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anywhere for the moment. Not while Father is so ill.
    July 14th
    Auntie Fatima says these fevers usually last three days. It has been four days already and Father is still raving, but he is weaker now. I can’t do much but give him more bitter tea and pray. Abdul has taken one of my gold coins to the nearest town, a place called Gelibolu. He thinks he might be able to change the coin and get some quinine. Gelibolu is miles away. He won’t be back before dark. I suppose that I trust him to come back and not just go on to Istanbul without me. We are staying with his relatives, after all. I told Abdul that I had only one coin. I think he believed me. I hope he comes back. I would like to reward Auntie Fatima for her kindness. I remind her, she says, of her own son, who is somewhere on the front. Poor boy.
    July 15th
    Still no sign of Abdul. Auntie Fatima is worried, too. She says there are bandits and thieves on the road to Gelibolu. I can’t imagine that any bandit would think that Abdul would be worth stopping. And he has his papers. They look very official. Today I left Father with Auntie Fatima’s cousin and went out with the goat herds. There I can keep an eye on the road and will see Abdul returning. The goat herds are girls. They didn’t talk to me but stayed muffled in their veils. The goats were better company. They are very friendly, especially the little ones.
    July 16th
    Abdul is back! He was tired and dusty but he had a pocketful of lire and a tin of quinine tablets. They looked familiar. They were, in fact, my own British army tablets which that beast Mehmet had stolen and sold. I dosed Father right away. I took the money and gave Abdul half. He had earned it.
    The villagers all gathered to hear about Abdul’s journey. These people do not travel much. Auntie Fatima made tea out of mint. Abdul had bought sugar. This was a luxury. Abdul reported how he had walked and walked. He would have begged a lift but there were no carts or cars on the road. He was stopped twice; once by officials who looked at his documents and let him pass, and once by thieves who slapped him around a bit and let him go on. They did not find the coin, which was in Abdul’s mouth. They thought he was mute. When he got to Gelibolu he went to the money-changers and sat down to bargain for my sovereign. The man tried to cheat him because it was a coin of the enemy and he would be in trouble if he was found with it. Abdul said that no one would find it because the money-changer was so good at hiding his treasure. He drank a lot of tea while bargaining and eventually got enough lire for the coin. Not as much as it was worth but enough. Then he bought some sugar and my quinine and a few other treats for the village and walked back. He had walked at night because the bandits would be asleep.
    We all told him he was brave and ingenious. The old men smoked the tobacco he had brought them in a water pipe which bubbled. For the women he had brought needles and pins. The children had sweets. It was a happy day for them.
    When I came back to our hut Father seemed a little better. I dosed him with more quinine. I can only wait on the judgment of God. Insha’ Allah, as the Turks say. As Allah pleases. Allah is their name for God.
    July 17th
    Father is definitely better. He opened his eyes and actually saw me. ‘Evan,’ he said, ‘where are we?’ I told him we were in a village and all he had to do was get better. He said that God had saved him for a purpose and went to sleep. I think it was the quinine but God created the tree from which quinine is made so I suppose it’s all God really. I am going out with the goats again. Men don’t cook or clean or do any housework so I can’t help Auntie Fatima. The hardest task in this village is carrying water and only women and girls do that. They balance the jars on their heads. I think it is very clever. Abdul is coming with me. He’s still very pleased