Zorro (novel) blossoms into a romance, and Diego is forced to remain at home to recover after suffering a few broken ribs during the attack. Diego and Bernardo then undergo a test to prove their maturity and to find their spirit guide, a totemic animal which would guide the boys' future. Bernardo's spirit guide is a horse, in the form of Tornado, a motherless colt which Bernardo encounters and cares for. Diego's is a fox ("zorro" in his native Spanish) who saves his life. After the events in the forest, Alejandro, oblivious to the Indian training Diego has been receiving, receives a
Zorro (novel) but taking place after Allende's tale. Most of the novel seems to correlate with most of the original Zorro tales. It even mentions Esperanza, Diego's wife in "The Mask of Zorro". The epilogue states that Diego lived to a comfortable old age after Esperanza's death, which "The Mask of Zorro" clearly contradicts, though this is just a hopeful thought of the future from Isabel during the time she narrated the story. Also, Lolita Pulido meets Zorro well before their previously-established first sexual encounter. In the 1920 silent film and Disney's television series, Bernardo is Diego's manservant, confidant and co-conspirator, the