When Dawn Comes, Chapter 9



Roberto opened his eyes and stretched. He was still so tired, but he knew that if he didn't get up soon he would have to answer to his father. His father tolerated him sleeping until noon, but generally, not much longer after that. At least that stupid girl hadn't come in and bothered him today. He rolled his eyes, got out of bed, and began to dress. I can't believe she had the nerve to call me a liar in front of everyone. Rosa just doesn't keep her servants in line; she never was good at discipline. Someone should set that girl straight. Who does she think she is? A lot of damage could have been done to my career. Luckily, the alcalde takes the word of an officer over the word of a wench. I'll just have to make sure that she never does that again. Roberto reached for his hat, tucked it under his arm, and opened the door to go down stairs.

Anna held the shirt up before her. It had mended nicely, and the tear was hardly noticeable. I should probably go straighten Rosa's room before she goes up there for siesta. The girl tucked the shirt into her basket, and placed her thread and needle on top.

"King me!" Alejandro declared.

Anna smiled and glanced over at the table. Her eyes locked with Felipe. How long had he been watching her? Her heart beat faster, but then the young man's face clouded and he looked away.

Discouraged, Anna collected her basket, stood and walked across the floor studying the weave of the basket edge. She looked up just in time to avoid bumping into Roberto who had reached the bottom of the stairs. She stopped in her tracks, and slowly raised her gaze to meet his. Roberto's face was dark and his eyes piercing. He did not move at all as he watched the girl before him, his jaw and fist clenched.

Felipe stood, and the room grew silent. Anna dropped her eyes and hesitantly began to step backwards away from her master. Roberto's gaze shifted from the servant girl to Felipe. His eyes pierced into the young man's, but Felipe did not back down. Diego rose to his feet, as well, concerned with the tension in the room. Anna stopped her retreat and look around at the men posturing in animosity. She knew that she was the cause. Fear and shame welled up within her, and she turned and fled through the front entrance to the tavern.

Anna ran around the back of the tavern to the stables. Matthew was walking across the yard. His sister ran up to him and stopped an arm length away, breathing hard. Her eyes glistened with tears and the basket shook as her hands trembled. Matthew gently took the basket, placed it on the ground, and swallowed the girl in a bear hug. He simply held her while she silently shook beneath his arms. Soon Anna was still. Matthew held her away from him, placed his palm on her cheek and tilted her head so her eyes met his.

"Did he hurt you?"

"No."

"Okay. Stay in the kitchen the rest of the day, unless Rosa asks you specifically to do something. I will stay close." Anna nodded her head, obediently. "Don't worry. I'll take care of the problem."

"Matthew--"

"I said don't worry. Now go to the kitchen."

Anna bit her tongue, took her basket, and walked toward the kitchen. Matthew turned and went back to the stables. Without a word to the vaqueros, he climbed into the loft and knelt beside his saddlebag. He opened the flap, reached in, and pulled out the pistol.

Glancing over his shoulder to make sure he was not seen, he slid it into his waistband. Matthew fished around in the bag again. This time he brought out a dark green Spanish sash that Martinez had given him, but he had refused to wear. It would come in handy now. Tying it around his waist, the sash hid the shape of the pistol perfectly. No one would notice he was carrying it. Unless it became necessary. It was a last resort, but he would defend his family.

That night when everything was quiet on the hacienda, Felipe and Diego met in the underground cave. Felipe sat at the long wooden table polishing Zorro's silver accents. Diego walked over to the table carrying a piece of parchment.

"Come look at this." Diego said, placing the paper on the table. Felipe stood and leaned over to see more clearly. "Martinez is a sniper. This is a diagram of the gun that he uses. Apparently, the alcalde has hired him, or he was appointed by someone in Spain, to kill Zorro. The first thing I must determine is what it so special about this gun that allows it to be more accurate than other guns."

They stared at the paper for a while.

Felipe motioned, "Where did you get this?"

"Anna." Diego said slowly, deep in thought, not really paying attention to Felipe.

Felipe started, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. His put his hand on Diego's arm to wrest his attention. Diego felt the unintended strength Felipe's grip.

"I suppose you want to know more than that, eh?" Diego said. Felipe nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. Diego sat down in his large chair. "Well, let's see. Yesterday we rode to town together from the hacienda. We talked and she told me what Martinez was here to do." Felipe sat down again in his chair before the silver. "Later she told me about the diagram. That's what I got last night." Diego sat quietly for a minute.

"Did she say anything else?" the young man asked.

The motions seemed to disrupt Diego's thoughts again, "Ah, si, she told me how she taught this Lord Wyclythe's daughter and read a lot. She admitted to changing the figures on the chalkboard."

Felipe grinned sheepishly and began to polish again. Diego remained silent in thought. It surprised Felipe that he didn't return to the drawing. Something else was bothering him. He put down his cloth and looked over at Diego. Diego looked back at him.

"She knows."

Felipe sat up straight. Astonished, he pointed to his ear.

"No, not about your hearing, at least I don't think so. She knows that I am Zorro."

Felipe's jaw dropped. "How? Why?" he signed frantically, "Did you tell her?"

"No, no." Diego leaned forward on his elbows. "She just, well, I don't know how to explain it, she just knew." He laughed half-heartedly. "She said it was obvious, almost implied it was a poor disguise."

"What do we do?"

"I don't know. I've been thinking about that all day. I just don't know enough about her and her situation to know what she'll do with the information, or what danger she may be in by knowing." Diego stood and walked back over to the diagram.

"I want her safe." Felipe signed.

"I know. I do, too." He turned to the diagram and said, "Oh, and she blushed when I mentioned you."

Felipe turned to the diagram, his mind swirling with thoughts. If Diego had looked over at him, he would have seen that Felipe was blushing, too.

Two other men were also looking at a diagram that night. Martinez and the Alcalde bent over a drawing of the town.

"What about the steeple?" the Alcalde asked.

"No, too windy and too revealing." Martinez replied.

"That leaves the wall to the quartel."

"Si, I think that will do well."

"You'll have a view of the entire village there and most of the surrounding land."

"Okay, I'll use that. Mendoza will be available to bring me whatever I need, correct?"

"Si, I will make sure that he is not doing anything else Tuesday."

"How will we bait him?"

"I'll just throw Victoria in jail for something. He always comes for that."

"Such a simpleton!" Martinez exclaimed. "Si, that sounds like everything is in order then."

The alcalde reached for his glass of wine at the edge of his desk.

"To Tuesday!" he said, raising his glass.

"To Success!" corrected Martinez, and together they drank.

"How is your other task going?" the alcalde asked as he rolled up the map of Los Angeles.

"Well, I have narrowed down the field. Alanzo Rodriguez is too young, but Jose Ortiz is too politically strong. What do you think of the de la Vega, eh, Diego, I believe is his name?"

"He's a fop. That's the only way to put it. He fritters away his day playing pianoforte and reading. He never seems to take an interest in village politics and scandals, much to his father's chagrin. For your purposes, he might work."

"Just as long as I don't have to worry about him nosing in my affairs. How big is the estate?"

"One of the largest in the territory. You know the name in Spain?"

"Yes, I have heard it often, but I didn't know how large the holdings were out here."

"I wouldn't mind having them myself."

Martinez laughed. "Well, when Rosa marries Diego, I will sell the land to you, then!"

De Soto raised his glass again, a wry smile on his lips.

Monday morning came as usual. Peasants opened their shops. Customers arrived at the tavern. The small pueblo was bustling. Out on the de la Vega hacienda, Alejandro, Diego, Felipe, and Miguel, Alejandro's head vaquero, took a ride around the pastures to oversee the farmhands at work. They rode hard that morning, covering most of the land. They reached the southern corner of the land and, with the herd on the horizon, stopped to discuss what they had seen that day.

"The cattle are looking well, Miguel. I don't think we'll loose any this winter." Alejandro boasted.

"Si, senor, we have a good herd this year."

"You've done an impressive job Miguel." Diego commended. "I think extra bonuses are in order."

"Indeed." Agreed Alejandro mopping his brow. "Whew! It sure is hot. What do you say we stop at Victoria's?" Everyone nodded in agreement. They turned their horses towards Los Angeles and began the short trip to the inn for refreshment.

Anna, too, mopped her brow. The sun was bad enough without standing over the huge pot of boiling water. It was Monday; time to wash clothes—again. At least she didn't have much to wash this week; the traveling clothes had already been washed. Anna stirred the pot of clothes with the large washing stick. She had rolled up her sleeves to the elbows, so that they would not soak up the boiling water. Her wrists had been burned too many times to make that mistake again. Anna's hair was also pulled up out of her face and off of her neck. It was just too hot to fool with today. The girl wiped her hands on her apron before using the stick to lift two shirts, heavy with water out of the large pot and into a smaller one of cool rinsing water. She stirred a bit, then took another washing stick and use both sticks to wring out the shirts as best she could. This is the easy part, she thought. The scrubbing had already been done. She hated that part, the scrubbing. It always left her hands raw and her nails shredded. With a sigh, Anna wrung the shirts out again by hand and walked them over to the clothesline. She pulled two pins out of her apron pocket and pinned up one of Matthew's shirts. With two more pins she pinned up one of Roberto's.

[begin English]

"Anna!" Matthew called as he walked across the yard. He was already grimy from a good mornings work, and the green sash around his waste was considerably soiled.

"Yes, I'm here." She said, stepping out from behind the shirts and walking back over to the large pot of boiling clothes.

"I have to go over to the blacksmith today. I should be back late this afternoon."

"Oh? Where is the blacksmith?"

"Just across the street from the tavern. I'll be close if you need anything."

"Okay, I'll be fine." She lifted two more shirts and a pair of pants from the wash. Matthew pecked his sister on the cheek and walked across the yard, into the short alley between the tavern and the cuartel and out into the main street of Los Angeles.

[end English]

Victoria placed another glass of wine in front of Roberto. He continued eating his late breakfast and didn't thank her, but by this time she didn't expect him to. The beautiful innkeeper had given up on coaxing a civil response out of the man. He was always rude and sinister looking. If Zorro hadn't put him in his place, she would probably be a bit fearful. Something just wasn't right with him. Rumor had it that he was sick in the head. Perhaps it was true. Then she heard voices that comforted her. Alejandro, Diego, Miguel, and Felipe burst through the door and crowded around a table by the window.

"Victoria, what is for lunch today?" Alejandro called.

"Ah, something good!" she said, "You will see!"

Victoria placed four glasses of lemonade on the table and returned to the kitchen to get their lunches.

Miguel drank half of his glass in one gulp. "There is nothing like Victoria's lemonade on a day like today!" he proclaimed.

"I agree!" said Diego. He glanced over at Roberto, who glared back. The other man seemed to prefer his meals in silence, not in the presence of joyful friendship and banter.

"Miguel, what would you think of buying a few more heads?" Alejandro asked.

Miguel answered and began a discussion on the purchasing of cattle. Diego half listened as he watched Roberto stand, throw his napkin on his plate, and stalk out the door.

END CHAPTER NINE

Chapter 10

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