Chapter 1
There was a big castle not far from the bushes where the brave hero had hidden himself. And in that castle lived, of course, a beautiful princess who was locked up in a tower by her evil father, the King. This king did not let anyone see his poor daughter.
But the pirate was determined to penetrate the castle defenses and rescue her. He would just have to sneak by the all-seeing guard . . . somehow. Slowly he crept toward the wall that surrounded the castle. The wall was very high, but that did not stop him. He jumped up and grabbed a hold of a thick branch of ivy that wove its way around the wall in that spot.
Carefully, he began his death-defying climb to the top of the wall when, suddenly, the evil guard spotted him. The guard ran toward the wall yelling the pirate�s name. The brave hero began to climb faster, and soon he was over the top. Then followed a head-spinning jump onto the ground, and, as he straightened himself out, he saw the King standing right in front of him. The pirate was caught. He gasped in fear and stepped back ready to start a fight to the death, but the King grabbed him by the shoulder.
�Diego, are you aware that we have gates through which one is meant to come in? It is not very gentleman-like to climb over the wall.�
Suddenly, the castle disappeared, dissolving into a regular � though, granted, rather magnificent-looking � hacienda; the King also disappeared, morphing into his rather upset at the moment father; the gates swung open, and the evil guard, who magically turned into Maria � his old ni�era � hobbled toward him, trying to catch her breath.
�Well, Diego?� his father�s angry voice roared above his ear. �Why did you force Maria to chase after you? She has gone hoarse calling your name.�
Diego hung his head and said very quietly, �I am sorry, father. I was merely playing�.�
�I want you to go to your room, young man, and stay there! And, PLEASE, use the door!�
�S�, father,� he said in an even quieter voice and walked slowly toward the house.
***
Diego sat sideways on the windowsill of his room, looking thoughtfully down at the yard. Father was rather upset with him, and Diego himself felt badly about making Maria play hide-and-seek with him. But he could not really help it. His best friend, Paco, a boy from the neighboring hacienda was away in Spain, visiting his grandmother. And Diego was lonely. Still that was no excuse, and he felt he should apologize to his old nanny.
There was another reason why his father was upset, and Diego frowned, thinking about it�
�Diego got his adventurous spirit from his mother. She could always come up with some incredible games that both her son and her husband enjoyed immensely. Every Sunday morning she would walk into Diego�s room, stepping softly on the sunlit floor. She would open up the window, letting in the cool morning breeze. And then she would walk up to his bed and kiss him tenderly on the forehead, �Wake up, risue�o mio, my sunshine.� He was already awake by the time she would come in, but he lay there with his eyes closed, waiting for the touch of her warm lips on his forehead.
After mass, they would all go riding�always by a familiar route that led from the hacienda to a beautiful mountain river. They would race their horses to the water, and mother would always manage to be first. Once the riders and their horses were all in the river, the water battle would start. Oh, those were some of the happiest times that Diego could remember! Wet but happy. Until�
Diego closed his eyes and buried his head in his lap. It was too painful to remember even now, almost three years later.
�That day was no different from any other Sunday. They came out into the yard, as usual, where the three horses were already saddled up waiting for them. Mother decided to ride el Diablo that day � the new horse with terrible personality. El Diablo had already thrown four riders who tried to break him in and the grooms avoided coming near him for fear of being kicked. To put it in other words, el Diablo�s name was most befitting.
The steed shook with impatience or indignation at the fact that he was saddled, as mother approached him. Diego remembered father cautioning her about the horse. But she merely smiled and said mockingly, �What is the matter, Alejandro? Are you afraid I might beat you to the river � again?� And she mounted el Diablo and took off, laughing in a voice clear as a little bell. Alejandro de la Vega shook his head disapprovingly, but his eyes were smiling as he looked at his son, �Let�s get her!�
They flew down the path leading to the river, and all this time Diego could see his mother sitting firmly on the back of the beautiful gray stallion half a mile ahead of him. She managed to hang on so tightly that el Diablo must have realized the futility of the struggle and did not try to throw her off. But, once she reached the river and pulled her reins to stop, he felt her relax a bit, and he used the opportunity. From a distance, father and son watched el Diablo kick high in the air, causing his rider to fall head down into the foaming stony torrent.
The rest passed before Diego�s eyes in slow motion. He saw his father rush his horse forward jumping off its back before it even came to a full stop. He watched him run into the water and emerge about a minute later further down the stream with a motionless body in his arms. �Ride to the pueblo, Diego! Bring the doctor!� father screamed hoarsely, setting his wife gently down onto the ground.
As if awakened from a deep sleep, Diego pulled on the reins, steering his horse toward the pueblo.