Pippa let out a quiet, relieved sigh, then thanked Clemmie for the delicious meal.
‘Theo definitely needs bringing down a peg or two,’ Sebastian muttered under his breath, more to himself than to anyone else.
Pippa stood up and slipped on the raincoat Clemmie had given her. She didn’t want to be part -of this conversation. It was obvious Theo still rattled Sebastian, but he didn’t rattle her in the same way. Not anymore. She didn’t need to prove herself in the world of clock restoration now; her reputation spoke for itself. But at university, it had been different. She hadn’t been confident then. She’d been surrounded by big personalities, people who talked loudly and convincingly, and for a long time she’d assumed that meant they were better than her. Looking back, she wasn’t so sure. They’d talked the talk, certainly, but whether they’d ever really been any good in the field was another matter entirely.
‘Are you heading for the convention now? I’ll come with you,’ said Sebastian, paying his bill.
Pippa would have preferred to walk by herself, but didn’t want to appear rude. ‘Yes.’
Right at that moment, she realised two things.
One: the day ahead was likely to be very interesting for both very good and very bad reasons.
And two: her weekend might just turn out to be a ticking time bomb, if Sebastian had anything to do with it.
ChapterFive
As they walked towards the island’s hall, Pippa peeped out from underneath the hood of the raincoat. This was the first time she’d seen the bay since arriving, and it nearly stopped her in her tracks.
‘Wow! What a view. Bit of a contrast with Cambridge, isn’t it?’ she said.
Blue Water Bay stretched out before her, the surface of the shimmering water rippling under the steady downpour. The rooftops of the nearby buildings glistened darkly, their gutters overflowing, while the harbour reflected the grey sky in shifting shades of silver. At the bottom of the jetty, The Sea Glass Restaurant bobbed gently on the rain-dappled water, its lights glowing warmly in the gloom, looking like something straight out of a film set. Tonight, she would be dining there, and if the food was even half as good as the view, she was definitely in for a treat.
‘This must be the island’s hall.’ Her attention was caught by the banner hanging across the entrance reading:Welcome to the Puffin Island Horology Convention!She pushed the door open and Sebastian trailed in behind her.
A flutter of nerves rose in her chest. She had no idea how Theo would react to seeing Sebastian, or to the sight of the two of them arriving together. The last thing she wanted was for him to think it had been some kind of scheme to unsettle him ahead of his big interview. It wasn’t. She hadn’t known Sebastian would be here any more than she’d expected to run into Theo.
Inside, the hall was busy and alive with chatter. Long tables lined the walls, displaying everything from cuckoo clocks to marine chronometers. The crowd was exactly what you’d expect: men in wool waistcoats clutching pamphlets like sacred manuscripts, and women dressed in tweed with brooches shaped like pocket watches. The one notable difference was that there were more members of the press than Pippa had ever seen at one of these conventions before. Cameras flashed, microphones hovered, and a journalist who clearly wasn’t used to this level of niche enthusiasm was looking supremely bored as he pointed a mic at a man waxing lyrical about verge escapements.
The air carried a faint mix of the smell of leather briefcases and pipe tobacco, underpinned by the steady hum of scholarly gossip. To Pippa, it all sounded like a cuckoo clock slightly out of sync– odd, eccentric, but in its own way… kind of wonderful. She took out the pocket watch to check the time but was disappointed to see it had stopped working again. She slipped it back into her pocket and checked her phone instead.
Pippa scanned the room. ‘There’re so many members of the press.’
‘Unsurprising given Horace Vale hasn’t appeared in public for decades. The whole world, or at least the very niche and wildly passionate world of horology, is waiting to hear what he says. It’s about time, I say.’
Once again, Pippa noticed the venom in Sebastian’s voice. She narrowed her eyes as she watched him closely. She tilted her head. ‘You think he might talk about the reason why the Vale partnership broke down?’
Sebastian gave a half-shrug as he smirked. ‘You’d hope that he would actually tell the truth after all this time. That man has no backbone.’
Pippa looked directly at Sebastian. There was no mistaking the flash of anger in his eyes now. ‘That sounded a little dramatic. What am I missing?’
Sebastian gathered himself quickly. ‘I’m just saying that the truth always comes out.’
She watched him closely. This was the second time she’d seen him rattled in the last hour. ‘What truth? Horace has never publicly acknowledged there was even a falling out with his brother, even though we all know something must have led to the break-up of one of the most famous partnerships in the history of timekeeping.’
‘Like I said, the truth always comes out, no matter how hard you try to cover something up. It’s likely why Theo accepted the interview.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘He’ll want to stop the truth coming out. He’s also got a knack for clinging to the coattails of genius, hoping it rubs off.’
Pippa was baffled. This was clearly about so much more than an old academic rivalry. Had Sebastian thought he was in the running to do the interview? No, that couldn’t be it.
At the registration desk, a lanky young man with wire-rimmed glasses and a tie patterned with tiny hourglasses asked Pippa who she was, then handed over her name badge along with one of the welcome packs that were laid out on the table. Inside the pack was a lanyard, a map of the island marked with various horological points of interest, and a programme of the weekend’s events; everything you’d need for forty-eight hours of clock-related bliss.
After taking off her raincoat Pippa placed it over her arm and attached the name badge to the lanyard. She spotted Theo across the room. He hadn’t seen her yet as his back was to her, and he was deep in conversation with a woman holding a pamphlet open between them.
She was holding the same pamphlet in her hand, and took the opportunity to glance over the programme. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sebastian.
