Episode
#312
Part One of Five
Disclaimers: The characters from the Queen of Swords are copyright to Fireworks Productions and Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended
or revenue expected from their use. The story plot and other characters are copyright to the authors, Jim and Shirley.
This story is a sequel to "Love, Roman Style"
Beta, Angel and Rewrite Coordinator Extraordinaire above and beyond the call of duty: Judith Hill
Prologue
Elena woke one morning, a week before the men went on the cattle drive. She left a sleeping Juan Pablo in the bed and went to the kitchen to find Marta.
She walked into the kitchen to find Marta already up and sitting at the table with a steaming cup of coffee in front of her.
"You still haven't told him, have you, Elena?" Marta said, looking up at Elena sat down.
"No, Marta, but today I will. I am going to serve him breakfast in bed."
"Bueno. I just finished baking the bread and the coffee is ready. Let me make a tray and you can take it to him."
"Gracias, Marta. You are the best."
"Shush. All that praise will go to my head." She handed Elena a tray with several slices of hot bread, a jar of jam and two cups of coffee.
Elena sat on the bed to wait. The smell of the bread and coffee would be enough to wake him. It was seconds only before he opened his eyes and smiled at her.
"I think I am in trouble. I find my wife on the bed and a tray of food. What did I do?"
"I have been waiting to tell you something. This is the right moment."
"What? You found someone else?" asked Juan Pablo, grinning and reaching out to pat her hand.
She smiled. "No, querido. You are the only one for me. I wanted to ask how would you feel if we had another person living with us?"
He frowned. "Is Tessa going to sell her hacienda and move in with us?"
Elena shook her head and snorted. "Of course not. I mean something wonderful has happened."
He stared at her, then a smile broke on his face. "You mean you are pregnant?"
Oh! The surprise had been spoiled! "Juan Pablo! How did you know? Who told you?"
His face crinkled as he laughed. "No one, querida. I have eyes. I have watched you walk and I have seen you sneak outside to the dependencia. When you return you are a little pale. I asked Doctor Helm and he said it was probably morning sickness."
"Why didn't you say something, mi amor?"
"I was waiting for you to tell me. The husband is always the last to know. The only thing I don't know is when I will have a son."
"What makes you think it will be a boy? Maybe our child will be a girl."
"If the child is a girl, will you teach her to ride and fight with swords?"
"Of course, Juan Pablo," she said as she kissed him.
"Ah! I was right. I am in trouble," he said as he pulled her to him.
Elena pushed away from him. "No, not now. Now eat."
"I have something to do first."
"What is that," she asked.
"This," he said as he stood up and walked to the door and opened it.
At the top of his lings he yelled. "I, Juan Pablo Vallejo am going to be a father!"
He closed the door and walked back to the bed, took the bread and took a bite before giving it to Elena.
Now, that morning was more than a month ago. Marta was already baking bread as Elena entered the kitchen.
"Elena, what are you doing up so early?"
"I decided to give Juan Pablo breakfast in bed."
"You did that the morning you told him about the baby, didn't you?"
"Yes. You know, I really miss the morning rides with Tessa."
"Don't even think about getting on a horse in your condition," said Marta, handing her a cup of coffee.
"Marta, I am pregnant, not broken."
"Yes, and I have seen you ride. You are as wild as Tessa."
"What do you want her to do, get pregnant so she won't be so wild?" asked Elena with a bemused look on her face.
Marta snorted. What an absurd idea! "Before they are married? Don't be a fool! It would ruin them. She and Robert are only courting."
"True." Elena sipped her coffee. "I am just glad that Juan Rafael is here in Alta California. Having an uncle come forward and give his blessing to their courting did stop the other dons and Montoya from causing them problems."
Marta sliced four pieces of hot bread and placed them on a tray along with coffee and a dish of cactus jam. "Here you are. Go and wake up that lazy husband of yours. It's already six o'clock and he is still in bed."
Elena snickered as she took the tray. "I will wake him, but don't expect to see him for at least a couple of hours," she said with a grin.
Act One
The morning was clear and crisp as Tessa set out on her morning ride. As usual, she rode to the coast and, after racing up and down the beach and through the surf, she turned Lindo towards the Hidalgo hacienda.
Vera was walking through the extensive garden in the courtyard when Tessa arrived. "Holà, Señorita Alvarado. Como està?"
"Señora Hidalgo. Muy bien, gracias. Y usted?" replied Tessa with a giggle.
"What brings you out here?"
"I'll tell you if you tell me why you are so formal today."
Vera laughed. "Gaspar told me I was being too familiar with the people and I should be more formal."
"I believe informality with your friends is only natural," replied Tessa. "Especially when the friend comes to visit."
"I do also, but you know how Gaspar is sometimes. Now, what brings you here?"
"As you know, Marta and Roman are getting married, as are Josephine and Fenner. A double wedding. I came to ask your help in planning a special ceremony. Marta has looked after me all these years and I want to repay her. She is my oldest friend," replied Tessa.
"Plan a wedding?" beamed Vera as she led Tessa to the veranda. "I would love to! Let's sit down and discuss this."
When they had finished the conspiratorial details of the wedding, they rode to the Alvarado hacienda to talk to Elena. They had just dismounted when Roman and Fenner rode up from their ride around the hacienda.
"Roman, Fenner, you are just the men I wanted to see," said Vera.
"Señora Hidalgo, what can we do for you?" asked Roman.
"Tessa and I are planning the weddings and there are some things you need to do," replied the blonde doña.
"What's there to do?" asked Fenner. "We arrive, get married and go on the honeymoon."
Vera laughed. "Oh, no! You two aren't getting away that easily. You are going to work for your wedding."
Roman and Fenner looked at each other and then at the two women who stood in front of them with their hands on their hips.
Vera pointed a slim finger. "Roman Petroff, you and Fenner are going to make the satin slippers for your fiancées to wear, for one thing."
"Uh oh," said Fenner. "She said 'for one thing'. That means there is more."
"As a matter of fact, there is one small thing you need to do."
"What would that be, Señora?" asked Roman.
"You need to acquire four matched white mares to pull the carriages," replied Tessa.
Roman snorted in disgust. "Where am I going to find four white mares? I haven't seen any white mares in all of Santa Elena."
"Why, Marcus!" said Vera, haughtily. "I mean that Captain Grisham has a white horse. Perhaps he would know."
At that very moment, Grisham himself rode up with Juan Pablo.
"Did I hear my name being battered around?" asked Grisham.
"Captain Grisham! Vera said you might know where Roman could find four matched white mares," said Tessa.
"Actually, I do. One of my men saw a wild herd north of here but it won't be easy to catch them."
"Why not?" asked Tessa.
"They are the property of a very powerful black stallion," replied Grisham.
"That sounds like a challenge, not an impossibility," said Juan Pablo. "How about the five of us going horse hunting?"
"That sounds like an excellent idea," replied Roman. "How about tomorrow morning?"
"Sounds good to me," replied Grisham, "but we will probably be gone at least a week. After the cattle drive, Colonel Montoya said that I could take some time off. He has become quite mellow."
"Then, I suppose you will be gone a week," Tessa said, smiling.
After a long morning of shopping for wedding supplies, the wedding conspirators - Tessa, Marta, Vera, Josephine and Elena - walked to the Cantina arm-in-arm, giggling like school girls. They planned to relax while their packages were loaded onto their wagon.
Just as their wine was being served, a stagecoach pulled into the town square. The coach door opened and out stepped a tall gentleman with long, fiery-red hair tied back, and an equally red goatee in the same style as the colonel's. The young man, approximately twenty-six years old, wasn't overly muscular, but he still cut an impressive figure. His clothes were worn and dusty, as if they'd seen many miles. However, the sword that hung at his side was definitely the kind only a don could afford to buy.
Tessa recognized him the moment his deep blue eyes met hers. She shot up so fast that she knocked her chair over.
"Sorry. I just remembered that I…uh…had a…doctor's appointment… this afternoon."
"Is something wrong?" Marta asked. "I don't remember any appointments."
"I…uh…have to go."
Leaving the chair overturned, Tessa ran to Robert's office, making sure to keep her face out of the stranger's line of vision and ignoring the confused looks of her friends. As soon as she reached the door, she ducked inside and closed the door, startling the good doctor and interrupting his nap.
"Bloody hell! Doesn't anyone know how to knock in this bloody…" He stopped when he noticed a terrified and out-of-breath Tessa leaning against the now latched door. "Tessa, what's wrong?"
"Do you mind if I stay here for a while? Just until a little problem outside goes away," she half-smiled as her eyes flittered to the window.
He walked over to the window, pushed the curtain aside, and peered out at the street. He immediately noticed the stranger who was talking to the colonel while staring at his office.
"Big, red-headed chap?"
"Yes. I think he might have recognized me."
"So?"
"From Señor Torres' fencing academy. His younger brother Tomàs was in my class, when I was attending disguised as a boy. Tomàs insulted me one day and we ended up in a duel. I defeated him and he was thrown out because he could not accept his defeat and tried to kill me. Afterwards, Señor Torres discovered I was a girl and almost threw me out, too, but I was able to convince him to give me private lessons. Anyway, the next day Tomàs' brother Alonso, the man standing outside, marched into the academy during my lesson and demanded a duel. I suppose he wanted to defend his brother's honor. He is a few years older than I and I still defeated and humiliated him. Never saw him again after that…until now."
"And you're worried that he'll want some sort of revenge." She nodded. "Well, I guess you can stay. But not too long or Marta will think we're doing something inappropriate."
"And what if we are?" She snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her there and returned the kiss with equal passion.
Suddenly, the pounding on the door interrupted them.
"Tessa!"
Tessa banged the back of her head against the door in frustration.
"Why don't they yell louder? I don't think they heard in Los Angeles," she said as she closed her eyes.
Robert looked out the window to see Marta, Josephine, Elena, and Vera standing by the door, looking rather impatient. Looking past them he could see that Alonso had left.
"Looks safe now, and the town criers seem eager to leave. I suppose we'll have to do this some other time."
"Tonight?" she said, rubbing his chest.
"I'll be waiting." He leaned in and kissed her one more time before she left. "Make it early. I have rounds to do in the morning."
Tessa opened the door and stared at her friends waiting outside.
"Qué?" asked Tessa.
"Why did you run away so suddenly?" asked Marta.
"Not here, not now. We will discuss this when we get home."
"I think Señorita Alvarado is embarrassed," said Vera with an inquisitive tone to her voice.
"I have nothing to be embarrassed about," replied Tessa with a toss of her head.
"Hmmm, I wonder if she had an urgent desire to be with our local doctor," said Vera.
"Vera!" said Tessa with her nose in the air. And she walked away to the wagon.
Vera laughed. "We all know how you feel, my dear. We all see it when you look at him. But now I wish to do some shopping." And she stood up, pulled her shawl about her shoulders and walked away. After a few steps she turned for a quick wave over her shoulder.
"Do you suppose that's really where she is going?" Tessa said, but Marta only laughed.
Josephine, Elena and Marta followed and got on the wagon. Tessa grabbed the reins and snapped the traces as she maneuvered the team out of the pueblo. When she glanced over her shoulder, Tessa noticed that Vera had gone to the Cantina.
Continue to Part Two
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