My hand slides under Shulah’s pullover and glides over her body. She has a sweet little body. And we had no idea. Her hand is resting on my back.
The bus drives into the camp. The lights come on. I withdraw my hand and she turns away. In the light she is embarrassed.
The men climb noisily out of the bus.
"There is work to be done," says Jamus. "At three o’clock it starts. We must supervise the packing of the equipment."
"I’ll be right back," I reply without enthusiasm. Jamus looks at me, raises his eyebrows, reconsiders.
"Ehhhh - it doesn’t matter," he decides. "There is no hurry. I will manage somehow." Since Janek got ill, we two have been responsible for fifty men who speak five languages.
I take Shulah in the direction of company HQ. It is still drizzling. I hold my thick jacket over our heads. It is a good jacket. I picked it up in Barchaba, from the field with the many dead. It used to belong to a fat sergeant. He was killed with a dagger. His jacket was undamaged because he left it in the bunker. Now it is protecting us above, and below I put my arm around little Shulah.
Shulah slows her paces. Everything is quiet in the staff tents. Here and there a quiet snoring. The only light is in the radio shed where a female voice is murmuring meaningless words. "Hallo - Boas - Gimel - Moshe - Gimel - five - reporting reception - Boas - Gimel - Over."
We walk around the lighted area and lose our directions among the tents. The camp is still new. The girls’ tents are better than the boys’. The floor is tiled and there are low stone walls.
"This is where I live," she says.
"Yes."
"Shalom!"
"I’ll come with you!"
"No!" She is shocked and holds me tight.
I pick her up in my arms, lower my head, and go in. It takes a moment to get used to the darkness. There are five beds in the tent. Female soldiers are asleep in four of them. I place Shulah on the fifth bed, lie down next to her, and spread the covers over us. The bed springs squeak.
Shulah is nervous. She makes no sound. She is afraid that her neighbors will wake up. I press my mouth on hers. Slowly she opens