Several months after Yusuf’s arrival - he had taught himself to lose count, and his perverse success made him understand that days could be as long as weeks if there was no desire for them - preparations were being made for a journey to the interior. Uncle Aziz spoke to Kahlil for long periods in the evening, sitting on the bench in front of the shop which the old men occupied during the day. A lamp burned brightly between them, flattening their faces into masks of frankness.

Later, when the night was deep into the small hours, their conversation became softer and more gloomy, punctuated by longer and more frequent yawns.

‘I fear for the times ahead of us,’ Hussein said quietly, making Hamid sigh wearily. ‘Everything is in turmoil. There Europeans are very determined, and as they fight over the prosperity of the earth they will crush all of us. You’d be a fool to think they’re here to do anything that is good. It isn’t trade they’re after, but the land itself. And everything in it… us.

They kept the canoes in close formation, close enough to throw snatches of song as each other and laugh at the replies. The travellers sat silently for the most part, troubled by the immensity of the water and the strong men in whose hands their lives lay. Most of them were not swimmers, even though their homes were by the sea. Their feet would cross a lifetime of mountains and plains but still retreat hurriedly from the hissing times which washed their shores.

Several months after Yusuf’s arrival - he had taught himself to lose count, and his perverse success made him understand that days could be as long as weeks if there was no desire for them - preparations were being made for a journey to the interior. Uncle Aziz spoke to Kahlil for long periods in the evening, sitting on the bench in front of the shop which the old men occupied during the day. A lamp burned brightly between them, flattening their faces into masks of frankness.

They kept the canoes in close formation, close enough to throw snatches of song as each other and laugh at the replies. The travellers sat silently for the most part, troubled by the immensity of the water and the strong men in whose hands their lives lay. Most of them were not swimmers, even though their homes were by the sea. Their feet would cross a lifetime of mountains and plains but still retreat hurriedly from the hissing times which washed their shores.