Exodus - Leon Uris [221]
What did she have left? Himself and Mrs. Fremont. What was he to her? He was a millstone—a nothing. There were times he wanted to hate Mrs. Fremont but he couldn’t because he knew that she was good for Karen. With Karen’s father out of the way perhaps Mrs. Fremont would take her to America.
He stood in the way.
He knew Karen wouldn’t leave him. In Dov’s mind there was only one thing to do.
A youth named Mordecai was a secret recruiter for the Maccabees at Gan Dafna. From him Dov succeeded in discovering where and how to make contact with the underground organization. The cottages of the faculty were never locked at Gan Dafna. He waited one evening until they were all at dinner, then rifled several cottages. He stole a few objects of gold jewelry and fled to Jerusalem.
Bruce Sutherland went directly to Dr. Lieberman and got him to urge Kitty to bring Karen to Sutherland’s villa for a week or two to allow her to recover from the shock.
Karen bore her grief with the same dignity and courage that had carried her through a life filled with tragedy. Kitty Fremont was wise. She never left the girl’s side.
The fate of Karen’s father along with the disappearance of Dov Landau added up to a grim victory for Kitty. She felt that in time she would be able to get Karen to America. Kitty thought about it constantly at Sutherland’s villa, detesting herself at times for finding consolation in Karen’s tragedy, but she could not stop her thoughts. Since she had first seen Karen in the tent at Caraolos her entire life had revolved around the girl.
One day after lunch Ari Ben Canaan came to Sutherland’s villa. He waited in the study while the servant fetched Sutherland from the terrace patio. Bruce excused himself and left the girls sunning. The two men spoke for nearly an hour, transacting their business.
“I have a friend of yours here,” Sutherland said after they had concluded their discussion. “Kitty Fremont is spending a fortnight here as my house guest with the young Clement girl.”
“I heard you two had become great friends,” Ari said.
“Yes, I think Katherine Fremont is one of the finest women I have ever met. You should run up to Gan Dafna and see what she has done with some of those children. There was a boy who didn’t even talk six months ago who now has not only opened up but is starting to play a bugle for the school band.”
“I’ve heard about that too,” Ari said.
“I insisted she come here and bring the Clement girl. The child found her father. Poor chap is completely and incurably insane. It was a terrible shock, needless to say. Come on out to the garden.”
“I’m sorry. I have some other things to attend to.”
“Nonsense, won’t hear of it.” He took Ari’s arm and led him out.
Kitty had not seen Ari since the Mount Tabor affair. She was startled by the first sight of him. Ari had been neglecting himself.
She thought that Ari was amazingly gentle in his conveyance of condolence to Karen. He showed her a tenderness that he apparently reserved for his own people. He had never treated Kitty that way. Was this because Ari accepted Karen as one of them, Kitty wondered? Then she grew angry at herself. It seemed to her that she was beginning to categorize every word and situation on its meaning in relation to Karen’s Jewishness. Now perhaps she was creating meanings that did not even exist.
Kitty and Ari walked through Sutherland’s rose garden.
“How is she?” Ari asked.
“She is a very strong and courageous child,” Kitty said. “It was a shocking experience but she is doing remarkably well.”
Ari looked back to where Karen and Sutherland were playing checkers. “She is a lovely girl,” he said sincerely.
His words surprised Kitty. She had never heard that tone of appreciation from him before and she had wondered if things of beauty even reached him. They stopped at the end of the path where a low stone wall ran around the edge of the garden. Beyond the wall the valley lay