Alexander Volkov’s "Zorro," a summary

The adventure novel "Zorro" was written in 2005. This book is the author’s stylized version of classic "cloak and dagger" prose, where the canonical image of a noble Californian avenger is intertwined with dark Native American beliefs, the search for Aztec treasure, and colonial intrigue.

The arrival of the heirs and the secret protector

Young nobleman Rosendo Woodsworth and his sister Casilda arrive in Mexico from England to inherit the ranch of their deceased uncle, Don Lucero. The previous owner died from the bite of a poisonous snake, and the wealthy and cruel plantation owner Maneco Uriarte attempted to appropriate his vast estate with the connivance of a greedy court clerk. Bailiff Austin, a former convict from Cayenne, discovers letters from the deceased’s sister and helps the young couple reach the estate.

At the estate gates, the new arrivals are greeted with gunfire from Uriarte’s henchmen. Rosendo frees his uncle’s faithful wolfhound, Balthazar, from its chain. With the dog’s help and their marksmanship, the brother and sister drive the invaders out of the house and tie up three bandits. Soon, the estate is surrounded by Don Maneco’s horsemen. The besieged successfully return fire, but the odds are too great. At a critical moment, a horseman in a black mask appears — the noble bandit Zorro. He engages the thugs, distracts them, and leads the pursuit into the hills.

That evening, Don Maneco himself arrives at the ranch under a white flag, attempting to scout out the situation. During dinner, Zorro suddenly appears in the dining room, disarms the owner of a neighboring plantation, and ties him up in a hammock. The captured bandits take advantage of the confusion, steal the box containing the inheritance documents, and flee. Rosendo gives chase on his guest’s horse. In the darkness, Zorro meets him, returns the stolen papers, and marks Uriarte’s neck with his sword, shaping it in the shape of a "Z."

Clashes in Comala and the madness of bullfighting

Rosendo formalizes the land title and decides to make life easier for the local Indian tenants. He allows the peons to gradually buy out the plots. An old Indian servant, Tilcuate, nicknamed the Black Snake, helps his master with the paperwork. In the town of Comala, Rosendo meets the charming nobleman Diego de la Vega. Vega impresses the young man with his agility: he catches a fly in mid-flight with two fingers, and then, with a whip, tames the wild black stallion Tornado, which has thrown Uriarte’s nephew, Rafael.

In Miguel Carrera’s tavern, Casilda, disguised as a young man, plays billiards with the local sheriff. Rosendo bets a gold sovereign on the stranger’s victory in exactly thirteen shots. Casilda expertly sinks the balls with her thirteenth shot. The enraged crowd accuses the players of cheating and reaches for knives. The brother and sister fight with swords on the pool table. Zorro arrives to the rescue, sparks a general brawl, and rides away on Tornado.

The festivities continue with a bullfight on a square blocked off with wooden boards. Maneco Uriarte watches the fight from a balcony with his young sister-in-law, Lucia, with whom Rosendo secretly falls in love. A ferocious bull, Yargo, fed on the juice of poisonous thistle, is released into the arena. The bull rips open the belly of the picador’s horse and corners the elderly torero, Luis. Rosendo leaps into the arena, saving the man. His sword breaks on the beast’s forehead, but at the last moment, Zorro, on horseback, lops off the enraged beast’s head with a single blow. Rosendo faints from the shock.

Forest temple and the machinations of enemies

Recovering from a three-day fever, Rosendo learns that the newspapers are calling the savior a butcher, and that the first peon to buy the land, Choy Mescalito, was treacherously shot by unknown bandits. Soon, the ranch is visited by the monastery’s abbot, Padre Hilario. The monk fanatically demands the destruction of the ancient pagan temple in the forested wilderness of the estate. That night, Zorro enters the padre’s bedroom and sternly warns the priest against destroying the idols, hinting at the secret of Montezuma’s treasure.

Rosendo, Casilda, and Padre Hilario set off on horseback to an abandoned sanctuary. The road turns out to be a deadly trap: the priest falls into a pit trap filled with a poisonous asp, and further up the trail, the travelers find a torn jaguar, killed by a poisoned arrow from a well-aimed crossbow. In a forest clearing, the travelers are fired upon by mercenaries. In the midst of the battle, the figure of Zorro appears in a clearing. He demoralizes the bandits with the chilling battle cry of the Choctaw Indians and eliminates the archers with well-aimed shots.

Reaching a clearing with stone statues, the travelers unexpectedly encounter Don Diego, supposedly out riding. At that moment, they are attacked by half-naked dancers and Uriarte’s fighters. The bandits shower Rosendo’s detachment with paralyzing darts. The poison instantly paralyzes the defenders’ muscles, and they fall exhausted to the grass.

Slave caravan and daring escape

The captives are shackled and added to a column of slaves, which guards drive to the mercury mines. Rosendo awakens on the march to find Diego de la Vega nearby. He whispers that these iron chains are useless to him. During a rest stop, Diego secretly teaches Rosendo and Casilda an Eastern technique for relaxing bones and joints, allowing them to squeeze their hands and feet into a narrow tube and easily slip out of rusty handcuffs.

Near a wooden suspension bridge over a deep gorge, Diego gives the signal. The fugitives instantly free their hands, attack the guards, and seize the keys to the locks. Zorro’s blade suddenly flashes in the depths of the forest. The masked hero sets an ambush, destroys the remaining convoy, and disperses the enemy guards. Rosendo unlocks all the shackles, also freeing Padre Hilario and Don Maneco, dressed in rags. After their escape, Diego de la Vega helps his companions stealthily return to their homeland, skillfully avoiding enemy patrols.

Carnival at Rancho Uriarte

A week after his return, Don Maneco hosts a lavish costume ball to celebrate his release from his supposed captivity. Rosendo dresses as a gray-bearded astrologer, Casilda dons a Harlequin costume, and Don Diego disguises himself as a plump elderly lady in lace and a wooden mask. On the veranda, Don Maneco and the beautiful Lucia ask the astrologer to lay out the cards.

Rosendo shuffles the deck and predicts ruin, imprisonment, and death in the pursuit of gold for the planter, and a quick union for Lucia with a faithful caballero. Realizing who is hiding under the astrologer’s garb, Uriarte orders his servants to seize the fortuneteller. At that very moment, the lace-clad lady sheds her garb, transforming into Zorro. Together with Rosendo and Casilda, the hero defeats the planter’s guards. Zorro summons his faithful Tornado, mounts the brother and sister on his horse, and carries them away from pursuit, disappearing into the night.

The Mystery of Montezuma’s Cave and Treasures

Soon, Rosendo is overcome by a severe attack of fever. In his delirium, he sees a cave beyond the wall of a river waterfall, golden idols, and a sacrifice made for his healing. Recovering from his illness, the nobleman realizes: old Tilcuate really did kill the bandit Roque on the altar of Huitzilopochtli to save his master from curare poison. The sheriff places a reward of ten thousand pesos on the old servant’s head.

Diego convinces Rosendo to go all-in: openly pursue the treasure, using Tilcuate as a guide to lure Uriarte’s gang into revealing their true colors. The four brave men set out for the waterfall, closely followed by Don Maneco’s armed gang.

At the edge of a rocky cliff, Diego captures an enemy scout and uses him as cover, allowing his companions to cross a narrow ledge beyond a roaring stream. When a landslide cuts off their path, Diego disappears, and Zorro appears in his place. The avenger clings to a rocky ledge with his whip, flies across the abyss, and takes refuge underground.

Inside the grotto, countless treasures appear before the travelers: cast gold idols and a menacing stone statue of Huitzilopochtli with a huge diamond embedded in his forehead. The bandits rush in after them and open fire wildly. A flash from the deity’s diamond eye momentarily blinds the attackers. Taking advantage of this, Zorro covers his comrades’ retreat to a secret upper gallery.

Tilcuate presses a hidden stone lever in the tunnel wall. The ancient mechanism explodes the vault of the underground channel: a powerful river flow roars into the cavern. The seething waters bury Don Maneco, his mercenaries, the golden idols, and the fearsome Huitzilopochtli under tons of water.

Once outside, Rosendo, Casilda, and Tilcuate watch as the water plunges into the lake, carrying away the remains of the sanctuary. A breathless Don Diego approaches them, a scratch on his forehead. A piece of black cloth accidentally falling from his hat finally reveals the identity of the people’s protector to Rosendo, but Diego quietly pushes the cloth into the abyss.

A month later, Padre Hilario marries Don Diego and the happy Casilda. The best men at the lavish wedding are Rosendo and Doña Lucía, whose engagement is postponed only until the end of the required period of mourning for their deceased uncle.