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remarks he was beginning to take personally. ‘You reside here now on land PICA bought properly and fairly.’
    ‘But there was no-one living on it at the time,’ New Jew said. ‘What will you do with Zayed and his family once his land has been purchased?’
    ‘It is not PICA’s policy to displace tenant farmers unnecessarily. Zayed and his tribe can come and go as they have always done. Once properly drained, this land is only needed for access to the river.’
    ‘We don’t need the land at all.’ It was Amos again, still on his feet with his poking pipe. ‘I keep saying, we can’t even drain the land we already have. We should only take what we can work with Jewish labour. That is a basic principle. If we have to bring in Arabs to work for us, we are no more than colonialists.’ Amos spat out the last word with contempt, before adding with even more bitterness: ‘And capitalists.’
    ‘And when Rafi here wants to start damming the river,’ New Jew continued, ‘what will happen to Zayed’s pastures then?’
    ‘Enough, comrades,’ Rafi said. ‘Enough. I still don’t see any reason why Lev cannot meet with the Bedouin. It is, after all, only a preliminary talk.’
    ‘I will need a clear mandate from the group,’ Lev added.
    ‘I will ask for a show of hands,’ Rafi said. ‘Against?’
    Only three hands were raised.
    Amos sat down defeated while New Jew shuffled in his chair, folded his thick forearms against the victors.
    ‘Good,’ Rafi said. ‘Now who is free to take Lev down to see Zayed?’
    ‘I can.’ It was the young man with the slick-backed hair who sat beside Celia. ‘I have to go there tomorrow anyway.’
    ‘That’s settled then,’ Rafi declared. ‘Jonny will take him. Now let’s move on to other matters. We have much to discuss.’
    Who should work with the children now Ahuva was sick? Could Shoshanna kill another hen? Was there money available to buy more vegetables from the Arab farmers? Who could work on building a children’s house? What to do about the mice? Avi needed help to tar the wagon wheels. Chaim wanted to keep bees. Tools shouldn’t be left in the fields. Where could they get more books? Could Tsur keep the stray dog he found in the valley? Some of the married couples wanted their own tents. Where was last week’s newspaper? Yes, where
was
last week’s newspaper?
    The talking went on and on until everyone was tired of it and a wind picked up, causing the lanterns to sway. The discussions subsided and one of the women started to sing, quietly at first until the melody was taken up by someone else, then another and another. Lev recognized the tune from the country of his birth. He began to hum the melody. And then there were more songs, again in Hebrew or in Russian or Yiddish, songs of
der heim
, of the homeland. The group drew closer, the lamps were turned down save one, there was clapping and finger-clicking, one of the members returned with a battered accordion, a few people got up, held hands, began to dance in a circle. Celia was one of them. Lev watched her carefully as she played out the familiar steps. Her eyes closed, a few paces to the side, dipping her body then pulling back, arching upwards, forcing out her breasts, throwing back her head, caught up in her own private passion, as she retraced her movements in rhythm with her partners. He heard his own voice soarto the melodies accompanying the dancers and somewhere deep within himself he felt a yearning for something he could not name. But just as the intensity of the music reached its zenith, the dancing broke up, people started to leave, still singing as they filed out of the door, their melodies spilling into a star-filled night.
     
    He was to bed down in the dining room. He was brought a cot, a pillow and a blanket. Everyone else had gone to their tents. The last lantern was left burning at the far end of the room for when the night guard came in to make tea. Lev lay awake on his back, staring at