James and Anna walked along the cliff, leading their horses. The wind whipped the girl's hair behind her, as the storm clouds moved in.
"Looks like rain." James said.
"Yes, it does." Anna replied, "This place is so dry, I'm sure they could use it."
James stopped and took her hand.
"Are you really okay?"
Anna smiled, "You sound just like Matthew!" she turned serious, looking out over the ocean. "It has been hard. I keep thinking that this is all a nightmare from which I will awaken. Yet the excruciating pain I feel indicates that this is indeed a crushing reality."
"I'm afraid I'm not going to make it any better."
"What makes you say that?" she asked, withdrawing her hand to brush her hair out of her eyes.
"The council has decided that you are a risk that they don't want to take."
"What do you mean? Won't I be returning to Wyclythe Manor or will I be going to the States, like Matthew said?"
"The need for people in the States has been diminishing since the war. There are too many now as it is."
"So, I will be returning to Wyclythe then."
"There is nothing at the manor anymore. Since Lord Wyclythe's trial and conviction, that group has been reorganized."
"So where will I be posted?"
James did not answer. He looked out at the choppy waters.
"James?"
The man turned and took her face in his hands. "Anna, you have to understand that I had nothing to do with this."
The girl took his hands in hers. "What do you mean? Nothing to do with what?"
James took a deep breath, "The council has decided to discharge you from service."
Anna stepped back, startled. "Discharge me? But I have served His Majesty well! Why would they discharge me?"
"They think that you have outlived your usefulness. They said that you could either stay with Matthew or return to England. I came to tell Matthew to keep you with him, but with Matthew dead—"
"—I must return to England." She finished. "If not Wyclythe, then where?"
"That's just it. They have no references for you, no insertion plan. Nothing."
"They simply want to drop me on the streets of London without references? Who would hire me? How would I support myself?"
"I don't know. The only other option is to desert and stay here."
"They would strip my citizenship if I desert."
Anna turned away from him. James stepped up behind her.
"So, basically, I either go to London with no history, no references, and no future, or I stay here with no history, no references, no future, and no country."
"Perhaps you should return to England, marry, and have lots of babies." James suggested.
Anna turned back to him.
"Who would marry me without a past, without friends, without any reference of any kind? James, I can't just walk down the street and marry the first man that comes along. It doesn't work like that!"
"Matthew…" James began, but lost courage.
"What about Matthew?"
James looked down at Anna. "Matthew always wanted us to marry."
Their eyes locked. James tenderly brushed a few strands of hair from her face, then slowly bent toward her. Anna pulled away.
"James, you can't marry me. I've already been discharged; you'd loose your commission, too." The man was silent. "I will return to England."
"Is that your choice?"
"Yes, James," she said, looking up to him. "That is my choice."
James turned and mounted his horse. "I must return to Santa Barbara immediately. Go back to town and gather your things, and meet me there by the end of the week. If you are not there by Sunday, I shall have to go on without you.”
"I understand. Thank you, James."
"Anna, I beg you to reconsider."
"I have made my decision."
James nodded his head, turned his horse, and galloped out of
sight.
[End English]
Anna rode back to the pueblo, and the rain began to fall lightly. When she reached the stables, she had just guided Lady into the stall when the rain began to downpour. She ran from the stables to the kitchen. Brushing the water off as best she could, she stood in front of the kitchen fire to get warm, coughing and sneezing a bit. The warmth was pleasant on her arms, but she knew that she must get to work. She bent and took her mending basket into the dining hall. The room had thinned out noticeably with the rain. Only a few stragglers remained. She looked for Felipe, but did not see him. The girl sat by a window to watch rain and mend a few shirts.
"Roberto!" she heard Rosa scream from upstairs. The girl jumped to her feet, the mending falling to the floor. She ran to the bottom of the stairs, and, hearing Rosa scream again, took them two at a time to the top. She hurried to the doorway, and stopped in her tracks, her hand flying to her mouth. Martinez leaned on the bedpost, his head on his arm. Rosa had thrown herself across Roberto's still form and was sobbing convulsively. Anna began to back from the
room.
Rosa looked up.
"You!" she growled, climbing to her feet. "You killed him! You…you English pig!"
Anna held up her hands in front of her to try to calm Rosa down. The Spanish woman lunged for the chair in the corner and grasped Roberto's sword with both hands. She stalked toward the girl in the doorway, the sword menacingly leading the way.
"+Please, calm down.+" The girl pleaded in English, looking to Martinez who was still leaning, obliviously, on the bedpost.
The sword kept coming closer, and Anna realized that Rosa was truly serious in her intent. The girl turned to flee from the room, but Rosa swung catching the sword on its intended target. The blade ripped through Anna's sleeve, tore the bandage that Diego had placed, and pierced her left shoulder. The girl cried out, but did not stop.
Holding her shoulder, she ran down the stairs, brushed past Victoria, who dropped a glass pitcher of lemonade with a crash.
"Anna!" she exclaimed seeing the blood soaking into the girl's bodice and running down her arm. The girl continued out of the tavern, and soon Victoria heard Lady galloping away through the rain toward Santa Barbara.
Anna rode as fast as she could. Pulling her hand away from her shoulder, she saw the copious amounts of blood that she was losing. It just looks like more because of the rain, she reassured herself, urging Lady on. The girl began to feel weak; she leaned onto Lady's neck for support. Her heart was beating quickly, and she felt as if she could not catch her breath. She wanted to stop and lie down for a while, but she knew that she must keep going. The rain pelted her; she was soaked to the skin and began to shiver. The world began to grow dark, but Anna shook her head to regain her sight. I must make it. I must. She knew nothing more.
Diego sat in the classroom reading while Felipe wrote an essay on the symbolism in Beowulf. Try as he might, his thoughts continued to wander away from the pages and his eyes trailed to the window, where the rain fell heavily.
The caballero sighed, and glanced at Felipe. The young man's forehead was wrinkled in thought as he worked the pen across the paper. He is growing up, Diego thought. He is no longer the boy that I chased around the hacienda, or taught to ride a horse, or to add and subtract. He is a man now. Diego was proud, but a little sad with a sense of loss. He saw how tall and strong Felipe
had become, and he saw a lot of himself in his mannerisms.
Diego placed the book on the table and sauntered to the window. Leaning on the frame he looked out to see Miguel in his rain cloak riding away from the hacienda. A calf must be missing, Diego thought. He was glad that he was inside and warm and dry.
His thoughts turned to Felipe's new interest. The girl in town certainly gave him impetus to study English language, culture, and history. Felipe had never shown such interest in it before. Anna was certainly a pretty little thing, but Diego worried about Felipe becoming too attached. He huffed to himself. Perhaps Victoria was right. After all, his parents were indeed married by Felipe's age. Perhaps he was jealous because Felipe was able to marry, while the mask of Zorro kept him from his bride. Miguel disappeared into the distance as Felipe handed his teacher and friend the newly completed essay.
Miguel grumbled as he rode through the rain. Stupid cow. Stupid, stupid cow. Normally, he would have just waited the storm out and then started to look for the calf, but this particular cow was well bred and would bring quite a bit at market. Miguel felt he simply had to look for it; he didn't want to risk losing it in the storm. The bonus at selling time would make it worth it, but right now he was
wet, cold, and miserable. Stupid cow.
He rode along the road toward the southern pastures of the de la Vega land. The southeast corner had good patches of clover that the cows usually wandered to. They usually wandered back. The vaquero knew he had to hurry; it was starting to get very dark. Reaching the fence line, he turned his horse off of the rode and onto the trail that circled the land. He entered a stand of trees as thunder rolled. He hoped that one of the trees wouldn't get hit while he was under it. Miguel broke through the trees that vigorously swayed in the wind behind him.
Lightening flashed and Miguel's horse reared. The man cursed under his breath as he steadied his mount. He was beginning to wonder if this search was really worth all the trouble. Miguel started to turn his horse around when he spotted a mound of brown ahead in the clover. Aha! There it is! He removed his rope
from the saddle and prepared to lasso the cow as it lay in the grass.
Just before he threw the rope, he stopped the motion and drew back suddenly on the reins to the horse. His mount nickered in protest, and Miguel jumped to the ground. His hands shook in disbelief, but a flash a lightening confirmed what he saw: the still, pale form of a girl lay before him covered in dirt and blood. The man thought she was dead, but as he knelt beside her, he could barely see that she was indeed breathing. He hesitated, but then reached out and picked
her up. Standing, he shifted her in his arms and walked back to his
horse.
Diego and his father relaxed in front of a crackling fire after dinner that night. With their bellies full, they didn't feel much like talking. Diego strummed and picked at a guitar; Alejandro flipped through an atlas of far away lands. The peacefulness and warmth permeated their bodies; this was home.
Felipe burst through the door, motioning wildly.
"Felipe!" rebuked Alejandro. "You know better than to run into the room like that! Have you forgotten everything?"
Felipe continued to sign, unfazed. Diego's face darkened.
"Miguel found something out in the fields." He translated.
"What?" asked Alejandro.
"*I don't know, but he's coming into the yard now.*" Felipe signed.
Diego strode quickly from the room, Felipe following. Alejandro put his book back on the shelf and hurried after them. Miguel burst through the front door of the hacienda, rain running in rivulets down his head.
"Don Diego, Don Alejandro!" he called frantically. The men entered the foyer from the hallway.
"What! What is this?!" Alejandro exclaimed.
Felipe stopped in his tracks, eyes wide. A few more servants entered the room attracted by the commotion. Diego stepped forward to Miguel and took the girl from his arms.
"Where did you find her?" he asked.
"In the southern pasture. I thought she was a cow." All eyes turned to Miguel. Flushing crimson, he mumbled, "Never mind."
Diego carried Anna down the hallway to one of the lit guestrooms, Felipe on his heels, and the entourage following behind him. Entering the room, Diego placed the girl on the bed and felt her forehead.
"She's burning up. Marta, bring some warm water and clean clothes. We have to get her out of these wet ones." He directed.
Felipe began untying the girl's sandals, the movement hiding the tremor in his fingers. Marta flew from the room.
"I can't tell where the blood is coming from." Diego said, turning to Alejandro,
"Father, can you have Marta bring some towels, as well."
"Of course."
"Miguel, please let Maria know that I need her to boil water."
The number of people in the room dwindled as each went to complete their assigned task. Diego attempted to examine the English girl, but there was simply too much dirt and blood caked on her. Felipe placed her sandles beneath the bed, not knowing what to do next. His heart was beating out of his chest. As his patron jostled the girl, she moaned and her eyelids fluttered. Felipe thought she
was waking up.
Diego knew that time was of the essence if she was still bleeding. With a deep breath, he held the neckline of her dress in his hands and ripped the material. Anna awoke at the sound; the girl's two hands grabbed Diego's wrist, her fingernails digging into his arm.
"Anna! It's okay! It's Don Diego!" he called to her.
Felipe attempted to pry her fingers from Diego's arm, but Anna kicked at
him, catching the young man in the jaw. He stumbled back.
"No!" Anna cried, struggling with Diego. "Let go! Matthew! Matthew, help!" she screamed.
"Felipe!" Diego called over his shoulder, "Get her arms! She's
hallucinating!"
Felipe went to the head of the bed and placed his knee on the mattress. He reached out and wrapped his hands around Anna's thin wrists and pushed them into the pillows by her head. As he looked down into her face, he saw that her eyes were clouded and unseeing. Diego tried again to examine her shoulder, but the girl continued to scream and fight.
Marta ran into the room, and seeing the fray on the bed, dropped the towels on the floor. "Madre de Dios!" she exclaimed.
"Marta, get Miguel!" Diego called and Marta fled the room. She returned quickly with the vaquero in tow. "Get her ankles!" Diego directed. Miguel swiped at the kicking feet and pinned them to the comforter. With a final cry, the girl fell back on the pillows, unconscious.
It was late when Diego finally turned down the lamp in the guest room. He left the fire in the fireplace to burn itself out. He glanced over, in the crackling, soft light, at the girl asleep in the bed in one of his mother's nightgowns. Her face was peaceful; her fever had broken. He hoped that she would sleep through the night.
Felipe finished wiping the mud from Anna's sandals and set them by the hearth on the floor. He walked to the bedside and looked down at the girl. He brushed the hair back from her face.
"It's late. You should get some sleep." Said Diego.
Felipe looked up at him and shook his head. Diego nodded and left the room, leaving the young man alone to keep watch. Felipe pulled a chair to the bedside, pulled his rosary from his pocket, and began his vigil.
