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By Root 237 0

Gili, and was dragged away in silence, his hand tightly clasped in that of his furious mother. And another time, some three years before this evening, when Gideon was about seventeen, he had come to stay with Gili to shut himself away in the peace and solitude of the village while preparing for his biology exam. She was supposed to help him prepare, but instead, like conspirators, they had played endless games of checkers, most of which she won. She never allowed him to beat her. After each defeat he said to her in his sleepy voice, "Let's have just one more game." They sat up late every evening watching films on television, side by side on the sofa with a blanket over their knees. In the morning Gili Steiner went off to work at the clinic, leaving him some sliced bread, salad, cheese and a couple of hard-boiled eggs on the kitchen table. When she got home she found him asleep, fully dressed, on the sofa. He had tidied and cleaned the kitchen and neatly folded his bedclothes. After lunch they played checkers again, one game after another, almost without a word, instead of preparing for his exam. In the evening they watched a witty British comedy on television until nearly midnight, sitting shoulder to shoulder, wrapped in the blue blanket even though the heater was on, both laughing for once. The next day the boy went home, and two days later he managed to pass his biology exam despite the fact that he had hardly studied. Gili Steiner lied to her sister on the phone, saying that he had studied, that she had helped him, and that he was wonderfully organized and hard-working. Gideon sent his aunt a book of poems by Yehuda Amichai and thanked her on the flyleaf for her help in preparing for the biology exam. She replied with a picture postcard showing the view of Tel Ilan from the top of the water tower. She thanked him for the book and added that if he felt like coming to stay with her again, for instance if he had any more exams, he shouldn't be shy to ask. His room was always there for him.

4

MIRKIN, THE BUS DRIVER, a widower in his sixties with a broad rear end, had changed into casual clothes, a baggy pair of tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt advertising some company or other. He was surprised when Dr. Steiner suddenly knocked on his door and asked if he would come outside and check with her whether there was a passenger asleep on the back seat of his bus.

Mirkin was a large, heavily built man; he was cheerful and chatty. His broad smile displayed big, uneven incisors and a tongue that protruded slightly over his lower lip. His guess was that Dr. Steiner's nephew had probably got off the bus at some stop along the way by mistake and was now hitchhiking to Tel Ilan. In his view Dr. Steiner should go home and wait for her nephew. Nevertheless, he agreed to get a flashlight and go with her to make sure that no passenger was trapped in the parked bus.

"He's not there, for sure, Dr. Steiner, but if it'll make you happy, let's go and check. Why not?"

"You don't happen to remember a tall, thin young man wearing glasses, a rather vague young man, but very polite?" she repeated.

"I had several young lads on board. I think there was one clown with a backpack and a guitar."

"And none of them came all the way to Tel Ilan? They all got off on the way?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I don't remember. I don't suppose you've got some wonder drug to improve the memory? Recently I've been forgetting everything. Keys, names, dates, wallet, documents. If it goes on like this, I'll soon forget who I am."

He opened the bus by pressing a hidden button under the step and climbed on board, stirring jerkily dancing shadows with his flashlight as he searched each row of seats. Gili Steiner got on after him and nearly crashed into his broad back as he advanced down the aisle. When he reached the back row he let out a low exclamation of surprise as he bent down and picked up a shapeless bundle. He spread out an overcoat.

"That's not your visitor's coat, is it, by any chance?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe."

The driver flashed his light on the coat,