Exodus - Leon Uris [178]
Tears streaked down the cheeks of Karen Hansen Clement as she looked up into Kitty’s face.
The Exodus had come home!
BOOK 3
An Eye for an Eye
... thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning.
The word of God as given to
Moses in Exodus
Chapter One
A LINE OF SILVER AND BLUE buses from the Palestine bus co-operative, the “Egged” Company, awaited the children on the docks. The official celebration was kept to a quick minimum. The children were loaded aboard the buses and whisked out of the harbor area, convoyed by British armored vehicles. The band played and the crowd cheered as they rolled out of sight.
Karen tugged her window open and shouted to Kitty, but Kitty could not hear her over the din. The buses disappeared and the crowd dispersed. In fifteen minutes the dock was deserted except for a gang of longshoremen and a few British soldiers on guard duty.
Kitty stood motionless by the rail of the Exodus, stunned by the sudden strangeness. It was hard to realize where she was. She looked at Haifa. It was beautiful, with that special beauty that belonged to cities built on hills and around a bay. Close to the waterfront was the Arab sector with crowded clusters of buildings. The Jewish sector sprawled all over the long fingerlike slope of Mount Carmel. Kitty looked to her left, just past Haifa, and saw the futuristic shape of the tank and chimney buildings of the immense Haifa oil refinery, the terminus of the lines from the Mosul fields. At a nearby dock she saw a dozen dilapidated, rickety ships of the Aliyah Bet which, like the Exodus, had managed to reach Palestine.
Zev, David, and Joab interrupted Kitty’s thoughts as they said goodbys and offered thanks and hope that they would see her again. And then they, too, were gone and Kitty was alone.
“Pretty town, isn’t it?”
Kitty turned around. Ari Ben Canaan was standing behind her. “We always bring our guests into Palestine through Haifa. It gives them a good first impression.”
“Where are the children going?” she asked.
“They will be dispersed to a half dozen Youth Aliyah Centers. Some of the centers are located on a kibbutz. Other centers have their own villages. In a few days I will be able to tell you where Karen is.”
“I’ll be grateful.”
“What are your plans, Kitty?”
She laughed sardonically. “I was just asking myself the same thing, along with a dozen other questions. I’m a stranger in town, Mr. Ben Canaan, and I feel a little foolish at the moment, asking myself how I got here. Oh, Good Nurse Fremont has a solid profession in which there is always a shortage. I’ll find a place, somewhere.”
“Why don’t you let me help you get situated?”
“I suppose you’re rather busy. I’m always able to get along.”
“Listen to me, now. I think Youth Aliyah would be perfect for you. The head of the organization is a close friend of mine. I’ll arrange an appointment for you in Jerusalem. “
“That’s very kind but I don’t want to impose.”
“Nonsense. It’s the very least ... If you can tolerate my company for a few days I will be happy to drive you to Jerusalem. I must go to Tel Aviv on business first, but it’s just as well ... it will give me a chance to set your appointment.”
“I don’t want you to feel that you are obligated to do this.”
“I’m doing it because I want to,” Ari said.
Kitty wanted to give a sigh of relief. She was nervous about being alone in a strange land. She smiled and thanked him.
“Good,” Ari said. “We will have to stay in Haifa tonight because of the road curfew. Pack one bag with what you will need to keep you for a few days. If you carry too much with you the British will be going through your suitcases every five minutes. I’ll have the rest of your things sealed and held at customs.”
After clearances Ari ordered a taxi and drove up Mount Carmel into the Jewish section, which spread through the hills on the mountainside. Near