As he’s drinking his first cup and thinking about going outside, he hears the latch on the kitchen door. He turns round from his view down the valley – all mist and promise for a perfect summer’s day – and sees Evan, dressed in his jeans and a hoody, his hair dishevelled from sleep.

Jack smiles.

‘Now then, youngster. You’re up early! Are you having a cup of tea?’

Evan shakes his head. He wanders to the fridge, finds a carton of orange juice and fills a glass. He drinks half, and goes to stand by his grandfather’s chair, so his view of the valley is the same as Jack’s. With Evan so close, Jack’s somehow afraid to startle him, as if the boy’s a nervous, wild thing which will take flight at the slightest movement.

‘Since you’re up, you can come and help me,’ he says. ‘We’ll go and let the poultry out, and have a look in on the sheep. What do you say? But you’ll have to put your wellies on. Your grandmother’ll have a fit if you bring more muck in on your shoes.’

Outside, in the apricot light, Jack leads the way across the yard. Millie’s lying outside her kennel, still half-asleep, but when Jack unfastens her from her chain, she’s all wagging tail and excitement, running at Jack, and then, to his obvious pleasure, to Evan, who strokes her head. In the barn, Jack lifts the lid of a corn-bin, and shovels out a couple of scoops into an empty sack as Millie darts back and forth along the barn’s back wall sniffing for rats.

Jack hands the sack to Evan, and they head for the home field, Millie running ahead as excited as if she’s never done this before, bounding over the wall while Jack unfastens the gate and leads Evan across the grass to the rickety shed where he keeps the chickens. Undoing the latch, he fastens back the door, and the birds come tumbling out, squawking and complaining.

Jack points to an empty feeder.

‘Corn in there,’ he says, and Evan tips it in, smiling as the chickens squabble to get to it. ‘You’d think they hadn’t been fed for a week. Your next job is to fetch them some water with that bucket by the sheep trough. That’s very important for them in this hot weather. Thirsty birds give no eggs. When that’s done, we’ll have a look how many they’ve laid. You see what’s in the coop, and then we’ll check the field. Every day’s an Easter egg hunt with these girls, but we’d better find a few, or there’ll be nothing much for breakfast.’

When they go back inside, Matt is in the kitchen, making a fresh pot of tea.