{"id":4710,"date":"2021-06-30T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4710"},"modified":"2021-06-26T14:08:07","modified_gmt":"2021-06-26T14:08:07","slug":"the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-58","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/06\/30\/the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-58\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 58"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Buber’s Basque Story is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the hell was that?\u201d asked Maite as she stared at the door Donny had just gone through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy apologies.\u201d The barkeep was suddenly standing over their table, drinks in hand. He was a bear of a man, the dirty apron he wore barely covering his large belly. His bare arms were massive and covered with thick curly hair, in contrast to his head which was bald. He had a jagged scar that crossed across his left check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are on the house,\u201d he said as he placed the drinks on the table in front of Maite and Kepa. \u201cYou know, he isn\u2019t a bad kid, but when he gets a few drinks in him, it brings out a meanness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you, er…\u201d said Kepa as he picked up the glass and took a sip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBenjamin Jones. Most just call me Big Ben. Doesn\u2019t help that my ma was from England,\u201d he added with a chuckle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, thank you Big Ben,\u201d said Kepa as he took another sip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho was that guy?\u201d asked Maite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDonny McCowen,\u201d answered Ben as he pulled up a chair. \u201cHis pa owns one of the bigger cattle outfits around here. They think all of the land belongs to them. They hate the sheep, call them hoofed locusts. And so they tend to hate you herders too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t even seen a sheep yet!\u201d exclaimed Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t matter, really. They hate all of you Basques.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt least you don\u2019t hate us,\u201d muttered Maite as she took a sip of her own drink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI owe my life to a herder. Before all of this–\u201d Ben swept his hand, indicating the bar — \u201cI was a cattleman, fancied myself a cowboy even. I was up in the hills with my horse, when we were surprised by a thunderstorm. My horse got spooked and threw me. I landed hard on the ground, hit my head on a rock.\u201d He pointed to the scar on his cheek. \u201cThat\u2019s where I got this. Anyways, a herder found me and took me to his camp. I caught a fever and thought I was going to die, but he took care of me until the next supply run came and was able to bring me to town.\u201d Ben shook his head. \u201cThey’re just people, you know, trying to make a life. I don\u2019t know why everyone has to always be fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnyways,\u201d said Ben as he stood and put his chair back at another table. \u201cThose drinks aren\u2019t going to serve themselves, and I certainly don\u2019t want those guys serving each other.\u201d He pointed to the group of men at the bar. \u201cNice talking with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa and Maite lifted their glasses. \u201cSame.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo,\u201d said Maite when they were alone again. \u201cWhat about the zatiak? Have you seen anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, nothing, but then I\u2019ve only been to my room and in the dining hall. You?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shook her head. \u201cNo, nothing either. I have a small room with a couple of the other young women. It\u2019s not in there, at least not as far as I\u2019ve seen.\u201d She took another sip. \u201cDo you think De Lancre is with these cowboys?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa shrugged. \u201cThey\u2019re mean enough for him, it seems. But, I haven\u2019t seen any hint of him yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have to keep our eye out, for both him and that Donny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m heading out in the next day or two, for the hills,\u201d replied Kepa. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll find much up there. But it\u2019s the role I have in this bubble. I don\u2019t think I can just ignore it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite sighed. \u201cI\u2019m just not sure what to do. Last time, it was so obvious. Blas\u2019 suitcase was glowing so brightly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa nodded. \u201cI guess they can\u2019t all be that easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you call Blas getting roasted alive easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite took a last sip of her drink. \u201cLet\u2019s get going. I have to get up early to feed you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa nodded as they stood up. \u201cThanks Ben,\u201d he waved as they headed to the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once outside, they walked down the steps and turned down the walkway, heading back to the boarding house. After only a few steps, however, two figures silhouetted by the moon appeared in front of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me. \u201cWhat the hell was that?\u201d asked Maite as she stared at the door Donny had just gone through. \u201cMy apologies.\u201d The barkeep was suddenly standing over their table, drinks […]<\/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-4710","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-1dY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4710","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=4710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4711,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4710\/revisions\/4711"}],"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=4710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}