much of the time that they were free together was spent in these
explorations. They began with the hill-top fortress of Herod at Masada
where the zealots had killed each other rather than submit to Rome, and
from there they moved off the tourist beat to the lesser-known
historical sites.
In those long sunlit days they might eat their basket lunch sitting on
the ruins of a Roman aqueduct and watching a falcon working the thermals
that rose off the floor of the desert, after they had searched the bed
of a dry wadi for coins and arrowheads brought down by the last rains.
Around them rose the tall cliffs of orange and golden stone, and the
light was so clean and stark that it seemed they could see for ever, and
the silence so vast that they were the only living things in the world.
They were the happiest days that David had ever known, and they gave
point and meaning to the weary hours of squadron standby, and when the
day had ended there was always the house on Malik Street with its warmth
and laughter and love.
Joe and David arranged leave of absence from the base for the wedding.
It was a time of quiet, and le Dauphin let them go without protest, for
he would be a guest.
They drove up to Jerusalem the day before and were immediately
conscripted to assist with the arrangements. David laboured mightily as
a taxi-driver and trucker. The Mercedes transported everything from
flowers to musical instruments and distant relatives.
The Brig's garden was decorated with palm leaves and coloured bunting.
In the centre stood the huppah, a canopy worked with religious symbols
in blue and gold, the Star of David and the grapes and ears of wheat,
the pomegranates and all the other symbols of fertility.
Beneath it, the marriage ceremony would take place.
Trestle tables covered with gay cloths and set with bowls of flowers and
dishes of fruit were arranged beneath the olive trees. There were
places for three hundred guests, an open space for the dancing, a raised
timber stand hung with flags for the band.
The catering was contracted out to a professional firm and the menu had
been carefully decided upon by the chef and the women. It would have
two high points an enormous stuffed tuna, again a symbol of fertility,
and a lamb dish in the bedouin style served upon enormous copper
salvers.
on the Sunday of the wedding, David drove Debra to the home of the chief
surgeon of Hadassah Hospital.
Hannah was one of his theatre sisters and he had insisted that she use
his home to prepare for the wedding. Debra was to assist her, and David
left them and drove on to Em Karem. The lane leading to the house was
cordoned off and thick with secret service men and paratroopers.
While he watched Joe dressing, losing and finding the ring, and sweating
with nerves, David lay on Joe's bed and gave him bad advice. They could
hear the guests gathering in the garden below, and David stood up and
went to the window. He watched an airforce colonel being carefully
scrutinized and searched at the gates, but taking it all in good part.
They are being pretty thorough, David remarked.
Hannah has asked to have as few as possible of the guards in the garden.
So they are being damned careful about who they let in. Joe had at last
completed dressing and already he was beginning to sweat through the
armpits of his uniform. How do I look? he asked anxiously. God, you
handsome beast, David told him.
Piss off, Morgan, Joe grinned at him, crammed his cap on to his head and
glanced at his watch. Let's go, . he said.
The Chief Rabbi of the army was waiting with the Brig and the others in
the Brig's study. The Rabbi was the mild-mannered man who had
personally liberated the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the war of 67. During
the advance on Hebron, he had driven a jeep through the disintegrating
Arab lines, shot open the door to the tomb with a submachine-gun and
chased the Arab guards screaming over the rear wall.
Joe sat at the Brig's desk and signed the ketubbah, the marriage
contract, then the Rabbi handed him a silken cloth which Joe lifted in a
formal act of acquisition to a chorus of congratulatory Mazal toys from
the witnesses.
The bridegroom's party trooped out into the crowded garden now to await
the arrival of the bride, and she came accompanied by the chief surgeon
standing in for her dead father, and a party of festively dressed women,
including Debra and her mother. They all carried lighted candles.
To David, Hannah had never been particularly attractive, she was too
tall and severe in body and expression; however, in her white bridal
dress and veil she was transformed.
She seemed to float cloudlike upon the billowing white skirts, and her
face was softened by the veil and by the inner happiness that seemed to
glow through her green eyes. Red-gold hair framed her cheeks, and the
freckles were disguised under make-up applied by Debra's cunning hand.
She had used it to mute the rather harsh lines of Hannah's bony nose,
and the result was that Hannah was as near to beautiful as she would
ever come.
Joe, looking big and handsome in his airforce tans, went forward eagerly
to meet her at the gate to the garden and to lower the veil over her
face in the ceremony of bedeken dikafle.
Joe moved to the chuppah canopy where the Rabbi waited with a taffit
over his shoulders. After Joe the women led Hannah, each of them still
carrying a burning candle, and the Rabbi chanted a blessing as the women
and the bride circled Joe seven times in a magical circle which in olden
times would serve to ward off evil spirits. At last bride and groom
stood side by side, facing towards the site of the Temple with the
guests and witnesses pressed closely about them and the ceremony proper
began.
The Rabbi spoke the benediction over a goblet of wine from which bride
and groom both drank. Then Joe turned to Hannah, her face still veiled,
and he placed the plain gold ring upon her right forefinger.
Behold you are consecrated unto me by this ring, according to the law of
Moses and Israel. Then Joe broke the glass under his heel and the sharp
crunch was a signal for an outburst of music and song and gaiety. David
left Joe's side and worked his way through the joyous crowd of guests to
where Debra waited for him.
She wore a gown of yellow and she had fresh flowers in the dark sheen of
her hair. David smelled their perfume as he hugged her surreptitiously
about the waist and whispered in her ear, You next, my beauty! and she
whispered back, Yes, please! Joe took Hannah on his arm, and then went
to the improvised dance floor. The band began with a light bouncy tune
and all the younger ones flocked to join them, while the elders spread
out at the tables beneath the palm-decked trellis.
Yet amongst all the laughter and the gaiety, the uniforms added a sombre
touch; almost every second man was adorned with the trappings of war,
and at the garden gate and the entrance to the kitchens were uniformed
paratrooper guards each with an Uzzi submachine-gun slung at his
shoulder. It was easy to pick out the secret service men. They were
the ones in civilian clothes who moved without smiling, alert and
vigilant, amongst the guests.
David and Debra danced together, and she was so light and warm and
strong in his arms that when the band paused for breath he resented it.
He led her to a quiet corner, and they stood together, discussing the
other guests in the most disrespectful terms until Debra giggled at some