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\nKepa just shook his head, wondering what he had gotten himself into. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe still got a few hours before we get to the camp,\u201d said the foreman. \u201cLet\u2019s stop and take a rest. I could use something to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The foreman, who had introduced himself as Dominique, reined in his horse and dismounted. Kepa tried to do the same, but he nearly fell out of the saddle onto the ground. He dusted himself off as he stood, glaring at the horse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d said Dominique as he grabbed the reins of Kepa\u2019s horse and lashed them to a tree next to his own and the third horse that was carrying supplies for the camps. \u201cIt gets easier with practice. Hell, after a while you almost feel like riding is more natural than walking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa rubbed his butt cheeks, grimacing as he did so. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine that day will ever come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominique sat down with his back against a tree, beckoning Kepa to join him. Dominique was a bit older than Kepa, maybe in his forties. His skin was dark and leathered; he\u2019d clearly spent many days out in the sun. He wore a cowboy hat to keep the sun from beating on his head. And he was clearly still very fit from all of his time working outside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominique handed his charge a canteen. Kepa gratefully accepted it and took a few large swallows of cool water before handing it back. Dominique took his own drink before stashing the canteen and pulling out a small bundle that he unwrapped. He gave a piece of jerky to Kepa before biting into his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, what brought you out here, anyways?\u201d asked Dominque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa shrugged. \u201cTruth be told? Money. Things are hard back home. I just want to make some money to help my family.\u201d As the words came out, Kepa was shocked to hear how naturally this story came out of him. It was as if he had really been some other person, with a completely different history than his own. But, at the same time, he was himself, with his own memories and story. He didn\u2019t think too hard about how the two identities shared space in his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou got any family here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa shook his head. \u201cNo. I had an uncle that had come out here. Well, not here, Oregon. But he came back and got married. He always told me how much money he made working out here. Though I could do the same.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominique nodded. \u201cThere\u2019s good money here, if you work hard and don\u2019t waste it in town. I\u2019ve seen too many throw all of their money away at cards or worse. They never have enough to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow about you?\u201d asked Kepa. \u201cWhat brought you out here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t lie, I was attracted by the money too. But,\u201d he said wistfully, \u201cthere was a girl too. Her uncle had sent for her, promising opportunities. She didn\u2019t feel she could say no, so she came out here, and I followed. Things didn\u2019t work out for us. Anyways, she went back to our town and I just couldn\u2019t, so I decided to stay.\u201d He shrugged. \u201cI\u2019ve done pretty well for myself. I can\u2019t complain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHegaztia airerako, gizona lanerako,\u201d said Kepa. \u201cJust like birds are meant to fly, men are meant to work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominique smiled. \u201cWith that attitude, I think you\u2019ll do just fine out here.\u201d<\/p>\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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kepa fidgeted in his saddle as the foreman led him into the hills. He had never ridden a horse in his life, and his \u201ccharacter\u201d in this time bubble had never either. The foreman looked back and saw Kepa\u2019s obvious discomfort. He chuckled. \u201cNever been on a horse before, eh?\u201d Kepa just shook his head, […]<\/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-4780","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-1f6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780","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=4780"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4782,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780\/revisions\/4782"}],"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=4780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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