‘I am fighting for my son’s well-being. I should be applauded, not told off!’

‘You need to do both. Care for your son as well as your husband. Teach your husband to care for his son.’

‘You need to stop phoning Amir.’

‘You need to dress like you’ve always dressed.’

Outside, the rain continued to lash down, the wind rattled the windows. It was difficult to believe that this was summer.

‘Punishment,’ the Hoopoe later said to Iman, ‘can sneak up on you. Justice can take many forms and the one who administers it might not necessarily be aware of his role. This is the oddest story I will tell you, the one that is the most difficult to understand, its message the hardest to accept. Remember it, though, when things become too difficult and your instinct is to scream out, that’s not fair, that’s not fair. Because more likely it is fair, even though by all accounts and appearances, it looks like nothing of the sort.

‘A travelling knight came across a waterfall. He got off his horse and decided to have a wash and a drink. He took off his clothes, bathed and refreshed himself. When he got dressed, he forgot to put on his belt and galloped off. That belt was a money belt full of gold coins. It was later found by a young boy who went to the waterfall for a swim. The young boy could not believe his luck. He grabbed the money belt and ran off. Meanwhile, the knight continued on his journey. When he eventually realised his mistake, he turned back. When he reached the waterfall, he found an elderly man making wudu in preparation to pray. “Where is my money belt?” asked the knight.

‘ “I haven’t seen any money belt,” said the elderly man.

‘The knight drew out his sword and killed him.

‘You would think that the elderly man was innocent and unfairly killed. You would think that the young boy stole what did not rightfully belong to him. But there is a backstory to this tale. One that even the protagonists didn’t fully know and would never have been able to put together. For many years, the knight had employed the services of a loyal hard-working couple. The labourer looked after the knight’s stables and his wife worked in the scullery of the castle. The couple worked faithfully for twenty years, but the knight never ever paid them their wages. They did not have the means to challenge him and get their rights. The young boy who ran off with the knight’s money belt was their son.

‘As for the elderly man. A long time ago, in the arrogance and strength of youth, he had cruelly killed the knight’s father.’

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten