"The Imposter's Camp"
Diego reached the river in good time and crossed it, going north as Tomaso had said. The terrain was quite hilly and covered in scrubby brush. Diego rode between two ridges where the going was easier as he made his way toward the mountain towering before him. He held up his hand in front of the brim of his hat to further shade his vision and thought he could just make out some large rocks on the southeastern face of the mountain. He could not yet see if any were shaped like a man’s fist, as they were too far away. He was unfamiliar with this land, but decided that he would circle around to the east of the rocks he could see and approach the alleged camp from a direction the imposter would least suspect. He set a good pace for his horse and they soon left the river behind them.
Diego kept looking up on the mountain, searching for a movement or a wisp of smoke from a campfire, anything that would let him know someone was there. He saw nothing. He began to feel a little closed in by the ridges which continued on both sides of him. If anyone else was close by, he would not know it until they were upon him. This raised his senses to a new level and he began to scan the countryside close to him as well as the mountain in the distance. He could have ridden on the ridge himself, but it was slower going there and he would be more visible to anyone who might chance to look his way. He patted his sturdy palomino on the neck and said, "I know you are a faithful servant, my friend, but right now I wish I were riding Tornado." Diego knew he could depend upon his black steed to warn him of anyone in the vicinity. Tornado had a keen natural ability and Diego had trained him well.
After another half hour of riding, and a growing feeling as though he was being watched, Diego suddenly pulled his horse to a stop. He turned and looked over his right shoulder, up to the top of the ridge. There sat a man on a black horse. The man himself was dressed all in black, wearing a flowing black cape and a black mask. "The imposter!" thought Diego to himself. "He has been watching me all along." For a brief moment, Diego took the time to examine the scene before him. "So that is what El Zorro looks like to the people," he mused. He had to admit that the man in black made a powerful image, outlined against the blue sky as he was. Diego was rather pleased at the thought. He had chosen his image well. Somehow, when Bernardo wore the costume it did not have quite the same effect at all. Diego smiled briefly to himself, amused at the image in his mind of his earnest friend.
But now to the present. His thoughts turned darker as his anger rose due to the pretender’s presence. Diego spun his horse around, preparing to ride up onto the ridge after the imposter when the false Zorro looked behind him, then fled down the other side of the ridge, out of Diego’s sight. Immediately, Diego heard the thunderous sound of horses.
It was Capitán Hidalgo and his lancers. They charged up to Diego, dust billowing around them as they pulled their horses to a stop. Hidalgo did not stop his horse until it bumped shoulders with Diego’s palomino, causing the gelding to snort and plunge. Diego calmed him with a firm hand on the reins. He did not like the look on Hidalgo’s face.
"De la Vega," growled Hidalgo, jerking his horse’s head around as the animal was too excited to be still. It continued to prance nervously beneath him. "What are you doing here?" Pointing to the place where the imposter had disappeared, he said, "And what was that outlaw doing here? Well? Have you no answers?"
Diego forced himself to remain calm. It was a good thing he’d had plenty of practice at letting things like this roll off of him, unlike his beloved father. "I was just taking a ride in the hills," he replied with a smile. Hidalgo’s eyes narrowed. Diego continued, "Am I required to ask permission to go for a pleasure ride in the hills around Santa Barbara, Capitán? I was not aware of such a regulation. My apologies."
"No, there is no regulation," growled Hidalgo. "But what business did you have with Zorro? We clearly saw him near you when we rode up."
"I had no business with him at all, Capitán," said Diego. "I was riding along and suddenly I felt as if someone was watching me. When I turned around, there he was. You came along just moments later."
"And you made no contact with him at all?" said Hidalgo. "He is a wanted criminal, and anyone who aides him will be charged as a conspirator." Hidalgo glared at Diego.
"No, Capitán. On my word of honor, I have had no contact with this outlaw at all. And you do not have to inform me of the law. I am, after all, the Assistant Deputy Magistrado." Diego looked Hidalgo straight in the eyes as he said this. The Capitán appeared to weigh his words, but seemed not to be entirely satisfied.
"Señor de la Vega, you will . . . " Hidalgo started to speak, but was interrupted by one of the lancers.
"Look!" the soldier cried, pointing back up on the ridge. "Zorro!" The false Zorro was there again, looking down on them.
"After him!" shouted Hidalgo, and the lancers immediately began charging up the hill. Holding his plunging horse back, Hidalgo pointed his finger at Diego and shouted, "You will return to Santa Barbara, Señor. I will deal with you later!" Kicking his horse into a gallop, Hidalgo set out after his men. The imposter had already fled and was out of sight. Soon the lancers and their capitán were gone as well.
Diego rode up to the top of the ridge and watched the chase. The imposter was already moving up the next ridge, heading south, with the lancers in pursuit. Hidalgo had caught up to his men and was urging them on. In just moments, all of them were lost to sight when they plunged over the top of the next ridge. All that could be seen was the drifting cloud of dust left in their wake.
Before he left the ridge, Diego happened to notice the tracks left by the imposter’s horse. The horse was shod, but there was a half-moon shaped piece, a little smaller than the size of a centavo, missing from one shoe. It was unmistakable.
Well, with the soldiers chasing the outlaw, that was finish of any chance he had of capturing the imposter, Diego thought to himself ruefully. He pounded his fist into his thigh in frustration. He had wanted to question the man himself, without witnesses, to find out who else was in on the outlaw’s schemes. He wasn’t sure why, but it just seemed to him that there was more than just the imposter involved. The rumors about Zorro and his "army" spread too quickly and were entirely too persistent for them to be the result of just one man who was impersonating the masked outlaw. With a sigh, he turned his horse around and started back to Santa Barbara.
Then he pulled up. He might as well take a look at the place where Tomaso had said the imposter kept his camp. There might be some clues there he could pick up and it would also let him verify if the nervous little Tomaso had been telling the truth. He turned his horse around once more and rode toward the mountain and the rocks where the camp should be.
As he rode, Diego took a moment to muse on the chase. It felt quite surreal to watch from a distance as someone chased after Zorro, imposter though he may be. It was as though he were watching himself being chased as he had been so many times before. He was both the chased and the watcher at the same time. It was an image and a feeling he would not soon forget. He shook his head thoughtfully. He would have to make sure he shared the sensation with Bernardo when he returned home. He wondered what his servant friend would think about it.
It took another half hour to reach the large rocks on the mountain’s south side. One of them did indeed look like a man’s fist pointed defiantly up at the sky. Diego rode around the rocks, and saw there were horse tracks all around them as though someone was not particularly careful with his comings and goings. As he leaned over to peer at them, he noted the prints bore the mark of the missing half moon shape. So the imposter did come to this place. It seemed Tomaso could tell the truth after all. Behind the rocks, Diego did find the remains of a camp. He dismounted and looked more closely. He found the cold ashes of a campfire and a haphazard stack of firewood. There were bones in the ashes of the campfire, no doubt the remains of someone’s meal. He found a few wine bottles, empty of their contents, in the brush where they had been thrown. He could see a depression in the sand where someone had spread their blankets for sleeping. But other than that, there was nothing else to be seen.
While Diego looked around the camp, Capitán Hidalgo watched from his hiding place. He had left the soldiers pursuing Uresti and had circled back. Just as Lozano had said, de la Vega was curious enough to want to investigate the outlaw’s camp. Hidalgo watched as Diego walked back and forth around the area. By his guess, de la Vega spent twenty minutes or so looking around. Then the young man mounted his horse and paused, looking in Hidalgo’s direction. Hidalgo ducked down. When he looked again, Diego was riding back down the mountain, heading toward Santa Barbara. Good. He had not been seen. Hidalgo mounted his horse and rode toward the place where he knew his lancers would be waiting. He had ordered that the soldiers give up their pursuit if they had not run the outlaw down after another couple of miles. He smiled to himself. If Uresti could not keep ahead of his lancers, that would be his problem. But he figured the man was good enough to lose himself in the hills and avoid being captured, or Señor Santiago would not have chosen him to play the role.
When he reached the meeting place, his soldiers were already there. The lancers had dismounted in order to rest their mounts. Some were squatting beneath the low brush, trying to stay within the scant shade it offered. Others were standing in groups of two or three talking. They looked up as he approached.
"So you couldn’t catch him, eh?" he said as he rode up.
"No, Capitán," said one of the lancers, looking up at him. "He had a lead on us and we could not close fast enough in those hills. After we had ridden two miles, we came back here just as you ordered." The lancer was disappointed. It was plain to see he had been dreaming of the enormous reward for the capture of the masked outlaw. As had the others.
"Mount up, babosos," ordered Hidalgo. "Since you let Zorro escape, we might as well go back to the garrison."
"Sí, Capitán," said the soldier. He did not mention that it was the Capitán’s orders which had kept them from trying harder to capture Zorro. The outlaw’s horse was not that fast, and they had been gaining on him ever so slowly. A longer chase might have ended with quite different results.
Hidalgo didn’t care what his soldiers thought as long as they obeyed his orders. He had carried out his part of Santiago’s plans just as he had been instructed and he was pleased. He did not like being ruled by Santiago’s orders, but there was nothing he could do about it when the man had all the evidence he needed to convict Hidalgo as a man of the Eagle hidden away somewhere. He had just exchanged one master for another. Ah, well. This master was not so crude as the other one had been. He was much more subtle. What the Magistrado’s ultimate goals were, Hidalgo did not know, but he knew de la Vega’s days were numbered once Santiago’s plans were carried out. De la Vega was being set up for some reason and Hidalgo’s testimony at the upcoming trial would be a crucial part of that set up. All he knew for certain was that Diego de la Vega would hang when the trial was over.
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It was late when Diego rode into town. He just had time to see to his horse, run up to his room to freshen up and change before coming back downstairs in time to meet Lozano and the men from the ship. He asked for a table in the corner of the inn where the four of them could meet and discuss their business in relative privacy. His room was just too small for such a meeting. The men soon arrived and greetings were exchanged. Lozano was cool and rather remote while the purser was almost ebullient in his greeting for Diego. He spoke Italian for some moments before Diego gently reminded him that Lozano did not speak the language and it was bad form to exclude him in their conversation.
"Quite right, young Señor, quite right!" the purser exclaimed. Bowing to Lozano, he apologized profusely. Lozano accepted.
"Now, Señor Purser, would you show Señor Lozano the document which you received from him?" asked Diego.
"Sí," said the purser, as he pulled out the paper.
After the mistake was pointed out and Lozano had gotten a good look at it, Diego said, "Señores. You all see this was an honest mistake. One that could have happened to anyone. The question is, what do we do about it?" The other three men looked at one another. Diego continued, "I propose we take the difference in the price of the goods and divide it in half. You, good Captain, will lower your asking price by one half of the difference and you, Señor Lozano, will raise your offer by one half of the difference. This compromise will allow both parties to complete the transfer of goods, and each party will still make a profit. What do you say?"
Lozano looked at the other two men and thought for a moment. Then he nodded his head. The purser looked at the captain who nodded once. "We accept," said the purser with a smile.
"Splendid," said Diego. "Let us order our supper while I draw up the agreement shall we? Once it has been signed, we can enjoy our meal together."
"Excellenté!" said the purser.
"Innkeeper," called Diego. "Pen and paper. And bring a bottle of your best wine."
Diego soon had an agreement written out, which was signed by both parties. The bottle of wine was quickly consumed and another one was ordered. With the stalemate broken, and profits assured for both sides, Lozano and his suppliers became quite friendly with each other before the night was ended. The meal was well received, especially by Diego who was famished. It was after midnight before Diego was able to crawl into bed. The ship’s captain and the purser had told many long tales about their travels and it seemed that they would never leave. But Lozano insisted he had to rise early the next morning, and so he finally left. Diego let it be known he had a hard day’s ride ahead of him as he was to return to Los Angeles the next day. Saying good night to his new friends, Diego was finally able to go to his room.
He was pleased by the resolution of Lozano’s problem. It made up in some ways for his disappointment in not getting closer to the imposter. Diego would be glad to place his report of the resolution before the Magistrado when he returned to Los Angeles. All he wanted was for Santiago to say, "Well done, Diego." He wanted to please the Magistrado with his work. The Magistrado’s approval meant a great deal to him. All the more, since he was finding it almost impossible to gain his father’s approval . . . .
No. Diego would not complete that thought. He would just do the best job he was capable of doing. He blew out the candle in his room and lay in the darkness. His last conscious thoughts were about the imposter and what could be done about him, but he was tired from the long ride and the fact that he had gotten little sleep the night before. He was able to put things off by saying to himself he would think about them tomorrow. He fell asleep.
While Diego had been saying goodbye to the captain and the purser, Lozano had made his way to the garrison. Even though it was late, he was admitted to the Capitán’s office. Hidalgo was in the process of pulling off his boots when Lozano came in.
"Well?" said Lozano. "Did everything go according to plan?"
Hidalgo gave out a guttural laugh as he pulled off the second boot. "Sí, Señor who worries too much. Everything went according to the plan. De la Vega rode out into the hills, Uresti actually showed up on time, and my lancers gave chase. De la Vega rode to the camp and looked around and I watched him from my hiding place. Then he rode back to Santa Barbara, as did I by a separate route. Oh, and Uresti managed not to get himself captured." Hidalgo laughed again.
"That is good to hear," said Lozano. "Señor Santiago will be pleased."
Leaning back in his chair with the boot in his hand, Hidalgo said, "Lozano, just what is it the Magistrado hopes to accomplish with all of this, . . . this chasing around after de la Vega and the false Zorro? I know I am to testify at de la Vega’s trial, but for what reason? Can you not tell me why we are doing all of this?"
"Capitán Hidalgo," said Lozano. "You will just do what Señor Santiago wants you to do, when he wants you to do it. When this is over, you will be handsomely rewarded. Señor Santiago is not in the habit of telling everyone of his plans. I have had to tell this same thing to Uresti more than once. I trust I will not have to explain it to you again?"
"Oh, Sí," said Hidalgo throwing the boot in the corner of the room next to the other one, "You cannot blame me for asking, can you?" He shrugged. "All right then. What are my next instructions?"
"That’s better," said Lozano. "Tomorrow morning, before de la Vega leaves for Los Angeles, I want you to confront him again concerning why he was in the hills. Do it in front of witnesses. Be hard on him, but do not let your temper run away from you to the point you find some reason to throw him in jail."
"Who me?" said Hidalgo. "Lose my temper? Me?" He laughed.
"You hear me well, Hidalgo. Just make sure the witnesses hear de la Vega admit to being in the hills where Zorro was sighted. That’s all. Then you will let him continue to Los Angeles."
"Whatever you say," said Hidalgo. He shook his head. "It all seems like a lot of effort just to convict one man of conspiring with an outlaw, if you ask me. In the old days, it was a lot easier."
"Be that as it may, this is the way the Magistrado wants it done," said Lozano. "Do you have the written report ready for me? I will be taking it to the Magistrado myself."
Hidalgo reached over and pulled a folded piece of paper from the desk. "Here it is."
Lozano took it and read the contents. "Bueno," he said as he refolded the paper and put it in his jacket pocket. "When I return from Los Angeles, I will bring you further instructions. Be sure you do not accidentally let your lancers capture Zorro. He will be making a few more raids around Santa Barbara before he moves down to Los Angeles in a couple of days."
"Right," said Hidalgo. "I’ll keep Uresti out of jail. He had just better make sure he doesn’t get himself shot. Some of my lancers are pretty good with a rifle."
Hidalgo laughed to himself as Lozano frowned. Without further words, Lozano turned and left the office.
