ENCOUNTER 10
INVITATIONS

Thanks to Eliza for the beta!

~~~~~

MONTOYA'S OFFICE

Montoya stood a discreet distance from the newly arrived woman as she took out her fan and waved it in front of her face. "It is certainly hot here," she said.

Montoya had heard that the doctor had a mysterious past and that Helm was not in fact his birth name; he had asked friends in Europe to investigate him. Information on anyone would always come in handy to keep them in line. Montoya had found out that the man who called himself Robert Helm was much, much more than what he appeared. This woman in front of him was another of Robert's victims; a poor lass who's only lapse in judgment was to fall in love with him. He stepped closer to the woman.

The woman didn't back away from Montoya's advancement, to his delight. He slowly raised his hand to the black lace veil and lifted it up and back over her large hat. He was surprised by the sight, but didn't show it. He said, sympathetically, "Look at what he has done to you."

She put the veil back down and stood straight. "I will not accept sympathy." Her British accent was crisp and forceful.

"Why not?" Montoya lightly asked. "You have been through much, Senora."

"Where is he?"

"At this exact moment, I cannot be certain. I can, however, find him easily if I have need."

"What is he doing in a God forsaken place such as this?" She seemed to be taking a good look around the square but it was difficult to tell with the veil lowered.

"Hiding, of course."

"Not for long."

Montoya smiled. That was so true. It will be so delightful to watch that pompous Englishman look upon what he had done to his wife, Alice. There really wasn't anything in their meeting that would be to Montoya's advantage except for mild amusement, an opportunity to see Robert Helm at work when faced with such a sight. Montoya knew somewhat about the man who claimed to be a doctor, and trusted his instinct. Helm would be compromised enough to not make waves when Uno went after the Queen.

~~~~~

ALVARADO RESIDENCE

Getting out of bed was a major task for Helm, but Marta helped to dress him. As he stood up for the first time on his own, Marta told him once again, "Robert, I have a feeling that you should not show your face in Santa Helena for just a little while longer."

"I'd like to see if the crack military staff of the pueblo has captured the imposters who attacked me," he said, holding up his dirty overcoat. He just tossed it back on the bed. The blood stain and jagged stash on the suede would make it impossible to be repaired. Too bad; he had traveled many miles in that duster.

Marta inspected the coat and by the look on her face, he knew that she wouldn't be able to salvage it. She said, while folding the coat over her arm, "You are not fully healed, Robert. Are you really sure you should be going anywhere?"

"Yes," he smiled and cupped her face in his hand. "But, I will return." He could see the look of worry on her face, and he really wouldn't like nothing more to stay in bed with her, but he did need to see if there were any potential patients waiting at his office door, and talk to Montoya.

Marta returned his kiss with full force; the way she held him made him think that it was for the last time. He broke the kiss to analyze her face. She said, without looking into his eyes, "You should spend the evenings here."

Helm smiled wide, receiving those words as a gift. "I had every intention to do just that, Marta. But, how will the señorita react?"

"Tessa would, of course, agree," Marta said, now looking at him. "You are a sick man, and the only doctor in the area; you should be cared for to make sure that you are healthy."

"Uh huh," he said, chuckling. "I will tell you this, Marta. I will not be staying in the spare room."

"If you insist," she said, making Helm a little bit surprised.

It hadn't been hard to convince her, much to his delight. Before he could submit to his impulse to lay her on the bed right then and there, he lightly kissed her and said, "Well, I must be going."

"You can not ride a horse in your condition," Marta stated. "Tessa took the wagon, but we have a stables full of horses. I will let Eladio know to make my horse ready for travel."

"Thank you. I lost my horse, and will return it to you after I purchase another one. If I can finagle another poker game with Don Gaspar, I will not have to buy one." Helm smiled.

"We will go together, Robert," Marta said, adamantly. "I will go with you to make sure you get there in one piece."

"I was blind-sided, Marta. It was dusk. It is now bright daylight. I will be fine."

She said, "Of course, Robert. I just want to make sure."

"Well, in that case, you are welcome to join me." Marta had turned toward the door, but Helm stopped her with the words, "Do you know where the Queen of Swords lives?"

"What?" She twirled around in surprise.

He noted that she had almost exclaimed that what, and he placated her, "No, I did not mean that you know her personally. I just know that you talk with others who work at haciendas, people who the Queen usually comes to the rescue for, and wondered if you had found out where she lives. That is all."

"Why?"

He couldn't understand how guarded she was, but told her, "I want to thank her for saving my life. Do you know where she lives, who she is?"

"No. But I told her when she brought you here that we were grateful."

"I would just like to tell her myself."

He also wanted to know what happened to his attackers, if they were dead, or in jail where they belonged. He smiled to himself. For once, there were two people who Helm wished Montoya would prosecute to the fullest extent of his authority.

~~~~~

SANTA HELENA

Lunch had been filled with Vera's talk about her and Gaspar's upcoming trip to Monterrey. Since Montoya was having his fiesta that no one had expected, Vera had a lot of mental juggling to go through. Tessa was interested in the strange woman who had just arrived in town, and who had been whisked into Montoya's headquarters, but was amazed by Vera's non-stop talking. When the check came, they both went through the motions of who was going to pay for it, but Tessa won the little contest with the words, "I invited you, Vera. You can get it next week."

Vera smiled and held Tessa's hand. "It is so nice to have such a good friend, Tessa. I hope that you consider me a friend to you also."

"You are one of my closet friends, Vera. Having lunch together was fun, we must do it more often."

They stood as they were ready to leave, and Tessa's eyes floated to the sight of Don Nogales' wagon arriving in the square. The sight of him almost made her head spin and forget to breathe. The sunlight reflected off his white shirt that the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, he had left the top buttons of the shirt undone to give a glimpse of his well-toned chest as he bent over to lay down the reins on the wagon floor, his black hair shone in the bright sun, he was a vision that rooted Tessa where she stood. Esteban was with Sofia and he gallantly jumped from the wagon and helped his daughter down. Without noticing the set of eyes on him, he escorted his daughter into the General Store. They would have the reales that were stolen back, and Tessa could see the excitement in Sofia's eyes which she knew was the prospect of buying something new.

Tessa wondered how he will react to her as a señorita, not as the Queen. It was so difficult to keep two personas going. She didn't know how anyone really reacted to her, as both women were her. Montoya wanted to kill the Queen, but was always a gentlemen whenever Tessa was around. Helm was encouraging to the Queen, but did not really give 'Tessa' the time of day. Their talk this morning was one of the few times he had given her any kind of respect. Vera was about the only one who regarded both of Tessa's personalities without contradiction, except for Marta, of course. Vera was in awe of the Queen, and truly was Tessa's best friend outside of Marta.

Vera suddenly leaned close to Tessa and whispered, "Go for it." She nudged Tessa down the stairs to the store.

"Vera..."

"How will he ever know how you feel about him if you never talk to him?"

But she had talked to him. As the Queen. Tessa was worried that she would be snubbed when she would appear only as Maria Teresa. Whether she was ready for it or not, Vera guided her to the door of the market and gave her a winning smile as she said, "You have fun."

Tessa giggled as Vera swept her through the door. She first saw Sofia standing by the newly arrived fabric on one table, then Esteban talking with the merchant in the far corner by tools. Tessa sauntered to the fabric table and smiled at Sofia, who smiled pleasantly in return. She was holding up the corner of a pale yellow fabric. Tessa said, "That is very pretty. Are you thinking of making a dress out of it?"

"Curtains for the kitchen," Sofia said.

"Curtains?" Tessa lightly laughed. "That is pure silk," she had almost said Sofia, but had thankfully caught herself. That would have been too forward, and Sofia would have started wondering how the Senorita could know her name. Tessa had to be careful with absolutely everyone she met! She continued, "Those would be awfully expensive curtains."

"Fabric is fabric, is it not?"

Tessa pointed to another table and said, "I can show you what fabric would be more appropriate for curtains. You would need a heavier fabric, and keep in mind that they will probably fade with the hard sun we have here. White would be more appropriate, then you will not have to worry about it."

Sofia excitedly walked with Tessa to the other table and fingered the linen and cotton bolts of cloth, then saw the price of them. "Oh, that is more expensive than papa said I could spend."

"Well, it is not like you are buying a toy, the curtains are for the house." Tessa studied the child, probably just coming into womanhood, who was so concerned about finances. Tessa hadn't been given any kind of financial training from her father. She had great respect for the way Esteban seemed to be raising his daughter. She looked back to where she had first seen him, but he wasn't there. Tessa turned around, and saw that he was standing on the other side of Sofia.

"That will make nice curtains, Sofia. Did you pick it out on your own?" he asked as he laid a protective arm on his daughter's shoulder.

"No, papa, she did. But it is too expensive."

Esteban looked at the price and said, "We can manage. Go find something for yourself, also."

Sofia hugged her father around the waist and then explored the store. Tessa noted that Esteban was staring at her, and it made her flustered. He stretched out his hand. "Esteban Nogales. You are Maria Teresa Alvarado, right?"

"Yes," Tessa said, taking his hand shaking it. "Everyone calls me Tessa. Nice to meet you señor."

He laughed. "If I am to call you Tessa, you must call me Esteban. Thank you for helping out my daughter. This fabric will work quite well."

"It was my pleasure."

"Since my wife died, it has been hard to figure out how to raise two daughters..."

"It seems as if you are doing a marvelous job. She is a fine girl."

"Thank you," he said with pride.

"I was awfully sorry to hear about Señora Nogales, Maria Louisa."

He nodded and kept his head down. "She is missed." He looked at Sofia and smiled. "She is so like her mother. Sometimes it is scary." Then he wiped away any trace of sorrow and said, "I remember you from when we were children."

"You do? What I remember is that you once pushed me in the mud."

"You were hogging the tree branch, what else could I have done?" They both laughed, then he asked, "I did not hurt you, did I?"

"No. Alvarados are ágil."

There was a small silence, then he said, "I was sorry to hear about your father, Tessa. It was so surprising to everyone that he fell off his horse."

"Yes," Tessa said, as it was her turn to feel sad. Everyone thought that he 'fell off his horse'... Didn't anyone see his body? Knowing that there very well could have been a bullet in his back? She suddenly felt that hot lick of desiring revenge creep up her spine, and felt her face flushed, but shook away the feeling.

She changed the subject. "Colonel Montoya is going to arrange a fiesta to celebrate the rain."

Esteban smiled. "The biggest celebration will happen when he is dismissed from the military."

"Yes, that will be a day of celebration." She coyly looked at him and asked, "Will you be going? Will I see you there?"

His smile stayed on his lovely face, but turned serious. "Only if I escort you."

She didn't let him have time to change his mind. She said, "That would be delightful," and hoped that her cheeks weren't too red or showed too much exhilaration.

"It is a date, then. I will pick you up at your hacienda. Wonderful."

Sofia came back to them with a silver hairbrush in her hand. "How about this, papa? It is not as expensive as the gold one, but look how pretty it is."

"Gold? No. I am sorry Sofia, you can not have a gold brush, but yes, that silver one is..." He stopped. "Sofia, your mother had a hairbrush..."

"I know. It still sits on her vanity table."

Esteban said, "How about if we move Louisa's vanity table into your room and you can have her brushes and hair combs and everything else that she used?"

"Papa! Really?" Sofia hugged him again and dropped the hairbrush on the floor. Tessa bent to pick it up and was about ready to cry to be witness to such a touching moment in the young girl's life.

"Well, we should get getting back to the hacienda and move some furniture," Esteban said. "Bring the bolt to the merchant and cut off a yard and tell him that I will purchase that saw also."

Before Sofia could do as her father had asked, he stopped her and said, "Oh, forgive me I have forgotten my manners. Sofia, this is Maria Teresa. Tessa, this is my daughter, Sofia."

"It is nice to meet you, Sofia."

Sofia nodded and politely smiled. Esteban told her, "Tessa is going to Montoya's fiesta with me, what do you think of that?" The way he said it meant that he had assumed that Sofia would think it was as wonderful idea as he did, but Tessa saw the girl's smile fade as she tightened her lips.

"I will get the fabric, papa," she said as she lifted the bolt and walked away from them.

~~~~~

JAIL

Grisham was scrutinizing the red headed woman in her cell. Dos had been moved to the doctor's office, but he had heard that Helm couldn't be found. He was probably off making a house call and Grisham hadn't given it a thought. Uno, on the other hand, was concerned. "Where is my sister," she said in broken Spanish.

"You answer my questions, and I will think about answering yours." Grisham had been filled in with Montoya's plan and would try to use this opportunity to make Montoya proud. "Again, who was on your list?"

Uno paced nervously, then seemed to accept her situation and walked to the other side of the bars from Grisham. "The Alvarado residence."

"Why would you have waited so long to rob her? She is alone on that plantation, an easy mark."

"They are all easy marks when you know how to go about it."

Grisham smiled, wondering if in different circumstances, they could have gotten along. "Keep that list alive."

Uno showed surprise. Grisham covered her hands on the crossbars with his own and declared, "But if you harm Maria Teresa, you will have to answer to me." He squeezed her hands hard, so hard that she started to show pain. "Understood?"

"Si, señor."

"Captain!"

"Si, Capitan," she defiantly said, then bit his hand. He laughed as he released her hands. "Do you have eyes on her?"

"I have eyes on her wealth, let's put it that way. Since you are in the mood to talk, who was the dead Queen we found?"

She stared at him. He glared back and reminded her, "You are not going anywhere unless you answer all of our questions. You remember the deadline. If by dusk you have not cooperated, you and your sister will hang."

Uno sniffed and said, "Patty. My youngest sister."

Grisham tisked and shook his head. "You could not protect your little sister." He tisked again to really irritate her, and it worked.

~~~~~

SANTA HELENA

Helm and Marta rode slowly back to town. It was a pleasant position to be in, sitting in front of him with his arms around her waist, but they had barely reached the outskirts of the pueblo when Marta stopped the horse. "Why are we stopping?" he asked.

"You can get off here and walk into town so no one will see us together."

"Stop it," Helm told her, as he nudged the horse to keep on going. "Marta, we are together. Everyone should know it."

A woman with three children under the age of five walked by them. Helm stopped her to declare, "I am Robert. This is lovely woman is named Marta. I am squiring her. I am the luckiest man on earth, right?"

The youngest child started bawling as the horse fidgeted his feet too close to him. The woman picked up her son to calm him, but smiled at them both. "Yes, you are, Dr. Helm." She took hold of her daughter's hand and said, "But think twice about having babies."

Marta was shocked, but Helm laughed. They looked at the woman and children walking away, then Helm nudged the horse to the street where his office was. "See? She was more shocking than our being together is."

As they reached the square, they noticed a woman being escorted by a soldier toward the hotel. Marta saw her black veil and said, "She must be in mourning. Even from here I can feel pain."

"Are you hurt?"

Marta chuckled and said, "No, from her."

He just smiled and continued on to his office. "We all have pain, Marta." Then they saw a soldier standing outside of his office.

As soon as they drew near, the soldier came to the horse and helped Marta down. "What is going on?"

"There is a medical emergency, doctor. We brought a prisoner this morning."

"A prisoner?" Helm dismounted and immediately, Marta took the reins. "Did someone 'fall down' again or received mysterious bruises?

"No. A woman was stabbed in the knee."

Helm remembered how callously the imposter Queens had ambushed him and could feel the residual pain of the stabbing. He couldn't move as fast as he wanted to, but he needed to see if she was one of his attackers. "There is only one?"

"Si, doctor," the soldier said, opening the office door for him. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I am fine." He quickly thought that the woman had to be one of the attackers and had a strange sense of apathy that he hadn't felt since leaving his post. He didn't care if this woman lived or died.

"We could not find you anywhere."

"I was on a house call. Out of my way."

He walked into his office, knowing that Marta had followed, and saw a woman, still dressed in the Queen's uniform, laying on the exam table. Thinking about retribution was one thing, but the minute he saw a patient in need, he hurried to her and saw the build up of blood on her pants. The sight of her short, vibrant red hair jarred him as he hadn't seen it during the attack. She looked so young. He laid his hand on her leg and looked at her face as she slept, at her clothes that rightly belonged to another. He had an awful quandary. This was the woman who had stabbed him, and it was now up to him to treat her. He looked to Marta, who had stood on the other side of the table looking at the patient. She said, "Well? What do you need to do?"

He swallowed his hostility and grabbed a scalpel from the table to open her pant leg so he could see what damage had been done. As soon as he cut a bit of the fabric, she awoke and saw his face, and the scalpel in his hand. She tried to sit up and fight him off. The soldier, Marta and Helm all tried to calm her and keep her on the bed. She had flung her legs out, and cried out in pain when she had moved the injured one. It took all three of them to hold her down. "I have to patch your leg!" Helm said. He knew that she recognized him the evening before. "I am a doctor. I am only trying to help you." He wouldn't let her know that he was wounded, but wrestling with her and being bumped by the other guard had made his back feel as if it was on fire.

Marta rubbed her forehead and said, "We are to help you. There is nothing to worry about."

She finally calmed down and laid still, but on guard with every movement that Helm made. He looked at Marta and silently indicated that the girl was one of the attackers. Marta eyes widened and then narrowed in anger, she seemed to want to rip the imposter apart with her bare hands. Helm lightly chuckled, not finding her reaction funny, but heartwarming. He turned back to the patient and cut open her pant leg and inspected the damage. The stab wound was swollen and the various colors made the soldier pass out. What worried Helm the most was that he saw that her leg from the wound down was yellow, almost orange. "It is rotten. I must remove it."

"NO!" Dos yelled in English, the continued to fight against them. "You only want to kill me. You are doing this for spite!"

Only Helm understood what she said in English and realized the accent was Irish. He took hold of her hands and leaned over her to keep her down. "Oh? What possible reason would I have to spite you? Hm?"

She fell quite, sighed heavily and remained quiet. Helm told her, "I need to take that leg off or you will most certainly die. Your choice."

"Leave me alone," she declared in English.

Helm could see that the guard had come to and was getting to his feet. Marta looked puzzled by the conversation. The feeling of wanting revenge crept back into Helm and he said, "Fine."

He tossed the scalpel back on the table and escorted Marta outside.

"What happened in there? What did she say?" Marta demanded when they got outside.

"She does not want me to treat her." He shrugged. "That is fine by me."

"But you must! She is in--."

"I know that. I will just let her feel the pain a little longer and she will relent." He stretched as much as he could to work out the kink that happened while they were fighting with the patient.

Marta rubbed his back and said, "See? I think this was too soon."

"I am fine." He hugged her, but Marta stepped back and looked around at anyone in the street. He told her, "Will you stop it?"

A soldier walked up to them and said, "Dr. Helm...?"

Helm cut him off, "What?!"

The soldier stepped back and held out a piece of parchment to him. "The Colonel requests your presence to a fiesta tomorrow evening at his hacienda."

Helm snatched the parchment and waved him away. "Tell Montoya I want to see him, and that the prisoner is not being cooperative."

"Si, doctor," the soldier said as he left.

Helm opened the parchment and read it. "Well, well, well. I may bring a guest."

Marta shook her head. "It is too soon. I could not possibly--."

"Then I will not go either." He knew that hugging her wouldn't be appreciated in public, but she looked so forlorn, he needed to touch her. He took her hand. "Marta. Do me this honor. Allow me to escort you. Please?"

"All of society will be there."

"Yes. I know. A boring lot of people if ever I saw one, and not one poker game." He smiled, encouraging her.

"I do not want to be the topic of conversation to ease the boredom."

"But they will only be saying that you are the most beautiful woman in the room. Which, of course, may be talk, as the señoras seem to hate not being the loveliest."

Tessa walked up to them and said, "Marta. Dr. Helm. Are you supposed to be walking around?"

"Yes, I had a good doctor," Helm said. "I am glad you are here, Tessa."

"Really?"

"Yes. I have received an invitation to Montoya's fiesta and I was just asking Marta to join me. I have no idea why, but she is hesitant." He saw her look of consternation and changed it to, "She has some qualms. Would you please tell her that she can go?"

"She can do whatever she wants," Tessa told Helm. "I do not have her on a leash."

Tessa seemed offended at the thought that Marta needed her permission. That wasn't what he had intended to say at all. "I meant, Tessa, that Marta would be welcomed. She is hesitant, thinking she would not belong."

"You have been to fiestas before, Marta. Why not now?"

Marta put her hands on her hips. "Thank you for realizing that I am here and not talking about me as if I was a pawn in some game. I have only been to Montoya's in the capacity of being your servant. A servant is all I will be to those people and I am not going at all."

"Nonsense," Tessa said, which Helm immediately back up.

Helm said, "Okay, okay. This will take a little longer than I realized. Marta, go to the party in your desired capacity and I will be there and expect at least one dance and you will sit with me at dinner."

"I will not." Marta was finished with the conversation and mounted her horse. She was riding off before Helm or Tessa could stop her.

Helm looked at Tessa exasperated. Tessa grimaced. "Doctor Helm, you cannot expect her to make so many changes overnight. Take it slow. Have patience. She will go to the fiesta. I will make sure of it."

"Thank you, Tessa. I just do not get so concerned with class and money and all that... crap! I left all of that behind."

"But no one here has. Marta feels deeply for you. With a little patience, she will come around and enjoy her time with you, in public. Just give her time."

"You know her well."

"She is everything to me, doctor. I will say it again, you had better not hurt her, but I will do everything in my power to make her comfortable in this new relationship, if you do the same."

Helm smiled to her in thanks. "You are a wonderful girl, Tessa."

"Girl?"she asked in a hauty tone and whirled around in what could only be labeled disgust.

Helm didn't have a chance to calm her down before he hear the guard yell from his office, "No!" Both Helm and Tessa ran inside. Helm only saw a flash of sunlight reflect on the gun the woman held as she moved her aim from the guard to them, to make him fall on top of Tessa. They landed on the floor just as the bullet implanted in the door. The guard slapped the imposter across the face and the gun dropped to the ground. Helm knew it was useless without reloading, but Tessa picked it up.

By instinct of all the military training he had received, to conquer the enemy at all costs, Helm went to the woman who was fighting off the guard and took hold of her throat. He pushed her down on the table and used his body weight to squeeze the life out of her. No one tries to kill him twice and get away with it.

Continued...