‘Her doll. She’s extremely attached to her, but we lost her when we had to leave our home. Now, child,’ she said, gently urging Gulnaz away. ‘Go back and be with the others. The grown-ups have a lot of talking to do.’

They did, and Ben was happy to let Holt do a lot of it. Francine listened attentively as he explained what had brought him and his group to Afghanistan, and described their efforts to get as many people out of Kabul as possible before the iron curtain had clamped down. He told her how Hassan Baghdadi, their mutual contact in Abu Dhabi, had first alerted their aid organisation to the existence of her orphanage and the troubles that had descended on them. ‘Our condolences for your late brother.’

‘Thank you. He was a wonderful human being. As is dear Hassan, bless his soul. And so, all of you belong to this organisation?’ she asked, looking with some confusion at Madison and Father Bugnolio. ‘And you as well, young man?’ she asked the prince. If she even faintly recognised his famous face in this unlikely setting, she didn’t show it. The truth was, she’d been living out here in the middle of nowhere for so long, sequestered from the rest of the world, that she probably had no knowledge whatsoever of what went on in the elevated social circles of some island nation halfway across the globe.

‘Our group has picked up a few new members along the way,’ Ben said. ‘Myself included. Madison and Father Bugnolio here are refugees from Kabul, along with two more of their friends. We’re a bit of a motley bunch but we’re ready to do whatever we can to help you and the children.’

‘You are extremely welcome,’ she replied. ‘We would certainly be grateful for some food and water. The few provisions we were able to salvage from the mission are completely gone, and the children are badly in need. For my own part, an old woman like me can live virtually on fresh air, but they’re young and growing.’

‘We have vehicles,’ Ben said. ‘We can use them to fetch a lot more water from the river than a child can carry in two buckets. As for food, there’s enough fresh meat walking around down there to keep everyone alive, for a while at least. Beyond that, we’re going to have to figure out a plan to move you all away to safety.’

‘I’m not sure there is such a place any longer,’ she said with a sad smile. ‘Not in Afghanistan.’

‘I was thinking of somewhere else,’ Ben said.

‘To evacuate us all to another country? My dear young friend, you’re talking about the impossible. There are sixty-four children here, aged between seven and thirteen. How on earth can it be done?’

‘We can only try,’ Ben said.