There were only a few days left until Operation Gideon moved into the final phase. The tension harassed Mark, and Kitty’s strange behavior harassed him even more. He made a date to meet her at the King George in Famagusta.
As he drove to Famagusta his nerves were on edge. It had all gone too easily. Ben Canaan and his gang of bandits had run circles around the British. The British were aware that something was happening but they could not for the life of them seem to find the outside workers. Mark marveled at the finesse and skill of Ben Canaan and the courage of the Palmachniks. The outfitting of the Exodus, the training of the children had gone off perfectly. It would indeed be the biggest thing of his career, but because he was part of it all he was very worried.
He reached Famagusta and parked beside the King George Hotel, which was much like the Dome in that it sat on a beach with terraces overlooking the water. He found Kitty at a table looking out at the sea.
“Hello, Mark,” she said, and smiled and kissed him on the cheek as he sat beside her.
He ordered drinks and lit a cigarette and one for Kitty. She was absolutely radiant. She seemed ten years younger than she had that first day in Kyrenia.
“I must say, you look the picture of happiness,” she said in deference to his sour expression.
The drinks arrived.
“Are you on pins and needles for the big moment?”
“Sure, why not?” he snapped.
Their eyes met over the tops of their glasses. Kitty set hers down quickly. “All right, Mr. Parker. You are all lit up like a road sign. You’d better start talking before you explode.”
“What’s the matter? You mad at me? You don’t like me any more?”
“For goodness’ sake, Mark. I didn’t think you were so thin skinned. I’ve been working very hard … besides, we agreed it would be best not to see too much of each other during the last two weeks, didn’t we?”
“My name is Mark Parker. We used to be friends. We used to talk things over.”
“I don’t know what you’re driving at.”
“Karen … Karen Clement Hansen. A little refugee girl from Denmark via Germany.”
“I don’t think there is anything to discuss …”
“I think there is.”
“She’s just a lovely child I happen to like. She is my friend and I am her friend.”
“You never could lie very well.”
“I don’t wish to talk about it!”
“You’re asking for trouble. The last time you ended up naked with a marine in bed. This time I think you’re going to have the strength to kill yourself.”
Her eyes dropped away from Mark’s glare. “Up to the past few weeks I’ve been so sane all my life,” she said.
“Are you trying to make up for it all at once?”
She put her hand on his. “It has been like being born all over again and it doesn’t make sense. She is such a remarkable girl, Mark.”
“What are you going to do when she goes on the Exodus! Are you going to follow her to Palestine?”
Kitty squashed out her cigarette and drank her cocktail. Her eyes narrowed in an expression that Mark knew. “What have you done?” he demanded.
“She isn’t going on the Exodus. That was my condition for going to work for Ari Ben Canaan.”
“You damned fool … you damned fool, Kitty.”
“Stop it!” she said. “Stop making something indecent out of this. I’ve been lonely and hungry for the kind of affection this girl has to give and I can give her the kind of understanding and companionship she needs.”
“You don’t want to be her companion. You want to be her mother.”
“And what if I do! There’s nothing wrong with that either.”
“Look … let’s stop yelling at each other … let’s calm down. I don’t know what you have figured out, but her father is probably alive. If he isn’t, she has a family in Denmark. Exhibition number three … that kid is poisoned like they poison all of them. She wants Palestine.”
Kitty’s face became drawn and her eyes showed a return of sadness and Mark was sorry.
“I was wrong not to let her go on the Exodus. I wanted to have her for a few months … to gain her complete confidence … to let her know how wonderful it would be to go to America. If I could be with her a few months I’d be sure of myself….”
“Kitty … Kitty … Kitty. She isn’t Sandra. You’ve been looking for Sandra from the moment the war ended. You were looking for her in Salonika in that orphanage. Maybe that’s why you had to take Ben Canaan’s challenge, because there were children at Caraolos and you thought one of them might be Sandra.”
“Please, Mark … no more.”
“All right. What do you want me to do?”
“Find out if her father is alive. If he isn’t, I want to adopt her and get her to the States.”
“I’ll do what I can,” he said. He spotted Ari Ben Canaan, dressed as Captain Caleb Moore, coming through to their terrace. Ari walked quickly to their table and sat down. The Palestinian was his usual cold expressionless self. The instant Kitty saw him, her face lit up.
“David just contacted me from Caraolos. Something has come up that requires my immediate attention. I think under the circumstances that you had better come with me,” he said to Kitty.
“What is it?” both Mark and Kitty said together.
“I don’t know exactly. The Landau boy, the one who does our forgeries. He is now Working on the transfer papers for getting the children out. He refuses to do any further work until he speaks to me.”
“What do you want me for?” Kitty asked. “Your friend, the little Danish girl Karen, is about the only person who can talk to him.”
Kitty turned pale.
“We must have those papers completed in the next thirty-six hours,” Ari said. “We may need you to talk to the boy through Karen.”
Kitty stumbled from her chair and followed Ari blindly. Mark shook his head sadly, and his troubled glance remained on the empty doorway for many moments.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Karen stood in the classroom that was Palmach headquarters. She stared angrily at the boy with the soft face, blond hair, and sweet appearance. He was a little small for seventeen years and the softness was deceptive. A pair of icy blue eyes radiated torment, confusion, and hatred. He stood by a small alcove which held the papers and instruments he used for his forgeries. Karen walked up to him and shook a finger under his nose. “Dov! What have you gone and done?” He curled his lip and
grunted. “Stop growling at me like a dog,” she demanded. “I want to know what you have done.”
He blinked his eyes nervously. No use arguing with Karen when she was angry. “I told them I wanted to talk with Ben Canaan.” “Why?”
“See these papers? They are forgeries of British mimeographed forms. Ben Ami gave me a list of three hundred kids here in our compound to be listed on these sheets for transfer to the new camp at Larnaca. They aren’t going to the new camp. There’s a Mossad ship out there someplace. It’s going to Palestine.”
“What about it? You know we don’t question the Mossad or the Palmach.”
“This time I do. Our name isn’t listed. I’m not going to fix these papers unless they let us go too.”
“You’re not sure there is a ship. Even if there is and we don’t go they have their reasons. Both of us have work to do right here in Caraolos.”
“I don’t care whether they need me or not. They promised to get me to Palestine and I’m going.”
“Don’t you think we owe these Palmach boys something for all they’ve done for us? Don’t you have any loyalty at all?”
“Done for us, done for us. Don’t you know yet why they’re breaking their necks to smuggle Jews into Palestine? You really think they do it because they love us? They’re doing it because they need people to fight the Arabs.”
“And what about the Americans and all the others who aren’t fighting Arabs? Why are they helping us?”