Days of Lead by Moshe Rashkes

Author:Moshe Rashkes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Apollo Publishers
Published: 2018-04-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Night

That same night the company commander came along to inspect us. He made a lightning tour of the positions, and then sat down to talk to me behind the protective wall. “Everything alright?” he asked loudly.

“Well, more or less,” I hemmed and hawed. “The boys look a bit green . . .”

“What’s that?” he shouted, as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

“Yes, greenhorns,” I screamed back. “Green as little apples!”

“So make them work for their living!” he yelled back. “Rub the skin off their arses!”

“Easy to say so!”

“Why don’t you take some of them out on a patrol tonight,” he interrupted me, as if he hadn’t heard what I’d just said. A thought crossed my mind: maybe it suited him to pretend to be deaf sometimes. “Go down to the valley,” he added. “Always plenty of scouts moving around there. In the white house at the end of the village, there’s a regional headquarters. I want you to get hold of some scouts and documents. I need information.” He paused for a moment. “And don’t do anything stupid,” he added. “We’ve lost enough men lately.”

“Alright,” I blurted unwillingly.

“That will give you a chance to let the boys really have a workout,” the commander added, as if trying to spur me on. He laughed faintly, looking around. When he saw I had nothing to add, he went off, remarking as he left: “If you have any problems, let me know.”

After he’d gone, I called Sasson. “We’ll go out on a patrol tonight. We’ll go out in a four-man team. You, me, and two others. Who would you suggest? You know them better than I do.”

Sasson thought for a moment. “They’ve never been in action before.”

“I know, but all the same . . .” I pressed him.

“Let’s take Shimon. He’s a steady fellow, rather nervous, but he’ll be OK.”

“And perhaps Benny. I know him from the training camp.”

“He doesn’t feel well today,” Sasson dismissed him. “Said he’d caught a cold.”

“Oh!” I exclaimed, as if I understood. “Well, then, who else is there?”

“What about Shabtai? Sure, he looked a bit soft today. But that boy has guts.” I nodded in agreement.

“We’ll set off in an hour,” I proposed. “We’ll meet next to the armory.”

At the appointed time, all of us gathered there.

“Will we be out for long?” Shimon asked in a faint voice.

“As long as necessary,” Sasson reprimanded him. Shimon hung his head, as if in shame. It was obvious that he wanted to ask something else, but he didn’t.

“I’ve already told them what they have to do.” Sasson seemed to expect me to praise him for being so prompt. I was silent for a moment, ignoring him, and I could sense him putting on a sour expression. His anger pleased me.

“Right, we’re going,” I whispered. “And keep absolutely quiet.” We began moving down the slope that wound down into the valley. A dark, starless sky pressed above us, like a sort of purple curtain over the valley, with its edges hanging at the ends of the shadowy ridges that closed in around us.

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