Chapter 11

        “Ignacio!” Diego warned the minute he strode through the door of the Alcalde’s office in Los Angeles.

        De Soto sat in his chair behind the large pine desk in the center of the room, perusing some papers.  He would look importantly busy to anybody else, but Diego knew looks were often deceiving.  The Alcalde finally put his papers aside, but didn’t stand, an inherent insult.  “De la Vega, what a surprise to see you.”

Incensed at his flat and uncaring tone, Diego’s glare intensified.  “Surprise, nothing!  You put my wife in jail!”

De Soto shrugged.  “What of it?”

“What of it?!  She’s sick, that’s what!”

“She can be sick in jail as well as in your hacienda,” was the unsympathetic answer.  “Besides, except for an appalling taste in clothes, she doesn’t look sick to me.”

“Then you didn’t look very hard.  It’s a wonder the jouncing of travel didn’t kill her outright.”

De Soto sneered.  “Kill her, my right eye!  She seemed perfectly fine to me.”  He shifted in his seat.  “I think you’re both just making up all this sickness stuff.”

“Making this up?  For what reason?”

“Sympathy, of course!”

“Sympathy for whom?”

“For herself.  For you.  For that bandit of hers.”

At least he’d had the decency to mention her husband before Zorro.  But that hardly mollified Diego, whose eyes narrowed in pity.  “You truly are deluded, Ignacio.  At this late date, what could Victoria possibly have to do with Zorro?”
        De Soto leaned towards Diego.  “I know that masked fiend has gone back to hounding people left and right.  He’s–”

“... doing your job again.”

Snarling his frustration, de Soto smashed his gloved hand on his desk.  “I will not sit idly by while innocent citizens are put in danger!”

“Innocent like Dr. Hernandez?  I was under the impression he was killed by bandits other than Zorro.”

De Soto’s face at least grew grave as he said, “Yes, the doctor’s death is regrettable, but we’ll catch those responsible.”

“I doubt it.  Zorro will probably catch the bandits responsible while you’re arresting innocent women.”
        “Really, de la Vega, how can you be so naive?  If anything will draw that man out, it’s her.”

This man’s audaciousness was nothing short of galling!  “So you admit that she’s bait?”

“Zorro never could leave the señorita in jail.  He’ll come for her, and when he does, we’ll have him.  Acting as bait is her civic duty.”

“Need I remind you she’s not a señorita anymore, but Señora de la Vega, and I will not have my wife used in one of your wild schemes to capture Zorro!”

The Alcalde finally did stand.  “You will, or you’ll be joining her in jail.”

“Good!”  That was clearly not the answer de Soto expected to hear.  His momentary surprise allowed Diego to say, “I demand to see her.”

De Soto shook his denial.  “You can demand all you want.  Her brother is with her now, convincing her to give up that bandit.  I won’t have you prancing in there and undoing all his hard work.  The only way you’ll see her is–”

As if history was repeating itself, a de la Vega swung his fist at the jaw of the Alcalde of Los Angeles.

De Soto flinched back to avoid the swing.  “Ha!  You missed!”

“I missed on purpose,” Diego calmly announced.  Knowing precisely where de Soto would be now that he’d flinched back near the wall, Diego’s second punch smashed against the Alcalde’s jaw with a satisfying crunch.

While the Alcalde fruitlessly rubbed at his aching jaw, Diego stared at his hand in faint surprise.  “That hurt more than I thought it would.  No wonder Zorro always wears those heavy gloves.”

Predictably, de Soto pointed a finger shaking with rage right in Diego’s face.  “Striking a government officer… you’re under arrest.  MENDOZA!”
        The Sergeant appeared so quickly, he must have been listening behind the door to the barracks.  “Si, Alcalde?”

De Soto gestured at Diego.  “Arrest this man for–”

“It’s safe to say he knows what it’s for,” Diego dryly noted.  Still flexing the pain from his fingers in order to hide his growing satisfaction, Diego turned to Mendoza.  “Lead the way, Sergeant.”

“I’m sorry, Don Diego.  This way.”  As if he’d never jailed Diego before, Sergeant Mendoza led him through the door to the cells.

“Victoria, be reasonable!  You must tell the Alcalde what you know!” Ramon Escalante was saying as they entered.

Victoria paced her cell like a caged tiger.  “I won’t.”

Ramon let his head fall to his hands wrapped around the bars in a semblance of defeat.  “I agree you should think of Zorro at a time like this… but the Alcalde!” he wailed.

Diego calmly walked into the cell adjoining Victoria’s, while Mendoza apologetically but firmly closed and locked it behind him.  “What about the Alcalde?”

“He threatened to hang her as an accomplice!” Ramon explained to Diego.  “I say she should tell him what he wants to know.”

“Which is?”

“Zorro’s identity.”

“Oh that,” Diego scoffed.  “She doesn’t know.”

Victoria and Ramon stared at him in surprise.  “How do you know that?” Ramon asked.

“None of us know,” Diego replied offhandedly.  “Besides, I thought Victoria was here as bait to capture Zorro, not unmask him.”

Ramon replied, “Lure him, capture him, unmask him, what difference does it make?  The Alcalde promised her an early death if she doesn’t cooperate.  I say–”

“I’ll never cooperate!” Victoria furiously shouted at Ramon.  She instantly turned on Diego.  “Why are you here?!”

As complacent as Victoria was furious, Diego said, “I punched Ignacio.”
        “What?” she cried.

“I wanted to make sure you were all right.  The Alcalde wouldn’t let me see you, so I punched him.”

 Victoria stared incredulously at Diego, as if the idea of Diego endorsing violence was mind boggling.  Her stare changed from shocked to slightly appreciative.  “Zorro may be somewhere in there after all.”

“Amigo,” Mendoza said to Ramon.  “Your five minutes are up.”  He herded the tavern keeper to the door.

“Tell him, Victoria!” Ramon entreated as he slipped to the office beyond.

“I’d rather die!” Victoria yelled after him.

“That can be arranged!” came de Soto’s faint reply from the other room.  A dry cackle followed just as the door to the jail slammed shut, leaving Diego and Victoria alone.

A moment of silence went by as Victoria angrily paced the cell and Diego thoughtfully watched his wife.

Finally, Diego broke the silence.  “Forgive me Victoria, but somehow you look farther from death than you’ve looked in months.  How do you feel?”

Victoria glanced at him, distracted.  “What?”

“You’re like… your old self,” Diego slowly announced.  “How is that possible?  When I left you this morning, you were… not like this.”

“Oh?”  Victoria stopped pacing to stare at Diego.  “I was so angry, I didn’t even notice.”

“Your speech,” Diego stated, just now realizing.  “It’s normal.”

Successfully distracted from her anger, Victoria looked at him, her eyes lighting up in surprise.  “It is!  I thought I was… I don’t know… just saying short sentences.”

“How’s your breathing?”

Victoria took a tentative breath.  The inhalation didn’t sound shallow at all.  She sucked in a deep breath as if, now that she was paying attention, she couldn’t get enough.  “I can breathe!”  She looked at Diego in amazement.  “How is this possible?”

Mystified, Diego drew as close to the bars as he could.  Victoria mirrored his position, curling her fingers around his hands.  “Your hands are warm,” Diego noticed immediately.  “They’ve been cold for so long that I expected… well, I don’t know what I expected, but it sure  wasn’t this.”

Victoria seemed to be looking inward.  “This morning was the same as always.”  She breathed deeply, almost drinking the air.  “Foggy, dark…  It was hard to think for long.”  Her brows puckered, showing her confusion.  “Now I can think much clearer.”  Her eyes met his.  “But why?”

For the millionth time in the last hour, Diego cursed the fact he’d not spent the day with Victoria.  Of all the days to miss!  “Felipe and I were gone a long time, almost all day.  Did you do something special?”

“No, of course not.  I spent the day with Maria.”

“Maria Hidalgo, the new house maid?”

“No, Maria Perez, your cook.  We were trying different things to make the liver taste better.  I was going to surprise you.”

“Different how?”  Silently, Diego wondered if anything could possibly make something as horrible as liver taste any better, but he appreciated the gesture just the same.

Victoria’s face wrinkled into a thoughtful look.  “Like… well… we soaked some of it at first, to see if it would soften up a bit.  It was rather tough and stringy this morning.”

“Father likes it that way.  He has some strange idea that the toughness will rub off on the

people who eat it.”

        “You don’t like the toughness, do you?”

        “I don’t like anything about liver.”

        “That’s what I thought.  The liver and chicken enchiladas we had for lunch weren’t bad.  You might like those.”

        “Liver enchiladas?”  Diego tried to hide a shudder from her.  “I’ll take your word for it.  What else?”

        “We tried soaking it in water at first, but that didn’t help the metallic taste.  So we tried berry juice next; Maria thought the sweetness might help.  And oh, we also tried lemon juice.”  She puckered her lips.  “But that was too sour.  We tried coating it in corn flour, then frying it in suet.  That wasn’t bad, but it was still strong.”  Between each sentence, she took a breath of air, drinking it in.  “We soaked it in wine.  We chopped it really fine and squeezed juice over it to keep it moist, then added a few spices.  It came out like a paste.”

         “What spices?”

        Victoria shrugged.  “Maria was in charge of the spices.  I cooked… when she let me.”  Her smile grew reminiscent.  “It felt good to cook again.”  She shook her head as if to shake away the distraction.  “Anyway, I doubt it’s anything from the enchiladas.  We have those all the time.  Do you think it could be the berry juice?  Or the suet?”

        “We haven’t tried either of them yet.  It’s possible.”  He was so absorbed in this puzzle, he didn’t note that Victoria had clearly moved beyond her decision not to chase a cure.  “I wish I had my ledger with me to look back on what we’ve tried.”

        “I remember trying chicken once.  That made a little difference.”

        “Yes,” Diego thoughtfully agreed.  “But if I remember right, it didn’t make enough of a difference for such a dramatic change.”  He gestured at Victoria through the bars to indicate her sudden abilities.

        Her brow furrowed in uncertainty, she asked, “Do you think this will last?”  She inhaled sharply, as if afraid she wouldn’t be able to breathe like this for much longer.

        Diego gazed at her in consternation.  “I don’t know.  I guess all we can do is wait and see.”

        Victoria squeezed his fingers.  “I wish Dr. Hernandez was still alive.  He might be able to guess.  I miss him already.”

        “Yes,” Diego agreed sadly.  “He was always so hopeful.”

        “And friendly.”

        “And cheerful.”

“And… it meant so much that he simply believed me.”

Diego snorted indelicately.  “Ignacio sure doesn’t.”

“He didn’t believe me even when he arrested me.”

“Did you feel different as soon as that?  I don’t even know what time any of this happened.”

“You and Felipe were at the Indian camp much longer than I expected.”

“I was talking to Gray Wing.”

“Gray Wing?”

“The Indian tracker who…”  Remembering his news, he suddenly straightened in excitement.  “You’ll never guess what!  Listen!”  He told her as quickly as he could about what White Feather knew.  “And Felipe told me a few things too, such as you’ve been having headaches?”

Victoria shrugged.  “A few… more than a few.  All right, a lot, but that didn’t seem important enough to mention.”

“They were more than important,” Diego told her.  “They helped White Feather remember what he knew.”

“It’s so strange that he believes me too.”  Victoria’s voice cracked with emotion.  “So many people don’t.”  She choked back a tearful laugh.  “I don’t think even Ramon believes me.”

“Father didn’t at first, either,” Diego imparted.  “And why should he?   It’s not like he could see it.”

“You couldn’t either, but you automatically believed me.”

“Yes, but I’m different,” Diego replied without thinking.

Victoria’s forehead wrinkled in confusion.  “How so?”

Suddenly realizing what he’d almost revealed, Diego blinked stupidly, unable to decide what to say.  As Zorro, he always knew what to say, what to do, how to think on his feet, how to turn the tables to his advantage.  But now, staring right at Victoria, he couldn’t think at all… except to note that this must be how Victoria had been feeling for months.  Interesting.

“I knew you liked me,” she abruptly said into the quiet jail.

One more blink of shock later, and Diego’s mind was working again, albeit slowly.  “Excuse me?”

Victoria cast her eyes to the floor, as if embarrassed.  “That’s why I went to you for help in the first place.”

Diego didn’t understand what she was saying… or not saying.  “What exactly do you mean?”

“When I first asked for your help with all this.”  She still wouldn’t meet his eyes.  “I knew you would–”
        “You needed help, Victoria,” Diego said.  “There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.”

“But I knew you wouldn’t say no.”  Victoria could have bored a hole in the floor with the strength of her gaze alone.

Diego reared back in stunned surprise.  “Of course I wouldn’t say no.  How could I?  You’re my friend.”  Then he rolled his eyes, frustrated with his inability to admit the truth.  “You’re more than a friend, and you always have been.”

“I… know,” she hesitantly said.  “I’ve known for a long time.”  The confession sounded like it was dragged out of her against her will, while she looked relieved at the same time.

They shared a silent moment while Diego stared at her.  Her gaze rose from the floor to meet his eyes, then instantly dropped back to the floor as if burned.  She seemed almost…  guilty.

“How long have you wanted to say something about this?” Diego eventually asked.

“I…”  Victoria drew in a sharp breath again, but refused to back down.  “Don’t take this the wrong way, por favor.  At the time I asked for your help, I was still very much in–”

“I guess it doesn’t matter what you felt or when you felt it,” Diego hastily interrupted.  “It doesn’t matter what I felt, either.  What matters is what we feel right now.”  He didn’t want to hear what he suspected she was going to say, that she’d been in love with Zorro at the time they’d begun seeking a cure for her illness, like she’d been using him.

“But… what I told you this morning… it’s the truth.”  She did meet his eyes then, gazing at him with an intensity he’d never seen from her, even as Zorro.  “I hope you believe that.  I want you to believe that.  I…”  Her voice cracked, and she couldn’t go on.

“It’s all right,” Diego quickly soothed, caressing her hands, still surprised to find her fingers so warm.

“But I’ve made such a mess out of everyone’s lives!  You, your father, Felipe… everyone!”

He couldn’t help smiling a little at such a dramatic statement.  “You haven’t made a mess of anything.”

“Oh, will you let me feel guilty for once!” she yelled in aggravation.  Diego couldn’t quite hold back his smile of amusement… which made her angry.  “I’m going to yell for the Alcalde in a minute if you don’t stop!”

“And speaking of Ignacio…”  Diego gazed at her thoughtfully.  “It’s no wonder he doesn’t think you’re sick if he only ever saw you like this.  Truly Victoria, you look… I don’t want to say it in case it’s not true, but you seem–”

“Cured.”
        ”I’m surprised by your willingness to say it.  But yes.”

She stared at him, more baffled than angry now.  “I guess it’s like you said: we’ll have to wait and see.”  She took a quick turn around her cell.  “I hate waiting.”

“But you waited for Zorro for years.”

Her lips lifted up in a wan smile.  “I did.  It was my way of helping him.”

“So it didn’t seem at all onerous to you?”

“Didn’t seem what?”

“Onerous… bothersome.”

She shook her head in appreciation.  “You and Felipe have such good vocabularies.”

“Speaking of Felipe… he also told me you and he created some kind of finger spelling together?”

“Oh, this?”  She instantly waved her fingers in the air.  “I just spelled out The Alcalde is loco.”  Diego laughed as she whispered, “Don’t tell him I said that.”

“My lips are sealed if you teach it to me.”

Victoria shrugged.  “Certainly.”

Diego grinned.  “We have nothing better to do while we wait for Zorro to rescue us or get captured by the lancers.”

“And to see if I’m cured for good… or if we’re dreaming.”  She instantly sat on the hard dirt floor of her cell, facing Diego, who joined her on the floor on his side of the bars.  “Let’s start by spelling your name.”