The Secret of Zorro The Kitten and the Fox Chapters Seven and Eight by Ella Christian @1999-2001 Contact author at EllaChristian@aol.com Chapter Seven The Lady Doth Protest On the morning after she was safely returned to her husband and hacienda, Elizabeth awoke to find herself nestled in Diego's arms. The last thing she could remember was lying exhausted with him on the bed once they'd gotten upstairs. She lay there for a while. Slowly the realities began seeping into her consciousness, realities that had had little time to take on their full color and meaning during the three days since Diablo's men had dragged her up into the mountains. The most profound of these realities, the thing around which all the rest circulated, was that Diego was El Zorro. She was married to The Fox. To that tall, dark man who had so merrily charmed her the first time they met on the de la Vega road, to the man in black who climbed in her window and kissed her, rescued her from Diablo on her wedding eve, oh those stolen kisses....these were those very arms, these long strong arms that held her now. This was Zorro. The implications were so many and so intense that she suddenly felt crushed, not in sorrow but with the sheer weight of it. He fought duels regularly, faced bullets constantly, did daredevil riding on the loyal but skittish Tornado, and was a wanted outlaw all across California. Women swooned over him from Monterey to San Diego. His identity was a matter of ongoing speculation, which led her to realize why he could never remain in a given place longer than it took to do the deed he came to do. She understood the need for secrecy, on many levels. This was not a government that allowed for the seed of open rebellion. Diego had a responsibility to protect the family name and land. At the same time he was a defender of justice and the people. How does he do it? she thought, and suddenly felt in awe of this man who carried so much duty, responsibility, and lonely purpose on his fine shoulders. He had trod this hard path for four years, and had stayed on it all the way through their courtship and marriage, never giving himself away. The discipline it all took left her in a state of wonder, and she began to realize that she was married to someone she barely knew, had misapprehended from the start, and could only now begin to build a true relationship with. This caused her to feel daunted, unequal to what she was dealing with. At the same time, it was her dream come true. He stirred slightly, his lips barely touching her neck, his breathing soft on her skin, and in this small shift she felt the tenderness and protectiveness he gave her. She thought again about Zorro, and the heroics he declined to take up when they were in the San Gabriels. He easily could have conquered Diablo's men, taking them by surprise on that dark night, and could have turned them all over to the lancers before making sure she was secure. Instead he had made his way up into those mountains not to defeat the enemy but as a man who loved a woman and wanted, above all else, to see her out of harm's way. He had done it all while still recovering from broken ribs and a collapsed lung. She began to realize yet another thing. This man was made of iron. At some level she still couldn't take it in. Her gentle, bookish, easily-flummoxed Diego was in fact the confident, dashing Zorro. It still boggled her mind, yet now she could see the flashes of each in the other, the tenderness in Zorro's touch, the authority with which Diego rode his horses. Somehow it gave her courage. "I will do whatever I must to try to win you," he had once told her. "I'm won," she said softly. *** They emerged from their room late, though given the prior day's ordeal this came as no surprise to anyone else in the household. "You are looking much fresher this morning, my dear!" said Alejandro as Elizabeth sat down at the table for breakfast. "I am so glad to be home, Father," she said, looking over the food and realizing she was ravenous. "Now, Elizabeth, is there anything you need?" Alejandro asked, passing her the plate of huevos rancheros that had just been delivered from the kitchen. "I know we asked you last night, but are you truly all right? Is there anything we need to know?" She looked at him, puzzled, and then turned to the food. "Need to know?" she asked. "I think my father wants assurance that Zorro didn't take advantage of you," Diego said, taking a handful of grapes from a plate and sitting back, looking amused. Elizabeth opened her mouth, then looked briefly at Diego, who, slightly behind his father, shook his head briefly and mouthed, "not now." She took a bite of the eggs. "There's talk, Elizabeth," Alejandro explained. "Sgt Garcia has already stopped by this morning to inquire about you and to see when you can come to the cuartel to talk with him about what happened up there. Of course he's saying they want you to help them find Diablo's hideout, but he's also trying to figure out why you were up there for another day and a half," he gave a side glance to his son, "with Zorro." "Zorro did nothing..." she said, searching for the right words, "..nothing that made me feel unsafe or taken advantage of," she said carefully. "He took me to the little cabin, he found food for me," she went on, looking to Diego for help. "Garcia claims he saw Zorro kissing you!" Alejandro said. "All right, all right," Diego interrupted. "This has gone far enough." "Well, Diego, you have to be concerned, people are talking, the story is that she and Zorro spent two days up there in my cabin wrapped in each other's arms!" Diego looked around, making sure no servants besides Bernardo were in earshot. Then he smiled at his father and said, "We did." Alejandro stared at his son, looked over at his daughter-in-law who was concentrating on her breakfast, and back at Diego. "She knows," Diego said simply. Alejandro's hand hit the table, causing Elizabeth to jump and drop her fork. "Well this is a disaster!" he exclaimed. "Forgive me, Elizabeth, but you have no idea how dangerous and complicated all of this is." "I'm beginning to find out," she said, picking up her fork. She couldn't believe how hungry she was, even Diego was watching her in amazement. Usually she ate like a bird. "Need more grapes?" he asked, offering her the plate. She took a handful. "Well how are you going to explain this?" Alejandro asked. "We're not," Diego replied. "Diego, you cannot have this entire community speculating that Zorro is Elizabeth's... " "...admirer," Diego finished for his father. "And he is my admirer," Elizabeth said cheerfully, taking another helping of bread. Diego's eyes never left her. Alejandro took all this in and groaned. "You two seem not to grasp the seriousness of this situation!" he said. "It reflects on this family as well as Zorro's credibility, not to mention Diego's honor." He looked at Diego sternly. "Why on earth did you have to kiss her in front of those soldiers?" "I didn't know they were coming!" he answered indignantly. "Well we need to find some way of explaining it," Alejandro said. "That makes you look uncooperative," he said to Elizabeth. "I think it would be better not to dignify the accusations at all," Diego said. "This wouldn't be the first time Sgt Garcia could be accused of magnifying what he saw." "He knows what he saw, Diego." Finally putting her fork down, Elizabeth said, "Father, this rests mostly with me, doesn't it? I'm the only person who is available to explain what happened up there, since Zorro isn't going to be interrogated." "True," Alejandro allowed. "Well," she said, "I agree with Diego that the less said, the better. I will reassure Sgt Garcia that Zorro did me no harm and certainly saved me from a terrible fate, and I'll put him off as cleverly as I can about what he thinks he saw as Zorro was leaving." "This won't be enough to stop the rumors." "We can't stop them, Father," Diego said. "But if people see us together and happy, living our married life, they'll lose interest with time and move on to some other drama. Public happiness is the best counter to rumors of infidelity. And in the mean time, Zorro has much to do for the people. He will only gain the winks and nods of a few who are starving for a romantic story." "I think you are kidding yourself," Alejandro said. "You underestimate people's needs for a romantic story, especially a scandalous one!" "What else can we possibly do?" Diego asked in exasperation. "Announce who Zorro is, and let everyone know it is all right? Yes, Sgt Garcia saw Zorro kissing his wife?" "She can deny that anything happened up there!" Alejandro insisted. "Then it will be, 'the lady doth protest too much,'" Diego came back. "This debate has gone on long enough," Alejandro said, rising, "and I can see that you two are determined to do it your way. But I warn you, we are going to face further consequences down the road." With that, he excused himself. Diego watched him go, then looked at Elizabeth soberly. "He's usually right," he said. "Oh, what can possibly make things more complicated?" she asked. He shrugged. "I don't know, but I can tell you that with Zorro, things often take unexpected turns." "All we can do is deal with them when they come," she said, reaching for a peach. He took it and sliced it for her, feeding her a piece and putting another in his own mouth. "Spoken," he said after chewing and swallowing, "like someone after El Zorro's own heart." *** That afternoon, Elizabeth slept more, while Diego worked with his father on details for a complicated land purchase Alejandro planned to make in the mountain forest adjoining the land where the old de la Vega cabin stood. Diego supported adding to the property so there was no bickering involved, only the painstaking planning around making the offer to the government and plotting out how the funds would flow into the Governor's purse system. "This means several trips to Monterey," Alejandro observed. "I'll go on the first one to make the offer to the governor, but I expect you to deal with all the follow-up." Diego agreed, saying he wanted to take Elizabeth with him. "She's never been there," he said, "and she loves the ocean. It might be good for both of us." "Yes, and it would help this gossip die down," Alejandro added. "Go for a month. Go for two." Diego considered that. Monterey was gorgeous, right on the Bay, and he could probably find a small house outside town where they could live for a month or two. It was, on the other hand, risky because of his history there. It was something he and his father no longer discussed, as it always led to arguments. He could see that Alejandro was, for once, taking the high road by not mentioning it. "Let me discuss it with her," he said, "but I think it might be a good idea. We'll take Bernardo and a few horses, and stay until just before the rainy season." Diego went upstairs and sat down on the bed next to Elizabeth, who was dozing fully clothed. "Will you sleep all day?" he asked. "Possibly," she said from deep in the pillows. "We should go into Los Angeles this afternoon and get Sgt Garcia taken care of," he said. "Uh huh," she said, not moving. He rubbed her back. "The sooner we get that done the sooner we can go on to other things," he said. "Such as?" "How would you like to go to Monterey for a while? A month or two?" She sat up. "Monterey?" "Si, the capital. My father has some business to do there, he wants me to take care of most of it. Land." She lay back down. "Alejandro is going to own more of California than the crown, at the rate he is going," she said. "Maybe," Diego chuckled. "But it will be ours one day. What do you think? Monterey is very pretty, we can find a house, take a few horses, and Bernardo of course...and it's by the ocean." "I just want to be where you are," she said. "But what about Zorro?" "He'll come too," Diego answered. "He's quite well known in Monterey." "Yes," Elizabeth responded, sitting up again. "I believe he had a paramour there." "Where did you hear that?" Diego asked. "Don't act innocent," she said. "I've heard about Marta." He shrugged. "It was years ago." "Two years." "Where do you get this?" he asked, unhappy that she had heard about his past indiscretion. "Clementia knows everything," Elizabeth said. "And tells everything!" Diego observed with annoyance. "Is she still there?" "Who?" "Marta!" she said, pushing his chest. He leaned over her. "If you think she ever crosses my mind now, you are mistaken." She began to untie his tie. "Don't," he said. "We really need to go into the pueblo." She pulled his tie off as he tried to push her hand away, and she reached for the top button of his collar, unbuttoning it. He kissed her. Sergeant Garcia could wait. *** "Well, Senora, I am glad you finally decided to come and see us about this," the good Sergeant said at noon the next day. "Are you feeling more yourself? Any more fainting spells?" "Much better, thank you," Elizabeth answered. She and Diego were seated in the Sergeant's office, Bernardo standing near the door. They'd realized that it was less likely that the Sergeant would question Elizabeth about details of her encounter with Zorro if Diego were present for the interview. If he persisted, however, they had a plan. "We need to learn as much as we can about your ordeal with Diablo," Garcia said, "much as we regret asking you to relive it." "I'm ready, Sergeant," she said. "But I was never with Diablo," she added. "We need to try to find out where they took you," he went on. "I was blindfolded," Elizabeth said. "Si," Garcia acknowledged, "but did Zorro keep you blindfolded when you escaped?" Elizabeth hesitated, and then said, "No, but it was nighttime and very dark." "But you could see where he was taking you?" "It was very dark," she repeated. "It was nearly a full moon that night, Senora," Garcia said. He paused, then added, "If we can backtrack from Don Alejandro's cabin, where we found you, we might be able to retrace your steps and find Diablo's lair." "What a brilliant idea!" Diego exclaimed. "Well, I remember going a long way in the creekbed, and a long way in the forest," Elizabeth offered. "Didn't you tell me you thought you were near a lake?" Diego asked, trying to be helpful. "Yes," Elizabeth said, "we were definitely near water." Garcia nodded again. "There are several lakes in those mountains," he said. He took out his pen. "Now tell me, Senora, from the beginning, what happened." So, Elizabeth recounted her story of being grabbed by the two men on the hillside at the de la Vega ranch, and being forced onto horseback, blindfolded, to make a day's ride across the Valley and up into the mountains; of being thrown into the dark shed, and waiting there until Zorro entered, untied her, and carried her safely away on his great black horse. "And you never saw Diablo?" Garcia asked. Elizabeth shook her head. "Only the two men. I've seen Diablo three times, the times when he kidnapped me before Diego and I were married, and then here in the cuartel, the night he last escaped." "Ah, yes, the night Zorro killed four of his men," Garcia remembered. "Did Zorro say anything to you about why he was there or how he found you?" "No," she answered. "He just told me to be silent and led me far into the woods, to his horse, and then we rode for a long time. He never said much at all." Garcia was watching Don Diego with as much, perhaps more, interest than he was Elizabeth. Diego was simply taking in everything she said, showing no concern over her being carried away by Zorro. This, Garcia thought, seemed odd. What man would not feel threatened by a wife who seemed to draw Zorro like a magnet? Garcia put his pen down and folded his hands on the table. "Senora, tell me how Zorro got you to the cabin." "It was...as I said, we walked for a long time, before we even got to his horse. Then he put me up on the horse, and then he got on, too." "So you were both on his horse." "That's right, and we rode a long way on a path, and reached the creek and rode another long way in the creek. He said it would leave no tracks." "So Zorro did speak to you?" "Oh, yes, about things like that," she said. "I think he was just telling me what was happening." Garcia glanced at Diego, who was still watching Elizabeth with no particular expression beyond attentiveness. "So," Garcia said, "Zorro took you that night to the de la Vega cabin?" "Si," Elizabeth said. "Why do you think he took you there?" "Well it makes perfect sense," Diego said. "She's in our family, why wouldn't he take her to a place we own?" "It was very late," Elizabeth went on, "but he said it would be a safe place to stop for the night. I didn't even know it belonged to Diego's father. Anyway, he made sure I got into the house, and then said he'd be nearby." "And you didn't see him again?" "Well, he wasn't in the house again that night, if that's what you mean," she answered. "Where was he?" "I have no idea. But the next morning he brought food he'd gotten somewhere. " "Senora, this is awkward, but do you know why he didn't bring you home that day?" "I think he was waiting for you, Sergeant," Elizabeth said, beginning to put her and Diego's plan into place. "Me?" "Si, I think he knew you and Diego and the others would be looking for me, and that eventually you would come there, so he waited." "I see," Garcia said, though it was plain that he was now quite confused. "So you stayed in the cabin and...waited?" "Yes?" Elizabeth said. " Is there a problem?" "That is a long time to wait," Garcia said. "May I ask...how you and Senor Zorro passed the time?" "We did not 'pass the time' together," she said sweetly. "After he gave me the food he went back outside and I simply cannot tell you how he spent the rest of the day. I cannot tell you how he spent the night, either." "He left you there alone?" "His horse was always nearby," she said. "His black horse," Garcia nodded earnestly. Diego looked away at the wall, suppressing a grin. He wiped his mouth and then said, "Sergeant, I think you know all there is to know about this whole incident now, and I for one am grateful that El Zorro was able to rescue my wife from the outlaws, and that you were able to rescue her from him, not that he seems to have done any harm. Can we go now?" Garcia was confounded, and there was one outstanding question to ask, about Zorro kissing Elizabeth. But he was having difficulty bringing it up in front of Diego, it was too indelicate. He was not even sure Diego knew about it. "I'll tell you what," Diego said. "Let's go to the Tavern and put the drinks on my tab. We can try to retrace the steps from the cabin to the place where Elizabeth was held. And tomorrow I'll go with you and the lancers to see if we can find it." "Ah, good idea, Don Diego," Garcia said, rising. Any mention of the Tavern inspired him to finish his business quickly, as Diego well knew. Then he sat back down, looking at Elizabeth. "Senora," he said, his sense of duty prevailing, "I am sorry to ask you this, in front of your husband..." he looked at Diego, "Forgive me, Don Diego," he looked back at Elizabeth, "But, it is my duty, to find out...I thought that the morning we arrived at the cabin I saw Zorro on the porch with you and...it looked like he was kissing you. Really it did." Diego looked from the Sergeant to Elizabeth, shocked. "Is that true?" he asked her. Elizabeth shoved her chair back. "Elizabeth?" Diego asked. Garcia watched with fascination. Don Diego hadn't heard. No wonder he was so unconcerned. "It isn't what the Sergeant makes it sound like, Diego," Elizabeth said, eyeing the Sergeant coldly. "Well then what was it?" Diego asked. "He was very kind to me, Diego, and as he was leaving I gave him a little hug to say thank you." "A little hug?" "Yes, just, a little hug." She looked at Garcia. "I can't imagine how you've turned that into a kiss," she said accusingly. She looked back at Diego. "It was nothing." Diego stared at her skeptically. So did the Sergeant. "Why would I kiss Zorro when I have my own handsome husband to kiss, Sergeant?" she asked, standing up. "Well, Senora..."Garcia said, also rising, completely at a loss. "I don't know, but it is what I thought I saw." Diego got up too. "I think your imagination sometimes goes too far, Sergeant," he said, taking Elizabeth's arm. "I think we need to go home now." "Oh, but we were going to the tavern," Garcia reminded him. "To plot out..." "I think not," Diego said coolly, steering Elizabeth out the door with Bernardo following. "But Don Diego, what about retracing the steps...?" Garcia asked, but they departed and he was left alone to mourn the loss of his drink and reconsider what he had seen on the cabin porch. Elizabeth and Diego, on their horses and once outside the pueblo walls, reviewed the conversation at the poor Sergeant's expense. Despite their affection for him, they could not resist. Elizabeth perfected her Garcia imitation, "...so you stayed in the cabin and... waited?" she mimicked, reducing Diego to near-tears of laughter. Their ruse had worked. Alejandro would be pleased. *** Although it did not still the talk, the exchange with the Sergeant did slow the wagging tongues, and the Sergeant was so embarrassed with it all that he chose to lay low for several days. This gave Diego the opening he needed to pursue his own mission against Diablo. It marked the first time he left Elizabeth since their vital new union was formed at the cabin. Three nights after the meeting with Garcia, Elizabeth came into their room to find Diego fully dressed in black. "Come here," he said, "I want to show you something." With that, he pulled the lever on the fireplace, and a hidden door opened. He led her through it, and into the back passages of the house, down to Zorro's cave. There, Tornado greeted them with a whinny. "Tornado!" Elizabeth said. "So this is where you keep him, and how Zorro comes and goes." Diego nodded, patting the horse. "Through that passage," he pointed, "is the way out, into a corral in a box canyon, and beyond that, the road. People think it's all sheer rock." He put on his sword belt, to Elizabeth's alarm. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Zorro has some work to do tonight," he said, putting on the mask and pulling on the cape. "What work?" she asked, taking his arm. He shrugged her off, putting on his hat. "Diego!" she cried, "don't push me away!" "I'm sorry, darling, but I really must go," he said, lifting the horse's saddle onto its back. "But, you can't leave me here alone," she said. "You're not alone," he told her. He yanked the saddle girth tight, then took her by the arms. "You're home. You go right back up those stairs three flights, pull the lever on the wall, and you'll be back in our room. Ah, look, here's Bernardo, he can show you. He'll show you where the other passages go as well." She watched as Bernardo took over the bridling of the horse, and Diego shoved his sword into its sheath. "I don't want Bernardo, I want you," she said. "Elizabeth, it will be like this sometimes. I tried to tell you this, up at the cabin. You can't stop me." "Can't...but where are you going? When will you be back?" "Garcia will never find Diablo on his own," Diego said. "He needs Zorro's help. I have a pretty good idea of where that place is." "Diablo!" she cried. "But there are so many of them up there, you're alone, it's a day's ride..." "That's right, so I may be gone for two or three days." "No!" she protested, stamping her foot. He kissed her cheek and then swung up on the horse. "Watch her," he said to Bernardo. Elizabeth frowned. "Why are you talking to him like that, as if he can hear you?" she asked. "Because he can," Diego said. Elizabeth stared at him and then looked at Bernardo. "He....you can hear me?" Bernardo nodded. Then he pointed to his lips and shook his head. She looked back at Diego, her eyes narrowing. "What else do I not know about all of this?" she asked. "That's pretty much it, I think," he said. "Now, no following and no fussing. I'll be back." He then turned the horse and disappeared down the passageway. "He can't just leave like that!" Elizabeth exclaimed, starting after him. Bernardo grabbed her arm, nodding to indicate that indeed Zorro could do whatever he wanted. She heard the horse's hooves pounding away. "Two or three days?" she said to Bernardo. He shrugged and nodded, then gestured her to follow him back up the stairs and into the house. Forlorn, she obeyed. And crawling into their great bed, alone that night for the first time in over three weeks, she cried herself to sleep with loneliness and worry. *** Tornado tore up into the mountains with his usual abandon, his rider both determined and hurried. In many fewer hours than even he might normally take, they reached the cabin. Zorro peered in briefly, to see that Bernardo had already been back to change the bed linens and straighten the place for whenever it might again be needed. Although he was rushed, he lingered a moment in the doorway, looking around the room and revisiting his memories of that day with Elizabeth. Something in him stirred deep down, and he had to make himself leave rather than let himself miss her. He jumped back onto Tornado and began retracing the escape route, along the creek path, into the creek, back onto the path, and into the forest. It took several hours to find the glen where he'd hidden Tornado, and from there he pushed ahead on foot, knowing dawn was fast approaching. He smelled smoke, but could see no fire, and finally broke into a clearing to find ashes and smoldering boards where the little shack Elizabeth had been held in once stood. He followed a path from there several hundred yards further towards the emerging lake shore, to see another charred ruin that had once been a building. He cursed. Diablo had burned everything to the ground and moved on, rightly sure he would be traced. The very fresh tracks of horses suggested that this fire was the night's work, and that the outlaws had gone north around the lake towards higher ground even deeper into the woods. The light was coming fast, false dawn in the sky. He stood on the lakeshore for a moment, getting his bearings. Then he heard a gunshot, and looked across the lake to see Diablo himself on a tall paint horse. "It isn't over, Zorro!" the outlaw shouted across the water. An echo repeated the message over and over as his enemy gouged the horse's sides and raced away. "Another day, then," Zorro said. With that he whistled and Tornado trotted up to him, and he began the long journey home, empty-handed but for a threat he knew was not idle. *** Home by evening, Diego took supper in the kitchen and went straight to bed, having been awake and active for over 36 hours. Elizabeth had gone into town, joining her father for supper with the Perez family, and was thrilled on her return to enter the bedroom and find him already in a deep slumber. She slipped into the bed as silently as she could, and lay still beside him in order not to awaken him. A few moments passed, and she felt his hand reach across the sheets and find her, scooting her over to him until her back pressed into his chest. "That's better," he whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry I woke you up," she said. "Did you find Diablo?" "Yes and no," he said, the sleep still in his voice. "Diego," she said, "when is this all going to end?" "I don't know," he said. She felt him take a deep breath, his head settling more deeply on the pillow. "Maybe the lancers will capture him, while we are in Monterey." "Maybe." "Sweetheart, are you all right?" "I'm half asleep." "And you'd like to be all the way asleep?" "Si." She fell silent, and could sense him sliding immediately back into his slumber. She lay there awake, thinking about him. He was made of iron, yes. But this was a moment of realizing that he was also vulnerable. Would he always be here? she wondered. Would he leave one night and never return? She couldn't bear the thought, and pushed it out of her mind. You are here tonight, beloved, she thought, and for that I am thankful. Chapter Eight The Missions The arrangements for the transfer to Monterey were detailed, between Diego and Alejandro's financial transactions and the household organization that was needed for a long journey and extended stay. Alejandro would travel with Diego, Elizabeth and Bernardo, but would stay only a week or so, while the others planned to remain for six to eight weeks depending on how long it took to settle the purchase. All told, a week passed before they could get underway. It was on this journey that Elizabeth learned for the first time of her husband's immense popularity among the friars along the Camino Real. Each new mission had a community of generous, good-natured priests, all of whom doted on Diego. Many had known him since he was a small boy at his mother's skirts. She imagined that Diego's mother, Matilde, had been revered among these men for the way they now welcomed her son. The priests had rich tales of Zorro as well. His history of interventions on their behalf from the Spanish soldiers and various outlaws that had attacked or otherwise harassed them in recent years was well known to anyone who traveled the great north-south California road. The most vivid stories swirled around the long running battle between the greedy, scheming Capitan Monastario and Zorro. It was a feud which had finally ended not by the sword, but by pure humiliation when Monastario managed to "expose" Zorro's real identity as that of Diego de la Vega. The idea was utterly laughed out of town, and with it so was Monastario. He had been decommissioned by the Viceroy and returned to Spain, never to be heard from again. "California has never had such swordfighting, not before and not since," Padre Angelo said over dinner in San Buena Ventura on their first night of travel. "Do you remember, Diego, those duels between Zorro and the Capitan?" "I heard about them, of course," Diego said. "They seemed quite evenly matched." "I saw them twice," Alejandro interjected. "And you are right, it was grand dueling. It was Monastario who inspired Zorro's appearance, you know. We had never heard of Zorro until Monastario began his campaign of oppression among the people." "So that's when Zorro appeared," Elizabeth said. "I never knew." "Whoever he is, he would not tolerate the injustice," Brother Angelo said. "And to this day, he fights for justice for all of us. I sometimes wonder, how does this man set his life aside to do these deeds? Where did he come from, and what backbone makes him continue?" "He must come from a fine family," Elizabeth remarked. "You have met him, yes?" Brother Angelo said to her curiously. "Yes, several times," she said demurely. "We've heard he has taken a liking to you," the Brother said, teasingly. "Diego, you had better keep an eye on your wife." He winked. Diego smiled. "I owe Zorro several debts," he said, "for getting Elizabeth out of trouble." "Which she seems to court!" Alejandro added. The dinner went on cheerfully, with more stories of the bullwhip fights, dueling, and horse chases between Monastario and the Fox. Brother Angelo topped everything with the story of the night Zorro upset the orange carts to stop the soldiers from chasing and capturing the latest refugee from Monastario's injustices. "Remember that, Diego?" he howled, "You were here that weekend. You helped us refill all the carts after Zorro was gone! You were always helping us clean up after him!" Elizabeth took it all in with great delight, so much so that Diego finally had to put a stop to the tales, announcing that she was enjoying all this talk of El Zorro a little too much. It was at this point, as everyone was retiring, that Elizabeth found something far less to her liking about this mission and, as it turned out, the ones that lay ahead. The brothers led Diego in one direction and her in another for the sleeping arrangements, putting her in a tiny cell with a rock-hard bed on the far side of the compound from where her husband was taken. She was so visibly dismayed that Brother Angelo had to pat her on the shoulder comfortingly and say, "We are monks, after all, Senora, and we need not have too much around us to inspire our imaginations." *** Two more days of travel, and two more nights of separation, caused Elizabeth great distress. By the third morning of the journey she could barely contain herself. At the mission of Santa Barbara, Diego was walking towards the common room for the morning meal when he felt her hands at his back. He turned around and she threw herself into his arms. "Elizabeth, not here, not now," he said. "I missed you last night," she said, clinging to him and kissing his cheek. "Elizabeth, please!" he said, trying to pull her off. "We're among all these friars!" "I don't care, they can't make me not kiss my husband," she said. He finally got her onto the ground just as a trio of priests walked by. Diego smiled and nodded at them. "Good morning," he said. They smiled back, looking from Diego to Elizabeth and back to Diego. "Good morning, Don Diego," one said. "Senora." They continued towards the common room. Once they were past, Elizabeth threw her arms again around his neck. "Darling, please!" he said, again, trying to pull her away. "Let's find somewhere private," she suggested. "We're in a mission!" he answered. "They're all eating breakfast," she said, "Let's go to the chapel, no one will be there..." she grabbed his hand and began leading him in that direction. "We're not going to the chapel! Not for that!" he laughed, pulling her back. "We're expected at breakfast too." "I don't want breakfast, I want you," she said, again pulling him towards the chapel. "Elizabeth, no," he said. He put her arm through his. Another priest came walking towards them. Diego smiled and nodded. "Padre," he said. "Don Diego, Senora," the priest replied, nodding back pleasantly. "Diego..." she wheedled, tugging at his arm. "Elizabeth, the chapel isn't for...." She opened her mouth to finish his sentence but he put his hand over it quickly, looking around "Shhhhhh!" This made her laugh, for she could see she was getting to him. "Don't be stuffy," she said. "I'm not being stuffy! I'm being respectful!" he said indignantly. "You're being stuffy," she said. He took her elbow. "We are going to breakfast," he said, steering her towards the meal room. She stopped in the path. "You don't want me," she said. Diego rolled his eyes. "It's not that I don't want you!" he said. "Yes it is," she said, tears in her voice. "Oh, don't," he pleaded, taking her arms. "Don't cry. I do want you, but this isn't the place..." "Then where is the place?" she asked. "You don't want me!" she cried into his chest. "Oh, I do, I do," he said, holding her. Another pair of priests came by, and Diego waved them on. "I do," he said again. "Then let's go to the chapel," she said, the tears mysteriously gone. He frowned. "Do you just turn those off and on like a water pump?" he asked. Tears welled up in her beautiful ocean eyes again as she looked up at him. "Oh, no," he said, "please..." he pulled out his handkerchief. "Here, don't..." he led her to a bench under a tall pepper tree and sat down beside her. The bell at the common room began ringing, signaling the beginning of the meal. He looked around again and saw no one, so he held her face up to his and kissed her. "Don't cry, little kitten," he said softly. "We have all our lives ahead of us to love one another in a thousand ways." "I need you now," she moaned, pressing her head into his shoulder. "Sweetheart, we'll find a way, but not right now, all right? Let's go eat something," he said. "I'm not hungry." He sighed, pushing her hair behind her ears. "I can't force you to eat," he said, "but we have a long journey ahead of us, and you'll wish you'd eaten by 10:00. We must reach Santa Ines tonight." "Diego," she said pleadingly, "I hated sleeping by myself last night, it was an awful bed, my back hurts..." "Do you imagine that I don't miss holding you in my arms all night long?" he asked softly in her ear. He ran his finger slowly up her arm, which made her shut her eyes and lean against him. "Come have breakfast," he said, kissing her cheek. He stood up, taking her hand. "Let's do this one day at a time. Today, we'll eat breakfast." Two more days followed, and they found themselves in the same situation at each stop. Elizabeth's irritability increased noticeably and she complained more and more about her back, blaming the hard, cold beds she found herself on each night. On the third morning Diego insisted that she ride with him that day, rather than alone on her gray mare. Just the chance to be physically close to him put her into a better mood, though it slowed the party down. Don Alejandro observed all of this with a mix of amusement and annoyance, at one point commenting privately to Diego that it would be good for everyone once they had the missions behind them. Diego could not have agreed more. Early in the journey he was excited about seeing all of his old friends along the Camino again, and he took tremendous pride in showing off his pretty new wife. But by the evening that they reached San Miguel Arcangel, Elizabeth was looking decidedly wilted and Diego was himself weary of the long night hours away from her. Perhaps it was holding onto her all day long on the horse that did it, but in any case he found himself suddenly quite unhappy at the prospect of another night alone among the padres. When they went their separate ways that night, Elizabeth looked up at him with a face of such misery that he felt his heart would break, but surrounded by the brothers he could only kiss her head lightly and walk the other way. Lying in the darkness that night, unable to sleep and worrying over her, Diego suddenly got up and put on his clothes. Making his way down the unlit hallway, he exited the building and went to the stable, where he knew Bernardo was sleeping. He entered, to find his servant on a pallet in the straw, asleep. He lit a candle, went over, and shook Bernardo's shoulder. "Bernardo, Bernardo, wake up!" he said. The servant opened his eyes and sat up. "Do you know where they have Elizabeth sleeping?" Diego asked. Bernardo frowned, shaking his head. "But did you see the direction they took her in?" Bernardo nodded, pointing in the direction of the chapel. "The chapel?" Diego asked. Bernardo gestured beyond it. "There is a little building back there," Diego said. He patted Bernardo's shoulder. "Thank you. Go back to sleep." Bernardo pointed at himself and made a walking gesture with his fingers, then pointed to Diego. "No," Diego said, "you don't need to come with me. I should think that all these years of being Zorro should allow me to find her silently enough." Bernardo waved at him, and lay back down. Diego went back outside and walked towards the chapel, memories of his childhood visits to this mission suddenly sweeping in. He could almost hear his mother's voice, calling for him when he would disappear in his explorations of the place. Lost in thinking about her, he was pulled back to reality by the unexpected sound of a pair of monks emerging from the chapel. It was a moonless night, so he easily stepped back into a shadow and watched them pass without being seen himself. Then, taking a narrow path behind the chapel, he walked through a tiny garden that led to the graveyard. He felt a shiver as he walked through it, and remembered how, as a small boy, he had feared the place and how his mother had had to put her hand on his shoulder and walk beside him to get him to pass to the other side. He spied a small outbuilding and, walking up to it, peered in a small window. A candle was burning, and he saw Elizabeth lying in a narrow little bed, almost the size of a child's bed, under a thin blanket. She was wearing her clothes. He went to the door and opened it, looking in. She sat up instantly and when she saw him she got up and came straight to him. "It's so cold in here," she said, keeping the blanket around her shoulders. "They put you in a potting shed?" he asked, rubbing her back as he held her to him. "This is the worst yet," she said, shivering. "They said it was all they could do, so many others are here tonight. They were very apologetic, but..." "Elizabeth, you're freezing!" he exclaimed. "Darling, I had no idea. You can't sleep here." He looked over at the tiny bed. "I hurt all over," she said. "So do I, now," he said. He opened the door and walked her outside, keeping his arm around her and keeping the blanket on her. "Where will we go?" she asked. "I don't know," he said, "but from now on I'll find a way for us to be together. At least I know I can keep you warm." He walked her back towards the chapel, and remembered something. "Let's go in here," he said. He led her to the altar and turned her to the left, then rattled a locked door leading into the sacristy. "Well, the padres still keep their chalices locked away," he said. He reached up and began feeling above the doorframe. Elizabeth went to sit in the front pew, watching him. He felt all around the doorframe, and then went behind the altar and felt around below it. "Diego, what are you doing?" she asked. "Searching..." he said, "...for something I once found..." he felt on the floor, "...when I was a boy." He touched a loose stone and lifted it, and found what he sought. He stood up behind the altar, waving a key. She laughed. "Darling, that is one place where you look out of place," she said. He looked around. "Here?" "Si. Behind the altar." "You don't think I would make a good priest?" "I think not." "A life of prayer and administering the sacraments of Our Lord? You don't think I could do that?" "A life of celibacy?" Diego raised his eyebrows. "Celibacy?" he repeated. "Of course, at the rate you are going, it wouldn't be a big adjustment. You are living like a priest already." He came around the altar and sat down beside her on the pew, tossing the key up and down in his hand. "Not for much longer," he said. "At least, not if this still leads to where it used to." She grabbed the key in midair. "A magic key," she said. "Si," he took it back from her, and then took her by the hand and led her again to the doorway. He slid the key into the lock and turned it. The door opened and they entered the sacristy, with its shelves and cupboards and table and sink. He lit a candle. "My," said Elizabeth, looking around at the gleaming silver and lifting a silver chalice that sat on the table. "The brothers should keep this locked up," she said. Diego shut the outer door, pocketing the key. "Now, for the next trick," he said, feeling under the table. "Ah, the padres are predictable!" He produced another key. "Tradition!" he said, kissing it. He moved past her, and put the key into a tiny hole in what appeared to be a narrow cabinet. The lock turned and he opened the door, saying, "bring the candle" to her. Then he stepped through the narrow opening, and she followed. He pulled the door shut, and held the candle up, saying again, "ah, tradition." Elizabeth looked around his shoulder and saw that they stood in a small, windowless room. Several pallets were laid side-by-side on the floor, covered with thick blankets. "Oh, my," she said, wonder in her voice. She looked at him. "How did you find this?" "When I was little, I hid in the sacristy sometimes and I saw one of them go in here. I thought I could slip out while he was gone but he caught me and after a stern lecture he brought me in here to let me see it. I had to swear I'd never tell another soul." "Uh oh," she said. "Well, that was over fifteen years ago," he said. "Surely I won't be punished now!" "But, what is it?" "They keep it to hide from Indians." "Indians?" Elizabeth said, somewhat incredulous. The priests were known for their interest and kindness to the native people in this area. He shrugged. "That is what he told me!" Elizabeth took the candle from him and put it on the floor. "Is it truly private here?" she asked. "At this hour," he said, "I think we are all right, though they will be up early for the first services and then they will be in an out of the sacristy. They don't come in here." He led her to the row of pallets, and pushed two of them together. "Still looks narrow," he said, frowning. He dropped to his knees and tried to arrange things more suitably. "Lie down, senora," he said, helping her as she sat and they lay back. He put a blanket over her, looking down into her face. "You look so tired," he said. He kissed her cheek. "Close your eyes," he said, stroking her face. "I feel like I am being tucked in, the way my mother used to tuck me in," Elizabeth said, settling into the blankets. It was the softest thing she'd lain on in days. She closed her eyes. He lay down next to her. She felt his lips on her cheek. "You're always so warm..." she said, feeling herself drift towards sleep. He pressed his lips against her cheek again, and then looked down at her. He smiled, at the same time shaking his head. "I think my celibacy is going to last a little longer," he said softly. He traced the line of her jaw with his finger, seeing that his dear wife had gone sound asleep. "I had no idea," he whispered to her, "that it could be like this." He propped his head on his hand, taking in the sight of her in the candlelight. She had fine features and the most exquisite skin he'd ever seen, much less touched. It was, he knew, the skin of an Englishwoman, though with the hint of olive in the shade of her complexion. The color of her hair was as hard to describe as her eyes. It was a medium shade of brown to begin with, but there was so much chestnut in it that in the sunlight it glinted with golden reds, and in the candlelight it was almost soft copper. Her cheekbones were high, signifying her noble Spanish heritage, and beneath her hard jawline was her long, inviting neck. Then there were those arresting blue-green-gray almond-shaped eyes, hidden behind her closed lids. Depending on the light, her eyes changed from pale gray to a deep ocean blue-green, and nearly everything in between. It was her eyes that had stopped him short, and forever, the first time he saw her face six months ago. Only six months? Diego could hardly believe that six months ago there had been a day before he had met this girl, and all the days before it when he had no idea of her existence. Now half a year later she was the source of whatever made his heart continue to beat. He could not now imagine his life without her, and wondered what reason he'd had to awaken in the morning before he first set eyes on her. He settled beside her, putting his arm around her. He could not believe his good fortune. Truly she was a gift from heaven. Perhaps she was a holy answer to the best of his efforts as Zorro. Or perhaps it was nothing but luck. Wherever she had come from, he hoped with all his heart that for whatever remaining life was granted to him, he would cherish her and have her always by his side. He kissed her cheek again, and then closed his eyes. After a silence, she softly said, "You are a sweet man, Diego." "You're awake?" "Barely," she whispered. "And not for long." She made her purring noise. *** They resumed their journey as soon as Alejandro was up and ready to travel, and the ride that morning was unusually quiet. At midday they stopped in a cypress grove to eat a meal the friars from San Miguel had sent along. "Ow," Elizabeth said, as Diego reached up and helped her off the horse. "Still hurts?" he asked. "I don't understand it," she said, reaching for her lower back after her feet found the ground. "Here?" he asked, massaging the place she had touched. She put her head into his chest. "Yes," she said. "Oh, Diego, I'm tired." He frowned, putting his arms around her. "This just isn't like you." Diego looked about, to see his father and Bernardo standing on a rock some distance away, admiring the vista that lay ahead. "I have an idea," he said. "Wait here." He walked away from her, across to where Alejandro and Bernardo stood. Elizabeth watched as he spoke to them, pointed up the road, talked more, and then came back to her. "What?" she asked. "We're going on ahead," he said. "There's a place to stop just a few miles ahead." "Oh, not another mission," she moaned. "Is there another secret room to hide in?" "No," he smiled. "This isn't a mission. It's an inn, with great wide beds and huge outdoor bathtubs." He kissed the top of her head. "We'll stay a few nights while my father goes ahead and begins his work in Monterey. It will be that honeymoon we never had." He smiled at her, and added, "well, except for that one day up in the mountains." She smiled back at him. "That was a good day," she said. And so they went on to the El Rey Inn, where a hot bath was drawn for them immediately. Elizabeth's back was tended to, and for three days they talked little and comforted one another much.