ." His voice trailed off
as he saw the look on de Silva's face. Thinking quickly, he decided that it was
time to deflect the blame to another. Basilio knew he was in a difficult spot since
Mondego had tried to kill the de la Vegas and the Viceroy seemed to be friendly t
owards the son of his old friend. "The man I hired to recover the strong boxes
has had difficulties in carrying out your instructions, Your Excellency. But be
assured, even as we speak, he and his men are at the de la Vega rancho and
should soon have the strong boxes unearthed and ready for your inspection at
a place we have secretly arranged."
De Silva's eyes did not let Basilio off of the hook. "And just who is this man
that you have employed to carry out my instructions? How do you know
that he can be trusted?" he asked.
Basilio swallowed again. He did not know which one was worse, Mondego
with his quick temper and icy, blue eyes or de Silva with his outwardly calm
demeanor and his bottomless black eyes. Both men were capable of leaving
him dead at their whim. "He is a man I met in South America, Your Excellency,
on my previous mission to sell bonds for his Majesty. He served me well
during that mission and I had no complaint about his work. He seemed
particularly suited to do whatneeded to be done here in Los Angeles, so I
sent for him. I did not know until yesterday that he was related to you."
De Silva spoke deliberately, "I say again, who is he?"
"His name is Verde del Mondego . . .," Basilio was not allowed to finish.
De Silva rose out of his chair, his old aches and pains forgotten. "Mondego!
Verde del Mondego! He is here in Los Angeles? He is the one looking for my
strong boxes!?" Seeing the older man in such an emotional state seemed to
freeze Basilio. He could only manage a nod. De Silva continued, "You have
ired a man who hates me above all others on the face of the earth and whose
father I hated more than any man. What have you done, Basilio? What have
you done?"
************************
Zorro patted Bernardo on the back in gratitude and said, "Tie Mondego and gag
him. Then follow me. I want to see what those other men by the wagons are
going." Bernardo nodded and bent over the still form of Mondego. Zorro stole
silently through the brush and trees. He did not have to go far before he could
see four men standing around by the wagons, peering into the darkness. One
man was seated on one of the wagons with a drawn pistol. Two of the men were
still holding the shovels that they had used to begin digging a hole next to two
large boulders. Zorro had passed these two boulders hundreds of times in his
life. "So that is where it is," he mused. As Bernardo came up, he handed him
hhis pistol. "Here," he said quietly, "Go around to the other side of the wagons
and fire a shot into the lead wagon just behind the rider. Shoot the wagon, not
the man. I just want to scare them." Bernardo nodded and disappeared.
Soon a shot rang out and the men dropped to the ground, all except the man on
the wagon, and he looked very scared. Zorro, imitating Mondego's voice, yelled,
"Let's get out of here! Hurry! Get in the wagons, the de la Vega vaqueros are
coming!" He smiled to see the men dropping their shovels and scrambling to
get on the already moving wagons. Soon they were gone.
Bernardo rejoined him and they walked over to the two boulders. He
pointed to the hole and made a square sign with his hands. "Yes, Bernardo.
This must be where the treasure is buried. Come, before someone comes
to investigate the shot, let us dig and see if we can find the treasure." Zorro
took off his cape and they both began to dig. It was not long before they
uncovered the two strong boxes. They were very eavy. Enough time had
gone by that Zorro realized that Don Alejandro must have diverted the
vaqueros or they would have been here by now. He was glad. The
boxes were too heavy to be carried far. Diego pulled the mask from
his face, letting the cool breeze wash over it. He said, "Together we
can carry these to the cave one by one. I think we are safe for now."
When they got the last one into the cave, Diego was tempted to open
them. Using an iron bar, he pried open one of the boxes. Gold coins
and assorted amounts of strangely made jewelry met their eyes.
To Diego, a lot of it looked like it was of South American origin, from
the Inca perhaps. "Apparently our good governor of twenty-five years
ago found a way to relieve others of their wealth, Bernardo. I
wonder why he found it necessary to bury it here on our land rather
than taking it with him when he left? Bernardo could only shrug. It
was a mystery that would have to wait. Diego stood up and dusted
himself off. "I must do something about Senor Mondego out there, "
he said as he indicated the canyon just outside the cave's entrance.
"I wonder where Tornado is?" He pulled his mask back on and
went out of the entrance just as Tornado walked up. "So now you
come when all the hard work is over do you?" he said slapping the
horse affectionately on the shoulder. He was glad to see that his
friend was not hurt.
All three of them walked back to where Mondego lay. He was still unconscious.
"Help me get him up on Tornado," he said to Bernardo. Soon Mondego was
drapped over Tornado's neck, just in front of the saddle. "All right," said the
masked man. "Leave the shovels where the are\by the hole and take a branch
and make sure to erase all of our tracks to the cave entrance. I am going to take
our friend here back into town and leave him where he can be found by others.
I am certain that he will come back here to see what has happened to the
treasure. All he will find is an empty hole. Surely then he will lose interest in
this canyon and forget about it. Our secret will again be safe." Bernardo
nodded and went to work with his branch as Zorro mounted and rode away.
************************
The next morning, Don Alejandro examined the contents of the strong boxes.
"So de Silva did bury treasure on our lands all those years ago. He must have
taken it when he was assigned to posts in South America before he was made
governor in California." He shook his head. "And to think it was here all the time."
Diego nodded and said, "But there are so many unanswered questions, Father.
Like, how did de Silva acquire this treasure? Why did he bury it here on our
lands? Why did he not take it with him when he was recalled to Spain? And
why did he not come for it before now or send someone to get it for him? He
is the king's viceroy and certainly does not need this money. At his age, he
has more money than he could ever spend before he passes on, so the biggest
question is 'why'?"
"I do not know, my son," replied Don Alejandro. "De Silva and my father were
good friends during those few years that he was governor. That is when they
arranged my betrothal to de Silva's niece. My father never spoke of any
treasure being buried on our land; I only heard the rumors that floated
through the pueblo after de Silva left to return to Spain. I went to Spain
shortly afterward to attend the university and had not remembered the
rumors until this all came up again recently. Perhaps this all has something
to do with Mondego, the Viceroy's nephew, being here." He shook his head
and shrugged.
Diego crossed his arms and furrowed his brow in thought. He spoke with
determination. "Father, we need answers. Mondego obviously wants to
kill me and possibly you for reasons other than this treasure. He has made
that very clear. Viceroy de Silva being here at the same time means that
he wants this treasure in his control. Mondego seems to be working for
his great uncle in trying to get it for him. I think that I will ride into the pueblo
with a piece or two of this jewelry and see if I can 'arrange' for the Viceroy
to see it and see what comes of it. He may let something slip that will give
us some of the answers that we seek."
Don Alejandro put his hand on his son's arm in concern. "Be careful, Diego.
Viceroy de Silva may have been a friend of my father's, but I also remember
the rumors of his ruthlessness. And do not forget that you returned Mondego
to the pueblo. I cannot imagine that his sense of humor has improved since
last night."
"Yes, Father. I will be careful. Bernardo will come with me and watch my
back." Bernardo nodded solemnly. He took his guardianship of his young
master very seriously, especially when there was someone like Mondego
around. He darted his eyes around back and forth as he turned his head
this way and that to indicate that he would watch everything he could for
Diego's safety. Diego patted him on the back in appreciation. He then bent
down and picked up two pieces of jewelry that were very distinctive in their
design and put them in his pocket. "Come. We will show these to Senor
Basilio in the presence of the Viceroy and say that we found them on the
road to our hacienda. We will ask their help in identifying the rightful owners
and see what develops. Perhaps the treasure will then yield up its secrets."
***********************
Mondego's icy blue eyes watched from across the plaza as Diego de la Vega
and his servant were admitted into the cuartel to meet with Senor Basilio and
the Viceroy. His stomach churned with his emotions. It should have been
himself walking into the cuartel this morning with the news that the de la Vegas
and the treasure were safely hidden away and that the two men would soon
trouble the earth no longer, and that if the Viceroy wanted his precious treasure
he would have to ask for it. He would have to come to Mondego on his terms,
nothing else would do. But all of that had been spoiled by the outlaw, Zorro.
He too was now marked for death. Mondego had ridden back to the box
canyon this morning and discovered the empty hole. He had no doubt that
Zorro had the treasure. On the way back he had formulated a plan. He
would kidnapDiego de la Vega and hold him until Zorro came to rescue him.
The price of de la Vega's release would be the treasure. All of it! Then he
would kill them both and proceed with his plans for his great uncle. How
considerate of young de la Vega to have come to the pueblo,making his
abduction that much easier. Mondego gathered is men and they rode out
of the pueblo to set up the ambush. Diego de la Vega would soon be his!
****************end of Part Ten*******************
