The Secret of Zorro Tornado's Crown Chapter Seven by Ella Christian @1999-2002 Contact author at EllaChristian@aol.com Chapter Seven Cave Dwellers Elizabeth turned around and whispered loudly into the crack in the wall, "Go down to the cave!" Her adrenalin was still surging. She flounced out of the room and, slamming the door, leaned over the edge of the balcony to see what was happening downstairs. Vilaro and his men were standing at the gateway on the patio, in conversation. Garcia seemed to be making a case for staying at the dinner with Clementia, and was occasionally indicating Reyes, who was standing nearby trying to look uninterested in the outcome. Her eyes traveled to the dinner table, where she saw Carlos, Alejandro, Rufino, her aunts, the Boccas, Consuelo and Clementia still chattering, her father busy translating back and forth between English and Spanish, all of them oblivious to the military negotiations underway nearby. Clementia happened to glance up and caught her eye. She waved eagerly at Elizabeth to come back down and reclaim her seat at the table. Elizabeth waved back, but continued to watch Vilaro's party. Not until you are gone, she thought, eyeing the commandante. Garcia had stopped his effort at persuasion and was waiting for an answer. Vilaro's eyes swept the patio once more, then he scowled, shook his head dismissively, and left. The other lancers followed. Garcia stood there, unsure of his instructions. He looked at Reyes and shrugged. "Demetrio, come, he does not need you now," Clementia called to him. She waved a large lamb chop at her husband. His eyes widened appreciatively and he took a step toward her. "Garcia!" came shout from beyond the gate. The Sergeant rolled his eyes, gestured at Reyes to come, and then turned to disappear out the gate. "Well!" Clementia snorted. Elizabeth walked up to them all. "I suppose your Sergeant has to go," she said, taking her seat again between her father and Rufino. "He always has to go," Clementia said. "What were you doing up there? Why did you take so long?" "The commandante walked in on me in our bedroom and I had words with him!" Elizabeth replied. "He walked in on you in your bedroom!" Alejandro exclaimed. "Si, with the lancers! It is only by the grace of the blessed mother that I was not...changing my dress!" Francisco Bocca nearly choked on his bread. "Elizabeth!" Doņa Leonara exclaimed, patting her husband on his back. "For shame!" "What? What did she say?" Aunt Lydia asked Carlos in English. "Oh, she...." Carlos started. "I said that the commandante might have walked in on me changing my dress!" Elizabeth said in English to her aunts. Lydia began turning red. Bridget suppressed a smile, looking down at her plate. "But then he would have seen you half naked!" Rufino exclaimed. Alejandro leaned over quietly and said to Rufino's ear, "I think that is the point." "Uh. Oh," Rufino answered. Elizabeth, who had just put her napkin on her lap, removed it and placed it carefully on her plate, covering her food. "This evening is becoming a disaster," she announced. She stood up, looking at them all. "My husband is not here, my horse who is about to give birth is missing, I have been walked in on by a uniformed man who has no right in my bedroom, and...." she sighed, "I am suddenly very tired. You will all have to excuse me, I am retiring for the evening. Please continue, please...eat all the lamb chops. I will take mine in my room and go to sleep." Carlos got up. "Elizabeth, please do not leave, this dinner is in your honor!" he pleaded. "I have had too full a day," she answered, lifting the plate. She looked at her aunts, and said in English, "I am exhausted and I am retiring, aunts. Tomorrow morning I will come to Casa Matteo and we will plan out all the things you must do in Los Angeles. But I cannot think right now." "Do whatever you need to, dear," Aunt Bridget said. She got up and went to Elizabeth's side, giving her niece a pat on the arm and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," Elizabeth said to her softly, returning the kiss. Then, taking her plate, she went back up the stairs, to her room, and closed the door. "At least I cannot be blamed," Consuelo said. "Are we going to finish supper?" Rufino asked. "Si, of course we are," Alejandro replied. He glanced around at everyone. "This is not the first time we have dined together without Diego or Elizabeth!" "I think she is acting very oddly," Lydia said to her sister. "Who? Elizabeth?" "Yes, of course! And where is Diego?" "He is looking for the horse!" Bridget replied. Lydia shook her head. "Something is not right," she said. * * * * * * Elizabeth carried the food down the stairs from the secret room and found her way to Phantom's stall. Bernardo was just finishing propping Diego up with a few pillows against the rock walls, and covering him with a large, heavy blanket. "Oh, stop it," Diego said, pushing the servant away. "You are treating me as if I were an invalid! It is just a...." he saw Elizabeth coming. "Hello, darling," he smiled at her. "Thank you for saving me from the evil commandante." Elizabeth held up the plate. "I got you some food, it may help you feel better," she said. She looked at Bernardo. "I could not get the wine too, bring some from the cellar?" The servant nodded. He looked Diego over once more and then disappeared down the passage, carrying a lantern. Elizabeth sat down in the straw, and set the plate on her lap. She started carving up the two lamb chops. "That looks good," Diego observed. "Are you hungry?" she asked. He paused, and then said, "Actually, I am. I have not eaten since our visit to the..." She stopped him by shoving a piece of the chop into his mouth. He chewed carefully and swallowed. "Excellent," he said. "Our visit to the excellent," she said, holding up another piece before his mouth. He took it and again chewed and swallowed. "You do not need to feed me, I do have a perfectly good right hand," he said to her. "And it was a visit to the excellent. Has the commandante left?" She fed him another piece of the chop, followed by a chunk of bread dipped in the meat's juice that shimmered on the plate. "He took all the lancers and departed abruptly, but I do not imagine we can be sure he will stay away," she said as Diego chewed. "I do not think we should go back upstairs. Not for a while, anyway. Perhaps after all the others leave." Diego nodded. He swallowed. "I think that is wise, darling." "Si," she said, holding up another bite for him. "I am very wise." Bernardo appeared, carrying a dusty bottle of red and two stemmed glasses sitting on a wooden wine case. He put it all down on the straw in front of Elizabeth. Then he set out the glasses, produced a corkscrew, and opened the bottle. Ceremoniously he placed it on the crate, then dusted his hands off with satisfaction. "This is not Paris!" Diego teased him. Bernardo shrugged and then pointed at the stairs, and then out to the box canyon, and then looked at his master for instructions. "Since you are supposed to be on a mission to do so, why not go out and look for Blanca," Diego suggested. "We will be all right here for a while, take an hour and see if you can find her." Bernardo looked at Elizabeth. "Si, it is all right, they will not find us down here," she said. Bernardo looked up the stairs and hesitated. "Really, it is all right, no one in the family will try to disturb me," Elizabeth said. "I was very clear that they would not see me again this evening." Bernardo nodded cooperation and with a glance around to make sure nothing else needed to be done, he went back into the passage and soon was gone. "Well, we have more food, some good wine, and two lanterns," Elizabeth said. "Some very good wine," Diego observed, holding up the bottle Bernardo had brought. "My father will not appreciate Bernardo's opening this case, I think he was saving it for Esperanza's wedding." "Esperanza's wedding!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Si, look at this, it is a grand cru from Burgundy, this can lie for thirty years, darling, and it is already ten years old." Elizabeth squinted at the dusty bottle. "Well we cannot accuse Alejandro of any lack of planning ahead," she said wryly. "Not when it comes to his granddaughter," Diego agreed. He let her give him another bite of meat. "Aren't you going to have some?" he asked. Elizabeth popped the next bite into her mouth. "Mmmmmm," she said. She started to pour the wine but his right hand came to hers and stopped her. "Let it breath a little more," he instructed. His hand felt warm on hers. She looked down at it, and then lowered her head to kiss his knuckles. "Does your arm still hurt?" she asked softly, resting her forehead on the top of his hand. "Si, but not so much as it did," he said. "It is a bad ache now, nothing more." He pulled his hand away to stroke her hair. She put the plate aside and lay down, resting her head on his thigh. He continued to stroke her hair. "Sweet Liz. You were very brave tonight, with Vilaro." "I could not think what else to do," she said softly, her hand coming to rest on his knee. "It was fast and brave and thoroughly convincing," he said, allowing himself a chuckle. "Zorro himself could not have made a better move." "He will still want to see your arm," she said. "As soon as he sees you again." "We will think of something," he assured her. "Do you want some more food?" she asked, not moving. "I can reach it," he said. She sat back up. "But you should not," she said, looking at him. She took his hand. "No reaching." "I would prefer to reach the food myself and keep my thigh warmer," he smiled at her. "You should take the suit off, Diego, you do not need it anymore," she told him. "That I do not want to do," he said decisively. "Bernardo will help me with that when he gets back." She eyed him for a moment, but then returned her head to his thigh. "I am better at that than he is." "Ah, that is better," he said, stroking her hair again. "And si, usually you are....but not when I have a bullet hole in my arm." He took a thick lock of it and rubbed it between his fingers. "I love your hair," he said, more to himself than to her. "It is like your eyes. I cannot say exactly what color it is, but...." his voice fell to a murmur. "I could not live without it." His hand moved down to stroke her back. "I am sorry about all this, Liz," he said. "Truly it is not how I wanted your day to turn out. Or mine either, come to think of it." "Stop it," she said into his leg. He could tell she was trying not to start crying. "Come here, sit up and have some wine with me, seņora," he pulled at her elbow. She sat up, wiping her cheeks off. He reached over and poured a glass of the beautiful, dark burgundy, then another. He handed her a glass, then lifted one himself. "To us," he said. "And," he glanced around, raising his glass to the darkened walls, "to our new bedroom." That made Elizabeth laugh. They drank from their glasses. "It is good," she said, marveling at the full, ripe taste of currants and smoke in her mouth. "Bernardo chooses wisely," he said. He picked up the fork and afforded himself another bite of the lamb. "Goes very well with the chop," he added after swallowing. He cleared his throat. "Did the baby go to sleep all right?" "Si, she was tired." "I think perhaps her mother is tired, too." Elizabeth nodded. He sighed, setting the plate aside and motioning for her to come sit up next to him. She scooted over and settled next to him, letting him hold her with his good arm. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I am less upset than I thought I would be," she murmured. "About what? My getting shot?" She nodded. "It is probably only because you are all right." She looked at him. "Or seem to be." "I am all right," he said to her gently. "The one in the collar bone was much worse." "Do not tell me about that," she said. He chuckled. "All right, so much for my plan to bore you all evening with stories of my adventures in Spain." He shifted, then he said, "ow." She sat away from him. "What?" she asked, feeling her adrenalin start to rush again. "Nothing," he said, feeling for a moment on his arm. "I made the mistake of forgetting I was hurt and put a little weight on my hand. I suppose I am not going to get away with much tonight." "Diego, lie down. Please." "It hurts less if I sit up." She sighed. "Then have some more of that, perhaps it will help," she nodded at his wine glass. "Only if you will," he answered. She lifted her glass to him and took another sip. Then another. * * * * * * An hour later, Bernardo began his way down the stairs. His search for Blanca had proven fruitless, much to his frustration. He was not eager to break this news to his master, much less to his mistress. The dinner party had broken up as he was arriving back from his hunt. He stayed on the patio for sometime while all the goodbyes were said, his gestures indicating that Diego had decided to continue his search for a while longer. This brought about a raised eyebrow from Elizabeth's Aunt Lydia. Alejandro had sent him upstairs to see to things in his room, allowing Bernardo to slip through the back passageway on the second floor to Zorro's room, and down the stairs behind it to the cave. He was halfway down the stairs when he heard the sound of laughter floating through the passageway and up to his ears. It drifted away and then burst again. He sped up his pace, fearing that the sound would carry all the way up into the house. When he arrived, Diego and Elizabeth had just had another burst of laughter. Diego was still propped up at the wall. He no longer had his jacket on, his shirt was open at the collar, and his banda was at his feet. Elizabeth was lying in the straw beside him looking disheveled. Pillows were strewn around them. The bottle of wine was empty on its crate. "Oh, look, Bernardo has come back!" Elizabeth exclaimed loudly. "Did you find my horse?" she asked, trying to sit up. She looked downright dizzy. Diego tried to help her with his good arm. "No, no," she said, swatting at him. "You stay there." "I am not going anywhere, I assure you," he said. He looked up at Bernardo. "It has taken two years and a gunshot wound in me, but I have finally managed to get my wife drunk," he reported. "On that," Elizabeth pointed at the empty wine bottle. Then she pointed at Diego. "He helped." Diego nodded at his servant in total agreement. Then he pointed at his own chest and nodded again. Bernardo gestured talking, pointed at them, then put his hands on his ears to indicate loudness. "Oh, you can hear us?" Diego asked. "Up there?" Elizabeth asked loudly, pointing upwards. Bernardo winced and nodded. This produced a fit of shushing and giggling from the two. "We might wake up the baby," Elizabeth snorted, burying her face in Diego's chest. "Or the my father," Diego laughed, his good arm coming around her. "Or the our servants," Elizabeth nearly shouted into his side, unable to stop laughing. "Do not make me laugh!" Diego laughed. "Do not make me laugh! It hurts." Bernardo gestured desperately for them to be quiet. "Shhhh, shhhhhh," Diego said to no one in particular. Bernardo could see that while he was feeling the alcohol, his master was not so far gone as his mistress. She was significantly the smaller of the two and rarely consumed more than a glass of wine in an evening. Between them they had put away the entire bottle in less than an hour. A light appeared at the end of the passageway where the stairs up to the house met the cave floor. "What on earth is going on down here?" a voice asked. They all looked to see Alejandro making his way towards them, carrying a lit lantern. "I can hear you all the way up in my room," he continued, walking towards them. "I am afraid the servants will hear it, Diego...." he stopped in front of them, taking in the sight. Elizabeth commenced to giggling, but Diego sat up a little straighter, looking up at his father. He pointed at the bottle and shrugged, his good hand on Elizabeth's shoulder where she lay helpless in the straw. "Are you...is she drunk?" Alejandro asked, shocked. "Si, si," Elizabeth laughed into her husband's sleeve. "We were passing the time," Diego tried to explain. He pointed at Bernardo. "It is his fault. He brought us the wine." Bernardo looked at him in exasperation, wrongfully accused. He pointed back at Diego. Elizabeth looked at all of them and burst into another fit of laughter, putting her head back down. Diego kept her face in his arm, trying to muffle the sound. "It will only reassure the servants that our hacienda is inhabited by very happy ghosts," he ventured to his father. "My arm seems to be better," he added. "We got my jacket off!" Alejandro rolled his eyes. "She is going to have quite a headache in the morning," he observed. "Are you going to stay down here all night? Everyone is gone except Rufino, who has decided he wants to spend the night here. Fortunately he was tired and is already asleep in the bedroom next to Esperanza's." "Oh that is good, Rufino spending a night here," Diego said, trying to sound sensible. He patted Elizabeth. "Isn't it, darling?" "Si, si," she said into his sleeve. "Rufino wants to get away from Aunt Lydia," she added. "I learned some of the history between Elizabeth and her aunts tonight," Diego said. Alejandro sighed. He looked at Bernardo, who shrugged. "We will leave you to it, then," Alejandro said. "But Diego, please, try to be quiet!" Diego nodded cooperatively, patting Elizabeth again. "We will, won't we, darling," he said. "Si, si," she said, looking up at her father-in-law. "I think we should stay here tonight," Diego told Alejandro. "Aiiiii!" Alejandro said. Bernardo followed him as he left. "Liz," Diego said to her. "They are gone." "Good!" she said, trying to sit up. "I liked it better before they came down here." He brushed some of her hair away from her face. "You are truly in the arms of Bacchus," he chuckled. "I do not know Bacchus. The only arms I want to be in are yours," she said, flopping over and laying her arms across him, her head on his belly. "You will have to settle for one arm tonight," he said. He sat there for a moment, and realized she had fallen instantly asleep. "I am sorry I could not finish my project," he sighed to her. He ran his fingers lightly through her hair, and slowly traced the edge of her ear with his forefinger. * * * * * * Alejandro was nearly asleep when he heard the clinging of the bell at the front gate, and loud shouting from below. "Don Alejandro! I demand that you open the gate!" a male voice was shouting. "This instant!" Alejandro rolled out of bed, pulling on his robe. The pounding and shouting continued. He opened his bedroom door to find Bernardo standing there. He, too, had obviously pulled clothing on swiftly and run up the stairs. "Who is it?" Alejandro asked. Bernardo made his gesture for Vilaro and the lancers. "What now?!" Alejandro fumed, heading down the steps to the patio. Bernardo followed. As they reached the ground level they were joined by Mendocino and a vaquero who ran in from the stable yard. Alejandro waved them all off. "I will deal with this," he said. He went to the gate and opened it. Without a word, Vilaro barged through the gate and into the patio, followed by two of his Mexican corporals. Sergeant Garcia was behind them, but hovered in the gateway looking dismayed. "What is the meaning of this?" the elder de la Vega cried. "You have already invaded my home once tonight!" "I want to see your son immediately," Vilaro growled back, looking around. "My son?" Alejandro repeated. He looked upstairs and back at the officer. "Which one?" "What do you mean 'which one?'" the commandante exclaimed. "Do you imagine I think the little boy is Zorro?!" "I am not but I will be someday!" came a small voice from the balcony above them. They all looked up to see Rufino's face peering over the ledge at them. From behind him, Esperanza's crying wafted into the night air. "Go find Maria to see to the baby," Alejandro instructed Mendocino. He turned back to Vilaro. "I am not certain Diego is yet returned from his search for the horse, but I will send Bernardo up to see if he is in his room," he said. He nodded at Bernardo to go upstairs and pointed at Diego's room. Then he pointed to where they were standing, indicating that Diego should come down. Bernardo nodded and went upstairs. "Go with him," Vilaro instructed the corporal to his left. Alejandro stepped in front of the man. "That will not be necessary," he said swiftly. "And why do you object?" Vilaro asked. "Because if he is up there he is with his wife, who does not need the military invading her bedroom for the second time this evening!" Alejandro replied indignantly. "It is intrusive enough that we must send a servant into their room at this hour," he went on. "Since you have never married, seņor, you cannot appreciate the value of quiet and privacy to a young couple after their child has finally gone to sleep, though you have managed not to let even their baby sleep through the night!" Vilaro winced, having just been given entirely too much information about too many domestic matters in the de la Vega household. Alejandro glanced beyond him to Sergeant Garcia, whom he observed was looking down and trying rather desperately to keep from smiling. "We are just going to have to wait," Alejandro went on, after looking up to see Bernardo disappear into Diego and Elizabeth's room. "This could take a while. Would you like for me to explain?" "No!" Vilaro barked. Bernardo tore through the bedroom, through the secret room, down the stairs and through the dark passageway to where Diego still sat, stroking his unconscious beloved's shoulders where she still lay across his lap. "What is it?" he asked the wild-eyed servant. Bernardo gestured to him to get up and come with him. "For what?" Diego asked. His head had cleared some in the time since his father's visit, and despite the ache in his arm he was enjoying the silence of the cave and watching Elizabeth's ribs rise and fall as she breathed. Bernardo tried to gesture what was going on, but it came out in a jumble of images involving Alejandro, Vilaro, Garcia, Rufino and a great deal of exasperation and hurry. "Slow down, slow down," Diego instructed, keeping his voice low. Bernardo took a deep breath. Then he pointed at Diego, gestured putting the jacket on, and indicated that Diego needed to come upstairs with him. Then he pointed in the direction of the patio and again gestured Alejandro and Vilaro. "They are here?" Diego said, sitting up straighter. He grimaced and his hand went to his shoulder. Elizabeth stirred slightly in his lap. Bernardo nodded and pointed up again. Then he picked up Diego's jacket from the straw and waved it at him. "Vilaro is looking for me," Diego said, realizing at last what was going on. Bernardo nodded. "And my father has sent you to get me," Diego said. Again Bernardo nodded. Diego stared into the darkness for a moment, thinking. He looked at the jacket in Bernardo's hands. "I am going to have to get that back on and then hope we can somehow convince him that I do not need to take it off," he said quietly. He looked down at Elizabeth, and then back to Bernardo. "And we will have to leave her here," he said. He patted her shoulder gently, and eased her off of his lap and into the straw. Diego looked at her sleeping for a moment, tenderness crossing his face. "I will be back, sweetheart," he said softly. Then he looked up at Bernardo and offered his good hand. "Help me up," he said. * * * * * * Vilaro's patience was wearing thin when the party on the patio heard a door shut upstairs. They had waited for close to ten minutes, shifting their weight and tolerating the screams and eventually the whimpers of Esperanza from her room. Maria brought the baby out onto the balcony for a while, which resulted in some waving back and forth between her and her grandfather. This put Vilaro out considerably, for he had not tolerance for anything that resembled sentimentality or cuteness. He was therefore more than ready to proceed with his investigation when the door to the young de la Vegas' room slammed. "Don Diego!" Rufino exclaimed from his perch on the ledge. "Get down, Rufino, you will fall," Diego said, lifting the boy off the ledge with both hands and putting him on the floor. Alejandro watched as his two sons and Bernardo made their way down the stairs and to the commandante and his lancers. "I understand you wish to see me," Diego said, striding up to Vilaro. Sergeant Garcia stepped up to the rest of the group, a big smile. "I told you he would be here!" he beamed. "Did you find the horse?" Alejandro asked his son. Diego shook his head. "Not a trace, I am sorry to say. Elizabeth will be terribly upset. I could not bring myself to wake her up and tell her. I just got back fifteen minutes ago and was nearly in a tub of hot water when he," he nodded at Bernardo, "found me." He looked at Vilaro. "What is the meaning of interrupting this household in the middle of the night?" he asked. "I want to see your left arm," Vilaro said commandingly. Sergeant Garcia sighed, wondering if it was going to take eternity for people to learn once and for all the ridiculousness of testing whether or not Diego was Zorro. "My left arm?" Diego repeated, looking at his father quizzically. Alejandro rolled his eyes. "He was inspecting all of us earlier," he said. "What?!" Diego responded, looking at his father. "Take your coat off!" Vilaro demanded. "And your shirt too!" "This is an outrage!" Diego said. "And you cooperated!??" he asked his father. Alejandro held up his hands helplessly. "He walked in on Doņa Elizabeth, too!" Rufino said, pointing at Vilaro. "He what?" Diego exclaimed. "Si, she was in her room with the door closed and he walked in on her!" Rufino said. Diego slowly turned and eyed Vilaro calmly. "Is what my young brother says true?" he asked. "I, well, I...I thought you were in there with her...." the soldier stammered, suddenly flummoxed at the memory of his encounter with the sturdy seņora in her bedroom. Diego squinted at Vilaro thoughtfully. Then he leaned back and socked the commandante in the jaw as hard as he could. Stunned, Vilaro fell to his knees, barely staying conscious. Two of the lancers were at either side of Diego instantly, holding him tightly. Diego tried to shrug them off but then simply stood there, staring at Vilaro with uncharacteristic fury. The third lancer on hand bent over Vilaro to see if he was all right. "Arrest him!" one of the lancers snapped at Sergeant Garcia. The Sergeant was staring in awe at Diego. The only thing he could think of that even slightly compared to this moment was the afternoon Diego had effortlessly carried Elizabeth from her horse to his carriage after she returned from the mountains and her mystery days with El Zorro. But even that show of strength had not included violence. "Uhhhhhhh...." Vilaro said. Then he slumped all the way to the ground in a faint. The lancer beside him looked at Mendocino. "Get some water!" he said. "I saw him walk in on your seņora too," Garcia said to Diego, nodding confirmation of Rufino's report. Then he eyed the two corporals. "Let go of him," he said to them. "He has just knocked a military officer to the ground! That is a capital offense in Mexico!" the other lancer beside Diego replied. "We are in California," Garcia told them, stepping forward. He pried their hands off Diego's arms and shoved both of them away. They were no match for his bulk. Having freed Diego, he faced his friend. "Don Diego," he said gently. "You should not have punched our commandante in the jaw. I am under obligation to arrest you." "I know I should not have hit him Sergeant, but...." Diego started. Garcia held up his hand and shook his head. Mendocino returned with a bucket of water and before anyone could stop him, dumped it all over Vilaro. It made the commandante wake up, sputtering. "You are not going to arrest my son over that!" Alejandro shouted, pointing at Vilaro where he dripped on the ground, trying to wipe the water out of his face. Diego sighed, looking around at all of them. "Well, if you must arrest me, Sergeant, then arrest me! I make no apology for defending the honor of my wife!" He held his hands out to be cuffed. "Go ahead!" he said, pushing his hands out forcefully. "Or would you like for me to take my shirt off first?!" He began to remove his jacket. "Calm down, Don Diego," Garcia said, becoming alarmed at the temper Diego was displaying. "And do not take off your jacket, it is chilly tonight. We know you are not Zorro." Vilaro, yanking at one of the lancers, pulled himself to his feet. He glared at Diego, feeling his jaw. "What you have done is an offense punishable with death," he stated. He looked at the lancers. "Arrest this man!" he said. "You arrest him and you will not live to see him tried," came a voice from behind Vilaro. They all looked around to see Alejandro standing six feet behind Vilaro, a musket in his hand. "I assure you it is loaded," the old don said calmly. One of the lancers made a move towards him, and Alejandro turned his aim. "Would you like the bullet?" he asked. The man froze. Sergeant Garcia moaned. "Now I have to arrest you and your father," he said to Diego. "Then you must arrest me, too!" Rufino cried, jumping in front of the Sergeant and offering his hands to be tied. "Rufino! Get back with Bernardo now," Alejandro commanded. Bernardo reached for the boy and yanked him back by his nightshirt collar. "Well," Diego said, looking around. His father's gun was still pointed at the Commandante. Two of the lancers pistols were aimed at him. Mendocino had stepped back into the shadows and was nowhere to be seen. "This would be an excellent moment for El Zorro to appear. Does anyone know how to reach him?" "He has been shot!" Vilaro shouted. "He is not going to save anyone!" His eruption reverberated across the patio. Upstairs, Esperanza began crying again. Everyone looked up in the direction of her room. Diego whirled around and slugged the lancer to his left, knocking him to the ground. He then turned to take on the one to his right, but Garcia was there first, giving the man an unforgettable punch. Alejandro jumped Vilaro from behind and knocked him to the ground. He then whacked the officer on the head with the butt of his musket. The third lancer was on his way to the gate but suddenly tripped, foiled by Mendocino's broom flying across the ground out of nowhere. "Wow!" Rufino shouted gleefully. The men still on their feet looked around at the ones in uniform on the ground. Diego took a step in no particular direction. "I think I have just disregarded my uniform," Garcia observed. He looked at them all. "Perhaps it is my difficulty with a Mexican uniform?" Diego took another aimless step, and then fainted. Alejandro hurried to his son, falling to his knees beside him. Bernardo was close beside. Sergeant Garcia towered over them, looking down at the suddenly-collapsed young don. Rufino's eyes widened. He looked up towards the balcony and then bounded across the patio and up the stairs. Esperanza's continued crying floated down as Alejandro tried to wake Diego up, patting his cheek lightly. Vilaro groaned loudly. "Get some more water out here," Alejandro instructed Bernardo. The servant nodded and hurried towards the kitchen. "I think he finally fainted from so much violent exertion," Garcia observed, continuing to peer down at the sight of his friend passed out on the ground. "Forgive me Don Alejandro, but riding a horse, or perhaps little Esperanza crying, are the most unsettling things Don Diego can manage...." he stopped himself, and then continued, "although...it is true that when it comes to his seņora, he..." His sentence was stopped by a shout from the balcony. "Don Alejandro!" Rufino cried, from the doorway of Elizabeth and Diego's bedroom. Those still conscious below looked up. "It is Doņa Elizabeth! She is not here! She is missing!" Alejandro groaned and put his hand over his face, shaking his head.