long brown legs and her thick dark hair shaking in the wind.
The whisper of the wind against the body of the Mercedes seemed to urge
him, Hurry, hurry. And the urgent drumming of the tyres carried him up
towards the lake.
He parked the Mercedes beside the ancient crusader wall and went through
into the garden on the lake shore.
Ella sat upon the wide patio before her easel. She wore a huge straw
hat the size of a wagon wheel adorned with plastic cherries and ostrich
feathers, her vast overalls covered her like a circus tent and they were
stiff with dried paint in all her typically vivid colours.
Calmly she looked up from her painting with her brush poised.
Hail, young Mars! she greeted him. Well met indeed, and why do you
bring such honour on my humble little home? 'Piss on it, Ella, you know
damn well why I'm here. 'So sweetly phrased, she was shifty, he could
see it in her bright little eyes. Shame on it that such vulgar words
pass such fair lips. Would you like a beer, Davey? 'No, I don't want a
beer. I want to know where she is?
Just who are we discussing? Come on, I read the book. I saw the cover.
You know, damn you, you know. She was silent then, staring at him. Then
slowly the ornate head-dress dipped in acquiescence. Yes, she agreed. I
know. 'Tell me where she is. 'I can't do that, Davey. You and I both
made a promise.
Yes, I know of yours, you see. She watched the bluster go out of him.
The fine young body with the arrogant set of shoulders seemed to sag,
and he stood uncertainly in the sunlight.
How about that beer now, Davey? She heaved herself up from her stool
and crossed the terrace with her stately tread. She came back and gave
him a tall glass with a head of froth and they took a seat together at
the end of the terrace out of the wind, in the mild winter sunlight.
I've been expecting you for a week now, she told him. Ever since the
book was published. I knew it would set you on fire. It's just too
damned explosive, even I wept like a leaky faucet for a couple of days,
she giggled shyly. You'd hardly believe it possible, would you?
That book was us, Debra and me, David told her. She was writing about
us. Yes, Ella agreed, but it does not alter the decision she had made.
A decision which I think is correct, by the way. She described exactly
how I felt, Ella. All the things I felt and still feel, but which I
could never have put into words. It's beautiful and it's true, but
don't you see that it confirms her position.
But I love her, Ella, and she loves me, he cried out violently.
She wants it to stay that way. She doesn't want it to die, she doesn't
want it to sicken. He began to protest, but she gripped his arm in a
surprisingly powerful grip to silence him. She knows that she can never
keep pace with you now. Look at you, David, you are beautiful and vital
and swift, she must drag you back, and in time you must as certainly
resent it. Again he tried to interrupt, but she shook his arm in her
huge fist. You would be shackled, you could never leave her, she is
helpless, she would be your charge for all your life, think on it,
David. I want her, he muttered stubbornly.
I had nothing before I met her, and I have nothing now. That will
change. Perhaps she has taught you something and young emotions heal as
swiftly as young flesh.
She wants happiness for you, David. She loves you so much that her gift
to you is freedom. She loves you so much that for your sake she will
deny that love. Oh, God, he groaned.
If only I could see her, if I could touch her and talk to her for a few
minutes. She shook her massive head, and her jowls wobbled dolefully.
She would not agree to that. Why, Ella, tell me why? His voice was
rising again, desperate with his anguish.
She is not strong enough, she knows that if you came near her, she would
waver and bring even greater disaster upon you both. They sat silently
together then and looked out across the lake. High mountains of cloud
rose up beyond the heights of Golan, brilliant white in the winter
sunlight, shaded with blue and bruised grey, and range upon range they
bore down upon the lake. David shivered as an icy little wind came
ferreting across the terrace and sought them out.
He drank the rest of his beer, and then revolved the glass slowly
through his fingers.
Will you give her a message from me, then? 'he asked.
I don't think Please, Ella. just this one message. She nodded.
Tell her that what she wrote in the book is exactly how much I love her.
Tell her that it is big enough to rise above this thing. Tell her that
I want the chance to try. She listened quietly, and David made a
groping gesture with his hands as though to pluck words from the air
that might convince her.
Tell her- he paused, then shook his head. No, that's all. just tell
her I love her, and I want to be with her. All right, David. I'll tell
her. And you will give me her answer? Where can I reach you? He gave
her the number of the telephone in the crew ready room at the base.
You'll ring me soon, Ella? Don't keep me waiting. 'Tomorrow, she
promised. In the morning. 'Before ten o'clock.
It must be before ten He stood up, and then suddenly he leaned forward
and kissed her sagging and raddled cheek.
Thank you, he said. You are not a bad old bag. 'Away with you, you.
and your blarney. You'd have the sirens of the Odyssey themselves come
running to your bidding. She sniffed moistly. Get away with you now,
I think I'm going to cry, and I want to be alone to enjoy it.
She watched him go up across the lawns under the date palms and at the
gate in the wall he paused and looked back. For a second they stared at
each other and then he stepped through the gate.
She heard the engine of the Mercedes whirr and pull away slowly up the
track, then the note of it rose as it hit the highway and went racing
away southwards. Ella rose heavily and crossed the terrace, went down
the steps towards the jetty and its stone boat houses screened from the
house by past of the ancient wall.
Her speedboat rode at its moorin& restless in the wind and the chop of
the lake. She went on down to the farthest and largest of the boat
houses and stood in the open doorway.
The interior had been stripped and repainted with clean white. The
furniture was simple and functional.
The rugs on the stone floor were for warmth, plain woven wool, thick and
rough. The large bed was built into a curtained alcove in the wall
beside the fireplace.
On the opposite wall was a gas stove with a double cooking ring above
which a number of copper cooking pots hung. A door beyond led through
to a bathroom and toilet which Ella had added very recently.
The only decoration was the Ella Kadesh painting from the house on Malik
Street, which hung on the bare white wall, facing the door. It seemed
to lighten and warm the whole room; below it the girl sat at a working
table. She was listening intently to her own voice speaking in Hebrew
from the tape recorder. Her expression was r apt and intent, and she
stared at the blank wall before her.
Then she nodded her head, smiling at what she had just heard. She
switched off the recorder and turned in the swivel chair to the second
recorder and punched the tran sinit button. She held the microphone
close to her lips as she began to translate the Hebrew into English.