Chapter 15 - The Thaw
It took a few days for Mémé to accept that Eric and Ursula, in spite of their white hair, felt fine. She finally relaxed on New Year’s Eve. The sun was shining brightly; the sky was brilliantly blue and the snow sparkled as if it were covered in diamonds.
They had all walked to the bottom of the ski slope so the children could do some bum boarding. Watching Eric and Ursula run up the slope, sledge down as fast as they could and then repeat this for nearly two hours, convinced Mémé that there was nothing wrong. Granddad Benjamin, however, was still watching his every step. Only when Mémé scolded the children for removing their hats and unzipping their ski suits did Granddad Benjamin know his wife was feeling better. It also meant that he was off the hook which pleased him. He wasn’t feeling that bad; in fact, he felt quite smug.
Since the race, Eric’s and Ursula’s icy relationship had started to thaw. He had no idea what had happened on that day, but he was pleased it had been his suggestion. There was still some way to go before they would be friends, if ever, but at least they now recognized each other’s existence. Even as he watched he could see evidence that friendship would not happen overnight. The two children were running up the slopes side by side, and zooming down on their sledges at the same time but they weren’t playing together. They were playing beside each other, and that was a big difference. His next plan, he decided, would be to change this.
That evening they had a small party in the chalet. Just before midnight they went outside to the clearing with mugs full of thick, hot chocolate. Andrea moved away from them all and with a long, burning stick set off fireworks to celebrate the New Year. Rockets whizzed up into the black above them; multi-coloured explosions danced around the sky, and red, blues and greens reflected in the snow.
Raising his mug of hot chocolate into the air, Granddad Benjamin proposed a toast.
“To new friends,” he said happily.
His words were repeated, and they chinked their mugs together. A final firework exploded above them, and Granddad Benjamin’s smile shone like the full moon.
Eric, Ursula and Granddad Benjamin spent the whole of New Year’s Day morning in their beds. As usual Andrea was nowhere to be seen. Mémé, on the other hand, was everywhere. She spent New Year’s Day morning as she did every year, waking early and cleaning. Her view was that the New Year should begin the same way you want it to continue. This meant being tidy, clean and well organized. Normally Granddad Benjamin ignored his wife’s tradition, as he lifted his legs out of the way of the vacuum cleaner. This year, however, he had to agree with her and also wanted it to start the way it should continue. With this in mind he got out of bed just after two o’clock in the afternoon and set out to find a chess set.
Behind one of the sofas in the living room was a dusty games cabinet which Mémé had not yet reached. Crouching down, he opened the doors and searched through the crammed shelves until he found a black and white board and a box full of chess pieces. He placed them on the coffee table between the two sofas and arranged the pieces into a chess puzzle. Once this was complete, he sat back on the sofa and waited. He could feel the warmth of the log fire on his face and gazed happily at the burning embers. His plan would work, and he felt positive about Ursula’s and Eric’s future relationship.
Before too long Eric, came into the room. He was still wearing his pyjamas, and his blond hair was so ruffled that it looked as if he had slept in a barn.
“Good afternoon, Eric,” greeted Granddad Benjamin jovially.
“Er, afternoon,” replied Eric through a yawn.
After getting himself a bowl of cereal Eric sat on the sofa opposite Granddad Benjamin and in front of the chess set.
“What are you doing?” he asked and spooned Muesli greedily into his mouth.
“I’m trying to solve this chess puzzle,” explained Granddad Benjamin. “White has to checkmate black in three moves. It is black’s move.”
Putting his bowl on the edge of the coffee table, Eric leant forward and looked at the board.
“Do you play chess, Eric?”
“Oh yes, I’m the best in my school,” he said casually.
“In that case you may have a chance to solve this.”
Stretching out his arm and playing with the pieces, Eric replied, “I would be surprised if I couldn’t do it.”
Granddad Benjamin watched Eric as he made the required moves. His hands sped over the board so quickly that it was like watching a normal film sped up.
“There you are,” said Eric. “Isn’t this an end game between Topalov and Kramnik?”
“Well done, I think you’re right,” complimented Granddad Benjamin. “Would you like to play a game?”
By the time Ursula entered the room in her orange dressing gown, Granddad Benjamin and Eric were happily chatting and finishing their fourth game. Eric had won the first three, and this one was about to go the same way. Admittedly Granddad Benjamin had let him win the first one but after that Eric won without help. He was good, maybe even better than Ursula, thought Granddad Benjamin.
“Morning Granddad,” greeted Ursula, not seeing nor hearing Eric.
“Actually it is four o’clock in the afternoon, darling,” replied Granddad Benjamin.
“I know but it doesn’t feel right getting out of bed, staying in bed clothes and then saying ‘good afternoon’; even if I was woken earlier by Mémé. Why does she have to clean every New Year’s day? It’s not even our home.”
“Your grandmother likes to start each New Year afresh. She throws out the old and brings in the new.”
“Oh,” murmured Ursula, taking a vanilla yoghurt from the fridge and joining Granddad Benjamin on the sofa.
Only then did she see Eric. She greeted him and then hastily put a spoonful of yoghurt in her mouth. Eric looked up from the chess set; shyly wished her a good afternoon and then turned his concentration back to the game.
Holding back a smile, Granddad Benjamin focused on the chess game. His King was not in a very good position, but he still thought he had a small chance. This illusion was shattered in an instant by Ursula.
“You’ve lost, Granddad,” Ursula told him bluntly and snuggled up against his shoulder.
“Thank you for your support,” laughed Granddad Benjamin and put his arm around her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eric looking on enviously.
Maybe Jerome and Mrs Benjamin could convince his parents to come back, he thought.
Ursula was right about the game and within four moves Eric had won again.
“Thanks for the games, Eric,” said Granddad Benjamin. “You’re too good for me.”
“Thank you as well. Can we play again?” he asked eagerly and began to set up the pieces for another game.
Slowly, Granddad Benjamin shook his head, “I had better stop there. A man can only take losing for so long.”
A look of genuine sorrow appeared over Eric’s face.
“Please,” and throwing his Queen off the board said, “I’ll play without my Queen. That will make it much more even.”
Since he had learnt to play chess he had only played serious and silent chess with his father, against the computer and in competitions. Playing social games had been such a pleasant surprise that he wanted to do it again.
“That’s a very kind offer, and later I will happily accept but right now I need to go and take my medicines.”
Carefully he unwrapped himself from Ursula and stood up.
Eric sat back heavily on the sofa and looked really upset. It was the second time Ursula had seen Eric looking miserable and once again she felt sorry for him.
“I could play you,” she suggested.
“Great idea!” agreed Granddad Benjamin. “She’s much better than me.”
Unfortunately, the idea didn’t improve Eric’s mood. The race around the lake dominated his thoughts, and he did not want to repeat it.
Look
ing up at Granddad Benjamin, he said, “But we’ll try to beat each other, and it will turn nasty.”
Ursula was thinking the same, “Eric’s right.”
Granddad Benjamin smiled satisfactorily. He picked up the Queen and placed it back on the table. When he spoke, he did do warmly and gently
“We all want to win. If you set out to win something that is very different from setting out to beat someone.” He stood up again, and his knees creaked loudly. “If you are worried about it turning ‘nasty,’ as you say, then why not play a less serious game of chess? Have you ever played Suicide Chess?”
The two children shook their heads.
“Good. I am sure you will both like it. It is a simple game which turns chess upside down. All you have to do to win is lose all your pieces,” and clapping his hands together, he left the room.
Gradually the look of sorrow on Eric’s face faded and was replaced with one of interest.
Ursula moved off the sofa and sat closer to the chess board, on the thick rug.
“You start,” she said.
Their first game confused them so much that apart from the occasional, ‘your move,’ they said nothing. Hands skated across the chess board moving pieces into positions they would normally avoid and as both of them began to lose, they began to smile. In the end, the game resulted in a draw.
Keen to lose, rather than win, they reset the board and played again. Halfway into the game they started to discuss strategies and ways that they could possibly lose. Unsurprisingly the second game ended in another draw.
During the third game, Ursula told Eric how Granddad Benjamin loved all games and had taught her chess when she was four. Eric explained that his father only played two games, poker and chess, both of which he had insisted that Eric learn.
Ursula had only played poker once. A year ago, Granddad Benjamin had tried to teach her. During her one and only game, Mémé had asked what they were playing. When Granddad Benjamin had replied ‘poker’ she had lost her temper completely. Cards and matchsticks had been thrown off of the table, and she had banned Granddad Benjamin from ever teaching, ‘immoral betting games,’ to Ursula again.
Eric laughed. His father obviously had a very different view of poker. They decided that if Eric’s parents and Ursula’s grandparents ever met, they would try to keep the conversation away from cards and betting.
Inevitably, with so much discussion, the third game of Suicide Chess also ended without either of them losing.
For the fourth game, they decided they would both make a real effort to lose but no matter how hard they tried they just couldn’t do it. Before every move, they became more and more aware that they knew exactly what the other was about to do.
As they approached the middle of the game, Eric asked, “What am I going to move next?”
His hand circled over his remaining pieces like a hawk but did not rest on any of them.
“You’re going to move your rook from A8 to A4,” Ursula replied confidently, and she was right.
Before each of their remaining moves, they asked each other what their next move would be. Every time they guessed correctly. By the end of the game, Eric was making Ursula’s moves for her and Ursula was making Eric’s moves for him. Needless to say, the game ended in a draw and, surprisingly, a fit of giggles. As they rolled around laughing, pieces from the game were knocked off the coffee table and scattered all over the rug and the floor.
“Mon dieu! I tidied here!” exclaimed Mémé as she entered the living room, and found two giggling children rolling on the floor with chess pieces everywhere.
“Do not worry yourself, Marie-Thérèse,” assured Granddad Benjamin, following his wife into the room, “they will tidy up, won’t you children?”
They managed to nod between laughing and gradually calmed down. Crawling on their hands and knees, they retrieved every piece apart from two. Eric’s King and Queen seemed to have disappeared. Together they searched under the coffee table, lifted up the rug and looked under the sofa cushions, but the pieces could not be found. Just as they were about to give up, Ursula saw them in front of the burning fire, hidden amongst a small pile of logs. She picked them up and gave them to Eric.
Without any warning, Eric’s smile suddenly vanished, his face dropped, and the chess pieces fell out of his hand. At the same time, Ursula felt something was wrong, very, very wrong. Before she could put her finger on what it was, Andrea walked purposefully into the room and turned on the large television.
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