"Raising the Stakes"
It was late afternoon when Diego rode up to the back of the de la Vega hacienda. He turned his horse over to Raul, one of the vaqueros, and entered the house through the kitchen. He was tired. It had taken longer than he had expected to take the deposition of the man in Buena Ventura and he had decided to stop in at the hacienda to freshen up and eat something before going on to the pueblo to meet with the Magistrado. He would have taken another day to return from Buena Ventura but for the insistence of the Magistrado that he must return today. He wasn’t sure why he had to return so soon, but he had no reason to question the Magistrado’s wishes. He greeted Crescensia as he passed through the kitchen.
"Crescencia. I am as hungry as a bear," he said. "Can you prepare something for me to eat? I must be on my way to Los Angeles shortly, but I cannot go until I eat something."
"Sí, Don Diego, I can make you something," she said.
"Graciás, Crescensia. You are the finest woman I know," Diego said with a smile. "I will send Bernardo down to fetch it in a few minutes. I will eat in my room while I change."
"Sí, Don Diego," Crescensia said as she watched Diego leave the kitchen. She used to think that the young man was gone from the hacienda too much when he had nothing better to do than go to the tavern and spend his time there. Now he was still gone all the time, and although he had a fine reason to be gone, Crescensia still worried. Not for Diego, but for his father, Don Alejandro.
She had observed how Don Alejandro had faced being alone when he had sent his only son to Spain for those years. He had fought the loneliness by working harder than ever on the rancho. The death of his wife had focused his affections on his only son, and sending the boy off to Spain had been a hard thing for Don Alejandro to do. But he endured it because he knew it was good for Diego and that his child would return to him a man. Then Diego had come back somehow changed by his time in Spain and Don Alejandro found that he was still alone in his own home. Diego stayed in this house, but it seemed he did not live here. Even Crescensia had that feeling.
Don Alejandro was mystified by his son and his disappointments ran deep though he did his best to let Diego be. This road was a rough one, and not without its pitfalls, but some semblance of outward peace had descended upon the de la Vega household. Then came this job with the Magistrado and Crescensia was happy for Diego. Like his father, she hoped this would give Diego something useful to do with his life. But as Diego had spent more and more time with Señor Santiago, she could see that Don Alejandro was still alone. The two men could not talk about Diego’s work except in the most general of terms, and so Don Alejandro was still very much excluded from his son’s life. Once again, Don Alejandro found that all he had was his work with the rancho and he immersed himself in it. But he still loved Diego deeply.
Perhaps Crescensia was the only one who could see this as she watched the two of them. This love was why Don Alejandro hurt so much when he saw Diego drifting away from him and all he had built for his only son and heir. Sighing, she shook her head sadly and began to prepare Diego’s meal.
Diego saw no one else as he ascended the stairs to his room. He entered, hoping to find Bernardo, but was disappointed to find his room empty. He threw his hat and valise upon his bed and took off his jacket, hanging it on the back of the chair by the desk. The necktie and vest soon followed. Rolling up his sleeves, he poured some water into the basin on his dresser and began to wash his face and hands. As he dried his face with the towel, he saw in the mirror the secret panel opening behind him and Bernardo stepping through. He turned to greet his mozo.
"It is good to see you," he said, drying off the back of his neck. "Everything all right with Tornado?"
Bernardo nodded and then signed that he had important news.
"What is it?" asked Diego. Bernardo made the signs for the soldiers and the fact that they were chasing someone through the pueblo. "Who were they chasing?" Bernardo made the sign for Zorro. "Zorro?" said Diego in surprise. "They were chasing Zorro?" Bernardo nodded yes emphatically. "Did you see this personally?" Diego wanted to know. Bernardo shook his head no. Then he made the sign for Sergeant Garcia. "Sergeant Garcia saw Zorro?" Bernardo nodded and indicated that it was Garcia and his lancers who had chased Zorro. Then he indicated they had lost Zorro, and that one of the soldiers had been shot. "Not Sergeant Garcia," said Diego with real concern. Bernardo shook his head and indicated that it was another soldier. Diego jumped to his own conclusion. "Zorro shot one of the soldiers." Bernardo nodded solemnly. "The soldier will live?" Yes, indicated Bernardo.
Diego walked over to the chair by his desk and leaned with both hands on its back as he thought about what he had just been told. Someone was deliberately raising the stakes by having Zorro make an appearance. At first, it was just vague rumors about Zorro hiding somewhere in the hills, but now someone impersonating Zorro had been chased through town and this imposter had shot one of the soldiers. Zorro had been impersonated before and it rankled Diego as much now as it had then. Zorro was his creation, a part of him. Zorro belonged to him and to no other. Diego felt somehow violated that someone was using him in this manner. Him, Zorro.
The question was, . . . why?
Bernardo tapped him on the arm and he turned to see the servant spreading his hands to ask the same question.
"I do not know, Bernardo," he said. "I do not know why anyone would do this. Other than the rumors we have heard about Zorro and his hidden armies, there has been no indication of problems in the district. The Magistrado’s rule here has been effective and all has been quiet. Sergeant Garcia’s patrols have turned up nothing in all these months, nor have I seen or heard anything in my work with the Magistrado or in my travels which seem suspicious. The only thing that has puzzled me so is why the rumors of Zorro and his army have not died away as they should have. We see now that someone is deliberately using Zorro for their own purposes. Who they are or why they are doing this is still very much a mystery." Diego draped the towel over the back of the chair as he said, "Perhaps the Magistrado has more information?" Bernardo shrugged his shoulders to say he did not know.
"Come, we will find out." said Diego. "Get me a change of clothes ready and then go have the vaqueros saddle a fresh horse for me and get yours ready also. We will go into town together."
While Diego changed, Bernardo ran down the stairs and carried his master’s wishes to one of the vaqueros. As he was coming back through the kitchen, Crescensia stopped him and made him to understand he was to take a tray of food up to Diego. Bernardo smiled to show that he understood, and carried the tray with him back up to Diego’s room. By this time, Diego had changed into his rust colored suit and was running a comb through his hair in front of the mirror.
Seeing the servant with the tray, Diego pointed and said, "Put it on the desk, there. I had forgotten I had asked Crescensia to prepare some food for me. Roll some of the meat in one of the tortillas and I will eat it as we ride. I want to get to the pueblo as soon as possible."
Bernardo prepared the tortilla while Diego poured and quickly drank a glass of wine. Taking the valise from his bed, Diego pulled some documents from it and put them into a portfolio which he tucked under his arm. "Let’s go," he said. Leading the way, he and Bernardo descended the stairs and headed toward the stables.
From behind him, he heard his father say, "Diego! Diego wait just a moment!" He turned to see his father coming toward him from the sala.
"I did not know you were home, my son," said Don Alejandro. "I want to tell you the latest news from the pueblo."
Diego was in a hurry and was not as patient as he might have been. "I already know, Father. Bernardo told me about Zorro being seen in the pueblo. I am on my way to see the Magistrado now. I cannot stay any longer, I’m sorry." He bowed and said, "Con permisso?", leaving before his father could answer.
Don Alejandro was affronted and rendered speechless by this, and Diego was out of the house before his father gathered his wits and called after him. "Diego!"
Crescensia peered around the corner of the kitchen in time to see Don Alejandro clench his fists in anger and then storm back into the sala. Shaking her head sadly, she went back to her work.
Bernardo took Diego’s portfolio from him and handed the tortilla over as they rode side by side. He knew Diego had made his father angry just now and it saddened him. But he also knew that Diego was in need of information about the person who had dared to impersonate El Zorro. Diego’s honor was bound within that of Zorro’s and he would not rest until Zorro’s reputation was restored. Despite being labeled a rogue, an outlaw and a bandit, Zorro still had his personal honor to uphold. And the true Zorro would let no imposter destroy that.
Bernardo was also concerned about the imposter. Concerned about why he had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and wondering just who he could be. He and Diego had no answers, but knowing his master as he did, Bernardo surmised they would soon be searching out any clues that they could find in hopes of clearing up the mystery. And hopefully exposing the imposter for what he was without compromising Diego’s identity.
The two men rode into the pueblo just as the sun was sitting low on the horizon. They spotted the Magistrado walking towards the cuartel with Sergeant Garcia and Doctor Avila. Pulling up in front of the cuartel, they tied their horses to the hitching rail and went to meet them.
Santiago said, "Ah, Diego. Good to see you. You are rather later in arriving than I had supposed you would be just coming from Buena Ventura. Any reason for the delay?" This was said for the benefit of the Sergeant and the doctor.
"Buenas tardes, Your Excellency. Sergeant. Doctor Avila," Diego said in greeting, bowing politely to each one. "I had some difficulty in taking the señor’s deposition, Your Excellency. He had been drinking rather heavily the night before and did not make himself available until mid-morning." Diego was careful not to give out the man’s name, respecting the confidentiality that the Magistrado prized so highly. Taking the portfolio from Bernardo, he patted it and said, "But after several hours work, I have the documents you requested and have the man’s own statements recorded for you."
Doctor Avila said, "While you have been away gathering your papers, Diego, you have missed all the excitement. Sergeant Garcia here almost captured El Zorro today." Some of the peons selling their wares nearby looked up at the mention of Zorro’s name. Any mention of the famous bandit was not to be missed.
Garcia looked slightly embarrassed. Before he could say anything, Santiago spoke. "Yes, Diego. The man you look upon almost as a savior rode through the town disrupting the market place and actually shot one of the lancers this morning. I have a second patrol out looking for him now. Doctor Avila here, was just going to check on the lancer who was shot." Santiago’s voice was rather dry.
"Bernardo told me about Zorro’s actions, Your Excellency," said Diego, maintaining a grip on his emotions. He did not like being chided for his views on Zorro, as justified as the chiding might be in light of what the imposter had done. After all, the Magistrado did not know the real Zorro. He continued, "I must confess the news took me completely by surprise. He has not been seen hereabouts for so long."
"Garcia’s patrol lost him in the hills north of your hacienda, Diego," said Santiago. "Coming from Buena Ventura, did you happen to notice anything out of the ordinary? Your paths might have crossed." Santiago looked to make sure Garcia and Doctor Avila were absorbing his statements. They were all attention. Even the peons were looking at each other as they listened in. Good.
"No, Your Excellency, I saw nothing as I traveled home before coming here," said Diego.
"Oh? Why did you go to the hacienda before coming to the pueblo, Diego? You know I wished you to report to me as soon as you had returned," probed Santiago. Diego had handed him another point to use in casting doubts upon himself and Santiago was going to use it.
"Your Excellency, it was but a short delay in my coming to the pueblo, I assure you. As you know, our hacienda is quite close to the road leading to the pueblo and I merely diverted there long enough to change clothes and obtain a fresh horse. I had pushed mine rather hard to return today as you wished in light of the fact I had to spend extra time with the señor from Buena Ventura. I was home for no more than fifteen minutes." Diego said this with sincerity, wondering why the Magistrado seemed displeased with him. Surely these documents he was carrying were not that important? The señor’s case from Buena Ventura was quite ordinary.
Standing behind Diego and off to one side, Bernardo naturally assumed his role of the deaf servant, but what he was hearing was prickling the hair on the back of his neck. He studied Santiago from his vantage point and knew in his heart something was not right. There were the little looks which Santiago gave the Sergeant and the doctor from time to time, as though he were gauging their reactions to his questions for Diego. Even the peons who gathered about were being watched by the Magistrado out of the corner of his eye. Without looking directly at Diego, Bernardo could feel the tension building in his master as he answered the Magistrado’s questions. It was as though Santiago was playing Diego like an instrument for the benefit of the onlookers. But why? Bernardo realized that he had a problem. What could he tell Diego? That he had a bad feeling about the Magistrado? He would have to try and tell him something, but it would have to be later when they were alone. There was nothing he could do now but continue to observe and listen. He watched Santiago all the more closely, while seeming not to be paying attention at all.
Santiago had what he wanted from Diego, so he decided to discontinue pushing the young man. He could see Diego was concerned that he had somehow disappointed his superior even though he had done all that had been asked of him. "Do not worry, Diego," he said in a lighter tone, smiling to disarm his assistant deputy. "I am just understandably upset that one of our lancers has been wounded. I do not mean to be so hard on you. Of course you have done the excellent work that you always do. A little tardiness is insignificant. Come, let us all go and see how the lancer is doing, shall we?" He held out his hand to indicate that Doctor Avila should walk with him. They headed for the gates of the cuartel. Santiago was pleased with the way this little episode had turned out. The seeds of doubt were being planted. He knew those seeds would grow. He would make sure of it.
Diego fell in beside Sergeant Garcia and Bernardo walked behind them. Diego was still a little off balance from Santiago’s questioning, but it could all be explained away by the Magistrado’s concern for one of his men. It was well known that Santiago was a caring man. Just consider the loving care he gave to his wife, Gracilia. Dismissing the whole incident, for he had other concerns, Diego addressed the sergeant.
"Sergeant Garcia," he said smiling. "So you chased Zorro again, eh? How did you come to find him so close to the pueblo? "
"I do not know, Don Diego," said Garcia. "We were just returning from early patrol along the road from San Pedro when all of a sudden there he was. Right there in the road in front of us. I called to him that he was under arrest, but he just laughed, Don Diego. You know how he is. But now that I think about it, he must have had a cold or something because he sounded different."
"Different, Sergeant?"
"Yes, his voice was deeper, . . . rougher," said the Sergeant. "Not like I remember it at all."
"Go on, Sergeant" encouraged Diego. They were passing into the cuartel now.
"Zorro yelled, ‘Catch me if you dare!’ and rode toward the pueblo. We chased after him." Garcia shook his head. "He rode right through the plaza, knocking down carts and people with us close behind him. We chased him right into the hills."
"How did the soldier get shot?" asked Diego.
"Lugo? Oh, we were catching up to Zorro, Don Diego. We were actually catching up to him. I think the extra training the Magistrado has been giving us must have been doing some good. Or else it was because Zorro’s horse did not seem to be so fast as his other one. In another few moments we would have surrounded him, but he turned his horse around and stood his ground. Then he pulled his pistol and shot straight at us. We tried to scatter, but he shot Lugo before he could move."
"That is not like Zorro," said Diego.
"That is just what I told the Magistrado, Don Diego. ‘It is just not like Zorro to do this.’ I said to him. I still can’t figure it out, Don Diego. Zorro was always a rogue, but he was never a mean rogue." Garcia looked around, "Just between us, I think he used to go out of his way not to hurt any of us, even when we were under orders to shoot him. He is not that way now," the Sergeant concluded sadly.
"I am sorry to hear that, Sergeant," said Diego sincerely. "You say you lost Zorro in the hills north of our rancho?" He wanted to narrow down the area he intended to search at his first opportunity.
They came to stand at the foot of the stairs going up to the barracks as Santiago and the doctor continued upwards. Garcia looked up as he watched them. "Sí, Don Diego. You know the hills separating your lands from those of Don Tomas Yorba? That is where we lost him. The Magistrado sent out another lancer patrol with Corporal Reyes to try and pick up his trail. They should be coming back soon unless they found something. I would not want to run into Zorro in the dark. The next time he shoots at us, we might not be so lucky."
Diego felt the Sergeant needed a little cheering up, so he said, "Don’t worry, Sergeant. I am sure that if Zorro is seen again, you will capture him and claim the reward. It is still fifteen hundred pesos, you know." Garcia seemed to brighten a little at the prospect. Diego continued, more to himself than to the Sergeant, "But I wonder why he has come back after all this time."
Garcia looked back up towards the barracks where Santiago was and said, "The Magistrado still thinks Zorro is scheming to take over California, Don Diego. He said so just this morning after we returned. Everyone thinks so. Everywhere you go, people are talking about Zorro’s army somewhere in the hills. That is why we have to catch him. We have to stop him before he tries to do what the Eagle tried to do."
"You do not believe those stories, do you Sergeant?" asked Diego. "There is no proof of this."
"Before today, Don Diego, I was not willing to believe them. But after today, . . . ." he trailed off, shaking his head. "After today, what else can I believe when the Magistrado is so sure?"
Diego was dismayed. He realized that Sergeant Garcia was easily swayed. It was his weakness. But he had hoped the Sergeant would have had more faith in Zorro. He offered a lifeline. "Sergeant, what if this Zorro is not the real Zorro? It is not the first time someone has dressed up like the outlaw for their own purposes. What if someone is just using his disguise?"
Garcia brightened again. "Sí, Don Diego!" he said. "Capitán Monastario did that with that skunk of a man, Martinez." Garcia thought very hard. "No, Don Diego. I saw Zorro clearly. It was him. I know it was."
Before Diego could protest further, Santiago called from the top of the stairs, "Sergeant. Come up. You may see Lugo now."
"Sí, Magistrado," called Garcia, and quickly he went up the stairs. Diego shrugged at Bernardo who had been listening to everything and they both followed the Sergeant. Garcia had been fooled by imposters before. To him, anyone wearing a black cape and a mask would be Zorro.
Much later, after the Magistrado finished going over the documents brought from Buena Ventura quite thoroughly, Diego was finally allowed to return home. The Magistrado would not say very much about Zorro to Diego, except to say that he was going to step up the patrols in the hills where he had vanished in order to try and capture the outlaw. Diego surmised the Magistrado was mindful of his views on Zorro and did not wish to place Diego in an awkward position concerning the masked bandit. Diego could appreciate that. However, Santiago was preventing him from doing that which he most wanted to do and that was to search for some signs of the imposter for himself. The Magistrado had given him a whole sheaf of documents to read concerning the situation with the newly formed Mexican government and their relationship with California. He wanted Diego to read them by morning before he reported back to the pueblo. He could not search the countryside tonight and read the documents at the same time. So he turned to Bernardo.
As they rode along in the darkness toward the hacienda, Diego said, "Bernardo. I am going to have to call upon you to search for any signs of this imposter for me. Tomorrow, when I am with the Magistrado, I want you to ride up to the area where they lost the false Zorro and see what you can find. You will have to be very careful and not be seen by the lancer patrols which the Magistrado has sent out." Diego could see Bernardo nodding in the moonlight. "We must find this man and expose him for what he is," said Diego, pounding his fist on his thigh. "He must be stopped before he does something much worse than he has already done. I created Zorro as a protector of the people, not someone who harms them."
