beginnings - yoelba

Images
"Appearances often are deceiving."
Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC), The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

It took several hours to create the rig Ami and Ron dreamed up, and almost as much time to convince Sally to agree to use it to photograph the floor of the cavern from an overhead rope net. In the meantime Achmed and several Arab workers who had arrived from Jericho set up the generator, laid the electric cord and were doing everything humanly possible to make themselves useful.

The absurdity was not lost on the Yigal. Elsewhere in their tiny land the relatives of these same Arabs were planning or executing attempts to take Jewish lives indiscriminately and as brutally as possible, that's why they called it 'terror'. Here they were working together to accomplish a common goal, a goal ultimately destined to shed light on who actually lived here centuries ago. He wondered if either side would be pleased with whatever was ultimately revealed?

"We're all ready." Ami informed him as they both stood in the shade of a makeshift tent created by stringing a canvas from the side of the Regional Council's white equipment truck.

"Sally as well?" ask Yigal, having over heard the endless debate between the young woman and her brand new repelling coaches over the safety merits of what they wanted her to do.

"She'll be fine! Maybe a little skittish at first, but once she gets the hang of it, she'll feel right at home!"

"Okay lets get everyone together and coordinate what happens next!" said Yigal, more in a suggesting tone than a command.

When everyone had gathered under the canvas Yigal counted twelve people in all. Over the morning hours as Ami & Ron created their acrobatic contraption and the Arabs had set up the generator and created an entire electric box for their use near the site, curious individuals from the Regional Council's offices and a couple of off duty counselors from the Ein Gedi Field School had wandered in. They did their best to make themselves useful and generally exuded that attitude that said, "you can't get rid of me, so you might as well take advantage of the fact that I'm here!"

"Okay people," Yigal commenced as Sadiee quietly translated into Arabic for her little group on the edge of the canvas. "We are ready to start photographing the cavern. It is important that we keep the noise level down so our photographer can concentrate. Similarily any suggestions you'd like to make, please bring them quietly to Ayalla," he pointed at one of the counselors from Ein Gedi. "She'll forward them to me and together with Sally we'll decide on their merits. Any questions?" When no one responded he concluded, "Ami, Roni, Achmed and ... ", Yigal looked at one of the younger Arab construction workers suggesting he wanted to know the man's name.

"Gabi" answered Saidee for her employee.

"Okay, Gabi and the other three are on the edges of the entrance to the cavern managing the net. Sally will do her acrobatic feats on the net and I will do my best to help from the side. The rest of you are expressly forbidden to get too close to the edge. I'd say at least two meters at least!" Yigal looked around to see if anyone had anything else to say or ask! "Don't forget to drink a lot of water, we can all get dehydrated quickly in this heat!"

With a final "Lets go!" they all moved toward the cavern and took their positions as planned by Ami and Ron. Gabi was surprised to hear Ami explain to him in presentable Arabic what was expected of him at his corner of the net. All together they tightening the winches that held the net over the gaping hole of the cavern. A huge canvas had been hung over the hole and surrounding space to create a shaded area where they could work in relative comfort. From the three exposed corners of the cavern's open roof they affixed floodlights positioned by Sally to add side light, filling the naturally darkened cavern with flood of light that banished almost all shadows. Finally, with infinite patience and care, Sally started crawling forward, off the hard dusty surface of the edge of the cavern and onto the precarious insecure-feeling net the men has fashioned to help her 'float over the cavern's floor' as Yigal had described it.

Sally's task was to photograph each square meter of the cavern's floor from directly above, and where possible from all four sides at an angle of 45 degrees with as much precision as possible. Slowly and carefully she worked her way across the rope net, strung as tight as a trampoline, or as close to that as the men could muster without ripping the fibers of the rope. That was a pleasant thought! Reaching the other side of the gaping hole, she rolled off the net onto firm earth.

"That was fun!" she said with a tone mixed with both sincere gratitude that nothing untoward had occurred and a touch of derision at herself and the people who talked her into this crazy job! The entire trip from one side to the other, all of it less than twelve meters, had taken her the better part of fifty minutes. After tanking up with another half liter of water, she joked to the guys that after the next pass she'll probably need a pit stop,

Four and a half hours later Sally had finished half the planned work and begged to take a break.

"No problem!" said Yigal. "I was amazed you lasted as long as you did, go with Saidee to the restrooms in her office then come on back for some food." Pointing to the canvas porch strung from the white equipment truck Sally could see a long folding table with benches set up in the shade, the table covered with boxes and bottles. "A little gift from the kitchen of Kibbutz Ein Gev. I think you want us to have a taste so we'll take them into consideration as possible caterers to the site!" he said, with not a little mocking laughter in his voice.

Saidee came over and following Yigal's lead escorted Sally over to her Red jeep.
"Sorry I didn't think to cool it first." said Saidee as they both sat on the fiercely hot seats.

"It's okay" replied Sally, "After hanging out to dry in this desert heat for hours, nothing could faze me now!"

"Do you work with Yigal often?" asked Saidee as she moved the vehicle forward toward the other corner of the construction site.

"No, actually I've never done any professional work either with Yigal nor in the field of archeology." Sally replied, wondering if this was all small talk or if her escort had an agenda of some kind, then answered herself, 'As if she cared!'.

"Oh really!" said Saidee. "You seemed to know each other well, and certainly worked well together! But I suppose that is the sign of true professionalism." she concluded as they arrived at the trailer-office. "In the second room there is a closed corner. Its only a port-a-pot, but using an external latrine out here in this heat ..." her voice trailed off letting Sally figure out why she'd prefer the air conditioned indoor makeshift toilet than one standing out in this oppressive heat. "You can lock the door of the office from the inside!" Saidee explained as Sally got out of the jeep.

In the locked office, with the air conditioner going full blast, Sally removed her soaked shirt and pirouetted in front of the cool blast. What a weird situation. Here she was in some Arab's office, talking to her like they were both human beings or something, when in any other situation Sally would take second looks to ensure her partner to conversation wasn't holding a knife behind her back or wearing an explosive vest. Placing her shirt on the back of a chair in front of the air conditioner's flow, she walked toward the curtained corner containing the port-a-pot, passing the desk pushed against the other wall. On the desk strewn with papers, pens, rulers and other tools of any office was a gold framed photograph of a younger Saidee together with an older woman who looked remarkably like her. Her mother? thought Sally. Her curiosity over coming her natural respect for the property of other, she picked the picture up to examine it better. The older woman had a large stone pendant hanging around her neck on what appeared to be a gold chain. Usual sort of thing to wear as jewelry, Sally thought, but what the heck did she know about what Arabic women thought was appropriate or attractive! Who knows what they wear beneath all the veils they wear, she thought, replacing the photo on the desk, and continuing to take care of her more basic needs.

Once finished and dressed she found Saidee sitting in her jeep waiting for her return. Other than a curt 'Thanks" they drove back to the rest of the group who were already in the middle of their impromptu celebration.

"Here, we've saved you some food" said Ami, indicating an empty chair apparently awaiting her return. In front of which was a paper plate piled with enough food to last her at least half a week.

"You don't expect me to eat all of that, do you?" she asked, with a dramatized cringe of foreboding! "If I do, your net won't be able to support me!" she quipped. The rest of her meal interspersed with mirth filled banter and an occasional flirtatious double entendres. Aren't these guys married, Sally thought to herself, making a mental note to fish for that information later in the day when her interest wouldn't be so obvious, not that they were her 'type', but ....

The rest of the afternoon went faster than the first. After three hours Yigal suggested they call it a day. The reality was, as they worked away from the open sides of the exposed cavern, they was less and less manoeuvrability, and Sally was less able to get the shots they wanted with the necessary precision.

"Let me just try to get a few good shots of the wall with the staircase!" Sally begged from her precarious perch on the edge of the net. "I can see things carved into the wall from here that I didn't notice earlier in the afternoon." Without waiting for any one's agreement she patiently explained to Ron and through him to Gabi how she wanted the floodlights moved to increase both light and shadows on the stair case wall so she could take her last few photographs. Once completed she tried increasing the zoom to capture as much of the details in the wall carvings as she could, then painstakingly crawled back to the firm edge where Ami was waiting to help her up.

The security patrol truck had arrived as they gather their equipment in the quickly diminishing light. Ami agreed to leave his equipment as it was, after understanding the guards would remain there non-stop until their return the next day. Yigal thanked all his uninvited volunteers, who had grown to over twenty before the day's end. He'd have to figure out how to channel that interest and energy into something constructive, otherwise they'd be constantly under foot and potentially could also do real damage.

Yigal helped Sally gather all her equipment together and place it in the back of his jeep. Agreeing to give Saidee a call after they were all home, showered, fed and rested, he bade everyone a good night, and mounted his jeep. Sally was already stretched out on the passenger seat, the back reclined as much as she manage.

"You were great!" said Yigal, trying to express his personal gratitude for her tremendous efforts. She had done much more than he had expected or imaged possible in a single day!

"Tell my back that!" complained Sally! "Every single movement on that net forced me to use back muscles I never knew even existed!"

"It'll be okay", Yigal tried to reassure as he started the engine and pulled away from the white equipment truck.

"That's easy for you to say!" she responded, closing her eyes to rest them after almost ten hours of intense light and focused effort.

"Well, my father would say, 'By the wedding it will all pass'!" shared Yigal, with a faint smile on his face, thinking of what his father would say when he related the events of the past twenty-four hours!

"The question is, " responded Sally, aware of the Jewish aphorism and sick of the hints people were usually making when they quoted it, "who's wedding exactly are we expecting everything to be better by!"

Left unanswered, she returned to her attempt to rest and they drove the rest of the way back up to Jerusalem in total silence.

Next Chapter