"Ah, Seņorita Alvarado, please sit down. What can I do for you this fine day?" asked Montoya with a tone that dripped honey.

Tessa handed him two pieces of paper. "This is an itemized list of the damaged or violated items that need to be replaced. The total comes to two hundred reales."

Montoya choked on the figure. "Two hundred? Isn't that rather high?"

"Colonel, the furniture came from Spain and I will have it replaced by the same craftsmen who made it. My clothing is fine Spanish silk. I will not accept inferior replacements."

"You will, of course, give me all the items that are replaced?" asked Montoya.

"Of course. Not. They will either be given to the needy or sold and the money given to the poor," replied Tessa.

"But Seņorita--"

"No buts Colonel. If you sold them, you would keep the money for yourself. This way, you and your soldiers will understand that a person's property is hers, not a place where soldiers can freely take anything they want. You and they will have learned a lesson and the poor will be helped. Now, when can I expect my money? I have to order the items and they must be prepaid," said Tessa.

Montoya opened the top drawer of his desk, pulled out two small leather bags and handed them to Tessa. Tessa weighed them and then looked inside.

"Before you start counting, Seņorita, there are only one hundred and fifty reales. I am a little short until the payroll arrives the day after tomorrow. You may, of course, deduct the fifty from your taxes."

"Colonel, since you paid this amount promptly, I can see no reason not to accept your offer. My tax payment will be reduced by fifty reales. Now, there are two copies of the list. Would you please notate the payment of the one hundred and fifty reales, and the reduction of my taxes, and sign them?"

"Seņorita, you leave nothing to chance, I see. You are your father's daughter. He would be proud to see his daughter's attention to business details. I can see why your hacienda is so prosperous. Tell me, why is it that you say you are not concerned with 'men's' business, yet you do this?" he asked as he signed the papers and handed them back to Tessa.

"Quite simple, really. I am not interested in the politics of business. I am, however, interested in keeping my father's hacienda running successfully. You know that the Dons do not think that a woman can run a hacienda. I am not the first woman to have done so. There is a widow near San Diego who also has a successful hacienda. Oh. One of the pages is for your records Colonel."

Montoya took one page and placed it in a book that said Taxes on it.

"Colonel, I have spoken to the Dons and they were very angry over this incident. They wanted to see you replaced. I persuaded them to forgo any actions until this matter was concluded. Since you have lived up to your agreement, I consider the incident closed and there will not be a repeat."

"No, Seņorita there won't be. I thank you for your cool headedness."

Montoya stood up to walk Tessa to the door. Note to Montoya, don't piss this woman off, he thought.

Tessa paused at the foot of the stairs and looked out to the fountain. Ah, there are the two soldiers who like to fondle women's undergarments. I wonder how they would look in them? she thought as she descended the stairs and walked to the fountain.

The two men were facing the water as Tessa approached quietly.

"Pablo, I can still feel the Seņorita's clothing as it slid through my fingers," said one of the men.

"I would like to see her in just those pantaloons, Miguel. What a sight she would be," laughed Pablo.

The two men suddenly found themselves being pushed into the fountain. As they came up, sputtering and cursing, they found themselves facing an irate Tessa. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Grisham approach.

"Majaderos. You still haven't learned, have you?" asked Tessa.

"Why, you wench, you are under arrest!" shouted Pablo.

"Pablo, Miguel. How many times have I told you to stop polluting the drinking water? You are both on guard duty tonight. Miguel, you are at the corral. Pablo, since you like water so much, you can guard the fountain," said Grisham.

"She attacked us," cried Miguel.

"I saw the entire thing. You slipped," said Grisham as he tipped his hat to Tessa.

"Seņorita."

"Captain," replied Tessa as she turned and walked away with a grin on her face.

Just before the false dawn, while it was still dark and clouds covered the moon, a black-clothed figure came up behind Miguel, who was sitting on a rail of the corral. A cold, hard object poked his neck.

"Keep quiet and get down here, and don't turn around," said a husky female voice.

Miguel did as he was told.

"Take off your clothes."

The pressure of the blade encouraged Miguel to do so.

"Put this on," said the woman, pressing a pair of women's underpants into his hands.

He complied, but as he turned to protest, the hilt of a sword knocked him unconscious. The woman gagged the hapless fool. Propping the man against the rails, she tied his arms backwards over the rails. The man faced the square.

Pablo sat on the adobe blocks of the fountain, when he suddenly felt the pressure of a sword against his neck.

"Cry out, and it will be the last thing you do. Now, take off your clothes. Aren't you glad there is no moon tonight?" asked the woman.

When the soldier was naked, he was instructed to put on a pair of women's pantaloons. When he was done, he was gagged with a pair of silk underwear and then forced to get into the fountain. The woman tied his hands behind him and around the fountain's waterspout. A rap on the head from a sword hilt left the man unconscious.

The crowing of a rooster aroused Montoya out of bed. "Damn, someday I am going to have that rooster for dinner," he said to no one.

He cast a look at the window. "It's not even dawn, yet," he complained as he flopped back down on the bed and closed his eyes. He awoke awhile later and heard laughter. He rolled out of bed, put on his robe and walked out onto the porch. He saw a crowd gathering around the fountain.

"What the hell is going on down there?" yelled Montoya.

The crowd looked at him and then backed away from the fountain. Montoya looked down to see a man dressed in women's pantaloons tied to the fountain, gagged by a pair of women's underwear.

Montoya tried to be angry but the sight made him turn around and walk back into his office. He started laughing uncontrollably. After a few minutes, he walked back out to the balcony and saw a soldier starting to untie the man.

"No," yelled Montoya. "Leave him."

A commotion to the right brought Montoya's eyes to the sight of a man being led out of the stables by Grisham wearing a pair of women's underwear.

"Grisham. Tie him up to the fountain also. Let this be a lesson to anyone who violates a woman in this pueblo," said Montoya as he walked back into his room for another fit of laughter.

Several minutes later Grisham entered Montoya's office.

"Should I arrest Senorita Alvarado?" asked Grisham.

"Why? Can you prove that she did it?"

"Who else?"

"Well, there are many women in this pueblo, and many men, who would take up their cause. There is also the Queen of Swords. This would be right up her alley. Besides, I needed a good laugh and that rabble you call soldiers need some discipline. You can't seem to do it. Maybe it takes a woman's touch."

Grisham shook his head.

"Grisham, don't tell me you didn't find that funny?"

Grisham grinned and then broke out laughing.

"Come on, Captain, let us go down to the cantina and have breakfast. I am in a generous mood, so I will buy. I want to see the reaction of all the People when they see the centerpiece of the pueblo." He laughed as the two men left the office.

Act Three

Alta California was blessed with much needed rain the next day, making the roads a quagmire. The Queen of Swords watched from her position above the arroyo as the enclosed, horse-drawn coach attempted to navigate the mud.

"What kind of a fool drives a coach into an arroyo in the rain, Chico?" asked the Queen of her horse.

She mounted her horse and rode down a game trail and came up behind the coach that was now stuck. Four men, including the driver, tried to extricate the wheels.

"Gentlemen, maybe the coach is too heavy. Let me lighten it for you," said the Queen, her sword drawn. The men backed away, as their weapons were in the coach.

She motioned for one of the men to hand her the payroll, which he did.

"Gentlemen, I will give you a piece of advice. Get out of this arroyo or pray you can swim," she said as she turned and rode up the game trail.

As she crested the top of the arroyo, everyone could hear the sound of water now rushing down the rampaging river. The soldiers cut the traces on the horses and tried to mount them, but the scared mounts bolted. The men ran to the arroyo walls and attempted to climb. They were not fast enough as the water gushed down the natural viaduct and washed the men and the coach away. The Queen raced along the side of the arroyo and managed to lasso one of the men and drag him to safety. She could find no traces of the others, but she found two horses that had escaped the raging torrent. She caught one and helped the soldier mount.

"Gracias, Reina. I don't care what the Colonel says; you are an angel. I am sorry for what I did," he said as he rode away.

"Vaya con Dios, Miguel," said the Queen quietly as she mounted and rode home. That's one man who will never violate a woman's things again. There is hope for him yet, thought the Queen. A snide smile came over her face.

Not long afterwards, Tessa and Marta sat on the veranda of the cantina having lunch after an exhausting morning of shopping. They looked up to see Colonel Montoya approach.

"Seņorita, Seņora. I now will have to tear out my roses. The two most beautiful flowers in Santa Elena are here at the cantina," said Montoya.

"Colonel, you really must read another book," smiled Tessa sweetly.

"Oh?" asked Montoya.

"You used that same line the day I arrived in Santa Elena."

"Some facts don't change, Seņorita. It was true that day and it is true today," smiled Montoya.

"Colonel, Colonel," called a soldier who was running towards the cantina. "We have him."

"You have who, Private?"

"The Moor, Colonel. We have the Moor,"

"Excellent work. Now we can hang him," replied Montoya with an evil grin on his face.

"Did you want him conscious?" asked the soldier.

"What do you mean? Of course I want him conscious."

"The patrol shot him. He is almost dead."

"Fool, get Doctor Helm, immediately," yelled Montoya.

"Colonel, may I see him?" asked Tessa.

"Why would you want to see him?" asked Montoya.

"He is a friend," replied Tessa.

"You have some very unsavory friends, Seņorita. The man is a criminal," replied Montoya, as he noted that the prisoner was being taken to the Doctor's office.

"Colonel, when I was in Monterey last week, I found that the charges were considered false and therefore the charges were dropped. Now, I may not be a barrister or a Colonel, but I know that the law demands a trial," said Tessa.

"Seņorita, in Santa Elena, I am the law," said Montoya as he stormed off and headed towards Helm's office.

"Doctor Helm, I presumed that a wounded prisoner was still a prisoner and should be in the jail," said Montoya as he caught up to the Doctor.

"Colonel, you have two choices. He can be in my office where I can treat him or dead in your jail. As it is, he has lost a lot of blood and I am not sure that I can save him. Your choice, Colonel," said Helm.

"All right Doctor, take him to your office, but I want him ready to hang in two days," said Montoya.

"I will be lucky if he survives the night," replied Helm.

The Queen of Swords waited until the guard had turned the corner of the building before she slipped into Doctor Helm's office. Closing the window behind her, she moved over to where Mohammed lay.

"Don't wake him," said Helm in the darkness.

The Queen turned quickly, her hand on her rapier, "Don't do that. You scared the hell out of me."

Helm chuckled. "Now you know how I feel."

"How is he?" asked the Queen.

"Weak. He is stronger than what I told Montoya. I was trying to buy some time," said Helm, leaning over his patient.

"Do you have any medicines that could make it seem that he was dead?" asked the Queen.

Helm's head came up sharply. "I don't, but I know who does."

"Who?"

"The Chumash use a drug in one of their ceremonies that makes it appear that a person is dead. If I could make it seem that Mohammed was dead, maybe we could get him to safety and help him recuperate."

"Keep him safe, Doctor," said the Queen as she kissed him on the cheek and then left through the window.

It took several hours to locate the Chumash village and Churi. Three men with spears challenged her she rode into the village. She dismounted, as one of the men brought a torch when they saw who she was. One ran for the chief.

"Sister. What are you doing here, not that I am disappointed to see you?" said Churi as he hugged her.

"I wish it was because I was just visiting, but I need your help. A friend has been shot and has lost a lot of blood. If he recovers, the Colonel will hang him," she said.

"That is serious. How can I help?"

"Doctor Helm said that he heard you know of an herb that would make the living appear to be dead."

"Yes, the Chumash do have such an herb. It is dangerous to use as, if too much is taken, the person will really be dead. Come to my Ap and we shall discuss this," he said, guiding her to the Ap he called home.

A couple of hours later, Churi handed a small, jar-shaped basket with a liquid in it. "Only use a cup-full to make the person appear dead. If he survives this trial, then mix it with this powder," he said, handing her a small bag. "This mixture will help your friend heal."

"Churi, you are the best brother in the world," said the Queen.

"Anything, my sister," replied Churi, as he walked her to Chico.

"Thank you, Churi. I will see you tomorrow then."

Shortly before false dawn, the Queen slipped back into Helm's office. Helm was dozing at his desk but woke up.

"Shh, there is a guard sleeping right outside your door," she whispered. "How is Mohammed?"

"I think he will survive to be hung by Montoya," whispered Helm sarcastically.

"Churi said this will help. When he wakes up, give him a cup of the liquid. Once we get him out of here, the powder can be mixed with the remaining liquid to help him recover," said the Queen.

"What is it?" asked Helm.

"Shu'nay."

"The Chumash give a man sumac to save his life. I can see why Churi said only a cup," said Helm.

"Yes, they do have some strange ways, " replied the Queen.

"Reina, you are beautiful," he said, as he gently kissed her on the lips.

"Doctor, your timing absolutely stinks," she grinned, as she kissed him back. "I will be back," she said, as she slipped out of the window, mounted Chico and left.

Continue to Part Four

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