{"id":4832,"date":"2021-08-11T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4832"},"modified":"2021-08-07T14:39:31","modified_gmt":"2021-08-07T14:39:31","slug":"the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-65","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/08\/11\/the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-65\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 65"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
The Adventures of Maite and Kepa 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

Another week passed. Santi was as sullen as ever, barely saying \u2018thank you\u2019 after dinner before going to sleep. Kepa just sighed as he gathered the dishes so he could wash them in the morning. While his lamb stew was getting really good, in his own humble opinion, he was getting tired of eating the same thing over and over again. How he missed his ama\u2019s porrusalda or the bollos de mantequilla he\u2019d get whenever he had visited Maite in Bilbao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today, at least, there was something to look forward to. Dominique was due with another supply run. Kepa couldn\u2019t wait to have someone to talk to who had a vocabulary that consisted of more than just a few grunts. Kepa made a fresh loaf of bread in the hopes of enticing Dominique to linger just a bit longer at the camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just after midday, he could hear the clomping of the horses as they approached. He looked up and, to his surprise, saw three horses, the third carrying<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaite!\u201d exclaimed Kepa as he rushed to her side. \u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite smiled as she let Kepa help her dismount. \u201cDominique gave me your note. Since I had the day off, I thought I\u2019d join him on his rounds, see how you are doing for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa blushed. \u201cYou gave up your day off for me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite blew him a kiss and a wink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a keeper,\u201d laughed Dominique as Kepa turned an even brighter shade of red. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, I\u2019m not going to linger,\u201d said Dominique. \u201cMaite, I\u2019ll pass by this way again after I stop at the other camps and we can head back to town. Until then, you and Kepa can catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut, what about my stew? I even made fresh bread!\u201d protested Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dominique climbed back onto his saddle. \u201cI\u2019m sure Maite will enjoy it just as much as I would have. I\u2019ll be back before long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, Dominique\u2019s horse disappeared over the hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo,\u201d said Kepa, \u201chow have you been?\u201d He handed Maite a bowl of stew and a slice of bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shrugged. \u201cFine, I guess. Just working. They work the girls to the bone. I get up at five in the morning to begin cleaning the dining room. Then I help prepare breakfast. After that, I clean the linens while another girl works on lunch. In the afternoon, we all get ready for dinner. Then there is serving all of these demanding Basquos. Sometime around 10 or 11, if I\u2019m lucky, I get to have a bite to eat with the other girls before we clean up the dishes and head to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her shoulders slumped. \u201cI\u2019m exhausted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She took a bite of the stew. \u201cThis is really good,\u201d she said in mock surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat? You didn\u2019t think I could cook?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew you couldn\u2019t. You\u2019ve tried, remember?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa blushed again. \u201cWell, I\u2019ve had lots of practice with this one dish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow are things up here?\u201d asked Maite between bites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Kepa\u2019s turn to sigh. \u201cThe work isn\u2019t quite as hard as yours; I\u2019ve only got one demanding Basquo to take care of, but he is the most anti-social fellow. I think you\u2019ve spoken more words since you got here than he has in the last month. It\u2019s just so damn boring up here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMiss your phone?\u201d teased Maite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI miss everything!\u201d barked Kepa. He paused as Maite looked away. \u201cSentitzen dut. I\u2019m sorry. I\u2019m just so frustrated, being up here. What does any of this have to do with the zatia? It all seems so pointless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand. I feel the same way. It seems we are being punished somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight?!?\u201d Kepa shook his head. \u201cI can\u2019t believe that these people chose this life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess things were\u2026 are\u2026 even worse back home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorse than this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what some of the other girls tell me. Life back in Euskal Herria was even harder, with fewer chances of it getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine, the way things are now,\u201d said Kepa. \u201cI mean, the way things are in our time. Life isn\u2019t so bad at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite nodded. \u201cI agree. Funny how things change in just a generation or two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnyways,\u201d said Kepa after he pulled a squirt from the bota bag before tossing it to Maite. \u201cHave you had any luck with the zatia?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shook her head before taking her own squirt of wine. \u201cNothing,\u201d she said as she tossed the bag back to Kepa. \u201cI\u2019ve cleaned all of the rooms from top to bottom. If it\u2019s in the boarding house, it\u2019s hidden very well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDamnit,\u201d swore Kepa. \u201cI just want to be done with this place.\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":"

Another week passed. Santi was as sullen as ever, barely saying \u2018thank you\u2019 after dinner before going to sleep. Kepa just sighed as he gathered the dishes so he could wash them in the morning. While his lamb stew was getting really good, in his own humble opinion, he was getting tired of eating the […]<\/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-4832","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-1fW","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4832","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=4832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4833,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4832\/revisions\/4833"}],"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=4832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}