The Secret of Zorro
An Old Enemy
Chapter Six
by Ella Christian @1999-2001
Contact author at EllaChristian@aol.com

Chapter Six
Ominous Dreams


When Elizabeth rushed in to Casa Matteo to describe to her father the encounter with the stranger on the white stallion, Carlos tried to calm her with what proved to be useless reassurances.  She was convinced Diego was in danger and that someone had to try to warn him. 

"Diego knows those hills like the back of his hand," Carlos kept telling her.  "He knows them far better than Mordante, or Monastario, or whoever that man is.  He will reach his Indian friends without difficulty, sweetheart, you need not worry so over this."  He shook his head.  "What Mordante...or Monastario...came back for is beyond me.  But you see, he did not harm you, it was an innocent encounter.  I still believe it is probably all harmless.  He is here on business, and he is leaving now."

Elizabeth was beside herself.  "He was not harmless!" she exclaimed, feeling terribly confused.  "We must hurry home to send Bernardo to warn Diego!"

"But didn't you say that Diego left hours ago, Elizabeth? Bernardo cannot possibly catch up with him now," her father pointed out. "No one can catch up with him."

No one, she knew, excepting the man on the white stallion.  "He disappeared into the wind," she told her father miserably.  "I have never seen a horse run so fast in my life.  Not even Zorro's horse."

"Zorro's horse?" Carlos snorted, trying to introduce some humor.  "What about my Sirocco?"

"Not even Sirocco, Daddy," Elizabeth said, thinking to herself, if only you knew whose blood flows in Sirocco's veins to make him so fast.  Then another terrifying thought came over her.  He took off that fast just to show me how fast he could go.  He was telling me he is going after Diego.  He must have watched Diego leave.  Oh, why were we so oblivious?

Attempting to cajole her into staying for supper rather than rushing home, Carlos said, "Mordante was probably on his way home."

"Then why did he turn to the north?" Elizabeth asked. "Mexico is to the south."  She went back to the gate and remounted Cloud Dancer.  "We have to warn him."

Carlos sighed.  "I have never been sure if you got your stubbornness from me or from your mother," he said.  "But you must wait long enough for me to have Sirocco saddled, I will ride back to Rancho de la Vega with you."

She waited, impatiently, for ten minutes while her father was in the stable.  Finally he emerged and they cantered home. 

When they finally reached the de la Vega hacienda, Bernardo greeted them cheerfully at the front gate.

He could see instantly that she was upset about something.  Carlos went in search of Alejandro.  Elizabeth waited until he was out of earshot and then told Bernardo what had happened.  

"I do not know what to do!  I could not go after him; Cloud Dancer is too slow.  By now I do not think you can reach him either, not even if you take Tornado!"

They looked at one another, the same idea crossing their minds at the same time.  Bernardo nodded.  

"Then go, go!" Elizabeth shooed him.  "He has to have taken the most direct route to Windhawk!  Oh, Bernardo, find him, make sure he is all right!"


Bernardo nodded, and hurried towards the sala and the nearest entrance to the secret passage and Tornado's cave.

Having dispatched the only hope for help that she had, Elizabeth went straight to Esperanza's room, to find her daughter on the floor playing with Maria.  They both looked up.  Esperanza burst into a smile on seeing her Mommie, the dimples on either side of her mouth deepening.  Elizabeth went over to her, picked her up, and hugged her.  

"How are you, muchacha?" she asked softly, giving the baby a kiss.

"Mah gaa kooo," said Esperanza, waving the narrow wooden toy she was playing with.  She tried to hand it to Elizabeth. "Mah," she said.

"Why thank you, sweetheart," Elizabeth said, accepting the stick.  "Are you saying Mommie's name?  What is this you are giving me?  Your toy?  What a sweet thing to do.  Have you eaten your supper?"  She looked at Maria, who rose to her feet.

"She has had some rice and soft cooked beans," Maria said.  

"It sounds like you are full," Elizabeth said to the baby.

"Shoe, shoe, shoe," said Esperanza, looking down.

"You want to see my shoes?" Elizabeth asked her.

"Shoe!" Esperanza repeated.

"Has she been talking about shoes this evening?" Elizabeth asked her servant.

"It seems to be her favorite word," Maria answered with a smile.  She patted the baby's arm.  "You are happy to see your Mommie aren't you, Esperanza?"

"Mah!" the baby shouted.

"Did she cry a lot while I was gone?" Elizabeth asked, walking with Maria to the door.

"Only when she woke up from her nap and neither you nor Don Diego were here," Maria answered.  "But Don Alejandro took her on a walk to the pond to see the ducks.  That cheered her up."

"Good, thank you, Maria," Elizabeth said.  "Start a bath for her, I will sit with her in my room for a while."

"Is Don Diego coming home tonight, Seņora?" Maria asked.

"No, I do not think he will be home for a few days," Elizabeth answered.  

Maria departed.  Elizabeth took the baby into her bedroom and pulled the door most of the way closed, leaving a little opening so the evening light could come in.  She sat down on her chair, keeping Esperanza in her lap.  "I am worried about Daddy," she said.  "I think he may be in terrible trouble but there is nothing I can do to help him except pray that he will be all right and that he will find his friends in the hills.  Bernardo has gone to find him, and he has taken Tornado."

Esperanza squealed and grabbed at the embroidery on Elizabeth's bodice, tracing it with her fingers. "Saa saa shoe," she said.  She looked at Elizabeth.  "Mah.  Mah." 

"Do you remember Soaring Bird, little one?" Elizabeth asked.  "She and Lolita helped you come into the world."  She rubbed noses with the baby, who giggled and grabbed her mother's nose in response.  "And do you remember Willow, Soaring Bird's little girl?" Elizabeth asked, dodging the quick little hand in her face.  "She thought you were very precious when you were so tiny.  You and all the kittens were the only things she was interested in while she was here in our hacienda."  

Esperanza grabbed at her mother's chest again and looked up at Elizabeth, her eyes suddenly wide.  

"Are you hungry, sweetheart?  Do you want a little bit of Mommie's milk?" Elizabeth asked.  

The little hands kept moving, and Esperanza pushed her face against Elizabeth's chest. Her lips shook.

"I will take that as a yes," Elizabeth laughed.  She then realized that she was wearing a dress that required Diego's skilled fingers at her back.  "Daddy is not here to do his job," she told the baby, getting up and putting her on the bed.  She went to the door and opened it, calling out.  "Maria?"

"Si, Doņa Elizabeth?" came a voice from down below.  

"Can you come back up for a moment, please?"  Elizabeth asked.  She went back to the bed and stood over the baby, who was starting to look pained at not getting what she wanted.  Esperanza snorted and started to whimper. "Just hold on, sweetheart," Elizabeth said.  "I need Maria's help to get out of my dress so I can give you what you want."

Maria entered, and Elizabeth turned and pointed at her back.  "I need some help," she said.

"Ah," Maria said, starting to unbutton the loops.  "I just saw Conchita downstairs.  The rumor is that Don Diego has gone after Monastario," she said as her fingers moved down Elizabeth's back.

"Si," Elizabeth said, refraining from mentioning her own strange encounter on the western road.  
"Everyone is worried about him, but also they are grateful," Maria went on.  "I was in the pueblo early this afternoon before he left.  The peons think he is a greater hero than El Zorro, for this deed."

"He has not done anything yet, besides leave," Elizabeth said, pulling the dress away at last.  "Let me put my robe on, Maria....thank you....I shall be here with the baby now, let me know when her bath water is the right temperature."

"Si, patrona," Maria answered.  She looked at Elizabeth and added, "He will come home to you and Esperanza."

Elizabeth smiled a little weakly and nodded.  Suddenly she felt exhausted.  She picked up the baby and sat back down in her chair, pulling her slip away and letting Esperanza nuzzle her breast and then begin sucking.  The baby was getting truly heavy now, and Elizabeth could feel her little teeth at her nipple as she sucked.  Still it was comforting, to hold her daughter to her breast.  She felt a mild cramp deep in her womb and shifted her position, which cleared the pain.  Another baby? she thought, suddenly overwhelmed at the prospect.  Her mother had managed to conceive only once in the twenty-four years she was married.  It would seem that I am the fertile one, Elizabeth thought.  We are finding that we are not allowed the luxury of taking chances, she thought.  Two children in just over two years.  She sighed.  

"Would you like a little brother, Ranza?" she asked her daughter.  "He would nearly be your twin, he would come so soon after you, you will be less than two years older than he is..." she sighed.  Another pregnancy.  More months of feeling sick, and then those long weeks of being so ungainly.  She thought of her husband again, hoping that by now he was safe by Windhawk's fire.  She thought of their passion that morning.  Oh Diego, she thought, remembering his fire and his tenderness and how they melded into one and how long they had lasted. "It is so good with you," he had told her as he held her in their afterglow. And with you, my love, she thought.  She looked down at the baby, who was nursing happily. She hoped again that he was with Windhawk, and that Monastario was far, far away.  Perhaps he turned to the east, Elizabeth told herself.

Esperanza blinked her eyes sleepily and slowed down her sucking.  Elizabeth sat there lost in thought as her daughter dozed off. Eventually mother and daughter were both sound asleep in the chair.

******

Diego stood very still in the growing darkness, listening. His hand moved slowly to his rifle.  He scanned the top of the rocky ridge above. Nothing moved.  The darkness was falling rapidly.  Padre snorted again.  After one more look around, Diego painfully re-mounted the horse and gave him a nudge. They headed towards the long path between a wider pass, leading to the road that would take him to Windhawk's small encampment.  Padre broke into a canter eagerly, more than willing to put all the rocks behind him.  Diego looked behind and above several times.  Seeing nothing, but feeling as if he were being watched, he urged the horse to pick up speed.  Once they were clear of the last rock walls, he broke into a dead gallop for several miles.  Then he paused and turned around.  It was dark now.  He saw nothing.  He felt his thigh again; to make sure nothing was broken.  Then he turned the horse and continued on his way.

******

"Doņa Elizabeth," a voice summoned her from sleep.  

Elizabeth opened her eyes, startled.  Esperanza wriggled in her lap and she realized she was in her room with the baby.  Maria was beside her, touching her shoulder.

"You fell asleep nursing Esperanza," Maria said softly.  "It is late, now. Do you want a little supper?"

Elizabeth let Maria have the baby and she sat up, pulling herself together.  "Can you put her to bed for me?" she asked.  "Where is Don Alejandro?"

"He is in the courtyard, senora," Maria answered.

"I will go see him in a minute," Elizabeth said, getting up.  "Is my father still here?"

"No, Senora, Don Alejandro was not here when he arrived and so he told me to tell you he was going into the pueblo to see if he could find him."

With that, Maria left with Esperanza.  Elizabeth pulled her dress all the way off and then put on a gown and a robe. Then she hurried downstairs to find her father and Alejandro sitting in the courtyard.

"Did my father find you?" she asked him.

He looked startled.  "No, I have not seen him, but I have just returned from a long ride to the eastern edge of the Rancho.  We have lost a few cattle and I went with Simon to see if there were breaks in the fencing.  What is the matter, Elizabeth?"

"It is Diego!" she said.  "I have sent Bernardo after him!  Monastario was here, he stopped me on the road this afternoon!"

Alejandro rose to his feet.  "Stopped you!?"

"Si, I was riding over to Casa Matteo and he appeared out of nowhere.  He rode with me for a while and then he galloped off on the Cahuenga Pass road!  I know he was going after Diego, Alejandro, I know it.  When I got back here I did not know what to do, you were not here, my father does not understand the danger to him...so I sent Bernardo, on Tornado."

"On Tor....!" Alejandro exclaimed.  He took that in.  "I suppose you did the right thing, there is no better horse....but if Monastario went after him, he is way ahead of Bernardo."

"I know," Elizabeth said.  

"What did he say to you?"

Elizabeth shrugged helplessly.  "I suppose we had ten minutes together, he rode up to me and...he said nothing ungracious, but...." she shook her head. "Alejandro, he is dangerous."  She sat down on a chair.

Alejandro sat again, across from her.  "That is what we have been trying to tell you."  He pondered the situation.  "We must trust that Diego will make it to Windhawk, where he will have allies," he said.  "Windhawk stayed away from everything in the pueblo during the time of Monastario, but he detests injustice, he will not abandon Diego."

Elizabeth nodded.  "But Diego has to get there," she said.  "That white horse, he is so fast."

Then they could only sit there, for there was nothing more to say.

******

The cloth door to the small hut whipped aside suddenly and a tall man emerged.  

"Diego," he said, seeing the other tall man standing in the middle of the circle by the fire.

Despite the pain in his bruised leg, Diego smiled, seeing his old friend.  He strode over, succumbing to a limp.  "I was not sure which house was yours," he said.  "I knew if I stood here for ten seconds you would come out."  They two men grasped hands.  They had not seen one another since the day they together defeated Ishtar at Rancho de la Vega and Elizabeth gave birth to Esperanza.  

Windhawk looked Diego up and down.  "You have had an accident of some kind," he said, seeing the dirt and scrapes on his buckskin trousers.

"I was nearly crushed," Diego said, looking over his shoulder.  "My horse has been scratched up too."

Windhawk nodded, glancing at Padre.  "Where?"

"In the Needle."

Windhawk frowned.  "I was there yesterday. A rockslide?"

Diego paused. "I am not sure it was natural."

"Someone followed you?"

"It is possible."

Windhawk looked around carefully, listening.   "I will send Long Lash out tonight to see if he can find anything," he said. "Sit," he said, gesturing at the logs before the fire.

Diego went and sat down gingerly, while Windhawk drew water and handed him a full cup.  Diego took it.

"Are you hungry?" Windhawk asked.

"No," Diego answered.  He looked around into the darkness.  

Windhawk went to another hut and said something.  A few moments later the young brave Long Lash emerged.  He nodded silently at Diego and then went to the horses.  

"We will care for the horse.  I will prepare a place for you to sleep," Windhawk said.  "In the morning you can tell me what brought you up here."  

Diego started to say something, but then stopped and nodded.  

"Is Elizabeth all right?" Windhawk asked. "Your daughter?"

"Si," Diego said. "They are fine."  He looked back at Windhawk's hut, puzzled that Soaring Bird had not emerged.

A rare hint of a smile came over Windhawk's face.  "She is lying in," he said.

Diego started.  "Lying in?" he repeated.

"Si."

"You have a new baby?"

Again the corners of Windhawk's mouth rose slightly.  "Second Arrow," he said. He turned away to get Padre and lead him to where the other horses were.  Diego knew that the conversation was over.  After the horse was tended to, Windhawk would point him towards one of the huts for sleep.  So you have a second son, my old friend, Diego thought.  If Soaring Bird were lying in now, the baby was brand new. He smiled to himself.  You must have missed Soaring Bird during her month at Rancho de la Vega last spring, he thought.  He rested for a moment, realizing he was exhausted.  He wondered if he had been followed.  He had no reason to believe there was anyone behind him, he had seen nothing. The rockslide could have been a freak occurrence.  He knew he should look at his leg to see how bad the bruise really was.  

Windhawk returned, carrying the things that had been on his saddle.  Diego got up and accepted them. 

"You will sleep there," Windhawk said, indicating a hut to the right of his own.  "No one is in it now, they are fishing this week."

Diego nodded.

"You may want to go to the creek, to tend to that," Windhawk said, nodding at Diego's leg.  "Soaring Bird can look at it in the morning." He glanced at Diego. "I can ask Long Lash's mother to look at it tonight, if you wish."

Diego shook his head.  "I will deal with it.  When did she have the baby?" Diego asked.

"Last week," Windhawk replied.  "She is well.  He is big."

"Congratulations, amigo," Diego said, smiling.

Windhawk nodded.  "Sons are good.  Daughters are beautiful."

Diego nodded in agreement, an image of Esperanza passing in front of him.  "Si," he said. He wanted to add that Esperanza had spoken her first word, but he knew that such conversation would not be welcome at present. He nodded at the empty hut.  "I will put things there, and then take care of this leg."

"Until morning light, then," Windhawk said.  He turned away and disappeared into his own hut.

Diego stood there for a moment.  He could hear Long Lash's horse trotting away through the neck of the canyon to the south.  He would have preferred to tell his story to Windhawk tonight, but as always his old friend was controlling the terms of their meeting.  Diego limped to the hut he had been assigned and put the saddlebag down.  Painfully he stripped, and then pulled a blanket around himself and went back out, walking across the camp and past where the horses were tethered, to the creek.  Though the moon was only half-full, he could see well enough to tell that indeed he had bruised badly across his right thigh.  No skin was broken.  He settled in the chilly stream for a little while, knowing the cool water would ease the swelling in his leg.  He could see Padre twenty yards away, grazing.  Thankfully the horse was all right.  He did not want to be in the position of having to borrow a horse from Windhawk, he was already about to propose a great favor in making a search.

Finally Diego allowed himself to consider that the rockslide had been the work of his old enemy, that Monastario himself had been high above him and had set the thing in motion.  On the fateful night six years before, when the Commandante had lost his commission, he had said nothing when he was led away by the soldiers at the Viceroy's instruction.  But the look he had given Diego on his way out was malevolent. It seared itself onto Diego's imagination forever.  Now he was back, to exact his revenge. 

Once again Diego felt overwhelmed, between this new danger and the responsibility he felt to be the husband he knew Elizabeth deserved.  And she believed she was pregnant again. He felt freshly guilty over his own mixed emotions with this news. He did want more children.  But she was not ready yet. And, he admitted to himself, neither was he.  Esperanza complicated their lives enough, great a joy as she was.  He could not imagine what it would be like to have two babies in the household at the same time.  He could, however, imagine the degree to which it would take Elizabeth even further into the demands of motherhood. They both loved caring for Esperanza, but Diego was more readily inclined to hand her off to servants than Elizabeth.  With one toddler and one infant, how often was he even going to see his wife unless she was asleep?

He felt the cool water doing its good work on his leg.  The pain was shifting to a dull ache; the throbbing was letting up some.  A branch on the ground cracked, and then he heard a horse in the trees behind him.  Jerking around he saw a shadow, and then a black horse emerged from the darkness.  It nickered softly.

Diego pulled himself up from the creek, yanking the blanket around himself.  "Tornado?" he said.

The horse nickered again and took a few steps towards him where he stood barefooted in the water.  Indeed it was Tornado, saddled and bridled.  A figure appeared behind him, and before Diego stood his servant Bernardo.

"What on earth?" Diego said.

Bernardo pointed at Tornado and then at him.  

"I need him?" Diego said.

Bernardo pointed at his ring finger and then at Diego.

"Elizabeth sent him?"

Bernardo nodded.  He stepped forward looking sober.

"Is she all right?" Diego asked.

Bernardo nodded again, but then he pointed at the ring finger again and then indicated riding.  

"She was out riding?"

The servant nodded.  Then he made his old gesture for Monastario, making the sign of the goatee and the sword, and indicated riding as well.

Diego stared, putting it together.  "She...she encountered him while she was out riding?"

Bernardo nodded again.

Diego leaped out of the creek, going to the servant. "You are sure she is all right?"

Bernardo nodded.  He indicated that Monastario had ridden away, to the north.  That Elizabeth returned to the rancho and sent him with Tornado to find Diego, that she was worried.  Then he looked at Diego's leg and inquired, gesturing, what had happened to his master.

"It is just a bad bruise," Diego explained.  "I was passing through the Needle and there was a rockslide."  He paused and then added, "I am not sure it was a natural occurrence."

Bernardo nodded, pointing up into the hills at how he had had to ride all the way around the large mountain that the Needle weaved through.  Again Bernardo indicated his sign for Monastario.

"Perhaps," Diego nodded.  He patted Tornado's neck.  "It is good to see you, boy.  Although I do not know how I will explain you to Windhawk in the morning!"  He looked at Bernardo.  "So he is up here," he said.

Bernardo nodded in agreement.

"Better here than down there," Diego said.  "You must spend the night here, and take Padre back in the morning."  Then he frowned.  "Of course, then I will have to explain how it is that Don Diego is riding Zorro's horse back down the mountain, when I come home."

Bernardo shook his head, smiling.  Diego looked at him, and then smiled. He remembered the mysterious package Bernardo had added to Padre's saddle.  

"Perhaps El Zorro will ride down the mountain on his own horse," he said.

Bernardo nodded proudly.

******

He slid in and out of sleep all night long.  At one point he fell deeply enough asleep that he dreamed about Elizabeth.  She was several months pregnant, standing by the fence in the new paddock watching Blanca cantering in circles.  At first all Diego felt was desire, seeing her in the ripening state that so set him on fire.  But then he realized she was terribly sad as she watched her beautiful horse, and while he could see her, he was somehow trapped and unable to go to her and comfort her.  He kept wanting to say, everything will be all right, little kitten, but somehow he could not get the words out and she did not even know he was there.  He awoke in a sweat, and lay there in the darkness for some time trying to regain his bearings and stop worrying over her.  Then he fell asleep again, and this time he dreamed that Monastario was on a rock overhang above him throwing brand new swords of all shapes and sizes over the edge, trying to aim them at him.  He awoke just as a huge sword dropped in front of him and exploded into a dozen little swords, all coming towards his throat.

Bernardo, who was in the same hut but some feet away, sat up on hearing him gasp, and went over to shake his master's shoulder. Diego yanked him nearly to the ground before he even opened his eyes and realized who it was.

"Bernardo!" he said, seeing his servant.  He let go of the servant's shirt and fell back, looking at the ceiling.  "I have not had such a dream in years," he said.  He was still in a sweat.

Bernardo felt his forehead.

"No, it is all right," Diego said.  He took a breath.  "I believe Monastario is doing me more damage by staying away than if he were to walk into this camp right now and challenge me to a duel."  He sat up.  "Is it dawn yet?"

Berrnardo shook his head, holding up four fingers.

"Ah," Diego said.  "Another hour and a half, then....but I do not think I can go back to sleep again."

Bernardo pointed at him and made a sleeping gesture.

"I know," Diego said, "but after that last dream....you go back to sleep, my friend, I will go back to the creek and give this leg another soak.  It is just as well for me to stay awake, I need to resolve how I will ask this favor of Windhawk.  Soaring Bird has just delivered another son to him, I do not think he will be much interested in going far from home to chase someone with whom he has no quarrel."

It was soon thereafter that Diego lowered his leg into the creek, wincing at the chilly water pouring over him.  The bruise was ugly but he knew that the soaking the night before had reduced the damage.  Another cold bath would do further good.  Today he had to get onto Tornado and go in search of Monastario.  He had to be able to ride and use the sword and the other weapons without hindrance.  This leg injury presented a problem he was just going to have to ignore once he was in the saddle.  The adrenalin that would surge if he found his old enemy would probably get him beyond any disability.  He had to count on that.

He tried to concentrate on something to get his mind off the discomfort of the cold water.  In his mind, he went home, to Elizabeth and Esperanza.  He thought about Esperanza sleeping in her little bed, and of how Elizabeth looked when she was lying on her side in the morning light. He was glad she was there, glad that she was safely surrounded by family and other protectors.  

He heard a rustle in the trees and saw Windhawk emerge.  The Indian came over and sat down on a rock beside Diego.  

"Now we can talk," he said.  

*****

Elizabeth had as poor a night's sleep at the hacienda as Diego had in the hills.  After deciding to keep Esperanza with her that night, more for the company than any fear she felt, Elizabeth tossed and turned.  She thought mostly of her husband, but also about their daughter who slept so innocently in the bed, and about the new baby Elizabeth felt certain was nestled in her womb. Monastario was never far from her thoughts, either.  She was disturbed with how handsome he was, and with how seemingly concerned he had been over her riding alone.  Could it have been genuine?  Or was he still out for revenge?  Was he playing with her?  Or was he gradually trying to make peace with the place and people who had once laughed him out of town and humiliated a very proud man?

Finally at around 6:00 a.m. she could not stand it any longer so she got up.  Esperanza was still asleep. Elizabeth sat there for a while gazing at her daughter. She and Diego had spent hours together during the last ten months simply watching Esperanza sleep.  Sometimes they would sit with her in her room, sometimes they would take her into their room, sometimes they would take her out on a picnic and watch her fall asleep on a blanket in the shade.  

"I still cannot believe she is ours," Diego said not long ago, as they sat under a tree together while the baby slept beside them.  

"You saw her come into the world, you know she is ours!" Elizabeth had chuckled at his comment.

He shrugged with a smile.  "I know....but....to have a daughter is the most miraculous thing on earth.  You will have to discipline her when she gets bigger, I have no will at all when it comes to anything but giving her whatever she wants."

"You are not going to be a strict father?" Elizabeth asked teasingly.  "What if she brings a handsome boy home one day and is holding his hand?"

"Well, I will be strict with any boys who show any interest in her!" Diego said.  "I am not sure anyone will be good enough for her."

"I am glad my father did not have that attitude," Elizabeth said slyly, making her beloved laugh.

Now, in the early morning light, the room seemed heavy with his absence.  Esperanza moved slightly and her eyes opened.  She looked around, saw her mother, and broke into a smile.  

"Good morning, muchacha!" Elizabeth said to her softly. She picked the baby up and went to her chair, untying her gown.  "We will let you eat and then I think Mommie is going to take a long ride," she told her daughter. "Your Daddy probably will not approve, but I have to know if he is all right."