‘Aren’t they beautiful,’ he says, grinning. ‘It’s a Selenus set, made of bone in the early nineteenth century.’

‘Bone?’ I squirm. ‘Like a skeleton!’

‘Ha!’ He chuckles. ‘These are animal bones, not human.’

‘But I’m—’

‘Shush.’ Granddad puts his finger up to his lips like the chess pieces are sleeping.

‘I will show you one,’ he whispers. ‘This one.’ He picks up a white chess piece and lays it gently in his palm like he’s holding a butterfly.

‘This is a pawn,’ he says softly. ‘It is a soldier, one of the infantry – sometimes they were peasants, the poorest part of the army. There are eight of them on each side. Do you remember the letters and numbers I gave the squares on the lawn?’

‘Just about, Granddad,’ I say. ‘I think I repeated them enough.’

Granddad smiles. ‘Well, all the white pawns start here, on the second rank, from a2 to h2.’ He lifts the rest of the white pawns out and places them in a line across the chessboard. ‘Most times the pieces are black and white. I will tell you the names of all the other pieces and how they move. Here.’ He holds out another chess piece. ‘Take it,’ he says. ‘Feel how heavy it is, and feel the jagged edges on its head.’

I hold the chess piece gently in my palm, and touch the jagged edge with the tips of my fingers.

‘It’s like a castle,’ I say.

‘Exactly.’ Granddad grins. ‘That’s what it is, a castle. Except players today call it a rook. It’s used to ward off the enemy. There are two of them on each side, and on the chessboard they can only move in straight lines.’

I turn the rook in my palm.

‘It’s beautiful, Granddad,’ I say.

‘Really?’ says Granddad, surprised.

‘Yes, really.’ I smile.

‘I am glad you think so,’ he says. ‘It starts here,’ he says, taking the rook from me, ‘on a1 and the other on a8.’ He places the rooks in the corners of the chessboard behind the line of pawns. ‘Here,’ Granddad smiles, ‘let me show you the others.’