Caballero Andante

By Mike Mayak

The Kansas Summer wind was hot, as a Kansas Summer wind should be and the huge wind turbines on the small ridge turned slowly, each in the same direction as if they had been trained by an engineer who promised them walkies and treats afterwards.

The ridge was tall, for Kansas, meaning it was essentially the height of a speed bump and covered with prairie grass. At the side of the road, a Turbine Engineer sat in his air conditioned pickup surveying the scene, remembering when the turbines had been built years before. He had been there, on top of the structures, catching momentary glances of the land stretching in all directions, thinking he could see into Oklahoma and catch a glimpse of the Rocky Mountains to the west. But maybe those were clouds.

There was a sudden crackling, popping in the air. The Turbine Engineer rolled down the window. Was it coming from the turbines or his car? Then a sizzling blue spiral swirled in the air. Out of it stepped a man on a horse. The man was in strange armor with curves coming to a point. The horse was decked out, no festooned might be the better word, in bright swaths of color. The man was carrying a lance which was bent, as if it had seen many battles and had definitely seen better days.

The blue spiral had vanished and the horse and its rider turned around several times.

Then the both stood stock still, faceing the ridge and the turbines.

The Turbine Engineer sat and stared. Something, like a popup, was tickling the back of his head. A memory. This scene looked familiar…

In another instant, the man on the horse, no the Knight, lowered a visor, pointed the lance like he meant business and patted the horse who began to gallop forward.

The Turbine Engineer had just stepped out of the car and could hear a full throated cry from the Knight. Something in Spanish.

The Turbine Engineer stared. This nut was going to charge the wind turbines!

He got out of the truck and started to yell and at the same time realized this was an armed, armored knight on a horse. The best place to be was in the truck.

The Knight and horse galloped towards the wind turbines, but somehow they did not seem to grow smaller as distance and perspective would make them look like a grasshopper against a skyscraper. They were growing larger. By the time the horse was near the turbines, the screw of the turbine came up to the Knight’s shoulder.

Even in the truck, the Turbine Engineer could hear the pounding of the horse’s now very large hooves. The Turbine Engineer winced as there was contact between Knight and turbine. He could hear the distant CLANG!

The Knight and horse turned away, none the worse for the wear. The turbine’s blades were spinning, but not as fast. The horse and rider turned around. The Knight aimed his lance and the two of them raced to the turbine, arriving just as one of the blades pointed directly downward.

There was an awful CRACK! And another CLANG! But this one sounded out of tune and wobbly as the blade flew off and spun by itself through the air, landing flat on the tall grass.

The Knight scrambled for control but slid off of the horse. After another moment, he stood up, raised his visor and surveyed the lance in his hand. It was broken off at the handle. The Knight walked over near the turbine and picked up the two remaining pieces of his lance, shook his head and tossed all the pieces to the ground. He stood there for a moment, then the Turbine Engineer heard a distant shout of triumph. The Knight mounted his steed and they leisurely rode to where the turbine blade had fallen. Still the size of the turbine itself, the Knight dismounted again, picked up the fallen blade and hefted it. He nodded and looked over at his horse as if he was saying “This will do.”

Then, once again astride the horse, they began to trot back to where the Turbine Engineer sat in his truck. Once again seemingly losing size perspective, shrinking back to the size of a normal horse and rider.

They stopped and turned, facing the spot where the Turbine Engineer had first seen them. The Turbine Engineer noted the incongruity of a knight in armor holding a shrunken turbine blade like he would a Medevial lance.

The Knight made a motion with his hand to the tip of his helmet, like he was about to tip a baseball cap.

“Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Caballero Andante.” The Knight executed a small bow.

Then he patted the horse and the two of them raced to where the crackling spiral had suddenly appeared again. In an instant, they and the spiral were gone.

The Turbine Engineer sat there in his pickup for a few moments. Shaking his head, he got out of the car and walked towards the damaged wind turbine, wishing he’d gotten a picture.

He walked around the turbine slowly and carefully. The blades had stopped spinning as they were no longer balnaced. He stopped, bent down and picked up a piece of the now normal sized lance.

He shook his head.

“How am I ever going to fill out this report?” he said to the Kansas wind.

The wind of course had no reply.

—end—