The Haj - Leon Uris [148]
Sweet water!
I stood up and began to cry out with joy, forgetting I might be in someone’s gunsights. I threw myself into the pool, screaming, laughing, and crying all at the same time, and then I ran back to the truck nonstop. The pains that hit my belly from drinking too much too fast could not stop me.
‘Water! Water! Water! Water!’
I must have acted mad, for Omar shook me. I tried to speak, but my words stumbled over each other. Then things became really crazy. Did I really see water? Drink it? Swim in it! Or was it all a trick of the desert that one feels before one dies! Was I crazy or did I really see a tiny spot on the horizon to the north?
I snatched the binoculars from Omar and stood glued as the spot grew larger and larger. Yes, a person was walking down the path from Jericho! I waited like a frozen deer until the vision cleared. It was Sabri and he had a radiator strapped to his back and he carried a package in either hand.
I ran back to the cave and babbled out the news! Kamal was left to guard and one by one everyone made their way down the rope ladder, even Mother. The water cans were lowered on the pulley rig and we made for the truck.
Sabri had come in exhausted but went right to work on replacing the old radiator, hoses, battery, and belts. Our last full can of water was poured into the radiator. As Sabri jumped up to the cab, my father cried, ‘Allah be merciful!’
We all closed our eyes and prayed in unison. He turned the key. Nothing! The women set up a wail as Sabri threw open the hood and played with the wiring, then back to the cab. Nothing!
‘It’s the ignition. I’ll try to hot wire it.’
Pop ... pop ... pop ... pop ... pop ... pop/poop ... pop/poop ... rrrrrr ... rrrrrr ... rrrrumph! The greatest sound I’ll ever hear! Rrumph, rrumph, rrrumph!
A spontaneous dance erupted around the truck. Madness! Men and women were dancing together and no one cared. Clucks of joy! War cries! Everyone except Father wept openly. The men all hugged and kissed Sabri. They remembered that I had found water and I was embraced too!
Ibrahim leaped to the cab. ‘I am off to sell this turd! We will return in two days with donkeys!’
‘Wait, Father, wait!’ I cried. ‘Let us go to the springs and fill our water cans first!’
He slapped his forehead. ‘Of course! Everyone in!’
I jumped into the cab alongside my father and Sabri. ‘Father, shouldn’t you go first to Jericho and trade the rest of the cigarettes for grain for the donkeys while we still have a truck to haul it?’
He touched his forehead again. ‘Too much blessings from Allah at the same time. Yes, we go to Jericho first and get grain.’
‘Father, who will be in command while you are gone?’
He looked at me slyly. ‘You are too young and far too ambitious,’ he said. ‘On the other hand, you are the best suited. You will be in command. I will tell the others before I leave.’
We reached the springs with my heart leaping with joy. Everyone drank until they were ready to burst, then we filled the cans. My father ordered the women into the back of the truck while the men stripped and plunged into the pool. It was our first bath in over two weeks. When we were done, we waited in the back of the truck while the women bathed.
‘I must speak to you,’ I heard Hagar say to Ibrahim.
‘Yes?’
‘Instead of two donkeys, we will need only one, now that we have a spring.’
‘But two donkeys will bring twice as much water and we will only have to go half as many times.’
‘Why feed two donkeys when one can do the work?’ my mother insisted.
‘We can afford two donkeys. We can always use them. We can always sell them.’
‘If we needed the donkeys for the dung for the fire, I would agree,’ my mother insisted. ‘We have enough firewood, so we don’t need their dung.’
‘Do I look like a man who would be satisfied with one donkey when I can afford two?’
‘Two hours ago we could afford nothing. Are we not pushing Allah too far with getting two donkeys?’
‘Suppose one donkey breaks his leg?’
‘I have never seen a donkey break his leg.’
‘They will keep each other company.