Instead of opening his mouth to argue — despite the storm in his heart, something that Yusuf has snatched away deftly and now expresses — Nicky's response to the accusation is to close off, body going still, as though caught in an ambush. Yes, they looked for decades. They wept and grieved and hoped, and even now, that hope flares, when she moves so out of their reach.

'We want for you to come with us,' he adds, very quietly. Barely a whisper, like the words were not spoken at all. 'Dearest sister. We have missed you unbearably.'