Moni was now out of breath, sighing noisily and feeling faint. Her thighs rubbed against each other. She prayed for a bench and then, like a miracle, spotted one on the side of the path where the steps twisted into a right angle. She sat down, but sitting made her feel worse. She began to sweat and black blotches floated in front of her face. She needed to take in big gulps of air.

Iman forgot about Moni and felt that Salma was chatting too much. The sea was calling her and she speeded effortlessly towards it. She wanted to laugh out loud as she skipped down the grassy slope. It was as if she were a child again, before her body became a responsibility, before she understood how her beauty could be of value and of interest. She was carefree in those days, snotty and bare-footed, wild in the fields and the alleys of her Euphrates village. She had played and skipped and run, feeling the wind against her face, the animal smell of the grass and her voice humming in her ear. A song that no one else could hear.

Salma, who had been looking back expecting Moni to catch up with them, stopped. She grabbed Iman’s arm. Now that she was standing still, Iman heard her phone ring. Ibrahim’s voice sounded faint but persistent. She hardly paid attention; what she wanted was the sea. There it was, spectacular beneath her, and all she had to do was sing in order to reach it. Yes, she said to him, they had stopped at Dunnottar and she would wait for him down at the beach.

Next to her, Salma raised her eyebrows at the mention of the beach. She wanted to go inside the castle. ‘I’ll go back and see what’s wrong with Moni. Wait for me.’

‘You sort out Moni, I’ll catch up with you later.’ She ducked past her surprised friend and ran down straight for the cove. Seagulls circled above her.

Salma climbed back up the slope. Since when did Iman do her own thing? ‘Yalla, Moni, get up. You’re still not upset about leaving Adam, are you?’

Moni shook her head.

‘You know, don’t you, that to visit Lady Evelyn’s grave we need to walk four miles up a hill? Only a four-by-four can reach there, or a coach, which was my original idea when the entire group was going. Now how are you ever going to manage that!’

‘I guess I won’t then.’ Moni held her arms against her chest as if she was protecting her body.

Salma softened her tone, ‘If you practise walking now, then that would be good training for you. You can build up some stamina.’

‘You are forever planning ahead! I need to get myself back up to the car before worrying about anything else!’

Salma sighed. ‘Don’t you want to come in and see inside the castle?’

‘It’s a ruin, Salma. There’s nothing to see. You go ahead. Personally, I think seven pounds is a swindle.’