Exodus - Leon Uris [190]
“Hello, Uncle,” he said.
“Ari, my boy.”
The two men embraced, and the older man had to fight back choking emotion. Akiva lifted the candle and held it close to Ari’s face and he smiled. “You are looking well, Ari. It was a good job you did in Cyprus.”
“Thank you.”
“You came with a girl, I hear.”
“An American woman who helped us. She is not a friend, really. How are you feeling, Uncle?”
Akiva shrugged. “As well as I can be expected to feel living in the underground. It has been too long since I have seen you, Ari ... too long. Over two years now. It was nice when Jordana was studying at the university. I saw her once each week. She must be nearly twenty now. How is she? Does she still care for that boy?”
“David Ben Ami. Yes, they are very much in love. David was with me at Cyprus. He is one of our most promising young people.”
“His brother is a Maccabee, you know. Ben Moshe used to teach him at the university. Perhaps I can meet him someday.”
“Of course.”
“I hear Jordana is in the Palmach.”
“Yes, she is in charge of training the children at Gan Dafna and she works on the mobile radio when it transmits from our area.”
“She must be around my kibbutz then. She must see a lot of Ein Or.”
“Yes.”
“Does she ... does she ever say how it looks?”
“It is always beautiful at Ein Or.”
“Perhaps I can see it one day again.” Akiva sat down at the table and poured two brandies with an unsteady hand. Ari took a glass and they touched them. “Le chaim,” he said.
“I was with Avidan yesterday, Uncle. He showed me the British battle order. Have your people seen it?”
“We have friends in British Intelligence.”
Akiva stood up and began to pace the room slowly. “Haven-Hurst means to wipe out my organization. The British are dedicated to the destruction of the Maccabees. They torture our prisoners, they hang us, they have exiled our entire command. It is not bad enough that the Maccabees are the only ones with the courage to fight the British, we must also fight the betrayers among our own people. Oh, yes, Ari ... we know the Haganah has been turning us in.”
“That is not true,” Ari gasped.
“It is true!”
“No! Just today at Yishuv Central, Haven-Hurst demanded that the Jews destroy the Maccabees and they again refused.”
Akiva’s pacing quickened and his anger rose. “Where do you think the British get their information if not from the Haganah? Those cowards at Yishuv Central let the Maccabees do the bleeding and the dying. Those cowards betray and betray. Cleverly, yes! But they betray! Betray! Betray!”
“I won’t listen to this, Uncle. Most of us in the Haganah and the Palmach are dying to fight. They restrain us until we burst, but we cannot destroy everything that has been built.”
“Say it! We destroy!”
Ari gritted his teeth and held his tongue. The old man ranted, then suddenly he stopped and flopped his arms to his sides. “I am a master at creating arguments when I don’t mean to.”
“It is all right, Uncle.”
“I am sorry, Ari ... here, have some more brandy, please.”
“No, thank you.”
Akiva turned his back and murmured, “How is my brother?”
“He was well when I saw him last. He will be going to London to join the conferences.”
“Yes, dear Barak. He will talk. He will talk to the end.” Akiva wetted his lips and hesitated. “Does he know that you and Jordana and Sarah see me?”
“I think so.”
Akiva faced his nephew. His face reflected the sorrow within him. “Does he ... does he ever ask about me?”
“No.”
Akiva gave a hurt little laugh and sank into the chair and poured more brandy for himself. “How strange things are. I was always the one who angered and Barak was always the one who forgave. Ari ... I am getting very tired. A year, another year, I don’t know how long it will be. Nothing can ever undo the hurt that we have brought to each other. But ... he must find it in his heart to break this silence. Ari, he must forgive me for the sake of our father.”
Chapter Three
A HUNDRED CHURCH BELLS from the