The Secret of Zorro
Tornado's Crown
Chapter Three
by Ella Christian @1999-2002
Contact author at EllaChristian@aol.com

Chapter Three
The Runaways


While Elizabeth and Diego were enjoying their mid-day activities, things at Rancho de la Vega's hacienda were busy.  The flurry of activity surrounding the arrival of Elizabeth's aunts that morning was escalating as supper plans developed.  Alejandro and Conchita went numerous rounds of what the servants and vaqueros referred to as "high stakes negotiation" regarding the menu and timing of the meal.  Everyone privately agreed that Conchita consistently prevailed.  

Esperanza spent the morning under the watchful eye of Maria. After her lunch she was treated by her grandfather and her uncle Rufino to a visit to the barn to visit her pony.  It was there that all the commotion began.

After getting to know the little mare some, Elizabeth had named her Chatterbox.   Diego, also putting keen interest into this unexpected gift to Esperanza, declared that Chatterbox was part horse and part feline, with perhaps a smidgeon of billygoat thrown in.  She was into everything, ate everything, unlatched poorly-locked gates, showed considerable intelligence, had extreme likes and dislikes, and would rummage shamelessly through pockets and anything else that might contain a sweet treat.  Despite Alejandro's efforts to the contrary, Diego insisted that at 13 months Esperanza was much too young to be on any horse unless she was on it in the arms of one of her parents, so thus far she had not been placed on Chatterbox's back.  Alejandro, determined that the pony be ready when Esperanza could be seated on her, decided that the tiny mare needed to be prepared for riding. And who, he declared, better to do this than Rufino?  It was, Alejandro contended, a way to get the boy to the rancho more often, and thus better integrated into the family.  The problem with this plan was that Rufino, who until he discovered he was a de la Vega was accustomed to occasional donkey rides or the luck of a borrowed pony, knew nothing about training horses.

It was Diego who pointed out this minor disadvantage to his father one night over dinner.

"Well, you can teach him!" Alejandro replied vigorously.

Diego shrugged.  "Si, I suppose I could do that, although I am not sure that teaching him while trying to train Chatterbox for Esperanza is wise. They could end up teaching one another some bad habits."

Thus the debate between father and first son over second son, granddaughter and pesky little mare began.  In the end, Alejandro prevailed regarding Rufino's job, though under the agreement that Diego had the final say on Rufino's rights and responsibilities with Chatterbox.  Diego also won, without argument, the final say on when Esperanza would be placed on the pony's back, even when held in place by adults.  "She is my daughter," he told his father.  "Not yet," was the only response anyone who suggested "the pony ride" had heard thus far.

As the threesome - Alejandro, Esperanza, and Rufino - walked to the stable, a father-son conversation was underway.  Esperanza, by way of fussing, had insisted on being put on the ground, and was now walking precariously, clinging to her grandfather's hand.  Their progress was slow.

"Come, Ranza, lift up your feet," Rufino instructed the baby as she toddled along.  "Chatterbox is waiting for us."

Esperanza continued to trudge one step at a time across the patio.

"We cannot hurry her, Rufino, she is still learning to walk," Alejandro said, taking small steps to keep pace with her.

"Conchita says she should be walking on her own by now," Rufino said.

"Every child takes this at their own pace," Alejandro said.   "Diego was walking before he was a year old.  Esperanza is taking her time.  She walks well, really, she just doesn't want to let go of someone's hand."

"I wonder how old I was when I started to walk," Rufino said, eyeing his father sideways.

Alejandro cleared his throat.  It was one of the many awkward moments that arose as the adjustment to Rufino's heritage and the long period of unintended estrangement between father and son proceeded.  "I imagine you began running around when you were nine months old and you have not stopped since," he said gruffly.

"Si," Rufino agreed, skipping ahead.  Alejandro watched him for a moment and then grabbed Esperanza, pulling her back to her feet as she stumbled.  "I see he throws you off, too," he remarked, helping her steady herself.  She resumed her walk with determination.  "I do not see why you will not do this on your own," Alejandro said to her.  "You do not need to hold on to me, you have your balance perfectly well."

Her little hand kept its tight grip on his fingers.  Her feet continued to move, one by one, towards the gate to the stableyard.  "Chatta," she said.

Alejandro laughed.  "That's right, little one, we are going to see Chatterbox."  He had memories of Diego's babyhood and early words, but even his own son had not enchanted him the way Esperanza did.  He reflected on this occasionally and concluded that he had simply been so busy building up the rancho, restoring the hacienda from poor craftsmanship, and adjusting to marriage that Diego had been swept up into the larger set of concerns.  He believed that the upbringing of children was rightfully the primary work of women, and therefore he ceded the larger role with Diego to Matilde.  He remembered her sometimes saying to him, late at night when he came in, "You should spend a little time with Diego, Alejandro, he would benefit from you holding him and talking with him more often."

"What is there to talk about with a five month old baby?" he remembered asking once, on a night when he was particularly tired.  "Do you imagine he can give me some advice about tanning the cattle, or chasing the coyotes out of your garden?"

"No, but if you do not spend more time with him he will learn that you are not interested in him and then when the time comes when you want his attention for the rancho, he will not be interested in tanning the cattle at all," she replied with her customary precision.

Now, with another generation of de la Vegas toddling through the patio, Alejandro saw his wife's wisdom.  Fortunately Diego had developed an interest in life on the rancho, despite his father's periodic neglect.  However, the boy's heart had barely survived his mother's death, and little emotion was spent on his farewells to his father when he departed for Spain.  It was only after he returned from Europe, and after his invention of El Zorro, that Diego had finally opened up to his father. 

And now here was this dark-haired grandbaby, which had the love of horses in her blood going back several generations, making her way to her first four-legged steed.  Alejandro wanted only to encourage her.  

Rufino's head popped around the stucco wall at the gateway.  "Come, Esperanza!"  he called. "Chatterbox is waiting for you!"

Esperanza looked up at him.  "Fino!" she gurgled.

Alejandro was delighted.  She was remembering her uncle's name.  

Rufino grinned as they stepped through the arched gateway and into the stableyard.  He had already gotten Chatterbox out of her stall, and was holding the pony on a lead rope attached to her halter.  Esperanza looked at the pony excitedly, and then looked up at her grandfather.  Alejandro took his cue and picked her up, carrying her the rest of the way.  He could see Blanca beyond the paddock in her stall, looking bored and very heavy with her unborn foal.

Chatterbox waggled her lips and made one of her chomping sounds.  Then she snorted.

"I think she wants a treat," Rufino said.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sweet, which the pony smelled and grabbed for immediately.  The boy gave it to her and then playfully yanked at her forelock.  They heard a sound at the outer gate and looked up, to see Padre amble into the yard, saddled and bridled but without his rider.  

"Look, Don Alejandro, Padre is here," Rufino said.  "But where is Don Diego?"

Alejandro snorted.  Getting the boy to stop using "Don" in addressing his relatives was proving difficult.  He looked at Padre and felt a surge of annoyance.  Apparently Diego had succeeded in getting Elizabeth to la casa chica and had shooed his own horse away.   This had not been part of their understanding when Alejandro reluctantly agreed to allow use of Princessa for Diego's long-planned escape with his wife.  "It is all right, Rufino, we will let the vaqueros unsaddle him and turn him loose in the paddock," he said to the boy.  

"But, are you sure Don Diego is all right?" the boy asked.  "It is not like him to let his horse run away.  He and Doņa Elizabeth were going for a ride and she was on Princessa...."

"Si, I know, Rufino," Alejandro interrupted.  "If we do not see them in a few hours we will start to worry, but I feel certain they are just fine." 

"But how will they get home?" Rufino insisted.  "With only one horse?"

Alejandro sighed, lifting Esperanza slightly to the side so she could pat the pony's mane.  "I suppose they will have to share," he answered, attempting to suppress his aggravation with his firstborn.  

Rufino wrinkled his nose.  It was when he made such faces that he most reminded Alejandro of Diego in his boyhood.

"Either that or Elizabeth will ride Princessa and Diego will walk. I do not imagine they have gone very far," Alejandro continued, knowing full well that Princessa would eventually appear with two riders.  "They know Elizabeth's aunts will be back in a few hours."  Esperanza pulled at Chatterbox's forelock.  "Be gentle, muchacha," he told her.  "Chatterbox will take to you better if you do not yank at her or...no, no, Esperanza, do not pat her so hard on her face..."

Chatterbox jerked her head back to avoid Esperanza's vigorous patting, startling Rufino who in turn let the end of the lead rope slip out of his hand.  At that moment, the earth gave two enormous, consecutive shakes.  The ground seemed to lift and drop, pause, then lift higher and drop more violently.  The entire stable quaked and the hacienda walls jumped up and crunched back down into the ground.  Horses whinnied anxiously, several of them breaking lead ropes and charging out of their open stalls and into the stableyard.  Chatterbox reared up and whipped around, skedaddling in the direction of the open gate to the road.  Several vaqueros came pouring out of their quarters by the barn, shouting and grabbing at the loose horses.  Alejandro was nearly knocked off his feet but managed to stay standing, holding his granddaughter and trying to keep his head as all the action suddenly occurred. Esperanza burst into startled tears. 

"No, Chatterbox!" Rufino shouted, the earthquake having knocked him to the ground.  He jumped up again as soon as he could find his feet and chased after the pony, but she was already tearing down the road as fast as her short legs would take her, her lead rope flapping behind her. 

Alejandro tried to calm Esperanza and direct the vaqueros at the same time.  He was glad when Maria rushed up to them and took the baby so he could concentrate on the men and horses.  Everyone was surprised by the temblor but nothing appeared to be significantly damaged. With the exception of Chatterbox, none of the horses had escaped.  Alejandro hurried to check on Blanca, fearing that the commotion might shock her into labor.  She looked unsettled but was otherwise her heavy pregnant self in her stall. He took a deep breath.  That had not been a bad one.  Relieved, he returned to the paddock and saw that everything was calming down.  Rufino was still standing in the gateway looking extremely upset.

"Are you all right?" he asked the boy, going to him.

"Si, but Chatterbox...." he waved in the direction the pony had run.  

"Do not worry, son, we will find her," Alejandro said, patting Rufino's shoulder.  

"She is very fast, for a little pony!" the boy exclaimed.  He looked down, feeling ashamed.  "I am sorry I let go of her lead rope," he said miserably.

"It was not your fault, Rufino, she shied right at the moment the earthquake came, it would have happened to anyone," Alejandro said.

Rufino looked up at him suddenly.  "Don Carlos and the ladies!" he exclaimed.  "Do you think they are all right? At Casa Matteo?  And Padre Felipe and everyone at the mission?"

Alejandro frowned.  "I certainly hope so," he said.  Seeing Rufino's alarmed reaction, he added, "I am sure they are all just fine, but if you want to borrow one of the other ponies, you may do so.  Ride to Casa Matteo and to the mission, then come back and let me know everyone is all right.  Perhaps you will find Chatterbox on the way and you can bring her home, too."

"Si, that is a good idea, I will do all those things!" the boy said excitedly.  

"Use a saddle!" Alejandro called after him.  Bernardo came up beside him.  He saw the servant and said, "Is everything all right?  I don't think that one was too bad."

Bernardo nodded his head in agreement and waved around to indicate he had checked the hacienda and all was well.  Then he pointed at Padre and gave a questioning look.

Alejandro rolled his eyes.  "I suppose they wanted to ride back together," he snorted.  "Though why they must use Princessa for that rather than Padre I do not know."

Bernardo tried to suppress a smile.  He knew the difference between Padre's gaits and Princessa's.  

"Bernardo," Alejandro said, "would you saddle your horse and go with Rufino?  He is going out on the black pony to check on everyone at the mission and Casa Matteo, and to try to find Chatterbox."

Bernardo cocked his head curiously.

"Oh, Chatterbox has managed to run away," Alejandro explained.  "Rufino lost hold of her lead rope right when the earth jumped.  I do not think she will go far, she is too smart to go to far away from home, but he is upset and Esperanza will be too, if she has to go too long without seeing her pony."

Bernardo smiled and nodded.  Then he excused himself to go saddle his horse.

******

Sergeant Garcia and Corporal Reyes were on the road between Rancho de la Vega and Casa Matteo, on their way back to the pueblo after an inspection of a tiny outpost by the ocean called Santa Monica. They were discussing the comings and goings of the latest group of Mexican soldiers in Los Angeles when they felt the earth move twice in two sudden leaps.  Their horses shied anxiously, Reyes's mare nearly losing her footing.  They calmed the horses and looked at each other.

"That was not a very good one," the Corporal said.

"Corporal, have you ever been in a good earthquake?" Garcia asked unctuously.

Reyes thought about it for a moment.  "No, Sergeant, I can't say I have," he replied.  "But I have been in a couple of big ones."

"Every earthquake is a bad earthquake," Garcia stated, giving his horse a kick to get it moving in the right direction, towards Rancho de la Vega, again.

"But at least that bad one was not a big one," Reyes said, also nudging his horse along.

"I do not like it when the earth starts moving around," Garcia continued, squinting into the sunshine.  "Sometimes when you have a little bad one it means a big bad one is just behind it."

"Si, sometimes," Reyes agreed.  "But then sometimes nothing happens again after a little bad one...for years."

"This bad one was a pair of jolts," Garcia mused.  "I do not like it.  Jolts are not good."

"No, Sergeant, jolts are bad.  I do not like the rollers or the shakers, either."

"The rollers are usually little," Garcia went on.  "But they are bad none the less.  I was in a roller in San Pedro once and it cost me a glass of wine, which ended up all over me rather than in me."

"Si, Sergeant.  I was there," Reyes sighed.

"Now, shakers are very bad," the Sergeant continued.  "Shakers are like jolts only they do not stop.  I was in a shaker in Monterey when I was a young man, newly off the boat from Spain.  Very bad."  He shook his head.  

Their horses ambled on.

"Sergeant, do you think anything might have happened to any of the houses in the pueblo, when the earth jumped?" Reyes asked. "Or the jail, for instance?""

The Sergeant looked at his compadre, his eye widening.  "I hope not!" he answered.  The first thing he thought of was the door to the cuartel popping open and the seven peons currently being held there for petty theft and public drunkenness falling out.  Four of the peons were brothers and the other three were all cousins to the four brothers, they had all grown up together in a village in the San Fernando Valley and were famous, if penniless, carousers in the region.  

"I don't want to have to chase the cousins and the brothers," Reyes went on.  "They are hard to catch."

The next thing the Sergeant thought of was his own rickety house on the pueblo square.  Despite the new roof that Don Diego had insisted on having his servants build for "Casa Garcia" once the rainy season ended, the house shook every time Clementia slammed the door.  

As if reading the Sergeant's mind, the Corporal continued, "Has Doņa Clementia slammed the door recently?"

The Sergeant sighed.

"I hope the house did not shake too much, then," Reyes said.  "With the earthquake, I mean," he added.

The Sergeant sighed again.  

Reyes kept his eyes on the road again, and saw in the distance a strange dust cloud.  He squinted, and as he watched he realized it was coming in their direction.  He stopped his horse.  "Sergeant," he said, "do you see that?"

Garcia, too, saw the small dust cloud rising, and approaching. He also stopped his horse. He frowned.  "What is that?" he asked.

A sound approached within the dust cloud.  They kept watching.  The cloud came closer and closer, and they could see something dark and running furiously in the center of it.  The sound became clear: the small but distinct sound of a not-very-heavy horse galloping.   Then they saw the pony rushing at them, galloping like the wind, the dust being thrown up in every direction around her small hooves. Their horses side-stepped quickly to get out of the way.   The pony tore past them in no time and kept going on the road towards Casa Matteo, taking her dust cloud with her.  Her hoof-beats faded in the distance as she left them on the trail.

The two men watched after her for a moment, speechless.  

"I think that was Seņorita Esperanza's little pony," Reyes said.

"Of course it was Seņorita Esperanza's little pony!" Garcia said, looking at Reyes.  "Who else has a pony that is barely three feet tall in the pueblo de Los Angeles?"  He looked back up the road in the direction Chatterbox had just run. 

"Do you think we should catch her?"  Reyes asked.

"When we are vaqueros we will catch the civilian horses, baboso!" Garcia answered.  "Right now we are in the uniforms of the Span....er, Mexican Army, and we will continue on our mission!"

Reyes shrugged.  "The pony will probably end up at Casa Matteo anyway," he said.

"I have no doubt of it," Garcia replied.  

They sat there for another moment.  

"Sergeant?"

"Si, Corporal?"

"Do you really think we are doing the right thing?"

Garcia sighed again.  He signaled his horse to move on, and Reyes followed.

******

"Do you know what this place is called?" Diego asked his wife softly.  They were lying on the bed, fed and dressed, but not quite ready to give up their peaceful afternoon.  An hour or so had passed since the earthquake, though now it was so far from their imaginations that they had nearly forgotten it.

Elizabeth smiled as she felt his breath on her cheek.  "What?" she asked.

"La casa chica," he answered, brushing his lips on her velvety skin.  "It is the name for the little house where gentlemen bring their.... special companions."

"Ohhhh," Elizabeth said, flirtation creeping into her voice.  Then she realized, and said, "Oh!"

Diego chuckled. "It is much closer than the little cabin in the mountains," he said.    

Elizabeth laughed too.  "Si.  You had better not be bringing any 'special companions' here, seņor."

"You are my special companion, seņora," he said, kissing her cheek. "This house is part of your birthday present."  He sat up, pulling her with him.  "And I shall bring you back now and again so I can remind you of it."  He ran his hand over her long hair, falling around her shoulders.  "Put your hair back up, darling, it is time for us to go home," he said.  "If we stay on this bed much longer we will be inspired to stay here for another three hours."  

"That would be nice..." she murmured.  Then she took a deep breath.  "Si, I will have to bathe and change my dress for this evening," she said, not really wanting to leave.  She looked up into his hazel eyes and felt herself falling in love all over again.  "Diego...." she started, putting her hand on his face.

"And we have a little girl who will be looking for us, if she is not already," Diego reminded her with a smile.

For a while Elizabeth had completely forgotten about their daughter.  The cares of life on the ranch began racing back into her mind.  She sighed and began poking her hair up and pulling it into place with her combs.  "She will be the star tonight, even though it is my birthday!" she said.  She swung her feet over and slid off the bed.

Diego got up and took her hand.  "I think your aunts will be every bit as interested in hearing about your dazzling life in California as they are in doting on our daughter."

"Oh, my dazzling life!" Elizabeth laughed, reaching for her hat and putting it on.  "My dazzling life as a hacienda wife."

He took her arm and led her out the door to Princessa.  "Your dazzling life as a hacienda wife with nothing to do but grow your flowers and spoil your daughter and keep your rich, lazy husband happy. 

"Lazy husband," she repeated, rolling her eyes.   She brushed her dress carefully.  "Lazy husband who is often not home at night."

"Which," he eyed her sideways as he adjusted Princessa's stirrups, ignoring her remark, "you do, extremely so." 

Elizabeth placed herself squarely in front of him.  "How do I look?" she asked.

He looked her up and down, keeping a straight face.  After a long inspection he replied, "You look like a woman who has just been thoroughly ravished by her lover and is now trying without success to look proper," he answered.   Then he remembered something.  "Hold on to her," he said, taking the reins off the hitching rail and handing them to Elizabeth.  "I forgot something."

Elizabeth waited, while he went back into the house and retrieved the box they had left on the table beside the bed.  "Oh, we do not want to forget those," she said, seeing what he held.    

"Here, you get on," he said, helping her with one hand to get on the horse.  "Now, you carry this," he handed her the box, "and do not drop them, darling, they are rare here in California and worth a great deal."  He got on the horse and took a moment adjusting, for he was sitting behind the saddle.

"Diego, we could just leave the saddle here, it would make for an easier ride for you," Elizabeth pointed out.  She looked at the box, realizing it was going to be awkward to carry.

"It is your new saddle, I do not want to leave it behind!" he said, giving the horse a gentle cue with his heels.  She went straight to a trot, which caused him to grunt unhappily and slow her down.

"Bernardo can come and get it," Elizabeth said.  "Along with this box."

"It is not far, Liz, I will be fine," he said.

"It is too bad we are not in El Zorro's saddle," Elizabeth sighed. "It is big and there is room for both of us in it."  

Diego groaned again in spite of himself, the ride being much more uncomfortable than he had anticipated.  

"Stop her and let me get behind you," Elizabeth suggested.

"El Zorro's saddle is waiting for its next necessary occasion," Diego went on.  "Though I must get Phantom out of that canyon soon, he is fretting a great deal for lack of any major activity."

"Diego, stop the horse," she insisted.  

He did so.  She slid off and then, his strong hand taking hers and giving her a pull, she re-mounted behind him.  Tucking the box under her arm, she snuggled up against him, her arms coming around him from behind.  She pressed her breasts into his back happily, laying her head against his shoulder blades. She could tell he was more comfortable now.   They rode together without saying anything for a little while.  

"Things have been very quiet lately," Elizabeth remarked, breaking the quiet.  "It is almost boring in our little pueblo.  Perhaps the Mexicans taking over is a good thing."

Diego grunted again, though this time not due to any undesired contact with the saddle.  "I am astonished they did not recall Vilaro, given his failure to deliver Juan Esposito."

"The generalissimo must have found someone else to train his army," Elizabeth said. 

"I do not think we have heard the last of it," Diego muttered.  "In any case," he continued, "you are right, it is quiet in the pueblo at the moment and for that I am thankful. The worst thing we have is the Natchez brothers and their cousins living it up a little too loudly at the tavern and getting thrown into the cuartel jail for it. I do not know why Vilaro had to jail them, they are really harmless fellows.  I would go and let them out but I think it would be a challenge to be running around as Zorro with your aunts here."

"Do you know how long they are going to stay?" Elizabeth asked, feeling renewed excitement at the prospect of an extended visit with family.

"I am sure for a while!" he said.  "There will not be another boat out of San Pedro bound for that part of the world for a month or two, I imagine.  Solano has to take the Maria Cruz up the coast and he always stays in Monterey for a while.  The Encantadas is probably in the Atlantic on the way back from Spain, so we will not see her any time soon, either.  Unless the Mexicans start a commercial fleet, there will not be any ships for a while."

"Good!" Elizabeth said.  "I want them to stay for many months!"

"Do not get your hopes up, darling.  Lydia was very firm with me in her letters that they would have to have a return passage."

"Oh, she is shameless!" Elizabeth exclaimed.  

"I think she sees herself as being clear," Diego laughed.

******

Chatterbox trotted into the Matteo barn and began sniffing at everything she could reach.  Sirroco, Carlos Matteo's spectacular black gelding, whinnied on seeing her. This was the sole offspring of Zorro's now-dead steed Tornado, though Carlos Matteo did not know it.  He only knew he had a fine horse, a gift from Diego after his marriage to Elizabeth.  Chatterbox walked over to the gelding and stuck her nose up at him.  He lowered his head and they touched nuzzles.  She waggled her lips and whinnied softly.  Sirroco made a low gurgling sound deep in his throat, approving of the little mare.  Chatterbox eyed his stall door, taking an immediate dislike to it.  Sirocco gurgled again, bumping his nose against her neck playfully.  Chatterbox pulled her head away, and then stuck her neck low and wedged her nose under the block of wood that served as the latch to Sirocco's stall.  Persistently she nudged it upwards.  At first it held, but then it slowly gave, until the latch lifted.  Chatterbox stepped back and stamped her foot.  Sirocco snorted.  Chatterbox came forward and bumped her head against the stall gate, making it bounce open a few inches.  Sirocco, seeing the opening, stepped forward and the gate swung open, allowing him to walk out into the open barn.  For a moment the two horses just stood there.  Then they heard a footstep.

"There you are!" Rufino cried, walking in.  Behind him was Bernardo, and a few steps after that was Carlos Matteo, who had seen the two riding up his road.  Just behind Carlos were the aunts, both of whom had scurried downstairs on hearing that Bernardo and Rufino were arriving.  

Chatterbox looked at the party of humans approaching and began backing up.  Sirocco got out of her way as she turned and took off out the back side of the barn.  He paused briefly, his ears twitching, and then turned hoof and galloped away after his short new friend.  

"No! Sirocco!" Carlos cried, chasing after them.  Rufino and Bernardo ran, too, but the horses were both already making a dust trail across the dry, open field.  The men raced after them for several hundred yards but finally stopped.  Lydia and Bridget hurried after them.

"You have other horses, can't you chase them?" Lydia asked.

"Sirocco is very fast," Carlos sighed.  "He could be halfway to the pueblo in the time it takes me to saddle another horse."  He shook his head.  "He will come home eventually, if someone else doesn't catch him first."

"Wasn't that Esperanza's little pony?" Bridget said, shading her eyes from the sun as she watched the horses disappear from sight.   "The one Alejandro showed us this morning?"

"Si, that is Chatterbox," Rufino said.  "She ran away when the earthquake came today, and I was supposed to bring her back to Rancho de la Vega, and make sure you were all right, and make sure everyone at the mission was all right...." He looked at Carlos.  "Instead your horse ran away, too."

"We will find him," Carlos assured Rufino.  "And Chatterbox, too."

"I cannot go back to Rancho de la Vega without her," Rufino said anxiously.  "Don Alejandro will disown me, and he has just owned me!"

Carlos laughed, shaking his head.  "Do not worry, Rufino, he will not disown you," he patted the boy's shoulder.  "I think you and Bernardo should continue to follow the horses, they were going in the direction of the mission and may be waiting for you when you get there.  Then you must return to Rancho de la Vega.  The Seņoras and I will be there by the time you return."

Rufino looked at Bernardo and pointed at their horses, then in the direction of where Sirocco and Chatterbox had galloped.  Bernardo nodded, understanding.  The two of them went back to get their horses and were soon on their way.

Carlos escorted the Sullivan sisters back towards his house.

"I thought the journey to California was the exciting, dangerous part!" Bridget said.  "But we have been here less than 24 hours and we have already been in an earthquake and seen some horses run away!"  She grinned at her brother-in-law.  "I think I like it here!"

Carlos chuckled.  "I remember Elizabeth saying something like that right after we arrived," he recalled.  "In fact, I think it was the afternoon she met Diego."  

******

After the excitement of the earthquake and Chatterbox's escape, Alejandro took Esperanza back to the hacienda.  Leaving her with Maria, he checked the entire house to make sure nothing was damaged in the temblor.  Aside from great drama from Conchita about the rattling dishes and the disaster this presented for her nerves, nothing was amiss throughout the house.  He returned to the patio to see Maria chatting with Corporal Reyes at the gate.  Sergeant Garcia was standing by the iron table near the fig tree, looking with longing at the bottle of wine on the table.  And then, looking across the patio, Alejandro saw Esperanza.  She was walking unaided towards Maria.

"Well, look at that!" he said to Garcia.

The Sergeant looked over to see the baby taking her tiny, determined steps towards her nanny.

"I have never seen her walk by herself before, Don Alejandro," he said with wonder.

"That is because she never has!"  Alejandro said, going over to the baby but staying enough away to avoid startling her.

Maria turned around and looked at them.  Her eyes widened as she saw Esperanza walking.   

The baby paused and teetered, and then plopped onto the stone-covered ground on her behind.  She looked around, more surprised than anyone else at what she had just done.

"Well Esperanza, you have decided to take a walk!" Alejandro said, scooping her up and putting her back on her feet.

"Pah, tah," the baby said, taking a few more steps but this time clinging to his hand.

"Do it by yourself again, muchacha," Alejandro said, encouraging her.

Esperanza looked up at him.  Her grip stayed firm.

"It is up to you," he told her.  

She kept walking, still holding on.

"Where do you want to go?" Alejandro asked.  She seemed to be on a mission.  He let her pull him along, and then realized she was heading for the stable yard beyond the gate.  "Oh, Esperanza," he said, picking her up.  "We do not need to go visit the horses again, we were just there a little while ago."

The baby's face screwed up, clearly getting ready to cry.

"All right, all right," Alejandro said.  He looked over to Maria and shrugged.  Then he said to Esperanza, "let's go see how Blanca is doing, all right?"  He headed back towards the barn.  Esperanza calmed down.  You do take after your grandmama, he thought.  When she was upset, the first place she usually headed was to the horses.

* * * * * *  

Ending their visit to Rancho de la Vega quickly, Garcia and Reyes hurried back to the pueblo and cantered into the cuartel and pulled to a halt.  Lieutenant Vilaro was mounting his horse, surrounded by half a dozen of his more aggressive lancers and his new aide-de-camp, Sergeant Portillo.  Portillo was as skinny as Garcia was well-rounded.  Standing in front of the jail cells was Brother Anselm.

"Commandante, what is going on?" Garcia asked.

"The Natchez gang has gotten away!" Vilaro snarled.  "Arrrrrrre you so blind that you cannot see that?"
He gave his horse a kick.

"But....why?" The fat sergeant asked.  

"The earthquake," Portillo replied, "loosened the locks.  It took them half an hour but they managed to shake the gate open."

Reyes frowned.  "Shake the gate open? But...."

Portillo did not elaborate, but instead turned heel to follow Vilaro.  The other lancers were already on their horses.

Garcia and Reyes looked at each other.  

"Should we go with them?" Reyes asked.

The Sergeant sighed.  "Si, I suppose we should," he answered.  The two men turned their horses around and headed back out in the direction of the trail from whence they had just come.  As they cantered back through the town square, Clementia came hurrying out of the posada and waved at them.  The Sergeant pulled his horse to a halt.  Reyes stopped as well.

"Where are you going?" Clementia asked.  She had a bag of flour under one arm.

"Why isn't Bonita carrying that heavy bag for you?" Garcia asked his wife.  

"She has the parafin keg!" Clementia answered.  "Where are you going?" she asked again.  "You just came back!"

"The Natchezes are escaped," he told her.  "We must join the pursuit.  Did the house fall down?"

"When?" she asked.

"The earthquake, Clementia."

"I do not think so," she answered, "but I have not been there since it happened."

"Sergeant, we will not catch up with them if we do not hurry," Corporal Reyes said.

"Check the house," he instructed her.  Then he pulled the horse around and the two soldiers headed away.

"Demetrio!" Clementia exclaimed.  She stared after him as the horses disappeared around a corner.  Her cousin Consuelo stepped out of the posada and came to her side.  "I do not believe he did that!"  Clementia exclaimed.

"Did what?"

"He just rode away!"

Consuelo looked after them, seeing the dust still visible from their horses' trail.  "Men," she said.    

"Well I have had enough of that!" Clementia exclaimed.  She turned to her cousin and unceremoniously shoved the heavy bag of flour into her hands.  

"What are you doing!?" Consuelo exclaimed.

"He is coming home for supper!" Clementia said, marching to her horse.  "He has not been home for five nights in a row and tonight he is coming home!  Tell Bonita to take everything home and start the lamb stew."

Consuelo watched as Clementia mounted her horse and without another word rode off in a gallop after her husband.  Then she looked down at the bag of flour in her arms.  "This I do not need," she said to herself with a sigh.  "What I need is a new dress for tonight."

* * * * * *  

Their leisurely ride was nearly over as Diego and Elizabeth made their way on Princessa up the last rise on the de la Vega road. It was one of the highest points in the basin, providing an excellent view in all directions. Diego stopped the mare and they looked down the hillside to see the hacienda below.  

"This is our spot," Elizabeth giggled, squeezing him.

Diego looked around and ran his hand over hers where it rested on his stomach.  "Si, it is," he agreed.  They were standing on the place where Tornado, at full gallop, had veered sharply but still knocked her off her feet on the night that Elizabeth Matteo met El Zorro over two years ago. 

"Things look quiet," Elizabeth said, staring down at the hacienda.  She looked around, across the arroyos and hills. The sun was lower in the sky, the light turning golden.  She leaned her head against his shoulder again, loving the peace of the moment and his big warm body in front of her.

"Si, I imagine nothing has happened at all since we left, unless some dishes broke when the earth jumped, or Conchita has taken after my father with her spatula," Diego said. 

"Or both," Elizabeth followed, lifting her head again.  She spied a dust cloud rising on the road behind them.  "Oh, look, there is my father's carriage.  That must be him and my aunts.  They are early!" 

"Good, we will be there to greet them," Diego said.  "Darling, I think I should walk the rest of the way," he  told her.

"Why?" Elizabeth asked.

He shrugged, dismounting.   "It would be better," he replied.

She slid forward into the saddle, handing him the box she had been holding.   He accepted it without protest, keeping the reins in his other hand.  He looked around again and frowned.  Elizabeth saw his frown and turned around in the saddle to see what he had spied.

"What on earth...?" she murmured. 

The sight was most peculiar.  Around a mile to the west was the Matteo buggy.  Half a mile behind it they spied another dust trail, stirred up by seven riders who were clearly racing as fast as they could.  As the de la Vegas watched, the cluster of riders turned off the road and towards the north, apparently aiming for the pass into the great valley.  Another two miles beyond that was another dust trail of riders, though they could not tell how many.  

"Looks serious," Diego said.  

"Look at that!" Elizabeth said, pointing to the north.  Heading south, also in their direction, was another dust trail perhaps three miles away.  It looked like a pair of horses, one considerably bigger than the other, coming at full gallop.

Diego sized that up quickly. "Just a pair of loose horses," he said.   He squinted at the pack of seven tearing across the plain. Then he half-smiled.   "I think perhaps there has been a jailbreak. That lead horse looks like the blue roan from the cuartel, though that is not a lancer on his back."  He looked up at Elizabeth.  "Darling, I need to borrow Princessa," he said. "The Natchez boys do not deserve to be thrown back into the cuartel."  With that he reached for her waist and before she could protest he had her off the horse, had handed her the box, and was on the mare himself.  "I will be home as soon as I can," he said.  He then gave the mare a kick. In no time he was down the hill and tearing past the hacienda gate. Elizabeth watched as he continued up the road.  He was headed for the box canyon and Phantom.  

"This should be interesting," she murmured.      

She turned and looked again in the other direction.  The Matteo buggy was now less than half a mile away.  The two horses racing from the north were, if they kept to the path they were on, headed straight for the riders that had turned towards the pass.  The lancers behind them were now clearly visible and were managing to stay on the trail of the first set of riders.  Far behind the first band of lancers were two more, attempting to catch up.  Half a mile behind them was yet another rider, riding furiously.  Elizabeth shook her head, wondering what was going on.   She looked back towards the hacienda.  Diego and Princessa had disappeared.  She looked down at the box in her hand, as the buggy continued its approach, oblivious to what was going on to the north and east.  The sunlight was low and brilliant, searing the landscape with its last golden wash of light.   

"Aunts," she said to herself,  "I think you are about to learn of El Zorro."