The Borrowed Blade

Chapter Two

The clock in the hall chimed ten, and Elena walked into the living room.

"Our carriage is here, Esperenza. Rosalia has been asleep for an hour. Your father's put Luis and Diego to bed just now. Please, just check on Joaquin in a little while?"

Looking up from her knitting, Esperanza nodded. "Of course. You don't have worry, Mother. Go, and please enjoy your visit."

"If we could," Elena sighed. "We'll see you in the morning, dear one." After pressing a kiss to the top of Esperanza's head, she looped her shawl over her arm and left the room.

The clickty-clack of Esperanza's needles filled the room as her mother and father moved through the house beyond her field of vision. Whispering, of skirts and voices, and finally the click of shoes and boots on stone as they headed out the door to the carriage.

A moment after she heard the turn the of the key in the door, she stood and walked to the side of the window. She didn't move the curtain; the lace was thin enough for her to see what was going on outside by the light of the carriage lamps and moon. Both Alejandro and Elena looked frazzled with worry, about their son and about their friend.

As soon as the carriage disappeared in the darkness, Esperanza ran up the stairs to check on everyone. Opening Rosalia'a door carefully because of the squeak, she could see the four year old girl sound asleep on the bed. Luis and Diego were in the next room and she could hear Luis's snore and Diego's false one.

"Diego, please go to sleep. Mother will be very upset if you're not ready for school tomorrow."

"Sorry, Espie," he mumbled. "Good night."

"Good night, Diego."

The last door was Joaquin's. she had wanted to bring up some fresh water for his glass, but going out to the well would be time she did not have. She opened the door to find Joaquin snoring. His room smelled of the wine she had brought him. He had probably drunk himself to sleep. It was unusual for him to do so; he was good with controlling his drink, but with some of things on his mind, it was a forgivable sin. "Sleep well, brother."

The door closed behind her and she took a deep breath. She flew down the hallway and down the stairs. In the living room, she set her knitting up to look as though she had just set it aside for a moment. She turned to the fireplace where a fire always burned, morning, noon and night, summer or winter. She never remembered a time when the logs were dark.

Esperanza reached up to the column's border, and pushed on it. The roaring blaze swept to one side and half of the back firewall was yanked back to reveal a tunnel lit by lanterns. Glancing behind her once more, she ducked inside, and pushed the lever to return the wall and fire to where they belonged.

A few feet ahead of her was spiraling staircase that descended into the dark, and Esperaza hurried down in her slippered feet. At the bottom of the stair was a large, well lit cavern that had been hidden from her for most of her life.

Just last year she discovered it's existence, purely by mistake. She had thought that she heard her father and brother in living room and when she walked in, she saw fireplace closing as it had done for her moments before. Curiosity drove her to wait in a darkened alcove in view of the fireplace and wait...for two hours until it swung open again. Out walked Alejandro and Joaquin--who was nursing a nasty slash on his arm. Esperanza waited until they had gone up the stairs to the push open the door.

The cavern where she stood waited for her that night. The room contained a full floor replica of the medallion Zorro wore. The wall held the wrought silver sword, the worked leather whip and cloak and mask that were his as well.