Part Eleven of Twelve
Helm was standing among the citizens of Santa Elena, waiting for something to happen. Seņora Guevara seemed to be resting comfortably, so he had gone out to check up on the latest situation. Vera sauntered up to him and waved her fan. "My, my, it was a hot day, was it not?" she asked.
For the first time, he noticed that the sun had begun its downward motion and could no longer be seen over the rooftops of the Pueblo. "And today was different than other days in what way?" he asked in response, but with a smile. Poor Vera. She deserved some compassion, right now.
"It was quite different, Doctor," she said coyly. She did know how to use those eyes of hers, as they seemed to be bigger than usual. "It is not every day a woman comes to realize and appreciate what she has. A woman should not feel bad about having it all, should she?"
Helm had no idea what she was talking about, but as he looked to the jail where he knew Grisham was inside, he could take a guess. "Why not, as long as it is not hurting anyone?"
There seemed to be a bit of a frown that passed her lips before smiling once again. "I really am not hurting anyone. Not really." Switching the subject quickly, she asked, "Have you seen Tessa?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, she is inside talking to Montoya," Helm said, pointing at the jail. God help her.
"Really? Whatever for? In the jail?" Vera was completely taken by surprise, or seemed to be.
"It has been quite a day, Seņora. I am surprised you have not heard all about it."
"I will have to talk with her. And Marta. She was the one I wanted to see. Is she here, as well? I went out to Tessa's hacienda, and neither was there."
Helm looked around. "Yes, Marta was just here." He scanned all the faces of those around them, and the soldier who had escorted Marta out of the jail. He was now sharing a smoke with another, and Marta was nowhere to be seen. Hmm. Something was up.
Mazar, with Anton close on his heels, was thankful for the magic hour of the day. It was easier to make their way on sidestreets to Helm's office. He stopped at the corner before his destination and told Anton, "Get the wagon."
"Why?"
"Because I said so. Just get it."
"I want to see mother."
"We are going to get her out of here. She is not safe. Go...Get...The...Wagon...Now!"
"She is safe away from you. I should have my head examined for not killing you where you stand."
"As if you could," Mazar scoffed. "I will get Mary Rose, you get the wagon, then ride her to safety, anywhere but here and at her home."
"Why?"
"Just grow up and listen. That bullet was meant for her, not me. I will explain it to you later, with pictures, if necessary. Just go!"
It wasn't until Anton was on his way and there weren't any people anywhere in sight before Mazar made his way to the doctor's back door. He ducked under the window and peered inside to make sure there weren't any soldiers inside. When he didn't see anyone in what had to be the doctor's living quarters, Mazar tried the back door, and it opened even without a squeak. He picked up a letter opener that was on the desk as he made his way quietly to the door to the adjoining room. He didn't hear anything but a soft cry. He opened the curtain to see Mary Rose, alone, sitting on the table.
"Querida," he sighed and rushed to her. "You should not be sitting up."
"Lorenzo? Oh, I needed to talk to you," she cried out even more and wrapped her left arm around his neck.
"You are going to do more than that, my love. Hold your breath; you are getting out of here." As soon as she took a breath, that clearly pained her, he slid her into his arms. Careful not to move her too much, he asked, "How do you feel?"
"Like I got shot." She smiled up at him as she pulled herself into his arms higher. "Ready for a party."
Mazar kissed her as he walked to the back door once again. Mary Rose opened the door as she said, "I have to get word to Senorita Alvarado--"
"You need to be on a ship sailing to the Caribbean," Mazar cut her off.
"But she is in danger. I just figured it out. It was Alfonso who had me shot. Right?"
"Yes. I will take great pleasure in watching him bleed to death for that."
As he opened the door, Mazar saw a man standing at the head of the alley, and froze. It was Dr. Helm. He stood there, hands in his pockets. Mazar went for his pistol, then hesitated, afraid of attracting attention with the noise. Then, Helm shrugged, looking disgusted, turned and strolled back out into the square. Mazar considered that medical permission for Mary Rose to leave.
Mazar stepped slowly down the steps as Anton only had one of their horses hitched to the wagon and drove it to the door. Mazar slipped Mary Rose in the back, and she had to choke back a wail from the pain while doing so. As she situated herself on her side in the back, Mazar climbed in and the wagon moved down the street. Mazar lay behind her, putting his arm over her. Mary Rose gasped in pain, so he took his arm away, hoping he could take the pain for her. As soon as they cleared the Pueblo, Mazar yelled for Anton to go to the shore.
Anton didn't even slow down as he yelled behind him, "No way. We are going home to pack up and then getting far away from here and not ever looking back. I hate this Pueblo!"
"I need to get my daughter!"
"Carlotta," Mary Rose said, as if she had suddenly remembered his daughter was kidnapped.
Mazar brushed Mary Rose's blond hair back and kissed her temple. He declared, "I will find her. You have to go with your son to safety and we will be together again."
For a moment, Mazar thought that Montoya and his men were after them, as a caravan was moving swiftly not far from them. It was just paranoia, he determined, when he realized that they were rushing to Santa Elena, not toward them. A father could always spot his offspring, no matter how far away or how dark it was getting. A woman's head was in the back of one of the wagons and Mazar stood up, holding onto the back of the seat, to take a better look.
The woman reacted to seeing him and yelled, "Papa!"
Mazar hit Anton across the back of the head and yelled, "Stop!"
He jumped from the back of the wagon, as Carlotta was tugging at the driver of that wagon and yelling, "Stop! That is my father!"
The wagon holding his daughter slowed, the rest of the wagons pulling away from them before they slowed as well. Mazar's heart was beating fast as Carlotta was helped down from the back of the wagon by two men who wore extremely nice clothes for being kidnappers. When he saw that they were holding rifles, he was leery, but couldn't stop running to his daughter. They had, after all, let her go.
Carlotta ran, full-out, to her father's arms, and Mazar held her for all he was worth, not knowing for sure that he would ever have seen her again. The wagons started off again toward Santa Elena, as Mazar kissed his little girl and pulled her to their waiting wagon. "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"
Mazar lifted Carlotta up the back of the wagon and climbed in after her. "I am fine, Papa," Carlotta said as he inspected her.
"Who were those men?" Mazar asked as Anton made the horse ride once again.
"They saved me. I do not know who they were, but they were not wearing uniforms and did not introduce themselves. They asked me for my name, but I did not tell them anything, just as you taught me."
Mazar laughed as he pulled his daughter close. Carlotta looked up at him. "Papa, one of those men, a very large one, came into the tent I was kept in and killed the soldier guarding me. He slashed his throat. I was so scared, but he was a nice man. He saved me. He said his name is Gaspar."
"Gaspar Hidalgo?" Mary Rose asked incredulously.
"Yes, that is it." Carlotta answered her, but looked at Mary Rose laid out holding her side. "What happened to you?"
Mazar kissed Carlotta's forehead again and said, "We have the rest of our lives to fill you in."
Mary Rose reached over to take Mazar's hand, her face filled with a smile as her eyes drifted from him to Carlotta. Mazar moved closer to her so she could lie back and relax as much as possible in a moving wagon. She welcomed him when he put his arm under her head and she kept hold of his hand. "Why did you take the watch?"
"I explained it in the note your brat destroyed." Mazar called to Anton, "Did you even read it before you burned it?"
"Why should I?" Anton muttered.
"I will have a talk with Anton about that later," Mary Rose said. "For now, ease my mind. Why did you take the watch?"
Mazar could see that Anton was leaning back in his seat to eavesdrop, so he told both of them, "Your father stole that watch from Colonel Alfonso years ago."
"He did not!" Anton yelled with anger.
"Anton!" Mary Rose stopped him. "Andres probably did."
"I was going to take it back to him," Mazar told her, "as a friend would. Maybe he would ease off a bit. I could only deal with Lafayette at the time, I could not deal with the military as well."
"Balthazar really tried to kill me," Mary Rose said shaking her head. "I was so stupid. I should have known."
"I will kill Balthazar Alfonso. Neither of us will have to worry about him again," Mazar promised. "Then, we will sail with the winds, wherever they take us."
Mary Rose groaned after the wagon was jarred roughly, then curled up against Mazar. "That sounds like Heaven," she purred, hoping they would be close to a bed where she could rest soon.
Gaspar Hidalgo charged his lead wagon into Santa Elena, wanting to kick up as much dust as possible in order to make the proper entrance after what he and his fellow Dons had accomplished. He had been quite alarmed by Rodriguez's attack plan to storm the unit and save the girl. During the midst of it, though, Gaspar had never felt so alive as when he killed the girl's abductors.
The only downside of the whole storming of the unit was that they had lost Don Cruz and Gaspar's driver, Alberto, in the scuffle. In exchange, the casualties were heavy on the Colonel's side. Only Alfonso and his sergeant were still alive. Don Rodriguez wanted to execute them along with the others, but a cooler head by the name of Seņor Prado had insisted that Alfonso face Montoya. "Cold-blooded justice is only an instant's pleasure. He must face his crime and suffer the consequences."
So, they were bringing the Colonel to another Colonel for justice, and Gaspar hoped that justice would be served. Montoya would also have to thank the Dons for their duty, and maybe tensions between them would ease. As they came to a stop in the square, after the citizens had scattered, Gaspar could see soldiers with their rifles trained at them, and shouts of 'The Queen' were heard. "The Queen of Swords is here?" he asked Maria Teresa Alvarado when he saw her in the crowd, not far from where Montoya stood ordering his men to find her and bring her to him.
"Someone broke two men out of jail," she said, shrugging. "It certainly was not me."
Gaspar saw Vera walking toward the wagon and he smiled proudly as he stood, and almost fell off the seat when one of the horses moved forward. He even almost forgot about that bastard Grisham. He held onto the wagon as he climbed down carefully, into Vera's arms. "What is happening, Gaspar?"
Don Rodriguez marched past him toward Montoya, and Gaspar pulled away from Vera's embrace so as not to miss this.
Continue to Part Twelve
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