Beloved Enemy, The (House of Winslow Book #30)

by Gilbert, Morris

  “I never heard of anything like that.”

  “Well, Paul came to know Jesus during that experience, but before that, he had thought of Jesus as his enemy. But all the time Jesus loved him and was determined that He would save him from his sins. So, my dear Kefira, you may think God is your enemy, but He loves you. So think of Him as a beloved enemy—at least until that time when you can think of Him simply as your beloved.”

  Kefira felt something begin within her, deep inside. It was like a warmth, but it was not that exactly. As soon as the professor had mentioned the name of Jesus, she realized that she could not ignore Jesus any longer. But she did not want to admit this, so she said, “I’ll read the story tonight.”

  Phineas reached over, patted her hand, and held it. “You have a sweet disposition. You’ll need it when we get to Egypt. The one certainty about these trips is that things always go wrong.” He released her hand and said, “You’d better go to bed now. I can see you’re tired.” He stepped toward the door and then turned back and remarked, “Diana has too much money and too much beauty. She’s always gotten what she wanted, but remember that verse in the Bible. ‘Beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.’ That’s my prayer for you, Kefira.”

  Kefira stood there as the professor left. She was tremendously moved by the verse that he spoke, and suddenly she had a desire to read the story of Paul. Quickly she locked up the office and went to her room. She found the New Testament at once, sat down, and began looking for the book of Acts. She had some difficulty finding it, but when she did she immediately began with chapter one and read eagerly.

  ****

  “Come on, Josh, I’m starved.”

  Josh stood aside and watched as the uniformed valet stepped out from under the restaurant awning and slid behind the wheel of Diana’s car.

  “I’ll park the car for you, Miss Welles,” he said with a smile.

  Josh and Diana approached the entrance, and a uniformed doorman opened it, greeted Diana by name, and said with a broad smile, “Good to see you again, Miss Welles.”

  “Thank you, Harry. Good to be here.”

  As they stepped inside, Josh at once felt out of place. He had put on a coat, but still, one look around revealed that these were indeed society people. The women were dressed in expensive gowns and wore glittering jewelry. Many of the men were wearing evening dress, and Josh shook his head. “You know I feel as out of place as a bullfrog on a freeway with his hopper busted.”

  Diana laughed and took his arm. “That’s all right. Some real strange types come in here.”

  “What’s the name of this place?”

  “It’s called the Colony. It started out when prohibition began with a restaurant in the front, and in the back the gamblers and the prostitutes plied their professions quite successfully. A man named Cavalero owns it. I’ll introduce you to him.”

  The Colony was packed. Tables were as close together as possible, but there was an empty space, evidently, for a floor show. A band was playing, and the room was filled with smoke and laughter and the voices of the diners. Waiters moved around carrying silver trays high over their heads. Some of them pushed food around on wheeled carts.

  A tall olive-skinned man with Mediterranean features approached and bowed from the hips. “Ah, Miss Welles, I have your table ready. Believe me, I had to fight to save it.”

  “Thank you, Mario. That was sweet of you.”

  The two followed Mario to a table far back in the corner, and Mario pulled the chair out for Diana and said, “I’ll have a very special wine sent out to you, if you would trust me, Miss Welles.”

  “I always trust your choice in wine, Mario.”

  The maitre d’ left, and Diana smiled and reached over and put her hand over Josh’s. “I hope you’re hungry. The food here is wonderful. Here, see if there’s anything you like.”

  The menu proved to be impressive. It included dishes like eel ragout, pompano en papillote, pheasant Souvaroff, and dozens of others.

  “I don’t know what most of this is.”

  “Let me order,” Diana said. “We’ll have crepes suzettes and chicken curry. That’s very good.”

  Diana gave their order crisply to the waiter who came, and Josh occupied himself by looking around. When the waiter left, Josh said, “There’s John Barrymore.”

  “He comes here pretty often. He drinks so much that they have to water down his liquor.”

  “That’s too bad. I hear he’s a great actor.”

  “Very fine indeed! I saw him play Hamlet once. I wish we had time to catch his new film. You should have come to New York earlier.”

  Josh turned to face her. “Well, Diana, I really couldn’t. I was either in jail or recovering from broken ribs.”

  “How are your ribs?”

  “They’re all right now. I’ll be able to dig with the best of them, but it’s a good thing Kefira was there. If she hadn’t been there with her thirty-eight, I think I’d’ve been in a grave somewhere.”

  Diana’s eyes narrowed. “So you’ve said. I can’t believe she really shot the man who was beating you.”

  “She sure did. Just in the ear, of course.”

  “She’s a pretty tough cookie. Not many women could pull a gun on a man.”

  “I think she’s not as tough as she likes to make out. Actually, she’s a very sensitive young woman. She’s been hurt pretty badly.”

  Diana nodded absently, and then the two were interrupted as a man in a tuxedo stepped up to a microphone. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, for your entertainment we have with us tonight the great Al Jolson. Come on, Jolie, let’s hear it!”

  Al Jolson stepped up to the microphone, and for the next thirty minutes his voice filled the room. He sang the songs that had made him famous—“My Mammy,” “California, Here I Come,” and a number of others. He was an exuberant man with flashing eyes, and he held the audience in the palm of his hand.

  By the time he was through singing and had waved cheerfully and disappeared, waiters began bringing food to nearby tables. Josh was stunned by the flamboyant tradition of the restaurant. They brought out food skewered on flaming swords. Josh noticed and pointed out to Diana that one party even had hot dogs served to them on flaming swords, and another had twelve ripe olives brought in on long brochettes by twelve individual waiters.

  “They like to show off a little,” Diana said, laughing as one waiter walked by with meat impaled and flaming. “Any minute now they’ll be bringing in the manager on a flaming sword.”

  Josh grinned at Diana and shook his head. “It all seems sort of frivolous.”

  “That’s what it is—frivolous. What the world needs is more frivolous things, Josh.” She had had several drinks and had been rather surprised when Josh refused to join her. His refusal, however, did not affect her own drinking. Her eyes danced with pleasure as she began teasing him about the old days and the fun they’d had in college.

  Josh listened and smiled, but finally their food came, and they applied themselves to it. They both had healthy appetites, and once Diana said, “You’d better enjoy this. I imagine we’ll be eating mostly out of cans on the dig.”

  “Not really. Kefira’s a wonderful cook. She’s introduced me to Jewish food. It’s spicy, and she really knows how to cook a good meal.”

  Diana nodded, then at once began making plans for the rest of the evening. Evidently, Josh realized, she was planning to make a long night of it, but he determined that after the meal, he would go back to the room and try to get what rest he could.

  They stayed at the restaurant for two hours, for there were several other acts. During this time Diana drank a considerable number of glasses of wine, and when they left she was somewhat unsteady. He held her arm, and when the car was brought up, he said, “I’d better drive, don’t you think?”

  “Nonsense, I’ll drive.”

  With some trepidation, Josh got into the car and watched as Diana put the car in gear. She shot out fr
om the parking space with a screaming of tires, and he said, “Diana, take it easy!”

  “Taking it easy is for other people, Josh, not for you and me.”

  The ride to his hotel was perilous. Diana drove carelessly and narrowly missed having several head-on collisions. She stopped the car in front of the hotel where Josh was staying and turned to him. “Why don’t I come up for a while? We can talk about old times.”

  “That’s not a good idea, Diana. We’ve got an early call in the morning, and you’ve had too much to drink.”

  Diana suddenly reached over and put her arms around him and pulled him forward. She kissed him hard, then laughed. “You’re nothing but an old puritan, that’s what you are! The old Josh wouldn’t have turned down an offer like that.”

  Josh smiled faintly. “I guess he wouldn’t have, but things have changed a lot.”

  Diana shook her head. She still had her arms around his neck and was holding him tightly. “You’ve got some bad ideas in your head, Josh, but we’ll have plenty of time in Egypt. I hear there’s a beautiful moon there. Out on the desert sand you’ll change your mind.”

  Josh got out of the car and leaned over to say, “Be careful.”

  “Careful is for old ladies. I’ll see you in the morning, Josh.”

  The Deusenberg shot off, and Josh watched as it weaved its way down the street. “I hope she gets home all right,” he murmured, then turned and entered the hotel.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Meeting on Deck

  The morning of May the eleventh went quickly for Kefira. She was up by dawn, and after a quick breakfast she and Josh went to the docks. Josh watched carefully as the crates and baggage were loaded, and then the two of them went up on deck. The ship was a beehive of activity, and it was exciting to Kefira to watch as the late passengers came running to get on board.

  “Look, there’s Diana,” Josh said. A taxi had pulled up, and Diana had gotten out. She moved rather slowly, and Kefira said, “What’s wrong with her?”

  Secretly Josh thought she probably had a hangover, but he said, “I guess it’s a little early for her.” They watched as she came up the gangplank and then disappeared.

  For over an hour the two stood there, and Kefira’s eyes were wide with excitement. “I’ve never done anything like this, Josh!”

  “I never have either. I’m glad we’re doing it together.”

  Kefira felt pleased by his words, and the two waited until the ship cast off. They watched as the tugs pulled the Empress away from the dock and then carefully shepherded her out into the open sea.

  They made their way to the stern of the ship and stood there until the New York skyline grew indistinct and finally disappeared.

  “Well, we’re on our way, Kefira,” Josh said. The two of them were leaning on the rail and staring at the sea that separated them from America. “Are you afraid?”

  “A little bit,” she confessed. “What if the ship sinks?”

  “It won’t do that.” Josh smiled.

  “I’m not afraid, then. But it may be a long time before we get back.”

  “That’s right. The professor said the dig may take several years, but we’ll come back before then, I’m sure. You’ll want to be back when Chaim gets out of Sing Sing.”

  “What about you, Josh?”

  “This is a great break for me, Kefira. I can learn from the professor. Why, it’s like having a university walking around in one man’s shoes. He knows everything!”

  Kefira turned to face him, and he studied her countenance. Her hair rose back from her temples, flowed over her head, and was caught into a ball behind. Her face was expressive, as much as he had ever seen it, and he saw pleasure graphically registered in the light and shadow of her feelings. She usually had a composed expression, but now a little-girl eagerness displayed itself. Josh watched the slight changes of her face, the quickening and the loosening of the small expressions that came and went in a fugitive fashion. She wasn’t exactly smiling, but the hint of a smile hovered around her mouth.

  Kefira studied Josh and noticed that he held his long lips together on the edge of a smile. Josh seemed to have a way of looking at things, or people, as if absorbing them without judging some as more important than others. He was, Kefira had discovered, a man who could be gallant to women, but she did not understand whether it was because he had some deep feeling about any one particular woman.

  “I’m glad we’re in this thing together, Kefira,” Josh said, his warm, clear eyes looking directly into her own.

  “So am I,” she replied, and at that moment she felt complete and whole and confident.

  ****

  Kefira had brought no fancy clothes, so when Phineas knocked on her cabin door to announce, “We’re going to eat at the captain’s table tonight,” she had been disturbed. She went through her scanty wardrobe and finally sighed and chose the only dress that even came close to being ornate. It was a very simple dress of light blue with a high rounded neckline, three-quarter-length sleeves, a sash around the waist, and a midcalf-length skirt.

  She donned the dress, put on the simple pearl earrings that had belonged to her mother, one of the few things of hers she had left, and walked toward the dining area. She found the party already gathered, and at once noted that Diana was wearing a light orchid dress with a low décolletage inset with chiffon. Diamonds glittered at her throat and earlobes, and Kefira felt out of place.

  Phineas took her arm at once, saying, “Come along, Kefira. I want you to meet the captain.”

  The captain was a tall, cheerful-looking man with a full white beard. His name was Ralph Toliver, and he was in his midfifties as far as she could determine. He greeted Kefira courteously with a smile and then seated them at his table. The meal was ornate and very rich. Wine was served, which neither Kefira nor Josh tasted.

  Kefira kept very quiet listening to Captain Toliver as he spoke of his adventures on the seas. He was a fascinating speaker and managed to draw in the others. Finally he turned his eyes on Kefira and smiled humorously. “You two ladies had better be careful. These sailors are like all sailors everywhere. They’ll try to romance you.”

  Diana glanced at Kefira and shook her head, and a mischievous light danced in her eyes. “They’d better not try to romance Miss Reis. She carries a gun and has been known to shoot men with it.”

  Everyone’s eyes turned on Kefira, the officers staring at her with disbelief but interest.

  “I’m sure you’re speaking metaphorically,” Captain Toliver replied, studying Kefira carefully. “She doesn’t look like a gun-packing lady.”

  “Oh, it’s true enough. Tell them about it, Kefira.”

  Kefira could not say a word. She wanted to leave at once she was so embarrassed, but Josh came to her rescue. “Miss Reis was once compelled to carry a gun because she was in very dangerous territory. As a matter of fact, if she hadn’t been, I think I would probably be six feet under right now.”

  The first officer, a short, rotund man with merry blue eyes, said, “That sounds like some story, but I’m willing to risk it. Would you dance with me, Miss Reis?”

  Glad to leave the table, Kefira got up. She found the first officer, whose name was Don Cunningham, a very nice young man. As they were waltzing about the floor, he said, “I don’t suppose you’d care to tell me about your adventure with the gun?”

  “Oh, there wasn’t really much to it, Mr. Cunningham.”

  “Well, I think I’m safe—I’m harmless enough.”

  Kefira smiled, for she liked the officer. “That’s the first mark of a man making his move. He announces he’s harmless.”

  “Oh, but I mean it!” Cunningham protested. “I’ve got a wife and two children at home.”

  Kefira smiled and began asking the names of the children. When they returned to the table, Josh whispered to her, “Don’t let it get to you, Kefira. Diana didn’t mean anything.”

  “I’m sure she didn’t.”

  The meal was interestin
g, and Diana made no more remarks about Kefira.

  After the meal was over, the professor said, “Kefira, if you’d like, I’ll show you some of the plans I’ve made.”

  “I’d like that very much.”

  Kefira accompanied Phineas to his cabin, and he began to show her maps and diagrams, most of which she did not understand.

  “How do you know where to dig? Do you just start anywhere?” Kefira asked.

  “Oh no, there are signs. You want to dig where people once lived, and people leave their mark whenever they inhabit a place for a long time.” He rummaged through some large sheets of paper, then said, “Look, here’s where we’ll be going. It’s very close to the Valley of the Kings. Have you heard of that?”

  “No, I’m afraid not.”

  “Well, it’s a burial place used by many of the pharaohs. I expect every grain of sand there has been turned over and many discoveries have been made.”

  “So, you’re going to dig there?”

  “I don’t think there’s anything much left there to find, but when I was in Egypt several years ago, I made a side trip from the Valley of the Kings, and I found this little tell.”

  “Tell? What’s a tell?”

  “It’s a low mound, usually with a flat top. Here, I have a diagram of it.”

  Kefira looked at the drawing and studied it carefully. “It looks just like a small hill that’s been cut off flat on the top.”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what it looks like, and they’re called tells. You see, back in ancient days, a settlement would grow up on the plain, but time and storms and wars would come along and flatten the village. But it was still a good site, usually close to water, so other people would come along and build on that old site. They’d repeat the cycle, and so what you have is layer upon layer of different civilizations.”