Hearts Unbound by Sara Luck

Author:Sara Luck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books

TEN

The next day was a Sunday, and Bart had just made himself a ham sandwich when he heard a commotion in the alley. When he looked out, he saw Julen Alonzo pulling up in a four-in-hand carriage.

“Julen, what are you doing here?” Bart yelled down from the window.

“The pelota tournament. I’ve been bringing everyone to the church. They’re ready to start, and you’re not there.”

“What pelota tournament?”

“What tournament? Have you forgotten? We’re having a pelota tournament today. Basques from all over the valley are gathered at the frontis behind the church. And you’re playing.”

Bart shook his head. “I don’t think so, not today. This is a special day for Basques, and I don’t think you need an outsider.”

Julen’s expression was crestfallen. “Bart, you have to play. I’ve got money bet on you to advance through all the brackets until the final. So do a lot of the others who have seen you play. There’s more than a hundred dollars bet, just on you.”

“There’s snow on the ground. How are we going to play pelota with snow on the ground?”

Julen smiled. “There’s no snow on the court. Luken and Nikola worked all day yesterday, and today it is dry.”

“All right, I’m coming down.”

Sundays were always special days for the Basques, not just on the day after Christmas. They gathered together to celebrate their own culture by dancing, playing cards, playing pelota, or just visiting.

Today was especially significant because all the best pelota players in the basin had come to participate. This included Edurne Retegi, who was from one of the other Basque boardinghouses in Boise.

“Dr. Wilson,” Retegi said, and then continued in Euskera. “I’ve heard that the American thinks he is a pelotista. Is he good enough to be in this tournament?”

“He is good enough,” Dabi said.

“I am told he is in my bracket. I hope that we meet, so that I can trounce him,” Retegi said, hitting his hand against his fist.

“You may be sorry what you wished for,” Dabi said. Then to Bart in English he said, “Mr. Retegi is ready to play against you.”

Bart smiled and extended his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Retegi. I, too, am looking forward to our game.”

Bart saw that Marko was also playing in the tournament, and though the two had played against each other many times, splitting victories between them almost evenly, Bart very much wanted to beat him today. He tried to tell himself that it was his natural competiveness coming out, but he knew it was more than that. He wanted to beat Marko to prove that he could hold his own against any Basque pelotista. And—this was more personal and, he confessed to himself, vindictive—he wanted to prove to Pia that he was the better man.

As he looked over the brackets, though, he saw that while he was in one bracket, Marko was in another. The only way the two could meet was if each won every game in his individual bracket until they reached the finals. That meant that

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