A faint whistle. The sign to withdraw. The mines have been buried. We reform our ranks and march about one and a half kilometers back to the company. They are still lying in the same place, waiting for us.
"Who goes there?"
"Nachshon!"
Aryeh met us. Yaakov told him that everything was OK. We form up again and set off.
In front of me I can see a steep hill. That is our position. Joseph, the scout, stops the long column. The first two platoons go ahead, to occupy the top of the hill.
We space ourselves out, six feet from man to man, and walk stooped. We can hear dogs barking in the distance. That must be Deir Muheisin. I estimate the distance as about half a kilometer. If the Arabs are clever, they will set an ambush for us here. Maybe someone is lying in wait behind that white rock and aiming his Sten10 at me.
"Faster!" - Shlomo passes on the command. I am almost running. With one hand I am keeping hold of my equipment to stop it making a noise. I am the furthest to the right. I am supposed to keep a look-out to the side. Can’t see anything. The way we are moving, though, we should be recognizable from any distance.
We are there. A stone wall in front of me, about three feet high. Again I have to secure the right-hand side. I lie on the ground, facing right, and freezing miserably. I get out my watch and try to see the hands. It is just before twelve. No idea how long I have been lying here. My whole body is crying out for sleep. My eyes keep closing. But I manage to catch myself each time I am just about to go to sleep. That happens again and again. For God’s sake, are they never going to relieve me? We can’t sleep. We carry the responsibility for the lives of the whole company.
Far away I hear a vehicle. Light appears from behind the hill. Another one behind it, and a third. The convoyl It is on the way. Aryeh has apparendy reported that we have taken our position.
* * *
At last I am relieved. I sit behind the stone wall. We have orders not to sleep. I rest for an hour and look ahead. I hear a call in Arabic far away. Change of the guard in the village? Now and then a dog barks.