She spoke to him as she gathered the ingredients together. ‘I made sandwiches this morning, nice ones, but I didn’t get to eat any. I put pickles and mustard in them and made them special. I even added fresh mint from the garden.’ The sandwiches were all up on the trail with Salma and Iman. Maybe they would come back with one for her. Knowing Iman, she would crumble Moni’s share and feed it to the birds. ‘That’s how she is. There’s war in her country but the people are well fed. That’s why she has no qualms about wasting food. In my country it’s the other way round. That’s why I’m never wasteful. I never throw food away. I always eat it. Maybe that’s why I’m overweight.’

They baked the cookies together and the smell filled the cottage. ‘I’m going to miss you, Adam,’ she said. He didn’t understand what she was saying. Abstract words. With her phone, she took photos of him wearing the oven gloves, biting into the first cookie and finding it too hot.

She left him to go to the bathroom and after that she prayed in the bedroom. When she finished praying, the bed looked so tempting that she could not resist the need to stretch out for a few minutes and listen to the hum of her aching muscles. It had been silly to join Salma and Iman on that walk, out of character. She had done it to be nice to Salma; that was all. Now she was relieved that it was over. Tomorrow they would visit Lady Evelyn and the day after they would go back to their normal lives. Her son was waiting for her. She had been away long enough, and he could not be left to stay with strangers for ever. This holiday had been a break from caring for him. At first, she hadn’t appreciated the need for it or been grateful to Salma for taking upon herself all the organisation. She must remember to thank her, even if she did not look up to her as she had done before. That business with Amir had certainly made her reconsider.