laughing with her.
Afterwards she led him proudly about the rooms and showed him the
changes and additions that had turned it into a real home during his
absence. David had convinced her that cost was not fundamental and they
had chosen the designs for the furniture together. These had been made
and delivered by Debra's tame Arab and she had arranged them as they had
planned it. It was all in soft leather and dark wood, lustrous copper
and brass, set off by the bright rugs. However, there was one article
he had never seen before, a large oil painting on canvas, and Debra had
hung it unframed on the freshly painted white wall facing the terrace.
It was the only decoration upon the wall, and any other would have been
insignificant beside it.
It was a harsh dominant landscape, a desert scene which captured the
soul of the wilderness; the colours; were hot and fierce and seemed to
pour through the room like the rays of the desert sun itself.
Debra held his hand and watched David's face anxiously for a reaction as
he studied it. Wow! He said at last. You like it? She was relieved.
It's terrific. Where did you get it? 'A gift from the artist.
She's an old friend. 'She? That's right. We are driving up to
Tiberias tomorrow to have lunch with her. I've told her all about you,
and she wants to meet you. 'What's she like? She's one of our leading
artists, and her name is Ella`Kadesh, but apart from that I can't begin
to describe her.
All I can do is promise you an entertaining day. Debra had prepared a
special dish of lamb and olives and they ate it on the terrace under the
olive tree. Again the talk turned to Joe's wedding, and in the midst of
it David asked abruptly, What made you decide to come with me, without
marrying? She replied after a moment. I I discovered that I loved you,
and I knew that you were too impatient to play the waiting game. I knew
that if I didn't, I might lose you again. Until recently, I didn't
realize what a big decision it was, he mused, and she sipped her wine
without replying. Let's get married, Debs, he broke the silence. Yes,
she nodded.
That's a splendid idea. 'Soon, he said. Soon as possible. Not before
Hannah. I don't want to steal her day from her.
Right, David agreed, but immediately afterwards. Morgan, you have got
yourself a date, she told him.
it was a three-hour drive to Tiberias so they rose as soon as the sun
came through the shutters and tigerstriped the wall above the brass bed.
To save time, they shared one bath, sitting facing each other,
waist-deep in suds.
Ella is the rudest person you'll ever meet, Debra warned him. She
looked like a little girl this morning with her hair piled on top of her
head and secured with a pink ribbon. The greater the impression you
make on her, the ruder she will be, and you are expected to retaliate in
kind. So please, David, don't lose your temper.
David scooped up a dab of suds with a finger and smeared it on the tip
of her nose.
I promise, he said.
They drove down to Jericho, and then turned north along the valley of
the Jordan, following the high barbedwire fence of the border with its
warning notice boards for the minefields, and the regular motorized
patrols grinding deliberately along the winding road.
It was hot in the valley and they drove with the windows open and Debra
pulled her skirt high around her waist to cool her long brown legs.
Better not do that if you want to be in time for lunch, David warned
her, and she smoothed them down hurriedly.
Nothing is safe with you around, she protested.
They came at last out of the barren land into the fertile basin of the
Kibbutzim below Galilee, and again the smell of orange blossom was so
strong on the warm air that it was difficult to breathe.
At last they saw the waters of the lake flashing amongst the date palms
and Debra touched his arm.
Slow down, Davey. Ella's place is a few miles this side of Tiberias.
That's the turnoff, up ahead.
It was a track that led down to the lake shore and it ended against a
wall of ancient stone blocks. Five other cars were parked there
already.
Ella's having one of her lunch parties, Debra remarked and led him to a
gate in the wall. Beyond was a small ruined castle. The tumbled walls
formed weird shapes and the stone was black with age; over them grew
flamboyant creepers of bougainvillaea and the tall palms clattered their
fronds in the light breeze that came off the lake. Other exotic
flowering shrubs grew upon the green lawns.
Part of the ruins had been restored and renovated into a picturesque and
unusual lakeside home, with a wide patio and a stone jetty against which
a motor-boat was moored. Across the green waters of the lake rose the
dark smooth whale-back of the Golan Heights.
It was a crusader fortress, Debra explained. One of the guard posts for
traffic across the lake and part of the series leading up to the great
castle on the Horns of Hittern that the Moslems destroyed when they
drove the crusaders out of the Holy Land. Ella's grandfather purchased
it during the Allenby administration, but it was a ruin until she did it
up after the war of independence.
The care with which the alterations had been made so as not to spoil the
romantic beauty of the site was a tribute to Ella Kadesh's artistic
vision, which was completely at odds with the woman herself.
She was enormous; not simply fat or tall, but big. Her hands and her
feet were huge, her fingers clustered with rings and semi-precious
stones and her toenails through the open sandals were painted a glaring
crimson, as if to flaunt their size. She stood as tall as David but the
tent-like dress that billowed about her was covered with great explosive
designs that enhanced her bulk until she seemed to make up two of him.
She wore a wig of tiered curls, flaming red in colour and dangling gold
earrings.
It seemed she must have applied her eye make-up with a spade, and her
rouge with a spray gun. She removed the thin black cheroot from her
mouth and kissed Debra before she turned to study David. Her voice was
gravelly, hoarse with cheroot smoke and brandy.
I had not expected you to be so beautiful she said, and Debra quailed at
the expression in David's eyes. I do not like beauty. It is so often
deceptive, or inconsequential. It usually hides something deadly, like
the glittering beauty of the cobra, or like the pretty wrapper of a
candy bar, it contains cloying sweetness and a soft centre. She shook
the stiffly lacquered curls of her wig, and fixed David with her shrewd
little eyes. No, I prefer ugliness to beauty.
David smiled at her with all his charms upon display. Yes, he agreed,
having met you, and seen some of your work, I can understand that.
She let out a cackle of raucous laughter, and clapped the cheroot back
in her mouth. Well now, at the very least we are not dealing with a
chocolate soldier. She placed a huge masculine arm about David's
shoulders and led him to meet the company.
They were a mixed dozen, all intellectuals, artists, writers, teachers,
journalists, and David was content to sit beside Debra in the mild
sunshine and enjoy the beer and the amusing conversation. However, Ella
would not let him relax for long and when they sat down to the
gargantuan alfresco meal of cold fish and poultry, she attacked him
again.