Prologue for a novel about ZORRO

Zorro is a trademarked character of

Zorro Productions, Inc.

The beaches!

Ah, yes!

There was nothing that Diego de la Vega, son of a rich Californian landowner, loved to dream about more than the beaches of Southern California! Oh, there were beaches here in Spain, but as he was studying at the university here in Madrid, one had to go far to find them. And they were beautiful beaches, yes; pearl white stretches against a peaceful Mediterranean blue, but they were just not the same.

The beach that he was dreaming about now was a long stretch of sand that lay just outside of El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reyna de Los Angeles de Rio Porciunculo, better known to modern eyes as the city of Los Angeles. It stretched for several miles like the edge of a silvery white blade against the abusive attack of an army of a thousand waves sent forth by the Pacific Ocean, to conquer the land for itself. In his dream, he now saw the waves rising as high as fifty feet, driven onward by an enraged storm that followed behind, threatening to chew into the land and to swallow the beach whole as it did so!

And now, in his dream, Diego saw an odd thing; far away, down the beach there was what looked like a lone fox. Stranger still, it was black! Wait-this was no fox! He now saw that it was a man, in fact a caballero, dressed in black, who sat astride a satiny black stallion, and was racing down the stretch of beach, waving a gleaming sword. Upon closer examination he realized that he could not see the man's face, for he wore a mask. A caballero wearing a mask? Certainly he was not a thief-or, at least, an ordinary one; caballeros were the sons of rich landowners like himself. But the presence of the mask insisted that he must be an outlaw! What else could he be? Yet, strangely, Diego was not afraid of this man; in fact he felt very strongly that the presence of this man meant hope for California!

A puzzling thing; was California in trouble? Yes, from the storm! But why should California, brave pioneering California protected by her saints and missions, fear the wrath of this storm? And why should a lone rider on a black horse be her only hope for salvation?

As he dreamed, he now examined the horse. There was something very familiar about this horse, a beautiful ebony black arabian. Could it be? How was it possible? He recognized this horse as his own! It was originally a part of a shipment of Arabians from spain that his father, Don Alejandro de la Vega, had accepted in order to improve his stock. He had given this horse as a colt to Diego in the form of a birthday present. Diego took this infant stallion and raised it, giving it the name of "Tornado" because of its' color and its'considerable strength and speed. A fine specimen! In fact, Diego was loathe to give it up when he went away to Spain. If he had returned the creature to his father, Don Alejandro would have only sold him, as he had no use for another horse at the time. So Diego turned the horse over to a mission indian that he was friendly with for safe keeping until he returned.

But what was this elegant black rider now doing riding this horse which belonged to Diego?

The rider abruptly turned Tornado into the surf, and pulling back on the reins, he made the stallion rear up on its' hind legs; all the while he brandished his sword defiantly at the incoming walls of water, ignoring the danger they threatened him with!

Then, as the great horse dropped to the ground, he gently touched heel to flank, and yelled "Andele, Tornado! Andele!" (Walk on, Tornado! Walk on!)

The voice mystified Diego even further; it was his own!

At the command, the great horse turned, and carried its' valiant rider off into the distance. The caballero turned in his saddle as he rode away, and chidingly laughed at the futility of the breakers in catching him. The waves seemed to roil at this insult, but when they lashed at him, to strike him, they were only able to resign themselves to rolling quietly back into the sea. Then, as the rider disappeared into the horizon, Diego saw the most puzzling thing of all; there, etched into the sand by the point of a sword, was a letter...

It was the letter "Z".