![\"\"](\"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maite-and-kepa-v3b.png\")
Kepa pulled out his phone and did a quick search. \u201cLooks like it has a long history of Basque sheepherding. It\u2019s about two hours from here.\u201d He looked again at Maite. \u201cChange of plans?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat about your cousin?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa shrugged. \u201cI\u2019ll just text him saying we got delayed and we\u2019ll see him tomorrow. I don\u2019t know what else we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite nodded. \u201cAdos nago. I agree. We can\u2019t just ignore that light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa flicked his turn signal as he merged back onto the freeway and took the exit toward Bakersfield. \u201cAre you ready for another one of these?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMore ready than last time,\u201d replied Maite. \u201cAt least we have some sense of what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have to admit, I\u2019m not looking forward to bumping into de Lancre again. We barely got away last time.\u201d He looked over at Maite. \u201cWhat would happen if he actually killed one of us?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite\u2019s face betrayed the uncertainty she kept from her voice. \u201cI guess it will be like Blas,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce the quantum bubble pops, it will be as if it never existed. Anything that happens in the bubble is undone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t look forward to experiencing that first hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBlas seemed to turn out fine. He had the life he was always meant to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, but he did die, in a horrible way.\u201d Kepa shook his head. \u201cMaybe he could forget, maybe in the end it didn\u2019t really happen to him, but what about us? We remember what happens in those bubbles. If we die, even if we come back when the bubble pops, will we remember dying? Will we remember going through what Blas did?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite felt an uncontrolled shiver race through her body. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine\u2026\u201d she began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry,\u201d said Kepa. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t go there. This is hard enough without dwelling on what ifs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite reached out to take Kepa\u2019s hand. \u201cWhatever happens, we\u2019ll go through it together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa looked over at her as they sped down the highway and smiled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t long before they pulled into Bakersfield, the pinpoint of light constantly on the horizon before them. Kepa navigated the streets, guided by the light, which took him downtown and in front of a small, nondescript white building. The light hovered above the building and, as Kepa and Maite watched, blinked a few times before disappearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI guess we\u2019re here,\u201d said Maite with a sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hanging above the door, in almost unassuming green script, read the word \u201cNoriega\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kepa nearly hit another car as he pulled over to the shoulder and stared out the window. \u201cBakersfield?\u201d he said, looking at Maite. Maite just shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about it.\u201d Kepa pulled out his phone and did a quick search. \u201cLooks like it has a long history of Basque sheepherding. It\u2019s about two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1c5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4594,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4593\/revisions\/4594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}