“I have a friend who needs a place to work.”
“Is he an archeologist?”
“No, I’m not talking about a skilled laborer. I’m talking about … well, a cook, for example. She’s a wonderful cook, and—”
“A woman! Have you lost your mind? I’m not hiring any girlfriend of yours.”
“She’s not that, Mr. Welles. Just listen to me if you will for five minutes.”
Welles stared at Josh with displeasure. “All right, five minutes, but it’d better be good.”
Josh gave his history with Kefira Reis as briefly but as clearly as he could. When he had finished he said, “So she has no place to go. The salary mentioned is far more than I expected. Just give half of it to her, and you’ll have two people there.”
“It’s too dangerous for a woman.”
“Look, she carries a gun. She shot a man who was going to kill me. I think she can take care of herself probably better than I can. And think about this, Mr. Welles. You say your brother’s not in the best of health. Kefira’s a wonderful cook. She could make life very easy for him. Doing his washing. Taking care of him. Seeing that he eats right …” Josh poured out the advantages of having a woman along, and finally he was surprised when Welles laughed.
“All right—all right, I’m convinced! All I want to know is one thing. Are you two having an affair?”
“No, of course not!”
“Don’t be so righteous and holy! It has been known to happen, you know.”
“I’ve told you the absolute truth, Mr. Welles. I feel like a brother toward her. She has nobody, and she saved my life. If I could do this for her, I’d feel that I had made up for that.”
Welles stood silently staring at the young man. “All right, you take her to see my brother. Tell him I have agreed to hire her, but he has to approve her.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Welles. You won’t regret it. She’ll be a great help to your brother.”
****
The New Testament fascinated Kefira. She had heard of Jesus. She knew what Christmas meant to a Christian, but suddenly as she read, the man Jesus seemed to reach out to her. She was startled by a knock on her door. She knew it had to be Joshua, so she shoved the New Testament into her purse and went to the door. When she opened it, she saw his eyes were blazing with excitement.
“I’ve got great news, Kefira.”
“What is it, Josh?”
“I’ve got the job.”
“That is wonderful!”
“Yes, but it’s even better than you think. While I was talking to Mr. Welles, it suddenly occurred to me that there might be a job for you too.”
Kefira stared at Josh. “I don’t know anything about archeology.”
“No, but you can cook, and you can wash, and you can dig. It’s a lot of hard work. That’s what these expeditions are. Professor Welles is a bit frail. He needs somebody to look after him, and so I convinced his brother that you’d be good for the job. And the salary’s good too.” He named the figure and saw surprise wash across Kefira’s face. “And the good thing is we won’t be spending any of it. There’s nothing to spend it on out in the desert, so when the job’s done we’ll come home with some money. You can help Chaim when he gets out.” He knew this would be pleasing to her, and he saw that the idea took hold of her at once.
“I don’t know. I never thought of such a thing.”
“Neither did I. It just came to me while I was talking to Mr. Welles. Look, this is so much better than just going down to the coast or wandering around. It’s something we can do together, and you can be a great help to the professor.”
It took very little persuasion because Kefira was quite apprehensive about the future. When Josh painted the advantages of the job in such glowing colors, she finally said, “All right. I’ll do it if you think it’s best, Josh.”
“It’ll be wonderful! Come on. We’ve got to go talk to the professor. He has to approve your employment.”
****
“And so, Professor Welles, your brother says he thinks it would be a good idea for Miss Reis to accompany us. She’s a fine cook, I can testify to that.”
“Wait a minute, Josh,” Kefira protested. “I cook mostly Jewish food.”
“I love Jewish food,” Professor Welles beamed. “I ate it all the time when I was on the dig in the Holy Land.”
“And she can help with the washing, and she can do some of the digging too, under instruction, of course.”
“All right.” The professor was delighted. He said, “Well, of course, it’s always good to have extra help. And a good cook is hard to find. The last one we had nearly poisoned me. It’s fine with me. I’d be glad to have you, my dear.”
“Thank you, Professor,” Kefira said. A sense of security suddenly came to her, and she felt warm gratitude toward Josh.
As they left the professor’s office, he said, “Come along. Conrad Welles wanted to meet you if his brother approved.”
The two made their way to Conrad’s office, which was not far from the professor’s, and when they were announced and entered the room, Josh was surprised to see Diana there.
“Hello, Diana,” he said. “This is Miss Kefira Reis.”
Diana nodded, saying noncommittally, “I’m glad to know you, Miss Reis.”
“Good to meet you, Miss Welles.”
Conrad Welles had been sitting behind his desk, but he got up now and came over to stand before Kefira. He stared at her for a moment and said, “It’s a rough life on a dig. Do you think you can put up with primitive conditions? No bathroom and all that?”
“Yes, sir, I think I can.”
Conrad’s eyes suddenly twinkled. “Do you still carry a pistol?”
“I have it right here in my purse.”
“A pistol!” Diana exclaimed. “You carry a pistol?”
“She carries it for protection,” Josh said hurriedly. “As a matter of fact, if she hadn’t had it, I might not be here.”
“That sounds like an interesting story.”
Kefira was studying the tall blond woman. “I’d be happy to tell you all about it sometime, Miss Welles.”
Diana stood perfectly still, her eyes locked with Kefira’s, then she suddenly smiled. “We’ll have plenty of time,” she said. “I haven’t had a chance to tell you, Dad”—she turned to face her father—“but I’ve decided to go to Egypt for the dig.”
Conrad Welles stared at his daughter. “It’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
Diana turned and smiled at Josh. “I made up my mind rather suddenly. It’ll be like old times, won’t it, Josh?”
Kefira watched Josh and saw something pass across his features. She knew suddenly why this woman had decided to go on the dig, and although she was young and inexperienced, she understood as well that Josh Winslow was going to find more in Egypt than old bones.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Last Night in New York
With a flourish Josh drove the nail into the packing case, hit it with a resounding blow, then lifted the hammer in triumph. “That’s the last of it,” he exclaimed, “and I’m glad of it!”
Kefira had been moving boxes across the crowded room, but now she stopped and turned to smile at Josh. “It’s been a real job, hasn’t it? I didn’t know it was going to be this much work just to get ready to go to Egypt.”
Josh put the hammer down carefully, flexed his finger, and shook his head. “I think you have to do quite a bit of planning. You can’t step back over to New York and buy something that you forgot to take. It’s pretty primitive out where we’re going.” He arched his back and tested his side and felt only a slight twinge. The work getting ready to go had been hard, but the cracked ribs seemed to have knitted themselves together. “Let’s have a cup of coffee,” he said. “I’m dry as a bone.”
The two moved over and cleared a place on the table, and Kefira filled two white mugs with coffee from the battered pot. “The professor insists on taking this old pot,” she said a
s she put the cups down. “It looks like it came over on the Mayflower, but he says it’s the only pot in the world that makes coffee right.”
“He’s a funny guy. Kind of set in his ways.”
“But he’s a wonderful man. I like him very much.”
Josh tasted the coffee cautiously, then sighed. “That’s good. Maybe he’s right about the coffeepot.” He looked up and smiled at Kefira, noting the weariness around her eyes. “You’re tired out,” he said. “I guess we all are, but in the morning we get on the ship. Then we can just take a rest. There won’t be any work to do until we get to Egypt.”
“I’ve never been on a big ship. I expect I’ll get seasick.”
“Let’s hope for better things. They tell me that seasickness is bad. I had a cousin who went to Europe on the Lusitania once, and he said once was enough. He said when you first get seasick you’re afraid you’re going to die—then after a while you’re afraid you won’t die. Pretty bad stuff.”
The two sat there in the midst of the cluttered room talking and enjoying the coffee. Both of them were exhausted after the extensive preparations. Josh had run all over the city finding the items the professor wanted to take. In addition to this, he had taken up the study of reading hieroglyphics. He had begun this study years before while a student in college and had done well at it. But it was a complicated subject and called for all of his mental energy. The professor had been tutoring him and promised to continue doing so during the ship voyage as well.
They had almost finished their coffee when the door swung open and Diana burst in. As always, she could not enter a room at a sedate pace but always seemed to be rushing to some extremely important appointment. She came over at once and put her hand on Josh’s shoulder in a familiar fashion. “Come on, Josh. We’re going to celebrate tonight.”
“Celebrate what?” Josh said. He was rather uncomfortable with the familiarity Diana showed him and was very much aware of Kefira’s steady gaze on the act.
“Why, we celebrate getting packed and getting away from New York.”
Diana was wearing a calf-length dress made of a soft, light fuchsia material that clung to her rather seductively. Over it, she wore a short jacket with padded shoulders, unfastened between waist and hip. A small close-fitting matching hat perched on her head at a jaunty angle. She looked expensive, as always, and Kefira felt like a dowdy bird indeed next to this gloriously arrayed young woman.
Josh looked down at his work clothes and said, “I’m not dressed to go to a fancy place.”
“Well, I am, so one of us will be enough. Come on, there’s a restaurant I want to take you to.”
“We’ve got to leave pretty early in the morning, Diana,” Josh protested.
“You’re talking like an old man. Come along.” Suddenly Diana looked over toward Kefira. “You’re welcome to come along too, of course.”
“No thank you, Diana,” Kefira answered quickly. “I believe I’ll just go to bed early.”
Josh rose and accompanied Diana out of the office, but when he looked back he saw Kefira still sitting, and she looked very much alone. “I hate to leave Kefira alone,” he said as they left the building and were getting into the flashy Deusenberg.
“Why, she didn’t want to come. I asked her,” Diana said. “Come on. Shake off your troubles. We’re going to have a great time tonight.”
Back inside the room, Kefira rose and began to wash the cups. She stood wondering whether or not to pack them and finally decided there would be cups, at least, for sale in Egypt. She was depressed, and she knew it had something to do with Josh and Diana Welles. Ever since Diana had announced that she was going on the trip, she had monopolized Josh’s time. Somehow she had managed to put Kefira into a subordinate position, and while she was polite enough, there were times that she seemed to treat Kefira as one of the lowest order of servants.
Kefira began tidying up, checking boxes to be sure they were secure and well labeled. She heard the door close and looked up to see Professor Welles enter. He smiled at her but said in a worried tone, “Why, my dear, you shouldn’t be working this late! You should be in bed. I’m afraid we’ve been asking too much of you.”
“Oh, that’s not so, Professor Welles,” Kefira said at once with a smile. She liked the professor very much indeed. She knew he was an intellectual giant. His pictures were in the paper, and everyone spoke of him almost in awe. He was the foremost authority in the world, so Josh had told her, in Egyptology. But in many ways he was almost childlike. He was forgetful to a fault, and it took a great deal of Kefira’s time keeping up with the things that he simply let slip his mind. It pleased her that she had been able to help him with personal things. He loved her cooking, and she had checked his wardrobe and been shocked to find that he was packing dirty clothes. She had firmly taken charge of his entire wardrobe and seen that everything was cleaned and pressed and had thrown away some socks that were more holes than fabric.
“I think everything’s ready to go, Professor,” Kefira said.
“That’s fine—fine!” Professor Welles beamed at her. “Now I feel much better with you to take care of me. I’m not very good at looking after myself,” he confessed.
“I’m glad I can help. I don’t know anything about archeology. I wish I knew more.”
“Well, you’ll know more when we get back. A great deal of the field is learned simply by doing it. You can only learn so much out of a textbook, but actually putting a shovel in the ground is another thing.”
The two chatted amiably, and then Phineas said, “Where’s Joshua? I expected he’d be here with you.”
“Diana came by and wanted him to go out and celebrate.”
Something in Kefira’s tone tugged at the professor’s attention. He examined her carefully and saw that the young woman was somewhat depressed. He was not as good at reading people as he was at reading hieroglyphics, but still he had become very fond of this young woman and was sensitive to her moods. He had wondered from the beginning about her relationship with Joshua, and now he thought he had part of the answer. “You’ll have to forgive Diana. She’s very impulsive.”
“It’s all right. She wanted to celebrate.”
“Diana’s a dear girl, and I love her, but she’s been terribly spoiled.” Phineas sighed and shook his head sadly. “And I’m afraid I’m partly responsible for that. I could never say no to her. Neither could her father. If her mother had lived, I think she might have been a different young woman. Stella had a great deal of native intelligence, and she knew Diana had a willful spirit.”
“She’s very beautiful.”
“Oh yes, she’s always been that. Even as a child. I wish she weren’t.”
“You wish she weren’t beautiful?” Kefira looked up quickly. “Why would you say that?”
“Physical beauty isn’t always an asset.” He smiled, looking more like a cherub than ever. “Since I’ve never had any, I’ve analyzed it quite carefully. You know the Bible says, ‘Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.’”
Immediately Kefira asked, “Where’s that in the Bible? In the New Testament?”
“Oh no, it’s in the Old Testament. The book of Proverbs, last chapter, thirtieth verse. In the Hebrew it sounds much more impressive.” He spoke again, this time in apparently fluent Hebrew.
“You speak Hebrew, Professor?”
“Oh yes, it’s a relatively simple language to learn,” he said carelessly.
“Why did you learn to speak Hebrew?”
“I wanted to read the Bible in the original language, so that, of course, meant Hebrew as well as Aramaic and Greek.”
“You learned those languages so you could read the Bible in them?”
“Oh yes, it was quite fun, actually. And it’s come in handy. Where we’re going, Aramaic is still spoken at times.”
“How many other languages do you speak?” Kefira asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. Let me see. Germa
n, of course. French. A little Spanish. Portuguese, Mandarin, Russian—oh, I don’t know. Two or three more.”
“That is miraculous!”
Phineas looked at her. “Oh no, not miraculous. God gives us different gifts. He gave me the gift of languages, and I learned them very easily. But you have gifts just as valuable in God’s sight.”
“Me! Why, I can’t do anything.”
Phineas smiled gently. “Yes you can. You have the gift of love in you. I’ve seen it from the first.”
Kefira was astonished at Phineas’s words. “What do you mean, Professor?”
“I don’t know how it is, but some people have loving hearts and some people just don’t. It’s the greatest gift of all, I think. I would trade all my knowledge of languages just to be able to love people like I know you do.”
“You can’t have seen that in me! You haven’t been around me that much.”
“You’ll find it to be true, though.”
Kefira was shocked at the professor’s words, and she grew very quiet. Finally she shook her head. “I’ve had a pretty hard life, Professor, since my parents died, and I’m afraid I’ve had bad thoughts about people. I get angry and I want to get revenge.”
She looked up, and suddenly there was a vulnerability in her countenance. She had a beautifully fashioned face, all of its features generous and capable of robust emotion. But there was a hint of her will and pride in the corners of her eyes and lips. “I have to tell you that I don’t love God.”
“You don’t? You amaze me, my dear.”
“When my father died it all began. Then my brother went to prison, and since then I’ve had a hard time with … well, with men who’ve been abusive. And then my mother died. So it keeps coming back to me. Why does God do all these things? You know, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I even think of God as my enemy.”
“I think, child, He is your beloved enemy.”
“What does that mean, Professor? Beloved enemy? I’ve never heard anybody say that.”
“Well, sometimes I wish you’d get a copy of the New Testament.”
“Oh, I have one!”
“Then read in the book of Acts the story of a man called Paul. His original name was Saul of Tarsus, and he was very much opposed to Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, he had authority and imprisoned people who were Christians. He was on his way to put more people in prison when he was suddenly struck down by a blinding light from heaven. Oh, it’s an exciting story! And Paul, of course, was amazed and shocked and stunned when a voice spoke to him. And the voice said, ‘Saul, why persecutest thou me?’ And Saul said, ‘Who art thou, Lord?’ And the voice said, ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.’”
Beloved Enemy, The (House of Winslow Book #30) Page 20
