‘So you’re running.’
‘Probably,’ he admitted. ‘Part running. Part trying to do something I’m actually good at. Part terrified of staying where everything fell apart.’ Theo looked at her. ‘It felt like my only option,’ he said quietly. ‘Leave. Start again. Put distance between myself and my old life.’
Neither of them said anything for a moment before Theo broke the silence. ‘Come on, let’s carry on with these clocks, and see if we can uncover this mystery before I make the decision about whether I’m going to ring my grandfather and ask some difficult questions.’
‘Are you actually going to ask him?’
‘Possibly…’
* * *
For the next couple of hours they wound and set, bantered and laughed, brushing past each other as they moved from clock to clock.
Tick by tick, the cottage transformed.
‘It’s like we’re inside a heartbeat,’ Pippa said, looking around in awe.
Theo stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by ticking. ‘Or a lunatic’s watch collection.’
Pippa laughed. ‘Look at this collection. Do you think that these were all prototypes? Why keep certain ones?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Theo said. ‘But it’s a hell of a collection.’
A moment later, Pippa was stretched out on the carpet and cutting off another piece of cheese, when her phone began ringing from somewhere under the blanket.
She fished around, nearly knocking over her wine glass. She glanced at the screen and knew she had to answer. He would have heard that the convention had been cancelled and the causeway closed.
‘Hi, Dad.’ She walked into the snug and watched Theo as he sat down and switched on the TV.
‘Pip! I thought you’d drowned after I saw the weather reports.’
She smiled. ‘Still afloat, thanks. Or just about. The rain hasn’t stopped since I’ve arrived.’
‘I think you might need a lifeboat to get off that island.’
‘The news says the island’s cut off until the storm clears. I thought the St Swithin’s Day curse was a myth.’
He laughed. ‘I also saw on the news this morning that the Vale Brothers’ first workshop is up for grabs, and they said interest has gone through the roof. Doesn’t look anything like a workshop now though, more of a barn conversion, really, but still, quite a headline. Especially after the Horace Vale interview.’
Pippa froze. Her eyes flicked automatically towards Theo, who was now sitting on the sofa with his feet up, sipping on his wine.
‘Really? I knew it was a barn conversion now but if it’s on the market…’ She couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice. ‘I need to go and take a look. History was made in that place.’
‘Oh, it’s everywhere, Pip! Newspapers, radio, telly. They’re calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime horological opportunity”.’
‘As soon as I get off the phone I’m onto Rightmove… just to be nosey.’
‘What are you up to? Other than dodging tsunamis.’
‘We’ve been getting all the clocks going in the cottage.’ Pippa thought about sharing the find of Wetherby’s book, but it would take too long to explain.
‘All of them?’ her father repeated. ‘How many is “all”?’
‘Fifty, and it’s currently very noisy. Even the pocket watch you gave me is ticking. It keeps stopping and starting. It’s very bizarre. Did Grandad ever say where he got it from?’
‘When he gave it to me, he said he’d bought it on his honeymoon. I do know they travelled around the Highlands. I’m visiting him in the next hour at the care home.’
‘How is he?’
