"Voices"
Santiago judged that it was now time to let everyone catch a glimpse of Zorro. He wanted to talk to Uresti himself, so there would be no misunderstandings between them. Uresti was a rough man, but he was smart enough to know Santiago held his chain tightly. Besides, he had been assured of being rewarded by Santiago if he did exactly what he was asked to do and this also kept him pacified. However, he was not one to be taken lightly. He was a dangerous man. Santiago sent word by Lozano that Uresti should come to Los Angeles. He was to come in the guise of a hired man to help Lozano to drive and unload the next cartload of goods coming from Santa Barbara.
One week later, Lozano came to Los Angeles with Uresti. Uresti was a tall, dark man with coal black hair and a thin mustache. His features were heavy and rugged. He wore not only a sword, but carried a pistol and a long knife tucked into his banda. His eyes were half-lidded, giving him a sleepy appearance until one got close, then you knew that he was watching your every move. After unloading the wagon, Lozano took Uresti to Aredo’s house and familiarized him with the costume he would be wearing and showed him the black horse. They would wait until after dark before going to Santiago’s house.
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Señora Gracilia woke from her fitful sleep with a start. It was dark in her room, with only a small candle in one corner to give a little light. She did not know what time it was, but the sun must have been down for quite a while for it to be so dark. She heard the noise again. The one which had awakened her. It was someone knocking at the front door. The door to her room was open and she could hear the knocking. "Pippa?" she murmured softly.
"Sí, Señora?" came the response from beside her bed. Seeing her mistress looking at the door, Pippa said soothingly, "Do not worry, Señora. Señor Santiago himself is answering the knock. He will take care of it. Do you wish anything?"
There were so many things Gracilia wished for, but none of them were within her reach, so she said, "Nothing, Pippa. Nothing."
Pippa smoothed the covers on Gracilia’s bed and went back to her chair to sit quietly, picking up her needlework to begin where she had left off. The light of the small candle made working with the needle difficult, but Pippa had many hours to fill and she found solace in her needlework. She had sold some of her pieces in the marketplace and had a few pesos saved up. She thought about her family in Mexico and how she would like to see them once again. It had been so long. Her husband had taken her with him to Monterey several years ago, seeking to make a better life for them both, but he had died when they were attacked by bandits. Pippa had been grateful to find work as a servant in the household of the Governor. Then, she was sent as a gift to Señora Gracilia when the señora had married, and had been with her from then until now. She pitied the poor young woman and did the best she could for her. She did not care for Señor Santiago and his cool treatment of his wife. Pippa knew what most did not, about how little Señor Santiago really cared for his wife. However, she kept all of this to herself. She had only one job, and that was to take care of Señora Gracilia, and she would do just that and no more.
Gracilia lay on her bed, unable to return to sleep. She could hear her husband talking to someone. Who was it? Yes, it was Sergeant Garcia. She recognized his voice as he came to the house from time to time to talk with the Magistrado. Tonight, as on some infrequent nights, her hearing seemed sharper than usual. Sometimes she could hear the softest cooing of a mourning dove in the early dawn, a sound which Pippa could not hear without opening the windows. Tonight was such a night. She heard her husband speaking clearly from the next room, though he spoke in low tones.
"A brawl, did you say, Sergeant?"
"Sí, Magistrado," said Garcia. "Between several vaqueros. They were in the tavern and began fighting among themselves over a señorita. She was not hurt, but I’m afraid the tavern is in bad shape."
Santiago knew Lozano was to arrive shortly with Uresti, but he also knew that it would probably take longer to explain to the Sergeant what he wanted done than to go and direct things himself. He would handle things quickly and return. He attached his sword to his belt and reached for his hat. "Come, Sergeant. We will go and sort things out right away," he said.
Gracilia heard the door open and shut and the night became quiet once again. She could hear the little movements Pippa was making as she stitched away at her design. She had enjoyed needlework herself as she grew up. But now, her hands would not let her hold the needle, for they trembled at the slightest excuse. Sighing, she wished she could go back to sleep, but did not feel sleepy. For the moment, the laudanum was keeping the pain at bay, but she was so weak that she could only lay still on her bed. "Pippa?" she said after a long while.
"Sí, Señora?" was Pippa’s instant response.
"Pippa, perhaps if I had a glass of warm milk I might go back to sleep," she said almost in a whisper.
Pippa put down her needlework and said, "I will go and heat some for you, Señora. I won’t be long."
"Graciás," said Gracilia softly. She listened as Pippa padded her way out of the room in her soft shoes and went down the hall to the kitchen.
Left alone in the dimly lit room, Gracilia was startled again by another knock at the front door. This time it was the manservant, Roberto, who answered the door.
"Yes? Who is it?" she heard him ask.
"Claudio Lozano and Juan Uresti to see the Magistrado," came the reply.
"The Magistrado has stepped out for the moment," said the manservant.
Lozano said, "May we wait here for him? We have an appointment."
The manservant said, "Sí. Please have a seat by the fire. I will bring you some wine if you wish."
A deeper voice said, "Sí, bring us some wine." but Lozano’s voice said, "No. We will just wait for the Magistrado. Graciás."
Gracilia could hear the manservant leaving the room. After he was gone, she heard the two men speaking to each other.
"Why did you not let him bring us some wine?" said the deeper voice, which she guessed must be the one called Uresti.
"The Magistrado might not like it," said Lozano. "We will wait to see what he wants us to have or not have."
"You are a timid one, Lozano," said Uresti, laughing caustically.
"And you are too bold, Uresti," said Lozano firmly. "Remember, you are here to do the Magistrado’s bidding, not mine."
"And what is it he wants me to do? Dress up as a masked bandit and scare some peons into thinking I am the evil Zorro?" Uresti laughed derisively this time. "I was involved in much more dangerous plots than this for the Eagle. Men died when the eagle’s feather was shown."
In the darkened room, Gracilia was alarmed. What was she hearing?
"Shhhh . . .," said Lozano. "Do not speak of such things now."
"Why not?" said Uresti. "And who is this Diego de la Vega that we should convince everyone that he is a traitor? I know nothing of him."
"Diego?" wondered Gracilia to herself. "Why do they mention Diego?" She continued to listen.
"You do not have to, Uresti. You only have to do what the Magistrado tells you to do."
"It will mean de la Vega’s death, will it not? Even if he is as innocent as a babe, once the Magistrado convicts him of treason, they will hang him. Just what does the Magistrado gain by all this, eh? And what will be our share?"
"He let you live didn’t he?" said Lozano. "That is more than you deserve. You should have been hung for being one of Varga’s men."
Uresti laughed. "As you should have been, my friend, just as you should have been."
"Quiet!" hissed Lozano. "I hear someone coming."
Just then, Gracilia heard the door open.
"Your Excellency," said Lozano.
Santiago was chagrined that the two men had come while he was out and had entered his house. He looked at his wife’s room and remembered the door was open. Putting his finger to his lips, he walked softly over to the door.
Gracilia heard him approaching and closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. She would let him think she was asleep, although she was sure he could hear her heart beating beneath her blankets as he bent over her.
Santiago sighed to himself in relief. Luckily for the two men waiting by the fireplace, Gracilia was still in her drug induced sleep. If she had been awake . . .
Gracilia kept her eyes closed and she heard her husband walk back to the men. In a voice that sent chills through her, she heard him say, "You two will follow me upstairs to my office. Never again will you set foot in this house without me. If you have spoken anything which you should not and if you have been overheard by anyone in this household, you will answer to me with your life. Do you understand me?"
"Sí, Magistrado. Sí," was the response from both men. Even Uresti sounded solemn.
"Then come."
Gracilia heard them leaving. What was it all about, she wondered. Who was this Uresti and why was he going to dress up like Zorro? And why did they talk of Diego as a traitor? He was certainly no such thing. Why was her husband mixed up with men such as these? Men like that Uresti. He had admitted he was a conspirator with the Eagle and implied that Lozano was one also. And these two men were taking orders from Jorgé? Gracilia was frightened. Frightened because she did not know what was going on and frightened because of what little she did know and what it implied about her husband. The more she thought about it, the more her fears grew. She really did not know this man who was her husband, not down deep where it mattered. This talk of killing and of naming Diego a traitor? Was her husband really capable of that? Agitation and stress at last overwhelmed her frail strength, and the pain of her illness rose anew. "Pippa!" she gasped. "Pippa!"
Pippa heard Señora Gracilia from the hallway and hurried in with the glass of warm milk on a tray. Placing the milk hurriedly on the table, she tried to comfort the young woman who lay writhing on her bed. She could see that Gracilia was trying to speak, but the words would not come. Pippa knew what the doctor would do if he were here. She took the bottle of laudanum from the bedside table and poured a double measure of the medicine into the glass of warm milk. Helping Gracilia to sit up, she made her drink all of it. Then she held the young woman and stroked her hair, rocking her in her arms as she waited for the medicine to take effect. It took almost a quarter of an hour, but finally the moaning and the tremors stopped and Gracilia slept at last. Pippa slipped off of the bed and arranged Gracilia’s blankets around her. Standing in the dim light of the candle, Pippa looked down upon her mistress and wondered how much longer the young woman could live in this condition. She thought about going to get the doctor, but what could he do that she had not done? No, she would just go back to her needlework and stay by her mistress’ side. That was all anyone could do.
Upstairs, in the Magistrado’s office, Santiago was using his anger to his advantage. He was sure the two men before him would stop at nothing to follow his instructions to the letter now. He did not allow himself to display his anger grossly, but his hard and cold demeanor was enough to daunt both men, even Uresti. They spent the next few hours going over where Uresti would stay in the hills, when and where he would show himself as Zorro, and how they would communicate when that was necessary. Uresti was given to understand what script he would follow to increase the rumors that he was the masked rider gathering his army in the hills. And he was told the target of the whole plan was Diego de la Vega and they were going to set him up to be convicted on charges of treason.
Uresti was still bold enough to ask the question he had posed to Lozano. "De la Vega. Why de la Vega, Magistrado? Why is he so important?"
"Just know that he is, Uresti," said Santiago. "You will not know my whole plan. Accept that. You just do what I tell you and you will continue to be free. And remember, when my plans succeed, you will be well rewarded. You may return then to your señorita a wealthy man, or perhaps you may find that remaining in my service is a greater reward. Lozano has chosen this path. He will not regret it."
Lozano looked at Santiago and then at Uresti as he smiled. Uresti, narrowed his eyes as he considered the offer. He decided he would watch the way Santiago’s plans unfolded. Santiago was a powerful man now and from what Uresti could tell, he would be even more powerful in the future. He was a force to be reckoned with and those who followed him would accrue power to themselves. And Uresti loved power almost as much as he loved money and his señorita. He had lost his influence when the Eagle had lost his life and he wanted to get it back. If the Magistrado succeeded, he just might join Lozano as a permanent member of Santiago’s entourage. He might even take Lozano’s place. With that thought, Uresti returned Lozano’s smile. Lozano’s smile faded as he saw the look in Uresti’s eyes.
"Your offer interests me greatly, Magistrado," said Uresti. "I will carry out my orders. You will have your conviction of this de la Vega just as you wish."
"Good," said Santiago. "Do you have any further questions? No? Then you will both leave and take up your positions. Tomorrow, El Zorro returns to Los Angeles."
