Title: Trial by Fire
Rated : PG
Synopsis: Diego and Victoria get caught in a suspiciously set fire.
Misc Notes: This story takes place a few months after the series finale 'A Conspiracy of Blood'
Written: 8/05
Disclaimer: This story was written solely for the enjoyment of other Zorro fans and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights held by Goodman/Rosen Productions, New World Television, Zorro Productions, the estate of Johnston McCulley or anyone else.
Trial by Fire
"Hola, Victoria." Diego gave the woman he loved a wide smile as he walked into the tavern and right up to the bar.
"Hola, Diego!" Victoria smiled kindly at her friend and instantly poured him a glass of juice.
"Thank you." Diego took a small sip. "Father tells me you are planning to ride out to the Perez place today?"
"Oh, sí, at siesta," Victoria nodded excitedly, "Señora Perez just recently had a baby and she hasn't been feeling well, so I wanted to bring them a few things and offer to help her a bit."
Diego leaned against the bar and asked, "Would you like some company?"
Victoria grinned at her friend and leaned close, "Why, Diego de la Vega, offering to help care for the little one?"
Diego flushed and buried his attention in his glass for a moment before turning bright eyes on Victoria, "Well, no, I'll leave that to the ladies. You fair creatures are far more suited to such tasks. I wanted to talk to José about a story for the Guardian."
"Oh?" Victoria's curiosity was piqued even as she squirreled away his comment about women for examination later.
"The alcalde has been pressuring him to sell and José doesn't understand why the alcalde would want his land," Diego explained.
"Oh no, he's not picking up where Luis Ramón left off, I hope," Victoria scowled, remembering the time when the former alcalde tried to acquire land at a discounted price to sell at a substantial profit later.
"I'm not sure," Diego's lips thinned as he contemplated the possibilities of just why the alcalde might want that land. "It's nothing but farmland, but I'm going to check around today with José and see if we can discover anything that perhaps he doesn't know about."
"Well, then, I would love the company!" Victoria said with a wide smile, as she hurried to refill glasses and take a few orders.
Diego's eyes followed her as she bustled around the tavern offering a smile to each of her customers.
"Oh, Señorita Victoria!" Malinda Perez greeted Victoria with a large smile and a hug. "What a nice surprise!"
"I wanted to bring you a few blankets and clothes for the little one," Victoria smiled as they went into the small house, leaving the men to carry in the wrapped bundles firmly attached to the back of Diego and Victoria's horses.
"Thank you so much! You don't know how much we appreciate your help," Malinda sighed sadly. "The alcalde's taxes have left us with little to nothing. We can barely afford to eat, much less clothe the baby."
"Well, we can't let the alcalde halt the growth of our little pueblo, can we?" Diego followed with an armful of blankets and small packages, José Perez a step behind, carrying yet more.
The baby cooed in her bassinet and Victoria bent over to coo back, a large smile spreading across her face as her fingers traced the soft, plump newborn's cheek. "Oh, she's so beautiful!"
Diego watched in silence as Victoria obtained permission to hold the baby. A small smile crept across his face, lighting his eyes, as Victoria expertly picked up the baby and pressed a kiss to her little nose. If only he could tell her how he longed to give her a hacienda full of children. See her face light up when she lifted their own child into her arms.
Diego quickly averted his eyes when he noticed José grinning at him. "They are little magnets, that's for sure. I can't tell you how long I've just sat and stared at her."
Diego quickly masked the longing in his eyes as he glanced once more at Victoria holding the little babe, "Intoxicating little miracles, yes. I can see that."
Victoria looked up at him then and offered him such a sweet smile that his heart somersaulted in his chest. When she took a few steps towards him, he tensed.
"Would you like to hold her, Diego?" Victoria asked, standing beside him now, "Malinda says that José can't keep his hands off her."
"Yes, I'm fighting daily with my daughter for my husband's attention," Malinda laughed, threading her arm through her husband's and smiling lovingly. "And she is always so calm when José holds her too."
"Ah," Diego stammered, "well, I'm not sure that's a good idea. I don't have a lot of experience with babies and –"
"Oh, nonsense," Victoria interrupted and proceeded to lay the baby in his arms, not giving him the chance to decline. "Hold her."
Diego swallowed nervously, "Uh, Victoria –" he trailed off when the little one opened bright, inquisitive eyes and stared right at him. Immediately, he was drawn to the innocent one lying in his arms and the world around him fell away. He had imagined, even more so as of late, holding a child of his own like this and the feeling of just that memory caused him to gaze longingly at the babe.
"Careful not to let Don Alejandro see how drawn you are to this little one," Victoria chided, resting her hand on Diego's arm, "he might begin searching for a bride immediately!"
Diego tore his eyes from the intoxicating babe in his arms and regarded Victoria with an embarrassed smile. "Father wouldn't force me to marry someone I didn't love, I'm sure I have nothing to worry about." He brushed gentle fingers across the cooing babe's cheek and offered her back to Victoria with a warm smile and a wink, "but I thank you for your concern."
Victoria flushed and glanced at the beautifully carved rocking chair sitting beside the fire pit. "Oh, this is beautiful!" Victoria touched the polished wood with an admiring smile. "My mother had one when I was a child. Passed down from mother to mother. It was so old, she barely used it. But I loved to rock in it."
"José made it for me; he worked on it for months in his spare time," Malinda beamed lovingly at her husband.
"It's expertly crafted, José." Diego appeared beside Victoria and ran his hand around the back of the chair. He glanced up on the farmer. "Have you thought of selling your work?"
"Oh, no, I don't have time." José shook his head. "There is too much around here to do, and now with Malinda and the baby, she won't be able to do as much."
"Well, should you wish to make a few extra pesos, I would definitely commission some work from you." Diego smiled kindly, eyes lingering for a moment on Victoria and the babe that she held.
"Really?" José's eyes widened.
"Of course," Diego stepped away, the proximity to Victoria and the babe beginning to break down the barrier he'd erected over his feelings. "Let's leave the ladies to their babe and speak more of it outside. I've got some questions for my article for the Guardian as well."
The women instantly turned away and began talking about motherhood and babies and the men used this as the perfect excuse to escape.
They decided to take a short ride to discuss his article for the Guardian and to find out why the alcalde was interested in his land.
As they rode, Diego noticed the landscape erode away into what looked like a dried up waterbed. The heat of the California desert had sucked the liquid out of the ground long ago but something about the bed drew Diego's attention. He dismounted and walked along the edge as a small glint caught his eye.
"During the rainy season, this fills with water but it doesn't last long as soon as the sun hits it," José explained as he watched Diego walk over and plunge his hand into the sand.
Diego's eyes narrowed as he brushed off his hands. The glint of metal stuck to his skin as he rose his hand to inspect it in the bright sunlight.
"What is it?" José asked, dismounting his own horse and walking toward Diego.
"I'm not sure," Diego carefully inspected his hand and then returned his gaze toward the dried up lakebed. "But there is, or was, something metallic. See how it glints off my hands?"
José squinted, straining to see what Diego was talking about. There wasn't much but he could detect a hint of a metallic dust.
Diego glanced around at the surrounding hillside. They were not close but it wouldn't take long to ride to them. "Are we near any mines out here?"
"Oh, there are some toward the east," José pointed up the dried riverbed. "But, they collapsed long ago. I would play there as a child but my father never let me stay long. It was too dangerous."
"And those mines are a part of your land?"
"Oh sí," José nodded. "My father owned a lot of land here, which I inherited when he died, but we've never been able to get much to grow on it. So we planted what fruit and vegetables we could, which you see in the garden my wife has so well tended. What we don't eat, we sell and trade, and then I work at neighboring ranches for anything they will pay."
"I see." Diego walked a little further and seeing no more metallic glint, he returned to Esperanza. "Do you mind if we take a ride toward those mines?"
"Oh, sure." José mounted his own horse and reined him beside Esperanza. "But why? Is there something there?"
"I don't know," Diego said, brows knitting together in thought. "But with the heavy rains the past winter, the runoff has deposited something in the dry lakebed here. I'm guessing it has come from the surrounding hills and, perhaps, the mines."
As soon as the men had left, the little one began crying. Neither Malinda nor Victoria's efforts to silence the babe worked.
"See, as soon as José leaves, she cries!" Malinda whined as she desperately rocked the baby, whispering to the little one to sleep.
"Well, Diego held her last; we'll blame him!" Victoria giggled and Malinda chuckled. "Here, let me hold her while you go lay down. I did come over here to give you a bit of a break."
"Oh, Victoria you don't –"
"Oh stop, give her to me and go." The determined look in the señorita's eyes broke the young mother's resolve and Malinda finally gave in after fussing over the babe for a few more minutes.
"I fed her just before you arrived so she should be good for an hour or so," Malinda yawned despite herself.
"Well, good, we'll just play and have fun while you take a siesta!" Victoria smiled down at the crying babe in her arms, "won't we, little one? Hmm? Now stop crying for me so mamâ can get some sleep." Victoria rocked and cradled the child, talked in hushed whispers in an attempt to get the child to hush.
Rifling through the small packages she and Diego had brought, looking for the little toys, her eyes brightened when she opened a package she had not packed. It contained a tiny music box, with intricately carved animals. "Oh, what is this?" Victoria opened the top and it began to play the sweetest little lullaby she had ever heard. "Oh, I'll bet Diego brought this for you."
Victoria smiled warmly at the babe, thinking of how thoughtful Diego's gift was. As she sank happily into the chair and rocked the babe, she remembered the look in Diego's eyes when he held the little one. Did he want children? He was so good with them! As she continued to consider Diego's reaction to the little babe, she found herself overly concerned with the thought of him having a child of his own. He would have to marry. She contemplated with a furrowed brow why the thought disturbed her.
In no time, the babe fell asleep to the lullaby. Slowly, Victoria lay the little one in her bassinet and returned into the rocking chair, suddenly very tired. She hadn't realized that taking care of a baby could be so tiring. She closed her eyes and relaxed and was soon fast asleep herself.
Victoria didn't stir as the horses approached outside. She didn't hear the two men arguing as they dismounted.
"We're just gonna scare 'em, that's all!"
"Shh," the other man growled. "I know. That's all we're gonna do!"
"But –"
"Shuddup and help me! If we get caught, we'll be hung!"
"What do you see?" José asked, eyes narrowing as Diego picked up handfuls of sand, dropped them and then repeated the action.
"I don't know. The metallic dust is scattered through the sand here but it's very small, hard to see," Diego observed, holding out his hands.
"You think it might have come from the mines?"
"It's possible." Diego glanced at the caved in remains of the one before them. "But I don't suggest we go into it and look around. It's already pretty well sealed."
"It's been that way since I was a child," José admitted. "My uncle died in a cave in so he never wanted me to go near them."
"Understandable," Diego said, eyes scanning the sealed ruins of the mine. "Well, there is an eroded trail here that leads down to the waterbed so I'm guessing that its coming from somewhere in the mine."
"Could the alcalde think there is something valuable up here?" José suddenly remembered the reason for Diego's visit.
"I'd say that's very likely." Diego stepped closer to the mine and pulled at some of the rocks. They crumbled easily and he stepped back to avoid more rock and debris as they fell, disturbed from their rest by Diego's probing hand. "I would suggest not selling to the alcalde or anyone until you can determine what is inside this mine."
"Well, the alcalde's taxes are making it hard for us to live. I don't know how many more times I can turn down his offer," José admitted with a heavy sigh.
"My father and I will help all we can," Diego clasped José on the shoulder. "Consider turning to woodwork as an alternative means of income. You've got a good eye and considerable talent."
"Thank you," José smiled appreciatively at Diego.
"Come to the hacienda later in the week and we can discuss a business plan." Diego grinned, as they walked away from the mine to where their horses were tethered at the bottom of the hill. "With enough business in wood crafting, you may be able to hire a man to take care of your other duties."
Diego inhaled deeply and glanced back up the hill. "Do you smell something?"
José glanced around Diego's shoulder, his eyes finally falling on his home, off in the distance. "Madre de Dios!" he cried and ran towards his waiting horse without a look back toward Diego. "Malinda!"
Diego's eyes widened when he noticed the source of José's distress. A fire burned brightly, sending smoke billowing far into the sky, and as the wind whipped around their heads, Diego realized that the fire was dangerously close to José's home. The dry, arid heat, combined with the multitude of equally dry brush, caused the land to be dangerously susceptible to fire, and something, or someone, had set one very close to the house.
Panic gripped Diego's heart as he followed José. Victoria was in that house!
TBC