realize what a big decision it was, he mused, and she sipped her wine
without replying. Let's get married, Debs, he broke the silence. Yes,
she nodded.
That's a splendid idea. 'Soon, he said. Soon as possible. Not before
Hannah. I don't want to steal her day from her.
Right, David agreed, but immediately afterwards. Morgan, you have got
yourself a date, she told him.
it was a three-hour drive to Tiberias so they rose as soon as the sun
came through the shutters and tigerstriped the wall above the brass bed.
To save time, they shared one bath, sitting facing each other,
waist-deep in suds.
Ella is the rudest person you'll ever meet, Debra warned him. She
looked like a little girl this morning with her hair piled on top of her
head and secured with a pink ribbon. The greater the impression you
make on her, the ruder she will be, and you are expected to retaliate in
kind. So please, David, don't lose your temper.
David scooped up a dab of suds with a finger and smeared it on the tip
of her nose.
I promise, he said.
They drove down to Jericho, and then turned north along the valley of
the Jordan, following the high barbedwire fence of the border with its
warning notice boards for the minefields, and the regular motorized
patrols grinding deliberately along the winding road.
It was hot in the valley and they drove with the windows open and Debra
pulled her skirt high around her waist to cool her long brown legs.
Better not do that if you want to be in time for lunch, David warned
her, and she smoothed them down hurriedly.
Nothing is safe with you around, she protested.
They came at last out of the barren land into the fertile basin of the
Kibbutzim below Galilee, and again the smell of orange blossom was so
strong on the warm air that it was difficult to breathe.
At last they saw the waters of the lake flashing amongst the date palms
and Debra touched his arm.
Slow down, Davey. Ella's place is a few miles this side of Tiberias.
That's the turnoff, up ahead.
It was a track that led down to the lake shore and it ended against a
wall of ancient stone blocks. Five other cars were parked there
already.
Ella's having one of her lunch parties, Debra remarked and led him to a
gate in the wall. Beyond was a small ruined castle. The tumbled walls
formed weird shapes and the stone was black with age; over them grew
flamboyant creepers of bougainvillaea and the tall palms clattered their
fronds in the light breeze that came off the lake. Other exotic
flowering shrubs grew upon the green lawns.
Part of the ruins had been restored and renovated into a picturesque and
unusual lakeside home, with a wide patio and a stone jetty against which
a motor-boat was moored. Across the green waters of the lake rose the
dark smooth whale-back of the Golan Heights.
It was a crusader fortress, Debra explained. One of the guard posts for
