The Secret of Zorro Tornado's Crown Chapter One by Ella Christian @1999-2002 Contact author at EllaChristian@aol.com Chapter One The Grand Plan Elizabeth was deep in sleep. She awoke slowly, gradually recognizing familiar lips running slowly across the back of her shoulders, gently rousing her from sleep. "Mmmmmm," she murmured. "Is it dawn?" "Nowhere near it," he said softly, his mouth continuing to move on her shoulders. "We have only been in bed for a couple of hours." "And you are waking me now?" she murmured. Once they went to sleep he rarely did more than cuddle her until the light was whispering on the eastern horizon. Dawn was normally his cue for some wake-up nuzzling and whatever that led to. "Si, temporarily," he answered, his lips pursuing their slow journey across her bare shoulders, over the bone at the top of her spine, and lightly down her backbone. She felt his fingers gently kneading her right shoulder blade. "Do I need to ask why you are waking me up?" she asked, half-giggling. "Do you need something?" "I need," he said, continuing to kiss her across her back beneath her left shoulder blade, "to start now, as I only have 24 hours." "24 hours for what?" she asked. "Your birthday lasts only 24 hours one day each year," he said, pausing in the middle of her spine to run his tongue over a vertabrae in the center of her back that he especially liked. "We barely knew each other the first time you had a birthday after I met you...." "Oh, Diego, we were engaged!" she giggled her correction, enjoying the feel of his warm tongue at the center of her back. "No," he insisted, "we hardly knew one another, and then one year ago you had this tiny child stuck to your breast all the time and would not have me in the bed without her...." "That is not true!" she laughed, starting to wiggle away from him. "Don't, don't," he said, holding her still. "I have a plan at work here." "A plan," she giggled. Then she sighed. His mouth felt so good, working across the back of her rib cage. "Si," he said, "I am going to kiss every inch of your beautiful body before your day is over." Elizabeth lay there for a moment, feeling warmed inside and out. "Oh, myyyy," she sighed. "Every inch?" "Every inch I can find," he vowed. "That is a lot of inches to cover, my love," she giggled again, the sleep still in her voice. She felt his lips move down her side and then work slowly back to center. "Ohhh, darling," she sighed. His hands were on her shoulders, squeezing her occasionally and stroking her upper back even as his lips continued on her lower back. He said nothing as he worked his way further down her spine. Once he reached the end and kissed her across her lower back thoroughly, he pulled himself back next to her and rubbed her upper back with his hand. "Go back to sleep," he told her. "Now?" she asked. "You don't want to make love?" "I am only about kissing," he said, putting his mouth back to her shoulder and nibbling at her briefly. "I hope this is not a permanent condition!" she sighed. He chuckled, stroking her head. "Unlikely." ****** In the darkest hour of the early morning, Elizabeth again awoke, feeling Diego's lips on her left shoulder. She was lying on her back, he was kissing her gently. "More kisses," she murmured. "Uh hmmmm," he agreed, running his lips one kiss at a time across her collar bone, stopping at the base of her throat, and lingering with his tongue over the hollow there. Then he worked his way slowly across the other side of her collarbone and down her right arm, pausing at her elbow joint and stopping altogether at her wrist. Elizabeth drifted back to sleep, feeling his breath on the palm of her hand. ****** When she awoke again, sun was shining into the room. The shutter was half-open. She stretched and reached around beside her. To her dismay, she realized she was alone in the bed. But a beautiful red rose was in a tall silver bud vase on her nightstand. She reached up to touch it, wishing Diego was still beside her. Then she remembered it was her birthday. Twenty-four. She sighed, sitting up in bed. She sat there for a moment. Everything seemed very quiet. She could hear no one stirring in the patio below. No one had come to awaken her or bring Esperanza in for her morning visit with her parents in bed. She did not hear the usual clatter drifting from Conchita's kitchen across the patio and up into their room. Elizabeth got up and reached for her robe, glancing into the mirror as she pulled it around her shoulders. She paused at what greeted her. The young woman staring back at her was still waking up, her dark, shimmering auburn hair still askew, a rested - if puzzled - look on her face. Letting the front of the robe hang open, she could see her breasts, still high and full, but no longer laden with the milk that had nursed her pretty little girl for ten months. Her eyes drifted downwards to see her belly. The last of the thickness from pregnancy was gone. She pulled the robe around herself, feeling her waist and then looking at the outline of her legs. Thanks to Diego's fencing lessons her legs and arms had never been stronger or more lithe. She smiled softly to herself. She liked what she saw, and she knew she pleased her husband. She felt a tingling sensation deep down, thinking about his long, strong legs and broad, inviting chest. But where had that rascal gone, why wasn't he here to make love to her on her birthday morning? She tightened the robe and tied it, and went to the bedroom door. Opening it, she stuck her head out. The balcony was empty. No one. She shut the door, truly baffled and feeling suddenly lonely. Then she heard a creaking sound across the room. Turning around, she saw the panel to the secret room open. Diego stepped in, with little Esperanza on his arm. He saw the empty bed and frowned. "Where is your Mommie, Esperanza?" he asked the baby. Elizabeth laughed, coming towards them. "What mischief have you two been stirring up?" she asked. Diego grinned at her. Esperanza lit up immediately on seeing her Mommie. Elizabeth took her from Diego and gave her several kisses on her cheek. "Where have you been, little girl?" she asked. "Did Daddy take you down to see the big white horse? Did you pat Phantom's nose?" "Mama," Esperanza said, her eyes sparkling. "Fahn-tahm," she said. She patted her mother's face. "Oh, you did see Phantom," Elizabeth said, hugging her daughter. She looked over the baby's shoulder at Diego. "You have to stop taking her down there soon," she said. "She's getting too big. She might remember." "Oh, she's just a year old," Diego snorted, taking the baby back after shutting the panel behind him. "Come here muchacha." "Thirteen months," Elizabeth corrected him. "And nearly walking on her own." Diego sat Esperanza on their bed. Then he turned to his wife. "Do you remember anything from when you were 13 months old?" he asked, putting his hands on her waist. "No, but I might if there was a secret passage in my house that led down dark stairs to a cave with a big white stallion in it!" He pulled her against him and began kissing her cheeks. "You must have had a very boring life as a 13 month-old," he said between kisses. "More boring than Esperanza Matilde de la Vega!" Elizabeth agreed. Finally Diego stopped kissing her face. "We came in here to wish you a happy birthday," he told her. He got her to sit on the bed with him, and motioned to the baby. Esperanza crawled to them. "Say happy birthday to Mommie," Diego instructed her. Esperanza crawled into her mother's lap and reached for her face. "Give Mommie the kiss I taught you," Diego told her. Esperanza puckered her lips and pushed them against her mother's cheek. "Mamma, hap-ha," she said softly. "Oh, I am getting so many kisses this morning!" Elizabeth laughed. "What a sweet kiss, Esperanza, thank you!" She looked at Diego. "And I love my rose." He kissed her cheek one last time, saying "Breakfast is waiting for you, wear a pretty dress." Then he scooped up the baby. "We'll be downstairs." "You're leaving me alone again?" Elizabeth said. He smiled mysteriously. "For now," he answered. With that he took Esperanza to the door, opened it, and pulled it shut behind him. "But it's my birthday!" Elizabeth called out mournfully after him. "Breakfast!" she heard him call back, beyond the door. Then his step faded. She suddenly felt like pouting, but she also had a feeling he was up to something. Wear a pretty dress, he had instructed. She went to her wardrobe and started looking at her dresses. The deep rust one with lace edging might do today. It was well-made and good for everyday wear. And Diego liked the low bodice. ****** "My dear, you look radiant!" Carlos Matteo said, as his daughter entered the sala. "And at this early hour!" "Daddy!" she exclaimed with delight. She looked around to see Diego, Esperanza on his lap, already seated at the table, with Alejandro and Carlos standing at their places across from him. As she took the scene in, she noticed two additional plates placed mysteriously on the table. Then she saw that between Carlos and Alejandro stood Rufino, a bright smile on his face. He held a small bouquet of wildflowers up to her. "Happy birthday, Doņa Elizabeth!" he said. "Oh, my whole family is here," Elizabeth sighed happily, accepting Rufino's offering. "And what it took!" came a female voice across the room, speaking in English. "I am still seasick!" a second woman's voice chimed in. Elizabeth turned and gasped. On the landing near the front door she had just entered stood two very well-dressed middle-aged ladies, one taller and more slender than the other, both with streaks of silver in their reddish-brown hair. "Aunt Lydia! Aunt Bridget!" Elizabeth cried, rushing to them. Esperanza squealed with delight, bouncing on her father's thigh and causing him to adjust where her feet were digging into him. A great deal of weeping and hugging ensued, as Elizabeth was reunited for the first time in three years with her mother's sisters from Boston. "I can't believe you are here!" Elizabeth blubbered to them in English. "In Los Angeles! When did you arrive?" "Last night, on the stage from...." Lydia Sullivan looked at her sister, while patting Elizabeth's back. "San Pedro," Bridget Sullivan Walton finished, also patting her niece's back. "What a night! And after three months on that ship!" "I cannot believe it!" Elizabeth continued weeping. She looked at them both. "I kept asking Diego every day if I had letters from you, I couldn't understand why your letters weren't coming...." she resumed her sobbing. Rufino yanked at Carlos's sleeve. "Why is she crying? Isn't she happy?" he asked. "To see the ladies?" "Oh, she is very happy, Rufino," Carlos answered softly. "It is just that sometimes when they are very happy, women cry." Rufino frowned, considering that contradiction. Alejandro leaned over to the boy. "It will never really make sense, but eventually you will get used to it." Then he corrected himself. "Or, at least you will understand what is happening. Sometimes." Bridget stepped back and looked into her niece's face, her hand coming to Elizabeth's cheek. She wiped away a few of her tears gently, as she had many times when Elizabeth was younger. "Look at our little Lizzy," she said to her sister. "All grown up and with a baby of her own." Elizabeth smiled, wiping more tears from her face. "Oh yes," she managed to laugh. "Have you met Esperanza?" She looked over to Diego, who was grinning broadly as he held Esperanza standing on his knees. "We fought over her from the moment we arrived," Lydia stated. "But then he," Bridget pointed at Diego, "took her away!" "We will be having no more of that," Lydia said firmly, walking over to Diego and taking Esperanza from him. "I think he rescued her from us," Bridget said to Elizabeth. "He is very good at rescues," Elizabeth said, smiling at Diego. Under her breath, Bridget added, "Handsome devil, that one," to her niece. Elizabeth laughed, utterly delighted. She couldn't believe it. She went to Lydia where she stood behind Diego. "You sneaky baby!" Elizabeth said to Esperanza. "You kept your aunties' secret!" Esperanza giggled heartily at her mother, clinging to Lydia's neck. "You will sit with me for your breakfast, little miss," Lydia said to Esperanza. The baby laughed and kicked her legs heartily, enjoying the attention. This caused everyone to chuckle. Rufino pulled at Carlos's sleeve again. "Why are they speaking in English?" he asked. "Because that is their mother tongue!" Carlos replied. Alejandro sighed. "I suppose we will have to learn to live with it in the household," he said. "You get used to it," Carlos replied. He added to his friend, "You might even try learning some of it." "I shall practice my English with the ladies," Rufino declared. "Good thinking," Carlos said. He leaned over to Alejandro again. "This morning when they got up he practiced by asking them if they wanted to ride to Rancho de la Vega in a barrel." Alejandro looked askance at the boy. "Learn your nouns properly!" he said. "They stayed at Casa Matteo last night?" Elizabeth asked, returning to her Spanish. "Oh, si," Rufino said. "They took over everything." "Rufino!" Carlos and Alejandro both scolded. "It is all right, they do not understand Spanish," Elizabeth told them. She turned back to her aunts. "Please, let's sit, and have breakfast, you must tell me everything about your journey." At last Elizabeth's eyes fell on her husband, who had said not a word since she had entered the room. He did look like a cat that had just swallowed a sparrow. "You," Elizabeth said, her eyes locking with his. "You did this." He smiled. "Happy birthday," he said. Elizabeth leaned over and kissed his mouth, her hand on his cheek. "Anita Elizabeth!" Lydia exclaimed, taking her seat next to Alejandro. Elizabeth, when she finally finished the long kiss she bestowed on her beloved, grinned at her aunt. "No public displays of affection!" Lydia reminded her. Diego chuckled, translating for his father. "You try and stop them," Alejandro commented to Lydia, once he heard the translation. Carlos snorted in agreement. "What did he say?" Lydia asked her brother-in-law. "He said, 'you try it,'" Diego laughed, now speaking English. "Try what?" Bridget asked. "I think these two must be prone to demonstrate their feelings in public!" Lydia said, nodding at Diego and Elizabeth. Elizabeth put her arms around Diego's neck and sat down in his lap. "We are in our own home, aunts!" she reminded them. He accepted her willingly, still grinning. "Esperanza, you must help your parents learn how to behave properly!" Bridget said to her grand-niece. "Ma! Mahmah!" Esperanza squealed. "Oh, we will not have this at the table!" Lydia said to her sternly. "It is 1822 and we will be civilized in California." Bridget glanced at Elizabeth and gave her a wink. Elizabeth sighed happily. Her aunts had not changed one bit. ****** Breakfast was noisier than usual, given the presence of one talkative child, one happy and oft-squealing baby, and six adults speaking two languages, often at the same time. Elizabeth alternated between laughing and crying throughout the meal, as her aunts told stories of their long journey from Boston to New York, and then their long journey by ship down the coast of the Americas and back up again, until they reached the California coast on the Maria Cruz. They told many stories about Capitan Solano, and entertained the family with stories about his version of the infamous Golden Pesos incident in San Pedro bay. "I want to meet Consuelo Perez," Bridget confided to them all. "She sounds like trouble." "Oh, she is interesting," Alejandro agreed, as soon as Bridget's comments were translated for him. "She is crabby!" Rufino stated. "Capitan Solano thought so, too," Bridget replied, after Rufino's declaration was translated for her by Carlos. Diego raised an eyebrow at his wife, but then turned to take Esperanza from Aunt Lydia. The baby was becoming cranky. "I think it is time for you to go upstairs for a while," he told his daughter. Esperanza reached for his neck and then began yanking at her ear. "Oh, yes, let Maria take her," Elizabeth said, seeing the ear yank. She looked at her aunts. "She is on the edge when she starts pulling her ear," she explained. "You used to do that," Lydia observed. "I did?" Elizabeth asked. Both of her aunts nodded. Diego stood up, raising his eyebrow at his wife again. "Well, now we know where she gets that," he said. Maria stepped forward, reaching for the baby. Esperanza started to cry. Elizabeth got up. "I should go with her," she said. She looked around at her family. "I will be back soon, please do not go anywhere!" The aunts and then the grandfathers got up, too. "I want to stay at Rancho de la Vega today," Rufino announced. Alejandro looked at him. "Very well," he said. From time to time the boy either showed up or stayed for several hours at a time, usually to be around the horses. Carlos never discouraged this, despite Rufino's continued wish to live at Casa Matteo. "We should really go back to Casa Matteo for some more sleep," Lydia said. "I believe this morning has been as exciting as the entire journey put together." She looked at Esperanza, squalling in Maria's arms. "You get your nap, Esperanza, and we will get ours." Elizabeth knew Lydia had made up her mind, so she accepted it, going to both of them and hugging them fiercely. "You will come back for supper and spend the entire evening with us," she said. "We still have so much to catch up on! Oh, I am so glad that you are here!" Then she burst into tears again. Diego laughed, pulling her away from her aunts and keeping her tucked against him tightly. "We cannot nail them to the floor, darling," he said. "They will be back tonight, and we have things we need to do today." "We do?" she blubbered, as they followed Carlos and the aunts out of the house, across the patio, and to the gate where their carriage waited. "Si, we do, starting with helping our daughter go down for her morning nap," Diego reminded her. "Oh...." Elizabeth said, torn. "Maria will be with her, but she does like to see you," Diego said. They stood and waved as the others left. Rufino waved too, and then scampered off in the direction of the stable. "I shall see what he wants to do," Alejandro said, following the boy. Elizabeth looked up at Diego, wanting to say what was in her heart but unable to find the words. Diego pointed upstairs. "Oh, yes, Esperanza!" Elizabeth said, remembering her intention to put the baby down for her nap. She squeezed his hand and then ran up the stairs. ****** Ten minutes later, after a short visit to the stable, Diego went upstairs. He paused at Esperanza's door and looked in, to see her lying on her tummy in her bed, sound asleep. Unable to resist, he walked in and leaned over her. Her breath was even, her eyelids tightly shut. "I think Mommie's aunts wore you out," he said softly, touching her dark, curly hair lightly. Her fingers moved slightly when he touched her, but she didn't stir. He smiled, straightened up, and went next door. Much to his surprise, Diego found Elizabeth sprawled across their bed, sobbing into her pillow. "Sweetheart, sweetheart," he said, sitting beside her. "What is the matter?" "I love my aunts!" she sobbed. "And I miss my mother! Oh, Diego, I miss her so much. I wish she were still alive! I wish she were here!" "So do I," he said in English, leaning over her and kissing the back of her neck softly. Then he leaned over and lay down next to her, pulling her into his arms. "Don't cry, little kitten," he whispered. "Don't be sad. It is your birthday." She continued to cry for a while. "I miss her so much," she finally said. "I am sorry to cry like that. Seeing my aunts....they all looked so much alike...." she shook her head, pressing it into his shoulder. "We will miss our mothers until the day we die," Diego told her. "But they are with us every day, too." She nodded. Then she looked at him. "Thank you for what you did. Writing to them." He grinned at her. "I wrote to them when we were in Monterey, right after you wrote to them to say you were pregnant. I made them promise not to tell you we were corresponding. As soon as Esperanza was born I told them I would arrange for passage for them, if they wanted to come. It took some doing...but..." he shrugged happily. "Your father helped." "He has always liked Aunt Bridget," Elizabeth laughed. "Oh?" Diego said. "She was widowed right after we left for California....I think otherwise we might have stayed in Boston!" "Well, then, while I am sorry she lost her husband, I am thankful that he waited until after you'd left to pass into the next life! Otherwise I might still be sleeping alone in this bed!" Elizabeth giggled, fully coming out of her upset. "Saved by a dead man," she told him. "You would have liked my uncle John," she said. "I like him very, very much, all things considered. In fact I like him more than any man I never met," Diego told her. That made her laugh. He sat up, pulling her with him, and put his feet on the floor. "Esperanza loved them, she loved all that attention," Elizabeth said, also putting her feet on the floor. "Who wouldn't?" Diego asked. He stood up and took her hand, pulling her to her feet as well. "Come with me," he said, heading for the door. "But darling, grab your hat." He nodded in the direction of her wide-brimmed riding hat, which sat on the top of her wardrobe across the room. She eyed him, wondering what he was up to now. Then she reached for her hat, and followed him out the door and down the stairs.