Exodus - Leon Uris [62]
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 Massad ship out there someplace. It’s going to Palestine.”
“What about it? You know we don’t question the Massad 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?”
“I’ll tell you why. They’re paying for their consciences. They feel guilty because they weren’t put into gas