Free Leon Uris by The Haj

the rocks, then start packing.’
    ‘What is your price?’ Ibrahim whispered, with fear crawling all over him.
    ‘Peace.’
    ‘Peace?’
    ‘Peace.’
    ‘That is all?’
    ‘That is all. The valve that sends water into Tabah shall remain open so long as you stay out of our fields, stop shooting at us, and never again lay a hand on any of my people.’
    Ibrahim quickly regained his valor. ‘What will you give me if I meet your demands?’
    ‘Just water.’
    ‘I must have a paper to show everyone. Give me a paper and I will agree.’
    ‘We have already legalized your rights. They are on file at the land office. Your water depends on you keeping the agreement. Is there anything we don’t understand?’
    ‘I understand,’ Ibrahim capitulated. He was so relieved he shook Gideon’s hands in a manner that consummates a bargain. ‘How do we know there will be enough water. The stream runs low in the hot months and we see you are building one of those gigantic water towers.’
    ‘We have been measuring the brook for two years. There is enough for present needs. However, we are opening new acreage and plan to experiment with overhead sprinkling irrigation. Below the terracing we will be building a dam and reservoir. With the winter flash floods there will be enough water—for peaceful neighbors—for this century.’
    A dam! A reservoir! These were staggering things to contemplate. The Jews were ingenious!
    ‘As long as you are here ... Your shepherds have broken the fence on your south pasture where it meets our northern fields. Your goats are ruinous. They dig for water with their hooves and destroy the fragile vegetation.’
    Ibrahim was careful not to be offensive.... ‘But these goats have survived here for thousands of years.’
    ‘The goats have but the land hasn’t,’ Gideon said. ‘I notice you have been drying up swamp and I understand it is your personal land. If you are looking for high profit I suggest you get rid of the goats entirely and try some of the cattle we have brought in.’
    Ibrahim came to his feet determinedly. ‘Understand this, Gideon Asch. I have made a bargain with you because I have no choice. We want nothing but our share of the water that was stolen from us. We do not want your cattle, your machinery, your medicine. You are deceiving yourself if you really think this is a land of milk and honey, just as the spies of Moses deceived him. Canaan has always been dust. The ancient Hebrews fled Canaan to Egypt because of drought.’
    ‘Perhaps we’ve learned something in the last three thousand years,’ Gideon said, ‘and perhaps it’s time you started learning.’
    ‘And perhaps you will learn that what the Prophet has willed to dust, will be dust. Wait until there is no water for any of us. Wait till the earthquakes come. Wait till your medicine cannot cure the scourges. Wait till the sun breaks the rocks. They will break your spirit as well.’
    ‘Perhaps even Allah needs a little help,’ Gideon answered. ‘It is time you stopped picking at the bones of dead earth.’
    ‘You are a fool, Gideon Asch.’
    ‘We’re going to be neighbors for a long time, Haj Ibrahim. I was hoping you wanted something better for your people.’
    ‘Not from you,’ Ibrahim answered, and mounted his horse.
    ‘We must meet. We must agree to talk about things like fences and pestilence. Things that concern us both,’ Gideon said.
    ‘How can I meet when you select a woman as your muktar?’
    ‘We choose our leaders. Our leaders do not choose us,’ Gideon said.
    ‘It is a very bad system. It will never work,’ Ibrahim said. ‘I will meet, but only with you and only at my knoll.’
    ‘Once at the knoll. Once here at the stream,’ Gideon answered.
    As Ibrahim rode off he wondered why he was more angry with the Jew than he was at the Effendi Kabir. From Kabir this kind of trickery was expected and understood. But charity from the Jews? Never!
    Ibrahim rode into a terrified assemblage at the