Zev, David, and Joab interrupted Kitty’s thoughts as they said good-bys and offered thanks and hope that they would see her again. And then they, too, were gone and Kitty was alone.
“Pretty town, isn’t it?”
Kitty turned around. Ari Ben Canaan was standing behind her. “We always bring our guests into Palestine through Haifa. It gives them a good first impression.”
“Where are the children going?” she asked.
“They will be dispersed to a half dozen Youth Aliyah Centers. Some of the centers are located on a kibbutz. Other centers have their own villages. In a few days I will be able to tell you where Karen is.”
“I’ll be grateful.”
“What are your plans, Kitty?”
She laughed sardonically. “I was just asking myself the same thing, along with a dozen other questions. I’m a stranger in town, Mr. Ben Canaan, and I feel a little foolish at the moment, asking myself how I got here. Oh, Good Nurse Fremont has a solid profession in which there is always a shortage. I’ll find a place, somewhere.”
“Why don’t you let me help you get situated?”
“I suppose you’re rather busy. I’m always able to get along.”
“Listen to me, now. I think Youth Aliyah would be perfect for you. The head of the organization is a close friend of mine. I’ll arrange an appointment for you in Jerusalem.”
“That’s very kind but I don’t want to impose.”
“Nonsense. It’s the very least … If you can tolerate my company for a few days I will be happy to drive you to Jerusalem. I must go to Tel Aviv on business first, but it’s just as well … it will give me a chance to set your appointment.”
“I don’t want you to feel that you are obligated to do this.”
“I’m doing it because I want to,” Ari said.
Kitty wanted to give a sigh of relief. She was nervous about being alone in a strange land. She smiled and thanked him.
“Good,” Ari said. “We will have to stay in Haifa tonight because of the road curfew. Pack one bag with what you will need to keep you for a few days. If you carry too much with you the British will be going through your suitcases every five minutes. I’ll have the rest of your things sealed and held at customs.”
After clearances Ari ordered a taxi and drove up Mount Carmel into the Jewish section, which spread through the hills on the mountainside. Near the top they stopped at a small pension set in a pine grove.
“It’s better to stay up here. I know too many people and they won’t let me alone for a minute if we stay in the center of town. Now you rest up. I’ll go down the hill and scare up an auto. I’ll be back by dinner.”
That evening Ari took Kitty to a restaurant on the very top of the Carmel, commanding a view of the entire area. The sight beneath was breathtaking. The whole hillside was alive with green trees and half-hidden brownstone houses and apartment buildings, all done in a square Arabic style. The weird-looking oil refinery appeared to be but a dot from this height, and as it turned dark a golden string of lights ran down the twisting road from Har Ha-Carmel into the Arab section by the waterfront.
Kitty was flushed with excitement and pleased with Ari’s sudden show of attention. She was surprised by the modern-ness of Jewish Haifa. Why, it was far more modern than Athens or Salonika! Much of the strangeness went away when she was addressed in English by the waiter and a half dozen people who knew Ari and stopped at their table to exchange greetings.
They sipped brandy at the end of the meal and Kitty became solemn, intent on the panorama below
“Are you still wondering what you are doing here?”
“Very much. It doesn’t seem quite real.”
“You will find that we are quite civilized and I can even be charming-sometimes, You know, I never have properly thanked you.”
“You don’t have to. You are thanking me very nicely I can only remember one other place so lovely as this.”
“That must be San Francisco?”
“Have you been there, Ari?”
“No. All Americans say that Haifa reminds them of San Francisco.”
It was fully dark and lights twinkled on all over the Carmel hillside. A small orchestra played some light dinner music and Ari poured Kitty another brandy and they touched glasses.
Suddenly the music stopped. All conversation halted,
With startling speed a truckload of British troops pulled to a stop before the restaurant and the place was cordoned off Six soldiers led by a captain entered and looked around. They began to move among the tables, stopping at several and demanding to see identification papers.
“This is just routine,” Ari whispered. “You’ll get used to it,”
The captain in charge of the detail stared at Ari’s table, then walked over to it. “If it isn’t Ari Ben Canaan,” the captain said sarcastically. “We haven’t had your picture on the boards for a long time. I hear you’ve been making mischief elsewhere.”
“Evening, Sergeant,” Ari said. “I’d introduce you if I could remember your name.”
The captain grinned through clenched teeth. “Well, I remember yours. We’re watching you, Ben Canaan. Your old cell at Acre jail is lonesome for you. Who knows, maybe the high commissioner will be smart this time and give you a rope instead.” The captain gave a mock salute and walked on.
“Well,” Kitty said, “what a lovely welcome to Palestine. He was certainly a nasty person.”
Ari leaned close to Kitty and spoke into her ear. “He is Captain Allan Bridges. He is one of the best friends the Haganah has. He keeps us advised on every Arab and British move in the Haifa area. That was all for appearance.”
Kitty shook her head, bewildered. The patrol left with two Jews whose papers didn’t appear in order. The orchestra harassed them with a chorus of “God Save the King.”
The lorry drove away and in a moment it was as though nothing had happened, but Kitty was a little dazed by the
suddenness of it and astonished by the calm of the people
“You learn to live with tension after a while,” An said, watching her. “You’ll get used to it. It is a country filled with angry, emotional people. After a while you won’t know what to do when you get one of those rare weeks of peace and quiet. Don’t be sorry you came just when you are getting ,.’”
Ari’s speech was cut off by a shock wave that ran through the restaurant, rattling the windows and jarring some dishes from the tables. In a second they saw a huge orange ball of flame push angrily into the sky-Another series of explosions followed, shaking the place to its foundations,
Shouts arose: “The oil refinery!” . . “They’ve got the refinery!” . , .“Maccabee raid!”
Ari grabbed Kitty’s hand. “Let’s get out of here. In ten minutes the whole Carmel Valley will be crawling with British soldiers.”
The cafe was emptied in seconds, Ari led Kitty out quickly. Below them oil was flaming madly The entire city screamed with the frantic siren shrieks of speeding fire trucks and British patrols.
Kitty lay awake half the night trying to comprehend the sudden violent things she had seen She was glad that Ari had been with her Would she get used to living with this? She was too bewildered to think about it, but at the moment she felt her coming to Palestine was a sorry mistake.
The next morning the oil refinery was still blazing. A pall of thick smoke hung over the entire Haifa area. The information spread that the raid was Maccabee terrorist work. It had been led by Ben Moshe-Son of Moses-the Maccabee field commander under Akiva, and formerly a professor at the Hebrew University before he rose in Maccabee ranks, The raid was part of a double-pronged Maccabee action. The other strike was against the Lydda airdrome in another part of Palestine, where the terrorists destroyed six million dollars’ worth of Spitfire fighter planes on the ground. The action was the Maccabees’ own way of welcoming the Exodus.