Disclaimer: The characters in this story are copyrights of Paramount and Fireworks Productions. No infringement is intended. The story plot is original and copyright to the author, Maril Swan.

Author's note: references to other stories on this site - Fallen Angel,

Justice

by Maril Swan

"Tessa," Vera Hidalgo called, catching the other woman's sleeve. "I haven't seen you in town for a long time." As Tessa turned to face her, Vera gasped slightly. "You should try to stay out of the sun, Tessa. You are becoming as dark as a peon," she chided with a pretty smile. "Come and have some coffee in the cantina. We have so much to catch up on."

Allowing herself to be led, Tessa sat down at one of the cantina tables. After giving their orders to the new proprietor of the cantina, Vera laughed lightly, leaning forward conspiratorially. "Do you not think it a strange coincidence that El Gato no longer preys upon us...and Senor Ortiz disappears at the same time? What if he was El Gato? What do you think, Tessa?"

Tessa shrugged nonchalantly. "I hadn't given it any thought, Vera. How have you been?" she asked, trying to feign interest.

For several minutes, Vera prattled on about the local gossip while Tessa sipped her coffee, nodding now and then as if she was actually listening. Her attention was recaptured when Vera said, "And such a surprise about Corporal Garcia! He is to be executed tomorrow for treason."

"Treason? What has he done?" Tessa asked, trying to keep her features bland.

"Captain Grisham told me Garcia was giving information to the Queen of Swords. Imagine, Tessa. A traitor in the ranks of the soldiers. No wonder she has been able to know so much, and to escape so easily. I feel sorry for his family, though. He has a wife and two children."

"Thank you for the coffee, Vera. Now I must go. I have some business to attend to in town."

The black-clad woman turned as her friend entered the hidden room. Anger flashed across Marta's face as she watched Tessa buckling on her sword. "What do you think you are doing? I thought you said yesterday, you were finished with all this," she said sharply, gesturing at the sword and the mask which lay upon the cabinet.

"They're going to execute Garcia for treason-for leaking information to me. He's innocent. I can't let him die for me."

"This is none of your business, Tessa. It is a military matter, on Montoya's conscience, not yours." Coming closer, she took Tessa's hands, forcing her to look into her eyes. "This is a trap. I can feel it. Don't go. Leave him to his fate. He deserves it after the way he treated you."

Tessa pulled her hands away, avoiding the distress in Marta's eyes. "I have to do this. He was only doing his duty. He doesn't deserve to die for that." Almost inaudibly, she added, "I can't have his death on my conscience, Marta." She looked up, her eyes imploring the other woman for understanding, but Marta was already rapidly moving away, her shoulders rigid with anguish.

Marta strode across the room to the door, and turning, snapped, "Then go! And throw your life away for nothing! I wash my hands of it!" She fled through the door, leaving behind a wake of desolate silence.

For several seconds, Tessa remained staring at the door, breathing heavily, trying to decide what to do. Her hand hovered uncertainly over the sword belt, preparing to unbuckle it. Finally, she shook her head violently, and snatching up the mask, slipped into the secret tunnel which led to the stables.

It was quiet in the pueblo...too quiet, except for the sudden gusts of wind, blowing dust around the street, and making the torches dance. The dim moonlight showed the sleeping village was completely deserted. Not even a soldier on guard. Tessa's scalp prickled with an intuition of danger, as she scanned the other rooftops from her vantage point on the cantina roof. They're hidden but where, she wondered. A soldier's helmet popped into view for a second behind the façade on a rooftop a few buildings over. She smiled. Just what I was waiting for, she thought, as she began to make her way toward him.

Creeping across the rooftops, which had become familiar territory for her, Tessa came up behind the soldier who was hiding and occasionally peeping out from his covert to scan the dark street. The gusts of high wind covered any sound as she quickly knocked him unconscious with the hilt of her sword. She stripped off his military tunic and put it on over her black costume, then fastened his helmet on her own head. She pushed his pistol into her sword belt.

Tessa climbed from the rooftop into an alley, glancing around nervously, expecting an attack from any quarter. So far so good, she sighed to herself. Now comes the hard part. There was only one way into the prison that she knew of - the front door.

Pulling herself erect, she marched across the street to the prison entrance with a confidence she did not feel, up the stone steps, and entered the building. No one had noticed her yet, she hoped. A guard was half-dozing in a chair near the cells, his feet propped on the desk. Tessa covered his mouth and struck his skull with the pistol butt, setting him down quietly onto the floor. She removed the keys from his belt and slipped into the corridor of cells. Voices floated toward her as she stopped at a corner of the corridor, males voices laughing and talking easily, familiarly.

She paused, listening, while staying hidden. Stepping out into view, she saw a guard lounging against the wall, conversing with someone in the cell. A puzzled frown crossed her face; her stomach tightened with fear. Something wasn't right! Would the guard be laughing with someone who was about to die in a few hours? The guard started, noticing someone in a corporal's uniform. Keeping her head down to cover her mask, she beckoned to him. He shrugged and came toward her. Tessa moved back around the corner, and as he followed, she landed a hard kick to his stomach and a knee to his jaw. He fell and lay still. Moving quickly past him, she checked the corridor for other guards, then went to the cell door, trying the keys until she found the one that fit.

"Come on, Garcia," she whispered urgently. "I'm getting you out of here." Garcia sat, watching her uncomprehendingly. "I mean you no harm," Tessa asserted, beginning to lose patience as he continued to remain where he was, sitting on the cell cot. "I'm trying to save your life, so get moving, or we'll both be executed!"

Garcia's eyes moved suddenly to a place behind her, and Tessa felt the point of a sword in her back. She froze with her hand of the cell door, her heart leaping within her. A voice behind her said, "Well, Senorita, looks like we're here for the same reason - getting Garcia out of prison." A soft chuckle, then, "This works out perfectly. I was going to blame you for this anyway."

The sword moved away and Tessa turned to confront Captain Grisham, grinning at her. Urgently, he turned to the prisoner, and beckoned. "Let's go, Garcia, unless you want to be shot in a few hours!"

Garcia laughed harshly, and standing up, pulled a pistol and sword from under his mattress. "Montoya was right, Capitan. She has too much heart for her own good. She fell right into our trap, just as the colonel said she would." He strolled toward the cell door and pushed it open, his pistol aimed at Tessa. She glanced at Grisham. His face was flushed with anger and his eyes glinted dangerously.

Grisham grated, "You mean this was set up between you and Montoya? The execution was a ruse?"

Garcia grinned widely, then the smile disappeared, replaced by a hard, calculating look. He turned the pistol toward Grisham, saying, "Of course. And now we get rid of the competition, kill two birds with one stone." Tessa watched the flintlock flare suddenly, the spark hit the gunpowder pan. She threw her weight against Garcia, causing the shot to ricochet wildy off the corridor wall. Another shot made her start as she regained her balance. Garcia crumpled to the floor, a round hole in his forehead.

Grisham held his sword in his left hand, the smoking pistol in his right as he regarded Garcia, dead, his eyes open in surprise. The Captain quickly transferred the sword to his right hand, pointing it at Tessa before she could unsheathe her own. For a moment, he looked at her, indecision written on his face. The clamour of approaching footsteps galvanized him into action, as he grabbed her arm and hauled her toward a dark, narrow hall leading away from the cells. A few twists and turns took them to the end of this corridor then Grisham pushed open a door into a small courtyard. In the centre was a tall stake, placed there for the execution. He let go of her arm and stepped away.

"You're on your own from here, Senorita," he said breathlessly. "Get moving!"

"You're letting me go?" Tessa asked, incredulously. "Why?"

"Maybe I don't like the way Montoya and Garcia set you up...without including me," he laughed. "Next time I catch you...and I will, it will be on my terms, not Montoya's."

Tessa looked into those cold blue eyes, searching for some rationale for his actions. She unsheathed her sword suddenly, and Grisham, alarmed, stepped back a few paces. She grinned, and said, "Until the next time then, Capitan," and saluting him, ran across the courtyard, disappearing into the shadows of the buildings.

He stood for several seconds, staring into the darkness, then with a wry laugh, rushed into an alley which led to the street. He mussed his hair and unbuttoned his tunic, then hurried up the steps into the prison building. The corridor was crowded with soldiers, as he shouldered his way through.

Montoya was already there, in front of the cell, gazing at the prostrate figure on the floor. Encountering Grisham's face in the group, he shouted, "Where were you while this was going on?"

"Off duty, sir," Grisham replied respectfully. "I was with a lady."

Montoya scowled, his face flushed and his eyes sparkling with anger. "If you spent as much time with your pants on as off, we might have a chance to catch the Queen!" he bellowed. A few restrained chuckles rippled through the soldiers.

"The Queen, sir?" Grisham inquired innocently. "Was she here tonight? I don't understand this. Why would she sneak in to kill a prisoner who was about to be executed?"

Montoya opened his mouth to speak, then looked away guiltily. "Who knows why she does anything?" The Colonel nudged Garcia's body disgustedly and barked at the soldiers, "Get this fool out of here, and clean up this mess." He pushed his way through the soldiers. Grisham followed him with his eyes, a cold smile on his face.

Tessa stepped through the door into the hidden room, surprised to see a candle burning there. Marta started in her chair, evidently dozing, waiting for Tessa's return. A long uncomfortable silence developed as the two women regarded each other, each waiting for the other to speak.

Finally, Marta arose, and turned away. The lone candle sharply accentuated the fine planes of her face, and lighted a glitter of tears in her eyes. "So," she whispered, "You have returned safe. Thank God!" She turned back to face Tessa. "Do you know what is has been like for me tonight, all those nights?" She laughed harshly. "I listen and wait, then I pray and wait. While you are out risking your life, all I can do is wait. When you are gone too long, all I can think is, they have got her this time."

"Your father asked me to look after you, and I have tried. Since you were a child, I have been your guardian and your teacher. Now you are grown and don't need these things anymore. So, what am I now? Just a servant?"

"No...Marta. You are my dearest friend. If I have treated you as anything else, I am sorry." Tessa stepped toward the Gypsy woman, but she moved away, tightening her shawl protectively like a shield.

For a moment, Tessa stared uncertainly at the rigid back of her friend. Finally, she said, "I've made a decision, Marta. The job isn't done yet, and there's no one to do it but me. I can't do it alone." She saw Marta clench her jaw firmly and take a deep breath. This was news the Gypsy woman did not want to hear. "I need your strength and guidance. The Queen of Swords isn't one woman, but two. I have the youth and skill, but you have the wisdom. We make a team. I can't do this if you're not with me." Tessa waited, anxiously, watching the emotions working through her friend.

Marta drew a long breath, letting it out slowly. "If I had known when we were with my people, and you were learning all those skills, where it would lead..." She shook her head morosely, then continued. "I couldn't have stopped you, I suppose. What was started long ago has led us to this. We are in the hands of Fate. You can postpone your fate but you can't avoid it. Fate is the Hunter, and he finds you no matter where you hide."

With a heavy sigh, Marta said softly, "I'm with you, Tessa. I won't desert you again."

Tessa embraced her friend warmly, and with a wry laugh, said, "You were right, Marta. I should have listened to you. It was a trap, and I walked right into it."

"And walked right out again," Marta replied, the relief evident in her voice.

"Not exactly. I had some help. And from a most unexpected source. You will never guess who saved my life tonight."

The End

©Justice - Maril Swan, 2000

Author's Note: the interpretation of the "Justice" Tarot card comes from Joan Bunning's website, ©Learning Tarot Online

Your comments on my stories are always welcome - Maril Swan