Part 8
by Bonita
though he had strange dreams. First Basilio was riding a fine white horse
through the pueblo with Mexican soldiers following him, and then suddenly it
was Bernardo on the horse, followed by a gaggle of Indian children begging
him to stop and do some of his magic tricks. Then the dream shifted again
and he was standing alone beside the well, waiting for a woman he did not
know. His sense of her nearness made his heart pound, but he did not know
what she would look like nor when she would appear. He awoke with a start.
Regaining his bearings, he realized he was in his room. The morning sun was
shining. Basilio had been there last night, insincerely inquiring as to
Diego's health and trying to place his own men around the hacienda. Diego
shook his head. Pompous little runt, he thought. It none-the-less worried
him. Clearly Basilio was in league with the blue-eyed, left-handed swordsman
lurking in the shadows. Diego got up and dressed quickly, joined by Bernardo
as he was finishing his shaving.
"Ah," he said, seeing his servant. "Has anything happened since last night?"
Bernardo smiled, shaking his head and shrugging. He pointed downstairs and
made his gesture for Diego's father. Then he pointed at Diego.
"He wants me downstairs?" Diego asked, wiping his face with a towel.
Bernardo nodded.
In the sala, Alejandro awaited. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.
"Much better," Diego answered.
"Good," Alejandro replied. "Diego, I have been thinking about this situation
with Basilio and that stranger. Something odd has occurred to me." He paused
for a moment, then continued. "Did you tell me he is a blue-eyed,
left-handed swordsman?"
"Si," Diego answered. "And probably a good one."
"Is he around your age?"
"I would say so, yes. A few years older." Diego frowned. "Do you know who
he is?"
"I am not sure...." Alejandro mused. "But it is a strange coincidence. I
have never told you this, Diego, but before I married your mother I was
betrothed to someone else."
Diego raised his eyebrows.
"I courted her when I was a student in Spain, the marriage was arranged
between her father and mine. What happened isn't important just now, but
obviously I came back to California with your mother and we continued to
build this rancho together." He paused again, thinking more about it. "The
woman I did not marry was very blue-eyed. And the man she eventually
married, from the del Mondego family, was left-handed. I remember it because
we fenced occasionally at the university. This woman...was the niece of
Viceroy de Silva."
Diego was quite taken aback with this story. "Mondego..." he said. "That
sounds like the name Basilio started to say last night. You think Senor Blue
Eyes is a son of this woman who married Mondego?" he asked.
Alejandro shrugged. "Isn't it possible?"
"But why would he be here now?"
Alejandro shrugged again. "This I do not know, though I do remember that
when de Silva was here many years ago, there were rumors that he had buried a
great deal of gold somewhere."
"Here?"
"Si, here. Somewhere near the pueblo. I never believed any of it, but I was
so young then, and so busy with the rancho, and so enraptured with your
mother...." his voice trailed off.
Diego smiled. "You have many stories for me yet, Father," he said.
Alejandro smiled back. "Another time, my son. Right now I think we need to
concentrate on why everyone is circling around us like buzzards."
"If your guesses are accurate, perhaps the reason they are here has to do
with where the treasure is buried."
"Exactly," his father replied.
*****
The day passed quickly, as the two de la Vegas, accompanied by Bernardo, made
rounds to several neighboring ranchos to recruit extra hands for their
property until their own vaqueros were recovered. Alejandro anticipated
rightly that his fellow dons would be more than ready to help in this time of
need.
In the evening they stopped in the pueblo for a visit to the Tavern before
returning home. Sitting down at a table near the bar, they were just taking
their first sip of libation when Diego spied del Mondego emerging from his
room upstairs. He nudged his father's elbow and nodded upwards.
"By all the saints," Alejandro murmured. "Except for the white hair, he
looks exactly like his mother."
The man came downstairs quickly and headed for the door.
"I am going to try something," Diego said softly to his father. As Mondego
passed by them, Diego stood up in front of him, blocking his path. "Senor!"
he said cheerfully. "I have not had a chance to welcome you to the pueblo of
Los Angeles. My name is Diego de la Vega. May I present my father, Don
Alejandro."
Mondego glared at Diego and then turned his eyes to Alejandro. "I know who
you are," he said, his voice low and menacing.
"Do you plan to stay here long?" Diego asked innocently.
"Get out of my way!" Mondego said, shoving Diego aside. It was rough enough
that Diego stumbled and nearly fell into a chair. Everyone in the Tavern
looked over at what was going on. Diego righted himself indignantly, to find
himself faced with a sword point aimed at his chest. He looked down at it and
then at Mondego.
"I fail to see why you need to draw your weapon, senor!" he said, still
indignant.
"If you ever get in my way again I will polish the blade with blood from your
heart," Mondego said fiercely.
Several people in the room gasped. Diego's eyes widened and he took a step
back, raising his hands. "This is most unnecessary!" he said. "I was only
attempting to make you feel welcome!"
Mondego stepped back and looked around the room, still holding his sword up.
Then he sheathed it and exited in one sudden move that left everyone agape.
Diego looked around, gulped, and sat down again between his father and
Bernardo. "He is fast and ruthless with his sword," he observed under his
breath. He glanced at Bernardo. "Go back to the rancho and get Tornado
ready."
*****
Mondego burst into Basilio's office without preliminaries. The emissary
nearly jumped out of his skin in alarm. "You didn't knock twice!" he cried.
"Tonight we get the strong boxes," Mondego said, ignoring the man's protest.
"Carlos knows where and when to meet me. Send the additional men to the hill
beyond the de la Vega hacienda at ten o'clock. Your job, if you are up to it,
is to stay here and keep my uncle occupied after he arrives on the stage."
"I can do that," Basilio replied weakly.
"You had better," Mondego barked, his blue eyes flashing.
*****
It was pitch dark when El Zorro rode Tornado out of his cave and into the
brush leading to the road. Instantly he felt the horse tense beneath him.
He yanked Tornado to a halt and listened. Men's voices and the sound of
horses were very near. He backed Tornado into a glen near the cave's
entrance slowly. Then he waited.
Two wagons lumbered by. More voices. Finally they passed, but they stopped
not far beyond where he stood. He could neither return to the cave nor
proceed without being detected. He put his hand on his horse's neck.
"Silently, my friend," he whispered softly. Then, lowering himself as flat
as he could, he nudged the horse forward. They inched slowly out of the glen
and beyond the intruders' line of sight. Zorro glimpsed one of them sitting
on the wagon seat with a map open on his lap, studying it carefully.
Once they were clear of the little group, Zorro sat up on his horse and
looked around. Instinctively his hand went to the hilt of his sword. Whatever
the viceroy had buried so many years ago had to be nearby. He heard a short
rustle in the trees ahead, but looking, he saw nothing. Suddenly the feeling
he'd gotten standing alone in the pueblo square came over him again. He knew
he was being watched.
A shot rang out. Zorro felt it whiz very closely past him and he jumped off
Tornado, diving for cover in the rocks. "Go!" he said to his horse. The
animal raced away. Zorro drew his sword. "Perhaps you are better with a
sword than with a pistol," he said to the silence.
He heard the sound of a sword being pulled from its sheath. Out of nowhere,
del Mondego appeared before him.
"So this is the famous El Zorro," he said softly, holding his sword in the
air. "Are you here to defend the de la Vegas? One is old, the other is
weak. They could use an ally." He spat.
"I will defend any family that is wrongfully attacked," the masked man
answered, also drawing his sword.
The two men stared at one another for a moment, motionless. Then Mondego
lunged, and El Zorro parried. The duel was on.
Near the entrance of Tornado's cave, Bernardo was replacing Tornado's water
bucket when he heard the gunshot, followed by the strange sound of swords
clashing and zinging in the night air. He ran outside in alarm, knowing
Zorro had just left.
Not far away, the same sounds were detected by the seven men with the two
wagons. Carlos looked up from his study of the map, eyed his men, and
jerked his head in the direction of the locked swords.
****************End of Part Eight****************
