That was how she came to be in her studio on the morning of the twenty-second, when the news first came through on the radio. She rang us straight away. I was woken by the call, and heard Dad galumphing down the stairs. I thought it was probably mad Mr Davenport, who often phoned at unsociable hours, and turned over to go back to sleep. But I could hear the alarmed tone of Dad’s voice even though I couldn’t hear the words he was saying. It had me on my feet and down in the hall before I could even think about it. He was just hanging up as I got there. ‘What’s happened?’ I said. I could hear the fear in my voice. Dad looked bewildered. He shook his head as though he might shake the nightmare out of it. ‘That was Attiya. She says there’s been a coup in Shasakstan.’ ‘What does that mean?’ Dad still looked bewildered. For a long moment he stood there, staring at the phone. Then, with a suddenness that made me jump, he turned and raced upstairs. ‘Get dressed,’ he called back to me.
