{"id":4892,"date":"2021-09-08T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4892"},"modified":"2021-09-05T13:23:57","modified_gmt":"2021-09-05T13:23:57","slug":"the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/09\/08\/the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-69\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 69"},"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

Donny dismounted from his horse and walked forward until his face was illuminated by the last remaining flames of the fire. Santi had his gun at hand the whole time, not directly pointing it at the cowboy, but aiming it in his general direction. Donny seemed not to notice. The other two remained on their horses, but Kepa noticed how their hands stayed at their hips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy boys and I,\u201d said Donny as he grabbed a few logs and threw them on the fire, \u201chave been riding all day and could sure use a rest.\u201d He looked up as he sat down next to the fire, the dancing light of the flames giving his face a menacing look. \u201cBesides, this is our land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santi shook his head. \u201cEz. No. We are sure not to cross in your land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donny shrugged. \u201cI\u2019m not sure what to tell you, then. But, really, all of this land is ours, no matter what the government says.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is not fair!\u201d exclaimed Santi. \u201cWe need to live too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou should have stayed in your own country, then\u201d said Donny as he spat in the fire. \u201cThis is our country and we make the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want any trouble,\u201d said Kepa. \u201cWe will leave first thing in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santi gave him a disgusted glance but then nodded. \u201cYes, we will leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the morning?\u201d laughed Donny. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but I can\u2019t wait that long. I don\u2019t want to spend the night here making sure you leave. I think you should leave now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut, we can\u2019t guide our horses and the wagon at night,\u201d replied Santi. \u201cAnd we have to collect the sheep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, are the sheep a problem?\u201d said Donny with a wicked smile. \u201cMy boys can help with that.\u201d He raised a hand. The other two men, who were still on their horses, dashed off toward the band of sheep that was huddled nearby, pulling their guns as they went. Soon, the night air was filled with the sounds of gunfire and the bleating of sheep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo!\u201d exclaimed Santi as he started to move toward the band. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSit,\u201d said Donny calmly, his own revolver pointing at the sheepherder. \u201cDon\u2019t make me ask again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santi, pain in his face, reluctantly sat down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou too,\u201d said Donny as he waved his gun at Kepa. \u201cAnd don\u2019t think I don\u2019t remember you, boy. We have our own score to settle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d hissed Santi as Kepa sat next to him at the fire. All Kepa could do was shake his head, his hands clenched in fists to prevent them from shaking as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gun shots continued as Donny stood up and walked over to the coffee pot. He grabbed a cup and poured himself the last of the bitter coffee. Taking a sip, he walked back over to his chair. \u201cNot the worst I\u2019ve tried,\u201d he said as he sat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa and Santi simply glared at him, wincing each time they heard another gunshot. Soon, after more shots than Kepa could count, the shooting stopped and the other two cowboys rode back to the camp. As they dismounted and stood behind Donny, all they could hear was the dying cries of more than a few of the sheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ones we didn\u2019t shoot ran off,\u201d said the cowboy to Donny\u2019s left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donny nodded. \u201cGood enough.\u201d He turned his attention back to Santi and Kepa. \u201cAnd now, what about you two, eh?\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":"

Donny dismounted from his horse and walked forward until his face was illuminated by the last remaining flames of the fire. Santi had his gun at hand the whole time, not directly pointing it at the cowboy, but aiming it in his general direction. Donny seemed not to notice. The other two remained on their […]<\/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-4892","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-1gU","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4892","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=4892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4893,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4892\/revisions\/4893"}],"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=4892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}