![\"\"](\"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/maite-and-kepa-v3b.png\")
Maite nodded. \u201cIf we could have done this with Donnie, you wouldn\u2019t have gotten shot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remembering the bullet that had pierced his heart made Kepa wince. He had thought he was over it, but a pain shot through his chest and he stumbled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d asked Maite, obvious concern in her face as she put an arm around his shoulder to keep him from falling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust the thought of Donnie\u2019s bullet, it\u2019s overwhelming at times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is for me too, and I wasn\u2019t the one who got shot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m ok,\u201d said Kepa as he straightened up. \u201cLet\u2019s keep going. Where did you say the zatia is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite pointed. \u201cThat way.\u201d Her finger was pointing to Urgull, the small hill that rose out of the end of the old part of town. In his time, this is where the San Telmo museum stood, at the base of Mount Urgull. He didn\u2019t expect to find any tourists this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They rounded a corner and nearly bumped into a group of three French soldiers. Before the soldiers could respond, they turned and ran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHalt!\u201d cried one of them as the other two began pursuit. The first one raised his musket and fired, a ball ricocheting off the walls next to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDammit!\u201d cried Kepa as they turned another corner. He was beginning to lose his sense of direction, buried deep in the Parte Vieja without any visible landmark to guide him. He wasn\u2019t sure which way he was going. It didn\u2019t matter, as he could hear the heavy footsteps of the soldiers and their boots behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we make it out of this bubble,\u201d said Maite between panting breaths, \u201cwe need a proper vacation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa nodded silently as he pulled her around another corner. He suddenly stopped. In front of them was a wall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDammit!\u201d he cried, his face scrunched in frustration. He turned, putting Maite between himself and the wall as the French appeared in front of him. Two of them had their muskets raised while the third, a young man no older than Kepa with a dark mustache and a sickening smile, approached them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy do you run?\u201d he asked in broken Spanish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want no trouble,\u201d replied Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen you should not run,\u201d said the soldier. His smile slowly transformed into a snarl. \u201cNo one is allowed out of doors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe needed food,\u201d said Kepa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is no food here,\u201d snapped the soldier. \u201cBut there is plenty in the cells.\u201d He waved to his comrades. \u201cTake them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa raised his hand, the light from his palm beginning to grow in brightness. Just as a flash burst forth, one of the soldiers yelled \u201cSorci\u00e8re! Witch!\u201d while the first one, the one that had been talked, raised his pistol and fired blindly into the light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite heard Kepa scream as the soldiers stumbled, their hands over their eyes. Kepa\u2019s body slumped to the ground. Maite rushed to his side. \u201cNot again,\u201d she whispered over and over to herself as she saw the bright red stain spread across Kepa\u2019s shirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tears fell across her face as she looked down at him. \u201cWhy are you always trying to play the hero?\u201d she said between her sobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa coughed, his spittle bright red. \u201cI just want to keep you safe,\u201d was all he could muster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His eyes glanced over at the soldiers, who were slowly recovering from the light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou need to go,\u201d he said. \u201cFind the zatia, and get us home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite was about to protest leaving him there but she just nodded. She got up and calmly walked up to the still dazed soldiers. The first one took an elbow in the nose. His hands covered his face as blood gushed down his front as he collapsed to the ground. Maite hit the second one hard in his throat with the side of her hand, knocking the air out of him. She then grabbed his head and threw it down as she slammed her knee up. The soldier crumpled to the ground. Maite approached the third soldier, who had dropped his musket and was fumbling to find his pistol. His face was ashen. \u201cSorci\u00e8re!\u201d he repeated. \u201cStay away!\u201d he cried. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He backed against the wall, his hands too sweaty to grab his gun. Maite leaned in, her eyes flashing with the light of the zatia. \u201cBoo,\u201d she whispered. The soldier fainted in a pool of his own urine. Maite turned to look back at Kepa who lay lifeless at the end of the alley, then walked back into the street, light crackling at her fingertips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n