The others stopped too. ‘What toilet?’ said Iman. ‘We’re in the middle of nowhere.’ This was no tourist destination; there was neither phone signal nor picnic bench.

‘Squat behind a bush,’ said Salma.

‘I can’t.’

‘What do you mean you can’t?’

‘I’ve never done that, I don’t know how.’

‘There is nothing to it,’ said Iman.

‘Even if you turn around now,’ reasoned Salma, ‘you won’t make it in time. It’s four miles back to the car.’

Moni had no choice. ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ she said, heading into the bracken.

Iman rolled her eyes at Salma. They looked the other way.

When Moni reappeared, she was distressed. ‘I made a mess. It would have been easier with a skirt.’ The bottom of one trouser leg was wet.

‘How on earth did you do that?’ said Iman.

‘Never mind,’ said Salma. ‘It will dry. Don’t worry about it.’ She started to walk, expecting the others to fall in step.

‘Salma, I can’t go on,’ said Moni. ‘Not like this. I will wait here for you. I don’t feel clean. I don’t feel right.’

‘Wash it then,’ said Salma. ‘From the stream.’

‘That’s what I want to do,’ said Moni, ‘but I need my own time. I don’t want you hovering over me, impatient. You go on and I will head back and meet you at the car.’

Salma was disappointed in her and for her. Moni had come so far, walked for hours, overcoming her early reluctance and weakness. She had tried her best. Iman was willing to argue with her, but it was no use. Salma handed her the car keys and the two kept on walking.

They walked faster, believing they were two thirds of the way. They stepped over puddles and passed a bridge made up of only two wires, one high up to hold on to and another one to slide the feet along. ‘You use this bridge at your own risk’, the sign said. Thankfully, they did not need to cross but just to keep walking and walking. The grave would be up on a hillock to their left.

The path rose up and suddenly there was a dip, the glen spread out beneath them. About a kilometre ahead, a jeep was blocking the road, stationary but pointing towards them. Two men in hunting gear were leaning on the bumper. ‘They can see us,’ said Iman and that situation lasted a good ten minutes, the men becoming clearer as they approached them. One of them was holding a greyhound on a leash. The other was eating an apple. Closer still, they noticed there was also a puppy, a spaniel, frisking around the men and the jeep.