Disclaimers: The characters from the Queen of Swords are copyright to Fireworks Productions. No infringement of copyright is intended or revenue expected from their use. The story plot and other original characters are copyright to the author, Eliza.

Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Lisa for superlative editing, and to Maril and brig for their suggestions and encouragement.

Swept Away
by Eliza

Virtual Season Episode #6

Part Three of three

Act 3, Scene 5

The brightest stars were sparkling across the sky. As the night darkened they would become harder to find among the millions of other pinpoints of light so Tessa took this opportunity to search for the shapes that her father had pointed out to her as a child. She could have studied astronomy while in Spain, but somehow the stars didn't seem to reach out to her there as they did in the desert.

She was distracted from her exploration by a shiver from Vera. Tessa had thought that her friend was asleep; they had both been quiet for a long time. "Are you cold?"

"Not really. It was just a little breeze."

"It's only going to get cooler. Let's move into the gap beside this rock. It will keep us out of any wind that may rise during the night."

It was a tight fit but Vera was not shy about snuggling in close. Tessa put her arm and part of her wrap around Vera's shoulders. Vera gave little sigh and another shiver. "You *were* cold," Tessa chided. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't want to complain," Vera said quietly. Then she giggled and added, "And I thought that you would prefer to be cuddling with someone else."

Tessa giggled as well. "That is true. But you're the one who is here so I guess I'm stuck with you tonight." She kissed the top of her friends head to take any possible sting out of the words.

The silence was long enough that again Tessa thought Vera had fallen asleep. "Is that why you let Captain Grisham escort you?" Vera asked finally. "Because he is the only one who asks?"

Tessa wondered if she should be completely honest with Vera. This day seemed to have created a bond between them, but some secrets required a different level of trust. She would try not to lie but would be careful with her words. "He was very helpful during the trouble that I had with the imposter, so when he asked to court me I found it difficult to refuse."

"And Doctor Helm hadn't asked at all."

"Nor is he likely to. The captain has been an attentive escort, even if he has been a little too amorous at times."

"Amorous?" Vera might have been trying to seem shocked, but it sounded more annoyed. "What do you mean, Tessa?"

"Vera, don't tell me that you don't know of his reputation. It has been whispered that he is a bit of a rake. His behavior backs that up. He tries to kiss me on the lips, hold me too close and..." Tessa paused for a moment to make it seem as if she was embarrassed. It wasn't too much of a stretch -- embarrassment and disgust were very similar emotions. "And sometimes I let him."

"He wasn't just being polite?"

"I may not have kissed many men, but I know the difference between polite and amorous!"

Tessa could feel the tension this information caused, but Vera didn't try to pull away. When she finally spoke it was very tentatively. "Tessa, I hope you don't think that I have overstepped my bounds. I do know the capitan's reputation and have been worried for you. I asked his intentions and he told me that he is just accompanying you to the parties get Montoya's approval and that he has no interest in marriage."

//So, Vera is playing the same game of telling the truth but only part of it. I wonder what would be said if she knew that I am aware of her affair.// Tessa decided to continue cautiously. "That comes as a bit of a surprise. But I must confess, Vera, that I had no real thoughts of a permanent relationship with Captain Grisham. It was more to... um..." Tessa really wasn't sure how to word this.

"Make the doctor jealous?"

Tessa almost laughed. Vera could get straight to the point when it served her purpose. "I am so grateful that it is too dark for you to see my blush. It was such a silly thing to do."

"So you are using the handsome capitan."

"Until someone better comes along."

Tessa could feel Vera chuckle silently before she said, "I honestly didn't think you had it in you, Tessa."

Act 4, Scene 1

"Doctor. The sun is rising."

Helm opened one eye to the sight of a pair of obscenely shiny boots. As he sat up, every muscle in his back voicing their objection, he got a good look at the rest of the man who was acting as rooster this morning. Rooster – an apt description for Montoya. He was strutting around, toeing many of his men awake, and looking far to well groomed for having spent the night on the ground. Helm ran his hand through his hair. If he looked anything like the rest of the party, then it would be in line with how he felt. He rinsed his mouth with the water left in his canteen and then took the edge off his hunger with the bread and cheese he had saved from the rations he had packed yesterday.

He wondered as he chewed how the colonel was coping without his china and silver service, then he spotted Montoya at the edge of the gully. The colonel seemed to be studying their situation while gnawing on a heel of bread, and it suddenly occurred to Helm that this man was a soldier, not just a government official. Montoya had been in the war in Spain and had likely suffered the hardships and dangers common to the men in that conflict. This sudden realization did little to improve Helm's opinion of the colonel personally, but it did reinforce his confidence in following the colonel's lead in this situation.

Grisham, on the other hand, was still an idiot no matter how long he had worn his uniform. Helm groaned as he saw the captain walking over. He knew he couldn't handle snide remarks this early in the morning, not without coffee anyway.

"Capitan."

Helm made a note to thank the colonel later. He watched Montoya give instructions to his second-in-command. Grisham seemed reluctant about whatever Montoya had come up with as a plan, and the colonel looked as if he was being forced to relate all of his reasoning in small words and short sentences. Judging from the embarrassed nod the Montoya eventually received, he must have shamed Grisham into giving his plan a try.

As Grisham went to organize the men, Montoya approached. Helm was on his feet by the time the colonel reached him. "Doctor, you are ready to begin your day?"

"I just need to saddle my horse, Colonel."

"Good. I would like to go down into the arroyo. There seems to be another strange fall on the other bank but my spyglass cannot pick out the details. I hope that by travelling in the gully we will find some signs that the women managed to escape the flood."

"Or that they didn't."

Montoya paused, his expression unreadable. "Quite so, Doctor. But let us at least start the day on an optimistic note."

Helm saddled his horse and led it to the crumbled bank. The water had receded to just a wide stream in the middle of the wash, but the thought of going down the unstable bank unnerved him.

"Mount up, Doc. You don't want to be left behind. I might mess up your evidence." Grisham sent his mount over the edge into the gully. Helm shook his head at the foolhardy captain. The surface was loose, and though it looked as if the horse found firm footing on the slope, it just as easily could have disintegrated under him.

Helm looked up at Montoya and the colonel must have read the question on his face. "That is why I sent the capitan first," he said with a wry smile and then kicked Salan down the bank.

Helm mounted and followed. Even though his horse splashed in water almost knee deep, it was easiest to ride along the stream. The debris from the flood littered the higher banks. It was mostly tree trunks and branches, but there was the odd animal carcass now bloated from the water and decay. Helm couldn't help but think what if... He pushed the thought aside. He even managed a little optimism when he saw the spot on the rim that Montoya had mentioned earlier.

"What do you think, Doctor?" asked the colonel.

"I think that something or someone worked its way up the bank." Helm dismounted to take a closer look. "There may have been something resting here that helped in the assent, but the flood has washed it away. Some of the marks have been swept over." As he took a careful look at the pattern of the marks, he thought he saw something.... "Grisham, I need to borrow your knife."

"Can't you use your own? And haven't you heard of the word, ‘please'?"

Helm turned back to Grisham in time to see Montoya scowl at his captain. Grisham removed the blade from his boot, the urge to throw it evident in his eyes Eventually, he offered it politely, handle first, and Helm responded with an equally polite thank you. The sneers on both their faces might have spoiled the effect though.

Helm took out his own blade and used both knives as hand holds to help him scale the bank. He had good momentum and realized he could also reach his goal from the top so he kept going until he pulled himself over the edge. Then he stretched out on his stomach and used his knife to reach for his prize. He grinned broadly as he discovered that he had guessed right.

"Would you care to share, Doctor Helm?"

Montoya's voice actually startled him. Focused so intently on gaining the evidence, he had forgotten about the rest of the party. "It is a piece of lace, Colonel. It looks as if it had caught on something and had been torn off. It hasn't been here long. And there are foot prints leading away from this spot."

Act 4, Scene 2

The bank was too steep where Helm had climbed it for the three horses to ascend so Montoya and Grisham had to find another exit. Helm followed the trail easily, it was obvious where it was headed, and in less than half an hour he arrived a spot where it appeared as if Tessa and Vera had rested.

Helm looked back toward the arroyo and saw the horses approaching. He decided to climb one of the larger boulders to gain a better view of the area and hopefully pick up the trail again before Montoya and Grisham arrived. Half way to his look-out, movement at the edge of his vision caught his attention. He was not about to allow anything to be overlooked again and when he reached the other side of the outcrop his curiosity was rewarded.

There they were -- sleeping sitting up against the rocks. They had covered themselves with a couple of petticoats as protection against the cool night and some ripped lace from around the bottom had been teased into Helm's line of sight by the light breeze. The pair had found a small crevice on the west side which would hold heat long after the air had cooled. They had also sat huddled close, Vera with her head on Tessa's shoulder and Tessa with her arm around her companion. On the whole, a pair of very bright girls.

Helm directed Grisham and Montoya to the other side of the rocks with a wave and spent a few moments from his high perch just admiring the scene below. Then he dropped down to the expanse of sand in front of the women intending to wake them gently. Suddenly, he was staring at the sky with a weight pressing down on his chest as well as other more delicate parts of his anatomy. He tried to look down, careful not to move his head and press the knife at his throat farther into his skin.

He was not consoled by the sound of footsteps approaching, but at the same moment the knife moved to a more comfortable position. It allowed him a good look at his assailant -- Vera Hidalgo.

"Senora, if this is how you greet your husband in the morning, I may have to begin to make regular house calls to check on the state of his heart."

"Really?" Vera smiled and moved the hand with the blade to the center of his chest. "Your heart seems to be working just fine."

Tessa's giggles turned his attention to her. She had obviously planned on being backup for whatever threat they had assumed he posed. There was a knife in her hand, too. "You even seem to be enjoying it, Doctor. One might think that you had done this before."

Much to his embarrassment, he remembered vividly the last time he had been in such a position -- in fact, the memory of a similar encounter with the Queen of Swords had become a favourite fantasy. His body had just reacted. And he could tell the senora noticed.

"I think you might be right, Tessa." she said archly. The pair broke into giggles again.

Act 4, Scene 3

//This is just wrong.// Grisham couldn't believe what he was seeing. Two women, *his* two women, practically... cavorting with Helm. When the second bout of giggles died, Vera rolled off to sit beside Tessa. Helm sat up quickly, but not fast enough for Grisham to miss the physical results of Vera's attention.

For the past two days, Helm had been encroaching on his life. He had tried to take over the search party. He had shown off in writing the report. Grisham was sure the Montoya was going to call him on that later, for the colonel liked that kind of excessive formality. Now the doctor was getting very personal with the woman Grisham loved -- it was bad enough that he had to share her with her husband. And flirting with his soon-to-be-wife -- he just had to get around to asking her. Somehow Helm had to be stopped.

Grisham found his vague intentions checked by Montoya's approach and the warning glare he received. The colonel then turned to Helm. "You seem always to find yourself in the most interesting positions, Doctor. Perhaps while you are down there you could ascertain if the ladies have any injuries that need treatment."

"Vera, your knee," said Tessa, now obviously very concerned. She turned to Helm. "It was because Vera couldn't walk far that we decided to wait here."

"Is it still painful, Senora?"

Vera smiled ruefully and shook her head. "I had forgotten about it until the colonel reminded me. Help me up so I can see." With both Helm's and Tessa's help, Vera was lifted to her feet. She seemed to be flexing her leg, moving her knee, and gingerly putting some weight on it. "It's a little stiff and sore but much better than yesterday. I think the swelling has gone down, too."

"Swelling?" Helm was already lifting the hem of her gown.

"Doctor, please! Not in public." Vera's outrage and the sight of Tessa shooing Helm away was a marked contrast to the two immodest ladies that had ambushed the doctor just minutes before. It seemed to leave Helm temporarily speechless.

"I will take a look at it while I help you on with your petticoats, Vera," offered Tessa. "I saw it yesterday, Doctor, I will be able to tell if there is any change. Now, if you please, gentlemen." Tessa was making a turning motion with her finger.

Montoya turned his back on them without pause. Helm also turned, but reluctantly. //He probably thinks they are going to knock him face first into the sand this time. If I were him, I'd be worried too.// Grisham was smirking at his own humour when Helm took two steps toward him, grabbed his shoulder, and spun him around.

Not wanting to attract any more of Montoya's attention by actively fighting the ladies' request, Grisham turned his annoyance on the true source of his irritation.

"You've had your fun for the day: does that mean that no one else gets to have any?"

"Do you think I enjoyed getting knocked on my ass and having a knife held to my throat?"

"I really don't know you that well, Doctor, but I think the evidence spoke for itself."

"Can the two of you please delay today's courtship rituals until I am out of hearing." Montoya glared at them over his shoulder, then his eyes widened a little as he looked past them.

Grisham and Helm pivoted to find Vera and Tessa, both looking more than presentable, staring at them with very strange expressions. Grisham suddenly realized how close he was to Helm and took a couple of quick steps back, almost into Montoya's path. Although Grisham couldn't see any indication of amusement on the colonel's face, he was sure he had heard snickering as Montoya passed.

"Grisham, bring the horses," the colonel called back over his shoulder.

Relieved at finding a way out of what had turned into a very strange situation, Grisham hurried -- but not too fast -- to collect the horses. Helm had just smirked at Montoya's comment and not reacted at all to Tessa and Vera's questioning stares. Even when he wasn't saying anything the man was damn annoying. As Grisham climbed into the saddle, he made a point of pushing the whole thing out of his mind. He realized that they would be back at the pueblo in time for breakfast. Everyone in town should be there to see him ride in with Vera sitting behind him. They would be welcomed as heroes.

With that comforting thought, Grisham led the other two horses closer to the ladies. Montoya quickly claimed Salan, and Grisham's attention turned to the conversation in time to hear Tessa's comments.

"I'm dressed to ride astride, Vera. Salan is better trained than the doctor's horse. You will be much safer riding with the colonel."

"Much to my chagrin, I must agree with Senorita Alvarado," said Helm. "The colonel is the superior horseman. It would be better that you ride with him."

Grisham was about to protest, but Vera was already being perched behind Montoya. Instead, he settled for offering a hand to Tessa. "Senorita?"

"Thank you, Captain, but I already have a ride home." During the exchange, Helm had mounted and, with the help of a small rock as a mounting block, Tessa swung up behind him.

Grisham trailed the group as they headed back toward the arroyo. He was confused at this obvious snub. Neither Vera nor Tessa had even considered...//Oh no. Two women had just spent the better part of a day and night together. What do women do when they get together? They talk. What do they talk about... what *do* they talk about?// Grisham had the sinking feeling that these two had talked about him. This could cause some problems.

Act 4, Scene 4

There must have been a lookout posted at the edge of the pueblo, for by the time Montoya and Helm rode into Santa Elena's main square it seemed as if half the town was there to greet them. Montoya decided to stay in the saddle in order to oversee the situation. Grisham should be returning with the rest of the search party soon, he could disperse the crowd then.

The crowd made way for Gaspar, who must have been waiting in the cantina. Vera slid off Salan into his arms. She almost collapsed as her feet hit the ground, causing Gaspar to start to fuss. Vera quickly calmed him and related her story in the simplest of terms.

"Senora Hidalgo, I would like to check your knee before you go home, please," reminded Helm. He gave Tessa a hand off of the horse before swinging out of the saddle himself. "Are you sure you are all right, Senorita?" he asked Tessa.

"There is nothing wrong with me that a hearty meal won't cure. But thank you for your concern."

Instead of brushing off the compliment by insisting that it was his job, Helm smiled warmly. He then turned his full attention to Vera. Surprisingly, Gaspar put his precious wife in the doctor's hands and moved toward Tessa and Marta who were discussing, with some animation, what would be on the menu for breakfast.

"Tessa, I am so relieved,"said Gaspar, taking both of Tessa's hands. "I am so grateful that you were there for Vera. She said that you saved her life."

"And she saved mine in turn. You have an exceptional wife, Don Gaspar."

"This town seems to be full of exceptional women." Montoya could not believe his eyes when Gaspar turned to Marta, took her hand and kissed it before saying, "Senora, you have been a Godsend during this ordeal. I do not know how I would have managed without you."

"I am certain we both would have survived, Senor. But I would have found the day much longer without the company."

"As would have I, Senora." He kissed her hand again. "As would have I." After a few more parting words, Gaspar headed toward Helm's office and his beloved wife.

Tessa seemed highly entertained by the whole performance. "What was that about?"

"Don Gaspar is the epitome of a considerate gentleman," replied Marta as she lead Tessa toward the stables.

"I've always known that, but it doesn't answer my question."

The conversation continued out of earshot and Montoya was left to speculate about what had gone on in his pueblo during his absence.

It had been five days since the flash flood, and Grisham had a feeling that the run of indifferent luck that he had been experiencing since then was about to change. Tessa had just left Vera at the doctor's door. Grisham was finally going to have a chance to talk to her alone.

"Senorita." //She stopped! Good sign.// "It has been four days since you were rescued from your ordeal, yet I have hardly seen you. I might start to think that you are avoiding me."

She gave him a sweet smile. "Why would I be avoiding our brave captain? That would be most ungrateful of me after all the trouble you went through during your search."

"Yes, it would be. Which is why I am so puzzled at your distance."

"Why should that bother you, Captain? You have no interest in marrying me and were only asking me out to get Montoya's approval."

//Oh, oh.// He hoped he managed to turn his panic into dismay. "I am crushed that you would think that I would use you just to advance my career. I thought I had made my personal interest very clear." He curled his fingers around the back her neck and stroked her jaw line with his thumb.

"Is that a proposal, Marcus?"

The suddenness of the question caused him to drop his hand and take a step back. "Ummm...." //Say yes.// "Senorita, I..." //Yes, dammit!! Say yes!// "The thing is...."

"When you are a little more certain of your own mind, we can talk again." She stood up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. "Good bye, Marcus."

//That could have gone worse.// He watched her walk away, slowly fanning herself against the mid-day heat. It wouldn't be so bad to be married to Tessa Alvarado. Admittedly, the limited contact he had with the late Senora Montoya had soured him to the idea of marriage in general, but maybe the colonel was right about Sabina being an exception. He would ask Tessa after their next date... or two.

This debate disappeared from Grisham's mind as Vera stepped out of Helm's office. This one he knew how to handle.

"How's your leg?"

"It is fine, Capitan."

"Is it up to a little... exercise?"

Vera stopped and turned to face him. "Are you sure you have the energy, Marcus, considering all of the amorous attention you have been giving Tessa?"

Grisham stepped closer and looked deep into her blue eyes to be certain that she wouldn't doubt his sincerity. "Tessa is a sweet girl, but she is just a girl. She would consider a polite peck a passionate embrace."

Vera smiled but didn't coyly break the stare as she usually would have. "She is a lady who has spent a year in the Royal court. She knows the difference between polite and amorous."

//Oh, oh.// "I didn't want to insult her, Vera. What kind of cad would I be if I just used her to advance my career without making her feel beautiful and desirable?"

"That's all? No thoughts of marriage?"

"None."

"You are not in love with her?"

"How could I have room in my heart for her when it is full to the top with you?"

She continued to hold his gaze steadily as she seemed to weigh his answers. Then a smile started to bloom on her face and he felt it being reflected on his as her eyes dropped demurely. "I am afraid that my leg is not up to any strenuous exercise at the moment. Perhaps next week."

Grisham spotted Gaspar Hidalgo driving across the square. He took a step back for the sake of propriety, but risked taking Vera's hand. "Until then, my love," he whispered over it and was rewarded with a faint blush from Vera. He didn't release her hand until he had helped her into the carriage. After a courteous, meaningless exchange of pleasantries, the Hidalgos drove away.

//Not bad. Not bad at all.// Grisham headed back to his quarters feeling as if his life had settled back comfortably into its course.

THE END

©Swept Away - Eliza - November 2001

Please send your comments on this story to the author, Eliza